Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to any American readers who have popped in.  Have a lovely day.

We don't have anything like Thanksgiving here but an American lady has married into my (extended) family so we had an early Thanksgiving dinner last night for fourteen of us.  Tonight only four of us would have been able to be there, and she felt that all the family giving thanks was more important than doing it on the right day.  So I feasted on turkey and a whole lot more last night.  I was too podged to eat desert.  Hope you enjy your meal as much!

W is for Worth it!

 It's been sad to see several bloggers decide not to post anymore but it was kind of them to tell us and not leave us wondering what had happened to them.  

I've been blogging on and off since July 2014.  I've two blogs and the other one is "off" even more than this one!  I only post if I have something I really want to say.  Blogging is a creative outlet for me, the only regular outlet I have for writing.  It's a way of recording some of the events of my life in an orderly manner.  I can float my hopes and dreams.  I can make friends through reading and commenting on other people's blogs and appreciating their comments on  mine.

Because I only write when I have something special to say, I take very long breaks and it is always hard to get back after a break.  

But I enjoy other people's blogs and this is my contribution to the blogosphere.  Like all bloggers I love reading comments.  Non bloggers may not know that we can see the number of visitors we have (but not their identity) and I find it amazing what a high proportion of visitors have no inclination to comment.  I wonder why?  Is it too complicated?  I know some blogging platforms are more complicated than others.  Are they deterred because some blogs (not this one) don't publish comments until after the blogger has approved them?  Personally I delete comments which are obviously intended to advertise betting or escort services but very rarely anything else but other bloggers have had big problems with inappropriate comments so pre approval is understandable.  

For it is commenters and fellow bloggers who make the effort worthwhile.  Thank you for reading.    

Yes,  it is definitely WORTH IT!

V is for Village (now updated)

 

According to people who were born here, I live in a town.  According to incomers I live in a village.  Because I was stuck for V, for the purposes of this blog post, I'm calling Caistor a village.  Sorry, Caistorians.  T was for Treats. 

Roman wall

Caistor has been here quite a long time and its centre is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, being the site of a Roman encampment.  The only "Roman" bit which can be seen today is a smallish heap of stones which looks rather like a rockery.

The Gad Whip

This heap of stones is just to the south of the church of St Peter and St Paul.  The oldest parts of that date only to around 1050.  Inside the church there is a curious article called the Gad Whip.  Until 1846 each Palm Sunday the whip was waved three times over the head of the parson during the second reading at Mattins.  There's more about this peculiar ceremony here.  There are well over fifty listed buildings in Caistor, a significant number for such a small place but most are Georgian or Victorian.  

There's quite a lot going on here.  We have a Civic Society, a Women's Institute, Brownies, Rainbows, sports clubs, amateur dramatics and social events for everyone.  Volunteers keep the place looking wonderful both with flowers on the summer and lights and displays around Christmas.  

When I retired I had to choose somewhere to live and I wanted somewhere that was friendly with things to do.  I think I chose well

I understand there is a problem with the link to the Gad whip,  It can be found at https://caistorparishchurch.co.uk/history/  Scroll down and you will find it!

U is for UFOs

 Show me some one who has no UFOs and I'll show you someone who isn't a crafter!

UFOs (UnFinished Objects) or PhDs (Projects half Done) seem to be an inevitable part of being creative..  

There's the garment cast on but only the back and half the front actually knitted.  I started a jumper in 2018, shoved it in a drawer and when I got it out a few weeks ago I discovered a hole, maybe moth, more likely mechanical damage.  I pulled it down completely as it was knitted on a circular needle and I'm trying again with a different pattern.

I started a patchwork quilt in 1975.  It was intended to be for a single bed but it's now heading for king size.  In a couple of years it will reach its Golden Jubilee.  Maybe that's a good target for finishing it.  

Then there's the stash of fabric and wool just waiting to be used:  sometimes it's materials bought for a project which never materialised or just as often, it's stuff kept "just in case". 

But I am now sharing with you one object which is no longer unfinished.  Two years ago I started my temperature scarf, knitting one row for each day and using a different colour for each degreee celsius.  I started on my seventieth birthday and finished the day before I was 72.

MyPhD has now graduated.

