A visit from Phyllis' siblings & a Niece

Phyllis' siblings and a niece were able to coordinate their schedules to make a visit to London. Here is Roger, Linda, Rosie, and Rosie's daughter, Sarah on the tube on the way to our place after we met them at Heathrow. They look pretty good for not getting much sleep.

This is what we look like after a day of getting them around the city!

The day after they arrived we had a beautiful day so we took a long walk along one of the canals which ended up in Regents Park.

After Regents Park, we went to Camden Town to look at the market. Outside of the tube exit was this drummer which sounded pretty nice.

A group photo in front of the fountain in Trafalgar square.

Kensington Gardens & Palace & Holland Park

May 16 we had a free day of no guests or groups to take care of so we headed on a walk to Holland Park. However, we took a wrong turn out of the tube station and stumbled onto Kensington Gardens and Palace first. This is one of the views of the Palace. It was closed for the day. This was the residence of Princess Diana. Also the birth place of Queen Victoria & residence.

Evidently, this man spends a bit of time feeding the squirrels as he had a lot of food for them and they would eat right out of his hands. Made me think of the old lady in Mary Poppins when she is feeding the birds of the steps of St Paul's. We did make our way to Holland Park eventually and here is a beautiful Japanese garden within the park. The bird is real.

This white man was posing outside of a cafe in the park and this young girl went up to take a look and he beckoned for her hand as if he were to shake it then planted a kiss instead. She was thrilled!

Trip to the States & a 50th celebration

My US trip was mainly to attend the 50th birthday bash for my sister in law Mim Shirk. The sisters and sister in laws of Ed's family have a tradition that when we turn 50 we get together for the weekend and celebrate. Mim choose a great location near Virginia Beach. We only had to walk less than a mile to the beach. Every day was sunny and warm. I walked at least twice each day to the beach including a night visit to lay on towels and look at the stars.
As always there was much game playing, good conversation, eating, laughing, and gift giving. This year the main Saturday night feast was Fondue. Thanks to Renee for taking this on. I arrived a couple days early to PA to stay with Ed's parents so that I could get over my jet lag. While I was there, Casey who is Pete & Sandy Shirks daughter, had a soccer game. She is on the Varsity team of her Jr High. This is a shot taken right after she made an assist. They won! Mom Sandy and bother Eric clapping for the end result. Somehow Pete avoided the camera.

After the game in the driveway.

Mother's fabulous garden and the great shed Pete made complete with rockers to sit and enjoy the view.

This tree was picked out and planted for Mim years ago (Each child got a tree) which is a dogwood. How appropriate that it blooms on her birthday!

Mim's 50th Bday party weekend

Those of us from PA drove to our destination while others flew in. Mim and Ron were at the house for the week prior to our arrival. Ron vacated to another location while we had our party. A few of the early birds on the first morning waiting for breakfast.

The birthday girl getting in some early morning quiet time reading.

Relaxing before supper on the deck.

Late night activity. Earring making. One of the gifts was a kit to make earrings so everyone made a pair for Mim. As I was still jet lagged, I took pictures instead. I was afraid that my creation would be lopsided.

The weather was great. Actually the skies were blue the entire weekend except in this picture. I forgot to take my camera each time I went to the beach so this is from Hilda. This is Sunday afternoon after the most of us had left. Mim, Dorothy, and Hilda (not pictured) stayed for another day.

Two teas and a bunch of friends

The Monday after getting back to PA from Virginia, I flew to Wichita where my sister Linda picked me up and I stayed with her one night. The following day she took me to Harper where I stayed with our good friends Spike & Gloria Hostetler. It's a great location as it's close to the church and other friends and within walking distance to the hospital where my mom lives. I spent the next 9 days there catching up with them and many other good friends. It felt like I'd never left. We have the dearest friends in Harper and we miss them. Visiting with my mom every day at the hospital gave me a chance to see my old work mates. It was a good time to be with my mom too.

As a small way of saying THANK YOU to my home congregation (Pleasant Valley Mennonite in Harper, KS) for the support they have given Ed and I while in London, I said I would like to have a cream tea for who ever could come. Big thank yous to Faith Penner, Pam Gerber, and Leslie Roberts for doing all the ground work. It was fun! We had scones, Victoria sponge cakes, chocolate covered strawberries and TEA! These lovely ladies did the work of inviting everyone, setting the tables with lots of pretty dishes, flowers, and tablecloths, etc. Thank you so much! All I had to do was make the goodies, everything else was taken care of.

