The Captain of the Kitchen

"We will have to cancel Jacks tonight" I said to Captain B on Saturday.  I was in too much pain to to anything - beyond the necessary agony of getting myself to the loo and back. (And that was touch and go at times.)  "No. Why?" said the Captain, "You've cooked the chicken and got the salad in. I'll do it."

I had planned a cold menu - a sort of Coronation chicken - and I had cooked the chicken and made the curry mayonnaise. But I was also going to make a salad of Halloumi with mint and oranges, and some of these pickled vegetables TV cooks are very fond of at the moment.

The Captain hurtled off early to his Course, leaving me my breakfast which was all I wanted during the day - he stopped off at Kithurst on the way back for Butterfly purposes and then arrived back to find me still in bed, almost unable to move for pain. But he somehow managed to get everything sorted and a very nice supper served to him and Jacks.    I didn't emerge from my lair - too painful.

Anyway, it went well and they both seemed to enjoy themselves - or so Jackie said on the phone on Sunday.

I did not make it to the meeting - listened in  on the phone link.   But I plan to go out this morning with Jean and see if we can manage a few return visits at least.

Still covered in this awful itching rash... what is happening to me?

Arthritis Flare - left hip

Very worrying and very painful, this flare-up.  No sleep at all last night for the pain. 

The Captain is not feeling wonderful either - his back is playing up.

Oh dear.

I rang Jean early and cancelled our field service together - and have emailed AM to apologise for no lift tomorrow.

PAIN PAIN PAIN

Just call me Moaning Minnie.

We did see some of the Eclipse of the moon last night - but it was confusing as for the first time in ages there were clouds!   But we had a couple of small doses of rain yesterday - the fringes of thunderstorms - and it is much cooler. Thank God.

Thursday was HOT beyond belief - but I manage to get out on the work in the morning.  And I did make to the meeting in the afternoon.

Cliff Galloping

Somehow the current series of Poldark has not grabbed me - pity as I was looking forward to it.  Demelza is very well cast - perhaps too well, in that Ross' passion for the patrician Elizabeth doesn't make a lot of sense now. 

And his ravishment of her -  leaving her unmarried and pregnant - does not play very heroically either.

And there is an awful lot of cliff gallop-ing - Ross on his steed, George on his.   That is another odd casting by the way. George is supposed to be on the rough side - the son of a Blacksmith (I can see Hyacinth Bucket shuddering) who dares to aspire to marry into the Gentry i.e. the Poldarks, who frankly come across as a pretty hopeless lot.   And Ross is supposed to be of the gentry - a cut above.  Yet its George who looks rather delicate and patrician.

Mind you, he is blonde.  And doesn't that automatically makes you either a baddie or "dumb" in these days when we are so anti-stereotyping? 

Still not sure why it is such a terrible thing to be the son of  a blacksmith yet dare to make yourself equal to a Poldark - but I expect Hyacinth ("I haven't a snobbish bone in my body") could explain it.

Anyway, after the first series, which I did enjoy, it seems to go like this:  Cliff gallop, cliff gallop, cliff gallop,  emote, emote, emote (that is Ross and Demelza emoting at tedious length about their relationship), Ross opens a  mine that fails, Ross takes shirt off,  Ross takes shirt off again, cliff gallop, cliff gallop, Ross opens another mine that fails, Ross ravishes Elizabeth (probably taking his shirt off in the process, I had stopped watching by then), cliff gallop cliff gallop, lots more tedious emoting about relationships - though what relationship I have to ask, given what has happened re poor Elizabeth, cliff gallop, cliff gallop, mine opens, mine closes, Ross' shirt comes off...

I will say this for George. He keeps his shirt on.  And he isn't nearly so flaky as poor Ross, who always seems to be about to visit calamity on his family.

I have done no cliff-galloping at all during the last couple of days.  We have no cliffs for a start. And pebble-dashing is not nearly swashbuckling enough

Plus I am not at all well  - rash getting more painful and spreading - and the Captain has been struck down by a Back Attack.  He is suffering a lot, and had to cancel an early morning butterfly outing with Mark. Which tells me just how bad he is feeling.

