Goodbye 2020

31st December 2020

The last day of 2020 - a year like no other I have known in my 71 years.

It has been cold over the past few days. We had a little snow - enough in the Cotswolds for my daughter and family to do some sledging.

Today there is a frost bringing a whiteness to the ferns.

The good news is that the first vaccine is being given and the second - the Oxford, Astra Zenica vaccine has been approved and will begin to be rolled out next week. This latest vaccine is being provided at cost price to the poorer countries and they aim to produce three billion doses by the end of 2021.

I had expected to encounter some new flowers this week, but I have seen very little. The cyclamen are slowly coming into flower. The bulbs however are intriguing. There are clusters that could be lillies - but maybe not! In the front garden bulbs are pushing through everywhere. I am expecting the flowers to show their faces any day soon and I look forward to a brighter future.

There are some large leaved shoots pushing through the other plants in a small flower bed in the back garden - maybe tulips! I will follow these shoots to see how they develop.

I was able to meet with relatives from Ireland, Australia and Tasmania as well as the UK in one of my Zoom meetings. It was good to catch up with people after many years and meet some I haven't seen before. It made my Christmas a bit special and more memorable than it might otherwise have been. I hope that we will keep in contact rather more in the future.

I watched part of a Christmas lecture yesterday focussing on Climate Change, which I found very informative. It is clear that we can overcome this crisis. Anaerobic digesters and hydrogen where discussed as sources of clean electricity, among other things. It is clear that working together we could have a wonderful world. The production of the vaccines is proof of what is possible with the will and resources.

My friend Jennipher rang me a few days ago to say that she wanted to go to Victori Falls with her family on New Year's Day. In 2014 my wife and granddaughter came to see me in Zambia. At the end of their visit we went to Victoria Falls and we took Jennipher. It is such a shame that most Zambian people never get the opportunity to visit the Falls. So I was delighted to enable Jennipher and her family to have a memorable day out. (In fact they will travel by train - a 10 hour journey each way! - so it will be best part of a 3 day trip).

 

Wishing you much joy in 2021.

Chris

Christmas is coming

23rd December 2020

Christmas will be different this year. I'm planning to take advantage of the technology we have discovered in recent months and meet as many people as possible over the Christmas period. I have 22 cousins who in turn have children and grandchildren! So I will start by trying to meet as many of these as possible, plus a few other parts of the Family Tree, over two sessions using Zoom.

I am still waiting to see the first snowdrop! The last Cosmos petals have fallen off, but hopefully it will seed to give me even more joy in November next year.

I was surprised to find roses still in bloom in a nearby park.

My neighbour has a small tree in the front garden tht is already in blossom.

This is a time when we remember the Holly and Ivy, but I cannot find any holly with berries in my garden and fear that I have removed the bushes that carried the berries and spread holly throughout the garden - I hope that some of the new bushes will carry berries in time.

When I first moved into our house - 40 years ago - I tried to plant some daffodil bulbs, only to find that every bit of ground seemed already to have a bulb! Now there are a lot of bulbs pushing up shoots. This year I am not sure whether these are from bulbs I planted in the Autumn or from previous years. Though the occasional distinctive daffodil shoot must be from a previous year and I cn identify the irises from my Autumn planting.

The cyclamen are slowly coming into flower and I suspect I will have daisies of one sort or another through the whole year.

Shopping is not my favourite pursuit and I particularly dislike running around trying to find presents for the grandchildren at Christmas, which are not needed or particularly wanted.. This year would have been particularly difficult and not worth the risk. However there are lots of children in Zambia who I know who would not normally be able to celebrate at Christmas. I have been able to send money on behalf of each of my grandchildren to children of friends in Zambia. Maybe the grandchildren will take an interest and link with the children over the years to come.

I hope that you have a Christmas full of love and that you are able to safely meet with you friends and family this year.

 

With love and prayers,

Chris

Waiting for Christmas

 

16th December 2020

Today has been particularly dull and wet after a reasonable day yesterday. Rain is generally looked on differently in Zambia, where the start of the rainy season is welcomed because it is needed to grow the household crops which provide essential food for many who have little income.

My friends are busy now tending their fields and watching the maize grow. Rain, sunshine and temperatures in the mid twenties make ideal growing conditions.So, as I see the shoots of my Spring bulbs push through I think of the maize growing in the fields in Zambia.

