Swans

We walked to Ifield Mill Pond this morning, and saw our first waterfowl hatchlings of the season. We were just approaching the start of the boardwalk, and were excited to see a group of two Canada geese adults and five tiny goslings. The goslings showed no fear of our two dogs, (who were on very short leads!) but the adults quickly herded them away from us. Then we turned around, and behind us were four adults and about a dozen goslings, all slightly larger than the other group.
Next we walked along the boardwalk towards the little island, where over the last few weeks we have watched a pair of swans build their nest. We heard that the island had been flooded last week after some heavy rain, so we wondered if the swans would still be there; if the nest would still be intact; or if any of the eggs had survived and maybe hatched. As we rounded the corner of the boardwalk we could see the two adult swans on the open water, and between then was a tiny grey ball of fluff. It seemed as if one egg had survived, and had quite recently hatched. It was a beautiful little cygnet, and definitely not ‘an ugly duckling’!

Nest building

Incubating the eggs

Swans and cygnet

Swan and cygnet

Don’t let something so small spoil your day

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Last year I bought a packet of dwarf beans to grow. The first ones I planted rotted and turned to mush. I planted a second lot, and only three germinated and grew. When they were well established and in a bigger pot, I put them outside. But over the next few days, and despite using slug bait, the slugs and snails ate the lot – flowers, leaves, and stalks! By then it was too late to plant any more. So last year I didn’t get to eat a single bean!
This year there were only four beans left. ‘I might as well plant them,’ I thought. And all four came up, and have grown well. They were about two feet tall, attached carefully to bamboo sticks, and although still indoors, they were already producing a few bright red and white flowers. The soil in my garden is heavy clay, so on Sunday I carefully potted up my four dwarf beans plants into a much larger pot, one that they will spend the rest of their lives in. It’s still rather cold here in southern England, so I decided to keep the beans indoors for a little longer, and I left the pot overnight on the floor by the patio doors.
I came downstairs yesterday morning, to find the top third of what had been the two tallest bean plants, both lying on the floor, along with some of the flowers! ‘Did I bend them?’ I thought, as I knelt on the floor to examine the evidence. ‘Was I not careful enough?’ I was at a loss; until I saw the culprits! A big fat snail was stuck to the side on the pot, and a smaller snail and a slug were hidden under the lip of the pot. My heart sank. All my careful planting and watering and repotting, demolished and desecrated, by two small snails and a slug! How can something that small spoil your day? I glanced outside, it was pouring with rain and looked set in, another wet Bank Holiday Monday! I picked the snails off the pot, and threw them out into the garden, and used a trowel to remove the slug. I felt very discouraged, but I was determined that despite the rain and my disappointment, the day would not be wasted. So I chose some cheerful music to play, and made myself get on with other things.

Today the sun is shining, and for now at least, the beans are not showing any further signs of being nibbled! But I don’t think I’ll bother growing dwarf beans again next year!

From April to May

Today is the final day of April, and at last the sun has come out. We have certainly had more than enough April showers, and too much cold wind coming from the north and east. Today the wind has changed, and is blowing gently from the south-east, bringing with it some warmer weather. Tomorrow is Mayday, and hopefully summer won’t be too far behind.
My garden is finally beginning to wake up from its long winter sleep. The white lilac is fading, but the purple lilac is in bloom, and has been for a couple of weeks, cheering my spirit every morning when I open my curtains, even when the skies have been grey. The bluebells are standing proudly amongst the small white flowers of the potentilla. And today I can see the wisteria buds are beginning to open, hanging down on their long trailing racemes; with a couple more warm days they will be fully in flower. Even the roses in my front garden are in bud, and soon will be a mass of colour and scent.
So, with the last day of April slipping past, and a third of this year already gone, I look back at the aims I wrote in January. ‘How am I doing?’ I ask myself. I think I am planning my time better, and I am getting better at pacing myself. I am still learning to be still with God. And I am pleased to say I have managed to post an entry on my blog every week so far!

Lilac

Bluebells and Potentilla

Wisteria

What do you do?

