To Ethel

Sometimes you meet people who stand out. They are just ordinary people but there is something about them that you know is special.

Ethel was special. She suffered from two forms of arthritis but she battled on. Every morning she awoke with pain but every morning she counted her blessings.

Every day she did her standing up and sitting down exercises after which she would be sweating with pain and exertion. She battled on.

It was Ethel who taught us how to grow new African Violet plants by rooting a leaf from an existing one. This is what this blip shows, new roots growing in a rooting flask (although you can use a milk bottle).

Ethel was an accomplished pianist who kept on playing even though her hands and fingers were bent and distorted by arthritis.

Ethel told us a story once. She said that she had experienced whip-lash whilst proceeding down the main thoroughfare in Boscombe. She had to explain that this was not the whip-lash we knew. Cycling behind a horse-drawn carriage, the driver had wielded his whip and caught her whilst she cycled behind!