Originally from: Farmtalking
                        
I apologise as I realise I've been rather quiet lately and failed to respond to a few messages as quickly as I should. I've tended to run out of time each day – a common failing! I hope the following helps to bring you up to date.

2003 in so many ways has not been a good year for many of us. Losses have been great and many condolences have had to be sent to friends and relatives following our country being at war against the wishes of so many. The terrorist incidences, murders of children, wrongful imprisonment of others, including bereaved Mothers and other dreadful injustices are devastating and deplorable.

The older we get the more personal losses seem to increase too and we realise how vry special and precious are those we still have around us. Friends and relatives have passed away and it’s not easy, but we try to overcome the sadness with the happy memories we have and the knowledge that we were fortunate to have known and loved them too.

Some of us also have friends who’ve been unwell and caused great concern and I do hope that those still suffering, especially Mary of Warmwell, will recover very soon.

However, I do not intend this message to be one of complete 'doom and gloom'. It may not be immediately obvious but there are a few 'good news' stories as well, both of a personal and general nature!

As many of you know I was forced to move home last February and though extremely upset and worried at the time, I find I now live in a delightful cottage on a family farm in the same village. I’m among the best of friends and neighbours, not the least of which are the animals! The birth of my granddaughter last May was also wonderful and in June a surprise 60th Birthday party, organised for me by all my friends in the village, was a delight never to be forgotten!

I have also been busy keeping the Farmtalking and other web sites updated and building a new one for another neighbouring village. –

http://www.coldingham.info.

Some of you may find it very interesting, as it depicts all aspects of the vibrant life of this country village in the Borders and includes a message board just like ours!

At present in Scotland there is grant-aided funding available for web sites for villages and businesses that benefit tourism, so do get in touch with your local Scottish Enterprise office if you live in Scotland and it applies to you or your village. I’m also trying to find out if similar grants are available in other parts of the country too!

To return to our agricultural topic, I guess I'm not the only one to have noticed that many still await compensation payments for FMD, – sorry that's not very good news! – or that a plethora of Consultation Documents has been issued by DEFRA!

The latter may not seem like good news either but I think it is! For some reason DEFRA have included Farmtalking on it's list of Consultees for the Annual review of Foot and Mouth Disease Contingency Plan. I know they look at the web site and may consider that 'consultation' but as Farmtalking is on the list I think I had better make sure that they receive a response!

To be sure I don’t omit any suggestions or recommendations that others think are essential, please send me an e-mail message – to:- ... – telling me what you would like me to include. I will certainly publish my response on this message Board and the web site.

Its hard to pull the wool over the eyes of those of us who've seen a few Christmasses and who've been involved with FMD since early 2001! If once upon a time we innocently believed in Santa Claus, trusted the Government, MAFF/DEFRA?SERAD, the RCVS, RSPCA, NFU, etc as well as many farmers, vets and some of our friends, not to mention all the wonderful changes for the better we were promised as a result of the Inquiries, all that trust has gone. We're no longer the innocents we once were! We may have lost faith in Santa Claus, Compensation and Consultations but surely that doesn't mean we don't believe in Christmas or the possibility of changes for the better does it?

What does Christmas mean to you? It's understandable that it means many different things to different people and its those differences that require understanding and are perhaps the most important of all. If we really want to ‘be understood and understand’, our family, friends or DEFRA, we surely need to let them know what we mean and respond to their needs as well, for however long it takes to make a difference!

The commonly held belief is that Christmas is a time for sharing with those we love. Visiting friends and family, exchanging cards and gifts that we hope they'll want and be pleased to receive as well as spending time in their company doing the things we enjoy together. Its a time of year when we all hope our experiences will be happy and enjoyed, not marred by family rows and disappointments. Yet so often our expectations far exceed what we actually receive! Our hopes and dreams are not always compensated by the 'Magic of Christmas' either for others or ourselves.

So, whose fault is that? How can we best cope – not only with Christmas but with the problems that face us all in the future? When we're tired of it all there's no doubt that to ignore everyone and everything and take no part in the festivities or DEFRA's Consultations can seem an attractive and tempting idea, but what then? If we bury our heads in the sand and withdraw we will only have ourselves to blame when we and friends and family are disappointed and hurt. We’re also bound to increase our own misery too!

The alternative has to be to 'get involved' however daunting that prospect may seem. Of course you may say, ‘but there's always a price to pay for involvement’ and most often you would be right. We can get things wrong, find ourselves misunderstood and others may shower their anger and disappointments upon us. We can become angry and disappointed ourselves, as promises are broken, or we're let down. Our hopes and dreams seem to fade away and everything we try to do seems to bring no good result, let alone any compensation for our efforts! However, that’s not always the case.

I remember a frequent remark on my school reports was 'Jane must try harder!'. At the time, I thought it very unfair! In my opinion I was quite sure I was doing my best! It's an opinion I've often considered and many times I still think, I've done my best and can do no more! It's usually just then that some problem turns up and I feel I must to make a little more effort to solve it! The words of my Granny come to mind, 'If you don't at first succeed, try and try and try again!' It's amazing how so often, in the end, the extra effort does make a difference and solves the problem!

So as Francis says, for those of you ‘still fighting’ please try not to ‘bash’ those around you too hard too hard, (especially at Christmas time!) but do send me a message of what you want included in the Consultation response, even if you do so after Christmas!

Thanks very much!

Happy Christmas! – And here's hoping for a better year in 2004 for us all! – Jane