It is still HOT with apparently the HOTTEST day of the year tomorrow...   I plan to shop early, driving Miss Jackie, who asked for a shopping trip. She is not too well either - does not enjoy the heat any more than I do. Then I hope hope hope to be at home all day, keeping as cool as is possible.

There are some thunderstorms promised, but not necessarily here.   We desperately need rain, but would prefer not to have another lightning strike, if possible.

And I hope that the thunderstorms arrive in Greece, just where they are needed. There has been a calamity there - such a fierce fire that it seems there was no escape from it, it moved so fast.  And many many people have been killed.  The pictures from there are frightening. 

We need rain.

The Uncertain

The Uncertain, Hoplodrina octogenaria

Could "The Uncertain" be a pub sign?   We have just had a moth with that name turn up on our balcony. Quite an unusual one for here I believe.

It could be a good title for a short story - an Elizabeth Jane Howard story perhaps.

I am still suffering from this awful heat rash all over my body.  Strange - as I lived in Saudi for 25 years and never had anything like this.  Maybe its a combination of age, advanced arthritis, and the side effects of the powerful meds I have to take.

Whatever, its miserable.    But on the doubleplusgood side there was a lovely meeting at the Kingdom Hall this morning - great speaker, great Watchtower article.  There was a little bit of drama involving Jean, who could not make it to the meeting - but she is feeling a lot better now and managed to listen in. It was just what she needed to hear - what I needed to hear - what we all needed to hear.

We had supper at Jacks last night. She is wilting in the heat like me, but she gave us a lovely supper of veggie lasagne with a green salad, a choc ice, and an excellent cheeseboard. And we had our usual 2 bottles of our favourite wine - New Zealand Marlborough, in all its varieties.

Thursday I had to wait in till my medication arrived and I can't think what I did on Friday. But Jean and I did get out for an hour on the field service on Saturday, then I took her to the Hall for tea, cake and the broadcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV3PrqAT6O4

The Landlord of The Butterfly

I was just wondering what we would call a pub if we had one.  And I think it could be called The Butterfly. The Captain himself would probably want something more specific like "The Chalkhill Blue"or "The Painted Lady".   And that would work too.

Why have I been thinking about this?   Your guess is as good as mine really - we have no plans to move, let alone buy a pub.

Our lifts are back!   Weeks and weeks after the lighting strike fried them, and a week after the Lift Repair Team came to work on them a neighbour appeared at our door to say "The lifts are working again!"  When we went to shop the next morning - yesterday - we found a typed note on the lifts saying: "No they aren't." So we toiled upstairs with our shopping.

Then when I came back from visiting Maggie, the notice had gone and the lifts were working. Still very nervous of them though and will continue to use the stairs wherever possible. But its good to know they are there - especially for our upstairs neighbour who has been trapped up there since the May Bank Holiday.

I am suffering a lot in THE HEAT - and am relieved to think I won't be going out today.  I have to wait in until my medicine is delivered, as it has to be signed for and refrigerated.   I have the rest of my studying to do for the meeting tonight, a heap of butterfly paperwork, and, as ever, a ton of housework if I can make myself do it.

At least I have got back - in a minor sort of way - to clearing and getting rid of stuff.  Took 4 handbags to the Charity Shops yesterday.

The Poplar Hawk-moth Pays us a Visit

Poplar Hawk-moth, Laothoe populi

I was just re-reading Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" - highly recommended - when I remembered that Hollywood  had made a movie of it starring that lovely actress,Gillian Anderson.   Brilliant casting I thought for Lily Bart.  But I just watched the trailer on Youtube.  Oh dear.  Everything - if I am to go by the trailer -is couched in breathily portentous tones.  Why?   But on the other hand,  and on a different Youtube video, the scene between Lily and Selden isn't bad.  She really is perfect for the part.   But how sad if people only see this movie, and never read the book.

