Crafts, Winds, Linens

Wednesday, 12/7/11

Back to order today!  Martin moved more furniture and Jen added more decorations. Things are coming together!  I helped Jo make ferry reservations for her and John Moxen for the holidays. They’re going to England and taking their car. We also made plans for a drive on Friday. Bebe finished up the Bible study on Philippians. We had a nice group for the craft class…three stayed from the Bible study and a mother/daughter/grandson trio joined us. The women made a necklace from ribbon thread and Daniel, the little boy, made a bracelet for his mum. They also made Christmas card holders from Pringle’s cans. I showed them how I will make luminaries to put outside when we have the Christmas dinners. They looked at the scarves I’ve been making. Now they have several ideas for their sales at their churches. Our 2-4 activity turned into 2-5:20! They all enjoyed tea and Yankee Quaker Cookies before they left. They took a copy of the recipe and even noted the changes to convert to metric.

Deirdre has gone home until Monday. She really has a part time job here but sometimes she spends more than her 24 hours due to the groups coming in.

Thursday

Howling winds awoke us! The trees were really in the “swaying” mode! It seemed to settle somewhat and Bebe and I were off to Castlewellan for Moms and Tots. Today was a party atmosphere, less toys out and more group activities. Even with the colder morning, there were still over 30 tots! The refreshments were a bit more festive. The children had CocoKrispie treats and sausages. The adults had Banoffee tarts, apple tarts, shortbread and Queen cakes with frosting. I helped serve and then ret up the sippy cups and plastic plates.

We left Castlewellan Presbyterian and drove up to Castlewellan castle. I’ll be joining the Presbyterians there for a Christmas dinner on Monday and wanted to be sure I knew exactly how to get there….much easier than I thought!  On the way to Castlewellan (town), we had driven through water across the road in several spots. On the way back to Murlough, the water had receded and there was a beautiful rainbow.

Murlough is quiet….only Joan in the office for a half day and Richard, Bebe and me the balance of the day. John and Jo stopped in for a few minutes. Bebe may be packing and I may just take a nap….

Later….

The nap was good! But the sitting room is not warm so I was bundled in a blanket and an afghan. Cynthia and Ewelina popped in for a few minutes. Bebe and I had a light supper and some tv and knitting. Very low key!

The weather report isn’t promising. There were 150 hour gale winds/hurricane strength over Scotland today with tens of thousands without electricity. Northern Ireland had its own difficulties with trees down and bridges closed. The wind is expected to peak at 90 mph over the north coast of Ireland tonight and tomorrow.  The weekend promises sleet and high winds.

Friday

John and Jo came promptly at 9 for our outing. They had also asked Bebe but she felt she needed to spend the time getting packed. We had talked about a drive to the North Coast but we regrouped and went instead to Banbridge to the Ferguson Linen Outlet store. What a lovely feast of fine linens. Sheets ($$$$$), table runners ($$), placemats and napkins ($$$), pillow covers ($$) and lots more. There were tea towels and hankies and lavender sachets and aprons and more. Jo and I really loved the shamrock table cover, lampshade and napkins but they were just too dear.  I found several items to purchase and had them totaled. AND my prepaid Visa debit card would not work. I knew the other debit cards and the credit cards were not “authorized for use” in Ireland but I got this prepaid card to avoid problems…. I managed to find enough pounds to pay my bill but now what about the weekend? Maybe the card will work at the ATM in Dundrum. Oh well,  I’ll deal with that later. That worked for Pollyanna (or was it Annie?), maybe it will work for me.

We stopped at Tesco’s (big grocery) for tea and Danish; then Jo did some shopping. We were back at Murlough by 1 and had lunch together. The order from Nesbit had arrived so I unpacked it. Bebe is almost packed for her return. We’ll spend Sat-Sun in Dublin doing some sightseeing and then I’ll drive back on Monday and she will fly to Chicago.

SALT and The Tree!

Today was the SALT group at the Presbyterian Church in Newcastle. It is women of various churches who meet together monthly. Today was the Christmas meeting and they presented the Nativity story. Last week Sadie invited me to come and then asked if I would be Zechariah. I agreed thinking she would give me some lines to read. No, my instructions were to “tell Zechariah’s part of the story in the first person…keep it to about 3 minutes”. I looked up information about Zechariah on the web and wrote my script. It was interesting to learn about the duties of the priests at the Temple. Of the 20,000 or so, about 1,000 served each week at the Temple. They were rotated so that each group of 1,000 served two weeks out of the year. Zechariah was the one who offered the incense offering on the day that Gabriel appeared to him. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and he would never get to do it again. It would have been his responsibility to come out and give the blessing to the multitudes who awaited. But as you know, he was struck mute.

