Twas Christmas Eve in the Workhouse . . .

May I wish everyone a Joyous and Blessed Christmastide.

Christmas Eve 2010, our fifth Christmas in North Carolina. Of the past ten holidays we have only spent one in our country of birth. That's not a complaint, in fact 2004 was a very special Christmas for us as we were moving from Spain to NC a few weeks later.

As I write this I am surrounded by our two felines, Hartley and Nimbus, quietly snoring, and at my feet is a sleeping dog. Sammie's owners are out of state for the holidays and Sammie is spending Christmas with us.

Gail is at church, where the turkey she is cooking should be in the oven by now. Although many of our church family are away for the holidays, we expect quite a good turn-out for Holy Eucharist this evening and for our annual Christmas dinner which follows.

It's been a tough six months since our Vicar left, but I think we have coped pretty well. Thanks to our dedicated supply priests not one Eucharist has been missed. We have continued with Bible Study, Daily Office (now six days per week), had a baptism, a funeral and a wedding, and will shortly be starting Catechesis to prepare candidates for baptism, confirmation, reaffirmation and acceptance at Eastertide. For a small church with no clergy, that's no small achievement and a tribute to the lay members.

Tomorrow Gail and I will have fun chatting to our family in Norfolk, England at 6 a.m. before once again going to church to worship at Morning Prayer, cooking breakfast and sharing table fellowship with members and friends, including some of our homeless neighbors.

Gail will then be at her own stove to cook (another) Christmas dinner for our North Carolinian family.

Who said Christmas is a relaxing time? It certainly wasn't in that small town 2000-odd years ago.

It's get that gift time

Gifts, whether they be for a birthday, anniversary or Christmas, usually mean much more to the giver than to the receiver.

As the retailers tell us that time is running out to purchase our gifts, you know their ploy, "it's so-and-so many shopping days to Christmas" (aren't ALL days shopping days now?), together with the constant advertising in the media, I guess the usual panic of, "what are we going to get Uncle Jim", or "can you remember what Aunt Mable got us last year?"

I always enjoy the surprises I received from our family in Norfolk, England. Sarah always plans early and enjoys choosing original gifts, quite a few of which have travelled with us to North Carolina, via Spain! In fact already today I have used two gifts received from them in previous years.

Stuart, a typical man, leaves everything to Leslie. She is okay with that(?) as she, too enjoys surprises and takes immense pleasure in choosing gifts. I am, I suppose, a big let down for her expertise in this area as I am a simple man who enjoys simple things, and am happy for them to buy me magazine subscriptions. By this I have a surprise gift every month when our mail-man (oops!, I mean letter-carrier) delivers a copy of a favorite magazine.

Have we done our gift shopping yet? Oh, yes, gift-wrapped, packaged and shipped. Well, almost. Gail, together with a team from our church, will shortly be shopping for Christmas "boxes" for some of our homeless friends and my goodness, is she excited about that? You bet!

Social networking

I wish to offend no one. If this post does that I apologize in advance. You have been warned.

What is the point of "social networking"? Last evening a friend and I were enjoying real social networking - that is talking to each over the phone. Not texting, twittering or facebooking, but actually talking and enjoying our real conversation.

To be fair, I know millions enjoy making their innermost thoughts known to the world and his/her dog, and good for them. I have tried it, thinking it would be a tool for keeping in touch with family and friends worldwide. When I first announced that I was to deactivate my account because of the time spent reading how others (not all) were using theirs, several said how sorry they were to lose me. Lose me? Hello? I'm not a complete dinosaur. I use e-mail, can actually still write with a pen, punch numbers on a phone and I have to assume, they can too?

If, because I deactivate one of these accounts, I am losing "friends", I feel there is something sadly wrong with the human race.

Am I being hypocritical? Of course. After all I do post to this, and enjoy reading a few of the many accessible blogs, so I have related personal views on others.

You do your social networking in your laptop, iPad or iPhone and I'll do mine by sharing a meal with friends, having them come over, enjoying an event with them and if distance makes that impossible, by calling them, wherever they are located, and actually talking with them. Of course that works two ways and I would love to share a hug and a meal with those of my family who live thousands of miles away.

