Well, scruffy August (pronounced Oh-gust locally) made a bit of a late entrance with really cold, wet miserable weather – we actually got to wear winter clothing which hadn’t been used since we got here! Then, there was a brief respite and we actually saw some sun, but back it came and it is not spring on the Island yet!!

As a result of the weather, we haven’t done any specific walks – just too cold and muddy. A boat trip was planned for the 28^th August – just a 3-hour trip to hopefully see dolphins and as a farewell for several SAfricans and Zimbabweans, but the sea was so rough, that the captain called it off – much disappointment all round.

We had a number of farewell events – two air traffic controllers were from S.A., and Dayle, who had come out for a 3-month stint in March 2020, was finally going home 18 months later. She and Andre were regular members of our services, so the congregation organized a Bring an’ Share supper to bid them farewell. This coincided with Bishop Richard (the bishop before our present bishop) and his wife leaving – same plane, so it turned into quite a party! See pics – when islanders party, there is enough food for an army!!

Further meals were enjoyed with a variety of groups of people.

On 14^th August, the Roman Catholic priest celebrated his 80^th birthday, which was celebrated a bit later, as he was poorly (Island phrase which covers a multitude of conditions 😄). The dinner was at The Consulate Hotel, which was a lovely 4-course meal. The catering was done by Chef Roy, who is well-known to those who travelled on the much beloved RMS St. Helena mail ship (referred to in conversation as “the RMS”).

While the Bishop and his wife were here, they organized two concerts – the Bp has a Ph.D. in music and his speciality is the organ! The first was at St. John’s Church and included a number of other musicians and the St. Helena Singers – really lovely mixture of musical tastes.

The next one was at the Cathedral, where the organ and St. Paul’s choir provided the entertainment. So, there is some culture on the island too!!

Sunday 22^nd August, deacon Ernest Fritz was ordained to the priesthood – it was a special service as the Bishop and Allan and the other clergy could see the progress in the Church on the island, to bring new clergy into service.

Many more ordained people are needed – anyone out there interested? Not old and retired like us, but younger, active and enthusiastic persons. And with families – even better!

Short walks in the neighbourhood have been the order of the day to get some exercise and look at the beautiful creatures we came across about 100m down in the valley below us!!

Currently, our travelling plans to get back home are a trip on the supply ship MV Helena on the 16^th November, hopefully arriving in CT on the 24^th. We will know nearer the time whether we have to isolate or not, and then we will fly up to Jhb. A short stay to see family and friends and have medical check-ups and procedures; then on to PMB to stay with our middle daughter Kirstin. Then we will be in contact with the retirement village in Margate, and as soon as they have a suitable unit available, the last move will take place! The above all depends on God’s plans, the weather and, of course, the virus.

So, watch this space 😄!!!

Just a few more pictures to give you an woder “feel” for what it’s like here with us.

And it is July and more than a month since the last blog and the ex-bishop and his wife having come out of isolation last Friday (2^nd), Allan has been running two parishes (3 services some Sundays), attending meetings, dealing with diocesan matters, standing in for the bishop for formal occasions, doing recordings for the local radio and even blessing a boat – I kid thee not – I have hardly seen him, let alone getting him to sort out pics for the blog!

So here goes: we attended the official 100^th anniversary of the Guides on the Island – all present and former guides, leaders, ranger guides etc. were present. A very posh tea was served and then we all joined in a rousing sing-along of guide songs. Photos were taken and then the girls were going to have a scavenger hunt – at this point we thought we could leave the festivities 😉!

The day after the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, a Memorial Service was held in the Cathedral. It was well attended and very well done – the governor gave a particularly good eulogy and the Anglican music really came into its own.

Next another visit to Plantation House for the celebration of the Queen’s official birthday. Marquees, Pimms and very good eats – picture it – even a number of hats!!

Speeches were made, awards made for various forms of service.

The Salvation Army Band played vigorously and the St. Helena Singers added to the entertainment.

Unfortunately, the PA system was not loud enough, so many people cheerfully chatted throughout speeches etc. not quite as genteel as I would have liked it to be!

