Moonpenny Daisies

 

The Moonpenny daisies are lining the roads and filling the fields now, along with all the splendid flowers of May.

There once were some daisies of Moon,

resplendent in their Springtime bloom,
by the roadside in drifts, 

they are paradise gifts,
and they do help to lift all the gloom.

Monday was a day of Zooms (to continue the rhyme scheme).  We both Zoomed with our siblings - well, not with Nute as she was working.  And i also had three Zoom sessions with friends.

I managed a bit of studying and witnessing, but still feel very drained from the last three weeks, which ended with that tiring trek to the hospital on Friday.

We woke up to stormy weather on Tuesday - the rain was much needed I must say. Though, as I begin to write this blog, we are wondering if Col's Tuesday session with the archeologists will go ahead or not. It's a really fierce storm!  Anyway he did trek out into the storm, laden with metal detectors and his sandwich lunch.  Next stop K2!!  (Or maybe not.)

And he had some very interesting finds.  He brought them home in photo form only, and they should be appearing on his blog in time.  Bea rang to get the name of the scented flowers we have on our balcony - Nemesia.  We are having to grow them from seed this year - and they are sprouting up well. They are like a little green forest on the balcony, soon, hopefully to be a forest of scented flowers.

Our Bible Study went well - I think. And we are welcome to come back next week.  I continue with my Not Home letters, and also am slowly doing the block of flats I was given for my territory this month. Every day that goes past, makes the Kingdom preaching work that Jesus left for his followers to do more urgent.

I had such a strange vivid dream in the early hours. Col's alarm clock when off at 4:30 - as it often does on Detecting days - but I managed to fall into a deep sleep almost straightaway - well into a vivid dream anyway.  I had had some kind of fall, just leaving me mildly bruised, but I had been sent to A & E and was now in the operating theatre awaiting an operation to make me more steady on my feet.  All the nurses and technicians were getting themselves dressed up in this vivid stripy garb. I really did not want the operation. But I remember thinking that if the worst came to the worst, and I did not make it through the operation (which I doubt I would), then as long as Jehovah remembers me, I would next open my years in the paradise earth.

That was a very comforting thought, but I was glad to wake up and find myself in my own bedroom, not in an operating theatre.

The Bow in the Cloud

 

There was a double rainbow on Wednesday, arching from sea to land. You can see a glimpse of the double bow in Captain B's photo.  And the Moonpenny daisies are out everywhere now, lining the roads as we drove to Worthing for my latest hospital appointment.  All went OK.  But but but - how many more times am I going to see the splendid flowers of May?

Of course, if I inherit the earth, as Jesus promised, I will never have to leave them behind. But that remains to be seen. It is not in my power to grant.  As things are now, I have very few Springs left - if any more at all.  I have to keep reminding myself that, at my advanced age, I can't expect to feel wonderful, and just to be grateful still to be here.

The first Biblical reference to a rainbow is in the account of the covenant God made with Noah and his offspring after the Flood survivors came out of the ark.  (Genesis 9:8-17)  This splendid sight of itself would have been reassuring and an indication of peace to Noah and his family.

But of course the ransom and the rule of the heavenly government, the Kingdom of God, were still centuries away.  So rather than peace on earth we have - well, watch any episode of the News.

And here is a strange and startling headline from today. Rioting over a watch...  ?

From the online Daily Mail today, under the heading SWATCH STAMPEDES:

Violent scenes erupted across Britain, Europe and the US this weekend after the launch of Swatch's latest limited-edition watch - sparking overnight queues, mass crowd surges and police interventions. Thousands of desperate shoppers camped outside stores for days in the hope of securing one of the £335 'Royal Pop' watches - a collaboration between Swatch and luxury brand Audemars Piguet. But the frenzy quickly descended into chaos, with fights breaking out, police dog units deployed and stores forced to shut their doors after crowds overwhelmed security staff.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15825625/brawls-globe-WATCH-Violent-scenes-Europe-UK-US-Swatch.html

That is so sad - if true - and the photos do look distressing.  But it reminds me of an expression the Bible uses:

Do not love either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. - 1 John 2:15.16

The phrase the showy display of one's means of life seems to describe the Designer Label culture very well.

There was a first for our Moth Hotel when we checked the guests out this morning.  We had a pair of honeymooners - two Shuttle-shaped Darts, clearly very much in love.  I hope life goes well for them, and their many children.

A Lunar Double Strike

 

This moth, found in our moth hotel on Sunday morning, is a very rare sighting indeed (for our location)- and for sure it is new to our balcony. Col was thrilled.  It is beautiful and has an amazing name too : the Lunar Double Strike. It could be the title of a best selling SciFi Novel.

We went early to our student on Wednesday morning and had a good session.  She does seem to be so much more receptive now.

