A quiet place

The other afternoon I was at the local hospital, visiting a friend from Church. It was incredibly busy everywhere, lots of people and lots of noise. Even the ward was, somehow, a hive of activity with lots of coming and going. My friend walked me to the ward-door at the end of visiting time and, as I waved goodbye to her, I realised that everywhere was still crowded, hot and noisy. As is my habit when visiting someone in hospital, I made my way to the Hospital Chapel and sat down to pray. I revelled in the total peace and absolute quiet. Then, slowly, it dawned on me that I would actually have preferred to find the Chapel as busy as everywhere else - rather than being the only place in the hospital that afternoon that was empty and quiet ............

A photo or two...

..... one photo of my younger daughter and my grandson, patiently waiting for the bride! One of my elder daughter (centre) with two of my nieces. And two photos of my four nieces learning ceilidh dances!

And now for the good news 2 !

I recently attended my nephew's wedding, which came just six weeks after the wedding of my niece. How lovely to celebrate good things! Another lovely day, and such a pleasure to be able to spend time in the company of all my family.

Here's my nephew with his lovely wife, and my sister and brother-in-law.

And now for the good news ......

Last weekend I travelled to Lancashire to attend the wedding of my niece, Chloe, my late brother's daughter. A lovely day, and I enjoyed spending the weekend in the company of my two sisters, my sister-in-law and my brother-in-law.

We're home.

Home - always good to be home, no matter how great a holiday. We had some adventures in Brazil, some brilliant experiences, and I'm going to attempt to put some advice/suggestions on Trip Advisor.
What did we miss while we were away? Joe missed a decent cup of tea - tea, as we know it, could not be found! I missed people. What do we miss about Brazil? The warmth and being right beside the sea.
I'll post some photos soon.

Nostalgia

I'm going away on holiday soon. We're going to Brazil and looking forward to exploring - but after we've had a rest!

For some reason I've been thinking of my holidays when I was a child. They were all spent with my maternal grandparents in a small fishing village on the north-east coast of Scotland. They owned the village's general store, Post Office, bakery, haberdashers, etc - the shop sold everything! I can still remember the smell of newly-dug potatoes, in sacks leaning against the food counter, and the fabulous scent of newly baked bread. There were huge slabs of butter and cheese, which were cut with a long piece of wire, and biscuits were loose in tins and sugar measured into thick, dark blue bags. I can remember the 'bop, bop, bop' sound of Granda stamping the mail before it was collected by the Royal Mail van.

The house was huge and part of the same building, and the ground floor was rented out to a family. There were three bathrooms, all in a row, and three huge attic rooms which we children used as playrooms when the weather was bad - there were boxes of clothes, games and a huge brass bedstead in each room. From the windows you could see the beach and the sea at the bottom of the square and, twice a day, a herd of cows processed through the square on their way to milking. The garden at the back was massive and filled with every kind of vegetable, including curly kale, which fascinated me. There was a huge strawberry plot and a greenhouse with fragrant tomatoes and a vine twining along the roof.

Magical stuff! Although I loved being there all summer, I certainly didn't realise then just what an idyllic sort of time and place it was.

Family Update

I know that I haven't posted anything for ages, but I have been terribly busy and have also been unwell. I had one of those horrible headache, dizzy, nausea 'bugs'.

One of the reasons that I'm so busy is because Joe and I soon go on holiday to Salvador, Brazil. We are very much looking forward to the rest and relaxation, but will also explore the history of the area, and I wonder if there will be turtles on the beach! But there is much to do beforehand. Next weekend I go to Perth for my Christian Workers' Certificate Spring Study Day - these are good days but I'm a bit nervous about giving a ten minute presentation.

Our youngest grandson, Iain Joseph, had his first trip to A&E last weekend! He suddenly decided to do a somersault off the sofa, hurting his head, so his mum and dad decided to take no chances and drove to the hospital. Thankfully he is none the worse for his acrobatics!

Tasha, our lovely old cat, is not very well at all. She now has a bad heart and spends a lot of time sleeping. Tablets seem to help however, and she seems happy enough and is eating, which is always a good sign.

Reasons To Be Cheerful!

We had such a wonderful Easter weekend at Kilcreggan. I must admit that when I arrived I was feeling pretty frayed at the edges !!!! But, as always, God is good and within 24 hours of having arrived I was feeling rested. By the time we left I felt refreshed physically and spiritually. The house is lovely, the scenery gorgeous - Joe and I took a walk down to the waterfront on the Saturday afternoon (down an amazingly steep hill) - and even the weather was fantastic! The company was brilliant, the food good (and plentiful!) and my bed was right in a bay window overlooking the water - the sunrise on Sunday morning was very beautiful.

We shared times of fun, including a quiz-night and rolling eggs (and people) down a hill on Easter Sunday morning. We experienced a real sense of God's presence during worship and prayer and we soaked in His peace and were 'quietened by his love'. So much more than I can describe here!