In between these occasions, life went on, and we harvested our potatoes!!  (see pic) – enough for a couple of meals!!

Then we planted sweet potatoes which had started sprouting and they are doing well – nearing lifting time! New pepper plants are looking sturdy, but we know it will be some time before we will be picking any. And our garden is very colourful, despite very little rain – see pics.

We had a lovely outing to SHAPE as they put on a light lunch on the 26^th June. Two ladies from the parish came with us and we met up with two air traffic controllers – Dayle and Andre – both from S.A. We had a jolly table and a very good lunch. The usual raffles were also there and Andre walked off with 4 prizes, I think! I wonder if the ladies made a profit from this function.

The Island is still covid free and more plane trips have been arranged between now and March. S. Africans will need to leave the plane in Accra, Ghana, fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and then JHB. This requires visas and yellow fever jabs – which we have had. We however, the Lord willing, will sail back to S.A. in November on the supply ship, which will be returning to Cape Town. Only 4 passengers allowed – no more space! – That is the plan for now – I’m sure these plans may change so watch this space 😊

Well, June is upon us and it is a bit colder. Locals informed us that winter starts on 21^st June – what else is going to happen??

Lots of ordinary stuff has taken up much of our time, so we will just touch on a few island things.

A few weeks ago we visited the Mule Yard, under new management and watched the most beautiful sunset, while we had very good pizzas and drinks. The movie that was being shown was a 2021 release(!) but not to our taste, so after giving it 30 minutes, we went home. The following week the movie was excellent “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and a great sunset. We have managed to get there (only show movies on Thursdays) a few more times, the pizzas are still great, but the movies vary. And if the cold sets in, this activity will be resumed later in the year!

. . . getting ready for the movie . . .

. . . sunset from the Mule Yard . . .

On the 5^th of May was the bicentennial of Napoleon’s death and a few functions were arranged. We went up the road (Longwood House, in which he lived, is about 250m from us) in the late afternoon. There was some music, readings in French, the Last Post and flags at half-mast. It was a bit sad, as, of course, great plans for massive celebrations including a number of Cruise Ships with special tours to mark the occasion (and income!) had been on the cards, until Covid reared its ugly head. Maybe next year?

. . . top pic shows the honorary French Consul . . . team ready for the service . . . Linda with the order of service . . . the semaphore announcing Napoleon’s death . . . and the French flag at half-mast . . .

Our local primary school had a Farm Yard Day fundraiser, with all the usual stalls, cakes, food, raffles etc. We had to be present – Allan does Assembly at the school quite regularly and Fr. Allan is greeted enthusiastically!! They had a fancy-dress section – see pics!! 😊

May 21^st is St. Helena’s Day and a public holiday (Bank holiday the Brits call it) – so an ecumenical service was held in the town square, parading of all the Guides, Brownies, Scouts etc. lots of stalls again, a parade of floats and lots of loud music and too much drinking. We did our bit, but left before things became too busy.

. . . St. Helena Day on the Square . . .

And finally, a short walk last week – called Brown’s Hill Path – starts on the high school property and goes up into plantations of trees – mainly blue gum trees and cedars. One walks on moss for quite a distance at the start and can actually feel how spongy it is through walking shoes! The walk is easy – slightly steep, and at the top, you find yourself on the tarred road – so we walked the circle back to the car.

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Hello all,

Where did February go I hear you asking? We just didn’t get on board – we “lost” a month by being on Ascension and then two weeks of isolation! Shrove Tuesday came and was quite good – interesting pancakes! Followed by 120 primary schoolers in Church on Ash Wednesday and an evening service – talk about hitting the road running!

Allan was installed as Archdeacon by the Bishop on the 21^st – debate as to whether he should still be called Fr. Allan or Ven – I suggested “Archie” sounded good 😉!! For non-Anglicans, it is not a promotion, as people would like to think – simply more work and responsibility!!

Big news of course was the arrival of the vaccines!! We had our first jabs a fortnight ago and will get the second on the 15^th April. No side effects – Saffers are used to vaccinations 😊! Most of the Island has been done – a few anti-vaxxers – hoping they will all agree – last chance tomorrow!

