We have not had a lot of Summer. One week (beginning of July) was quite warm, but it has been pretty consistently miserable since. Tanner took the California bar exam last week and is more than ready to be done with school. So, he is on his way to visit us. We are looking forward to that.
The temple has been closed for the past couple of weeks (for annual refurbishment) so Kathy has had time to catch up on a lot. We visited with Marilyn Faulkner two weeks ago. She was visiting friends in Anglewhite which is just 20 minutes from here. Marilyn met Helen in the class she takes at Oxford each Summer and they were kindred spirits. We had a wonderful evening with them and are looking forward to future visits.
The flowers in England are quite remarkable. Most have very nice gardens and flower shows are a very big thing. One of the big ones is in Tatton Park and we went last week. Hard to describe, but here is a picture of one of the outdoor displays. All plants here (including trees) are in buried pots.
Landscape exhibit at Tatton Flower Show
Last Saturday, a couple in our Ward (the Holmes) invited us to lunch at their home. Many have what they call a “conservatory” attached to their home. Wonderful in the Summer–hardly useable in the winter.
Lunch with the Holmes
Lunch was followed by a visit to Queen Street Mill (a turn of the century cotton mill here in Lancashire). This was the industry of the period. The picture below is of the main floor where the looms ran. There are only 300 now, but 1,000 in the day. The sound of just two of these running was deafening (requiring ear protectors). Imagine 1,000 and no ear protection whatsoever–and 13 year olds running four to six looms.
Looms at Queen Street Mill
I couldn’t help but think how much my dad would have enjoyed the engineering and production processes. These ran with remarkable efficiency and little downtime.
On Sunday (our 47th anniversary), we drove to Lyme Park (and manor house). I must say, I am getting a little tired of manor houses, but this one was particularly old and had some unique features like the “cage” built out on a precipice. The cage was originally a hunting lodge and was later used as a park-keeper’s cottage and as a lock-up for prisoners.
Kathy at Lyme Park Cage (Manchester in the background)
Our work continues to keep us busy and interested. I wish I could talk a little more about the matters I work on, but this confidentiality thing prevents me from doing so. I believe I have communicated with attorneys who speak 15 languages just this last week. All speak some English, but many are very difficult to understand. Hearing my end of the conversation must be very entertaining to those around.
Our friends, the Stevens went home this week. Elder Stevens was the medical advisor for the UK missions. We will miss them. He has three siblings on missions. They will all be home in the Spring. We have been helping orient their replacements (Elder and Sister Thomson) this week. Reminds us of 6 months ago when we were totally clueless.
This week, I connected with a man named David Jayme. I baptized his parents 50 years ago in New Jersey. David was baptized a year later at 15 years old. He and his brother Michael have served faithfully in the Church with David actually serving as the president of the Brazil Manaus Mission a few years ago. I believe Michael was recently released as the bishop of their ward in New Jersey. David has 6 children and 19 grandchildren. It is humbling to see and to wonder how many lives have been touched by a visit to the Mormon Pavilion 50 years ago. I was able to connect with the Jaymes through as senior missionary I met in Frankfurt when we were there in May. He had lived in their ward.
That’s probably enough for now. Love to all.