Last day in January

The 8.45am Sandy Bay service was recorded this morning, and broadcast in the evening on radio St Helena. Graeme preached a good evangelistic sermon.

For the Jamestown evening service, we combined with the Salvation Army. It was interesting to see Graeme blowing with the Army folk. The lady second from the right and playing the euphonium, Daisy Stephens, is 90 years old, and still going strong. (The Island seems to be full of these 90+ year old die hards, who still have a good amount of "vim" in them)

Once again, Graeme preached. I am enjoying hearing how the same sermon changes slightly each Sunday, as it is repeated to the different congregations.

Nothing remains a secret on St Helena... Somehow, word has got out that I am interested in playing the tambourine... The Salvationists offered to teach me! And once again, it is the "old dears" who will show me the ropes. Watch this spot...

Sad Saturday

Good News Club. A bit disappointing in that a few of “the regulars” did not come. The Older Youth Group was even more disappointing. Only one “old faithful” Keiran, put in an appearance. We cancelled this week’s meeting.
Did some tidying. Went to into Jamestown for a fast food supper. It was lovely and cool walking around with a slight sea breeze blowing.
Later in the evening,“chatted” to my son, Arthur, via the internet. Felt encouraged again.

Happy Hazel

I was determined to master the basic lace making stitch, so I walked to Wanda, who has her day time business a few doors away from the manse, and got another quick demonstration of the basic stitch. It seemed to make more sense this time.

I continued my walk into town to buy bread for the week end. Stinking hot weather. The tar was making little bubbles, just like it used to in Zambia, where I spent my primary school years. I was reminded of how my brother and I used to pop the tar bubbles on our way home from school.

When I got home, I directed an electric fan at my face, and took up my lace making cushion again. This time I got the hang of the stitch – I realized that the principle is the same as darning. Yippee!! (Thank you mom, for making me darn dad’s socks when I was little)

In the cool of the evening, Graeme decided to take a drive out to Rupert's Bay. We stopped at the crest of the hill, and took a short walk along the ridge.

A dead prickly pear plant. Looks all "lacey" from close up.

One of the cliff faces seen from Rupert's Bay

There are no beaches. Just sheer rock rising up out of the sea.

Lace making class

Pug visit and shopping in the morning. Study and Good News Club preparation in the afternoon.

6.00pm I caught the bus that collects ladies for the lace making class, as well as IT training, at the Prince Andrew High School. I followed the “lace ladies” to their room, and was given a “cushion”. i.e. a fat tube of flax fiber that has been covered with fabric. The lace pins slide easily into the flax fiber. I was then given some thin crochet cotton (for beginners) and 12 bobbins that I had to wind thread around and fasten with a slip knot in preparation for my first lesson. Just as knitting has 2 basic stitches – plain and purl – so lace making also has 2 basic “stitches” - the whole stitch and the half stitch. I was to start with the whole stitch. I must confess that I struggled to come to grips with the lacing in and out of the bobbins. The other ladies were making some really beautiful pieces. At 8.00 pm a bell sounded – just like school – and we all packed up and toddled back to the bus.

Meetings

4.30 pm Graeme led the lay preachers’ meeting at the manse. We discussed the basic principles of ministry that we want to focus on as a church.
7.30 pm Bible study at Deadwood. A lovely spirit between the 4 ladies and 2 teenagers that meet with me.

Busy Tuesday

Tuesdays are my BUSY days. Got up early to edge pieces of fabric on my sewing machine for the Sandy Bay BWA. The ladies there want to recover their old tatty hymn books. Left at 9.30 am to travel to their weekly meeting. Took a photo of Lot and his wife on the way. i.e. the rock in the foreground is called “Lot” and the pillar-like rock to the left on the horizon is “Lot’s wife”.

