Julia paddles again!

A day of heavy showers with hail and possible thunder prompted daughter number three to crave exercise, so we loaded a couple of kayaks on to the yellow van and went for a paddle. We said "hello" to Colin, a guy who sailed in to the Dart a week ago and turned up at church. Then we visited Jireh before paddling up Old Mill Creek. This was fun as it was low water and we had to follow a thin and winding channel of water that was very shallow indeed.

Walking the Dart Valley Trail

Today the girls and I went for a little walk along the Dart Valley Trail, to Dittisham and back along the other side of the river. Lynn thought it would be good for the soul, but decided that it was a walk a bit too far after the inactivity of winter! We enjoyed a bit of badger spotting, two ferry crossings and some biblical re-enactments (see photos).

Julia the jib girl

After a morning of tidying up the sheds under a grey sky and cool breeze the sun came out, so with 'Jireh' now easily accessible, to go for a sail was the obvious thing to do! Lynn opted to stay and finish some embroidery and Lydia was stuck in her bedroom, so I convinced Julia that there were better things to be doing than mooching around at home. We sailed out to the Check stone buoy, or checky buoy as Julez decided to nickname it.

A Journey Complete

Today is Easter Sunday and I had the privilege to take the service at church this morning. We thought about how the love Jesus had for each of us compelled Him to go the 'full journey' for us. This journey included much hardship, travelling and eventually led to Jesus being shamed and scorned, bruised, beaten and finally led to death. What had He done to deserve this? .... He had shown love, compassion, healing, care, gentleness, long-suffering and patience; but He also brought wisdom, teaching, help and direction for each of us. Did, Jesus have to die? Yes, to take the penalty for our sin! But the reason we rejoice today is that Jesus, as was predicted, rose from the dead, bringing victory over death and sin. He was see by many hundreds of witnesses in the 40 days before He finally ascended to the His Father. Today, He lives in the hearts of those who will trust in Him and receive the gift of sins forgiven. Jesus completed His journey for you and me. When He walked the road to Emmaus with Cleopas and another disciple, they asked Him in. It was then that their eyes were opened to who Jesus was. Don't let Jesus pass by, ask him in today and let Him open your eyes to the greatest friend you will ever have.

Garden wall just about finished!

Shifting two tons of chippings from the front garden down to the new bit of garden saw the end (for now) to the garden reshape. I say 'for now' because Lynn is making noises about making garden furniture! In the photos you can see my birthday pressie from the Ryders, a garden gnome, lying asleep on a wall next to Lynn and Lyn. I have named him 'Eli', because Samuel had to wake Eli up when God called to him in the night. Lyn says she gave it to me to remind me to take a rest now and again!

Julia is 12 years old!

As Lynn and I were invited to a concert in Dover two days before Julia's birthday, we took the opportunity to have a weekend in Portsmouth. The picture below shows Julia, resplendent in victory when she won the second game of bowling. We also enjoyed visiting Hannah and Dan (son-in-law), and a special bonus was when Dan (son) and Crystal joined us for Julia's birthday dinner. We also enjoyed meeting up with our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus from Eastney Church and sharing a time of fellowship with them on the Sunday; they even let me play the piano for them. On Sunday afternoon Lynn and I met up with Jonathan and Becky to spend some time with our dear friends who are such a blessing to us.

Louise Orfila Concert

A few years ago a young girl wrote to me asking if she could sing with the Portsmouth RM Band of which I was the Director of Music. It was great fun to have Louise sing at the Christmas Concert at Folkestone and at 13 she was very talented. Last year I was invited to a concert given by Louise, but unfortunately I couldn't get to Dover at the time. We were delighted to be invited again, one year on and Lynn and I enjoyed listening to Louise, now a young lady, singing at the Roundhouse Theatre. It was a surprise and a pleasure to see an old colleague Andy Wall playing bass guitar in the backing band.