I am fortunate to be able to help my friends with a packet or two of seeds and some fertilizer. It is a delight when I hear in April or May that the crop is being harvested. Many years ago I sent my Dad a Christmas Card which told him that I had given away the money I had for his Christmas present to a friend who needed maize seed to grow food for his family. A few months later I sent my dad a photo of Osman in his field of maize - my father never forgot that Christmas present!

Here it is that strange time of year as we await Christmas - particularly strange this year. I am looking forward to mass meetings of friends and relatives this year! Before you think I am being irresponsible I should explain my meetings will be online. I have a plan to see as many of my friends and relatives as possible - including a meeting for all of my grandfather's descendents - I have 4 children and six grandchildren to start. Little is happening in my garden. There is now just a single flower on the Cosmos plant.

I was surprised to see a couple of campanula flowers in my daughter's garden, then found I also have a couple in my garden.

I was surprised to see a flower already forming on my forsythia - this bush usually gives a magnificent early Spring display.

Some years ago I was inspired by the idea of advent candles. I decided to place a set of lights on a small Acer tree for each week of Advent. We had the tree since we moved in about 30 years earlier and the tree was about 4-5 feet high - as it had always been. It is now more than 12 feet high!! I claim it is the effect of the Advent lights!! I put out a third set of lights on my Acer this week for Gaudate Sunday, only to find they failed to work when put on the tree. I need to buy more lights to compensate and make sure that by Christmas I have a fine display.

Keep safe,

Chris

A Time for reflection

8th December 2020

We have had a few cold days with temperatures here dropping to about zero. Today the first doses of vaccine are being administered in the UK. This is not simple, because the vaccine needs to be stored at -70°C - a lot lower than temperatures we are likely to find even at the coldest places on earth. However, this is a major breakthrough - and by Easter life might look and feel a lot brighter.

Some years ago I made a few visits to Lanzarote. On this island rain was a rarity. Much of the land was devoid of plants and even birds were not plentiful. However I noticed any flower and it took on a special beauty. At this time in the UK I experience a similar joy when I see a flower in bloom. I am glad to be forcing myself to go outside and search. Each day is different and I notice something new.

Perhaps this week is a time for reflection. The past few months have been difficult for everyone - though I have been much luckier than most. I enjoyed walks in the first lockdown - the peace because there was little traffic, clean air and birdsong. On the chimney we had two herring gulls hatch - perhaps not everyone's favourite bird, but they are so graceful in flight. A pair of house sparrows took up residence very nearby and when four chicks fledged they made their way to my feeding station and enjoyed the mealworms. The family is still together and visits regularly.

It is also a time for patience. we know that the Spring will come bringing colour to the gardens and brightness to our lives, but we cannot hurry it!

I am looking forward in anticipation. I am sure that my cyclamen will bridge the gap - providing flowers from now until the Spring bulbs take over. Bulbs are sending up shoots everywhere in my garden at the moment - they grow and multiply every day.

I am struck by the hardiness of some plants. In recent years moss has become a feature of my garden - especially around the ponds. It seems to thrive in the cold damp conditions at the moment. Even the lavender seems to be enjoying the weather.

I am looking forward to the next few weeks - I am sure it won't be long before I see the first snowdrop - maybe you have already found one! I hope you are able to enjoy some nature around you - even if it is only from a window.

With love and prayers,

Chris

30th November 2020

Today is my birthday! Last year I was 70 and I will always remember that day. I was in Zambia and I had told one of the priests of the event. So when I came to visit a group of children who were receiving some simple gifts - a notebook, pencil and bar of soap to help them get back to school - they surprised me by singing Happy Birthday followed by sharing a large birthday cake (there were about 140 of us!!). So I hope that you will forgive me for sharing a couple of photos from Zambia.

I have just finished a session talking about Laudato Si - a papal encyclical on the care of the environment - and Climate change.

Still remembering last year I was delighted that the Woodland Trust had decided to use my 70th birthday as a day that they would try to plant one million trees. I have always liked the idea of planting a tree - and in particular an oak tree. My grandaughter managed to get permission and fioud an oak tree to plant - one of more than 160 trees planted that day at Benhall in Cheltenham. My wife planted the tree, my daughters planted other trees and a friend provided it. Jennipher - a friend in Zambia promised to plant a tree for me in her garden and 140 children joined in my birthday celebrations.

