Last post of the Northern Ireland adventure

Ending up the saga of ten weeks in Northern Ireland……

Tuesday, December 20, was a full day! I was up as usual and made coffee. I was to meet with Alan for my “exit interview” at 9:45, however, he met at 9 with the Deirdre, Richie and Sarah which meant he wasn’t ready for me until after 10. I had prepared a 3 page summary in bullet point form of both ministry and personal activities. He hadn’t asked for one but I’ve always done it at the end of an extended mission trip. It was surprising even to me at how much I had done in ten short weeks. A friend commented on Facebook that I’ve been quite ecumenical and I would agree! I attended 11 worship services in ten weeks---all in different churches---Baptist, Brethren, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Quaker and the Fifth Sunday (which is open to all the churches as a united service). 

The gate at the front

One of the rear wings of the mansion

After our meeting, I had a task to complete and a couple of things I still wanted to photograph. I took Little Suzy off to Montpanther, the mansion with 365 rooms.  You can see it from the road but I wanted a closer view. I took the public road up to a side road, then down a private lane, along a muddy tractor route and into the rear courtyard of this mammoth but deserted home. I took several photos of the back and side wings, then drove around to the front. I was now on the horse path evidenced by the aroma. There were so many trees I couldn’t get a good pictures so back down the path, the lane, and the road and down to the Dundrum/Clough road. That was the best vantage point for the total effect!

Perhaps the gatekeeper's cottage

Another rear wing

The front of Montpanther as seen from the road

I needed to go to the Oasis to put all the sheets, towels, duvets and duvet covers in the linen closet and individual rooms (those we had nicked to cover my mistake a few weeks ago). Before I took off, I needed to make a stop for fuel. The person sharing the vehicle had left it in a sorry state…..c’mon Alasdair! What kind of “do unto others” is this??

Since I didn’t want to drive the 20 minutes to Newcastle where Murlough House has an account, I just pulled into Brennan’s and put in 3 litres! That was 4 £ which is $6 for ¾ gallon. (Hard to be sympathetic to $3.32/gal. costs in Kokomo.)  The little bit of fuel would ensure that I wasn’t walking through the Mournes!!  On the way back from the Oasis, I stopped at a Catholic cemetery on the Auchincloy (or something like that) Road to take a few pics.

Then it was back to Murlough House for lunch and then the Dirty Santa gift exchange. Jen, Canadian, suggested it. The others hadn’t heard of it but they got into the “stealing” gifts rather quickly! I opened the Cadbury chocolates which were soon possessed by someone else! It included Turkish Delight! Oh well, I had already bought some to take home-----I thought that was a made up name for candy in the Narnia Chronicles, I didn’t know there really was such a thing!

I worked on packing up and continued to sort out some things to take to the Charity Shops, a game for Deirdre’s grandson, and miscellaneous things that Deirdre might use. Richard and I weighed the big bag. If the scales are correct, it’s 49 lbs. Seems heavy!

There was preparation for the evening party in the Coffee Bar. Richie and Richard took care of the setup and the BBQ. There was chicken and burgers! There were 27 or 28 who came including Irene and Des, Alan D., the Alexanders, Leslie, Daniel, Moyra, Johnny and wife, Ruth and husband, Joy, Rachel and some I didn’t know. Of course there was also Sarah, Alasdair, Richie and Jen, Alan C., Richard and me. The Irish excell at dessert and tonight was no exception---Chocolate Crumb Cake, Pavlova, Shortbread, Trifle, Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie!!! There were Christmas crackers and lots of good Irish craic!!

After the party, Deirdre and I chatted a while over tea. Then it was off to bed for my last sleep this year in Northern Ireland!

Wednesday!! Up to finish the last bag. I could not get another thing in! And then….I checked the drawers one last time….and found a drawer full of knit shirts….seven of them! I had to rearrange, taking out the new bathrobe I had bought in Newry and putting in some of the shirts. Now I have a basket of things that I’ll have to come back to get.  : )

Richie arrived at 8:30, put my bags in the car and he, Deirdre and I were off! His driving is not as conservative as mine and we were airborne at least once on the Newry road!! Weeeee…………..

