12th August 2020
Dear Friends,
I think I had reached 2018 in my accounts of adventures abroad. I told you about the Iona 'virtual pilgrimage' in Germany, about being 'perdu' in France, about my trip to Oberammergau in 2010, about the Holy Land pilgrimage in 2013 and the unexpected hard work, which I enjoyed, for the talk on Henry Piggott in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome in 2017. Well, in 2018, to celebrate our 60th birthdays, Jen, her sister Denise, and I bought tickets for a 5 day coach holiday to Belgium and Holland - the climax of the holiday being an Andre Rieu concert (light classical with lots of, what Jen calls, 'messing about') in Maastrict.
Things started off ok but, as the pick-up coach proceeded from Norfolk down to Kent, it appeared that things were not all as they should be. The 'courier' was not really a courier and she didn't want to be there. She turned out to be the partner of the coach driver who worked for a coach company and who had been drafted in by Goldcrest Holidays - the night before! - to staff our holiday. The said driver had persuaded his partner to join him under pain of what, we didn't know! Anyway, they didn't know what they were doing (and didn't seem to have sufficient instructions) and, for much of the time away, the passengers were looking up the route, points of interest in the brochure, etc. to tell the couple what to do. Things didn't get off to a very good start when we arrived at the hotel in Belgium and the partner refused to book us in as she wasn't really the courier... the hotel wouldn't let us in without one.... she must have agreed in the end because we ended up getting a room.
The funniest thing that happened - and we quite enjoyed the trip despite everything - was on the excursion day when there was an option to be dropped off in Brussels before the coach was travelling elsewhere. The driver had the directions for the drop-off point but it was a special day in Brussels and roads were closed off for later ceremonies. He drove round and round for about an hour trying to make it to the specified place. [We had never been to Brussels so we didn't really mind - we were getting an unusual view of the city...] Eventually, the front passengers (including ourselves) gathered that we were quite near the location and we strongly encouraged (!) the driver to drop people off where we were and to pick them up again from there at the end of the day. So, after this hour driving round, the coach stopped and the courier (who wasn't a courier) asked who was getting off in Brussels? Nobody was! We had had all that driving round for no purpose! We didn't know whether to laugh or cry... but the laughing won.
The worst was yet to happen but the later incident was not totally the couple's fault. We got to Maastrict and we were set down at a coach drop-off point. It was explained to us that we would be picked up at a different place - in the centre near the concert square - but it was not explained very well. Jen, Denise and I made sure - in our daytime exploration of the city - that we found the area where coaches would pick up so that we wouldn't be panicking later in the evening. We enjoyed looking round Maastrict and we were in our seats at the outside concert in good time. It was quite an experience - hundreds and hundreds of people and Andre Rieu processing through the square, with his orchestra, playing his violin as he went. The first half we were undisturbed and enjoyed the concert. Diversion - In the interval, we talked to an elderly couple sitting next to us who we recognised from our coach. The gentleman had pushed the lady in her wheelchair but he had been told to leave the same well away from the seating area. The lady got up to go to the toilet (along with dozens of other people) and the man let her go, on her own... I was following her along the seats and I thought, "this lady is never going to make it without a mishap". So, I gave her my arm and - to cut a long story short - we spent the interval walking very slowly, negotiating the square and all its milling people, to get to the toilet block over the other side. The concert started again as we got there and I finally got her to a loo. Amazingly, another lady there said she was a carer and she assisted my lady whilst I used the facilities myself. The concert was proceeding and I faced the prospect of getting the lady all the way back again - nightmare! But, suddenly (and my recollection is a bit hazy) there were amazingly helpful people who suddenly appeared, as well as the carer, a man went and got the lady's wheelchair, someone else helped me get her back to her seat. I didn't know what to do with the wheelchair but yet another person (a German man sitting near us I think) took it off - End of Diversion. Towards the end of the concert (the second half had been a blur for me) the husband went to collect the wheelchair despite me saying that I would do it. He and his wife disappeared and I thought, "Good, they will be back at the coach early." Silly thought - when everyone was in the coach, this couple were missing. It was midnight in the middle of Maastrict and we were all stuck there. To give the lady non-courier her due, she did leap into action at this point and start searching the area. We got off and also hunted as did another passenger from the coach. Half an hour or so passed and then Jen suggested that they may have gone back to the drop-off point, which is what we had done on every other occasion and, as I said, this time the instructions were not that clear. The non-courier walked to the original drop-off point and found them. Phew! We arrived at the hotel very late but at least we had survived (sort of) everything.
The final 'disasters' were that we were on course to miss the ferry back across the Channel (because of the late night and the driver's legal rest hours) and had to get booked on another one. There was then an accident on the A2 in Kent so the coach crawled along for mile after mile - and the coach couple wouldn't let anyone use the toilet (which had been a prohibition the whole trip). Oh dear! The ladies on the coach took drastic measures but I won't go into it here - we will tell you if you ask us!
Of course, everybody complained to the company about all the things that could be attributed to the trip's organisation (or lack of it) and I wrote a long letter to Goldcrest setting out what had happened in as neutral way as I could. The Company said we should have told them at the time. We said that we couldn't possibly have complained because all the passengers were worried about the driver and partner going off and leaving us stranded. We, along with everyone else, were offered £15 off another holiday! We had already said quite clearly that we were never, never, going to book with that company again. We put it all down to experience and, as I have said, we had in fact enjoyed ourselves along the way and we had seen Brussels, Maastrict and other sights in Belgium and Holland. But, the next time we booked a coach holiday (a year later) we chose to go with Leger Holidays (Dutch bulbfields and Amsterdam) and all went smoothly...
This is a long email but I wanted to get all that off my chest!
