Scooter - The Return!!!

I had better quickly write up a diary for the last week - before I forget.  We set off for the bungalow a day late, on Saturday.  There were 14 of us (counting the new baby) for the turkey dinner on the 25th.  My sister did her usual masterful job of feeding us all, and Col and I helped with preparing the vegetables and clearing up.   A days rest (for arthritis reasons, mine), and we did a lunch here for Jo, Jen and Kathryn.  We all caught up with things.  No walking sticks this year.   Then another days rest and off to York yesterday, for a curry  lunch with Keith, Janet, children and friends, followed by a mulled wine evening.    To Jim's tonight (Col's old boss), and then to Lilac Tree Farm for family reunion No.2.  Followed by Aunt Bea on Sunday. She is giving us lunch.

Overall... the bungalow and the house at York have undergone many changes over the year - most impressive.  There is a new set of steps and a gate in the garden here for one thing, which makes it even more interesting and mysterious.  I hope its going to provide some wonderful memories for the new young Eleanor Margaret.

And Scooter seems to have got her Masters in CatFlappery.  She manages to clatter the flap louder than ever, the moment we start to fall asleep.   I was lying in bed - awake through arthritis pains, all over - and I suddenly found a new pain being added to my pantheon - severe pins and needles in the sole of my foot.   Then I realised I was being Scootered.   She can't resist attacking a foot in the middle of the night.  I got myself safely under the duvet again, and started to drift away in a haze of painkillers, when, suddenly CLATTER, CRASH, EXIT CAT FLAP stage left.

It seems noticeable, on the few times that politics/the state of things are mentioned, that people are giving up any hope in politicians.

Will they seek for the Refuge?

Surely some of them will.

What the doctor said to me when I had my tubes tilted

"Mrs Knight", he said, "I do think you ought to credit Victoria Wood with that line".  So, thank you Victoria, I do.   Anyway, as the doctor said to me when he pumped me full of stuff for my pain (arthritis pain) "I hope that helps."

It does. And thank you very much.  I managed to get to the Kingdom Hall last night and got to hear the talk from the Circuit Overseer, which was wonderful, all about how to protect and strengthen our faith.   That is so important.  Things are going to get worse before they get better, on a darkest hour before the dawn basis.

There has been another Earthquake in Christchurch!   That lovely city.  We have emailed Dorothy, hoping she is alright.  Valiant though she is, she and everyone there must still be in a state of shock from the last time.

The increasing of natural disasters worldwide is part of the sign Jesus told us to watch out for.   The fruitage of the rebellion in Eden is showing itself now as never before.  We have had two World wars within living memory.   But it does mean that our deliverance from the horrors of this present system of things on the earth is close at hand.

This has been a quiet day. We shopped early before the rush and have been packing and sorting, slowly getting ourselves ready to head oop North.  Weather forecast for tomorrow OK.

We are getting news in daily as various friends send their 2011 newsletters.  Todays included a card with news from Elizabeth, who I have known since she was five, and one from Ian and Cheryl in Oz.  We have some photos of the evening we spent on their lovely yacht in Chichester Harbour in The Captain's Log.

They sailed her safely to Oz!

The Day Before the Day After Yesterday, Tomorrow

That film about Global Warming is on again. Christmas week I suppose.    Wonderful special effects, but I can't take the tsunami of political correctness, so I thought I would do another blog about my arthritis. What could be more gripping?

Private Eye have an all purpose Christmas week film called "They Flew to Bruges".  It might be a better option.

Groan, groan, moan, moan, in pain, haven't been anywhere or done anything, except failed my degree in Stoicism.  However I do have an emergency appointment at the hospital on Thursday afternoon.  And I hope so much to get to my study with Rick tomorrow. The brother who conducts it will pick me up and bring me back.

And I hope the injection on Thursday will work, otherwise i don't see how I am going to be able to travel.

One nice thing today - well two nice things - I got a letter from Gale, a friend from my Uni days - with some lovely pictures of her son's wedding.  And Janie rang and we had a long long talk.  We have known each other since were were eleven years old.

The return of the Arthritis

Yes, my arthritis is fine thanks.  Holding my body in its iron grip.  The steroids gave me a temporary relief in which I have pranced around like a (rather elderly) spring lamb.  But now its back with a vengeance.

Its a lovely dawn here over the English Channel, with a range of cloud mountain all along the horizon.  And a flock of seagulls has just flown across, like notes in a symphony.

I am desperately hoping that I can have another steroid jab before we set off on our trek oop North, but I suspect it will be too soon.  They may puff me up till I am in danger from every passing Japanese whaling ship, but its wonderful to be pretty much free of pain, to be able to do things, and to have a bit of energy.

I don't even know if I will be able to get myself into the shower and dressed in time to get to the meeting this morning!

Did get out on the work yesterday, but Jay is not young either, and we only managed to do 45 minutes, as we were working in a tall block of flats with lots of stairs.  However, we did get to talk to some people and gave them a chance to hear the truth - Christianity being called "the way of the truth".

And the Captain and me enjoyed the Strictly Final yesterday.  It had to be between Harry and Chelsee and we thought either would have been a worthy winner.  It was funny at the end when Harry won and his McFly bandmates invaded the pitch and had to be shooed off by Sir Bruce.

The Return of the Car

The car is back - and feeling a lot better.   It drove me up to the meeting at the Kingdom Hall last night.

