A Day in February

School Half-term holiday already for Oliver

and Grandma gets to take care of him for a day

Here he is with the white chocolate and caramel chip cookies that Grandma helped him to make - ready for the oven.

When I was getting everything out he said, "Call me when you need me - no don't do that, call me when you are ready to weigh the chocolate chips,Grandma"

We had a simple but fun day

Having been to the adventure play ground in the park our next call was to the

Vintage Emporium

This is a massive place and only a few photos here but Oliver just loved running around the passages and asking about everything.

The kind of place that would take a day to look at everything and without a 4 year old

The tea room was very in keeping with the atmosphere

Then once back at the house Rebekah was home and saying cheese when she saw my camera!

And here she is having zipped a toy into my camera case

The Grace Outpouring

The write-up on the back cover of this book says it all.

Imagine a House of Prayer in every town.

Imagine churches filled with Christians who want to bless others; who want to pray and then stand back and watch God at work, changing lives before their very eyes.

Since his arrival at the Ffald-Y-Brenin centre in rural Wales, Roy Godwin has been able to imagine all this - because he has seen the amazing effects of God working in sovereign power on people who weren't even sure He existed! Roy has witnessed the outbreak of God's bounty and blessing in the retreat centre, in the grounds, in the fields and out in the community. His story will be an inspiration to all those who are looking for a new trust in God's willingness to bless the needy with repentance and the Holy Spirit.

These photographs were taken by a friend who visited last yesr

I read this book for the first time last year, though I have known about it for quite some time, as I know many people and have many friends who have visited and/or stayed there. As far as my reading the book is concerned, it impacted me with a renewed sense of Grace. For the people I know it seems people come away having had very different experiences but all speak of the sense of peace and the presence of God.

The chapel is built into the mountain

When Roy and his wife Daphne first took on the centre they did not understand why God had called them there as their ministry had been very much in evangelism. However very quickly God began to show them. People would drive past and feel compelled to drive up the hill and find out what it was all about.

Roy felt that what he was to do was offer hospitality, bless people and pray for them and leave the rest to God. Confirmation came when a couple felt compelled to drive up to the house and when offered tea the man began to talk about po*rn*ography and continued to utter foul language during a tour of the grounds. At the end Roy ushered him into the chapel and as he stepped over the threshold he fell to the ground and weeping called on God to forgive him asking God to clean him up and sort out his life.

The following link gives much more information if you are interested by clicking on the various subject tabs.

http://www.ffald-y-brenin.org/

1:1:11 ???

Some interesting numbers this year

1.1.11     1.11.11     11.11.11

and

if you take the last 2 numbers of your date of birth

and

add the age you will be this year you will come up with

111

Here we are before the age of digital cameras with 14 megapixels
and certainly before blogging was even a word, some photos of Bridgnorth in Shropshire, an English town on the River Severn 

and a couple of a steam train approaching the railway station at Arley

think The Railway Children

How much amateur photography has advanced since I took these about 1995

The Silversmith and some Colchester

I came across this recently and liked it

The Silversmith



There was a group of women in a Bible study on the Book of Malachi. In Chapter 3 verse 3 it says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver’. This puzzled the women and one of them offered to find out all about the process of refining silver and report back to the group next time. She tracked down a silversmith and made an appointment to visit his workshop to watch him at his craft. She didn’t mention the reason for her interest.


She watched as the silversmith held a piece of silver in a flame and let it heat up. He explained that to refine silver one needed to hold the metal right in the centre of the fire where it was hottest so as to burn away all impurities. The woman thought of God holding us in such a hotspot from time to time but wondered again at the words of the verse ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver’. When she asked the silversmith if he really had to stay sitting there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined, he answered that yes, he not only must sit there holding the silver steady but he needed to keep his eyes on it every second it was in there. For if the silver was left a moment too long in the heat it would be destroyed.


The woman asked one final question. ‘How do you know when the silver is fully pure?’ He smiled at her. ‘That’s easy! It’s refined when I can see my reflection in it like a mirror.’

Did you?

Thought I would post these last few photos of Colchester. You may remember my post on Colchester Castle and it's history.

Colchester is Britain's oldest recorded town.

The Emperor Claudius spent just sixteen days in Britain, long enough to lead his troops into Camulodunum and receive the submission of several British kings. The Roman army then built a legionary fortress on the highest ground inside Camulodunum, the site of the present town centre.

By AD49 the fortress at Camulodunum had been turned into a civilian settlement named Colonia Claudia after the Emperor, and this became the first capital of the new Roman province of Britainnia

Here we have just left the castle and are walking up the high street.

The Town Hall

An old coaching in from the front

and from the back

Speciality Sausages

Would like to have tried but we did not have a cool/ice box with us

Waterstones book shop

and a selection of other shops and such a mixture of the old and new

Worship in the Hospital

Having spent time praying around our local hospital for a couple of years our house church had permission today to worship and praise God in the hospital chapel. Apart from also soaking the place in prayer it was a priviledge to bring the presence of our God into this place. Christianity has been marginalised in the multi-faith chapel so it is a move in the right direction that a room has been given over for a Christian chapel. So we leave behind a cloud of Glory.

Being early Sunday morning the place is quiet but this atrium will be teeming with people tomorrow

The coffee shop on the left is not yet open and there is nobody playing the piano

but the restaurant is already open though quiet. It will be a bit noisier when we round off our time here with coffee

A very different faith experience last Thursday for me. I was involved in a quiet, almost silent day at Pilgrims Hall and found my time of just 'being' a good experience.