Jacqui
10th August 2020
Dear Friends,
Our friends Alan & Rosemary (and recipients of this chat) dropped in to see us on Saturday on their way from Sheffield to a holiday boat moored in Norwich. I had previously asked Rosemary if she could make me a cushion out of spare (and old) clerical shirt material and this large, beautiful, cushion arrived with them (see photo). They also assisted by managing to get a new tap inside a water butt for us, we had failed miserably the day before (it involved one person crawling actually in to the water butt). Other things that might be of interest from the weekend:
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I managed to get round to making an origami paper crane as suggested by The Elders (www.theelders.org) to mark the 75th anniversary of the dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I posted my photograph on our Circuit Facebook page and also re-activated my Twitter account and was pleased to see that the Elders organisation (I didn't know about this until recently) 'liked' both.
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Jen and I dropped in on our colleague Betty (who is about to retire) at the end of an open morning on her driveway in Dereham to say goodbye to folks from her churches and to receive donations for bric a brac. She made £200 for the charity 'Nelson's Journey' which is brilliant.
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For the first time in about 9 months, we enjoyed Sunday lunch at our favourite Sunday lunch place (a rare treat at the best of times). This pub restaurant does 'gran and grandad' size roast meals which suits our appetites very well. The first time we went there we worried about whether or not we qualified (!) but, of course, it is just a description of a smaller meal. Although the plates are smaller, they still manage to fit in two types of potato and 5 other vegetables and the lunch is always delicious. For pudding I risked a treacle sponge. Now, I don't usually want to bore people with descriptions of meals I have had but the treacle sponge set me off on another trip down memory lane. I think I had better get out of this bullet point...
My mum used to make a treacle sponge that looked like a round hill (Beeston Hump if you are in Norfolk) and had golden syrup running all over it. The trick was to get served a piece with lots of syrup. This second course was referred to in our family as 'Deadly Pud' - my father's name for it. Naturally, I continued into adulthood thinking this was the name for this type of pudding. It came as a real shock when I discovered that this was not the official name and that other people had never heard of it! [I also grew up thinking that the official term of the third minister in a circuit ministry team was called 'The Dogsbody'... as this was how my dad referred to himself in his Guernsey appointment].
As always, Jacqui
6th August 2020
Dear Friends,
One more catch-up. During my week off I booked in to both Pensthorpe and Felbrigg. In a way I like the structure of having to book and be welcomed at the entrance etc etc. It helps to make the visitor feel welcome. I also like the one-way flows in places because you don't have to stand there and dither about where to go first! I am sorry that they have taken away the one-way flow in Tescos - I liked it when we all proceeded round in an orderly fashion. Now, everybody is going every which way and the social distancing, which people were being so careful about previously, seems to have gone out of the window. Mind you, people still give plenty of room when you walk up the road (on a slight hill) from our estate to the town, and have to pass on a narrow pavement - it is funny how different cultures apply in different places.
I also liked the train journey I made from Downham Market to Eastbourne when I went to collect the wounded soldier. I travelled in the middle of the day and there were not many people on the mainline trains or on the underground (thank goodness). As there was no room for me at Jen's sister's flat, I stayed in one of the seafront hotels for a couple of nights and it made a lovely little holiday. There was one day to enjoy the delights of Eastbourne - in the morning, Jen, Denise and I went for a dog walk around a park in a part of the town that I hadn't walked in before (Eastbourne is now a very large place and when I lived there from 2000 - 2005 walks were usually by the sea or on the downs). In the afternoon, Jen and I had a lazy pootle on the front in the sunshine and enjoyed our first ice-creams of the Summer. Unusually, there was a big wheel set up and the one of us that likes that sort of thing went up in it, paid for by the other one of us that finds heights difficult and would have been terrified... (guess which is which?)
Family-wise, my niece got married last Saturday after her wedding in a wedding venue was on, then off, then on, then - after the government said no wedding receptions the lunchtime before - on, with my sister and others having to cook the food themselves! They seemed to have had a good time despite everything. Rachel, Charles and the two boys stayed in our caravan this last week and really enjoyed the beaches of North Norfolk. Cromer pier, and the pier cafe's take-away fish and chips, were a particular attraction! We met them at Felbrigg one day and then they called in for a BBQ at Cromwell Close this last Tuesday lunchtime. The attached photo was obtained by setting the timer on the camera - a good way of getting everyone to behave and smile nicely! Naomi and her family have a Norfolk holiday with her parents-in-law soon so we will see them too.
As always, Jacqui
We 'ate out to help out' at our local Chinese restaurant yesterday. Good food, slow service (not used to it?), half price but with an extra 'covid' charge of £4! Nice to do this for a change from my home cooking but mustn't do it too often....
4th August 2020
Dear Friends,
My younger sister tells me that the story I remember about the kittens came from an Annual of lots of stories that was - and still is! - in her possession. She seems to have a storehouse of childhood items and, one day, I am going to ask to look at what's in it! She has mentioned other stories in the Annual - including one about a girl who gets lost with 7 dogs and they are discovered when the tails of the dogs all appear in a line above some long grass - and the stories all sound very familiar. As I am 6 years older than Monica, I guess that I read those stories to her and Jeremy when I was babysitting them of an evening. In Sudbury, they shared a bedroom that had been separated with a partition down the middle and I remember, as a young teenager, standing at the end of the partition (so that I could see both beds and occupants) and giving them quizzes etc!
Back to the catch-up, we continue to be amazed by the number and variety of birds that come into our garden. If we are lacking entertainment, we just need to look out of the kitchen window. Yesterday, I counted 10 different species in the space of half an hour with a battle for the bird-bath involving blue-tits, starlings and blackbirds.
