3/10/2009
We received messages from Peter and Colin saying that Mum had had a stroke. We left for Gosport again as soon as we could.

3/12/2009
We arrived in London and went straight to Gosport. Mum died just a couple of hours before we arrived. Peter had come over from the US arriving before we did and in time to see mum alive, but apparently she was unconscious and did not recognize him.

The next week was taken up with funeral arrangements. The funeral was on the 20th and Peter and I took part in the service - he reading from Corinthians and me describing Mum's life.

3/26/2009
Back in Tbilisi

My last picture of Mum taken three months earlier.

February 16

The children's clothes and books arrived from Genette in London and we have asked Peace Corps to retrieve them from customs for us. Thus turned out to be quite an undertaking and "cost" a lot more than we expected. the customs fees seem to be arbitrary and unpredictable. Finally they were collected and stored at Peace Corps on February 19.


February 27

We met for lunch with four guys from the European Union Monitoring Mission who were interested in the IDP situation in Borjomi. We agreed to take them to Gill's school and the IDP housing in Likani sometime in the near future.

Gill has been sick for two weeks now with some "magari kartuli virusi". She has not been to school, but Marina has been looking after her with some of her many nostrums. Today, it involves painting a grid with iodine on Gill's back and chest. I too have been sick, but not sick enough to warrant that treatment!


March 3

We have had 10 cm of snow, but we are none-the-less, off to Tbilisi today to collect the clothes and books from Peace Corps.


3/9/2009
We met the four guys from the European Union Monitoring Mission again today and, as promised, we took them to Gill's school and the IDP housing in Likani. They were shocked at the conditions in both places and undertook to include these places in their report. We'll see!