A Pebbly New World

Endcliffe Park 

Saturday afternoon I discovered a pebbly new world round the back of the Kingdom Hall. We were having a training afternoon, with one of the brothers down from HQ teaching us the new Inspection and Maintenance programme for Kingdom Halls worldwide.  At one point we were divided into 6 groups and us in the AirCon maintenance group all trooped round the back of the Hall to inspect the air vents.

I had never been round there before.  I suspect I may not be of the stuff of which great explorers are made.

Anyway, it was all beautifully organised, as always. And will be very effective.  But how much use Jean and I will be in the Inspection teams I don't know, as our eyes are not what they were.  Frankly, nothing is what it was. But who knows, we may find a way to help.

I was very tired though and it was hard to concentrate.  Everything seemed to catch up with me that afternoon and I just wanted to stay on the sofa and sleep, but I am very glad I didn't.  It was a lovely and comforting reminder of how beautifully things will be organised when the Kingdom of God is ruling over the earth.

We had travelled back on the Friday, after a hectic couple of weeks oop North. Emotionally hectic too.  It was a difficult journey, motorways at log jam and on one of the smaller roads a 3 car pile up held us up for a long time, while police cars and an ambulance tried to make their way through.  I just hope no-one was killed, or too badly injured.  But what an uncertain and frightening world it is.

We had a quiet Boxing Day. Col and I took Doris out for her morning walk in Endcliffe Park. And I was touched that she kept waiting patiently for me as I hobbled along. So perhaps it was more a case of Col and Doris taking me out for my walk?  Everything was wet, dank and muddy. And not nearly as cold as it should be this tme of year.   Grateful for no ice though! .

Endcliffe Park

The 25th - the day itself - went off well, but was very tiring. Nute produced a turkey dinner with all the trimmngs you can imagine for 11 of us. And the little granddaughters seemed to have a wonderful time. Captain B started them off on "I spy" and that was a big and ongoing success.  I am hoping we might try the pencil and paper game Consequences the next time we get together.

Jacks came round for supper on Saturday night - fish and chips (or in my case, fish sans chips) - we shopped for her and for us this morning - and tomorrow I hope to be out on the preaching work with Jean. So we are getting back into our routine.

In a couple of days it will be 2020...  these milleniums don't last the way they used to.

An Alien Bea-ing

We got to Bea's door on Tuesday to find it open and, there,  advancing down the hall, silhouetted against the light, was an alien creaure with tendrils on its head!   Before I could scream     WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH AUNT BEA!!    it thankfully resolved itself into Bea with a tinsel headress on (don't ask).   And we had a lunch of homemade veggie soup (very tasty), followed by apple pie and custard. Bea had bought me some soy cream, which was very thoughtful.  It is not a bad substitute for cream, which is something I can't risk because of my arthritis.

Anna - now a lovely young student - dropped in on her way to meet friends in town and her parents came round for coffee and/or mulled wine after lunch.  We came away with beer and paintings!  Two Bea masterpieces.

We had come up on Monday the 16th, as Ken's funeral was on the 17th.  As I said in the blogpost it was beautifully organised and it went very well.   Penny came over on Thursday and stayed till Friday and we had a productive writing session.    Saturday we planned to visit the York Branch, but I wasn't able to go due to a suddenly recurring and worrying health problem - reminding me that I am now in the Death Zone (under the "threescore years and ten" rule).  Sunday, Himself went treasure hunting and Nute and I picked up the shopping from M & S. If we hadn't arrived 15 minutes before it opened we would have had no chance of parking - and we were nowhere near the front of the queue as it was.  What a frenzied business Christmas is now.  We had the Dronfield Branch round for lunch - crackling pork, and chocolate cake (courtesy of Helen). Captain B had his heated up in the evening.

Monday it was over to Jen's for our annual Veggie feast, which is just what is wanted at this time of year.  Her garden looked splendid, as did Bea's - and yet this is, in theory, a bleak time of year.   Weatherwise it has rained and rained, with some breaks of wintery sunlight. The lacework of the empty trees looks splendid against all weather backgrounds.

And Tuesday was the visit to Bea's, where this blog started.

Coober Pedy

I was catapulted back to my youth ("Wow! That was some powerful catapult" I seem to hear Captain Butterfly murmuring in the distance)  when we watched a programme about Aussie Opal Hunters on Quest.    When my brother was a little lad I remember he read about Coober Pedy where the Opal miners lived underground because of the searing heat, as they hunted and mined for the beautiful gemstone.  If it is a gemstone - it is a strange and glorious substance made from, well, compressed water, if I understood it right.

Perhaps I didn't. Anyway, John said that Coober Pedy is where he wanted to go and to live when he grew up.

And many many years ago, my bro did go to Australia to work. (Though not in the Opal mines.)  He is now an Australian - has been for many years - as are his wife and children.  I must ask him if he ever went to his dream town.    It is a bleak spot as it is so heavily mined. But I can see the fascination of the opal hunt.

We, the Captain and his missus, had got rather addicted to Aussie Gold Hunters - but its not on at the moment.  I hope there will be another series.

I had developed a bit of a crush on young Jake from the Dirt Dogs ("Just don't sit on the poor guy's lap or he'll find out what crush is",  said Captain Butterfly gloomily, seething with jealousy - or was it concern for Jake?)  Poor Jake.   Clearly he would much rather have some gorgeous 18 year old blonde having a crush on him (and I am sure many do).  And having spent innumerable blogs moaning about my age, my arthritis, etc etc, I don't think I am going to fool anyone in cyberspace.  And I have no chance in real life.

In any case, my partner Captain B is a treasure hunter too.  I must be attracted to the type.   He was out hunting yesterday and found -after a long days searching - what he calls a hammie - a hammered coin to you and me.  Its a pretty silver coin in reasonable condition. A little work of art, which I am sure will appear on his blog in due course.

Remembering Ken

seascape by Ken Reah

The day of Ken's funeral (on Tuesday) was a cold, damp and grey day.  There is a word for that - when the weather is in sympathy with the occasion -which I can't remember, but which Ken would have known. He was not only an artist, but also a linguist.

The service was just right. Lots of people came - family, friends, many of whom have been towers of strength - Helen and Jennifer coming outstandingly to mind.

Ken's son in law spoke, his youngest daughter spoke, his stepson spoke, his grandaughter spoke, and my sister spoke too - getting through it almost without faltering.

Among the readings was a poignant poem about Autumn by his oldest daughter, and this one written by Ken himself.

              It's untitled.  And its by Ken Reah.

                "Call this summer?" he says.
            "You wouldn't think it was June."
       "No," I said, "you wouldn't, would you?

               Our dogs, dripping,
       Conduct their circular civilities, nose to tail,
   Then, shaking off the surplus, go their separate ways -
            So many wet things to sniff.
   Through the curtain of drips through the brim of my hat
            I plan my route.
The dam on my left, its surface pocked by countless small explosions,
      The ducks, unfazed, glide through them - but no-one's
            Bought them bread, today.
      The heron stands, knee-deep, waiting.
The unrelenting rain drums down upon my hat, as, exchanging rueful grins
            We too separate and go our ways.
      I have a Gene Kelly moment, and, with first a glance around,
            dance a step or two, before the old man in me intervenes,
                Before hysteria takes over.

That poem contains an essence of Ken. Some people would just see a gloomy walk in the park in the rain.  But he saw how wonderful it all is.  He really truly appreciated the gift of life, of being on this beautiful wondrous planet, in this splendid universe.

And that is what makes me hope that one day, when the time comes, his Creator will wake him from the dreamless sleep of death, during the Thousand Years.  The wait will not matter to Ken who now knows nothing of the years going by over his head.

The Service ended with his youngest daughter (who has a lovely voice) singing "I must go down to the Sea again" - followed by a short tape of lark song.     Ken loved the sea, and he loved birds.   So that made me think how wonderful if, a few hundred years from now, Ken wakes up to a sky full of larksong and the sound of the sea in the distance.

