Saturday, November 28, 2009
Pat's surprise birthday party went very well
She didn't suspect a thing. How everyone managed to hide in the kitchen I will never know - it is overcrowded when just two people are in there. The children did exceptionally well sorting everything out while Pat and I were at choir rehearsal and all was just hunky-dory and dinky-doo. Thanks to all who made her feel very special and very loved !
OK, this weekend is about preaching
Tomorrow morning at Anglade - in the newly fixed car ! Ça roule !
Tomorrow evening at the International Church.
Also continuing to sort out the Carol service which is now in just a fortnight's time !
Tomorrow evening at the International Church.
Also continuing to sort out the Carol service which is now in just a fortnight's time !
DUKE ELLINGTON'S NUTCRACKER DANSE OF THE FLOREADORES U.S. Army Blues
Wow ! Christmas is coming fast !
Friday, November 27, 2009
Well I collected
the car. As I paid I asked Mr Plazy where is a good place to get the contrôle technique done.
'But I'd have done that for you !' he said, 'you should have said'. Anyway he directed me to a place near the music school and said to say that he sent me. You have to get your car checked over every two years. A friend has a seriously rotten Citroën Visa from just before the Norman conquest that passes first time every time, but another friend has just had his recent Rover failed on emissions. So I guess you never know.
Anyway, off to read with Dik, J-P and Christophe, followed by a quick trip to the church to deposit two PCs that are up for grabs. Anyone want a basic machine for word-processing, email and the like ? One uses XP and the other Win 98. No takers ? Posh lot !
Then home via the contrôle technique place. I liked the guy. He looked like someone from a Thomas Hardy novel and we made a rendez-vous for Monday afternoon. I changed the wiper blades. Must check that all the lights work and check tyre pressures and levels of brake fluid and steering fluid on Monday morning.
Then home to find the leaflets for door-to-door waiting for me.
Yippee ! Must say, I didn't see any buses in the city at all, and just a few trams. Everywhere seemed very quiet though it did seem to be National Drive Like A Lunatic Day.
'But I'd have done that for you !' he said, 'you should have said'. Anyway he directed me to a place near the music school and said to say that he sent me. You have to get your car checked over every two years. A friend has a seriously rotten Citroën Visa from just before the Norman conquest that passes first time every time, but another friend has just had his recent Rover failed on emissions. So I guess you never know.
Anyway, off to read with Dik, J-P and Christophe, followed by a quick trip to the church to deposit two PCs that are up for grabs. Anyone want a basic machine for word-processing, email and the like ? One uses XP and the other Win 98. No takers ? Posh lot !
Then home via the contrôle technique place. I liked the guy. He looked like someone from a Thomas Hardy novel and we made a rendez-vous for Monday afternoon. I changed the wiper blades. Must check that all the lights work and check tyre pressures and levels of brake fluid and steering fluid on Monday morning.
Then home to find the leaflets for door-to-door waiting for me.
Yippee ! Must say, I didn't see any buses in the city at all, and just a few trams. Everywhere seemed very quiet though it did seem to be National Drive Like A Lunatic Day.
"La voiture est terminée"
A call from the garagiste.
I said "terminée, ça veut dire qu'elle est prête..."
"Oui, aucun problème."
While I pay I'll ask him where to go for the contrôle technique, which is due now, too !
I said "terminée, ça veut dire qu'elle est prête..."
"Oui, aucun problème."
While I pay I'll ask him where to go for the contrôle technique, which is due now, too !
Bus and tram strike
There's a bus and tram strike today. Actually the trams are running, but apparently there's no buses in Pessac. This means that today Gwilym can't get to school, either. The car isn't back from the garage yet - I expect he'll ring some time this morning. I can get to my meeting in Saige on foot and tram, but I'll have to leave super-early !
Harmonica for dummies
I finally got a chance to get Pat her special birthday present, something that wll change her life. And ours. 'The harmonica for dummies'. It comes with a harmonica in C, an instruction book and an accompaniment cd.
Pat's always said that she'd love to learn a musical instrument, and now she has one that she can always keep with her in her handbag.
I did think of 'The ukelele for dummies' but I couldn't find it.
Pat's always said that she'd love to learn a musical instrument, and now she has one that she can always keep with her in her handbag.
I did think of 'The ukelele for dummies' but I couldn't find it.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
That should get us through the winter
The wood-man cometh and dumpeth in the driveway.It didn't take us very long to stack it neatly by the door,
but away from the wall...
