Wilde Thoughts

My father introduced me to the words and wit of Oscar Wilde when I was still in primary school. Beginning with The Importance Of Being Earnest [A Handbag?!? and To lose one parent... etc] and moving on through The Happy Prince and the Selfish Giant [which I find so moving] and The Ideal Husband. And as I got older, I read the "darker" stuff like Dorian Gray and The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Dad felt Wilde was a gifted writer who had been cruelly treated - his treatment in prison contributing to his early death.

In 2006 on our motorbike holiday in Ireland, I sat and chatted to him in Galway.

This is part of a sculpture by Estonian artist Tiiu Kirsipuu, and was given to the people of Galway in 2004 .

There are are couple of other famous memorial statues to Wilde. The first was unveiled in Dublin in 1997 and financed by the Guinness Company, and created by English sculptor Danny Osborne.

It is amazingly colourful, marble alone was deemed inadequate- it also contains green nephrite  [Canada] blue pearl granite and pink thulite [both from  Norway] and black charnockite [India] It is located near his childhood home

There were mixed reactions - many felt it made too much of Wilde's homosexuality. In 1998, Maggi Hambling's "Conversation with Oscar Wilde" was unveiled in Westminster, London.. It is made of green granite and shows Wilde's head and torso emerging from a coffin, a cigarette in his hand. The artist based it on the anecdote that just prior to his demise, Wilde told a friend 

"I dreamed I was at dinner, dining and chatting with the dead" So here you can sit on his coffin and chat with him! [I have to say I prefer Galway's bench - and Dublin's chap does remind me of  a slimmer Stephen Fry ]  

Mervyn Holland, Wilde's grandson is happy with all these three representations. 

BUT there's a new one about to be revealed in Chelsea, and this has definitely divided opinions already. Eduard Paolozzi's design also made the final shortlist for the 1998 statue. EP died in 2005, and this year is the centenary of his birth. Paolozzi lived and worked in Chelsea for over 40 years, and Wilde also lived in the borough. The Paolozzi Foundation have decided to mark this by having the 1998 Wilde design made up and installed on Dovehouse Green. 

There was an initial objection that you cannot put a statue of a gay man on what was formerly a burial ground, and is still 'consecrated land' [even though it is now a public park]. The Church Consistory Court overruled this ['he was not that good an author' 'the council does not spend money wisely''Wilde was gay' were all considered invalid objections] More to the point, Mervyn Holland says it is 'absolutely hideous' failing to convey his wit and brilliance - 'anyone contemplating it will more likely think of Wilde's tragic end than the joy of his writing'. 

It is a vast bronze head, segmented, lying on its side. "A man who was decapitated by society" Personally I think it is ghastly, and I can see why Dame Judi Dench and the rest of the committee rejected this back in the nineties" What do you think of it? 

In the preface to Dorian Gray, Wilde says this - was he right?

Flakes And Flowers

Friday was definitely a cold and frosty morning. Bob dropped me and my trolley in Dereham at 9.15am and went on to the Hospice. The cheery guy in the Post Office said he had seen three overturned cars en route to work. I paid for my package [another 31:13 order!] and wished him a Happy Christmas. Down to the Christian Bookshop. I'd bought Advent Calendars for the grandchildren - which were a few cm too wide for the 'large letter' slot - so these flat, light envelopes had to go at Small Parcel Rate. That was more than the cost of the calendars.I suggested to the manager that [a] it would have been helpful to know that when I bought them and [b] next year, please could they find ones which were just a tiny bit narrower, please? The Manager said she'd been caught out at the Post Office too, and yes, this was already under consideration! I walked on to the Flow Craft Café

Nina had alreadtset out the tables, and I began to put out the Kusudama packs. It began to snow. Not everybody turned up, but the ladies who did were great fun - and one had been at school with me in 1966, when I first came to Dereham!
We had great fun reminiscing. Nina hopes for another of these workshops in the new year. We're also thinking about a sewing activity too.

