WHAT A LOVELY DAY!

We had a great service at Church, but were sad that Matt, our Worship Leader for today, was ill - and hope he gets well soon.  Pete stood in for him and did a great job and then we heard a wonderful sermon by Philip McCormack, who is the Vice Chancellor of Spurgeon’s College, an evangelical Baptist Theological college in South Norwood London.  Philip told us that we were all God’s masterpieces and that there was a specific job for every single one of us.  I firmly believe that God is re-positioning me at the moment - and I am excited and impatient to find out what He wants me to do in the future.  

During the service Lucy, one of the children from Kidzone, presented Dawn from Swindon Night Shelter  and The Haven Day Centre in Swindon, with a cheque for £109.63.  This was money collected each week by the children and they wanted the homeless and refugees in the town to benefit from the money that is collected each week in “Bob the Cow” - a name I guess was given to the Cookie Jar by the children themselves.  

The Night Shelter and The Haven Day Centre consists of Christians seeking to serve those who are homeless, vulnerable and struggling in our area.  Dawn told us that they have 10 Iranian refugees, several of who have had to leave their families in Iran and come here for asylum, so she said that this money would go to them.  They have four chefs who cook and clear up for all those who come into the Centre but they do it for no pay whatsoever - so this would help them and she said they would be very grateful.

We enjoyed coffee in the hall after Church and spoke to several new people, including two from Australia, who had come to visit friends to come to our Church.  It was great to meet and chat with them.

After the service, we decided to go out for a drive - Mr. HCB definitely gets a Gold Star today because he thought of going to All Saints Church at Down Ampney and then we walked along a concrete pathway, which you can see in several of the photographs and I was able to use my Mo-Rollator, which was great and of course, it was good exercise for me.  It was a a bit bumpy in places, but I managed.

The top left shot shows two lovely rescue dogs, Ginny, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Lottie, a Border Collie, but their owner, Barbara thinks that she was the runt of the litter and had been left in a farm building to die, but fortunately someone found her.  Barbara said both dogs had come from Many Tears Animal Rescue Centre, based in Wales, but which has branches all over the country.  They take in and re-home primarily ex-breeding dogs who are no longer required; those on"death row" in the pounds and those whose owners are no longer able to keep them.  

Barbara said she was pleased to have the two of them and they were so obedient, which was what drew us to them in the first place.  Lottie, at the front was wearing a medal because she had walked the full length - 189 miles - of the Thames Footpath - not all at once, but she had walked the whole length in parts.  What a lovely lady Barbara was - I told her about Blip, of course, and gave her my username so that she can look up today’s Blip and she asked if I would mention the Centre, which I said I would be happy to do.  

The rest of the photographs are things we spotted along the path we were walking - Mr. HCB leaning on a gate, which he likes to do - and just enjoy his surroundings, white campion, with a lovely house at the end of the road.   On the way, we used the bird app recommended by Wrencottage a few weeks ago, called Merlin Bird ID and Mr. HCB and I heard eight different birds - and we heard a wren!

I was amazed at how wonderful the perfume of the convolvulus, or field bindweed, was - I had never realised that it smelled so beautiful and even mentioned it to another lady passing by, who didn’t even know it was called convolvulus!  The little bug sitting on it is a False oil beetle also known as a thick legged flower beetle or a swollen-thigh beetle, and you can see why.  It was a great path for cyclists and we saw several Dads out for a cycle ride with their children.  A hoverfly posted beautifully for me on top of a Plume Thistle and Mr. HCB pointed out a Red Admiral butterfly, which stayed still long enough for me to take a photograph.  

I loved the Queen Anne’s Lace flowers, and managed to capture a 7-spot ladybird, our most common one in the UK on one of the flowers.  We always love the lych gate at All Saints Church, so when we got back to the car, we went through it and just ambled around the churchyard.  

What a lovely day and I was so grateful to Mr. HCB for his thoughtfulness.  He’s a keeper!

“What you do today
     Can improve 
          All your tomorrows.”
Ralph Marston