I look out of the windows and see yet another manic squirrel doing gymnastics to nibble the fat balls in my new, rather more sturdy container while the intelligent birds quietly sit underneath and pick up the crumbs!

I'm dealing with Windows of another kind as I took possession this month of a lovely shiny new computer with Windows 7 and Office 2010.  As I've been prioritising getting my work done despite the unfamiliar 'ribbon' instead of menus, I've not yet sufficiently customised the new machine to stop it producing a wide variety of dings and dongs and other funny sounds, though I did make it a priority to switch off those annoying blue box Outlook email alerts which are the biggest distraction imaginable. 

The Christmas holiday was great - more than two weeks away from the computer though I did wean myself off messages using my BlackBerry for a few days until I was thoroughly ready to forget it all.  Just one return to online life to do my tax return and it was worth it to get that crossed off my list.

Since then I've been getting ready for a new term of Governors' meetings at the school with a bit of 'to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail' mentality.  I've learned a lot about the politics of accreditation of adult learning courses, which was interesting to say the least, and have been helping with a marketing campaign for a small business.  A great day was spent in a grey and murky Brighton on a day's workshop on using LinkedIn for business; this was run by my friend Kate Bacon and her associate Gary Elton-Shewan and was really enjoyable as well as inspiring.  Since then I've been tinkering with my LinkedIn profile and asking for more recommendations - a rather embarrassing task which isn't really 'me', to be honest but my efforts did result in conversations or emails with old friends and colleagues which was nice.

Add to that the groundwork for a national inter-mission-agency meeting and I've been well occupied in the office so it was good to spend last Saturday evening with old friends, an Indian family returning home after 4 years in Bristol, at our local very authentic Indian vegetarian restaurant, then Sunday with my husband and 8 friends at the surprise 90th birthday celebrations for a dear friend's mother. 

I'm looking forward to what already looks to be a busy February.  See you again then.

What I'm reading:
I'm still with Vince Cable's book on the economic crisis (see November!) - just got to the final chapter.  It's earnest stuff and I'm learning a lot but it's not quite a John Grisham page turner - ah well, perhaps I can allow myself one of those at Easter!

I am planning to take a long and much-needed holiday over the Christmas season starting tomorrow lunchtime so, before I head off to the Presentation Evening at the school where I am Clerk to the Governors, I thought I'd better finish off the year with a quick blog to say thank you to all the people who have been so helpful and supportive to me during 2011 and to wish you all a peaceful and restful Christmas. 

This has been a month of variety - so much so that my personal deadlines for Christmas letters etc are not going to be met although thankfully I always build in some buffer time. 

I started November at an interactive workshop given by my client Matt Bird to visitors to Central Working, a fantastic internet cafe-type office/meeting space near Tottenham Court Road.  It's used mainly by those setting up and running small businesses and has become a community of entrepreneurs.  My friend Kate uses it but, although I would love the excuse to work there occasionally, I have my own office here at home.  Matt's talk on Relationology was very well received and I made some good contacts.  It was also nice to see old friends at the Central London PA Network when another VA, Susie Stephenson, spoke about Personal Development Plans and her own studies with Kudos Training. 

It's been a busy time at the school, with Committees and a Full Governing Body meeting, three new Governors to induct and install, a paper to write, and various working parties now on the horizon.  Even though I love working remotely, it's nice to be part of a team and have an ID badge!

In addition to the usual diary management, specialist document production and proof-reading work, I've been researching course accreditation with adult learning awarding bodies, organising lunches and meetings, also keeping in touch with business friends via email and coffee meetings and with VA colleagues on the Society of Virtual Assistants forum.

Next week I'll be spending a day in Suffolk at a charity trustees' board meeting.  This will require 2 x 3 hour journeys (4 trains each way) so I'll get plenty of reading and thinking done, which is always a pleasure.  Then the following weekend will be my Mum's 85th Birthday family get-together.  I've cut down on Christmas events this year (we've already had our homegroup party last night) but am looking forward to another 'posh tea' with Kate and Barbara in town. 

The weather has generally been mild and I'm hoping tomorrow won't produce the snowfall we had on 1/12/10 when I was stuck in a train going to London.  Maybe I'll manage to get the grass cut one more time before winter.  I've tried raking up the oak leaves but the tree is still full of them so I might just wait until they've all fallen.  I'm delighted that my attempt to grow shallots and garlic again, but over winter this time, has so far been a success, with plentiful shoots and of course no sign of any marauding slugs and snails in my raised bed as hopefully they are hibernating.

What I'm reading:
The Storm by Vince Cable [ too early to comment; just started it]

The squirrels are really active in the garden and distracting me dreadfully.  They are very funny to watch as they scramble up and down the fences, race over the grass and stand up meerkat-like to have a look around.  Not so funny when they dig in my tubs and baskets, even when protected by holly.  Ouch!  During this month of lovely weather, and just before the frost was threatening a couple of weeks ago, I got organised with a new mini-greenhouse and got my fuchsia collection in there, all snug under fleece and plastic covers.  They are continuing to bloom and the hot chilli peppers are being harvested as they turn from green to red.  Even some very late strawberries are appearing.  I think the weather has confused the plants, as next door's forsythia has its yellow flowers on show about 6 months early.  There are enough fallen oak leaves now for me to think I'd better get the rake out.  Whether I'll get round to making leaf mould in bin bags, as Monty Don advocates, is not yet decided.

A very interesting month I've just had... including the Centenary of the church fellowship of which I was a part in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.  The huge joke about the longevity of Bridge Lane Chapel (The Bridge Fellowship) in North London is that the building was and still is a temporary wooden structure.  It's so attractive that no-one has ever felt like pulling it down and starting again - in fact the current leadership has put a nice extension on the front!

The school at which I am Clerk to the Governors had both its Ofsted inspection and its Church of England inspection and achieved Outstanding status in both, which was brilliant. I've been attending Clerks' Briefings and taking some online courses. The eighth Cross Pollinate event, held at Deloitte's in the City, raised £60,000 for small social action charities and it was again a pleasure to be involved in it.  One of my clients took me out to a lovely lunch in St James's in recognition of the four years we had been working happily together.  I am helping another client with her home paperwork and we celebrated finally getting a huge task out of the way which had been bothering her for a couple of years.  So, what with some catch-ups with friends and the continuing renovation of our house, life has been a little full and my exercise regime has fallen apart; it's time to make sure there's a bit more space in my diary in the run-up to Christmas.

What I've been reading:
The same book as last month - it was fascinating and I re-read it before I had to return it to the church library.

I suppose September is always full of action.  Holidays are generally over and there is that special zing of enthusiasm for a new 'term',  a new academic year, an autumn of events leading, inevitably, to the activity surrounding Christmas, at which point we take a few deep breaths and start again at New Year.  

This September has seen more action than I expected.  While I was naturally aware that my husband was going to celebrate a milestone birthday (with various items to be procured in secret), I couldn't have foreseen that the school at which I am Clerk to the Governors would have an Ofsted inspection so early into the new term.  I really admire the staff - teaching and non-teaching - for the way (and the hours) they worked.  It's all over now so I will give the result when I can. 

Otherwise, work continued with meetings, Minutes, diary juggling and event planning, correspondence and research for seven clients.

This month was a bit different in other ways.  Firstly, we took my mother on a surprise visit to the Heucheraholics Open Day in the New Forest.  Heucheraholics?  Well, as you already know from a previous blog entry, I like Heuchera plants and Mum has joined me in this admiration (I'd better not say addiction).  We had a great time.  In the next nursery was a huge plot of dahlias which was very nostalgic for Mum and me as my late father used to grow and exhibit them when I was a child.  Secondly, I went to the annual Office Show at Earl's Court and thirdly, my husband and I have tickets for tomorrow's National Home Improvement Day, again at Earl's Court.  Finally, we said goodbye to a friend from church who has moved to Norfolk - we all enjoyed the party but already miss Ginny.

The courgettes are putting on a final spurt and the green chilli peppers are turning red.  The squirrels are running around the garden and digging in my containers and the pigeons are pecking at the grass which needs mowing.  This weekend some home and garden improvement is called for, I reckon.

What I've been reading:
Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend [I cannot recommend this book too highly and I wish I had read it years ago.  It's all about when to say 'yes' and how to say 'no' to demands from people...]

As I mentioned last month, back in March I decided to try going gluten-free and I can't believe the difference it's made to how I feel.  With the advice of other friends, I've learned that some gluten-intolerant people can manage to eat oats, and others can't, and that it's best to go Asian when eating out because the rice works OK, although if you can find baked potatoes that's good too.  Italian only works if you can find risotto on the menu, or corn pasta.

So far it hadn't been much of a problem until I went on holiday and visited people in their homes.  Northern Ireland is a famously hospitable place where bread, cakes and biscuits are the norm with a cup of tea.  Still, it worked out OK in the end and we had a wonderful holiday.   Here I am in Dublin on the day we went down south to visit our nephew, Alwyn, who is the Studio Manager at Westland where Bob Dylan, U2, Kate Bush, the Corrs and other very worthy recording artists made their albums. 

I thought I was going to get a lot done at home in August but it didn't quite work that way.  I helped a client in her house move which was a week earlier than expected and complicated for all sorts of reasons.  I also had meetings in London and my annual MOT health check at the gym (health fine, fitness could be improved) and finalised paperwork.  We  took my Mum to the annual New Forest Fuchsia Society show in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, which has become something of a tradition now; the weather was much better than last year and the lunch at the Crown Hotel was very enjoyable.  Yes, I came back with two new fuchsias.  The ones I bought last year and which survived the winter (in my little portable greenhouse) have been blooming away fantastically this summer in hanging and wall baskets. 

So now it's back to work (since yesterday).  My son is flying to New York right now for a holiday and it's weird to think of him being so far away.  However, I must concentrate on preparing for the new academic year at the school at which I am Governors' Clerk and getting my invoicing and finances sorted out for this month.

What I've been reading:
The Confession by John Grisham [A great read yet a sobering reminder of the issues surrounding the death penalty.]

After weeks of building works and extra hours spent in the office, I finally returned to the neglected pots on the patio and got some veg plants potted up.  Far too late, of course, but hopefully something will come of them.  This week I have harvested the shallots and garlic I planted in the spring.  59 shallots was pretty good and the garlic, although smaller than I imagined, looks fine.  After a record-breaking number of snails and slugs this summer, I finally resorted to two beer traps and I must say inspecting the contents was both satisfying and horribly disgusting.  So I may even try some salad leaves now and hope for the best. 

This summer may have been patchy weather-wise but we have had very few fox sightings and none of the hassle of last summer with plants dug up and the need to clear up after them every morning.  Relief!  The absence of three cats next door has also encouraged a much larger number of birds into our garden, including wrens.  I think we have blackbird and robin nests in the oak tree on the riverbank behind our fence. 

I have been getting to know more about heuchera plants.  I am already a fan of fuchsias and thymes and have recently started a heuchera collection.  Heucheras have such lovely leaves and names - Creme Brulee, Lime Marmalade, Key Lime Pie, Ginger Ale, Plum Pudding, Licorice, Peach Flambe etc!

I've been enjoying a slightly quieter month and catching up with some paperwork.  Summer holidays have started at the school where I am Governors' Clerk but there are lots of records to update and documents to study as an Ofsted inspection could happen anytime in the next two terms.  I've been working with two smaller clients and with Make It* Happen Events and MIH's Business Accelerator Programme as well as the small charity and the construction company. 

It's been great to spend another lovely weekend in Hampshire with Mum and a relaxing evening with friends at the Central London PA Network's Annual Dinner.  This was supposed to happen at Christmas but was cancelled because of the snow so we had a Midsummer one instead.  They were kind enough to ensure I had gluten-free bread rolls too.  I've been trying to go gluten-free since March and it has made such a difference to the way I feel.  I am now scouring the supermarkets for suitable bread, pasta, cereal etc and can recommend Waitrose and Morrison.  I've yet to research Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda - if anyone out there can share their expertise, please do!

