Another lovely day…truly…sunshine, although it is later every day, blue skies, crisp air. A bit of rain in the morning but a really nice day over all.

Our group was up early for devotions in the Teaching Block and quite ready for brekky at 9 am. Bebe and I helped get it all out and served; then we were released so we could get off to church at Moyallon, a Quaker meeting about 34 miles north and west of here. We stopped at Richie’s for the GPS and were off. Only one slip so we came upon Moyallon from the side that does not display the sign. We made a u-turn and found it easy enough. We arrived at about 11:10 and meeting started at 11:30. We were able to look around a bit and meet a couple of people. This is an unprogrammed meeting that was established in 1736. The first person we met, Noel, has lived in Australia for a large portion of his life and only recently reestablished in Northern Ireland. Noel showed us pictures of a group of Blackburns that came to N. Ireland last summer from the US. They were looking for their ancestors and Moyallon was able to show them the record of the marriage of one ancestor in the 1700s. They were excited about that! They travelled ‘round in a chartered bus. Imagine the family fun with that! Today was to be a potluck luncheon so we were invited to stay even before worship began.

There were over thirty present which is a large turnout for this meeting. Four spoke out of the silence. Announcements followed the worship time.  We ate lunch in a converted room. It has been the original “women’s meeting room” with benches and a large wall separating it from the larger meeting room. A ten year old girl played “gathering music” as we filled our plates and found a seat. Conversation over the meal was delightful. One man thought I was Canadian. Another had thought I might be English. So much for Indiana accent! After lunch we sang Christmas carols and then visited more!

The drive to Moyallon had taken a bit over an hour and the return was the same. There are no straight roads in Ireland!! Even though the speed limit is mostly 40, you just have to slow down for some of those curves! “S” curves need to be taken at a slower speed but imagine many “Z” curves. (I know they’re switchbacks but they are posted as “Z” or more like an “N”.)  Driving is fun, exciting, challenging, tense and tiring!

We were back at Murlough by 3:30 or so and pitched in to begin the cleanup. I straightened the sitting room, the sitting area (and noted that 2 pawns on the big chess set are missing), emptied trash, sanitized tables in the two dining rooms, pulled linen and towels out of the downstairs bedroom, finished the cleanup in the washup room and the kitchen, carried bedding downstairs, folded a load of tea towels, started 2 washers, 2 dryers and then came back up for a short break. Then upstairs to fold and put away 32 blankets, take 17 duvets back to their proper place, take more bedding downstairs, check 6 bathrooms---shutting off the towel dryer/heaters, refilling the tp and emptying the trash. Bebe was doing similar things. Richard appeared and helped carry things to the basement.  At 6 pm, I decided that was enough for me for today and stopped. We can finish up the 8-10 more loads of laundry tomorrow.  Making the beds, Hoovering (vacuuming) and toilets can wait!

Yesterday I saw a kitchen duty schedule for teams and found the “did you know?” part to be quite interesting. Let me share:

                Did you know?

                -of the 52 parables Jesus told, 45 had a workplace context

                -practical duties comprised 30 years of Jesus’ life

                -64% of Jesus’ reported teaching arose out of issues posed by others in the scope of daily life experience.

                -work, in its different forms, is mentioned more than 800 times in the Bible—more than all the words used to express worship, music, praise and singing combined.

Jesus was a workplace minister in his community. He has called us to reflect His Glory.

Bebe and Richard have gone to church in Newcastle. Deirdre has taken the evening off.  I am in this big house all alone and frankly, enjoying the quiet.  Well…I waffled…back downstairs to fold two more loads and put in two more. I had to fill my hot water bottle for the bed so I might as well do some work while I’m about. I think I mentioned several weeks ago that it is said that if you climb 10 flights of stairs a day, it’s good for your heart. I have climbed these stairs about 20 times since 4 pm (4 hours ago)….again, my heart’s happy but the legs not so! : )

Side note:

 Several years ago when I was living in Kenya, if things went awry or were confused or frustrating, a Kenyan would say to me…”ahhh…Patricia (Pa-tree-cee-ah), this is Kenya!”

 A few years ago when I was living in Belize and things went awry or were confused or frustrating, a Belizean would say to me…”ahh, Miss Pat, this is Belize!”  

And now that I am living in Northern Ireland at Murlough House for a few weeks, I heard a similar strain….a day when things were awry and confused and frustrating, an Irisher (is that a word? I know there are Irishmen but what is the term for all???) said to me….”aye..Pat, this is Murlough!”

Monday

Awoke at 6 am with leg cramps. Might as well get up and work it out! I managed to get to the basement one more time last night. Richard has been attacking the laundry as well so he and I had washed, dried and folded 6 loads by 10 pm with two more in the dryer and two more in the washer…..and ten more in the hall. Well, we are just about halfway!!