Banbury part 2

Blogger is acting weird so I'll have to finish this post in pieces.

The scenery was nice but quite similar to what we’ve become used to. There were quite a few fields of bright yellow--canola oil. Seems like we used to call it mustard plants.

We arrived in Banbury only 15 minutes later than we would have on the other train and called Br. Joliffe as we had been instructed. He said he had sent  “Graham” wearing a blue jumper to get us. Fortunately we already knew that jumper means a pull-over sweater.

As Graham drove us to the church I looked out the window hoping to see Banbury Cross, but never did spot it.

“The original medieval cross was destroyed by the Puritans in the early 17th century. The well-known nursery rhyme refers to the cross - ' Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross to see a fine lady upon a white horse'. It is thought this rhyme referred to a visit by Queen Elizabeth I”

There were about 20 couples already in the chapel. There were 8 couples from our mission. The other 2 missions had a few black badges but mostly service missionaries. The discussions were informative and helpful to us. It re-emphasized how different the centres are from each other. And that we all have challenges in common, but many unique ones too. (We also saw a couple that had been in the MTC with us)

Br. Joliffe talked about when he became a stake president and the one counselor was ready to tell him all about the members. But he didn’t want to know the old drama. He said that as soon as we turn and face the Savior that he has his arms out and is ready to forgive us.

We had some drama of our own when I couldn’t find our mobile phone. It had fallen out in Graham’s car we found out after the meeting. Whew!

Elder and Sister Clark took us back to the train station where we were to meet a classmate of Bill’s.


A couple of weeks ago we got an email that said one of the classmates from Bill’s high school had passed away. We wrote back with condolences and mentioned that we were in England. Someone wrote back and asked if we had been in touch with Diane H. since she lives in England. The night before we were going to Banbury Bill called Diane and low and behold she lives 10 minutes from Banbury! Some coincidence since we will likely never be back to Banbury.

Diane has been in England about 15 years and has picked up a bit of the accent. She insists that we haven’t seen enough museums while in England and plans to rectify that. Hopefully we will be able to meet up with Diane and her husband in London one of these days.

Our train arrived and we hopped on. The reader board inside said it was going to Birmingham so we hopped off. Then got back on because it really was going to London. Whew!

It made an extra stop on the return trip at Wembley Stadium where a soccer playoff had just finished. Excited fans in droves boarded the train where it was standing room only. That was bad enough but they started singing! “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” and a variation on a Mary Poppins song. The normal passengers just gritted their teeth and hoped for a quick journey to Marylebone station.

Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross....

Week of May 13 mostly from my journal.

Monday we took a bus to Moulsecoomb to visit the T. family since they have a son turning 18 soon and should be entering our program. A girl answered but mom was just inside holding a large baby. “We’re busy” she said. After a short conversation they announced that they are now M. That ended that.

During the ride back on the bus I got a phone call saying that FHE was cancelled because of a bomb threat at Sainsbury’s supermarket which is right across the street from the church. Actually we had seen lots of police cars and a fire engine in front of it on our way past.

The standoff lasted several hours before negotiators talked him out of the men's toilet. No weapons were found.

We went home instead where I spent some time indexing the 1940 census. I want California to get done so it’s searchable. I’ve already found my dad and my mom, but there are many others I want to find.

Tuesday and Wednesday we were helping at the mission office, or actually the kitchen in the basement of the accommodation centre. We had told Sis. Kearl that we would come and help her put on the dinner for the huge group of elders and sisters that are going home. There were 33 of them which is not typical at all. We took the bus to Crawley and were picked up by some elders. We made carrot sticks and celery sticks and added green pepper and apple pieces to the purchased cole slaw, etc. And we put paper on the tables and set them.

We were able to sit in and listen for a little while during President and Sister Shamo's talk and discussion with these valiant young men and women. They were asked to share the funniest things that happened during their missions. There were some good ones but my favorite was the elder who shared about when their boiler quit working. (water heater) They bathed in cold water for a while then got the idea to heat water on the stove and to use the electric hot pot (I don't know what it's really called but every kitchen we've been in over here has one) They thought it would be more efficient to plug it in the hallway closer to the bathroom. But unfortunately their smoke detector is actually a heat detector and it went off. What's worse, it activated the alarm for the whole building.

