Recent Activities Mostly in Wales

In recent weeks it has been quite busy. I am working on a big project for May and besides the regular work in the church I have been speaking elsewhere. A week back from last Friday I was down in Sussex. Firstly, I was in Halland where I had been invited to eat with a ministerial friend and his wife and then I spoke in Hailsham Baptist on the missionary David Brainerd. It was gratifying to see such a large number gathered and I think I was able to get across something of that great man.

Then over this last weekend it has been a great weekend of blessing. It began last Thursday night with the journey to Aberystwyth (Eleri, my youngest, the dog and me). There we stayed with my oldest son and his family. We arrived late but we had much of the day with them Friday. Another son, currently studying in the university, also came over.
Around 4 pm Eleri and I headed east again, this time to Bala where Eleri was taking part in a ministers' wives conference organised by EMW. My daughter-in-law and an old friend up from Pembrokeshire came with us. There was a good turn out at the conference with something like thirty or so by the Saturday.

At that point I left Bala and went further east to Pentre Halkyn near Holywell in north east Wales. North Wales can look pretty amazing in the Spring sunshine. It was a lovely trip. I was heading for a friend's house but it's a while since I last went there so it took me a few tries to find the right door. Chris and Carol, who are members in the church in Denbigh, treated me very kindly to a lovely Chinese meal. Carol disappeared at some point but Chris and I carried on chatting away and listening to music. Suddenly it was 2 am and past time for bed.

In the morning we went for a MacDonald's breakfast and then I was away back west to Bala, over the hills and past the rocks and sheep. That morning Eleri was speaking in the conference - not something she has really done before. She spoke on how we use our tongues and got on well, I'm sure, despite a cold that with unhelpful timing had begun to come on back in London.

I arrived around twelve and had a brief cuppa and then lunch with Eleri's cousin. He and his wife have been running the conference centre Bryn-Y- Groes in Bala for some time now, and very well. A big building project begins in September.

Having had a little break after lunch the ladies reconvened and it was my turn to be introduced and to speak. I managed to convince them that Eleri and I know one another quite well, despite some slip ups. I spoke on the second half of Proverbs 31 seeing the woman there not as an impossible challenge for women but a description of wisdom, wisdom found only in Jesus Christ.

After a cup of tea and cake the conference slowly dispersed until only our hosts and Eleri and I were left. We had a lovely evening with them talking.

On the Lord's Day I preached in the local church in Bala. I decided to go for texts - Hebrews 2:3a and Romans 8:28. The Word was much appreciated.

Eleri and I then headed back to Aber where Rhodri was busy with the students, including his younger brother. Also with them was a girl I knew is the daughter of an old friend from my youth. It was nice to chat with her. Earlier on I got the change to read a bed time story to my grandsons. I used the two books I wrote for them a few years ago (The boy with four uncles and The boy with a Z in his name).

This morning we (Eleri, Owain, the dog and me) left at a not too early hour. We drove to Watford Gap services where I joined my father-in-law, Geoff Thomas, for the drive to the Banner Conference in Yarnfield.

10 UK PMs who served with no wife

1. Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington 16 February 1742 – 2 July 1743 Never married

2. William Pitt the Younger 19 December 1783 – 14 March 1801 and 10 May 1804 – 23 January 1806 Never married

3. Arthur Balfour 11 July 1902 – 5 December 1905 Never married

4. Edward Heath 19 June 1970 – 4 March 1974 Never married

5. The Duke of Devonshire 16 November 1756 – 25 June 1757 Widower

6. William Cavendish, The Duke of Portland 31 March 1807 – 4 October 1809 Widower

7. William Lamb, The Viscount Melbourne18 April 1835 – 30 August 1841 Widower

8. The Earl of Rosebery 5 March 1894 – 22 June 1895 Widower

9. Bonar Law 23 October 1922 – 20 May 1923 Widower

10. Ramsay MacDonald 22 January 1924 – 4 November 1924 and 5 June 1929 – 7 June 1935 Widower

Midweek Meeting April 18 2018

Seven of us gathered last Wednesday as we tackled the next bit in the life of Abraham - the detour into Egypt. Lots of help from Dale Ralph Davis again but trying not to rely too much on him in the wrong way. Good prayer time too, although I could have given us longer.

