God Knew That I Needed You

Monday, April 14, 2025

ALLERGY SEASON: Yay 😟


My head aches; my eyes run with triggered tears, they itch & burn - sunlight on them, from any angle, hurts; nasal drip has caused blisters to appear on the back of my tongue; sneezing is giving me whiplash … and coughing makes me sound like a barking dog: all I want to do is sleep 😟

This should help my head & throat …

WA State does not like me - and the feeling is mutual.

We'll be here, in Ocean Park-WA, until July.

CATHOLIC INSTITUTIONS USED IRISH ORPHANS AS 'VACCINE GUINEA PIGS' IN 1930'S

* Scientists secretly gave 2,051 children and babies diphtheria vaccine

* They were used as guinea pigs for drugs giant Burroughs Wellcome in 1930s

* Academic Michael Dwyer uncovered shock truth in old medical records

* He found no evidence of consent, nor of how many died or were affected

* Comes as Irish PM intervenes from U.S. over scandal of mass baby grave

* Hundreds of babies are believed to have been buried at former baby home

* Enda Kenny says he’s ordered his officials to examine ‘if there are others’

Scientists secretly vaccinated more than 2,000 children in religious-run homes in suspected illegal drug trials.

Old medical records show that 2,051 children and babies in Irish care homes were given a one-shot diphtheria vaccine for international drugs giant Burroughs Wellcome between 1930 and 1936.

There is no evidence that consent was ever sought, nor any records of how many may have died or suffered debilitating side-effects as a result.

The scandal was revealed as Irish premier, Enda Kenny, ordered ministers to see whether there are more mass baby graves after the discovery that 800 infants may be buried in a septic tank outside a former mother and baby home in Tuam, Co. Galway.

Tuam Babies Discovery 'truly appalling', Says Kenny: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39178608

Children at Sean Ross Abbey in Tipperary are thought to have been used in secret drug trials in the 1930s.

Sean Ross Abbey in Tipperary, Ireland
Sean Ross Abbey
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Ross_Abbey)

Children’s homes are under the spotlight since it emerged that 796 babies may be buried at the former mother and baby home at Tuam, Co. Galway – Enda Kenny has ordered officials to see if other mass graves exist.

The Irish premier has ordered his officials to examine the possibility that there may be other mass graves, too

The Taioseach intervened from the United States yesterday to say that he had ordered his officials to ‘see what the scale is, what’s involved here, and whether this is isolated or if there are others around the country that need to be looked at.’

Michael Dwyer, of Cork University’s School of History, found the child vaccination data by trawling through tens of thousands of medical journal articles and archive files.

He discovered that the trials were carried out before the vaccine was made available for commercial use in the UK.

Homes where children were secretly tested included Bessborough, in Co. Cork and Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, both of which are at the centre of the mass baby graves scandal.

Other institutions where children may also have been vaccinated include Cork orphanages St Joseph’s Industrial School for Boys, run by the Presentation Brothers, and St Finbarr’s Industrial School for Girls, run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

In Dublin, it is believed that children for the trials came from St Vincent’s Industrial School, Goldenbridge, St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys, Cabra, and St Saviours’s Dominican Orphanage.

But Mr Dwyer said: ‘What I have found is just the tip of a very large and submerged iceberg.

‘The fact that no record of these trials can be found in the files relating to the Department of Local Government and Public Health, the Municipal Health Reports relating to Cork and Dublin, or the Wellcome Archives in London, suggests that vaccine trials would not have been acceptable to government, municipal authorities, or the general public.

‘However, the fact that reports of these trials were published in the most prestigious medical journals suggests that this type of human experimentation was largely accepted by medical practitioners and facilitated by authorities in charge of children’s residential institutions.’

Innocents: children from the Sean Ross Abbey home in Tipperary, Ireland

A spokesman for GSK – formerly Wellcome – said: ‘The activities that have been described to us date back over 70 years and, if true, are clearly very distressing.

‘We would need further details to investigate what actually took place, but the practices outlined certainly don’t reflect how modern clinical trials are carried out. We conduct our trials to the same high scientific and ethical standards, no matter where in the world they are run.’

A spokeswoman for the Sisters of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the order that ran Bessborough and Sean Ross Abbey, said that like GSK, they would also welcome an independent inquiry.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin called on the Irish government to add vaccine trials into the investigative remit of any inquiry into the mother and baby homes.

He said: ‘We need to start with an independent investigation into the mother and baby homes which would be followed by a wider separate investigation into the vaccine testing.’

Historian Catherine Corless, whose discovery of the suspected mass baby grave at Tuam was revealed by the Mail earlier this week, said her study of death records for the St Mary’s home run by Catholic Bon Secours nuns from 1925-1961 pointed to the existence of the mass grave.

Children’s homes in Ireland were often the only place where a woman pregnant out of wedlock could go.

Children were looked after by nuns and often adopted abroad – now it seems they were used in drugs trials, too

The Irish PM interrupted a trade visit to San Francisco to order an inquiry in the Tuam home and others, saying that Dublin must decide what is the ‘best thing to do in the interest of dealing with yet another element of our country’s past.’

St Mary’s was one of several such ‘mother and baby’ homes for ‘fallen women’ who had become pregnant outside marriage in early 20th century Ireland.

Another such institution was the Sean Ross Abbey in Tipperary, was where Philomena Lee gave up her son for adoption in the 1950s. Her story was made into the Oscar-nominated film ‘Philomena’ last year.

The ‘mother and baby’ homes accommodated women who were ostracized from their own families and had nowhere else to turn.

Under conservative Catholic teaching of the time, children born outside of marriage were not baptized and were therefore denied a Catholic burial on consecrated ground.

