Resurface after a VERY long break

I have had a VERY long break from blogging.  "Life" just got in the way.  Well, here goes to try and give an idea of the happenings within the Beckett family on St Helena over the past few months. I will start with the most recent, and then move on backwards in time.

11 Nov 2012   The people that were responsible for arranging the remembrance day parade ( a big affair on St Helena) felt that the bag pipes should not be included in the ceremony....  So Graeme and John Reid (his bag pipe teacher and new found friend) decided to have their own ceremony at the back of John's property at Luffkins. Graeme sounded the last post, then John played the pipes (I forget the name of the piece of music).

Then the minute's silence, then Graeme played reveille.

Afterwards, Graeme had a blow on the pipes.

5 Nov 2012   The Beckett junior family after one year of marriage

Graeme has started learning to play the bag pipes!!  For those of you who know Graeme better, this will come as a big shock.  Here he is waxing cord to fix the fitting of the pipes into each other.

The Parade   Soon after John's departure there was a parade in aid of cancer awareness.
Arthur and Abi dressed for the occasion.

Danny with her mom and Hannah, watching the parade go by.

Other scenes from the parade

 Hannah's impression of all the fuss...

13 October 2012  The farewell to John was difficult for me.  Here are a few photos at the wharf before him and Tetyana left to spend a short holiday in SA before returning to their home in The Netherlands.  Only God knows when we will see each other again.

Just before John went back to Holland, Arthur shaved his hair off.  So.. John followed suit.  Don't I have handsome sons????

My Sunday school classes are not limited to children only...
A class made up of a baby, a dog and a teenager.

A class where the cat supervised the handwork.

One day John and I went over to Levelwood to help Arthur set up home.  Here John and Art are up to mischief together.

Towards the end of September, Arthur received a call from Social Services offering him government accommodation in Levelwood.  It is an old school that has been converted into small flats.  Here is the view from the back of their new home.  It is VERY cold and wet in that area.  It takes about a 25 minute drive from the manse to Arthur's home

A close up of the peach blossoms at the back of Arthur's new home.

Before coming here, John asked what the weather was like.  I told him to expect hot, tropical weather.  I was WRONG.  It was cold and wet most of the time that they were with us (it still is).  Graeme took John and Tetyana and me on a drive around the island.  As you can see, it was cold and windy.

After the cold trip around the island, we stopped at Knollcombes.  Near Charles Thomas's house I saw olives on a tree for the first time.

  A lonely little red flower.  It reminded me that I must bloom wherever the Lord "plants" me.

13 September 2012  I just happened to have the ingredients in my kitchen to make borsch (a Ukranian vegetable soup that includes beetroot), so Tetyana showed me how to make it.  Here we have Arthur looking on rather dubiously as she dished up the rather red soup.  Tasted good.

John and his partner, Tetyana (Ukranian) arrived on 13 Sept to visit us for a month.  Here are Danny, Arthur, John, Tetyana and Hannah on the wharf shortly after their arrival.

Hazel and Hannah having fun together

01 Sept 2012   Although Clarence (Danny's dad) is older than both Graeme and I, he is fitter and more agile.  He offered to help clean the manse windows before our son, John, came for a visit in Sept/ Oct.