village happenings, Box Rocks Circus, Thomas Tank Engine

Hello Friends,

Once again it is past time for me to be doing a blog....sorry....

This past couple of weeks we have had some celebrations in the village that I think some of you may be interested in so here goes...

I am not sure if the stories of Thomas The Tank Engine is read in the USA where I know many of my friends who read his blog of mine live..but over here every little boy and probably girl has read the Thomas Stories...There was even a TV programme for a long time all abut Thomas the tank engine and his friends the other trains...Well it may come as news to some that the Rev. Audrey who wrote the books was inspired to do so for his Son when they lived in the village of Box quite near the famous Box Tunnel (just where I live also)...and two weeks ago the house where they lived ( now a B&B) has had a plaque unveiled on the wall commemorating the fact...Rev Audrey's Son and Daughter and grandchildren came to do the unveiling. I am not sure where I put the photographs but when I find it I will post it for you all to see.

The next big event was the official opening of

“ Box Rocks Circus”



The Rock Circus is an installation of rocks and sculptures that has been built so that the ancient and modern stories told by rocks, fossils and minerals can be more widely known.

The circular area on Box recreation ground is intended to be a space for everyone – to meet, learn and play or simply enjoy.

The four huge quarried blocks document Britain's slow movement over the last 400 million years from the southern hemisphere to our present position.

The obelisk is built from Box Stone, and illustrates the importance of this famous building stone, upon which the origins of this village are based.

Children are encouraged to climb and explore the two sculpted blocks, which are packed with different minerals and fossils, or they can make rubbings from a wide variety of fossils that have been set into a Box Stone table.

Imaginations, young and old, can run wild making-up stories to explain the two sets of dinosaur footprints that run through the circle!

A team of skilled craftsmen has built the circus under the leadership of stone mason Marcus Mitchell.

The project is the brainchild of Box-resident Elizabeth Devon, who is a geologist and Earth Science educator.

I wish you could all see and admire this wonderful work of art and imagination. I for one could never have thought that we had such a rich supply of stones just a few feet underneath our feet.

Within the stones and rocks there are many fasinating fossils that the childern are encouraged to rub and to wonder at what they see.... such as an Ammonite dating back 190 million years,a Dragon fly 140 million years, a Pterdactyl 150 million years, the complete skeleton shows all the individual bones including the skull with teeth !! there is a Spade fish 50 million years, you can even see eggs in the body cavity of this female specimen..there are many more that can be seen and I can just imagine the fun and learning that is going to come to children and adults who wish to learn more are going to get from this marvelous new exhibit in Box. We are becoming quite a famous little village.. I will try to make the "Box Rocks Circus" my header photo...
I have never yet discovered try as I might to get my pictures embedded in the script !!
 So although Mary and I have not been doing a great deal we have certainly "seen" a lot going on...
I had hoped to be able to tell you all about my new car which was due to be delivered last Friday, but unfortunately it has been delayed ...again...so watch this space...
Masy is getting ever stronger and just loves the long walks Lynn my dear neighbour takes her on, she loves to meet everyone and of course most folks just love her she is so cute today she is 4 months old...She does not like the rain..or high winds..but as we keep telling her here in England we have more wet and windy days than other days so she had better quick get used to it !!!
I do hope that you are all having a good week and enjoying life...
never for get to love yourself and that way you can pass that love on to all who you meet...

Hello Friends,  at long last I am sitting down to try and get my blog done.  I have actually started umpteen times but got interrupted and as I didn't get back I started again...so fingers crossed all will be quiet this evening.   Thank you first of all for mostly being better than me and writing such interesting blogs, that I do manage to read !! what with my blog friends and facebook not to mention Masy no wonder my days seem t pass much to quickly.    Mary did indeed return from her annual holiday to Edinburgh mid July, she had had a nice time visiting lots of friends despite the almost continual rain The day she returned the weather was nice in Edinburgh...on arriving at Bristol guess what  Rain torrential rain, in fact I don't think I have ever driven over and back from the airport in such bad weather.  We certainly have not had a good summer....so far....we keep saying that perhaps we will have an Indian summer !!!  It has not been really cold at least not for us here I suppose with the exception of a few hot days the temp has been in the mid 60s most days...when it doed rise to 70s we all almost faint with the heat LOL...     Mary was delighted to see how much Masy had grown and although she still gets a bit concerned that she (Mary) can't move quick enough to catch her when she is up to something !!   Our lives seem to revolve round  "DOG" she is such a lovely wee thing I had forgotten how much time a puppy takes up.  She has now had all her jabs and so can go out into the wide world and meet people and other dogs.  The vet organises "a puppy party" to get the puppies socialised. The first one Masy went to she was barely 11 weeks and so tiny, everyone laughed when they saw her ! and she certainly did not like the other boisterous pups...and quickly tried to hide behind Peter or me !! then last Wed. we went again...well she was like a different dog. She is much bigger and only wanted to play with all the pups there of all sizes and there were one or two who were not at all sure of her  !! next step will be puppy training and perhaps we will start that next week.   Last Saturday we had a lovely afternoon out. There is a nursing home nearby in the hamlet of Shockerwick and they have an annual Dog show and Fete

we had never been before but thought it would be a good first outing for Masy..It was, it was much bigger than I had imagined but once Masy gt used to the crowds she was ever so good. especially as everyone wanted to hold her and indeed run away with her  LOL    Other than our day out to the Dog Show we really have not been going very far. I am still TRYING to house train her !!!!  there was me hoping that a couple of weeks we would have  it cracked...I get really quite tired jumping up and down grabbing her and making her go outside, Mary gets a bit cross but I know it is because she feels sorry she can't jump up and down as quickly as me.   I am very thankful that a neighbour Lynne has offered to take Masy out for walks. She started about 2 weeks ago and took to the lead with no trouble at all. Lynne's dog died just about a week after my wee Dee so Masy is helping her as well...so she says...Yesterday she was away for over 3/4 hour and when she got back she was still full of energy....wish she could infect me with some of it  LOL

I have had a few church meetings this last month and something very wonderful has happened that is a real answer to prayers.  We have been given a very very good anonymous donation that will enable us as a church to employ part time aprox 25 hours a week for 3 years a church worker...we have still to give him/her a title We envisage that he/she will be able to visit a lot in the village and also all the organisations that use our church premises and find out just what is needed to enable us to grow.  At the moment our minster who is wonderful just has not got the time to do much pastoral visiting etc.  we share her with 5 other churches...

Anyway it will take us a few months to get everything into motion but hope that by January everything will be in place for us to take the leap into the unknown future... I still can hardly believe it is all happening...

I hope that you have all been able to look in on the Olympic games from London. Mary is nt into the games very much but I love most of them so I have to share stations with her, but once she goes home after 6pm I can enjoy all evening.  There have been some great competitions and wonderful gold silver and bronze awards...At the moment I am half watching the start of the pentathlon.

Well friends...if I have any still out there !!  I leave you as always with God Bless    and

LOVE ONE ANOTHER