Afterwards I walked up the road to Morrisons and did my shopping. I sat in the café and had not long finished my bacon roll when Bob came to collect me.

It snowed again - bigger let-it-go-flakes this time.

Top Tip for the day - one of the workshop women said her friend had some kusudama flowers on bamboo stems- standing in a bottle of diffusing oil as a room freshener. That is a really creative use for them. I may do that myself...

Sorting out all the Christmas Decorations today, I do hope it is not too cold tonight - Village Carols in the Parish Church [I will wear my motorbike thermal underwear]

Biker Chick Barbie

Bob really has been working hard of late, not just making, but also mending. Liz found a Barbie Doll Moped for Rosie in a CS - but the handlebars were missing, as was the stand. Having checked pictures on the Internet, Bob's recreated the missing parts. 

He used some white plastic electrical conduit cut to shape, and another piece for the top of the headlight. The headlight bulb is a clear plastic button - with the back "silvered", and the indicators are two stick-on orange gemstones, from my cardmaking supplies. The handlebars have "grips" made from heat shrink sleeving, and two small black rubber O rings. The prop stand is an old orange plastic 4mm knitting needle, warmed and bent to shape, with more heat shrink sleeving. So his electrical bits and my sewing/cardmaking stash have supplied all the parts. I think it's good repair and Barbie can continue to ride happily. 

"Make Do And Mend" is a good principle, and it will be fun to show Rosie how we used the stuff we already had to do the repair. Less waste, more recycling, less expense, more fun... 

Journeying Mercies

The French wish travellers "Bon Voyage!" - many older Christians I know say "Journeying Mercies!" [which means approximately the same, but is less intelligible to the majority of people] Well, either way, we certainly enjoyed safe travels over the weekend, in a round trip of 750 miles or so. I was grateful to get home safely on Sunday evening. Still waiting on an OK to post wedding pictures, but here are a few other holiday snaps...

My outfit - like the actors Beryl Reid and David Suchet, I followed the rule "start with the shoes when planning your costume"

I figured the instruction to 'wear wellies' would be OK in a field of mud - but less comfy for the dancing. So my trusty biker boots began the outfit. With that, I had to have the biker jacket- and the thermal vest which has kept me warm for many miles riding pillion in heavy rain and high winds.

Plus my lovely Suffragette purple Snag Tights [last year's Xmas gift from Liz] and my ancient pink Laura Ashley scarf. That all dealt with warmth. But it was a wedding, and I wanted prettiness too. The 50p dress I got at the Swishing Party  at Ferndown three years ago was just right. Black, with a busy pink floral pattern.

It was just right for swirling round the floor at the ceilidh on Saturday night, and the whole "biker chick" ensemble received some very kind compliments.

We enjoyed Dunbar - our accommodation was very comfortable, hospitable hosts and a homely atmosphere. And decent coffee and good pastries at breakfast [also yogurts, cereals, juices etc]

Friday night's meal at Umberto's Italian Restaurant was great - good food at good prices, and very friendly staff.

Two signs we saw in the town which made us wonder.

Whatever are "Hot Ovoids"? Probably BBQ fuel - but it sounds like a posh name for boiled eggs.

And the beauticians offering gift vouchers for "Body Piercing Sunbed Nails" ?

No thank you!!

Other than than, Dunbar seemed a very pleasant town - and we learned much about its most famous inhabitant [post to follow]

Box Sets

In our family, we have always enjoyed board games. But they do take up a fair amount of space. I decided I needed to tidy up the shelf. We have children's games, like Junior Scrabble and Kangaroo, and 'trad' games from my childhood [Cluedo, Monopoly, Scrabble] and some of the newer games. Over the years we acquired duplicate, because we liked having games 'at home' but also here in Norfolk for holidays. Duplicate Monopoly, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit have gone to the CS. 

