Life in Ormskirk

Forgot to tell you about James' 30th birthday on 9 July.  (James is Demetrios' godson.)  His parents, David and Julia, and his girlfriend, Kim, threw him a surprise party.  That is, he knew Demetrios and I were coming, but he didn't know anyone else was.  He was particularly annoyed that his brother, Nick, had texted him that he had gone back to Chester, where he lives, and might not come for the birthday dinner. 

He did, of course.  There were about 20 of his friends and relatives and Kim's friends.  Julia and David did most of the work, the cooking and so forth.  It was a glorious day, so we were able to have the party in the garden, and it was all lovely, especially meeting the people, young and old (and very, very young, as in infants).  One of the babies, little Alfie, fell asleep in my arms, much to my delight - and his mother's, I think.

We've also had Agnes from next door, and her sister Anna, here to tea, and that was also very enjoyable, as they are both good conversationalists.   Agnes and I had gone out to tea the day before at one of her favorite local eateries, called The Farm. 

Sunday after church we met some new friends and reconnected with some from last year and all had lunch together afterward, six of us. 

I've finished another blanket for a premature baby, to be given to the hospital, and have now begun an Angel's Pocket, a burial outfit, basically, for a baby who doesn't survive.  Hope to knit several of those.  Am also working on a lace shawl for myself from a pattern I reversed-engineered form a crummy photograph on the Internet.  I love it.  (To see it, look here and scroll down to page 24, Appendix 5, Ukraininan Lace.  It's the righthand photo.)

The Penal Substitution theory of atonement came up in BOTH my Bible study groups last week.  I'm glad to say Anglicans don't much go for it, at least not in any big or insistent way.  The only question that arose from the discussion was the usual, 'Then why did Jesus die?' and the Orthodox explanations were received with openness and appreciation.  If you're new to this blog and interested in that topic, type 'Why Did Jesus Die' in the search box, near the top right corner of this page.

We had Claudia and David to dinner on Saturday.  Claudia is the one from whom we purchased our flat.  She and David are wonderful people, and I'm pleased to report that they arrived at 1 p.m. and stayed until 8. 

So many more people we want to have over, and so little time!  We've been so remiss so far, so lazy.  Well, catching up is going to be a lot of fun, anyway.

Our bathroom is repaired.  following my fall, I discovered several big, bright blue and black spots on my upper right arm, but nothing feels sore or hurt, so...

Rugby games are starting up again, very near our flat, Fridays nights.  We're hoping to attend some of them.

Schoolchildren finishing up this week, at last, and beginning their summer break. 

Tomorrow night we'll attend the concert of the Rainford Band with Julia and David, and then Saturday we're going to tea in the Lake District.