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Imagine you’re walking along the road, and someone shouts ‘STOP!’ What do you do? Would you stop? Or would you ignore it, thinking it can’t be anything to do with you? Or do you look around, wondering why someone shouted stop? Then you might realise you were just about to walk in front of an approaching car, maybe one of those almost silent electric ones! I remember many years ago, I was out with a group of friends. And we all shouted ’STOP’ to a friend who was walking ahead of us, totally oblivious to a pushbike coming downhill very fast towards her. She stopped, and unfortunately also took a step backwards, straight into the bike! CRASH! Thankfully no one was badly hurt, just a bit shaken up. But do we follow instructions? Do we obey road signs? red traffic lights? speed signs? Do we do what we’re told, or do we think it doesn’t apply to us?

God gave us instructions in the Bible. Instructions for living a good life, the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:1-17). Some of these instructions are negative, telling us not to do something; not to murder, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to lie, not to be jealous of others, not to use God’s name irreverently, not to idolise anything above God. The others are positive, telling us to do something, to honour God, to honour and respect our parents, and to have a day off each week. Do we follow these instructions, or do we think they don’t apply to us?
In the New Testament, in Luke 10:27, Jesus agreed with an expert in the law, who said ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbour as yourself.’ And in John 13:34, Jesus said ‘A new command I give you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.’ That means loving and honouring God in every way we can. And it means loving other people, and some of them we may not actually like! It means behaving towards others as we would like them to behave towards us. Do we follow these instructions in our every day lives, or do we think they don’t apply to us?

Music

Have you ever imagined what the world would be like without any music?
Music has always been a big part of my life. Both my parents played the piano. My Grandma had a baby grand piano in the middle of her lounge, and played it brilliantly. Both my sisters learnt to play the piano, and one still plays the flute; and I learnt to play the guitar, and sing harmony. Music might run through my family, but when I researched my family history, I was surprised to find no musicians recorded, so my son and daughter are the first professional musician and music therapist in the family. When they were young, I used to love hearing them practise in their bedrooms; first a flute and a clarinet, and then voices and guitars and drums, and then saxophones of various sizes. I loved the immediateness of their music, with all the mistakes and individual nuances. Now I still sing and play guitar, and I enjoy listening to most forms of music; and life would be very dull without it.

Music is mentioned many times throughout the Bible, particularly in the book of Psalms, which is a collection of poems and songs, many of which would have been recited or sung in worship. Psalm 98:4-6 ‘Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the Lord, the King.’
Wow, the joy, and the exuberance, try and imagine that!!

Washing Day

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The sky was blue, the sun was bright,
with not a cloud to spoil the sight.
So I did the washing, and because it was fine,
I put it to dry outside on the line.

I turned away, I pursued my day,
I didn’t observe the sky shift to grey.
I did my work, I didn’t slack,
I didn’t notice the clouds change to black.

Then I heard a sound, and when I turned round,
the rain was plummeting down to the ground.
‘Oh no,’ I thought, my washing’s out,
was nearly dry, there’d be no doubt.

I rushed out into the pouring rain,
which now was gurgling down the drain.
I grabbed the towels, the shirts, the vest,
the sheets, the socks, and all the rest.

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Laden down with wet washing, I came back in,
and shoved it all into the washing machine.
And then, because I was wet right through,
I changed and put my clothes in too.

Later when I pondered, I could clearly see,
the paradox of our weather, its irony.
I’d put the washing out, to dry it better,
but it, and me, came in much wetter!
© Gillian Brazier 2024

Which Way?

