Exploring Canterbury

Most of our time in Canterbury was spent in the cathedral grounds. Participants in the "Benedictine Experience" stayed at the Cathedral Lodge - where meals were amazing!

We did have time to go out and explore the area outside the cathedral precincts.


















The city is a mix of old and new.

The older part has an ancient wall around it - and cobblestone streets...














Homes are sometimes built into the walls, like this residence inside the cathedral grounds.


















One day we visited a park near the town hall, a five-minute walk from the cathedral. The old park may be very old... if this well-pruned tree is any indicator!














Nearby is a river where one can get boat rides.














In another direction, we saw the ruins of St. Augustine's Abbey which predates the cathedral.

At one museum shop, I bought a bottle of mead, a drink referred to in old English literature.

(I didn't realize it was alcohol made from honey... Helpful, perhaps, to ease a sore throat?)


















There was so much to do and see! Our week in Canterbury left me wishing I could stay a little longer... and see a little more.

Holy Dusting

Canterbury Cathedral is a large complex that receives a million visitors a year. Hundreds of volunteers welcome visitors, show them around, and keep the grounds and the building tidy. Many of the volunteers are part of the congregation that worships there.

Participants in the "Benedictine Experience" were encouraged to volunteer, too. After all, "work and pray" is a well-known Benedictine motto!














We could help in the garden, the bookstore, the archives or the cathedral itself. I joined the ranks of the "Holy Dusters" - in the dusty task of dusting statues in the cathedral... in all their cracks and crevices (with paint brushes)...














One day we waxed and polished pews in the quire, supervised by Tricia, who has been a "holy duster" for 40 years! Some in the group vacuumed the red cushions on the seats.

Many tourists wondered what we were doing...

("Tickling the feet of the saints?")














Some asked us about the cathedral, assuming we worked there. Many took pictures of us at work!

Strange as it sounds, dusting was a valuable experience for me. I was surprised to discover how attached I felt to the building after my bit of volunteer labor. I can't imagine the attachment Tricia must feel after 40 years of "holy dusting"! (The mysterious power of work!)

Cathedral Services

We attended a lot of services in the cathedral during our week in Canterbury - but unfortunately were unable to take pictures at those times. Afterwards we were able to photograph some of the areas. Here is the ornately carved pulpit where the preacher stands on Sunday mornings.














Here is the vaulted ceiling of the main sanctuary...


















It's hard to imagine how they built these columns - and erected them - so many years ago...

There are also small side chapels...

...with stained glass windows.














Matins (at 7:30 am) and evensong (at 3:30 pm) were held in the quire at the front of the church, in pews facing each other. Following matins, we went to the crypt for Eucharist. No photographs were allowed there at any time!


















On Sunday morning there was a larger service where we all sat in the main sanctuary. But my favorite service was daily evensong with the boys' choir singing the whole service - sitting in pews next to us, with their angelic voices. (Occasionally we noticed beaming parents who had come to hear a child sing.)

Obedience = Acceptance

The word "obedience" has always been a problem for me. Growing up - at home and in school - I was encouraged to question and to think for myself. I wouldn't want to change that. But at times, I did rebel against my parents' expectations. Choosing my own path while maintaining a healthy distance no doubt led to a more harmonious relationship between us. (Our family is all too ready to offer suggestions and to criticize!)

But Esther de Waal, in her commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict, presents obedience in a different light. She equates it with acceptance: acceptance of ourselves with our strengths and weaknesses, acceptance of others with all of theirs, acceptance of the challenging situations God presents us with. Not a grudging acceptance - but a "joyful, generous... whole-hearted" one!

Now,  that is the challenge, whatever age or stage we are at!

Trip to England!

Last winter... January to be exact... I recall thinking that it would be great to take a tour led by Esther de Waal, one of my favorite writers on Benedictine and Celtic spirituality. I knew she used to lead tours to historic Benedictine and Celtic sites... but was she still doing it? Time to do an online search!

