Saturday 5 October 2019

Hunkering down

 When the strawberries were littler, there were many movies we watched over and over again. They loved, much to my amazement and delight, the Kiera Knightly 'Pride and Prejudice'. They called it 'The Man and the Lady'. Baby Mattman lived for the scene in 'Prisoner of Azkaban' where Harry Potter flies off on the hippogriff. "Buckbeak", Mattman would demand quite quite clearly before he could say much else. Later on, we all became a bit obsessed with the terrifyingly exciting 'The Day After Tomorrow', and that's exactly what I said out loud when I read this article on-line just now! I know that we're all divided by the contentious subject of snow, but just look for little Ireland in the picture above.... She is completely covered with it!


I read Greta Thornberg's little book of speeches last week - 'No one is too small to make a difference'. This week I'm reading William Morris' 'Notes from Nowhere'. I think Greta would approve of Morris' Utopia, where people live and work and have their being productively, but in tune with Nature and each other.  I hope Morris would approve of our slowly returning respect for the way things were done not long before our age of plastic and consumption. Reading 'Notes from Nowhere' is uncanny actually given the environmental concerns of today.
 I was blaming MK wrongly this week for sending us Storm Lorenzo! She was obviously wholly innocent of all charges. We've been lashed by wind and rain, with no choice but to light the fire and crochet pumpkins. If a very cold winter is indeed about to roar up to the doorstep, I'll hope that we'll stay snug, rest up, and be very grateful for the blessings of a home and a hearth. Hunkering down and able to do so. Lots of tea, lots of books, lots of projects!


The importance of thanks-giving has been much in my heart over the last two months, having been in and out of hospital very briefly, grateful for results so clear that everyone was delighted, and having loved time at home as my body knit itself back together. So I'm very gradually putting out my pumpkins like Ebenezers: 1 Samuel 7, "Then Samuel took a stone... and named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the Lord helped us."




5 comments:

Lisa Richards said...

Yes, thank God for snug homes and that you are on the mend! Keep up the crocheting!

M.K. said...

Ah, Mags, what a sweet post. I can almost feel myself there with you, hunkering under the snow :) You are now compelled to crochet pumpkins! My blog friends are reminding me that I need to change my mindset and prepare for autumn, immerse myself in it. I'm too busy.
Did not know you were ill, but so very thankful that all is well. My mother went in for a little mild exploration, and they discovered a large tumor. There is always something new to keep one awake at night. As you say ... focusing on thanksgiving to God for all we have, for His love for us -- it brings peace.

GretchenJoanna said...

What a great use for pumpkins! I'm thankful for your strong spirit. May the Lord keep you in every way.

XO

Pom Pom said...

I taught my Community Bible Study kids about Ebenezers and one little girl said, "Like in Come Thou Fount!" so we sang it and raised our stones. I love the idea of your pumpkins being your Ebenezers.
I'm so glad you are clear and mending. I hope the storms don't last long. Everyone needs a bit of sun.
I used to watch Out of Africa so often (and weep) that our Jenny said, "Why do you keep watching this movie that makes you cry every time?" Ha! It's a fun cry.
Sending heaps of love your way, good Mags.

Sandra at Thistle Cove Farm said...

Often I've wondered about all those memory stones...where are they? What's happened to them? The 12 stones in Exodus...
Perhaps it was Spurgeon who coined the phrase, "Thanksliving" and I've decided that's what I'm celebrating...Thanksliving! We're having rubber banded bracelets made with Thanksliving, Blackstone Baptist Church and Psalm...can't remember, have to look it up. I'll send you one.

Time stands still

 Hello! Sending you all lots of love from Northern Ireland, where nothing much changes just as everything changes, as usual. Time has stood ...