Alan is grateful for
an uneventful journey without a clutch to the garage. I found the garage and a guy watched me turn in rather too fast in second gear then draw jerkily to a halt before stalling the engine.
I went and said hello. We shook hands. "You work here ?" 'Yes, the boss will be here soon and I don't have a key. Problem with the car ?' "Yes. No clutch". 'Ah !'
I am grateful too for garage owners who shake hands with you and say "We'll sort it out" and who work 150 yards from your house.
And for friends who have made a substantial contribution to the cost of the clutch repair. Thanks guys !
And for a quiet morning to gather my strength for this evening and prepare for the weekend !
And not least for a wife who is well reestablished and trying on her wedding garb !
I went and said hello. We shook hands. "You work here ?" 'Yes, the boss will be here soon and I don't have a key. Problem with the car ?' "Yes. No clutch". 'Ah !'
I am grateful too for garage owners who shake hands with you and say "We'll sort it out" and who work 150 yards from your house.
And for friends who have made a substantial contribution to the cost of the clutch repair. Thanks guys !
And for a quiet morning to gather my strength for this evening and prepare for the weekend !
And not least for a wife who is well reestablished and trying on her wedding garb !
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
When the blogue and facebook are quiet
it's because the day has NOT been quiet !
It included doing surveys on the student campus. I met some great people. I particularly think of one guy who was very pleasant and easy to talk to who said that he believes that there is no reason for anything, and that he does not believe in happiness or misery, and so manages to live in a state of detached peacefulness. His philosophy lecturers tell him that he has no heart or feelings. I think Spurgeon would have kicked him in the shins to test the strength of his detached peacefulness but he was a big guy... Anyway we talked very freely about things and he accepted a Bible. Afterwards, of course, I thought of a hundred more things I should have said to him, far better than the things I did say, but hey... Three students said 'Yes, we believe in God'. I said, 'Really ?' and we chatted. They are products of believing catholic families who sent their kids to catholic school and the kids made friends and now they are studying together at university and still attending church. I invited them to FAC. They'd get on well with some of the others who come. Another guy is muslim and we hope to meet up in a fortnight after he's finished a project.
Afterwards I collected Catrin from home and took her to her flute lesson (the first post-flu) and then to her opticians appointment. While she was in her flute lesson I learnt that my trombone session and the big band rehearsal had been moved from Friday to Thursday because there's a concert of the symphonic on Friday. EEEK !
We had a half-hour to kill on the way to the opticians so we popped into a café in Pessac than we've never tried before. The manager was very pleasant and a real anglophile. He even detected from my accent that I am not English (hurrah !). 'I learnt my Englsh from Pink Floyd albums.', he said. He seemed to be aware of some of the evangelical churches, too. I'll pop back and invite him to the carol service. I bet he'd love that.
The optician said that Catrin has a slight astigmatism, but that if she adopts a good posture while reading and writing then that will be better than trying to correct this with spectacles. Jolly good !
Then back home for a swift sausage before heading off for the prayer meeting. I learnt wih dismay that I was opening up - dismay because with buses and trams it's not easy to guarantee being on time. I was on time, however.
But on the way home a technical incident meant that there weren't any trams passing the church, so we had to walk a couple of stops before getting on this empty tram that said "Sans Voyageurs" but opened its doors at the stop. We looked at each other but got on anyway. Then Fiona kindly ran me home and I was warmly welcomed by my bed !
It included doing surveys on the student campus. I met some great people. I particularly think of one guy who was very pleasant and easy to talk to who said that he believes that there is no reason for anything, and that he does not believe in happiness or misery, and so manages to live in a state of detached peacefulness. His philosophy lecturers tell him that he has no heart or feelings. I think Spurgeon would have kicked him in the shins to test the strength of his detached peacefulness but he was a big guy... Anyway we talked very freely about things and he accepted a Bible. Afterwards, of course, I thought of a hundred more things I should have said to him, far better than the things I did say, but hey... Three students said 'Yes, we believe in God'. I said, 'Really ?' and we chatted. They are products of believing catholic families who sent their kids to catholic school and the kids made friends and now they are studying together at university and still attending church. I invited them to FAC. They'd get on well with some of the others who come. Another guy is muslim and we hope to meet up in a fortnight after he's finished a project.
Afterwards I collected Catrin from home and took her to her flute lesson (the first post-flu) and then to her opticians appointment. While she was in her flute lesson I learnt that my trombone session and the big band rehearsal had been moved from Friday to Thursday because there's a concert of the symphonic on Friday. EEEK !