We realised that we needed to get out and get some exercise – oh, how I miss the Ascension beach ☹!! Did an easy walk around Plantation House where the garden was being mowed and the house was being painted – all looking spiffy.

The next walk was a very short walk – Hardings-Cassons footpath – nice sea view for lunch! Some chickens in the area decided we were very interesting and duly followed us all the way around back to the car!! Only on this island . . . .

Then, we decided that we needed to do Diana’s Peak again – properly. As the pics will show, the weather had a marvellous time, with sunshine, then mist wafting in until at points we could see nothing!!

Still, proof that we ascended the highest point on the island! The next day however, we both crawled out of bed so stiff and sore that we really looked like Joan and Darby!! I think our bods have decided that certain activities are now out of bounds!!

Last Saturday, Linda joined a group of very keen “wanting to see whale sharks” and Allan said NO!! It was very choppy, but we saw them and several folk took to the waters with them – I had gone along with the idea of swimming with the whale sharks, but on closer inspection, I decided maybe next time!! Age ??

Easter is upon us and there are many services.

Indeed, the week leading up to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter is always full – as most Anglicans know! The way that the of Easter worked out this year, Palm Sunday was celebrated at St. Matthew’s Church at Hutt’s Gate, which is fairly unusual as it normally falls to St. Mark’s Church which is pretty much next to the Vicarage. the move to St. Matthe’ws provided a few logistical challenges, but they were all overcome when everybody pitched in. we made lots of Palm Crosses and decorated the church as you can see.

We hope that you all had a blessed Easter, the virus not withstanding!

We had a week of really good rain and that made the Heart-Shaped Waterfall flow beautifully for the first time in months! The flow was better than anything we’d see before and so obviously we took a picture for you.

Gordon Yon gave us a baby Ebony plant when we started our bits of garden. It grew slowly and here is the picture of our first bloom!

Back on St. Helena and nearly out of isolation!

Well, being in isolation, doesn’t really give one much to write about, so we’ll spare you the mundane details.

Back on Ascension, on the 2^nd of January, a fishing competition was held off the rocks and in boats – catches of varying sizes were brought in. It is obviously an important annual social event and was very well supported. Food and liquid refreshments were available, along with chips and sweets for the kids. The pics tell their own story!

Time was slipping away so quickly and the harder we tried to do more walks, the behinder we got!! We did manage Elliot’s Pass on Green Mountain – an easy walk with magnificent panoramic views of large parts of the island. There were two or three sections of the path, which had been carved out of the rocks, which were quite wet and muddy – water seeping out of the rocks – luckily, they were navigable – and the last one, large wild ginger fronds had been dragged partly into the tunnel to form a slightly safer path! The customary lunch was enjoyed in the gardens near the green houses where indigenous plants are being grown.

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Members of the church, who had spent many years on Ascension, were retiring to SH and going out on the same plane with us. The congregation kindly arranged a bring n share supper on the Friday night, which was a lovely social occasion, as the pic shows!!

Allan and I were treated to a real Saints feast at the home of Mervyn and Sylvia Isaac on our last Saturday – very special.

The last Sunday service had full communion and the two baptisms were held in the body of the service – made for a good final send-off :-)!! We were given a lovely mosaic plate which was made by Winnie Bagley – will bring back fond memories of AI.

Then, with most packing done, on Monday 9^th Jan, at 9 pm we presented ourselves to the conservation guides, who took us out to Long Beach, where we saw the TURTLES!! One lady had laid her eggs and was covering them up with sand; we saw one turtle coming up the beach to lay her eggs; while another one was in the process of popping out eggs, the size and colour of ping pong balls!! It was an awesome experience, and especially to see them on our last night there – the Lord is good.

I’m afraid that pictures could not be taken. You are allowed to see the turtles in red torch light which does not seem to disturb them. The last thing anyone wants is to disrupt the laying process! On the way from the beach, the light was so poor that I almost walked into a turtle nest.
For pictures of the turtles, search on the internet for “Green Turtles” and “Ascension Island.”