Okay, I'm now donning the flak-jacket!

A Taste of Autumn

A friend of over forty years emailed me yesterday to "check all was well". Nothing strange there, that's what friends do. John was concerned that he had not heard from me for a while and that this blog had not been updated lately. My apologies to John and my apologies to you. I admit I've been a little lazy with my "correspondence" lately. I have excuses of course, but not really valid ones. In this age of lightening communication, there can be no excuses. We still have to make the effort - technology, as wonderful as it is, cannot do it for us (yet).

A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from the trustees of my pension fund. Basically, they wanted to know if I was still alive! At first I felt rather indignant, but on reflection realized that they had every right to inquire. After all, I hadn't lived in England for nearly ten years let alone seen any of them. The staff at my doctor's office found it amusing when signing the form - "you look alive to us!"

A few days later I attended the funeral of a dear friend. At 91 he had lived a very active life to the last.

I guess my point is that I'm reminded of that old proverb "never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." If it was good enough for Thomas Jefferson, it is certainly good enough for me.

Mind you, Mark Twain said "Never put off until tomorrow what you do the day after tomorrow."

As much as I admire Mark Twain, I think Jefferson got it right!

Retail gimmicks?

Last weekend was the annual "Sales Tax Holiday" here in North Carolina. Not on everything you understand, but on "back to school" supplies and clothes. This does, however, include all clothes and footwear and on computers and peripherals up to the value of $3,500.

Here, unlike England, where there is no equivalent tax (V.A.T.) on children's clothes, sales tax is charged at the standard rate (currently 7.75%). So fitting your kids out for school can be made easier if you are prepared to shop during this three-day "holiday".

We make a point of shopping for clothes (no, you don't have to be of school age) during this time. In fact, as long as we make a list of "needs" rather than "wants", and of course stick to it, we do save.

The "gimmicks"? Retailers use every trick in the book to help ease those bills out of our wallets. I can never remember paying the "ticket price" for any clothes or shoes since we moved here. Trick number one then - print an artificially high price on the ticket.

We tend to shop for clothes at a local outlet mall, so there are the displays saying - 50% off, but wait, by their sides are other displays saying take an extra 10 or 15% off. This is where it starts to get complicated.

We choose our purchases, take them to the register and produced our 10% off coupon received through the mail. Exciting this! We then show our "Rewards" card - off comes another 10%! "Are you a AAA member sir?", asks the associate. I produce my AAA membership card. "Well, as you purchase is over $50, you are entitles to 10% discount".

Finally, there is the fact that there is no added sales tax.

"Good grief", I feel like saying (but don't), "How much do you OWE ME?"

Sales tax holiday or not, why cannot retailers be up front with their prices? My point is, I really don't know if I'm saving money or not, do I? But there, that's all part of the "kidology", like making every price end in .99.

Fiesta for Iniesta

As much as I wanted to use "Viva España" for this title, I couldn't resist the above.

A hard-fought, bad-tempered, nail-biting game it certainly was, but Spain deserved to be World Champions for the first time (as I predicted before the competition got underway).

I also forecast before the game that The Netherlands would finish the game with ten men (it could easily been nine).

My favorite moment was the shot of Queen Sofia's reaction when Spain scored - did she really stand on her seat?

My friends in Málaga certainly won't get any sleep tonight!

Still on track (2)

I can just imagine what it was like yesterday evening and, no doubt, well into the early hours, in Spain generally and in the area where we lived in particular, following yesterday's emphatic win over Germany. . . .

LOUD!

Phew! What a scorcher

This title has a tradition of being the headline of popular English newspapers if the summer temperature reaches 70°F! To be fair, dear old England have been having a share of eighties weather in recent weeks. Even Wimbledon escaped any rain-off's - that must be something of a record.

In March I was complaining (what me? complaining, never!) that we had had the coldest winter since leaving England (Weather and Critters). To quote:

"Whilst I usually enjoy the four seasons, temperatures here have generally been considerably lower than normal, and I'm now ready for warmer days. We have forecasts of a warm-up next week - 65 on Thursday. Bring it on! Bring on the 80s too! And when we are sitting on the porch during the 90s, yes, you've guessed it - I'll be moaning about the heat!"

