The mornings are darker longer now.  I light my candles and sip my first mug of tea of the day and contemplate autumn which has suddenly arrived with colder days.  We've actually had the heating on a couple of times.  Today the clouds hang low and heavy in the sky, very dismal (left - how I prefer autumn mornings!)

I have a very blocked up left ear and that makes me feel miserable.  I've avoided putting drops in it until lunch time today because I knew that would make it feel more blocked as the wax expands (lovely subject) and I needed to get through a few things in the past few days first.  Hopefully after a week it will be ready for syringing.

A few days ago I finished Jackie Kay's autobiography Red Dust Road.  Jackie is a writer and poet and I came across her first when studying an 'openings' course with the Open University and I was taken with a poem of hers we studied and listened to an interview with her.  I have read a couple of her books and have one of her books of poetry but this book was lent to me by a friend and is about Jackie's search for her birth parents.  Her adopted parents sound lovely and were very supportive of her search.  It was a very moving and honest book.  Anyone who is adopted and ever thought, or has, searched for their birth parents would no doubt identify with the feelings Jackie goes through.  Jackie's birth mother is Scottish, her father is Nigerian.  The two met at Un iversity and parted shortly after Jackie's birth when her father returned to his home country.  I loved the description of Nigeria, the towns, the people.  Her father, a born again Christian (fanatic, I should say!) will only accept her if she accepts Jesus and refuses to tell his family about her and after their first meeting will not meet her again.  There is more, far more and I don't want to spoil it in case you read it.  Jackie describes her upbringing, the prejudices she encounters, family holidays and how an accident changed her path in life.  It is a very uplifting story.

Last night at Mothers' Union we had the Director of Just Cards Direct come to talk to us and show us a range of their handmade and printed cards from around the world.  They run card-making projects in Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda as well as printing cards in the UK.  The projects help those who have no income to make money so they can buy food, pay for medical treatment, send their children to school and give hope, dignity and security to those who are down-trodden, neglected and traumatised.  We heard about how Just Cards started and how it has developed, we saw photos of the projects and there was a three minute film to watch,  Our members were keen to buy cards, and they are lovely cards - the choice was so good we all had difficulty choosing what to buy.  This is such a worthwhile cause and the whole evening was so inspiring.  Please look at the website http://www.justcardsdirect.com/  you will not be disappointed.

Finally, I heard today that I am runner up in the Areopagus poetry competition with my poem entitled The Sea (see earlier posts).  I am thrilled!  I will publish the poem here but not until it has been published in the magazine so you will have to wait until near the end of the year.