As I said, we left on Monday after lunch and even the flurries of snow and the heavy traffic couldn't dampen our spirits! And as we approached home and the 'coming back down to earth with a bump', I looked around and was reminded yet again of what a beautiful part of the world I live in.

Wildlife

Well, there I was at 1:00am, doing my usual locking-up..........................

Whilst checking the living room window, something over the road caught my eye - took me a moment or two to realise it was a fox! As casual as you like, walking down the pavement! I've seen foxes on the street when I was staying in Glasgow, but never expected to see one here. I can't imagine where it lives - it is so built-up, with very few green spaces to suit foxes.

However, he or she quite made my day!

And now for the good news ......

Spring is on it's way!

image

My News

I've had the 'flu - or something very like it! Feeling a bit better today so heading back to work tomorrow.

My Christmas holidays got off to a good start, meeting some of my friends for a meal. We had a great evening!










On Sunday 23rd we had a lovely Christmas Family Service at church and our Sarah was able to join us. In the evening a number of us from church joined some of our friends at a local housing association for a Carol Service.

Joe was working on Christmas Day and the family celebrating in their own homes - so Joe and I had a quiet Christmas dinner when he got home, and we spent time with the family later in the week. Our youngest grandson is now walking, which is keeping his mum on her toes!

Of course we also had snow, which is very pretty (when viewed from inside!)



Well, I wonder what 2008 has in store for us all? I pray that it is full of good things for everyone.

Beauty

One day last week I was walking from work and the sun was shining and, although there was a wind, it was pleasantly warm. A kaleidoscope of coloured leaves was blowing around the carpark and, because there was a lack of traffic noise, I could hear a bird singing. Work had been calm and straightforward, and I was heading home for a coffee and something to eat. Sometimes there is such a moment ....... a sliver of time when everything seems to fall perfectly into the place that was specifically designed for it, and the result is a momentary sense of absolute beauty and peace..........................

21st Century Living

I must just be getting old and crabit and intolerant, but I am getting fed-up with the selfishness of today's society. I know that almost everyone is nice and good - but why is it sometimes so carefully hidden?

It's every man and woman for themselves, with no thought given - or so it would appear - to anyone else around. I began noticing this on the bus in the mornings. I'm not really coming to terms with the fact that older folk, people with mobility problems, and those with young children or lots of heavy bags are usually left standing, while the young and fit remain sitting. This pattern seems to continue wherever there are crowds - shop doors left to bang in people's faces, a rush for the escalator, and the roads are something else..............

How can we begin to change things? Or am I alone in experiencing this feeling?

The Angel of the North

I love this sculpture!
Can't be specific about why - I just do.

I passed it a number of times this weekend whilst staying with my friend, Jenna - who, along with husband Dereck, held their wedding reception in a lovely wee hotel very close to "The Angel".

It was a good weekend (although the journey back was a bit of a nightmare!) On Saturday afternoon Jenna and I took 'afternoon tea' at the old County Hotel in Neville Street, right opposite Newcastle Central Station. This was the hotel where we met when we were both working there as receptionists. The food (especially the lemon tart!), the surroundings and the nostalgia-rich conversation were great.
On Sunday morning we attended Bethany Christian Centre - then it was time to leave Newcastle for home. A lovely weekend that passed very quickly!

So close!

I keep remembering a near-accident that I witnessed last week. I was making my way to the bus-stop, after leaving a friend's house, and was waiting to cross a very busy road. Suddenly, out of nowhere, appeared a tiny tot - who just took off over the road! A car missed her by a fraction.

I don't know why I keep remembering this - probably because it gave me such a fright! I think of the little girl and wonder if she will now always be scared of busy roads. I think of her Mum and wonder how she feels every time they have to cross roads. And I think of the driver - what a fright he must have had - and I wonder if he now drives a lot slower.

How fragile we are. In our lives there is always potential for unexpected, sudden change. I try really hard to remember this - to sieze each moment and make it count - to be thankful for all that I have..........

Is it me?

As always, caught the bus to work this morning and, as always, it was difficult to find a seat.

I used to get annoyed when I saw young, fit people continuing to sit when older people, or women with shopping or young children had to stand. Inevitably it was older, rather than younger, people who gave up their seat to those in greater need.

However, it got worse! People often sit on the aisle seat and do not bother to move over to the window seat to give someone else a seat. And this morning took the biscuit! I struggled to find a seat - folk were either sitting on the aisle seat or were using it for their bags - and you would be suprised how unwilling they are to either move over, or put their bags elsewhere.

This world is crying out for a kind touch. I feel sad when people are genuinely surprised when a stranger does them a kindness, or smiles at them. As Christians, what an opportunity we have to show love and compassion! Our light can shine brighter when it's pretty gloomy out there!