No telephone or computer or anything else to distract and even got to delve into the book that my dear blogging friend Sara sent to me for my birthday last year.

Although for sometime I have been interested in the Hebraic roots of my faith and am involved in some study in this field, I was not sure until I opened this book just what it was about. From what I have read so far (and I am sure there is much more)I am finding it very interesting to see what was behind many of the sayings that Jesus used and how the wording was very much a part of the culture in which He lived. So helpful in interpreting Scripture, especially the Parables.

One never knows what one is going to find in a book in more ways than one!

This little card was in a very old second hand book I bought at the

 Town of Books, Hay-on-Wye

some years ago

Obviously given to an Alice Hollis

on Whit Sunday 1884

I just could not throw it away, so laminated it instead, and kept it as a book mark. 

So what else dominated this last week of the first month of 2011?

A dinner party here and another at the home of a friend, tea and chats with other friends. 

Serving teas etc. at a churches together time to pray for and encourage the youth of our Borough who are out in the community seeing God working in people's lives

and another visit to the Drs surgery to arrange what I trust will be my last scan.

How quickly this first month of the year has passed. Hard to believe.

February 1900

So many took an interest in the letter in my last post written by a young man to his Mother when he was at sea in 1901. For those wondering what happened to him, here he is below.

He maried my Grandmother in 1899 so was obviously married when he wrote the letter.  They had 9 children, one of them being my Father.

He died aged 67 having lived a fairly prosperous life but I was only a baby so never knew him. 

Below is another interesting letter written to my Grandmother by her Aunt when grieving the death of a child. Note the black border which was always used (even when I was a child) when someone was in mourning. It is actually 2 letters in one as part of it is to my Grandmother's daughter. 

I am not actually researching my family tree but putting together all the information that I already have which has previously been researched by two cousins and myself. I also have several centuries of research on Alan's family and this was done by his brother and gifted to my daughter when she married.

Green’s House Farm
Rainhill
Feb 12th, 1900


My dear Niece


I received your letter and was glad to hear from you. I wish you both much happiness in your married life; may God bless you and prosper you, which He never fails to help them that trust in Him. I was very glad to know that Lily has got a son and doing well. Poor Joe I feel awfully sorrow for him & I do hope he will come back one day safe for I am sure his mother will feel it very much, his wife must be very anxious about him be sure & let me know if you hear from him, you did not say how your father was but I suppose no news is good news. I hope sister & little May will soon be all right, I should like to see Thomas I hope he is well.


Dear May, (one of Grandmother's daughters - my Aunt) I hardly know how to express myself in the terrible blow I have received. I have been broken hearted since my darling died it is God’s mercy that I have been spared, it came so sudden upon us that it threw me prostrate with grief. I miss him everywhere & more every day. I really feel I can never see through it but if it will please the Almighty to spare me that I may worship him in health & strength that I may be prepared to meet my Angel Boy above. I do not think I shall ever be happy again in this world, I was so much attached to my love. Mr Frith was very much grieved though he is keeping up very well. Elisabeth & Martha are very well they send their love to you all. Excuse the writing for it is in tears; you might bring your husband down never mind if you have no Mourning that will no make any difference. I shall be glad to see any one of you any time, you did not give me your name so I have addressed the letter to your Mother so that all may see it. Tell little May her photo is all right, not forgetting Lily & husband, so I think I have mentioned you all.


So with love
I remain
Your Aunt in trouble
J. E. Frith

Letter sent to: -
Mrs Ledson
2 Florida Street
Strand Road
Bootle
Liverpool

December 1901

Why does one start to think about sorting Family Tree papers in the new year I wonder. Happens every time but whether I get the job done this year is anybody's guess. Did think I would do some posts on same though.

Click to enlarge for artistic detail

Having sailed the Atlantic on a ship with engines with husband Alan who was a Chief Engineer I just cannot imagine the discomfort of a sailing ship

This is a letter written by my paternal Grandfather to his Mother in December 1901  while away at sea.

He was obviously an artistic man as seen here in the original letter. I did not know him as he died when I was a baby but his artistic influence lives on in my family.

Dec 14 / 91

SS Rochdale
Lisbon


Dear Mother


I received your kind and welcome letter and was glad to hear that you were all quite well as it leaves me at the present. Well mother as we will be leaving here on Tuesday or Wednesday and we just get to St Vincent about two days before Christmas and we be about a week there and we will be going from there to New Orleans and it will be about the end of March and then the winter will be over.

Dear Mother I am going to try my best when I come home for the tug boats or some kind of a job on shore and if I don’t get a vacancy in two or 3 weeks I go on the month boats until I get a chance in them. Well mother I was very glad to hear that Rosina has gone to the Dressmaking and I hope she will like it and Lizzie is foolish if she don’t learn a trade while she is young she will be too old just now as I was when I went after a trade and I am sorry for it now.

Dear Mother I hope father is comfortable in his ship I am not as when I was here before the 2nd and 3rd engineer is not so nice as the others but the chief engineer is nice and he want me by the ship when we get home but I told him that a pound a month is not enough for me and I told him I am going to try and get in the tug boats.

Dear Mother you must write about 3 weeks time after you get this letter and don’t forget it is of no use writing to St Vincent but I will send home a letter from their. Dear mother you must tell Rosina to try and write me a letter to New Orleans. Well mother the weather here is very fine all the time and it is a very large town but I have not been ashore we are laying in the river and it is a long way from the town so I got no more to say at present hoping to find you all quite well from your son


Henry Alexander Gilland


X X X X X X X


I wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year a good plum pudding and a welcome cheer.


Yours Dear Henry