R's rue

St Swithin's Church, Wellow, Nottinghamshire Stepping back in English history, there were times when just about everybody went to church. Family, social, employer and landowner pressures meant that church attendance was more or less obligatory. The church was at the very heart of every village community and it thrived. All of the big stuff happened in the church - baptisms, weddings and funerals. Churches were solid and strong, built to last. They had bells that called you to worship and contained beautiful things - unlike the hovels that most parishioners inhabited. The clergymen who presided over churches sought to explain the meaning of life through The Bible and associated prayers and songs. They built an edifice of words and holy notions that would be almost impossible to resist. Though I have been a lifelong atheist, I recognise the key role that the church played in village life. Nowadays hardly anybody goes to church  but the voices and footsteps of those who went bef...

 It’s a good day Happy Friday My loves May it be Sweet and fruitful Full of many blessings from R's rue https://ift.tt/DaPMqZ4

 I think it’s time for a Roger update, given the fact he’s now been with me six months now. He is 18 months old and not a puppy anymore. I snort…. yeah right!  There is no hiding the fact that Roger remains dim. Even with the girls providing the ideal role model, he still has not mastered the art of jumping into Bluebell for his morning walk and stands clumsily on the sill waiting to be helped. Getting out of the car is easier, as all you have to do is pull his lead and hope for the best, but even then, that is a bit of lottery of how he in fact lands. He’s no cat after all. The cottage stairs he has mastered, and to be fair he makes a rather good job of them once he gets his legs going.  It’s a bit of a “hurl himself hopefully at them” sort of thing but it works…..eventually. Like William before him , he is a gentle dog. I’ve not seen him chase bees but he’s a big leaf kicker and skips in this autumn like a little boy does in short wellingtons. Uncoordinat...