Sunset over The Snake

A road of many memories - from my earliest childhood.  And it was particularly lovely on Wednesday as we drove over to see Aunt Bea and family.   Icy too, and it is not the sort of road you want to skid off.

Thursday we met up with Pete - amazed to realise we had not seen each other for nearly 11 years.   The last time we saw him was at our flat in London when he brought Jill, his wife to be, over to meet us.

Since then they have been married, had a busy, happy life, including setting up a nature reserve, and Jill, so sadly, has died.

Woke up yesterday morning to find a blanket of snow!  It all looked lovely but...   Col took Nute over to the Real Meat Co to collect the joint of lamb for the weekend and then we drove to York through a heavy snowstorm - with me saying "lets turn back" at every other moment.

But we didn't. And we got there and back. And had lunch with Keith, Janet, Tom, Brian and a couple of their friends - cold turkey, ham, roast veggies, cheese and fruitcake.   Their plans for the house have changed now that Brian is living with them, so it might be a very different downstairs the next time we see them.

The Derby Branch is coming over today - for a roast lamb dinner - and Pen of Lilac Tree arrives tomorrow - all weather permitting of course.

And then 2017 will be gone. So quickly.   I hope to survive to write about the new year.  I hope we all do.

Dialling 999

Dipper, Cinclus cinclus

I had to dial 999 for the first, and I hope the last,  time in my life as we drove up to see Julia  on Friday. We saw a column of black smoke on the motorway, and it was rising from an Eddie Stobart truck. A fierce fire was blazing between the driver's seat and the body of the lorry behind, which I hope was not carrying anything terrifically flammable.  The driver was racing back to his cab, presumably having got out to phone for help. We can only hope he did not get back in.

There was nothing we could so, sweeping past on the other side of the motorway, but it looked serious. We said to each other it will already have been phoned in, but realised we would have to call it in, just in case.  So I dialled 999, said "Fire", and was put through to the Fire Service. And, yes, they did know about it so, hopefully, fire engines were already on the way.

I hope the driver was alright. But what a start to his holidays!

Anyway, it was lovely to see Julia and the furry ones again (4 dogs, 2 cats,all rescued, all having a wonderful life). Her house is great too - she has been having work done all year on both house and garden and its finally finished.  Like us she is finding retirement very busy, and notices that her Expat years are already fading into the background, she is so busy with new things.

Captain B got some great Dipper shots on Saturday, one of which will almost certainly be appearing in his 2018 calendar, IF we are all still around by then.   Age is taking a heavy toll on our generation.

Arthritis Flare Up

Left leg, to some extent, right shoulder, building to be a bad one. Right shoulder especially worrying as my left shoulder is so bad. I have already  cancelled Jean, who I was to take to see Maggie this afternoon. There is no way I can drive at the moment, and I fear that it is going to get worse.

Though if this is not a flare up, but a deterioration in my shoulder, that is even worse, as flare ups do die down. But if I start to lose this shoulder too...

Its after lunch and I have just rung Jean to say that I don't feel too bad - which makes me worry about just what it is. But its only minimally painful now and I can drive. However, she is now not too well!  She is having to rest after being on the work this morning.   Which is wise.   She is very valiant, tends to forget her age, and press on regardless.   A good example for me (a whinger supreme), but, nevertheless, she has to pace herself sometimes.

We are all going down like nine-pins.    And Captain Butterfly is off with Butterfly Mark, though they are hunting the wild fungi at the moment - out there in the untamed heartlands of the Sussex Downs.   (Here there be Teashops).

I hope they are both OK.

How lovely it will be when God's Kingdom is ruling over the earth. Our bodies won't let us down - we won't let each other down. And we won't have to be anxious about anything.  I will know that Captain Butterfly is safe, and he will know that I am safe.

In the meantime I am very grateful to Jehovah that I won't (I hope) be letting Maggie down this afternoon.  Its hard to know whether she is actually expecting me these days, but I do sometimes find her sitting over her diary for the previous Wednesday, looking puzzled.  So I think she is expecting me as much as it is possible for her to now.

Land Corals

Bitter Oysterling, Panellus stipticus

Captain Butterfly has been very busy for many days now with a new process called Focus Stacking.  It gives an interesting 3D effect - and also sometimes has the effect of making him rather cross.

Wrinkled Crust, Phlebia radiata

He has been taking fungi shots - mushrooms don't move while the stacking goes on. And again I notice how they remind me of the corals and sponges he used to photograph in our expat days.

Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis

We had lunch at the Wetland Trust yesterday and spent the afternoon there. The Captain and Terry had shepherds pie, and I had roast veggie pasta with salad and garlic bread.  Excellent and very filling. The Kingfishers posed beautifully in the lovely December sunlight.   And we bought ecologically sound pressies for the little girls from the shop (hope they won't find them boring).