We had a half-hour to kill on the way to the opticians so we popped into a café in Pessac than we've never tried before. The manager was very pleasant and a real anglophile. He even detected from my accent that I am not English (hurrah !). 'I learnt my Englsh from Pink Floyd albums.', he said. He seemed to be aware of some of the evangelical churches, too. I'll pop back and invite him to the carol service. I bet he'd love that.
The optician said that Catrin has a slight astigmatism, but that if she adopts a good posture while reading and writing then that will be better than trying to correct this with spectacles. Jolly good !
Then back home for a swift sausage before heading off for the prayer meeting. I learnt wih dismay that I was opening up - dismay because with buses and trams it's not easy to guarantee being on time. I was on time, however.
But on the way home a technical incident meant that there weren't any trams passing the church, so we had to walk a couple of stops before getting on this empty tram that said "Sans Voyageurs" but opened its doors at the stop. We looked at each other but got on anyway. Then Fiona kindly ran me home and I was warmly welcomed by my bed !
DUKE ELLINGTON'S NUTCRACKER SUGAR RUM CHERRY U.S. Army Blues
Look, this is festive, great jazz and great art music.
You do have to get past the titles, though, I confess.
Tuesday travels etc...
Yesterday morning was the team meeting and prayer meeting and afterwards Gwilym and I had to present ourselves at the place where he'll do his stage. The supervisor seemed very nice and it doesn't open till 11am (!) so he gets a lie-in all week !
Afterwards we returned home through the warm autumnal sunshine and I got on with some more Carol Service planning - by email. After some preparation and a quick sandwich it was time to scuttle off on the tram for the English class. I walked to the bus stop through the park - through the dark trees under the inky sky.
I wish I could bring you with me on the journey. The bus takes us through the lower regions of Mérignac, where instead of stylish new villas you get old wooden shacks and ramshackle old farmhouses. The outskirts of Mérignac fascinate me, and on the bus you see them very well. You end up at a bus / tram / park and ride called Fontaines d'Arlac. After crossing a frontier style level crossing you turn a corner into this beautiful little square with a centuries old wash-house and a space-age stainless-steel park and ride. In the evening with the street lights it's a magical place. No, really ! Then the tram to the centre of town. Great !
The English Class seemed to go pretty well. It included a brief introduction to the continuous tenses (I walk/I am walking, I will walk/I will be walking). We played Monster (please, thank-you and sorry) to practise la politesse anglaise. Mispronunciation of 'aces' prompted a brief session on words that are really much more offensive than you realise. The kind of lesson I wish someone had given me for French, because you really need to know what NOT to say as well as what to say.
I have wrestled with this awful little whiteboard that you have to balance or prop with one hand while writing with the other etc... and today I had a brianwave. I put the whiteboard on the table. Then we used it as the card-table and when I need to write anything down: 'better late than never', 'on the off-chance', 'Kings, Queens, Jacks, Aces', the board was really accessible. Everyone needed to remember everyone else's name for the game, so we wrote them on the whiteboard. Simple !
Home to move the car with Ben's ox-like help to a position from which I can take off for the repairs tomorrow morning. Brief talk with the neighbour opposite. Let's call it a day.
Not a bad night's sleep, though Pat had a bout of vomiting in the wee hours. She's coughing better, though.
Afterwards we returned home through the warm autumnal sunshine and I got on with some more Carol Service planning - by email. After some preparation and a quick sandwich it was time to scuttle off on the tram for the English class. I walked to the bus stop through the park - through the dark trees under the inky sky.
I wish I could bring you with me on the journey. The bus takes us through the lower regions of Mérignac, where instead of stylish new villas you get old wooden shacks and ramshackle old farmhouses. The outskirts of Mérignac fascinate me, and on the bus you see them very well. You end up at a bus / tram / park and ride called Fontaines d'Arlac. After crossing a frontier style level crossing you turn a corner into this beautiful little square with a centuries old wash-house and a space-age stainless-steel park and ride. In the evening with the street lights it's a magical place. No, really ! Then the tram to the centre of town. Great !
The English Class seemed to go pretty well. It included a brief introduction to the continuous tenses (I walk/I am walking, I will walk/I will be walking). We played Monster (please, thank-you and sorry) to practise la politesse anglaise. Mispronunciation of 'aces' prompted a brief session on words that are really much more offensive than you realise. The kind of lesson I wish someone had given me for French, because you really need to know what NOT to say as well as what to say.
