Carol Purves

As winter still reigns, here are some more wise sayings, funny and thoughtful –

Acupuncture is a jab well done.

Good minus one letter is God, evil plus one letter is the Devil

Marathon  runners with bad feet suffer the agony of defeat.

I like this one by George Bernard Shaw – The statistics concerning death are very impressive, one out of every one dies.

The death of parents is the death of the past, the death of a husband or wife is the death of the present, the death of a child is the death of the future.

Although God loves us as we are, He loves us too much to let us stay as we are.

In my next blog I might be able to travel out of Cumbria.

Carol, the stop at home.

Nothing much happens in January and February, though we’ve not had as much snow as some of you.  So I thought I’d share some of the pithy sayings of the hundreds I have stored on my computer:-

Even the snail reached the ark by persevering.

When two egotists meet, it’s an I for an I.

A will is defined as a dead giveaway.

A lot of money is tainted; it taint yours and it taint mine.

Once you’ve seen one shopping centre, you’ve seen a mall.

The only way to learn great faith is to endure great trials.

Or as a friend said to me the other day –

I went out the same door as I went in.  (He didn’t understand what it was all about)

And finally Archbishop William Temple said –

When I pray, coincidences happen,  when I don’t, they don’t.

Carol, the philosopher

Eight members present, eight very different styles of writing.  Our home project had been ‘Holidays’.  I had felt uninspired by the subject, but just how wrong could I have been.  We journeyed to South Africa under the blazing sun and on to Egypt where the sun apparently blazes even hotter.  It was explained that the word ‘Holiday’ actually came from Holy Day and Biblical facts were shared with us.  Do you know when the first holiday was taken?  Try Genesis.  A poem of lovely holidays in Allonby brought back fond memories for many.  We shared holiday thoughts with ‘Laura’, now that’s an ongoing saga. 

John shared his favourite poet with us – George Herbert and then we listened to an extract of Vaughan William’s setting to one of his poems, (George’s that is, not John’s)

The next home project is ‘Changes’.  I wonder what changes that will bring about!

Carol, the co-ordinator                                                    20th January 2012

A master requested his scribe to engrave a tablet for every day of the universe.  The scribe engraved up to 21 December 2012 and then stopped.

‘Why have you stopped’, enquired the master, ‘is that the day the world will end?’

‘No master, at that date I’ve run out of tablets.’

So if you think the world is going to end on that date, don’t believe it.  How many false alarms have we had in the past?   It says in the Bible  ‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house  will come back.  If He comes suddenly do not let Him find you sleeping’  Mark 13:33

I prefer to believe that the creator of the universe will finish it at the time He decides.  So continue living as if each day is your las,t but prepare yourself that it may not be.

Carol, who has checked the Bible sayings.

The Scottish Fellowship of Christian Writers conference seems a little way away now, nevertheless an extremely good time – plenty of contacts, teaching, learning and sociability.  Not forgetting the food!!  Gartmore is a lovely centre to stay, quite near to Loch Lomond.   Our preparation writing had been ‘My Journey So Far’.  I won’t bore you with my contribution; it wasn’t very good anyway.

Now looking forward to the May conference.  In Stirling this time and just one day.  I’ll have to see how much writing I can get done before then.

Carol, the persistent writer, I hope.

This time last year we were submerged in snow.  This time two years ago we were experiencing the Cockermouth floods.  This year we’ve had a particularly mild spell.  So I have decided to take my last Cumbrian exploration of the year.

Pooley Bridge beckoned.  A thriving little village, I was able to take many phohos of the picturesque bridge, the inspiration of the village’s name.   The Pooley part of the name comes from a pool which is no longer visible.   The restaurant sells ‘Gingerbridge’ , cooked in the shape of the bridge.  What a clever marketing ploy.    The 12th century fish market is commemorated in the square by a sandstone obelisk with a weather vane topped by a leaping salmon. 