Bea called  - and I also emailed her as I was rather distracted while Col was talking to her as I was looking for the paper for the printer which seemed to have disappeared.

Spoke to Bea again Thursday morning, and we sent each other various emails,  and made the usual apple crumble, and the (fairly) usual mushroom curry.  And realised that I would have to Zoom to the meeting this evening and do my part on the dreaded Zoom cameras.

And an idea for a limerick suddenly came to me - re the crumble:

There once were two apples so green

flour, sugar, butter (not margarine)
all crumbled somehow
Colin said "Wow!"
then they disappeared from the scene.

If only I had thought to get out my scary Smartphone and photograph it while it was still in its pristine state!  On the other hand, all that might have done is added to my collection of photos of me looking especially gormless while saying "How does this work?"

There was a tragedy occurring on a local beach on Wednesday morning. The bodies of three women were found floating in the water.  At first it was assumed they must have been swimmers who got into trouble, but as the day went on it seems they may likely have been from a student party that was apparently happening at a beachfront nightclub the previous night.  Very strange either way - and especially tragic in that they are all so young.

There wasn't really a nightclub culture in my student days, for which I am very grateful.  

However, it now seems they were all relatives - sisters? - all down from London and what may have happened is that, not knowing the beach, they went for a paddle, not realising that there was a sudden sharp drop off and powerful currents, including undertow.  I didn't know about the drop off myself.  It could be that one of them got into trouble and the others tried to help.

What a frightening and dangerous world it is for us, the children of Adam, since the loss of Eden, so that even what should be a pleasant paddle in the sea can turn into such a tragedy.

I hope the family of the girls know that they are not lost, but are sleeping safe in "the everlasting arms".

Jehovah will wake them from the dreamless sleep of death when the time comes, but not until the whole earth is restored to paradise, under the loving rule of the Kingdom of God. They will wake in perfect safety then, with nothing to distress them.

Visitors - Human and Moth

   

As I start this blog, we are expecting visitors, old friends from our Uni days - such old friends that we were at each others' weddings, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth. So I chose a picture of Dunstanburgh Castle.  It's close to where they used to live.  We had some fun visits there. The beaches are stunning.

Bob and Judy arrived safely on Saturday afternoon.  I checked online and they were last here in August 2015, blogged as The Walnut Tree.  And Jacks joined us for supper!  How things change as you get older.  Jacks can no longer visit us and we will not be able to visit her in her Home this coming Friday either as, once again, my medical appointments interfere - this time a hospital trip.

Sunday was a quiet day. Rob and Judy went for a walk along the beach after breakfast, after witnessing the checking out of our guests from the Moth Hotel. There was an exciting new visitor which will appear in my next blog.  If I live that long... this beastly cold followed by that even more beastly flare-up has left me feeling very down.

Monday they all went off to Portsmouth to visit the Mary Rose and the Other Ship (whose name escapes me).  I had two Zoom sessions in the morning, plus a phone call to the Lady of the Flowers to ask if we could come a bit earlier on Wednesday. She said we could come at 5 o'clock in the morning, as long as we came!  So that was nice.

I also had a medical appointment, by phone, in which I managed to sort out the problem of my bp medication. So I should have yet another pill to add to my pantheon by the end of the week. How grateful I am for the NHS

But how much I look forward to the restored earthly paradise in which "No resident will say 'I am sick'".

Then I tried to rustle up some kind of soup for the returnees to have in the evening, out of the leftover chicken, some lentils, veggies, and spices.  It was edible and hopefully filled a gap.

And they left this morning after a long and leisurely breakfast over many cups of coffee. Col is driving them to Arundel as they are having lunch with a friend there, and then they head home.  It has been a great three days - and it will feel a bit flat without them.

They have taken three copies of my books with them - paying for two, the third being a bonus. I am hoping they will find them to be page-turners, books that make you want to know what happens next.  That is what I always aim for when I am writing.

I hope we will see them again. This is yet another thing you don't realise about old age when you are young - how many people you will lose.

I had another Zoom in the afternoon, rehearsing my part in the School on Thursday.  And I also had to prepare for our Bible study tomorrow morning.

A Very Painful Flare-up

This beastly cold has led to the worst arthritis flare-up I have had for some years, giving me a night and day of such intense pain. I remember how angry I feel at these times that we are not allowed effective pain killing.  Because the pain is severe and relentless. You are not able to sleep or eat - not that you want to eat - and there is no way to be comfortable.

I didn't even get to the Thursday meeting in Zoom.  I wasn't able to be at the computer chair.

A friend of my mother's actually killed herself during one of these intense and painful flare ups... so far I hang to the knowledge that Jehovah will help.  But if you don't have that knowledge, that help? 

So couldn't there be some effective pain killing made available.