10 Longest serving UK PMs

1. Sir Robert Walpole 20 years, 314 days Whig 1721

2. William Pitt the Younger 18 years, 343 days Tory (Pittite) 1783 (2 terms)

3. The Earl of Liverpool 14 years, 305 days Tory (Pittite) 1812

4. The Marquess of Salisbury 13 years, 252 days Conservative 1885 (3 terms)

5. William Ewart Gladstone 12 years, 126 days 4 Liberal 1868

6. Lord North 12 years, 58 days Tory (Northite) 1770

7. Margaret Thatcher 11 years, 209 days Conservative 1979

8. Henry Pelham 10 years, 191 days Whig 1743

9. Tony Blair 10 years, 56 days Labour 1997

10. Viscount Palmerston 9 years, 141 days Whig/Liberal 1855 (2 terms)

10 Shortest serving UK PMs

1. George Canning 119 days 1 Tory (Canningite) 1827
2. Viscount Goderich 130 days Tory (Canningite) 1827
3. Bonar Law 211 days Conservative (Scottish Unionist) 1922
4. The Duke of Devonshire 225 days Whig 1756
5. The Earl of Shelburne 266 days Whig (Chathamite) 1782
6. The Earl of Bute 317 days Tory 1762
7. Sir Alec Douglas-Home 362 days Conservative (Scot. Unionist)
8. Lord Grenville 1 year, 42 days Whig 1806
9. The Duke of Grafton 1 year, 106 days Whig (Chathamite) 1768
10. The Earl of Rosebery 1 year, 109 days Liberal 1894

Lord's Day April 15 2018

We had relatively good congregations morning and evening. Some people missing, of course, for various reasons but some recent newcomers back again and one or two other missing ones present. I decided to take two texts. In the morning, Luke 23:42, 43 and the dying thief and in the evening Hebrews 7:25 on Christ being able to save to the uttermost. We had communion before the evening service and I spoke about the third saying of the cross where Jesus commends his mother to the Apostle John. Reuben Saywell from the seminary is on placement with me at the moment and so I asked him to read Scripture morning and evening - Proverbs 12b and Romans 2. We had a hairy moment with immortality (not immorality) but we got through it. Nice to talk to the kids again too. There is a lot to be said for textual preaching.

10 interesting words for the first meal of the day

1. Breakfast (from to break your fast Spanish desayuno has the same etymology)

2. Morgenmad (Danish morning meal Esperanto uses Matenmango on the same basis as do modern Hebrew and Greek)

3. Fruhstuck (German early piece Swedish and Norwegian use the same idea Frukost, frokost, as do Malay and Chinese)

4. Ontbijt (Dutch begin to bite or starting bite)

5. Petit dejeuner (French small dinner, although the second word means to stop fasting Romanian is similar Mic dejun)

6. Asa Gohan (Japanese morning rice)

7. Café da manhã (Portuguese in Brazil morning coffee)

8. Kahvalti (Turkish under ie before coffee)

9. Almusal (Tagalog, from Spanish almorzar now used for lunch though can mean breakfast. Almorzar from Latin admorsus from admorere to bite into).

10. Doručak (Serbian before or until lunch)

Pentangle - Light Flight

Midweek Meeting April 11 2018

Eight of us gathered on Wednesday for the regular midweek meeting. For various reasons I took a break from Leviticus and started a series on Abraham in Genesis, looking at Genesis 12:1-9. I used Dale Ralph Davis's Faith of our Father which was very helpful. We prayed too, as usual. Always lots to pray about.

10 More types of pasta (last one)

1. Campanelle Flattened bell-shaped pasta with a frilly edge on one end (Little bells)

2. Conchiglie Seashell shaped (Shells)

3. Farfalle Bow tie or butterfly shaped (Butterflies)

4. Fiori Shaped like a flower (Little flowers)

5. Fusilli Three-edged spiral, usually in mixed colours. Many vendors and brands sold as fusilli are two-edged (From fusile, archaic/dialect form of fucile, meaning rifle. As the inside barrel of a gun is “rifled” using a similar screw-shaped device)

6. Gemelli A single S-shaped strand of pasta twisted in a loose spiral (Twins)

7. Gnocchi Round in shape and often made with flour plus potatoes (From the Italian gnocco, meaning “a knot in wood”)

8. Pipe Larger version of macaroni (Smoking pipes)

9. Rotelle Wagon wheel-shaped pasta (Little wheels, from ruota-wheel)

10. Spirali A tube which spirals round (Spirals)

[Also two stuffed sorts

Ravioli Square. About 3x3cm. Stuffed with cheese, ground meat, pureed vegetables, or mixtures thereof (Possibly from rapa, “turnip”)

Tortellini Ring-shaped. Stuffed with a mixture of meat and cheese]

10 Types of pasta (ribbons)

1. Bavette Narrower version of tagliatelle (Little thread)
2. Fettuccine Ribbon of pasta approximately 6.5 millimetres wide (Little ribbons)
3. Lasagne Very wide noodles that often have fluted edges (Cooking pot, s Lasagana pl Lasagne)
4. Linguine Flattened spaghetti (Little tongues)
5. Mafalde Short rectangular ribbons
6. Mafaldine Long ribbons with ruffled sides
7. Pappardelle Thick flat ribbon
8. Reginette Wide ribbon with rippled edges (Little queens)
9. Stringozzi Similar to shoelaces (From stringhe, meaning shoestrings)
10. Tagliatelle Ribbon fairly thinner than fettucine (From “tagliare” – to cut)

Lord's Day April 8 2018

I decided to go with resurrection themes again this Lord's Day and so we looked at the rest of John 20 and part of John 21. Numbers were a little low in the morning, which was followed by lunch together (mountains of food it seemed). We were 18 in the evening which is good for us. We had visitors in at both services.local people who we hope will come again. We have sung 16 resurrection hymns over the last two Sundays. All excellent hymns. We did not know one or two tunes sadly, which was a pity. There are others we haven't tried for a lack of knowledge of them.

