Three Weeks to Go on Guernsey!

Recent Happenings

We took the elders to see the small pool that we found the day we visited Lihou Island. We think it would make an excellent baptismal font. 

Cold, but the water would always be fresh and clean. It's available at low tide only.

Rocks had been cemented together to hold the water.

The nearby German fortification gave the elders a chance to express their inner soldier. With umbrellas.

International Dinner

I was put in charge of organizing an international dinner for our branch. Since several different cultures are represented, we had a wonderful variety of food.

Guernsey has it's own culture separate from England and that includes food. Here we have Gache Melee, an apple cake made with Bramley apples. The idea for Guernsey ice cream was nixed since we had no freezer.

The green curry from Thailand was good, if hot, and the ginger rice was delicious. From the Philippines we had Pancit Guisado, a stir-fry veggies, shrimp and rice noodle dish.

From England was Shepherd's Pie and roast potatoes and parsnips (at my request). Portugal was represented by a macaroni dish with many interesting ingredients.

By request, we brought pumpkin pie to represent the United States. Some people had never tasted it before.

This is the face of defeat. This elder could not eat another bite. I didn't know that ever happened, but here's proof.

Odds and Ends

Castle Cornet has a number of museums full of interesting items. 

I love this platter; it's hard to believe it dates back to c. 1550. It was among objects that have been found on the bottom of the harbour at St. Peter Port.

Another unusual item is this decompression chamber complete with victim inside.

A horse with a gas mask.

Castle Cornet

We chose a more civilized activity for our outing this week. Our castle-visiting days are drawing to a close, so we figured we'd better visit this one that is so close to St. Peter Port.

"Castle Cornet is Guernsey's ancient harbour fortress, which was isolated upon a rocky islet, until the construction of a breakwater and bridge in the 19th century."

The castle has a medieval inner core surrounded by more "modern" construction.

British Troops garrisoned in the castle

We often hear the noonday cannon when in St. Peter Port.

“From at least the early years of the 19th century a gun was fired from Castle Cornet at noon and another at 21.30 to recall soldiers of the garrison to their barracks – the Curfew gun. The Noonday Gun ceremony in Castle Cornet was re-introduced as a visitor attraction in 1974. The gun is “fired” using a saluting charge of approximately 25 grammes. The charge is placed twelve to eighteen inches down the barrel of the gun and detonated electrically.”

There are several lovely gardens within the castle walls.

This pigeon was sounding off about his secure home in the wall.

The Prisoner's Walk--not much chance of escape while exercising.

See that ferry? That's the one we'll be taking as we leave Guernsey on October 31st.

Lihou Island Adventure

This adventure with a hint of danger appealed to us. Lihou Island can be reached only during very low tides via a causeway built long ago. After consulting a chart with the safe times to cross, we headed out.

We arrived at the starting point a little early but there were already people crossing to Lihou.

We didn't hesitate to join in with the others making the trek. It takes about 20 minutes.

The house on the island is not a residence; it can be rented for events, even overnight.

The piles of slippery seaweed were a challenge to walk on.

We had plenty of time to explore before we needed to head back.

The coastline on the far side of Lihou is just gorgeous!

Time to head back to Guernsey across the bleak moonscape.

As we explored the headlands across from Lihou we discovered a pool. The Germans had cemented rocks together to make a low tide pool complete with steps leading into it. We thought it would be great for a baptismal font. 

Senior Missionary Outing May 24, 2012

(I'm only about 4 months late in posting this)

 President Shamo periodically would gather the senior missionaries for some training and a fun outing. This one involved seeing a sneak peek at the refurbished Hyde Park Chapel then attending a performance of "Chariots of Fire."

The senior sisters at the train station headed to London.

Then a quick trip on the tube to the Kensington South station.

The spire on the Hyde Park Chapel was still getting spiffed up in advance of the Olympics.

Part of the Hyde Park Chapel has become a visitors' centre complete with state of the art media displays.

The Hamblins with Elder Parrett

This display moved so quickly that I didn't really get to hear about Charles Dickens visiting one of the ships with saints headed to America, just like my GG grandmother's journal said.

The senior missionaries of the England London South Mission.

When we arrived there were only 5 or 6 couples in the mission. We have been the "senior" senior couple for some time now. We have been able to mentor two of the couples as they arrived in the mission. 

We passed by this sobering reminder that World War II was very real.

Along one side of the Albert and Victoria Museum the damage from the blitz has purposely been left unrestored.

President and Sister Shamo spoke so highly of this Creperie but when we arrived the promised room to ourself was decked out in Happy Birthday décor. Schedule mix-up.

The food was good even though we were squished among the regular customers.

Another trip on the tube and we were at the Hampstead Theatre for the performance. One of the leading roles was played by Savannah Stevenson, an LDS actress who played Mary in the Bible videos.

Not only was it theatre in the round, but they constructed a stage with a round track that rotated as needed. A very clever way to have the actors actually run. The cast had to undergo some military-type training to be able to handle it.

We'd met Bishop Cooke and his wife before but I decided I needed a photo with him. After all he's a media star since his Book of Mormon video was published on YouTube.

Moves Day

Every six weeks is moves day in the mission. That is when elders and sisters arrive and leave the mission, as well as transfers within the mission.

We were sad to say goodbye to Elder S. but he's only going to Poole, just a ferry ride away. I understand he'll still be part of our district meetings by phone.

He was wearing his goofy hat. Also he was wearing athletic shoes because he left his pitiful worn-out dress shoes behind. Good move.

The elders in Guernsey volunteer once a week at a charity shop called Oxfam. Their supervisor is a kind woman, Jackie, who said she would give the elders a ride to the airport. Suitcases and bicycles don't mix well. After the tearful hugs and goodbyes we needed to stay with Elder E. until his new companion arrived in 2 or 3 hours. Jackie took us to a place called Le Gouffre, pronounced Le Goof, and got some drinks and sat in the lovely sun. We were trying to help Elder E. not feel so bad. A walk was in order and a beautiful one it was.

Hmmm. Do the constables hide behind the trees?

After a short walk we came to an overlook. The water was Caribbean blue and breathtaking. I thought we'd already seen the most beautiful places on Guernsey, but this takes the cake.

I could have stayed all day taking in the beauty of it, but duty called.

Back to the airport to greet our new elder. The first thing Bill asked was if he was related to Peter G. that we knew in the Orpington ward. Yep, that's his grandfather. Small world.

Elder E. (no longer lonely) and Elder G.