February 2019

7th February

We awoke to lashing rain during the night,

accompanied howling wind.

*

At Mass we listened to the following reading:

Continue to love each other like brothers,

and remember always to welcome strangers,

for by doing this

some people have entertained angels

without knowing it.

 From the letter to the Hebrews

*

 

Crocuses in the garden

*

16th February

The weather is now very calm

and the trees no longer sway in their strange dance.

Serenity has returned:

no wind, no rain but signs of Spring abound.

*

Local foxes come at nightfall

to eat what we have prepared for them.

They are silent animals who seem to trust us ....

*

 

 A cheerless, damp February day.

The leafless trees seem twisted, skeletal.

The woods look like a cathedral fallen into ruin.

No birds sang in the bare boughs,

nor flitted through the thorns.

Each winter, I reach this point of despondency

when everything seems derelict and lifeless.

If even the birds appear

to have abandoned this world,

it is hard to keep hopelessness

from the heart .....

 JONATHAN TULLOCH

*

 19th February

A full moon shone last night .....

*

20th February

It rained during the night.

Now the pathways made by the foxes

are clear and smooth.

*

Our gardener Dave is working diligently

on over-grown bushes in the garden,

clearing away needless growth.

He is obviously very happy doing this work.

His mother is making a good recovery from her operation.

She sent us some jars of jam -

how kind people can be.

 

 EMBROIDERY

The Herald of Spring

*

The daffodils are beginning to bloom

while purple crocuses unfold.

Snowdrops are emerging out of darkness .....

*

The sun is shining and the gulls

have had their morning feed,

accompanied

by the sound of machinery in The Paddock.

*

22nd February

The gulls are circling over the green grass again,

seeking the bread  which I had broken  for them

earlier this morning.

The are more cautious now,

and have not eaten all the bread.

*

 

23rd February

 The gulls are still with us,

waiting patiently for food on the roof

of Emmaus - our guest-house.

They have now flown away.

It is quite warm today,

and the sun is shining.

*

WE WISH YOU EVERY BLESSING

Ingathering