Last day picture postcard

 Our last day…perfect.

En route to the beach

En route to the beach

The beach!

That’s me in the cossie - yes, I went in. 

Goodbye till next year

Afternoon tea at Perennial gardens

Evening walk - going home from the harbour

Meanwhile…

Tuesday in Pembrokeshire

 We chose a different cliff walk yesterday 

and a different bay as our destination. 

And when we got back to the car park, a friendly robin was waiting for us…

And he kept coming back!

Postcard in two parts

 On the 29th May, a group of people stood outside Parliament and read out the names of every one of the 15,613 children killed by the Israelis in Gaza in this latest conflict. 

They spoke their names one by one in front of a banner that listed the names of 1700 babies of 1 and under who have been killed in Gaza.

It took more than 18 hours.

When I read the report of this it made me cry.

Yesterday I sent an article to Dave written by the BBC journalist and editor Jeremy Bowen, who has been working in the Middle East for years and years. It was a long, balanced, rational piece, setting out the reality of what is happening and the history of it. The evidence of war crimes is there for all to see.

I explained to Dave on the phone just now that I couldn’t bear to read it. I can’t bear to read below any headline about Gaza now. It doesn’t mean I am looking away. I care as much as I have always cared, but if I did read below the headlines I couldn’t carry on with my days. I continue to raise money for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, I still write to my MP, sign petitions, boycott Israeli goods, do all that I can. Admittedly I can’t do much. Neither, probably, can you.

We have a Prime Minister who is intransigent, and who is deaf to the calls of the majority of the people he was elected to serve. 

Part 2

Yesterday both Liz and I were tired and decided we’d have a pottering day. We went to St David’s for a few groceries, and to see some art.

The information centre there has the prettiest car park I have ever been in. The bays are made of banks of earth and massive rocks, with wild flowers growing all over everywhere. (See pic above.)

And a footpath leads you to the centre where there is a shop, a cafe, and exhibitions.

This is the edge of the footpath…

We lapped up the art on show. This was my favourite painting. It’s called The Air We Gratefully Breathe, and is by Rosalyn Sian Evans, a local artist.

Then we drove to Whitesands Bay with the intention of walking and sitting and enjoying the sea, but when we got there, I was so tired from the last two days exploits that I sat in the car like the OAP I am, and looked at the view, and enjoyed doing nothing, immensely enjoyed doing nothing, while Liz went to walk the length of the beach.

Liz, setting off 

Me being like my lovely Gran, sitting in the car and watching the waves

In the evening we ate out at the fish restaurant in Porthgain Harbour, half a mile walk from the cottage.

It was a good day.

You can give to the British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, that has been working in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Lebanon for 40 years plus. Follow this link:

https://www.map.org.uk/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21151903911&gbraid=0AAAAAChbIjJEBAnI_SlBhcPCvqZnC35No&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjJrCBhCXARIsAI5x66VkyrhZaQ8kzHF0TVUl3VD61KSyVqRFiS8Wea4KqEiH_Bz4b1AeXowaAtCUEALw_wcB

Picture postcard 2

 We walked the two miles along the cliffs 

Looking down

to the same quiet bay, hoping to swim, but the wind was chilly and the water freezing. Still it was lovely.

Going for a paddle

I am currently gripped by The Silence in Between by Josie Ferguson…

While Liz is frequently glued to her bins…

“Oystercatcher!…Chough!…

wait…

….Fulmar! Fulmar!”

Picture postcard

Dear friends,

I am so lucky.

I had five days in Cornwall with my friend Het, and now I’m having six days in Pembrokeshire with Liz. Dave may be averse to holidays but I can still get away.We’re staying in a perfect cottage 1/2 mile outside Porthgain, on the coast.

Six weeks ago I pulled a ligament in my knee, and after careful rest and exercising it’s hugely better, but Dave persuaded me anyway to buy some walking poles and gave me strict instructions to be faithful about using them. I’m glad he did. We managed a long cliff walk yesterday, which included a couple of hours on the beach.

Today we hope to swim! (Or at least go in the sea in our cossies, up to our thighs.)

Love Sue

Documentary evidence of pole use for Dave 

Liz, identifying the strange grasses - it was Sea Plantain!

Liz, in her element

After my paddle

Sick at heart

I am sick at heart. Starmer does nothing whatsoever in the face of crimes against humanity. Actually, he doesn’t do nothing. He continues to supply arms to Israel, despite the fact that the majority of the British people want an arms embargo.

Protesters formed a red line around Parliament yesterday,  though I haven’t seen this reported in the papers, have you?

There will be other domestic posts on here in the future, and I am going on holiday tomorrow with Liz, so I’ll be posting from Pembrokeshire, but this morning all Dave and I can think about is the genocide and the UKs complicity, and the fact that children in Gaza are saying they want to die. 

Here is this morning’s letter (from Dave)  to our ‘Labour’ MP, in response to what did not happen yesterday in Parliament..

In response to Claire Hanna MP in parliament yesterday, Keir Starmer once again mentioned the possibility of further action. His answer was striking in that he did not mention further action by Israel, the sole perpetrators of the unrestrained and murderous campaign we see daily.