My leg, left upper, is still very painful today but at least I can get about again.  I am exhausted though and will have to pace myself carefully.  I have to make the mushrooms into a soup, cook the chicken (the stuffing is done) and finish tidying up my paperwork. 

The mushroom soup gave me the idea for a photo for this blog, one of fungi in a field. For sure I would not risk eating them though.  Even expert mushroomers can make mistakes, and those mistakes can be fatal.

Though one of the things I picture myself doing in the paradise earth is wandering through Autumn woods, gathering mushrooms to make soup for supper.  In paradise there will be no lethal mistakes.

I am on the school next, as assistant. This is our brief:

(4 min.) INFORMAL WITNESSING. In a previous conversation, the person mentioned that he had recently lost a loved one in death. (lmd lesson 4 point 4)

There was a young lady

There was a (not so) young lady of Rye

who wished she had wings and could fly

her legs would not go

her zimmer was slow

and she envied the birds in the sky.

I am the star of this limerick, but I had to move my place of residence further down the coast for the sake of the rhyme.  No doubt Edward Lear could have done something wonderful with my real address, but I am not up to his standard.

I chose this photo Col took of a pelican in flight on a trip to Oz (many years ago) as I thought it was quite dramatic.  It is hard to remember the energy of youth, all that travel...   

Col has given me an amazing life really, as I was towed along in his wake.  And here is something else I didn't think about when we were young.  If you stay married, you end up with lots of running jokes, which seem to get funnier as the years go on.

On the less doubleplusgood side, we are very old now - and so have our running jokes run their course?

Well, not if we "inherit the earth" and live forever upon it, as Jesus promised.  So who knows?

It is still fairly cold but sunny - and the Green looks a bit more cheerful now after the rain on Saturday.  I had my usual two Zoom sessions on Monday morning, friends and family.  It is such a good way to keep in touch.

I am still full of this cold and had to cancel the lady of the flowers today.  Well, we did not cancel her, but I won't be going.  We have old friends visiting at the weekend so I do need to be over it by then.  So I rang her on Tuesday to explain that I would not be coming, but two other sisters who she knows would.  I hope it will go well.

Col is getting rid of a load of stuff, to Charity Shops and what have you.  Which we have badly needed to do for a while. I have donated a large pile of books, which are all good, but which I won't read again.

The situation in the Middle East continues to surge and spin dangerously causing suffering now -  with the promise of even more to come.  And of course it will have consequences for those who make their living in the holiday trade, as it seems that holiday travel will be somewhat limited due to the oil crisis - the difficulties at the Strait of Hormuz.

The Fly Orchid

 

We picked a rather scary orchid for May in our 2026 calendar. And I note from previous blogs that I have sometimes posted Karen Volkman's poem about May this time of year. It is a poem that is both beautiful and scary, rather like the orchid.  It begins:
  
In May’s gaud gown and ruby reckoning
the old saw wind repeats a colder thing...

But this May I thought I would post a poem from Ogden Nash:

A Caution To Everybody  

by Ogden Nash

Consider the auk;
Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.
Consider man, who may well become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.

https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poems/short/may

May - with its blossom, its "gaud gown" - should be such a paradise month. But we are still living in the tragedy of the loss of Eden. However we have this promise from Jehovah - whose every purpose is fulfilled - that he will "bring to ruin those ruining the earth". (Revelation 11:18)

So the current state of things should tell us how close the end of the current wicked system of things on the earth is, as it hardly seems like an exaggeration to say that we are in the process of ruining the very planet we are living on.

I am still full of this beastly cold and had to pixel it to the meeting on Thursday.  And I had sad vivid dreams - not bad dreams and not sad at the time, but ones that left me with a feeling of sadness when I woke up.  But maybe that is because of my age, not because of the cold.

I dreamt I was visiting Lilac Tree Farm only they had moved.  Their house was down a winding country lane, lots of tall trees, so just as rural. And in my dream I said how lovely their new garden was, even though it was all straight ahead, long and running down to trees, rather than the interesting ramble of the Lilac Tree garden.  There were big lilies growing in the garden and a storm blowing everything about. It looked beautiful, but with an Autumnal sadness.   I knew I had to put off leaving until the weather improved.  It looked like they had just moved in - there was a bed in the lounge, with someone asleep and children running about.  I remember thinking now which one is Pen's - and picking out a small blonde lad who looked rather like my cousin Peter when he was a child.

I don't know why it left such a feeling of sadness. Part of it might be that my body and my brain know I will not be here much longer to see all this beauty, and so it showed me this beautiful garden in an Autumn gale.  Who knows?

We are supposed to be in for some rain this weekend. Badly needed  - our Green is starting to turn into a Brown.  And indeed it did rain on Saturday afternoon, and there may be more today.