So, it's time to wrap up July and look forward to a couple of quiet weeks in August before my holiday. 

What I'm reading:
Directory of Social Change's Speed Read book Risk Management by Elizabeth Gray-King.  [I've not speed-read enough of it yet to comment but it looks useful.]

Cleo is a little black feline, the epitome of a 'scaredy cat'!  We found her a couple of years ago and my neighbour next door took her in although one of her existing cats didn't take to Cleo too well.  Despite this, things were fine until my neighbour moved a month ago:  Cleo wouldn't go.  Stressed by the packing boxes and the upheaval, she bolted each time.  After a week my former neighbour gave up the battle, quite understandably.  So we started feeding Cleo outside.  The weather was quite good and she had been a stray before so she started sleeping rough and coming to us for Sheba cans, GoCat biscuits and water.  After a few days she got more friendly but for many reasons we didn't feel we could keep her.  Thankfully a very helpful lady at the RSPCA managed to catch her in our garden and take her to a suitable half-way house.  We hope soon to hear that she has been re-homed somewhere quiet and comfortable.  We said goodbye to her with relief and quite a bit of sadness too.

This was all in the context of our house and garden being in complete upheaval with builders coming and going.  We are in week 7 and I think tomorrow is the day it's all finished so hopefully this weekend is going to see a massive cleaning and clearing session.  The builders have been great but I wish they didn't start so early in the day! 

I think, all things considered, we coped much better with the building works than we did over the cat!

In between all this, I was involved in three Governors meetings,  found some new contacts via the Christian Business Network, visited CharityFair in London at the Hotel Russell and attended a workshop on charity fundraising events, checked out new PA qualifications via a reception at Reed, and welcomed the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP to a meeting of the Cinnamon Network at Westminster Central Hall.  As my bit for the community I took part in a residents' meeting with Harlequins RFU club and enjoyed catching up with a couple of friends over coffee/lunch.  Our homegroup started studying the book of Colossians and I stayed two weekends in Hampshire with Mum.  My only real disappointment was that tonight I was due to be with very old friends who have been living in the States for 20 years but they have had to stay in the North for family reasons and fly back during next week.  Still, we have Facebook!

What I've been reading: 
A lot of emails!  I've also been re-reading last month's book as I felt it warranted more in-depth consideration.

A dear friend emailed me from across the world and very politely pointed out that the word 'busy' was to be found in almost all my recent emails to him.  He hoped he hadn't spoken out of turn - and he hadn't.  Interestingly I became very aware at about the same time, through seven other people (talks, books, articles, conversations), that the idea of some stillness was being reinforced in my life.   So I've taken it to heart (see What I've been reading below).  We all need reminders like this and good friends are invaluable!  Learning to say 'no, sorry' to things people want me to do is still hard but I'm practising.


I've done some interesting and diverse things in May:  helping Matt Bird with his Business Accelerator Programme on HMS President on the Thames; attending a Briefing evening for School Governor Clerks; spending two days at the Christian Resources Exhbition in Esher, Surrey seeing old friends, meeting clients and potential clients and taking part in my first Speed Networking session which was hilarious, noisy, exhausting and fun; assisting a lady who needed some personal administration done as she assesses her vast store of books; and finally doing the usual kind of work - diary management, correspondence, committee Minutes and the like.   The drought in the South East meant that I also spent longer than anticipated wielding the watering can around the garden.

It would have been a fairly normal month except that, early in May, a would-be copper thief, while assessing how lucrative the local BT lines would be, cut through a cable of 3000 lines.  Havoc?  An understatement.  Pretty bad for those of us who work remotely via internet but potentially catastrophic for the many elderly folk around here who depend on their landline.  My neighbour's medical panic button wouldn't work and that was just one story I heard.  We have two lines here and both were off for a week, but the second one (my internet line) was then crossed with another neighbour's and that took a further four days to sort out.  You can (and should) plan for emergencies, loss of internet, computer breakdown etc but this was pretty severe by any standards.  I'm more grateful than I can ever say to my friend John whose advice and help kept my work going through two working weeks of dongles and re-routed emails and BlackBerry dependence!

So, now it's half term. Relief!  Clients are on holiday, the school is closed and I'm catching up.  To be honest, I'm spending a lot of time here in the office because we are having building works here at home and it's the quietest, least dusty place to be!

What I've been reading: 
The Busy Christian's Guide to Busyness by Tim Chester [excellent - not about time management but attitude management!]

What an amazing break I've just had.  I was really looking forward to it after a hectic couple of months and wishing Easter wasn't so late this year, but the weather was so fantastic that I couldn't have asked for more.  True, it did mean I was back into the plant watering routine earlier than expected but it is so good to see the blueberries, strawberries, shallots, garlic and radishes thriving.  I've other plants to pot up and have just sown some lettuces, tomatoes and courgettes in the propagator on my dining room windowsill and some sweet peas in the garden.  I am not sure if the foxes are back - I think possibly they are as some more holes have developed in the soil although this could just be the squirrels! 

So, I'm back at work for a couple of half days before the long weekend.  My sincere thanks to HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton for arranging for us all to have  another bank holiday. 

April may have been a short working month but it was certainly full.  I did a big telephone project for an exhibition, while managing to juggle my other clients successfully around it, and took part in an afternoon course for School Governor Clerks at Diocesan House in Pimlico.   I met up with friends from the Central London PA Network one evening for a visit to St Olave's Church, Hart Street in the City of London and enjoyed supper with Gayle afterwards at a pub called The Crutched Friar.  Revd Oliver Ross gave us a brilliant tour of his church, complete with a demonstration of his encyclopaedic and witty knowledge of its history.  The first casualty of the great plague of 1665 died at the church and 365 plague victims are buried there, which explains the memorable sculpted skulls over one of the doors.  I'd visited this church in the mid-1980s without remembering its name so it was great to have the opportunity to go back and learn a lot more.  Finally, I met up with a group of former colleagues for a reunion in Victoria, had an excellent 'girls' day' with three old friends with a picnic at the Roman ruins at Silchester, and spent a very happy and relaxed afternoon and evening with Kate and Barbara for tea and then drinks at Fortnum &  Mason's - our very occasional treat. 

I think I'd better leave it there as I have some work to catch up with.  No books to comment upon this month;  I admit I just haven't got round to starting a new one although there are plenty of unread ones awaiting my attention.  See you in May!

My dear friend and former boss Norman passed away on 3 March at the age of nearly 92.  As another friend said on the phone, "Norman has gone to heaven".  As lots of other friends have said, he will certainly have got a "Well done, good and faithful servant" welcome.  His Thanksgiving Service in Sussex a week later, so beautifully arranged by his family, was tremendously appropriate for him and challenging to the rest of us.  For all that he achieved in his business and mission career (and it was a huge amount), he was most remembered for the man he was.  No-one could have had a better friend than Norman.   He was always available by email or at the end of the phone to listen and to give wise advice and he would always remember to phone from time to time to see how we all were.  I miss him very much.  It was he who - over the 31 years I knew him -  taught me all about formal meeting procedures, charity law, being a trustee and writing the occasional firm but gracious letter of complaint when the situation warranted it.  He widened my vocabulary, taught me some finer points of English grammar which my own Grammar School hadn't, and punctuated his dictation with phrases in Latin, French and the text of the Authorised Version.  His handwriting was distinctive and illegible to all but his family and his PAs.  He was unique! 

March has been a challenging month in many ways.  We have recently heard that two other old friends, Ken Monteith and Gerald West, have also died.  They were both Elders in the church in Highgate, North London, of which my husband and I were members in the 1980s.  We had not long been married and these gracious men and their families were so welcoming and hospitable to us.  We give thanks for both of them.

My feet have hardly touched the ground, what with masses of work and some warmer sunny weather which has enabled me at last to get things moving in the garden.  The blueberries have apparently survived their separation, the strawberries are flowering and the shallots, garlic and radishes are sprouting.  I am still battling the antics of cats and squirrels (with the help of holly leaves) but the foxes have not appeared - yet.  The blossom on our Copper Beech tree was stunning. 

Make It* Happen asked me to help with three charity events this month so I went off to the Athenaeum, the German Ambassador's Residence and the Apothecaries' Hall - all fabulous locations with lovely people and great evenings of fundraising.  Add in a large typing job for a client needing transcripts of video interviews about community mental health teams (all new to me) , two Governors' meetings to clerk and a Parent Governor election for which I was the Returning Officer, as well as my usual work, and I was rather well occupied: that was apart from family social appointments with old friends and the Annual Reunion Dinner of the Henrietta Barnett School Association.

I am looking forward to catching up with myself in April and taking a break at Easter...

What I'm reading:
100 Ways to Simplify Your Life by Joyce Meyer.  [!]

"Always making progress together" is a translation of the Italian title of this blog, and this certainly encapsulates what happened on 5 February when 17 of us got together for a mini-conference in Central London for Italian Ministries UK.  From Aberdeen to Essex, people arrived by car, plane or train and we had a fantastic day.  Particular thanks to the Civil Service Club for  the meeting room and hearty lunches!

Meanwhile school Governors' meetings resumed - I have another tonight, so had better not spend too much time on this blog - and I really enjoyed my evening with other Clerks at a briefing held by the Local Authority. 
There is quite a bit to learn and of course the Coalition Government's White Paper is about to turn a lot of things educational on their heads so it's an interesting time to be involved. 

Another of my clients kept me busy with his diary management and communications with his clients and contacts, including a management team strategy meeting at the Royal Automobile Club with him and his associates.  This was my first visit to the RAC and I was a little taken aback to see one of Stirling Moss's green racing cars sitting in the middle of the foyer.  You'll have gathered it's a large foyer.

I had thought that last week would be so quiet that I could catch up with things but it wasn't quite like that.  I did though manage to remain virtual all week with no meetings to attend, though I appear to be making up for it this week with tonight's committee,  a visit to the school to organise a Parent Governor election, and three networking meetings locally and in London. 

It's been an encouraging month, with two new clients having project work to pass on to me.   On a personal note, my husband and I were able to take my mother to see The King's Speech which we all thoroughly enjoyed.  My mother doesn't live anywhere near a cinema but we found the film showing in the next county; she hadn't been to a cinema, she reckons, for at least 24 years!

In my garden the shallots are sprouting in the raised veg patch (now covered to deter the squirrels, birds, snails, foxes and cats which plagued me last year), the copper beech is budding with blossom and the daffodils are in fine form. 

What I've been reading:
Going Freelance - how to succeed in being your own boss by A&C Black Publications [a useful reminder of the reasons why I went freelance in 2007 and some down-to-earth practical advice]

Here I am, about to dash out for a meeting.  It's the last day of January and I should be writing my blog.  Anyway, I have started it!  They say that something done 80 per cent is better than something not started at all.  Not sure who "they " are but this isn't even going to be 80 per cent.  I shall go to my meeting and return to this blog tomorrow.

Well, it was a good plan but I have only just made it back to this blog and today is 10 February.  Apart from saying that life has been busy, I won't explain more or else I'll not have much to write about in 18 days' time. 

Back to January:  well I thoroughly enjoyed planning a mini-conference for friends of a small charity involved in mission to, in and from Italy.   More on this in my February blog.