Last month was, here in The Triangle, the hottest June on record - 22 days of 90°F-plus temperatures. We have had a cool down for a few days (mid 80s), but now we are hitting the high-90s again - in fact triple-digit temperatures are forecast for later this week - even in New York!

Am I moaning? No - just wilting!

Yesterday, July 4th, Independence Day. A cook-out and fireworks at Kate and Monty's. What a wonderful celebration, what wonderful food, what wonderful company.

Still on track

I was tempted to title this post "Viva España", but thought that might be tempting fate.

Paraguay were a tough nut to crack, but with "saved" penalties, and the one that wasn't (correctly disallowed), a disallowed (offside) goal by Paraguay that could have been game changing, it certainly was full of drama.

Regulars will know I tipped Spain from the start and an so pleased they are progressing. However, I suspect my friends living in Fuengirola will have another sleepless night. Andalusians know how to celebrate, believe me!

Oh, oh, oh, oh, what a referee!

You could be forgiven for thinking that this post is another part of my music series (the heading was also the title of a popular song in England in the 1950s), but I refer of course, to the World Cup.

I will not comment on England's performance(?), but even though the disallowed "goal" would probably have made no difference, the decision was a disgrace. One of many appalling decisions made during this competition in front of probably the biggest sporting audience ever. Yes, the referee did admit he had got it wrong, but his assistant was the prime suspect in my opinion. I don't blame them - they have an extremely hard job, have to make split decisions and are under tremendous pressure.

But, for the good of the sport, wake up FIFA - use the technology!

Looks like Argentina are living up to expectations, and all credit to them, but wasn't there some controversy in their win over Mexico? Isn't this is where we came in?

One more thought - I'll be shouting for Spain - just refer to my original post.

Eggs by the dozen?

Headlines from UK daily newspaper:

EU to ban selling eggs by the dozen: Shopkeepers' fury as they are told all food must be weighed and sold by the kilo.

And to think I imagined that England was governed from the Palace of Westminster.

It has a sense of April 1st about it. Unfortunately, it's June 26th.

Exit USA

The ball, the referee, bad luck? No, none of these reasons. Today, the US were outplayed after letting themselves down with conceding yet another early goal.

I'm still impressed by their spirit, their determination, their passion and indeed, their skill, but Ghana deserved the win.

Okay, I sincerely hope England win tomorrow against arch rivals of many World Cups, Germany. How can I not hope that?

I'm still tipping Spain to lift the title, but England's other arch rivals, Argentina, look good to me.

World Cup - why the surprises?

New Zealand draw with the mighty Italy. Switzerland beat Spain. England look second rate in their first two games and now there is talk of mutiny in the camp. The French team arguing and performing badly. Why the surprises?

A simple man I may be, but it seems quite obvious to me that these "super football powers" are dominated by prima-donna's, whose egotistical belief that they have a right to play (and I use that term loosely) for their country, is the cause of the "poor results", or more correctly, the lack of.

Let's take nothing away from those "small" countries (in football terms) who have performed well. Apart from their obvious basic footballing skills, such as being able to control a ball, passing it to their own team mates and not to their opponents, they have passion and a desire to do their best for their country.

This is already becoming a memorable World Cup (one which I am watching with the sound turned off) for all of the above reasons and for some appalling refereeing decisions.

Having said that, how I wish players would get on with the game, stop blaming their coaches, the ball, the crowd, stop play acting, stop trying to get opponents booked by dubious falls (oh referee, he hurt me) and yes, stop cheating. When that whistle blows it is their responsibility. Not one player in the history of the game, from whatever team, from whatever country, has ever learnt this simple fact - that a Referee's decision, however good or bad, is almost never likely to be overturned.

Get on with, enjoy it, and follow the example of the likes of Slovenia, the USA, Algeria - play with some pride and passion!

And yes, I still think the USA can qualify from the group stage (and I really hope that England at least will recover some of their pride) and I still have high hopes of Spain being in the final.

More on food

I first wrote about food comparison between England and North Carolina last August (Food, Glorious(?), Food), but feel I must share my love of food once more.

What has prompted me? Stuart and Leslie buy me a wonderful birthday gift each year - a annual subscription to the excellent Our State magazine. A feature in this month's edition is entitled 100 Foods You Must Eat in North Carolina's 100 Counties.

