Missionary Journal

England (April 2010 Weeks 3 and 4)

April Week 3

Monday was laundry and cleaning. We did do a little shopping. Here you can see Walt in his “dorky” hat at ASDA. [Interestingly enough, ASDA is a Wal-Mart Family grocery store. Rumor has it that it will be changed this year to something very near to a Wal-Mart at home.] From a book we read to the children (Sesame Street Alphabet) under the letter “D”, the princess had a “dear dumpy dorky daddy.”

Tuesday was (we found out later) Zone Meeting in Poole, but we went to District Meeting because we weren’t told. Unfortunately, when we lost our Elders we seem to have lost our information link. We took a little while to go into Dorchester (a much bigger town than Weymouth with more stores) to buy Walt some hankies. Of course, we couldn’t visit Yeovil High Street without taking a short walk and some pictures.

We walked past St. John, the Baptist Church of England Church, which is undergoing refurbishment. As you can see, it was a lovely day.

They have planted tulips, pansies, and primroses in the gardens leading up to the church. The flowers were beautiful.

These flowers were in pots all along the high street. As you can see, we still have daffodils, but they are about gone most places. The narcissus, pansies, and tulips have just about taken over.

We spent the remainder of the morning and afternoon visiting folks in and around Dorchester (which is on the way home). As I was speaking to one of the sisters in the Relief Society Presidency I asked her about our recent widow. Since she just always seems so very, very sad, I am greatly worried about her. I know it’s only been five months, but the hurt seems to be getting worse, not slightly better. She is the most gentle, sweet person, and it hurts me to watch her hurting.

In the early evening, Walt made calls checking up on the speakers for Sunday, while I worked on my Gospel Doctrine lesson. In the evening was Priesthood Executive Committee (PEC), conducted by Elder Reimers (the First Counselor in the Branch Presidency).

Wednesday we took President Chasteauneuf out in Weymouth visiting folks. We tried to visit with our widow, but no luck again. We got home just in time to have a late dinner and Walt (the Clerk) went to the chapel to complete the quarterly report and I continued working on Gospel Doctrine and Primary Sharing Time.

Thursday the Spirit was telling me I needed to do something for our widow and needed to do it now. I spent the early afternoon researching death and how widows cope with the loss of their husbands. Fortunately, I found and printed out a wonderful talk by Elaine Cannon from 1973 entitled “A Weeping Eye Can Never See.” It starts out: “The death of a husband is a sorrowful, personal experience. There are ways to sublimate such a separation or to take the sting out of it. Even the passage of time can blunt death’s sharp edges. But only ultimate reunion can assuage it. The partners in a celestial marriage know they’ll be reunited some day. So it’s more than mere comfort that’s needed when the trial of supreme loneliness comes; it is direction for living without being more lonely than one can bear, a method for arriving at peace and keeping hope in one’s heart. Each woman must rise to the challenge in her own way. Here is how the wives of deceased General Authorities have come to terms with sorrow and how they go about making life meaningful and rich.” I also made up a set of 12 cards (each with a different font and background) to go on her refrigerator or other appliance that included thoughts from the article. We went to the print shop to get the cards printed in color (my printer is black and white). Then we went to the chapel to laminate, cut, and paste magnet tape on the back. Then we headed over to her home again. She still wasn’t home. I was hoping she wasn’t just not answering her door. Fortunately not, but we didn’t know that for a while.

Friday we spent out and about on Portland Island seeing folks and giving out cookies. The evening was spent in finalizing Gospel Doctrine and working on Primary.

Saturday we made visits in Weymouth and later I completed my Primary Sharing Time. While we were out and about, I found this beautiful purple plant growing over a wall. Of course, I had to take a picture for you to see. I had absolutely no idea what it is. Now I do; it is Aubrietta, aka purple rock cress. I checked the web.

Sunday was great. Lessons went well, and we made an appointment to see our widow that afternoon. We didn’t get home from church until after 3:00 pm by the time tithing was finished, people called were set apart, and we took the tithing to the bank. We had a quick lunch (I teach fasting) and then spent quite a while with our widow talking about her issues (with Walt sitting back and letting this be a “sister talk”). I believe it went quite well.

April Week 4

Monday was "P" day and we decided to get out and really see some of the country near us. We drive past all these little towns but never get off the roadway to see what is there. I really wanted to go to Bath, but the weather wasn’t going to be anywhere near as nice as around Weymouth. The first place we tried was the Bennett Water Gardens. The web says: “Bennett's Water Gardens is a designated Site of Nature Conservation Interest. Spanning some eight acres, Bennett's Water Garden's were born in 1959 when Norman Bennett decided to grow Water Lilies in the abandoned clay pits of Chickerell Brickworks. A family endeavour, the gardens have been developed by Johnathon Bennett and now contain walks furnished with seating at scenic spots. On your visit, you'll be awed by the 150 varieties of water lilies to be found here including some that originated from the same nursery that supplied Monet.” 