Julia

Julia left this morning. Col ran her to the Station and then set off for his day's Treasture Hunting.  She arrived Friday lunchtime. We had chicken veggie soup (homemade), chilled out in the afternoon when we did some catching up. She has had a harrowing year - losing both her brother and her father, and of course we have just lost Ken, our brother in law.

It was lovely to see each other again.  We have known her for over 30 years, and shared the strange Expat life together.  She treated us to a meal at The Steam Packet on Friday night - us girls had goats cheese and beetroot tart and Col had escalope of pork. It was excellent.   We will go again soon I hope.

We walked there and back - its a nice river side walk. And we did pretty much the same walk on Saturday to the Art Cafe, where we had coffee and I got some pretty things for the little grandaughters. Jacks came for supper, which was Cooksed rather than cooked. We had Thai chicken curry, with two kinds of rice - sticky and egg fried - veggie spring rolls, and the usual ice-cream to follow.  Then we watched the Final of Strictly Come Dancing.   I think I am tired of the levels of hysteria within the programme - and the general level of luvvie-dom.

Ken's funeral soon.

We have all had sadness this year, and of course health issues.

When I was a little girl - back in the olden days - I used to wonder why the grown-ups used to talk to each other about their medications and what the doctor said to them when they had their tubes tilted* all the time.

Wonder no more Sue Knight.

*with apologies and acknowledgments to Victoria Wood for that wonderful line.

The Sadness that Belongs to the World

From the first part of Janet Frame's brilliant autobiography "To the Is-Land":

"I remember a gray day when I stood by the gate and listened to the wind in the telegraph wires.  I had my first conscious feeling of an outside sadness, or it seemed to come from outside, from the sound of the wind moaning in the wires. I looked up and down the white dusty road and saw no-one. The wind was blowing from place to place past us, and I was there, in between, listening. I felt a burden of sadness and loneliness as if something had happened or begun and I knew about it.  I don't think I had yet thought of myself as a person looking out at the world; until then, I felt I was the world. In listening to the wind and its sad song, I knew I was listening to a sadness that had no relation to me, which belonged to the world."

The sadness that belongs to the world.  I often used to wonder about it.  Why?  What had happened?

Janet Frame actually goes on to answer the question she raises - but I don't know if she herself made the connection.  She is still very young, and is talking of visits to and from the uncles and the aunts. She says:

"The aunts were still there, still talking of Up Central and Middlemarch (Middlemarch, Lottie) and Inchclutha; and the uncles with their shy Frame look and the particular set of the lips that said, 'Everything should be perfect. Why isn't it?'"

Everything should be perfect. Why isn't it?

With Ken's funeral coming up, I have been thinking about this.  When God wakes him from the sleep of death, everything will be perfect. And then our real lives here on the earth can begin.  At the moment it is all a struggle, ending in the defeat of death.   Then when God's Kingdom is ruling over the earth and that connection, so fatally broken in Eden, is restored, we will be living, not dying.

We don't even know yet what that is like. Or how wonderful it will be. I hope we will all find out though.

Julia - exPlanetExpat - arrives tomorrow for a stay.  She has had her share of sadness this year, with two deaths in the family.  We have known her (and her lovely rescue animals), I guess for about 35 years. 

I hope to be out on the field service this morning - and managed to do a bit yesterday afternoon.  Very strange weather yesterday. One minute the storm would be with us - lashing rain, wild seas - then it would calm down and there would be a wonderful light - so beautiful that I thought surely if the creation had not already told me of its Grand Creator, it would wake me up now!

So please, everyone, wake up while there is still time.

The Strange Disappearance

There was a severe shortage of elders at the Kingdom Hall on Sunday morning.   Where were they?  Was this a mystery to rival the Marie Celeste?     Were there half drunk cups of coffee in the small school?  Nibbled biscuits hastily pushed aside?   No. 

In fact, all our elders had gone for a day of training.

Happily we have a lot of brothers in the congregation, so the meeting was conducted well and we were taught properly.   We will all benefit from this day of training as the years go on.

I took the sister I chauffeur to the meeting for a Waitrose shop and a trip to the cash machine.  And did a tiny shop myself.  Jacks came round in the evening and we had lasagne (courtesy of Cooks), and meditteranean veggies which were actually cooked by moi.  I had intened to cheat - I am so tired these days - and bought a tray of read-prepared ones during the week.  But they were not very tasty.

And it is hardly difficult - cut up some veggies, sprinkle with herbs, drizzle with olive oil, put in oven for an hour.   They were a big success and every scrap went.  We had our usual (these days) mini choc-ice finish.

Monday, was lovely and sunny, but apparently there is a storm on the way - the trees in our gardens were whirling about, and the waves on the Channel were spectacular.

And today the storm is here. But the valiant Jean and I managed to put in an hour in the field service this morning- two return visits, a warm welcome from both, plus a cup of tea and biscuits.   And I used the extra card I had bought to drop in to Ruth who has just lost her husband.   She, Jean and I know that a good husband is a treasure.

A Face from the Past

FEAR OF FLYING

by me

To my right the Alps move slowly

Like joined writing on the earth

I can’t yet read

To my left, a curtain sways

Hiding airline mysteries

But the immediate question

With which I have to cope

Is:  just what keeps this Jumbo up

Apart from prayers and hope?

This poem/verse was written during my flying years. I can't remember now on which trip, and I don't seem to have dated it. It could have been on one of our trips to see the Bavarian Branch of the family.  But I guess we would not have been Jumbo-ing it on that journey... so maybe we were heading back to the Middle East.

Today it is the AGM of the Treasure Hunters - and I hope to be out on the preaching work with the valiant Jean this morning.    Once again, I was trying to think if I accomplished anything yesterday - just yesterday... think think...   studied - the Watchtower for Sunday morning - we are looking closely at Revelation again.  Very very important that every one one earth should. And we are trying to get to all your doors.

And please have a look at our excellent website: https://www.jw.org/en/    We are offering online Bible studies, so you can see for yourself what it is we are trying  so urgently to tell you.  If you wish to.

We also got Jack's shopping for her.  And while we were there Andy dropped in!  A face from the past - she is the daughter of one of our expat friends from the Saudi years.  She and her American husband are spending quite a bit of time in the UK now, so we might get to see more of them when they are back in the Spring. 

Oh and I got the current New Butterfly Membership packages done, dusted, and posted, along with all the attendant paperwork.  We even hand-delivered one en route to the Post Office. So I have saved Butterfly Conservation a fortune.  Well, £1.32 anyway.

I hope they don't spend it all at once.

What I did only yesterday

I am sitting here trying to desperately to think what I did yesterday. I must have done something. And it was only yesterday...  this is getting quite panic-making.  I did do some of my weekly Bible study; I did not get to the shops but managed to make us sort of supper out of a tin of salmon, some frozen peas, and a baked potato - the potato for himself, as they are verboten to us diabetics.

Oh and I did go out on the preaching work with a young pioneer in the afternoon.

It doesn't seem much though.  I am so very tired at the moment, so maybe I spent a lot of the day asleep on the sofa?   It all seems horribly likely.   I did get out this morning with the siblings, and we had one very good call, and placed some publications.  We then went for coffee, and I managed to pop in to Sainsbury's for a bit of shopping so the Captain, who will be hungry after his day in the Hampshire outback, can have some supper when he gets in.  I have made a big lamb casserole, which is in the oven as I type.    I also rang Jacks, to assure her I plan to manage a shop to Waitrose at some time tomorrow.

And I am about to chauffeur a sibling to the Hall for the meeting, so at least I have a few accomplishments today.

But being old is like running on empty.

The Captain found no gold nuggets, but did find a couple of interesting old things (apart of course from myself) which will be appearing in his blog in due course.

The Rising Sun and the Narwhal Sword

There was such a lovely sunrise this morning that Captain Butterfly was out on the balcony with his camera.   I went out with the valiant Jean later and we re-started a Bible study - our student had been away visiting his family.