Col and I went on a short-eared owl walk in the late afternoon.  And what a beautiful December afternoon it was.   So lovely.  Cold though.

What will owls do in the evening when Paradise is restored and they no longer need to hunt voles?  I hope the Captain and me are there to find out.

Bea says there has been some snow oop North.

To Jacks for supper tonight.

My Bible student is getting on so well its making me anxious and I am wondering if we will be able to pop by and say hello tomorrow.

A stormy day

Amazing weather.  Blue skies one minute and dark rain clouds the next.  We had a rainbow and the light on everything was so lovely. It was Paradisical.

The day didn't get off to the best of starts.  Woke up very creaky and zimmery.  But managed to get myself together for the field service and down to my car, which did not work.  The steering wheel wouldn't unlock.

So Col took me and Audrey to the Hall and then a brother and sister took us out on the field service.

The car is in hospital and will be back in a few days, with rather a large bill attached.

Col and I walked on the beach across the river this afternoon, until the rain started.  It was freezing, and the sea was wonderful.

Mr Jingle Rides Again

Thursday, Friday, forget what did - arthritis surging back - not too well - Sunday morning - out with Maggie - doing route calls and return visits - this evening - Jacks for supper - hastily cooked chicken casserole - too hot! - wrong kind of chile - may have to go for fish and chips if she can't stand it - Strictly results tonight - assume that Holly and the One Show Presenter will go - but who knows - surely Harry and Chelsee for Final - must go and put rice etc on - Jacks here any minute - feels like going to be cold night - busy week coming up - second Bible study with the reclusive guy - out with Audrey Tuesday - and the pioneers on Thursday - hope arthritis holds off - plan to rest tomorrow.

A Landmark Day

Today I began the first Bible study I have conducted in England.  I have had a few Bible students in my Expat days, but sadly none of them progressed. And I can now see what an ineffective teacher I was.  Although I must always remember that it is Jehovah's spirit that does all the hard work.

Anyway,  we (a brother and me) spent an hour there this morning, and started a study.  We are using the book "What Does the Bible Really Teach?"    And I was touched and happy to notice that the householder, who I have been calling on for about a year and a half now, had got his well-worn Bible out and was already into the second chapter, checking against his Bible as he went!

I had left him the book about a week ago.

The other lovely thing is that I won't be conducting the study myself, as I am doing it with a brother, so my householder will get a much better teacher.

I also got a chance of a talk with a young lady I have been calling on for about 6 months.  Not finding her at home, I had left a butterfly card, giving my contact details, in case she wanted to talk to me. And she did ring. Although it was because she couldn't think who it was who had left the card!

Anyway, we had a lovely talk and she seems very appreciative of the magazines I leave every month.

I then put my Butterfly Bureaucrat wings on and flew off and posted the membership packages, shopped, and  winged my way back home.  Captain Butterfly had a sandwich box lunch as he was off clearing woodlands for butterflies.

I actually went to bed this afternoon I was so tired.   I hope its nothing new and sinister. Its probably just the usual arthritis tiredness, surging back as the steroids wear off.

Which reminds me, I am under strict instructions from Captain Sensible to write to the hospital and see if they will give me another injection before our trip up North. I doubt they will, but I can ask.

The Lobster Pot Poem

A lonely lobster pot 

A pot without a lobster                                         

Sits lonely on the beach
I wonder where the lobster is
Oh surely out of reach.
Does it sit upon a dinner plate 

Or in a stew somewhere?

I wonder where the lobster is
I hope it's out of reach ...
As the empty pot sits still
Upon the stony beach.     

By Beanonymous  

This brightened my morning - which included a visit to the Lung Lady.  One test OK, one test not so good as last time.  I only hope it might be down to tiredness as I have just had an exhausting weekend.  

And, like the mysterious poet, I also hope the lobster got away.

Haysbridge

We made it to Haysbridge by 8 o clock Saturday morning with Col as our gallant chauffeur and sadly minus Ken who is not at all well.   And we (Col and me) later made it to the annual dinner of the Treasure Hunters, on Saturday night. The others went to bed early.  And we were so exhausted we didn't make it back to Haysbridge till 8.30 Sunday - but we were still in plenty of time - got our seats and had a cup of tea before it started.
Bea has sent us a wonderful Betjemanesque poem about the lobster pot - and I think it will appear in The Captain's Log.  His blog has a much higher readership than mine so we feel it should go there.
Bea is now our only aunt.
Every generation has gone through this - and found it just as startling and difficult to cope with. Which is because getting old and dying was not meant to happen to us. We were made to live forever.
Today is a hospital visit (moi - lung test), and then I have to tackle my first pile of paperwork from the Butterfliers. I am hoping that it will start to make sense as I begin to do it.
If not, will I be responsible for the sudden extinction of the Butterfly in Sussex!
aaarrgh.

Consolingly disasterous

"...Still the sea,
 Consolingly disastrous, will return
 While the strange starfish, hugely magnified,
 Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool."
(John Betjeman)

We have no rockpools. It isn't that sort of beach.   But the consolingly disastrous (and very stormy) sea had swept the beach clean as it always does, and had washed up all sort of shells and seaweeds along with this lobster pot.  The beach was pretty empty this morning with a bright blue sky overhead and rain in the distance.

Its raining now - and we were rained off the work after three quarters of an hour.  I was out with a young pioneer sister.   Audrey and I have had a phone chat and plan to work together Tuesday morning, as usual.