Flowers for Anula

This is the card that Krysia sent.  It is a print from her painting Flowers for Anula Rohatiner, my Godmother 2005.

Her website is: https://www.artsy.net/artist/krysia-d-michna-nowak-1

We bought one of her paintings a long time ago, at an exhibition she had at the Philip Francis Galley in Sheffield.  It has travelled with us down the years and is now in our hall.

I put a photo of it in this blogpost:

https://sueknight2000.blogspot.com/2014/07/krysia-michna-nowak-schooldays.html

That blog was written over ten years ago...   I hope it will remind me to be grateful for having had so many happy years in retirement - and to continue to hope to have a few more.  And of course, above all to be so thankful that, through the undeserved kindness of the ransom sacrifice, I can hope to live forever in the restored earthly paradise.  I hope we all will.

Krysia also sent some photos from way back when - from when the Town Hall extension was being built.  She and my father both worked for the Town Hall at that time.  He always spoke very highly of her.

Krysia is an artist and has worked in the world of art for many years. I often wish I had had more of a vision - well any sort of vision - of what I wanted to be when I left school.  I know I did NOT want to teach, which was one of the very few careers open to us girls back then.  I would have been no use at all as a teacher.

And I most certainly did NOT want to be a nun.  NOT squared on that one.

I always wanted to write. And always wrote - even getting a few poems published - I mean properly published, not vanity published.  But it did take me many years to get my books published.  And I am very grateful to be a published author now.  I had no idea, back then, that some kind of career within journalism or publishing might have been possible.  I had no clue really.

So I have had many jobs in my lifetime, none of them very inspiring.  The last paid one was being the Boarding/Buyer  at the Dhahran Kennel Club.  And I did ten years unpaid as Membership Secretary for the Sussex Branch of Butterfly Conservation in my retirement.

But I am surprised, and so grateful, to find myself, at my age, still doing the most important work I have ever done, that is trying to tell people about the Kingdom of God.  Unpaid of course.  Jesus said, "You received free, give free." 

I managed to cover all the territory I had been allotted for the Memorial invites. And I can only hope that some will accept the invitation.

The Special Talk was on Sunday - Who Will Restore the Earth? - a very timely title, as, if we are left to ourselves, aren't we going to ruin it?

The Bible assures us that we are not abandoned to this, and that the peace of paradise will be restored earthwide.

The Memorial Bible readings have started - and what the first two days have got me thinking about is both how Jesus was acclaimed by the people, threatened by the religious leaders, and how he fulfilled Bible prophecy.

The ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ is something we should never take for granted.

The Memorial of Jesus' death will be held worldwide on Thursday the 2nd April, after sunset.  You would be so welcome to attend at your local Kingdom Hall. You may even have got an invitation by now. We try to get as many invites delivered as we can.  I have to turn up in your letter box these days though, as I can no longer make it to the front doors.

A Hard Boiled Egg

 

This is a Blossom Underwing - a new visitor to our Moth Hotel.  It spent Sunday night with us.  Moth season has definitely begun.

Sunday I did very little. Studied in the morning and made a big veggie/bean stew for lunch. Plus a little bit of witnessing.  Monday morning was my usual two Zooms - field service with some sisters, then my siblings. The latter one ended a bit early due to my GP calling me re my blood pressure.  Then an outing (something I dread now) in the afternoon to: the garden centre, the post office, Cooks, Specsavers, the Pie Shop, and the ATM.

Very painful, and left me feeling shattered, although it was hardly any walking at all.  Blood pressure shot up after a painful night.

Katie came round on Tuesday and I was sheared. Always a shock as I like to have a lot of hair to hide behind. Plus I tend to look like a giant hard boiled egg with short hair. But anyway, I will look neat for the Memorial on Thursday week which is my aim.  A neat hard-boiled egg, for what its worth.

Wednesday was spending the morning with our Bible student, who says she would like to come to The Memorial on the 2nd April!  That seems like such a breakthrough, after so many years of knowing her.  And the afternoon was a double Zoom session - field service, getting out invitations for the Memorial.

As I am not good at managing my hair, it has now lost the lovely shape Katie left it with, and I am looking double boiled-eggy. Still a lot neater though, so I will have to be satisfied with that.

Circuit Assembly March 2026

A recent rainbow, taken from the balcony by Col.  The bow in the cloud, to use the Biblical term.

It was our Circuit Assembly on Saturday.  The theme was "Worship with Spirit and Truth".  I travelled by pixel to one of the American assemblies - via video link actually - and I had the programme printed from the JW.org site.

One of the last talks was "Worship with Truth in Times of Economic Hardship", which could hardly have been more timely given the awful situation in the Middle East.  There seems no way it will not get worse.

I hope to include a couple of points I gleaned from the Assembly in my next blog.

Mornings are so difficult now that it was touch and go whether I made it, showered and dressed, to my computer for 9:40 when it began!  I did.  Just.  And I also managed to field a frantic phone call from a sister who wanted to check she had pixelled to the right convention.  She had.

Unless... crumbs... we were both at the wrong one?

Col decided not to go a'detectoring on Saturday... which is unusual, but he is not as young as he was either. Which is a thought I find very painful. I can accept that I am ageing, but not my London boy.

