And relax ...

I'm just having a welcome sit down with a cup of tea. It's high time I wrote something here; I've been a bit busy of late.

I met our Rector today. I'd gone out for a walk, and ended up sitting in the churchyard (where there is an amazing view in all directions, and lots of tempting benches on which to sit while you admire it). Eventually, I hauled myself away from the view of cows, fields, horses and cackling crows and walked back down the church path. Our rector came out of the church door behind me, so I turned and introduced myself. He turned out to have spent his early career in Nottingham, and lived in Chilwell (near Beeston). It is such a small world. We exchanged a few pleasantries before he dashed off to a wake at the village hall.

Last Saturday we had two friends, Barbara and Geoff, round for dinner. They are a retired couple who live a couple of villages from us, but used to be Rick's next door neighbours when he was four! Geoff is a 'bodger'. Now, we often 'bodge' things, but apparently he is a different sort of bodger. He makes wooden chairs. And they are beautiful, with carved out seats that are incredibly comfortable. He took this up ten years ago, determined to do something once he'd retired. He now has his own woodworking shed/garage which he built from wood. The small boy next door, when there was a storm, asked afterwards if Barbara had been all right in her house. Yes, she said. Good, he said. Was Geoff all right in his house? The little lad thought Geoff lived in the garage - which says it all really.

While they were here, they told us about the plans for an airport the size of Heathrow that they had fought against only a couple of years ago. It was planned to be somewhere outside Rugby, and thought to be a suitable site because not many people live around here! We were horrified. Thankfully the protests were successful, and the plans were withdrawn. The countryside is so beautiful, it just makes me feel physically sick to think that anyone thinks it is OK to concrete over it all. Not to mention the noise and emissions and goodness knows what else.

We got quite depressed afterwards, just thinking about where humanity is headed. Which makes me more determined to try and find those examples of humanity at its best, where people act with generosity and love. We were once driving along a dual carriageway into Coventry, when we saw an elderly lady with a watering can, tending to her plants in a beautiful flower garden. There is care and beauty to be found.

We’ve managed to do some drawing in art class. I’m quite enjoying it. Yesterday, we covered a sheet with charcoal, rubbed it in, and then drew a still life with a rubber! I quite like that, as it doesn’t require me to fiddle with precise detail – something I have not got the patience to do. I’ve done a bit of drawing at home (homework!) and am starting to ‘see’ things in a way that I can draw them. Progress indeed.