O is for Orchid

 To give me a houseplant is to condemn it to death.  That is a simple truth.

Not mine but it could be!

A few years ago Jack's daughter and her husband asked me to help them re-affirm their marriage vows.   I had officiated at the original ceremony twenty years earlier.  All well and good.

But after the ceremony the happy couple gave me a thank you present.  Which was an orchid.  And knowing my "skill" with houseplants, Jack sniggered.  He knew he would be crowing soon.  

I took it home and googled "care of orchids" and I discovered it would like bright light but not direct sunlight.  So I put it on the bathroom window sill which is south facing but I thought the frosted glass would moderate the brightness of the sunshine.  And I waited for the poor thing to die.  

Roughly weekly I gave it a drink.  I found some drip feed made especially for orchids.  And I ignored any advice which Jack gave me.

I'm claiming crowing rights!

N is for Nigeria

 

Nigeria's flag is green for its agriculture and white for peace.

I’d long wanted to do VSO. (Voluntary Service Overseas)   Sometime in my early teens I heard about it and from then on it was something I dreamed of.

In the early days VSO was mostly for teenaged boys taking a gap year before university but by the early seventies the old “cadet” VSO was giving way to “graduate” VSO when young graduates and professionals were offering skills which were needed and, in return, the volunteers got a unique experience. 

And mine was certainly unique.  The Nigerian Civil War had been fought in southeastern Nigeria between July 1967 and January 1970. By the time my service started in September 1973 the immediate reconstruction had been done.  Hospitals and schools had been rebuilt, roads patched up and the starvation of the people was over although there were still signs of disability and malnutrition as a result of the war. 

A Nigerian School Library 1974

I was a qualified librarian and was assigned to the South East State School Library Service.  School libraries had been looted but there was a determination to get things going again.  We ran a model library so teachers could come in and see our books and decide what to order for their schools.  We trained library assistants to run the school libraries.  We visited schools and advised them.  In my first year after leaving Library School, I got wider experience than many librarians get in a whole career. 

I soon joined in!

And I had fun!  I mixed with people from Nigeria, Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Russia and many other countries.  We worked hard all week and partied all weekend.  We lived alongside Nigerians and were enriched by their culture.  Our beliefs and attitudes were challenged. 

For me, sadly my tour ended abruptly when I was in a motor cycle crash and needed medical repatriation.  I still reckon VSO was one of the best things I have ever done

M is for . . .

 I had thought about writing about Myself (Mary) but Most my posts are about Me anyway.  

I could have written about Mess, Muddle and Mayhem because I am very good at all those.

Maybe I could Mention Midsummer but I seem to have Missed the boat for that.  In fact Midsummer Missed the boat around here!

Maybe I could have Muttered about Make do and Mend but there's a Melee of that waiting to be done.  

What about Mother - without her there would have been no Me to write about!

I could Muse about Ministry, but you've probably heard too Much of that from Me already.

Money-saving?  Most of you are Much More Mindful of Money than I could ever claim to be!

MOOCs?  It's Many Months since I did one of those!

I am Mentally in a Muddle.  Maybe I need a Meal to Munch!

The Mystery which is my Mind is too Much even for a Miss Marple so I will end my Meanderings through this Miscellany and leave you to Muse about the Many words I have Missed.  

L is for Living My Best Life

Living my best life!  I suppose it's a bit of a cliche.

I have a file called "Living My Best Life" on my computer and I write in it every morning.  It helps me monitor my health (How many steps?  How much do I weigh?), my finances (how do I spend/save/give my money?) who I have seen (or telephoned?) what have I done?  Most of all, it is a reflective journal encouraging me to write down my thoughts and concerns each day.

I started to keep a journal during the pandemic when I needed to have a sense of control over those endless months.  I chose to declutter, to lose weight, and to make plans, both short and medium term.  I noted my phone calls and zooms so that I could remember the thoughts and concerns of others and phone back as needed.  And I found I enjoyed doing it.

I've read lots of articles about how our seventies are among the happiest times of our lives and I am finding that to be true.  I have leisure time and friends to spend it on.  My income is reduced but I spend and save carefully.  I'm getting older but the aches and painbs are mostly under control.  As I said in this post I want to go on a cruise which means I need to save money and guard my health.  

Are you living your best life and what helps?

K is for Kirmond le Mire

 

I don’t often go to Kirmond le Mire.  I’ve celebrated the Eucharist there once and preached a couple times but they don’t have many services. 

St Marton's Church, Kirmond le Mire

There are only thirteen households in the village but they want to keep their church open.  Church events are well supported and the cake is always good!  They have concerts, coffee mornings and Easter Egg Hunt, Strawberry Tea, Harvest and Christmas Carol Services but their best “thing” is Snowdrop Weekend.  There is a lay-led Evensong each month and they get Communion services about six times a year.

 

St Peter's Church, Kingerby

I could equally well have said K is for Kingerby.  That is another church with a charming simplicity where I have taken services.  Kingerby is described as a deserted village but there are still a few houses.

 Kirmond and Kingerby churches are typical of so many Anglican churches.  They are very important buildings, much loved by their people, but incredibly expensive to maintain.  Many would like more frequent services but we no longer have enough people to take them.  Visitors would like more churches to remain open but the buildings need checking regularly and extra cleaning done and there are fewer willing volunteers.

J is for Jesus and Joy

 

I was less than nine weeks old when I was baptised so I have no recollection of it.  However, I do know that the first reading that day started with, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice!”

 It seems to me that my life in Christ began with joy and that’s how it is now.  

I don't mean that life has been a bowl of cherries, far from it.  I have cared for two relatives  through their lengthy terminal illnesses.  I have known rejection.  I have suffered depression and a mental breakdown.

St Andrew's Church, Stainton le Vale

However, though everything God has held on to me, even when I haven't been able to hold on to him and in my seventies I know a deep joy like never before. 

Today I have celebrated Holy Communion in a tiny village high in the Lincolnshire Wolds and rejoiced at that privilege.  

Thanks be to God.

I is for Ice Cream

 Every alphabet book I saw as a child had "I is for Ice Cream" so, big kid that I am, I'm sticking with that.

I'm a child of the fifties and ice creams were a special treat.  There was a local ice cream company called Sargents and they sold totally delicious vanilla ice cream cornets and nothing else.  They sold only from vans and the driver would announce his presence by ringing a big, noisy bell.

Move on twiddly-umpty years and ice cream was one of the things I avoided when I cut back on ultra processed foods.  At one time I always had a tub in the freezer but no more.  Ice cream now has to be A Treat.

When I visited the Humber Bridge and went to Far Ings Nature Reserve I sat in the viewing room for quite a while.  There wasn't a cafe but there was an ice cream cabinet.  And I succumbed to one of these.

To be honest it was OK but not as good as I remembered.    Maybe abstaining from UPFs has changed me.

But then Bonnie came for lunch and I made some mango ice cream.  Sorry I didn't take a photo but I was enjoying it too much to take time out to do that.  That was ice cream to savour!

So "I" can still be for "Ice Cream" in this OAP's book!