But first some geographical comparisons:

	England	North Carolina
Area	50,346 square miles	53,865 square miles
Population	51.45 million	9.38 million
Density	1,023 per square mile	165 per square mile
Counties	48	100

Getting back to the food. The delights of the Old North State include such wonders as Appalachian Chicken, from the delightfully named Vance Toe River Lodge Restaurant, in the even more delightfully named Alleghany County; Nutty Blue Chick (Avery County); and wait for it - Chocolate-Stuffed Sourdough French Toast with Pecans and Maple Syrup (Anson County) and that's just some from the six counties beginning with A!

How about Lightly Salted Southern Blister-Fried Peanuts from Bakers Southern Traditions Peanuts, Roxobel in Bertie County; Conch Fritters and Honor-system Beer, provided at the Yacht Basin Provision Co., Southport in Brunswick County; or Moon Pie Ice Cream from the Cabarrus Creamery, Concord in Cabarrus County (if you haven;t had Moon Pie, you haven't lived)!

I could go on (and on), for example Aunt Ruby's Raw Shelled Peanuts, Twice-baked Grits Souffle with Wild-and-Exotic-Mushroom Ragout, Aged Sherry-Mushroom Emulsion and Shaved Confit Foie Gras, Muscadine Grape Hull Pie, Zucchini Marmalade, Corned Herring, Vinegar Pie, Foot-Long Pork Barrel Sausage on a Lobby Bun, Crispy Cornbread Crab Cakes, etc., etc. But this is making feel quite peckish and I've only just had breakfast!

I did notice that many of the 100 "Don't Miss" treats are desserts. To a Southerner a "pie" is usually a dessert, invariably loaded with sugar. That's why this English ex-pat misses "pork" pies, "steak and kidney" pies, etc. Have I mentioned this before?

Self serve, self destruction

Self serve has been with us for some time I know, but it now seems to be manifesting in many areas. I refuse to use the term "self service" as to me, this seems an oxymoron. It's "do-it-yourself" - service doesn't come into it.

I've gradually got used to the self-scan registers in grocery stores. Even when I have a cart full, I can manage these without the help of the one associate who is given the task of supervising eight or so self-scan units.

The latest use of this technology is at our local library where self-check out is the order of the day. It's very easy to use and so much quicker so Durham County Library get a vote of thanks from me.

I had reason to drive down Highway 55 this afternoon. A 50 mph limit seems adequate, but I wish drivers who decide to pull onto the highway from various outlets would be better judges of speed of approaching traffic. Infuriating when there is no following traffic and that driver (very often with a cell phone glued to his/her ear) decides that they suddenly have a calling to become a kamikaze. Why do drivers risk their lives and the lives of others to gain a few seconds?

Stuart, who drives this road daily, says it's always like this. The miracle is that there are not more wrecks.

Sad Day

An eventful morning at church today.

Our wonderful Vicar's last Sunday with us. There were, of course, a few tears, but mostly we treated this as a celebration of her three and half years serving St. Joe's.

She has been a tremendous influence on many people's lives, certainly on mine, and I wish her well.

A new chapter opens for her, a new chapter starts for us. Bless you dear Rhonda.

World Cup Fever? - 2

Okay, perhaps not fever, more of slight cold. A 1-1 draw was a fair result in my opinion. As one of the commentators said here, "It was a game of two goalkeepers".

Just minutes before Robert Green's Under-9s-style blunder, I happened to say to Gail, "I'm so pleased that Green (ex Norwich City) has been given a chance - I saw him play against Great Yarmouth Town Youth in the mid-nineties and was very impressed even then!" Well, that will teach me to keep my mouth shut - although I doubt it.

One glaringly obvious point about the game was that the USA did play like a team, whereas England played like a load of prima-donas. That will need sorting out before the next game if the banana skin is not slipped on.

I read where in England, ITV audiences actually missed "the" goal whilst commercials were shown. How ironic, that here in the US, where generally, commercials rule, both halves of the game were commerical free. Excellent coverage by ESPN, although I wasn't too impressed with the "Brits versus Yanks" phrase which was repeatedly trotted out. I must remind those here that the "Brits" (Oh, how I hate that term) haven't got a soccer team - there were no Scots, Welsh or Irish playing - it's ENGLAND! And what's more, it's like a red rag to a bull for a Southerner to be called a Yank.

