Hurray!

No, it hasn't been a dry day but the Lotus passed its MOT.
We took it to Kingsbury Garage early this morning then went on to Ventura Park to take on vittles for Sunday lunch, when the family are coming.
We pottered  a bit before coming home so i could write a sermon for Sunday.
The reading is Mark 6, the beheading of St John the baptist - a bit gruesome.
Fortunately, it is July 15, St Swithun's day (or Swithin), so I swotted up on him instead - Bishop of Winchester in the ninth century.
 He asked to be buried without pomp where the rain & the footfall of worshippers would fall on him, so he was buried just outside the West door of the Old Saxon Minster.
About a hundred years later, Ethelwold, the new pioneering Bishop of Winchester, set up a new community of Benedictine monks in the Old Minster &took Swithun as the  Patron Saint.
He moved the remains indoors, to an elaborate reliquary, attracting hoards of pilgrims who claimed miraculous healings.
There followed torrential rain for forty days, which gave rise to the legend that if there is rain/sunshine on St Swithun's day, there will be similar weather for the following 40 days.
Most saints' days are on the date of their death, St S's on the day his remains were moved!

We collected J & Th from school & had tea in McDonalds.
Scrummy.
I must be getting better.
I also found time to buy a lacy dress in Beatties sale; perhaps I'll wear it tomorrow for the wedding.

Summer?

A busy day - helping to decorate the church for friends wedding on Saturday - it took five hours!!
Knackered by the time we'd finished & I'd cleaned from top to bottom.
Henrys are OK, but much harder work than Dyson, as you have to provide the pressure.
Better than a dustpan & brush.
Came home, had a cup of tea followed by two hours in the garden, tidying up after the storm last week, which washed soil from the rockery & blew leaves & twigs off everything.
The rain came down as soon as I hung the washing out, so it had a good soaking whilst I gardened, expecting it to blow over.
I do hope that the weather in Cornwall has been better today to allow some time on the beach.
Lotus in tomorrow for MOT, so fingers crossed.
I have some shopping to do as there is hardly any food in the house, then to Solihull to pick up J & Th.
Christian Aid AGM in the evening, I'll send apologies & go to Jan's Cookery event, which must be more fun & needs support - don't we all!
The wedding on Saturday - shall I wear "my" wedding suit, just to show it fits, or do I need another new outfit? 

Lost gardens.....

We have just returned from a couple of days in Fowey (pronounced, "Foy", as "joy"), in Cornwall, to spend some time with W, MK & the boys, including two great barbeque dinners.
We stayed in The Fowey Hotel, which was excellent - fantastic views across the river to Polruan, good rooms & breakfasts & lovely, local staff; all this a short walk from the town & Readymoney cove.
We looked directly across to W & MK's balcony (I eventually located it this morning, despite W dancing on the balcony table, wearing a pink T-shirt, yesterday)
We have travelled back & forth on the ferry, much more fun than the car, after dinner.
Today we visited the Lost gardens of Heligan, near Mevagissey - lost sometime after the 1920s & found again in the 1990s & returned to their former glory.
I wish we could have stayed longer.
Back to the grind.  

happy Birthday DK

Dk is four today - the last grandchild to attain that great age.
Meanwhile, Aj & I have travelled back fro Richmond, where we have been staying with PR, pottering around the shops & visiting Wimbledon on Saturday & Wednesday.
We had a great time, the tennis was excellent & we were lucky enough to have two good days - hot & sunny on Sat & only the odd shower on Wed.
We saw 3 of the 4 womens' singles semi-finalists playing, in the ladies doubles, including two matches with the Williams sisters.
We are getting almost competent at using the buses around Richmond - I admit to having used G's bus pass all week as I couldn't find mine.
A little shopping, then collecting J & Th from school tomorrow, followed by a retirement party for the senior staff from KS.
Do I need a new dress?

Rock'n roll

Last night we went to a "Roy Orbison & friends" show at The Alex, in Birmingham.
It was really very good, especially " The Big O", not spoiled by the sizable number of men in the audience (including my neighbour) needing to leave, mid-number.
Prostrate problems in the over 50s!
Is there anyone who knows me who would expect me to be able to direct them to The Alex & tell them where to park?
I did know that it was at the back of new St Station, visible from The Queensway, which was a start, but not good enough - so much for a date with G!

