Easter Weekend Review

Easter weekend is a four-day affair here in the UK.  Our parish offered several ways of worshipping and celebrating the sacred memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection.  

 One of the annual Good Friday activities is called The Walk of Witness.  Congregants meet at a starting point—usually a church, then process through the community, stopping along the way at significant places, where scriptures might be shared, but there are certainly songs lifted up in the fresh air and then usually the procession goes to another church.  In our little parish, at the final stop, tea and hot cross buns are served.  It doesn’t matter if it is sunny or rainy.  People use the opportunity to be seen as Christians.   

On Good Friday “Maverick” went up to help friends work in their garden.  He was invited along to the Walk of Witness in their community.  Friday was an over-cast day, but not raining.  

 Meanwhile, I observed my usually Friday hours at work, finishing the weekly newssheets, printing out the hymn sheets and updating the parish website.  At 1.45 pm I finished my work and went to St. Mary’s for the Station of the Cross service.  The vicar uses artwork from a local Christian publishing house to set up the stations in the church.  The artist of this year’s posters also wrote meditations and prayers for each stop.  The meaningful and reflective service, which included music by St. Mary’s choir and congregational hymns, lasted about an hour. 

Maisy is no longer allowed to come to work with me.  But she is now old enough to be left in the bedroom instead of just her carrier.  She was glad when I arrived home about 3.30 pm—and really ready to go out for a walk.

On Saturday (4^th April) John helped other friends build a shed in their back garden.  I spent the day at home, working on the computer.  Oh, and taking Maisy out on a regular basis.  She loves to meet up with her other doggie friends if they are out.  So, she had two sessions off the lead, running with Foo and Divo. 

Sunday “Maverick” got up early enough to attend the 9.30 a.m. Easter Worship at St. Francis church and also come to the 11.00 a.m. service at St. Mary’s.  That was a very interesting service.  

 Just at Rev. Robin began his sermon, a member of the congregation called for one of the doctors to come to attend another worshipper.  St. Mary’s is blessed with four doctors in the house, and within a few minutes, three doctors—all dressed in choir robes—hurried down the aisle, and the other doctor joined them from one of the pews.  I know many people were praying quietly, whilst the dear patient was attended.  Paramedics arrived to attend to the ill congregant, which allowed Rev. Robin to continue with his sermon on the power of the resurrection.  The patient was taken to hospital by ambulance, being taken out while the creed was being recited.  I am sure the many prayers offered made a difference, as our dear friend was kept in hospital overnight, but only for observation.  From an e-mail sent out later in the afternoon, our dear friend was allowed home on Monday. 

After church, “Mr. & Mrs. Jay” joined “Maverick” and me at the Red Lion Pub for dinner.  The afternoon went quickly, as we enjoyed conversation, and watched children who had their faces painted, and overheard laughter from fellow diners enjoying the family holiday.  Easter was one of the busiest days for the pub.  Yet, with such good company, we didn’t realise how long it was taking for our food to arrive. 

Monday I took Maisy out for a morning run about 8:30 a.m. with Foo, Sophie, Cassie and Beau.  Their owners and I walked them from one end of the park to the other.  I was reminded of my absolute need for a pair of “Wellie” boots.  My Ugg boots got saturated, and my socks got soaked before I’d made it down the foot ball pitches once. Upon leaving the park, Maisy and I then went to buy a newspaper for our friend “Aimee” before we returned home.

"Mrs. Bee" and me.

“Maverick” and I had been invited to spend the day with “Mr. & Mrs. Bee.”  At 11.00 a.m. they picked us up.  “Mr. Bee” drove along some lovely country road, allowing “Maverick” to reminisce about his training rides.  The “Bees” wanted to take us to the pub near Henley-on-Thames that serves South African food, followed by a visit to Stonor House--one of England's oldest manor houses, also near Henley-on-Thames .  The sun was out and the car was warm.  Because the bushes and trees have not as yet burst forth with leaves, we could actually see fields and valleys that would otherwise be hidden.

