Thank you for the good wishes

Thank you to everyone for the congratulations and good wishes on getting my new job. I know it's tough out there for a lot of people, and I feel very lucky. I've formally told my current organisation I will no longer be working with them (technically, I'm a freelancer) and have suggested an end date - because I'm the type who feels responsibility for everything, that date is actually after any notice period I would have needed to give had I been an employee... but I couldn't leave them in the lurch, these people are friends. The management know, but I'm waiting to tell the others and the volunteers I manage until after Wednesday's team meeting, so I'm having to be careful what I post and where (Facebook!).

Other than that, I had a nice weekend - I went to hear David Crystal give a talk on linguistics and language for children - very amusing, very accessible and engaging. And on Saturday, I visited a "new to me tea shop" with my friend Eleanor, which unfortunately was disappointing (hence no link) - there's a fine line between "quirky" and "total incompetence" and it was on the wrong side of it! We then went to a very nice exhibition at the Graves Art Gallery, which was portraits of influential writers. I came over all peculiar at a little silhouette of Jane Austen, one of only a couple of things known to have been taken "from life". The writers ranged from Milton and Shakespeare to Jarvis Cocker, J K Rowling and Amy Winehouse, which made an interesting selection. And it did kind of bring home to me that actually, I'm a pretty well-read person :o)

Talking of writers, I will be sharing my little Wuthering Heights chart sometime this week, so if the biscornu are not for you, and you like the primitive style, this might be more your thing!

We're Living in Interesting Times...

Well, the Conservatives have got the most seats, but not an outright majority. The Liberal Democrats have lost ground, despite Nick Clegg's popularity, and the bloody, bloody British National Party have increased their share of the vote to 5.5% in my area - which means that, given the turnout and an average of two adults per household, that one person in every 14 houses round here voted for the bastards.

My sitting MP - Meg Munn - got re-elected, but with a hugely reduced majority. I hope she sits up and takes notice, her loss was much more than the national swing away from Labour, so it's personal this time.  There was trouble at my local polling station though, when the polls closed with some people still queueing to vote - I think the Returning Officer is going to have some questions to answer, as there was also trouble elsewhere in the city.

There was some good news - a Green Party MP was elected for the first time - well done Caroline Lucas. Pete Wishart - the ex Runrig band member - (SNP) retained his seat, which was a Tory target, and in a neighbouring constituency, Paul Blomfield, who I know through working with the Student Union, got in on a tiny majority (165) - he may not represent the party I voted for, but he's a great bloke and will get stuff done.

There's going to be some horse trading going on now while various agreements and coalitions get negotiated.And if none of this works, we'll go through the whole thing again in a year or so. It's one in the eye for the people who maintain a "first past the post" system gives clearer results - this could be the election that finally gets us effective electoral reform in all sorts of areas, and about time too!

And perhaps this blog and my mind will return to more fun stuff... watch this space :o)

It's Decision Day! - and Help Me Track Down a Freebie!

Today's the day - probably at the end of the day we will have a new Government, maybe even a hung parliament. It's been the most exciting and hard to call election for years, and I'm just off to vote and get in some snacks as I'm planning on staying up to listen to the results coming in.

One of my university tutors is leaving at the end of the semester because of budget cuts :o( She's been FABULOUS - I've done at least one of her modules every year on my degree, and I was hoping that she could be my dissertion supervisor :o/ Anyway, Dr. M is also a crafty person, and I thought I would stitch her something as a token of my appreciation. Her specialty is Gothic literature, and she also adores Wuthering Heights. And okay, we disagree on that :o) but I thought I could commemoratate that as there is a Wuthering Heights freebie out there - and I can't find it. I can picture it in my mind - slightly prim, pretty much just the words. I've checked my Primitive Betty's, The Sampler Girl, Heartstrings Primitives, La D Da files - in fact all my files. And I'm stumped. Does anyone recognise the freebie? Or have I imagined it and it's actually inspiration for one of my own designs? LOL

Right, and now I'm going to put in an hour on an essay due for the above tutor - it's all about The Heart of Darkness, so a little grim but mesmerising!

One Degree of Separation

I usually try to post cheerful stuff in this journal, and to keep it light - it's supposed to be about crafting, after all, and usually the most serious rant that goes on is about a visit from the frog. But sometimes, there are more important things in life.

There is someone I've taken courses with at the university, X. We've both volunteered for some extra curricular stuff and so, although we don't take classes together at the moment, I see her from time to time, and it's a real joy. She is the most infectiously cheerful person I know, and has a wicked sense of humour.

X and her 2 sons are refugees. She is from Zimbabwe, and her husband is involved in the MDC, so it wasn't safe for her to remain. She was so hopeful when power sharing was announced ... but we all know how the situation has gone downhill since.

I asked her yesterday how her family were doing, what with the cholera outbreak and all. The good news is that the town her parents live in is small, so has hardly been affected, and Care International have set up a clinic relatively near.



The bad news is that last Friday, her parents ran out of food for them and the 11 HIV/AIDS orphaned grandchildren and nieces/nephews they look after. The vegetables that X's 68 year old father had managed to grow on his small holding had been stolen. They had no food at all for six days, until a friend managed to smuggle some across the South African border. X herself felt unable to eat at this time - her throat closed up every time she tried.

I know that 'six degrees of separation' has become a bit of a cliche and a joke, but we are all interconnected. And I'm one degree of separation from people who are being starved to death by a brutal dictator. And that has made me so angry, and left me feeling so guilty, so helpless and yet so thankful too. If I disagree with the government here, only my blood pressure is at risk. I can turn on a tap and have as much clean water as I want. My food bill inflation is in single digits. My family is well fed, warm and safe.

I asked X what I can do to help. Sending money is useless, given the hyperinflation. Food, seeds and medications are seized if found. But clothes and books get through. X's mum is (or maybe was, given the food situation) about my size, and I have some children's books ( I wish I had kids clothes, but I don't know any families). I also have spare toiletries (and hell, I'm happy to buy more). It's not much, when what I'd really like to do is go to Zimbabwe and put a bullet into Mugabe's brain, but it will have to do. I want to shout about the situation in Zimbabwe from the rooftops - I suppose this is my first effort in that direction.

(x posted to my other journal)