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Eleventh

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How dank and still the air has been these past few days. A few autumn leaves hang on without a whiff of wind to disturb them. It was like that on the morning of November 11th 1918 when George Allison was shot dead by a German sniper at Mons. He was the last British soldier to be killed on the battlefield in The Great War. What was so "great" about it I wonder? All accounts suggest that it was truly awful - not great. As I usually do, I walked up to the simple war memorial next to All Saints Church and stood there in quiet remembrance as the bells chimed eleven times. There were two people from the cafe and about twenty small children from the church playgroup with their leaders. Those children stayed remarkably quiet . I put a beach stone on the plinth. I had written "Thank You" on it with a permanent black marker and a single poppy too. Normally, when I am standing there, my thoughts wander to my Uncle Jack and all the other young men who never came home. What a te...

Prayer

 God grant  Me the serenity To love  Others I can’t stand Give me Hope  Love  Joy And protection from R's rue https://ift.tt/N40FCIO

Nails

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  What is it with nails? All over Great Britain, nail bars have sprung up in our towns and cities in the past decade. Along the main road that runs through our neighbourhood then on to the city centre there are now ten nail bars. The newest one has just opened five minutes walk away and it is called "Phoebe Nail". Naturally, I had to take our Phoebe down there at the weekend - not to have her nails done but to get her picture taken outside the new business. The owner - probably from South East Asia  - came out to talk to us.  Naturally, Phoebe kept shtum as small children will frequently do with strangers. The owner seemed very nice, telling me that this was the second shop she had opened. I wished her well with her new venture even though I will not myself be paying for "French tips" (£45) or even an "Eyebrow wax and tint" (£15). What the hell are "French tips" anyway? Are they like "French letters"? Just before Halloween, I processed ...

Favorite things

 Another round of things about me I love a coffee table book. So much beauty. I could look at it over and over again I love a cute magnet I love a banana nut muffin I try to be creative even if it’s not my strong suit I’m trying to get in the holiday spirit from R's rue https://ift.tt/J0PZAbE

Branded

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Are you there Washington D.C.? Come in please! This is England calling! Today, at Southwark Crown Court in London, the rapist and sexual predator Russell Brand was put away for ten and a half years having been found guilty of his crimes. It didn't matter that he was a rich media star, famous "comedian" and "writer". It didn't matter that he had settled down in recent years with a  loving wife and their three young children. It didn't matter that he had turned to God or that he wore a crucifix. Past crimes came back to haunt him and the women he had abused earlier this century at long last achieved some kind of justice. There are at least two other cases against Brand still pending. He may yet have more years added to his sentence. I began this blogpost in the way I did because I had Jeffrey Epstein and his associates in mind. Numerous other men - mostly wealthy and powerful - were involved in his predation and not one of them has been suitably punished. ...

Rambles

 When I’m on vacation, one stop I must make is to a church, and NYC was no different. I told my best friend, if I did anything, I knew where I had to go. St.Patrick’s Cathedral didn’t disappoint. For all its outward beauty, it’s what I found inside that captured my attention. I got peace in the middle of chaos. Quiet surrounded by noise. My soul desired it. Craved it, as if I were a kid begging for candy. For all my travels, the churches and cathedrals hold my heart. Assisi, Montreal, and New York City are in good company. Spiritual quiet and holy silence. My body from head to toe demands it. And it got it.  The church provides me physical rest and spiritual refreshment. As I look up in awe once again, I’m reminded how He is the only balm to my weariness. Jesus, you give me what I can’t give myself. And that is a blessing and a miracle. I wonder how He continues to sustain me even when I doubt His ability to do it.  I’m grateful that You give me, and continue to do so the...

Boundaries

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Visitors who only read blogs will not have seen the following background alert that has recently been appearing on the dashboards of blog creators:- Updates to the Blogger Content Policy We are making some changes to our policies, effective December 16, 2026. To see how these changes may affect you, please find more information in the  Blogger Content Policy . I thought that it was about time that I investigated what this is all about. What changes are coming and how will they impact on everyday blogging? As far as I can make it out, it's all about tightening the system up and ensuring that Blogger is not used maliciously or for unsavoury purposes. It appears that Blogger has seventeen key guidelines that bloggers are meant to follow. Now it seems that these principles will be given more weight and there will be better enforcement. I copied and pasted the guidelines for your interest:- Absolute zero-tolerance policy; results in immediate removal, account termination, and reportin...