On the Monday 11^th afternoon, we were swabbed for Covid and were deemed to be safe (on Ascension).

We had swabs done yesterday morning (on St. Helena), and if all is well, we are free on Wednesday 😊!!

To all who have been following our blog, thank you and best wishes for the new year. We are now on the downhill slope of our Ascension visit and, if all goes according to plan, we will fly back to SH on the 12^th January on a charter flight.

December passed quite quickly with several Christmas activities, Lay Minister’s training, baptism classes and two baptisms – three more to come! Unfortunately, on the 24^th we were informed that a positive case of covid had been tested on a passenger who had come in on a flight from the States. Since all passengers had immediately gone into 14 days of isolation, there was practically zero chance that the virus had entered the general population. A code red was announced which then had our Bp. decide on social distancing and spiritual communion for the midnight service ☹. To be on the safe side, the baptism services are all being held after the Sunday morning services with just the immediate family present.

We were invited to tea at the Residency to meet the Administrator and his wife – they live quite high up on the mountain, with a beautiful view.  (see pic)

They were very friendly and hospitable. A few evenings later, we joined quite a crowd on the lawns of the Residency to sing Christmas carols and songs. It was very lively, with lots of children present. Santa put in an appearance much to the delight of the youngsters 😊. See pics!

A few nights later, we attended the Christmas dinner at the Two Boats Club, which is in the village of Two Boats and slightly inland from Georgetown and a bit cooler! We actually had some rain. It was a very festive, friendly meal, with lots of kids all over the place. By 11 O’clock these two old people faded, as Allan did have a service the next morning and we later learnt that the dancing started later and went on until 2 a.m.!! These people party hard!

On the 20^th December, an evening market was held in the town square, followed by singing Christmas songs and a few carols. The Saints Club, which is on the square, had be open since early afternoon, so many people were very high-spirited. The evening proceeded very slowly, with many intervals by the music band, and by 20:45 Allan and I just ducked! It is always a pity when such a function, which could be good, is hi-jacked.

We drove up to a lookout point called Jubilee Point which was erected for the Queen’s jubilee and an area on the other side of the island called the Devil’s Ashpit – a very dramatic ravine which is slowly being overgrown by vegetation.

Walking has not been very successful. A trip up Green Mountain had to be postponed because of heavy cloud – we could barely see. We then tried to find Shelley Beach – quite a task, and then found ourselves heading into breeding grounds of sooty terns – very noisy!! Skirted around them and started on a path across the lava flow – not easy and, finally Linda fell, and with knees and left elbow and hand cut and bleeding, we gave up and went home.

A nice mild brunch outing to English Cove followed by a walk on a lovely beach was more to our liking😀!

We spent a very pleasant Christmas lunch with Dr. Bill Hardy, the medical superintendent and his wife and 5 other people – very laid back and casual, with too much to eat, as usual! We received a whole bunch of Christmas cards from local folk and many posted from SH – what a lovely surprise that was!

We declined New Year’s Eve festivities and had a quiet evening at home.

. . . and then the ‘phone call from the kind lady at the Police and we were out of self-isolation twelve hours earlier than we had expected!

We had watched the Remembrance Day Service at St. Mary’s Church from our vantage point at the Vicarage as the Service was held on the square outside the church.

Now we were able to open the gate and step across onto the rest of the island. The first thing to be done was to get our passports stamped at the Police Station – when we had arrived by plane, nobody touched or came near us as part of the health policy to keep the virus out.

Alan Nicholls, one of the Churchwardens, kindly took us on a tour of most of the island which was enormously useful as it gave us a basic idea of what was where – sort of anyway. A special treat was visiting the site of the Ariane tracking station. Allan had visited the small French tracking station near the Hartebeespoort dam when he was at high school, so this was a real treat – to see a whole new range of equipment.

What is amazing is how the vegetation changes from area to area. Alan has been on Ascension a goodly time and told us how a general greening was noticeable all over. Areas that had been quite brown and bare were in various stages of getting green coats. In addition, there seemed to be more rain than in decades gone by. I wonder what Darwin and Hooker would have made of the present state of the island. Hooker especially would have been interested as he was instrumental in bringing in thousands of plants from all over the then British Empire to establish them here. That’s why the top of Green Mountain is covered by a bamboo forest that is dense and wet and humid!