It is still VERY VERY HOT.  No sign of rain.  Poor Jacks cancelled supper on Saturday night, as she was too exhausted by the heat.   A first for her!     Jean and I managed an hour and a half doing return visits on Saturday.

Can't think what else I have done, beyond studying, shopping, FEELING VERY HOT, basic housework, and watching Wimbledon. Both men's semi-finals splendid, and almost endless.

The moths are still checking into to our balcony hotel every night - and one large cloaked character turned up in my bathroom on the night that the Captain was out.   "Don't tell me" I said wearily "Your ship was wrecked on one of the pebbles on our beach, you paddled ashore, and I won't be seeing much of you once the sun has risen."

Poplar Hawk-moth

But no.  He turned out to be a Poplar Hawk-moth, not Count Dracula at all.   He wasn't a He either,  because when Captain B looked at all the photos he had taken once he got back, he found that She had laid her eggs on our lampshade in the Hall!

We now have to find a suitable tree for them - ideally a poplar.   She has entrusted them to us and vanished.  We are now in loco parentis and will have to do our best.

I hope they can learn to fly on their own.

My Talk

My talk, to be delivered at the Kingdom Hall tonight. Will be glad when it is done.  My householder came over yesterday and we went through it.

It was the Initial Call, and the Counsel point:  49   Sound Arguments Given. Time: 2 minutes or under.

The brief was:

Question: How can couples build a strong marriage?
Scripture: Eph 5:33
Link: How can parents raise responsible children.

Sue:  Good morning - I am Sue from the local congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. We are calling on all your neighbours this morning to talk to you about the Bible's message.

HH (interrupts).  Sorry - but let me stop you there.  I respect the work you do, but I'm afraid with the mess the world is in at the moment such an old book can't be of much help.

Sue.  If this is a book written by men, then I would have to agree with you. We would know much more than they did by now wouldn't we?  But if it is as it claims, a book inspired by our Creator, if it is his message to us, then won't the wisdom it contains be timeless?

HH:  Well, yes. It would have to be

Sue.   I can see you are busy, but may I read you one Scripture, one piece of advice from the Bible, about how to build a strong marriage.  Because isn't the family under attack at the moment?   

HH.  Yes, very much so.

Sue  So let me show you some Biblical advice.   Reads Ephesians 5:33:  "Nevertheless, each one of you must love his wife as he does himself; on the other hand, the wife should have deep respect for her husband."      So the husband is not just to love his wife, but to love her as his own self - and the wife must not just respect her husband, but have deep respect for him.   If that Biblical advice was followed by  both partners in marriage what effect would it have?

HH:   It would make it very strong.

Sue.  Exactly.  Could I call back, maybe this time next week, as I would like to show you some more Biblical advice about to raise children in these difficult times.   Then you can see whether it is out of date, or whether it is exactly the advice we need.   

HH. Yes, I am usually here in the mornings.  

I was out with my siblings this morning - it is still VERY HOT.  We did two hours - first call and a couple of returns.   An odd morning.  We met two quite unpleasant guys, one angry with us, and one just weird.  Then at the next house a very large guy with pit bull and tattoos loomed over me.  But he turned out to be really nice, and took a tract about the Kingdom of God.

Jean and I were out Tuesday morning. We went to the group, but did return visits - a few of Jean's  some very good calls.   and one of mine that had been on my mind. It went well too.

Wimbledon and the World Cup proceed apace. But of course England crashed out of the semi-final last night. Poor Captain Butterfly and poor team. But lovely for the Croatian team to be in the final.

I am no football buff - can't tell one end of a football bat from the other - but even I could see that the Croatian team had the edge - they seemed more cohesive somehow.

Moths galore and Nature, red in tooth and claw.

Burnished Brass, Diachrysia chrysitis

Our balcony is Moth City at the moment - some wonderful creatures are living there.   We are getting to know some of them and I was about to venture on some names, when tragedy struck.