Half an hour of internet detective work led me to a week-long "Benedictine Experience" Esther would be leading at Canterbury Cathedral in England in July 2013. I quickly signed up! Would anyone in the family like to go with me? My daughter was open to a summer adventure, though she knew nothing about St. Benedict or Esther de Waal.














This explains how - early in July - the two of us headed for England, with the double purpose of exploring London and participating in Esther's workshop at Canterbury Cathedral.














The old city of Canterbury, about an hour away from London by train, has pre-Roman roots.

Its famous cathedral welcomes more than a million visitors annually. It was originally built by Benedictine monks around the year 500AD. The building as we see it today dates back to 1070, when the cathedral was rebuilt after a fire.














Our week would include living at the cathedral lodge (a modern building), attending services in the cathedral daily, listening to lectures, doing personal study and exploring, helping out at the cathedral grounds... and more!














(For the next few days, I'll share some of these adventures!)

Everything Has Grown So Tall!

Our heavy spring rains had a profound effect on my garden...

 Everything has grown so tall!














The Golden Glow Rudbeckia (Outhouse plant) beside the deck is way over my head!














The most noticeable TALL plants for me are these white and purple yarrow (or Achillea) plants (that have flopped over onto their sides).














For years they had disappeared from my back garden bed, where they were overrun by gout weed. But they re-appeared in the back lawn (as tiny low-lying flowers). Last year I transplanted some to the edge of a flower bed, thinking they would be small... but they have grown so large, I can hardly believe they are the same plants!

New Pancake Recipe

Terry and I often eat buckwheat pancakes using the recipe I posted a while back. But when I needed a "regular" pancake recipe for a recent birthday brunch, I found one in the Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook - a recipe book for children.

I made two batches - one with whole wheat (for the health conscious) and one with white flour.  I added frozen raspberries to the whole wheat batter to make it more interesting. Both versions were great! So if you're looking for a new pancake recipe to try, here's the recipe:

1. Mix together:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup (250 ml) milk 
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cooking oil

2. Add:

• 1 1/4 cups (325 ml) flour (all purpose or whole wheat)
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) sugar, 
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) baking powder

3. (Optional) Add chopped fruit or chocolate chips if desired.

4. Fry pancakes on hot oiled griddle. The recipe makes about 8.

(Delicious with maple syrup!)

An Amazing 90-Year-Old

I admire anyone who can eat spicy food! I stay clear of it - but one of my sons loves it - to the point of always sprinkling Tabasco sauce on his pizza. Knowing this, a friend of his brought him this set of chili peppers from Brazil. After I had unwrapped the bottles and put them on the stand, my son commented: I hope you kept them in order. They were in order of spiciness, from mild to very hot.

(Oops! Didn't think of that... And I can't read Portuguese!)

Not long afterwards my 90-year-old aunt came for a visit, passing through on her way home from Germany and Poland, where she had taken two of her children to show them the farm where she was born.

My aunt noticed my son's hot pepper collection. When I told her I had accidentally mixed them up so he no longer knew which were mild and which were spicy, she calmly tasted them all ... and put them back in order!

I was truly impressed! They all tasted way too spicy to me!

Prescription: Read This Book!

I have been monitoring my blood sugar since 2005 when my doctor determined I had Type 2 Diabetes. Ever since then, I have been very conscious of what I eat and how one day's food affects the next morning's blood sugar readings. (I prick my finger every morning before I eat or drink anything.) Carefully monitoring my daily blood sugar has helped me stay on track and  avoid the need to take medication for diabetes.

But it hasn't always been smooth sailing. A few years ago, the readings suddenly shot up and stayed high for more than a few days. I was dismayed! What had I added to my daily diet? Was my body suddenly weakening?

A few weeks later, I discovered that I had an abscessed tooth. (Over the years I have discovered that whenever my body is fighting some infection, even a cold, my fasting glucose levels increase.) Once the tooth problem was dealt with, my morning readings went down again.

