New pod

I got a new iPod yesterday. It's an astonishing little toy. Somewhere along the line I had corrupted the screen on my old one which didn't matter if I was listening to books or music but games were impossible so I got a new one. A touch one which is just about as good as the iPhone! At first my computer simply filled it up with everything I had on it. Now I've managed to get it all off again and only put on the games I play most and all of my photos! Wonderful ! I am an anarak now. Hey ho!



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Lost it

My blog from yesterday seems to have disappeared into the ether. I am not sure why. It was about a very old friend of mine who died. He had been the rector of this parish many years ago and had stayed on, disobeying all the rules of the church. For years he was my spiritual advisor and then he gave me away when I married David so I knew him well. My phone has been ringing non stop almost with people from all the Roseland churches wanting to go to his funeral. The problem is that there is no church big enough to hold them all. One thing is quite clear. He was much loved and will be sorely missed.

Truro

We are going into Truro this morning, the first time since before Christmas. I need to go to the bank because I now have four premium bonds to pay in! It's not that exciting. They are all for £25. I think they must be paying more of them out just now because I've never had so many in a row! An added complication is that I have never changed my name with the bond people so they are all in my last name. I got fed up trying to explain the name change in various places so I have one bank still in the same name from before I got married again. All I have to do is keep my wits about me. Its all too easy to forget who I am at times!

Rainy

Its a miserable day here....outside its blowing yet again and raining! The dog goes out, turns round and comes in again. However David's son is coming for lunch. Beef casserole and dumplings...we need some comfort food today!

Better

We are both feeling much better now. The voice is still weak but on the whole the worst seems to be over. My diary for this week is frightening but I shall not be able to go to some of them. Sending apologies seems to be a normal activity these days..but at my age there are limits! The people we met on the QM2 have all been in touch which is great with photos of me and David in some wonderful positions! This one has a pyramid in the back ground!

First in Lent

I am at St Just for the first Sunday of Lent. Its always a time for looking to see if Spring really is on its way. The knowledge that Easter is only 6 weeks away always cheers me at this stage. We had a lovely visit with David's son Anthony and his wife. Its their first year living full time here and they are enjoying it alot. Surprised by the snow and frost but then so are we all!

Snow again?

We are off to see Davids family this morning. Last time the visit was cancelled due to snow! This in Cornwall was almost unheard of but there you go, this morning looking out of the window...snow again! This is quite shocking! It's not looking as if its going to stick but if we get stuck on the moors, tomorrows sermon could be wasted!

Grocery

I have just taken delivery of my first Sainsbury's shop on line! It is identical to the Tesco shop in every way except somehow I got let off a delivery charge. The same problems occur though and the fault is entirely mine! I am just rotten at amounts. The dog food was tiny, more suitable for a poodle than my great giant! The Sunday roast was also very small and the rib eye steak was just one and not the two I thought I'd ordered. The good news though is it will just need to be cut in half!

What ever its deficiences though its still an absolute Godsend living here. I will now do a Tesco and a sainsburys aand get the best of both worlds once Ive been on a course for

Ash Wednesday

Its a wonderful warm day filled with sunshine and my thoughts are with the clergy onboard the Queen Mary. Today they were calling at Nagasaki. We had planned a multi faith service for all sorts of reasons. The boat is now full of Japanese, Indians, Arabs and Aussies....what a wonderful opportunity to pray together. My heart is with them all. I hope it all goes well.

Early morning

I was up very early despite the recurring cough. I did the eight o'clock communion at St Just. The tide was in, the snowdrops out and it was very beautiful. In all the places we have visited in the last month none was as beautiful as St Just in the early morning. I left David in bed still suffering from the bug we brought home with us but he had gone off to St Mawes by the time I got home. Later today I am doing a four o'clock Evensong in the same place. I hope my voice holds out for that!

Brrrr

It is a bitterly cold day out there! I have ventured out with the dog but even he with his fur coat rushed to get back in again! David and I are both coughing, presumably from being on a flight for 13 hours! We both agree though that even if we have to cough for a month the whole thing was worth it! But we do miss the sun! New things are coming up in the garden every day now. Some wonderful little snowdrops called Cornish pixies are out today. They are shaped like bells with bright yellow middles.....even in all the freezing weather they are cheering and beautiful!

Chicken dumplings for lunch. Its definately time for some comforting peasant food!

Beetle

First time ever, my lovely Beetle didn't start last night! It had not been started for five weeks so I cant blame it but I had to get a lift to and from a meeting in school and I do need it at the weekend so I was up early to get the local garage to come and start it for me and supply a new battery! At eight o'clock the ground outside was solid with ice! What on earth is happening to our climate!

The meeting was a long one of frustration and amazement. The politically correct brigade has now firmly taken over the education agenda. The number of new iniatives and things now required by law is amazing! We have only two teachers in our school. How they ever find time to teach, eat or sleep is a mystery to me! They are so concerned at putting all the safeguards in place that the whole idea of teaching children in a relaxed, friendly and enjoyable way is now gone. Thank goodness I am not teaching any more!

Left overs

On Twelth night I had just about enough time to get all the decorations down, the christmas cards sorted and the fridge emptied before we started out for Southampton. Now I am finding all the goodies we'd normally have eaten by now stored away in tin boxes. The mission to eat up has usually ended by this time and as we ate several meals a day on the QM2 we don't really have an urgent need to stuff anymore in! Anyone interested in some furry mince pies? A really great shade of green! Most of it is still in prime condition so we may be eating up Christmas until Easter!

