A momentous weekend

This has been a momentous weekend for each of my children - and thus for me.

Daughter took part in the 5K Run for Life in Exeter in memory of her friend, a mum of two young children, who died last year. It was Daughter's first entry into the world of event running since taking up running less than a year ago so it was a challenge for her and one she successfully completed - when she finally realised the siren meant the race had begun - in spite of all her last minute panicking and stressing.

Elder Son and his family are staying with us for a few days, partly so he could enter the Gower Chilli Festival Cook-out, which this year included a barbecue competition for the first time as well. So he's spent most of the weekend in a field in Gower sweating over a hot smoker. (He couldn't get his barbecue apart so had to do all his cooking on his smoker that we'd already brought back from Surrey with us on our last trip there.)

He came 9th out of 12 entrants for the chilli and 3rd for the barbecue (out of three!) so although a little disappointed with the chilli result he's learned a great deal from the competition and the other contestants many of whom were old hands who've won a variety of competitions before.

Being completely unbiased view Husband and I thought his chilli was the best. One of the judges said it tasted and smelled burned - a complete nonsense! It was smoky but not in the least burned and I am very sensitive to anything that has a burned flavour. Ah well, just another person to add to my 'one day I'm going to slap them' list.

For the barbecue challenge entrants had to cook ribs and a chicken and another item of choice. The judges declared Son's chicken to be the best but his ribs let him down. Also the judges - I don't know where they get them from honestly - kept saying everything was too smokey. For his freestyle he did short ribs beef, which looked black but were delicious and perfectly cooked (I thought).

Presentation might have let him down a tad ...

And the winning entry ...

Meanwhile Younger Son left the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia, this weekend for the last time (possibly). With his data collected for his PhD research he is flying back to Italy to be with Nuora and wait for the birth of their first child in late August. 

It's been a long six month separation for them and an even longer and sometimes very hard three years of Blue Temple Conservation. 

I am incredibly proud of my three children not for what they have or haven't achieved but for who they are. And I love them heaps.

#freefromplastic

Have finally got round to submitting to two more agents novels 2 and 3. I've posted before on the complexity of submitting with agents having different requirements so I won't bore you with that again. And I'm ruling out those who say they will only reply if they're interested: that's just not polite!

Also ruling out agents who want hard copies submitted. Waste of time, money and bad for the environment. Then take out those who've already said no and the list gets shorter by the minute.

Hey ho.

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I looked up from my keyboard yesterday to see a spotted woodpecker (of the greater variety) on the peanuts outside the study window. Out of the fourteen photos I took only one captured his head. Thank goodness for digital cameras!

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On an afternoon stroll along the beach - yes, okay, on our way to the ice cream shop - Nuora and I commented on the amount of plastic debris washed up. I said, 'If we were creative we could make something arty out of that.'
'Mm, yes,' Nuora replied dubiously.

On the way back from the shop - where we sat outside because of George and froze - I felt led to pick up a discarded laundry basket, which, truth be told, was better than mine, and proceeded to fill it with plastic bottles, lids, gloves and assorted plastic goods. Then we stopped and made Mr. Octojollypus.

There is a serious point to this: plastic not only looks horrid when it's washed up, it can lead to poisoned water, death and disease in marine creatures. Which in turn affects not only our environment but also our well-being.

Last week we walked on Whitford Beach and in a just a couple of minutes collected this pile of plastic.

Younger Son and Nuora feel very strongly about this and have started a #freefromplastic campaign. As part of it - and to help fund Blue Temple Conservation, their environmental project in the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia - they're selling sturdy 100% cotton tote bags as well as stainless steel and bamboo water bottles.

If you'd like to do your bit for the environment and order one, please email me liz dot hinds at btinternet dot com.

Roy the thieving sea eagle

When Roy the sea eagle fell out of a tree and got into a fight with a monitor lizard some of the water taxi drivers looked after him and Tuna Bay resort even gave him his own room. Now he's recovered but still lives in his room and is fed by the boatmen.

One day Roy dropped in on us on the beach.

All was fine until a small crowd gathered and began taking his photograph. And Roy took a fancy to one man's camera in particular and began to stalk him.

Perhentian Islands part 2

Focusing on all things yummy.

Our first night on the island and we were treated to a Blue Temple barbecue with volunteers, guests and Delilah of course.

A few days later we dressed up in sarongs especially for a traditional Malaysian meal in the home of Kak Ani. (Kak is a form of respectful address used by younger people when speaking to elders so strictly speaking we shouldn't have used it for our hostess.) Kak Ani welcomed us into her home where we sat on the floor and ate a delicious meal with our left hands. 

We enjoyed: squid and beans, fish-stuffed peppers (I really liked those) (well, actually I liked everything.), sweet and sour chicken, spicy beef, noodle soup and rice, followed by pancake and coconut and mango)

On our last day we ate lunch at Kak Ma's restaurant. At 44 ringgits for 6 people it cost just over £1 per person and was again delicious.

The lovely Kak Ma

It cost a lot more (and didn't taste any better) on the couple of occasions we ate dinner in the resort restaurant. 

Although the waiter couldn't get over how much we ate ...

On one occasion Younger Son cooked for us and I accompanied him to the local Tesco Express to buy the ingredients he needed.

The flash makes this interior view a lot brighter than it was in reality.

Award for favourite afternoon snack has to be the doughnuts cooked by the women of the village in the co-operative cafe they have opened. Although the red bean and fishy doughnuts were good the sugar-coated ones were still the best!