10 Types of pasta (tubes)

1. Bucatini Hollow spaghetti (Little holes)

2. Calamarata Wide ring shaped pasta (Squid, also known as “calamari”)

3. Cavatappi Corkscrew-shaped macaroni (Corkscrews; also known as Cellentani and Spirali)

4. Ditalini Short tubes, like elbows but shorter and without a bend (Small fingers)

5. Maccheroni As long as a little finger, usually striped 

6. Maccheroncelli Hollow pencil-shaped pasta

7. Maltagliati Short wide pasta with diagonally cut ends (Roughly cut)

8. Manicotti Large ridged tubes that are stuffed (Sleeves, from the Italian word manica)

9. Penne Medium length tubes with ridges, cut diagonally at both ends (Literally “pens” because the tip is similar to that of a quill or fountain pen)

10. Rigatoni Large and slightly curved tube (From riga, meaning line. pasta with lines (large) Rigato or rigate, when added to another pasta name means lined, or, with ridges added, eg “spaghetti rigati”

10 Types of pasta (strands)

These are all strand type pastas

1. Spaghetti - the most common round-rod pasta (Spago means twine, spaghetto means little twine, spaghetti is plural)

2. Fedelini Between spaghetti and vermicelli in size (Little faithful ones)

3. Vermicelli Thicker than capellini, thinner than fedelini (Little worms)

4. Capellini Thinner than vermicelli, thicker than angel hair (Fine hair)

5. Capellini d'angelo Thinnest round-rod pasta (Angel hair)

6. Barbina Thin strands often coiled into nests (Little beards)

7. Spaghetti alla Chitarra Similar to spaghetti, except square rather than round, and made of egg in addition to flour (Named after the device used to cut the pasta, which has a wooden frame strung with metal wires. Sheets of pasta are pressed down onto the device, and then the wires are “strummed” so that the slivers of pasta fall through)

8. Ciriole Thicker version of chitarra

9. Fusilli Lunghi Very long coiled rods (like a thin telephone cord) (Long rifles)

10. Spaghettoni Thick spaghetti

10 Unusual words in Thank You Jeeves

In recent weeks I have been reading P G Wodehouse's novel Thank you, Jeeves and I have found several words unfamiliar to me hitherto.

1. Dementia Praecox (Ch 1 p 6)

... the germ of dementia praecox

Nowadays the term dementia is used to describe an irreversible deterioration in brain function, the result of various medical conditions (senile dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc.). Dementia praecox (premature dementia) was the 19th century term for the severe personality disorders that we now call schizophrenia. Eugen Bleuler established (1908) that these illnesses were not linked to an irreversible brain deterioration and introduced the new term schizophrenia to describe them more accurately. It is unlikely that Sir Roderick, in the 1930s, would use the term. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of the existence of a schizophrenia germ – modern science seems to lean more towards the idea of a schizophrenia gene.

2. Truckling (Ch 1 p 10)

Do I mean truckling?

A truckle-bed is a low bed on castors that can be rolled under another bed when not in use. The verb “truckle,” which originally simply meant to sleep on such a bed, had taken on a figurative sense of “lying down unworthily” or “cowering” by the late 17th century.

3. Sussuration (Ch.14; page 138)

a regular susurration of domestics

Susurration, in modern use, most often refers to the gentle murmur of a breeze. However, it can also mean whispering, and used to have an implication of malicious gossip. Bertie is using it here as though it were a collective noun (cf. “a pride of lions”)

4. Stearic matter (Ch.14 p 144)

a pretty eloquent plea from the stearic matter

A more general term than just butter; it refers to a usually solid compound found in most animal and some vegetable fats; suet and lard contain high proportions of it, and it is used in the manufacture of soaps, candles and many other products

5. Parasang (Ch 16 p 160)

about ten parasangs

The parasang is a Persian unit of measure, approximately equal to three miles (5km). (The example in the Shorter OED for the figurative sense of parasang is taken from another Wodehouse story)

6. Zareba (Ch 18 p 182)

I wedged myself a little tighter behin the old Zareba

A thorn stockade protecting a village or cattle pen. Mainly used in Somalia and the Sudan (from Arabic)

7. Roopy (Ch 18 p 183)

His voice ... it was harsh and roopy

Roopy means hoarse and is from a word meaning to shout

8. Mulct (Ch 18 p 185)

Mulct in substantial damages

To mulct is to penalise by means of a fine. Damages are normally a reparation, not a penalty, so this is not a standard legal expression.

9. Dipsomaniac (Ch 21 p 222)

... the melancholy dipsomaniac and socialist revolutionary, Brinkley

An alcoholic

10. Tumbril (Ch 22 p 227)
… the old aristocrat mounting the tumbril.
An open cart that tilted backwards to empty out its load, in particular one used to convey condemned prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution. A third reference in the book to A Tale of Two Cities