Links

WEATHER

   Weathercharts   www.weathercharts.org

Just what the name says – comprehensive set of links to a huge number of weathercharts, ideal for professionals, hobbyists, students and travel arrangements. Every day I consult the simpler stuff at the UK Met Office:

www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_forecast_weather.html – Today's forecast for UK
www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/index.html – Today's rainfall as seen by radar, the map animation lets me know whether its coming my way, or going.

Cloud Appreciation Society http://cloudappreciationsociety.org Their website is a huge resource of cloud photos, articles and information (including "Clouds that look like things"). Well worth a visit.

Rain Later, Good – Illustrating the Shipping Forecast, by Peter Collyer, ISBN-0-901281-75-1 The author has produced exceedingly beautiful pictures of the sea and coast, accompanied by description of his sketching travels to the areas. A lot of skill and work has gone into the paintings, they are not dashed off to fill a book to sell. Although they are watercolours, they have the delicate and detailed appearance that one gets with very sharp colour pencils. You can confidently buy this book for a weatherbuff friend.

Save Hastings Pier www.hpwrt.co.uk One day you may go to Hastings in East Sussex expecting to walk on the pier to savour the weather and display your British hardiness in the face of the bracing sea breezes, and find this marvel of Victorian engineering in the throes of demolition! The Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust are campaigning for the purchase and refurbishment this pier for the community, preserving heritage, providing jobs and increasing the attractions and prosperity of the town. See also the National Piers Society www.piers.org.uk for details of other piers in need of help to survive.
Note: Hastings Pier – Sadly 95% of the superstructure was destroyed by fire on 5 October 2010 but plans are in progress to restore the pier.

 CHARITIES
Check them out at www.charity-commission.gov.uk

  Smile International

www.smileinternational.org   uk.youtube.com/smileinternational

"Smile International is a charity dedicated to sharing the love of Jesus Christ by helping to relieve suffering and poverty through the distribution of humanitarian aid and long-term development projects. Our aim is to put a smile on people's faces as they see the love of God in action." Smile are getting the job done exactly as described above – faith in action. There is emphasis on providing opportunities for supporters and volunteers to travel out to help on the projects around the world. Registered Charity No. 1079730

Smile activities: Caring for orphans/widows – Christmas shoeboxes – Feeding programmes – Gifts With Love (alternative gifts) – Health education – HIV/AIDS awareness workshops – Humanitarian aid – Job creation/microfinancing – Knitting – Smile merchandise – Magazine & Updates – Step Out trips/career breaks/gap years – Prayer Partners – Prison ministry – Schools work – School twinning – Sponsor A Child/Widow/Pastor – Sponsored challenges – Supporting churches/pastors – Water supply – Smile Centres in Kosova and Sri Lanka – Working in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Charity Christmas Cards: At www.smileinternational.org/downloads.aspx you can download their merchandise sheet to purchase both Christmas and general cards.

PDFs of scenes of Africa, India & Sri Lanka, Shoebox gifts and Christmas Nativity scenes/colouring/cards include educational material and are suitable for schools, churches, clubs, fundraising and home use.

Smile website is undergoing revision – please download from here temporarily:

Smile Colour And Cut Out Africa PDF  11 MB
Smile Colour And Cut Out India Sri Lanka PDF  11 MB
Smile Colour And Cut Out Nativity PDF  9.6 MB
Smile Colour And Cut Out Nativity One-Page PDF 800 KB
Smile Colour And Cut Out Shoebox PDF  11 MB
Smile Colouring Christmas Pictures & Cards PDF  4 MB

Africa scene

 The Hunger Site  www.thehungersite.com  www.youtube.com/watch?v=osE_0s5OjUA

"The Hunger Site was founded to focus the power of the Internet on a specific humanitarian need: the eradication of world hunger." Every time you click the button on their site, their site sponsors pay for cups of food.

One Water www.onedifference.org/uk/water    www.youtube.com/user/1difference
All profits from the sale of this bottled Welsh spring water go to providing water pumps/systems for villages in Africa. Bottles can be purchased in Co-Op, Morrisons, Tesco, Total petrol stations and Waitrose. The One Foundation can also supply One Water vending machines for workplaces. Registered Charity No. 1118810.

