I can not believe the events of the last couple of weeks. I really can’t. I am an absolute maelstrom of emotional and physical pain. The suffering of those poor, innocent people in Ukraine right now is an atrocity I thought would never happen. How one person could heap such death and destruction upon fellow human beings is beyond comprehension. Have we not learnt anything from past wars? The resilience of the citizens of Ukraine and the immediate, continued inundation of help pouring in from surrounding countries, organised mainly by ordinary people in the street, simply wanted to show how much they care has been overwhelming. Collection centres have had to at times temporarily shut their doors to more donations, as they sort and pack another truck on its way to Poland. I know of three such collection points in my small town, one is run by a Ukrainian who went with the first trucks last Tuesday, to try to find and assist her family. Another is being co-ordinated from a cafe in town and another from the local Cricket club. I know of builders from another town close by who are filling their work vans with donated blankets, toiletries, nappies baby milk and cup a soups. When I shopped on Friday it was a strange, yet joyful feeling, to chat with strangers as we emptied the local supermarkets shelves of toothpaste, deodorant and soap. As I bought sanitary products, nappies and wipes, I wanted to add some, not exactly luxury items, things like moisturiser, hair spray, hair remover cream etc. but the list was specific. Designed to fill the trucks with essentials, although I did sneak in some conditioner. Head over heart. Then, on to the local cash and carry for industrial sized boxes of teabags and coffee sachets, sugar and longlife milk. This is one form of panic buying that I am in favour of.

I had promised myself I would not write about this crisis, for fear of setting off the trolls, but I had to speak out. Compared to the suffering in Ukraine, a stupid troll talking out of their backside is nothing. As I write this Ukrainians that have travelled to Calais, to reunite with family in UK, are caught up in a visa debacle meaning another journey to Paris. I hope the relevant authorities can come together to resolve this.

There is little I can do to help apart from making sure I continue to help fill the relief trucks with what is needed. I pray that the conflict is resolved quickly, that the destruction ceases and Ukraines can once again sleep safely in their beds at night.

The last time I wrote the two things on my mind were storm Eunice and my birthday cake. Well, we all emerged safely out of the storm. It was dramatic at times, trampolines taking flight, lorries on their sides. Trees fell and rivers flooded. Power cuts were everywhere and because of this my surprise birthday afternoon tea was cancelled. The venue had no power. All that paled into insignificance though when a dear friend told me some devastating news on the eve of my birthday. The invasion took place on my birthday and changed my priorities. Nothing seemed to matter anymore, once I had made sure everyone was safe, as by now another two storms had blown through, I concentrated my efforts on Ukraine. I make no apologies for expressing my horror and grief over what has happened.

I have one distraction, of which I am pleased and that is creating a new Twitter account. Not a secret one, one for the business I am involved with. There was one a year or so ago, but the girl who said she would run it landed an amazing job and so the account fell by the wayside. Unfortunately no one can remember the password, so that account is still floating around the Twitterverse. Although I have mentioned the business luxaeternagifts.com a few times on my personal Twitter account, I didn’t want the two to be combined. Boy, oh boy, is it difficult. I had forgotten how difficult it was. Breaking into craft Twitter is harder than writer Twitter I think. The hashtags are not so obvious and I really only want to reach people in UK, because we only post to UK. I shall also start a blog for luxaeternagifts.com, so I can leave this blog free of commercial advertising.

If anyone wants to follow me on the new Twitter account it is @LuxAeternaKent I have grown in confidence since opening this account with a video, where I speak. Yes, that’s right I have at last accepted how I sound! I think the USP of this Twitter account will be videos.

Stay safe everyone…much love M. XXX

Oh yes😂I always aim for 800 words…..without this paragraph the main body of the blog is exactly 800 words😁