Col left very early to join The Lads in The Field, with his sandwich lunch and his metal detectors.  The homemade cake this month is marmalade muffins.  He also took with him a long mysterious piece of plastic that has been lying in the hall for a couple of days. Something to do with the garage door apparently. And I am about to harness up my pixel pony and make it to the virtual Kingdom Hall for the morning meeting.

It will be an antidote for sadness.

The Holly Blue

There was a young Holly of Blue
it pupated, it hatched, and it flew

It landed nearby

Col's camera let fly

And now I can show it to you!

It seems I have become a Limerick addict - and so late in life too.

The Holly Blue is an exquisite butterfly, as is the Wood White - and... well, all of them I suppose.  The whole process from tiny egg, like a little pearl, to caterpillar - that little eating train - to pupa, to the flying flower that is the butterfly is a miracle in plain sight.  How could a process like that just evolve?!

Well that, I guess, is one of the many things us Jehovah's Witnesses are trying and trying to get across to everyone. The creation is telling us of its Grand Creator as clearly as if it spoke.

I must admit that the Limerick form is so much easier than the Haiku, which I have been trying out in various blogs with a great lack of success.  If I can get them short enough - IF, as I am not the best at counting - then they do not make their point; if I make the point, then they are too long...

How did the great Matsuo Basho do it?

Col was off on his first butterfly transect for a long time yesterday, trying to find Wood Whites in one of the local woods.  So I had to quickly whip up a box of sandwiches and cake for his lunch.  He did not find any to record, but that of course is a finding in itself - there were no Wood Whites in that specific area of Sussex on the 29th April 2026.

He left very early this morning, with his box of sandwiches, to goodness knows where to join the detectorists in The Field.  And I am down with a terrible cold - my first for ages, but it seems to be doing the rounds. Sore throat, coughing, the works. I  think I may just go back to bed and try to sleep.

I had quite a surprise this week. I have a fb friend in Oz. We have known each other for many years, but never met, who suddenly phoned me, and we were talking for the first time.  He is having his problems, in these "difficult times, hard to deal with".  I hope talking about it helped.

A Longhorn of Green

There once was a Longhorn of Green
And at Kithurst Hill it was seen
But Colin was there
with his camera set fair
So now it appears on your screen.

Sorry about this.  I can't seem to stop Limericking.  The Green Longhorn - a rather elegant moth - was one of the little creatures Col photographed at Kithurst Hill.

Col spent Friday and Saturday with the Detectorists at Petworth Park - nothing exciting found by him, but there were some interesting things found.  Saturday evening he collected and delivered some medicine to a sibling who has gone down with a very bad cold.  I am not able to help now.  A few years ago I could have walked to both the Pharmacy and her house - I used to do the same for Jacks.  And then, later, I could still have driven. But my driving days are over. I have decided to stop before I have the crash that tells me I should have stopped.  The eye problem has confirmed the decision.  I am seeing this screen through a sort of gauzy haze of dots.

We are now sitting out on the balcony of an evening, just before sunset, with a coffee for me and a glass of wine for Himself.  It's still not warm, but the evenings are light and long.

Old age is scary - for us both.  Though the Captain is braver than me. But we are so grateful to be together.  "Well, unless I could be with Rachel off Countdown" I seem to see in the Thought Bubble floating above the Captain's head, as we contemplate the sun beginning to set.  "You can't and that is all there is to it!" I bubble back.

The sun will still set and the moon will still rise when we are no longer here to see it, as it did for the millenia (billenia!) before we had the privilege of opening our eyes and seeing this beautiful planet.  But I do hope that we will be able to inherit the earth and live forever upon it, even if we have to come the long way round - via the resurrection.

As Ecclesiastes tells us, Jehovah has put eternity into our minds. We don't want to leave the people we love - or this beautiful and fascinating paradise home, with all its precious little creatures And with them in mind,  I hope the Green Longhorn moth above is having a life full of joy, and lots and lots of little egglets.

Three Limericks

Three Limericks

by me

There was a young lady from Hull
Who went for a ride on a gull

She swooped through the air

with brio and flair

that daring young lady from Hull

There was an old lady from Wick

who dined every day on a brick

followed by a roast stone

which she chewed like a bone

that sturdy old lady from Wick

There was a young man from Dhahran

Who drove through the dunes in a van

He was not very fast

so the camels rushed past

which upset that young man (and his van).

This outburst of limericks is because Col bought me a book on our half day out at the Birders Conference in Brighton.  It is a biography of Edward Lear by Jenny Uglow.  So I am enjoying meeting up with all his limericks again. And they have inspired me to have a go.

I feel there is going to be a lot of sadness in his life - but then somehow everyone's life seems sad in retrospect.  Even if it was perfect, and no lives are, at best it is so short.  The Threescore Years and Ten just vanish in our hands.