The Coronet, Craniophora ligustri

Col was on the balcony doing the early morning watering - it is still VERY HOT - when he heard a clamouring from the bushes outside.  Had he been able to speak Sparrow he would have realised the chorus was saying:  "Get off that balcony Person!  We want our breakfast and we want it now".

And they did want it now, because while he was still on the balcony down swooped the sparrows and carried off our poor moths...one paused on the railing, poor wriggling Monty Moth in his mouth, as if to say:  Look what I got!

Nature is still "red in tooth and claw with ravine".   What a horrible mess it all is.

On the doubleplusgood side, they have now managed to get 8 boys safely out of that cave system in Thailand.  Thank God.  Four boys are still in there, with their Coach, but all being well they will be out tomorrow. The rains only have to hold off for another day.   Some video from the cave system has been published on Youtube.  Aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh...  those rescuers are so brave, and so at risk themselves.  How the boys got to where they did I do not know.  I have to assume they were driven deeper and deeper into the cave system by the rising flood water.

It reminds me a little of that harrowing chapter in Tom Sawyer, when Tom and Becky get lost in the caves.

Jacks came for supper on Saturday night. We had some real champagne on the balcony, among the moths.  It was our 45th Wedding Anniversary,   I hope we will have many many more - and that one day we might be celebrating our 4,500th.  Will we be on a balcony overlooking the English Channel?  Will I think back to these days then?   Will there be an English Channel?

I hope we are all there to find out.

It was so HOT on Saturday.  Perhaps the HOTTEST day so far.

The Boys in the Cave

The Thai boys missing in a cave system in Thailand were found alive and well - if very very hungry - after 10 days.  A wonderful moment. But they are trapped there, in a flooded cave system so dangerous that one professional military diver has already died trying to organise the rescue.  How are they going to get them out of the flooded cave system -  and it seems there may be more rain on the way - so there is not much time?

They are such brave little lads, staying so calm and cheerful, after days in the dark and the cold.  And what brave divers to go on through the flooded caves until they found them  - and to go back with food and medical supplies - and back again to try to organise the rescue.  Which is so urgent, with the rain coming. Rain is the last thing needed there at the moment.  Whereas here, where we need and would welcome rain, there is none.

How dangerously disordered things are.

And two more in the UK have been poisoned with Novichok (the nerve agent) poison.   Where is it? What is the source of the contamination?  And what are the hands that drive us, the children of Adam, into inventing and manufacturing poisons so terrible they could destroy life on earth?

I have never come across a better explanation than the Biblical one.  It continues to warn us that the whole world - all its institutions - are lying in the power of "the wicked one", Satan the devil.  And Jesus not only called Satan "the father of the lie" but also "a manslayer".

How much we need the Kingdom of God, the heavenly government, to be ruling over us and restoring and repairing the earth. 

I was out with my siblings yesterday, trying to tell all who will listen about it.  We were out for over 2 hours - doing first call and returns - and I was so exhausted that I feel asleep when I came back. I was vaguely aware of Joanna Konta being knocked out of Wimbledon and then nothing until Captain B returned from his day's metal detecting. It was probably the clanking of his sack of ring pulls that woke me.

But all the time I am typing this those young Thai lads are in the cave - at least with some light, food, water and medication now. But they are still there.

My Radio Interview - the voice of Mrs Captain Butterfly...

I have only dared listen to it once, and don't know what to make of it.  But my young publisher seems happy with it, which is the main thing.

https://www.fantasticbooksstore.com/authors/sue-knight

The link to the interview is within the link.

It is still so HOT - with no sign of a - what is the opposite of a thaw?  We have had a strong sea breeze, thank goodness.    I made two days of the Brighton Convention- Friday and Sunday.  Very tiring, but well worthwhile.  And the Old Crocks and Crumblies Section (my natural home these days - in fact I am getting rather over-qualified) was air-conditioned, which was a great help.

Jean and I were out on the work yesterday, but only managed 40 minutes.