Because Jen was away for 2 weeks (her broken wrist is gradually getting better - thanks to those who have enquired) and I spent my one week off partly in our caravan, partly at home, and partly collecting Jen from Sussex, our pattern of regular walks has been disrupted. But, on Sunday, we did do what we now call 'The Pretty Lane' walk (well, it was pretty when there were celandines back in April) and that meant going across the Sheep Field, even though it became a ploughed field, and now it is an unidentified crop field. We will have to monitor the unidentified crops, fortunately the crop-planter has left the public footpath going across it.
And, finally with catch-ups, Jen and I have both had hair cuts. She fixed with a new hairdresser (our next-door-neighbour's daughter) only last week and now looks radically different with quite a short style. I am the opposite because, when I got to my regular hairdresser 2 or 3 weeks ago, I sat in the chair and said "I have quite enjoyed my hair with the layers growing out, could you sort it out without putting all the layers back?" She said that my hair didn't need too much sorting out which pleased me, we discussed the difficulties of cutting one's own hair with the aid of a mirror. She also said that lots of customers were coming in and saying that they liked their hair longer and that they didn't want to go back to how they were before. So, I was on trend and I was pleased again. Another client came in and sat down in the second chair with the second hairdresser. He asked the new lady what she wanted him to do and she said, "Well, I quite like it longer now...." so Nicky and I laughed...
Jacqui
3rd August 2020
Dear Friends,
As I mentioned before my break, there are a few topics that I have not yet covered and would still like to share with an audience - my trip to San Francisco, the story of the 1902 presentation keys, the April Fool's trick I played on my university friends on Valentine's Day, the nightmare coach holiday (which was actually quite fun) with which Jen, Denise and I celebrated our 60th birthdays. So, I am going to write a few more 'chatty' emails in August (without the quote and the prayer), they may not be every day because my working life has got a bit busier and more complicated since the easing of lockdown - although maybe it will be a bit quieter again in August. The main 'difficult' thing at the moment is working with churches across our circuit (24 of them) to decide whether or not to re-open in September and, therefore, to go through a 'risk assessment and action plan' process, combined with which the circuit has to decide how and when to allocate preachers. I also have a colleague retiring, and a new one to welcome, but all these work issues are not for a chatty email...
For today, I thought you might like a catch-up on the garden and associated matters. The Labyrinth Dahlia (given to me when we left Wymondham) has been flowering merrily - see photo.
The poppies and foxgloves have long finished but the middle bed is a riot of colour. I said to Jen yesterday that my dad would be very pleased with her, his policy was to aim for not being able to see any earth in a flower bed and this central one in our current garden certainly fulfils that, the plants (both annual and perennial) are packed in. The Thunbergia plant is creeping up the trellis provided for it outside the back door and the bright orange flowers are starting to come continuously (second photo).
I don't think I told you that another name for Thunbergia is 'Black-eyed Susan' (although Rudbeckia also gets given this name). One of those random childhood memories I have is of a picture book where a mother cat can't find her kittens when she wants to wash their ears. The trouble is they are all different colours and patterns and they all go and hide in places where they are camouflaged by their surroundings. The one I remember best is the black and orange kitten who hides in the black-eyed susans... A few years ago, I was telling my daughter Rachel about this book - I didn't know its name - and, that Christmas, my present from her was a battered copy of 'The kittens who hid from their mother' (published by Wonder Books of New York in 1950) that she had sourced from the internet. As I write, I have just looked at the book to take a photograph and I am reminded that the plant where the kitten hides is definitely a rudbeckia and not a thunbergia... We have the former planted in the garden but they have yet to flower.
Until tomorrow,
Jacqui
18th July 2020
Dear Friends,
At some point in 2017 I took on board that it was the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death in the July (which I kinda knew anyway) but Rachel sent me something that made me realise there would be lots of special events in Hampshire. I ended up going down there 4 times, including the auction in September at which Jen and I bought our bookbench. One of the nicest days in the whole of my life was the day in August when we did a tour of all 25 BookBenches in the Basingstoke area, taking photographs and admiring each one. At the time, it was possible to view all the uniquely painted bench artworks on the internet but it is not possible now. However, I am going to create a photo album on my personal website (after my holiday) so, if you are interested, let me know and I will tell you when this appears.
Jane Austen died on 18th July 1817 at the young age of 41, the first of George and Cassandra Austen's eight children to die. It is still not known what caused her illness (which came and went over a 3 year period) and death although the likelihood is some sort of cancer. On the 18th July 2017, Jen and I gave a presentation for my churches that I was serving at the time, Jen playing period music to complement my photographs and the story of Jane's life. N.B. Once I had moved away from Hampshire, I had filled in the one gap in my re-telling of Jane's story by having a holiday in Bath and recording the details of Jane' life and homes (4 of them) there. On the 19th July 2017, I was on my own in Basingstoke, visiting the new sculpture of Jane in the market-place (see photo) and Jane's grave in Winchester Cathedral where a special ceremony had taken place the day before. I found it surprisingly emotional going to the grave - she was buried in the north aisle - not because of any 'fame' (which she didn't have at the time) but because of her family and contacts and the fact that she died in College Street very nearby. There was a condolence book which I signed with a message and found myself in tears (berrating myself at the same time for crying when she had died 200 years previously and was a 'friend' to people all over the world).
A year later, on 18th July 2018, Jen and I gave our presentation to a MWIB (Methodist Women in Britain) social event in Chapelfield Road, Norwich. Last year, on the day of the anniversary, we were in the throes of moving (we will have been one year in Cromwell Close on the 22nd) and, this year, I am on my own at home writing about Jane Austen in my 102nd daily email!
Today's quote:
"On the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death, what better way is there to honour this extraordinary author than to give thanks for what she has left us? For me, her work is a timeless guide to living life in the honesty zone, wrapped in an infinitely re-readable set of six novels."