World Cup Fever?

Not quite. I will however later today be watching the match between England and the USA.

Who will I be cheering on? This may surprise a few, but I will be wanting my adopted nation to win. Strange? Well I don't think so. I will have mixed emotions no doubt, but have always considered the country where our home was, to be our home. When we lived in Spain, we considered Spain home. When I was asked there, "Do you go home much?", my stock answer was, "Yes, every evening". We feel the same now we live here in NC.

Do I see the US team winning the Cup? No, although I would love that. Do I see England winning it? No, although I would be pleased if they did. Who then do I think will?

Well, Spain, of course!

A busy retirement

After nearly two blog-less months, I have at last the time, energy and motivation to post. How can a retired person not have time to post a few lines? You may well ask.

For me the secret of a fulfilling retirement is to balance an easier lifestyle with a variety of activities. After over forty years of working 50+ hour weeks, I had the opportunity to retire early. Believe me, it wasn't how I choose to, but a mild heart attack provided the wake-up call I needed to change my life-style.

A five-year "vacation" in southern Spain helped Gail and I realize that retirement is not all "sun, sand and sangria", hence our decision to move not only countries but continents. I have drooled over the quality of living we experience here in the magnificent state of North Carolina before, so will skip back the my point.

Although dear Leslie encouraged us to make the move, she did confess that "we might not find so many things to do with our time here as on the Costa del Sol." Leslie is usually right in her observations - she's not a respected life coach for nothing - but how wrong she was on this one.

A full schedule of daily activities keeps us both mentally, spiritually and sometimes physically challenged (and I still usually find time for a nap). Gail often teases me for my addiction to "my computer". It is not so. The addiction, if there is one, is to the wonderful world of communication, learning and keeping abreast with all of my many interests, not the computer itself. Gail has so many interests (none of which require a laptop to enjoy) that it's hard to keep up with them all.

However, we do use a proportion of our time away from the computer, the knitting, the reading, the crafts, in the pursuit of happiness, not necessarily of ourselves, but by helping others. Now we have time to smell the roses. It's a wonderful life, for which we are grateful on a daily basis.

Even our cats have retired!

Thoughts of Easter

Is it me, or did Lent seem like more than six weeks this year? Surely it was well over that time when we celebrated Shrove Tuesday at our Pancake Supper, cooked for us by our friends from the Episcopal Center at Duke? Was it that we were celebrating the Daily Office by using the not so familiar Rite I? Perhaps it was due to the fact that I felt more penitent?

Whatever the reason, the coming of Palm Sunday and Holy Week did come and was welcomed.

We have at our church, what I think is a pretty unique family. I’ve talked before about our wonderful Fellowship, but it goes much further than sharing a meal with like-minded committed Christians.

Our Table Fellowship that follows each weekday Morning Prayer gives an opportunity to talk, laugh and yes, sometimes cry with a wide variety of people, some homeless, some not, but nevertheless needing more than that plate of breakfast casserole, eggs, cereals, toast and coffee. Loving thy neighbor is not always easy believe me. I struggle daily with doing just that. There are challenges to our faith on a daily basis, but I know that with God’s help we can overcome them.

Returning to the Easter theme, the eve of Palm Sunday saw seven of us weaving palm crosses. Sharing conversation, experiences, humor and of course food. I’ll be the first to admit that my crosses were not as artistic as A’s, who hails from the Lebanon and was teaching us beginners with wonderful patience. But what a gratifying experience it was – nothing technical, nothing sophisticated, but enjoying the four thousand year art (or attempted art in my case) with, as A. proudly says, “Our nearest neighbor to the Biblical lands”.

Holy Week was busy for us. Jokes were made about “our car is on auto-pilot”, or “perhaps we should bring our beds to church,” but seven liturgies marking Christ’s death and celebrating his resurrection between Wednesday evening through Easter Sunday have to be the highlight of the year.