We heard from two old friends. Rob and Judy, from our Uni days. They are doing a tour of friends in the South this year and are coming to stay this summer.  And I found a beautiful card from an old friend from my schooldays, Krysia, in my letter box.  If Col will take a photo of it, I will use it to head one of my next blogs, along with her website address.

She has become a successful artist, and the card is printed from one of her paintings.  She enclosed some photos she had found of the town hall extension my father, an architect, designed so long ago.  It was designed, built, used, and demolished, in his lifetime.  I wish they had waited a year or two longer before demolishing it, as he must have been upset, even though he was in his dementia years.

It was another example of the failure of human government really, in that it was planned and designed during a time when local government was expanding.  But by the time it was built, Mrs.T. had trimmed local government spending so much that it was no longer needed.

And sadly the lovely Registry Office he designed, known locally as "The Wedding Cake", was lost in the same demolishment (if that is a word).  

However, come Armageddon, what is going to be left standing of this old system?  No more tragic mess.  It will be a new, fresh, and perfectly managed start for the human family. And once again I hope we are all there to find out.

The Coming Separation

 

The flowers of Spring!  This is a local magnolia, one of many.  We once, many years ago, had a house in London with a magnolia tree.  I would love to have one again.  Maybe in the restored earthly paradise. Because we are now in the winter of our lives - past gardening.

I was talking to my siblings about the corruption - the deep corruption - being revealed in the wake of the Epstein scandals.  And I shared this little verse I found as a comment under a small video about the exPrince Andrew/Jeffrey Epstein connection.   

The Grand Old Duke of York, He paid 12 million quid, To someone he said he'd never met, For something he never did.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Yf9nfbKldsE

Sadly, ain't that the truth? And truth is hard to come by in the world system we live in - a system founded on the first lie ever told, in Eden. The depth of corruption is probably beyond our comprehension. How can we put this right? How can any human government put this right?

I am looking forward to the special Bible talk on Sunday the 29th of March: "Who Will Restore the Earth?", as it is sure to tell us about the government that CAN set this right, the heavenly one.

It will be on at your local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, and you will be so welcome to attend.  Surely it is worth hearing what the Bible promises, and deciding for yourself if it is true.

We had our Bible study on Wednesday morning.  But I am finding it all very difficult now. Am I on the verge of being completely housebound, except for those necessary medical appointments?  

I don't know, but as I have always been a homebody, plus I have the sea right outside my window, plus, double plus, the Zoom provision for the meetings, it will be do-able.  More than, actually, given I am on the spectrum (of Aspergers/Autism), so that face to face interactions with people are always a strain.

Tuesday night we sat out on the balcony for the first time this year. We had a glass of wine, watched the sparkly sea, and Captain B even talked about the coming separation (given our age) as we held hands.  Just a little.  He usually ignores such things, and gets on with life as he is a fount of common sense.

But this does need thinking about, very seriously. As it should be one of the things that tells us we are not in the Darwinian world of evolution, as "the world" would have us believe. If we were, why would the shortness of our lives upset us?  All would be natural.  But it isn't. We know this is such a short time to spend with the people we love, and to be on this splendid planet as it floats through the awe-inspiring universe.

Captain B rang this morning to say that having travelled halfway round the world to The Current Field (judging by the appalling time his alarm clock went off) the Field itself is not in a fit stage to be detected. They are all sitting there, all fifty or so of them, while the frazzled organiser tries desperately to find another more suitable Field, not too far away.  I can only hope he succeeds, poor guy.

He rang again to say that another Field has been found, for later, and after they have attempted a detect on the Faulty Field, they will move across to it.

I had a busy morning - for me, these days.  Made the usual apple crumble, made a mushroom curry and rice and beans, and did a load of washing. But I had to do an alarming amount of sitting resting while getting it done.

A Small Quaker

 

Here is the Small Quaker that recently spent the night in our moth hotel, snug in its eggbox room.  How beautifully Jehovah has clothed it - that sepia Autumnal colouring - even including the lovely neck fur.  

One of the many many things we can look forward to in the restored earthly paradise is learning how to look after all these little creatures properly. And they will be able to do all they were designed to do, happily and peacefully.

Col was at home on Saturday - not out a'detecting.  NOT DETECTING.  Hold the presses.  I attended the field service in pixel form, got some Memorial invitations ready to post, and did the Watchtower study for Sunday.  It was both comforting and encouraging, and you can find it on the site JW.org, under Library, under Meetings.

He was out with the Detectorist lads on Sunday - alarm clock went at 4:15 - but even if he had been here to help me get dressed and chauffeur me, I would still have had to pixel it to the Hall as I was in so much pain.  Another bad night.

I must remember that I am very fortunate still to be here and every day is a bonus now, and also that I have the hope of enjoying life forever in the restored earthly paradise.  I must extract some points from the Circuit Overseer's talks on Sunday so that I remember them. The second talk strongly emphasised how much we need to build a strong faith, a close relationship with Jehovah, now.  And he also reminded us of the strong faith of our African brothers and sisters, some of whom are going through very difficult times indeed.

