Mother Cat

The roadsides are often lined with a prickly plant (not quite a thorn) These are now in bloom, and are rather pretty. After the 2 morning services, I tried to cook a decent meal, as we had been eating very scrappily for the past few days. After lunch at 2.00 pm, we went to the Community Care Centre for a sing along and a short talk and visit with the old folk –a good number are over 90 years old and still fairly active!
After we got home, I took a walk down the street to see whether I could locate Thursday’s mother. No one home at the first 2 doors that I knocked at. At the third home, the lady was standing in her doorway. BINGO!
About a week ago, she heard mewing coming from their store room, and found a wild cat there with 3 kittens. The cat had not given birth there, but had carried them to this home from wherever she had birthed them. She must have dropped Thursday en route to their home. I was allowed to look at the mother cat – she was very wild – and her 3 kittens looked just like Thursday! The people were not, however, willing to let me bring Thursday to join the litter, as they felt that the mother would reject him after such a long separation, and after being handled by me for a few days. I remain the surrogate mother.
The Jamestown evening service was attended by about 25 of the O’Bey family members. (We have received several good comments about the way Graeme handled the funeral.) They swelled our usual numbers rather significantly.

Visits

Good News Club went a bit better this week. Two of the boys pitched up half an hour early to play table tennis .
The children were fairly attentive to the talk, and stayed behind happily to make cards or play table tennis. I showed Thursday to them – lots of oo’s and aah’s. I asked the girls whether any of them had a doll’s bottle that I could borrow. None were willing to part with their treasures.
Trotted down the road for a quick lace making check up with Wanda.
We visited 2 families between 2.00 pm and 7.30 pm. I had to take Thursday with me to feed between visits. The one lady was quite distressed when she saw him – she thought that I had brought him to her as a gift , and she does not like cats!! I thought that I did not like them either - that is, until this little creature landed up abandoned in my back yard.
It is amazing how many of the folk are related in some way or another.

Success

The day has been spent centred around the kitten. I went up the road and asked a few neighbours whether anyone had a cat that had had kittens. No one. Those that had cats, had tom cats. My sister-in-law who has several cats, emailed me to give me advice. I found out that kittens will not wee or poop unless their mothers lick/ rub their tummies. It acts as a stimulant. I decided against licking , and settled on rubbing the little tike’s stomach. 3 feeding sessions and plenty of rubbing later, I was getting a bit worried, because its stomach was hard and bloated, but I was getting no "reaction". The 6 o’clock feed brought success! His tummy went soft, and he settled in my hand, and started purring for the first time. I decided to call him "Thursday" – the day that I found him. Besides fussing with the cat, I received a very quick phone call from my mom in Wekom, S Africa. What a delight to hear her voice again! Then my brother also gave me a quick call - also from South Africa. Double blessing!
I also managed to work out how to finish the next little section in my lace making, and finished the first tray cloth towards my BWA coffee morning. It was a joint effort. Daphne made the lace; Wanda supplied the linen and thread, and showed me how to do the embroidery work; I finished the cloth. Graeme went off with Ralph at 2.00 pm for another game of golf! I hear that he has improved since his first game a few days ago. At this rate he might become a professional…
Altogether a lovely Friday!

Foundling

We had a good visit with our “girls”. Did a spot of shopping. Cleaned the kitchen.
Thursday is supposed to be gardening day. To salve my conscience, I pulled out a few weeds in the back yard, and hacked out a weed that had started turning into a tree. As I put away the spade, I heard what sounded like a cat mewing or a bird crying. I tried to locate the spot where the sound was coming from, and to my surprise saw the tiniest kitten lying abandoned under the one of the 2 bushes in the garden. Its mouth was full of sand; its eyes were not yet opened, and it was very distressed.
I don’t normally like cats, but I could not leave this little thing. So I washed the grit out of its mouth, and fed it some milk with a teaspoon. It is not a happy kitten, and took long to settle in the pocket of my apron. I walked all around the manse and chapel to try and find any sign of the mother cat. Nothing. It was as if the kitten had dropped from the sky.
I decided to take it along with us to the 2 Bible studies this evening. At first it was quiet, but then I had to leave it in a box in the car, as it became a distraction. When it was tea time after the second study, I fetched it from the car to feed it. Vince gave me a small syringe – this worked much better than the teaspoon.
Here is a photo of “cat” sleeping in its box. It is so tiny that a face cloth acts as a blanket for it.

