Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’ve watched bits of the Olympic Games over the past few days… familiar and unfamiliar sports… skateboarding, surfing, equestrian dressage… It’s amazing how quickly I can become an expert! Yesterday I watched British girls getting bronze medals. The taekwondo girl was expecting to win gold; to her the bronze was a disappointment. The gymnastic girlsContinue reading “Great Expectations”

More pictures of migrants attempting to enter the UK… At least 8,452 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year; last Monday alone there were more than 430. Musing… three extreme responses: ‘Illegal immigrants! Our country’s full; they’re taking advantage of us!’ ‘These are people with extreme problems; we should help them.’Continue reading “Immigration – New Legislation”

In the old TV show ‘Blankety Blank’ celebrities were invited to fill in the blanks in a given phrase… I continue to enjoy the Marsh Family. Their most recent ‘Lockdown World’ shows their skills and creativity both lyrically and musically. I’ve been playing Blankety Blank with ‘____down world’. Here are six of the ‘blank-down worlds’,Continue reading “Blankety Blank… Lockdown World”

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,Weak and wounded, sick and sore;Jesus ready stands to save you,Full of pity, love and power. This hymn was written by Joseph Hart (not the English goalkeeper!) in 1759. Brought up with by strict Christian parents, Hart fell away from faith. He says: ‘…I began to sink deeper and deeperContinue reading “Come Ye Sinners Poor And Needy”

In my annual journey through the Bible I come this morning to Ecclesiastes that starts, ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!…Utterly Meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’ Wise King Solomon was also very rich. He’s had everything – education, drink, entertainment, sex, possessions, work, pleasure… His conclusion? It’s all meaning-less. How do we move from meaning-less to meaning-full? Yesterday I metContinue reading “Meaning-less to Meaning-full”

We’ve been walking in Derbyshire – very different from the Suffolk coast! We’ve seen sheep – newly shorn mums, and newly-wooled adolescents. The mothers are still feeding the juveniles that are as big as they are! I used to think that teenagers grow up, leave home and become independent. Friends have adult ‘children’ still livingContinue reading “Walks – Sheep, Thunderstorms & Hills”

‘Life’s a bed of roses’… an old expression – first found in a Christopher Marlowe 1599 poem ‘The Passionate Shepherd to his Love’. Great title! Musings on life’s ‘bed of roses’… from an in-expert gardener… …Roses are beautiful, coming in many colours and varieties; they’re delicate, sweet smelling and fragile… Life’s beautiful. People are generous,Continue reading “Life’s a Bed of Roses”

Our gooseberries have done well this year. Rachel has made excellent crumbles, pies… and gooseberry jam. Red raspberries and strawberries make red jam, blackcurrants and blackberries make a blackish jam. But green gooseberries… green jam? No! It’s a brownish red. I don’t understand. Like the old riddle we learnt as children: ‘Why does a brownContinue reading “I Don’t Understand”

This is Zak’s very worn bag. After getting up early each morning for over 4 years to do his paper round, he finished last weekend. He has a holiday job now. If all goes according to plan his next step is to go to university in September. We’ve enjoyed watching young squirrels, blackbirds, blue titsContinue reading “There’s Always ‘The Next Step’”

Today covid restrictions are lifted and covid infections are rising. So… To mask, or not to mask? We’re familiar with the metaphor of ‘the mask’ that we hide our real selves behind. I’m reading ‘Taking off the Mask’ by Claire Musters that helpfully reflects on this… Musing on 4 common masks… Role masks: The professionalContinue reading “To Mask Or Not To Mask”