Geordieland

I'm off to Newcastle upon Tyne for a few days, to visit my friend and celebrate with her, and her husband, at their wedding reception!! She is a very close friend - we met when we were very young, we are both Christians and she is exactly 20 minutes younger than me! So no blogs from me for a few days (what's new about that, you may ask!)

Cambodia

Three weeks ago our church held a 'Cambodia Evening' - we ate Cambodian style food, heard about folk we know who are working over there, saw some photographs and a film. It was a great evening!

It also brought back memories of seven years ago, to the day, that four of us from the church made a visit to Cambodia. A trip that had lasting effect on my life - the people, the poverty, the fact that there were no 'safety nets' and that life there is lived 'on the edge'. I also remember how close I felt to God during that trip.

I wrote one or two poems while we were over there, and this is one of them....

Two Girls

Intense heat blankets everything

An overcast sky blocks out the sun

Holds the warmth close around us

As we walk through red dust

And muddy puddles

Towards a bridge of planks

Over a stinking stream

Where shanty huts stand in black water

And rubbish spills over the mud.

Motos and bicycles jostle for space

Careering close to the water's edge

Women with baskets of fruit balanced

Across their shoulders or on their heads

A pick-up truck rattles across

Not stopping as people scatter.

And through the confusion

Of noise, and smell, and dirt

Two school girls

In pristine white blouses

Calmly negotiate the bridge,

Deep in conversation

On their way home.

Healthy Food

The other week there was a lot of news about the fact that the Government are going to grant pregnant women a sum of £120 towards buying healthy food. I think this is great!

However, I'm just wondering why this amount will be given to everyone - even those who are very well off? I would love to know what others think about this?

For those born in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s

I read this recently, and thought I would share some of it.......

We survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun.

We drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle. We ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it.

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents . We played with worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out any eyes.

Local teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

Another Poem

Doon Hill is near Dunbar, East Lothian - Joe and I visited in the summer of 2004.


Doon Hill

At the very top of the hill
I’m rooted to the spot
As time ceases
And all becomes still.

The deep hills stand behind me
Spotlighted by the sun,
Shadows protect the secret places
Where the wild creatures run.
Trees murmur to each other
The intrusion of a stranger,
And the sea spread out far below,
Flat and calm and blue.

Silence.

Until the cornfield nearby
Erupts with the song and flight
Of skylarks,
Disturbed
By something unseen.

Silence.

Apart from the hum of a thousand bees
Ecstatic in a banquet of clover
And concerned as I walk by,
Brushing the grass
As I walk the cement lines
That trace the place
Where a building once stood
In a different time.

Ages melt together – did they see
The skylarks and the bees,
Did they listen to the stillness
And feel the peace balm of this place?

© Sheena Conroy, 2005,
Celebrations, p.436, Anchor Books: Peterborough, HB ISBN 1 84602 025 5

There, but for the grace of God ........

I have just watched 'Ghosts' - the story of the 2004 Cocklemouth tragedy, in which Chinese cockle-pickers were trapped and drowned by the rising tide. The victim's families are still paying off their 'debts'. Sadly, the Government won't help.

The whole programme was terribly sad and I feel so angry that people continue to use vunerable people for their own financial gain. I also feel extremely grateful to have the life I have.....

Family Update

I have just spent a few days without the internet - due to network maintenance. Perhaps I am more that 43% addicted to blogging after all - and can identify with Graham's relief at being back online!



Catriona and wee Iain Joseph visited us recently, and I can't get over how quickly Iain Joseph is developing.





He is now crawling, so Catriona will be kept on her toes!!



















Last week I took a wee trip down Nostalgia Avenue! As a birthday present, a friend bought me a concert ticket to see The Animals & Friends. Before they hit the 'Big Time' in the 60s, they were the resident band at the club where I worked in Newcastle upon Tyne. I really enjoyed the concert - good music, I unexpectedly met a friend who was there too, and I even got to chat to the band afterwards - great musicians and really nice guys too!