Then real life started: visit to the bank so we could pay for the groceries kindly bought for us and brought to the Vicarage; grocery shopping at the Chandlery quite close to us; finding the NAAFI on the British base and checking out the Volcano Café which sells great pizzas over weekends; finding JAMS and checking business hours. We also learnt about smaller shops that sold some groceries, gifts, stationery, and toiletries etc. Altogether fascinating.

Of course, that first “free” afternoon we walked down to the beach about 200m from our front door and Linda got her feet wet!

The beach sand is white/golden unlike the black volcanic sand on St. Helena. This is also a volcanic island so why the golden sand? Even though there are a number of golden beaches, there is no swimming because of a lethal undertow and if you survive that, there are sharks who have killed people in the last few years.

There is a tidal pool and there is a sea water pool just around the corner which is drained and filled weekly. There are also fresh water pools at Two Boats, the US base and the British base. We have limited ourselves to beach walking up to now. We have seen the mini craters that the turtles make when they come ashore to lay their eggs. The season for this is apparently December/January to March/April.

We have been amazed by black fish swimming close to shore visible in the waves as they break. They are not edible or any use for bait we are told.

The number of cowrie shells (small ones) that we have found is a real surprise. There are a few other kinds of shells that we have found whole, but most of the in tact ones have been cowries.

There have been three Sundays of services at St. Mary’s. The first two were regular Eucharists with bread and wine and the third was an evening Christingle Service which was well attended and much enjoyed (and put on thanks to the wholehearted support of the Two Boats School – staff and pupils).

Everybody (just about) works here, so the town is mostly empty of people as is Two Boats. Meetings clearly can only sensibly be held after work. On Saturdays town suddenly has people all around which comes almost as a shock.

The island has something like 42 walks of varying degrees of difficulty ranging from 1 (my level) to 5 which is walking over volcanic detritus and cinder and slipping and sliding. Green Mountain has some lovely walks that give you incredible views of various parts of the island. We have enjoyed a couple of these walks and seen buildings in various stages of dereliction which served the British Empire in their time.

The marine barracks which became a cow shed must be the only ex-cowshed in the world with the marine corps crest carved in stone over the entrance.

From there it is a bracing walk to the top of the mountain which peaks at 859m with the Dew Pond in the middle of the bamboo forest.

The Mountain is one of three habitats home to land crabs. They range on colour from a light yellow to a deep orange and on some walks are everywhere around you. They are protected and you see road signs warning you of the crabs – DO NOT run over a crab!

There isn’t much animal life except for the usual rabbits and some feral sheep and donkeys.

It’s truly amazing to be woken during the night by donkeys outside the Vicarage. As you drive around the island and especially up Green Mountain, you are likely to have to slow down to allow a sheep to get up from lying in the middle of the road so you can pass. They move very slowly as if resenting your interruption. The rabbits, too, will hop away when you approach, but slowly and stop every few hops just to make sure it’s still worth hoping away. We’ve seen the feral donkeys in groups of up to eight. Alan Nicholls says once of their favourite things to eat is cardboard – no idea why. He’s just had his wooden fence eaten by the donkeys. I don’t know.

The local Museum chronicles the history and development of the island in its assorted roles over the years. Needless to say, Napoleon is the reason why the British took up residence to prevent anybody from staging a rescue from here. It was a place where sick ship crews could recuperate – in Comfortless Cove as the authorities didn’t want any contagion brought into the settlement – some things don’t seem to change much. Ascension has played an important role in telegraph and cable communication and as a half-way station for planes during WWII. It also played a role in the Apollo project and the Space Shuttle programme. I am told it is one of the points used for the universal GPS system.

Now we’re gearing up for the various training programmes (and baptism) and for using Advent to prepare for Christmas.

If you watched this space, we are now on Ascension Island! The final two weeks of October were hectic with finally sorting out the covid cover required by the island authorities and getting the other things lined up. Our last service on St. Helena for 2020 was at St. Matthew’s Church where the Watsonias formed lovely borders to the property and the path to the church.

