​HOT POTATO

We are facing difficult times at the moment, when a new virus has appeared creating anxiety for travellers round the World. Sadly it has started in China this time, at a very difficult time for the Chinese. It is their New Year and the time of the year they move on mass to see their families. Some have been separated from one New Year to another. So the decision to restrict travel in some areas has been important to prevent the viral spread.

It will be causing great sorrow, anxiety and loss of wasted food gifts for their families. My heart goes out to them and to those fighting this virus and the hospital and medically staff working to save them.

Round the World Scientists will be working very hard to find a vaccine to combat this strain. What can we do?

Public Health notices will be released to inform you.

Each Country will be working out their own advice on how to help yourself and others. You can use Google to see what the World Health Organisation advises and what other countries are doing. Keep informed with reliable information. Increase personal and family hygiene activity to a higher level seems to be helpful.

Good news we have had i rain, our water tanks have been refilled, everyone is delighted. For families on tight budgets it is a very welcome gift.

It is amazing how fast the grass and vegetation recovers after a period of drought. Perhaps it is my imagination but a fresh green is tinging the dried brown grass already, the grazing animals will be pleased with the boost.

Take care of one another, be mindful of others in need of help.

© 2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image by pbs.org

​SERIOUS THOUGHTS

Hello everyone, I am sitting here thinking, as I often do, looking up at the sky that floats over you too.

The needs of people in different parts of the world and how they are valued.

I have just consumed a small biscuit and cheese meal,

which might have fed you for a week.

I have turned my water tap on for clean water, and it runs freely.

You have to travel long distances to find water clean enough to drink.

For you, the return is dangerous there and back in war zones and when you try to dodge man and animal attack.

I have no worries about my safety when at home or outdoors.

You worry constantly when carrying the heavy,

precious water, praying for a safe return to the thirsty people and animals awaiting a life-saving drink.

Listening to your story certainly makes me, and I hope others think.

How lucky we are to have water delivered by a tap and safe for all to drink.

© 2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

image by innoafrica

​AMAZING DADS

To the wonderful Dads struggling to provide for their families.

Either together under one roof or divided by separation.

Being a Dad has never been an easy task; it has a learning curve; love, respect, and sharing have to be earned.

The speed of internet messaging, both true and false, can be distressing, carrying good news and bad when away from home.

Careers lasting a lifetime are disappearing almost as fast as glaciers at the poles.

Scary, constant, employment change, for various reasons, seems to be the norm, with AI leading the way.

The world, too, is in a precarious state, both natural and man-made, increasing pressure on families everywhere.

Yet you Dads still find a way to help your families survive and keep on going.

With grief and exhaustion hidden and laughter showing, seeking help to ease money matters.

Reaching out to share love and care to family and friends, no matter where.

Remember, we know these are troubled times and we know you do not have to grin and bear it.

We are here so we can all share it; you are our much-loved Dad. 

Happy Father’s Day.

​©️ 2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen 

Photo by Pexels

​COLOURFUL REMINISCENCE

  

While sharing lunch at a RNIB charitable event, I started a conversation with a gentleman opposite me, who had been sitting very quietly.

I started by asking if he would mind telling me his name. “Mine is Penny.” I began.

“I am Bill.” He replied.

“Hello Bill, may I ask you a personal question, please? He nodded his assent.

“Are you blind, partially sighted, or here as a carer for someone else?”

“I am partially sighted and colour blind.”

“Bill, may I ask you another personal question?”

“Yes!” His eyes and face showing an interest.

“What did you do before you retired?”

“I was an electrical construction engineer before I joined the army and took it up again afterwards on demob.

The army was a bit of a laugh when I received my papers. I never thought I would be called up because of my colour blindness.

However, I went for the medical fully expecting to be turned down. To my horror, I was assigned the job of a storeman. “Your colour problem won’t bother you there,” was a remark passed.

My heart sank, “How was I going to tolerate the boredom of a storeman after my exciting engineering career?”

After signing up and going through training, I was assigned to a squad of men working in stores.

One day I thought, “There has to be more to life than this and applied for promotion.” My mates said, “You will have another medical, how are you going to cope with that?”

“I am going to give it a go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

At the medical, I was asked all the usual medical questions till my sight was mentioned.”

“It says here you are colour blind, how bad is it? The officer shoved a book over to me and asked, “What colour is this book?”

To me, it was grey, but to others, it was maroon. I heard my mates say pass the maroon book, or look in the maroon book will you. I knew its size and shape, and it had the king’s head on it.

