19/03/2011 by Aileen.

I’ve got lots of faults, but ingratitude isn’t one of them. I woke up to sunshine this morning after a lovely night’s sleep, and am full of the joys os spring. Literally!

This list writing lark is really working. I only have two things left to do. I still can’t share the children’s liturgy leaders’ emails as I’m waiting for permission from one of them, and I haven’t swept the garden paths, but John and I are going to work in the garden today, so that will get done hopefully.

Kath and Mark (gardeners) gave me the name of someone who grows unusual plants, and  I went to see her at her stall at Howden’s Friday Market last week. When I said I wanted plants for wild life her eyes really lit up. (Kath and Mark are into wild life too. Mark’s trying to persuade me to build an otter holt at the end of the garden, but I’m not as optimistic as he is, and as John said, do we really want otters there. They’d take the birds’ eggs. Anywy, this Enid took my phone number and was meant to be coming round to us during the week, but she hasn’t been in contact. I couldn’t go to Howden Market yesterday as we had our end of term lunch for Creative Writing, and when I went there last week, to make the first contact, the market was nearly over even though I rushed. I suppose she lost my phone number, as she wrote it on a scrap of paper. Anyway, I’m going to Mires Beck nursery today, and will buy some perennials there.

It was Red Nose Day yesterday. I don’t usually watch it,  but saw quite a bit last night. That’s one of the reasons why I feel so grateful that I live when and where I do. I suppose that sounds smug. Tony Ford used to say that the natural outcome of gratitude was generosity, and I do give to various charities (not to Red Nose!) but maybe I should step it up. Trouble is - where do you stop. In fact, that’s one of the things I was saying to my spiritual guide at St Beuno’s. ‘I’m very happy with my life, thank you very much, Lord, and please don’t ask me to do anything more than I am.’ Oops. I wrote about this. My guide said that God loves me so much and is never going to ask anything of me that I couldn’t cope with. (Well, look at what he asked his son, I thought.) Actually, I have thoughts about this. I think God asked his son to become one of us and show the extent of his love. It is people who killed him. Because there is so much wickedness in the world it ganged up against the goodness it saw in Jesus and tried to overcome him, but Jesus’ love is greater, and it could have no power over him in the end. Even that great evil Death. Vanquished.

Oh I am waxing lyrical. Stops my having to think about should I step up my charity donations

Anway, have a good weekend, everyone. Take care.

Posted in life/death, gardening | Print | No Comments »

04/06/2010 by Aileen.

It seems wrong to write trivia after the awful events in Whitehaven the other day. But what can I say about it?It’s unbelievable, especially as Derrick Bird was meant to be so ‘normal.’ He doesn’t seem to fit the usual profile of a killer. Well, I suppose we all have our dark sides, and sometimes they are very deeply buried.The more they are unacknowledged the more they can get out of control when they do emerge.

John and I spent a very pleasant day in Whitehaven. Twice I think. Once was with Ali, Eric and  Liam. (Kieran was a tiny bump in Ali’s tummy. It rained like mad, and we have a photo of us getting soaked. We also went on a steam engine. (I think this was Whitehaven!)

The time I do remember well was when John and I were having a few days at The Fat Lamb in Cumbria.

http://www.fatlamb.co.uk/

We went to Whitehaven for the day and I tripped up on the cobbled pier. I was so busy saving my camera that I broke my ankle and ended up in casualty. I had to have a tetanus injection, and the thought of it nearly made me faint. Anyway I survived.

The next day we went to St Bee’s, and there was a group of men driving sports cars on to the promenade. They were from that motoring programme cum magazine (forget the name - the one with The Hamster in) I took a photo of John next to a very snazzy yellow sports car. Not digital, so I won’t scan it in and  publish it.

Lo and behold, when we got back to The Fat Lamb the men were staying there. We watched them as one drove down the country lane while the others followed with the photographer, shooting arty pictures. We bought the magazine when it came out and keep it as a souvenir.

Back to the present. Trudie and Al are coming for the weekend. I already have a casserole on, and it’s only 9.15. Feeling very virtuous. Think we’ll have a barbecue tomorrow, and a roast on Sunday, so that’s the food taken care of. Except for the puds. I don’t do puds. Johyn can do a fresh fruit salad, I’ll buy a gateau, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll stew some rhubarb from the garden. Crumble and Pie are beyond me.

Posted in news, life/death, friends | Print | 1 Comment »

20/05/2010 by Aileen.

I forgot to say I’ll miss David, but I suppose that goes without saying. At Creative Writing we sit in a square, and David always sat at the top right hand corner. He would grin slyly at everyone seeing inuendoes (clean usually) in everything. Well, like a family we have in-jokes. Women drivers, taxi drivers, Xanthia, all subjects of past writings.

