Friday night Friend

This is the 'back stairs' that leads
to the flat. I always feel like I'm coming
down from 'servants' quarters' but then
that's what mission is all about---
being a servant!! The chair under
the stairs is near Richard's room.

After such a Thursday, it was very low key at Murlough House on Friday. I slept in a bit. When I came down, Jo was busy making shortbread for Christmas gifts. She had 6 kinds going! Deirdre slept in longer and then (goofy girl!) called Richie to ask if someone would bring some toast to the flat. I took it to her and we chatted over tea. Jen came in later. She was going to use the kitchen to bake pies and breads for another craft/bake sale at Seaforde.

We all had a "left overs" lunch and did some odd job kind of stuff. There were things to get ready for the Saturday lunches.

Jen invited Deirdre and me over to her house to 'chill' in the evening. There was still some prep to do....Deirdre brought the Brussels sprouts to me to clean. I had done 4 kg. on Thursday and now I had 4 kg. to do today! That's 8 kg or about 17 pounds of 'em!!

Soon we had enough work done to take the rest of the evening off. We drove Little Suzy over to the Shillidays. It was a bit frosty in the grass and on the carpark but not slick. The windshield was frosted over.

Richie had gone to Crosspoint with the kids and Jen was alone. He had built up a good turf fire and the house was cozy. Deirdre and I had a good time with Jen...we ate up her shortbread and the lime flavored Doritos!! Talbot was in a happy mood, playing with her Winnie.

Talbot and Winnie

Talbot in front of the fire....she had opened a package under the tree earlier this afternoon....and was in BIG trouble...for about 5 minutes.

Christmas dinner, part 2

The dessert choices were Trifle or Christmas Pudding with either warm custard or whipped cream. The trifle has fruit and jello, then custard, then whipped cream with fruit on top. The Christmas puddings were great too! Steamed on top of the stove for six hours or so.

   After the dessert comes the tea, coffee and shortbread. Jo had made plain shortbread and chocolate chip shortbread. She had also made the individual mincemeat pies.

After shortbread the chocolate trays went out....Bendix Dark Chocolates and After Eight Mints....ummmmmm.

The two sittings for lunch overlapped a wee bit. The first group went to the sitting room/lounge for their coffee, shortbread and chocolates. It was nice for them with the tree and decorated fireplace.



John Moxen and Jim McCall

The second group included the board/trustees. There was a short program for them. They sang a few carols, then Sarah sang. Richard read two of his poems. Everyone seemed to have a really good time. Olive, who painted the picture I bought, came back to the kitchen area to see me....and so did Margaret Byatt who has been in the Bible study.


Ken Byatt and Alan Cousins

John Montgomery (at the piano) and Keiron Forbes

Christmas Dinner, part 1

Emma serving mulled punch in the
great hallway as guests arrived.

Deirdre asked on Friday morning if I had taken pictures of the Christmas dinner. I told her I had been in the kitchen and after I lighted the candles, had not be able to get away. So today, I tried to document the lunches....same menu as Thursday. The servers on Thursday were Nathan, Rachel, Tori (Victoria), and Emma under the direction of Sarah. Today it was Joy, Rachel, Tori and Emma with Sarah.

Sarah had set the tables this morning. All was ready!

Schloer....

First course was choice of soup (served by Sarah) or Floriday Cocktail (grapefruit and orange segments).

Main course...with Joy

The main course was ham and turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted potatoes, carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts and cranberry sauce.

Tori in the kitchen!

Tori helped in the kitchen and serving the meal.  Apparently this will have to be a two part post as I am not able to upload any more pics.....You'll have to see the next one for the dessert and guests.

Christmas Dinners....

Wed

Sarah practicing with John

The morning prep was hectic! People in and out and then it was 12:30 and One2Four guests began to arrive. The meal went very well! They were happy with everything and most of them took two or three desserts!

Tables are ready!

Some of our Bible Study ladies
Jen and Richie standing

I gave the Epilogue or devotional thought. I shared about Christmas excess in shopping and busyness  and in the hope of Christmas in Jesus. It was well received; two pastors were especially complimentary.  I used the Four Candles story that Deirdre had shared a few weeks ago in our staff prayer time.