Back in 2008 I reconfigured one Scrabble board, and made a waterproof zip bag so that we could slip the game into the motorbike pannier for our holiday. I wondered if there was any way to modify other board games in our collection to take up less space. 

In a CS in Sheringham, I'd bought "Kangaroo" [very like Buckaroo] to play with Rosie - you load all the kit onto the animal till the spring clicks and throws everything into the air. But the original plastic tray was missing, and all the components were rattling around in the large box. I trimmed it down by about 50%. Everything fits neatly, into the smaller box.

We have Cranium, which we love- and Steph gave me a box of extra cards for my birthday. By removing the plastic insert, it was possible to get old and new cards neatly into the box. There was a lot of wasted space and the new arrangement is much neater.

I have done a similar thing with my extra Trivial Pursuit cards. My next move will be to cut the Cluedo Board to make it fold into a reduced size box.[This post  has a tutorial on modifying boards]

Do you have a favourite board game?

How do you store the boxes?

Hot Wheels!

Since retirement, we have really enjoyed having less responsibility on a Sunday. We have been to walk round Castle Acre, we have sat in the garden with our books...and last Sunday after church we went to an "Italian Bike and Car Day" down at Old Buckenham. It appears that the owners of the Ox&Plough pub on the green host a bike meet most Tuesday evenings. 

Occasionally they put on a bigger event. It was a blisteringly hot afternoon, and the chrome and polished paintwork gleamed [as did the pride on the owners' faces] 

Not all of the 600 vehicles were cars or 'regular' motorbikes - there were some huge three-wheeled beasts- and some cute little scooters. I was quite taken with a red scooter painted with the Liverpool Fab Four. The pillion on the huge green one looked very comfortable. They say that the great American knitter Elizabeth Zimmerman used to ride pillion behind her husband and knit at the same time - maybe if Bob had a bike like this, I might manage a few rows of stocking stitch. But what if I dropped the ball of yarn halfway up the M11? Or if he braked suddenly, poked him with a needle? Too risky imho

The refreshments on offer were excellent too - we'd taken bottles of chilled water, and each had a delicious hot [huge] dog from one of the catering vans. There were plenty of benches, and shady brollies. Other people were having lunch in the pub on the edge of the green. A number of people sat in their own chairs beside their vehicles.

We had a lovely time looking at the bikes, deciding which we liked [or didn't] We noticed that the majority of the expensive, highly chromed beasts were owned by blokes aged 50+. In the car section, there were some immaculately dressed folk in Alfas, Ferraris etc - but bikers were divided between those in new fancy leathers, and old guys in teeshirts and jeans with wild grey hair and flowing [or weirdly plaited] beards. But the atmosphere was so good and people were so friendly. I love community activities like this.

We got home in time for Bob to enjoy the Grand Prix on TV

I found a video on YouTube - if you like bikes, you may enjoy this [if not, ignore it!]

A Day At The Beach

Yesterday, 6th June 2021, was the 77th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, during WW2. 

On our motorbike holiday to France in 2006, Bob and I visited the Normandy beaches. There were many monuments and sites to visit. We spent a lot of time at the Juno Beach Centre, maintained by the bilingual Canadians, it is utterly brilliant. But at that time, there was no British Memorial. 

Nine years later, George Batts, a D-Day veteran, met BBC broadcaster Nicholas Witchell, and pointed out that alone among all the principle Allied nations in WW2, the UK did not have its own memorial. The Normandy Memorial Trust was established.

Fundraising started, research was commissioned - and the aim was to honour all who died, whether on land, or sea- or in the air - who were in some way involved with the Battle of Normandy. 

