Book table?

Progress report: The tilt-top table is now for sale on EBay. I'm asking £25 as a starting price - it should be worth at least twice that - and mentioned that all the selling price will go directly to GOES.

Work on the next book progresses; it's one of the Malinding series and Ed-Lamin (Ed's eldest son) is the main character. It begins in England, but a very different England. Voter apathy has enabled a racist minority party to take control and young Ed is caught up in the killing that results. I need to enable him to escape and flee to freedom - not easy in a totalitarian regime! At least it's fiction ... hope to have it out in time for Christmas.

Help GOES - help The Gambia!

Good things happen out of the blue! On Sunday we went up to Blackpool to meet Stuart (a friend we first met a few years ago in Kotu) and had a wonderful day during the course of which he presented us with a bag containing a host of colourful knitted baby clothes, donated by Elizabeth. They will be in The Gambia before Christmas, cheering up a good few babies and their mums!
Then, on Tuesday we collected some chairs which had been repaired by Patrick, a furniture restorer in Frodsham. You can see one of the chairs in the top photo - it's good to be able to sit down again while we eat! What is even better that he presented us with the pretty little tilt-top table with instructions to sell it and give the money to GOES! The table is late Victorian/early Edwardian and is in excellent condition (well, it is now that Patrick has worked his magic on it!)
People are so kind. Thanks to all the people I've mentioned here, and thaks to all those who have been buying the 'Malinding' books - I have no idea who you are but thanks - all proceeds go directly into the Charity Co-op bank account. Again, thanks to Stuart who has been gently persuading some of his friends to buy the books! (Hope those people are still his friends!) Thanks also to whoever you are in Japan who bought a copy of Mussukunda the other day!
I was back at Gladstone's Library at Hawarden today and yet another chapter of the latest book is down on paper. Well, to be honest, it's not down on paper - it's down on what ever the computer puts it!
Thanks for reading this - more soon.
Tom

One of those weeks!

Well, it has been. The GOES bank balance was looking quite healthy for a while so we sent it out to work! We've made sure a bright young girl can continue her education, repaired the doors of a house to keep the snakes out, helped the family of a young man who has just lost his job - the sort of things GOES does. The support given by Vale Royal Writers and Liverpool's Dead Good Poets has been put to good use.
 I thought I had better do my bit and so I trooped off to Gladstone's Library to put in a hard day working on the new book. Found I'd arrived with a computer with a flat battery and without the mains lead to charge it. Drat, bother and trudget! Managed to get a little done in longhand but the arthritis which has nested in my hands limited that! Drat, etc. again! Still, the cake was good (coconut and chocolate, if you must know ...)
However, we've found a furniture restorer who can mend our wobbly chairs - but he's gone on holiday.
 Another worry is the rumour that Barclays Bank is giving up on money transfers is a bit worrying. We use BAYBA, which has been excellent over the years; quite low charges, good exchange rate and same day service if we pay in early enough. The paying in bit has been through Barclays Bank, here in Stockton Heath and Warrington, and we have used it for years without a single problem. Fingers crossed that it continues to work.
 Oh - nearly forgot; we get lots of requests for help towards buying a sheep from families who want to celebrate the end of Ramadan in style. Sorry, we can't help with this. I realise the importance of celebration after a long period of fasting but we just do not have the money to pay for highly priced sheep.
 The week ended sadly for us, attending the funeral  of a good man. I wished I had known him better, but I liked and enjoyed his company on the few occasions when I had the good fortune to share it. There's no tomorrow in this life.
 Sorry, sad note to end on - keep buying the Malinding ebooks and help build up GOES bank account again! 'Empty Bananas' is the first and the worst but I'm told the others are worth a read for $1 or 77p ...

Post as promised!

The Word Fest was brilliant! Music, poetry and prose on a Summer' evening - thanks to all who attended, either to perform or to listen. The raffle, together with generous donations, put £73 pounds into the GOES account. It won't rot away in the vaults of the Co-op Bank - we'll find a good use for it, promise!
Last year's money funded the purchase of the wheelchair mentioned in earlier posts. One thing being associated with GOES has taught me is never to underestimate the creative talents or the generosity of people. Yes, that's two things ... I'll go back to sleep now and dream of Baobab trees ... I'm too old for these late nights (unless I'm dancing to African drums on a beach of silver sand ...)

Vale Royal Writers Group to the rescue!

VRWG, together with the Dead Good Poets of Liverpool, hold their Summer Wordfest tonight in the Blue Cap inn, in a Cheshire village - Sandiway. We'll listen to some excellent poetry and prose, enjoy the company and hope the raffle raises some funds for GOES. If you're up for it bring some of your own poetry or stories along because there will be a few 'open mic' sessions. Writers will sell you their books, the publican will sell you drinks and food - what's not to like?
Naturally, you've already bought the Malinding series of e-books about village life in West Africa? Just to celebrate our heat wave I've put 'The Mechanical Girl' on free e-book offer on Kindle ... and did I mention that all income from sales of the Malinding books go straight into GOES bank account? Yes, thought I did!
If you can't make it I'll let you know how much we raise - and what we spend it on! Lately we've funded school fees, medical help, the installation of a water supply at a clinic, a wheel chair for a young woman, a new back door for a family home - and a few more bags of rice for hungry people. Thanks for your help (if you buy all the Malinding books we can give a mosquito net to some one who needs it!)
Thanks again.

Wheelchair - as promised! (See post dated 17th June 2013)

A while ago we mentioned that we had been asked to help a Gambian family obtain a good quality wheelchair for a young member of their family. Here's the result; the upper picture shows the young lady in her old chair and along side is the new one. The lower picture shows her comfortably settled into the new chair. Thanks to all of you who contributed to this, either by direct donation or by purchasing one or other of the 'Malinding' ebooks from Kindle. This is where your money went!
Thanks also to S***** for bringing this matter to our notice and, of course, to W***, the girl's brother, for organising the Gambian end of the transaction and providing the photographs and permission to publish them.

The sun shines but I go to work!

You might think that at my age I'd have more sense! Still, there's another book to be finished. In it Ed's eldest son, Ed-Lamin, has finished Uni in England and has settled down to live happily ever after with Jane, his beautiful girlfriend. There was a General Election six months ago but the people of England were either too lazy to vote or too disillusioned to care. So, as a result, an extremist party - the Purity People's Party - gained power and set about ridding the country of 'undesirable aliens' by rounding them up into concentration camps. Ed-Lamin is captured by manages to escape by  -  well, that would be telling and I need you to buy the book and support GOES! Anyway, it may or may not end happily!
 So, that's why I've spent a sunny day indoors. The pile of reading glasses donated by kind people in Cheshire for use by short-sighted people in West Africa grows - more please. We're not sure that we'll be able to take heavy stuff like reference books out this time because we've not heard from Thomas Cook about an extra baggage allowance yet. Fingers crossed. Light stuff we can manage in our pockets - mobile phones (always welcome), memory sticks, spectacles and such like, please !