I walked to the Post Office yesterday and got all the condolence cards posted.

The sadness that belongs to the world seems very prominent at the moment - but the splendour of the sunrise was a reminder of the power of our Creator, Jehovah.   Our Bible student, a lovely old-fashioned gentleman, who lost his wife a few years ago after a long and happy marriage, keeps a big photo of her on one of the chairs in his lounge so he can feel they are still watching the telly together.

It is so hard to understand the loss of those we love, as this was never meant to happen to us.

And two lovely young people died in the terror attack on London Bridge.   More would have been killed had some courageous members of the public not tackled the killer. One of the gallant gentleman was armed with a Narwhal tusk!    Don't ask me why or how, and even though some of the rescuers were stabbed they managed somehow to hold him at bay until the Police arrived.

So many families all feeling the sadness now.

There is a lilac tinted watercolour sunset going on as I type this.  If I live on the earth forever, as I hope, I will never see another sunset like it.  And I hope that those who died on London Bridge will be woken from the dreamless sleep of death when the time comes, and they will see the sun rising and setting, rising and setting once again, and there will be nothing then to make them afraid.

Maybe their killer will wake up again too. Who knows?   Jehovah reads all hearts and does not want any of us, the damaged children of Adam, to be lost. It is to tragically easy to allow ourselves to be misled by "the world" and by our own imperfect hearts,

Psalm 37 contains perfect advice, advice that can keep us steady in the face of the injustices and cruelties of the world.

Cards by Sarah Duffield (the Art Cafe)

Sarah Duffield - Looking West

I was out with my siblings on Thursday morning doing first call work - my first for a while, as Jean and  I have been concentrating on return visits. And I know how important it is as I am so grateful that Jehovah sent his Witnesses to my door - over 30 years ago now!   And who knows where the time goes.  Thirty years.

The sister I usually go out with on Thursday was very tired - has not been sleeping well - and I am very tired - its been an emotional week.  But we sort of encouraged each other, got out there and had a lovely morning finishing with a coffee at Waitrose. She treated me to a new kind of latte - a Macha tea Latte I believe (which I hope I have spelt right).   It has a very strong and distinctive taste, and I absolutely loved it.  It is both creamy and refreshing.

My jobs today are to go out on the preaching work this morning with the valiant Jean; to get something in for Jackie who is coming to supper (I do have some emergency pies in the freezer - but I seem to have given her emergency pies the last time she came); and also to send condoldence cards to Ken's family - my sister and the children.  Or at least to get them written out and ready to go.

I found some lovely cards by a local artist Sarah Duffield in the Pier Road Coffee and Art Cafe
www.sduffieldart.co.uk

One of them has the title "All the way there and back again".     They are local scenes, striking and different, with an Autumnal quality about them. One is even called "Autumnal".

I feel Ken would have liked them.  And, as an artist all his life, I know he would have wanted me to support a local artist.

Another card - perhaps the one I shall choose for my sister is called "Warm Repose".    As Catholic Convent schoolgirls, many many years ago, we were taught some terrible things about death.  So I hope it will be a reminder that the Inspired Scriptures assure us there are no dreams in the sleep of death,  just a wonderful awakening to come.

It would have saved poor Hamlet an awful lot of soliloquising if he had only known that.

Anyway, I hope to get all these things achieved today...  but who knows? 

Ken

Our brother in law, Ken Reah, died on Monday evening - peacefully and at home.   Col and I opened a bottle of wine and spent the rest of the evening remembering him, under one of his lovely paintings of Endcliffe Park pictured above.

He was an intensely creative person - a potter, a painter, a maker of art installations, a teacher  One of Ken's pots is on display at the Bowes Museum, Durham.  His garden was his work of art too, as it had been my father's during his lifetime.

He had one novel published and was working on the next one when he died.  He and my sister had been editing it, which was all he could do, creatively speaking, in his last few days.
https://www.fantasticbooksstore.com/edge-of-arcadia-all-formats.html

He was a good cook too.  Great curries.   He made a wonderful sort of meat and lentil loaf called a Dutch Roast, and lots of tasty soups.     I think we first met him when he asked us round for a meal at his flat in Ecclesall Road.  And he has been feeding us wonderful meals ever since.  I should say "had been feeding us" I guess.  It all takes some getting used to.

We lived with him and my sister for a while after they were married, and then we bought the house next door. That is before we left for our 25 year stint in the Middle East.   So how long ago it all seems.  But also it brings it home to me how short our lives are now, how quickly they go.

We have quite a few of his paintings, but the one above has pride of place.

Ken was well over his threescore years and ten, but he found life as interesting and fascinating as ever.  He wanted to go on being with his family, his wife, his children, his grandchildren, his friends, his neighbours.  And he had so much more to do.

I think if I was allowed to say only one thing about Ken it would be how much he appreciated the gift of life, being on this lovely planet in this splendid universe.   And he appreciated it right up to the end.

This is what gives me a real hope that we will see him again, when the time comes.   He did not acknowledge a Creator, but he did love the creation.   And surely he would love to live forever in the restored earthly paradise.

And if his family loved him so much, how much more does his Creator love him, and miss him?

So I will end my blog with these words from the Book of Job.

" If a man dies, can he live again? I will wait all the days of my compulsory service until my relief comes.  You will call, and I will answer you. You will long for the work of your hands." - Job 14:14,15

If a man dies, can he live again?

The answer is yes.  Jehovah, our Creator, longs for the work of his hands - and Ken was the work of his hands. 

So, remembering that, we can leave Ken safe in "the everlasting arms", safe in God's memory, every hair of his head numbered - and hope and believe that he has the most wonderful awakening ahead of him.

He will feel so well when he wakes up again!

Sussex Butterfly AGM

We planned to meet up with Elizabeth for coffee at the Art Cafe on Friday morning.  But just as we were about to set off Col got a callout from SUSSAR  (https://www.sussar.org.uk/website/).  Someone afflicted with dementia had gone missing while down here with his family.   He had taken himself for a walk and not been able to find his way home.

So Captain Butterfly got into his rescue outfit, flew out of his phone box, scooped me up in his strong manly superarms and dropped me off at the Art Cafe.  The Long Lost Elizabeth and I were chatting away over our coffee when her phone rang.  It was Captain Butterfly, on his way to join us!  The Misper (missing person to you and me) had been found. Thank goodness.  So we had a nice coffee and chat session and then did a quick shop at Lidl's on the way back home.

I also tried out a new BBQ chicken recipe, which did not work out well. Though Col was happy enough to have it for supper. I think its partly that I am finding it harder and harder to eat meat, especially if I have had to cook it myself.

The weekend seems to have been and gone in a few seconds.   It was the Sussex Butterfly Conservation AGM on Saurday. David came with us, Col driving, through the rain.   It went off very well.  Jess Price despatched the necessary business competently and then we had a couple of very interesting talks.  There was one technical one from Pete Eeles  - and what stays in my mind is how few clues there are in a caterpillar as to what sort of butterfly it is going to become.    One slight exception is the Comma Caterpillar, which has got raggedy edge to it that might lead you to guess that a Comma is on the way.

And his talk reminded me that I must look up the word "instar", which seems to mean "caterpillar", but also chrysalis (possibly?).

We had tea and excellent home-made cakes.   Not that I could eat the cakes, but I had a corner of Col's lemon drizzle slice. And it was so good.

We ended with Michael (Blencowe) compering the raffle and giving his usual fun and informative take on the Butterfly year.   

And Butterfly Mark was there.   It was a good day out, as it always is.

Sunday was the meeting, but I did very little else, beyond getting the Captain's supper ready for him - steak pie and lots of veggies.   And this morning we shopped in the pouring rain, delivered Jackie's shopping, and booked her for supper on Saturday night.

Pen and I are taking it in turns to check in with Nute.  Ken is now sleeping most of the time, and it sounds like it may only be a matter of days now.