After our short, but moving, Holy Saturday morning service, I was seconded to help our wonderful Altar Guild. I didn’t have much choice (only joking) as I am married to one of their members. But after an hour or so of cleaning and polishing, especially the church brasses, I realized what another important example of fellowship this was.

After six flowerless weeks and veiled crosses, our sanctuary became alive again. A resurrection no less. As later in the day we commenced the Great Vigil, being led into a darkened church by the Paschal Candle, we knew, all of us, that hope, with the light, would soon spring from Christ’s Resurrection. After renewing our Baptismal Vows it was my task to turn on the lights. Never has Alleluia been shouted with such gusto (well, not since last Easter at least) and a wonderful feeling of joy and yes, relief, swept over the congregation who knew that Christ Had Risen, Indeed.

Easter Sunday, without doubt, my favorite day of the year, saw a packed church enjoy and praise the Resurrection of Our Savior. I was on acolyte duty and admit that together with the relief and joy I could feel tears of emotion – tears of joy especially at what was something new for me. T, a regular at Daily Office and a professional choreographer and dancer, enriched our celebration with his liturgical dancing. Thank you T. Indeed thank you to our music director, choir and musicians. And a big thank you for Altar Guilds everywhere, but especially to ours at St. Joseph’s, who tirelessly work to prepare God’s church for worship and the Lord’s Table for us to share in the Resurrection throughout the year.

Thanks be to God. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

English eccentricity? - Update

Video clips from this year's Durham Savoyard's wonderful performance of The Mikado can be found by clicking here.

Thanks and acknowledgement to Darryl and Mary Freedman for recording this for prosperity.

English eccentricity in North Carolina?

English eccentricity? Definitely not (well maybe). I refer to those ingenious Victorian gentlemen William Schwenck Gilbert and Arthur Seymour Sullivan.

After living in North Carolina for four years and gradually becoming more "American" in many of my habits and, indeed outlooks, even though clinging to my "Englishness", I was reminded, with a (very pleasant) jolt that I still retained it. On Thursday evening, our son Stuart (English born, American citizen) invited me to the preview performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado at the wonderful Carolina Theater.

I had heard of The Durham Savoyards, as a neighbor and his wife are very involved. The Savoyards have for 47 years been performing the dynamic duo's works. Stuart had been before so knew what to expect. I was ready to enjoy myself, especially as The Mikado is probably the best known of the fourteen operas created by G&S. I looked forward to hearing the familiar music and clever lyrics with keen anticipation.

What I wasn't ready for was the amazing appeal of Gilbert & Sullivan to an audience of enormous cultural diversity. Imagine my surprise when, immediately after the orchestral conductor was introduced, a familiar drum roll saw everyone standing for the British national anthem! A spotlight was directed on "The Royal Box" and shone on none other than "Her Majesty Queen Victoria" (accompanied, I noticed, by John Brown).

125 years after the first performance of The Mikado, sub-titled The Town of Titipu, this performance was as fresh as ever (no, I wasn't at that first performance). To say I enjoyed the evening would be an under-statment. The send-up of Victorial England's social customs disguised in a Japanese setting, gives us such characters as Nanki-Poo, Yum-Yum, Pooh-Bah, Pish-Tish. The appeal I can understand, as nearly 48 hours later I am still singing the songs.

The Durham Savoyards deserve praise and support for this wonderful production and yes, I have already pencilled in my diary the dates of next year's performances of Princess Ida.

Weather and critters

The English, they say (and who "they" are, I've never known) are a nation of moaners. Our Australian friends don't call us "whinging Poms" for nothing.

As Stuart says, "the English have a God-given right to complain". Hmm, I sort of agree with him and certainly "The Weather" is one subject that we do comment and usually complain about. It's too wet, it's too cold, it's too hot, it's too windy, etc.

One of the many considerations we gave to moving to Andalusia was that following retirement and spending time out of an office/factory environment, it struck me just how grey (gray) and overcast most days seemed. Even during the summer and the temperatures were obviously warmer, clear, "wall-to-wall" sun days seemed rare.

Of course, Andalusia has a share of them too, and the Costa del Sol is known for it's windy days. The climate - lack of wind (generally) and the Carolina blue skies and plenty of sun, even during the winter, attracted us to the Old North State.

