Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of our arrival on St Helena. No drum rolls or thunder and lightning, but we have many, many things to thank the Lord for during this time.

One year ago, it was just Graeme and I living at the manse. Then in Feb, Clawd was deposited in our back yard. At the end of May our "girls" (Cho and Abi) came home. Arthur arrived at the end of June. And now we have Missy. A full house (or is it a mad manse?...)

All 3 human Becketts now receive some sort of payment for their services. Paying work of any kind, anywhere, is a gift from God - but work for a non Saint on St Helena is REALLY a gift from God.

Arthur seems to be progressing well with his studies for his 'O' levels. He meets every week with a few young adults; has spoken a few times on the radio; takes 2 Bible studies a week; preaches once a month; and works about 6 hours a day at The Consulate.

Besides the church work, Graeme and I have made a few good friends - both in the church and outside of it. Graeme often gets asked to play his trumpet, and I just play with the children.

We are getting the hang of shopping (a skill not easily learnt on St Helena) and I am now accustomed to improvising in the kitchen. Gone are the days when I could go out and buy all the ingredients needed for a recipe.

No rain or thunder or lightning - only mist and drizzle. Hardly any gogo's (creepy crawlies). No TV or cell phones or traffic lights or airoplanes or street children or murders or muggings or shopping malls or Sunday shopping or mosques or ATM's or credit cards or wide open spaces or beaches or, or, or. A VERY different place.

Tomato plants

The soil in Jamestown is very poor. Even the weeds are dying in the little garden at the back of the manse. So, when I was given 2 young tomato plants, I planted them in buckets that I filled with good soil and compost. I was very pleased to see tiny little tomatoes forming on one of the plants. Perhaps we can get a "container garden" going.

Coffee Morning

The 2nd BWA coffee morning. Although fewer ladies attended, we still managed to raise 481 pounds towards the restoration of our chapel. Once again, the ladies were wonderful in the way that they all worked together to make everything happen. In total, over 1,000 pounds has been raised by the 2 coffee mornings. Although it has been a good effort, we still need to raise a further 19,000 pounds. A long way still to go. Our next planned money raising venture is an Easter Fair, with stands and games etc, and will include the efforts of the menfolk in the church.

After the eating and drinking was finished, I gave my testimony and we then had a sing-along.

In the evening, Graeme played his trumpet at a street party where money was collected towards assisting the families of patients who need to go to SA for medical treatment. It is amazing how many collections are made on the Island towards some charity or the other - and the people always give generously.

Coffee Morning

Preparations for our 2nd coffee morning are now in full swing. I could not get hold of the place where we borrowed tables from last time, but Hazel Wilmot kindly agreed to lend us 10 tables with their table cloths. A bunch of ladies all pooled their energies and ideas, and we hope that things will go smoothly - even though there are 2 other "events" being held on the same day.

I seriously started doubting my sanity today, as I looked at our "family" of pets. Why could I not have ignored the little kitten that was rejected by all the other cats? Why do I have a "bleeding heart"? BUT they are all getting on well - Abi even tried to join in when Claud and Missy were playing 'hide and seek' around the furniture in the lounge. They like sleeping together, and being in the same room with the humans. AND we regularly have children asking to come and visit our pets.

Post

We were delighted to receive a parcel from our 2 children in Europe. Lots of lovely goodies as well as parcels wrapped in Christmas paper, that are to be saved for Christmas day.
It was the usual busy Tuesday - a quick bit of house cleaning in the early morning; 9am - leave for the Sandy Bay BWA at 10.00am; back to the Consulate at 12.00 noon; the Cape Villa Bible study at 5.00pm; followed by the Jamestown Bible study at 7.30pm.

Sucker

My "Sucker" button (as well as Graeme's) was properly pressed - I brought Missy home. The dogs were quite unperturbed by her, and she just wanted them to be her friend. She kept purring and rubbing herself up against Abi. Abi just gave her "the stare" and walked away. Clawd was a little put out by the usurper of his position as "the cat", but I am sure he will come around.

The Half Tree Hollow Bible study was cancelled once again. Arthur is considering changing it to a once a month evangelistic outreach meeting. Saints appear to prefer "events" to regular meetings. We can only try, and trust the Lord to lead us.

Out of alignment

My left knee and hip have been troubling me quite a bit, so I tried to make an appointment with the physio, but was told that I need to be referred by a doctor. I saw Dr Bloem, who seemed to think that I did not need physio, but should rather wear my boots for a few days and see whether my leg/knee/foot would not align properly again. (They were pulled out of alignment, and badly broken 10 years ago in a motor car accident) So-o-o back into my ugly boots I went. I could immediately feel the pull on my knee, and inner thigh. The pain was quite bad on the first day, but has gradually lessened. I am happy to say that I dress funny, but walk better and with less pain. Luckily, the island is not known for its fashion consciousness, so no one even seems to notice that I am wearing hiking boots and a skirt....

Consulate Kitten

Hazel Wilmot has a number of cats that she cares for in the back of the hotel - 2 litters that she has taken in and had spayed and neutered and innoculated. Word obviously got out. This morning she found a new little ginger cat that had been left on the hotel steps. It is sick, but so-o-o cute. I felt my "you are a sucker" button being pushed. The kitten was taken to the vet, and given an antibiotic injection, vitamin injection, and front line.

