May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15.13
Such a wonderful verse, yet so often I go my own way and then wonder why I feel depressed!
If you look really carefully you can just see the ice on the canal, evident as we heard it gently crack as we went to fill the boat with water at nearly midday. No wonder we are feeling the chill! No problem though. We get the heating on (even though it involves having to go outside to turn on the engine, a task nobley taken on by R who has to get dressed and then undressed!) and once the water is hot, can indulge in a lovely steaming bath. When you know you are then going to fill the tank with water you can have the bath as deep as possible assuming the heating has been on long enough to make copious hot water. Which mercifully it had this morning!
After filling with water we successfully, without incident or loss of temper, reversed the boat back to its mooring, with the help of R on the towpath pulling the midrope. At one point it was a close shave to us straddling the canal but a quick thrust forward realigned the boat and we continued our strategy of R doing all the pulling backwards. Such a good feeling knowing we have plenty of water and clean potty cassettes!
Market day in LB so we went and bought a loaf of bread and were very dr samosas but resisted temptation. Don’t think they will help our cholesterol levels! We then walked in a slightly new direction (I think we are rapidly exhausting all routes out of LB Town centre) and found ourselves in the flooded meadows abreast the towpath that I photographed a few days ago. Mercifully the water level had dropped considerably and we were able to walk along the pathways. Quite icy but we walked with care.
Arriving back at the boat I had a sudden urge to cook. I had made some wonderful chicken stock which I used 3 ways – celery soup; chicken and veg pie topped with mixed root veg (courtesy of Burns Night mash with added carrots); chilli venison and mixed bean mince – using the uber hot chilli olives! And then I made up a carrot cake recipe using some of the mashed up carrot. Not a bad result considering I had no way of weighing anything! Some online Trickster Bridge with friends in the evening followed by an episode of Schitts Creek finished the day well! SC has been recommended to us and we weren’t sure about it to begin with, but it’s growing on us as we get to know the characters. Each episode is short so a convenient burst of light entertainment at the end of the day.
Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
1 Chronicles 29.10
Flicking through my bible just now this verse reminded me how much God loves our offerings of praise.
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.
Romans 15.4
Endurance is a good word for a lockdown. We wait to get encouragement from the government but perhaps we should also look to the bible for some signs of guidance and hope.
Its my son-in-law’s 30th birthday today, so we sent him a video of us reciting a ditty we made up about him. His brother-in-laws sang him a sea shanty they composed and his sister sang him a birthday song on Zoom from California. All different ways of expressing birthday greetings when you can’t see one another and yet want to make the day memorable. I have just spoken to him and he’s had a great day with lots of special moments so that’s good to know. Birthdays should be celebratory, especially ones with an ‘O’. Lockdown is quite a challenge in this respect but I am amazed by how inventive so many have become and how blessed we are with modern technology.
We’re about to do something new for us (but passè for many of you reading this no doubt!). We are having a virtual Burns Night, linking 3 of our 4 children (4th one busy organising said 30th birthday celebrations) together. The haggis is simmering on the stove as I write this and earlier I made clapshot – what my orkadian granny called swede and potato mashed together. It should be fun with G reciting an amusing Burns ode he made up a few years ago. It’s great it can get a second airing. It reminds me of the ‘reply to the lassies’ I was tasked to write this time last year with a rather risqué joke thrown in. I can’t remember the joke but I can remember the reaction as the ladies gradually started to titter once the joke sank in! And then there were peels of laughter. Think that was the last time we Scottish danced. Let’s hope we’ll be able to celebrate Burns in full next year with some swinging sporrans.
The boat is toasty warm and everything clean as a whistle from our trip to the laundrette. Highlight of the day! Opposite was a corner store which I popped into while waiting for the tumble drying to finish and was very surprised to see dried hibiscus leaves for sale. I have been searching for more hibiscus tea bags (good for lowering blood pressure by all accounts) to no avail. Not easy to come by unless you go online and its hard for us to get deliveries! Such a surprising place to find the leaves. The tea I subsequently made tastes delicious so that was quite a find.
