Hope you enjoyed every minute of your significant birthday, Jaci! At this stage of our lives we become sages and wise women - and, dammit! We get bus passes!!!! Yayyyyyy!!!!!!! ( and ps. you never seem to age , Gal xxx Lookin' GOOD! )

We have an author among us - Anita Samiani-Shanley of the Oxgangs Cheyne Gang group who, after many years of dedication and extensive research has published her book: Ancestral Journeys: 19th and 20th Century Encounters with Religious Missions in the Middle East. The beautiful poem in the Forward written by Mahmoud Darwish "We Travel Like Other People" leads us into the story of two families , the As'ads from Northern Syria and the Somervilles whose ancestors arrived from Scotland to live and work in Lebanon; of a marriage between the two eldest members of each family and the start of a long, challenging journey for both families in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine. Anita shared much of their life and added her own experiences to their records about the political, educational events in the countries where they lived and worked. From the memoirs of James Somerville, Anita's own mother Alice As'ad Damiani ( who had worked for the United Nations Relief Agency ) gave her time and energy unravelling Somerville's script. Her granddaughters urged her and her sister to also record family memories. And in Anita's own words: " As all these narratives arrived at my home in Edinburgh, I felt it was my duty to have these accounts see the light of day. " This family saga is also an historical one - laced with fascinating photographs throughout - some including Anita herself - and is a call to human rights in the Palestinian nation. Anita's book can be ordered through Hadeel, 123 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4JN. 0131 225 1922 www.hadeel.org info@hadeel.org

Hi Everybody! What weather we're having - we don't know whether we're coming or going ! One moment the wind is howling, the next sleet and snow - then suddenly the day I filmed these videos the sun came as a warm surprise and it brought me so much joy I had forgotten that there were times during this lockdown when I felt a sense of anxiety that I couldn't name . Sound familiar? The idea for these exercises came when I wanted to practise what I preach and work on managing my own breath during the times I felt panicky. I keep using the phrase "grounded" for a good reason. When we feel grounded , when our breath is directed toward the earth, right down to the tip of our toes, we can create a sense of balance and stability. "Breathing out for breathing in" - the pattern we have described in our home exercises serves as a wonderful way to manage breath during these times. Using sound : "Body Toning " or "Body Tuning" was an experiment borrowed by the ancient Chinese Qigong practise ( chi gong ) - that combines posture, movement and focussed intent. I found it to be useful as not only a way to extend outbreath using sound but a vocal warming exercise. I'm going to fine tune it along the way as this was a first time effort! Happy Spring!

Whooo hooo! Was treated to my vaccine 12 Feb xx Happy Days! They couldn't have been kinder at Hay Lodge in Peebles. Organised, friendly and caring. Power to the NHS!!!!!! Love out to our front line workers as well xxxxxxxxxxxxx😍

Anne Ritchie lent me " Run" by Ann Patchett - Really enjoyed the character studies - warm and compassionate story of a Boston family - quite uniquely plotted . Brought me back to a city I lived in for 10 years - reminding me of the "big snows" - when the city seems to stand still. Good winter reading - get the quilt out and hot water bottle!😍

I too read Where The Crawdads Sing and highly recommend it. Thank goodness for great books during this lockdown. Santa gave me a precious book called, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy - not a novel, but the kind of book to keep close at hand when you need comfort, peace of mind, and quite simply, a friend. Beautiful illustrations and words of quiet, kind wisdom. Thank you, Mrs. Clause! xx