I didn’t want to go to Creative Writing last week as I thought it would be so sad, but I needn’t have worried. Sheila, who always sat next to David and was a special friend of his, moved into his place, so we wouldn’t have to look at his empty seat.

There were a few absentees as well. Christine was at a funeral, and Jim had taken his wife for a hospital appointment. (See, we’re all old codgers) But Mary had brought her sister along for the morning as her sister was visiting from Surrey.

That’s what’s so nice about the group. It’s so open and friendly. John has been along. On Friday, Terry, who used to come but did’t rejoin this term as he was on a long cruise,  popped in to ask if anyone wanted a lift to the funeral. The week before Pauline, who doesn’t come any more as she is ill, managed to pop in an see us, and so did someone else, but I’m b***ed if I can remember who!

Next term we might have to relocate to the Adult Ed Centre, as they have a vacant room, but I can’t see it being as friendlya venue as the Methodist Hall.

Posted in life/death, friends, writing | Print | 1 Comment »

20/05/2010 by Aileen.

I haven’t written for a while, as I wanted to write about David, yet at the same time didn’t want to start, as I won’t be able to do him justice.

He was one of my Creative Writing friends. He seemed to be a vey healthy  77 year old, but he had a heart attack, followed by another two (I think) and then died in hospital.

He always had a twinkle in his eye and had a delicious sense of humour. His writing was so elegant. He used to say he had no imagination, and invariably, whatever Stella set us to do, he would write a political piece. He would have made an excellent journalist, and we were always telling him to send off his writing for publication.

In the last few months, though, he had been writing more imaginative stuff. Almost as though he was rounding off his personality.

In a Creative Writing group you get to hear very personal things. We all trust one another and know one another well. That’s why I call David a friend. When he wrote about his family his love and devotion to them shone through. He used to tell us anecdotes during the coffee break too.

At his funeral we heard more of his escapades, as is brother and two sons-in-law spoke. He was very much loved. (David means ‘the beloved’)

The funeral was a humanistic one, and as a Christian I found it a bit sad. (Although the service leader was very upbeat, smiling a lot and saying David hadn’t gone, he lived on i our memories) So, when we have all died and no one remembers him any more he’ll be gone then, I suppose.

Anyway, I missed biblical readings and singing, and the hope of everlasting life. I like to think that David was trying to say,’I was wrong, there is something’ and doing his darndest to let us know. He would enjoy the joke being on him.

Now I’ve started writing again I’ll probably log on later with an update on my life. See ya.

Posted in life/death, friends | Print | No Comments »

01/08/2009 by Aileen.

We could have died last night. We were coming home from a really enjoyable quiz night in Cottingham. John was driving as he’s on antibiotics and can’t drink.

We came round a blind bend, and there’s this minivan hurtling towards us on the wrong side of the road. John swerved right, but so did the minivan, and we had a diagonal sort of collision. I thought, ‘This is it!’ No time for fear. I heard the crash and a felt a bad pain where the air bag hit me. Then I realised I was alive still. Looked at John and he was okay too. We sat stunned for a minute, and then saw the smoke or steam coming out of the bonnets of both vehicles. My door was jammed and I could only open it a fraction, but managed to squeeze out painfully. John couldn’t get out until I got his wheelchair out of the boot, which I did with great difficulty. I should have asked the two men from the other vehicle, but didn’t think of it.

The other men were really dazed. (Like us.) John didn’t bring his bag so had no phone, and I had forgotten my mobile. (My camera too which is a real bummer) The men were foreign and didn’t seem to know what to do. I said phone for police and they didn’t know about 999, so they gave me their mobile, but I couldn’t get through to the police. Fortunately, a lorry driver stopped and took over, phoning for police and ambulance. A lady also stopped and put her hazard lights on to warn approaching vehicles. It was 11.15 pm but quite busy.

Anyway, I’m getting bored writing now, and need to go shopping.

The ambulance men were concerned about my neck as it hurt at the centre, and not the sides, so strapped me up and got me to hospital. I had several xrays, but everything is ok. They just warned me to take painkillers as it would hurt the next day. It does, but not too bad. I’m just moving very slowly. Typing not affected though.

John’s chest hurts from the seat belt and air bag too, but otherwise we’re alive and well, and so thankful that it wasn’t worse.

The police rang this morning to say that the driver of the minivan will be charged with careless driving and probably have to do a driving course.

We were both very sorry for him, as he made one silly mistake. The policeman this morning said he had done the same abroad, and Kevin said he had done so too. I actually admitted to John that I had done it in Portugal. I have never told him out of pride. Anyway he knows now, about four years later.