I gave the first reading. It was difficult to condense Zechariah’s story into 3 minutes but there were many characters to come after me.  There was Elizabeth, Gabriel, Mary, Joseph, the Innkeeper, the shepherd, the sheep, a Wise Man, the star, another Wise man, Simeon and Anna. (There may have been more, I don’t recall. It was apparent that much study had gone into the preparation by these women. Their own personalities flavored the presentations. There were funny parts…from the Innkeeper who had ‘hired’ a midwife so also told her story and the 75 year old “wee wisp of a girl”, Mary, serious parts (the Magi and the star were very informative), and tender parts. I was blessed to be a part of this!

A rich prayer time followed and of course, coffee, tea and shortbread!

Marian and Sadie took me back to Murlough.  Martin had arrived and had found things to do…wash more windows, clean the cabinets, etc. Jen was still working on Christmas wreaths—she made 3 fireplace garlands and 6 or 8 wreaths from fresh greens that Richard had cut. Deirdre and Richie had gone to buy a Christmas tree and garland for the stair banister.  Soon they were back. I pulled leftovers out of the fridge and   some of us had a lunch. The afternoon was spent in getting the hallway ready to have the floor cleaned and waxed. The second dining room had been done by Nathan and Bebe last night while we were at the “shortbread demonstration”. 

After lunch Martin and I assembled the 8 ft.  tree. He checked all the lights for Jen to string. Bebe and I decorated the tree while Jen finished the wreaths. Other decorations were put up. Tables were moved back into the small dining room.

I decided to bake cookies for the Bible study group that is coming tomorrow. There was no shortening so Jen took me to Brennan’s. Richard had taken Little Suzy to Belfast to do some Christmas shopping.  I’m making Yankee Quaker Cookies….I had the recipe on the computer and wanted to make something that would be different.  I mixed the dough but it needs to be refrigerated overnight.

Yankee Quaker Cookies

1 cup Crisco shortening (solid)

2 cups brown sugar (packed)

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup rolled oats

Mix in order given. Refrigerate overnight or longer. Form walnut size balls, roll through a dish of granulated sugar and place on lightly greased baking sheet. Don’t put them too close together. Press down slightly with bottom of a glass.

Bake at 350 oven for 11 minutes. Makes 5-6 dozen.

                           -Recipe from Eunice Godown, 1993

The recipe is from Eunice Godown who was past 80 when a group of Indiana USFW went to Washington, D.C.  She shared the recipe and I've made it many times and try to give her the credit. They are easy to make and I love the name of them. Pics later.  Our trip was about the health care issue...yes, that has been around a while.

Baking another dessert is almost funny as we have things left over from the weekend. We still have Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake from Friday, Apple Tart and Peach Crumble from Saturday, Banoffee Dessert from Sunday and Shortbread from Monday so now we will have Yankee Quaker Cookies from Tuesday!!

The hallway had the third coat of wax by 10 pm (applied by Deirdre) so tomorrow morning we will return all the furniture and finish decorating. I didn't do any of the waxing on these three rooms...but I did move tons of furnitures!!

Monday continues….

At 10 am Martin arrived. Deirdre has hired him to work through the Christmas dinners and perhaps beyond. He has some culinary skills but is willing to do other things. Today the agenda was to wash windows. I had said I would do it but I needed help. Martin was willing to do the windows so I helped him. He climbed up and hung out the windows and I handed up the soapy rag, the squeegee and towels. “We” finished up 10 double windows in about 2 ½ hours. After lunch we drove out to Oasis to return the borrowed duvets and sleeping bags. Then he moved all the chairs and together we moved twelve tables from one dining room to the other. The larger dining room has been swept, Hoovered, mopped and three light coats of wax. Now with all the furniture back in that room, the smaller dining room can have the same procedure.

Shiny floors and sparkling windows! Small
dining room.

Jen was making wreaths in the Coffee Bar so I went out to see how that was going. Richard had cut and gathered loads of greens and she was filling grapevine wreaths. Nathan came in; he had come to clear the furniture in the hallway and start the floor process there.

Jen was scheduled to give a demonstration for the Methodist women. She recruited Ewelina and Deirdre to help her. The demonstration was about shortbread. They invited me to join them so we went to Jen’s first to gather up the supplies. We had a quick supper of cheese and crackers and then were off to the church. Louie, Sadie, Iris and Marion from our Bible study were at the meeting. Deirdre gave the demonstration of the recipe and how to mix it. Jen showed how to roll out shortbread for cut out cookies and decorate them. Ewelina showed how to package the cookies as gifts with ribbon and things you might find around the house. Then they served the cookies. The ladies really enjoyed the presentation. These Irish women have made shortbread all their lives but were surprised to think you might make it into cutout cookies. And they were delighted with the simple yet beautiful packaging.