Long wallk

Very hot weather. Went to a coffee morning to raise funds for charity. There was a raffle of a few odds and ends, and I won a piece of dress jewelry. In the afternoon Graeme went for a long walk with Nick Thorpe, up and down some of the very high hills, and came home dripping wet , and just in time to leave for a lay preachers meeting that was held at the Terrys’ home. See some of his photos. I rushed from this meeting to the Deadwood Bible study. We finished our series on Eph 5:10 “and find out what pleases the Lord.”

Busy Tuesday

On route to the Sandy Bay BWA, I took a photo of the amazingly contrasting scenery. The hill in the foreground is lush and green, and immediately behind it, the hills are dead dry.
Once again, the BWA meeting went well. There is a lovely spirit of cooperation and caring amongst these ladies.
Paid a visit to Pat Bellord, who hurt her ankle, and can no longer walk to the chapel. I was surprised that even healthy ankles can make the trek from her home up to the chapel! It was the scariest piece of road that I have driven on so far. Steep, with W hair pin bends, and cliffs falling away on either side of the road. Needless to say, I will be collecting her in the car in future.
Paid a visit to Sharon O’Dean – a young woman who discovered that she had cancer of the colon shortly after giving birth to her first baby. After a long stay in hospital, she is now at home for a few months to build up her strength before she goes to Cape Town for chemotherapy.
Home for a quick bite, then off to Wanda for a private lace making lesson. She is starting me on a simple book marker, and I am still using thin crochet cotton, instead of lace thread. See photo with my first attempts (with a lot of help from Wanda).
Home for an hour, then off to Cape Villa Bible study.
Home for an hour, then Jamestown Bible study.

This and that

The manse was still fairly clean, so instead of mopping floors, I found/created spots to store some of Graeme’s tools. I now have an almost clear passage to walk down.
We had a good Monday visit with the dogs. Went straight from the dogs to Sandy Bay for a deacons’ meeting. While Graeme attended the meeting in the chapel, I visited Beatrice – a widow who lives opposite the church.
Home for a supper at about 8.30 pm out of tins and packets. I then spent the next 3 hours winding lace bobbins in preparation for a special lesson that Wanda offered to give me. I needed 14 pairs of bobbins i.e. 28 sets of winding. One has to wind the thread by hand, making sure that it always runs clockwise. I need to concentrate for this simple (yet wrist tiring) task, because I tend to sew etc towards the left (anti-clockwise), and have had to rewind a bobbin or 2 in the past…

Sunday visit

Our dear old Edie is finding the walks from the car to the chapels too much for her, and has decided to stop coming with us to Sunday services. She has a heart condition, and the walks from the car to the chapel are just too much for her now. I have seen the deterioration in her health over the past few weeks. After all, she is 90 years old! At least I will continue to see her on Tuesdays at the Cape Villa Bible study.

One of our faithful attendees at Sandy Bay chapel. He follows Deborah's car to church, waits for her to come out, then follows her home again each Sunday.

"Before time" (Saint expression) there was a thriving flax industry on the island. The flax was used to make ropes and similar items. With the advent of nylon, this industry died. The flax plants, however, did not.

They encrouch on spare strips of land wherever they can. See how close to the Head O'Wain chapel they grow. We went to visit Dorothy and Alwyn Richards this afternoon. They have a small holding in the Blue Hill area – goats and sheep and ducks and chickens in pens as you approach the dwelling area. When we arrived, Alwyn was rather stiff and a bit in awe of “Pastor”. But, once again, Graeme’s incredible general knowledge, and genuine interest in a multitude of topics, came to the rescue. He chatted and asked questions about raising chickens, and about skinning rabbits, and about fishing, and growing fruit trees, and fixing old motor cars, etc. By the time we left, there was a relaxed friendliness.

After the Jamestown evening service, we once again had the Terrys over for tea and a chat. This is starting to become a regular weekly visit, and we often chat until quite late.

Claire O'Bey

Good News Club. Only 2 teenagers showed up – no other children. The street was deserted, whereas it usually has children running up and down it. Later on, I saw a few of them at the funeral.
Claire O’Bey’s funeral was very big. Although it only started at 2.00 pm, people started arriving from 1.30pm. We had filled the schoolroom with as many extra chairs as we could find, but there were still people standing in the passage; some stood in the adjoining chapel – even though it is still full of rubble – and some even lined the street outside during the service.

