Not Dancing - FLARE UP right ankle

I am trying to keep a record of all my flare-ups for my next hospital check up - if and when the date and form of the appointment can be sorted out. The 4th date change has left me in limbo, as it is on a date I can't attend in person, but on which I can be at home awaiting a call - and it is not clear if they want me there or waiting by the telephone.  I have been trying to find out.

Anyway, even if a pot of gold coins were to turn up under my feet, I would not be capable of dancing about it. In any case, it would presumably belong to the flat downstairs, the occupants of which would be looking at the hole I had dug in their ceiling with grim disfavour.  (Could the pain killers actually be kicking in - I seem to be hallucinating?)

So, Wednesday morning, as I start this blog I am wondering if I will even be able to make it to my blood test today...    and to add to the medical gloom, it turns out that one of my neices has had Covid - she has just tested positive. It was during Lockdown thankfully, so there are no contacts to be traced.  She thought it was a bad cold at the time. She did lose her sense of taste and smell, temporarily, but that was before we knew it was a symptom.  She seems fine - and hopefully has picked up an immunity.

I made it to the surgery - thanks to my gallant chauffeur, Captain B - I could neither walk nor drive - and it turns out they wanted to run my inflammation test again, as it is high. Yes. Which is why I am in a lot of pain, arthritis wise.  Pain which continued into Thursday and gave me another bad night.

I feel as if my body is packing up - bit by bit, faster and faster.  Worry worry worry.   How do people who do not have knowledge of and faith in the Inspired Scriptures cope with this?

The seagulls seem really het up about something this morning.  I wish I could understand what it is and help.

The Gold Dance

Captain Butterfly finally got to do the Gold Dance on Sunday!  He found a gold coin - a Celtic Stater from 65 B.C. - right at the end of yesterday's dig.   He is a happy bunny.  

It is a lovely coin - and in excellent condition, considering its age.  And if that coin could talk it would probably be saying "More than can be said for you lady!"   And we would also be able to find out what the inside of an ancient Celtic purse looked like. Full details and photos will appear on his blog later today.

I finally got to the hairdresser and got myself sheared.  I have hardly any hair left, but it has to last, in case they lock us down again.  Though hopefully they won't. I don't see how the economy (that mysterious thing) is going to recover from this current lockdown.

Chatted to Jacks and Jean - we keep in touch even though we can't see each other at the moment.   And Anne of The Cape and I have been emailing about spiritual things. She is a seeker, and I so much want her to find.  We had the normal Sunday meeting - public talk and Watchtower study - and a chat in the chat rooms afterwards. I found myself in a twosome this time, which was nice.   The next two Sundays we will have the shortened Watchtower and then we will watch the Saturday Convention - Morning, then Afternoon Sessions - on our various devices.  I am really looking forward to it.

And there is a treasure that is greater than a trillion hoards of gold staters - and it is there for everyone. But you have to put the effort in to find it.  You have to search for it.  And I am going to use Captain B with his detectorist hat on as an example.  He always strives to be there at the start of a dig, and will stay whatever the weather (within reason - metal detectors/field/thunderstorm/lightning//aarrgghh) - till they close it.  He keeps on seeking.

Gold coins are not guaranteed, no matter how hard we look.  But if we keep on seeking for our Creator, Jehovah, we WILL find him.  As he himself says, he will let himself be found by us.  This is from last week's "Examining the Scriptures Daily", and it is true:

"What is the greatest form of recognition that we can strive for? It is not the kind of attention that people seek in the academic, business, and entertainment fields of this world. Rather, it is the kind that Paul described for us in these words: “Now that you have come to know God or, rather, have come to be known by God, how is it that you are turning back again to the weak and beggarly elementary things and want to slave for them over again?” (Gal. 4:9) What a wonderful privilege it is to “come to be known by God,” the Supreme Ruler of the universe! He is willing to have an intimate relationship with us. As one scholar stated, we “become objects of his favourable attention.” When Jehovah acknowledges us as his friends, we achieve the very reason for our existence.​—Eccl. 12:13, 14."

Wives - and FLARE UP Left knee

Wednesday was a day of Phone and Zoom - I spoke to Jen, Jane, Lilian and Sue.  All are coping, all with various difficulties, which probably describes everybody at the moment.  And I spent a while trying to get through to the doctor's surgery. It appears that my long overdue diabetes blood test was not done with the others...    On the doubleplusgood side, all the other results are in the normal range apart from the inflammation levels which are raised.  But I know that my arthritis is in an active phase - the pain is telling me. My left knee is very painful at the moment.