This morning I had the usual two Zoom sessions - with my congregation sisters, and then with my bro and sis - just one sis this time, as Nute is having to work.  Got some work done - a few Memorial invitations sent out, with handwritten cards - which is why I only managed a few.

Col just came across an interesting clip on Youtube which claims that research is showing that handwriting is an important exercise for our brains - may help to stave off dementia.

And we do need all the help we can get these days. So I plan to buy more cards and sent out some more handwritten invites etc.  I have always tried to send a few, as I hope that people might appreciate something handwritten.  The arthritis limits what I can do, handwriting wise, but I think I can do better than I was.

My siblings all seem well, thank Goodness. While I am the oldest, we are none of us young now.

Chiang Mai Sunset

CHIANG MAI SUNSET

by me

A peach coloured fire glowed all along the horizon
Burning the palm trees black
As we drove with the Bata people
Down the dirt road
The colours burnt brighter, smoke began to rise
As people, coming out into the hot night,
Lit their evening fires.
Peach sun, black palms, curled smoke, kissed
When you were in Jesmond, Wirach,
Were you homesick for this?

I wrote this many many years ago when we were staying with Wirach, an old Uni friend, and he sent us up to beautiful Chiang Mai for a week. His firm had just bought the old British Embassy, and we stayed there.  We had it and its staff to ourselves.  They made us cooked English breakfasts, as I remember it, and were very nice.  Chiang Mai was a quiet place then. Apparently it is a top tourist destination now - which is not surprising.

When I put "Thailand" into the Captain's photo gallery I could only find the above photo of a moth - which was taken in the Maldives, but the moth - a Leafroller - is apparently also found in Thailand.  

This poem was published in an anthology if I remember rightly - my first ever publication.

I have been trying to decipher my notes from Wednesday night, the Pioneer meeting.  The points we were considering were to think about adjustments we might find we need to make in the following three areas, so that we can not only try to reach more people with the immensely good news of the Kingdom of God, but also be a better support to our congregation family:

1.  As an example.

2.  As a support.

3.  Building our spirituality.

All these points need working on and will keep me busy and usefully occupied if I keep at it.

And it is another gift from Jehovah, to know that I can be useful even at my age.

Written in March

 

Written in March (1798)

The cock is crowing,
The stream is flowing,
The small birds twitter,
The lake doth glitter,
The green field sleeps in the sun;
The oldest and youngest
Are at work with the strongest;
The cattle are grazing,
Their heads never raising;
There are forty feeding like one!

Like an army defeated
The snow hath retreated,
And now doth fare ill
On the top of the bare hill;
The Ploughboy is whooping–anon–anon:
There’s joy in the mountains;
There’s life in the fountains;
Small clouds are sailing,
Blue sky prevailing;
The rain is over and gone! 

by William Wordsworth

https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/written-in-march

This is a poem I remember from my childhood. Still love it.  Although I am not quite sure the rain IS over and gone this March.  And I am not bothered either, as I love weather.

The photo that heads the blog is of Spring Buds, from Col's photo gallery. It does show a blue sky prevailing, though the weather here continues pretty grey - full of a sea mist on Monday, and calm and grey on Tuesday.  It was springlike and sunny on Wednesday though, and we drove through daffodils to see our student.

Us Fantastic Book authors had our weekly Zoom session on Monday night.  Will it inspire me to finally finish The Canals of Mars?  I will likely publish it in my blog if I do.  I have got so far with it, it seems a shame not to do so.

Wednesday morning we were with our Bible student - and I think we may have had a breakthrough, after many years of calling.  But we will see. 

The afternoon was a harrowing session at the dentist - root canal business - nearly and hour and a half - too much really - I felt completely exhausted after it.  Hopefully it has gone well and is all done now.  I couldn't get through to Col on his phone after though.  A few years ago I would either have driven myself there, or been able to walk back anyway. Not now, alas.  However I had an idea, and sent a cry for help over the family watsapp. And one of my nephews responded, contacted Col, and so the cavalry came over the hill just in time, in the shape of my little red car with Col in the driver's seat.

And the dentist was followed by the perfect antidote, in that I was able, courtesy of a lift from my siblings, to attend the Pioneers Meeting with the Circuit Overseer in the evening.

We were divided into three groups and each given a task to think about - all concerned with what being a pioneer means.  Not just a question of trying to do some more hours in the preaching work, but how we can be of extra support to the whole congregation.  It has given me a lot to think about, especially as the state I am in now means that I feel less useful all the time.

But somehow, Jehovah makes every one of us feel appreciated.  And that is so lovely.

Anyway, with three outings yesterday, I was up in the early hours, taking painkillers. But hopefully I can have a quiet restful day - no meeting tonight, as we had it on Tuesday. And I have a double Zoom session with a sister this afternoon, so that will provide my witnessing for the day.  I got a supply of Memorial invites from the Kingdom Hall and hope to write a short letter to post them with.  Or, more grammatically, with which to post them.

Oh, and talking of being useful, the Sandwich Fairy, who also had three outings yesterday, did manage to ensure that Col's sandwich lunch was ready for him in the fridge when he left very early this morning for The Field.