Two years ago, in 2019, on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the site was inaugurated, and a bronze statue of three servicemen unveiled. This inspiring piece is by David Williams-Ellis.[ DWE is the great-nephew of Sir Clough W E who designed Portmeirion in Wales] 

Despite the pandemic, work continued, and on Sunday the Memorial was finally officially opened. You can find out more here- and watch the ceremony. Prince Charles spoke via videolink - watched by selected guests in Normandy, and a number of veterans and their families at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

160 columns of French stone were shipped to Northern Ireland to be inscribed with the names of 22440 men - and two women who died. The women were nurses Sister Dorothy Field and Sister Mollie Evershed, working on the hospital ship Amsterdam, treating casualties of Juno Beach. The ship hit a mine and began to sink. The women went back into the lower decks, repeatedly- carrying seventy five injured men to safety, before they themselves drowned. [Find out more here]

The names have been inscribed in a rather unusual way - names down one face, and on the adjacent face, the person's rank and age. But all listed in chronological order of death- so you see the names of those comrades who died together being listed together. [ reminiscent of 2 Samuel 1;23, 'beloved and beautiful in their lives, and in their deaths they were not divided]

This arrangement will make it easier for visitors, who know when their loved one died, to identify quickly where the name is written - simply by going to the columns for that date. 

Jane Furlong, the lead historical researcher for the project has spoken of the moving stories behind these names. Do check out the website- it is full of tributes to the men and women who gave their lives for a free Europe - and inspiring stories of veterans who lived on to fight for a lasting, fitting, memorial to their fallen comrades. I am so glad Nicholas Witchell took up George Batts' vision - and helped make it happen. Let us never forget the cost of the freedom we enjoy today.

Do I Dare Do It?

It's time to find my ~word365 - the word which I hope will challenge me during the coming year. The last five years have included these - more, hope, focus, shine and inspire.

Last year my word was inspire and I reviewed that in November.

But what of this year? I prepared one of our "Advent Thought For The Day" videos and talked about Advent and adventure" [here]

When I was discussing with Bob later about my Word For The Year, he suggested that I choose "Adventure" for 2021

It's definitely a good choice- this year will be an adventure. There are two definitions in the dictionary - noun and verb

noun: an unusual, exciting, dangerous or daring experience 

verb: to engage in daring or risky activity 

I am sure that both of these are going to apply. We enter the year under lockdown covid19 conditions. Definitely unusual - and in many ways dangerous.

I do not plan to engage in risky activity when it comes to the social distancing/mask wearing/handwashing stuff. 

I will not be surprised if things happen this year which are unplanned, exciting, or require me to 'step out in faith'

In 2019, when we had our mad Welsh Anniversary Airbed Adventure, I know some of my friends here thought I was quite mad. One of them recently read my book about our 2016 French holiday on the motorbike. [Amazon/Kindle link here] She said she understands me better now, and my readiness to do apparently crazy things.

This is the year when 'formal ministry' comes to an end, we will retire to Cornerstones, and eventually be able to claim our State Pensions. That's going to be a huge adventure for both of us. Bob has now officially announced the date of his final Sunday here [April 11th]

Life's been a pretty good adventure thus far- I hope I don't drift gently into sedentary retirement, but rather continue to enjoy the exciting, unusual and maybe sometimes risky experiences. And I want to go on being daring. My grandmother taught me to sing

Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone

Dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known,

 

Dearly Departed Dame Diana

Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, was born in Yorkshire in 1938 - and lived in India till she was right. Then she was sent back to Fulneck, the Moravian Boarding School outside Leeds [She hated it!] She trained at RADA alongside Glenda Jackson and Sian Phillips. And she was brilliant, imho. Wonderful on stage with the RSC, fantastic on TV - and stunning on the big screen. Do you remember any of these?

How I would have loved to seen her on stage at Stratford. I first became aware of her when I was about 11, as Emma Peel ['M' Appeal = Man Appeal, in case you hadn't spotted it] I so admired the leathers, the hairdo, the motorbike - and the quick wit and the feisty attitude. She became the only Bond Girl to marry him - and Lazenby was the weakest of all the 007s in my book. 

Mrs Bradley, with Neil [DCI Barnaby] Dudgeon had crazy plots and wilder costumes. I never watched GofT so cannot comment - but it was so good to see her only last week being Mrs Pumphrey, with Tricky Woo, in All Creatures.