I took this picture out front before we went inside. Again, I have no idea what these flowers are. They also have a restaurant there and we went into the foyer and looked out into the gardens. I took this picture there. However, as we were looking at the pond we couldn’t see any water lilies. We turned around and went into buy our tickets. We asked the lady there where the water lilies were, and she told us they really wouldn’t be out for another three or four weeks. So, we left and said we’d be back in May.

Before we got back on the main road we went further on toward the sea and found the Fleet Lagoon. Wikipedia says: “Fleet is a hamlet and parish in south Dorset, England, situated two miles west of Weymouth. The village is named for The Fleet, the nearby lagoon behind Chesil Beach. J. Meade Falkner's smuggling novel, Moonfleet is set in the village. On 24 November 1824 strong winds and a storm surge caused waves to breach Chesil Beach, and many of the buildings in the village were destroyed. Moonfleet Manor is situated in the village of Fleet.”

We continued down the road and come to a dead-end right at Bexington Beach. Bexington Beach is part of Chesil Beach is a shingle beach (smooth round pebbles which vary in size from pea sized at West Bay to large potato size at Portland) which goes for 18 miles from Portland Island past Weymouth and ends West Bay (Bridport). The Fleet Lagoon is protected behind Chesil Beach.

As we were leaving Fleet Lagoon and Bexington Beach, we spotted a herd of sheep (all the mommies and their little lambs) and I took these sweet pictures. Almost every sheep in the pasture had one little lamb and a few had two. They didn’t seem to worry about who they were nursing from. As we watched, a little from one and a little more from another for the same lamb.

I wasn’t sure about herd and was thinking about another group name, so I googled it: “A group of sheep may be called a flock, herd, trip, drove or mob of sheep.” That is certainly more information than I needed.

Then we went back to the main road and on toward Abbotsbury. We drive through Abbotsbury often going out to see sisters in Portesham, Burton Bradstock, and Bridport. This time we took the side roads and just drove around so I could take some pictures of flowers.

The first flowers that caught my attention were these narcissus that were growing up alongside some white tulips.

Next was this tree that I found quite lovely (the way it was pruned, etc., and the delicate little pink flowers).

Right across the street I found these standing baskets of pansies. They were bright and beautiful. As I said before, spring just explodes here on this island.

The next place we turned into was the Victoria Inn (just right on the main road to Bridport). I’m sure Walt pulled in here because he saw the garden right out front.

I took quite a few close-ups, but this was one of the best. We have tulips, pansies, and primroses.

After I finished taking picture, we headed toward Bridport and down to the harbor area. It was a lovely day (you can see by the sky in the picture above how nice the day was).

This is the West Bay Harbor (Bridport). There were so many people walking around I was surprised to get a picture with no people in it. The tide was out and many of the boats in the harbor were not in the water.

There was a nice walk up to a lookout point with a lovely view of the harbor and sea.

On the way home, we drove through Bridport’s High Street. It was just a nice three or four hours by ourselves and with nothing pressing to do.

Tuesday was District Meeting. I have some pictures of the Elders but they aren’t in the correct companionships. I did get a short video of them singing “The Army of Helaman.” I just watched it and may or may not put it in. I took this shot of the pink Camilla right outside the Poole chapel. Most of the camillas are gone, but since this looked perfect I couldn’t resist.

As we were leaving to go home, Walt pulled off on a little side road that goes to the village of Sydling St. Nicholas. The Web says: “Sydling St. Nicholas is an unpretentious village (Population slightly less than 400) straggling along the little Sydling Water with tiny connecting bridges, to the ancient cottages which line the banks. In the summer the walls are covered with roses and clematis.

“There is an old Ham Stone Cross outside the church, which is entered through a gate alongside the Manor House. The church of St. Nicholas was built in the 15th century and rebuilt in the 18th century, it has a fireplace inside the porch where once, villagers sat to hold parish meetings. The font is over 1000 years old and thought to have been carved from an ancient Roman capital. The clock is one of the oldest in England and dates from 1593, it is faceless but strikes the hours.

“The school started in 1797, was in use until 1966, and is now a private dwelling. The 1793 bakery and the old brewery are protected buildings, and, yes, Sydling even has a blacksmith and a spreading chestnut tree.”

We stopped at a lovely inn in the village for lunch (the Greyhound Inn). It was about 1:30 pm and they were crowded – of course, it’s the only eating establishment in the village.

The food was great – a little pricey, but very nice. We will go back for dinner one of these days.

And the piece de resistance (definition: “the most important dish of a meal”): my better half as we were waiting for the food to be served.

I am really enjoying being with him 24/7. Missions are great for togetherness with a goal.

By the time we got home I was flat out exhausted and took a nap. I planned to get up at 5:00 pm to make dinner before we left for Branch Council, but must have hit the off bar and didn’t get up until 6:30 pm. We each grabbed something, I did the agenda, and we left to pick up President Chasteauneuf for the meeting.

