A morning of calls and three middle eastern conflicts in the news

A hectic morning of telephone calls, with potential and current collaborations.

My conversation with Mr Heker via Skype was interrupted twice, however we managed to pursue the possibility of another publication with a prestige journal in his field of expertise. The existing publications (see http://german-smile.info/Publishing/publishing.htm) now generating interest in both China and Russia.

The first interruption was from another business friend, Mr Burt of Jamy limited with news and also the opportunity to touch base about work for Mr Straus. The second call was from a Suffolk author, asking about the options for assistance with publication, which also digressed on the benefits of using pectin versus Jam sugar for strawberry jam making and on sourdough cultures.

A third and enjoyable call was to Mrs Maunders, a renowned botanical illustrator. Mrs Maunders had printed my photographs in the past and offered to do so this year; this call was to check whether this was still the case as I have four outstanding images for printing prior to framing for the Cambridge Open Studios. Fortunately, printing was possible – I now have to prepare the digital files to permit printing at the correct size.

The afternoon was spent in completing design work, for embroidery on corporate garments, name tags with two different affiliations for three people and a revamp of a business card design, again to be used as a template for three people.

The news is full of middle eastern conflicts, starting with planned troop withdrawals from Afghanistan over the next few years from the longest conflict that Britain has been involved in for a century or more. The cost of innocent lives – children and wives, through allied air attacks in Libya was also in the forefront of media interest. What is less visible is the overall level of casualties, which are now estimated around 10000 with at least 3000 being civilians. The brutal repression of the uprising in Syria also grips the media in a conflict where the the world is watching from the sidelines.