Ewelina (pronounce the W as a V)

l-r; Ewelina, Jen, Deirdre

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!!

Birthday girl, swank hotel, ancient bridge...

I read of Bekah’s friend who died this morning of cancer. She was very young…on the brink of life, nearly finished with her PhD…a loss for her friends but gain for her as she was confident of her life in Christ. Reading her blog (a repeat from a few months ago and reposted) was both inspiring and draining. It was a sad moment for a gal I never met.

Thursday morning at Moms and Tots in Castlewellan again. I had a serious conversation with one mom about Jesus. There are so many layers to the issues here. She and many like her have been beaten down by the “church” and the Troubles. She said she has little faith. She doesn’t want to introduce religion to her little boy because of all the heartache she has suffered. She is in a “mixed marriage” which here means Protestant/Catholic.  It made me sad. But on another note, one little gal was celebrating her third birthday. I loved her outfit…something tells me that she chose it herself. Pink cowboy boots, pink Mickey/Minnie sweatshirt and a red tutu with a big “3” button. She’s too cute!

Bebe and I were invited to join the volunteers at Moms and Tots for lunch but we needed to get back to Murlough as we were going with Deirdre and Jen to Slieve Donard Hotel for a Craft Fayre (fair to Americans). It’s a very exclusive hotel. The Fayre was to benefit cancer research. There were lots of vendors in the Grand Ballroom—all the typical craft items plus Aran knits, framed photography, foodstuffs (like brandy butter) and finger knitting kits.  We saw several people we have met at different functions. Tea was available in one area and desserts available from the vendors. 

Jen dropped us off and called back in about ten minutes. Richie had fixed supper for all of us! We drove over and sat down to a nice meal. After that Richie went off to play soccer and we watched a DVD. Now Deirdre wants to be sure I blog this next part…. Someone fell asleep during the movie. Yes…me! The other part is that someone snores.  Talbot, Shillidays’ lovely little Yorkshire terrier, and I were sleeping and it was not Talbot that was snoring. (There Deirdre!!)

Friday

John B. (the worker placed at MH who is on a sort of unemployment) is leaving. He has been here for two 13 week sessions and now has some other scheme (which is what the government plan is called). Deirdre wanted to have a special lunch for him. She asked me to make a chocolate mayonnaise cake. I had made one for the Georgianna team but was disappointed in how it turned out…not being used to a convection oven. Today’s cake was just right! Deirdre made fish pie with green beans and boiled potatoes for lunch. Richie offered prayer before lunch and John said he had to step out. He went down the hall until the prayer was over. That made me sad. He is Jehovah’s Witness.

Alan brought the Prayer Calendars so I folded and stuffed envelopes. There were not enough so I had to call Belfast. I finished up what I had and later Keiron called back to let me know they would be delivered tomorrow. I also tried to get my credit cards approved for international shopping but was not successful. I did get the Amazon.uk order straightened out with the Travel Visa. I couldn’t use my credit card for the UK online purchase.

In the afternoon Jen was back to begin baking for another sale. She made Pecan Pies and Shortbread. The group started coming in at 7:30. There was a mini-crisis. The leader had called last weekend and asked if they should bring bedding and towels. Because I came last year and didn’t need those things, I said no. Well, our group was five people, not sixty!! I should have said YES, bring sleeping bags and towels. We do provide sheets and pillows. Well, here we are now with all these people in a cold manor house and no blankets. We started going through the cupboards and linen room. Duvets were brought out. The duvet covers had to be put on. Blankets were counted. A few sleeping bags were found. When all the available bedding was pulled out, we were still short. Richard and Bebe drove over to Oasis and brought back duvets and towels. The leader called some of the people to ask them to bring bedding. (Some live close by and were  having youth meetings in their own church before coming.)  Crisis averted!

“Supper” was served at ten pm. Scones, Fairie Cakes, biscuits, tea and coffee! Deirdre was baking all afternoon and then started working on tomorrow’s lunch. We set up the table, cover, tea, coffee, sugar, cream, cups, and three trays of desserts in the Teaching Block. That meant at least six trips from the kitchen across the drive and into the Teaching Block. Bebe had taken a few things and Jen and I finished up.  I set the tables for Saturday breakfast. We left the kitchen at 11:30 p.m. It had been a very long day, both emotionally and physically draining.