We arrived at the Dublin airport with time to spare. The 49 pound bag weighed 53.6 pounds but because my second bag was only 35, they averaged it and I only had to pay the second bag fee, 50 € or $65, not an additional excess weight fee. However, the second bag fee was a bit problematic. I had U.S. dollars and a few pounds. They wanted the fee in Euros or on a charge card. My cards have been shut off because I didn’t notify them I was out of the country. Richie to the rescue!! He put it on his credit card and I gave him cash--$50 plus 10 £ which totaled the $65. Thanks so much, Richie!!! So many currencies in one exchange! Note to self: be sure you notify all banks and credit card companies of your itinerary next time you travel! The international number on the back of the card does not work!

We secured a wheelchair, I gave Richie and Deirdre a big hug; they were off and I was in for a long day. It was 11:05 am and I was scheduled to fly at 1 pm. We had to go through passport control, customs, and security at the gate. I was at the departure gate at 11:40 and they began boarding at 12:10. We waited for two passengers to arrive and finally pulled away from the gate at 1:25 pm. Soon we moved not to the runway, but back to the gate with the announcement that a passenger is ill and the paramedics are coming. It was determined that she was too ill to fly so the next wait was to get her baggage.  I ate the snack mix that Richie and Jen had given me (Thanks Jen!!!) and we continued to wait. At 2 pm, they said we have a new ETA….4:30 Chicago time. That means I’ll have less than an hour to catch the connecting flight. That may work since we did customs in Dublin, we won’t have to claim our luggage and transfer it. But it is Chicago and we do have to change terminals, taking a train, so one hour still isn’t much. At 2:15, they announced that we are refueling. We finally made it to the runway and takeoff at 2:40 pm…100 minutes behind schedule!!

They served supper at 5 pm and I was ready for even airline food. I had a scone for breakfast and snack mix for lunch. I watched 2 movies and an episode of Father Tim. There was a beautiful baby in the row ahead of me…she was beautiful for the first part of the flight: she cried from 6-8:30. When she finally wore herself out and fell asleep in exhaustion, her four year old sister awoke, apparently from a bad dream, crying. It took another half hour to settle her. Now the two year old in the row behind me woke from her long nap. She was chipper and chatted in a loud singsong nonsensical voice for the next two hours. Delightful flight! The attendants didn’t come with beverage service…you had to go collect it yourself. (The 8 1/2 hour flight turned into over 10 hours on the plane due to delays.)

I listened to Beatles music for a while and thought of all my friends, both in Howard County and County Down….”I do appreciate you being ‘round” (from Help). It really does apply to my friends in these weeks. Sue had emailed that she had checked on my house after having the water turned back on, had turned the heat up to warm the house and had bought a few groceries! And Deirdre and Richie had not only seen me off but had helped me with the credit card, and Jen had provided a snack that we didn’t know I’d need….and Bob and Phyllis would be meeting me at the airport in Indianapolis. “I do appreciate you being ‘round!!”

The wheelchair was at the gate in Chicago! The pusher was a sweet girl from Poland, 15 years old and only two weeks on this her first job! I needed to get reticketed as we didn’t land until 5 pm (Chicago time) so I would definitely miss my 5:22 flight! She got me to the head of the line for passport check and reticketing and the train and boarding the rescheduled 6:30 flight. I was the first one to board!! I’m so glad we asked for a wheelchair. I don’t know if I could have made it if I’d had to wait in all those lines.

Bob and Phyllis were there with smiling faces!! Only one of my two checked bags made the flight. They located it and were happy to know it was lavender, not the typical black! The agent said it would be easy to spot! (The bag was on the porch when I got up on Thursday morning!)

