Elisa and Ophelia

This year two of my greatest friends have had daughters, just a few weeks apart from each other. And in the last couple of month I've had the privilege of being able to spend a weekend with each of them, catching up and getting to know the newest additions to their families

I wrote this for them.

Elisa & Ophelia

Both new to the world this year
Only a handful of months in the knowing
Of sights and spaces beyond your mothers’ cocoon
So far
more time spent hidden than revealed

Two beautiful girls with beautiful names
“Promised of God” and “Help”
Significant from the start
I am excited to see where your paths take you

You, both, with your wide eyes looking upon the world around
Breaking into a smile now and then...
And the sun comes out
But right now
All that matters are those milky orbs, plenty of sleep, a clean nappy and being held

Being held
Can you feel how treasured you are?
The strength of love
In your mama and your papa’s arms
Can you hear it in their chest?
When they draw you close
Can you see in their eyes
That you are the apple, the moon and the stars?

Blood runs in your veins
From both sides of the Atlantic
The possibility of more than one passport
Lives that’ll include hours on planes to visit grandparents
A mix of cultures flavouring your tastes, your views, your words
What other seas will you cross? Where will you make your home(s)?
What will you embrace and what will you change?
Whichever roads you take, may you dance often and laugh long
And delight in life and know you are of unspeakable value

I wonder if you’ll be friends one day
Connected by the thread of friendship with your mothers
That I am honoured to hold
wrapped tightly around my heart
I have journeyed with both of them
For a little long while
Learning about life and love and loss and laughter
They are strong
The women that bore you
Determined in their desire to follow the One Above and in them
To love well
And to keep on keep on keep on
Big hearts and faithful friends
My sisters
And I can already see that strength in you


I am richer for knowing your mothers
And doubly blessed for having met you
Perhaps one day my daughter will gain two older sisters
And she’ll be all the richer, too.

If I met a cocoa farmer (I won a poetry competition!)

I entered the Divine chocolate and Christian Aid poetry competition right at the last minute.  OK so it's not the most renowned competition, but the subject was interesting (see post title), and I'm trying to get more proactive about writing, so this seemed like a good start.

And, total surprise, I WON! Am pretty chuffed. Plus I got lots of chocolate sent to me :-)

Here is the judge and children's writer, Philip Ardagh, reading my poem.  Words are underneath.

If 

If our paths should cross one day
I’m not convinced
That my words wouldn’t melt away
We are worlds apart
Are there any bridges big enough?

If our hands should clasp
I wonder what I’d feel
Weathered fingers
Friends of the soil
Tips sensitive to the story of each leaf
And the lines on his wife’s cheek

If our eyes should meet
What dreams would I see
He dreams beans!
He laughs and the eyes crinkle
Like silver foil
A gaze full of intention
To see that today
Life continues to grow

If our voices were to combine
How would it taste?
He leaves the bitterness to the cocoa beans
(Whereas I am too quick to turn sour)
There is a depth of flavour to his words
A lifetime of reflection
Upon the rhythm of the seasons
Has aged him well

If one day
We might embrace
 I’d inhale sweat-scent
Infused
With the cycles of tending, fending, fermenting, gathering
And catch a glimpse of a strength
That only a farmer’s wife can truly know

If our paths should cross one day
Perhaps we could sit and share
That ridiculous treasure
That binds us together
And in that moment
When more than words
 are melting in our mouth

We’ll pause
And smile
Together

Last Friday night in Newlyn (or Wherrytown to be precise!)

Time for more strange Cornish creatures... teenagers and crabs!! Haha.

We've started helping out a little at a youth group, and on Friday we went down to Newlyn for a BBQ on the 'beach' (more like pile of stones resembling a building site, but nevermind!)...

