For almost four of the seven years between 2007 – 2013 I was a long term foster Mum to three separate children over four separate periods. It started with a 12yo boy called Mathew at the end of 2006, through a series of often shocking events which I could never have predicted in my wildest … More Global Fortunes
Twickenham Stadium in London is the home of Rugby England. In the early hours of this morning (Australian time), 82,000 spectators watched from the stands at Twickenham as New Zealand’s All Blacks thrashed Australia’s Wallabies, 34 points to 17 in the Rugby World Cup. According to my research, the cheapest tickets to this game sold … More Hello From The Other Side
But it seems that the remaining project now, is to cram my belongings into a case and meet my travel companions ~ Famous Last Words By Me A Couple of Hours Ago Proof reading the final version of my last blog post less than two hours ago, this happened. Finding the words for a blog … More Not Out Of The Woods Yet
Mornings in Kampong Cham town and across Cambodia come alive the moment the first ray of sunlight blazes it’s long sharp streak through the fading night skies. The first market sellers start to appear on their motos piled high with what would, in my world, be truckloads of produce. When I appear a few hours … More Trying To Be A Noisy Neighbour
A good friend of mine here in Cambodia regularly says “If I had a gun, I would kill many people”. It’s ironic and funny because he’s a comedian who would never hurt a flea. The more serious underlying message is his reference to the terrible things he knows go on in our general vicinity. A … More Chickens For A Toilet
The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper ~ WB Yeats The day I met Paula and her family 16 months ago, they were resigned to a diagnosis of terminal cancer. Tears were common at that time and I remember not believing our initial reassurances to her, that … More Magnifying the Magic
When you get as old as me everyone starts to look young. Over 50% of the Cambodian population are under the age of 24 years old. Coming from a country where 40% of the population are over 50 years old, it is no wonder that I spend my life wondering why I’m surrounded by twelve … More We Can Survive Another Day
If you wait until you can do everything for everybody, instead of something for somebody, you’ll end up doing nothing for nobody. These words appear at the end of a short video currently doing the rounds on Facebook. In it, a young homeless man in a ripped t-shirt stands on a cold Manhattan street, holding … More “Just Stop”
It’s not really Paris, it’s an airport hotel on the outskirts of the city. Even Paris can be less than ordinary. In a few hours I’ll be winging my way to Phnom Penh. Thanks to the situation evolving with Paula, I finally picked Cambodia. It was an agonising decision thanks to the incredible experiences I’ve … More Pontificating in Paris
Waking on Friday morning, it seemed as though just another day in paradise lay ahead. Karen was attending her final class at the five-day cooking course being held at the home of the cookbook author and her husband, who run these courses several times a year. I was invited to join the 11 students and … More Another Day in Paradise
alicespringstomind 