I think a sweet tooth is a peculiarly Malaysian thing. Traditional coffee in Malaysia is made very strong with condensed milk. An acquired taste but one of which Husband approved. 

Save the rain forests ... of the oceans

This is the project that Younger Son and Nuora have set up in the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia. If you are able to donate even a small amount it will help save the 'rain forests of the oceans.'

Thank you.

Reflections on my 2014

Family
The year began brilliantly with the birth of GrandSon3 in Surrey, a second son for Elder Son and Daughter-in-law. Soon after this Younger Son and Nuora set off on the adventure of their lives when they left home to travel to the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia to set up Blue Temple Conservation, a volunteer and research project aimed at investigating and raising awareness of the potential damage done by tourists and in particular scuba divers to the marine environment (amongst other things). We are incredibly proud of them for their courage and enthusiasm but we do miss them very much.

Then we went through a long lull, including a holiday in Fuerteventura followed by a lovely seemingly never-ending summer at home, enjoying the peace before the ... return of both Younger Son and Daughter to the family nest. YS and Nuora were with us for about six weeks before flying off to Italy for Christmas before they return to their island paradise for the second year of the project. Daughter, who had delightedly announced that she was pregnant again, and family moved back in with us when Son-in-law changed jobs and returned to Swansea's Morriston Hospital to work. As they haven't been able to sell their house but had found a tenant, they stayed with us for a couple of weeks before moving into a rented house.

And then it was Christmas.

"Work"

I was officially due to retire in July 2015 but, this year, when I told the trustees of Linden that I was taking some time out from church they suggested to me, in that case, they didn't think it would 'be feasible' for me to continue to work for the church; they suggested I go away and think about it. I did the gracious thing and opted to take early retirement. I think I was the only one surprised by the reaction of the trustees; the more cynical of my acquaintances asked me what I'd expected.

So, I admit, it was with some slight - pain is too strong a word - maybe hurt is better - that I left in the summer. But I have to say that it was the best thing and I am so happy now not to be working. I don't think I'd realised how much resentment about all sorts of stuff had built up within me. How much of that affected my original decision to take time out from church I'm not sure but I am at peace with both decisions.

Gathering for my farewell ice cream at Verdi's

Writing

Three rejections for both novels 2 and 3 this year: it has seemed like more than that! Must get back to submitting again. On the positive side, just before the beginning of November, I finally finished novel 4, which I began during the 2013 NaNoWriMo. As I've said before, this is definitely THE ONE that will make my fame and fortune! So I'd better get on with editing and perfecting the first three chapters so I can begin the submission ritual.

I have continued to blog though less frequently and Facebook and tweet. I must start to take the self promotion more seriously if I am to network and do the sorts of things people tell me I must if I am to succeed.

Zac's

I decided to take time out from Linden to concentrate on Zac's and I don't regret that decision for a moment. However when people ask me how it's going I have to shrug and say, 'Okay you know.' In truth I - and my hopes and dreams - don't seemed to have moved on but that has partly been through circumstances.

By its very nature it is almost impossible for a year to go by at Zac's without tragedy. During the year I attended three funerals and there were other deaths from the Thursday night coffee bar too. Of the funerals  I attended two were suicides, young men who couldn't take any more. 

But there was good news too. In the summer we had a double baptism in the sea and, as I wrote at the time, though none of the bikers were in attendance there were still enough of the Zac's family to substantiate the claim we make to be church. We have a small band of regulars, very different in many ways, yet each individual being accepted and loved as he or she is. It would be good to see the group grow, for some of the occasionals to become regulars, but what is important is that Zac's is a living breathing community that is changing and developing healthily.

Through Zac's I agreed to help support a single mum with a year-old son. That support became more of a commitment when she fell pregnant again, and even more so when Baby was suspected of being Downs (he is) and having a heart condition (it seems to be all right). I've seen enough of the inside of hospitals this year to keep me going for a while, thank you very much. But as of now, Mum, Big Brother and Baby are all doing well. She is coping admirably and just gets on with life, putting her children first in all things. 

So in 2015 I hope to be able to really get going on plans to begin a day-time bible study for vulnerable women as well as reaching out into the massage parlours that are on Zac's doorstep.

All in all, 2014 was a pretty good year and my prayer for us all is that 2015 will be a time of wonderful blessing, good health - and fun!

Dancing turtles

As you know, Younger Son and Nuora are in the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia setting up a marine conservation project, Blue Temple Conservation. One of the creatures they're particularly fond of and anxious for the future about is the turtle and one of the aims of the project is to help raise awareness. 

Boat trips providing opportunities for tourists to snorkel are a valuable source of income for the islanders but tourists can potentially cause harm to turtles through their lack of knowledge. Leafleting isn't a particularly successful method of increasing awareness so the team at Blue Temple are trying to think of more imaginative ways to draw attention to the plight of the turtle. Or at least to attract attention and to follow it up with a leaflet and chat. And one of their attention-drawing ploys is the Turtle Dance.

Younger Son put a video on Facebook of volunteers doing the Turtle Dance and suggested that others could make their own video and send it in. So, of course, any opportunity to be silly and I'm there.

And in case you're in any doubt over the threat to turtles know that the World Wildlife Fund appeal for June was specifically for marine turtles. They are included in the Endangered to Critically Endangered category on the risk of extinction list.