 

It is clear that Keir Starmer is gas-lighting the nation with his position on Israel, and his words are empty and simply cannot be trusted.

 

While telling parliament that we are indeed in ‘dark days’, and that Israel’s actions are ‘appalling’ and ‘intolerable’, he takes no effective action to stop Isarel’s extirpation of the Palestinians. The actions he claimed yesterday have self-evidently been wholly ineffective in stopping this genocide.

 

At this late stage of an asymmetrical war of staggering inhumanity, we daily see the atrocities committed by the IDF. Most recent among these is the murder of Palestinians seeking aid, at least some of whom had suffered shrapnel injuries from shells, which only Israel has the capacity to deliver. In spite of the escalating ferocity and the 60 000 Palestinian deaths, Starmer’s ‘further action’ is always due to come later. He appears to have a very high tolerance for state terrorism, and it is hard to even imagine what line the Israelis could cross which would prompt him into any sort of decisive and effective action.

 

At the same time, Starmer is colluding and collaborating with the Israelis, effectively facilitating the unspeakable horrors and war crimes being committed against the Palestinians. Supplying armaments, spares for armaments, military intelligence, over-flights, and tacit encouragement makes the UK fully complicit in the inhumanity and illegality of Israel’s feral blood-lust – it can only be described in that way – and puts us firmly on the side of lawlessness.

 

Sadly, we have a Prime Minister who is untrustworthy, on Gaza as on everything else. He is covertly supporting Israel’s campaign, while telling us another tale altogether. He is continuing to supply Israel with the means to pursue their genocide, and thereby to give the Israeli government moral support.

 

This is Starmer’s Iraq moment, and history will not forgive his mendacity in putting us on the wrong side of this conflict by supporting the aggressor.

 

Starmer’s approach makes us all complicit. It is simply wrong, immoral, criminal. It is, to repeat words he used yesterday, appalling and intolerable. None of us voted for this.

 

Dave’s latest letter to our “Labour” MP

 with which I wholly concur…

“It is reported today that the government:

 

• intends to spend £1 500 000 000 (£1.5bn) on new armaments factories in the UK
• intends to buy 7 000 further long-range missiles
• believes that this will put us on a footing for a conflict with Russia
• believes that this will boost the economy

 

John Healey is reported in the Times as suggesting that the public mind-set about defence needs to change.

 

I am writing to state my absolute opposition to this plan, and to say why it is wholly misguided, and why it is so repugnant.

 

The government can see, as can we all, that weapons around the world do not solve problems. Weapons in Ukraine, Russia and Israel are not enhancing lives of ordinary people in any way at all. They are creating rubble and corpses, They are creating a generation of grief and resentment. The only people gaining from weapons manufacture are the arms traders and makers, who must be rubbing their corporate hands in glee. People need peace, and a future where lessons from the past are heeded and weapons are not embraced even as a last resort.

 

The government can also see that there is so much in UK society that needs fixing. After decades of misrule by the Tories, so much of our national life has been hollowed out by economic attrition and right-wing thinking. It is impossible to believe that spending this eye-watering amount on arms is the best way to spend our taxes. If the government’s view is that there are no higher priorities that armaments, then we have a complete failure of imagination, and a criminal disregard for the welfare of ordinary people. Can the government really think of nothing better to spend tax revenues on ?

 

All war – without exception – is a failure of politics. To create and identify a future adversary and to arm against the imagined foe is maladaptive behaviour. Perhaps if Russia is perceived a threat, we could invest money in dealing with that threat now by diplomatic means, and obviate the use of lethal weapons.

 

To boost the economy without regard to the morality of the means of  increase is unacceptable. If the UK put its money into producing vast quantities of popular illegal substances we might find that very profitable. How is it any more moral to thrive on exporting death and destruction, and the means to cause both ? Why is Labour’s wildly spinning moral compass encouraging the government into bidding to become an exporter of death, and a pariah state ?

 

On John Healey’s comment, it is not the public’s mind-set which is in need of re-focus. Rather he embodies tired thinking, and recourse to action which he knows does not work, and is a very expensive failure. The public do not want more weapons. There are many things they do need, but the government ignores them, and whines about tough decisions, but which it means unacceptable actions which are useless and unacceptable to the public.

 

It is Labour that needs a change of mind-set. John Healey – and the government – might do better to listen to the public, and to govern in their interest. Having a government which truly cares about the people it governs would be a pleasant change. Unfortunately Labour shows no sign of being that government, and the people know it. And are rejecting it. 

 

This approach of arming for peace is as daft as fucking for virginity. What is morally wrong cannot be politically right.

Dave Hepworth”

 

This and that and not very much

Some mornings when I wake up I feel so dead I ring Dave - who is in his study - and ask if he’ll bring me a cuppa. And being a sweetie, he does.

He gives me the tea, and draws the blinds and the trees look beautiful in the morning sunshine. Then he goes back to his graveyard research, and I can’t face the news, so I read the last few posts on the blog to see if I ever write anything that isn’t about Gaza. I don’t very often and I must try harder. Then I still can’t face the news so I check Garrison Keillor’s blog for a new post. There is something about reading GK first thing in the morning that is ineffably comforting.