Twin sisters at this table

The Four Candles

 The Four Candles burned slowly. Their ambience was so soft you could hardly hear them speak.

 The First Candle said, “I am Peace, but these days no one wants to keep me lit.”

 The Second Candle says, “I am Faith, but these days I am no longer indispensable.” then Faith’s flame slowly diminishes and gout out completely.

 Sadly the Third Candle spoke, I am Love and I haven’t the strength to stay lit any longer. People put me aside and don’t understand my importance.

 They even forget to love those who are nearest to them.”

And waiting no longer, Love goes out completely. Suddenly….

 A child enters the room and sees the three candles no longer burning. The child begins to cry, “Why are you not burning? You are supposed to stay lit until the end.”

 Then the Fourth Candle spoke gently to the small child, “Don’t be afraid for I am Hope and while I still burn, we can re-light the other candles.” With shining eyes the child took the Candle of Hope and lit the other three candles.

Never let the Flames of Hope go out of your life. With Hope, no matter how bad things are or appear to be...Peace, Faith and Love can shine brightly in our lives.

While I was speaking, I heard the doorbell ring. Later I saw Tommy, a 91 year old fellow. I was told that he had a heart attack on Tuesday and was just released from the hospital. He asked to be taken to Murlough House for the One2Four before they took him home.  He wanted to see his friends!

After everyone left and the dishes were finished, we kind of collapsed. We had served 57 people including staff. It was an excellent turnout and they really seemed to enjoy being at Murlough House. Irene commented that the house was so beautiful; they don’t decorate at the Oasis.

In the evening Alasdair and Sarah were trying to get a decent rate for a trip to York for Sarah to meet Al’s parents. There didn’t seem to be a direct route. They were having to check and coordinate schedules between airlines, train routes, bus routes and considering a rental car. They worked on that for a few hours. Deirdre and I kept them company for a while, then retreated to the flat.

Thursday

Deirdre and I went to Round a Pound early. I needed gift wrap and also bought some crackers and a “special” kind of candy….Turkish Delight! (Narnia!) Upon our return, we began to prepare for the thirty guests expected for the Christmas Dinner tonight! This would be a much more formal event than the One2Four and a fuller menu.

The new cutlery and serving items would be used. And the salt and peppers that were shorted on the order arrived today. That meant I filled another seven sets with salt and white pepper….ah choo choo!! Sarah and I set the tables with soup spoons, desserts spoons, forks, knives, butter knives. The Gideons had brought the centerpieces yesterday so we added tea lights on both sides. They wanted the dinner to be candlelight only. We did set up a lamp and the small Christmas tree in the Dining Room provided some additional light. We also put crackers out at each place (Crackers are a traditional Christmas fun thing…two people pull…on each end and they pop and come open. Inside is a tiny toy, a joke and a tissue paper crown.  Children and adults alike enjoy crackers!). We were so busy all afternoon and evening that I did not take one photo of any of it! Just before they arrived I slipped away from the food prep and lighted the luminaries placed outside plus all the candles inside.

In the midst of all the flurry in the afternoon, the doorbell rang and it was Leonard. I went to prepare tea. We didn’t have any biscuits (cookies) so I took him six pieces of shortbread and a chocolate. He was not impressed. He said that the mint in the chocolate would ruin the taste of the tea. I suggested he keep the chocolate for later. He told me that he needed more shortbread so I went off to fetch it! He ate one more piece and the chocolate, told me he didn’t have to catch the bus until 4 pm (it was only 2:45) and then finished up his second cup of tea and was off. He had asked when I am going home so he promised to see me before I leave. He did bring a Christmas card for the staff at Murlough.

In midafternoon Martin received a call that his wife had fallen so he left to take her to the doctor. While he was there he asked about his hands. His skin is irritated. He was put on steroids for dermatitis so he won’t be back for a few days. That took a big chunk out of the labor force for the meal!!  We adapted but it put a lot of stress on Deirdre.