The photo is of a black headed gull from the Captain's photo gallery.  And my youngest grand-niece is the young lady from Hull.  Not that she has ridden on a gull, but knowing her, she would if she could.

We saw our Bible student Wednesday morning - the lady of the flowers.  We had a chat and a cup of coffee and then had a good study session.  Next week we hope to show her what the Bible says about why there is such suffering, so much injustice, on this beautiful earth, and show her what our Creator is going to do about it - what he is already doing about it.

Col started on his detecting work at Petworth Park on Thursday  - a rare opportunity for the detectorists.  And he spent Wednesday at Kithurst Hill, photographing butterfies, which inspired him to do a blog - and me to write a couple more limericks, which will turn up in my blog in time.

I must say they are easier than Haikus.

I am just about to brace myself to go off and look at the News headlines and see how bad the situation in the Middle East currently is.  Yet more talk of a ceasefire apparently - though I don't think it feels like fire is ceasing for all those in the vicinity.  Quite the reverse, it seems.

The fact that my cataract operation has left me with worse sight in one eye than before... there ought to be a limerick in that... but I am trying not to brood about about it, and not to forget that I am very fortunate to still be here, and still able to enjoy the gift of life.

Eye Eye

I decided on the heading for this blog with much apprehension on the Saturday morning  before we left for Brighton and before my afternoon appointment with the Optician.  I have no idea how this will continue  - or indeed if it will.

Well, it has continued and there is a glad thing and a sad thing.  Glad, very, that after an exhaustive eye examination, at Specsavers, Saturday afternoon, the kind young Optician assured me that my eyes were fine. It is perhaps rather horrid, but the manifestations are caused by the jelly in one of my eyes moving, as the artificial whatsit inserted when I had my Cataract operation is not as finely honed as the original one - as made by Jehovah! - and there is a bit more room. So this can happen. And it may well settle down and wear off. Though it also might not...

Very relieved, and very grateful, as I did pray about this.  And I will have to get used to looking through a sort of misty veil and having some odd and alarming black threads rush across my eyes every so often.  This is yet another reason why my driving days are over.

I chose an Ox-eye Daisy from Col's photo gallery to head this blog.  They are out too, I noted as we drove along through blossom-lined roads.

The sad thing was that maybe Saturday was another of the "lasts" of old age.  We went to the AGM of SOS - Sussex Ornithologists - a day of talks from people working in the field of Bird.  We used to go to lots of these Conservation Meeting days in our years with Butterfly Conservation.  It is always good to see how many people are volunteering their time, energy and money to try to care for the creation.

We were only there for the morning sadly, but it was interesting.  However, whether I will be able to make another of these days is the problem - the sad thing. Was that my last?  It is getting increasingly difficult.  All being well, and if the venue is the same - Brighton University - I might try again next year.  

But what a bleak place Brighton Uni is, building wise.  Such a bleak campus. And I wonder why.  Why not have made it beautiful?

The early Spring day was beautiful though - the creation still shines in spite of all the violence and the sadness in the world.  I hope it can reassure us of the truth - that Jehovah, the Creator of this loveliness has not abandoned us and will not abandon us.

And I thought I would post Emily Dickinson's poem again - as it is just right for this time of year, as the trees begin to put on the green bonnets of Spring.  I would love to have written it.

Not at Home to Callers 

 by Emily Dickinson

Not at Home to Callers 

Says the Naked Tree -- 

Bonnet due in April -- 

Wishing you Good Day --

https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poems/short/april

Blossom

 

Captain B took this for me on a recent outing to The Field.  It is a reminder that the whole earth was intended to be paradise - a beautiful garden.  The Bible study on Wednesday morning went well.  It does seem as if the power of Jehovah's word may be getting through to our lovely student.

Thursday morning I made the now routine crumble, though I did vary it with rhubarb last week as rhubard suddenly appeared Abel&Cole-wise. I got some more Not Home letters done, did my studies,  a load of washing, and made a mushroom curry.  Oh and a fair amount of sofa-surfing - which is depressingly necessary these days as I get so tired and my back hurts so much.

The gallant Captain chauffered me to the Kingdom Hall on Thursday night - a great meeting as always. There is no teaching like it.

I have been watching some episodes of a programme called MAFSAUS  - attracted by it being set in Sydney - a place of many happy memories from our expat years.  But, oh dear - what a cruel thing reality TV is, and why does anyone ever agree to take part in it?

And has the relationship between men and women, so horribly damaged in Eden, ever been worse?  The malicious glee some of the women show - openly on camera - when they are attacking and hurting others is distressing. They must, I assume, believe that to achieve such nastiness is a credit to them.

It was never easy to be young, but now!   All the girls for example, are glamorous, tanned, depilated, tattooed, and in some cases plastically-enhanced. Yet seemingly it is even harder for them to find a life partner than it was in my day.