I was thinking today about the first time I met Ken - at his flat on Abbeydale Road. 

Walking Scuttle. A Memory of Pauline, a good friend

Walking Scuttle
by me, about a walk we (Pauline's dog Scuttle and I) took many years ago on a sunny day in Sheffield

Down Scuttle's alley
in the wild inner city
briar rose grows
toads scurry
elder smells spicy
Chip papers underfoot
summer skies over
Scuttle tugs at the tangled root
squats in the clover.


Wherever Pauline went little Scuttle went too, if it was humanly possible.  I think I am right in saying they were both arrested at Greenham Common.  And that is what a dog needs from its person - constant companionship, even if it does mean getting arrested together.

Life was never boring when Pauline was around.   I met her when she and my sisters were involved in the Sheffield Peace Movement.   We all became friends, even though, even then before  I began my Bible study, I was not active politically. 

And she was a very good friend. I can remember after the first of my arthritis-related disasters (fell over, broke my leg, in plaster for months) she used to drive round in her taxi and take me out for a veggie lunch every week - always taking care to find an accessible place.    She was not a taxi driver by the way - it was a de-commissioned taxi.  And nice and roomy too - easy to fit a leg in plaster in.

She and her daughters moved to New Zealand many years ago, and in our expat years, the Captain and I visited them.

She lived right down south in Invercargill - next stop the Antarctic.  The light is fantastic there, with "its shimmerings of Antarctic ice" (I am quoting Janet Frame).  She was as busy as ever, and living in a rambling old house full of books and pictures just as before - the sort of house I always feel at home in.

Then she moved to North Island NZ (warmer climes), and then to Israel (even warmed climes) with her oldest daughter and family.  The last time I spoke to her they were planning to come back to the UK, to the Brighton area, so I thought we would be seeing each other again.

But that is not to be - not this side of Armageddon anyway.     So I hope that Pauline is now sleeping safe in "the everlasting arms", safe in Jehovah's memory, every hair of her head numbered.   And when God wakes her from the dreamless sleep of death, she will open her eyes in an earth truly at peace, an earth ruled by the law of loving kindness.

And that surely is the earth she always wanted to find herself in.   As the Hebrew Scriptures tell us, it will be a joyful awakening.

“Your dead will live... Awake and cry out joyfully, You residents in the dust! For your dew is as the dew of the morning, And the earth will let those powerless in death come to life."
Isaiah 26:19

Your dead will live.  This is a promise from our Creator, the God of Abraham, who cannot and does not lie, and whose every purpose is fulfilled.

All us Old Boilers

A difficult week.  Monday morning was spent at the Hospital, seeing the Dermatologist, But he did explain to me why I have this eczema.  It is my immune system attacking me.   (And please, immune system, if you are lurking here, stop it, at once.)    The kind of arthritis I have is one of those immune system diseases like Lupus, where the body attacks itself.

My left hand is now swollen and painful. However I did manage to take Jean out on Tuesday morning for an hour of return visits, and make a couple of large fruitcakes before the hand went AWOL.   Its the Butterfly AGM on Saturday and a Cry for Cake usually goes out and I usually supply the fruitcake.

If its not wanted to on voyage this year, no problem, as I will slice and freeze it for the Captain's sandwich lunches.  It is a boil and bake fruitcake recipe from a Cranks Cookbook that Col bought for me years ago.  I have been making it for years, and it has never let me down. 

Jacks spent the day with us yesterday having woken up to find herself without heating and hot waer - her boiler had stopped working. Along, oddly, with her fridge.  Don't they usually choose the hottest time of the year to break down?  I know that ours did.

Anyway, it was too cold for Jacks to stay at home so she spent the day with us in our warm flat while her son and the plumber got the boiler fixed.  We had soup for lunch and a fish and chip supper. And Adam joined us for coffee after.

I have gone very deaf again - so it was all a bit of a strain as I couldn't really hear what anyone was saying.  And Captain Butterfly had two elderly ladies to look after, instead of the usual one.

It was a day of sad news too.  An old friend has died.   And news of my bro in law is so bad that it may only be a matter of days for him now. But it will be weeks at the most. 

All lives end in tragedy now - sooner or later.   But it will not always be like this. That connection, so fatally broken in Eden, will be restored.  And, then, as the Bible promises "your dead ones will live".

The Spectator Cartoon

The Spectator and Private Eye have the best cartoons. Its worth subscribing for them alone. And the current Speccie has a great cartoon I would love to reproduce here, but probably shouldn't for copyright reasons.  I wonder if they would mind.

Anyway, it portrays a gentleman who is fast asleep in a comfy armchair beside a roaring fire, with a plump cat watching him speculatively from the floor.   The caption is Target Seat

Wonderful. Spot on. And it reminded me of our fierce old Saudi cat Whites.  He had a very effective Target Seat technique.  Back in the days when we used to entertain and had friends round most nights, if anyone was sitting in the particular chair he fancied, they would be eased out of it in such gentle careful stages that after a while it seemed they had always been sitting on the floor in front of a chair/sofa with a large white cat comfortably ensconsed.

Wonderful meeting Thursday night - but a lot of empty spaces in the Hall. So many of us are off sick. I had planned to be out on Thursday with another sibling, but we were both ill.  And the sister I usually chauffeur to the Hall was sick too and decided to stay home and listen on the telephone link.

On Friday I had my third medical appointment of the week!    Poor old NHS.  Anyway, I am to persevere with the new med for another month and then if I am still feeling sick and a bit dizzy, make another appointment and my GP will change the med. He wants to keep me on this if possible as it is, apparently, doing its job very well.  He thinks I may have picked up one of the bugs that is doing the rounds, and for sure a lot of people are not well at the moment - see above. 

Jacks came round last night - for chicken pie (again) with cabbage cooked Madhur Jaffrey style (with carrots, chile and coriander) and sweet potato.   Pen phoned to update us re Ken and I must ring this afernoon when I get back from the meeting.  We are in the throes of it now as we all get older - feeling the full force of the Biblical warning that, as the moment "death reigns as king over us".

My mother, crippled by the family arthritis, only lasted till 74.  That does not give me a lot more time.

How short oue lives are now.   And how deeply grateful I am that Jehovah sent his Witnesses to my door, or I would now be overwhelmed by it all, instead of feeling full of hope in spite of it all.

Which reminds that Jean and I managed an hour and a half on the preaching work yeserday - one very long return visit.

Disorder

Captain Butterfly came back from his Hampshire detecting day on Sunday without a single gold nugget.  Which might be because there are no goldfields in Hampshire, and it has never, to my nowledge, had a gold rush.

But one can always hope.  Especially as we are now hooked on "Aussie Gold Hunters".  We take a great interest in each family, be they The Gold Gypsies or the Dirt Dogs or whoever, and we are hoping they are all going to find that dream nugget.  "A ripper!" Amazing people in an amazing landscape. The outback is beautiful. And I can feel the excitement of finding each nugget of gold.  Its a tough but wonderful way to earn a living. If we were younger...

And talking of Oz - my bro and his family in Sydney are now threatened by horrendous wildfires, while one of my sisters and her family are suffering in the floods that have devastated my Northern hometown.  The torrential rain was badly needed in Sydney - but that is not where it fell.

How disordered things are now.   And this is one of the many reasons we need Jehovah's Kingdom ot rule over us.   Jesus is the King of that Kingdom, and when he was on the earth, he showed us that he can perfectly control the weather, the natural forces.  Which is something no human ruler, with the best will in the world, can do.

I continue poorly - the change of medicines is making me feel very sick - and I have ongoing arthritis issues.  I tottered off to the clinic for a blood test - another blood test! - today, but that is about all I have done.   A few Butterfly paperwork queries have been sorted out (but not yet posted), and I did do some studying and got lunch and supper for the Captain and myself.

Oh, and I watched the broadcast. I usually go and watch it at the Kingdom Hall, but we were away at the AGM.   When I was talking to Jean on the phone today, she said I had to watch it.  I was feeling so down (health problems) and she knew it would give me a boost.

