“Flower Of Scotland” by the Corries

It's St Andrew's Day.

On the 30th of November Scottish people from around the World celebrate St Andrew's Day.

Here are the words from a song by the Corries that is sung as our National Anthem although is is very unofficial! This anthem commemorates the battle of Bannockburn (1314) when the Scottish army under the leadership of Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II of England.

O Flower of Scotland, When will we seeYour like again,That fought and died for,Your wee bit Hill and Glen,And stood against him,Proud Edward's Army,And sent him homeward,Tae think again.

The Hills are bare now,And Autumn leaves lie thick and still,O'er land that is lost now,Which those so dearly held,That stood against him,Proud Edward's Army,And sent him homeward,Tae think again.

Those days are past now,And in the past they must remain,But we can still rise now,And be the nation again,That stood against him,Proud Edward's Army,And sent him homeward,Tae think again.

O Flower of Scotland,When will we seeyour like again,That fought and died for,Your wee bit Hill and Glen,And stood against him,Proud Edward's Army,And sent him homeward,Tae think again.

"Wonderful Christmas Time" by Paul McCartney

I have been told today that I am to join the team going to Romania and Moldova.

I will be travelling and sharing the driving with Paul in the smaller of the two trucks because we will be going on to Moldova where the roads are more difficult to drive and the larger truck cannot get through. We will be leaving on Saturday morning and travelling to Rosythe to take the overnight ferry to Zeebrugge. Then it’s a 2,300 mile journey through Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and then Moldova and to the town of Leova.

Moldova is considered the poorest country in all of Europe. Orphans there often lack both physical and emotional warmth, electricity, food and clothing. It will be a great thrill for me knowing that I will help them in a very small way to give them a Christmas they will remember forever. Link to NHT information on the Forgotten Children of Mondova.

We are taking warm clothing, boots, socks and Christmas presents for single mums, families and orphaned children along with some wardrobes that are desperately needed there.

Wish us luck!

"The Long and Winding Road" by The Beatles

Thursday was a long day!

I was given a Ford transit minibus today to pick up yet more presents and clothing. I must say that this poor blue bus had no power and consumed fuel like it was a super tanker in the high seas. It uses more fuel than the larger 7.5 ton Mercedes truck I was driving up till now. Why? Anyway, I got going at 5 am and struck south for Ayrshire. I got to Fenwick Primary School by 08:40 and by that time the wind was getting up to storm force with the snow not far behind it. I loaded the bus (seats out) with some gifts and proceeded to Ardrossan and St. Peter's Primary School where I was greeted with a lovely hot cup of coffee. I nearly fainted when they showed me what the children had brought to the school for the poor families of Eastern Europe. I counted 60 large bin bags full of clothes and cuddly toys and then was shown to another room where there were 160 boxes of Christmas presents. The girls, boys and teachers helped me to load the bus almost to its full capacity. I still had 4 schools to visit but had nowhere to put the kind gifts! After a frantic phone call to the Logistics Manager, Matthew, He agreed that I could cancel the uplifts at Cumbernauld and attempt to pick up the other lifts at Muirkirk Primary School and Snowdon School, Stirling. So off I trundled towards Muirkirk. Does anyone know where it is? It is in the middle of nowhere with Long and Winding Roads leading to and from it. The Ford Transit minibus was just not up to it. Foot hard to the floor all the way and I could only manage about 50mph on downhill stretches. Well, I managed to pick up at both schools with presents loaded to the roof. Goodness knows what it looked like to other fellow travellers on my way home to Peterhead. A wee guy speeding towards the horizon peering through boxes of Christmas wrapped boxes and black bags. Awesome! Got to Brechin> And then the snow was upon me but that didn't stop my pushing against the wind in this underpowered blue slug. I made it to Peterhead by 5:30 pm and then back home by 6:30 pm. Then the news came from Matthew that the following day was cancelled because of the snow causing chaos on the roads and many schools were to be closed the next day so there was no point attempting to struggle on the slippery roads.

"Thank God its Christmas" by Queen

Well here I am back from another day picking up loads of Christmas presents for all those poor children in Moldova and Romania. I picked up approx 200 boxes of presents with John G (thanks John for the help and the company!)along with many cuddly teddy bears and other similarly lovely cuddly toys. I was again in the Dundee area along with pick ups at Arbroath, Kirriemuir and nr Brechin. Thanks to all who donated these lovely gifts and clothes for these poor, poor children of Eastern Europe who will be so excited to have received them. I am excited too! I have been asked by the New Hope Trust if I can go in 2 weeks time to Moldova with the truck but I have other commitments.

I am trying to re-plan my life to allow me to go there and help with this very good charity. I will keep this blog up to date with developments. See Above for update>

"Father and Daughter" Paul Simon

Last night we were invited to my daughter's (Claire) place to have a meal with her fiancé, Ferruccio along with my sister, Anne and brother-in-law, Robert. We had a really nice Italian meal that consisted of 5 courses. Boy was I full! So full that this morning I could not eat breakfast! The Italians love to eat lots of food at one sitting on special occasions and I wasn’t about to disappoint Ferruccio or Claire. So I ate everything put in front of me. SO, it was a lovely evening and we chatted a lot and discussed their future wedding in April 2006. Today I have been shopping in our town for our dinner tonight and dinner tomorrow night. It is so cold today. Without cloud cover the temperature has fallen to -4 C and even with the sun is is only just getting above 0 C. Brrrrr.

"Drive" by CARS

WOW, just done my first run for New Hope Trust collecting Christmas parcels for orphaned children in Romania and Moldova. Travelled down to Dundee and Creiff to collect items from very kind folk. So DRIVE was very much in my mind while I drove there and back. Reminder of those very moving pictures when Michael Buerk showed views of the human famine in Ethiopia all those years ago. It changed the rich people's perception just a little bit for a small amount of time to make a big difference to the World's needy people. But it never stops. There are always hungry, cold people in the World. Every Little Helps.