But what incredible beauty standards they have to live up to - apparently all fuelled by the media, especially some of its darker areas.

And the programme, for what I have seen of it, is gladiatorial, pitching man against woman, and woman against woman. On the whole the guys seem to get along with each other a lot better.

In some ways are the current horrors in The Gulf simply this programme writ large, all stemming from how easily we allow "the world", the present wicked system of things on the earth, to turn us against each other?

We can resist the spirit of the world.  But we cannot do so successfully without our Creator's help, and the power of his holy spirit.

Here is the contrast, set out in Galatians:

Now the works of the flesh are plainly seen, and they are sexual immorality, uncleanness, brazen conduct, idolatry, spiritism, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, dissensions, divisions, sects, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and things like these. I am forewarning you about these things, the same way I already warned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.  On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:19-23

I have been having some strange phenomenon in my right eye since the cataract operations, but it was so spectacularly bad Friday morning that I have had to call the Optician and have an appointment for this afternoon.  It is so hard to know what is to be expected as the unavoidable deterioration of old age, and what can be fixed.

And this morning I am seeing everything through a veil of black spots, so it is not good - it is my right eye, the one that was treated with the new Cataract procedure, which may be what has caused the problem.

Unfortunately we have one of our rare (these days) outings, to the Sussex Ornithological Society special day at Brighton Uni.  We will have to leave at the lunch break, taking our sandwiches with us, to get to my appointment.  After that, I do not know.  I hope I am not rushed straight off to A & E - on a Saturday night!  The horror - and the hours of waiting.

I am trying to tell myself that I do have another eye  - and that I am in my eightieth year... so everything in me is failing.  It is to be expected.  And above all I am trying to fix my mind on the healing that Jesus did when he was on the earth, showing us what he will do for us when he is ruling over the whole earth as the King of Jehovah's Kingdom.

And, to end on a positive note, Captain B is being a tower of strength, poor guy - and I have just got my 15 hours witnessing in for this month.  I had hoped to do more, obviously, but at least I have got the amount in I had aimed at.  And I still may be able to do more.

Though I am not, alas, one of these wonderful brothers and sisters who can give such an excellent witness while going through medical horrors. I am very far from that.  And if you ever find me doing so, you will know a miracle has occurred, so please credit it to Jehovah.  And I am sure those brothers and sisters would tell you the same.  

A Trifling Matter

 

WHERE I AM

by me

Sand and concrete, concrete and sand

Flat standard housing, sandy coloured, new

Skies so hot, so close, so damp,

It’s like walking in the greenhouse at Kew

Or on an endless beach, no sea in view

And tropical flowers everywhere

Then yellow sand, then barbed wire, then debris

And after that, just yellow sand, stripped bare.

This is the companion poem to the one I put in a previous blog - Where I am Not.  They were both written at the time of my first experience of Planet Expat, and our first trip to visit friends in Thailand.  Both places amazed me and inspired some poems, one of which was published in an anthology: the poem Chiang Mai Sunset, which I blogged in March.

So I found one of Col's photos from our Saudi years to head the blog.

Our next Covid shots were scheduled for Tuesday.  The kind pharmacist who did mine listened patiently to my worries about being on an immuno-suppressant and explained that (a) that made me more prone to infections so I need the shot (which I knew and which is why I have them) and (b) that the effectiveness of the vaccine relies on a strong response from the immune system, which my immune system will not be able to provide. So it might be less effective in my case.  I hadn't realised that, and, in a way it put my mind at rest. I was grateful for the info.

Apparently he said to Col that he had "very strong muscles".  Which he does.  Its all that hard work in The Field that does it.

"He didn't say that to me!" I protested.  To be fair, he would probably have been more likely to have advised me to look for work in a Trifle Factory as they were short of jelly at the moment.  

And I wouldn't take such work anyway as I am firmly of the school of of thought that believes jelly has no place in a trifle.

But I had better say no more as haven't wars been caused by such trifling issues?

And talking of war, the situation in the Gulf is madness. And I feel very much for the people of Iran and the Lebanon - and for everyone caught up in it.  I have no idea why the Lebanon is being attacked. Wasn't it once called the Pearl of the Middle East?   But the whole thing defies logic. What is anyone gaining from this?  Shouldn't we, the human family,  be stopping to think why it is we haven't learnt even some basic lessons from the horrors of two wars so terrible they are called World Wars?

What is the force that is driving us to fear, hate and kill our brothers and sisters?  The Inspired Scriptures not only explain it and teach us how to resist it, but also assure us of the coming rescue.

Kiki, Lee and Jon

 

WHERE I AM NOT

by me

It’s very clear

That I’m not in Kew

Its January

And I’m not cold

There are sprinklers going

I’m in tropical gear

Trees are in green leaf

Frangipani blossom is on the table

Kiki, Lee and Jon are here.