There are some great experiences from my siblings from all over the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUxvHnPiw_4

The Sussex Wildlife Trust AGM - and a Flare-up

Its been a painful and difficult flare-up  - both shoulders and right hand overcome by arthritis. I missed the Thursday field service and meeting, and Friday night was so painful that I did not think I would get to the AGM with Captain Butterfly on Saturday   However, he helped me get dressed and we managed.  He drove obviously. 

It was a great day out - a talk from Michael Blencowe, who made us laugh while giving us a brilliant summary of the wildlife year in Sussex.  He also helped Col to find me in the crowd, as it took the poor Captain a long time to find anywhere to park   I had gone ahead and got us seats - which was  a good thing as it was full.  And we saw Jamie get a well-deserved award for the work he has done in Wildlife Conservation.

We ended with a vegetarian buffet lunch - and we got talking to a nice lady who is a Friend of the Pallant Gallery - currently our favourite gallery.

Drove back through the pouring rain.  We seem to be getting the rainstorms that have just flooded my Northern hometown.

We found out from facebook, via Helen, that Nute and Ken had been trapped at home with no electricity for most of two days.  The engineers had managed to get it back briefly and it went again. All due to the flooding of the city centre I assume.  What is comforting is that they were on a priority Action List, as Ken is so ill - and I think they were among the first who were turned back on.

So grateful for that.

And the talk and study at the Kingdom Hall this morning were very very comforting indeed.

The brother giving us the public talk reminded us that Jehovah's word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. (Psalm 119:105)  It is the only thing that will light our way safely back to our Creator, Jehovah.   I read those words many years ago in a Bible Col's Aunt Thelma had given him. She had written these words in the front -which is why I read them.  At that time I knew next to nothing of the Bible, but those powerful words stayed with me. And I located them many years later when I began to study the Bible with the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Back then I must have recognised that I was lost in the dark and needed help.  Now I understand why I am lost - why we all are - and I understand why it is God's inspired word that lights the way. And I am very grateful to know it too.

The Dummies Guide to Serial Killing

My sister Nute has won a Silver Dagger (her second such award!) with her short story called (brace yourself) "The Dummies Guide to Serial Killing".  It is a classic of its kind, with a punch. And a great win for her - and for my young publisher Dan. He is not her publisher Thriller-wise, but this was published by him in a Fantastic Book selection.  He chose well.

Here is the book:
https://www.fantasticbooksstore.com/the-dummies-guide-to-serial-killing-and-other-fantastic-female-fables.html

And here is a great article about her win:
https://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/people/sheffield-crime-writer-amazed-award-win-824160

She was not able to go to London and collect the award this time, due to illness in the family.  But Dan went down and collected it for her, and gave a short thankyou speech.

Good news at a stressful time for her.  And it reminded me of what Janet Frame called "the sadness that belongs to the world".  It is all so wonderful, but all so sad.    I was lying on the sofa yesterday, supposedly bracing myself to do my walk, but in fact dreamily watching layers of white clouds drift and join and part across a soft blue sky - beautiful, graceful and muted.

And when I watch the sky - and trees wave against the sky, or the balcony geraniums blowing in the breeze from the sea - I feel a happiness that I must have felt in the faraway days of the late1940s when us babies used to lie outside in our prams, watching the sky and the leaves and the trees blowiing in the peaceful post-war winds.

Then it was an uncomplicated unconscious happiness. But soon I became aware of the strange sadness of things, a wrongness somewhere.

Now, because I know who created it all and why, and what has gone wrong, and how it's being put right, I often feel that uncomplicated happiness -that joy in the creation - again.   And I can now hope that I will not have to lose it forever in the blackness of darkness, the nothingness that is death.

I am so grateful for being taught by Jehovah. There is no teaching like it.  He is truly the "Grand Insructor".  And He is offering this teaching freely to everyone.

And I wonder, as I may have blog-wondered before, what sort of stories we will write when the whole earth is restored to Paradise   Will we even have or need fiction then? I don't know. But we really only have one plot now, which is that something has gone wrong and it has to be put right. And to throw the term"post-modern" about (your guess is as good as mine), much current art seems to me to say that things have gone wrong and its all hopeless, or even that this is how it is meant to be.

This is the very story we, the damaged children of Adam, are living. Things have gone very wrong, we have not been able to put them right, and many are now losing hope.   Can we really imagine any other story?    Well, if I am blogging away a Thoutsand Years from now, who knows what new things there will be?  All we can sure of is that they will all be wonderful, and if there are short stories being written then, they will require a very different sort of title.  But how sad that many are losing hope - or being persuaded to lose hope - just as the rescue is imminent.   The valiant Jean and I were out there yesterday morning trying to tell others. And thank God, we had some lovely calls.

I did force myself to have that walk - to the shops and back - an hour including the shopping. It left me exhausted - and carrying two moderate sized bags of shopping back home has left me with very painful shoulders.  I was going to go out and shop for Jacks and us today, but I can't drive at the moment.   What a feeble creature I am these days.

As a reminder to myself,  I posted cards to Darren, to Gale (with the cartoon about the Bayeux Tapestry from The Speccie), and to Lilian.  The Darren and Lilian cards also had a litte tract about hope for the future enclosed.

It was a Wild and Stormy Night...

... or at any rate it was a Wild and Stormy Day we woke up to on Saturday.  Jean and I had to cancel our outing - she would have been blown away like an Autumn leaf if she had set foot outdoors.  The sea was incredible. I spent rather a lot of the day watching the waves - all that power and energy.  But what else did I do? Not a lot I'm afraid. Some studying, and a bit of housework.  I feel like I am running on enpty at the moment - a combination of age and arthritis I guess

Jackie came round for fish and chips and Strictly Come Dancing.    And this morning Captain Butterfly left early on metal detecting business, while I went to the Kingdom Hall for the meeting. 

We had an excellent talk from a visiting brother, all about maintaining joy in Jehovah's service.   He used a very effective and simple illustration about how our service to God is not a burden, but an aid, a vital help for us.   He asked us to imagine we were walking round a supermarket picking up stuff - bread, milk, cereal, potatoes etc - with our hands getting more and more full so that we are about to start dropping things. At that moment the storekeeper comes over and gives us a basket.

Now, do we see that basket as an extra burden, as something else we have to carry - or is it in fact valuable help, something that will help us with all we do  have to carry?

That is how we need to view what Jehovah requires of us. It is there to help us. And that is so true.  The wonderful teaching we get when we attend the meetings - and the joy we can get from the preaching work, even when there is not much in the way of response. These are all things that help us to carry whatever load we have, and to keep going, with joy.

We all need meaningful and satisfying work to do. And it is quite something to find myself, well into retirement, on borrowed time (under the threescore years and ten rule), doing the most important and urgent work there is - telling all who will listen about the incoming Kingdom of God.

Fotographing Fungi

Captain Butterfly was out all day last Wednesday - firstly doing a presentation and then he went off to chase the wild mushroom herds over the plains of Ebernoe.     He found and photographed a "Beechwood Sickener".  Now, call it a woman's intuition, but I don't think he will be taking that one home for tea.

Beechwood Sickener, Russula nobilis

I would never dare to pick and eat mushrooms anyway, as even experienced pickers can make mistakes, and those mistakes can be fatal.

Jean and I had a lovely morning on the doors today doing return visits. The traffic is getting worse though - more and more complicated.   Roadworks, which of course have to be done; there are lorries parked on narrow roads on double yellow lines, because there is nowhere else for them to park, and a worrying number of people don't seem to understand how a roundabout works. That is a traffic island for my American readers - if I have any - and Hello from across The Pond.

And I feel so tired.   I did make a big carrot cake for the freezer, for Himself's packed lunches.  And got us our lunch and supper, but that was about it.

