BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH - PINKTOBER 1

I don’t suppose I'm alone in wondering where the last month, or even the last six months has gone!  I can’t believe it's 1st October, but the weather and especially the chilly mornings confirm that Autumn is really here.  This morning, after torrential rain for several hours yesterday, Mr. HCB and I decided that we had to carry on with the job to level off the ground where we are having gravel laid and he also wanted to put bricks against the aptly-named gravel boards of the new fence.  You may remember I carried lots of bricks to another part of the garden - but today I carried many of them back - but at least it got my steps up!  

Today is the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month - commonly known as BCAM when those of us who are interested are encouraged to find something pink to Blip every day.  That means, for me, that I may not always take part in the challenges for October, but that’s fine - they will still be here at the end of this month.  If you are not familiar with Pinktober, the reason we do it is to raise awareness of breast cancer, a disease that affects many women and also men.

In my life,  have met many inspiring ladies who have dealt with breast cancer - so it seems a good idea to start off the month with a beautiful Compassion rose from our garden.  This one is part of a larger cluster - and they have been so wonderful this year - but sadly it was on the end of a very long branch and in the wind and rain yesterday had been bent right over, so after the brick-carrying exercise, I left Mr. HCB to get on with doing his part of the job and then did some dead-heading and tidying up, so that I could put more stuff in the green bin.  

This was the cluster that I brought indoors to enjoy on my kitchen windowsill - so hope that you will enjoy it too.  I chose to single one out and have it in colour to represent those who are going through difficult times and particularly at the moment may be feeling quite alone.  Sadly, because of the present situation in hospitals, those having operations are not allowed visitors - so now is the time to get writing to your friends - and maybe not just those in hospital - to let them know that they are not forgotten.  I wrote ten cards a couple of days ago, and one has gone to someone dear to a Blip friend.  It doesn’t take much on our part, but would mean the world to the one who receives it and would really encourage them.

Those of us who have done this challenge before may also ask you to click on this Breast Cancer Website so that those who cannot afford to pay to have a mammogram can have one because we have clicked.  It takes about 10 seconds to do this, but will mean so much to so many men and women.  Like many women I know, I don’t like having a mammogram - they aren’t very pleasant - but the relief when that envelope drops through my letterbox to say “All clear” is great!  

Of course, not everyone gets that reassurance, either because they need further investigation or because they just can’t afford to pay for a mammogram - so as a wonderful community of Blippers, let’s do our bit and click each day of Pinktober and perhaps tag your shots BCAM2020_1, BCAM2020_2, and so on during the month.  Thank you.

“I’m stronger than I thought I was.
     My favorite phrase has been,
          ‘This too shall pass.’
I now understand it really well.”
Robin Roberts on her strength battling cancer