Plenteousness

How many pencils and pens do you have in your house, more than ten, more than twenty, more than fifty? I had more than fifty and still have lots even after Grace and I went through drawers, pots and pencil cases this week to find some to go into the two backpacks we’ve been putting together. We’ve also had lots of fun trawling charity shops in Harrogate and Ilkley looking for metal spoons, children’s shorts, t-shirts and dresses. All this because our vicar decided that this Harvest, as well as fresh produce and non-perishable foods, we would collect items for the Backpack Project, a simple way to help children from poor families in Liberia and Malawi get an education that will help them escape poverty in later life. The whole idea obviously caught the imagination of many  people in the congregation and the ‘Smiley Faces’ group I help to lead on Friday afternoons, as we got loads of items this morning and we’re going to have lots of fun making up the backpacks this week.



Some of the backpacks in the process of filling

Africa has always had a special place in my heart since Simon and I spent two years in Sierra Leone and I’m so excited because I have the opportunity to go back for the first time next month. If all works out I will be travelling with a teacher from a local Dales primary school to Bo, the second largest city in Sierra Leone, to visit some of the schools there that have links with Craven schools. It will only be a short visit but hopefully the precursor of a future visit longer visit.

When we were working in Sierra Leone one of my very good friends was married and next weekend is her Ruby Wedding Anniversary. Today (Sunday) I drove across to Pilling, on the Fylde Coast of Lancashire where I grew up, to celebrate this milestone. The party was a surprise and at a daughter’s home, a farm that specialises in breeding dairy cattle - as soon as the heifers calve they are sold and their female selected calves are reared until they themselves have their first calf. After a delicious lunch some of us borrowed wellies and were taken on a tour of the farm. When I was a teenager I used to help my granddad milk whenever I could so I really enjoyed being up close and personal with the cattle, especially as nearly all the farms that used to have dairy cows in our village now only have sheep.  Whilst we were walking around hundreds of Pink Footed geese flew over in several V shaped formations back to their roosting places on the marsh after feeding on the rotting potatoes and corn yet to be harvested on the moss land. A wonderful sight and very common in Pilling at this time of year.



Just a few of the geese