I was wondering about calling this blog "For all the Lonely People" - because of this short video we watched and discussed at a recent meeting at The Kingdom Hall.   Or I could have called it "No Longer a Fatherless Child", in my dear Chinese sister's own powerful words.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODIntExpTransformations/pub-jwb_201902_5_VIDEO

Foam Flowers

Saturday morning as I drove back from the field service the tide was so high and the Channel so stormy that foam flowers were blowing across my windscreen like Autumn blossom. It was a beautiful morning, with scudding clouds, high seas and wild winds.   It was sunny and the wind was warm, but it changed into full storm mode in the afternoon and I got soaked doing the shopping for me and Jacks.  And Captain Butterfly actually came back early from his Metal Detectorising.

Him, entering, sternly and urgently:   "Don't tell me what the results of the Match are!"
Me:    "Whar match?"
Him:  "The RUGBY of course!   England v NZ."

Against the odds it turned out that England had won.  So Captain B was a happy butterfly. Things have moved on since then and I believe England now plays South Africa.   I only hope he will enjoy the game, whichever way it goes.

Because of the torrential storm on Saturday the fireworks and the procession had to be cancelled. The bonfire had already been cancelled, due to lack of volunteers to build, tend and guard it.  The whole event (minus said bonfire) has now been moved to tonight.

Jackie cancelled on Sunday night too - she was coming round for supper - but  was not well enough. We are all getting older and older and closer to that edge,damaged children of Adam that we are.    How would I be feeling about this if I did not know what the Bible says about death?

Wouldn't I be wondering sadly what the point of it all is?

And the fragile foam flowers reminded me of Swinburne's poem "The Forsaken Garden".  Its a long time favourite of mine, and when I read it I always think of my young parents in the year before their marriage, an engaged couple, very much in love, visiting Cornwall, where my granny used to have a house.

So I imagine this forsaken garden to be in Cornwall - which was a wild and remote place back then.

               Heart handfast in heart as they stood, "Look thither,"

       Did he whisper? "look forth from the flowers to the sea;

              For the foam-flowers endure when the rose-blossoms wither,

       And men that love lightly may die—but we?"

  The foam flowers are still here, but my parents are not.

My October Talk

It was my talk in the Ministry School last night.  And my householder rang up just as I was getting supper to say she couldn't make it!  She had a bad cold - she sounded very hoarse poor girl. 

Panic panic. Anyway the sister I chauffeur to the Hall kindly volunteered and we had a few minutes to run through it together before the meeting started.  She did a great job, but I could hear the nervousness in my voice.

It was a 5-minuter. I had to use the sample conversation, include the video, and discuss it.  And I was working on Study 8: Illustrations that teach.

And illustrations, if appropriate and simple, are very powerful.  I can remember to this day the first Watchtower study I ever attended - over 30 years ago - because it was about following in Jesus' footsteps and it used a powerful illustration. It asked us this.  If we were following a trusted guide through a very dangerous area - a swamp or a minefield say - where one false step could lead to disaster, wouldn't we be very careful to put our feet exactly where our guide put his feet?  We would not try to second guess him, or take any shortcuts.

I thought of Grimpen Mire, in The Hound of the Baskervilles (that poor hound by the way!), and it has stayed with me.  We are in a very dangerous world - a minefield - we need to pay careful attention to God's word, and follow it exactly.  And of course to do that we would first need to know what it says.  Which brings me to the talk:

Sue:  Hello HH.  I’m very glad to find you at home this morning.  I’m Sue if you remember. We had such an interesting talk on your doorstep last week, and I left you with a question..

S.   Yes, you showed me that the Bible says it’s not God who causes us to suffer – and that left the question: if it is not God who is causing our suffering, why are we suffering - what is causing it?

Sue: Yes. Well remembered! And the Bible gives a simple and clear answer, here at 1 John 5:19. "We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.".  The wicked one is Satan the devil, and it is he who is controlling  the present wicked system of things on the earth.

HH:  Really I’m sorry but I can’t accept this idea of a devil – that’s a very nasty idea, tormenting people in hell.

Sue: I want to assure you that hellfire torment is not a Bible teaching   The Biblical hell is simply the ground, the grave, where the dead sleep in complete unconsciousness, awaiting a resurrection.  And would it surprise you to know that, according to the Bible, hell is one place Satan never was, he never is, and he never will be?

HH. Now that would surprise me. I’m not saying I even believe in Satan, or everything in the Bible, but surely that IS what the Bible says?

Sue. That is what many of us were told it says, yes. I was taught that in my schooldays, and its a teaching that put me off the whole idea of God and the Bible for many years.  But what does it really say?   It is so important that everyone study it for themselves.  To help you see why,  I would like to show you this short video, just over 3 minutes called ”Why study the Bible?” (shows video).

Sue. And do you notice that after raising the question of suffering, it speaks of Satan as someone who is pulling the strings behind the scenes right here on the earth   It uses the simple illustration of the puppeteer. We don’t see the puppeteer, but we certainly see the effects of his string pulling.  So think what is happening, what we are seeing on the earth.  Is it exaggeration to say that it is close to being ruined?

HH.  I see we are in a lot of trouble and many people are concerned. In fact I just read an article in The Independent in which David Attenborough says that humanity has made a “tragic, desperate mess” of the planet.   And I have to agree.   But why blame it on Satan?  Aren’t we bringing all this on ourselves?

Sue. For sure we do bring a lot of trouble on ourselves. But think about this. Why would we set a system in place which is bringing the planet to ruin – the only planet we have to live on?!   And if it’s really the rich and the powerful who run things on the earth, why would they do it?  However rich and powerful you are, you can’t buy yourself another planet to live on.  But if the one really in charge, the one pulling the strings, is Satan, who wants to spoil God’s creation, does it begin to make a horrible kind of sense?

HH.  It does.   But what can we do about it?  It doesn’t seem to hold out much hope.

Sue. And this is just why we want you to know what the Bible says. As the little video says, it answers all the important questions.  Is there hope?  How does our Creator, Jehovah, feel about what Satan is doing to his lovely creation?   Has he abandoned us to this? What is he going to do about it?  May I call back and show you what the Bible has to say about that - because it holds out such a wonderful hope.

HH.  Well, why not?  We do need some hope.

This was the brief:

First Return Visit: (5 min. or less) Begin with the sample conversation. Then introduce and discuss (but do not play) the video Why Study the Bible? (th study 8)

The sample conversation is:   "Why do we suffer?"   1 John 5:19: "We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one."

And study 8 is: Illustrations that teach,  Matthew 13:34.35:  "All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds by illustrations. Indeed, without an illustration he would not speak to them, in order to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet who said: “I will open my mouth with illustrations; I will proclaim things hidden since the founding.”"

The Women's Exchange

Way back in our expat years, in our expat compound/town, we had a shop called The Women's Exchange, where us wives and single girls could bring clothes and books and such like and sell them.

A visiting rock star was heard to say that he would have brought his wife along on the tour if he had known he would be able to exchange her.   "It doesn't work like that" said Captain Butterfly (and I hope there wasn't a note of yearning in his voice.)

Anyway, I was reminded of that at the weekend as us sisters were invited to a Clothes Swap party on Saturday afternoon.  We all brought and took clothes and had tea and coffee together.  I swapped a blouse for a rather nice blue scarf.  I am trying not to add anything to my wardrobe because at the moment I am trying to get rid of things. We spend the first two thirds of our lives collecting things, and then we wonder why on earth we did, and wonder how to get rid.

Saturday was a busy day.  I chauffered a young sister to the Kingdom Hall for the Field Service group, then dashed off - rather a slow dash but the best I could do - and did a brief shop, then on to pick Jean up, and take her to Liam.  I had asked Jehovah if he would be kind enough to supply us with a parking space - a workable one - close to Liam's house, as parking is very difficult there.     And when we got there we found one enormous double-decker bus sized space right outside the gate!

It was perfect. But so is everything Jehovah does.  Anyway we were invited in for a tea and spent an hour and a half chatting, and laughing as he always has some good jokes to tell us.