Daniel also popped in for a while in the afternoon. He is a "high maintenance" kind of guy but he could sense that things were very busy so he ate a bit of supper and went to wait for Alasdair. They are going to the Belfast Street Outreach tonight. Sarah will remain here to serve.

The meal was to be served at half seven. They began arrived at 6:45 and were warmly greeted by Alan, who looked quite handsome this evening, and served a mulled punch by Tori. Sarah with four teenage volunteers (Nathan, Emma, Tori, Rachel) served the meal.  Katherine, a friend of Deirdre’s, Deirdre and I were in the kitchen preparing the plates. (The teens are volunteering because it looks good on a C.V. –resume--when they apply for a job.)  The menu was soup with dinner rolls; turkey and ham with dressing, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts or roast beef with all of the aforementioned veggies plus cheesy cauliflower. There was also gravy and cranberry sauce. There was schloer to drink….a nice sparkling grape juice: there was red and white grape and one with elderflower.  I haven’t seen sweet potatoes or green beans at any Christmas dinners.

The dessert selection was either Christmas pudding with custard or whipped cream OR a Berry trifle. One man said he didn’t care for either so Deirdre offered chocolate cake. He doesn’t like chocolate. She had an apple tart and he accepted that. Tea followed dessert and each table was served a plate of shortbread, individual mince pies and chocolates.

They called us in to the dining room after they had finished the meal and gave each of us a Gideon NT with Psalms. At 9:45, Deirdre released me and I was grateful! The others remained to finish the cleanup. Richard had come in at 7:30 to begin washing the pots and pans and was still at it when I came upstairs. Nathan had run “Deloris” so all the plates, cups, glasses, bowls and cutlery went through there.

The Christmas Dinners are a lot of work but they are a good way for people to see the possibilities at Murlough House. There are two settings on Saturday; 12:30 and 2 p.m. Sarah and I will set up for them tomorrow. The menu will be the same. You can guess what we will all be eating for lunch tomorrow and supper on Saturday. Leftovers!!

Later....I took a 2 hour nap and at 12:30 a.m., Deirdre came up to the flat. We chatted for a bit and decided we were hungry so I grabbed the hot water bottle to fill (it is so cozy to have the bed heated in my cold little alcove room) and we went to raid the kitchen. Richard was mopping the floor having finally finished all the pots and pans and cleaning up the stove. We fixed a ham/turkey sandwich and added shortbread to our plate, prepared a pot of tea and back upstairs for another hour of conversation before calling it a night.

*The woman I thought was Katherine was in fact, Sandra, a friend of Sarah's.

Mon-Tues

I was back at Murlough before noon.  After lunch I helped Jen decorate the downstairs restroom…the one that is open to the public. We used purple and silver balls, purple ribbon and lavender towels. The balls/baubles are in baskets and others are hanging from the mirror. It’s festive and simple.

She also added lights to the mantel piece in the sitting room and the centerpiece in the hall.  Fresh flowers were added to all the arrangements as well as a couple of vases of carnations and daisies. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I added handwritten messages to 45 of the 120 Christmas cards. Some of the football/soccer guys arranged the tables and carried the decoration storage tubs upstairs.

I left at 7 to drive to the castle at Castlewellan. The Kilmegan Road was flooded in three places but passable. I entered the castle and up the stairs to the ballroom. There was a lovely fresh tree in the landing decorated with blue lights. The women from the Presbyterian Church were gathering. The castle was serving another group in the library. Our group went in and took our places. Each place was set with a cracker! I had never popped a cracker before so that was fun. Our first course was soup and a dinner roll. The main course was sumptuous! There was turkey and dressings, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and cranberry sauce. It was wonderful!

The dessert course was a choice of either a fruit kabob, a chocolate orange cheesecake, profiteroles (cream puffs) or Toffee Pecan Roulade.  I had the Toffee Pecan Roulade. It was sponge cake and bits of toffee and meringue topping with caramel sauce and pecans with whipped cream on the side. Too sweet for words! (and apparently for pics.....blogspot is not loading that one! sorry...just imagine!)