Saturday

Up early to help with brekky (breakfast) for the group. It’s a group of older teens from all across Northern Ireland. A simple fare of cereal, juice and toast doesn’t seem like much until you stand at the toaster preparing enough for 55!! Three four slice toasters still have to be “reloaded” several times!  We set up ten tables which required more than you would think…juice, butter, jam, etc. After the meal, the visitors help with the clearing and the washup. It is very helpful but you have to train them as you go.

I was sent off to Newcastle for bread and milk and while there, filled the Suzuki so she would be ready for our venture on Sunday. On the way back, I stopped at 12 Arches Bridge. I had only been able to see ten arches from the road but they are all there. There’s an historic marker telling about Domangard/Donard and his introduction to Christianity from St. Patrick. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5WWkFEyAn3oC&lpg=PA74&ots=Vk_ZsurUBR&dq=domengard&pg=PA74#v=onepage&q=domengard&f=falseThere is history all around. I mentioned it to Richard, the gardener, who has never stopped at the bridge although he devours history books.

The balance of the Prayer Calendars was delivered while I was in Newcastle. I finished folding and stuffing them and Sarah took them to the Post Office.

Lunch was a lot of work but well received. Deirdre had called in three teen volunteers from the Crosspoint ministry. Keiron, Nathan and Tori did a lot of work! Sarah came in too so there were six of us to follow Deirdre’s instructions! Again the visitors did their bit in helping with the cleanup and washup. Supper was similar but Sarah and Tori were not here; Jen was.

In the afternoon, I took a nap. It was delightful!!  Then supper! Richard came to help with cleanup so Bebe and I were released from that. Thank you Richard!!

Later I worked on getting information about Zechariah. I’ll present that in first person mode on Tuesday at one of the ladies’ groups in Newcastle.

Tues/Wed

Tuesday, 29 Nov 2011

John Moxen’s wife Jo has gone to England to visit her daughter and grandchildren. That leaves John at home without transportation as he has had a stroke and heart failure (twice!). He has a defibrillator. He had an appointment at the doctor’s today so I drove him to Downpatrick. Our original plan had been to go to Inch Abbey after his appointment. The weather report predicted 75 mph gale force winds. We took off for the 9:50 appointment. He directed me on several back roads but we made it to the hospital without going through the city. He went upstairs to see the doctor and I waited in the coffee shop. Suddenly the skies opened and the rainfall was a torrential downpour. It went on for several minutes. When John was finished, an hour later, it was down to a misty sprinkle.  He had a good report from the doctor but no release to drive. We decided it was too wet and cold to go to Inch Abbey and started the drive home.

John mentioned that he had grown up in Liverpool and told me some of his story. I asked if he had lived near the Beatles. That opened a whole new conversation. He remembered that the Beatles held concerts and he and other young evangelists were in the area near the theatres to pass out tracts and witness to concert goers. He remembers taking the “ferry ‘cross the Mersey”. Those were the early days of John’s ministry.

There were several places where there was water across the road. We made our way back to Dundrum. I had to park at the back door as there were so many cars in the carpark. Deirdre said I missed the flood. It seems that when Sarah arrived, she stepped into the outer entry only to see it was “raining inside the house”. She went to get Deirdre who went for towels and help! The gutters were full and the rain somehow came through the walls and ran along the ceiling. It was four inches deep by the time they started bailing! The wallpaper had come loose and the plaster was falling. That will be an unscheduled redecorating project.

We had a quick bowl of soup for lunch and then the staff meeting. Richie asked Bebe about her departure date and said to remind him the day before so he could take her to the airport. I told him that I had thought I would take her to Dublin and we would spend the weekend before she flies out on Dec. 12. He said I should be sure that I am insured to drive in the Republic. I wouldn’t have thought of that.

In the evening Bebe and I made desserts for tomorrow’s “traybakes” with our Bible study group. I made egg custard pies and she made ‘Heavenly Hash.’ I labeled envelopes for the December Prayer Calendar. Then we went up to the flat and watched a couple of DVDs with Deirdre. A full day!

Wed

To get things printed, I send an attachment by email to Joan who then prints it for me. I picked up the exegesis materials from my Hermeneutics class at Huntington University. I had it on a flashdrive and will be using some of the material when I lead the Bible study.

