Canary Shoulders

This is a recent visitor to our balcony - a Canary-shouldered Thorn moth.

Given the number of moths on our balcony, I would say it is a good moth year. And we are apparently heading back into the heatwave. I hope we will get some rain beforehand though. It is already beginning to look like Autumn as the trees are having to shed their leaves. There are fearsome fires in France and Spain.

How clear it is that we need a worldwide government that can perfectly control the weather. Which brings me right back to the Kingdom of God, the heavenly government, with Jesus at its head.  Remember when he calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, and his followers said:  "What sort of person is this?  Even the winds and the sea obey him."

Isn't that the ruler we need?

Saturday morning there were loads of micro-moths all over the Moth Hotel and our balcony walls. Though it still hasn't reached the stage some years ago when it seems the whole of the wall under the balcony light was awash with Moth, it is a year of moth-abundance.

I wish I could manage a poem, or at least a verse, to celebrate.  In fact, here goes:

Our moth hotel has room for all/and room for campers on the wall/weary travellers see our light/and from the sea they find respite/they may seem made of lacy stuff/but, fragile-looking, they are tough.

We spend most evenings out on our balcony at the moment - with a glass of home made wine, Col with his binoculars seeing and reporting on what is out on the English Channel, and me talking about old times.  And wondering how much longer we have to be together.

I am hoping we can be together forever, in the restored earthly paradise.  Not so sure about Captain B - well not if Rachel from Countdown is available.  I have assured him that she is already spoken for, so he has NO chance. 

Zoom's Most Wanted?

 

A photo shot from the family Zoom session on Monday morning.  Oh dear...  though it does include the lovely youngest member of the extended family (on my side).  But what happened to the rest of us once young siblings?!

I am thinking of the ending of a Thomas Hardy poem:  

A ghost-girl-rider. And though, toil-tried,
            He withers daily,
            Time touches her not,
            But she still rides gaily
            In his rapt thought
            On that shagged and shaly
            Atlantic spot,
            And as when first eyed
Draws rein and sings to the swing of the tide.

https://poets.org/poem/phantom-horsewoman

After his wife, Emma, died, the past- their courting days in Cornwall, came back to Hardy vividly, and he wrote so movingly about them. It is the line about withering daily that is resonating with me at the moment.

We saw my Bible student on Wednesday. Col was out detecting with the lads in a distant Field on Thursday - found nothing himself, but 4 gold items were found. And I pulled myself together a bit - the pain has somewhat abated, got a load of washing done, did my studying for the evening meeting, and (I had hoped) made an apple crumble.

However, not only am I breaking down, but now our oven has - the crumble warmish but uncooked after nearly an hour... and my shower no longer works and is having to be replaced. What next?!

I guess our flat and its appliances must be a good thirty years old by now.

On the doubleplusgood side (an acknowledgement of the Orwellian world we find ourselves living in)... well, I was interrupted and my train of thought has vanished.

Oh yes, it was the new study we began on Thursday night, from the book "Walk Courageously With God", which you can find on JW.org, in the library.  It is full of examples of the courageous faithful men and women of old, as recorded in the Inspired Scriptures, and is really going to make us think about how Jehovah supported them and how we can emulate them IF we rely on Jehovah's support.

And for someone like myself, who has a backbone of solid custard, Jehovah's support is all I can rely on, and I know I can get through anything IF I rely on him.  The year long study of these Biblical examples is going to help all of us so much.

Though I must also add how grateful I am for Captain Butterfly's constant support, and for always making me laugh.  You have a lot of running jokes when you have been married a long time.  And that is also something I must thank Jehovah for too, as He is the originator of the marriage arrangement.  And He also teaches us how to have a happy marriage, a loving partnership.

And what a precious thing that is.

Pippa's Song

Pippa's Song  by Robert Browning

And the day’s at the morn,
Morning‘s at seven;
The hillside’s dew-pearled
The lark‘s on the wing
The snail’s on the thorn;
God is in His heaven
All’s right with the world.

This always brings tears to my eyes.  Pippa passes through the corrupted world, the spoilt paradise, singing, her song reminding us of what we have lost and of the paradise earth to come - because Jehovah IS in his heaven, and He WILL put all right with the world. That is the wonderful reassuring message of the Bible - from Paradise lost, to Paradise regained.

Will the poet, his wife Elizabeth Barrett, and their son Pen wake from the dreamless sleep of death one day to find that truly all is right with the world?  I hope so.