The year started in an interesting way.  As has become a habit, I spent New Year's Eve quietly thinking about my objectives for the coming year.   I'd had far too many goals last year.   One of them had been to finish creating the filing system in the office and to revamp the domestic filing.  This had been on the 'to do' list all year but the funny thing was that my husband suddenly started sorting out a few papers after Christmas and I joined in for the rest of the day.  On 1 January I tackled the work filing in the office and it all 'flowed'.  By that evening the whole goal had been achieved!  That was a very encouraging start to 2011 though two days later I was clearing  the kitchen and hit my forehead on the microwave oven bracket.  I felt fine but one of my sons insisted I ring NHS Direct.  Despite answering 'no' to all but one of their questions, the computer told the phone operator that I had to go to A&E;  I went to the local Minor Accident Unit instead.  I was warned of a two hour wait but 40 minutes later, I was seen for two minutes and sent home with a piece of paper about head injuries.   Not a great way to spend a bank holiday but I got some reading done!

In early January my husband and I went to the Thanskgiving Service for Steve Moody, a church pastor in Hounslow whom my husband had visited regularly during his recent illness.   About 150 people squashed into a small church to show their appreciation for a very wise, modest and tremendously effective man who had passed away on Christmas morning.  He is going to get a great big 'Well Done' in heaven but we're going to miss him.

On the gardening front, nothing much happened except that the weather didn't provide much opportunity to clear up the oak leaves which had fallen in December.  Still, I did some virtual horticulture watching the inspiring Carol Klein and her Life in a Cottage Garden  on BBC2.  She has a massive garden in Devon and gardening is her job, so we have little in common except that her fences fall down, her  trees need pruning and the slugs and snails eat her plants -  it all made me feel a lot better!

What I'm reading:
Brilliant Email by Monica Seeley [and I've already pruned my email folders, even if I've not got to the roses yet]

I'm looking out of my office windows.  The snow is lying crisp, even if not particularly deep or even, and the autumn leaves are still on the oak trees!  I officially closed my office for Christmas on Friday at lunchtime, but am back tidying up a few things, shredding papers, finishing off some Minutes and writing this blog.  Then I hope to transfer my attention to more domestic things.

On Friday afternoon I had another 'posh tea' with Kate Bacon in London though sadly Barbara could not join us this time.  Although we had half an inch of snow out here in the suburbs, Piccadilly was snow-free and travel worked well, unlike on 2 December when we had our first snow and I was due at a book launch in Russell Square at 12.30 pm.  The tain set off optimistically, only to be held up by red signals along the route - a delay in total of 1 hour and 20 minutes.  I made it to the event 25 minutes before it ended but I have to say that it was well worth the difficulties - Dr Monica Seeley was launching her book Brilliant Email and it was a pleasure to meet her and her colleague Susan and to accept their warm hospitality, making sure I got lunch and signing two books for me.  When my husband and I got married, we lived for a while just off Russell Square so it was quite nostalgic to walk (or slither) along nearby streets, regrettably failing to recognise the Brunswick Centre which had been revamped and spotting a Tesco that was never there in our day.  I called in to our favourite restaurant, Il Fornello, to see if any of the waiters we remembered from the 1980s were still there, but they had all retired.  I was made very welcome there too and my husband took a colleague to lunch there the next day.

Although a short month, it has been eventful with lots of diary management and meeting arrangements, work for the school to finalise before term ended, and Christmas mailings.  One of my clients took me out to lunch at Galvin at Windows at the Hilton in Park Lane which was a great treat.  I started organising a meeting for Italian Ministries UK to take place in February with friends planning to travel from Scotland, North Wales, Crewe and Manchester as well as more local areas like Reading and London. 

I'd like to thank all those - family, friends, clients, associates and colleagues - who have supported me so wonderfully during this year.  I wish you all a very blessed, peaceful and joyful Christmas.

What I've been reading:
The Week magazine.  We got this as a Christmas present last year and are hooked.  It arrives every Friday, tells us everything we want to know about the week's news (politics, foreign news, sport, finance, culture - even what's happened in The Archers!) and we all read it.  Then the back copies go to my mother!

The leaves are, for the most part, still on the old oak trees which line the riverbank at the bottom of our garden, yet today we had snow flurries and sleet.  I went into London to see an old friend and former colleague who is advising me on my IT system, so we kept warm with huge mugs of tea and hot chocolate at Costa Coffee in Waterloo Station.   I managed to cut the grass last weekend and tidy up some of the plants but with a north-easterly wind blowing from Siberia, I don't think I'll be managing more for a while.  No, I'm trying to stay inside and devote more time to repotting my African Violets - not really the right time of year, I guess, but better late/early than never!

This has been a month when the new, extra session a week gym routine has been temporarily suspended in favour of producing a huge amount of work.  14 sets of meeting notes have been a challenge - ten done, four to go! - and have seen me out in my garden office until...well, quite late at night.  It's when all is quiet and the emails have stopped that I can really concentrate on a long task and get it done in one go. 

Unfortunately, my co-charity trustees and I fixed 3 November for a meeting in Suffolk.  It clashed with a London Underground strike but I managed to get to Sudbury and back in one piece and on ten trains.  It would have been nine but one broke down at Gidea Park.  Very thankful though that it all worked out and we had an excellent time together.

I've found myself in four early morning meetings this month, which was far more tiring for a night owl like me than any amount of working late into the night.  One was to welcome about 50 charity CEOs and church leaders into another meeting on responses to the Coalition Government's Big Society concept; it was nice to be at Westminster Central Hall again.

Another early start - this time on a Saturday - was for a great day out in Hampshire and Berkshire with three very dear and longstanding girl friends.  I'd known them all at least 35 years and one even longer than that, so it was a relaxing time of being with people who knew me well.  "We really must do this more often", we all said.  I hope we do.

Now I'm in the middle of Christmas correspondence and some self-imposed deadlines are looming.  I had better stop blogging and get on with some proper literary creativity.

What I've been reading:
The Rules of Work by Richard Templar. 
[Not sure what to make of this.  Some sensible stuff and some bits that seem awfully smug.  Anyway, just the fact that I've told you I've been reading it means I've broken one of the Rules already!]

Yes, many of the green tomatoes of last month turned red in the dining room with the help of a sunny window, a radiator and a few ripe bananas nearby.  Unfortunately a lot of them went brown so were fed to the compost bin. 

In the garden the fuchsias were repotted from the hanging and wall baskets and kept snug in the small portable greenhouse just as the weather turned frosty.  Phew!  I still have some salad leaves in the patio raised bed, protected by holly leaves which so far have proved very effective, and the alpine strawberries are still producing fruit for my cereal bowl - they were much more successful this year than the larger varieties.  Still lots more to tidy up though, and some bulbs to plant. 

I'm writing this in the garden office, with the rain beating on the roof, Any Questions on the radio and the dawning realisation that I ought to hurry up and get it finished and get some supper.  This month has been one of Minutes - seven sets of them - which I've tended to tackle in the evenings when all is quiet.  I've been learning a lot about educational terminology and found my afternoon at the London Diocesan Board for Schools in Pimlico very worthwhile. 

The evening of my last blog I spent with the Central London PA Network where my friend Linda was doing a presentation for Colour Me Beautiful on colour, style and autumn trends - a really enjoyable evening.  I went to Lambeth Palace to help with the latest Cross Pollinate event on a beautiful evening.  The next week it was to Brooks Club in St James's for the third year of a special corporate dinner for BHP Billiton during London Metal Exchange week.  This time we all had our silhouettes done, cut out on black paper with scissors in about two minutes - amazing!  I spent a lot of time talking with a British Asian from Manchester and London who now lived in Singapore, and a Canadian who had studied at York University who was working in Peru.  It was interesting to be involved with mining companies as the Chilean miners were about a day from being brought back to the surface. 

Theresa came round to advise me on some IT, I met up with Tina again en route to my Mum's, I had a catch up with Kate by phone before she left for her Brazil trip but otherwise I was not able to be very sociable.  There's still a lot on the 'to do' list but cutting many of my responsibilities last month means I hope I'll see the benefit fairly soon!   With Christmas on the horizon, though, that might be an over- optimistic thought.

What I've been reading:
Nothing new - just been dipping into some of the books I'd read earlier in the year.

 

Yes, unfortunately I planted out my tomatoes a bit late this year and, although the yield is pretty good, they are only just turning red.  The ones we have eaten though are great and I'll be planting Alicante a bit earlier next year - I hope!

I'd hardly had time to get back to my desk and write last month's blog when I was required to pack my bag for Missione 2010 in Rimini.  I met up with my travelling companion, Jonathan from Latin Link, at Gatwick and then with Juan-Carlos and David at Bologna airport.  The congress - on the theme of Mission - not a walk in the park -  was excellent and a challenge  and catching up with old friends and making some new contacts was a highlight. 

So, I'd hardly had time to unpack my amaretti biscuits when a deluge  of work swept into my in-tray and continued the entire month.  Well, I am not complaining though keeping everything together and actioned in time for deadlines has been a feature of September.  I've been preparing for two big events next month as well as spending hours diary juggling for two clients who need to organise a lot of meetings with people whose diaries are, well, challenging.  I've also been out and about in London more than usual, with a breakfast meeting,  a forum of charities discussing The Big Society concept,  an evening in Hatton Garden with IPA London, a software training day with Endis held at the Salvation Army HQ (the views of the capital from their upper floors would definitely distract me daily if I worked there!)  and the new office* show at Earls Court.  Two personal visits to London were very special: my husband's birthday lunch and a reunion with Christoph and Marianne, our friends from Berlin we'd not seen since 1989.

It was an eventful month too in that I finally took the decision to cut back on my voluntary activities.  This was terribly hard (which was why I had put it off for so long) but I have now given up or reduced everything except my charity trusteeship.  I am very grateful for the gracious way people have understood the need for me to suspend my involvement in their committees.

I clerked my first Full Governing Body meeting for the school this week and it went well.  Last night I had a fascinating time at a Clerk's Briefing evening run by the local council.  Knowing which procedures are statutory and which are dependent on the decisions of the Governors is going to be something I'll have to learn along the way.  I am so grateful that my former boss, Norman, taught me formal meeting procedures so well when I worked with him in the 1980s!

This review would not be complete without mentioning Hugo, a close friend of one of our sons, who was lost at sea while working on a trawler in Queensland, Australia during September.  This tragic and mysterious accident cast a  shadow over us all and continues to affect our son and his circle of friends.

What I've been reading:
Italian Neighbours: An Englishman in Verona by Tim Parks [Just had to re-read this after ten years before lending it to Stefania]
The Tipping Point: how little things can make a big difference by Malcolm Gladwell [Recommended by one of my clients and a fascinating read]


 

I am just back at my desk after a couple of weeks' holiday and trying to catch up, but also aiming to get ahead of myself as I'll be away at Missione 2010 in Rimini later this week.  This is quite challenging!

While we were in Northern Ireland (great to catch up with family and to meet a fellow VA, Heather), we had lots of wonderful sunshine while the rain fell in bucketloads here in London.  This meant that I got the best of both worlds - a (mainly) sunny holiday and all my plants nicely watered when I got back.  I am still battling the foxes, the cats, the slugs and the squirrels but I was very proud of my first aubergine and we picked and ate it on Sunday.

The month actually started with another visit with Mum to the New Forest Fuchsia Society's Annual Show in Lyndhurst.  It rained again, but not as badly as last year, and this time we won nothing in the tombola!  Very inspiring to see the wonderful displays though.  I came home with a Harry Grey which is now trailing from one of my wall baskets.

Work-wise it was a short month but I was kept busy with proof-reading a client's new website and learning more about clerking School Governors' meetings, as well as helping with a marketing campaign, sorting out diary engagements and co-ordinating details with the UK visitors to the Italian mission congress. 

Collecting one of our sons from London Gatwick after his holiday in Germany at a music festival (thankfully not the one where people were so sadly hurt), and having a long time to wait, my husband and I browsed WH Smith and came away with some new books (we are both addicted to books and hate throwing any out).  Added to the ones I'd bought recently in our local bookshop, I now have quite a pile of reading and feel I may just have got a little too optimistic, but I've made a good start. 

I am a bit concerned about September.  The diary is already quite full.  Hey ho.  More news in a month's time assuming I get through it all!