I was home by 11 pm (which would be 4 am, Ireland time-so I had traveled about 3000 miles in 15 hours) to a cozy house. I took about half an hour to unwind and was in bed……

So thank you to those of you who 'traveled' with me these past weeks. We learned some Irish history, some Irish vocabulary and made friends with some grand Irish folk. I've enjoyed sharing with you and appreciate you also!

My life in Greentown doesn't seem as note worthy so the blog posts may be few and far between until I travel again...but then I will be babysitting my 6 month old great granddaughter a couple of days a week so you may see new of her!! Blessings on each of you!

Gingerbread Party!

Richie's Big Fry!

Due to a conflict in use of Little Suzy, it appeared that I would be without transportation on Sunday morning. Deirdre made a phone call and Richie agreed to pick us up for worship at Newcastle Presbyterian. There was a nice crowd. The pastor did a children’s message that almost got away from him….kids were really pumped and ready to add to his Christmas story! We sang Christmas carols…I was familiar with the words but NOT the tune. Interesting how different people interpret the music. After church we went to Café Crème for lunch. Richie had a Big Fry. I had an omelette and Jen and Deirdre went for soup and Sammy!

After lunch we all went to Shillidays to hang out for a while. Talbot kept us entertained! Then at 4:30 we piled into the car for the drive to Waringstown where Deirdre lives. Tori had joined us. We were going for the Carol Service. This Presbyterian church is 175 years old. The ceilings in the worship room must be 20 feet high! They had a great choir/worship team of 3 men and maybe 20 women. We sang carols, scriptures were read. There was one solo and two songs from the worship team.  The tunes were familiar at this service! The tree in the sanctuary is real and very tall although it doesn’t seem to be. It is probably at least 12 feet.

Sorry....you'll have to look sideways..
Jen and Tori are making a "box" so you
understand that we are in the pew box!

The pews in the Presbyterian Churches that I’ve been in are like boxes. There’s a “door” on the end and the pew holds 5-8 people (they are different sizes).  They are not comfortable…mostly narrow benches with straight backs. Part of the reason for the style is for heat.

After church tea and biscuits were served. I visited with a man who had studied in Virginia. He suggested two books for me to read The Other Irish (not sure of author) and Born Fighting (Jim Webb)

We left the church, ordered Domino’s pizza, ate in the car, and then headed home. I did fall asleep!  We were home after ten. I packed one suitcase before I went to bed and am sorting out things for the Charity Shop and for Deirdre to use or give away.  After a couple of hours, there was some order to my little room….two baskets are filling up and the drawers and shelves are emptying out.

Monday

I folded a basket of thirty tea towels. These were from Saturday. There were also aprons and dishcloths. It takes a bit of laundry for a meal too!

Jen came at 9:30 for our shopping day in Newry. I needed to go to Ulster Bank to exchange some dollars for pounds. Jen stopped at Daisy Hill Hospital to deliver some baked goods to former colleagues. Then we stopped for coffee and something sweet to sustain us for the work ahead. I had a cherry almond muffin. Deirdre’s was toffee pecan. Jen’s was just as wonderful! Then we hit the Buttercrane Mall in earnest.  Deirdre had serious shopping to do….bag after bag filled!  Jen just had bits and pieces to pick up and I bought very little. I did find some giraffe bibs for Berkeley….giraffes on the bibs, not loonnnngggg neck bibs. I also found her a too cute lavender hat…maybe for spring!

We left Newry at 1:30, drove to Newcastle; stopped at Tesco for candy to decorate a gingerbread house and then to Maud’s for a late lunch at nearly 3 pm.  Jen dropped us off at Murlough and then came back at 7 pm with the Crosspoint girls. They made gingerbread cookies and decorated them. They also made the necklaces from the ribbon yarn. Then the worked on a gingerbread house. There was almost as much candy consumed as there was used for decorating. The girls had a good time and cleaned up the kitchen before Jen took them home.

I need to pack another bag tonight….hope that happens!!

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.