Confidently I replied maroon. He looked a bit surprised and asked “It is lighter or darker than a Post Office pillar box.”

I responded, “Darker, Sir.” I knew that as everyone talks about bright red pillar boxes.

On return to my mates, they asked how I got on. “I passed,” I pointed proudly to the two strips on my arm.

“Blimey, now what are you going to do? You are a leader now! Leading us up the bleeding garden path. How are you going to read the coloured signposts to all the army depots we have to deliver goods to?”

I laughed, “Easy, I will get my second-in-command to drive the lead lorry. I will be at the cows’ tail to repair any breakdowns, a piece of cake.”

So I carried on till the end of the war and my return to civvy street.

©️2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image by TheDigitalArtist from Pixabay

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THE EMPTY HOUSE

The front door was finally firmly closed, the key was given to the agent, and the house was put up for sale. It settled to cope with the silence and emptiness; a sad time.

Wind, rain, sun, and snow continued to batter its exterior as it awaited new owners. There were several false alarms as time dragged on. There is something very sad about an empty house.

Neighbours noticed the coming and going of potential buyers, escorted by the agents,

wondering who will buy, and will they fit into the neighbourhood?

The house wondered, too, as it knew this was a happy place to live.

It stood, waiting for the turn of the key and the joyous voices of a family bringing life back inside and calling it home.

2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image by wevfewv from Pixabay

TANGLE

During our circumnavigation of the world, making human contact, in friendship and battle.

Over time and with technology, it is hard to tell friend from foe.

We are so interdependent, no matter where we live, on food, fuel, finance, armaments, water, and weather.

In this tangle that we weave, those we class as friends sleep too with our enemies, out of necessity.

Seeking water, fuel, food, armaments, and finance through the back door.

How will all this unravel? The tangle of human hate, greed, and friendship? Hard to say.

As we watch humans, their homes, and whole communities pulverised.

Instinctively, it is to keep family, friends, communities, and self-sufficiency close.

Using truth, the law, barter, and our friendships strong, to keep the peace for all living

in this oh-so-tiny, fragile world.

2026 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image by Nesto_regularcat from Pixabay

A LITTLE LEAK

 

A little leak of which we dare not speak.

A cough, a giggle, releases at first very little.

As time goes by, it becomes more than a trickle.

It is an embarrassment when you are caught short.

Out away from home and familiar facilities.

So you cut out excursions unless you know the area and convenient loos to pop into.

In time, still trying to hide, you start incontinence padding.

At first, it works; then it hurts, if hygiene slips and bugs come a-calling.

Time to share this embarrassment with your doctor.

It can hit any age, or gender, with multiple causes.

He will explain you are certainly not on your own; no need to hide.

Check the statistics; they will reveal this hidden, silent scourge, your disorder.

Using his skills, a plan will be made to tackle your condition.

Urine samples, medication; occasionally, a surgical consultation might be sought.

To restore you back to order, a normal, functioning human being.

Able to wander anywhere you wish without agonising about embarrassing little leaks.

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo by Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition on Unsplash

SHOE HUNTING

I cannot imagine I am the only woman whose feet extend to size 10.5 narrow or beyond.

What on earth happens to them? Just scrolling through the adverts is frustrating, infuriating, demoralising. 8.A and a few at 9.A. One or two at 10. Then you hit a dead end.

Trying to find the size you need, which is carefully hidden in most internet shoe advertising, without scrolling all the way through. The shoes you fancy are dangled before your eyes as you search and search: are they the right size?

Only to have hopes dashed as they stop at 8, two and a half sizes too early.

A thrill starts when advertised in half sizes, ’til they inexplicably stop at 9.5.

Oh, what do women do when they are tall and have long feet?

How I long for summer when I can flip-flop about in almost bare feet. Best of all not to have to ask someone to put on my shoes for me. The half size, too, becomes an irrelevance as your foot is not constricted by a heel. At times, you can pace around in flip-flops in men’s sizes, providing they are narrow enough.

How I long to wear the shoes so elegantly displayed in adverts; there are quite a few.

Only the size is the last thing to view, if it can be found on the internet advertising; infuriating.   

Yet again, they stop at 8, 9, 10. That elusive half size, 10.5, if found, they announce they have run out of stock.

What happens to women who, I know, are exhaustingly searching for size 11 or 12? What about the half sizes needed? Forget it?

Not everyone is able to meet the horrendous cost the longer sizes demand.

Even flip-flops or sandals with a bit of bling, when found, come with a painful financial sting.

The search goes on, and on, wearing one pair out trying to find another.

2026 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Image by imthan from Pixabay