I have wrestled with this awful little whiteboard that you have to balance or prop with one hand while writing with the other etc... and today I had a brianwave. I put the whiteboard on the table. Then we used it as the card-table and when I need to write anything down: 'better late than never', 'on the off-chance', 'Kings, Queens, Jacks, Aces', the board was really accessible. Everyone needed to remember everyone else's name for the game, so we wrote them on the whiteboard. Simple !
Home to move the car with Ben's ox-like help to a position from which I can take off for the repairs tomorrow morning. Brief talk with the neighbour opposite. Let's call it a day.
Not a bad night's sleep, though Pat had a bout of vomiting in the wee hours. She's coughing better, though.
It's not Olbas Oil, but it's magnificent
Since I was introduced to Olbas Oil back in the early 80s by a colleague at HTV who was a martyr to her sinuses it has been a staple remedy in the Davey household. Sometimes we have slept for weeks on end in a deep menthol fug.
But I have yet to find it in France.
Yesterday I was at the pharmacy buying Vicks for our feet so I asked what they had in the way of oils for inhalation, and the pharmacist found me a marvel.
It's made up of mint, thyme, lavender etc. No eucalyptus so it doesn't have the eye-watering aggression of Olbas Oil, but instead it has a penetrating sweetness and it smells nice. And an atomiser, so you spray it on your hankie, duvet-cover, coat collar, socks, pretty well everywhere. "Buy the small size", said the pharmacist. It lasts.
But I have yet to find it in France.
Yesterday I was at the pharmacy buying Vicks for our feet so I asked what they had in the way of oils for inhalation, and the pharmacist found me a marvel.
It's made up of mint, thyme, lavender etc. No eucalyptus so it doesn't have the eye-watering aggression of Olbas Oil, but instead it has a penetrating sweetness and it smells nice. And an atomiser, so you spray it on your hankie, duvet-cover, coat collar, socks, pretty well everywhere. "Buy the small size", said the pharmacist. It lasts.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
English class this evening
Last week we were looking at how to ask people to do things in English, the imperative.
( Sit down ! Please sit down. Repent ! Please repent. )
So we played Simon Says.
When we did the time I did think of playing "What's the time Mr Wolf" but it coincided with us getting a huge table in the middle of the room where we work, so we couldn't.
This week we might play Monster - a card game - or we might play "I spy", just as a vocabulary workshop. Or maybe the alphabet restaurant. "Waiter, I'd like an apple !" "Waiter, I'd like an apple and a bread roll !"
( Sit down ! Please sit down. Repent ! Please repent. )
So we played Simon Says.
When we did the time I did think of playing "What's the time Mr Wolf" but it coincided with us getting a huge table in the middle of the room where we work, so we couldn't.
This week we might play Monster - a card game - or we might play "I spy", just as a vocabulary workshop. Or maybe the alphabet restaurant. "Waiter, I'd like an apple !" "Waiter, I'd like an apple and a bread roll !"
Poor Pat
roasted all day and coughed all night. She's not well. She has to see the doctor today anyway for a prescription renewal (thyroxin) but I reckon he'll just say "drink and rest" - the very things she is doing.
This episode of the car saga nears its conclusion !
OK. I now have four quotes for fixing the car:
1) The Citroën dealer in Mérignac (where the car was towed all that time ago). The most expensive and the most awkward to get to !
2) A garage next door to a friend in Pessac. Comes recommended and is walkable to. The second most expensive (though over 200€ cheaper than the main dealer !). They could fix the car next week.
3) The Citroën Chronoservice guy just round the corner. He also comes recommended - the main dealer sends people to him. They could fix the car this Thursday.
4) A breakdown and repairs garage just across the park. I found them in the yellow pages when I was looking for the number for guy 3. and I liked their entry. They even had a little video. It's a family firm, and the cheapest. They could fix the car sometime this week (dans la semaine).
I'm going to go for guy number 3. It's a small business. They won't have a work experience kid fixing your brakes. He's the easiest to walk to and to drive to and he professes to be a Citroën specialist. And it'll give us a chance to get to know a mechanic in the area.
1) The Citroën dealer in Mérignac (where the car was towed all that time ago). The most expensive and the most awkward to get to !
2) A garage next door to a friend in Pessac. Comes recommended and is walkable to. The second most expensive (though over 200€ cheaper than the main dealer !). They could fix the car next week.
3) The Citroën Chronoservice guy just round the corner. He also comes recommended - the main dealer sends people to him. They could fix the car this Thursday.