The funeral was attended by young and old, socially acceptable, and not-so acceptable people.
The family made a courageous decision – they all wore red Aids ribbons, and had a red wreath in the shape of the Aids symbol placed on the coffin. Graeme preached a good message – Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life”, and then “whoever comes to me, I will never drive away”. Claire had made bad choices (and so have all of us), but if we come to Jesus, He will forgive and make us new.

This and that

At 11.00 am Graeme went off to do 5 x 3 min recordings for “thought for the day” that will be broadcast over Radio St Helena during the next few days.

We had people popping in throughout the day – mainly to do with arrangements for the funeral tomorrow.

Pugs

Saw the dogs in the morning. Graeme found out that Abi is famous! If you go to Google and do a search on the word "pugs", the first photo that comes up is one that he took of Abi as a puppy. Arthur was holding her on his knees.

I took my usual Thursday walk to the shops.

Graeme went for his first game of golf in 32 years. I was proud of him for being a good friend to Ralph.

I skipped my lace making class this Thursday, and went with Graeme to the Sandy Bay and Blue Hill Bible studies. We left at 5.00 pm to go to the Sandy Bay study, followed by the 30 min drive to Blue Hill for their study that starts at 7.30 pm. The Blue Hill study is usually followed by happy visiting and chatting. This evening was no exception.

Funeral plans

The family of the deceased Claire Obey called Graeme and asked to meet with him to discuss the funeral arrangements. It is going to be a sensitive affair… In a most unsubtle way there was a news announcement that the Island had had its first AIDS related death. It came as a shock to a number of her family members.

I found an old school desk amongst the ruins of the chapel next door. I carried it over to the manse, cleaned it, oiled it and created a little work corner for myself in the dining room. This is to help keep the dining room table clearer from clutter.
I cannot connect to the internet via the craft room that was supposed to be my work room, because it is directly opposite Graeme's study where the wireless modum lives. The walls are 2 feet thick, and the signal cannot get through. So I use the dining room where the signal only has to go through floorboards.

The Jamestown BWA was poorly attended – a few of the church members are indirectly related to Claire, and were trying to cope with the situation.

Deadwood Bible study went well. The 2 teenagers were there, and there was good interaction. When the ladies heard that my litchi pips had germinated, they were keen to have a seedling each to plant on their properties.

Another death

10.00 am Sandy Bay BWA. Took a few pictures on the way home. One passes through about 4 different micro climates on the 5 mile trip. Here are some photos taken in the damp, lush area.

A tree with different coloured mosses growing up its trunk

One of the many hair pin bends in the road


Home to vacuum and tidy downstairs in preparation for tonight’s Bible study. Went down the road for a lightning embroidery lesson from Wanda, while Graeme and Ralph went off to play their game of golf. No sooner had I returned to the manse, than Graeme and Ralph did as well. They were delayed, and decided to postpone the event to another day when they would be less rushed, as Graeme had to have the car back by 4.30 pm for me to be in time for the Cape Villa Bible study.

The Cape Villa study was rather somber, as Anthony had just heard that his 36 year old niece had died about 2 hours before. As the Baptist church had been the only church that she had attended in the past, the feeling is that Graeme will be asked to take the funeral.

Friends

Monday - floor cleaning and sweating day!
Later in the afternoon Ralph Kolby called and invited Graeme to play a game of golf. To my surprise, he agreed to participate in this pastime - tomorrow afternoon….
Had dinner in the evening with one of the church members. Good company and interaction.

DVD's and pizzas

Good News Club went a little better this morning. I invited the children to stay behind and work on making cards or learn a new technique in drawing. At first they looked reluctant, but in the end there was good participation.

In the afternoon we had the Garnetts over for a DVD watch and pizzas. Yes, we found out that there is a place (Carters) that makes really nice pizzas. It is only open on Saturdays, and they deliver. What a treat!

Rough Seas

Sleep in day! We had brunch at about 10.30am. Mooched around doing this and that. Absolutely dripping hot weather. Handed in some additional paper work to the police so that they could consider giving me permanent residence. While I was at the police station, I saw that the road to the wharf was closed. I went to have a closer look. The sea was very rough, and was washing over the railings on to the road. One of the Saints told me that although the RMS had anchored, the passengers were not allowed to disembark. The waves at the landing steps where they would have to step off the ferry, and on to the quayside, were so rough, they were splashing over the workmen’s heads.

