Strange friends

I wish I had my camera handy today. Clawd is now allowed to run free outside. He usually goes down the alley between the manse and the chapel, crawls under the door at the end of the alley, and goes to play in the road. He then comes home when he is in the mood, by jumping over the stable door near the kitchen. I have seen him playing with a ginger cat, and we even had an occassion when a neighbour brought him home because Clawd was playing and biting his ankles and climbing the ladder while he was trying to paint his outside wall.
Anyway, I spotted Clawd moving down the alley. Moments later I heard our well behaved dog, Cho, barking in the alley. Cho seldom barks, so I went to see what the problem was. To my amazement I saw Clawd trying to help Cho get out under the alley door....

Sunday School

Sunday School started off with only 2 children - there was some kind of parade that most of them were attending. In the end, we had 2 new children attending. Vontray is determined to get a prize on 18th July, and is making a concerted effort to round up new comers! Miss Henry (an older church member) lives opposite Renee, and has offered to teach her her memory verse each week.
Arthur went to the country services with Graeme. I think he is struggling to come to terms with how different EVERYTHING is on this Island.
A fair number came to the Jamestown evening service.

Unpacking

We woke late. Graeme had to rush off to record next week's "thought for the day" for the radio. Art and I chatted a bit, then I toddled off to do some shopping. While walking down the road, I heard someone calling "Hazel! Hazel!" from one of the windows. The Salvation Army has a second hand clothing shop. The lady that helps out, remembered my clothing size from when I had visited them about 2 months ago. They had received a new load of things, and she had picked out some brand new pants and T shirts for me to try on .....
The rest of the day was spent finding new places to store things, and just enjoying having a home with more family in it. 7 months ago there was just Graeme and I living in the manse. Then came Clawd. A few months later we got "our girls" back from quarantine. Now one of our children has come to stay for a year or 2. It means a lot more work keeping the manse tidy but also a lot more love and interaction.
We are very grateful to the folk that helped in various ways to arrange for Arthur to get both himself and his luggage from Durban to St Helena.
Later in the afternoon, Nick's son, Henry, phoned to ask Arthur to join them this evening.

Arthur is here!

Graeme and I woke with happy hearts this morning, knowing that our younger son, Arthur, would soon be part of our lives again. At 7.50am the RMS hooter sounded, announcing that the anchor had been dropped. We started dressing and getting ready to go down to the wharf. At about 9.15 am Arthur arrived at the customs shed. With happy hearts we went to the coffee shop to have breakfast. Art was feeling "land sick" and only had something to drink. (His first 2 days at sea were plagued by sea sickness, and now that he was on land, the queeziness had set in again) A photo of him adjusting his glasses.

Nick Thorpe kindly helped to transport his hold luggage later in the day. Our lounge once again looked like it did when we first arrived. Arthur had come prepared - lots of good books, CD's and DVD's. (The photo is a bit blurred, but it gives a general idea).

We ended the day by attending the sandy Bay Bible study and then the Blue Hill one.

Happy Sunday

The regular group of children attended Sunday School, and then insisted on coming over to the manse to play with the pets. Abi was sitting on my lap, and as usual, started making her happy snorting sound. An amazed Renee informed me that "one grunt came out."
I had to insist that the children went home after only one hour of play, as I had agreed to give a celebratory meal at the manse for the Williams clan (8 of them) before the baptismal service in the evening, and I still had to cook it. I made good old South African milk tarts, and good old Saint Helenian plo. We ate at 5.00 pm, and then went over to the school room at about 6.30 pm.
During the service, Colin gave us a short version of his life story and the circumstances that caused him to come to faith in Christ. He also told us about the Christian work that he is doing on the Falklands. It was so refreshing to hear someone speak who is so obviously in love with Jesus.
The water in the baptismal pool was discoloured and very cold, but Colin and Graeme stayed in it as we sang the hymn that he had requested - "He is Lord". A lovely photo of Colin with his mom and dad.
After the service, Graeme gave an open invitation to anyone who felt so inclined, to come for a cup of tea to the manse. 14 folk arrived... Thank the Lord for dish washers!!

Preparations for Sunday

Our son, Arthur, is finally on the RMS and on his way to St Helena. He boarded the ship at 12.30 pm SA time, and Graeme made a "last call" to him on his cell phone. Roll on Thursday, when he disembarks in Jamestown.

A young man, Colin Williams, who works on the Falklands has come home for a short visit to his family. His parents and brother and sister are very active members in our church. He was chatting to Graeme after the Thursday Bible study, and said that he would like to be baptised - but it would have to be this Sunday, as he was returning to the Falklands before next Sunday. (Isn't it great that Teddy and Trevor had already cleared away most of the rubble in the chapel.) Although the chapel still looks sad, we could access the baptismal pool. There is an interleading door from the school room where we hold our services, into the chapel, and it would simply be a case of the congregation walking from the one room to the other.
Colin and his brother, Nick, spent the afternoon tidying the area around the baptismal pool and cleaning out the debris that had fallen into it during the rock fall. Graeme monitored the filling of the pool during the course of the afternoon.

Cats rule

I have become rather attached to my little Clawd. He wakes me up in the mornings, purring in my ear, then follows me to the bathroom and plays in the water in the basin while I brush my teeth. He loves to sit near me while I work. He regularly jumps onto my shoulder an asks for a cuddle. But he also likes to romp, and claw and bite - both Graeme and I have the marks to prove it.

He started running away when we let him out to have a wee. Graeme and I looked pathetic as we searched and called for him in the road. (Graeme is also fond of him) He would answer our call, run up to our outstretched hand, tap it, and then run away again before we could catch him. I decided to simply leave the back door open so that he could come and go as he pleases. Now he hardly ever stays out for more than a few minutes....

