Carol Purves

Cumbria is open for business. It really is, as we discovered on Good Friday. Repaired and fallen bridges are being mended and replaced. With many other cars we travelled over the restored Eamont Bridge. Judging by the traffic jam it was a much needed route along eastern Cumbria.

Not to be outdone the three of us then went on to Pooley Bridge and walked over and the drove over the new temporary bridge there. Unusually the weather was sunny and bright. Not particularly warm, but then it is Cumbria in March.

This was not the end of our adventures as we drove down the west shore of Ullswater to Genridding. The flood damage there is so great that is is heart-breaking – fields piled high with stones and rocks, presumably dredged from the river. There was no parking spaces left, so we drove cross country to the peaceful village of Caldbeck.

Carol in a restored Cumbria.

To all my readers I wish you a blessed Easter. This is a very sad week followed by a joyous Sunday. I trust that you will obtain the full benefit from studying the Bible and special readings at this time.

Carol

Here we are again, another meeting of the writing group. After a devotion and sharing together the books we have read during the last two months, we read out our ‘homework’ – The Source. What fun we had with it. The devotional contributors referred to God being the source of all things and the source of our faith being love, the love of God for us ‘while we were yet sinners.’

One fun entry had a play on the words ‘source’ (being the beginning) , the ‘sauce’ (as in HP Ketchup) and ‘sauce’ (as in cheek) We ended up with tears running down our ‘cheeks. (the facial ones). I’m glad I learned English as a toddler.

Carol, with sauce.

I’ve just spent a few days in my nearest capital, Edinburgh. With two friends we explored the city like true tourists. Although it was winter, the place was milling with people; evidence that it is a great city to visit.

We went up to the castle and with the help of a guide explored its treasures. The guide was very enthusiastic and crammed our heads with interesting facts. I have to confess that I think our abiding memory will be the icy wind. It really did blow up there. We were there at one o clock and heard and saw the big gun go off.

We then searched for somewhere warm and had a tour on an open-topped bus tour. So many places of interest were seen. It is a wonderful city.

Our last big  adventure was a tour on the Royal Britannia. It is a great ship with so much history.

Our hotel was very central and the food in various restaurant was excellent.

Carol, the explorer

As part of my Lent readings I have been studying a small booklet aboutthe evidence for the Bible. Each day I’ve been amazed at how much evidence there is. Who were the Hittites? Who was David the legendary hero? Sargon, did he live? The census of the entire Roman world. The unknown God at Athens. Did the crucifixion really happen? As I have been reading, time and again facts which appear in the Bible are proved by history.

With so many Biblical facts being proved through outside sources, it shows that the Bible is a book to be believed. Maybe we should study and read it more. Not only for the history but for what it tells us about God.

Carol

Compared with some of your countries, England is very small. It’s only about 600 miles from north to south. Last week I travelled from Carlisle in the north to Bridport on the south coast, a journey of about 450 miles. What struck me was the change in the weather. In the south, spring was definitely arriving. Daffodils, snowdrops and celandine were growing in abundance. The walks we had in the beautiful area were warm and sunny. We even managed to see some tiny lambs.

I then travelled north. Snow on the hills and in my garden greeted me. The next morning I had to scrape my car because the frost was so thick. The daffodils and snowdrops are just daring to show their faces. Out came my gloves and scarves again. Next week I will be in Edinburgh, just 100 miles north. I wonder what kind of weather I will find there.

Carol, the traveller, north and south.

I was discussing with my older friend, Nancy, changes in styles of worship that have happened over the years. She remembered the days when ladies wore hats and gloves and never took part in the services. Nancy talked about the hymns which used to be sung, while today these old hymns are interspersed with modern Christian songs.

Children were definitely ‘seen and not heard’. Not like my service last Sunday when the children drew, cut and pasted at the back of the church and then paraded round the chairs showing what they had been making.

Plenty of changes, some for the better and some not. But one thing never changes. God is still the same, yesterday, today and for ever.

Carol, follower of the everlasting God

It is only the first half of February.  My thirty mile journey along the Cumbrian countryside was full of promises of spring. The sheep were feeding happily in the fields. No sign of lambs yet. The sky was blue flecked with patches of darker blue clouds. I don’t know their names, but they looked like good weather ones. The bushes were sprouting with buds. All a portent of the coming spring.

Then in a garden I saw a large hydranga in full bloom, while looking at the mountains in the distance they were snow-capped. I now have to look at the calendar to know which season we are in.

Carol, an admirer of the countryside.

It is lovely to visit and have coffee with friends who live right in the heart of the farmlands of Cumbria.  As I approach the houses, the road become narrower and more muddy. Pheasants or rabbits are sometimes seen. The sheep or lambs in the fields stare right through me. When I turn off the car engine I can hear the birds tweeting in the trees.

God has certainly given us a beautiful world and sometimes it’s great to be able to stop, listen and look at (and sometimes smell) the wonderful countryside.

Carol, the country lover.

What fun we had at our meeting when we wrote about ‘The Red Sky’. Out of seven people who had written on this subject, we managed to visit five different countries. – Switzerland, Skye, South Africa, India and Palestine.  One subject with many different approaches.

There was poetry, references to the rhyme ‘Red sky at night, shepherds delight, red sky in the morning, shepherds warning, in South Africa the longing for a red sky to indicate rain. They have a drought at the present time, the shepherds at the nativity scene (except for the youngest shepherd who had to stay behind and mind the sheep. Don’t feel sorry for him he had a special adventure.)

One member had written a whole book for her grandchildren entitled ‘Red Skye.’ I wish you could read it, it was lovely. Another member told of the red sky on her holiday in Switzerland.

Carol, the writer.