It’s been raining for several days and it has stopped my tending of plants very well. But they’ve had rain… It has caused me to dwell though. Parenthood for me came about just months after the very high-profile abduction of the British McCann family’s daughter Madeleine. It was hard to miss the story while on my very unusual prolonged maternity leave. I would get very upset at the idea that someone would be hunting little girls and I felt so upset for the family. Pregnancy hormones being rampant and all. I swore to myself that my baby would never be left anywhere at risk (fast forward three years and the police helicopter almost being sent to find her and her little friend who was hiding in bushes in another part of the park.) Heart in mouth that day…

Hard to forget the feeling though and today seeing headlines that 13 years later a suspect may be questioned for Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. Police have started to look into 400 recent (ie. they took 13 years to think about it) reports that have come in. Doesn’t bear thinking about how many incidents have happened since because people didn’t think they had information…

Keeping us all safe from Covid has seen less people roaming around the world and we may have to rethink why that is so much part of people’s psyche and that they must have certain things they won’t have without jumping in airplanes every year. How do we know the same aircraft aren’t spreading the germs? How many of our TV stars and politicians who’ve had it, have regular fliers cards?

So being on a tiny unstable income and one regular salary puts us out of the regular flier club but actually more used to isolating and staying at home. I’d love to go to far flung places if I’m honest. I’d love to show things to my girls but are we safer now staying put? When will we know? When will the authorities know or act in our best interests, not theirs? Six million dollar question. Answers on the email…