Abi loves to chase him, but he definitely has the upper hand.

A rather more contented cat now, than what he was when I found him

Queen's Birthday Party

Graeme and I received an invitation to attend a garden party at the governor's residence - Plantation House - in honour of the Queen's birthday. The dress code on the invitation stated that "hats may be worn" and as well as that uniforms and medals should be worn, where possible. Graeme (seen here with father Fred - in his uniform) was happy to oblige. So was this lady - seen with bishop John Salt.

No sooner were we home, than we had to change to go to Elaine Hopkins' 40th birthday party. A very "birthday partyish" Saturday.

Sunday Gift

Graeme came home from the country services with a packet that he was given by Alwyn Richards, one of the church folk who has a small holding with all sorts of animals and things. When we opened it, we found out that he had listened well when we visited them about a month ago. During the course of our conversations, Graeme had told him that he enjoys hot chillis, and I had told him that I had cooked wild hares and guinea fowl for my family when money was short, and we could not afford butcher's meat.
You guessed it - the packet contained a good bunch of SUPER hot chillis, and 2 skinned and frozen rabbits. (Rabbits - small wild ones - are a pest on St Helena, and love to eat from the vegetable gardens that the folk try to keep).
Graeme cleaned and pickled the chillis, and I will be making a rabbit casserole during the week.

Pets at peace

Our pets seem to have accepted each other. Clawd no longer shows any fear of the "girls" - respect, but no fear. Abi loves to chase him, but usually when he baits her by slowly walking past her nose, then running away. He jumps up onto chairs, and then swipes at Abi as she passes; or he hides underneath the side board or some other inaccessible place and taunts Abi from his secure position - only to dash out again and resume the fun.

Clawd likes to share the dog food when he gets the chance, and they don't seem to mind too much.

Our night times usually start off with only Graeme and I in the bed, but we wake up with the dogs having found a spot at our feet, and Clawd sleeping somewhere in the middle - one big happy family.

Quiz

The RMS is celebrating its 20th year of existence with a number of functions. Tonight, they had a quiz where teams of 6 to 8 members answered general knowledge questions. All participants paid 2 pounds registration fee, and the winning team received all the takings towards their favourite charity.

The baptists decided to enter as well - perhaps we could boost our rockfall fund. Our team consisted of Graeme and myself, Vincent and Vilma, Geoff and Madison.


We were surprised to see how many people were participating - 208 in all.There were teams trying to raise money towards all sorts of things - Girl guides; nature conservation; new medical equipment; care for the aged; etc, etc. Unfortunately, we did not win. The ladies from the Arts and Crafts did. Their organisation tries to supply material (fabric, thread, paint etc) to the local crafters at affordable prices. They also then sell the crafts that the locals produce. Their business was floundering, and they were delighted at the new injection of funds.

Lace class

I have now finished my 3rd lace bookmarker, and am preparing to start a set of glass mats/coasters. The craft is beginning to "get under my skin" in the good sense of the word. These are my efforts since joining the classes.

Graeme went to the country Bible studies on his motor bike this evening. His music stand was inside one of the sling bags on his back. While on route to the 2nd study, he noticed that it had fallen out of his bag. He retraced his steps, looking carefully to see whether he could find it. He finally gave up, and went on to Blue Hill, arriving 30 mins late. When he tried to explain why he was late, Vincent and them already knew about the problem, and told him that someone had already found the stand on the side of the road, and phoned to tell Vincent to tell Graeme not to worry...

Planning

Our Jamestown BWA this afternoon was spent in planning and allocating duties for the planned Coffee Morning and craft sale on 10 July. The proceeds to go towards the restoration fund for the chapel. I am encouraged by the joint efforts that are being made by the ladies.
The Deadwood Bible study at 7.30pm was only attended by Sandra and Ethel. We had the required "sing along" anyway, followed by a time of prayer and sharing.

Great disappointment

In 2003, experts who regularly check the hills for loose rocks that might fall into Jamestown, had warned the St Helenian Government that a rockfall was imminent, in the very spot that the Aug 2008 rockfall happened. Nothing was done about the warning. In August 2008, 300 tons of rock rolled down the hillside in the middle of the day, and most of it landed on the baptist properties. It is only God's providence that no one was hurt.

Today, Graeme and some of our deacons and fellow claimants met with the public solicitor, who was representing us in our claim for compensation from the Government. The sad outcome of it all was that the claimants felt obliged to abandon the case. The Government had demonstrated its willingness to incur excessive legal costs by instructing barristers in the UK to represent them, which was way out of our league in financial risk. It appears that the Government fears massive claims in the future, should there be a more catastrophic rockfall. If they paid us out, it would have created a precedent that they could not afford. Everyone is now being encouraged to take out their own insurance against rockfall damage.


As far as the chapel is concerned : in anticipation of receiving money from the Government, Trevor and Teddy have cleared the rubble and tidied up the chapel quite considerably. We have purchased the sheeting to replace the roof, but need money to afford the labour, which will be quite significant. We also need to repair the gallery and the holes in the wall near it.
Another setback is that the schoolroom which we reopend with such joy about 6 months ago, is in need of further maintenance. The back wall has land fill right up against it, and the recent rains have highlighted the problem.
The manse roof needs replacing, and the chapels in the country need repairs. We were hoping to attend to all of these maintenance needs with the anticipated money from the Government.

Instead of looking to the UK Government for the funds that we need, we are reminded that we should be looking to the Lord of all the earth to supply our needs.