Yes! Come back, and we must meet up!

I thought of you as I selected the pictures, Lyn! The smell of the meat and the sawdust comes back to me so readily. I wish I had escaped to Australia – very sensible!

I’m sorry you lost your father at such a young age, Lyn. That must have been tough. Joan lost her father when she was 19, just at the start of the war, and I know it was a great blow to her.

Like your mother-in-law, my dad was born in 1922.

By coincidence February 22 was my mother-in-law’s birthday. Born in 1922, she would have been one hundred on 22.02.2022, and might have enjoyed the numeric palindrome–though she would never have confessed to being that age. I do not remember the date of my mother’s death, 12 years ago, although I always remember her birthday. On the other hand I always remember the date of my father’s death, and mourn him, perhaps because I was only eleven at the time.

Maybe because of those TV series, or because when I was young I was a bit obsessed with the Middle Ages, I have occasionally found myself thinking about the practice of Sanctuary, throughout my life. The thought that one could dash into a church, cry “Sanctuary”, and no one was allowed to touch you despite there being no physical barrier, was intriguing and amazing.

I think I do remember his case. That link is an interesting reminder!

Somewhat irreverently, what your comment call to mind is the old black and white TV series of Robin Hood, where bandits were always dashing into church shouting: “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!”

Corrected it myself…the power of the blog owner!!!

You’ve made me think about men versus women charismatics. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the founder of Gilead, Serena Joy, is a charismatic. In the HBO series she is played as a youngish woman, but in the book, she is older.

That should begin ‘You have a gift of drawing in …..!!

Thanks, Monique, glad you enjoyed it. I haven’t seen The Wonder but I’m also a big fan of Florence Pugh, so I will look out for it.

Happy New Year to you, too!

On another note, Jo, have you watched The Wonder with the brilliant Florence Pugh? I thought of you as I watched it and would love to hear your opinion of the film. Personally I found it mesmerising.

Happy 2023!

Thanks! Yes, all the recognisable names are fascinating.

As for me, I really like kundalini yoga – the postures and the singing. But can I accept that the teacher is a shaman, her gifts passed down to her through generations of ancestors? Not so much.

I did have a ‘guru’ experience in my early twenties, when I went on a couple of Zen meditation weeks – in the middle of the second of them, the Zen monk leading it suddenly declared that he was the Maitreya (future) Buddha, which is a bit like a minister declaring he was Christ returned again. The first week had been a good, intense experience, but the second was rather bizarre. He did go on to open a centre of his own, and was very fond of powerful motorbikes. A few years later we bumped into him at a Mind, Body and Spirit Festival at Olympia, with hair, a camera round his neck and a girl on his arm. (I hope he doesn’t read your blog.)

I was looking at toby jugs from Aberystwyth and other seaside resorts today, and wondered if Eugene Halliday designed any. Curious things. Can you imagine the Johnson one being sold out?