This is how he describes someone you can find in the news:

“He’s the man who never told a joke or made fun of himself or petted a dog or put his arm around a friend who wasn’t bought or paid for.”

The other day after I washed my hair I left it loose for a while and Dave exclaimed in surprise “Your hair is so long it would go in a plait!”

Dear reader, I have been wearing it in a plait everyday for four years, and this is what you get when you’ve been married for 54 years and counting. Your spouse does not see you.

Yesterday I saw my tweezers on the dressing table and they reminded me I hadn’t checked for whiskers lately, and when I did I found the most horrific one in full view. OMG I need to live with a friendly female who will point such horrors out.

This weekend is Derbyshire Open Arts, which means local artists - amateurs and professionals - open their homes to show their art, or gather in village halls to do the same. Dave and I spent Saturday morning visiting some.

When we go in, Dave (the asocial introvert ) immediately engages the artist, saying things like “Tell me about your painting” while I (the sociable extrovert) am tongue tied, and hang back and look at each piece with a scrutinising eye.

I am in awe at Dave’s ease in engaging with strangers. On the way home in the car I said “You’re amazing. I never know what to say. If someone said to me Tell me about your paintings I’d be tongue tied. Pretend you don’t know me and ask me a question, just for practice.”

“OK, why did you paint the mugs almost life size?”

“Oh, because my husband made me buy all these huge canvases I didn’t want and I need to use them up.”

Eat your heart out Frida Kahlo.

Letter from home

Well, France, Canada and the UK have finally said something to Nethanyahu and I’m thankful, even if it is a year too late. Let’s pray that concrete action will indeed follow.

My thoughts return to Gaza throughout every day, and I look for every opportunity to sell my cards, with all the profits going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. 

A selection…

Dave just told me off for trying to make every occasion a marketing opportunity. I suppose he’s right, and people should be able to visit us without being pounced on. 

On Wednesday I went on an ‘introduction to oil painting’ course. It was held at Chatsworth House

…in the old potting shed. It was interesting and enjoyable and convinced me I don’t like oils! They take too long to dry and I am too impatient. I want to get on with my paintings, not do a bit and then wait 24 hours before I can do any more.

Acrylics are my medium. Having said that, I’ve been finding it hard to get started lately. And I’ve discarded my two latest paintings as failures. I don’t know if it’s because my health has been sub-optimal, or what. I feel as though I’ve lost faith in myself.

Maybe it’s the sunny weather making me think I should be doing something more active outside. I find painting outside too distracting. The trees and the flowers are so beautiful. Everything around here is gorgeous right now. May in England is the best month of all. The trees are lush, the cow parsley along the lane is high, the skies have been blue for several weeks.

But now every gardener and farmer is longing for some rain. I’d like it to rain every night and be dry by breakfast time.

The best thing that’s happened on the home front this week is the blackbird. For weeks he’s been somewhere else, and I was pining for him, but now every teatime  he sits on the chimney and sings to us in the garden.

Here are two poems that relate to this rambling post…

It’s Monday morning and Mr Starmer is still a friend of Israel

 

Dave’s latest letter to our Labour MP:

Children wait in the hospital for their mother, who has been killed by the Israelis:

This is an old photo. The hospital won’t be there any more. 

Please consider donating to Medical Aid for Palestinians - a registered British charity.

Contrast

I’ve been away on a five day break and I’ve had a blog post half written about Starmer and Gaza, and me, for most of the week…but serious relaxing, talking and wave watching has got in the way. I needed a break. I’ve been under par. A booked holiday was postponed for a month due to circs beyond my control, and my dear friend Het said “Come and stay with us!”

So I did.

This is the view from Het’s terrace

This is the view from Het’s sitting room

That’s the colour of the sea in Sennen Cove.

And this is the colour on the other side of the peninsula

And can you spot me in this one below - the person on the right, about to go for a paddle?

Dave hates the sea. He thinks it’s a waste of space. And he detests the noise of the waves. For me there is nothing as relaxing as sitting watching the tide come in, or lying on the sand in warm sunshine listening to it. Troubles drifted away. Decisions were made. And there was an awful lot of nothingness, by which I mean drifting. It was just what I needed.

But still the news broke in.

Starmer’s latest speech on immigration, for example.

Please, please, someone tell him that it is poverty he needs to eradicate, not people.

Well before I didn’t vote for him, I had decided I didn’t trust him because of his answers to two questions in one of those brief Q and A pieces I read in a weekend magazine.

He was asked if it was more important to play or to win, and he said to win.

And he was asked what was the last lie he had told, and it was a lie to his children about the ingredients of something he’d made them for tea.

And I knew he was not my kind of man, let alone leader.

Meanwhile, this week, UK government lawyers were arguing in court that there is no evidence of a genocide being committed in Gaza, so selling arms to Israel is perfectly legit. And the genocide continues.

Meanwhile…

There I was in Cornwall, in heaven. How do we reconcile the immense suffering of so many others with our own happiness?