This burst of poetry - or burst of verse - is because Kiki, no longer the tiny child of the poem/verse but a beautiful young lady, has suddenly got in touch with a mutual friend from our Uni days.  I wrote this years and years ago on our first visit to Thailand, when we were all on a jungle trip near the River Kwai.

She won't remember us, I don't think, but we do remember her.  

So I was looking over all those little poems I wrote then, Thailand being very inspiring.  And I chose this one.  I think I have posted a couple of different ones in my blogposts before.

We chose this Man Orchid as our April photo for the 2026 calendar.  All the orchids are ones Col photographed in the UK, in the wild, on his various travels.  And when I do start to feel a bit of self-pity about being housebound, I try to remember that not only am I a homebody anyway, but also that I have had plenty of travel and plenty of outings in my time.  So I have no excuse whatsoever for whingeing...  And I can always rely on Captain B to deal firmly with too much self-pity. 

And he has been bringing back some wonderful photos of Spring flowers and blossom from his excursions.

I got a letter sent to the Flower Lady as we won't be seeing her this week, and also one to Richard.  Plus I got a letter done to Beryl. She is housebound now too, and I can't visit - except via letterbox.

The Gallant Captain chauffered me to the Kingdom Hall on Thursday night, and helped me to the door. Had there been any puddles he might well have thrown his cloak over them too - who knows?

It was great to be at the meeting in person - such a boost, although I must also note how grateful I am for the Zoom provision.

Saturday, I slept reasonably well, which does help, and managed some housework, some studying and made some inroads into my territory, a large block of flats.  Surely, in the face of all that is happening in the world, many more people might be starting to wake up and realise how much we need the help of our loving Creator.

I just happened to look at the News this afternoon, after a morning at the meeting, via pixel, and an afternoon dozing on the couch, and see that situation in The Gulf is hotting up again horribly.  

The Psalmist promises us that, under the loving rule of the Kingdom of God, we shall have "exquisite delight in the abundance of peace".  It is not just that there will no more war, no more rumours of war, which is a miracle in itself, but there will no longer be unkind thoughts and unkind words .

Isn't that where all war begins?

Walking with Bluebells

 

The Bluebell 

 by Anne Bronte

A fine and subtle spirit dwells
In every little flower,
Each one its own sweet feeling breathes
With more or less of power.

There is a silent eloquence
In every wild bluebell
That fills my softened heart with bliss
That words could never tell.

Yet I recall not long ago
A bright and sunny day,
'Twas when I led a toilsome life
So many leagues away;

That day along a sunny road
All carelessly I strayed,
Between two banks where smiling flowers
Their varied hues displayed.

Before me rose a lofty hill,
Behind me lay the sea,
My heart was not so heavy then
As it was wont to be.

Less harassed than at other times
I saw the scene was fair,
And spoke and laughed to those around,
As if I knew no care.

But when I looked upon the bank
My wandering glances fell
Upon a little trembling flower,
A single sweet bluebell.

Whence came that rising in my throat,
That dimness in my eye?
Why did those burning drops distil —
Those bitter feelings rise?

O, that lone flower recalled to me
My happy childhood's hours
When bluebells seemed like fairy gifts
A prize among the flowers,

Those sunny days of merriment
When heart and soul were free,
And when I dwelt with kindred hearts
That loved and cared for me.

I had not then mid heartless crowds
To spend a thankless life
In seeking after others' weal
With anxious toil and strife.

'Sad wanderer, weep those blissful times
That never may return!'
The lovely floweret seemed to say,
And thus it made me mourn.

https://allpoetry.com/poem/8457985-The-Bluebell-by-Anne-Bront%C3%AB

I guess Anne must have written this bluebell poem during the unhappy days when she had to earn her living as a governess.  How sad all lives seem when seen in retrospect. But how could it be otherwise given the tragedy are are still living in?

It is bluebell season in Sussex again. So I have lived to see another one, for which I am thankful, but we can no longer go for our bluebell walk. It used to be Col, Jacks and me - a spring ritual. Now Jacks is in a wheelchair, in a Care Home, I am housebound, and Col has to go on his own. He has found a lot of photos of himself, Jacks and Bruce in Spain which he is going to take to show her on our next visit.

I need to think about what walks through bluebell woods will be like in the restored earthly paradise.  Once again, I hope we are all there to find out.

The situation in the Middle East had a moment of temporary calm on Tuesday night - I was up in the early hours taking painkillers, and turned the News on. But it all seems more insane than ever today, so who knows?

What human government can ever give us true peace and security - no matter how sincerely it might want to?

