The Duchess of Fritillary

Red-barred Gold, Micropterix tunbergella

Still waiting for the Captain to discover a new butterfly/moth in Rewell Wood - one previously unknown to science.  I want it to be called the Sueknightilla, aka the Duchess of Fritillary, when found.  He has got some lovely pics already though, but of previously catalogued creatures.

Ron kindly picked me up last night and took me to the Kingdom Hall. Very kind of both him and his wife, as he has a full car, and it meant that she had to find a lift herself!   Jean, my helper, arrived too - she doesn't drive either. And we delivered our talk successfully enough.   I don't seem to get any the less nervous as the years go by, but Ron assured me no-one does. And of course our brothers have to give more and longer talks than us sisters.

But how well Jehovah trains us.  I remember my mother saying to my sisters years ago, in the kitchen at the bungalow, when I had started to go to the meetings:  "Sue must be serious about this. I never thought there was anything that would make her stand up and speak in public."!

Neither did I.  But it is amazing what Jehovah can do if you trust him.  Not that we did stand up - I whispered to the young brother who does the chairs and mics as Jean and I began our trek towards the platform "Can we be sitting down for this" - and he sprang up like a gazelle, and had table, chairs and mics re-arranged in a flash.  I suppose there was a time when I could move like that - in the dim and distant past - but anyway, I am very grateful to have young brothers who can help.

When I am assigned a first talk - a first call - I will be standing. But its only 2 minutes and much simpler, and hopefully I won't have to juggle more than Bible and magazine.  Though even that could make my appearance a bit like "Mr, Bean visits the Kingdom Hall".

Well, I will worry about that when it happens.

Snow?

"Have you survived the snowstorm?" asked the Captain as I picked up the phone yesterday.   I was a bit dazed as I had just dozed off in front of the telly.  "What snow?"   "Its been snowing, in Rewel Wood."   "No snow here", I said, looking out the window. "Yes, it said on the News that it was snowing on the coast."

For a moment I thought I saw drifts of snow all over the Green - then realised it was daisies.  And the windows were dry.   So did our little patch of seafront miss out, or did I sleep through the whole thing?

Its sunny but cold this morning. And we did have a brief snowstorm midday!  I made some marmalade muffins for the packed lunches, and some veggie curries, and went over my talk with Captain B.  I urgently need to get back to my second thriller. IF the first one makes even a bit of money, my young publisher will, presumably, agree to take another.

Ash, my good friend in virtual space, is having a hard time. I wish I could help but he is so far away over The Pond and need someone there with him.  If only I could have a blockbusting best seller.  But with me as the heroine, it is not going to happen.  I have never kicked a bottom in my life.

Nor am I likely to now.  With my artificial knees it really would be a case of "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you."

A Chukka of Golf

I am really enjoying the "Keeping Up Appearances" repeats on the telly.   The other day in her current scheme for social advancement (doomed to fail, as always, but she carries on undaunted), Hyacinth, togged out in golfing colours, announced loftily to her neighbour that they were "off to play a chukka of golf".

Brilliant!   A great line, beautifully delivered.

I was talking about it with my sisters when we were out on the field service yesterday afternoon.  And how much I needed both meeting, field service and time with my siblings. The world - the system of things - is so horrible. So cruel.  I can only wonder what the world of Noah's day was like. Very very similar I guess.  But the rescue that is coming now will be a lasting one.

Satan will never ever rule the world again.

I hung on to every word of the Speakers talk on Sunday...   Jehovah's word is a lifeline - a beam of light in a darkening world.

In the meantime, half an hour of Hyacinth Bucket does cheer me up. And we also had a lovely evening with Jacks on Saturday night. She came round for supper - chicken kiev, courtesy of Waitrose, assorted veggies, fruit salad (made by the Captain's own fair hands) and ice-cream.   And then we had coffee, cheese and biscuits, and the choc mints we won at the Arundel raffle.

The Captain also discovered a certain shrinkage in the box of Turkish Delights we won last time. How could that have happened?   Have the mice been at them?  Its a puzzle worthy of the great Poirot himself - though unfortunately, the Captain seems to feel he has already solved it.

Oh dear.

And Jacks kindly drove me to the Kingdom Hall on the Sunday morning. I am still nowhere near being able to drive - and don't know if I will ever be...    arm very stiff, and sore.   I am keeping up with the physio, in the hopes that I can get enough of an improvement to at least drive to the Hall and the shops.  I would be grateful just for that.

When God Polished the Moon

Angmering Estate bluebell walk, Hyacinthoides non-scripta

This is a short interview with Harold King, a Jehovah's Witness who spent four and a half years in solitary confinement in a Communist Chinese jail, when China was under the Mao regime.
https://tv.jw.org/#en/video/VODIntExp/pub-jwbiv_201507_1_VIDEO

If you watch it, you will see why my blog has the title it does.