Although Hazel W is a hard worker, and expects her staff to earn their wages, she also has a very generous spirit. We are slowly becoming friends.

I went to lace class in the evening, Arthur waited on tables (the consulate hosted a party of 30 people and needed extra help) and Graeme took the Bible studies in Sandy Bay and Blue Hill

CAN France

On the way to work this morning, I got a few pics of the helicopter and CAN France men at work again. First they drilled holes in the hills on either side of Jamestown, then they filled them with cement, which was delivered by the helicopter, hanging from the end of a rope. Now the helicopter started delivering poles with netting wound up around them, and the men are fixing these into the cement filled holes. Next they will unravel the netting that is attached to the poles, and hopefully we will have a little protection from rocks that come lose and tumble down the mountain and knock holes into chapels and manses.

The hills are now dotted with the poles that have been dropped by the 'copter. See Jacobs Ladder in the right top corner of the photo and little grey "sticks" in the foreground - these are the poles.

I did not feel up to going to Deadwood in the evening. Then Prudie (from Jamestown) phoned and asked to come with me. I had to buckle up, and put a smile on my dial, and go. In the end, we had a very good time of looking at the Scriptures, and praying and sharing.

Remembrance Sunday

Graeme attended the Remembrance Sunday service at the square in Jamestown (of course he blew his trumpet) while I went to Sandy Bay and Head O'Wain with Arthur. He preached on the 4th chpt of Amos. I enjoy his style of preaching.
After the morning services, instead of doing some much needed house work, I spent the afternoon sleeping on the couch in the lounge with Clawd on my chest. I awoke refreshed and ready for the evening service.

Graeme has started a Men's Breakfast once a month - they meet at 8.00am in the school room, and appear to have a good time of eating, chatting and praying, without the restraining presence of the womenfolk.

We planned a picnic at Rosemary Plain for the Good News children today. 3 enthusiasts turned up. They asked to take the pugs with us. Although we were only a few, we had a good time. First, Nick took the children for a walk, then the children took the dogs for a walk, then we got to chatting a bit about the children's interests and what they do outside of school time. Last of all, we collected pine cones that we hope to spray with silver paint (i.e. if we can find any in the shops)

A view of the sea from Rosemary Plain

In the afternoon, Arthur and I went to visit the Williams while Graeme worked in his study. Arthur met with the 2 teenagers for a Bible study, while I visited with Tammy and Gavin. It is good to talk to people who love the Lord, and are not hesitant to share their opinions and concerns.

Hi from Hazel

It has been a VERY long time since I last put anything on my blog. Apologies. The main problem has been the constant exceding of our internet allowance. I got fed up and went to ask for advice from Cable & Wireless on Thursday, and they seemed to think that it was very possible that I had picked up a virus which was sucking up megabytes. It appears that they were right. Graeme spent most of yesterday installing Avast on my computer, and then scanning my files. Hopefully there will be more regular updates from now on - and less internet unhappiness in our home....

I will try and catch up with island news from when I last "blogged" - 20th October. Shame on me!

The Baptist women are gearing up for the next coffee morning - Sat 27th. Brenda Thomas and Maureen Terry have made very nice Christmas table decorations by spray painting pine cones and things. The Sandy Bay ladies gave up on the idea of transforming old men's shorts into hand bags after the needles started breaking on their sewing machines as they tried to sew through the thick layers of fabric. They told me not to worry - they have other things to sell.
There is a lot of phoning and organising to be done in the next few days.

Whirley Bird

I woke up this morning to a familiar sound - a helicopter. At least it was familiar in SA. We used to live near a highway, and the helicopters did highway patrolling as well as searching for escaped prisoners - we also lived a few Km away from the prison....

On St Helena Island, however, this is a huge novelty. The helicopter is being used by CAN France to drop off buckets of cement and poles etc where the men are working to put up safety nets that will hopefully hold back any future rock falls.

Frustration

I am starting to feel comfortable in my new job - comfortable around the staff that I work with, as well as with the actual work.
The frustration is that I have so little time to do the other things that need my attention - keeping the manse clean and tidy; washing and ironing; preparing for the Bible studies that I lead; admin and craft work for the BWA's, etc. And to make matters worse, there are some days that my legs work reasonably well, and I can get things done; then others, when for no reason that I know of, they simply will not follow the instructions that my brain sends them...
Graeme has been wonderful in that he has taken on the responsibility of washing the dishes and tidying the kitchen, so I usually come home to a tidy kitchen. Then, within minutes, I manage to mess it up again - much to Graeme's chagrin.

Wrong Rule Soccer

4 children showed up at Good News Club. The main attraction was the planned activity after the lesson i.e. “wrong rule” soccer in the Pilling School grounds across the road. I proudly brought out orange and apple quarters to eat after the game, thinking that they were a treat – only to be told that none of them eat fruit! Not to worry - us adults tucked in to them.
"Wrong rule soccer"?? One messes with the normal rules of the game, and makes up similar, but wrong rules. The lesson is a good one (I think) i.e. Instead of following God's rules for salvation and godly living as found in the Bible, we make up our own, and think that we can still call the game "soccer".

Any Celebration will do

Sun 31st Oct and Fri 5th Nov
The Saints love “celebrations” of any sort. We had children “trick or treat”ing before church on Sunday evening, and calling out “penny for a guy” early on Friday morning.