The parish church was built in the 1860s and not very photogenic but I didn’t go inside.  Eusemere House on the banks of the lake was visited by William Wordsworth, where he wrote part of his now famous poem, Daffodils.  The views south down Ullswater were stunning with the autumn colours and mellow sunlight.

Carol, the late autumn explorer

We held the meeting of the Carlisle Christian Fellowship on Saturday 12th November 2011.  Our homework had been ‘Blue’.

I’m posting my contribution, but would remind you that I actually wrote it on 11.11.11., hence it’s sombre mood.

They met in the spring.  War was looming.  He bought her a blue scarf for their first wedding anniversary.  He said it was blue to match the colour of her eyes, blue for the open sky and blue to represent the happiness which was before them.  But their happiness was short-lived as he was sent to war very soon after.

Within weeks he was captured, listed as missing, and then reported to be a prisoner-of-war.  It was six long years before he returned back to this country and his bride.

Time hadn’t dealt kindly with her.  All her relatives had been killed in a severe bombing raid.  Her own house had been reduced to rubble.  The baby she’d been expecting was born dead.  These disasters had affected her mental state.  Although only in her early thirties she had been diagnosed with an early dementia.  She no longer recognised her friends.

He knew he was returning home from the war to an uncertain future.  At the nursing home he’d been warned she wouldn’t know him; he wondered if he would know her.  The small figure he was directed to in a large arm chair seemed completely unknown to him.  Had they made a mistake?  Was this really his wife?

Then he saw it.  Over her head and tied firmly under her chin was a blue scarf; blue to march the colour of her eyes, blue to represent the open sky; and blue to portray the happiness which had been before them.

Now her eyes were clouded; the sky was overcast and their promised happiness had evaporated.

Carol, the thoughtful.

My latest burst into print is in the above named book along with 49 other writers.  Now that many people have bus-passes and travel around more, this book covers bus routes all round Britain.  From Land’s End to John O’Groats and Aberystwyth to Dover these journeys make an enjoyable read or day out.

A solution to Christmas presents which are a little different.  Published by Bradt Travel Guides Ltd.UK   www.bradtguides.com   ISBN 9 781841 623764   Enjoy.

Carol, the bus traveller

As winter is drawing in, I wanted to continue my exploration of Cumbria.  (Just put the clocks back.  As someone who gets up at 6.00, if Westminster get their way and we change the clocks yet another hour {or is it the other way?} a lot of my morning activities will be done in darkness. For once I hope Scotland get their own way)

On a Saturday of dry weather and intermittent sunshine I drove down the west side of Ullswater, over the Kirkstone Pass (reminded me of similar places in North Wales) and down to the village of Staveley.  Enquired for and photographed the colourful stained glass window, whose images were used on the 2009 Christmas stamps.  Beautiful and a good decision by the Post Office.

Continued through Windermere, Bowness and round the south tip of Lake Windermere.  Looked so peaceful with the craft bobbing up and down on the water.  North to Hawkshead.  My first visit there.  Crowded as it was half term but well worth exploring.

So a bit more of Cumbria ticked off.  I might have to leave it now until 2012, though I’m sure it will all look lovely in the snow.!!

Carol, the persistent traveller.

If you’ve read my previous blog, you will remember I promised to tell you about my 4th book.

Friends will know I’m strongly against e-books.  I like the tactile element of paper books where you turn proper pages and put them on a bookshelf.  With Kindles, – Mills and Boon and War and Peace all feel the same, in spite of having vastly different contents!  Does anyone ever read 50 books on holiday?  (An argument for Kindles)  They must have longer holidays than mine.,

But I’ve written a book about a Brethren missionary who worked in the Amazon area and Barbados, and because he was not very well-known , no publisher is interested in publishing it.  So with expert help of a friend it is now an e-book on sale from Amazon.  Called ‘Amazonian Missionary‘  (a lot of Amazons here!), please purchase it.

As I say you can’t trust writers.

Carol Purves, the turncoat.