4) A breakdown and repairs garage just across the park. I found them in the yellow pages when I was looking for the number for guy 3. and I liked their entry. They even had a little video. It's a family firm, and the cheapest. They could fix the car sometime this week (dans la semaine).
I'm going to go for guy number 3. It's a small business. They won't have a work experience kid fixing your brakes. He's the easiest to walk to and to drive to and he professes to be a Citroën specialist. And it'll give us a chance to get to know a mechanic in the area.
Monday, November 23, 2009
The joys of audiobooks
What to read in the tram. That was the question. You can't REALLY concentrate and your reading is interrupted by changes of line, etc. I had finished the Anthony Horowitz I was reading on spec for Gwilym (a perfect kind of tram-book, by the way).
Then I remembered audiobooks. ChristianAudio.com give away each month an audiobook for download, and some time ago I downloaded Eugene Peterson's Christ plays in 10000 places. I gave it a go in my swanky, real iPod.
It's great, a very stimulating listen, and super for listening to because it's a kind of structured theological ramble, so you get lots of gems to ponder but if you are cut off suddenly it doesn't matter tremendously.
A few stylistic horrors - probably due to transtlantic differences on style. After all, I am right, aren't I ? Mary's magnificent Magnificat is a construction to avoid, especially when so many alternatives to 'magnificent' jostle for selection. I felt sorry for the reader, but he managed very well !
Then I remembered audiobooks. ChristianAudio.com give away each month an audiobook for download, and some time ago I downloaded Eugene Peterson's Christ plays in 10000 places. I gave it a go in my swanky, real iPod.
It's great, a very stimulating listen, and super for listening to because it's a kind of structured theological ramble, so you get lots of gems to ponder but if you are cut off suddenly it doesn't matter tremendously.
A few stylistic horrors - probably due to transtlantic differences on style. After all, I am right, aren't I ? Mary's magnificent Magnificat is a construction to avoid, especially when so many alternatives to 'magnificent' jostle for selection. I felt sorry for the reader, but he managed very well !
Sunday, November 22, 2009
One learns many things
This morning at Church Dik was preaching from 2 Kings 4, the widow's cruse. It was an apt message for us because we've just come out of a week which has not been the best of our lives.
Or has it ?
Maybe the worst times are the best. Certainly this last week has taught us lots of things. Firstly we have had to be patient with each other. We've done very well - right up till this morning when things got fraught for a tiny moment. Secondly we've seen how God has helped us through - sending our friend at just the time Pat needed to get Catrin from school, sustaining Pat's health until the rest of us are better (she's not good just now, though), timing everything for us, keeping our spirits up. It's been good to be quieter and slow down together - normally life is an endless rush from one place to another.
Last Sunday evening we sang together :
Now we're back in circulation, and this evening I am preaching from John 2, the cleansing of the temple.
(We didn't sing this verse :
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
When grey hairs, or no hairs their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.)
Or has it ?
Maybe the worst times are the best. Certainly this last week has taught us lots of things. Firstly we have had to be patient with each other. We've done very well - right up till this morning when things got fraught for a tiny moment. Secondly we've seen how God has helped us through - sending our friend at just the time Pat needed to get Catrin from school, sustaining Pat's health until the rest of us are better (she's not good just now, though), timing everything for us, keeping our spirits up. It's been good to be quieter and slow down together - normally life is an endless rush from one place to another.
Last Sunday evening we sang together :
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
Now we're back in circulation, and this evening I am preaching from John 2, the cleansing of the temple.
(We didn't sing this verse :
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
When grey hairs, or no hairs their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.)
So what's this swine 'flu like then ?
A couple of people have asked :
1) extremely infectious. From 1 case to schools closed in 4 days is pretty good going.
2) different in different people. Gwilym was harder hit with fevers and pains. Catrin had malaise. I had a streaming nose and the worst cough (still there a bit).
3) not that severe for us. Here we are less than a week after onset and we're up and out.
1) extremely infectious. From 1 case to schools closed in 4 days is pretty good going.
2) different in different people. Gwilym was harder hit with fevers and pains. Catrin had malaise. I had a streaming nose and the worst cough (still there a bit).
3) not that severe for us. Here we are less than a week after onset and we're up and out.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Cannonball Adderley feat. Miles Davis " Autumn Leaves"
I've got a cheek posting this, really. It's been wonderful weather here. This evening, with no heating at all in the house, the temperature is 18°C. In the garden some of the trees are losing their leaves, but in that glorious, yellow-golden way. But this can't last, can it ? Can we go straight from autumn to spring ? I doubt it. We'll see.