Our flight to Ascension required us to be at the airport at 07:30 (or so Allan said – we could have made it a half an hour later and still been fine). We were flying on a Titan Airways Boeing 757 charter flight (UK – Accra – St. Helena – Ascension – St. Helena – UK over three days). We had to be masked and gloved to protect us against anything that might have been on the plane, even though it was sanitised on Monday evening after it had landed on St. Helena.

The flight took about 2 hours and a bit and was easy and uneventful. Owing to the virus precautions, the cabin crew had minimal contact with the passengers who sat far away from one another. As we boarded we were handed our eats in a little paper carrier bag – water, fruit juice, chips etc.

Landing was an experience because it is the second longest runway on planet earth (for the Apollo and Space Shuttle programmes). There was actually another aircraft at the terminal! Not something you’re used to from St. Helena.

There is an interesting brief poster history of the island for you to read as you arrive.

We were allowed to leave in groups, e.g. government employees in a group, company employees in another group. Linda and I left in a group of two and were shown to the parish car and the driver who would lead us to the Vicarage for our two weeks of self-isolation (not quarantine, because neither St. Helena nor Ascension have the virus). We put the car in the garage and put up the required notices to warn of our situation.

Here’s a map of Ascension to give you an idea of what it looks like and then a section of the map to show where we live in Georgetown (on the W of the island) – I have circled the area roughly in red.

Because we’re not allowed off the property for everybody’s protection, we will just show you a few pictures around the Vicarage and a pic of St. Mary’s Church just across a dusty street. The pictures will give you a much better idea of what it’s like. Arid, humid, largely grassless (until you get to Green Mountain – which we will do after our isolation ends – wait for the surprise!).

Another scruffy month!!

It is the end of September and I had hoped to be reporting that spring had arrived on the Island, but NO!!the scruffiness has continued non- stop – wind, rain, mist, grey skies and cold!! We have measured 70 ml rain, which is great – just wish we could get rid of the rest of the weather. The grass which surrounds the house and church has become soggy to the point of having the car slipping and sliding as one tries to drive over it!! The car has needed washing to get rid of all the mud spatters – so very different from last year! Even the locals say it has been unseasonally wet and cold.

We had our leave, which was very necessary and good. Nothing dramatic to report – slept in, went out for some meals, read copiously, watched NCIS series (we have the worst of DSTV and BBC ) – do have some sports channels , but thanks to the changes DSTV made in September, could only watch one channel of tennis from the USA Open 😕 – better than nothing, I guess. We visited friends and we attempted one short walk from Cason’s to Rosemary Plain – see pics.

It was wet and the grass a bit slippery, but after a couple of hundred metres the grass disappeared and we were faced with mud, glorious mud! Saw the amazing sight of pine trees with the male cones in full splendour – the most amazing orange colour! The pines in S.A. have pale yellow pollen – obviously, a different species here – really spectacular😀! The mizzle at that stage started becoming heavier, so we did an about turn and rushed back to the car. The picnic lunch was eaten at home. Walking shoes and bottoms of jeans needed a demudding 😕!

Despite being on leave, we both worked at the Parish fete – because of the weather, no gazebos could be put up and all stalls were fitted into a not very big hall!! The attendance was not as good as it would have been had the weather co-operated, but for about 3 hours (not including the setting up and clearing up) they made close on 800 pounds, which is most welcome, to try to balance parish finances. We have had a number of fundraisers and more on the horizon! All in an attempt to keep the parish open.

On the 26^th we had a wedding at St. Matthew’s. The bride and groom had to put the date off from 22^nd August, as the ship container, which had all their wedding clothes and decorations etc. had not been on the ship which arrived in August!! Slight panic!! Fortunately, it was all on the September ship. The weather was not too bad and the bride, with her long train, got into the church safely 😊! The reception hall was done up beautifully and the meal was very good – real island style. We managed to leave by 8 pm, to find the next group of guests arriving ?!? Apparently (don’t quote me) close family and friends go to the Church and then the meal, while the others come after the meal and are served snacks?! All I know is that many people, older than us, were still partying at 2 the next morning! Different strokes for different folks 😀!