See the contrast in vegetation - from lush green on the hill that I was standing on, to sparser vegetation on the next hill, to desert sand on the furthest hills - i.e. "Sandy Bay".Home, to tidy up in preparation for the evening gathering at the manse. But first, went to see “a lady called Wanda” to enquire about learning to make lace. She was very helpful. There is an organization called AVES (Adult Vocational Education S…omething) that I registered at. A bus will pick me up outside the manse on Thurs evening, and take me to the high school “in the country”, where Wanda teaches lace making. The bus will then bring me home. The government is trying to encourage the revival of the old crafts on the island, in order to stimulate tourist interest. I really enjoy hand crafts of any description, and am looking forward to learning this dying hand craft. It will also give me a chance to get to know some of the Islanders outside of the church setting.

5.00pm Cape Villa Bible study. It was very encouraging to see how eager the ladies were to attend. See photo of 4 of the ladies.7.30pm Jamestown Bible study held at the manse, and led by Graeme. It is good to feel that we are getting to know some of the folk.

Bread queue

10.00am Walked to town to buy bread. Joined the patient clump of people waiting for the bread to be unpacked onto the shelves – if you don’t get there when it is unpacked, you might have to wait until the next day for bread.
Felt a little drained today, and took things easy.

6.00 pm Graeme went for a target shoot at the .22 club. Did well. Over 90%!! (Moenie met hierdie dominee sukkel nie.)

Photos

3 Sunday services. Graeme preached on the 4th chapter of Ruth.

I am collecting photos of the church members and adherents to put in a church directory. Here are 3 of the younger Knollcombes members.
3.00pm and the 4th Sunday of the month, means an afternoon service at the old age home. A good number of the church members came to support the meeting, and visit with the old folks afterwards.
Hats for church, are still worn by some of the folk. Sophie. A spritely 96 year old.
By some fluke, I found photos that I took before leaving SA, that were hidden somewhere in the bowels of my camera. Here are 3 of my favourites.

Our son Arthur, giving Nofika a squeeze. Abi trying to stay balanced and asleep on a stool in the kitchen
Graeme and Hazel at a farewell lunch

Children and crayons

8.30am Set up the schoolroom for Good News Club. Met at 9.30 am with Nick, Enid and Anya, who are helping lead the club. The children refused to sing, so I “sang” alone, accompanied by my “music box”.
At 11.00 am the older children walked the few meters from the schoolroom to the manse for their meeting. Once again, just as we had started, 2 boys knocked at the door and asked whether they could also come in. One of them is a little scamp, so I was pleasantly surprised.

In the afternoon, I rummaged through stuff that was lying around in the rubble of the damaged chapel. Found some very dusty crayons and stationery that could be used in the children’s work, provided it got cleaned up a bit. Cleaned and sorted through crayons and pencils and stationery trays. It is very hard to capture the extent of the damage to the chapel in a photo. Here are a few attempts.

One of the biggest bolders came through the roof near the back, bounced off the floor, hit a side window, and then shattered the railing on the gallery on its way down.

View from the gallery towards the front of the chapel

6.00pm went to the harbor area in town where the Yons have a fast food stand on Sat evenings. Bought our supper (chops and chips) at their stand, and had a good visit with Keith and Michielle.

Came home and cooked a “sort-of” chicken breyani (made with the spices that I could find) so that I don’t have to fuss in the kitchen tomorrow.

Chill time

Day Off! We just chilled. I spent some time preparing for tomorrow’s Good News Club. Graeme set up my "music box" in the kitchen for me. Now I can do my chores while listening to music of my own choice.
In the evening we had Elaine and Anthony Hopkins over for supper. Good company, but I suspect that they found my food a bit strange for their palates… Potato and leek soup; “Mediterranean” pasta; apple crumble and custard. Strange combination, come to think of it.