Otherwise a quiet day catching up on paperwork and messaging friends to help keep in contact. One of H’s friends (our uber driver at Christmas) is in hospital with covid so we are worried for him. Reading the hospital reports is sobering in the extreme so it’s good to find pockets of joy and happiness to keep our spirits up and to help those around us do the same. A reminder of how important it is to offer the hand of friendship and do whatever we can to support one another
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries the bones.
Proverbs 17.22
I love the image of a cheerful heart!
The day we woke up to snow! Whilst everyone else seemed to be delighting in the beauty of the white blanket and posting endless picturesque picture’s, we snuggled further under the duvet wondering when it would be warm enough to get up and make a cup of tea. How wonderful that Zoom calls can be sans video. I never imagined that one day I would be attending a religious service ‘live’ from the comfort of my bed! Nor that when I tried to get dressed, my fingers would be so cold I would not be able to open the plastic bag containing my underwear! One of the best tips we were given, which I may have mentioned before, is keeping all clothing in vacuum plasticbags to stop the damp penetrating through. Luckily R, up and about before me, had warmed his hands on the teapot and came to my rescue!
The snow had stopped falling by the time we had enough layers on to venture outside and LB looked rather magical shrouded in white. We trod carefully, not wanting to slip on any icy patches, and had not ventured far before a Chinese lady pushing a pram, indicated that she had found a mobile phone on the ground. Speaking very little English, she was keen to give the phone to us to sort the problem of how to find its owner. The phone was locked but the screenshot was of a school timetable with a girl’s name so I thought if all else failed I could ring round the local schools tomorrow. R thought there might be somewhere to leave phone at fire/police station so he wandered off to speak to them whilst I waited with phone to see if the owner came looking for it. To keep warm I did my Joe Wicks routine which must have looked a bit strange but no one commented! Eventually R returned having had no luck speaking to anyone so we continued on our walk hoping the phone might ring. We found a large park we had never walked through before and there was an amazing snowman with a snow dog! Returning eventually back to the boat I noticed a missed call on the phone by an ’emergency’ contact. Although the phone was locked it allowed me to ring this number and thus reunite the phone with its very grateful young owner whose emergency contact was her father. Relief all round.
So a quiet afternoon and evening reading the papers, watching an episode of Finding Alice, which I am not too sure about, and raising a glass of sherry to mum! Once again, like last week, we attended our church Songs of Praise and it was heart warming listening to people’s stories of faith and the songs they had chosen and why. Meanwhile outside it’s still trying to snow although the weather app shows a big round sun shining all day tomorrow. We can but hope!
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you, and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
1 Peter 5.10
Following on from yesterday’s blog, I think this verse from Peter helps to build resilience and reminds us of the hope we have in Christ.
Well, having let off steam about exercise in yesterday’s blog, I put on the dance music first thing and did my Joe Wicks routune. Was just stretching when the phone interrupted me and I had a fun conversation with K, who having just read my blog, was ringing in empathy! I think the only reason I keep going with the blog at the moment is because it keeps me feeling connected with the world and my friends. There is certainly not much to say on the boating front. We haven’t moved, even to get water. R has walked the potty to the Elsan so all’s good there! The problem with no moving at all is that the boat seems to get damper and colder, with wet patches on the floor from leaks coming in via window condensation. We had the engine on for an hour to get some hot water so at least I have clean hair – makes me feel better! And we were able to do last night’s washing up in hot water. The cold water, obviously, is really cold at the moment with the outside temperature plummeting preparing us for snow.
Decided to get our veg and bread from the market stalls. The queues were so long we ended up instead at the Greek stall buying olives (so hot they blow your head off) and samosas and onion bhajis from the Indian stall. And finally I cracked on the return journey to our boat. The nearest shop is Majestic wine! Having tried to stick to my policy of no white wine on board (lead me not into temptation) we noticed a bin end sale! So now we have 2 bottles of Sunday sherry and 4 bottles of wine (actually 2 are rosè so technically have only blown my resolve by two bottles!). And thrown in 3 reduced price cans of short dated G&T.