On Thursday a letter came through the door changing my Hospital appointment with the Arthritis Specialist (for the 4th time) - and changing it back to a hospital visit not a telephone consultation which it was.  I rang up to say I could not make Thursday and could I have a new date.  The receptionist however thought it might still be a telephone consultation and is going to sort it out and get back to me...

I will now have to keep following up on that - as I can do Thursday, provided it is by telephone.

I feel exhausted. And look forward so much to the promised time on earth when "No resident will say "I am sick"".  I hope to be there. I hope we all will be.  World events are rushing along, down the path the Bible prophecy foretold.

Anyway, enough droning on about my health (or lack of it) and I must return to the subject of the blog - WIVES.   

The second item in the Seminar was:  Wives Rejoice in Your Husbands.  The cited Scripture was Proverbs 14:1. "The truly wise woman builds up her house, But the foolish one tears it down with her own hands."

Do we build up our husband in our speech to him, and to others about him?   Doing so is the course of wisdom.

And another question:  Can I add even more joy to my marriage?

Its a good question. A husband and wife can work at making each other happy - or they can make each other unhappy. There is so much sadness in the world. Why not be happy?

And this Seminar contains advice from the Originator of the marriage arrangement, from the Maker's Manual, God's inspired word.
https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/2020Convention/pub-co-r20_3_VIDEO

 

Husbands

We in the Worldwide congregation attended the Friday afternoon session of the Always Rejoice! Convention on Sunday - on our various devices in our various homes.   And how I must have deteriorated since our last full Convention in Brighton.  It took me most of the day at home to watch half a day and take it in.  And I felt exhausted afterwards.

But it was a day very well spent.

The Symposium was "Cultivate Joy in Your Family".   And the 4 talks, each with a short video presentation, were:

Husbands, Rejoice in Your Wife
Wives, Rejoice in Your Husband
Parents, Rejoice in Your Children
Young Ones, Rejoice in Your Parents.

So I thought I might blog a few points - today about husbands.   This advice is from Jehovah's word and he is both the Source of wisdom and the originator of the marriage arrangement.

The speaker covered 4 points:
1.  Assign honour to your wife, value her. She is a precious gift from Jehovah.
2.  Invest time in the relationship.
3.  Be faithful - and that includes no close emotional relationships with other women.
4.  Be realistic in your expectations.  We are all the damaged children of disobedient Adam,
     so no wife is perfect.

And at this point I seem to hear Captain Butterfly saying gloomily "Tell me about it!"  But he doesn't do badly as far as they are all concerned.  And he puts up with me wonderfully well.

You can find this Session of the Convention here:
https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/2020Convention/pub-co-r20_4_VIDEO
with all the associated Scriptures.


I had a busy morning - writing out my experience I was to give at the Field Service Meeting at 10.00 - then a call from Jean - then a panicky 10 minutes getting the soup ready for lunch - spicy chicken and vegetable today - then Zooming with my siblings.  I also cleaned the fridge ready for the Supermarket delivery tomorrow.

It was another sunny day - Green and beach busy - but most people seem to be keeping the proper social distance within their groups,

The Computer Plays Up

A bit of a failed morning.  My computer played up and would not let me in for about 3 hours - by which time, of course, I had missed the Saturday morning meeting - which included a discussion about the first session of the Convention we watched last Sunday.  I did consult my Resident Computer expert, busy with his metal detector in a field in Timbuctoo (or at any rate somewhere that meant he had to get up early and travel a long way).   On his advice I turned it off and on again a couple of times and finally, finally, it zimmered itself into life.

Poor old thing.  If its feeling its age, I know how it feels.

I hope it is going to behave tomorrow, as not only do we have a very interesting Watchtower study - all about the King of the North (from the Daniel prophecy), but then we are spending the rest of the morning attending the Friday afternoon session of the Convention on our various devicees.

While I was waiting for the thing to let me in, I turned the cauliflower into a curry, which I will probably then make into a soup; did a bit of studying, and watched a black and white movie from the 50s called "The Night of the Prowler" (Channel 81).  It was great - a kind of straightforward Agatha Christie mystery type thriller, with the violence, such as there was, off stage. And I watched the protagonists drive through London to various places with never a thought or worry about where they would park when they got there.  And I too can remember those days!   Yes, that is how old I am.