Ah. That much better, eh ?
Well the kids went to adogroup in the tram. Half-way there they had to get off and get a drink and a Mars bar because Gwilym had a "coup de pompe" ("hit the wall"). Once he got the sugar-boost he was OK to continue to the church.
Meanwhile I tried to see if I could trombone or not, and I could - without collapsing in fits of coughing ! Then Pat and I sauntered off to the shops at Pessac Alouette where we found some nice scarves to perk up her dress for the wedding and also got a cake mix for this evening.
Bushed now, mind !
Meanwhile I tried to see if I could trombone or not, and I could - without collapsing in fits of coughing ! Then Pat and I sauntered off to the shops at Pessac Alouette where we found some nice scarves to perk up her dress for the wedding and also got a cake mix for this evening.
Bushed now, mind !
Yeah, it's your birthday !
Pat : It's not a special day by any chance, is it ?
Alan : Yeah, it's your birthday.
Pat : But there's a band up the road, with drums, I can hear them.
Alan : Yeah, it's your birthday.
Alan : Yeah, it's your birthday.
Pat : But there's a band up the road, with drums, I can hear them.
Alan : Yeah, it's your birthday.
Almost there !
Gwilym proclaims himself better - he wasts to go to the teenagers' group this afternoon !
Catrin is coughing gently.
Every now and again I think I am OK, but then I try and speak or breathe and I start coughing again.
But we're almost there !
Catrin is coughing gently.
Every now and again I think I am OK, but then I try and speak or breathe and I start coughing again.
But we're almost there !
Friday, November 20, 2009
Phlegmworld
Our house now resembles one of those post-apocalyptic nightmare film sets - bodies lie strewn everywhere, coughing gently as the sound of the howling wind penetrates our senses.
Actually I can hear Gwilym not only coughing but also practising his guitar, which means that his 'will to live' is on the up. This is a good thing. I began to be able to read yesterday evening. Before that I thought often of reading something but even that thought made my head hurt. I can hear Catrin coughing gently from time to time.
It's an impressive virus, this. On Monday I heard of one case here in Bordeaux, the daughter of a friend of ours. Tuesday morning Gwilym is struck with it, 50 kids in Catrin's school are sent home with it and Catrin and I have it in full swing. Thursday they close the school. That's a good turn of speed !
The vaccination programme is too late. I got my letter on Friday telling me to get vaccinated in the next fortnight. Even if I had had the jab on Friday afternoon, I don't think the immunity would have been in place for the arrival of the virus which must have been on Sunday or Monday.
Poor Pat ! Tomorrow is her fiftieth birthday, and we had planned all sorts of nice things, like perhaps a Chinese retaurant, and to get her birthday present - she wants something nice to wear to a friend's wedding in Alsace in December. We may have to postpone her fiftieth birthday to a more opportune time.
Meanwhile in North Wales the churches have been hit hard this week. Two young guys, both younger than me I think, both long-term seriously ill, both have died. Please pray for all the families and churches touched by this sad time.
Pray too for this weekend. As it stands I imagine the Daveys will have to stay out of things, coughing quietly at home. Ben will probably leap into the breach on Sunday evening. On Sunday afternoon there's an evangelism workshop at FAC which I was due to help with, but I imagine Fi and Liz are well up to speed on that.
Actually I can hear Gwilym not only coughing but also practising his guitar, which means that his 'will to live' is on the up. This is a good thing. I began to be able to read yesterday evening. Before that I thought often of reading something but even that thought made my head hurt. I can hear Catrin coughing gently from time to time.
It's an impressive virus, this. On Monday I heard of one case here in Bordeaux, the daughter of a friend of ours. Tuesday morning Gwilym is struck with it, 50 kids in Catrin's school are sent home with it and Catrin and I have it in full swing. Thursday they close the school. That's a good turn of speed !
The vaccination programme is too late. I got my letter on Friday telling me to get vaccinated in the next fortnight. Even if I had had the jab on Friday afternoon, I don't think the immunity would have been in place for the arrival of the virus which must have been on Sunday or Monday.
Poor Pat ! Tomorrow is her fiftieth birthday, and we had planned all sorts of nice things, like perhaps a Chinese retaurant, and to get her birthday present - she wants something nice to wear to a friend's wedding in Alsace in December. We may have to postpone her fiftieth birthday to a more opportune time.
