Last Pause in Advent post and other stuff

From the sublime to the ridiculous?

I went to church today (the first time in years I am sorry to say!) - to a little chapel in the neighbouring village which I'd been thinking of going to for a long time.  It was the carol service and since I had had such a positive experience in Salisbury recently I felt I'd like to go.  No soaring spires here nor hundreds of years of history, no wonderful stonemasonry just a simple little chapel tucked away just off the A30 in the village.  No choir, no organ just a harmonium to accompany the singing, and only about a dozen of us in the congregation, no vicar or priest in flowing robes either as it was a lay preacher today.  What a contrast with the cathedral in Salisbury!!  However it was a lovely little service and I came away feeling a lot more like Christmas for didn't Jesus say that "wherever two or three gather together in my name I am there with them"? And the words that the lay preacher read to us (it couldn't be called a sermon) spoke to me just as the words of the vicar/priest/dean or whoever he was at Salisbury had done and I felt at peace with myself and life in general.

Another cat!

The postman rang the bell earlier today - yes on a Sunday which did surprise me - and handed me a big purple box labeled "Live plants open immediately"!  On opening it I discovered this little topiary set - a little box plant along with a wire cat shaped frame - which had been sent to me by a friend.  Two things I love: 1)  box which I love for it's perfume which always transports me back to childhood days at one of the big houses we lived in and 2) a cat it would take me a book to write about why I love cats!  I don't know if I will be able to care for it as I should orwhether I will be able to clip it into shape or not but it will be fun trying!

Another present

A week or so ago I asked Mr M if he could nail a piece of wood to a post for me to use as a bird table as not all birds are happy eating from the ground and anyway it is so wet on the ground just now, as you can see in the photo, the seed gets sodden.  Well of course such a request required internet research and a "pattern" was found and as always it also required a trip to the hardware store as even though Mr M has a shed full of little drawers which must contain every known size of nail and screw he didn't have any cup hooks suitable to hang a home made fat/seed filled coconut shell as I had suggested underneath the table top!!  I did suggest a bent nail or something but of course that wouldn't do!  Anyway today was the unveiling and it is now in situ - I just hope the birds like it though I am sure the squirrels will soon find it if not!

So you see I feel a lot more like Christmas now as to me the things that matter are love and friendship as shown in my topiary cat and bird table along with a reminder of what it's really all about in my two recent visits to the cathedral and the chapel.