General Chat

Hope everyone is keeping well - love popping in Cynthia to see how everyone is.

Still looking for a job - nothing out there - may end up just taking the money and surviving for a couple of months till the situation improves. I know i wont get one on the pay i have been on as been there 26 years.

Only have another 4 years 6 months till the gov issue me with the state pension, wish they could have waited till then. I may have managed to put some savings together.

Never mind everything happens for a reason and i had outgrown the department, too many young managers and strange ideas.


Take care everyone - have a good weekend. <3 <3 <3 ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)

Good morning :-)


Lent is not for the faint-hearted
It demands that we, like Thomas,
Put our hands into the side of the crucified Christ.
Lent is a journey towards the cross,
A journey of enlightenment
From wilderness to feast,
From desert to oasis.
It’s an attempt to identify with the powerless
And the suffering in the world.

Lent is not tidy.
The days grow longer,
The ground thaws, there’s mud and dirt everywhere
And the windows need cleaning.

Lent is a journey.
So that at the end of Lent
We should expect to find ourselves
Somewhere different from where we started.

Lent can be an opportunity
To explore what is the nature
Of the promised Kingdom of God on earth
That we long for.
A time to discern
How we are called to work for it.
No, Lent is not for the faint-hearted.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Just a few words for today :



Lenten practices of giving up pleasures
are a good reminder that the purpose of life is not pleasure.
The purpose of life is to attain a perfect life, all truth and undying ecstatic love—which is the definition of God. In pursuing that happiness, we find happiness."

- Bishop Fulton Sheen.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Another hymn which is so pertinent for this Lenten season…..if you don't know the tune, just read the words - they are so apt.


1 Christian, seek not yet repose;
Hear thy guardian angel say,
'Thou art in the midst of foes:
Watch and pray.'

2 Principalities and powers,
Mustering their unseen array,
Wait for thy unguarded hours:
Watch and pray.

3 Gird thy heavenly armour on;
Wear it ever, night and day;
Ambushed lies the evil one:
Watch and pray.

4 Hear the victors who o'ercame;
Still they mark each warrior's way;
All with one sweet voice proclaim,
'Watch and pray.'

5 Hear, above all, hear the Lord,
Him thou lovest to obey;
Hide within thy heart His word,
'Watch and pray.'

6 Watch, as if on that alone
Hung the issue of the day:
Pray that help may be sent down:
Watch and pray.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


"Come to me all you who are burdened
and I will give you rest"
Here I am, Lord.
I come to seek Your presence.
I long for your healing power.
Fill me with Your Holy Spirit Lord,
so that I may have inner freedom.
Let your Spirit instil in my heart this Lent,
a desire to know and love you more each day. Amen.


Cx :-)

Hello All

Happy International Women's Day to everyone.

Vera, I hope you and your OH are well?

I had planned to pull some weeds in the garden but "rain stopped play" and so the gardening is delayed until another time.

Stay warm and keep safe.

Good morning :-)


Don't worry Vera, just as long as the words help someone, that's fine by me. It's nice to have a little chat now and then though :-D



Lent is a tree without blossom, without leaf,
Barer than blackthorn in its winter sleep,
All unadorned. Unlike Christmas which decrees
The setting-up, the dressing-up of trees,
Lent is a taking down, a stripping bare,
A starkness after all has been withdrawn
Of surplus and superfluous,
Leaving no hiding-place, only an emptiness
Between black branches, a most precious space
Before the leaf, before the time of flowers;
Lest we should see only the leaf, the flower,
Lest we should miss the stars.


Cx :-)

Thank you Cynthia and other contributors for the week's posts. I do read the thread every day even when I have nothing much to add, so thank you <3

Good morning :-)


The Collect (special prayer) for today

Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

John 2 13-22
This week’s gospel is the story of how Jesus cleansed the temple.

Cx :-)

Hello all

Thank you for your postings during Lent Cynthia.

Remembering in pray all the NHS workers, the care workers and also the teachers and children too, as all schools reopen on Monday.

Take care and stay safe everyone.

Good morning :-)


Our steps are slow,
Our breathing ragged.
Our burdens heavy.
This walk to the cross
It is not easy,
Yet Christ walked it for us.

