The Cruel Sea

 

    The oceans that surround us are a beauty to behold, they nurture life, however they also conceal secrets of the past, revealing them with more than a little reluctance.

    We use descriptives of these vast expanses of water in the same way we do that of human emotion's and behaviour. Calm, serene, angry, and  tranquil, are all adjectives that can be applied to both. Another which is commonly used is, cruel.

    Ten years ago the sea was particularly cruel, when the Indian Ocean tsunami, engulfed areas of Indonesia and Asia, today lots of us will take a minute from our festive schedule's to think about the lives that ended, or changed that day.

As the Sun Sets

 

    Education is something I feel passionate about, because I believe it can cure many ills in this world. Therefore to see another school being targeted by extremists in the last week, I find heartbreaking.

    I'm talking about the 141 fatalities, 132 children and 9 teachers that were massacred in an army school, in Peshawar, Pakistan; a place where parents sent their children to be educated, safely.

    Back in April this year we were faced with the sickening event in Chibok, Nigeria when 276 female students were kidnapped from their school and in places such as Syria, Afghanistan, schools are continually targeted.

    As the sun sets on this year, we can only pray that governments will find a way to stop this and that children can be educated without their parents having to worry as to whether they will ever see them again, after dropping them off at school.

Stocking Filler

    Earlier this year my mother passed away and I know when I meet up with the rest of my family on the 25th of December our memories of her will come flooding back. Our Christmas's were always special, even if there were no iPads, laptops, or designer clothes waiting for us when we got up.

   Our Christmas stockings overflowed with fruit, candy, all inexpensive items but nevertheless gifts left by Santa. Amongst my small bundle of wrapped gifts left below the tree, there were always books, pens, pencils and a blank journal, everything a budding writer desired.

    The gift of a blank journal continued each year until her last Christmas and the blank pages are now ready for another year of muse.

Baby it's Cold Outside

        My blog hasn't been updated over the last week, as I've been recovering from a bout of flu. My little  grey cells have been in a permanent state of slush, however I'm now feeling miles better and I'll see you Friday if not before.

A Patriotic Day

Fishing Creels on the harbour

    Even when I'm not in Scotland on St Andrews Day, November 30th, I celebrate the fact that I'm Scottish and I know there are many all over the world who do exactly the same.

Archway built in medieval times 

 
    Today, I've included photographs of the place in Scotland that bears our patron's name, the medieval town of St Andrews.

St Andrews Cathedral

    Of course I can't mention the town without mentioning it's university, the place Prince William and Kate first met.

University of St Andrews

Postcard From My BackYard

    The blog post today is a postcard from my backyard. These are the views I see when I go out of the back door of my apartment in the Canaries.

    It's something I wanted to share with you, because it's worth sharing.

Ready to get Reading for 'Book Week'

 

    It's 'Book Week' in Scotland this week, 24th - 30th November and to celebrate over the last few days I've been adding new titles to my eReader, as well dropping by a local bookstore to purchase a couple of paperbacks.

    

    I've chosen a mixed bunch of titles in both non-fiction an fiction and going along with the Scottish theme I've included a few Scottish authors, such as Val Mcdermid and Ian Rankin to my list of buys.

    The eReader is with me most of the time and if I have a few minutes to spare I'll read a couple of pages, in bed, on the train, plane, or in the park . However the paperbacks I like to keep for those long cold nights, when I'm cuddled up in a comfy chair in front of the fire. Heaven!

    So my glasses have been cleaned and my Kindle is charged, because this is one Scot that's on her mark, ready to get reading for, 'Book Week.'