What I've been reading:
How to be Smart with your Time by Duncan Bannatyne [Very engaging.]
The Associate by John Grisham [Losing myself in a JG novel is an annual holiday treat!]
Sales Therapy by Grant Leboff [Thought provoking approach to sales for small business owners.]

What a fabulous July we have had here in the South East, following on from a wonderful June.  Blue sky, hot days, warm evenings (humid nights!) and lots of watering to do!  Thankfully we had a few rain showers to half-fill our water butts so there is still some rainwater for the blueberries - talking of which, they have been a huge success this year.  Last year's yield of 10 has been well and truly surpassed.  The strawberries have not been so successful (ravaged by birds/animals and then caught in the netting I reluctantly used)  but the tomatoes are making good progress as are the courgettes.  I even have one or  two baby aubergines and green peppers.

We managed two great weekends away - the usual visit to my Mum in Hampshire, and 2.5 days in Norwich where a friend was celebrating his 50th.  Phil is the Vicar of a quintessentially English country parish and we enjoyed looking around the grounds of his thatched roof church and watching the barn dancing at his party in his huge Vicarage garden. A visit to another friend, Pearl, for coffee on Saturday led to an invitation to lunch at her place on Sunday which was a real treat. 

On the work front I've been extra busy this month, with planning for the Missione 2010 congress in Rimini in September, diary management and website checking for another client, general administration for a third and an 'in at the deep end' experience working for a new client, a girls' voluntary aided Church of England local secondary school.  I am now Clerk to their Governing Body and starting the national training scheme for school Clerks - there are lots of legalities to know about so that's keeping me well occupied!

This afternoon I am off to London for a 'posh tea' with work associates Kate and Barbara.  We are celebrating various aspects of our businesses and Kate and I are meeting Barbara for the first time.  I had better hurry up and get my invoicing done and change into a more elegant mode of attire!

What I'm reading:
A Rare Benedictine by Ellis Peters [Three short stories about the sleuth Brother Cadfael and how he became a monk]
The Kitchen Gardener by Alan Titchmarsh [Indispensable!]

Well, actually  this time I had a very delicious English version at the Cinnamon Club in Westminster  earlier this month.  Having breakfast meetings in town is a new experience for a nocturnal-type like me but the breakfast and meeting my client and his associates made even the crush on the 07:11 train worthwhile.  This is going to be a regular meeting so perhaps next time my diet will allow me to try the spicy scrambled egg. 

This is going to be a quick blog because I've decided to take a day off tomorrow and therefore  I need to add this June entry now.  There's no church homegroup tonight so I will be doing some evening gardening.  I finally got all the plants into their pots and am watering like mad in this lovely summer weather.  However, we are experiencing garden vandals in the shape of squirrels and foxes (we have a family of fox cubs on the riverbank at the bottom of our garden) and I've been mystified by holes in the flower beds, the destruction of most of my ripe strawberries, and slices of bread in my vegetable raised bed.  Last night I watched as a fox cub ran half way up the garden and deposited a part-carcass of some kind (a duck?) near my lily of the valley.  Do I really want a wildlife friendly garden, I'm starting to ask myself...

Last Sunday St Stephen's Church held its annual Social Action Sunday and, armed with forks, spades, pick-axes and other assorted gardening gear, we marched off in 30C heat to help the local secondary school clear some waste ground for an allotment.  Amazingly, we all worked like trojans and the job was done in 2.5 hours.  This left time for my husband and I to visit old friends in Croydon during the afternoon and come to terms with the 4-1 defeat by Germany. 

The previous day 43 of us met up for a reunion of former colleagues, very kindly hosted by Geoff and Sue in Leytonstone.  The food was amazing,  the weather perfect and the company very special. 

Apart from all that, I've been working on a client's diary  scheduling, plans for Missione 2010 in Italy in September and on marketing for another client and for myself.  It will be interesting to see how the Budget affects things.  The challenge for me is to continue to get the message across that working with a Virtual PA is so much more efficient and cost-effective than employing personnel in-house!

What I've been reading:
The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino [quirky, very thought-provoking slim volume on the essentials of selling and the right attitudes needed to succeed].

There are plenty of green shoots in my garden (including weeds) even if the 'green shoots of recovery' are not so apparent in the economy and seem unlikely to show themselves for a long time yet.  Our MP, Vince Cable, is now Secretary of State for Business and he admits in our local paper that the whole aftermath of the election is still a bit of a shock to him.

This month was full of variety.  On Wednesday 5 May I was delighted to assist again at Cross Pollinate - and again we raised about £100,000 for small Christian social action charities.  It was a lovely evening on HMS President on the Thames.   

The next day  I was up early to help out the LibDems (I'm not a party member but a nice local councillor I know asked for my assistance) as a Teller at the local polling station for a couple of hours and again in the evening.  The polling station workers had to be there all day (7.00 am - 10.00 pm) and I must say I really applauded their staying power.  Since our local hall just covers the immediate vicinity of 350 voters, and many of them had registered for postal votes, you can imagine that each time I saw a voter heading in my direction it raised quite a bit of excitement.  I stayed up all night watching the results and finally got a couple of hours' sleep at 10.00 am on Friday. 

Tuesday 11 - Friday 14 May was Christian Resources Exhibition week at Sandown Park, Esher and the week started with an evening meeting on the  Monday which will hopefully turn into something interesting!  On Tuesday I joined Jonathan and Marco (Jonathan and Giuseppe on the other days)  on the Italian Ministries UK stand where we had lots of good conversations with people and I also helped out on the Christian Business Network stand each day where I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with business people, potential clients, friends Bill, Tayo, Swaraj and Tony from CBN and sharing the stand with the delightful John and Sue from Christian Business Direct.  Thursday's show was two hours longer so it was pretty tiring but we all made some very useful contacts and saw a lot of old friends.

Since then I have been catching up with myself, home, the family, work and church.  My husband and I spent last weekend (the warm one) in the New Forest with my mum and took her to a garden and nursery called Apple Court where I bought two large grasses and a Heuchera.  Because this Bank Holiday weekend is currently in its wet and windy phase, I have not managed to plant them yet but surely Monday is the day... plus the tomatoes, the aubergine, the strawberries, the green and the yellow courgettes and the sweet peppers.  The two blueberry plants are now covered in flowers so I think I've missed my moment for repotting them and they are best left alone.  Alan Titchmarsh says they need careful treatment and he knows more about it than I do.

What I've been reading:
I finished the excellent Good to Great (see last month's blog) just in time to make a few notes on it before I hand it back to Paul who very kindly lent it to me and who is speaking at the Central London PA Network's meeting in June on Strategic Fundraising.

Finally, after the longest, coldest, wettest, greyest winter in a long time, we have hit spring  - and I don't think I have ever looked forward to that season so much before!  It's warm and sunny and I already have my garden office door open.  The local squirrels have calmed down and are no longer tearing around our garden, a huge bumble bee has just flown in and out, and Cleo, the little black cat who found us at 10 o'clock one night last autumn, starving and ill-treated, and who was so kindly taken in by my neighbour who already has Chelsea and Twiglet, has started to get over her shyness and has dared to call in to the office to see us. 

So, some gardening has at last been achieved and although I do still need to repot the blueberries, I have made great headway and am also looking forward to potting up the strawberries.  All my fuchsias have survived the winter which is good news.

Work this month has been dominated by arrangements for the Christian Resources Exhibition - insurance, electrical points, exhibitor badges, logistics, accommodation and food - the whole works.  I'm attending as part of the team from Italian Ministries UK which has a stand for the very first time.  I'm also helping on the Christian Business Network stand and taking the opportunity to advertise my own business with some new promotional cards which have been beautifully designed by Alison Moorhead in Northern Ireland - my special thanks to her. 

The other main bit of news for April (apart from a chance to take a break at Easter) was that my friend Kate Bacon and I became the cover story for the Institute of Professional Administrators' magazine.  We were interviewed by the Editor on how we set up our VA businesses and how Kate trains aspiring VAs.  This was a new experience for me and I am pleased with the result, which you can find on the new Janet in the News page of this site.

Oh yes, and my client Matt Bird spoke on Philanthropy at the Central London PA Network's professional event last week. He was again very warmly received. 

May is going to be a hectic month with lots of forward planning required!  I'll be back on this blog when it is all over...

What I'm reading:
Good to Great: why some companies make the leap and others don't by Jim Collins (2001)
This is a truly fascinating book, lent to me by one of my clients who appreciated the themes of excellence, thoughtful leadership and the value of 'getting the right people on the bus' before doing anything else.  More next month when I've (hopefully) finished it.
 

I'm taking a few days off for Easter so here's a quick blog update.  Spring came officially and we had some sunny days - I even managed to cut the grass - but it's now back to rain and wind and another halt to any gardening efforts.  I do hope this weekend I might make some progress if the weather improves.  Still, the spring flowers look great and the blossom is now showing itself on our copper beech tree which all make for  a nice view from my office windows.













March always brings Mothering Sunday, my birthday and our wedding anniversary as well as my school reunion annual dinner.  I went this year and met up with two friends, Penny and Eleanor, from my year as well as others from other year groups and some teachers we'd not seen for a long time but who, remarkably, still remembered us.  The youngest teacher we had has now just retired!  I got home very late (nearly turned into a pumpkin) but it was a lovely evening.

Coffee with friends in Twickenham and in Kingston were nice diversions from the routines of life and work, and I had a great weekend in Sudbury, Suffolk, with Italian Ministries UK co-trustees and an Italian singer who was taking part in special meetings in the town to highlight the needs and opportunities of Italy.  We had a Board meeting which now means I have some Minutes to write and circulate.  I am also busy dealing with the details for our exhibition stand at the Christian Resources Exhibition in May.

Now I just need some good weather so I can repot my blueberries...  See you in April!

What I've been reading:
Priorities, Planning and Paperwork by Peter Brierley
Growing Spiritually with the Myers-Briggs Model by Julia McGuinness
Both excellent!

My late father used to refer to February as 'February Filldyke' and this memory has suddenly come back to me as I think about all the rain we've had this month (this winter, even) and how we are having to drain out the water we'd been so pleased to collect in our two water butts because they are continually overflowing!  I think we'll have to get a third one to use as storage.   It'll be galling if we have a drought this summer!

Here I am, in the cosy office, listening to The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 and clearing up some odds and ends before a long weekend in Hampshire, visiting my mother.  I think I'd better keep this brief in view of the late hour, even though I am most definitely a night-owl.  I'm still at my desk because tonight I've been taking part in another enjoyable cyber-meeting of the Christian Business Network. 

I love train journeys - time to drink tea, look at the scenery, think and plan and read!  So tomorrow morning I'll be taking a work file and notebook with me and working on my promotion of podPreach, a new internet service enabling churches to upload their sermons and receive gifts online, even if they don't have their own website.  (Please see my podPreach web page for more information.)

This month I've been working on refining the planning and processes for an on-going marketing campaign for a construction consultancy and moving forward on promotional meetings for a small charity.  Italian Ministries UK had a very successful Taste of Italy meeting at Kinmel Bay, North Wales one Saturday this month when a couple came over from Italy to talk about the needs and opportunities in their country and to cook a wonderful meal for the 80 people who attended.  80 people!  We were so delighted at the turn-out and the warmth of the feedback.

I finished my New Era Shorthand Refresher Course at the Pitman Training Centre in Kingston upon Thames.  I shall miss going there as it was a really comfy, friendly place and it gave me all sorts of opportunities to visit Kingston's wide-ranging shops and department stores...

What I'm reading:
Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald 
A classic from the 1980s which somehow escaped my attention during that decade of job changes, house moves, marriage and twins!

So sang Maria as she left the convent and headed off purposefully to the Von Trapp mansion, swinging her bag and guitar case as she went.  In what/whom do we have confidence?  This is a subject I've encountered this month in three very different books.  More on that later.