Singing and praying

Visited our dogs, did some preparation and then left at 5.30pm for the Sandy Bay Bible study. Graeme suggested we have a time of singing the old hymns. Much enthusiastic singing followed. Then a good time of prayer. When we checked our watches, Graeme had 10 mins left for the study!! Oops! He gave a brief summary of what we should have studied, but would be covering next week. See photo of the Sandy Bay core members. “Rushed” off up and down twisty little roads and hair pin bends and dirt track, to the Blue Hill study which started at 7.30pm. Once again there was good singing. Graeme played his cornet, Vince played his mandolin and Vilma accompanied on her guitar. This time Graeme got to give his study. We are going through the 1689 Confession of Faith. This is a smaller group, that meets in Vince and Vilma’s home.
A bit of Island info : This is the plant that the Saints made their unsaintly alcoholic drink from - it is called Tungi

Ironing

Today was my ironing marathon. I do not enjoy this pastime, and had allowed the ironing basket to pile up until it was overflowing. Bad girl! To break the monotony, I planted the seeds of the fruit that Graeme and I had eaten over the past week or so – a mango, an avocado pear, 2 cling peaches and 2 plum pips. Perhaps one or 2 of them will germinate. I put them in small black plastic bags that were filled with potting soil that Graeme bought at the DIY store. If they grow, we will plant them on one of our friends’ properties, as our garden’s soil is too shallow to accommodate the roots of a tree.

4.30 pm Jamestown “working ladies” BWA’s first fortnightly meeting. It was attended by 6 ladies. I thought of taking a photo of them. Forgot. Will try and remember next time.

The 7.30 pm Deadwood Bible study that I lead was cancelled, so while Graeme went to the Half Tree Hollow group, I finished my ironing. Sigh.

Busy Tuesday

This morning I decided to make oats porridge for breakfast. I remembered my dad. He loved porridge. Plain and simple food was his favourite. When he and my mom first came to stay with Graeme and I, six years ago, Graeme felt bad about giving pa such an uninteresting breakfast, so he added a few raisins while cooking his oats. When I put the plate in front of pa, he just stared into the porridge and said “What is this? (Afrikaans) Brommers in my pap!” (English = big black flies in my porridge) We had a giggle, and he ate it anyway...

Tuesdays are busy days for me. Leave home at 9.30am to be in time for BWA (Baptist Women’s Association) at Sandy Bay. It was our first meeting, and I was encouraged by the good spirit between the 4 ladies that met with me. We do a short Bible study, pray together, then one of us (my turn this week) demonstrates a craft that can be used to make items to sell at a Coffee Morning to be held in a few months’ time. The proceeds of the sales will go towards raising money to restore the damaged chapel. I showed the ladies how to make a simple cloth cover for a book/Bible.

Home about 12.00pm to clean floors and vacuum. Leave again at 4.30pm to lead the Bible Study at Cape Villa. Home at about 6.30pm to arrange the lounge, lay out cups and saucers, fill flasks of hot water etc, in preparation for the 7.30pm Jamestown Bible study led by Graeme.

See photo taken by Graeme on his way home from Blue Hill. This is a small section of road that runs along the ridge of a hill. There is a steep drop on either side of the road that is only just wide enough for one car. It is such a beautiful scene, with the mist rolling in from the one side.

Driving

Getting into your car in the morning and driving away to work or wherever you need to go, is a very different experience in SA vs St Helena.

In SA, you unlock the garage, then unlock your car, then get in, fasten your seat belt , and make sure all the doors are locked and the windows are rolled up. You then reverse out into the street, keeping very aware of your surroundings, and speed off on a straight road or highway. You will not have gotten far before someone hoots or swears at you.

In St Helena, you stroll up to your unlocked car that is parked on the street, (the windows are probably still open from last night) get in and (without the restriction of a seat belt) reverse out into the street and drive away slowly up, or down a twisty street, waving at every car or person that you pass.

Hooting is used when approaching a blind hair pin bend in the single lane roads, to warn any oncoming car that you are there. There is no speeding – simply because the roads are so narrow and twisty and steep (either uphill or downhill – never level), that you can seldom get into 3rd gear, let alone 4th.

Graeme took off on his bike at about 8.30am to go and have a time of prayer with Vincent.
We went to visit our "girls" at 3.00pm. See photos of them :
Playing tug o' war with some rope that Graeme brought them


Abi does not like to stop the game



Cho, colling off in the long grass

5.00pm, and Graeme had to go off to a deacons' meeting while Hazel stayed at home and prepared for tomorrow's meetings, and cooked tonight's supper.