Article by Laurie Viera Rigler in July 2017
Today's prayer:
Loving God,
Thank you for things that give us pleasure,
things that provide meaning to life,
things that give us satisfaction,
people - past and present - who mean alot to us.
Thank you for sustaining us when these things are absent,
life is not so good,
and we can only depend on your love
and your constant, comforting presence.
JAH
Have a good week. Until we communicate again, Jacqui x
17th July 2020
Dear Friends,
I had lived and worked in the Basingstoke area for 6 months before I realised that one of my churches - Oakley - was only 5 minutes drive from the small village of Steventon where Jane Austen was born (in 1775), and spent the first 25 years of her life. Once the realisation dawned, I endeavoured to make up for lost time. I remembered the biography of Jane by Claire Tomalin that I had read many years before. I re-read it. I delighted in visiting the field in Steventon which once housed George and Cassandra Austen's rectory. The rectory is no longer there but the parish church certainly is, standing proudly at the top of a long lane that the Austen family must have walked up every Sunday. Steventon is now one of my favourite places, along with the village of Chawton (also in Hampshire) where Jane, her sister, mother, and their friend Martha, lived from 1809.
Having re-visited Jane Austen's life and having re-acquainted myself with the fact that 4 of the 5 main places that she lived were in Hampshire (and having bethought myself that Hampshire was exactly where I was living) I set about photographing the significant homes, churches and other locations of her life. This meant going to Steventon, Southampton, Alton, Chawton, Winchester (where she died and is buried) on different occasions (always seeking the good weather that brings such photos alive...). In case you are worried, I did some work in between times... and eventually used my pictures for talks and presentations and worship that, hopefully, enhanced my ministry in the Basingstoke area. I developed a presentation I called 'Jane Austen in Hampshire' and was soon delivering it to WIs and other organisations as well as church groups.
There is only one absolutely certain picture of Jane and that is a portrait of a young Jane drawn by a young Cassandra (her elder sister) which Cassandra herself said was not a very good likeness. It is now housed in the National Portrait Gallery. A few years ago, Paula Byrne, an English Professor was given a portrait by her husband that he had bought at auction. It carried the title 'Jane Austin' (wrong spelling of the Austen name) and Paula became convinced that this was a portrait of the author in her late 30's although the provenance was unknown. A fascinating documentary was shown on BBC2 on Boxing Day 2011 which investigated the drawing from every conceivable angle. It certainly convinced me of its authenticity and 2 out of the 3 experts that examined the evidence.
Tomorrow is the 203rd anniversary of Jane Austen's death and I will tell you how I marked the 200th anniversary in 2017.
Today's quote:
"It was as easy as breathing to go and have tea near the place where Jane Austen had so wittily scribbled..."
Christopher Hitchens
Today's prayer:
Give us grace, almighty Father, so to pray as to deserve to be heard,
to address thee with our Hearts, as with our lips.
Thou art everywhere present, from Thee no secret can be hid.
May the knowledge of this, teach us to fix our Thoughts on Thee,
with Reverence and Devotion that we pray not in vain.
Jane Austen (Prayer One)
As always, Jacqui
15th July 2020
Dear Friends,
I mentioned Bar Hill and its Homegroups yesterday. Now, its a bit strange because Bar Hill is the place that I have lived the longest - 19 years (1981 - 2000) and yet I have hardly mentioned it in these ramblings (ok - not ramblings, writings). I guess that is because there hasn't been too much to say - I had my children (1984 and 86), I gave up my work for Legal Aid at the Law Society (1979 - 1984), I looked after them at home until they went to school, I then became part of the Staff of Bar Hill Church (5 denominational LEP) as a lay person and unpaid, I worked closely with the then minister James Newcome (now the Bishop of Carlisle) until he left in 1994, I steered the church through an 18 month interregnum (1994 - 95) a very stressful and character forming time), I gradually bowed out as the new minister, Gary, came in and as I candidated for the ministry and trained at Wesley House, Cambridge (1997 - 2000). That's too many 'I's'! My uncle would not be pleased. But, if you are describing what you have done in your life, it is difficult to avoid the 1st person singular.
The 'old' (The Octagon opened 1972) and the 'new' (completed 1991 & 1995) Churches at Bar Hill.
Now, not only have I not previously talked about Bar Hill (or Wesley House), but there are other things I want to mention that have not yet appeared. When I started these emails, it was because I was trying to think of different ideas to help people in the lockdown, and to stay in touch with members of my current churches. I thought - "Well, I can write some chatty, cheerful things and that might help one or two people along, you never know." I never thought that I would end up with a readership of 70+ addresses, and potentially, over 100 readers. Nor did I think I would be on my 99th email nearly 4 months later! The most surprising thing is that I seem to have written my autobiography, albeit in short, random unchronological pieces! And, because of this last point, and because I could never write any actual memoirs in a sustained, sensible way, I feel as though I want to finish the autobiographical bit - at least, get down the remaining stories that I think are of interest. However, I said that I would stop at no. 102 this Saturday. Instead of that, I am going to have a break (I have a week's leave next week) but resume for a little while after that to tell the stories of the nightmare coach holiday, the lunch in San Francisco that I bought in an online auction for over £400 (it was a once in a lifetime lunch and it went to a good cause), the day I refused to believe that my daughter had won a bike in the Beano, the mayhem I caused when I played an April fool joke (only it was on Valentine's Day) on my friends at university, and how I managed to have a baby on exactly the same day as my friend who lived exactly opposite. I can't even list the headlines of the stories in chronological order, but never mind. Oh - and there is the story of the 1903 presentation keys that went from Norfolk to Australia and came back to Norfolk again 113 years later and the detective work I carried out to understand it all. And how Jen and I walked the famous labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral.