However, you might find http://thewaterproject.org/bottled_water.asp of interest, which gives some facts and figures regarding the ultimate wastefulness of resources in the large-scale production and consumption of bottled water, as well as the resultant plastic pollution when bottles are discarded. When tap water can be filtered, that would seem to be a better option all round.

Tools With A Mission www.twam.co.uk
TWAM collect and refurbish tools, sewing machines and equipment no longer required, and send them out to developing countries to enable people to earn a living and regain their independence. Based in Ipswich, Suffolk, with volunteer collectors/sorters around the UK. Their website gives a list of tools required. Registered Charity No. 1104903.

ANIMAL CARE

The Donkey Sanctuary founded by Dr Elisabeth Svendsen MBE for distressed and abused donkeys. Based in Sidmouth, Devon, UK. Their website has a live webcam in their barn www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/mainbarnwebcam2 Registered Charity No. 264818.

The Brooke www.thebrooke.org works to improve the conditions of working animals of burden – horse, donkeys and mules – on which many of the world's poorest people rely for their living, through veterinary services and animal handling/welfare training. This helps both owner and animal to a better and longer life. Registered Charity No. 1085760.

Beaver Water World www.beaverwaterworld.com caring for and rehoming abandoned reptiles and other animals, and education on responsible pet choice and care. Based in Westerham, Kent, UK.  Registered Charity No. 1063373 as "Beaver Zoological Gardens and Reptile Rescue".

Reptile Events www.reptile-events.co.uk  Reptile Events Facebook page
Education on responsible reptile care through visiting schools, clubs and events with their snakes and lizards. Their care for the animals' welfare is plainly evident on the public occasions where I have visited their stand. Based in London, UK. (Not a charity, as far as I know, and as a newly published website (May 2011), not showing in Google searches just yet – insert web address in the toolbar box instead)

Nutty the Leopard Gecko visiting Petts Wood May Fayre

UK WOODLANDS & FORESTS

The Woodland Trust www.woodlandtrust.org.uk works to conserve the UK's woodland and ancient forests.  Their work is to "acquire and restore ancient woodland sites, fight to save woods under threat ... create new woodland for wildlife and people to enjoy ... We own and care for over 1,000 woods, covering 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares), virtually all of which are open for all to visit." Registered Charity No. 294344 (England & Wales) and No. SC038885 (Scotland).

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FAITH

  Moore Life Ministries www.morelifenow.org
Moore Life Ministries is run by Keith Moore, based in Missouri, USA, offering stable and trustworthy teaching of Bible truths – "...speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). He has served many years in healing ministry and is greatly experienced in providing timely faith-building instruction, in a friendly manner. The ministry's website offers all their teachings, sermons, songs, etc as free downloads for your edification. I would count it a great honour to be able to introduce you, via this link, to this man of God.

Bible Gateway www.biblegateway.com  Online search facility of over 100 versions of the Bible.

Wordless Book First used by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in a sermon delivered in 1866, showing just three coloured pages – black, red and white. Green and gold were added over time by others. The talk that goes with the book can be found in more up-to-date language and shorter, but the original is where to start. www.spurgeon.org

ART AND ILLUSTRATION

Bible Illustration

www.bibleartist.com "A picture reference resource site for Bible artists" This very informative website discusses Bible illustration issues and gives further web links on the subject.

Painting

Structure and Expression for Flowers in Watercolour, by Jean Martin, ISBN1-929834-22-5
Pamela Kay, A Personal View, by Pamela Kay, ISBN 0-7153-1119-0
Both these books make me want to find some flowers and paint them right now!

The Artist's Guide to Selecting Colours, by Michael Wilcox, ISBN 09587-891-8-5 All about all the colours in the all the tubes. He has both artistic and scientific background. Surprising information on your favourite trusted paints. Composition of paints sold is changing all the time but any age copy of the book will be informative.

Blue And Yellow Don't Make Green (or how to mix the colour you want every time), by Michael Wilcox, ISBN 0-9587891-9-3 Describes the process in detail in a lucid and methodical manner. www.schoolofcolour.co.uk

The Painted Garden, A Year in Words and Watercolors, by Mary Woodin, ISBN 0-7624-1530-4 This is a painted garden diary. Despite the spelling of the title, the author depicts the plants in her garden in Blackheath, London. The inspirational illustrations are freely scattered on all the pages, interspersed with relaxed hand-written style text, all presented in a sketchbook/diary layout. This book is far superior to any of this type of painter's diary that I have seen. The unfussy style of the illustrations is achieved with much skill and repays close study.

