A little bit of local history.

Recently a new book appeared in our home. It is called 'London's Oldest Rugby Clubs' and is written by one Dick Tyson. Immediatly we turned to the H page to see if our favourite team were there. Yes there they are - Harlequins! But our attention was attracted by this photo - well not THIS photo - this is one of the same view last week when taking a walk in Clissold Park.
It turns out that in its early days Harlequins used to play in what is now Clissold Park in North London.
This was soon after the club started in 1866 - then known as Hamsptead Football Club. The name was changed in 1869 to reflect the less local nature of the members.
Not sure why it is thought to do that. All I can find in the dictionary is that apart from being a mute figure in a pantomime, it may come from 16th century French - the name of the leader of a group of demon horsemen!
In the days when Harlequins played in our neck of the woods, this piece of land was known as Newington Common and was adjacent to the the big house, where the cafe is today.

Nowadays Harlequins home ground is miles away on the other side of London, very near the international rugby ground at Twickenham. Harlequins' ground is called The Stoop, in memory of Adrian Stoop who played for the club in the first half of the 20th century and also served as president for many years. His father was Dutch, his mother Scottish/Irish - a good mixture. No wonder he was able to revolutionise English rugby as wikipedia says.

Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

While we were in Guadeloupe we enjoyed watching these processions. On Shrove Tuesday everyone was dressed up in amazing costumes. On Ash Wednesday, they all wore black and white.
This was a friend of my son in law. He called on his way home so I persuaded him to pose. The hat is for you, Karen!
Being a Catholic country, both days were bank holidays (jours fériés).
Lots of drums on both evenings - and for many evenings before as they practised.

From Clissold Park

More signs of Spring!

Clissold Park

Happy Birthday LissaLou!

This event took place on Friday 20th February 2009 and I was so happy to be in Guadeloupe to take thesse photos!
Above are the morning events. Notice the photos on the wall behind Lissa. This is a new tradition that her mum has started - showing her life so far in pictures. Behind Papa mixing the birthday cake you can just catch a glimpse of 'Bon Anniversaire!'

Later we went to la campagne to have a barbecue and birthday party. The only problem was that it was a very windy day and the candles would NOT stay lit long enough to be blown out! So here you see Lissa pretending (pour faux?) for the sake of the camera.At our evening meal that day I lit a large table candle which she was able to blow out.
Lissa's is the only birthday in her class which is in February. Unfortunately the school was closed (the strike...) at that point. However when they reopened la maitresse was kind enough to do another bit of pretending and celebrate Lissa's birthday a bit late. Merci, madame!

AGM Sunday at St Augustines

Another fun filled morning at our friendly local C of E !
The sermon - abrreviated as it was - was based on a very short Psalm 133. 'Behold how good it is for the brethern to dwell together in unity' This is when it is possible for God to send down his blessings. In fact they trickle down like the annointing oil on Aaron's head... and beard.
A brave child volnteered to demonstrate - and was 'annointed' with a little water which trickled down his neck ( I hope it was warm water...)
Clive had also been talking about our roles in the church. We have those who teach the children, those who make the tea/coffee etc etc
He also wondered it the treasurer was going to report a profit in church finances this year.
Then, believe it or not, he put the two words together and produced a plate of profit e roles on which he poured a jug of chocolate sauce and we all watched it trickle down...
Then came the AGM and after all the excitement of Alda retiring after 12 years as church warden, and taking minutes, I completely forgot to wonder what happened to the profiteroles after the service!

To this...

Due to the general strike in Guadeloupe, I only went to the local supermarket once. This beautiful flower was one of many on a tree in the car park! Within yards there were broken windows and burnt tarmac on the roads where cars had been set on fire, also piles of stones and rocks that had been thrown by the demonstrators. In the other direction the supermarket was open - but guarded by the armed gendarmes - military police sent from France to control the situation. (The striking party may well have arrived to close the shopping centre down - as they did another day.)
Its very sad that a country so rich in natural beauty and sunshine, should have such poverty that makes peopole have to demonstrate like this in order to be heard.