Finding homes

We had the usual 2 morning services – Sandy Bay, followed by Head O’Wain. Graeme is preaching through the book of Ruth – one sermon per chapter. He did chapter 3 this week. Challenging messages.

Between the morning and evening services, we wanted to visit one of the church members. Well, there are almost no street names, and no house numbers. You simply have to know where someone lives, or ask the neighbours to direct you. We phoned Maud and asked her where she lived. “Opposite the hospital” “Which side of the hospital?” asks Hazel. “The house with the 2 big windows”… Which one of the 2 houses opposite the hospital do you think would be Maud's home?

Graeme and I drove past the hospital, looking for a house that would fit the description, then drove slowly back again. Maud and her husband, Papa, were standing outside their home, waving at us.

We had a good visit. Maud is still living in the house that she was born in!!

Just for your info – there is a most fascinating postal system on St Helena. As there are no street addresses, how do folks get their mail? Well, besides PO Boxes, there is the hand delivery system. You simply keep the letter on your person until you bump into the person you have written to, and then you take the letter out of your bag (or wherever you were keeping it), and hand it to them. (Over the period leading up to Christmas, the church members handed cards to each other at church). Shop keepers are known to put bills or statements of accounts under the wipers of cars – they know who the car belongs to, so “post” their letters in this way. If your car window is left open, (a normal thing on St Helena) you might find a letter on the seat when you come back to your car.

Children

My dad's funeral today 10.00 SA time. Sad that I could not be there with my mom and other family.

Good News Club at 10.00am GMT. About 8 children turned up. It ended rather early, and we then had to wait until 12.00pm for the older group’s meeting to start. I invited the older children to come over to the manse – we could make popcorn and chat while we waited. One of the older girls had her 5 year old cousin with her, that she was looking after. I said he could come and play in my “children’s corner”. No sooner had he settled, than 4 other little boys appeared at the front door and asked “Can us come in too?” I then had all of them playing with my children’s toys and games for about an hour.



Renaldo and McKylie(Spelling??) playing in the "children's corner"


At 12 noon Madison arrived, and we had our first Young People's group. Not too much enthusiasm, but as the Saints like to say, "not too bad". Kieren was rather pleased to get a lift home on the back of Graeme's scrambler.


Nick Thorpe, Lolly, and Shirley March paid us an afternnon visit. We ladies chatted girl talk, while Nick and Graeme got engrossed in history talk.

Received a telephone call from my daughter in the UK, who had managed to speak to my mom and family in SA after my dad's funeral. She reassured me about my mom.

Day Off

DAY OFF!! Graeme and I slept late, then walked to town for our much anticipated haircuts. I felt a little light headed after my bush was trimmed.

All shaven and shorn! We then strolled down towards the harbor, and found a trailer selling “boerie rolls”! A South African version of a hot dog – just with different sausage in the roll. It belonged to a couple who moved to St Helena from SA 6 months ago - Keith and Michelle Yon. We also found out that they used to live in the suburb that I grew up in as a teenager – Roodepoort! Had a good chat then ate a good boerie roll.

Strolled around the Castle gardens, then had a wander around the museum.

Tried to find ordinary eggs. Got 6 duck eggs instead. Graeme strolled, and I puffed home. I tried to read a book, but ended up zzzzing. Woke up beautifully refreshed.

Had supper then watched a tongue in cheek comedy. Just as the movie finished, and we were about to go to bed, the doorbell rang. Graeme thought it might be children playing tricks, and opened the door suddenly, only to find a man that wanted to talk – at 1.00am in the morning... When he left a short while later (at our insistence) he decided that he would call us Hansel and Gretel instead of Hazel and Graeme, and found his joke very amusing….

Keeping busy

Still struggling a bit over the death of my father. I particularly miss being with my mom at this time. I keep remembering a hymn we used to sing in Zambia (Afrikaans) “Veilig in Jesus' hoede, sag aan Sy bors gesus.” That is how my dad died - being softly carried into God's presence.