The group of people who flew in from the UK on the 16th are came out of quarantine on the 30th September. We have been in touch with friends who spent the 2 weeks in the facility – it seems to have been doable, but they don’t ever want to do it again. We took fruit and local newspapers and books out to them – one hands these to the guard at the gate and then leaves. We shall see them soon. The virus tests have all been negative as far as we have heard – good news – still virus free!

Currently, we are waiting to hear if the Ascension trip is still on! Great excitement about it all initially; then reality set in, and the costs of the little expedition came to the fore, and therein squats the toad!! Need extra medical cover and Covid cover and very expensive return tickets! The parish on Ascension Island is now pondering if they can/ afford to have us ? Watch this space!

Well, we have seen the back of “scruffy August” as it is known on the Island, and believe me, the name is very apt! Last winter, we had pleasant, warmish, dry weather – was also the driest year on record (since 1977). This year has decided to make up for that and has been cold, wet and the wind OMW!! We have had about 80 ml of rain, which has been great for the growers of vegs and all gardens. The wind though, has blown so violently, that it destroyed our whirly clothes drier and wrecked many of the marigold bushes ! We now have a new clothes line – the old-fashioned sort with two poles and lines between them!

On the island is an organisation called Shape (St. Helena’s Active Participation in Enterprise) – it provides training and work experience for disabled and vulnerable people. They produce a wide range of crafts using flax and aloe fibres and local wool – also candle and soap making. They have a cafe, which has not been in use for a long while. Now, the wife of one of the newly ordained deacons has started working there and is teaching basic cooking and hospitality skills to some of the people. Last month, they produced a breakfast on the last Saturday and we attended with friends from the UK. It went off very well and was very good. A beautiful chocolate cake was raffled and one could buy many of the crafts produced at Shape.

Then on the 29th August they hosted a high tea. We invited Fr. Clive and Patsy to accompany us. The weather was particularly miserable, so it was good to be inside, enjoying hot tea and food Island style! The place was packed – fast becoming an occasion not to be missed. They had the inevitable raffle, with some lovely prizes. Allan won a bottle of liquor and I won a parcel containing a scarf, a tub of moisturiser and a plastic card holder(!) which Allan happily took. Embarrassingly, we each had a second number come up – we immediately declined them and asked them to draw other numbers! Unfortunately, Allan did not have his phone with him to take pics – will look for a pic of the Shape buildings taken last year!

Allan has taken leave as of 1^st September until 21^st – our daughters were most amused and asked if we were going to go to Sandy Bay or Jamestown!! I must say though, it is a little strange to be on leave without any plans to go anywhere and having someone look after the pets, water the plants etc! We will enjoy lying in in the morning, no meetings or services for Allan etc.

The weather has made walking very unpleasant, so only one walk was done. This was from the Heart-shaped Waterfall inland, to Francis Plain, which is the general playing field for the High School, which sits just above the Plain and all the cricket and soccer matches played on the Island. It is classified as a footpath to Peak Hill, not a PostBox walk. One climbs steadily uphill, not too strenuous and, looking back, gets views of different vegetation and homes that are not visible from the road into town.

The rain had turned certain section into mud, so we had to walk carefully. It then started to drizzle, so by the time we got to the Plain, we were damp and shoes and socks were wet and muddy! We took shelter in the squash courts of the High School and had our “picnic” there!

The whole outing took about 2 hours and we were pleased to get home and out of then really damp clothing and very cold feet!  No more walks while the wet weather continues!

The big news is that we will be going to spend 10 weeks on Ascension Island as from the 27^th October!! The deacon who is currently there, is returning to SH in October, so Allan will be taking services, especially Christmas, on the island and doing some training with lay ministers, who will continue running the Church, as, obviously, there is no priest on the Island. Any Anglican priest out there who might be interested in the post?! So many saints have lived there for differing lengths of time and everyone says we will love it there – so, we are looking forward to another short chapter of our stay in the Ocean!!