In the meantime, we had a nice day with family on Saturday.  The little one, 3 years old, spent a lot of time on the balcony, drawing - and also had a good time on the beach and in the playground.  She added some treasures to her pebble and shell collection too.  

I have known Linda, Evie's gran, since she was a little girl herself, when Col and I first began a'courting. And now she is a grandma of three lovely girls with another one imminent.

The strangeness of time passing...

The flowers were a pressie from our guests, along with a bottle of wine.

And Pippa's song seems just right for Evie.  A dear little creature, full of the joy of life.  And she said a charming  "Thank you for having me" as she left.  

Apparently she loves being outside.  Which takes me back to my own youth in post WW2 Sheffield, food rationing, bomb sites, and the whole town black with soot from the steel foundries. We played out all the time.  And one of my earliest memories is of being outside in the stone walled back garden of a little friend. It was May and we were playing shop with flowers and petals.  I remember how the white blossom shone against the black paving, and it gave me such a feeling of happiness.

I think of it now as a paradise feeling, just a glimpse of that lovely garden our first parents once lived in so happily.  For sure it was not paradise back then, but there are still glimpses of it everywhere. So can they remind us that it is not gone for good?  If what the Bible promises is true, as I believe, there is more happiness ahead for us, right here on the earth, than we can now imagine.

The Beauty of the Underwing

 

This beautifully designed creature is a Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing.  It checked in and out of our balcony moth hotel a few days ago.

It ought to inspire a wonderful poem, but I don't seem to be up to it any more...  beauty of the underwing/makes my heart sing... There was a young Under of Wing, so lovely it needed no bling...

I can't thank Jehovah for this lovely world from a perfect heart yet, but I hope that both the Captain and I, and all those we love, will be able to one day.

That will be such a moment when and if it comes.

We have family visitors coming at the weekend - a rare thing these days, compared to our first years by the sea when we had family and friends down all summer. So many of them are no longer with us, or no longer able to travel. We were talking about them on the balcony last night.  Our good friends Chuck and Mary - Ralph - Janie - Diane - all the uncles and aunts... and so many others.  Our parents - though only Col's mum ever came here. She used to like coming though and would sit and watch all the goings-on on The Green for ages.

And of course Jackie...  who was so much a part of our retirement.  We can and do visit her in her Home when I am able to travel there - not so often now - but she is a limited version of herself. 

I had to go through my notes from the Convention as we discussed what we had learnt at the meeting on Thursday night.  I did manage to extract a few gems from the scrawl, but overall I think what the Convention left me with was the very comforting thought of how much love and sympathy Jesus - and therefore his father, Jehovah  (as he perfectly reflects his Father's qualities) - feel for us, and how much they want to help us.

And we, the children of Adam, need to feel this love and sympathy for each other.  And help each other.  Not constantly let "the world" and our own imperfections force us in the opposite direction.

My bro and sister-in-law in Germany have just experienced such a tragedy, a close friend, a young friend, has been killed in the war in The Ukraine. She was visiting family.  Such a senseless and cruel waste.  I might write a bit more about it in another blog.

It's not as warm as it was. which is fine by me.  I almost wanted a woolly on when we were out on the balcony last night.   In theory the Big Heat is over for the moment.

In a lot of pain still. And I remember talking sternly to myself when I hit seventy - and how young that seems now - that it was not going to get easier and that I must be grateful for every day. And now, with Eighty looming up in the rear view mirror and about to overtake me, I must cling on to that thought even more

Family visits today.  I am providing a sandwich lunch. Which is why I must now post this and get myself started.  I am hoping for a brief refreshing dip into the Zoom field service first.

A Leopard on our Balcony

There was a young tiger from Jersey
From the Arun, not from the Mersey

On our balcony bed

He rested his head

And for that he was none the worse-y.

Erm... that's it folks.

My previous blog has a photo of our flying tiger from Jersey on it - but I hadn't written the limerick then.   And you, my blog reader, may well feel I have not written it now either!

Today's photo is of the Leopard moth, but its hard to find the rhyme... could he put something in Jeopard-y?

Lots of medical calls on Monday, with medical appointments coming up - two telephone ones, a blood test, and a bone scan - so far.  Made an appointment for Monday as requested - in the afternoon, as our Bible study has been rescheduled to Monday morning.  Appointment confirmed by email. Then another email came through re-scheduling it for the morning, when I will be out. Another email sent, so now, who knows?

When, where, or what

Will my appointment be got.