Quite a bit of January was spent looking through the windows of my office at the snow falling, icing over, and finally melting, only to re-appear briefly again.  At least it covered up all the leaves on the grass which I've still not had the chance to rake up!  Traditionally this is a month to review the previous year and decide on some targets for the next one, so I did this and now feel I have far too many deadlines!  I was pleased though to finish my  Bible in a Year in Chronological Order which was one of last year's goals.  It was a fascinating journey and makes a whole lot of things much clearer.  This year I am returning to an old book of prayers (see below) given to me for my 21st birthday by a wonderful elderly couple who were such an encouragement to me in my spiritual life when they were alive.

It's been a varied month, with the charity event at Stormont to finalise and a plan B to get underway should the politics get in the way of our use of the building!  Thankfully it all went very well.  There's a lunch next month at the House of Commons which requires the same kind of careful attention to detail - security access lists, menu planning, final numbers on the right day etc;  I thoroughly enjoy it!  I did some video transcription to help out another VA who was snowed under and learned about cognitive behavioural therapy as a result.  General admin for a construction design company kept me well occupied, as did arranging meetings and applying to grant making trusts on behalf of a small charity, which is delighted that it now has a place at the Christian Resources Exhibition in May. 

Socially it's been a month of going to London on several occasions: with my husband to see the RSC's Twelfth Night during the Christmas holidays and with him again tonight for a Golden Wedding celebration in Westminster; to meet former colleagues, to link up again with other PAs in an informal network, and for the Central London PA Network's Committee.   I think I'd better stay at home more in February as, like London buses, all these meetings came at once!

What I've been reading:
The Definitive Personal Assistant& Secretarial Handbook by Sue France
The Barnabas Factor - the power of encouragement by Derek Wood (a re-read of a great little book!)
Great Souls at Prayer - fourteen centuries of prayer, praise and aspiration compiled by Mary W Tileston in 1898

What they say about confidence:
"Remind yourself how great you are on a regular basis, particularly during times when you feel your confidence needs a boost....Your own thoughts manifest themselves in to your own reality."

"We matter because we matter to God.  So we can afford to admit that we are fragile pots, easily broken.  We can even delight in our own weakness...'My power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)'...even if we do have feet of clay...what matters is not what our feet are made of but where we are standing.  On sand or on the Rock?

Or as the New Living Translation of the Bible puts it:  "Don't think you are better than you really are.  Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves..."!

I'm going to look back properly over the year while I'm taking a break for Christmas (my holiday starts today which is why this blog is exceptionally early in the month) and prayerfully review 2009 and plan 2010's objectives.  However, just doing so quickly now gives me the chance to say how much I appreciate all those who have encouraged and helped me this year - family, friends, church homegroup and professional organisations - and how thankful I am for all the work that I've been able to do during such a precarious economic downturn. 

This month I've been particularly focusing on promotional meetings and contacts for a small charity and their participation for the first time in the Christian Resources Exhibition in Esher next May. 

The month was otherwise a difficult one in that my wonderful mother-in-law passed away after more than a year confined to bed.  She and my late father-in-law had worked tirelessly in India, church planting in the 1950s and 60s, and in the UK with the NHS and running care homes for elderly Christians.  We were in Belfast last week for her funeral and to see relatives.  We were able to spend an evening with my brother-in-law and his family, eating curry and looking at some of the hundreds of slides that my in-laws had taken in India.

During this month I was able to re-connect with two sets of old friends - one in Memphis, USA and the other couple in Berlin - which was made possible through the resources of the internet via Google and Facebook.  I'd 'lost' each of them for nearly 10 years so phoning Berlin and emailing Memphis and finding them again was a special joy. 

Now I'm looking forward to curling up in a comfy chair with lots of cups of tea while I catch up on the books and magazines which are looking at me accusingly.

I wish you a peaceful and blessed Christmas and a Happy  New Year.  See you again in January!

What I'm reading:
Know Your Spiritual Gifts - how to minister in the power of the Spirit by Mark Stibbe

So, it's nearly the end of November and what weird weather we've had.  Here in my garden office I have a view of all the leaves which need to be raked up but it's either too windy, or too wet, (or both) to do it.  I hear frosts may be expected next week so I will just have to get my mini-greenhouse set up again to protect the fuschias which are still flowering merrily in the garden during this mild spell.  We've had the last of our tomatoes and green peppers and it's time to get the garden ready for winter.  I just wish I felt a bit more like doing it; my blocked sinuses are ruining my enthusiasm!











Following my decision last month to cut down on activities, I have had a quieter month but I'm really looking forward to going to Evesham tomorrow with my husband to visit Peter and Louise, Gina and Sam who have just returned from the USA after three years in Boston.  They have decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, which is a lovely idea.  We will make a weekend of it and return home via Gloucestershire.

I'm enjoying working on the planning of a charity reception at Stormont for January, and a special lunch at the House of Commons in February.  Incidentally, one of my main contacts is an MP whose wife is his office manager.  She's great to work with and I feel really sorry for her and other MPs wives who are now being told they can't work for their husbands in future.  This is one bit of the Kelly Report which I think is complete nonsense!

My involvement with the Great Wall of China Walk finished for the time being with the return of the charity fundraising group.  They had an amazing time and their comments were so encouraging.  One said it was an experience she would treasure for the rest of her life;  another said she had come home a different person; a third said it was physically the hardest thing he'd ever done but it was so rewarding. 

I'm currently also busy with a raft of Party Wall Agreement documents and planning the printing and distribution of marketing materials for a loft conversion/kitchen extension business, and working on promotional opportunities for a small charity.  And, of course, there is our family Christmas letter to produce...

What I'm listening to:
Songs from RESOUNDworship.org Vol II

"Goodbye October, did we see the colours change - were we all too busy rushing through the year?...".  As the leaves fall from the oak tree outside my office window I am reminded of Adrian Snell's song which has been a favourite of mine since my teenage years.  Yes, I moved into my garden office 4 weeks ago today and it's great!  Mind you,  I am surprised by the animal activity I can now observe.  Apart from the birds there are lots of cats ( some of which are unknown to me, and two of which appear to like using my flower bed for their comfort stops)  and a great many very active squirrels who were surprised by my ability now to stop them digging in my containers. 

Certainly this October was a full month, with a day's client meeting plus lunch in the Kent countryside to discuss 2010 (very enjoyable), the evening charity event at the House of Lords for CrossPollinate and the BHP Billiton dinner in Piccadilly for London Metal Exchange Week hosted by Matt Bird Tastings (very successful),  and a 'two year working anniversary' lunch with a client in Wimbledon (a lovely treat).   My twin sons turned 21, my husband's business kept him even busier than usual and I spent time with my mother in the New Forest.  Then there were former colleagues:  I sent out a newsletter to ex-SGM friends and spent a nice girls' night with three from my MasterSun days.  I also had lovely sunny day off seeing a friend who is a Colour Me Beautiful consultant.  Now for a wardrobe review...!

Conscious that I was probably 'too busy rushing through the year', I have decided to plan a lot more evenings and weekends in during November even though that will mean saying 'No'  to people, which I hate doing.  As The Word for Today reminded me this week:  "Wisdom means having the discipline to prioritise and the ability to work towards a stated goal.  The question is not, 'Will my calendar be full', but 'Who will fill it?' and 'What will it be filled with?'. To know your life's priorities you must frequently pause and ask 'Lord, what do You want me to do?..."

What I'm listening to:
Crimson Threads of Grace by Bill Drake (2000)

...I have been enjoying picking my tomatoes, courgettes and green peppers from the patio.  It's definitely been worth all the late-night sessions with the watering can to be able to pop out into the garden and grab some items for the salad bowl.

As autumn approaches, too, I have been getting my new side of the our new office in the garden ready.  My husband has already moved in and is getting used to his new working surroundings.  Next door's cat, Twiglet, often makes an appearance to look through the windows and see what's happening.

This has been a month of squeezing in a lot of appointments and extra meetings and work.  A VA friend went on holiday for a week and kindly asked me to look after two of her clients, which I was delighted to do.  I went to the Central London PA Network's professional meeting which was held at the 150 year old Vicarage of All Saints, Margaret Street, W1 and hosted by the Vicar's wife, Theresa Moses, who was our speaker on the subject of "Variety - the spice or the stress of life?" I'll leave you to consider your own answer to that!   My husband and I also took advantage of CPLN's September social event last Saturday - a guided tour of Brompton Cemetery which opened in 1840 and is the only nationalised cemetery in the UK.  It was a perfect sunny, blue-sky day to wander around such a vast and interesting place.

After a meeting at the House of Lords with the Banqueting Manager to discuss CrossPollinate's next evening event in October, I popped over to Kingsway (the area of my very first job - I won't say how many years ago!) to the enjoyable first meeting of the IPA's new-look London network.

With one son starting a new college course, and the other being summoned for jury service, domestic life has been interesting as has my involvement locally in a campaign to stop the building of a vast supporter stand by a well-known Rugby club (think false blood) in this area who have gone ahead in the presumptuous expectation that it will simply be rubber-stamped by the local Council.  I've been involved in meetings, emails and objections but it also gave me a nice opportunity to visit our well-known MP, Dr Vince Cable, at his constituency surgery.  He is every bit as quietly affable and courteous in person as he appears in Parliament and in the media. 

What I've been reading: (a bit of a mixed bag here)
Eat That Frog!  - 21 great ways to stop procratinating and get more done in less time by Brian Tracy [Very readable!]
Married to a Martyr by Jonathan Carswell with Joanna Wright [the moving story of one of the three Christian martyrs murdered in Malatya, Turkey in 2007]
Making the Most of Midlife - Christian Choices and Growth by Julia McGuinness [speaks for itself - an excellent study of the subject with opportunities for reflection and prayer]

If only!  I've been finding myself wishing about doing a lot of things over the past few months but, as one of my former colleagues used to tell me regularly, "There are only 24 hours in a day".  So I've been thinking a lot this month about what I want to do, and what I need to do, and what perhaps I ought to do.  You'll know from last month that I've been listening to Sara Groves' CD Past the Wishing.  The title track contains the words:

I'm past the wishing, past the wishing, past the wishing

I don't wish that I could go, I am going
I don't wish that I could be, I am being
I don't wish that I could do it, I am doing -
By the grace of God I am doing.

Well, I haven't got there yet but it's something to aim at!

This is an early blog because I am taking half of August as holiday, when perhaps some of the wishings will become doings as I work on moving into my garden office and making the garden sufficiently interesting to be looked at through the window while I'm working.

Highlights of August so far have included a very enjoyable relaxed lunch meeting with a client to catch up and to plan work for 2010, finally managing to unsubscribe from Nick Griffin's almost daily BNP spam updates, taking part (by text as my microphone refused to work) in a conference call meeting of the Christian Business Network and covering for a VA friend while she was on holiday.  Her clients were organised and very nice to work with.  I also finished a course at Pitman Training and continued with another.  The month started with a visit to the New Forest Fuschia Society's Annual Show in Lyndhurst, Hampshire with my husband as we wanted to take my mother there (she and I being fuchsia fans).  It poured with rain but we had a great time - lovely plant displays, homemade tea and scones and we all won prizes in the tombola!  Of course I had to bring some more fuchsias back home with me...

On the patio, the tomatoes are plentiful and hopefully will ripen, the courgette plant has exceeded all expectations in its productivity and the compact sweet pepper plants have a few tiny but expanding green fruit.  True, the blueberry bush only managed 10 blueberries in its first year, but there's room for improvement! 

What I'm reading:
Just Courage - God's great expedition for the restless Christian by Gary A Haugen (CEO of International Justice Mission)
This challenging book was very kindly given to me by a friend in the USA who works with IJM in Washington DC.