So, hope that's ok, of course you don't have to read them. I am very grateful to the few people who respond frequently (1 person responds meaningfully every day) because it makes me feel it's worth it. Although, as I have said, it has been worth it for my own satisfaction and, maybe (you never know), for my grandchildren and any great-grandchildren in later life to know the sort of forebear they have had.
Today's quote:
"Bar Hill is a purpose-built village with a population of 4,000 about 4 miles northwest of Cambridge on the A14 road. Its name originated from the fact that it was built along an old Roman Road that had a Toll Bar/gate which was used in the local area as a farm's name 'Bar Farm'. The farm house still remains next to the village school. The toll gate was also located roughly near this building. The village was built on or around one of the many hills in the area, hence the name 'Bar Hill'." [The first residents moved in in 1967]
Wikipedia
Leading to Bar Hill Nature Reserve
Today's prayer found in my sorting, cut out of a magazine:
God of surprises,
you burst in on our lives when we don't expect you,
you catch us unawares.
Bewilder us, amaze us, and flabbergast us,
and make us catch our breath with love.
Astonishing God,
may I never expect a surprise,
because then that would spoil it.
But please don't let me miss one.
Amen.
Peter Privett
As always, Jacqui
PS I forgot to tell you that our 'Encyclopaedia of Rainbows' book has come to an end which is sad. The last page was 'ribbons'.
PPS I know that one or two of you were interested in my reference to 'Posada' yesterday. For anyone who would like to know more about it, there is information on my personal website at this link http://www.jacquisresources.co.uk/using-posada-as-outreach-in-advent. The photo albums on the site carry the best of Mary & Joseph's travels over 5 years in a dedicated album.
14th July 2020
Dear Friends,
It is all happening at the moment, our router has decided not to connect to the internet (broadband still coming in) and turning it off and on again (the usual trick) hasn't worked. Was despairing until I discovered I can pay for temporary BT Open Wifi access so I am doing that for the moment until I can get the problem fixed. I didn't tell you yesterday - but am mentioning it now - that Jen arrived at her sister's in Eastbourne on Sunday and promptly broke a bone in her wrist... it is all strapped up and she has to keep it raised for 2 weeks... she says that she is in a lot of pain so let's hope that subsides in the near future. She was going to be there for a week but now its going to have to be longer - she has a follow-up appointment at the Eastbourne hospital on Monday. And - our Close is being re-surfaced today, there are strange looking yellow squares dotted around it at the moment. Apart from all those things, life is normally the new normal today.
I told you yesterday about the book that I have inadvertently contributed to on the subject of Mary Ellen Piggott. That leads me to a digression about my actual - and wishful thinking - publications over the years. I have started several books that have never got finished, finished one or two that I have never sent to anyone, finished and sent a few that nobody has wanted to publish. This would be depressing except that, along the way, I have had articles, housegroup material, letters to editors published with a fair amount of regularity and that has satisfied my desire to be in print. The most unsatisfactory thing was in the 1990's when, as a lay person, I was running a (very organised) housegroup system for Bar Hill Church (200 members at that time, about 10 housegroups), providing training for the leaders and writing most of the study material. I distilled all of the knowledge and training into a housegroup leaders' manual - very user-friendly, one page to a subject, lots of bullet points. I sent it to Kevin Mayhew Ltd who said they would publish it if I could cut the length a bit. Did I ever get round to shortening it and sending it to them again? Well, as I said, that was the high point of unsatisfactoriness in my (non) writing career. I suppose this is another regret to add to the one I have mentioned previously - that I stopped playing hockey when I was 18. I loved (and I don't often underline in these emails) that Homegroup Manual... I still have it somewhere... it is now, of course, very out of date - it was a product of its time.
So, with this background, a very surprising thing happened 4 years ago. I had an idea for a Grove booklet (Anglican series of shortish discussion starters for the contemporary church). Now, ideas that involve work, and risk, and seeing something through often go the way of Homegroup manuals that don't get shortened... the idea I had meant I had to contact someone I vaguely knew (Anglican Priest Susanna), it meant getting her on board, it meant liaising with her over writing, and it meant actually doing the writing - and finishing it! Then, we would have to submit the finished result to Grove and hope they accepted it. Amazingly, and astonishingly, I followed through on all these things and no. 114 in the Evangelism series titled 'Hosting Mary and Joseph - Posada: An Advent Experience for your Community' was published in 2016. It even made a small profit in the first year.
Today's quote:
"Posada - Spanish for 'lodging place' involves taking the figures of Joseph, Mary and the unborn Jesus on an advent journey our of church and into the public realm. A South American tradition dating back more than four centuries, Posada can serve as a form of outreach into the community, a means of making new connections and strengthening existing ones, and a way to find stillness in December's busyness."
From 'Hosting Mary and Joseph' by Jacqui Horton and Susanna Gunner
Today - 14th day of the month - is the day for the East Anglia District in the Prayer Diary. Having just looked at it I am reminded that the prayer on page 53 asks for prayer for the 'new superintendent ministers in the Fens, Central Norfolk and West Norfolk Circuits' and I am feeling I could do with a prayer or two today... especially for the internet to work again.. the temporary one is very erratic which is why this is being sent late.
God of holy love, you call your Church to be a community of reception and a community of response.
Grant us the humility to receive your gospel and so be shaped in the ways of Christ,
and give us the faith to respond to your gospel
so that we might be drawn into the life-giving ways of your Spirit in the world. Amen.
Julian Pursehouse, East Anglia District Chair (in the Prayer Handbook day 14)
As always, Jacqui
PS Hurray! The router is working again. I turned it off for a long time and now it is working again. Phew!
PPS Now able to see that there is one new copy of the Posada Grove Booklet available on Amazon, much cheaper than Grove's price of £3.95.