Then it was on to the Hall for the broadcast:    https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/StudioFeatured/pub-jwb_201910_1_VIDEO

There is a very interesting experience at 18:16 minutes in. 

Jean was too tired to do the Swap, but I went along, having waited till Col's latest parcel had been delivered.

It was the meetng at the Kingdom Hall yesterday - and we heard another lovely experience about the power of God's word.  A young girl whose parents were politically active atheists began to study the Bible with the local Jehovah's Witness congregation.   Her parents, understandably, were very upset by this. And her father actually started to look into the Bible himself...   he wanted to find fault and disprove what she was learning, but he ended up being deeply moved by it.

Both her parents are now baptised Jehovh's Witnesses.

You cannot over-estimate the power of God's word.  As Hebrew 4:12 says:
"For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints from the marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart."

And that is the truth - plain and simple. And it is, in essence, what my Thursday talk in the Ministry school is about.

A Farewell

Well, on Monday it was Hello to the Hibernating Peacock butterfly and on Tuesday it was "Goodbye".     It suddenly re-emerged just as we were finishing our lunch - while watching Bargain Hunt (the blue team did badly), and flew crossly off to the window.   I thought it would be a bit noisy for it in our lounge.  Captain B opened a window and out it flew.   At least it was a much better day for it to go - the rain had stopped and it was sunny.

So we have the use of our tables back.

Jean and I managed over an hour on the field service - doing return visits and got another cup of tea - people are being very kind and hospitable at the moment.   And I was out this morning with the Field Service group - we had a couple of good calls, and many not-at-homes.    I have also shopped for us and Jackie.

I have managed to get my talk for next week written and now have to practise it with my partner.

Very heavy but brief rainstorm as I set of for the meeting tonight.  I hope that the little Hibernator found a dark, quiet and safe place to over-Winter.

According to the News we finally seem to have Brexit...  and the violence and lawlessness in the streets of London continues. 

The Hibernator

Peacock, Inachis io

We have a Hibernator. A hibernating butterfly. I think its a Peacock. It was fluttering alarmingly round the room yesterday - and when I told Captaiin Butterfly about it - he was off detectorising- he sais it would be looking for somewhere to hibernate.

It seemed distressed and wanting to go out, but the weather was awful. I opened a window just in case, but it didn't go. I left a tiny doll's saucer of honey out for it,but it didn't want that either.  I may have been thinking of bees.  You can revive an exhausted bee wonderfully with a dab of honey..In the end the butterfly flew under our nest of tables and settled there.  So the little chap is now sleeping next to the radiator and the telly.. And its the Footie tonight.  And its getting cold and we will be having the central heating on soon.So I don't know if this is going to work.

Can it safely sleep there all winter?   I hope so. And clearly we can't use the tables until it emerges in the Spring.   Its a good thing we have a very low key social life these days.

It was England v Bulgaria on the telly last night.  And I felt so sorry for the Bulgarian team. Not only did they lose, but they were let down badly by some of their fans - only a small group, but they made a lot of noise, caused a lot of trouble, and did their best to spoil the match for everyone.

I hope all the ruckus didn't wake up our little Hibernator.

The God of all Comfort

Jean and I had a great morning on the doors on Friday - even though it was pouring with rain and Jean was not feeling well. But we got to the Kingdom Hall for the meeting conducted by our lovely Circuit Overseer.  He was stressing that the preaching work must be done from the heart, out of love.

It was raining too hard for anyone to do first call, so we did some return visits.  And had some good calls - ending up by being invited in by a kind Welsh lady for coffee. 

It was raining again on Saturday - though not so heavily - but we got to the Kingdom Hall for more encouragement from our kind C.O. and Jean and I did one  call. Coffee again- and two hours talking!

Jackie came round for supper - chicken pie, new potatoes, sweet potatoes (better for moi), stir fry cabbage, carrots and chile - followed by Waitrose ice-cream.   As always we cheered each other up.

And then I had such comfort from the Circuit Overseer's last two talks, on Sunday morning, because Jehovah really is the God of all comfort. 

The first talk had the title: "Do you Matter to God?", and was a reminder to us of how much Jehovah cares for us. We live in a world system that can often make us feel worthless, valueless, so we need to remember that Jehovah never looks at us that way.  He values his creation, even damaged as we are.

"“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, And your ways are not my ways,” declares Jehovah.   “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So my ways are higher than your ways And my thoughts than your thoughts."" - Isaiah 55:8.9

The second talk was  "Do not be Afraid or be Terrified".   Psalm 27:14 was a key scripture. It says:    "Hope in Jehovah; Be courageous and strong of heart. Yes, hope in Jehovah."

We can be courageous if we trust in Jehovah's strength and not our own.    And that is true even if you have a backbone of solid custard like me.    The speaker also reminded us of the lovely commendation the resurrected Jesus gave to the Christian congregation in Thyatira, at Revelation 2:19: ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and ministry and endurance, and that your deeds of late are more than those you did at first."

Our service to Jehovah is very precious, and it makes us happy, even under present circumstances.    But I often think how wonderful it will be during the Thousand Years when we have the opportunity to teach those who are resurrected. They will want to learn, be longng to lean, in wonderful loving circumstances, in an earth that is being transformed into a paradise.

I hope we are all there to experience it.  We will learn new things then too.  Things we can't even imagine or dream of.

And to bring myelf back down to the earth as it is now, it was my six monthly check and clean at the Dentist's this morning.   "And how are you?" asked my charming Turkish dentist.  "Fine, thanks. Can I go now?"  I asked hopefully. 

But no. I had my check and my clean. And he is very pleased with me!  For the first time ever I think I wasn't given stern instructions about flossing more.  So thank you Jehovah, because everything good in our lives we owe to you.  And also thank you to my dentist who is doing a good job of keeping me on the strait and narrow toothwise.

The Circuit Overseer's Visit

It is the Circuit Overseer's visit this week.  We had our first talk from him on Tuesday night, and I plan to get to the Field Service group at the Kingdom Hall this morning - and hopefully tomorrow and Saturday too.

The C.O. will give us lots of encouragement.

His first talk was "Do you put your heart into the work?"     We were reminded of the example of Nehemiah, and of all our faithful brothers and sisters

I was reading about the Extinction Rebellion protest which seems to be bringing central London to a standstill for a couple of weeks.  Apparently one of the rebels was lying on the pavement crying hysterically - he is so afraid of what is happening on and to the earth.   People need to hear the truth, so urgently.  We had some good talks this morning and left some information with people, including invitations to come to the Kingdom Hall and learn more.

This preaching work is going on worlwide, just as Jesus prophesied it would when he said:
"And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come." - Matthew 24:14

People need to know that soon Jehovah will "bring to ruin those ruining the earth".

They also need to realise that all rebellion comes from Satan. He persuaded our first parents to rebel against their Creator, thus setting in train the disaster we are living in.  And he promotes and encourages a rebellious spirit in the world to this day.   Perhaps as never before. We have even had, famously, a movie called "Rebel without a Cause", very influential in its day. 

So while I understand the Extinction Rebels concern, I know that this protest is not going to help.  It may in fact make things worse.   

On a lighter note, we, the Captain and his missus, have been watching the Athletics in Doha - on the telly, we were not in the Middle East.  And we saw one or two false starts, which is heartbreaking for the young athletes concerned as these days they are straight out of the race they have been training for for so long.

But since then I have been amusing myself by imaging a false start in the Marathon.

Has that ever happened?  Could it ever happen?   I'm sure Jean and I could manage it, given our track record.  Track record - ha!   We would also need a head start, of, say a week or two.

Our hour and a half in the field service on Tuesday morning was a bit of a marathon for us these days.

Shots! (and Fascinators)

Not gunshots, thank goodness, not yet in our sleepy seaside town. But we still have our share of the worldwide "increase in lawlessness", sadly.  These were flu shots. To be exact, Jean's flu shot.  Which I took her to Saturday morning, after we had first managed to drive ourselves to the wrong Clinic.