The English are not alone in making "The Weather" a frequent topic of conversation. It happens here too folks. There is an excellent forecasting service throughout the media - one of our local TV news channels has detailed forecasts every ten minutes.

What's all this got to do with "moaning"? Okay, I'm ready for Spring and warmer weather. This has been, without doubt, the coldest winter we've spent since leaving England. Whilst I usually enjoy the four seasons, temperatures here have generally been considerably lower than normal, and I'm now ready for warmer days. We have forecasts of a warm-up next week - 65 on Thursday. Bring it on! Bring on the 80s too! And when we are sitting on the porch during the 90s, yes, you've guessed it - I'll be moaning about the heat!

The critters? We have a yard full of wildlife with many species of birds. They give us so much pleasure throughout the year that we repay them by making sure that they are well fed and watered during the winter. We have managed to keep most of our feeders "squirrel-free" - except for one. It's a clear plastic one which fixes via suction cups to a window. We have tried fixing it to different windows, but however successful we think we are, dear little "Squirrel Nutkins" manages to find a way to reach it, knock it off the hooks thus spilling the food for him and his bushy-tailed friends to feed at leisure on the ground.

I can't help admire his ingenuity, but I'm sure this cheeky little critter would try the patience of Saint Francis himself!

The battle continues.

Friday Fellowship

Following Evening Prayer on Fridays, Fred, Gail and I started going for supper and enjoying some end-of-the-working-week fellowship (although all three of us are retired).

The numbers gradually grew and even some who originally declined our invitations started to attend. It might mean a “cheap-and-cheerful” meal at a local cafeteria, an all-day breakfast at a diner, or a more substantial meal, but the common denominator is that it suits everyone and that it most often includes going back home for yet more fellowship.

Last evening was typical. It happened to be CP’s birthday and he had invited some friends to Evening Prayer thinking that afterwards perhaps we could go to IHOP for celebratory pancakes. Meanwhile CM had called me to suggest a pot-luck at their home. Long-story short – a quick change of plan and fifteen of us (that includes CM’s dog Sammie) enjoyed a great evening which included a hilarious ping-pong (mis)match between Gail and CP, heaps of laughter, loads of love, and great food.

Fellowship and hospitality are essentials of Christianity. I thank God I’m a Christian.

A Busy Breakfast

A busy breakfast fellowship followed Morning Prayer this morning after we had celebrated the life of Timothy and Titus, faithful followers of Saint Paul. Just as I was locking up the church, M came over and explained he needed to get back to Raleigh after receiving some medical treatment. He was obviously anxious and declined breakfast, but was grateful for the help we gave him to get home.

Courtney, Dave and Gail had breakfast well under way by the time I got back into the parish house. B, a regular, who now has his own accommodation, brought M for breakfast. M who has been staying with B, was obviously so grateful and was busy organizing his and B’s grocery list - another case of “the poor helping the poor” - certainly a reminder to us all. Will, who had attended Morning Prayer, popped in to say hello and drink his daily OJ, whilst big S was cheerful as usual and managed to put a smile on everyone’s face – a wonderful gift of his.

The every faithful Dave and Tony were as usual, deep in conversation, while Jodi was organizing her two-year old’s breakfast of Cheerios.

Tuesday breakfast is always fun and could never be dull, especially with Courtney and Gail in form. At the 194^th Annual Convention of the NC Diocese last weekend, Bishop Michael Curry continued and expanded his “All Are Welcome” theme from last year. I thought of his words as I buttered my toast, drank my coffee and enjoyed the fellowship of our brothers and sisters. I felt welcomed by all those present. Praise God.

The scent of nostalgia

Some time ago a friend of mine told me he had been asked what attracted him to our church. He replied, "Among other things of course, it had the smell of a real church. Like a church should". To my mind, he's absolutely right - candle wax, a lingering scent of incense and furniture polish.

The scent of smell does play a large part in bringing back memories, for me anyway. My inspiration for this post comes from me sitting in front of my laptop and realizing that the steak and vegetable stew I put in the slow cooker is well on its way to becoming my supper later this evening. It's one of my favorite aroma's, together with freshly baked bread (thank heaven for the bread maker), freshly ground coffee, newly mown grass and that distinctive smell of a summer shower after a hot spell.

