Reasons to count my blessings Number 34

Reason 34

John the Gardener

I really enjoy sitting out in my garden. I love the flowers, the scents, the colours and the bees. I am happy to grow a large, and healthy variety of culinary herbs and tomatoes etc. However I am a terrible gardener- I plant everything in the wrong place, and then forget to water or feed them.

The gardener at the college came round at the end of last year and shook his head in dismay. He told me my garden was a mess!

I challenged him to come and sort it out, so he did. He removed all of the plants, revitalised the soil and added topsoil. With plans he had drawn up, he replaced some of the plants, added new ones, built in a watering system - and wow!!

This year the garden has looked fantastic- and John has been keeping an eye on it too. He just pops in from time to time to add bits, or prune, or whatever. I am really lucky.

Reasons to count my blessings Number 33

Reason 33

My fit bit

What fun I had this last couple of weeks. My student from Ukraine, Alla, brought her fit bit (a bracelet which counts steps, distances, sleep patterns, exercise and heart rate) with her. I was wearing the one that M bought for my birthday a few weeks ago. We decided to synchronise them and go into competition with each other. This meant that I did more walking than usual, as I didn't want to be woefully trounced every day. It was good for me, and fun to check each day who was the most active.

Alla brought me a beautiful box for my collection too. It was hand crafted in a village next to where she lives.

Im sorry that she was only here for a short visit, but we have decided to stay in touch online. We have been facebook friends since her last visit a couple of years ago. Next time we will use Skype too.

Reasons to count my blessings Numbers 31 and 32

Reasons 31 and 32

People who give free time to help others

I spent this morning- and last week, with my musician friends. 

Today we were playing music for the end of a walk. Marc was a young islander who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 17 and who died 2 years later. His father set up a charity walk in his name, which helps the teenage cancer trust and others like them to raise awareness, and much needed money.

The walk has been running for 5 years and we got involved in the second year when we met Willy ( his father) in a bar we were playing. This is our fourth time of turning out to play for the walkers as they come in from their route.

The walk has 4 possibilities: 3, 7, 12 and 15 miles. This means that people wander in to the gardens on the St Helier seafront from around 11 a.m. to about 2 p.m. They then relax on the grass with their water or coffee and cupcakes which are provided by other helpers. 

After last night's ceilidh my blisters were growing blisters by the time we finished, but it is satisfying to feel useful, and to give up our time to play music, when others are walking, is humbling. Many of the people who walked were cancer suffers, or had family members who had had problems. The orange t-shirts are a nod towards the fact that Willy is a Dutchman

This little cutie has a tumour behind her eye. Wishing her all the best

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