T is for treats

 Not the big treats like a cruise or a wonderful meal out, but the little things, often very inexpensive, which bring a smile to my face each day.

There's the first cup of coffee when I get up in the morning.  Or later in the day, iced water by my side,  

There's the pleasure I get each time I open my cupboard and see the lovely china which I now use everyday and not just on special occasions.

There's the joy of an audiobook read by a talented actor who brings the story alive in a special way.  

There's the gratitude I feel when someone brings me a bunch of flowrs, especially flowers fresh from their garden.  

There's the hilarity I feel when Jack means to tell me he's ravenous but instead tells me he's ravishing.  Fortunately for his blushes that was said on the phone!

There's my annual treat which I had this week, of visiting the seals who each year come ashore not too far from here and have their pups.  

At the end of each day getting into a bed made up with white, pure cotton sheets.  

S is for Sabbath, Sunday and the Shape of the week

I was very amused at the comments about my early rising time on my last post.  No-one would want to rise at 4am!  Neither do I but that's how it is.  I often wake much earlier than that but I don't allow myself to get up before 4am.  

But the shape of my week is something about which I make very conscious decisions.  Sunday has always been a special day for me.  Worship is central.  Sometimes I lead and preach, sometimes I am grateful for someone else's ministry.  Then it's usually home for a quiet day at home.

And before that I usually have my Sabbath.  I started this habit many years ago.  Lockdowns seemed like one long Sabbath!  My Sabbath is less structured now but it is more part of my nature.

Then Mondays I often swim, Tiesdays and Fridays it's the gym, Wednesday Annie-the-home-enhancer or Jack-the-lad may come.  There might be a Women's Institute meeting or coffee or lunch with friends.  I could shop in Brigg or just go out on my trundle truck to enjoy this lovely town.

But always I am glad to come home to the peace of my bungalow. to listen to audiobooks or to knit or just to be.  

R is for Retirement

 

I love it!

The other questions from "Q is for Questions" were about retirement and how I spend my time.

I spend my time with a smile on my face.  I get up between 4am and 5am and look at how the day is likely to unfold but, when I switch the light out at night and think back, the day has rarely gone as planned.  

I think I am very lucky to have been born in the nineteen fifties.  Childhood was a time of innocence and wonder.  The sixties were a time of change and challenge.  My whole life has been a time of scientific advancement in ways that would have been unimaginable when I was a toddler.  Opportunities for women have opened up more and more as my life has gone on.  

And now I am fourteen years into a lovely, secure retirement.  The bungalow is comfortable and safe thanks to my lovely landlord and the efforts of Annie-the-home-enhancer and Jack.  I have a car and trundle truck so can get out when I want to.  I have hobbies to enjoy while I am at home and friends to laugh with when I go out.  I still lead some worship but am choosing to do that less.  

I am able to drop everything and go out for the day or spend a few days dog sitting.  If I would prefer to be at home, the craft stash provides me with challenges and entertainment.  

And in everything I am secure in the love of God.  I am truly blessed.

More answers: ambitions

Poppy Patchwork asked What plans have you, things to do before you get too old and regret not doing them?

Can I let you into a secret?  I want to go on another cruise!  

I felt a little deprived when I was seventy as covid was raging and anyway I had just had a replacement knee so my activities were limited.  When I was sixty I had hosted a lunch party but at seventy it was a quiet lunch at home with just a couple of people.  So I decided that I would celebrate when I am seventy five.

I never thought that I would enjoy cruising but about twenty years ago my sister, who was in poor health, decided she wanted to achieve a few life ambitions which included cruising off Alaska and seeing whales in their natural habitat.  She was a wheelchair user and needed an assisitant so our Mother paid for me to go as well.  I loved it and when I retired I took another cruise to see New England in the Fall.  It was on Queen Mary II and left Southampton on my birthday so I felt it had my name on it!  

Queen Mary II

This time I want to go to either the Arctic or the Antarctic.  Probably the Arctic.  I've seen a wildlife watching cruise which I quite fancy.

This ambition influences quite a lot of things I do.  It's motivated me to get fitter so that I can enjoy the trip.  It's motivated me to continue to lose weight.  It's motivated me to organise my finances.  The very idea brings a smile to my face.  All those things are contributing to a happy, healthy retirement now.