Jet lag

Today I am definately jet lagged. I should have expected it to last a bit I suppose. There is an eight hour difference between here and Singapore. Cunard moves the clock forward very slowly as you move, one hour at a time but coming home has proved a slight problem. I woke at 3am convinced it was time to get up. Any further sleep eluded me so I got up for a while and sorted out some readings for Sunday! By breakfast time my tummy was sure it was lunch time! Now at lunch time its almost time for bed again!

A walk around the garden reveals that there was another deep frost last night! Our weather seems to be having jet lag too! More crocus and snowdrops came up during the night and everything is still looking good. The dead stuff can come out at the end of the week and be replaced. Its a tough life in the agricultural world!

the garden

Crispin came home and so did Tosh so our family is now complete again. This afternoon I strolled him round the garden to see whats been happening in our absence. I expected that the snow would have killed of some things and it did. But the daffodils are almost out. The snowdrops are out and some primulas and crocus! And I have one white camelia out . Its much better than I expected and there are big fat buds on nearly everything despite the frost! John our gardener has been putting paving under the benches and they look great as does the summer house which is dry inside so there is alot to be thankful for and I will get onto the job of replacing the fallen when I've recovered from the trip!

Home sweet home

Gosh we were tired last night David put it rather differently! We couldn't keep our eyes open last night even through Emmerdale so we went to bed and slept very soundly till 8 this morning and he has gone off to get the cat. I will get the dog later and then we will be back to normal apart from all the mounds of stuff to sort out and wash! It was worth it though! Looking back I see a whole array of experiences, mostly good, many wonderful! Sorting out the post is going to take up much of the morning....there were two big boxes full! Urgent, every day and rubbish! The sun is shining and our daffodils are well on the way up. Alleluia!

Flying

I have always felt that flying was my natural environment but this flight could have cured that. It's a thirteen hour flight with all the usual problems. The curtains were drawn but there was not much sleep.

Now approaching heathrow it gets really hard. We have to get to Southampton where we left the car and then drive home! We are dressed for the tropics but we are told that it's minus two here! Oh dear!

The small miracle was that a man stood at heathrow with our name on a board and whisked us off to southampton to get the car. Now we are home our only problem is jet lag!

Raffles

This morning we had a tour of the island. It's quite small really and very beautiful. We went to raffles for lunch and this really was the cherry on the cake. They looked after us very well and the food was amazing. I found stuff to buy for the presents in the shop and then we came back to our hotel. We now have a few hours before we go to the airport. I am going to explore the pool and David has the Sunday times.

We saw Changi and I was shocked to find it was still a prison! My lecturer at college had spent the war in changi and was lucky to get out with his life. His wife didn't.

At lunch we had a wonderful pianist! His repertoire included hymns and gosple songs. He was a wonderful person to meet!

Singapore

We are just docking alongside a huge waterfront. This morning we leave theQM2. And go to our hotel for a night. So far everything has worked like clockwork so we are hoping that all goes well. Our suitcases were collected last night. You can't help wondering when you will see them again.

We have arrived at our hotel by some miracle. This is a truely multi cultural society and English is the first language though not as we know it! Our first trip outside the hotel was very confusing and I have experienced culture shock for the first time.
We were both frightened of getting lost so we have retreated to study the map!





The view from our window! Makes a change from sea.

We regrouped and got a taxi to the cathedral. It was both colonial and beautiful. But not cool!
Tomorrow we have a full day. We will try to do better!

Packing

We are packing! The holidays not quite over. We have another day in port before we disembark tomorrow in Singapore We stay a night in the hotel and then have a day before getting our


plane at around mid night. Last night there was the most beautiful sunset. Just like on the films.

Penang

Another extremely hot day here but we are on the last count down and making the most of every day. This
morning we visited a garden where the monkeys ran free and saw a remarkable confrontation between a small dog and four monkeys! He would not give ground. They summoned help and several raced up. The dog made progress until suddenly they charged him. They had angry little faces and made growling sounds. The humans retreated. The dog did not. It ended in a standoff!



Later we went to a butterfly farm and then a spice farm. Both were amazing but now , back on board we are relaxing in intense heat! The pool beckons.

Phuket

We are going ashore this morning to look at the joys of Thailand! It is very hot but we are covering up because we are visiting temples.

After writing that we realised that we were an hour too soon having put our clicks forward an hour last night by mistake! The time spent on deck though watching the tenders being launched has been very reassuring!



This island is very beautiful and we have had a wonderful day. It must have been even more beautiful before us tourists arrived!

Sri lanka

We are sailing past the southernmost tip of Sri Lanka this morning. This was the scene of one of my most frightening experiences. I was abucted and then dumped in Columbo. Not fun! The hours on the clock are advancing fast. We are now 6 hours ahead. By the time we get to to Singapore it'll be 8.

This is our last week and it's going to be busy!
We have three more tours before we get off!
Last night I assisted with another Anglican communion and did the preaching! Another lady told us afterwards that she was a Methodist minister from Wales! We seem to be here in force!



This is a picture of a huge whale. Unfortunately he just dived as I took the shot!