Another week gone

Jubilee Gardens, Chichester

I've spent a lot of time on my poetry in the last week.  It's been great fun and also creative.  It's amazing how much time I've wasted!  I've also been adding to my playlist on Spotify (more time wasting!).  However on Tuesday I met up with a friend and we went to the Christian Resources Exhibition at Sandown Park.  We had tickets to the Empowering Women conference put on by Woman Alive and BRF.  The main morning speaker was  the Bishop of York's wife's who gave an excellent talk on the Millennium Development Goals and the important part women play in helping themselves, family and village if they receive education. They often start their own business using micro finance and sometimes end up employing their husbands!  Let's hear it for all women!

We had time to see the stands in the main exhibition halls and came away with goody bags and free books (I also bought two books.....you know me, I can resist anything but temptation, ha!).  One of the freebies is Day by Day with God which I find useful to use in my quiet time in the mornings.  The other freebie is The Highway Code for Happiness by Michael & Hilary Perrott which is a jolly good bite size read and makes me think about my life and how a change in attitudes can make life easier. Just because I'm a Christian doesn't make me less stressful than anyone else.  I have the same ups and downs, doubts and grief. Anyway, there is one quote that I love 'Worry is stewing without doing'.  How true.

Our neighbours just returned from three months away in Bahrain visiting their daughter. When they are away we always keep an eye on their house with another neighbour putting lights on and off and checking things. The lady always comes armed with goodies on their return (not from Bahrain!), cream cakes, fruit and chocolates and this time she gave me a bunch of roses and a lovely scarf from Accessorize.  I feel very guilty as I don't really do anything.  They are nice neighbours and have lived next door all the time we've lived here (24 years). It's good to have neighbours you get along with.  It makes all the difference.  For some time we had neighbours on the other side who made our lives a misery and if we could have moved I think we would have.  Thankfully, they moved and since then we've been lucky. A little consideration costs nothing.

That elusive sun finally made it back yesterday and I managed a short time in the garden.  After six weeks of dreadful wet weather it is so welcome.  Some parts of England are no longer in drought, but I suspect we in the south will still have a hose pipe ban even though there is rain on the agenda again tomorrow - oh joy!
I think our summer came in March.