I am late this morning

and the lead words mean that there will be very few readers apart from the regulars. I apologise to you all in advance because this is also likely to be short. Things have happened - no, nobody has died but a relationship has and I am feeling very upset and lonely. I am also trying to be positive because, despite the consequences, I know I have done the right thing.

All this was made worse by my brother and his partner leaving to return to their home in the eastern states this morning. They have spent the past few days moving some of the heavy machinery from the Senior Cat's woodwork shed. They loaded it on to two trailers to take it back to my brother's "shed". He will now take over the making of things in the way our father did. My brother already does some of that. He brought with him a beautiful wooden box for me - something he had made himself. It is another thing to be treasured.

But yesterday I went to a meeting of a group I have belonged to for twenty years. I have many friends in that group. We have a mutual interest in knitting and I have, for the most part, been able to enjoy it and contribute something to it. That has changed recently. A new committee has its own way of doing things. Yes, I know things change. We have to change and adapt in order to grow. I know that too.

There are also laws in this country which must be observed and abided by for the good of all. There is legislation which must be respected. This is particularly so in the case of incorporated community organisations which are there to help educate others.

I have been concerned for some time about "copyright" issues in this particular group. There have been some breaches of copyright and others are planned.  I have put on my legal hat more than once to explain what can and cannot be done. Yesterday a member of the committee announced in a meeting that she had made some inquiries of someone outside the legal profession and, as a result, the Committee had decided there were no potential breaches of copyright in what they are planning to do. I know this is not correct from both my own knowledge of the law and from consulting people whose job it is to administer that law. Sadly the Committee has not been willing to listen. I am sure they genuinely believe what they want to believe but that does not make it right. As a group I am sure they are honest and trustworthy but they simply do not see a problem.

This morning in what should have been blog writing time I wrote yet another very careful explanation of what the actual situation is. It is unlikely I will even get a response but, for the sake of the organisation I no longer belong to and my friends within it, I felt I had to try. I am now feeling lost and lonely and very, very unhappy. I know I have done the right thing but it really hurts.