I thought about what to write and, looking through my diary, realised I'd had a rather active month!  It was great to be at a party on a hot day (yes, this was in July - before my water butt filled up and overflowed) to welcome some friends over from the USA, to spend my first day at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships watching Andy Murray valiantly lose to Andy Roddick (who of course went on to lose valiantly to Roger Federer in a final of epic proportions) and to spend time with Mum in the New Forest.  Actually, I went to help close down a special children's fun event in the park hosted by my church as part of our Social Action Sunday, having watched the start of the final, and couldn't believe I hadn't missed it all by the time I got back a couple of hours later.  Our homegroup met up the following Tuesday to cook chilli con carne for the church's drop-in centre for the homeless - 50 portions required.  There was some debate on the amount of chilli powder to include but it seems we got it right, judging from the postive comments received!  My husband's ability to chop vast quantities of onions without his eyes watering was particularly remarked upon.

On another warm Saturday when the showers didn't appear until just as we packed up to finish, we had a domestic clearout involving the garage, the shed, the garden room and the garden itself.  We filled up the skip and felt very pleased to have had such a productive weekend.  This is all part of the project to move my office from the house into the garden.  That meant some new plants for the flower bed so that I have something nice to look out on - so a few trips to the garden centre were allowed this month too.

Did I have time to work?  Well, yes, actually.  I was delighted to be at the Briefing Day for the China Challenge fundraising team I've been co-ordinating over the past few months and to meet all these fit people who are going to walk up, along and down various parts of the Great Wall.  They were a lovely bunch.  I've also done a fair bit of proof-reading for Matt Bird Tastings, which organises Fine Wine and Haute Cuisine events.  I had the great pleasure of going to one last year myself; it was fantastic and I am very pleased that the company have engaged my client again this year and I'll be attending again!  Add to that a marketing campaign for another client and research on fundraising as part of the development of a small charity, and this traditionally quieter time of the year has been busier than I expected.  I am so thankful.

A good friend has just had the great disappointment (which I shared) of having to withdraw from a business arrangement with someone who initially seemed ideal but who now has shown himself  to be untrustworthy after all.  Tonight I hope to join my first conference call of the new Christian Business Network.  I've missed the previous three calls because I've been doing a course at Pitman Training on Thursday nights but I've just finished that.  I hope to 'meet' a lot of interesting people with the same ethics as myself. 

What I'm listening to as I write this blog:
Past the Wishing by Sara Groves (2000) - which I managed to find in the bookshop of the OM ship Logos Hope mentioned last month.

Well, maybe not the cream, but harvesting a few strawberries each morning from the patio to add to my bowl of Oatibix has been one of life's little pleasures this month. 

Socially, it's been a busy time in May and June as friends have Significant Birthdays and I've enjoyed a lunch, an evening party and an afternoon BBQ.  Tomorrow we go back to our old haunts in North London for a Silver Wedding anniversary celebration.  I was honestly  a bit shocked when the invitation arrived, because it hardly seemed like 25 years since we had attended the wedding!  This is what comes of having Significant Birthdays, I suppose.

I am still working hard on the China Walk the Wall Challenge administration for one of my clients - the fundraising team is just about finalised and I'll be involved in their Briefing Day next month.  Another client has some very nice events lined up for his own clients and I'll be assisting him at a few of those in the coming months.  I've been helping another one with his marketing review and spending some time researching fundraising among grant-making Trusts for a fourth.  "Variety is the spice of life", as they say.

I was delighted to accept an invitation to join the Committee of the Central London PA Network,  to enjoy an evening Midsummer Party in South Kensington to celebrate 37 years of the Central London Branch of  IQPS (now IPA) and to visit the OM ship Logos Hope at Canary Wharf on another warm summer evening for a tour and dinner (seeing more old friends) at which George Verwer was his usual inspiring self.  The size of the bookshop takes one's breath away!

Time to catch a bit of tennis as I make dinner and plan an evening working in the garden- if the promised thunderstorms don't arrive.  If they do, though, I shall get the first burst of rainwater in my new water butt so it's a win-win situation.

What I'm reading:
J Parker Dutch Bulbs catalogue!

With its two Bank Holidays, May is always a month for getting a few things done in the house and garden and this year was no exception, I'm relieved to say.  The raised bed for my patio vegetable patch has arrived and it just needs another trip to the garden centre to stock up on compost before I can get my sweet pepper seedlings and lettuce seeds in.  The strawberries are waiting to ripen and I hope the blueberries are going to produce something!

It was fantastic to see 40 old friends at the SGM Reunion in Victoria which I had organised.  The prize for the furthest distance travelled went to Jocelyn from Edinburgh, but we also had friends arriving from Carlisle, Suffolk,  the Midlands, Devon and Bristol, as well as several from the Home Counties.  We celebrated Norman's 90th Birthday and Jacqueline's 80th,  Roger's remarkable recovery from his operation last year, and Kumuda and Sujay's successful renewal of their visas.  The feeling of 'family' after all those years was really amazing. 



The Crème Secretarial Show didn't happen after all - it's apparently been postponed until November.  This, to be honest, was a bit of a relief as so much else was going on this month.  I had a great day out at Esher at the Christian Resources Exhibition where I met more old friends, made some new contacts and really enjoyed and benefited from a mini-conference called Managing Your Time - Finding Time for God, The Family, Work and Church by Bill Allen. 

I'm looking forward to several events in June and lots of work to get on with.  I am so thankful for this opportunity to work in a way that supports my values and interests and fits my life. 

What I'm reading:
Discipleship Journal Issue 171 May/June 2009
I can't believe this is the last ever edition of DJ, which I've been reading bi-monthly for 6 years now.  It's a brilliant magazine but NavPress have had to take the decision to close it down after 27 years because of the economic situation.  This is so terribly sad...

April has whizzed by.  When it started, there were small buds on the old oak tree on the riverbank beyond our garden fence, but now all the leaves are out and suddenly there's lots of green everywhere and things are really moving.  The lovely weather meant I could devote several hours to my garden, including repotting some large plants, potting up sweet pepper seedlings and planting blueberries and strawberries.  If the sun shines over the Bank Holiday weekend, I hope to start off some lettuces.

This sudden burst of energy all around has been reflected in my work this month too: a record number of enquiries for the China Challenge fundraising trek, various meetings to be juggled in diaries, and administration required in response to a marketing campaign.  I've also had discussions and a meeting with a potential new client, which is very exciting. 

It was a month of meeting old friends: at a memorial party for Chris - see May 08 blog - and at a funeral in St Albans as well as on a visit to our old church in Highgate when we were treated to a lovely lunch and a  tea (special thanks to Margaret). 

Next month looks interesting already, with one of my annual reunions planned with former colleagues (and goodness knows how many are coming), along with the Crème Show and the Christian Resources Exhibition (yes, again in the same week) and seeing fellow IPA members at the Central London branch meetings.  More then!

And finally... Happy Birthday Norman - 90 today!

What I'm reading:
Fresh Moroccan by Nada Saleh
[inspiring cookery book - now I just need to devote the time to it]
What Not to Wear - 1 - The Rules by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine
[OK, now I just need to find somewhere the clothes they do suggest]


 

I am off to my homegroup social night soon, and there's the weekly recycling and rubbish to organise before then, so perhaps I'll make this brief...

Another CrossPollinate event was successfully held, this time at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Embankment Place, and more charities had the chance to present their work to generous donors and philanthropists.  Picture below. The next one is on 8 October at the House of Lords. 


   











I also had a very enjoyable evening with the Central London branch of the Institute of Professional Administrators, meeting friends and listening to one of my clients speaking on How to Get the Right Results.  Matt was a huge hit with the members!

It was great to be with Kate at Olympia again for this year's One Life Live Show.  Amazing that a year has gone by since the last time we were there.

Apart from all that, I had a milestone birthday and another wedding anniversary, spent a weekend of wonderful weather with Elizabeth and her mother in the Berkshire countryside and had the urge at 10.00 pm one Friday night to have a paper clearout, which lasted until 4.00 am.  Well, one has to seize the day - or the night.

What I'm reading:
The Daily Bible in Chronological Order (NIV) compiled by F LaGard Smith
This is the Bible in 365 readings, with brief commentary, in the order that events happened or in categories of information.  It is totally fascinating to read the Bible that way and to see, for example, where the Psalms fit in to the events in King David's life, or to have all the Old Testament laws put together in subjects.  I am really enjoying it.

Yes, that's due to a sudden spurt of gardening resulting from warmer weather, as well as more regular attendance at Pilates!

I'll make this brief as I really ought to get myself some dinner. 

More work on a marketing strategy this month for Loft Solutions, more enquiries for the China Challenge, and the last few weeks of preparation for the next Cross Pollinate event on 26 March (details all in recent blogs).  Also an evening in town with Kate at the Central London branch of the Institute of Professional Administrators.  (We were the Institute of Qualified Professional Secretaries but we've been re-branded!)  I've also enjoyed compiling a newsletter on behalf of a network of 66 former colleagues all round the world. 

What I'm reading:
Don't just stand there...pray something! by Ronald Dunn
OK, so everyone else read this in 1992 but I was chasing after pre-school twins then!

When I last added a blog posting, I was actually getting ready for a family holiday in Paphos, Cyprus.  We had a great time despite the first 17 hours being spent at London Gatwick and in a nearby hotel for 'technical reasons'!

So, after a nice long break over Christmas and New Year, it was back to work.  I am involved again in Release International's annual fundraising Challenge (administratively, that is).  Last year a group went to Sinai, really gelled together and had a wonderful time.  So if you would like to Walk the Wall (4 - 13 October) then do let me know and I'll arrange for an information pack to come to you.   I've also been working with Loft Solutions Ltd on an analysis of their past marketing and on their promotional strategy for 2009.

On a more social side, I spent a very civilised, genteel and enjoyable afternoon visting Elaine, an inspiring 85 year old lady from my church who has an excellent collection of large dictionaries - French, Italian, German and Pitman Shorthand.  They formed the basis of our discussion not only on our varied experiences of learning the three languages but also on her use of shorthand to take dictation of technical and engineering manuals during the last War; soon we had our notebooks out and were comparing our outlines and short forms over tea and shortbread. 

I also got together one evening in Victoria with 4 office-based PAs/Administrators: Jennie, Liz, Val and Cathy.   None of us had ever met but we'd emailed each other a lot through our work and Jennie thought it might be fun to meet.  So a few more emails and it was all sorted.  I tied pink balloons to a chair, we found each other, and we chatted and laughed together for three hours.   Virtual Social Networking is great but, dare I say, Actual Social Networking is still unbeatable!

What I've been reading:
All In One Bed by Revd Charles May
This is a fantastic private production by a friend of mine, now in his 80th year, who was born in the slums of the East End, was fostered in 12 different homes, and eventually became a Church of England clergyman back in the East End and other places.  It's a real page-turner.

If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat by John Ortberg
Our church homegroup is currently using this as the basis for discussions at our fortnightly meetings, so reading it is my 'homework'!

What I'm listening to:
Conversations by Sara Groves (2000)
Very honest, very moving album by an American singer-songwriter, very kindly sent to me by a friend who is teaching in Thailand.  I'm amazed I hadn't come across Sara Groves earlier.  www.saragroves.com

After several rather hectic months, it was rather nice to catch up with myself.  No events this month, just tying up some loose ends, finalising diary engagements for one client, getting things started for another fundraising challenge - this time to take place along the Great Wall of China next autumn - for a second client and dealing with correspondence for two more.  I enjoyed tea in town with Kate yesterday.   Oh yes, and I did my tax return as well as my Christmas cards so that's a relief!

Thank you for reading my blog for another year.  I am now going off for a long holiday over Christmas for some refreshment and renewal...