13th July 2020
Dear Friends,
Well, it was rather strange going to our caravan, and being in Cromer, and having a sort of 'normal' day off - for the first time in nearly 4 months... On Friday evening, we had fish & chips on the pier - Jen's idea of the perfect thing to do, she loves being by the sea - and on Saturday morning, we went putting. We usually go to Cromer or Sheringham's small putting course quite a few times during the course of a Summer but we had actually forgotten about it until we saw that the Cromer one was open... we are very evenly matched, as was proved this time, a round of 48 each.
I am returning, briefly, to the story of Rev Henry Piggott and his wife and their missionary activities in Italy in the nineteenth/early twentieth century. Two further things came out of my research and photographs and the talk in Rome I told you about last week. Firstly, I was able to do a much longer presentation for the Wesley Historical Society and this took place in Lowestoft, the place of Henry's birth. Secondly, I got an email out of the blue from a lady who said she was co-authoring an academic book on 'Women pioneers in continental European Methodism 1869 - 1939' (!) and what did I know about Mary Ellen Piggott? Well, I already had a soft spot for Mary E (Henry called her 'Pollie') and was very conscious that her life had not been at all easy. She hadn't wanted to go to Italy in the first place, she lost three of her first children whilst they were very young (eventually 8 out of 11 survived to adulthood), and she was obviously dedicated to supporting Henry's work, whilst having her own ministry, and whilst suffering frequent ill-health. Mary Ellen died in Italy in 1899, she was 59 years old. Incidentally, I didn't mention the other day that it was easy to know about Henry's life because his son, Theodore, edited his letters after his death, and 'The Life and Letters of Henry Piggott' is available in full on the internet. However, Henry's Pollie gets very little mention although a certain amount can be gleaned from passing references. I was very pleased for Mary Ellen to have a voice 118 years after her death and I sent Ulrike some notes with as much information as I had. I was very surprised to learn later that the notes had been (with a little editing) used as they were in a chapter of the book!
Today's quote:
"You should have gone to Cromer, my dear, if you went anywhere - Perry (the doctor) - was a week at Cromer once, and he holds it to be the best of all the sea-bathing places."
Jane Austen in 'Emma'
Today's prayer :
Preferring nothing to you, O Christ,
let us hold fast to your love,
embrace your Cross and honour your name.
Let conviction mark our speech,
courage our life and patience our faith;
for your own name's sake. Amen.
Cyprian of Carthage (200 - 258)
As always, Jacqui
PS The Labyrinth Dahlia is out!
PPS Jen and I led our circuit telephone service yesterday and took the theme of 'the spirituality of gardens'. The service can be heard on youtube https://youtu.be/
11th July 2020
Dear Friends,
Just a quick email because we have come to our caravan for the first time in 4 months. When we are home this evening we will be removing all the very sodden dead heads from petunias and other plants, but it has been very good to have all the rain recently. Not so good for the spirits though! So, good if there is sunshine today.
Being in the caravan means a break from the sorting at home but Jen is away this coming week (to visit her sisters in Eastbourne) so I shall probably get more done then. We were reminded this week of all the clothes and object sorting that we did early in the lockdown - we found out that the Big C Charity Shop in Swaffham is opening on Wednesday mornings just for collections. They are taking everything to their big centre in Wymondham. So, we (I mean, Jen) took loads of our stuff to the local shop and they seemed very grateful. I recently had a letter from the Big C Charity detailing how much they had made from our donations in the last year and, therefore, how much from gift aid. It is incredible that the odd bits and bobs of donations over a year make so much money - over £400 the letter said. It is like what I used to think about Jumble Sales (when churches had them) - it was amazing that all that jumble being sold for very small amounts seemed to add up to a sizeable sum... We try to support the Big C as our Charity Shop of choice because there isn't a local Oxfam Shop and because we both really benefited from the Big C Centre at the Norfolk & Norwich when Jen had her extensive breast cancer treatment back in 2010. We had the support of the lovely people who work there as well as the offer of counselling, massage and relaxation sessions for partners/carers as well as the person who has cancer. I took up the offer of all of these and it was a great help.
Today's quote:
"When cancer threatens someone you love: Big C's scientists, nurses, and the hospitals we equip, will give them a fighting chance at life and hope for a future with you. Big C is dedicated to fighting to help local folk affected by cancer in Norfolk and Waveney."
Big C website
Today's prayer :
Loving God,
We pray for all those affected by cancer
or by other serious disease and illness.
We pray for your healing and protective presence
not only for the patients themselves
but also for those who love and care for them.
Amen.
Have a good weekend, Jacqui
Friday 10th July
Dear Friends,
Actually, I really enjoyed doing the research on Henry Piggott - a lovely day exploring Lowestoft Methodism (including the record office) with Thelma; a trip with Jen to a small village called Dagnall in Buckinghamshire (where Henry's mother grew up) and the nearby Whipsnade Zoo ( ! Catherine Piggott's family owned the farm which was later sold to become the zoo...); a trip on my own to Finedon in Northamptonshire (home to Mary Ellen who was to marry Henry, and also nowadays to Rev Richard Coles who is the vicar there*); and also investigating Henry's links with Kingswood School, Wesley's Chapel, and the Wesley Memorial Church in Oxford. In Dagnall, we spotted a Methodist Church with a Saturday Coffee Morning and ended up talking to the Minister and meeting two ladies in their 90's whom - I worked out - were cousins of Henry Piggott 3 times removed!
