100 ABSTRACTS - NUMBER 82 & FLOWER FRIDAY

As well as finding a flower I could use not only for my 100 Abstracts Challenge but also for Flower Friday, I wanted it to be something from the garden that Mr. HCB had grown.  He bought several chrysanthemums last year and also some carnations, mainly because his Dad used to grow them and he wanted to give them a try.

He kept all the chrysanthemums in the greenhouse over the winter in and then planted them out back in May.  They have grown very tall, probably a combination of rain, sun and not being “pinched out” - his Dad would be "tut-tutting" if he could see them, but I’m sure that Mr. HCB will learn by his mistake and they will be done properly next year!  This particular one is called an “incurve” chrysanthemum and is really beautiful.  I have put the the original in as an extra, and of course, have done a little fartnarkling on it with the iColorama app to make it look more “Monet-like”, as Mr. HCB put it!

So this is for Flower Friday and as a “Two for One” it is Number 82 in my 100 Abstracts Challenge, which I am doing to raise awareness of the MMF, which enables girls in North Malawi to obtain a good secondary school education.  Many girls then go on to university, gain their degree and then return to their family and community to help in any way they can and to become role models for younger girls and boys too.

“Today, while 27% of girls in Malawi enrol in secondary school only 13% actually attend and just a fraction of that group will finish school with only 5% passing their MSCE exam. Secondary education in Malawi is not free and many girls drop out due to financial hardship.  However, the Mamie Martin Fund believes that no girl who has gained a place at secondary school should have to give it up because of poverty.”

Mr. HCB has just left to go to an afternoon cricket match, but before he went, we had a “Cream Brunch” which is something like a Cream Tea, but at lunchtime - and delicious it was too - with the jam on the scone first, before the cream.  I must confess that after spending the last 16 months during the lockdowns mostly with Mr. HCB, I have felt rather lonely this week, but at least we will have the weekend together before another week of Cheltenham Festival cricket next week.  We have had some heavy storms here, but thankfully, just 30 miles down the road in Cheltenham, it has been mostly good weather, so he is looking quite healthy and tanned.  

“When we speak 
     we are afraid our words 
          will not be heard or welcomed. 
But when we are silent, 
     we are still afraid - 
          so it is better to speak.”
Audre Lorde

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MaureenIles