Greater Stitchwort, Stellaria holostea

Col, Jacks and me did our annual bluebell walk yesterday.  It was a bit overcast but the Captain still got some excellent shots. And I reckon we just caught them while still in their glory.  The woods were full of the flowers of spring.

This morning it was Physio - ouch ouch ouch - and then shopping at Waitrose. Jackie is coming for supper tomorrow.  I also got a card and letter posted to Marlene, as I heard via her cousin on fb that she had lost little Yorkie.   I can remember the first time Shadow and Yorkie met. He was fascinated by her - and got right down to her level to say hello and not frighten her. She was Joe Cool about the whole thing, and kept poor old Shads firmly in his place.

I hope so much...  well, who knows.   But Jesus did tell us that Jehovah notes even the fall of a sparrow. So he knew and loved Shadow and Yorkie and we can leave them safe with him.

Talk

I have a talk in the Thursday night Christian Life and Ministry Meeting next week.

My material is from the "Good News From God" brochure, pp 24,25, as follows:

Drawing close to God is not easy because we live among people who lack faith in God and ridicule his promise of peace on earth. (2 Timothy 3:1, 4; 2 Peter 3:3, 13) So we need the encouraging association of fellow believers, and they need us.—Read Hebrews 10:24, 25.

Associating with people who love God helps us to draw close to God. The meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses provide fine opportunities to benefit from the faith of others.—Read Romans 1:11, 12

My setting is:  Return Visit: fg lesson 12 ¶4-5—Demonstrate how to make a return visit on someone who accepted the convention invitation. Lay the groundwork for the next visit. (4 min. or less).  

And my helper is Jean.  We plan to get together Friday afternoon to hammer it out. 

The verses of Scripture I am to choose from are as follows:

(2 Timothy 3:1) "But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here."

(2 Timothy 3:4) "betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God,"

(2 Peter 3:3) "First of all know this, that in the last days ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires"

(2 Peter 3:13) "But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell".

(Romans 1:11, 12) "For I am longing to see you, that I may impart some spiritual gift to you for you to be made firm;  or, rather, that we may have an interchange of encouragement by one another’s faith, both yours and mine."

(Hebrews 10:24, 25) "And let us consider one another so as to incite to love and fine works,  not forsaking our meeting together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you see the day drawing near."

Jean and I will have to decide which verses to build our talk around.

Bats Over Arundel!

We - the Captain, Jacks, Terry and Mrs. Captain - went to hear the Paul Stevens' talk on bats at the Arundel WildlFowl and WetlandTrust last night.  He is the local Batman - the one called out if you have bats in your belfry, so you can learn how to take care of them.  It was an excellent talk of course - with tea and biscuits (thanks Terry) and a raffle prize for both Jackie and I. Terry won some very pretty notelets which he gave to Jacks. and the Captain won a box of mint chocs, which, come to think of it, he has hidden from me.  We will meet them again when Jacks comes for supper on Saturday.

Then, at the end of the talk we all trooped out in the Reserve at night to see some bats for ourselves.

We saw some Daubenton's bats skimming across the water in the red light of Paul's torch. (The red light doesn't disturb the feeding bats.)  We saw it behave exactly as described below.

"The Daubenton's bat is a medium-sized bat which characteristically flies and forages just above water. It often uses its large feet to trawl for insects from the water surface. "
http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/-daubentons_bat-815.htmlI

Paella with Jackie

Jacks cooked us one of her lovely paellas for supper last night, followed by tiramisu and a selection of cheeses. A fun evening, as it always is. The Captain's alarm clock went off at 5 this morning as he is one of the marshalls for the Brighton Marathon.   It looks like they will have a sunny but cold day for it.  So we were up very early, and I did not sleep all that well.  Now  I feel so tired I don't know what to do with myself.

Ron, my lovely bro, is picking me up to take me to the meeting, and Jen, my lovely sister, will run me back afterwards.  We - the gang of four - plan to join the Field Service group after the meeting and go out on the preaching work.

Our Daily Text was a very helpful reminder as I am so tired I don't know what to do with myself and just want to go back to bed, missing meeting, field service and all!

It says:

Sunday, April 17

I must also declare the good news of the Kingdom of God to other cities.—Luke 4:43.

Jesus attached great importance to his preaching and teaching work. By means of it, he cultivated a field that had rich potential. Earlier, he told his disciples: “Lift up your eyes and view the fields, that they are white for harvesting.” (John 4:35-38) He had in mind the ingathering of many other honesthearted ones who would become his disciples. Like a good farmer, Jesus would not leave unattended a field that was ripe for harvesting. Hence, shortly after his resurrection and before his ascension to heaven, he gave his disciples the weighty commission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples.” (Matt. 28:18-20) Jesus thus entrusted them with a precious treasure, the Christian ministry. (2 Cor. 4:7) He was, in effect, committing to them “his belongings”—his talents. (Matt. 25:14) Put simply, the talents refer to the responsibility to preach and make disciples.