The end of the Week

I have not posted for over a week it seems, courtesy of my cousin who E-mailed me. She was wondering if I was OK. Gosh, has blogging become a barometer of my life? Well I guess like all of us life gets busy at times and priorities have to come first.

In my corner of the world the snow cleared only to be followed by 24 hours of torrential rain. I was out driving last Monday evening with a friend on our way to Pilgrims Hall and roads were flooded everywhere. On our return journey we took the long way round on main roads rather than the country roads on our outward journey and we were still driving through water in some places.


My rose beds had still not recovered several days later, turning to ice over night (the poor daffodills are rotting away) and then we had more snow on Thursday. We are certainly having a cold spell but at least we do not have temps. of 47C and raging fires like they have had in Australia, fairly close to where one of my brothers and his family live. Or prayers go out to those who have lost everything.

We can pretend it is Summer in the house though. I have some 4 year old Orchids that are in full bud and will soon be as beautiful as these.

Last Saturday I decided to prepare some 'comfort food' for the cold weather. Part of my reason for trying out this recipe is that I like to try simple and tasty one-pot dishes that will be suitable for cooking in bulk for when I have our house church for a meal.

This Italian Sausage and Bean Casserole seemed to fit the bill accompanied by Rosemary Cornbread.

There was a lot more than sausage and beans in the dish though. There was onion, celery, carrots, garlic, aubergine(egg plant), red wine, Passata and black olives, parsley and chicken stock. I used Polenta for the cornbread and mixed in fresh Rosemary from the garden.

I was interviewed on our national Christian radio this last week, the subject being a combination of faith and love at first sight. It is only when one hears one's experience from someone else's point of view that the reality sinks in.

For those who have not read my story, Alan and I met for the first time at his Mother's house one Saturday evening (his Mother being the sister-in-law of my Aunt). I went to bed that night thinking "this guy is going to ask me to marry him!" Having spent most of the following day together, he did ask me to marry him that Sunday evening just 24 hours after meeting. I said 'yes'. Parents were horrified but we married 4 months later. Three months after that I embarked on an almost year long sea journey as Alan was a Chief Engineer on board ship and this year we celebrate 50 years together.

The faith aspect came about because Alan was not a Christian at the time and as I was lying in bed that first night I heard God's promise to me that he would be. It took 15 years of prayer and intercession before I saw the outworking of that promise to me. God is faithful.