They weren't able to turn off the alarm, nor could anybody else. They did manage to lock themselves out of their flat--with pans of water heating on the stove! Eventually the fire department came and with their bucket put one of the elders through the third story window. What memories!

There was another story about a large mass of lady bugs that were on the inside of the curtain. The elders thought they could just smack the curtain and the ladybugs would fly out the window. Instead they flew into the room and it was chaos. The elders grabbed the vacuum and said it was like being in a great video game sucking in ladybugs left and right.

The next day we attended the temple, then helped Sis. Kearl again and did much the same things as we did the day before, this time for the incoming elders and sisters. There were 23 of them. Then we needed to get back to Brighton and carry on here.

Thursday night we had the elders to dinner. We now have Elder Wooley who we know from the mission office. This will be his last assignment before he goes home to Arizona. His parents will actually be out of town when he returns, and he will be picking them up at the airport a few days later.

Friday we got ready for our trip the next day to Banbury. There was a get together of couples from 3 missions that are over the Centres for Young Adults.  Bill made a potato salad to take and I made brownies. Like last time, they were awfully gooey and I should have let them bake more.

Saturday
We reluctantly got up at 5:15 and met the taxi at 6:15 and off to the Brighton train station for our trip to Victoria station in London. Then two short tube trips and we’re at Marylebone station. We had a little bit of time before the train left so we walked a short distance to find a geocache.

“Opened in 1899, this is the youngest of London's mainline terminal stations, and also one of the smallest. It is also the only terminal station in London to host only diesel trains, having no electrified lines.”



After getting settled into our seats on the train, and feeling smug that we had made all our connections,  there came an announcement that the trip was cancelled because they have no driver. Bummer! They had us get on a train to Birmingham and fortunately it stopped in Banbury.

Trip to Chartwell

In March the senior missionaries had a morning of training and an afternoon of fun. We traveled to Chartwell, Churchill’s home in Kent.

Us with President and Sister Shamo. At this point they had 100 days left. We'll be very sad to see them go home.

Family home and garden of Sir Winston Churchill Chartwell was the much-loved Churchill family home and the place from which Sir Winston drew inspiration from 1924 until the end of his life.

The rooms remain much as they were when he lived here, with pictures, books and personal mementoes evoking the career and wide-ranging interests of a great statesman, writer, painter and family man.

At the bottom of the garden you can see Churchill's studio just as he left it. His palette, still covered in paint, lies alongside his easel and in a small room by the door unfinished canvasses and completed works are piled to the ceiling.

During the Second World War, the house was mostly unused. Its relatively exposed position so near to German-occupied France meant it was potentially vulnerable to a German airstrike or commando-style raid.

The wall that Churchill built

The house has been preserved as it would have looked when Churchill owned it. Rooms are carefully decorated with memorabilia and gifts, the original furniture and books, as well as honours and medals that Churchill received.

The hillside gardens reflect Churchill's love of the landscape and nature. They include the lakes he created, Lady Churchill's rose garden, the kitchen garden and the Marycot, a playhouse created especially for the youngest Churchill daughter.

Black Swans!

Aren't I handsome?

They "forced" the rhubarb to grow early.

We finished the day by dining at a favorite Thai restaurant in East Grinstead.

Coconut rice, chicken something or other--it was delicious. I'm just sad that I lost my take home box.

Our Gardening Neighbor

Our neighbor across the hall, Steve, has an allotment garden and has invited us to share in it. An allotment is a plot of land set aside for individuals to rent part of it to grow their own food. There are several allotments around town; fortunately this one is only about a mile from us.

We filled out the official forms as "helpers" and now have a key to the gate and to Steve’s shed and greenhouse.

He already had most of it planted for this year, but said we could plant whatever we wanted. The only starts we could find were cauliflower which was one of the few things he didn’t already have.

They are serious about water conservation and have lots of barrels and other containers of water. Typically they aren't covered since they have no mosquitos here. Imagine that!

Southern England is in a drought situation, in spite of the rain we've been having lately. There is a hose pipe ban since early April. They can carry water in watering cans from the spigots but no hoses allowed. They even collect the rainwater from the roofs of the little out buildings.

When the sun is out, this is a peaceful place to sit and enjoy being outside. (especially when the weeding is finished)

Wow, they have grown a lot since we were here!

Steve has been working this ground for 12 years and is now the manager of the allotment.

Steve has planted a lot of potatoes and parsnips. Guess we'd better learn to like parsnips!