Olive Davison, the artist

I had an appointment for 10:45 for tea at Davisons. Bebe was meeting with Richie so I collected her at Blue Bay Café and we headed to Moneylane. Olive Davison is a local artist who does water color paintings. I had admired her work at John Moxen’s and he asked if I would be interested in seeing some of her work. We had a lovely visit with Olive and Alan with tea and biscuits. We had quite an interesting conversation learning about the examinations for leaving secondary schools and about Alan and Olive’s lives as well as their grandson who is a rising star in the Irish film industry.  After tea she brought out fifteen or twenty of her paintings. She could tell us every road and tree in them. Some were scenes in Donegal but the ones I was interested in were of the Mournes.  Olive paints in the car…because of the frequent rain and nearly perpetual mist, she doesn’t want a water spot to ruin her work!  I narrowed it down to three, then one! I have an original painting by an Irish artist of a scene of the Mournes, some pastures, sheep, a small cottage and one lone sheep on a road.

Back at Murlough Deirdre and Richie had lunch ready. I did the washup until our Bible study folks began arriving. Richie, Richard and Nathan finished up.

We talked about Phil.2:5-11, the Kenosis Hymn. I shared some of the work I had done on the exegisis paper about the structure, the word studies and parallelisms. The discussion that followed was good with several participating. We followed that up with the “Traybakes”.  The ladies had brought several tasty bars and cookies. It was a good visiting time. Sadie invited me to participate in a Christmas program next week at the Presbyterian Church in Newcastle.

After cleaning up the kitchen I went to the flat. We had a popcorn and crisps “supper”.  We had tea and traybakes, then spent the evening knitting. A nice quiet evening.

Dolmen

Sunday

The days are remarkably shorter now. It gets dark at 4 or 4:15 pm. The sunrise is later and later. It’s 8 or after before the sun peeks through the tree row at the east of the property.

It is interesting that the Methodist pastor, Ross, spoke of shorter days and that darkness comes in Newcastle by 3 pm because of the position of the sun and the fact that in this season, it slips behind Slieve Donard. It does seem that the Light is in a different place at seasons of our life. Sometimes hidden, sometimes higher or lower but always present, whether we see it or not.  

Ross’ 4 year old son remarked that I talk funny---like Swartzendrubers (also here in County Down and from Howard County, Indiana). He may not know the word “accent” but he can surely recognize one!

The afternoon was for reading and napping. We set off for evening services at Gospel Hall in Newcastle (Brethren Church) shortly before 6. Upon arrival we learned that the meeting began at 7 pm. We went looking for a place for coffee or tea. Not much was open but the KFC was and our taste buds were salivating. We had a diet Coke and some chicken!! This is probably only my fifth Diet Coke in six weeks. That’s quite a change for me!!

We arrived back at Gospel Hall just before 7. Women are ‘required’ to wear hats and the hats are quite elaborate. This is a very dressy church…the men all had on suits and ties, unlike all the other churches we have been in the last several weeks. Our friends, Ken and Margaret Byatt, were not at church but Daniel was. He was happy to see us and took us on a short tour of the building after.

Monday

Because we are having a group of 60 in for the weekend, Deirdre suggested we take a day off early in the week. They are generous in giving us time off for sightseeing. We reminded them that we are Senior volunteers and a 6 day week is a bit much. This is a slow time at Murlough so we have had a good deal of free time. That will be limited in the last weeks we are here as there are several Christmas dinners booked. However, in the meantime, we are doing ministry on Wednesdays (and spending Tues in prep), visiting churches on the weekend, and helping with the teens a bit. Bebe is active with Kairos. My other ministry is here at MH helping Sarah and Joan with mailings,etc. 

 We decided to try to find Legananny Dolmen and Bebe suggested we start at 9 a.m. I was up at my usual 7:30 but somehow we didn’t get away until almost 10:30 a.m. We had directions from John at Turnip House and had had a look at Google Maps. We set out, missed our first turn but saw that we were on Legananny Road. It must be this way!  We came upon the familiar brown signs…posted national landmarks…for Legananny Dolmen. We drove to the parking spaces and trekked up the lane behind the farmhouse. We were reading the signage and taking photos of the dolmen when a hiker came along. He offered to take our picture together. He told us about the area where there were more “standing stones”. The dolmen may be tombstones for early people from approximately 2000 B.C. There are at least six other dolmens in County Down but this one is the most  impressive.

Wonder how ancient people hoisted that stone?

We made our way back to Newcastle through Castlewellan for lunch at Café Crème and then shopped in a couple of souvenir shops. The cold and the standing had done me in so I was ready to go back to the house. When we arrived, we found that others had brought the Christmas decorations down from the attic and were sorting though them in the flat.

Later Deirdre and I went to Jen’s to join the girls. Some still had Candy Cane Reindeer to sell. Deirdre and Jen went with them as they canvassed the neighborhood. I stayed at the flat with Talbot, the Yorkshire terrier! The girls did quite well and have them all sold. They’ll have nearly 100 £ to spend for the needy family. Jen served up hot chocolate and Deirdre and I went home.