And if we live in the bleak and pointless world of Darwinian Evolution, WHY will my appointment be got?  What use could someone of my advanced age be, in Darwinian terms?

But, if Genesis tells the true story of us, as I believe, then I am valuable. Every one of us damaged children of disobedient Adam is so precious, has such potential.

Don't we know that, at some very deep level?

The phone call did come.  I think. But unfortunately on my OutSmartMe phone which, as usual, would not let me answer it.  I now have an email telling me to rebook the call...

It was the monthly get together of us Fantastic Book authors on Monday night. Encouraging to know that one of us - Penny step forward please - had just sold out at a local bookshop and actually earned some money. An encouragement to us all.

A Tiger on our Balcony

 

A Jersey Tiger spent the night in our Moth Hotel on Tuesday. And here it is. A truly splendid moth.  

It's been a splendid moth summer so far - they must really like the heat.  And it is hot again, though we did get quite a nice sea breeze on Saturday, which makes all the difference.  Col went to the Detectorist BBQ in the afternoon - taking sausages, drinks and crisps with him.

The days when I would have made something for him to take are now in the past, sadly.  

We have been sitting out on the balcony of an evening with a glass of wine.  Even I have been having wine rather than tea, hoping it might act as a bit of a painkiller.  We hold hands and talk about the past.  It is great to have shared so much with the Captain, but now... well, how much longer do we have?

On the last day of our District Convention - last Sunday - we were learning how to apply lessons from Jesus' illustrations.  And we were reminded that his illustrations were so clear and so simple that they can be understood even today.  Which is an example for us as we try to tell others what the Bible says.

There are plenty of improvements to be made...   For example: "People who love people do well in the preaching work".   That is of course true. But worrying, as that does not describe me.  I am not someone who loves people.  Not that I hate them...  but I am an introvert, somewhat on the spectrum, find interacting with people stressful - and am not doing all that well in the preaching work.   But we were given the example of a brother in Denmark, who also has the same sorts of difficulties.  Like me, he is trying.

So, with Jehovah's help I can hope to improve.  Even at my advanced age.

We were also reminded of the great teaching work to come during the Thousand Years.  Most people will learn about their loving Creator, Jehovah, after he wakes them from the dreamless sleep of death. They will long to hear and to learn then.  It will be such a pleasure and a privilege to be involved in teaching them.  And of course we will all be learning together.  We will never stop learning.

Col is busy checking out the guests from his moth hotel as I finish this blog. They are swirling happily around - exquisite creatures all of them. Once he has them photographed, off they go, to live happily ever after - I hope.

Moth City

 

Col took this photo of our balcony flowers - geraniums and nemesia - a few days ago. They are enjoying the weather at any rate.   I don't know if you can make out our parched Green through the railings.

We have had no scent from our nemesia yet, but then it is an elusive thing, scentwise, so who knows.   Sometimes they fill the whole balcony with a soft vanilla smell.

The heatwave returns, and it seems the moths are loving it, judging by the numbers checking into our balcony hotel, on our balcony walls, on our balcony door, and fluttering round the room as they check out of the hotel every morning.

I am sort of getting back to normal - or what passes for it in old age.  It is all actually new territory, the constant deterioration, the vanishing energy - but in balance it comes with an ever increasing appreciation for the precious gift of life.

I am still struggling with my Convention notes, having failed, yet again, to take few but legible ones.  But I think I can manage an overview of Saturday.  It centred round a discussion and video about the Sermon on the Mount. And we were reminded that, before he taught them, Jesus went among the crowd healing people.  So how eager would you be to hear the words of someone who had just healed you, and how much easier to listen if you were no longer in pain?

And wasn't Jesus showing us what he can and will do for us - what he longs to do for us - once he is ruling over the earth as the King of Jehovah's Kingdom?

Talking to a friend about it on Tuesday afternoon - she and her husband also attended in Zoom (health reasons) - she said she found it hard to accept how quickly it was over.  Me too. Those three days just flew by. And we will have to wait till next year for the next instalment of The Good News According to Jesus.  They gave us a preview of it on Sunday.

At any rate I do know how quickly a year can fly by. But will we fly along with it?  

We celebrated out 53rd wedding anniversary on Monday.  Well, we didn't celebrate it as such, but were just glad we are still here and still together. We had intended to get a takeaway, but in the end we didn't.  I made Himself an omelette and had beans on toast myself.  I don't think we even managed a glass of wine.  We are just grateful to still be together.

It is very hot today, but we do have a slight breeze through the flat, which makes all the difference.