My week by Francis gay

Blue cloudless skies, The warmth of the sun, A blackbird’s refrain, When day is done; Trees draped in greenery, Bright flowers on display,

Let’s enjoy to the full, Each lovely summer’s day.

For their summer holiday, John and his family travelled the length of Britain by camper van.

Showing me a photo of his family on Dunnet Head beach (even further north than John O’groats), he said: “We had exactly the same weather at Land’s End. Well, they say you take the weather with you!”

To be honest, the weather looked terrible, people were holding their hats on, spectacles were covered with raindrops, the dog looked bemused and bedraggled. So, I asked if he had a pic from Land’s End. He did. And it looked just as awful.

But then I saw the true meaning of the saying he had quoted. In both photos the family were smiling and hugging. They were delighting in overcoming the cold and the wet. They were loving life and each other.

That was the “weather” they took with them. Something no amount of rain can dampen!

A warm day had Caroline reminiscing about the back garden of her childhood.

“Dad built me a toy house. It had a peaked roof, with a pretend chimney and scalloped edges. The door was stable-style so I could open the whole thing or just the top half. There were windows with actual shutters and a porch for sitting out in with a little fence around it. “Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Expensive even. But dad had no money back then. The only things he paid for were the door hinges and lock. All the rest was scrap wood he gave a second life to.” All gone now.

A second life? All gone?

I would humbly suggest Caroline’s dad gave the wood a third life, one that won’t fade or decompose, in the memory of a woman who was a child who knew her house was built with love!

Whoever planned the cycle race for July probably hoped for decent weather.

I was passing by, unaware the road-race was happening when I saw one cyclist.

I didn’t know how far he had already come but this section was directly into the wind and the rain. He was drenched and looked exhausted, but he was still going.

Then I saw the race marshal. As the cyclist passed, he applauded and cheered. And, yet… he was no less wind-blown, no less wet, probably a lot colder because he was standing in one place marking the way.

Passing, I said: “Bless your heart!” He laughed. “We all need encouragement when things are tough,” he said. “And, besides, the clapping and cheering warms me up!” Be an encourager, it’s good for the others, and it’s also good for you!

Mary told me about the “indoor narcissus garden” she made the other day.

She took a clear vase and filled the bottom three inches with glass pebbles. The collection of brown bulbs were nestled into the top of the pebbles. All very pretty, but it was the watering instructions Mary wanted to tell me about. According to the guidelines, the water should fill only the bottom inch of the pebbles. If the water covered the bulbs they would rot but if they could “smell” it they would reach for it. Without the effort expended putting down roots there would be very little in the way of flowers at the other end.

“We all think we want to be wrapped in luxury,” Mary said, “but often it rots us spiritually. We think we don’t want to struggle but often it’s the hardships in life that make us bloom.”