I can smell with my mind's nose (well, if you can see with your mind's eye!), my earliest days at school. Again, furniture polish and for some reason Lifebuoy soap are prominent here, plus the strong smell of Jeyes Fluid, used in the outside lavatories. Yes, you did read correctly - outside. We didn't linger there long during the cold Norfolk winters, believe me!

Although I only lived a few hundred yards from my school, I always stayed for school dinner. Boiled cabbage - I can remember that strong smell with somewhat disgust.

Other schoolboy smells (the mind boggles at that phrase) I can still envisage are: dubbin (when rubbing on my football boots); hot tar (as the road-men repaired the streets); burnt methanol at speedway meetings (I still love that smell); and one not so pleasant, but nonetheless one that brings back vivid and emotional memories - the smell of Dad's clothing after he had spent many hours working in the dairy and delivering milk.

Some smells puzzled me, such as why certain stores had the same aroma whatever the branch or town. Examples I remember most were "Woolie's" (F. W. Woolworth) and "Marks" (Marks & Spencer). It was probably the corporate design and the use of fittings that gave them that unique aroma. Without wishing to offend vegetarians, I loved the smell of a butcher's shop, "blood and sawdust", and how I loved the smell of a shoe shop - that's when shoes were made with leather, naturally.

Nowadays our noses are bombarded with artificial smells -perfume, air-fresheners, scented candles, but those natural favorites I mentioned to begin with are still tops for me.

What is my very favorite? After forty years in the book printing industry, it has got be the smell of a brand new book. They don't call me a crazy Englishman for nothing!

Decisions, decisions - part 4

Decisions are made virtually every second of our lives. Even when we sleep, decisions are made which effect our lives.

My first life-changing decisions were previously posted separately. This post combines three major ones within five years.

In the summer of 2000 we were to take our three (at that time) wonderful granddaughters on individual vacations of their choice. We always tried to have quality one-on-one time with them individually. So a great time was had with with 9 year-old Josie in historic Northumbria. A couple of weeks later, an equally great time with 7 year-old Asha in East Sussex exploring "Pooh Bear" country. On return, and before we had a chance to take dear Caitlin, then 5, anywhere, I suffered a mild, but nevertheless frightening, heart attack. Don't jump to any conclusions here - it was nothing to do with our girls - if anything, they helped me relax from the stresses of my work.

On recovering, thankfully fairly quickly, I was fortunate to be given the chance to take early retirement. An easy decision? I now think it was, but I'm not so sure I felt so then. After all, nine years early? With the support and encouragement, as always of Gail and our son and daughter, decision number 1 was made.

Before this, on various vacations, we had fallen in love with the southern Iberian Peninsular, and had talked about retiring there, either the Algarve or to neighboring Spain's Costa's. We now had an opportunity to do so, but would we take the plunge? It may have been brave, it may have been foolhardy, but finding on retirement that during my previously working hours the sun really didn't come out all that much, and that perhaps our finances could go stretch a little further in Andalusia, I started the research. There, decision number 2 made. Following our visit to North Carolina for our son's wedding, we did for a short time consider the possibility of moving to the US. However we stuck to our original plan, put our home on the market, sold most of our belongings and took a flight to Spain to check out the property in and around Málaga. UK property sold, Spanish property purchased, legal work completed and decision 2 carried through.

A good decision? Yes, although after four years and having visited North Carolina for an extended stay (Leslie, our daughter-in-law deserves sainthood for putting up with us), we realized we could never have made Spain our permanent home, even though we managed to have the quality time with each of our girls in turn, . . . so, let's start preparing for the big one - Decision Number Three!

This really was a big one. We really liked NC and after spending time here in the summer and winter months, checking out property (and the locals, and liking both), I still wasn't convinced. It took Gail quite a bit of persuasive argument to win me over. There was a great deal of agonizing, but eventually Gail's logic was spot on.

I have not regretted any of these decisions. Yes, we miss our family in England terribly, how could we not? But which one of our granddaughters spent nearly a month with us this past summer? If you are a regular reader you know the answer . . . . Caitlin had her quality time with Nan and Granddad after all.