Christening

Yesterday was Ellie's christening. The church is very big and quiet and cool, the building itself facilitates meditation.

Most of the family were there, and I realised that the convolutions of modern family in some ways replace the extent of the traditional.
The extended family is still there, but it takes a different form. And as long as you can all get along in some way, there are all these extra people to give support in all sorts of ways, to the children of the family.

In the big, quiet, cool, meditative church, I was reminded of how small and warm ours is back in Richmond. How the warmth extends from person to person as we offer each other the peace. Not very British that.
In Britain, we do it politely, slightly embarrassed in the middle of worship, to have to stop and shake hands with someone. Not very C of E.
But in Canada, in the church I go to, it seems more natural, an opportunity to wander around, to say the hellos you didn't have time to say on your way in.
I like both things, the opportunity to tune in to yourself, to be still and to know God, and the feeling of warmth from others.

This morning we called on Sleepy unannounced, luckily for us she wasn't phased and showed us the garden and made us coffee in her jammies. Sassy came round and we sat and chatted, totally cool.

Jetlag hit around mid-avo and we dozed for a bit. When Austen came home from work he made us cannelloni with spinach from the garden and that was yummers.

You have to know Pompey to get how amazing these two gardens are. Both Sleepy and Austen have gardens that are bursting with fruit and veggies and yet this is a densely populated city where the houses all seem to be jammed in on top of one another.
Dunkirk spirit.
Bloody brilliant.