In fact I passed my driving test in London many eons ago.  I wouldn't even know how to begin driving there now. 

Thursday I got together with my siblings on Zoom - we moved it from Tuesday as we could not all make it on that day.  The youngest great-grandchild showed up briefly and said hello to her Gran.

And can those 4 wrinklies on the screen really be me and my siblings?

The Zimmer Kid Rides Out

It was my first masked outing this morning - not to rob the local stagecoach - but to the Surgery for my blood tests.    Strange.  But very good precautions. I had an early appointment and saw no other patients. It has left me a bit worried though - the nurse noted something even while she was taking the blood. I shall not be surprised if they want to see me urgently once they get the results - about a week. Though I hope not.

But I am in the Death Zone under the Threescore years and Ten rule - and feeling the force of the Biblical warning that, at the moment, "death reigns as king" over us.

It has been a medical week - the first for a while. It was the Dentist on Monday morning - and I always tell my dentist where the British airmen are hiding as soon as he gets me in the chair.  Unfortunately he is not interested and carries on regardless.  So I got my teeth cleaned - ouch ouch ouch - but there was some good health news at least.  No work needs to be done, and he is happy with my dental routine.  Hurray!

It took us a while to find a Dentist we liked here, after our excellent Company provided Dental Clinic on Planet Expat.  But then we found this Turkish guy who runs a very efficient practice, great clinic, great staff. And the Covid precautions were excellent. 

We then drove off to SpecSavers to collect my repaired specs.  The frames collapsed during Lockdown and I have been bumbling around in an old pair ever since.  I have never had frames collapse on me before, and they certainly picked their moment

It wasn't  exactly climbing K2, but it felt exhausting enough.

And I cannot say I enjoyed wearing my mask for about 30 minutes today - it must be tough indeed to work in them all day.  I  hope those who have to have better ones to wear.

Surreal times.  How long can this go on?

Always Rejoice! (and a slight FLARE UP left wrist)

Friday morning was The Self Isolating Bird Club - solo Megan this time, as Chris is off working.

Since my last blog, I waved at Edward and Margaret from the balcony as they crossed the Green and they waved back; I emailed Roger with links to the next two Watchtower articles attached; and Captain Butterfly came back early from his Metal Detecting outing on Sunday.  He usually stays till they close the field.  So that was a surprise, but a lovely one.

I hope this isn't too much heady excitement for my readers!

Roger - of Planet ExExpat - is a history buff, so the articles may well interest him.  They should interest everybody as they tell us where we are in the stream of time regarding Jehovah's purpose towards his lovely earth.

You will find the study articles about "the King of the north" and "the King of the South" at this link:
https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-may-2020/

Their long struggle is nearly at an end.  And that means that the present wicked system of things on the earth is nearly at its end too.

And Sunday was the first session of the "Always Rejoice!" Convention - as us siblings worldwide watched the Friday morning session on our various devices. (It usually takes place over 3 days : Friday, Saturday and Sunday  but this year we are attending it in our homes on aforementioned various devices in a series of 6 sessions.)

The key scripture for the day was Philippians 4:4: "Always rejoice in the Lord. Again I will say, Rejoice!"

Another key scripture was Nehemiah 8:10.  This was encouragement given at a time of restoration, when the Jews returned to their land after their 70 years exile in Babylon. They had a big restoration project ahead of them, and were surrounded by enemies. And Nehemiah encouraged them with these lovely words:  “Go, eat the choice things and drink what is sweet, and send portions of food to those who have nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord, and do not feel sad, for the joy of Jehovah is your stronghold.”

The joy of Jehovah can be our stronghold.  It is a joy we can have irrespective of external circumstances. It is part of the fruitage of God's spirit.

There is an invitation/link the Convention and a link to the Convention Programme on JW.org if you would like to attend a session or two.  The Friday morning Bible readings with commentary by Samuel Herd are very good.  I hope to report on the afternoon session next week - we are scheduled to watch it next Sunday.

Forty Seven Years

Tuesday was our 47th Wedding anniversary.  We thought we would have a bottle of chilled (in the old fashioned sense of the world) white wine on the balcony in the evening - but it was a bit blowy so we had it indoors instead.  Normally Jacks would have joined us - but these are not normal times.

