Today is St Francis Day

Banner in South Kelsey Church

 I think Saint Francis of Assisi has always been a popular saint.  We’re all familiar with rather sentimental pictures of him talking to birds and animals.  It’s reckoned he’s responsible for nativity sets when he created a nativity tableau with real people and real animals.  He gave himself wholly to God and saw God everywhere.

Francis seemed to understand something that we sometimes forget: the world is full of small things worth noticing.  A bird singing.  The sun coming through the window.  A tree moving in the wind.

Francis also embraced a life of simplicity. This is where I feel rather challenged.  He managed to live simply without accumulating cupboards full of things that might come in useful one day.

For me, and maybe you too, simplicity is a work in progress.

Francis didn’t want to possess “things”.  He could look at a bird, a flower, the moon or a humble patch of earth and simply be glad that it was there.

Perhaps growing older is partly about learning to notice more and chase less.  To enjoy things without the need to possess them.  To watch the birds without knowing their names.  To sit quietly without feeling that you ought to be doing something.  And perhaps, if we are lucky, we learn to become a little more like Francis — not by doing anything extraordinary, but simply by noticing the ordinary with a little more wonder and thanking God for it.

That seems to me a rather lovely way to spend a life.  

 

Onward to October

 

October promises to be a very doggy month.  I have two stints of looking after Holly Dog.

I've booked a day at Eden Hall with my friend E.  This is our present to each other for Christmas LAST year.

I'm booked to lead worship every Sunday. 

It's a month which is stuffed with routine medical appointments.

I've arranged several meals out with friends and relations.

I shall start my hibernaculum project on my birthday which is later this month.  

And I need to get my Christmas preparations much further on than they are now!

So long, September

 

Writing my Autumn Alphabet has meant that I haven’t written about day to day things on this blog but plenty has been going on.

I’ll start with the thing which worried me most: glaucoma.  My late sister had glaucoma so I get tested every year.  When I had a test in August the optician referred me to a consultant for further investigation.  The consultant told me that everything was OK which was a huge relief. 

A local vicar retired at the end of July so I’ve been busy most Sundays.  It’s a group of churches which I’ve been involved with before and we like each other.  They are very good and help me as much as possible.  I’m hoping not to do funerals etc unless it is someone I have known.  Funerals are very tiring. 

I’ve had lots of meals with various friends and relations.  (I feel like Pooh’s friend, Rabbit!)  I cooked for one friend but had several meals at the local pub.  No complaints there.  I also went to a 90^th birthday party.  The birthday boy’s family had arranged for a magician to come and he was brilliant!

The house had its annual electrical safety check and it needs some work done but the big news is that solar panels are to be fitted.  Yay!

Jack and I cleared the tomato patch and I reckon we harvested at least a couple of stone of tomatoes.  I’ve already made gallons of soups and sauces but the rest of the tomatoes still need to ripen before I can cook them.  I’m trying to “eat down” the freezer but I just can’t keep up!

 I’ve been working on my Christmas preparations.  As you know, I am a Supply Elf and I am knitting scarves for various children.  I’ve made a small start on Christmas cards.  Next month should see quite a lot of progress. 

And the biggest thing of all is that I have bought a new (to me) car and a new Trundle Truck.  The TT is smaller than the old one so I have called her Mini-haha

Proud to be a Yellow Belly

 It’s Lincolnshire Day.   A day to celebrate Lincolnshire — a county famous for big skies, big fields, big sausages and people who are rather fond of calling themselves Yellowbellies.

I have checked my tummy.  It isn't yellow.  And no-one actually knows why we are called Yellow Bellies but we’re proud of it anyway. 

But Lincolnshire has never been short of peculiarities. We have our own accent, our own sense of humour and roads that seem to have been designed by someone who thought straight lines were terribly overrated.

We have the Wolds, the Fens, the coast, enormous agricultural fields and small villages

And then there is Lincoln with a magnificent cathedral sitting above the city as if it has been keeping an eye on us all for centuries.

Lincolnshire was made for me.  And I was made for Lincolnshire. 

I love its big skies, its little villages, its spuds, its sausages, its cathedral and my fellow Yellow Bellies. 

Happy Lincolnshire Day.

There are worse places to grow older, potter about, enjoy wonderful local food and talk with a very weird accent. 

Z is for Zoe

 

A lovely little Greek word meaning life, vitality, being alive.

Autumn can look as though everything is packing up. Leaves are dropping, flowers are fading animals are beginning to think about hibernating but underneath all that, life is still going on.

Bulbs are quietly getting on with things underground. Seeds are waiting. Squirrels are hiding things and then immediately forgetting where they put them.

There is life in a mug of whatever takes your fancy, a warm jumper and a good book.

Autumn reminds us that life doesn't always have to be spectacular.  Autumn is itself.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this alphabet of autumn.  I wanted to focus on "now" just as my hibernaculum helped me focus on seeing all the wonderful things about winter.  I’ve enjoyed writing it and thinking of words to include.  I knew it would be challenging so the whole alphabet was planned before I started although some choices were  changed as new ideas occured to me.  It’s my fourth alphabet series and I think I’m getting the hang of them.  There might be a winter one sometime. 

Y is for yummy

There are words which sound intelligent. Nutritional. Gastronomic. Epicurean.  And then there is yummy.  Yummy never appears in restaurant reviews but it's the best possible response to home cooking.

Autumn is full of yummy.  Baked potatoes. Roast parsnips. Soup thick enough to stand a spoon in.

There is something wonderfully satisfying about putting a casserole in the slow cooker, and the house smelling of something delicious.

Then there's soup, the official food of autumn. A carrot, a courgette and half an onion that's been lurking in the fridge can all be thrown in.  You sit down with your bowl, some crusty bread and rather more butter than strictly necessary.

So here's to autumn: soup, crusty bread, butter, casseroles.

And here's to being old enough to know that sometimes “Yummy” is all the food criticism required.

X is for Xanthophyll

I can't tell you how pleased I was to find Xanthophyll to put in my autumn alphabet.  It's probably the most autumnal word in my list but I'd never heard of it.  And I would take any X word!

Xanthophyll is a natural yellow pigment found in plants.  In the summer it is masked  by chlorophyll which is the green pigment essential for photosynthesis.  It helps protect leaves from damage caused by too much sunlight.  As autumn arrives, chlorophyll breaks down. The yellow xanthophyll pigments remain visible, giving leaves their yellow and golden colours.  It's there all the summer and it's only towards the end of the life of the leaf that it is revealed.  

So now you know too!  (If you didn't already.)

A psalm for harvest

Psalm 65

 8    You visit the earth and water it;  ♦

you make it very plenteous.

9    The river of God is full of water;  ♦

you prepare grain for your people,

    for so you provide for the earth.

10  You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges;  ♦

you soften the ground with showers and bless its increase.

11  You crown the year with your goodness,  ♦

and your paths overflow with plenty.

12  May the pastures of the wilderness flow with goodness  ♦

and the hills be girded with joy.

13  May the meadows be clothed with flocks of sheep  ♦

and the valleys stand so thick with corn

    that they shall laugh and sing.