See the anchored RMS in the distance with the little fishing boats and yachts in front.

The usually glass like sea, was pretty churned up at times.
An optometrist has come to the Island for a few months (until end April). She is a lovely lady (Scilla) and attends our church whenever she is on St Helena. I was on stand by for a cancellation, and got an appointment for 5.00 pm. I was reassured that my symptoms were not serious.

Big Loss

I determined to unpack every box we had, as I needed to know just what had not made the journey from SA to St Helena. We now have books lining the passage, waiting for the bookcase to be finished.
My saddest discovery was that our family photo albums did not arrive. i.e. our wedding photos, and our best photos of our children when they were little. Needless to say, this discovery was accompanied by many tears... My only consolation is that the box of loose photos of the children (the not-so-good ones) did make it.
My leg was hurting too much to do any housework today, so I caught up on my lace making and embroidery efforts.
7.30 pm Deadwood ladies Bible study. Only 2 ladies could make it. Sandra suggested that we just chat, but Ethel said "No, we yap enough last week. She gonna do her work tonight!" So I "did my work".
There is a verse in the Bible that says "find out what pleases the Lord". We are going through the passages that expressly say that (this or that) pleases God, and trying to apply it to our own lives. Challenging, to say the least.

Bumpers and Bugs

Sandy Bay BWA at 10.00am. Always good to meet with these ladies.
On the way home, I met my first unfriendly driver on St Helena. As I came around a narrow, one lane, blind bend in the road, there he was. As he was going uphill, he had right of way. He just glared at me. I reversed to where I thought he could pass, but he just sat there glaring. I reversed some more. Still no change in his expression. The third reverse ended up too close to the safety wall, and I scraped the back bumper of the church’s car. Upsetting.
Came home and finished unpacking boxes, then went to see Wanda for a quick explanation of what I was doing wrong in my lace making. Once again, after her second explanation, I feel as if I have got the hang of this basic stitch. The top of the strip of lace on the photo, is the “whole” stitch, and the bottom is the “half” stitch.
Walking back to the manse, my eye caught a speck of the most exquisite blues and greens on the road. I looked closer, and saw that it was a dead insect. The colours were iridescent. I just had to bring it home and photograph it in an attempt to capture its one-time beauty. The photo does not show you the depth of the colours, but it is an idea. (Biology was my favourite subject at school)

Pugs and boxes

Saw “the girls” again this afternoon. See Arthur March with his wonderful scythe.

When we were looking at old photos the other night, Graeme and I also found this one of Abi, ( the reluctant mother) taken in 2008.
Our last 10 boxes arrived at last. Once again, they have been rifled through, and once again, there is stuff missing…

Big Oops!

We had a “combined service” this afternoon, at the Sandy Bay chapel. A combined service is where all the members of the 4 different chapels get together at one location.
We are in the process of putting together a church directory with the details of all the members and adherents, together with their photos. I was given the job of taking the photos of the various couples and families. So, after the service, I went about busily making the various couples stand together to have their photos taken. I saw Mervyn standing near Daphne, and told them to stand together. Shyly, he stood next to her. “Stand closer – look as if you like her”, says Big Mouth. No sooner had I taken the photo, than I get a little tap on my shoulder, and one of the ladies whispers “That is the wrong Daphne…..” Big Oops!

Wrong “couple”

Correct couples :
Daphne and Mervyn Constantine

William and Daphne Peters

Sandy Bay

Good News Club. Once again, there were only a few regulars attending, and the older group simply did not pitch up. I am sad, but will not give up on these little people.

See the row of “transport” parked outside the church – the pastor’s bigger one leading the way.

Graeme took some photos of Sandy Bay on his way back from a prayer meeting this morning. Sandy Bay beach. See the hills void of any vegetative covering. Thus the name “Sandy Bay”. (Not to be confused with the S African beach where the humans are void of any covering)

This is the only beach on St Helena. Black sand.