Health is improving, forced into action to collect J & Th from school on Friday & sermon to prepare for today.
I had a new hairstyle yesterday - short, layered & blown forward, even before I waited for G on Coleshill High St!
I'm pleased with it, but the acid test will be tomorrow, when I shampoo out all of the shape & am left with short hair.
I've lost another couple of pounds so hope that the loss of appetite can last for a few months, until I'm a size 4, the size of an average Vietnamese woman!
Only ten sizes to go!

Just checking my sermon - St John the Baptist - importance of his finger, as highlighted by Martin Luther in 1532 sermon. (He used it to point to JC)
I just googled "Relics of J the B", since there were no more comments on my blog, & by shear coincidence, The Church Times front page is an article acknowledging the authenticity of relics of J the B found under the floor in a church in Sveti Ivan (honestly - means St John), off the coast near Istanbul.
You couldn't make it up!
Have a fun day....

Thank God it's raining.

This may be rather selfish, but we have worked so hard in the garden, putting it straight after the disastrous mowing & the month of neglect, that my hands are weak from weeding the yard & I'm exhausted from weeding the borders.
The mower refused to start, but G has all of the lawns in shape, having borrowed a mower from John Andrews & spent well over a day mowing, raking & mowing again.
Still a couple of days work to do, when it dries up.

I played tennis in the sunshine yesterday then did my stint in the garden before preparing dinner - the Wheelers joined us, having spent the last month in Australia, visiting their son.
Good to catch up.
Today I am seriously flagging, my entire body has been taken over by an alien being, making it feel sick & lethargic, incapable of doing anything constructive.
I made a small decision to have a cup of ovaltine, but the alien dislikes ovaltine, so I ditched it & settled for tea.
I hope that this is short lived as I have lots to do.
No photos yet, but about 3000 in the wings, waiting....

Home again

Back from a month in Viet Nam, as the natives call it - all words are short, so those with more than five letters become two words, or so it seems.
After a month I only know four words:
Thit bo  - beef
Thit jo   - dog
Gamon  - thank you
Ke         - frog

These I learnt from menus.
Restaurants that sell thit jo do not sell thit bo, or any other meat, so no problem there.
See a picture of a golden Labrador over the door & avoid.
I make this sound as though we made such decisions, but in fact we had a car with air-con, a driver, Phum & a guide, Chung, then Hai from day three onwards, so were well looked after.
We lunched with them every day & often dined with them & friends - twelve was the largest party!

Vietnam is 1500 miles long with the South china Sea to the East & shaped like a skinny, writhing fish.
Hanoi is the Northern capital & Ho Chi Minh city/Saigon the Southern capital, with a very thin central region - my description, entirely, if you hadn't guessed.
We started in Hanoi, travelled North as far as the Chinese border, then South as far as possible,to the Mekong Delta, returning to HCM city, to fly home.

A fascinating country, my main impressions are:
* Green & luscious, with crops growing everywhere - on steep slopes, up mountains, under pylons....
* very small people, especially the elderly; some of the younger people are our size with some        plumpies amongst the better off, who eat more Western food.
*Very healthy food, bales of green stuff, almost anything green seems to be eaten.
  This ties in with protein consumption - any life form is a source of protein.
  I declined anything with more than four legs!
  No sweets, chocolates, biscuits, etc, only masses of fantastic fruit, hence a 7lb weight loss.
*Motorcycles by the million, everywhere, weaving in & out, but few accidents due to the low speed 
  of all traffic. They often carry 3/4 people or a pig or a dozen ducks, the equivalent load of a small 
  van.
  On day 1, three men carried a large chest freezer out of our hotel, balanced it across the back of a 
  m/c, no ties, which then drove off home.
*Appalling roads, apart from the new highways - worse than the worst country lane here.
  In the North we averaged less than 20 mph.
*The dexterity of the masseurs!

We are just getting over the time difference (6 hours) & the 16 hour journey home.
The weather & J A's lawn mower have played havoc with the garden, the installation of an alarm system & the necessity to use the front door as the back door is not yet replaced, have created a mess indoors.
Nevertheless, I have done all of the washing & ironing - everything we took as damp/hot climates & foreign laundries leave a strange smell - cases are all away & the garden is having priority whilst the sun shines.

Photos to follow - just a few.