Butterfly Business

Sonia Copeland Bloom

It was the Butterfly AGM yesterday - at the Cheltenham Racecourse.  Which is a splendid building with fantastic views.  It is not somewhere we would visit in the normal course of events as we do not involve ourselves with horse racing.

What can I say about it?  Well worth the visit - what a professional organisation Butterfly Conservation is.  The speaker from Marks and Sparks - Mike Barry, Head of Sustainable Business - was impressive, as you would expect.  The Treasurer's Report was both interesting and understandable.  (I am usually like Edwina in Ab Fab when it comes to discussing money matters, holding my head in my hands and sobbing "Just tell me how much money we've got!", as fiscal this&thats get discussed.  I have even sobbed over the phone to a girl at the Tax Office about filling in my Tax Forms: "You know more about my money than I do. Can't YOU fill it in?!")

Sonia Copeland Bloom (Orlando Bloom's mum) gave us a short talk on the series of children's book she is writing about insects.  She read an extract from her butterfly book: "Crystal, the Small Miracle".  It was wonderfully anthropomorphic, which as someone who has been a moth-er of several moth babies, I appreciate.   But she also researches so that the books are accurate and the children can learn happily from reading them.   I am so glad she used the word "miracle", as egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly is exactly that.  A miracle.

I joined the queue and got her to sign books for Eleanor Margaret and for Beth.

Neil joined us for lunch, which was baked potato with chile and salad.  Altogether a nice day out.

Today Captain B was off early with his Treasure Hunter hat on, and I was off to the meeting - then a few return visits - and then home.

It was such a beautiful Autumn day I only wish I could find the words to describe it.  As I was doing my return visits I was thinking that this is surely another glimpse of the Paradise the earth is going to be, and I was longing to tell people about it.