Congratulations from Bea, by phone, and my siblings, via Zoom .   I can't explain how quickly these years have gone.  I hope for many many many more of them.  In this system of things, dying and damaged as we are, getting older is a painful business - some days it seems everything hurts - and nothing works properly anymore - but its also a time when life gets more and more wonderful and interesting.  For those of us who will have the undeserved kindness of being in the restored earthly Paradise (I hope all of us), and who are then perfect and living, not damaged and dying, getting older will be wonderful. It will be all about getting wiser and happier all the time.

Wednesday - grey, calm Channel, some much needed rain.  Supermarket delivery first thing. We found that instead of ordering one kilo of bananas, we had ordered 1 banana. But apart from that all was fine.  Though I don't think I got much done.  Talked to a congregation sister via Zoom and she said the same - not much done in the day, very tired.

Early start this morning, as the Metal Detecting Fields are now open - with certain restrictions - and Himself had a very early start.  And - 9.p.m. -  the Captain has just rung to say he has already found a Hammy - a Hammered coin to us non-detectorists.

And I have emailed Anne of the Cape hoping she will join us in the worldwide congregations for our next two Sunday study articles, in which we look at the prophecy in Daniel about the King of the North and the King of the South.

If you want to join your local Jehovah's Witness congregation on Zoom for the next two Sundays, you would be most welcome.

The study article for this Sunday is here:

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2020400#h=1:0
“The King of the North” in the Time of the End

My First Walk! so now LEFT FOOT IS FLARING UP

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta

Captain B dragged a reluctant me out for my first walk on Friday afternoon.  The tiniest of walks - 15 mins in local park. The result?

A photo of a Red Admiral, and a very very painful left foot.  It has been red and swollen for two days.  However, I did deliver a letter to someone I had just started a doostep study with before the Lockdown.  I wanted to offer him the opportunity to join our Zoom meetings.  Captain B put it through the letterbox. The door to door preaching work has not re-started yet - we await instructions from the Governing Body.

I had a chat to Jean and sent her a copy of the Programme for the coming Convention which we will attend on our home computers and discuss later in Zoom.  We will attend half a day at a time.  Postman Colin took it to the postbox for me as I am not moving too much at the moment.  We also of course keep in regular contact with Jacks, via phone, as we cannot visit each other at the moment.  I have got used not to seeing her every Saturday night now, but it was odd at first - we have had our get togethers for so many years.

And one of my congregation sisters rang me to ask me if I would like to sign up for trip to Egypt next week - 3 quid a time.  The Captain and I have both signed up.  I am really looking forward to it!  There is a lot to be said for this Zoom world.

A Buzz of Energy (FLARE-UP right knee continues, but oddly)

On Wednesday I suddenly got a buzz of energy from somewhere and by mid-afternoon had scrubbed out my bathroom, sorted out the bedroom, dusted, polished, tidied, changed sheets, washed sheets, done my studying, made lunch - sandwiches for Himself at Knepp, soup for me, and written a letter to Lilian and a card to Darren.  Plus begun my last push on Bob's Report - last chapter, comments thereon.

Will this last?

No, it didn't, quite a bad night with a lot of pain my right knee - got up at about 3.30, but did finally manage to get to sleep again. The sea was so lovely on Thursday morning - as turquoise as the Indian Ocean - and with swathes of navy blue where big fluffy white clouds were scudding overhead. The balcony was full of the scent of Nemesia.

The energy continues to drain, but at least I did get some things done. Friday morning and Chris and Megs are back in the Self-Isolating Bird Club.  A tonic, as always.  My right knee has subsided, but now my left foot is painful.

That is what old age is though - painful - a painful business.    Yet retirement is also a very happy time - so far.

Captain B is threatening to take me out for a walk this afternoon... unless it pours with rain of course (she blogged hopefully). I don't think  have been outside fo 2 months and am not sure I ever want to venture into the outside world again.

The current flare up - knee wise - was odd, in that the pain woke me - I got up, perhaps had a cup of tea, can't remember - I have nothing I can take for it, as I had used my full meed of meds for the day.  Went back to bed in great pain, but finally fell asleep. Sleep is impossible during the usual flare-ups, as much as I long for it.