Meanwhile in North Wales the churches have been hit hard this week. Two young guys, both younger than me I think, both long-term seriously ill, both have died. Please pray for all the families and churches touched by this sad time.
Pray too for this weekend. As it stands I imagine the Daveys will have to stay out of things, coughing quietly at home. Ben will probably leap into the breach on Sunday evening. On Sunday afternoon there's an evangelism workshop at FAC which I was due to help with, but I imagine Fi and Liz are well up to speed on that.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Poor Catrin
They've closed her school all the rest of this week and next week and she's too ill to enjoy the prospect.
Never mind. She'll probably be able to enjoy the free school hols next week (though she thinks that Pat is going to have to home educate her for a week - I haven't told Pat yet.)
Never mind. She'll probably be able to enjoy the free school hols next week (though she thinks that Pat is going to have to home educate her for a week - I haven't told Pat yet.)
In the plague house
Life is fairly quiet. Gwilym's temperature subsided to seasonal norms. Catrin professes greater discomfort today than yesterday. I used a whole roll of aloe vera loo roll on my streaming conk, in addition to many aloe vera paper hankies. Patricia assumed Florence Nightingale mode, soothing the fevered brow, dispensing tea and paracetamol. Such was our life of yesterday.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Checklist Grippe Porcupine
1. Paint red cross on front door Check
2. Phone schools and FAC Check
3. Place onions in each room - when run out of onions reject ham as substitute Check
4. Put onion soup on menu for lunch Check
5. Go to immunisation centre to be vaccinated (I know this sounds like too little too late and stable door stuff, but the quack said to still go, even if you 'come on Saturday when I'm there')
6. Cough and splutter (no problem there - poor Pat has had that going on around her all night !)
7. Post update for friends all round the world who pray for us. (Thanks, everyone...)
2. Phone schools and FAC Check
3. Place onions in each room - when run out of onions reject ham as substitute Check
4. Put onion soup on menu for lunch Check
5. Go to immunisation centre to be vaccinated (I know this sounds like too little too late and stable door stuff, but the quack said to still go, even if you 'come on Saturday when I'm there')
6. Cough and splutter (no problem there - poor Pat has had that going on around her all night !)
7. Post update for friends all round the world who pray for us. (Thanks, everyone...)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
OK. Here we go.
Several schools have been closed in the South West because of a large number of cases of swine 'flu.
Today Gwilym woke up with a sore head and a fever. We kept him home from school.
Catrin's school rang at lunch-time to say that she was unwell. A friend took Pat to get her, whereupon Pat learned that more than 50 children have been sent home today, all with similar symptoms of fever, sore head, etc..
OK - it's either 'flu spreading fast or mass hysteria ! Since our kids don't read the paper and I don't talk about the closure of schools and the spread of the disease, I rather suspect the former.
On the other hand, I think my vague feeling of a sore throat is entirely due to auto-suggestion...
Today Gwilym woke up with a sore head and a fever. We kept him home from school.
Catrin's school rang at lunch-time to say that she was unwell. A friend took Pat to get her, whereupon Pat learned that more than 50 children have been sent home today, all with similar symptoms of fever, sore head, etc..
OK - it's either 'flu spreading fast or mass hysteria ! Since our kids don't read the paper and I don't talk about the closure of schools and the spread of the disease, I rather suspect the former.
On the other hand, I think my vague feeling of a sore throat is entirely due to auto-suggestion...
La gazza ladra Rossini - Berliner Philharmoniker
Today's wake up call.
It's probably better for you than a cup of very strong coffee...
Follow the baton of Maestro Abbado - onwards and upwards.
Monday, November 16, 2009
For those that live and work in predominantly Roman Catholic situations
this is an interesting interview. I'd like to read the book.
Never a dull moment !
Well, OK, an occasional dull moment, but not many dull days !
I was doing the rounds to pick up all and sundry when the clutch went on the car again.
Spurred on by many tales of derring-do, and by the thought of the car being taken back to the same (expensive) Citroën main dealer, I drove it home without a clutch.
There's a knack to that.
I don't yet have it, though I was getting better ! I even stopped at traffic lights and restarted again.
OK - now to have a nice cup of tea and some tranx, then I'll get on the phone to various mecanos.
I was doing the rounds to pick up all and sundry when the clutch went on the car again.
Spurred on by many tales of derring-do, and by the thought of the car being taken back to the same (expensive) Citroën main dealer, I drove it home without a clutch.
