Saturday 14 March 2009

Do something funny for money

Yesterday was Friday the 13th ,its the second one we have had this year ,and I believe another on is due in November !
Yesterday also marked the 21st aniversary of comic relief day here in Britain,where everyone ,dresses up ,wears a red nose or does something funny for money ,and the collecting boxes are every where for us to make our donations ,or we can donate on line or by phone ,Last evening on BBC TV ,was given over to all the celebraties,who had taken part ,who had given their time and talents ,(some great acts) such caring people .The whole idea is to raise money for many causes mainly children ie - kids who are full time cares to their parents or siblings ,and who are missing out on a normal childhood ,a child support centre for kids who are living in difficult situations like with a drunk parent ,and for children who have such difficult lives abroad , The item that really moved me ,and there were many such moments ,was the film of some of the celebs visiting Africa ,and seeing the amount of children who were dying from Malaria ,simply because they dont sleep under nets ,which cost aprox £5 each !well a team of heroic caring talented on and on ...Bless them .people from the music world
Chris Moyles and Fearne Cotton were joined by Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh, Alesha Dixon, Ben Shepherd, Ronan Keating, Denise Van Outen and Gary Barlow, whose idea it originaly was .
They walked for seven days to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise money for Comic Relief ,it was anounced they had been sponsered to the tune of 3 million pounds ,what an achievement ,and the film showing them on their ardous climb showed just how hard it was ,and though some of them got sick during the climb they carried on ,because they said they kept a picture of these poor sick children in their minds to spur them on .What they and the other famous people did was admirable God Bless them all .
And then on the other hand ordinary folk did their bit too ,we at the Residents forum had a committee meeting sheduled for yesterday ,so we all wore some thing red ,and of course popped our money into a collecting box ,we raised quite a bit and still counting ,with the money from the people at the office .
The day before My daughter in law Chrissie brought my daughter Kate and our friend Dawn over for a visit ,we had a nice day together ,I bought a red hat from the charity shop !!!!,so with my red tee shirt,shoes and bag ,(black trousers and jumper ) I was set hee hee ......


Of course every one wanted to wear it ,especially the men ? I mean look at Howard, doesn't he look great ?






Sitting beside Howard ,is Elsa ,who said she had nothing red to wear ,so she made us a big box of red nose cakes ,and they all dissapeared and were yummy



Here's Suzy ,showing her red stripey belly ...


Ray red tie .George red tee shirt ,red october I think it was hee hee ..

I told you they all wanted to wear the hat ,here is Dick ,who works with the youngsters

So my friends, I will leave it here ,but not before telling you ,that the Head lines read-- Recession fails to dampen comic relief ,at 2am last night ,the total stood at a record breaking £57.8 million pounds ,with love from Jan in GREAT Britain

Sunday 8 March 2009

Bog Oaks and other bog standard stuff

Lovely sunny Sunday morning here in the Fens,thats if you are indoors looking out !it is very windy and cold ,I think the wind is blowing straight from the North Sea ,and being the Fens nothing much to stop it ,March winds doth blow and we shall have sn .....NO dont even go there !
Last Tuesday I went along to the News letter meeting ,as you know I am on the editorial team ,I wore my new red jacket that Maurice had bought me for my Birthday ,(as well as the Laptop)!
I also wore the yellow jumper I had made, and had finished the previous evening ,do you like it ,I made it quite long to keep my back warm !

I had missed the previous meeting (because I was incapasitated with my back )and in the main the news letter was complete ,but they were just a bit of copy short ,so I was asked to do something ,below is the result ,The first picture goes with the item ,the others we took whilst out ,


Spring 2009 Bog Oaks .
There has been a lot in the media recently about the amount of ‘Bog Oaks’ that have come to the surface this year, as our Farmers have been ploughing the fields ready for spring planting,
And naturalists and farmers across Cambridgeshire believe more will continue to be discovered as the Fenland soil continues to dry out.
The trees were once part of a thick blanket of Oak forests, but couldn’t survive the floods which resulted from large lakes formed when the rivers Ouse, Nene and Welland began to silt up with tidal sands. The Oaks couldn’t survive with their roots soaked in water, as they began to rot; they either toppled over or were blown over by the infamous Fen blows, with result many of the trees trunks were found facing in the same direction. Over the years reeds and other dead plant material gathered on top of the wood to form a peat.
This acted as a natural preservative over the trees, because there was no oxygen to rot the wood.
Natural curiosity led my partner and I to look out for these old trees ,we have spotted markers in fields left by ploughmen to avoid the area and to remove these monsters at a later date, or to see fields where these great oak trunks have been
Cleared to the headlands, the one in the picture is at least twenty feet long and there were piles of others in the area. And to think I am sitting on something that last saw light of day, many thousands of years ago.

A pile of the Oaks left at the side of the field ...

Right behind the telegragh pole, is a dyke ..see it ? part of the drainage system in the Fens ,they vary in widths throughout the Fens some as wide as rivers ,and controlled by locks and sluice gates ,this one is narrow beside a field as many are .



Oh yes ,after dinner on Tuesday evening ,Maurice and I were discussing our days ,when he suddenly burst into laughter ,for no apparent reason ,when I questioned him ,he said put your arm up again ,I did so only to find I hadnt ,finished sewing up the seam on the sleeve of my jumper ,Durrr ,yes folks I losing it ! ( wonder if anyone noticed? ) hee hee










Have a Blessed Sunday Everyone ,With love from ...