Spring lodge

 One evening my mother made dinner after a hard day's work. She put a plate of eggs, salad and burnt toast in front of my father ... I immediately noticed, the burnt toast .... And, I was waiting to see if he was going to complain about it, but my father started to eat them, smiling and asked me how I spent my day at school ... My mom apologized to my dad for the burnt toast. I will never forget his response to her: "Honey, I love burnt toast!" Later when I went to bed and my dad came over to kiss me goodnight, I asked him if he really liked the burnt toast? He hugged me and said, "Your mother has had a difficult day and she is really tired. She went out of her way to prepare this meal for us, why blame her and hurt her. Burnt toast never hurt anyone; but words can be very painful! " We have to know how to appreciate what others do for us, even if it's not perfect, because it's the intention to do well that counts, and no one is perfect ...

  My personal life story begins like all of us at my birth. Being born in a small village in the West African country of Ghana gives me my uniqueness and an identity that has culture, history and politics in it. The village is called Dixcove after the British Captain who was called Captain Dixon who colonised the region in the 16th Century. My Mother is a Ghanaian and my Farther is from England, the North West a West Cumbrian. When I was four it was decided by my parents that I would live in England with my dad’s sister my Auntie Dot. ‘It was for the best reasons ’ I have remembered my Auntie saying and after all it was the brave new world of the nineteen sixties, where the ‘civil rights’ movement was in its ascendency. Being sent to live in Egremount in West Cumbria had a number of challenges, not just for its white working class identity which served up a lot of prejudice for me; it was also the beginning of the sexual abuse that I had to endure as a child. My Auntie had two Sons...

It was almost midnight when the call came. Like many others on this particular evening, Frank was still awake. Unlike most people however, it was not a view of Times Square that captivated his attention. Instead, he sat gazing intently at his cellphone, as though he could will it into making a sound. When it finally did, he pressed the accept button before it had finished it’s first ring. “It’s done?” he inquired by way of greeting. “What do you think? You know I don’t make mistakes.” The words might have sounded arrogant, but when spoken by the woman on the other end of the line, they rang only of being a statement of fact. “Now what?” “Now,” he replied grimly, “we wait. We wait to see if everything we’ve done will be worth the cost.” “What if…”. Her voice trailed off and he got the feeling she was searching for the right words. The ones she chose caught him off guard. “What if we left it all behind, just walked away?” Unable to keep the surprise from his tone he said, ...

Whether you’re a skeptic or believer, there’s no denying that there are some things that can’t be explained. “The people that see things, the people that experience things, are the people that are paying attention,” Derek Hayes, host and creator of  “Monsters Among Us,”  a podcast where guests share their unearthly experiences, told TODAY. “You have to be aware of your surroundings enough to realize that there’s something strange going on around you." In the 1990s, Julie, a resident of Portland, Oregon, was driving out the city to meet with friends when she found herself in traffic. The 18-year-old soon discovered that the cause of the slowdown was due to a dreadful car crash and to her horror, as she passed the scene, she realized that someone had died. A moment later, “there was a woman sitting in my passenger seat.” Julie told Hayes on “Monsters Among Us." Though she admits it sounds crazy, Julie said she could see a woman dressed in work clothes seated next to her. Though...

The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his condolence message for Queen Elizabeth II passing away remembered seeing her pictures during his young days in Tibet. The longest-serving monarch of the UK died at the age of 96 on Thursday afternoon at her Scottish estate. After reigning for 70 years, the death of the Queen was mourned by people across the world. The Dalai Lama also wrote a letter of condolences to her son, now King Charles III. His Holiness explained in the letter that he has early memories of seeing pictures of the Queen’s coronation while in Tibet. “I remember seeing photographs of her coronation in magazines when I was young in Tibet,” His Holiness wrote. “Her reign, as Britain’s longest-serving monarch, represented celebration, inspiration, and a reassuring sense of continuity for many people alive today. Buckingham palace announce in their official statement that she died ‘peacefully’ in her sleep. QEII was being held under ‘medical supervision’ fol...

  UKRAINE AFGHANISTAN MALI SYRIA YEMEN SOMALIA Around the world, millions of children are growing up in conflict. Caught in the crossfires of war, these children and young people are uniquely vulnerable.  This  International Poetry Day , 21 March, children and young people living through conflict are sharing the harsh reality of a childhood defined by war through their  Poems for Peace . Their powerful words must serve as a wake-up call, spurring global action to achieve peace. Read these poems by boys and girls in Afghanistan, Mali, Syria, Ukraine, Somalia and Yemen, and share yours. You can submit your call to achieve global peace and offer a beacon of hope for children and young people around the world. Submit your poem through our  website  or post it on your social media channels using the hashtags #PoemsForPeace and #WorldPoetryDay. We need to hurry up We were told the war should end But it keeps going from day ...

  ​Never eat these foods during periods Many women suffer from unbearable cramps, heavy bleeding, discomfort and flatulence during their menstrual cycle. While some experts consider these effects as a normal part of the periodic cycle, others believe that excess of any of these symptoms can be an early sign of slackening reproductive health. But did you know, unbearable cramps or uneasiness is not always related to your health, rather these are a result of the unhealthy foods that you love indulging during this phase. Here are some common foods that can make your periods miserable and it’s time to strike them out! 2 6 ​Salty foods Most of us love binging on a pack of chips or processed snacks that are no doubt delicious, but are loaded with additives and salt. Excess intake of sodium rich (salty) foods can hold up a lot of water causing water retention, bloating, discomfort, stomach ache. Red meat During the menstrual cycles the body produces a compound called Prostaglandins, which...