Sideboard at Castle

Crackers on the table

Tree at landing in Castle, blue lights

We played a game to identify candy. I had never heard of about fifteen of the twenty kinds---Double Deckers, Walnut Whips, Marathon, Boost, Whispa, Polo, Quality Street, Yorkie, Mint Imperials, After Eights. There were Kit Kats. And then of course, Turkish Delight!  Then we sang carols and Marlene, the pastor’s wife, gave a short but inspiring devotion.

I was home by eleven and then chatted with Deirdre until after one! When I went to my room, curtains had been added! I’ve had a lace curtain which lets in plenty of morning sun but also cold drafts. This curtain will keep the room a bit warmer but will I wake in the morning in a dark room??

Tuesday

9 a.m. –that’s when I woke in a dark room!! I’ve been up at 7:30 most mornings but not today! I went down and wrote another 20 Christmas cards. There’s lots of activity today. Jo is in to help prepare the food for tomorrow, Jen was in to finish up some decorations, Martin is working today, Cynthia and Alan D. came in to work out details for tomorrow. Richie, Joan and Richard are doing normal stuff. Speaking of “normal”….we haven’t seen Leonard for several weeks. Wonder what’s happened to him?  (Later Deirdre told me that she and Richie had a “Leonard sighting” last Wednesday. Maybe it’s been too cold for the mile walk from the main road.)

At 11 a.m., we (Joan, Sarah, Deirdre, Jen, Jo, John, Richie, Richard and I ) went to the Tea Room in Dundrum for a “going away” gathering. We had a grand time with lots of laughing. It was very nice. They gave me a sendoff as I don’t think I’m returning next year unlike Bebe who plans to be back in January.  We also celebrated Richard’s birthday even though he had tried to keep it a private matter. He was “outed” last Friday when I took the message from his mother who lives in England. Alan Cousins is in England and Alasdair was off on his other job.

I missed the afternoon staff meeting…actually I was in my room and forgot until it was half over. Then I didn’t want to show up late…however, they planned an impromptu Winter Solstice BBQ for next Tuesday night. They came out and headed to the phones to call and invite several connected with the ministry here. We’ll also have a 3£ gift exchange.  Uh-oh…change of event. We will not be celebrating or even observing the pagan holiday of winter solstice even though Richard reminds us that it is an astronomical event, not an astrological. But we shall have a staff party with gift exchange and guests for the BBQ that happens to fall on Dec. 20.

The tables have been set for the One2Four (Wednesday), the flowers arranged and this evening I refilled the salt and pepper (ah ah ahhhh ahhhhhchoo) shakers. I’ve counted out cups and saucers and placed the Christmas cards. Tomorrow I shall clean the entry hall and the downstairs restroom. Deirdre has the cooking under control with the help of Jo (for shortbread), Richard (for Christmas puddings) and Martin (for prep and general kitchen assistance). The three beef roasts were cooked today and the aroma was quite tempting. The turkey and dressing is prepared. The essential Christmas veg here is Brussels sprouts and they shall be on the menu tomorrow! Of course, there will be mash and roasted potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and peas also. Cranberry sauce and gravy will add to the assortment.

The program is set to include Richard reading one of his poems, Sarah singing and me speaking. There will also be carol singing. It will be a very nice luncheon.

Dublin Weekend, part 2

The Hapenny Bridge was passed….at one time it was a halfpenny to cross. The Customs House was pointed out and the dome to Four Courts. On Meeting House Street we passed the Dublin Quaker Meetinghouse.  18^th century construction was in many parts of the close in downtown area. At one time Trinity College had been outside the city but now it is at City Centre.

Hapenny Bridge

Dublin Friends

There is a statue of Mollie Malone. She’s the topic of a ditty about a Tart with a Cart, A Dish with the Fish, etc.  You may want to Google Mollie to get the rest of the story!

With Mollie Malone

Marcus in his Trinity 'coat'

There were lots more stories and more walking. We finished up at about 1:30 and headed back toward Trinity for the walking tour of the college. We stopped at Fitzgerald’s for lunch. Back at the college we queued, paid our 10 Euros which also gave us admission to the library and the Book of Kells. Our guide for this was Marcus. He explained about his “coat” which has no sleeves. This is what the undergraduates wear. When they received their bachelor’s degree, they are given sleeves to the elbow. When they attain a master’s degree, sleeves to the wrist. He says that more education keeps you warmer! 