"Maverick" and me

Eweleme Church

Our first stop was at St. Mary’s church in Ewelme Parish.  (It is pronounced U-Elm).  The church is the burial place of Alice Chaucer, (1404 - 1475), Countess of Salisbury and Duchess of Suffolk.  She was the benefactor of Ewelme, using her influence and wealth to build the church, a school and almshouses.  The steps leading out of the church take one down to the almshouses surrounding a courtyard.  If you’re interested in learning more of the history, the website ishttp://www.friendsofewelmechurch.co.uk/

Courtyard at Eweleme Almshouses

After wondering about and enjoying the church, we got back into car and drove to the White Hart Inn, a 1300s country inn with boutique rooms, a South African-inspired

White Hart Bar Lounge

menu and a cosy, wood-beamed pub.  It was charming, the service was excellent and the food delicious.  John enjoyed curried chicken and prawns, while “Mr. & Mrs. Bee” tried the bobotie.  I chose the grilled bream (fish).  “Maverick” and “Mrs. Bee” had Amarula Crème Brulée, “Mr. Bee” had banoffee pie, and I chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and ice cream.  My goodness, it was the best ice cream I’ve had in ages.  As we ate, we learned the manager was from Durban, South Africa, as “Maverick” is. 

Displayed in the wood-beamed bar/lounge was a lovely “Dog Portrait.”  Of course, I had to take a photo of it.  They also have a website: www.tmdining.co.uk/the-white-hart.html

Stonor House

We then took another road to The Stonor House.  Building of the house began around c1190 with additions added over the 850 years the home has been in the Stonor family.  Also included in the property is a chapel, a walled garden, a tea room and gift shop.  The rooms on exhibit are kept in pristine condition, and the walls are decorated with Old Masters’ paintings, as well as murals, sculptures and extraordinary furniture. 

Already known to the Stonor family, St. Edmund Campion, (martyred in 1581) was given refuge here in 1581 to print in the greatest secrecy a pamphlet describing 'Ten Reasons' why the historical Catholic faith should be preferred over the teachings of the newly Established Church. The rooms used to print this work can be seen, along with an exhibition describing St. Edmund Campion's life and death.  http://www.stonor.com/st_edmond.htm

As we finished our tour of the house, I was getting tired, and was also a bit distracted thinking of Maisy.  Yet it would have been sad to miss visiting this grand house and property.  I think I would like to visit again sometime, and bring Maisy, as she would love a romp in the great outdoors.

We arrived home about 5.00 p.m., which meant that the first activity was to take Maisy to the park for a run and to do her toilet.  Full of wiggles, thumping tail and doggy kisses, we were more than assured of her gratitude of being let out of the room and that she had missed us.

We thoroughly enjoyed having extra time to spend with friends, worship and rejoice in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and glorious victory over sin and death.

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith.

Lady Helene

Home, home, wonderful home...

Delighted and relieved are two words that accurately express my feelings about the long journey home being over.  One-hundred years ago making a journey of over 6,000 in a 24-hour period would not have been thought possible.  Now we do it.  The flight between Tampa and Newark, New Jersey was about two-and-a-half hours.  The lay-over in Newark was close to 10 hours, followed by the six hour flight from Newark to London, Heathrow.  Both flights went easily enough--just a little turbulance on the Tampa-Newark flight.  

Monday evening (the 16th) I drove down to one of Bradenton's local Publix stores to make use of their scales to weigh my lugguage.  I had to make sure both suit cases were under 50 pounds (70 kgs).   They were under the limit, so I opted to leave them locked in the boot (trunk) of the car overnight.  

I knew it was going to be a long day--getting up at 3:00 a.m. to shower before leaving for the airport. Sissy and I ate donuts during the drive to Tampa and purposed not to cry, though it was a challenge.  I was really glad for that first cup of coffee on the flight--as we drank water in the car.  

I'd been able to pack my laptop in its case into a large piece of luggage, leaving only the carry-on suitcase to worry with for the day.  

I always like to check the websites for the amount of luggage we are allowed, and the weight limit.  I checked the United Airlines website three times, trying to find out if I had to pay for the second bag.  I thought I could take two bags.  Imagine my shock when the customer service agent told me that the second bag was going to cost me $70.(£44) to check through.  Immediately I was in tears.  The Customer Service Agent was very understanding, telling me that the website was vague, unclear.  So she checked it through for me, without a fee.  To me that was a miracle.  

The flight left Tampa at 6:00 am and arrived in Newark about 8:40 am.  My flight to London didn't leave until 6:25 pm (18:25 hrs).  So what does one do for 9 hours and 45 minutes in an Airport? I didn't have the energy or the finanacial resources to venture into Newark or New York.  Knowing I had to spend the whole day, I packed a journal, a couple of notebooks, some index cards, a knitting project, a magazine and a book.  I mentally purposed to spend some of the time actually writing.  