Here is an interesting snippet from our midweek meeting:

When in Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples customarily spent the night at Bethany, today marked by the town of el-ʽAzariyeh (El ʽEizariya), an Arabic name meaning “The Place of Lazarus.” Jesus undoubtedly stayed at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

 It is known as the place of Lazarus to this day.   We do not need to doubt the truth of anything recorded in the Gospels.   In fact, we, in the worldwide congregations, are starting an intensive study of the Gospels this week.   And the more you study them, the more true you find them, and the more you find in them.   And the stronger the hope of the coming - and imminent - rescue.

No Bud in May

This is the time of year when I like to publish my snow poem. Well, its not mine - I wish I had written it!.  Its a De La Mare - and it is, for me, a Paradise earth poem.  Sometime, during the Thousand Years, when Jehovah wakes the poet from the dreamless sleep of death, he will see this lovely earth again.

Will he write more poems then?  Or not?

We were reminded at the Sunday meeting that Jehovah longs for that time, when he will awake all those he has held safe in his memory down the centuries.  He longs to see them again.

We read these lovely words from Job.

"If a man dies, can he live again? I will wait all the days of my compulsory service until my relief comes. You will call, and I will answer you. You will long for the work of your hands." - Job 14:14,15

Jean and I managed to get out on the door to door work Thursday, Friday and Saturday.   So we are more caught up than we usually are. And we did do some first calls and found some interest.

I have a talk in the Ministry School this Thursday.

Anyway, here is the poem.  Not that we have had any snow down here, in the lands of the South, but they certainly have had some 'oop North.   Just frost on the cars in the mornings so far.

There blooms no bud in May by Walter de la Mare There blooms no bud in May Can for its white compare With snow at break of day, On fields forlorn and bare. For shadow it hath rose, Azure, and amethyst; And every air that blows Dies out in beauteous mist. It hangs the frozen bough With flowers on which the night Wheeling her darkness through Scatters a starry light. Fearful of its pale glare In flocks the starlings rise; Slide through the frosty air, And perch with plaintive cries. Only the inky rook, Hunched cold in ruffled wings, Its snowy nest forsook, Caws of unnumbered Springs.

A Food Bank First

We went shopping yesterday morning - which included posting a copy of "Waiting for Gordo" to Dorothy.  And we got a card from Peter, who says he is taking it as his travel reading!  I am so pleased.  But how I wish I could have shared it with Marie.

I am trying to get my talk for next Thursday done - 4 minutes or less - I have the outline sorted but not the time. So it still needs some work.

A food bank first. Never been asked for donations in our sleepy seaside town before, but it turned out Waitrose had a trolley ready just past the checkouts. Had I known it was going to be there I would have bought something specially for it.  But as it was we had already shopped, so I donated some toiletries that I can always buy again next time.

My talk is a return visit, 4 minutes or less and the counsel point is : Effective Conclusion. As I have to invite the person to our meetings, I guess that will be the effective conclusion.  Hopefully.

Jean and I plan to go out on the work this afternoon, weather permitting.

The weather did permit and we did.  It was cold but sunny, and we managed and hour and a quarter.  All being well tomorrow, we plan to go to the Field Service Group and do a bit more.

Creatures of the Night - and a Nightmare

Michael (Blencowe) gave the talk at the Arundel Wetland Trust last night - interesting, funny and very fast.  He told us that this particular talk came out of his problems with sleeping. And, yes, its hard to imagine Michael resting, let alone sleeping.

One of the most surprising things to me was the way you can hear the calls of migrating birds in the night, in the early hours.  What journeys they make.   And also how invisible bears can be, given how big they are.  Oh - and don't pick up Armadillos - at least not in the USA - apparently they can carry leprosy!

The talk included a recording of the Boom of a Bittern - something I have never heard.

Jackie and Terry came with us, and enjoyed it very much.    And we had mulled wine and homemade mince pies in the break.

I had a bit of nightmare last night - the first one for ages. I put it down to "The Creatures of the Night" being so vivid, and all those stories about the Death's Head Hawksmoth.  Just as the dream took a frightening turn, I realised it was moving into the realms of spiritism, thought "No, I am not going there". And the dream stopped instantly. So thanks to Jehovah it was a failed nightmare.

It was very cold last night, the coldest night of the year, with ice everywhere this morning, so Jean and I did not go out on the work.  I dare not risk another fall.  I made another big casserole - this one chicken - with loads of veggies, and got the two magazines I have to post ready to go, along with two copies of "Waiting for Gordo" for friends.