I fell deeply asleep after lunch, exhausted after a morning of doing the washing, unloading the Abel & Cole and making a rhubarb crumble (tasks which would not have exhausted me even a few years ago).   I was woken, suddenly, from a dream, by the phone.  Assuming it was Col from The Field I was busy saying : "Hello, hello Col, I can't hear you, the reception must be bad" (as it so often is from The Field), when a man's voice said: "Hello this is the Electric Something. Am I speaking to the homeowner?"  "Yes", I said, "but we don't want any more electricity thanks. We already have some." "Er..." And I put the phone down

He didn't ring back. The poor guy must have thought he had dialled the local Home for the Mentally Challenged by mistake.

Storm David

A new micro moth turned up in Col's moth hotel on the 1st of April - a genuine moth, not a mothy hoax.  I do not yet know its name though.  

Maybe one day a new and unnamed moth will turn up, and we could have the pleasure and privilege of naming it!   How about - just to pick a name at random - The Lovely Susan?

Apparently Storm David was due to arrive in the UK just in time for the Easter weekend.  There were certainly some waves on the Channel on Friday, and it was raining, off and on.  But no storm was evident over the weekend - well not down here in the South.

And Storm Colin is just about to arrive in our dining room if Col, at the next computer, does not achieve a draw with me at the Ordles (Wordle, Quordle, Octordle) that we play every morning. I don't think he is going to win, as I did rather well today, but I am hoping for a draw. Which always seems like the perfect result to me. 

We heard from Anne of the Cape and had quite a long chat by Smartphone. We were/still are talking over happy memories of expat days.  I feel guilty for being so unsociable now - I am just exhausted with the pain and everything - but talking over old times does remind me that it wasn't always like this.  It is amazing the energy you have when you are young - looking back on it that is.  You take it for granted at the time.

We have just been in Memorial season when we memorialise the death of Jesus Christ and thank Jehovah for the precious gift of the ransom.  I spent the first half of my life taking it for granted.  But now I hope that one day I will be able to thank Jehovah for that gift from a perfect heart.

There are some amazing short reels on fb at the moment, giving us glimpses of space as seen from the numerous contraptions we have sent up there.  Assuming they are all real, and not AI, we can actually see how the earth looks like from the vantage point of the moon.  We can see sunrise and sunset from the Martian point of view! 

And how lovely it looks too. What a beautiful planet Jehovah gave us, and what a splendid universe he has set it in. So I also want to thank Him for the powerful guard he has given our jewel of a home, as shown in this reel:  https://www.facebook.com/reel/1209163611242850

The Memorial

Not at Home to Callers 

 by Emily Dickinson

Not at Home to Callers 

Says the Naked Tree -- 

Bonnet due in April -- 

Wishing you Good Day --

https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poems/short/april

Bonnet due in April! Great. Yet another poem I wish I had written.  

I have often wanted to write about how beautiful the "naked trees" of winter are - exquisite sculptures every one.  Yet to see a human skeleton... a very different thing, even though it is of course wonderfully made. There has to be a poem in that, if I could only find it.  It is a thought that also ties in with the Memorial celebrations, held worldwide on Thursday night, after sunset.  Because all of us damaged children of Adam are dying.  We need to have that link so fatally broken in Eden restored. And that restoration comes through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ - a superlative gift of love from Jehovah and from Jesus.

The photo above is of a Saffrondrop Bonnet fungus.  With the thought of Emily's poem in mind, I put the word "bonnet" into Col's gallery and this is one of the photos it came up with.

This elegant Bonnet is yet another miracle of beauty and engineering - telling us of the love and wisdom and power that went into the earthly creation.

The Memorial Bible reading continues.  And I am thinking a lot about the rescue the ransom sacrifice of Jesus holds out to all of us if we will only take hold of it.  Wednesday was a day when I was able to be busy with the Kingdom preaching work: my Bible student in the morning, and a double zoom field service session in the afternoon - doing Not Home letters and emails.

Thursday, Himself left very early for The Field. The Sandwich Fairy had done her stuff, so even at that early hour, his sandwiches were ready.  My plan for Thursday, as I am beginning this blog, is to attend the morning worship at 9:30 via pixel, if the Zoom facility is on, and get to the Memorial in the evening.  If all goes to plan, it is the one day of the year that Col is at the Kingdom Hall with me, and I can hold his hand during the prayer.

During the day I hope to have made his crumble, curried the mushrooms, done some studying, a bit more witnessing and some housework.  (And done a fair amount of sofa surfing...)  But we shall see...

Morning worship was lovely, discussing the day text, which is Luke 12:32: Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has approved of giving you the Kingdom

All plans for Thursday were carried out, including the sofa-surfing. And I had Col beside me at the Hall last night as we celebrated the Memorial of Jesus's sacrificial death.  As there were four short prayers altogether, I was able to hold his hand four times.

The text for today is this:  God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.​—John 3:16.

Which kind of says it all really.  And explains why we want to memorialise this great and loving gift.