What I'm reading:
The Appeal by John Grisham

What a wonderful weekend my husband and I had in Northern Ireland early this month!   Staying opposite the harbour and Norman castle of Carrickfergus, we met up with family and enjoyed the legendary Northern Irish hospitality of friends, cafés and restaurants.  On the Saturday I was delighted to help with Release International's 40th Anniversary thanksgiving meeting at the Spires Centre, Central Belfast.  More warmth and welcome from lovely people!  Picture below.  Fantastic catering from The Streat.  The final meeting was held in Glasgow the following Saturday where we (well, they... I wasn't there) were wonderfully served by En Croute. 

Back to London, and two visits to Mayfair in five days - an area I hadn't been in for some years!  One evening was spent at Barclays Wealth in Brook Street, where Cross Pollinate held another very successful evening, featuring five Christian charities who presented their work for six minutes each and answered questions for another six minutes.  After that, the businessmen, trustees of grant-making charitable trusts and philanthropists had the opportunity to pledge money, time and expertise to whichever charity(ies) they felt drawn to supporting.  The presentations -

• lawyers organising the local representation of those detained for years in various African countries,
• a group in Newcastle helping asylum seekers dumped by the system and left destitute,
• a former prostitute in Southampton, whose life had been turned around and who was helping other women to move from a life of sex work and drugs (again, abandoned by the system),
• a man who had given up his job to run a massive club for kids in Toxteth, Livepool,
• a family who had holidayed in Kenya and subsequently set up a clinic, a water ambulance and now a school on an island and on the mainland -
  

And so to the IQPS Central London meeting at the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel - a beautiful place which hosted our evening when the speaker was Nigel Alden from Complete Event Solutions.  Nigel and Hazel had very kindly given me some advice on venues during this last year and it was nice to be able to thank them personally.

This month has been all about events and milestones.

First, on 6 October my former boss and my friend for 28 years, Norman Brown, retired after 23 years as the Secretary of a charitable Trust with which I've been linked for about the last two decades.  I was his Virtual PA before we knew the term existed and I'm going to miss deciphering his unique handwriting (I was rather expert at it, partly because I knew his phraseology so well) and sending out papers and emails to the Trustees. 

Then, on 14 October, I had dinner with 50 men at the Institute of Directors' imposing building in Pall Mall.  Yes, 50 men from around the world - all experts in various metals and here for the London Metal Exchange Week - and me!  On my table I conversed with a Pole,  a Chilean, an Australian who'd been born in Essex, a German, a Korean and gentlemen from Japan and China.  I was helping Make It* Happen with an event pairing fine food and wines and it was a spectacular success as well as very enjoyable.  An illusionist called Daniel Alexander of charisMagic, who went round the tables doing extraordinary tricks, was just amazing.

So, on to Saturday 25 October when Release International hosted the first of their three 40th Anniversary celebrations.  If you've read my previous blogs, you'll recall I've been working on these for several months.  This was the London event and it was great to see such an enthusiastic set of people coming to support a charity which acts as a vital voice for the persecuted church around the world.  As I stood in the foyer and watched the service start, my eye caught a poster which Release had displayed.  Under the picture of a burning building the words said something like:  "Your church has been burnt down; your pastor has been taken away; and now they are coming for you."  It's definitely uncomfortable to think about those who are suffering for their faith when we have had it so comparatively easy here for so long, but it's clearly imperative that we do so, and find ways to help them practically. 

The next day it was great to be at a surprise celebration lunch for Elizabeth, who was celebrating a special birthday.  She and I met when we were in our prams and started school together.   No, I'm not telling you how many years ago that was!

I am off to Northern Ireland shortly for a dual-purpose visit -  to see family and to help with Release's anniversary event in Central Belfast.  I must therefore stop blogging and start packing!

Always moving forward!  This is the way my friend Jonathan signs off most of his emails, and it was particularly true this month as 300 people packed into a holiday centre and a marquee in Igea Marina-Bellaria, Rimini, opposite the sea, for Missione 2008, a 4-day mission conference arranged by Italian Ministries and other organisations exploring ways of reaching out to those from the ethnic minorities in Italy.  I met up with several old friends, made some new ones, was challenged and came back refreshed and enthusiastic!  Although I don't often find hot weather easy to cope with (being designed as a fair North European), I really enjoyed the 90 degrees F and felt quite cold when I returned - it took a few days to reacclimatise.  We have eaten the biscotti and the amaretti and other goodies I brought back, but the lump of Parmigiano cheese, which Godfrey got me when he made a quick visit to Modena to take a wedding while we were over there, is still being enjoyed with our spag bol.  I understood more Italian than I expected, but I'm determined to get those Michel Thomas CDs out again and be more diligent before the next conference in 2010.

I went to the conference as  a Trustee of Italian Ministries UK (Jonathan and Godfrey are my fellow Trustees) but I also organised travel arrangements for one of the conference speakers and put together a table of evangelistic literature in 45 languages.  Tracking down the relevant publications was a challenge and I am indebted to Jo at SGM Lifewords and Yvonne of No Frontiers for the help they gave me.

Italy, despite its image, is a country in huge spiritual need.  La messe è grande, ma pochi sono gli operai.  (The harvest is plentiful, but there are so few workers - Matthew 9:37.)   Click on the pink links above if you want to know more, or email me.

Back in England, there was an Agenda with six appendices to circulate to the Trustees of a grant-making charity, the desert trek volunteers to see on their way after months of preparation and briefing, and scores of emails to receive, flag, action and file, so I have not been able to spend too much time reminiscing about Rimini - sadly!  Next month comes the first of the three special celebration events I've been working on for since last autumn.  I'm tempted to quote Cecil Rhodes at this point (I grew up with my mother quoting his deathbed utterances at every available opportunity) and say "So little done, so much to do", except that so much has been done already and yet there are still several strands to be tied up on the event plan.

See you next month.  I don't believe it, but a whole year will have gone since I blogged about those Trick or Treaters...

... but it wasn't!  I had a fortnight off, though didn't stay off the computer as I'd planned, as I had some preparation to do for the Missione 2008 Congress in Rimini next month - ordering literature and planning travel.  With my husband still keeping an eye on his business, we mainly pottered about, which was good and spent time with my Mum in Hampshire/Dorset.  Her garden is looking as lovely as ever (why can't mine be like that?)  and we had a lovely day sitting in the sun at Mudeford Quay overlooking the sea, the boats and the families inexplicably keen on trying to catch small crabs.

A fortnight of domestic tranquillity followed, though, when our sons went to visit their cousins in Northern Ireland.  This gave us the opportunity of some very concentrated work (I'm still involved in planning the 3 celebration events for a charity's 40th Anniversary this year in London, Belfast and Glasgow) and longer hours, followed by the occasional reward of a trip to Jolly's Restaurant for their  tandoori chicken on a sizzler board - fantastic! 

Now I have a few days to get myself, my paperwork and my suitcase all sorted out for Italy...

What I'm reading
Meeting Magic - A practical guide for business managers who want to make their meetings productive
by Katherine Woods and Ingrid Uden
An interesting read, this.  I'm reviewing it for the next edition of the  Institute of Qualified Professional Secretaries' magazine, Office Professional.

Some projects have come to fruition this month so here is an update:

Slum Survivor worked very well.  The MPs set up their tented 'slum' in the gardens of Westminster Abbey and attracted a lot of interest; there was a good article in The Times Online.

Cross Pollinate was an amazing success.  I went along to this and had the pleasure of seeing six charities make presentations as to what they could each do with £5,000.  By the end, £100,000 had been pledged or given.  Details of the next event are on the Cross Pollinate website.

HOPE 08 was something I blogged about last August,  as the nationwide planning was getting going.  My own church had a HOPE 08 fortnight this month and, wearing my special blue church T-shirt, I helped with a children's play event and joined in the painting of a playground fence.  If I can get hold of a photo, I'll add it!

So it was a good month, with work continuing as usual.  Like London buses, some social events arrived all together so I spent happy Saturdays with garden and birthday parties, and an old friend's ordination in Birmingham. 

I'm now on holiday so I'm going to stop!  See you next month.

It's a lovely evening and I need to water my hanging baskets, feed the family and see how Andy Murray is doing at Wimbledon (in roughly that order) so I won't spend too long on this blog posting. 

June has been an interesting month, the highlights of which were a more relaxed, longer meeting of the Italian Ministries Trustees in Sudbury, Suffolk (the downside meant a lot of Minutes!) and another reunion of (different) ex-colleagues - this time a Garden Party courtesy of the very hospitable Theresa and Martin - in New Malden.

For the last few months I've been working with Make It Happen and the Alvor Trust on their enterprising joint-initiative Cross Pollinate - a sort of Dragon's Den for Christian charities!  It's been lovely to be in touch with so many charities as well as generous people who have a heart for supporting such organisations financially.  

What I'm reading:
The Fourfold Leadership of Jesus by Andrew Watson

I have a feeling I'll be reading this for a while yet.  It's well worth taking slowly for a thorough digestion as it's full of good things.. and I'm not just saying that because Andrew is our minister!

Ouch!   My feet have hardly touched the ground this month but last night, following a meeting in Oxford Street, I took the opportunity to visit some department stores I hadn't seen for a few years and ended up in Debenhams, finding some gel shoe pads just before the shop closed.  

May has been a month of seeing old friends.   I didn't make it to the Crème PA show this year but did manage a day at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Esher where it was good to see familiar faces and to make some new contacts.   I also co-ordinated a reunion in Victoria of some former colleagues from the 80s and 90s (some even earlier than that!) and 25 of us met this week and had a great time catching up.  Very sadly, another reunion occasion was the funeral in Radlett of a young man, Chris, who had died tragically at university and whose mother and family I have known since my school-days.   Tomorrow a friend and I will be travelling into the Surrey countryside to meet up with another former colleague who is about to relocate with her family to South India for three years while her husband teaches at Hebron School.   We know a lot about the school because my Northern Irish husband was born and grew up in India and he was also at Hebron (Lushington Hall, as it was then known).

On three Saturdays I took part in a Learning to Listen course at my church, run by Acorn Christian Foundation, and yes, during this month I did quite a lot of work too!   Among other things, there were several appointments to make with Members of Parliament for Make It Happen about the Slum Survivor launch for schools.  Slum Survivor is a simulation experience designed to provide participants, and observers, with insights into some of the daily life issues faced by slum dwellers around the world which includes building a dwelling, fetching water from 4 miles away and cooking lentil dhal.   The event will involve various MPs taking part in a similar experience for 24 hours during July in the grounds of Westminster Abbey.  

What I've been reading this month:  
Who You Are When No-one's Looking by Bill Hybels [challenging]
Total Forgiveness by R T Kendall [extremely challenging]
How Clean is Your House? by Kim Woodburn & Aggie MacKenzie [no comment]

A year on from starting my VA practice, and I have just worked a record number of hours this month despite trying to cut back a bit in an effort to maintain a better work/life balance!  Still, with its two Bank Holidays, May ought to be a bit quieter...

Lots of interesting things going on.  For example, one client is organising three celebration events in the UK for this autumn, another one is masterminding a summer charity event launch in the gardens of Westminster Abbey, a third is involved in a large and successful marketing campaign. 

Despite all the rain, we have had a few warmer sunny days and on one of them I spent time in London, consulting with a client on his celebration events and, in particular, on a desert trek in the Sinai (Egypt) in September.  I'm involved in liaising with the organisers as well as producing newsletters for the participants to keep them updated and informed.  After this meeting I met up with Kate Bacon for a quick oriental meal before we headed off to the IQPS Central London Network where she was giving a talk on becoming a VA.  She really wanted me to be her flipchart scribe so I agreed, even though I'd already said I'd do the notes for the Group's next newsletter.  A bit of multi-tasking with markers and biros, paper sheets and notebook, longhand, shorthand and scribble, and I managed it.  The meeting had a real buzz and the time just flew by as lots of questions were asked and answered.  A really enjoyable day.