Captain Butterfly took me to the Post Office in the afternoon and we posted the Awake magazines, and the Waitings - one to an old school friend who lives on the Isle of Wight, and one to Gale, a friend from Uni. She too has been published this year (again) - scholarly publications though.  Not fiction,   And we dropped my prescription in to the Pharmacy.  These medical things take up a lot of time in retirement...

It was a Dark and Stormy Night...

The wind rattled and howled round the flats last night, and we woke up to a wild world with wonderful waves (and Alotof Alliteration). Captain Butterfly left early laden with sandwiches and a metal detector at every corner.  I thought he was mad to go, given the weather, but it did begin to clear up a bit - the sun came through ominous clouds and there was a dark lilac light on the sea.

At least there was no frost on the car this morning.  Yesterday Jean and I failed to get to the group as I simply couldn't get my car thawed out early enough. But we did some calls later in the morning, and I chauffered Jean to the Hall for the broadcast in the afternoon,

It was different from the usual, as it was a broadcast of the talks given at the 143rd Gilead Graduation Class.

You can find it here:   https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/StudioMonthly2017/pub-jwb_201712_1_VIDEO


The point that stays with me from the broadcast is the reminder that all we see and all we know now are just "the fringes" of Jehovah's ways.  There is so much to know, so much to learn, and there always will be.  Which is wonderful.

Sadly the school system of the 1950s so often made learning (which children naturally want to do) both punitive and boring.   But being taught Jehovah's way is wonderful.  He is the kindest and most patient - and of course the wisest! - of teachers.

As the Bible says, he is our Grand Instructor.

By the time we came out of the meeting the storm was up and running again, so after I had dropped Anne Marie off, I scuttled home and stayed in.  Captain Metal Detector was not far behind. Having been rained off, he bought his tea and sandwiches back home and ate them here.

And I had made a big lamb casserole yesterday afternoon, so supper was all in hand.

Talked to Bea, via phone (yesterday), email today, and to Jacks.   And the Christmas cards with news from scattered family and friends continue to arrive, though I never send any now of course.

The Lord of the Rings

Apparently Storm Caroline is on the way - should hit us tonight. So I am watching the Channel for signs of her arrival.    I was going to say that its quite calm, but actually the odd white horse is starting to appear - its all getting a bit agitated.

We have a project on this morning to get the engagement ring re-sized so it will fit my swollen arthritic finger - the one that Col detected some years ago (the ring, not the finger!). Its a very pretty Victorian ring.   Then it is a trip to Maggie this afternoon, followed by meeting up with a young pioneer sister as we are going to call on a lady we have been talking to for a couple of weeks now.

Its getting colder - the sea is roaring a bit - and our ring mission failed.  It would cost as much to get it altered as it would to buy a new one... or almost.  So I was looking enthusiastically in the jewelers shop windows while the Lord of the Rings (Captain Butterfly) was looking glum and thoughtful.

I suspect he will be taking his metal detector down to the beach quite a lot this winter to see if he can detect a ring in my size.    My original ring, bought in our student days,  had to be cut off my finger in Casualty while I was in the throes of a violent arthritis flare-up which caused my hands to swell up like balloons.

I am watching and loving the Masterchef Professional  Series.   So the Captain wondered why he got baked beans on toast for lunch.   Too busy watching Masterchef?!    I have offered to make him raw pigeon tomorrow, as it seems to be an in thing at the moment.

He has since decided that he loves my beans on toast.

Its pie for supper tonight - Steak and Ale for Captain Carnivore, Mushroom and Asparagus for me- with leeks.

The Zimmer Sisters

The Dynamic Duo (Jean and me) hobbled round yesterday morning doing return visits and managed an hour and a half on various doors.  Jean found two of her calls at home and had some good talks.  We ended by delivering a small care package  - card and chocolates - to a lady who, while recovering from a broken shoulder, fell and broke both her ankles,,,

Jean and I have been through our share of recent health horrors and feel so much for her. Her husband told us she has been in hospital for weeks, though they are hoping to get her home for Christmas.   A week in hospital is more than long enough...  We are both praying for her.

Life is so scary and uncertain. But it was never meant to be like this.  And it will all be put right.

Please do have a look at our latest Awake! magazine:
https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/awake-no6-2017-december/the-world-out-of-control/

It was the Detectorists AGM last night  - held in a nice pub not too far away.  All was beautifully organised as it was last year - 3 course meal for about 30 of us served concurrently and with the minimum of fuss. And we came away with an enormous box of chocolates to take 'oop North, a box of liqueur chocs, a travel towel, and a Tesco cheese assortment (via the Raffle).

It is the sort of raffle where everyone gets prizes.

It was the meeting this morning.  And Cousin Sheila rang this evening and we had a long chat and hope we will manage to get together next year.