5.30 pm Met with the Sandy Bay ladies to agree on a time to meet for the Ladies’ ministry in their area. Tues mornings at 10.00 am.
6.00pm Sandy Bay Bible study – led by Graeme. A lovely group of people. Then a half hour trip down more twisty roads to the Blue Hill Bible study, which started at 7.30 pm. This ended in a time of tea and pizza, and storytelling and laughter over the hidings we had received at school in the old days when such discipline was the norm.

Keep going

I met with the “working ladies” at 4.30pm to discuss whether they wanted to be start a ladies’ ministry in Jamestown. There was a good spirit among them, and it was agreed to meet fortnightly to start with, and see how things develop.

7.00pm Graeme went off on his bike to lead the Half Tree Hollow study, and took myself off in the car to Deadwood. Both of us came home encouraged, and hopeful that the groups would continue to grow in the future.

Attached are pictures that I took on Sunday, before I heard that my dad had died.

Jonathan lives in the grounds of the governor's residence, and I see him almost once a week on route to pick up Edie for a meeting. This is a photo of Jonathan’s friend next to the tennis court – gives you an idea of just how big he is. Jonathan himself, was too far away to get a decent picture.
A close up of a sprint The roots of a tree that is literally hanging in mid air – a wonderful picture of refusing to give up.

Remember to sing

Early in the morning, I received phone call from my special friend in SA – just to to pray with me over the phone. I felt my spirit lifted. Cleaned downstairs and tidied our bedroom. Prepared for the Cape Villa Bible Study - the first one that I would be leading. Expected to only have 90 year old Edie there, but was pleasantly surprised when 4 ladies as well as the carer, and a couple from church filed into the meeting room. I was encouraged. There was a fair amount of interaction during the study, and easy friendliness and banter during tea afterwards. One mistake – of which I was reminded by the carer’s young daughter – “Why didn’t they sing?” Apparently, singing should form part of ALL meetings. I will rectify that in next week’s meeting.

Blue Monday

Woke up very early. Cried for my dad. Emailed family, Visited dogs. Hired a video that my son had said reminded him of my dad’s character – The Notebook. Tried to find the Hopkins’ home, but got lost. Visited Iva Henry. Watched “The Notebook”. There was an uncanny similarity between the character of the main male actor in the story, and that of my father, although only those who were close to him would see it.

Life and death

It is my Graeme's birthday today, and my daddy died today.

Dangers

The fruit was finally unpacked!! However, something must have gone wrong somewhere, as a lot of the goods were already mouldy and starting to go off. Luckily, I made sure that I was at "The Star" as it opened this morning, and was able to find some fairly ok pieces of fruit to last us until the end of the month. I even found 19 reasonable litchies. Graeme and I made an occasion of eating them and then planting the pips in containers. Who knows - one or 2 might germinate, and then maybe we can find a good spot to plant them, and then maybe they will grow into a decent tree, and then maybe in 7 years' time we can pick our own litchies... Who knows.

I went to try and get a new appointment to have my hair cut. Will have to wait until next Friday. In the mean time, I will just fuzz around...

Discovered that there ARE some dangers that are common to both SA and St Helena - like choosing the wrong shady spot to park your car in.....

Took a photo of a view down Market Street

Funeral

Three weeks ago, I tried to get an appointment to have my “fuzzy wuzzy hair” cut. The first appointment I could get was for today. At 12.00pm, with happy anticipation of looking a little less unkept, I toddled off to “Roots”…only to find a notice pinned to his door “All today’s appointments have been cancelled”…sigh…

Just before 2.00 pm Graeme and I (together with Vince and Vilma) made our way to the hospital, and the "chapel of rest", where Maisie’s body was waiting in the coffin.

Graeme spoke a few words, and we sang “The Lord’s my Shepherd”. The coffin was then carried to the hearse, and a procession, led by a police car, started towards the Baptist schoolroom, where the main funeral service was held.