However all is well. And we even managed a call after. A lovely lady, one of Jean's calls. We wanted to follow up on her interest in something in the current magazine. I placed it with her while Jean was away, and I pointed her to the back page which speaks of the resurrection.  And I asked her if she knew that the Bible says that the hope for most of us is to be resurrected right here on the earth.

And I reminded her that Jesus (famously) said that the meek would inherit "the earth". She seemed quite surprised by that, and said she would certainly read the magazine. So we hope that she might look into this a bit more.

It is very very important.

Then I shopped, got lunch for the Captain who is glued to the telly at the moment - rugby and athletics.. Then it was off to the wedding at the Kingdom Hall, beautifully conducted by one of the brothers.  It was quiet and simple, yet full of emotion.  No mather how much "the world" tries to denigrate and downgrade marriage, its sacred nature still shines though.

The bride wore a lovely hat - the sort that is called, or used to be called, a fascinator. I am not into hats, but I love those.  It looked really good on her.  So pretty and elegant.

Jacks came for supper Saturday evening.  Captain B bought her a colourful bunch of Autumn flowers to cheer her up and I made a big pan full of Indian vegetable stir fry - cabbage, carrots and coriander, with chile and black mustard seeds.  It is a Madhur Jaffery recipe I have been making for years.  Its good hot and cold.  And we had a chicken curry - courtesy of Cook's - to go with it, along with rice and pickles; and the usual ice-cream for pudding.  We are all into choc ices at the moment. With a vengeance.  Yet I guess they are not very diabetes compatible...

The meeting at the Kingdom Hall this morning was so helpful.   We were reminded, for example, to look ahead to what John Milton called "Paradise regained" (in his epic poem).   And Paul's example is so helpful. He wrote honestly about his struggles.  And we were reminded to trust in the ransom sacrifice and not look back to past mistakes and waste a lot of time and energy in guilt and regrets.

So comforting.

We were also reminded not to look back at what we had left behind in "the world". Paul had the 1st century equivalent of an Oxbridge education, and a great career would have been open to him within the Jewish political and religious establishment of the day, but he considered it to be nothing compared to the happiness that was set before him.

"Yet, the things that were gains to me, I have considered loss on account of the Christ. What is more, I do indeed also consider all things to be loss on account of the excelling value of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have taken the loss of all things and I consider them as a lot of refuse, that I may gain Christ." - Philippians 3:7,8

His hope was for the heavenly resurrection, as he was one of the 144,000 who are taken from the earth to be part of the Kingdom of God. But the hope for most of us is to live forever in the restored earthly paradise, safe under that Kingdom's loving rule.

And had I had a glittering career... not very likely admittedly, given I was the lady who looked after the Boarders at the Kennel Club and tried to make sure that every pet in our little expat town had its rabies shots.  But if I had had fame, fortune, money, all the rest of it, I would now be sitting here, in my Seventies, my life nearly over, wondering what on earth it had all been for.

But when you serve Jehovah you see a wonderful future.    Paul understood that, and his letters can help us to understand that now.

Meeting Bill and Carol

This week - this month - is hurtling by.  What have we been doing?  Mostly Metal detectorising in the case of Captain B.

My Monday morning was spent in taking Jean to the doctors over a minor medical emergency. She was at the meeting last night and all is OK. In fact, we managed some calls on Tuesday too.  And, all being well, I am taking her to get her flu shot on Saturday.

We - Captain Butterfly and me - met up with American friends from our expat years in a pub near Southampton on Wednesday and had lunch together.  We found it was 24 years since we had last seen each other. We live on different continents, but Carol and I worked together many years ago on Planet Expat.

It was so nice to see them. And we recognised each other!  Which says something.  Not sure if its about how young we all still look, or how bad our eyes are these days.  Either way, great.   Col had found a pub that they could easily get to after the left the IOW ferry and was en route to their friends in Dorset.

We only had a couple of hours with them, but it was so lovely to see them.  And to see them enjoying their well-earned retirement so much. And it brought back a lot of memories. We lived on Planet Expat a long time.

I got to the Field Service meeting on Thursday morning and did first calls with one of my siblings, down by the Station.  We placed quite a few little leaflets about the hope for the future - the Biblical hope, the sure hope of the restored earthly Paradise. 

And we sure hope that people will read them and think seriously and urgently about it.

The meeting last night provided another little marker in time. I had to put my lights on to drive TO the Hall.

We are getting the tail end of StormSomething, over from the Americas, and it was suddenly colder too. So another summer is gone, and yet another year is winding down.

And poor Captain B came limping back from a long day out in the Field - the farmer's field, with the detectorists.  "Lets face it, we are not as young as we were." I said, by way of consolation.

Usually he responds instantly with "Speak for yourself Miss!".   But this time he didn't.   Oh dear oh dear oh dear.  How can my London boy be getting old?    How wrong this all is.

The Moon on a Stick

Is there an election in the offing?  I ask because someone on the telly was just offering me the moon on a stick if I voted for him.   Fortunately, that offer does not tempt me to take sides and vote as I don't know what I would do with it, or where I could store it.  Back in the night sky I guess.

So its all a bit pointless.  I am more than happy to go on being "no part" of it all.

The valiant Jean and I were out Saturday morning.  We even managed to make it to the Field Service group, after our usual confusions.  The kind elder in charge gave us a small and beautiful Close, just on the edge of my driving territory - involving a big boy roundabout that is scary, a train crossing that is scary, and on the way back a nasty right hand turn on a bend... also scary.

I prayed about it and it all went like clockwork - no holdups - a straightforward glide through.  And I am so grateful to Jehovah for that.

Yeserday afternoon we were at Dan and Libby's, with the Corfu crowd, including Butterfly Mark and his wife.  We took the curries I spent Friday making:  Potato, Guerati cabbage and carrot, and a tomato'ey salsa thing.  It was a lovely spread of Indian foods, and I got to sit next to the young son of the household - an interesting lad (good looking too!) - and told him something about the olden days.  Food rationing etc.

We knew nothing of Indian cuisine back then - well I suppose those who had served in the Raj did, but that was not most of us.   The first we knew of it was a Vesta dried curry... which was very exciting at the time.

Yesterday was a million miles away from Vesta.  And a fun afternoon/evening.

I love the Dan and Libby house.  It is old and rambling and full of books, pictures and interesting things.

Today the rain is lashing down - wonderful waves on the Channel - its a symphony of grey and white and quite hard to tell sea from sky. The balcony geraniums are lashing about too.  And we are both going out in it.  Himself is off detectorising - and I am off to the meeting.

This has been a very busy weekend - for me, nowadays.  And its not finished yet, as we have Jacks coming for supper and I have no idea what to give her.  I will have to have a mad dash through the rain this afternoon to get something in, or the poor Captain will have to go for fish and chips later.

And we are nearly at the end of another month. Talking about the 1950s yesterday reminded me of how long a month used to last.  They have shrunk a lot since then and hurtle past, faster and faster.

One thing you don't need to worry about in retirement is being bored.  Life seems more and more ineresting and wonderful but it hurtles by more and more quickly.

Our lives are so short now.  But if we listen to our Creator, Jehovah, and obey him, (and he is sending his Witnesses out worldwide) we can hope to live forever on this lovely planet.   We can "inherit the earth", as Jesus famously promised.

Can we even imagine how much happiness lies in store?

And this is a promise we can rely on.   As we study the Inspired Scriptures we can see over and over again how all that Jehovah promises he carries out - perfectly and to time.   An example is the Seventy Weeks prophecy in Daniel - which not only told the Jews the exact year the Messiah would arrive, but which warns what would happen next.   As it did.

Jehovah's promises are not moons-on-sticks, as election promises, no mattter how sincerely made, can often prove to be.   These are promises from the One who created the moon and the stars and whose power keeps them safely in the skies.