There's a knack to that.
I don't yet have it, though I was getting better ! I even stopped at traffic lights and restarted again.
OK - now to have a nice cup of tea and some tranx, then I'll get on the phone to various mecanos.
Hmmm.
Last night : We'll have to take the kids out of school so we can drive up to Alsace on the Friday for the wedding on the Saturday. Do we ask permission ? Do we just not send them ? Do we send a note ?
This morning: Letter received from schools. The Friday before the wedding is a training day for teachers so there's no school.
Yippee ! Choucroute here we come !
This morning: Letter received from schools. The Friday before the wedding is a training day for teachers so there's no school.
Yippee ! Choucroute here we come !
A Happy Ending ? Inconceivable !
I haven't yet seen 2012. I expect I'll see it in about 6 months' time when the DVD comes out ! But from what people write about it I don't expect a happy ending.
But at present all our expectations are doom-laden. It's the end. Well it might not be the end exactly, but it's the beginning of the end. Whether the sun will expand dramatically and swallow up the earth, or whether it means a global flood as the sea level rises, or whether it means drought and famine on an equally Biblical proportion, or the North-South Water Wars, or whatever, or civilisation believes that mankind as a species is terminally ill and entering the last phase of the illness.
In a way it's just the projection of our individual fate. We are born, we grow, we fade, we die. Every story has a sad ending.
Christians catch the virus. Look at our society: the diseases, the disasters, etc. It's the beginning of the cataclysms of the end-times, with the predicted persecutions and oppressions (before the coming of the Son of Man at a time we couldn't possible foresee. Hmm)
We find it hard to believe in a happy ending.
The Bible thinks differently. Ruth begins with Naomi surrounded by death and seemingly with the certainty of a lonely death herself as a refugee. It ends with her home amidst her own people, dandling her grandson on her knees, while all the women laugh and chatter around her.
Jesus' own experience tells us that he can turn seeming disaster into a happy ending. His disciples lost their master (briefly) but found in his resurrection a new hope they had never dreamt of.
When Jesus was warning his disciples about the Roman crushing of Israel and the destruction of Jerusalem he told them "stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near".
Peter tells refugees who have fled from their homes and who face a "fiery trial", "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
Because one thing is sure - whatever the world faces, Jesus assures a happy ending.
But at present all our expectations are doom-laden. It's the end. Well it might not be the end exactly, but it's the beginning of the end. Whether the sun will expand dramatically and swallow up the earth, or whether it means a global flood as the sea level rises, or whether it means drought and famine on an equally Biblical proportion, or the North-South Water Wars, or whatever, or civilisation believes that mankind as a species is terminally ill and entering the last phase of the illness.
In a way it's just the projection of our individual fate. We are born, we grow, we fade, we die. Every story has a sad ending.
Christians catch the virus. Look at our society: the diseases, the disasters, etc. It's the beginning of the cataclysms of the end-times, with the predicted persecutions and oppressions (before the coming of the Son of Man at a time we couldn't possible foresee. Hmm)
We find it hard to believe in a happy ending.
The Bible thinks differently. Ruth begins with Naomi surrounded by death and seemingly with the certainty of a lonely death herself as a refugee. It ends with her home amidst her own people, dandling her grandson on her knees, while all the women laugh and chatter around her.
Jesus' own experience tells us that he can turn seeming disaster into a happy ending. His disciples lost their master (briefly) but found in his resurrection a new hope they had never dreamt of.
When Jesus was warning his disciples about the Roman crushing of Israel and the destruction of Jerusalem he told them "stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near".
Peter tells refugees who have fled from their homes and who face a "fiery trial", "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
Because one thing is sure - whatever the world faces, Jesus assures a happy ending.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Well I got to Anglade and back OK !
It was a weekend and a half, including a general gathering of the guys at the Griffins to spit on the floor and watch the Ireland/France match. No use asking who I was supporting. I fell asleep twice. And I wasn't the only one.
I got safely to Anglade, though I was a little late arriving. A little late arriving for the English service, too. I am going to lay the law down just see if I don't. ( Ha ! )
Ben's preaching went well at Cenon, so 'hop, c'est parti'.
Voilà. A good weekend. Time for bed.
I got safely to Anglade, though I was a little late arriving. A little late arriving for the English service, too. I am going to lay the law down just see if I don't. ( Ha ! )
Ben's preaching went well at Cenon, so 'hop, c'est parti'.
Voilà. A good weekend. Time for bed.
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