There were many folk there – all dressed in black or a dark colour. Graeme gave a good message.

This was followed by a procession to Knollcombes cemetery (once again led by the police car). The graveside meeting. We were all standing around, waiting for the proceedings to begin,

when a Mr Huxtable tapped me on the shoulder, and whispered in my ear “Hazel, you are standing on a grave! Some folk might be offended”. Oops!

We then went to Charles’ home, which is about 100 meters away. See a path from the cemetery towards Charles' home.

Some of the church folk had helped organize tea and a few eats. A few minutes into the tea time, my Graeme says “ Everyone looks so solemn and somber – anyone would think we were at a funeral!…” Almost imperceptibly, the mood lifted, and there was more light hearted interaction between the visitors.

I was impressed at how various people had quietly shared the responsibility of arranging the many details of the funeral. There was a community spirit, and a rallying around Charles that I have not seen in SA.

Parcel arrived

Received my first parcel in the post!! Full of treats from SA. Thanks Penny.

The stores are still rather bare. We hope the fruit and veg from SA will be unpacked this afternoon, or tomorrow morning.

Cleaned house :( and caught up on my blog :) while Graeme went to visit Charles. Just as I was about to start cooking supper, I saw that Graeme had his motor bike sling bag around his shoulder. He told me that he was ” just popping in quickly” to meet the man (Carlos Yon) who represented St Helena at the Common Wealth Games in small bore rifle shooting, and who is involved in the .22 shooting club. By 10.00pm, if I was still in SA, I would have sent out a search party for him, but here on St Helena, I knew (or hoped) that he was just having a good visit, and would come home before the morning. Graeme arrived back home shortly after 10.00 pm, having spent a happy/fun time shooting at targets and getting to know Carlos.

Dining room

I looked out of the bathroom window this morning, and saw the RMS anchored in the harbor! Yippee!! In 2 or 3 days time, the goodies from SA will be cleared by customs and unpacked on the shelves.

I managed to sort out most of the boxes and things that were still in the dining room, so that it looks quite livable now.

Children’s corner. Chairs made by my father for my children at their births 33, 32 and 23 years ago.

A general view of the centre of the room.

Chairs under the windows.

As you can see, it is a LARGE room.

Graeme held a lay preachers/ strategising meeting. Good, useful discussion. Graeme and I are realizing that it is going to take time for us to get to know the islanders and their approach to life.

Maisie

10.00am we received a phone call to tell us that Maisie had just died. We went to the hospital where a few of the church members had gathered, together with Maisie’s only living relative, a brother named Charles. It was great to see how the church members rallied around Charles, but my heart goes out to him. He is an 84 year old bachelor, and has always lived in the same home as his sister. When she got married, he moved in with her and her husband. She has been a widow for the past 11 years, and the 2 of them have taken care of each other. See photo of Charles ringing the Knollcombes Chapel bell. Later in the afternoon we went to visit Sandra Peters, in whose home the Monday night Bible study was held. Her home is in Longwood/Deadwood – on the other side of the mountain from where most of our church members live. We had a good visit. Decided to change the study night to Wed. As it is a ladies’ group, I will be leading this study, while Graeme takes another group in Half Tree Hollow at the same time on Wed evenings.

Garnett's DVD's

Went to Pam and Geoff in the evening to watch their DVD’s. I chose a tongue in cheek animated nursery story with a “who done it” twist – “Hoodwinked” This was followed by Graeme’s choice – a sort of war/history story. I enjoyed both the DVD’s and the company. Pam and Geoff have a home that does not allow one to feel stiff or formal – you can just “be” with them.

Sunday Drive

My first drive along the dreaded Sandy Bay road - it should be called a “twister” rather than a road. We forgot the Agenda for the upcoming AGM, that had to be handed to the members after the Sunday service. So, while Graeme started preaching, Hazel drove home to fetch the papers, and got back in time to hear the last point of Graeme’s sermon.

