About
The life and thoughts of Freda Marshall, a retired Church of Scotland minister living amongst the mountains and glens of Argyll.Pages
Nativity Set
Christmas is coming – the Fontanini nativity set is unpacked and has taken up residence on top of the piano. This year’s palm trees make a good backdrop. Next year, all being well, I might get a set of chickens.
Storms
We’ve had a bad few days weatherwise, culminating in a loss of electricity for most of yesterday. Winds reached 135 mph just 30 miles away, and our double gate was mushed. HBTW has done an effective repair that should last for a few weeks. Now that calm has returned I am left feeling battered and bruised. Still, all is now back to normal.
Misty enjoyed her walk this afternoon, it was clear that she was beginning to think she was never going out again. To be honest, her behaviour during the storm was rather tentative. She decided to go “outside” for doggy duty, took one look at the wind and horizontal hail and had to be actively encouraged to go down the steps to the grass. (This resulted in a dismayed under her breath growl.) Sensible little dog that she is, she found a bush to shelter under, then scooted back indoors as quickly as she could.
Things discovered during the storm and power outage:
- It’s impossible to play rummikub by candlelight, too hard to distinguish between the colour of the numbers on the tiles.
- I never can remember how to lay out a backgammon board when I need to…….. and of course there was no online help available. It was a case of phone a willing friend.
- Reading a book by candle-power necessitates reading at half my usual speed.
- A white household candle gives out twice as much light as a decorative candle.
- Oh how much I miss the electronic walkabout phones. Having to disentangle self from covers and dogs to get to the hall plug-in phone is a race against the answerphone. Come to think of it, was the answerphone working anyway?
Time for a smile
This is well worth a listen/look – thanks to Vernacular Curate for posting it.
Comfort
Sorry if you haven’t been able to get to my blog the last couple of days; there was a problem with the webhost.
It has been an eventful time at Dalamory. The Dance Class on Friday was energetic for both body and mind. Then I am sorry to say that winter has begun – snow included. And today I managed to spill/splash/splatter/throw a container of home-made soup all over the kitchen. Never mind, the poached egg was a good substitute. It was just as well we were being reminded about God’s comfort at church this morning.
Christmas is coming very fast, I really must get on with it. However, the undernoted Celtic Blessing is an ideal prayer to keep us grounded and comforted.
Deep peace of the running waves to you,
deep peace of the flowing air to you,
deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
deep peace of the shining starts to you,
deep peace of the shades of night to you,
moon and stars always giving light to you,
deep peace of Christ, the Son of Peace to you.
Blessings
Dianne, over at Schmidleyscribblins has been posting about Blessings. It’s a great pick-me-up. So here goes – 7 Blessings for starters, and all of them today if possible.
- Some blue sky
- Snow on the tops of the mountains nearby
- The happy expression of Misty on our walk
- Getting to grips with a knotty theological problem and enjoying a debate with HBTW about it
- Reading blogs and appreciating other blogging friends
- Getting the monthly bills paid
- That early morning cup of tea
Now how about you?
Up
This is a wonderful film to watch with children I should imagine. OK I confess, HBTW and I watched it on our own. Who needs mindless violence, gratuitous sex and dialogue you can’t understand when you can have an adventure story with a moral in the tail, plus loads of quirky characters, especially the dogs and the big bird?
The moral tale is about giving time to one another, the pack of dogs are truly wonderful and are easily diverted from bad things by producing a ball to play with.
Basically, a young couple fall in love and get married. Ellie, the wife, dreams of going off on adventures and exploring the world. Somehow, ordinary life gets in the way. When Ellie dies her husband decides to have the adventure himself in her memory. Russell, a young Wilderness Explorer (akin to the boy scouts/cubs) gets involved. The evil to be overcome is that of a curmudgeonly, previously famous explorer who is engaged in nefarious black deeds for his own ends.
The film is entertaining, and has beguilingly beautiful graphics and characters. It brings out the inner child (no bad thing) whilst at the same time giving meaning to the process of ageing and loss. I would happily watch it again – but then I was hooked on the dogs.
Posted in Film Reviews
Tagged ageing, dogs, Exploring, Up, Up the movie, Walt Disney, Wilderness Scouts
3 Comments
Misty’s Birthday
It is Misty’s birthday today; she is 6 years old. Yes, we did sing Happy Birthday to her and she enjoyed it very much. She gives us enormous pleasure and devotion and makes us laugh constantly. This is a photo of her not long after she came to live with us.
Dear John
Nicholas Sparks is on top form with this 2006 novel which explores relationships in his typically quirky and individual style. Not unexpected from a writer who has given us The Notebook and Message in a Bottle.
The hero is a member of the United States Army who finds love but also finds himself conflicted with duty to his country following the events of 9/11 He falls in love with a girl who holds the key to helping him understand his father and their unusual ways of communicating.
It is not really a “feel-good” book – or is it? Certainly, the plot twists and turns in unusual ways. As readers we learn about maturity and tolerance and ultimately we are convinced of the reality of true love. I read it whilst struggling with a biography of the Queen (more about that if I ever finish it,) In fact, I found myself almost unable to put Dear John down. And that despite the fact that the plot was not going the way I wanted it to. Perhaps I am too influenced by fairy stories or romcom films.
I think it deserves a nine out of ten. What do you think?
You’ve got to laugh
Thanks to Schmidleysscribbling for this cartoon:
