September 2025 (taken from The Link Magazine)
Hello,
Am writing this a week after the amazing Coffee Morning for Aid for Ukraine. My word, you all did me proud. My heart was so full with your generosity and kindness – you blew me away. We raised an amazing £870 – how incredible is that. A huge thank you to my helpers too who just turn up and get cracking. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I have just returned from a couple of nights away in Dora! Ma and I went to Salisbury for the weekend to celebrate her 96th birthday. Salisbury has huge meaning for us – it is where my lovely Dad trained and was ordained and my memories as a young teenager was of listening to choral evensong with 100 male trainees in full voice. The gorgeous living water fountain in the middle with its black interior is actually so powerful in imagery – you find yourself lost in thought just gazing at it. We stayed within the close – Ma in an Airbnb and me in Dora (my first nights in her) and we walked the few hundred yards to service in the sunshine looking at a Constable style real view of the Cathedral. The peace and tranquillity grab you from start to finish. Ma, herself was a guide in the Cathedral for many years when they lived at Tilshead and it is one of her favourite places. The sun shone, the air was calm, time to count blessings and we certainly felt very blessed. Dora was everything I had hoped she would be, just got to get a camping fridge for her so I can go off grid and not make yoghurt out of the milk (yuck to lumpy milk) and sort out the cupboard arrangement plus a small rug for the floor (not a fan of a gritty floor in the night with bare feet either). Next trip is with Theo at the end of the month – a camping trip up to Alton Towers for a couple of nights. So already building good memories. Bob Burchett is my new wonder man without whom Dora would not be in the shape she is. He listens to “my dreams” and makes them come true….a bed here, a seat there, a cupboard here, flat floor there, insulation here and here and here…. Window catches sorted…...the list goes on. Thank you Bob. We just need to move the loo box and face it a different way as kept scraping my bum on the sides of the box….lol. Muffin loves it too which is good although a little tight on bed space with his hairy little bot wiggling its way into a little niche. Theo and I scrubbed the front cab and she was shining and ready to go.
Then last week we had an amazing Jumble Sale and over £700 raised which I think is a record. Thank you for the jumble and all the manpower. Very appreciated.
And now we are into September. Looking forward to taking part in the Pilgrimage to Walsingham, having never been and no real idea of what to expect which possibly is for the best. Time to commune, to pray, to take stock, to firm up friendships. Will tell you all when I get back.
We are looking ahead to the Harvest Lunch and ways to improve the experience for all e.g. a non stressed out kitchen crew and have come up with a serve yourselves at your table menu of a delicious gammon hotpot with crusty bread, fresh veggies and new potatoes (veg option available) and a crumble and custard to follow. Looking for someone to run a table quiz, someone to sort a bit of a singalong and items for the raffle in autumn colours please.
Lol…had to take out a paragraph of rant so you have been saved!!!
Ramble over.
Love
Dee