Laden with bottles we were grateful the boat was so close and celebrated our return by trying the G&T. Sadly it was a bit flat so resolved the issue by adding a bit more gin, frozen lemon slices and some fresh sparkling water – not a bad drink! We heated the Indian treats, made some riata to accompany them and what an unexpectedly delicious lunch. They were some of the best bhaji and samosas I have ever eaten. Cheered me no end, ready for the Zoom jammy dodger cookery class at 2pm. Set up by a church group we know from Thorpeness, they asked the chef at one of the local pubs to put on a cookery demonstration. Participants were encouraged to make their own biscuits at home at the same time. It was surprisingly entertaining even though I wasn’t making the biscuits. But I might give them a go! Making a jammy dodger isn’t rocket science but it was the idea that people could get together in such a way and find something communal to do that both cheered and depressed me. Obviously the cheering bit was seeing everyone have a bit of fun and banter. The depressing part was the reality of not seeing each other face to face. The almost absurd way we are all having to live, without seeing or hugging our family. The social distancing of all our friends. I will have to dust myself down, give myself a good talking to and just get on with the situation we are in. But every so often my resilience cracks a little. As long as we don’t all crack at the same time, we can take it in turns to hold each other up and all will be well, eventually. Patience, perhaps that is what God is trying to teach me. It’s never been my strong point. Sometimes we just have to wait for things to pass and see the positives in the present. And to be thankful. So looking back on the day I had three lovely telephone conversations, a fun Zoom, great food and R who not only kept the home fire burning, but sensed I was a bit down and did his best to lift my spirits with kindness. Its love that makes the world go round!
Third morning in a row I did my exercises but have to say my back is aching tonight so I hope I haven’t pulled anything! Planning to keep going as I do feel better, or is it just I feel more virtuous! How much do we exercise because it’s good for us and we are encouraged to do it and how much because we really enjoy it? Walking I enjoy, tennis I enjoy, but anything else? I exercise because I think it’s good for me. I was never very keen on sport at school, especially team sports outside in inclement weather.I remember many a time hiding in the locker room, reading a book in preference to being on a hockey pitch! I don’t remember my mother actively exercising apart from in her day to day working life of rushing around as a country vicar’s wife (although she played alot of tennis until her mid 40s). She did swim and Scottish danced into her old age but not much else – she never complained of aches and pains, or became particularly arthritic. Infact she looked like Mrs Tiggywinkle and if she fell over, she bounced and never hurt herself!
Talking of exercise, we decided to walk out of LB into the countryside as it was a beautiful day with a bright blue sky and quite sunny. Setting off just before midday we didn’t have time to walk to Woburn (we hope to on a fine day) so found a shorter circular walk in a similar direction little realising how far it would still be. We must have walked solidly for over four hours, along roads just with grass verges. Every time a car came towards us, which was frequently, we jumped onto the verge so as not to be mown down. We had to contend with spiky hedges and uneven full waterlogged ditches. We were fortunate to come across a farmshop after a couple of hours as we hadn’t brought any food or drink with us. I just made do with a coffee but R had a delicious looking cornish pasty. I was ravenous by the time we got back to the boat and happily tucked into the fruitcake we had also spied at the farmshop – fruitcakes take too long to cook in our oven – I can’t really justify using so much gas, so it’s a real treat to have one on board!
This evening as part of a bible study, I was reading the book of Revelation chapter 22 v2. It talks of a river with the tree of life on either side. The reason I mention it is because on our walk today we were walking on a country lane (infact we had taken a wrong turn!) and I suddenly spotted two trees on opposite sides of the road that almost seemed to form an arch. So struck was I by this I stood in the middle of the lane and photographed them. It just seemed a strange coincidence that I should read about two trees opposite one another (admittedly it was a river not a road) a few hours later. I am really appreciating the trees – somehow there is a stark beauty to them stripped of all their leaves, with just their branches on display. And the intricate way some branches have become interwoven over years of growth and life. There must be a sermon in there somewhere but you will be relievedto know it is far too late and i am way past my bedtime!
NarrowboatTLC 