I'm loving the sunshine and taking my camera out everywhere at the moment, hence me posting a lot more photos than words lately.  I also know I need to write, but I keep putting it off... because my thoughts mainly consist of either "Thank you for the sun and the sea and the amazing people in my life" - which I assume other people don't want to hear ALL the time (so I'll take photos of them instead and make people think life in Cornwall is perfect!! haha!) - OR "I'm too sad about this or that situation to even put it into words". Yes life is, as usual, full of it's ups and downs and sun and rain, and I'm often swung between the two, unable to grasp the middle ground.

So, pretty photos for now it is then! :)

Helena and the jelly fish

It was another hot, sunny day in Penzance

The tide was low and the sea was blue

So Katrina and Helena headed to Battery rocks for a post-work evening swim

They chatted in the sunshine and the breeze for a while

Until they heard a bit of a commotion going on.  

So Helena went to have a look...

And this is the reason for Helena's expression...

That's right folks.
A humungous JELLY FISH!

Welcome to crazy Cornwall.

Going to vs. Being CHURCH

So I didn't go the 11am church meeting on Sunday.  I didn't sing. I didn't sit at the back on a chair and fight to stay awake through the long sermon, like I often do (just being honest!).  I didn't go inside a church building.

But this weekend, I definitely 'did' church.

Hubby came back from the pub on Friday evening with two new-ish friends.  We sat in our tiny flat munching on pizza and talking about connecting with God, and chasing after him, and the struggles and the questions.  We were challenged and we are changing as a result.

On Saturday I danced and laughed and clapped in a friend's living room with her and her smiling little daughter and we celebrated friendship, and children and the fact that even the tiniest ones love to move and make music.

In the evening we sat with husbands around the fire and took photos to try to capture the beauty of faces and fire and food.  We looked up at the moon, and sparks floating silently into the night sky, and wondered at the Creator and the mystery of Him entering the world as a man.

On Sunday I travelled to the Lizard with a friend and her family - that southerly most part of the land.  We found ourselves in a tranquil campsite, a blessed space, where we sat under an apple tree with our selection of flags.  We joined young and old from near and far to worship the one that first loved us.  The clouds blew away and we held up shining banners under the blue sky, rippling in the wind, like the breath of his spirit.

Little girls joined us, running across the grass barefoot with colour trailing.  Declaring. "Just one touch from the King, changes everything". A lady suffering from two types of cancer found her agonising pain to be gone.

Hallelujah.

A man danced with the silver flag and afterward we share stories with him and his wife, living in the wigwam with their four kids.  They are on an adventure, as we all are, waiting, listening, encouraging along the way. Another connection, another jump of excitement in my belly, God is moving, his people are moving, who knows what is to come...

We are the church, and God cannot be contained.

Appreciating Penzance this week

Wednesday: Working at home all day in front of a computer makes me quite desperate to get outside by around 5pm, and with summer in the air I'm determined to make the most of living in this special part of the world.  I'm finding Penzance prom a good place to air my head, chat to God, and think about things other than work.  This time, I found myself quite fascinated by the rust on the railings, I think it's kind of beautiful.

Friday: The fun fair came to town!  I'm a pretty big fan of fun fairs, especially the smells and the lights and the BIG RIDES, even if we were only ever allowed on one ride and no candy floss, burgers or toys when we were kids! Knowing a family with three young children gave me the excuse to check out this one.  It was a little different to the fun fair on Brighton level, or how I remember them from childhood, with a lot less stalls and rides and a lot more space... but hey we are in Penzance!  I went on bumper cars for the first time in my life (when you're only allowed on one ride, you chose the biggest there is, so the bumper cars never got much attention!) with my 5-year-old friend.  And accompanied his mother on the incredible Hulk ride which was actually REALLY fun. I laughed hysterically the whole way round while Mandy screamed.  Good times :-)

Saturday: What better way to spend a Saturday night than to outside on a sofa in front of a fire and roast marshmallows?!  Thankful for friends who make things like this happen, and little people who call me "Aunty Kat". Yey.