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On Easter Sunday morning, my dog Dexie needed a walk before I went to church, and I was running late. So, as we walked down the alley next to my house, I planned ahead, deciding which way we would go. We turned right at the end of the alley, then took another right and then a left. And that’s where it all began to go wrong. We were about to turn right again, down a nice wooded path, when coming towards us was another dog walker and a white dog with a black patch over one eye. This dog doesn’t like Dexie, and Dexie doesn’t like him, and they bark wildly, and lunge at one other; not what you want at half past nine on a Sunday morning when we’ve all lost an hour sleep because the clocks have just gone forward! So a bit of quick thinking, and Dexie and I abruptly turned left instead of right, with the intention of turning right again a bit further on. But then, just as we turned the corner, there ahead was a lady using crutches. Not a good idea to try and get round her with a bouncy dog. So instead of turning right, we turned left, and crossed the road. Once on the narrow pathway, I noticed a teenager a little in front of us, walking slowly, head down, engrossed in her mobile phone. This time it was too late to deviate, so we side-stepped onto the grass to overtake her. We turned another corner, and there, quite a long way ahead, was a black spaniel and another dog walker, who I often stop to chat with. This morning there was no time to chat, so as he couldn’t have noticed us yet, we crossed the road, walked down the other side, and just waved. Then we crossed back again at the traffic lights. The rest of the walk went to plan, and I arrived home with time for a cup of tea before going to church.

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Later on that day I got to thinking. How often can life be like that dog walk? We happily march down one avenue of our lives, expecting everything to be rosy, then something or someone gets in the way. So we think quickly, change direction, and trundle off on a different path, with not a care in the world. Until we see something risky looming in front of us, and we have to switch direction once more. We realign ourselves, shake ourselves down, and off we go, until we see a danger that brings us to a dead halt. On we go again, and then we miss a hazard right under our feet and we trip up and fall flat on our faces! We pick ourselves up, look around a little warily, and off we go again.

If we get too many setbacks, over time we can gradually become more tentative, less innovative, and more disillusioned, almost expecting things to go wrong. And it can happen without us even realising it. We need to become more aware of these setbacks, and how life changes affect us, whether we are forced to change direction or whether we choose those changes ourselves. And we must work out what we can do to set us back on track again. In the Bible in Jeremiah 6:9 it says ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’

Palm Sunday

It was my turn to do the story for Sunday School last Sunday. I realised it was Palm Sunday, and I couldn’t think of a different way to do it, so finally I decided to write about the events of Palm Sunday from the point of view of a someone who was following Jesus, someone who was not actually a disciple, but someone who is expecting Jesus to be the leader who will free them from the Romans.
So here it is!

I Remember Palm Sunday

It’s nearly Passover, and I’ve been following Jesus and his disciples all the way from Jericho to Jerusalem. It’s been a slow uphill journey, and we keep having to stop. In fact, we’d only just left Jericho, when we had to wait while Jesus healed two blind men. Anyway, we’ve finally arrived at the Mount of Olives, near Bethany, and Jerusalem is below us, heaving with people. Thousands of pilgrims have travelled here for the Passover celebration. I guess the Roman Governor is expecting trouble, because there are lots of Roman soldiers too. That’s probably because the Passover celebrates Moses leading us to freedom from Egypt, long ago, and we’re hoping God will send another strong leader soon, to fight for our freedom from these Romans.

Anyway, as I was saying, we’ve reached the Mount of Olives. Jesus and his disciples are behaving differently today. Usually, they move around quietly, so the authorities don’t know where they are or where they’re going. But today, here on the edge of Jerusalem, I think we’re expected, it’s like everyone knows we’re coming. I thought we’d just slip down into the city, and go to the temple, but I think Jesus has made other plans.

While I was watching, Jesus called two of his disciples, and sent them to the village. They came back a short while later with a donkey and a colt. The colt was young and skittish, so I guessed it hadn’t been ridden before. One of the disciples put a cloak on the colts back, and Jesus sat on it. I thought the colt would throw him off, but it stood quietly. Jesus looked a bit awkward, his long legs hanging over the colts back, almost to the floor. But it reminded me of that passage from the Prophet Zechariah (9:9) do you know the one? Where it says:

‘Rejoice O daughter of Zion,
Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your King comes to you,
Righteous and having salvation,
Gentle and riding on a donkey,
On a colt, the foal of a donkey.’