On the Sandy Bay road, I spotted a bright red finch, hanging on to 2 grass stalks over the edge of the road. I could not get a photo of it, but my son John, gave me an ornament of the same bird, and I have attached a photo of that.

Graeme has started preaching through the book of Ruth. It is amazing how different preachers get different lessons from the same book. Strange to say, but I am enjoying hearing the same sermon repeated to me every Sunday. By the third hearing, I KNOW what I should be getting out of the passage. Graeme also adjusts the message slightly to suit the congregation that he is talking to.

I started taking photos of the church members so that we can start a church directory. See 2 couples - Elaine and Anthony Hopkins, then Vince and Vilma March

Blue Monday

Monday is floor cleaning day L. I drip sweat while I perform this delightful task, and am usually not in a good mood. I tried to improve my mental attitude by playing happy worship songs to work by… decided to stay miserable. I was a BAD example today. Thank God that Jesus is not self absorbed like me.
3.00 pm Went to visit our dogs. Felt even more sorry for myself. The little dears hardly play with us any more.
5.00pm is time to water the pots that we planted our litchi pips in. A few of them have germinated and have tiny little shoots that have appeared above the soil. When I checked them, I found that 3 of the shoots had had their tops pecked off, and one had shriveled in the hot sun. I decided to move the pots to a spot under an extended piece of roofing where they would be more sheltered. As I was bending down, I suddenly felt wings swooshing over my back, accompanied by shrill screeching!! The *#! myna bird was dive bombing me!! He sat on the garden wall just above me, and continued to shriek at me. I told him what I thought of him, and bent down to pick up the next pot. The little so-and-so repeated the performance from a different direction! I am convinced that it was him that pecked the tops off our seedlings, and he was now objecting to having them moved to a spot that is less accessible to him. I know mynas are very territorial, but this is ridiculous. In a strange way, this confrontation with the myna cheered me up…. Perverse human that I am …
In the evening, my son, John, “chatted” with me via the internet. It was good to have contact with him, and be reassured that he is doing well.

Blue Monday

Monday is floor cleaning day. I drip sweat while I perform this delightful task, and am often not in a good mood. I tried to improve my mental attitude by playing happy worship songs to work by… decided to stay miserable. I was a BAD example today. Thank God that Jesus is not self absorbed like me.
3.00 pm Went to visit our dogs. Felt even more sorry for myself. The little dears hardly play with us any more.
5.00pm is time to water the pots that we planted our litchi pips in. A few of them have germinated and have tiny little shoots that have appeared above the soil. When I checked them, I found that 3 of the shoots had had their tops pecked off, and one had shriveled in the hot sun. I decided to move the pots to a spot under an extended piece of roofing where they would be more sheltered. As I was bending down, I suddenly felt wings swooshing over my back, accompanied by shrill screeching!! The resident *#! myna bird was dive bombing me!! He sat on the garden wall just above me, and continued to shriek at me. I told him what I thought of him, and bent down to pick up the next pot. The little so-and-so repeated the performance from a different direction! I am convinced that it was him that pecked the tops off our seedlings, and he was now objecting to having them moved to a spot that is less accessible to him. I know mynas are very territorial, but this is ridiculous. In a strange way, this confrontation with the myna cheered me up…. Perverse human that I am …
In the evening, my son, John, “chatted” with me via the internet. It was good to have contact with him, and be reassured that he is doing well.

Bookcases

Graeme decided that he needs to work on his fitness levels, so we took a walk into town, and the foot of Jacob’s ladder. I popped in to the museum, while Graeme climbed 100 of the 699 stairs. He was not even breathless!!

Back home, we realized that the shelves that we were going to put the National Geographics on, would be too weak to hold their weight. I now have to remove books that I unpacked onto the bookcase in the entrance hall, and pack them back into boxes, in order to make place for the National Geographics…Grrhhh! Graeme was offered some wood, and he plans to build a big bookcase that will hold all his theological books. Until this book case is built, they will have to live in the boxes that they arrived in.

See photo of the front view of the manse, and a close up of the bougainvillea plant that grows in the corner . A lovely splash of colour.