Dear Friends This coming week, I shall mostly be resting!! The first half of the school holidays has been exhausting – but the most fun ever! Word seems to have spread that the welcome we offer at St Columba’s is amazing, and this summer we have been at capacity every session. This is wonderful, but … [Read more…]
Dear friends Welcome to summer!! Our fair is on Saturday and Ted’s garden party a few weeks later– it’s beginning to feel a lot like summer. I have watched with growing pride this last couple of weeks, the young people connected with our church. As you may have heard, the “powers that be” in Girlguiding … [Read more…]
Anyone who has been involved in Girlguiding may know the chant: “Thunder, thunder, thunderation We are the Girl Guide Association When we work with determination, we create a sensation!” This has never been more appropriate than over the last few weeks. In over 50 years of membership, I have never known members of the organisation … [Read more…]
Dear friends Refreshed by my fortnight leave, I returned to work this month and picked up pretty much where I had left off. I hope you didn’t miss me too much. Soon our lovely church secretary will be off on her holidays too – how will we cope!! We all love a nice time away … [Read more…]
Dear Friends This week I am going away – I’m having a little holiday visiting friends (and my son) in the south of England. Having made and dispatched the last portion of “St Columba’s Soup” – at least until the winter returns, emptied my diary of everything after the 50th anniversary event at Church House … [Read more…]
Dear friends, It is a beautiful day in Darlington. At the moment the sky is an unbroken blue. Walking Lucy at the moment is delightful, as each day more and more flowers are appearing in the gardens we walk by, walks take longer as I stop to look more often. We are now in Lent, … [Read more…]
Dear friends You cannot fail to have been moved, as I have, by the tragic events in Turkey this week? Our shock as we began to realise the size of the earthquake and the huge loss of life makes us all feel like we want to help. At the time of writing the death toll … [Read more…]
Dear friends Well, here we are again at the beginning of another New Year, my goodness doesn’t time pass quickly? My visitors have gone home and I’m looking at my Christmas baubles – looking a bit tired and out of place now that Christmas is over. The wreath on my front door is slowly slipping … [Read more…]
Dear friends This week sees us beginning the lead up to Christmas. This week is Advent Sunday and I have 3 services to go to!! Last year, you may remember, the lights we hung outside the church proved very popular and were commented on by lots of people. This year I thought it would be … [Read more…]
Dear friends Autumn is upon us, season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness”. The Acer tree in my front garden is turning the colour of flames. There seems to have been a bumper harvest of apples too – and I have made some apple chutney for the Christmas Fair with some of that harvest. With autumn … [Read more…]