March!

 A glorious day!  When the sun shines here on a winter day, it seems to bathe everything in a clarifying and crisp light.  It was in the 40's when we embarked upon our walk.  We went about four miles today which is pretty good.  We both had jackets on and were nice and warm.  We tried a path along one of the Thames tributaries, but it was so muddy from the rain in the last few days, we abandoned that idea and stayed on the sidewalks along major roads.

We happened upon a little shopping area that mostly consisted of home improvement stores, but there was one that I am certain is a cousin to the American "Hobby Lobby."  SK thinks it was much larger than the U.S. version but I don't think so.  SK has spent very little time in Hobby Lobby, but he was excited to conduct me through this store, pointing out the paper department, the pens and other art aisles.  

On the way back we passed a little fresh produce store.  It had a gorgeous display out front, and it drew us in to see what else they had.  The owner showed us some of the things he was pleased with, like the first of the season blood oranges.  I purchased two, but honestly, since we have orange trees in our back yard in Gilbert, I shouldn't have.

The orange was OK but not nearly the full flavor of one right off the tree, and not even as juicy.  But the other produce we got is beautiful and I am sure excellent.  He told us where he gets most of it.  Covent Garden in London.  That is impressive.  All of the produce looked perfect.  And the owner took such great pride in everything on the shelves.  The shop was perhaps 15 by 12 feet.  I love the little shops around here! Sometimes when we go to the superstores around here, I look at the very large shelves of array after array, and think it is just too big.





You probably can't tell, but this is SK kneeling in knightly fashion to tie my shoe!  I must not have tied it in a double knot and it came undone.  My back will still not allow me to bend over quite that far.


We are waiting now for our 9:00 mission meeting.  We are hoping they will have word of what is happening in London.  The news as of this morning is that London will move into Tier 3, which is much tighter security restrictions....closing down pubs and restaurants except for takeout and closing hotels as well.  What a terrible hit on the economy, much less that sector.

The article said that they have discovered a new strain of the virus which seems to multiply itself every 7 days.  Numbers are going up alarmingly and so that is why they are instituting these newer stricter measures.  Oxford so far is doing alright.

Our Bishop's wife told us last night that their daughter is getting married in March.  They had booked a lovely large reception hall (they did this a few months ago), but have now been told that they will not be able to have more than 15 guests - including the bride, groom and parents!  This does not bode well.  I'm already feeling like a rather useless missionary, and hoping for great things to come in the new year.  

March!  

Three months away.  Looking back three months...it has gone by like a fast-flowing river, so I am certain I will be sitting at this computer within a very short time pondering what has happened since Christmas.  I only hope that at that point we will be able to circulate more freely with our young adults and missionaries and we will be looking back at some incredible months of 2021.

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