MOD SUMMER RHAPSODY KITCHEN TOWEL SET; Quartzsite-AZ

MOD Summer Rhapsody Kitchen Towel Set

I designed this towel set months ago when my husband first mentioned that we would be wintering along the Oregon Coast, this year: previous desert-themed towels were out … and beach-themed kitchen towel sets would need to be designed and crafted - I don't mind. I like designing and crafting 👌

This cotton hand towel is simplistic in design, color, texture, & materials. Cotton yarn is good for dishtowels because it wicks moisture off hands and dishes (if you hand wash/hand dry dishes) – for this very reason, I prefer my handmade cotton towels, & dishcloths, over the recycled plastic fiber kitchen towels sold in stores that are basically worthless in wicking; they do have cute designs stamped on them, but their stiff plastic fiber material is not useful.

I used the odds & ends of previous towel leftover yarns to make up this simple towel design. This colorful stash-busting kitchen towel design is gentle on the eyes while it add a cozy ambience vibe to your kitchen 😉

My kitchen is a very small area:

We'll be here until July; Ocean Park-WA.
Farmhouse RV Kitchen.

By choice, we live a gypsy life. We like the freedom & flexibility 🤠 it allows us.

This year we will be shifting Independence between Ocean Park-WA (where we are set up, now ☕️☔️) & aiming for the southernmost Oregon coastal town of Brookings, near the California border later on, at the end of the Summer Season here.

When I had finished the towel, and was looking at it spread out before me, it reminded me of a field of flowers: the only word that spoke to my gypsy heart, was [rhapsody] 🌹🌺🎶🌞

Deep Purple - 'Anya' song: 
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9o4gkQDkiw)

Rhapsody is an effusively enthusiastic or ecstatic expression of feeling = "effusively" means expressing feelings or emotions, especially positive ones like pleasure, gratitude, or approval, in a very enthusiastic and unrestrained way; "enthusiastic" means having, or showing eager enjoyment, interest, or approval; "ecstatic expression" means feeling very happy and full of excitement … the Spring sunshine, & Summer warmth brings out these emotions; and time spent on the beach adds a special bonus to the atmosphere 😁

This towel set pattern is very easy to work.

*************************

I used the scrap left-overs of these yarns used in previous towel sets …

Materials: Scrap Cotton Yarn in Denim, Beach House, Green Stripes, & a secondary green-blue variegated color (I can't remember the name of the color I used; it is an older scrap yarn); small balls of Black, Dusty Rose, Green, Sunshine, & White cotton yarns; #10-1/2 knitting needles; #J/10 crochet hook; 1 Cable Needle; 1 Tapestry Needle; 1 medium resin button

Terms used:

g st = knit every row

st. st. = stockinette stitch (1 K row = RS - 1 P row = WS)

k = knit

p = purl

sp = space

EO = end off yarn

CO = cast on stitches

EA = each

inc = increase 1 st (make 2 sts in same st)

dec = decrease 1 st (work 2 sts together)

sc = single crochet

dc = double crochet

sl st = slip stitch

rpt = repeat

tog = together


With Black, CO 73 sts & work 4 rows in g. st; EO Black & attach Denim.

Rows 1 thru 12: Work these rows in st. st.; EO Denim and attach Dusty Rose.

Row 13: K 1 st, *P 1, K 1*; rpt across row.

Row 14: P

Rows 15 thru 16: Work these rows in st. st,; EO Dusty Rose and attach Beach House.

Row 17: K 1 st, *P 1, K 1*; rpt across row.

Row 18: P

Rows 19 thru 26: Work these rows in st. st.; EO off Beach House and attach Green.

Row 27: K 1 st, *P 1, K 1*; rpt across row.

Row 28: P

Rows 29 thru 30: Work these rows in st. st,; EO Green and attach Green Stripes.

Row 31: K 1 st, *P 1, K 1*; rpt across row.

Row 32: P

Rows 33 thru 42: Work these rows in st. st.; EO Green Stripes and attach Sunshine.

Row 43: K 1 st, *P 1, K 1*; rpt across row.

Row 44: P

Rows 45 thru 46: Work these rows in st. st,; EO Sunshine and attach the secondary green-blue variegated color.

Row 47: K 1 st, *P 1, K 1*; rpt across row.

Row 48: P

Rows 49 thru 58: Work these rows in st. st.; EO secondary green-blue variegated color, and attach White.

Row 59: K 1 st, *P 1, K 1*; rpt across row.

Row 60: P

Row 61: K; EO White and attach Denim.

Row 62: Decrease across row as follows: P 2 – P 3 tog across row to last 2 sts: end P 2 sts.

Change from knitting needles to crochet hook and work in sc as follows: dec 1 st EA end until 8 sts remain.

Alternately work 1 row sc & 1 row dc, for 13 rows.

Sl st x3 sc; ch 6 and sl st in same sp; sl st to end. Turn.

Dc x12 in chain loop; EO.

Add a decorative loop edging of your choice (or leave plain).

Sew button in place and weave in loose ends.

MOD  Summer Rhapsody Kitchen Towel Set

MOD GARTER ST SQUARE DISHRAG:

This dishrag is knitted with varying colors of scrap yarn, to match the towel's coloring.

MOD Matching Dishcloth.

Cast on 2 stitches.

Row 1: Knit 1-Inc 1 st in next st.

Row 2: Knit 1-Inc-knit across the row.

Row 3: Knit 2-Inc-knit across row.

Row 4: Repeat Row 3 until you have 50 stitches on the needle.

Row 5: Knit 1, Knit 2 together, knit to the end of the row.

Repeat Row 5 until you have 3 stitches left on the needle; K 3 sts tog - EO off and weave in loose ends.