And then they were Scone (Day 182)

Scones...or lack of them, Flowers, and a new Wardrobe for our next travels...who is brave?

I did wonder whether to continue writing whilst we were back in the UK for the week, however, this is all part of the rich tapestry of life, things happen. I’ve decided to continue for the simple reason that I enjoy writing and connecting, even if it is virtual. Travel commences on 25th May when we will have arrived in Tokyo. A good night sleep and jet lag is diminishing fast. The morning consisted in staying at my sister’s home as she had various people turning up; the decorator, the cleaners, a friend sorting out flowers for the coffin and a close friend of Jac’s – Dee popping in, who I have met a few times. She had offered to make 2 dozen scones for our Mum’s Celebration on Friday which is so kind of her. She turned up clutching a small tin. Opening it up, she showed us 6 plump scones. Unfortunately, the first 24 she had made were more like pancakes. She felt she couldn’t even feed the birds with them, so decided to crumble them up, add some sugar and make an Apple Crumble instead. Mmmm….nice! We had such a laugh with her and I said I was grateful I had something to write about for today’s post. She is a great sport and was fine with that– It’s good to be able to laugh at our mistakes, not take ourselves so seriously. We chatted about travelling, Dee used to work in the travel industry yet she still saw what we were doing as “Brave”. We find it weird that people perceive us as brave. What is brave about going around the world, meeting wonderful people, seeing incredible sights and having amazing experiences? There is nothing brave about it at all. I suppose what Tim and I have learnt is when we trust our own instincts, then things seem to work out just fine. It’s when we listen to a load of twaddle in our heads that is not fact – just made up fear, that’s when we stop doing stuff. We stop living. We had such a lovely conversation with Dee. She has recently stopped fulltime work and has experienced people checking that she is OK, which is kind but…. We have such a culture that people have to be in full-time employment, yet there are other ways of raising income and living life to the full, rather than living life to work for someone else. Of course, there is nothing wrong with working for someone else – crikey we need this. We wouldn’t be able to get on a plane if there weren’t for people working for the airlines. What I am trying to say is that we do have a choice. The cliché thinking outside the box springs to mind – there is always a way. Later in the day, Tim and I popped down to Dorking, a lovely market town surrounded by beautiful Surrey hills, with Box hill just up the road. On the surface, it seems like a very affluent area, well known for its antique dealers, however, there is pockets of poverty here. Jac has done much over the years to support local people; she ran the local Besom Project; sweeping away suffering, where people in the local churches provide a bridge between those that have and those who don’t, giving time, practical support and resources. Simon, our brother-in-law is also a trustee for Dorking Beatitudes which their good friend Rosemary runs; lovely person. Beatitudes is a good as new children’s shop which also provides a drop in and community space for local people. I am so lucky to have such angels as my sisters. They do so much for people, selfless, giving, loving in so many ways. And their husbands, Martin and Simon are good eggs – in fact, double yolkers too. Back to Dorking, I am taking advantage of being back in the UK by re-sorting my clothes. A slight colour change – based on turquoise now and I am leaving behind all my pale coloured clothes. This means we only have to do one mixed washing load. Good tip eh? I love charity shops, so we popped into a couple, nothing for our travels, however, I did find a beautiful Kaliko dress that I can wear at the funeral on Friday. Our Mum loved clothes and looking nice, everything matching (ah – that’s where I get my colour co-ordination skill from) and so we have decided that celebration clothes are in order for her farewell. Into Marks and Spencer’s and bought some basics to replace some tatty ones and Tim purchased new shorts and trousers. We chatted to the store assistant and shared about our travels. She was fascinated, asks loads of questions and another person who saw us as “brave”. Isn’t it funny how we can see others as brave yet for them, what they are doing is normal? I see people like Tim Pare who runs Tea Leaf Trust in Sri Lanka as brave. Back to Jac’s; she and our lovely niece Abi arrive, much chatting, eating. More people arriving with flowers, cards of sympathy and best wishes demonstrating the huge love that Jac’s friends have for her. No surprise there. I need to get going and make some scones – but time has 'sconed' so a job for tomorrow.