I hope Jesus is the leader we’re waiting for, spoken about by the prophets. The Messiah, sent by God to free us from the Romans. But why is he riding on a donkey? The Messiah should ride a war horse, surrounded by marching soldiers and trumpets, with army standards and flags. So, there is Jesus, sitting on the donkey. And he’s starting off, bumping down the steep road into Jerusalem from the east, riding the donkey, and we’re all following. The crowds are gathering, shouting, jumping up to see, others running to catch up. More and more of them. I see people tearing off palm branches and waving them wildly in the air. Others are throwing the palm branches down on the road ahead of the donkey. Then I saw someone drag off his own cloak and spread it out on the road. And then everyone’s doing it. Palm branches waving, cloaks on the road, shouting, dancing. More and more people. I can see Pharisees, the religious men, in the crowd looking very uncomfortable. Then I hear someone yelling at the top of his voice, ‘Hosanna to the son of David,’ and someone else joined in, shouting, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ And another shouting ‘Hosanna in the highest.’ And then everyone is shouting; and I’m shouting too. ‘Hosanna to the son of David’, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest.’ It’s chaos! It’s exciting! It’s amazing! Jesus on the donkey, the disciples around him, crowds following; me following. We’re reaching the city gate now. Soon he must call us to join his army. Maybe now we’ll be able to beat the Romans, then we’ll be free.

I keep following Jesus and his disciples, through the gate and on into Jerusalem, and up to the temple. And then they just stand around. Have I missed something? I’m confused, is this man the Messiah? The saviour of our people? It’s getting late now, maybe he’s planned something for tomorrow, maybe we’ll overthrow the Romans tomorrow. In the meantime, I best get to my lodgings, and have a good night sleep, so I’ll be ready for whatever happens tomorrow.

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Orchids

I like orchids. I have kept orchids for many years, and I have seven spread along my kitchen windowsill. Only one is in flower, my Grandkids gave it to me for Mother’s Day. Another has a spike with a row of buds; but all the rest are flower-less and bud-less! Earlier this month I spent a week staying with my sister who is a novice orchid grower. She has one orchid, sitting proudly on her kitchen windowsill, and it is in flower, a second flowering. It is completely covered with beautiful, pale pink flowers. All my orchids together have never had so many flowers at one time. My sister’s orchid has seven spikes, and each spike has a multitude of flowers. Why is her solitary orchid growing and flowering so much better than all of mine, I wonder? It must really like being on her windowsill, it must like the amount of light, the humidity, the warmth that it is receiving. And my sister must be providing just the right amount of water.

And I got to thinking, about how we thrive better in an environment that gives us just what we need. A safe, nurturing environment, filled with love and acceptance. Where we are encouraged to grow and develop, to reach our full potential, and become the confident, fully rounded people we were always meant to be. And we can then encourage others to grow and develop, to reach their full potential, and become the confident, fully rounded people they were always meant to be. The Bible says in St Paul’s letter to the Colossians 3:12-14 ‘… clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.’ If we all followed these principles, the world would become much a better place.

Everything is changing. Or is it?

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It’s raining! That steady drenching rain that never seems to let up. The sky is overcast and grey, with no break in the clouds. My friend and I had planned to go for a walk this morning with our two dogs, like we do most Tuesdays. We like a gentle walk around The Millpond, a slow chatty walk, noticing nature and the changing seasons around us, the flowers, the trees, the waterfowl; letting the dogs sniff through the undergrowth. But seeing the rain this morning, we decided to put it off, and see what the weather is like after lunch. So, for today our routine has changed. I like routines. I like to know what is happening and when. But today feels different. It is different. My dog is restless, she wants her morning walk. I feel restless too. I keep looking out of the window, and my heart sinks each time I notice the rain. I know I function better in a routine, and now everything feels out of kilter; but it has got me thinking, about change.

It is good to be open to change, to be able to change, change how we do things, change our routines. Life changes, and I don’t want to be the dinosaur left in yesterday’s world, while everything and everybody else has moved on without me. The weather changes, the seasons change, we age, we change, technology pushing us ever forward. Everything is changing, so I’d better get used to it. However, there is something that will never change. And that is God’s love for us. God’s love for the creatures and the world that he created. In Hebrews 13:8 it says, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.’ So amidst the ever changing world, there is something stable to hold on to. I have a favourite Bible passage, Psalm 61:2,3 ‘I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I, For you [O God] have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.’ I love the idea that God is an immovable rock, solid, reliable, and safe, and something I can cling to as everything around me changes.