Hello everyone. I hope you're well and you've had a good week.
Friday is here again and I'm joining Amy for Five on Friday. Thank you Amy for setting up the link once again and I hope you recover from the bout of 'flu very soon.
1. leisure activities
When our daughter was with us at Christmas we opened our presents together and one of the gifts she was given was a book of postcards that you could colour in yourself before sending off. I thought that was a great idea as there are plenty of these colouring books for adults with pictures and patterns and one that has a practical use appealed to me. Later on I had to smile when our daughter sent us a thank you card, having coloured in a picture of a peacock, as we've spent some good times visiting places in our area where these beautiful birds roam around the grounds such as Whitley Hall (photos below). When I was browsing in Waterstone's Bookshop I saw a display of these books, including the one with the same designs. Using the rest of the money from a gift voucher I bought a tube of coloured pencils and a book of postcards. They will come in handy for sending notes to friends and family.
2. visiting places
Whitley Hall is a C16th house located in the countryside north of Sheffield. In the 1970s it was converted into an hotel and now has facilities for conferences and other private events such as weddings. The restaurant is open to non-residents. Although there's no documentary evidence to prove it, Mary, Queen of Scots is said to have spent a night at Whitley Hall in the 1580s which is possible as during the period she was being escorted around the area and spent some time in captivity in Sheffield Castle.
3. meeting friends
On Monday I met my good friend and we had a browse around the charity shops in our neighbourhood before going to one of the small teashops that specialises in home made cakes. We had a coffee and a fruit scone with jam. We declined the cream and no, I didn't use all that butter! I'm not strict about giving up sweet food and drink for Lent, but I try and do something practical to prepare for Easter instead.
4. St. David's Day
I hope my Welsh friends had a good St. David's Day on Tuesday.
5. This and that
I went to a midweek Lent Course. We're looking at scriptures in the Bible and how the incidents described are depicted in art. This week was about how an encounter with God had impacted and changed the person involved. We read about one of Jacob's experiences and looked at two paintings, Jacob wrestling with the angel, a mural by Eugene Delacroix in the church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris and The vision after the sermon, oil on canvas by Paul Gauguin which is in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. There was opportunity for discussion with the help of some thought-provoking questions.
There's a Continental Market going on this week in one of the main streets and I took a quick look around the different stalls. There was an area dedicated to selling plants and I might have bought some if I could have carried them back home on the bus. We shall have to visit our local nursery centre instead although the brighter weather has changed again and we're back to rain, sleet and on the high ground in the region more snow so outdoor gardening is not planned for the weekend.
Whatever you're doing this weekend I hope you have a good one.