Today is the 89th birthday of another of my clients, so a very special Happy Birthday, Norman!

March is usually a good month for celebrations, with my birthday, wedding anniversary and Mothering Sunday all on the calendar, but this year of course we had an exceptionally early Easter (which felt like Christmas when it snowed).  I took a week off and turned my attention to some domestic things and a lovely day out in Evesham visiting an old friend from college days who was over with her family from their temporary home in Massachusetts.

A charity which keeps me well occupied as Trustee, Secretary, Treasurer and part-time Administrator is Italian Ministries UK which represents Italian Ministries in Italy - an amazing network which started as a means of fellowship for like-minded evangelical missionaries in that country and has, over a decade, expanded into a multi-faceted missional entity comprising mission support to churches, a network for young people, pastoral care for Italian and ex-patriate workers, support for holistic ministries in Africa and a mission sending agency for Italians.  It is such a privilege to be involved in helping to support this work in the UK. 

If you are interested in knowing more, click on the Italian Ministries' website and read about it all in English, Italian or German.  Why not send me an email?  You could perhaps come and join us in Rimini for a couple of days in early September for Missione 2008 (Missione 2006 was the very first evangelical mission congress in Italy's history).

Having commented on my lack of commuting in January, I've found myself making several journeys into London this month in the spring-like weather we have generally been experiencing.  One of these trips was to the FaithAction Conference in Westminster this week.  One of my clients, Make it Happen, had been managing the event as a senior adviser to FaithAction and I had been involved in liaising with many of the speakers, specifically those representing various Government Departments and the Metropolitan Police.  It was a very interesting insight into government funding and the work of faith-based organisations and communities around the country, and a nice opportunity to visit the wonderful old Methodist Central Hall - it's years since I was last there.

Tomorrow an event of a very different kind calls me to Olympia.  I'll be helping on a stand at the One Life Live exhibition, representing Virtual Assistants.  Our stand is being shared by Kate Bacon of Pier to Peer Coaching (see my Welcome Page) and Kathryn Williams of Completely Organised who runs very a successful VA Conference in Cardiff each autumn.  The show caters for those who are thinking about a complete change of lifestyle so we aim to contact and encourage those who might want to consider using their administrative skills to start their own businesses from home.

Someone emailed me today and very kindly commented that she had been reading my blog and was interested to see how much I had been doing in the past 11 months.  I've been quite surprised myself, to be honest!

PS:  The One Life Live show was amazing.  There was so much continual interest in our stand that it was more than four hours before Kate managed to escape to the tea bar to bring us back a cuppa!

I am not sure that this blog entry will be much longer than the last one but at least I will have got it in before the end of the month - just!  I can't believe how busy January has been.  From managing enquiries about a desert trek to supporting the organisation of a charity walk in London and planning three anniversary events for another charity in between, not to mention a promotional mailing for loft conversions, co-ordinating lots of meetings and producing Minutes and Agenda for others, it's been a very full and fulfilling month. 

The weather can't seem to make up its mind whether to be warm or frosty, sunny or wet.  Today it is blustery, cold, wet and very, very grey.  I'm so thankful my commuting days are over!

It's time to look back on this eventful year with thanksgiving for all that has been done, all that has been overcome and all the promise of next year.

I wish all my readers a very merry (and restful?) Christmas and a joyful New Year. 

See you again in 2008.

Just time to add to my blog for this month, which has been an excellent one.  I gained another new client - a charity working to raise awareness of the plight of persecuted Christians - so I am now delighted to be assisting their Supporter Relations Manager with event planning. 

Lot 63?  Well, this was the lot number of the promise I made to my church for their Auction of Promises earlier this month.  St Stephen's, East Twickenham is raising funds for a serious building project which even I (as one never too keen in the past on this sort of thing) can see is absolutely necessary; queuing for the loo last Sunday reinforced this view, though I did get to chat to two very nice people! 

So, back to the Auction, which was a huge success... well, not having a holiday home to offer or spectacular skill in baking, nor any talent at all for being a butler, painting watercolours of people's houses or providing Russian lessons, I decided to offer a day's administrative and secretarial assistance as my promise and went into the catalogue as Lot 63.  I was 'won' by a delightful lady called Harriet and as a result I have been helping her and her husband with categorising and cataloguing their extensive collection of books.  It's been a fascinating journey into the world of her grandfather and his career in the Royal Navy at the beginning of the last century, about which she has edited a book herself.   

Now perhaps this will be the impetus my husband needs to review the space required for some of his ancient literary treasures...!

Just a few hours to go before October ends.  I hope I can get this blog written properly, in between the doorbell rings of the 'Trick or Treaters'! 

I've gained two new clients.

One of them is someone whose vision for partnering with charities in a meaningful way mirrors my own to a remarkable degree.  Added to this, the type of work I want to do as a Virtual PA is exactly the kind of support he requires to free him up to concentrate on the more strategic side of things.  I had undertaken a one-off project for him earlier this year.

The other new client is the person whose VA business training and mentoring got me started in the first place.  Kate, deciding it was high time she had a holiday, delegated her work to me and flew off to the Far East.  It was a challenge for us both - for me, because I needed to be able to get to grips quickly with the way she worked; for her, because she had to entrust her VA and coaching business support to someone else.  She briefed me just as she would want to have been briefed herself, and then let me get on with it.  It was textbook delegation!  I'm delighted to say that we both really enjoyed the experience.  She very nicely said, "For the first time in four years of running my own business I completely forgot about work...You fully "understood" the nature of my work and represented me perfectly...I can't wait to hand over to you next time I'm out of the office!"

Kate's experience led me to think a little more about the viewpoint of a VA's prospective client.  Let's be honest: it can be scary to entrust your precious work and business relationships to someone else.  That's why you need to make sure that you have confidence in the skills, expertise, professionalism and personality of your assistant and then fully brief her.  Never forget that a VA is herself a business owner and, at the very least, it is in her best interests to keep you (and your clients/colleagues) happy!

This month the Secretary of a Christian Charitable Trust has been one of my main clients.   I've been helping him with his legal paperwork as he and the Trustees went about selling the Trust's property and now need to consider a wider grant-making role.   Actually, the whole issue of being good stewards of what we have has been on my mind and this extract from a recent edition of The Word for Today seems to cover it rather well.    

'...[BE] STINGY [AND] LOSE EVERYTHING.   THE GENEROUS PROSPER...'   PROVERBS 11:24-25 NLT    
One reason the Dead Sea is a big tourist attraction is because it's got such high mineral concentrations that even non swimmers can stay afloat in its waters.   The only problem is the smell; because it has no outlets, any fresh water that comes in quickly becomes contaminated.   Solomon said: '[Be] stingy [and] lose everything.   The generous prosper...'.   God never intended us to be reservoirs that just take in; He called us to be rivers that flow out to bless others.   Something interesting happens when you stop focusing on yourself and get concerned with other people's needs.     Paul says: '...[A] person who gives cheerfully...will...have...plenty left...to share...' (2 Corinthians 9:7-8 NLT).   If you want to grow you've got to sow!   When the Macedonian church was '...tested by great troubles, and...very poor...they gave much...more than they could afford...' (2 Corinthians 8:2-3 NCV).   These folks understood that when you invest in the lives of others, God promises to meet your needs too.    

So if you need a job today, volunteer at a soup kitchen while you're looking for work.   If you're praying for an increase in your business, pour yourself into someone else's business and ask God to prosper them.   The Bible says when you 'Give generously...your gifts will return to you later', plus '...in the days ahead you yourself may need...help' (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 TLB).   Even if you don't have a specific need right now, sow a seed of kindness anyway.   Only God knows what the future holds, and one day when you need it the most it'll come back to bless you with a harvest.  

The daily devotional The Word for Today is available free of charge  from UCB.  Those living in the UK or the Republic of Ireland can write to UCB's Operations Centre at Westport Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST6 4JF.

I took two weeks off this month and had a list of household and DIY tasks to be tackled in between some lunches out on the Thames riverside; however  they mostly didn't get done!   My husband - who also runs his own business - found himself in meetings he had to attend and visiting people who couldn't see him any other time... so that means the garage still needs its clearout.   Oh well!   I can't blame him as I had my teeth into a project that I was enjoying too much to leave totally alone until my holiday ended.     I was working with Make It Happen on behalf of HOPE2008,  a grassroots initiative which is encouraging churches to 'raise their game' in community mission and service.   The very attractive HOPE2008 resource book offers a host of ideas for creative involvement in the local community and the whole thing has the blessing of eminent church leaders, politicians of all persuasions, senior police officers and the Department for Communities and Local Government too.   So look out for HOPE2008 projects in your local area - or perhaps even start one yourself?

Suddenly with a huge shock I realise that (a) I haven't added to my blog yet this month and tomorrow is August, (b) it's six months since I decided to establish a VA practice, (c) 2007 is more than half over and I don't know where it's gone, and (d) people are already thinking about Christmas!

It's been a busy month for me so it was nice to have the chance to pop up to Buckingham Palace Road last night on a warm summer evening for one of the regular meetings of the IQPS  Central London Network.  They're a nice group of people and I always enjoy catching up with them when I can.  The speaker last night was Mark Camley, the Chief Executive of the Royal Parks.  He's a delightful Scot with an extremely detailed knowledge (as you would expect) of each of the eight Royal Parks in London.  I confess I don't make as much use of my two local Royal Parks (Bushy and Richmond) as I should but maybe if we get a bit more of a summer than we've had recently, I might just make the effort, especially as Richmond Park has a great number of ancient oak trees, from 300 to an amazing 600 years old. 

Have you ever wondered what life is like when a child is disabled?  We have facilities in this country that we almost take for granted but in Africa children who are immobile are likely to spend their days lying on the floor, isolated, uneducated and with nothing to do.  Perhaps their mothers are exhausted; in some cases their fathers don't wish to acknowledge them.  Some children are born with a disability but others may contract an infection like cerebral malaria in their early years which can leave them unable to walk or even talk. 

There is a project in the Copperbelt region of Zambia called Wukwashi Wa Nzambi, meaning God's Help in the local Lunda language, which was founded by an English couple – an occupational therapist and a carpenter – two years ago.  Providing a network of support groups in homes, and training volunteers from local churches in rehabilitation techniques, Wukwashi has completely changed the lives of the many children who have received love, therapy, mobility aids and assistance to obtain vital medical help and/or corrective surgery.
 
I am privileged to be involved in such work by providing freelance administrative support to The Bethany Children's Trust which helps to fund not only the Wukwashi Project but other initiatives in Africa caring for children in crisis or at risk.  BCT has produced a Joke Book (jokes contributed by children in the UK) and every penny it raises goes towards the Wukwashi Project.  I have five copies to give away so please email me with your postal address if you would like to receive one! 

It often happens and it has again this year - the two major annual exhibitions I need to visit are happening in the same week!  So on Tuesday 15th I'll be at Olympia for the CRÈME Executive Secretary and PA Show and will be helping on the IQPS stand in the early afternoon.  Thursday 17th is my day to head to Sandown Park, Esher - not just for the lovely view over the racecourse but to meet up with friends and former colleagues at the Christian Resources Exhibition.  Will I see you at one of these shows?  Ring me on 07799 068539 if you are there and want to try to meet up!

Today is Good Friday.  It is also the beginning of the new tax year and the day on which I am starting out as a self-employed Virtual Personal Assistant.  I'm learning such a lot of new things to add to my many years' experience as a Secretary/PA.  These months since I left my last office job have been a time of waiting and wondering, thinking and praying, training and learning.  My family and friends have been a great support so huge thanks to them and to Kate Bacon and the VA Business Start-Up Group I've got to know through PierToPeer Coaching in Brighton.  In the last year I've learned that the words of David in Psalm 138 are an amazing promise to remember and hold on to.  "The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me…"