Catching up

The past week has had its “challenges” – one of which was a problem with my computer. Thankfully, it is up and running again. Below is a “catch up” of news over the past week.

Thurs 29/07/2010

Had to hand wind 58 bobbins for my lace class this evening! My fingers went into cramp before I finished the task. I have been given a pattern for a circular piece of lace that will be attached to a small round cloth.

Fri 30/07/2010
I am beginning to feel like a Jamestown Saint! I recognised that 2 ladies entering a shop were not locals. (Not difficult, as they both had long blonde hair – blondes are a dime a dozen in SA, and go unnoticed in a crowd, but here they are the exception). It turned out that they were part of the crew of a VERY large yacht that had called in for the day.

Arthur went out for his usual Friday evening with a group of friends, and Graeme and I took ourselves off to Anne’s Place for some gruyper and chips. It used to be a sort of open air restaurant, with flags sown together as a canopy. Later on, a roof was erected over the eating area, but the flags were retained as a ceiling. They cater especially for the “yachties” that call on the island. We saw the 2 blondes eating with friends at a nearby table. Graeme got chatting with one of the men, and found out that they belonged to the huge yacht, and were leaving straight after their meal.
After our good meal, Graeme and I went to see whether we could spot the sails being hoisted as the big yacht sailed away in the dark. To our disappointment, it sailed away on engine power.

However, by cupping my eyes to shut out the street lights, I did see the most beautiful view of the milky way. The planet venus shone so big and bright that it left a reflection (like miniature moonlight) on the sea. The stars were so big and clear that it felt as if I could touch them. The last time I saw stars like that was when we lived in Kokstad, SA, about 25 years ago. Kokstad has a very high altitude, (making it closer to the stars than most other towns) and we lived in a farm cottage far away from pollution or city lights. The sky used to look like navy blue velvet onto which someone had thrown a handful of diamonds and diamond dust.

Sat 31/07/2010
Good News Club was disheartening today. One of the regular girls no longer attends because of a squabble with another girl. It just so happened that the lesson that I had prepared was on forgiveness. The children all agreed that they were happy to avail themselves of Christ’s forgiveness of their own wrong doings, but that there was no way that they were going to be “easy forgivers” when others wronged them... They simply could not understand that there was a condition in the words “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us”.

Although Tammy Williams put a lovely ad in the paper about the 2pm teens Bible study with Arthur, only 2 teens attended. They did, however, appear to be warming to Arthur, and were more relaxed with him than they were last week.

Where, on this planet, is a cabbage more expensive than a big, fat bacon steak? Only on St Helena. There was no price to be seen near the cabbages, so , thinking that they could not be that expensive, I took one to the till – only to see the cashier ringing up 2.74 pounds! The bacon steak that would be our protein for the evening came to about 2.10 pounds. Winter is drawing to an end, and I am definitely going to make an attempt at growing my own vegetables.

Tues 02/08/2010
We decided that we would give the Sandy Bay BWA ladies a break from my teaching, and that Arthur should address them instead. I am going through the gospel of Mark with them, and we have reached chapter 8 from where the story shows Christ as “setting his face towards Jerusalem” where he would be crucified. Arthur took us through Revelation chpt 4 & 5 that deal with John’s vision of Christ as “the Lamb upon the Throne”. It will good to keep the end glory in mind, while continuing with the story of the crucifixion next week.
Our evening Bible study was badly attended as folk went to a “requiem mass” for one of their friends that died recently. He was an Anglican. So, instead of our regular Bible study, we watched the DVD “The Passion of the Christ”. A movie that cannot leave one unmoved. Not entirely true to Scripture, but very thought provoking.

Thurs 05/08/2010
Had coffee with Elza and Bev for the last time before Elza goes away for 8 weeks – 6 of which will be in South Africa. Elza was all excited with anticipation, and I was jealous.
Asthma playing up a bit, and I was feeling homesick. I even longed to be on that l-o-n-g straight road between Warden and Villiers in the Free State... For those who do not know this stretch of road - it is straight as an arrow, with only flat farmland on either side for scenery, and is about 130 km long. Usually, a mind numbingly boring stretch to travel. But all I could think of was wide open spaces where one can see for miles and miles.

Then Arthur put a screen saver on his new computer of an elephant running on a wide open plain, with trees and mountains in the distance. Oh, how I longed for Africa!
Just before I got all weepy and sorry for myself, I managed to remember to “fix my eyes on Jesus” who willingly left the wide open spaces of heaven to come to live on earth for us. I wonder whether He ever felt “homesick” ?