Kindness upon kindness

Yet another example of how different Island life is: Graeme needs more shelving to accommodate all his books. A few days ago he asked Nick Thorpe where would be the best place to get some timber so that he knock a large book case together. Nick replied that he had a pile of old timber in his garage, and Graeme was welcome to help himself to whatever he needed. Steve Terry is very good at wood work, and he offered to help Graeme (Steve also has a marvellous workshop on his property).
Today, Graeme phoned Nick to ask whether it was ok to come and fetch the timber, and take it to Steve's place. Nick told him not to worry about finding a truck to transport the timber – he could just use his truck that was parked outside the Salvation Army. Graeme asked where he would find the keys. “In the truck” was the reply…

In the evening, Graeme and I sat and looked at old photos that he had transferred to his PC before leaving SA. Here are 2 photos of my dad – one taken on his 80th and Arthur’s 20th birthday, and the other taken on my mom’s 80th birthday. This is how I want to remember him.

Unusual kindness

8.30 am Visited the pugs. Graeme eventually got Cho to settle for a “sit” on his lap – almost like old times. The grass in the enclosure is VERY long now, but the problem is that whatever tool is brought in to cut the grass, must stay there for another 4 months i.e. until the end of the quarantine period. Arthur March found one of the old tools that were used years ago – a genuine scythe. (He handled it like a pro!) Even the cut grass may not be removed - it has to be piled up in one corner until the end of May. They will then send sheep in to the enclosure to take care of the grass.

6.00 pm caught the bus to the lace making class. Experienced another incident of Island caring. The third lady that usually catches the bus to the lace making class, was not waiting at her stop. So, very quietly and calmly, just in case he was a tad early, Stedson (the driver) turned the bus around and went up a VERY narrow windy road, right up to her gate (Everyone knows where everyone lives). He stopped, and the other lady on the bus got out and went to check whether she was coming or not…. Apparently, she had phoned to say that she would not be coming, but the message never reached the driver. Drivers like Stedson are rare people.

I tried to learn the second basic lace making stitch…. Wanda said that I could call in at her rooms on Tues for an additional lesson :)

Deadwood

7.30 pm Deadwood Ladies Bible study. Somehow, we never got around to the study that I had prepared. We each had a turn to share our “life story”. It was such an uplifting time.

Sandy Bay

10.00 am Sandy Bay BWA. On the route to Sandy Bay, there are lots of nasturtiums that grow wild on the side of the road. So pretty.

One new lady joined us, and now we are 6. Had a good time with the ladies. Was very encouraged when Daphne Constantine presented me with a piece of hand made lace edging, to which I must attach to a piece of linen - our first piece of craft work towards our coffee morning in July!

The funds that we raise with this morning will go towards restoring the Jamestown chapel that was damaged in a rock fall more than a year ago. The match box was added to the photo to give an idea of the size of the lace edging. A truly excellent piece of hand crafting.

5.00 pm Cape Villa Bible study. This study used to be held in the home of Charles Thomas, with him as the only attendee. We moved the venue to the Cape Villa sheltered accommodation centre, and today there were 9 people at our meeting. I was told that some of the ladies now consider this time as the highlight of their week. God is good!

7.30 pm Jamestown Bible study at the manse, led by Graeme. He started the second chapter of the 1689 Baptist confession, and did a good job of explaining abstract concepts.

Steve and Maureen stayed behind after the study, and we had a late night watching a comedy DVD. Nice to be able to unwind with friends of "like mind" after a busy day.

Blue Monday

Monday is floor cleaning day :( I drip sweat while I perform this delightful task, and was not in a good mood. I tried to improve my mental attitude by playing happy worship songs to work by… decided to stay miserable. I was a BAD example today. Thank God that Jesus is not self absorbed like me.
3.00 pm Went to visit our dogs. Felt even more sorry for myself. The little dears hardly play with us any more.
5.00pm is time to water the pots that we planted our litchi pips in. A few of them have germinated and have tiny little shoots that have appeared above the soil. When I checked them, I found that 3 of the shoots had had their tops pecked off, and one had shriveled in the hot sun. I decided to move the pots to a spot under an extended piece of roofing where they would be more sheltered. As I was bending down, I suddenly felt wings swooshing over my back, accompanied by shrill screeching!! The resident *#! myna bird was dive bombing me!! He sat on the garden wall just above me, and continued to shriek at me. I told him what I thought of him, and bent down to pick up the next pot. The little so-and-so repeated the performance from a different direction! I am convinced that it was him that pecked the tops off our seedlings, and he was now objecting to having them moved to a spot that is less accessible to him. I know mynas are very territorial, but this is ridiculous. In a strange way, this confrontation with the myna cheered me up…. Perverse human that I am …
In the evening, my son, John, “chatted” with me via the internet. It was good to have contact with him, and be reassured that he is doing well.