Our walk with him was just around the campus. He pointed out as had Peter that King Henry II had held banquets at Trinity. He explained the bell tower, pointed out the various schools (music, law, science), the dining hall (which is open to the public and reportedly a good meal at a good price). We passed the croquet court…and Trinity is the only university with a croquet team…at least in this area. Their only competition is a local nursing home.  The science building replicates the Hanging Gardens of Babylon sans vegetation. The plants were leeching into the concrete and growing inside the building so the concept was abandoned. He had stories of graduates including Sam Beckett and Oscar Wilde. He told about former deans. Then he left us at the entrance to the library.

We went first into the display of the Book of Kells….9^th century handwritten copies of the four Gospels…written in Latin with Gaelic script and illustrated rather creatively. This was done on vellum which was made from the hides of 185 calves. Our visit was timely; only a copy of the original will be on display from the 12^th to the 15^th! The Book of Kells was quite interesting but the most impressive sight was yet to come. The first floor library is the length of the building! The entire length of the library is open with stacks and stacks of books arranged by height! The room is mammoth and the shelves are lettered with “a” at the bottom. I couldn’t see all the way to the top but I know there are several shelves beyond “q”. Each section has two ladders and books on three sides. It is difficult to describe but I would heartily recommend that you Google “Trinity Library” to see pictures of this room. There are busts of literary giants between each roomette of books.

I had asked an attendant if the stairs in the room with the Book of Kells was the only way up to the library. She saw my walking stick and offered to get another attendant to take me up in the lift. So I accepted!!

After a while in the room with 200,000 books (only a portion of the five million in the Trinity Library collection, part of which is housed in buildings off campus), we descended to the bookstore for a few postcards and a lovely scarf with designs from the Book of Kells.

We walked back to the bus stop, waited for one heading our direction, and boarded. There were no seats available downstairs so we were all herded to the upper level. A couple of women noticed my walking stick and directed me to the handicapped seat…which I accepted! I’m beginning to see more benefits from my walking stick. It was most helpful when doing steps and for leaning as we did the walk/wait tours but it also gets me some perks!! We rode 40 minutes, walked back to the Holiday Inn Express and settled in at 6 pm. We ordered another pizza and Bebe reorganized some of her packing. She watched a movie and I fell asleep by 9 pm. Sightseeing is for the rugged!!

That's a brief overview of our weekend with about 10% of the photos. We had breakfast on Monday and Bebe was off to the airport and I was headed for the M1. It's been a grand time. I have another 9 days.

Dublin Weekend!

Back at Murlough House! I made it without the GPS! And in 1 hr 55 min….not that I was out to set a record but pretty good time for 96 miles, ½ at 75 mph, ½ at 30-40 mph except for the few miles behind a tractor at 10 mph!! Interesting how flat it is around Dublin but then the Mournes!!  It was nice to have the sun to my back instead of in my face as it was on Friday when we went down.

The house is busy with preparations for tomorrow’s One2Four…still some furniture arranging to be done and the food to prepare and lots of details. I need to unpack and go help a while, then get ready for dinner at the castle tonight at half seven. 

Our weekend was great! We left Murlough at about 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, made two stops, one to top up the cell phone and one for a break and a scone before we entered Dublin. We arrived at the hotel (after missing a turn and calling them for further directions) at about 10. The Holiday Inn Express shares the drive and carpark with Crowne Plaza but there is no sign about Holiday Inn on the main street. It is rather hidden!



After checkin we had a cup of tea and then asked about the bus to the Town Centre. The advertised two minute walk to the bus stop was more like five minutes but we endured! It was a forty minute ride to O’Connell Street . And there in the center of Dublin was a sand sculptor!! Youwould expect one on a beach but in Dublin??

 We saw him from the Hop On Hop Off double decker for the trip ‘round Dublin. It was 12 Euros and about 90 minutes. After that we checked out the Tourist Info centre, then had lunch.