Wednesday we were out and about visiting in Weymouth with President Chasteauneuf again. We stopped to see Sally-Ann Woolrich (the first less-active member we got back into church). I asked her if she wanted to come over for lunch Thursday before she and Bev Webb (our recent widow) went out visiting teaching. She said sure, and I called Bev and asked her if she wanted to come for lunch.

Thursday I made roast chicken with coriander-tomato sauce, potato wedges, roasted vegetables, and salad. For dessert I made a lemon tart with whipped cream. Walt left so we could have a Sisterly chat and went to the chapel to help with the Family History Library and speak with some of the brethren there. I let Sally-Ann and Bev take their choice of bookmarks Dee made for me to give out, plus one for their VT sisters. I put a plate of lunch in the refrigerator for Walt, and he warmed it up for dinner and then left to start picking up folks to take to Poole for the Priesthood Leadership Meeting this evening (including a young sister for Institute). I spent most of the evening home writing in my journal and waiting for my husband to come home (sooner or later).

Friday Walt wasn’t feeling well and just slept for most of the day. I worked on my Gospel Doctrine Lesson and hoped he would feel better tomorrow so we could go to Salisbury.

Saturday, Walt was feeling better and we were off to Salisbury. We visited with ten families (active and less-active) in the late morning and afternoon, then we headed to Salisbury Cathedral to take the time to go inside and take some pictures.

I pulled this information on Salisbury from a travelog: “Green lush water meadows near the magnificent cathedral give Salisbury a rural ambience. It is an ancient, prosperous, busy and attractive city, and lies on the edge of the 300 square mile chalk plateau that is Salisbury Plain.

“Dominated by the incredible cathedral, architecture from every period since the thirteenth century grace the streets: beautiful medieval buildings that have stood the test of hundreds of years; Chocolate Box half timbered Tudor style evoke thoughts of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth and gracious Stuart, Queen Anne, and Georgian styles jumble delightfully with Victorian buildings. It is all there, a walk round the streets of Salisbury is a walk with history.

“Five rivers and five major roads meet at Salisbury. There are five gates in the old city wall that surrounds the cathedral. The gates are: High Street Gate, St Ann's Gate, the Queen's Gate, and St Nicholas's Gate. One built much later than the city wall is the gate that leads to Bishop Wordsworth School in the Close.

“The rivers are the Avon, Bourne, Ebbie, Nadder and the Wylye; in reality the Avon and four tributaries. Nowadays these rivers have new directions and feed the beautiful public gardens and the water meadows at Harnham, both such a feature.”

Here is a picture of one of the five gates (the High Street Gate) in Salisbury leading to the “medieval city.”

As we were parking the car, I saw this lovely patch of hyacinths at a park near where we parked the car.

This is a picture of a small portion of the park. You can barely see a pond on the lower left-hand side of the picture.

The next picture I took was the little river that fed the pond in the park. I’ve been trying to find out which of the five rivers this is, but haven’t been able to so far.

Here is Walt turning back to look at me as we were walking along the street leading to the Cathedral. You can see the different types of architecture that the travellog spoke of.

These are some of the very large, expensive homes that border the cathedral. Again, you can see many different styles.

This is Salisbury Cathedral from the front, but you can enter all four sides and through the cloister which is to the very left of the picture. That is Walt standing right at the bottom of the picture.

Going in through the Cloister entrance the first thing you come to is the Cloister Garden. 

I walked around the cloister (which is three sides of a square [with the cathedral on the fourth side]) and took this picture of the cathedral tower from the cloister garden.

I thought it was quite lovely. I don’t think you can see the people on the walkway at the far side of the garden, but they were there for a baptism and confirmation event. They had 42 candidates for baptism/ confirmation. Wow, wish we could do that.

This is the ceiling in one of the “naves” (definition: “The middle or body of a church, extending from the transepts to the principal entrances”). It isn’t the Sistine Chapel, but lovely even though.

I did take a few pictures of the stained glass windows. Here are the two newest windows they have in the cathedral:

Here is a close-up view of the one on the right (made in 2007). The other one was done in 1957.

Here’s one I particularly liked and nicknamed the “Services Window.”

Here are blowups of the major portions of the window.

On the way home, we ate at a lovely little place called the Anvil Inn. It is a B and B and a restaurant that serves lunches and dinners. It is slightly pricy, but not bad, and the food was excellent.

Here, of course, is Walt standing with his head right up against the ceiling – he definitely had to duck quite a bit to get through the door.

As we were leaving, we passed a rather dirty red station wagon. We looked a little deeper, and then saw this little lamb with a harness that was bah-bahing around in the back of the station wagon. Only in England!!!

We arrived home, I did the bulletin and finished up my Gospel Doctrine lesson, and dropped into bed; asleep almost as my head hit the pillow.

Sunday was good. Everything went well. By the time we got home, it was pretty close to 3:00 pm. I had lunch and then took a nap. Just need lots of sleep these days.

Before I stop for this week, I received this in the mail and thought it might be of interest. It surely peaked my interest. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “vote for me” mailing look like this.

This is enough for one post. I’ll call next week May Wk 1. Love to you all. Sister Reimers (Alias: Jackie)