Sunday 28th October 07

A good day as had a bit of a lie-in, perhaps helped by the clocks changing, and spent some of the day managing the collection of compost heaps.

We had a visit from our friend Alison who has recently come back from a visit to Zanzibar, where she has a friend. She had an interesting time, as it's one of the first times she's travelled abroad, so the culture shock was quite tangible. However she has had more of a shock since coming home, as she became friendly with a little girl who was living in her friend's house, this little girl had lost her parents somehow and was distantly connected with her host family. She treated this girl equally to the friend's offspring, infact this girl was easier to be with than the friend's children who were quite difficult to be with, their behavoiur was 'challenging'. So she connected with the little girl, and when she left, gave all of the children a present. Since coming back, her friend has been quite distant and offhand, and Alison thinks it may be because she showed friendship to the girl who was not really part of the family. This situation has made her very unhappy, it has coloured her memories of her trip.

In the evening I researched white poppies for my paid blog, as I have often worn one at this time of year to make my opposition to war known. They are made and sold by the Peace Pledge Union, and have a long and interesting history. I wrote and submitted my blog.