On Monday, the day before my flight on Tuesday (17th April), as I was double checking my itinerary, I also looked at Newark Airport's map online.  That way I knew where restaurants, food courts, toilets and shops were.  I wanted to know where the best options were for sitting and drinking tea or coffee.

Dunkin Donuts was my first port of call.  Yes, more donuts--but it was four hours since eating in the car and there are no Dunkin Donuts in England.  Dunkin Donuts like to boast about their coffee--but I found it a bit on the weak side.  I guess they don't use arabica coffee or Columbian beans!  

I did walk around for an hour, looking for a quiet-ish place to sit and write.  Caliente Cab Restaurant is next to the food court in terminal C. http://calientecab.com/ I explained to the waiter that I had about six hours to fill before my flight left.  Would he mind if I ordered a drink and then in a couple of hours order food.  I'm sure they see this a lot- as he approved this plan quickly.  So out came my journal, a pen, my MP3 player and my travel alarm clock.  

I spent time writing an overview of my time in Florida and some of my feelings.  After a glass of ice tea, I was ready to move on to another project.  

Donna Fletcher Crow was kind enough to answer an e-mail I wrote to her about her book-writing process.  She advised me that she does a detailed outline of the book, creating chapters along with notes of detail of the surroundings.  So, I decided to work on a book outline.  I did find that I was missing some important information, but I did make progress on what I felt should be in the book.  

Eventually I packed-up the  temporary work-station and walked across the food court and concourse to the gate. I was so tired I laid down on the floor next the window area and dozed for about an hour.  I couldn't sleep deeply, because I just wasn't comfortable enough.  But I was tired enough to zone out for a while.  

From the windows in the terminal, I could see the outline of New York.  I took some photos, but it was difficult without a extra-long tele-photo lense.  

There were several children on the flight.  I thought sure it was going to be an arduous affair, if the babies and children fussed the whole six hours.  Thankfully, once we were underway most of the children settled down and slept.  One baby did have a two-hour crying fit.  However, I had my earphones in, watching movies, which means I was barely aware of the angry crying of the infant.  I said a prayer for the mother and the baby.
 
That's one thing about flying I do enjoy--the movies.  John and I never go out the the cinema.  So getting to see a contempory film is a delight.  I watched War Horse and We Bought a Zoo. 

In a way, it was difficult to pick which film I wanted to watch, as the new Sherlock Holms movie and Iron Lady about Margaret Thatcher were also options.  

There's been lots of advertisements of War Horse, so I'll not elaborate on that.  

Whilst still with my sister, I saw advertisements for We Bought a Zoo.  I thought, "That looks kind of good.  Maybe I'll buy the DVD sometime."  When I saw it was an option on the film menu, I thought--"Good, I'll watch this film".  The film is about Benjamin Mee, a former journalist who finds himself floundering after the death of his wife.  In order to find a way to connect with his children and have a new start, he buys a zoo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Bought_a_Zoo 

Now here's the kicker--all the actors are American.  I thought the film was about a place in California, as it was filmed there.  NO!  The actual Zoo is in Plymouth, Devon, England!!!  Ironically, I nearly bought the book last autumn.  I may still go buy it.  

For more information about the true Benjamin Mee and the zoo, check out the website:  http://www.dartmoorzoo.org/your-visit/the-dzp-story.html 

I'd requested a wheel chair for transport through the airport beause I knew that walking from the plane through customs to arrivals was further that I could handle comfortabley.  I guess because I was wheeled through in a wheel-chair, I made it through customs more quickly than My Midnight Man expected.  It took us twenty-minutes to connect.  But it was wonderful to see his smiling face and to make it home.  

I've been trying to catch up on my rest and recover from my jet lag.  I did make it back to the office for work on Friday Morning.  It felt good to be on-sight to do the news sheet.  

To make coming home even better, My Midnight Man received confirmation on Friday that BA is hiring him for a seven-month contract.  

Friday afternoon our oldest daughter, "Chantilly" and her family came by for a visit.  To be on the receiving end of so much love is truly God's blessing to me.

Today was my first day back at St. Mary's Church of England.  To be back in the fold was heartwarming and comforting.  

Now that I'm back home, I must get out my social calendar and start inviting people over.  

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,
"Lady Helene"