8-10 Euros each

 Because of the time, we would have to do the Trinity Walk on Sunday. It was getting colder so we opted to ride the bus again, this time on top! We saw the same sites but had a much better guide/driver so this time was more interesting. And COLDER!! We did get better pics from topside! We passed St. Patrick’s Church, Christchurch, Trinity College, Mollie Malone’s statue, Parliament, Guinness, Jameson’s, Dublin Castle, St. Stephen’s Green, and lots more statues of famous and perhaps infamous Irish ancestors. We also passed a monument to the Vikings.

Old Parliament Building

Viking Monument

The Guinness story is interesting. The Guinness Stout comes from folks bringing a beverage called Extra Stout Porters to Guinness. He perfected the beverage, dropped the Extra and Porters and voila…Guinness Stout! The logo of Guinness is the Irish harp (and the Republic of Ireland is the only nation in the world with an instrument as the emblem) but it is reversed so as not to denote Ireland proper. Guinness provided housing for his workers. There are ambulances in Dublin marked Guinness…these are for the family and employees should they need a delivery to the hospital. Any retired employee of Guinness is welcome to come to the brewery for free lunch in the cafeteria for the remainder of their lives. The original Guinness had 21 children. Either he or a descendent gave a great amount of funds to Trinity College for upgrades in the 1800s. And finally….of the 4.5 million pints of Guinness produced each day, only 2 million are exported. As the guide said, Guinness has been good to Ireland and Ireland has been good to Guinness!

Guinness

By 4:30 we were queuing for the bus back to Northwoods Park where the hotel is located. There was a fifteen minute wait, and then the forty minute ride, and then the five minute walk back to the Holiday Inn.  The menu was very limited. Bebe ordered pizza and I found the vending machines for cokes. I was still chilled so wrapped up in the duvet and after two slices of pizza, promptly fell asleep. I woke at midnight to change into pajamas and back to sleep!

Sunday breakfast at the Holiday Inn, and then the bus back to the Town Centre. Bebe wanted to walk in St. Stephen’s Green but I opted out. We would be walking most of the day and I wasn’t as interested in the Green as she is. I did some window shopping and then at 10:30, we made our way to Trinity College for the walking tour of the city. It was 10 Euros (for seniors) and led by a Trinity grad. He wasn’t a history prof but was well versed with facts and stories. He said he would give us 9,000 years of history in the next 2 hours. I’m sure he only hit the high points but he did have lots of information.  Trinity College was established in 1592 and for many years only admitted male Protestants. Now it is open to all and more of a secular school than religious.

The original Irish Parliament building is now occupied by the Central Bank. It’s an impressive structure and the whole Parliament story was interesting to hear but impossible to recall!! We walked down to the Dublin castle area with stories about the Normans, the English and the Irish. There is a doorway with St. Peter’s bust over the door and Jonathon Swift’s (Gulliver’s Travel fame and the dean at St. Patrick’s)  above that…with Jonathon looking rather dour! We  heard stories about the entry of the Vikings to Dubh Linn (Black Pool), theft of the crown jewels and more. It was built in the 1600s.

We passed a “camp out” of “Occupy Dame Street” with those protesting the various inequities of employment and resources. They also had a “no fracking” sign. I have followed that somewhat in the US. Fracking is a method of reclaiming gas but in the meantime, contaminates the water supply. Good for those who have investments in gas; bad for those who live in and near the communities/lakes.

Our guide, Peter, told many stories of the Irish and their attempts over the years to separate from England. He also spoke of The Troubles. He quoted James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and many politicians. We went to the gate of the old opera house…all that remains of the place where Handel’s Messiah was first performed. Handel had asked for the St. Patrick’s Cathedral choir to sing in it but Jonathon Swift would not allow it….too secular!

Gate to Opera House

Note: Jonathon Swift seemed to be a stern type but in his latter years, he felt he was becoming mentally ill. He had seen how those were treated so he left a large portion of his estate to establish a humane mental hospital in Dublin.

More to follow...couldn't get pictures to load....