Shopping now. For joint and iboprofen. No not that kind of joint.

Praise the Lord for looking after us!

Posted in life/death | Print | No Comments »

29/08/2008 by Aileen.

One if John’s ‘wounds’ is not doing well, and his consultant, who has been on holiday, said bed rest for three weeks. He also said, ‘We were very lucky!’ Everyone seems to be saying that if the abscesses had been left any later he’d have been brown bread. (In fact, one of the nurses used that expression.) So we need to stay positive and hope the three weeks pass quickly. Then there’ll be the gradual sitting up for longer each day, but hopefully that won’t take more than a week.

M and F are so kind. I’m staying there. Ali is flying down from Scotland tonight and I’m picking her up from Luton airport. Martin is cycling over to Aylesbury from Oxford today (19 miles I think) and Fiona has just left by car. They will see John this afternoon and Fiona will drive him home with his bike in the back of the car.

Tomorrow is our annual Family Reunion. It was really meant to be at our place in Yorkshire this year, but M and F are hosting it instead. We were hoping John could come over for an hour or two, but that’s out of the question now. We will probably see him in relays. Kevin is coming from Epsom and Don from Bristol. Rachel (Niall’s daughter) can’t make it.

I need to think about my ‘life’ for the next few weeks. Birding and Creative Writing are starting up again, and I don’t think the Scripture group closed for the summer, but I’m not too sure. I’ve missed quite a few photography sessions as that kept going through the summer.

Think I will enrol for everything and just do what I can, as I do need to go home once a week to touch base. There’s mail to sort out and grass to cut, and I hate leaving the cats for too long. Also, I really need time on my own.

I have two assignments to do for Redemptorist Publications, which I am very pleased about. Also, the OU Creative Writing course starts in September. I’m looking forward to that.

John has lots of reading in hospital, but maybe he could do an online course to stop getting too bored. He is doing a counselling course at the moment, but I don’t think it’s online. Need to sort out what to bring in for him.

Oh well, I’d better send some emails to people to let them know what’s happening. Thank God for my faith. (Oxymoron?) John is starting to think seriously about ‘faith’. I thought he was before all this happened. He definitely is now.

Posted in life/death, family, writing, health, Open University | Print | No Comments »

10/05/2008 by Aileen.

I can’t believe the wickedness of the Burmese junta. Trouble is - should we donate money? Where is it going to end up? I know that there is still loads of funds donated for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that haven’t been used yet, and I would have thought speed was of the essence then as well as now. Prayer is the only thing now. And no - I don’t think prayer is a magic wand to get God to act. Prayer changes us - not God.

Posted in news, life/death | Print | No Comments »

04/03/2008 by Aileen.

I went to church on Sunday and was preparing for the Children’s Liturgy when one of the fathers came out to me and said his wife had died on the Wednesday. The little girls are about 4 and 8. Their mum had had cancer for two years. I am going to let the dad know about Elaine Williams’ site. It won’t help at the moment but hopefully it will eventually.

Here are the words of the hymn I was talking about last week.

The love I have for you, my Lord,

is only a shadow of your love for me;

only a shadow of your love for me;

your deep abiding love.

My own belief in you, my Lord,

is only a shadow of your faith in me;

only a shadow of your faith in me;

your deep and lasting faith.

My life is in your hands; my life is in your hands.

My love for you will grow, my God. Your light in me will shine.

The dream I have today, my Lord

is only a shadow of your dreams for me;

only a shadow of all that will be;

if I but follow you.

The joy I feel today, my Lord,

is only a shadow of your joys for me;

only a shadow of your joys for me;

when we meet face to face.

My life is in your hands; my life is in your hands.

My love for your will grow, my Lord. Your light in me will shine.

Carey Landry @1971 North American Liturgy resources.

Posted in life/death, church | Print | No Comments »

01/03/2008 by Aileen.

I had a very caring comment from an Elaine Williams after my last posting on bereavement and looked at her site. I recommend it to anyone who has recently been bereaved, or has had bad news about their health. The site is

http://www.ajourneywelltaken.com/

Reading her blog made me wonder why I blog. Her’s is so obviously useful both to herself and to others. I’ve read other ‘blogs with a purpose’. Now Michael Flowers, who leads a group of us birdwatching each week, has a blog.

http://eybirdwatching.blogspot.com/

I don’t really have a purpose. I’m partly writing because I just love writing. I don’t even think of anyone reading it.

At the same time, I think ‘I’d better not put such and such in, in case so and so reads it and is upset.’ So it ends up as the inconsequential twitterings of a silver surfer. Oh well! That’s why it’s called SeriousLight! I can’t believe all the hits I’ve had since I started. Who are you all?

Posted in blogs, life/death | Print | No Comments »