The world is interconnected and so much richer because of it. I love to see the swallows in December when I am in Zambia. The rain has started falling there and the world is being transformed. the brown dusty world has suddenly turned green and the animals are rejoicing after the past dry months.Fortunately this year and last, rain has fallen and they have had crops, but many years have seen drought - the weather in Zambia is changing. Now they rejoice in the rain - when temperatures are in the 30s rain is very refreshing!!

My oak could not be found today, but close by the Lord had arranged for a couple of the same age to grow. Whatever we try to do for the Lord he will magnify! These two oaks are oaks planted for my 70th birthday - along with a million other trees!!

Here flowers are less abundant, but my cyclamen are just starting to flower again. Earlier in the year a hedgehog gorged himself on the the flowers and leaves and I thought that they had gone for good - but no he will find food in abundance when he emerges again in the Spring.

I captured the wanderings of the hedgehog thanks to a trail camera . This week I set it up close to my bird feeders. So I will add some of these photos this week. My coal tit is there as is my angel (the magpie) but that is another story - suffice it to say that the magpie connects me to God who connects the whole universe.

I have another visitor.

The Cosmos is losing most of the flowers but I am keen that I get more plants next year so I will leave it to spread its seed.

The Spring bulbs continue to grow strong leaves and buds are already appearing on the trees. New life is already at its embryonic stage.

Fungus is a very interesting plant which is important in recycling dead trees - in Zambia termites perform the same task.

Sometimes I am amazed by the complexities of nature. I don't believe this can be chance! Lets enjoy the diversity of live on our planet and get out and observe how the natural world will bring forth wonderful, beautiful new life over the next few months.

With love and prayers,

Chris

Flowers in November

 

24th November 2020

I started to write this blog as The Spirit of Christmas in February 2013, then restarted as The Real Spirit of Christmas in January 2014, but neither developed.

At least on this occasion I am starting before Christmas - perhaps a more appropriate time of year for this blog! I am going to set myself a target of providing a weekly blog with pictures - mainly from my garden.

We have been in a strange world for the past 8 or 9 months. I have been very fortunate because I live in a pleasant part of the country. Here in Cheltenham there are many open spaces in which to relax and I have a garden which I love.

I am a real softy and enjoy some of the Christmas films. Few are artistic or technical triumphs and the plot is almost the same for all. At least one of the key characters is driven by success and money and has no time for the "frivolous" things of life. They meet the other key character and recognise and stsrt to see beauty in nature and in people. They fall in love and live happiliy everafter

I want to focus on nature. It is easy to get stuck inside with electromic devices and miss what is happening outside. Yesterday I went into the garden with the intent of finding something to photograph. I know that a Cosmos plant (a rather impressive name!) is in flower. So I was sure I had one subject. However, I find that there are a number of different plants currently in flower, as well as bulbs pushing shoots up through the soil and berries adorning the trees and bushes.

My faith is very important to me. The Christian church effectively squeezes it's story into four or five months - strting at the end of November with Advent and reaching a climax in April with Easter.

We start now with a period of reflection as we await the arrival of Jesus (God) as a little baby and look forward to celebrating his birthday. This year I am determined to have a very special Christmas. I will reflect during Advent to prepare for a wonderful celebration. I don't intend to meet others inside, but, if allowed will meet outside and perhaps go for a walk. I will think about what virtual actities we can enjoy together as a family. Maybe a virtual Christmas can involve family throughout the Country and the World!

I start now just before Advent which is the preparation for Christmas when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is easy to forget that Jesus was a real person born about 2000 years ago. There is a lot of historical information about him.

My garden is far from the tidiest and my photography leaves an awful lot to be desired, however life is pretty messy in reality - unlike the impression we might usually get from social media.

I will do my best to honour my weekly commitment and if one person finds it useful and is perhaps inspired to go out and see what joys nature has instore for her, then I will be very pleased.

As I write my friendly coal tit is knocking on my window before he takes a couple of sunflower seeds from the feeder - it is as if he is asking permission before moving to the feeding station.

With my love and prayers during this time,

Chris