Did you know that when she was playing opposite Patrick McNee in the Avengers, she earned £90 a week - but discovered the [male] cameraman got £120. She made a fuss, and they doubled it to £180! Sadly a lot of people ostracised her for her feminist attitude. She was fighting the Gender Pay Gap 50 years ago!

But then she returned to the RSC for just £70 a week - "Playing in the Avengers is a commercial thing - appearing in Shakespeare means more than money"She contributed so much to theatre,TV and cinema - her daughter Rachael Stirling is also an accomplished actor. In interviews Diana always appeared to have a great sense of humour and zest for life - and a good solid Yorkshire commonsense and a strong faith. 

RIP Mrs Peel - thank you 

[btw, I did get the leathers, hairdo and bike in the end - but I had to wait four decades]

Family Matters

There's two ways to read that

"Family Matters" meaning matters pertaining to the family, news of what is happening

"Family Matters" meaning the family is important, it matters.

When you saw the title, how did you read it?

It doesn't really matter - this post concerns both meanings.

First news - I have left Bob. We are both in agreement about this decision. No, don't panic, this isn't 'conscious uncoupling' or anything like that. I still love him more than I can ever say.

But on Sunday I drove back from Dorset up to Cornerstones. Like many of you reading this, I am now a single-person household.

Second bit of news - I'm in a 'bubble' with Rosie, Liz, and Jon. She cannot go back to Nursery yet, and they are busy WFH. So it makes sense for me to be here, just round the corner, so that Rosie can come to Grandma's Garden School every day.

Most of my working life has been involved in 'Supply Teaching' - stepping in to cover when the regular educational personnel cannot be there. I have done Early Years Training, my Preschool Learning Alliance Diploma, managed a Nursery, been an Under-Eights Advisor for a London Borough, and my DBS Certificate [Police Check] is all up to date. This is what I do - and love doing. We got back to Dorset on Wednesday and I was soon able to pack the car with craft materials, lesson plans, worksheets, educational games...

At the moment I have no idea how long I shall be here - but it seems to be working. Rosie is enjoying having a different person to talk to, and a day which is structured to occupy her in a more purposeful way. Liz and Jon can work undisturbed 

via Zoom, the phone and the internet. 

Bob is managing fine on his own - although Church members have suggested that when I return I may find a lathe in the lounge, a new motorbike in the garage, and more 'luxury' foods in the fridge. We shall see...

A wise friend reminded me that I am not as young as I used to be, and I need to plan in some proper down-time, for rest and relaxation away from this bouncy 4 year old. I've brought knitting, and sewing, and more jigsaws to occupy the evenings, and I plan early nights with good books too.

I believe that family does matter - and when there is a need, and you have the opportunity to help, then you should. I am really glad that the current easing of lockdown means this is all possible. 

[I have just discovered that the keyboard on the Cornerstones computer is unusual. @ and " are interchanged, and there appears to be no exclamation mark. I use them too often anyway, so that is probably a good thing]

Knights Of The Road

My friends Richard and Mary continue to lend me jigsaws. This time, it was two in the one box. Labelled "Knights of the Road" the pictures showed AA and RAC patrolmen of the early 1960s. "Breakdown and recovery" services have change a lot in the past half century. I am currently with LV, but I was with Green Flag, and have been with both RAC and AA in the past. Other companies are available - I do shop around for the best deals these days. 

But back in the day, there were just the two. The RAC [Royal Automobile Club] began in 1897, the AA [Automobile Association] in 1905. The AA was originally called the Motorists' Mutual Association.
Originally the officers were called 'sentries'. They wore quasi military uniforms - helmets, leather boots, and gauntlets - and rode motorcycles. Throughout the country there were 'sentry boxes' - little roadside shelters where the patrolmen could take refuge from the elements, enjoy a thermos of tea, and check their maps. Each box had a telephone and a fire extinguisher. 
By the 1920s, members were given keys to the boxes, and could use them to phone for help if their car broke down [or ring home to say they were delayed!]. Remember nobody had a mobile phone then, and not all private houses would have had a landline telephone. In 1934, one third of all cars on British roads were owned by members of the AA.