This spring, my blood sugar levels increased again. I tried to walk more (which brings down the readings). I was more careful about what I ate, limiting cake, cookies, bread and other high carb foods (which all change into sugar in the blood). Nothing helped. "Am I getting sick?" was the next question - but as the weeks passed, I thankfully remained healthy. Is a statin drug that I am taking to increase low "good" cholesterol having a negative effect on my diabetes? Terry has been showing me newspaper articles that indicate that my medication has been implicated in some recent studies...

Time to see my doctor! 

Should I go off my cholesterol medication? I'm very concerned, I told her.

She checked my most recent A1C score (a blood test I have every three months that determines my average glucose reading).

There is only a slight increase in that, she said. Before we do anything, I want you to read a book - Why We Get Fat And What To Do About it. Modify your eating accordingly and come back and see me after your next blood test.

I finished reading the book within a few days. (It was an easy read.) It summarizes the research into weight loss and Type 2 diabetes control over that past hundred years and concludes that the only way to lose weight and control Type 2 diabetes is to simply avoid foods that are high in carbs! It appears that Dr. Atkins (in his diet) and Dr. Agatston in the South Beach Diet are right! Eliminating or greatly limiting flour (especially white refined flour), sugar and potatoes affects weight loss, blood sugar readings and even "good" cholesterol. Low fat diets, calorie counting and even exercising don't appear to help with weight loss. (Exercising has the negative effect of increasing one's appetite.) But this isn't a short-term "diet." For people like me who are predisposed to Type 2 diabetes, it has to become a lifestyle!

Starting a Wonky-Cross Quilt

I haven't been doing much quilting these days - but I did start a wonky-cross quilt after seeing a picture of Karyn's online. Mine probably won't be finished until next winter. But I did want to try making a few squares just to try the pattern. Now I realize that I need more variety - some crosses (or "pluses") wider, some narrower. I like green... But is it too bland? I did a google search and found another "wonky cross" quilt in red and white... I am drawn more to bright colors! Should I switch to a new color?

Karyn's is wall-hanging size. How would this green one look if it were bigger? For a single or double bed...? (So many decisions!)

Enjoy!

There is a traditional Jewish saying...

 On the day of Judgment God will only ask one question:.













 Did you enjoy my world?

 ( Lost in Wonder, p. 72)

Spell Check Has Limitations!

I did a double-take when I read this headline on the Ottawa Sun.

Roll? Shouldn't that be "role"? Is it a play on words? A pun? I don't think so!














Who checks this stuff?! Hopefully a person - not just a computer! Computers are amazing, but there are errors that spell-check won't catch!

Coffee Cake Made With... Coffee!

A delicious gift for a coffee-lover like me!

A chocolate-marble coffee cake baked in an Illy coffee tin.


















The only liquid used in making the cake is... coffee! I didn't get the recipe... (It was made by the baker at Madeleines.) I wonder if any coffee cake recipe would work with coffee as the main liquid...

Undervalued Flower

I have a lot of flowers in the garden but there is one I hate to see!

The gout weed flower!














Gout weed is so invasive that, within a few years, it overtakes a whole flower bed, not only with its seeds, but also with its spreading underground root system! Every year I pull it out so that it won't hide the other flowers - but it's a losing battle.














But sometimes at dusk, its white flowers penetrate the dark - and I have to admit it is a beautiful flower!

White Appliances - Never Out of Style!

Years ago when we shopping for appliances for our new home, I was wondering what color to buy. Gold and green were the popular colors of the time.

White is always in style, a friend casually commented. There was a ring of truth in his words - so we bought four white appliances.


















A white dishwasher came later (after our third child was born).


















The only appliance we still have from that original purchase thirty-one and a half years ago is our dryer... which still works! When I think of the daily machine-loads of cloth diapers I washed and dried for three babies - and all the laundry it has dried since the ice storm knocked down our clothes line (and we never bothered to replace it), it's pretty amazing. When I mentioned this fact to an appliance repairman, he shook his head and said, Your next one won't last as long. So I'm in no rush to get a new one.



















We are currently looking at fridges - so we'll be prepared if our current fridge "dies." It's fourteen years old and we've heard that the average life of a fridge these days is twelve to fifteen years. (They definitely don't make appliances like they used to!)