Emotion

There must be so many people who feel like I do. I feel so emotional but so useless. I watch the news and well up, seeing such misery and pain. I am, of course, thinking of Haiti. I have just watched a young woman being gently eased out of the rubble after 5 days - can you imagine 5 days of such fear? Such inability to change your situation? My chest is tight with emotion. I want to do more but don't know what, especially considering my job, dependents etc. One day I hope I can find the physical and emotional strength to be properly useful in such a disaster - I just want to feed and comfort those poor people. What frustrates me most is that I am so ill informed that I didn't know the plight of Haitians, even before this horror.

I am never going to buy the Daily Mail again. In the past 4 days, the Haiti earthquake has never warranted being higher than page 8. Today, fuel bills, Leona Lewis, Prince William and others, have been given a higher billing. It is an awful truth to realise that is where the Mail thinks its readers priorities lie. Even if it does supply a steady stream of dieting materials, I can no longer support such inanities.

The coffee morning in the Village Hall was great. We were busy from start to finish and raised £750 which will go to Christian Aid's Appeal. It was good to see smiling faces, chatting eagerly having been confined to barracks by the weather for the past few weeks. As we expect in this lovely village, everyone rallied with generosity to help raise funds for a good cause.

The snow has gone except around the edges of the fields and on the tops. It is good to be able to walk with confidence and not teeter round looking like my Gran. Now I just need lighter nights and I can stop making excuses for my lack of exercise.

Tomorrow is my middle babe's 13th birthday - the curls are tamed with GHD's but the smile and Minstrel-coloured eyes are the same (if enhanced by occasional flicks of mascara). I want her to have a happy day. I wonder if the Emma Bridgewater Union Jack doorstop in the shape of a cockerel was a good idea..................

E xx