As well as a key to the boxes, members had a classy metal badge to fix to the front of the car. If a patrolman saw you were a member, he would salute as you drove past. If he did not salute, that was [allegedly] a coded message "there's a police car round the corner watching for speeding drivers"
I am just about old enough to remember the AA patrolmen on motorbikes with their brown leather boots. By the mid 1960s they replaced the bikes with minivans. People used to joke back then that the affluent were in the RAC, and the ordinary folk in the AA. We were, of course in the AA. I can only recall using an AA Callbox once- in 1974, I was with Dad in a heavy thunderstorm. Its a complicated story - but we pulled into a lay-by on the A47 on the edge of Norwich, and telephoned Mum to say we were OK and would be home soon. The AA key was then returned to the glovebox!

Doing these two jigsaws brought back good memories of long car journeys as a child, going on holiday to exotic locations like Scarborough and Bournemouth. The AA would send you [free] a wonderful route map from home to your destination - loads of sheets stapled together, with a map, and typewritten directions [imagine your satnav pictures and script printed out on paper] I was allowed to sit in the front seat and navigate whilst Mum was in the back with my younger brother. No seat belts back then! 
AA & RAC patrolmen [always men] were incredibly deferential, and always helpful. True "Knights of the Road". The jigsaw is well titled.

Then And Now

A couple of weeks ago, as we entered the new decade, people on Facebook were posting pictures of themselves back in January 2010 and now in January 2020, and commenting on all the life changes which had happened to them in those ten years.
Someone asked me if I was planning to do it - and I said that really I should begin with January 2009 - because in the past eleven years things have changed significantly for us...
We went back to visit Norfolk for a New Year Party arranged by Marian my SIL.I remember little of the event - but I know I chatted to a friendly conveyancing solicitor called Joy, who told me she helped people buy houses - and I said "I probably will never need your services" Then a week or two later, Bob suddenly said "We should buy somewhere to live in retirement" [and I did need Joy after all]

In the eleven years, we have done exactly that - we got the keys to Cornerstones in Norfolk on 19th April 2009, with an 11 year mortgage due to finish in May 2020. 
Then we were living in Leicestershire, happily involved with a village chapel where we had been since 1995 - but five years ago we moved to Dorset and now equally busy with a friendly, growing church here.
Then, back in 2009, I belonged to a fortnightly knitting group - we met in the Borders Bookshop [now sadly closed] I was doing lots of supply teaching, running a sewing club, lay preaching all over the place and generally pretty busy. I made play costumes every summer, and nativity costumes every Christmas. I organised Holiday Club Crafts every July, and told tales in my Story Tent at the Village Fun Day. I happily climbed on the pillion of Bob's huge Honda.We had a collie cross rescue dog called Charlie - and Liz had a cat called Monty. Both girls were living and working in London

Now we have a beautiful granddaughter, and a grandson due in April. Liz remains in London, with Jon [and Rosie] but Steph moved to Manchester in 2017, where she met and married Gary. Three nieces have married, and I'm a great aunt twice over. The family grows...
Now I'm not doing any supply teaching, nor involved in sewing or knitting clubs [but I do go along to Craft'n'Coffee once a month at church]  I'm still preaching - and still churning out play costumes - and now making Memory Bears [so far I have made 4, and I have 3 on order] I am still doing KIds Club Crafts and the Story Tent- but for the past five years I've been involved in Christmas Tree Festivals too. The motorbike was sold, and now there is a large lathe in the garage.Sadly Charlie and Monty are no longer with us - but Steph and Gaz have two rabbits, Jeff and Jim. 
If you had asked me at that party, where I thought I would be now, this would honestly be beyond my wildest dreams. Still happily supporting Bob's ministry [but annoyed at the Government for moving the pension threshold. I am a WASPI Woman] 
But to find ourselves the owners of a property - having paid off the mortgage two years early [despite my drop in income since moving to Ferndown]  that is unbelievable.
And blessed with two wonderful daughters [and their men] of whom we are incredibly proud, and being grandparents as well, with 40 years of marriage behind us. It's all amazing. Life was pretty good back then - but I can truly say it is just as wonderful now. God has been very gracious to us - as the Psalmist says "The lines have fallen in pleasant places for me"
I suppose I ought to post those comparison pictures. Here's the pair of us then arriving at that New Year's party December 31st 2008 - and now here's me about to go out to a party on January 11th 2020. 

