Shepherd's Warning

On the first Saturday of the year the sun rose in a deep rose pink band above the Channel - you could see where it was going to make its appearance.  And, as the rhyme says:  Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning,  but I forgot to note if the price of wool dropped steeply that day.

I thought I would look for a sheep photo from the Captain's Gallery to head this blog and you will now be able to see if I found one.

My "good" shoulder is still painful and I am having to hit the paracetamol.  Monday was the Zoom session with the siblings, all seems well - we have all made it into 2025!  Thank God.  And we even saw Darren briefly, as he is staying at Lilac Tree for a few days.  We haven't seen him since his brother Shaun's funeral. A very very sad occasion.

And thinking of Shaun has, of course, made me think of Jehovah's repeated promise of the resurrection.  He assures us, in the Book of Daniel, that "many of those asleep in the dust of the ground will wake up".

I hope so much Shaun will be among them.  But God will not wake the dead until the whole earth is at peace under the loving rule of the Kingdom of God.

I spent part of Tuesday morning in a Zoom session with two of my sisters - which was very encouraging. No snow down here as yet, but it is definitely cold, though not as cold as it should be in midWinter.  The Captain left very early on Tuesday for his stint as a detectorist on a local archeological site.  He had some good finds too.  Though he could only bring them home in photo form of course.  And in the evening I had a video conference with some of my fellow Fantastic Book Authors. We hope to start meeting regularly to encourage each other and to (hopefully) help us to sell some books.

Apparently it is better for us, and the publisher, if people buy our books in Kindle form. Which makes me wonder if I too ought to have a Kindle.  It would have been great in our travelling days, for sure.

It was my Annual Health Review on Wednesday. Oh dear. The poor nurse had terrible problems getting the two vials of blood they apparently needed out of my wrist and hand - my arms can no longer cope with blood tests.  But, on the doubleplusgood side, my foot test was fine.  My feet have not yet fallen off, and they still work (after a fashion). And I am grateful for that.  But also look forward to the moment when no resident of the earth will say "I am sick".

The rain that was falling when we set off to the bank on Wednesday afternoon had turned to snow by the time we set off back for home.

No snow this morning however, and hopefully no icy roads, as Col and Jim left in the darkness for The Current Field.  In fact, now, at 9:30, the sun is shining in, warming up our living rooms.

Blue Badge

On the Monday before the holiday, we headed off up North via a trip to Jackie's to drop off her calendar.  She asked us in and clearly will now welcome visits, even though she is so frail. All being well, we hope to call in and see her often.  To Tesco for petrol, then we faced the Xmas traffic. We made it to the bungalow by 4 p.m. to find Alex there. He too had come through some dreadful traffic and was exhausted. We woke up that next morning to find: no heat, no hot water. The system seemed to have collapsed on Christmas Eve!!

Captain B worked out that one little widget needed new batteries, and even had the right batteries with him... brilliant. We then went to Broomhill to do some last minute shopping - and my blue badge, which only arrived the day before we travelled, came into its own again.

I got it with almost worrying ease this time.  The first time I applied, during my knee operations, I was turned down, had to appeal and have a personal interview with a Physio/Doctor (who said that as soon as he saw me creaking out of the car at the hospital carpark he knew he would give me a badge). But I did not apply to renew it as by then I could walk more than the limit required. Now, however... and alas.

Anyway, not only have I now got it, but we have used it. It arrived on Saturday morning. We travelled up North on the Monday and it allowed us to park right by the entrance to the Motorway Service station. And then it allowed us to park outside the supermarket in Broomhill.

Wanting a photo for this blog, I put the word "blue" into Col's photo gallery, and decided on this Mazarine Blue. taken on one of his Corfu trips.

While we were up North we were visited by: the Derby family, the Lilac Tree Farmers, and the Dronfield Rellies.  And Julia, a friend from Planet Expat came over for lunch and a catch-up on Monday.  And we had our now traditional veggie feast at Jen's, where Kathryn joined us.  It's always good, but Jen excelled herself this year.

We also visited Crookes Cemetery on a blustering, wuthering day, to leave some flowers at daddy and Jo's graves.  It is high up there, with an amazing view - and on the day we visited, with an icy wind blowing.

The blue badge came into its own again, as we stopped off at the small Tesco to get some flowers and the Disabled spot was vacant.  So I only had a few steps to totter. They also had some tulips that were lovely, just what we wanted.

We did not manage to see Bea and Co, which is a first - but hopefully next time.  Nor did we manage to get over to York.  We had invited them to come to us this year, but Janet's fall and broken arm put paid to any travelling.  Surely next time.  

Talking of such things, my "good" shoulder has been painful enough to keep me awake for a couple of weeks now, which is worrying.  I already have very limited movement in my replacement shoulder...

And now 2025 begins...  what will it bring?  The most hopeful way to look at it is that every day that passes brings us closer to the moment when Jehovah intervenes  to remove every vestige of the current wicked system of things from the earth.

So let me leave you with this promise:

“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And this kingdom will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it alone will stand forever. - Daniel 2:44

Earth's Immeasureable Surprise

First Sight, by Philip Larkin

Lambs that learn to walk in snow
When their bleating clouds into the air
Meet a vast unwelcome, know
Nothing but a sunless glare.
Newly stumbling to and fro
All they find, outside the fold,
Is a wretched width of cold.

As they wait beside the ewe,
Her fleeces wetly caked, there lies
Hidden around them, waiting too,
Earth's immeasurable surprise.
They could not grasp it if they knew
What will soon wake and grow
Utterly unlike the snow.

We got back from our trip up North on the 2nd, after a good drive on a sunny, but very cold day.  We saw lots of family and friends.  And we have all made it to 2025, thank God!

I thought this might be a great way to start the New Year, a photograph of the winter sunset in Sheffield - the sunset of the 30th - and this Philip Larkin poem about new life and the surprise of Spring being on the way.

Sheffield is a city full of trees - I remember walking to school under the chestnuts in bloom, and then in the Autumn term, hunting for conkers that nestled like treasures in the fallen leaves.  Watching the skies through the empty trees on this winter visit has been wonderful.

On the last day of the year we - the Captain, Nute and me - went to the cemetery at Crookes and left some flowers - tulips - on daddy's and Jo's graves.  There was an icy wind blowing, but it was lovely in a wuthering kind of way.

Jehovah made such beauty for us.  And I hope so much that daddy and Jo will be woken from the dreamless sleep of death and see it all again.  

That will be an immeasurable surprise, as Jehovah recreates the dead from the dust of the ground, and they find themselves alive again, in the restored earthly paradise.  Because how many of the dead even knew of the promise of the resurrection?   It will be such a joyful time.

As the King James translation says: "Awake and sing, all ye that dwell in dust!"