When I eventually travelled to Rome for a 2 day stay, I felt very nervous. I was travelling on an aeroplane on my own for the first time, I was worried that the indigenous population probably spoke Italian rather than English, I was worried that there would be no-one to meet me at the airport, I was worried about how I would meet up with Tim and Angela and, of course, I was worried about the flight itself. Regarding the latter, I discovered a trick that I used again when I went to America (in 2019). I upgraded to 'Club Class' - not too much more money, but more attention on the plane, comfier seats and more room. I found that, because I enjoyed the 'posher' experience, it helped me worry less about being suspended thousands of miles in the air. The worries were, of course, needless: a taxi driver friend of the MacQuibans met me quite easily as I arrived in arrivals, many Italians do speak English, and I was dropped by the driver right on the doorstep of the Church and Manse at Ponte Sant'Angelo ('Bridge of Angels'), and there was Tim to meet me.
My two days in Rome were spent thus: the first day Tim took me round the city. It rained all day - apparently Rome gets around 18 days like that a year and this was one of them. Nevertheless, it was amazing to visit the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trajan's Column, the Forum and other Roman ruins. I had been asked what I would like to see - rather than the Sistine Chapel, I had said 'biblical sites' so we went to where Peter was imprisoned and where Paul was under house arrest. The second day was the Henry Piggott Day (the sun shone all day) and we started by the plaque in the foyer at the Church where a small ceremony was held. Then we went to the Protestant Cemetery and I gave my talk in the Chapel there (Director of the Cemetery and the English Ambassador to the Vatican were present amongst others). Tim also gave a talk as well as the President of the Italian Methodist Church who was a fairly young lady and who talked for rather a long time. Then we went to Henry and Mary Ellen's graveside where there was a Bible reading and a prayer and a laying of flowers. Then a lunch for invited people followed by Tim taking me to a huge Church - St Peter & St Paul Basilica - which was a very spiritual and lovely visit. There were hardly any visitors there (it was an end of November Thursday morning) and being in the enormous space (no chairs out) was just breathtaking. That evening - I accompanied Tim and Angela to an Ambassador's reception just outside the Vatican. I hadn't wanted to go but they said to me, "you will never the opportunity of an experience like this again" and so I went. It was an odd social occasion, everyone standing, socially networking, eating the finger food that was passed round. I think I counted 7 ambassadors (to the vatican) that I shook hands with! One I did not talk to, but Tim tried to, was the American ambassador, one Callista Gingrich (wife of Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the American House of Representatives). She had only recently been appointed, they came in late and there were immediately people clustering round them. I don't think my host made it...
Today's quote:
"Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery contains possibly the highest density of famous and important graves anywhere in the world. It is the final resting place of the poets Shelley and Keats, of many painters, sculptors and authors a number of scholars, several diplomats, Goethe's only Son... to name only a few.... It is one of the oldest burial grounds in continuous use in Europe, having started to be used in 1716... it is hard to think of another urban site quite so glorious..."
Instead of a prayer :
Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Christians to discover the face of Jesus in the migrants, refugees and the displaced who are forced to flee because of the many injustices that still afflict our world. Celebrating a Mass... to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his visit to the migrants in the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Pope recalled the words of Jesus, "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." He said that this warning, for better or for worse, is a burning issue today.
Vatican News
As always, Jacqui
* We had encountered Richard Coles a few years ago when his partner David was our neighbour in Wymondham (and curate at Wymondham Abbey). We heard recently that David - who had moved to live with Richard - had died of a sudden illness which we were very sad about.
Thursday July 9th
Dear Friends,
In between 2013 and 2017, I had no foreign trips and didn't expect any thereafter. So, my next foray into international travel came as a surprise. First of all you need some background information:
In the nineteenth century, a Wesleyan Methodist Minister named Henry Piggott was sent, with his wife, to Italy as a missionary. Henry and Mary Ellen spent the rest of their lives there working hard for the people, and for the Methodist Church. Methodism spread throughout the country as a result with the consequence that Henry achieved a certain standing as the man who established Methodism (and Protestantism) in Italy. Henry died in December 1917 and he was buried, with his wife, in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. One hundred years on, the Methodist Minister stationed in Rome - one Rev Tim MacQuiban - planned various centennial events. As Henry had been born in Lowestoft (his father was a minister and moved when Henry was 2 years old so the hero of this story was not in Suffolk for long), Tim contacted the Chair of the East Anglia District and asked whether there was someone in the District who could do some research on Henry's life in England before he went to Italy. And - could that person go to Rome in December for the anniversary and give a talk on the same?
Julian sent the request onto me. I guess because I was (and still am) the Vice-President of the Wesley Historical Society: East Anglian branch (Julian is the President). Diversion - my dad was the Vice-President of this society in his retirement and, when I moved into the District in 2010, I was glad to support my parents in supporting the meetings. In any case, I am very interested in local history and history generally. After my father's death, Rev Elizabeth Bellamy was the VP but, then, she moved to Alderney (expected back later this year). I was persuaded - on the basis that there was nobody else - that I should take on the role. I did - end of diversion. Be all that as it may, I now had to decide - was this something I could do (I had previously done research and talks on an architect and Primitive Methodist Local Preacher, Augustus Scott, but that's another story for another day) or should I think who else might do this. Now, after Augustus, I had promised myself and Jen that I would never put so much work into research for a talk again (!) BUT, there were a few months in hand on this occasion, and.. there was a facilitated trip to Rome at the end of it. I decided - 'I think I should do this!' And my email time has almost gone so this account will have to run into tomorrow...
This is a photo of the 'preaching house' in Lowestoft where Henry was born, and then one of Henry and Mary Ellen in middle age. Finally, one of the Pont d'Angelo Methodist Church and Manse in Rome:
Today's quote:
"The Church to which I belong is saying to me "Will you go?" ... Here is a work of special importance and honour to be done... the call is pressing... And now to doubts and difficulties. Of course the paramount question is: "Does God call me?" ... With me everything hinges on this. And how is the question to be determined? I know of but one way, and that is this. After committing the matter to God in prayer; after placing myself wholly in his hands... I must sit down, weigh pros and cons, and decide: consider the decision one to which he has helped me to come. This, therefore, I am now endeavouring to do."