Embroidery

Making Needlecraft Landscapes, by Mary Carroll, ISBN 0-7153-8797-9
I like this book just for the pictures. The embroideries were submitted by the winners of a competition, and the landscapes and sceneries are lovely. There is instruction in basic embroidery, plus outline drawings to reproduce the scenes and step-by-step instructions for each one. I read it from composition point of view, as it is very helpful to see how they have simplified the views. The year of publication is 1986 and it is still out there, I have checked! www.gb.bookbutler.com

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REFERENCE

http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de Beolingus German Dictionary Comprehensive, as good as a thesaurus, takes the difficulty out choosing which is the right word – homework heaven!

http://german.typeit.org Type German characters online, choice of other languages also.

HEALTH AND WEIGHT LOSS

Inch Loss Plan, by Rosemary Conley, ISBN 0-09-974120-2
Her mature and motivational encouragement is very helpful.

You Are What You Eat, by Gillian McKeith, ISBN 0-718-14765-0
If you do not like her forceful style of presentation, do not let that rob you of useful information for your health.

Your Body's Many Cries for Water, by Dr F Batmanghelidj, ISBN 0-95309021-6-X
Written by an Iranian-born doctor who discovered these precepts while he was a political prisoner in a Tehran jail, where water was the only thing he could give suffering inmates. Please persevere through the technical descriptions and gain a valuable weapon in your health armoury.

Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell, by Debra Waterhouse, ISBN 0-340-58813-6
I have read many cellulite books but this one has given me that vital bit of information I need. It is exceedingly easy to read and understand, and I strongly recommend it. Where has this book been all my life!

What Would Jesus Eat, by Don Colbert MD PA, www.drcolbert.com
Very informative coverage of all the foods available in Biblical times. Dr Colbert is based in Florida and his website gives all of his other articles and books on nutrition and health. I have read his "What You Don't Know May Be Killing You", "Toxic Relief", "Stress Less", "Deadly Emotions" and "Walking in Divine Health" and was glad I spent my money on these books. Maybe your local library needs some encouragement to stock one or two of them!

Pure, White and Deadly, by John Yudkin
Information on the dangers of consuming sugar, which is added to so many of our foods. As often happens, the author incurred the displeasure of those who benefit from selling sugar and I am grateful he persevered. This book started me off on healthy eating, cutting out all sugar and regaining well-being, my sense of taste plus a much nicer waistline. It's never too late to dump the junk.

My own weight loss on Victories page

HOUSE & HOME

Is There Life After Housework? and How To Win At Housework, by Don Aslett, www.donaslett.com
This author started the bottom in his college days and built up a successful cleaning business. His logical and common sense approach to every aspect of cleaning work, and reducing the amount necessary, is priceless. Plenty of gentle humour and very likeable. He has written many more since I bought the above.

The Life Laundry (How To De-Junk Your Life), by Dawna Walter and Mark Franks
Concentrates on the emotional reasons why people cling to clutter and rubbish, as well as providing practical tips on organising routines to prevent a return of the dreaded stuff. She understands that success is dependent on encouraging the person to deal with the underlying issues. Gentle, kind, practical. Mark Franks' expertise is in disposing of the saleable items. I bought a copy that someone else had finished with, and now someone else has my copy!

Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs & More, by Earl Proulx, ISBN 0-89909-385-X
"1001 ingenious ways to use common household items to repair, restore, revive or replace just about everything in your life" A dip-in book that combats our costly throwaway mentality. Thick chunky book chock full with the emphasis on "ingenious". I really should read more of it.

SHORTHAND

Long Live Pitman's Shorthand www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk
My other website dedicated entirely to Pitman's New Era Shorthand – extensive theory pages, advice on equipment and learning, shorthand reading material with text key, downloadable PDFs, and JPGs for your Ipod. I am adding pages regularly and everything is totally free.

Shorthand Books www.bookbarn.co.uk based in Bristol, UK
They stock and sell second-hand books on behalf of sellers who receive 50% of the sale price. Their search site www.look4abook.com will turn up a large number of shorthand books that they have in stock (more than you will find on Ebay), often several of the same title with different prices, according to condition. I found their mail order service to be quick and efficient.

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