Tune My Spirit To The Music Of Heaven

Eleven summers ago, we rode the Honda into Bantry on a windy August morning, and admired the statue of St Brendan The Explorer. [made 50 years ago by husband and wife Ian and Imogen Stuart] According to the popular myth, Brendan and his monks set out to find the Island of Paradise somewhere around 500 AD . They endured a forty-day fast then set out in a westerly direction. During their harrowing Atlantic journey, the monks encounter unusual creatures, briefly settle on a whale’s back after mistakenly identifying it for an island, meet Judas marooned on a rock, and eventually reach Paradise, before returning home. The Island of Paradise, or St. Brendan’s Island, as it became known, was treated as a legitimate location, and appeared on most maps and globes, including Behaim’s 1492 globe. According to Columbus’s son, Ferdinand, his father wholeheartedly believed in it. Until the late 18th-century, sightings of Brendan’s mythical island were reported, although some have since speculated that Brendan and his crew had actually ventured as far as the Americas. In the spring of 1976, British explorer, Tim Severin, accompanied by a small crew of four, successfully sailed 4,500 miles from Ireland to Newfoundland in a handcrafted currach built using the 6th-century standards as Brendan’s.

While the exact geographic location of Brendan’s paradise is still a matter of speculation,  we mustn't overlook the impact that he had on the central figures in the age of exploration, who looked with wonder upon both his voyage and his Christian fervour . Unfortunately for the indigenous population of the Americas, the desire of Columbus and other European explorers to spread Christian principles to these perceived "godless lands"  lacked the innocence and religious zeal of the Munster monk. Instead, they were driven by greed and contempt rather than religious longing.

I remembered our Irish holiday, and St Brendan, recently, when my good friend Ali Boulton used his prayer as part of our morning worship at the SCBA Conference. I don't know if this really is 1500 years old - but the words still have relevance today

Token Of Appreciation

For three years we took our summer holidays on the motorbike, travelling to France, Belgium and Eire . Bob bought me a proper Moleskine Notebook, so I could record our adventures en route. I'm afraid my literary output didn't match that of other Moleskine users such as Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway 

[you can read about our French trip if you want, it's now an e-book]
I picked up my notebook last weekend, and suddenly realised there was something in the envelope pocket inside the cover. A Boots Voucher - inside a cardboard folder, labelled £50. Where had this come from? Neither of us could remember. How old was it?Was it still valid? And had it been used at all? 
I took it into Boots, and the lady checked it and it was worth £39.64. - so I decided to spend it all, right there on the spot.
But what should one buy with such a windfall? Perfume for me, aftershave for him, some crazy red nail varnish, a fancy new hairbrush?No. None of these things. Because they were on offer [buy one, get one half price] I bought four month's supply of these...

Because of his sleep problems, Bob finds these strips extremely useful. And I benefit too, as my sleep is less disturbed. I felt guilty about having been careless with this generous gift - but now it has been spent on something which we'll both appreciate, for 120 days [and nights] Thank you, whoever you were, for giving the token in the first place.
I also discovered, tucked on the same bookshelf, the last two of the Leon Breakfast Vouchers which I won three years ago. They have two branches in Manchester now, so perhaps I can use them there.

