Lemon Valley

St Helena is a strange place.  They have Anglican church special days as public holidays.  (Today was Whit Monday)  I am not used to this.  So, I checked the calendar to see whether I had heard right, and there was no indication that it was a UK public holiday, so.... silly Hazel trots off down the road to work.  It was eerie how quiet everything was - no cars or people in the street.  But it was only when I got to the Consulate, and Ronnie gave me a pitying smile (he was the only one on duty that day) that I realised that it really was a public holiday.  So I trundled back up the hill, and decided to tackle a mountain of ironing that was piling up.

I had ironed a few shirts when the phone rang, and Nick Thorpe invited us to "come and play" for the afternoon at Lemon Valley.  I did not wait for a second invitation.  All 5 Becketts took off to join the Thorpes'.

We boarded a small ferry at the Jamestown wharf, and then had to transfer to an even smaller little boat inorder to be able to reach the landing platform.

Lemon valley is a popular picnic spot.

 A big cave where we sat and ate our lunch.

 Distinct layers of clay, and volcanic ash can be seen.


  Small rocks form a sort of "beach".

 The agile and energetic ones moved from the cave and climbed over the big rocks to a spot where they could get into the sea to swim.

Hannah was handed from one person to the next.  Luckily, she enjoys company.  Here she is with Danny.

When the rain started, she sheltered under an umbrella with Lolly's mom.

Looking out from the landing at our mode of transport back to Jamestown.  I could not help feeling a little isolated.

All in all, it was a most enjoyable day.

Father and daughter

A slightly different "father and daughter" photo....

Graeme back from Ascension

Graeme arrived back from Ascension at about 3pm today. He and Vince had a profitable time meeting with, and encouraging the handful of Christians that live there.  They found that denominational differences faded amongst the group of about 12 or 15, and they simply enjoyed worshipping together.

 It was good to have him home again.

 Here are a few pictures that he took while there.

A turtle heading for the sea, and craters and tracks on another beach, made by the turtles.  Ascension is famous for it's turtles

Comfortless Cove.  Volcanic rock surrounding a small beach.  It got its name because in the 1800's a ship with a crew sick with scarlet fever tried to land.  Those who were sick were quarantined in this little cove and died there.     The little white house is where the underwater telephone cable (that was used before the days of satelite communication) came up out of the sea

Georgetown - photo taken from Cross Hill

Rocks and cinders cover most of the island.  Recently a kind of thorny scrub from Mexico has started appearing.

                                                                            A marker to One Boat.    For some strange reason, the folk leave the trophies that they win (not the valuable ones) at this sight, and no one takes them away.

Green Mountain and the Red Lion - a boarding house that was built in the 1860's  (with Graeme standing in the foreground)

St Mary's of Ascension.  The Anglican place of worship built in the 1840's

Father Chris Brown (with whom Graeme stayed) and Pussycat, who always joined Graeme and Chris for morning and evening prayers.

Vincent March, getting reading to board the RMS, and looking forward to going home to St Helena.

Strange visitor

On my way out of the house this morning, I spotted a strange visitor reclining on the mat in the dining room.  How he got there, and where he came from is a mystery to me.  I took a photo next to a pink pen to give you some idea of his size (I am assuming that the worm is a male) 

I deposited him in the dust bin, and hope he had a pleasant remainder of the day.

Dressed for church

Danny has been given a bunch of adorable little outfits for Hannah, and she likes to dress her up for church.

She is such a delight to me.  The best part of my day is when I get home from the Consulate in the evening and can hold her, play with her, tickle her, etc etc.  It just makes all the stress of the day seep away.  Her eyes have turned blue, and her black baby hair is falling out and being replaced with light brown hair that has a ginger tinge to it when the light shines on it.  She has 2 teeth, and loves company.

My Mom

This morning, at 6.00am SA time, my dear mother went to be with her Lord.  (I do not have any photos of  her to put on the blog, as Graeme took my laptop with him to Ascension.)  She lived from 27.09.1926 to 02.05.2012.
I am so-o-o grateful that I was able to spend a week visiting her and my brother in March. Playing Scrabble... being silly at the Milky Lane... chatting about the Lord.
My mom and I often did not see eye to eye on different matters (she could often be a pain in the neck - just like I am to my children) but I loved her dearly.  She taught me to have fun and to laugh; to be hospitable; to be generous.  She was also the most influencial person in my life as far as my faith is concerned.  She prayed "the sinner's prayer" with me when I was 4 years old; she took me to prayer meetings, campaigns, church services, Sunday School, almost from when I can remember.  She taught me to love the Scriptures, and the importance of adjusting my life to conform with what it teaches. We often had long chats about what the Lord means to us, and our struggles to live the Christian life.  We sang and prayed together.  I will miss her terribly.