For the joy
That was set before him
He despised the shame,
He bore our blame,
And shared our pain.
Now let us build on the rock
That is Christ.

Let us walk the way of the cross
Together,
Moving forward without fear,
Into God’s eternal purposes.
For Christ himself is with us,
Every step of the way.

Let us trust in God alone,
And find the joy that Christ did,
Obedience to our loving God.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

One of the things many of us are missing during these times is being able to sing familiar hymns together. Hymns that refresh and revive us and hymns that calm and reassure us.

A hymn which is often sung during Lent……..it speaks to those who are tired and weary, and gives us hope.


I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto Me, and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place,
And He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
The living water: thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that Light of life I’ll walk
Till trav’lling days are done.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


A Lenten Prayer

Lord I know how much you love me,
it’s hard for me to feel it sometimes
but I know your love is always with me.
Help me to use your love as a way
to persevere in my Lenten intentions
I am weak, but I know with your help
I can use these small sacrifices in my
life to draw closer to you. Amen.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Bought some narcissi yesterday and they are so pretty. Went to M and S and spent far too much.....tuts. :-D


This is an interesting thought for Lent.


If we were knives, Lent would be a time to sharpen out cutting edges. If we were cars, Lent would be a time for an oil change and a tune-up. If we were gardens, Lent would be a time to fertilize our soil and dig out our weeds. If we were carpets, Lent would be a time to get power-cleaned. If we were computers, Lent would be a time to overhaul our disk drive. If we were seeds, Lent would be a time to germinate and reach for the sun.

But we are none of these things: We are people who some times do wrong things; we have to atone for them. We are people who sometimes get spiritually lazy; we need to get back into shape.

We are people who sometimes become selfish; we need to stretch out of our narrowness and begin giving again. And because we are also people who sometimes tend to put those things off, we need a special sort of official time to concentrate on doing them.

So we have Lent. The Easter chocolate will taste sweeter, the Easter flowers will bloom more brightly, the Easter Sunday sun will shine more warmly if we are a better people – and all because of how we spent these forty days.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

I love daffodils.....they are on my shopping list for today! :-D



O Christ, Son of God,
for our sake you fasted forty days and allowed
yourself to be tempted.
Protect us so that we may not be led astray
by any temptation.
Since man does not live by bread alone,
nourish our souls with the heavenly food of your Word;
through your mercy, O our God, you are blessed
and live and govern all things, now and forever. Amen.

Cx :-)

Happy St David's Day,

I too have daffodils in my home and daughter made Welsh Cakes at the weekend.

Spring is certainly just around the corner here.
My daughter and I are not long back from a walk in a local country park. The snowdrops were growing in great swathes under the trees and a few daffodils were just starting to bloom
Long catkins were moving gently in the trees near the little stream and the sun was shining brightly.
A beautiful day.

Hello all

Happy St David's Day wishes to all Welsh friends.

I have 3 vases filled with beautiful daffodils here and plan to have home-made leek and potato soup for lunch to keep warm as it's cold and frosty today.

Keep warm and stay safe everyone.

Good morning :-)



Today is St. David’s Day – a very special day for our Welsh friends. Daffodils are the national flower of Wales and they are often worn on this day. These beautiful yellow flowers are a reminder of Spring and we are now beginning to see that Spring is on its way…….thank you Lord!



After the Winter, God Sends the Spring
by Helen Steiner Rice

Springtime is a season
Of hope and joy and cheer.
There’s beauty all around us
To see and touch and hear.
So, no matter how downhearted
And discouraged we may be,
New hope is born when we behold
Leaves on a budding tree,
Or when we see a timid flower
Push through the frozen sod
And open wide in glad surprise
Its petaled eyes to God,
For this is just God saying,
“Lift up your eyes to Me,
And the bleakness of your spirit,
Like the budding Springtime tree,
Will lose its wintry darkness
And your heavy heart will sing” –
For God never sends the Winter
Without the joy of Spring.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


The Collect (special prayer) for today :

Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ's religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.


Cx :-)

Hello all

A cold and frosty start to this morning so far.

Amen to your morning prayer Cynthia.

Thoughts and prayers for Captain Sir Tom Moore's family as this close family attend his funeral service.

A real inspiration to us all during the anxious times of the global pandemic. RIP Captain Tom.