This sorting of the bookshelves is yielding many unexpected benefits.

To Everything, Turn, Turn, Turn...

When Bob sold his motorbike, it left a huge space. Well two actually- the first was in his lifestyle, he no longer had the opportunity to go out and enjoy a ride, tune out from all the things on his mind, and just burn up the miles...and the second, a huge space in the garage. 
But then he found a woodturning lathe, on sale locally. The gentleman concerned was in poor health and could no longer use it, so was selling it, plus loads of tools, for an extremely good price.

Bob loves old tools, he loves working with wood, and it seemed a good purchase. There was now room to house it in the garage and he had a new hobby to replace biking. Wood-turning
But he needed to learn the skills - so for a combined birthday-and-Christmas gift, I arranged for him to go on a wood turning course. He loved it. It was a whole day, one-to-one with a master craftsman.
He was taught basic techniques, and tool maintenance, and he came home with some practice pieces, including a lovely bowl and some blanks to work on. The bowl is now at Cornerstones, and has been much admired.
His first task was to build a new lathe-stand, fit for someone tall - it is important to work at the correct height. But finally, the lathe was up and running. Bob's first solo effort was another wooden bowl. Obviously, it had to be for a very special occasion. 

Isn't it lovely? I have made a poster and put it up in the garage, over where Bob works at the lathe. It is a picture of some vintage tools, and this verse from Jan Struther's lovely hymn

Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
Whose strong hands were skilled 

at the plane and the lathe,
Be there at our labours, and give us, we pray,
Your strength in our hearts, Lord, 

at the noon of the day.

Reflections On The Past Few Days

It has been the sort of week when so much has happened it is hard to take it all in:
Saturday - the Ferndown Fete on the Field -a really busy day, but a real sense of accomplishment at the end of it
Sunday - preaching in Wimborne in the morning, and then, unexpectedly, at UCF in the evening, whilst Bob was at the hospital
Monday - quieter, I did some knitting and sewing, and Bob rested [mostly!]
Tuesday - at the Eye Clinic, Bob had laser surgery
In the middle of all that the teaching Agency rang to say the school where I've done a few half days recently wanted someone two days a week in the Autumn Term. And they wondered if I'd be interested? If so, I'd have to teach a lesson whilst being observed by Senior Staff when I went in on on Thursday.
Wednesday - ran the Toddler Group** in the morning, and spent the afternoon preparing the lesson. Bob still tired. 
Thursday - Taught all morning, including my Observed Lesson. Spent afternoon measuring children for play costumes. And was told that I've got the job! Hallelujah!
Friday - sewed costumes all day
Saturday - housework, getting ready for the arrival of my best friend Chris and her sister [en route to Norfolk, returning from their holiday in Cornwall]

Bob's so much better, and I have a job to look forward to...so for those things we are grateful. **Toddler Group Singing Time always includes I'm a Dingle Dangle Scarecrow with a Flippy Floppy Hat and that tune has been a bit of an earworm this week. But the other song is more pertinent. My Sunday Morning Sermon was on Psalm 23 [I repeated it in the evening when I had to preach again at short notice] Both times I finished the service with this old favourite [we sung this at my Gran's funeral, she loved it too] It seems particularly pertinent to the last week...

 In heav’nly love abiding,
No change my heart shall fear;
And safe is such confiding,
For nothing changes here.
The storm may roar without me,
My heart may low be laid,
But God is round about me,
And can I be dismayed?

 Wherever He may guide me,

No want shall turn me back;
My Shepherd is beside me,
And nothing can I lack.
His wisdom ever waketh,
His sight is never dim;
He knows the way He taketh,
And I will walk with Him.

 Green pastures are before me,

Which yet I have not seen;
Bright skies will soon be o’er me,
Where darkest clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure,
My path to life is free;
My Saviour has my treasure,
And He will walk with me.