Henry Piggott in a letter to his parents
Today's prayer I found in some of my Uncle's papers that I was sorting the other day. It looks like it has come from a magazine :
This is the beginning of a new day.
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it...
or grow in its light
and be of service to others.
But what I do with this day is important
because I have exchanged a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes,
today will be gone forever.
I hope I will not regret
the price I paid for it.
Jacqui
PS The toad has become two toads and the blackbird has been digging in the alpine trough again - first time since March.
4th July 2020
Quotemaster
Today's prayer:
Each little flower that opens,
each little bird that sings,
he made their glowing colours,
he made their tiny wings...
Have a good weekend,
Jacqui
The Guardian online December 22nd 2009
Today's prayer :
Dear Lord, thank you that on cold winter's nights
I can go to bed, tucked up warm,
knowing that you love me.
Amen.
365 Children's Prayers
Today's prayer :
Dear God,
Thank you for angels - human and divine.
Help us not to miss them
and not to appreciate them,
but to praise you, as always,
for your loving kindness
and for every blessing.
'Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take'
Proverbs 3 v 6
Jacqui
"I feel about aeroplanes the way I feel about diets. It seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on"
Jean Kerr
Today's prayer is used on the Iona pilgrimage:
Bless to us, O God,
the earth beneath our feet.
Bless to us, O God,
the path whereon we go.
Bless to us, O God,
the people whom we meet.
Blessings for today's journey,
Jacqui
"The dish with leftover meat was originally not called Toad in the hole.... The origin of the name is unclear, but it may refer to the way toads wait for their prey in their burrows, making their heads visible in the earth, just like the sausages peep through the batter. It may also derive from the 'Antediluvian toad', a phenomenon of live frogs or toads being found encased in stone, which was a scientific fad of the late 18th century."
Wikipedia
Please pray for everyone who needs hope right now.
May we feel that hope together.
As always, Jacqui
PS Jen and I went to Pensthorpe on our day off on Saturday - 1st leisure outing for 3 months. We had booked for one of the members' slots, it is open generally from this week. It felt really weird and it took some time to settle into the visit. We said hello to the water fowl, visited the red squirrels, got in the way of a protective goose or two, admired the Millennium Garden, and had a lovely walk around the reserve.
Today's prayer = a Sunday School song (that demands improvisation):
Thank you, Lord, for this fine day
Thank you, Lord, for this fine day
Thank you, Lord, for this fine day
Right where we are.
Alleluia, praise the Lord!
Alleluia, praise the Lord!
Alleluia, praise the Lord!
Right where we are.
Thank you, Lord, for frogs and toads
Thank you, Lord, for frogs and toads
Thank you, Lord, for frogs and toads
Right where we are.
Alleluia...
Jacqui
PS I sincerely hope that I never have TGA again. However, if I were ever to become disorientated and keep asking the same question over and over, I don't need taking to hospital - the condition passess and one is back to normal albeit with the short memory loss - it never comes back for that short period in which it was lost.
A time to pause,
to thank you for all the good things you give us,
to delight in your goodness around us.
Open our hearts and minds to your presence
that we may be a blessing
to all whom we meet today.
May God hold you in his love and fill you with his peace
today and everyday. Amen.
"A university is just a group of buildings gathered round a library" Shelby Foote
As we are facing times of possible change,
help us with any decisions we need to make personally.
Our first decision will always be to follow you.
PS Coincidences in material are still happening... maybe they are always there in normal life but I don't always recognise them. Or, maybe, this is just a weird special time. Yesterday and today I have mentioned my university career in Canterbury. At the funeral I took yesterday (it went very well - thank you for everyone who thought of me) I had quite a long opportunity to talk to Geoffrey's niece as we both arrived early at the crematorium. She comes from Canterbury - very near the university - and I ended up telling her about the labyrinth that was built there a few years ago. I went to Canterbury twice last year (once on my own and once with Jen) and the attached photo shows the amazing situation of the labyrinth, overlooking the city with the Cathedral in the middle distance. AND, my devotional book at the moment is about Pilgrimage. I turned the page this morning and read 'Pilgrim's Way': Winchester to Canterbury (mentioned above). Strange...
23rd June 2020
The way is long and sometimes treacherous.
Often I grow exhausted.
Sometimes I want to quit.
I run the race you have set for me.
I will not stop short.
I will complete your course -
for you Jesus.
PPS This is my 80th email so 22 more to go! But, I expect I will do weekly catch-ups after that...
22nd June 2020
"(The Peddars Way)... is an incredibly historic trail dating back to AD61 when it was used by the Romans to form paths across East Anglia after the defeat of the (celtic) Iceni tribe who inhabited much of what is now mid-Norfolk. Later in the 15th and 16th centuries this route was named the Peddars Way in honour of the pilgrims who walked to the religious village of Walsingham and the Priory there. This was, and still is, an extremely important pilgrimage route. As you meander along this historic path, bear in mind that you'll be following in the footsteps of both Romans and pilgrims." Explore Norfolk website
and revealed your glory in their lives.
Grant to us the same faith and love
that, following their example,
we may be sustained by their fellowship
and rejoice in their triumph;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Methodist Worship Book
As always, Jacqui
20th June 2020
of the hours that we have been given
and the light of your love.
Amen.
As always, Jacqui
PS A mixture of photos today covering flowers, my little Ethiopian boy, and a fascinating picture sent to me by Heather of Hingham - taken after one of the recent rain showers.
I began sending 'chatty' emails on March 23rd and, sometime after, also reproduced them on here. The word limit on a page does not allow me to keep everything but, if you would like to know about emails prior to those shown, please get in touch.