Counting Blessings - week 2.

[curiouswombat]

For those of you who are counting your blessings with us, under the cut are -


Sunday - In some countries many people are disabled, some from acts of violence. Give 2p for each healthy limb of every family member.

Monday - Some people are deaf and dumb. Give 3p for each hymn in church yesterday. If you did not go to church, give 20p.

Tuesday - Many malnourished children do not live 5 years. Give 5p for each family member over 5 years old.

Wednesday - Some people are blind, others have poor unaided sight. Give 5p for each pair of spectacles in your house.

Thursday - Communication is vital, and it is nice to receive letters or phone calls. Give 3p for each letter or phone call received in your home today.

Friday - Some people sleep rough at night, even in our country. Give 4p for every bed in your house.

Saturday - Tea and coffee are cash crops grown in some poor countries. give 2p for every cup of tea or coffee drunk in your home today.

Sunday - Democracy and freedom are things we take for granted, others are less fortunate. Make a freewill offering for your freedom.



ETA - I've just realised the 'location' thing is a clicky - and it takes you to a google map - so my original location, which was 'right here on my settee' confused it - it put me in Vermont in the USA!! I have changed it to the more boring and more prosaic entry you now see! I wonder if it now works?

Comments

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

You mean Whalley in Lancashire?
Yep!

Do you have family or friends there, then?

Tecnically, yeah... That's where rackham's family came from before emigrating to the US ages and ages ago. That area still has the highest concentration of people with the Eatough surname in the world... for some reason, they just don't seem prone to moving much (as far as we can tell, nearly all Eatoughs in the US are descended from two brothers who emigrated in the late 1800s -- one settled in the Northeast and the other trekked across the country to Utah).

Whalley, though, still has some choir stalls (http://www.lancashirechurches.co.uk/whalley.htm) (second photo down) that were carved by the first ever Eatoughs (at least that we've found) back in the 1400s -- two Flemish brothers (who may have been "brothers" (as in monks)) who came to town for just that purpose.

Rackham has always wanted to go see them and the area, in general... And I think it would be incredibly cool, as well. We're planning a trip to England later this year, and are planning on visiting London, Whalley and a few other places (since getting to know you and Speaker, and reading all about the Isle of Man, I've been rallying for a visit there, too).

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Well it really isn't far to the boat....!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

And also - what a lovely church - a great bit of history to be able to say 'those were carved by our ancestors'.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I know! There's nothing like it in my own family tree... about a third of my ancestors were already here when people started coming over from Europe (which leads to a whole lot of dead ends when doing genealogy), and the others mostly came from Scotland and Ireland during some of the major influxes into North America and we have very little info on where, exactly, they were from in those countries.

So, the idea of being able to point at a particular thing that's nearly 600 years old and say "my ancestors did that!" is just so incredibly nifty. Even if they're only ancestors by marriage!