I think about 30 ladies showed up for the tea. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. It was so good to see them all!

The next day at the hospital in the Long Term Care wing where my mom lives, was a Tea for families of the residents. No scones or cakes this time but some great American cookies!

Icing on the cake of my visit was that Tonya, Andrew and Emma Graber from Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp were in the area for a graduation of relatives. So I met them on their way home. Corbin and Natalie stayed home this time. Here they are leaving and doing one of their silly face poses just for Ed.

I've been admonished to "Get with it"!

These ought to keep you in desk-to background photos for a while....

Flower Power!

Hurt-your-eyes gorgeous!

This is the flower of the Hanky Tree - seriously! The tree is about 60 feet tall and covered in hankys. Just in time for Swine Flu season!

Rhodys and Azaleas

The gardens of Kenwood HouseMarmite - having a sniff.
Speaking of Swine Flu......

Opportunity Knocks!

Dear Friends,

It is almost unbelievable to us but we are well into our last of three years at the London Mennonite Centre. It has been an amazing experience and a great opportunity to grow spiritually as well as make many, many new friends and contribute to God's work in the UK. We still have to pinch ourselves from time to time. God has been so generous and merciful to us and our family.

However, our time here is rapidly coming to a close (Feb 2010) and the LMC and Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) are looking for a replacement couple to help continue the legacy started here in London so many years ago. If you are interested in this experience or you know of someone who might be, please get in touch with us or MMN and we will be happy to answer any questions you might have. Here is part of the job description;

• Work and live at the London Mennonite Centre located in North London, UK
• A three year commitment
• Married couple of any age who are physically in good health
• Handy-man(woman) skills required along with catering and housekeeping skills and modern communication capabilities
• An attitude of service and hospitality
• Duties include: answering the phones and the door (24-7), handling the mail, managing the official LMC calendar - including several guest rooms, meeting rooms, library, Prayer Hut, kitchen, and garden, cleaning guest rooms and public areas of the centre, catering meals for groups attending either a day seminar or five day course. (Groups are usually no more than 10 - 25 people), all general maintenance of indoor and outdoor spaces including the very large back yard/garden (the LMC is famous for the beautiful garden), maintaining the LMC vehicle, maintaining the two flats/apartments the LMC rents out - including any cleaning and redecorating when tenants move out, carpet cleaning, painting, drain unplugging, window washing, mess cleaning, and many other things.
• Most importantly, the hosts of the LMC need to maintain the long and stellar history of warm hospitality. This means welcoming short-term and long-term guests and visitors from all over the world who come to the LMC to visit, learn about Mennonites or Anabaptists or are just traveling through on mission assignments or are on sabbatical from other important jobs around the world. This includes providing coffee at 11 each morning and tea every weekday afternoon at 4 for whoever happens to be at the Centre. It means worshiping with the Mennonites at the Wood Green Mennonite Church who use the Centre for various activities throughout the month. It also means helping guests and housemates with whatever challenges they have from navigating the London Tube system, to finding a doctor or dentist.
• Hosts report to the LMC director as well as the LMC trustees and the MMN Europe director.
• Compensation - The LMC takes care of your room and board (one bedroom flat at the LMC and pays for your groceries) there is also a small stipend for incidentals. Health care is provided by the British National Health System (free!)The best part is that you get to live in community with interesting, committed Christians in a beautiful Victorian house built in 1883 in London, England. You are within 1 1/2 hours (by air) of most European cities/countries via low-cost airlines and most are connected by high-speed train. You meet many interesting and accomplished people who are on the cutting edge of the 21st century church and a front-row seat to the flourishing Anabaptist movement in UK and Europe.

If this seems like a lot of work, it is. But there are many, many benefits - not the least of which is living in London which is a beautiful and vibrant cultural center of the world.

We urge you to prayerfully consider this opportunity. At first this may seem a complete impossibility for you but that is what we thought too - at first. Please know that God has proven to be capable of managing impossible situations for those who are willing to step out in faith and offer themselves to the opportunities presented.

If you would like to discuss this with us or MMN personnel, we would be happy to accommodate you. Email us at ed55shirk@yahoo.com or hosts@menno.org.uk or we can connect you with the MMN representatives.

Thanks for supporting us in our adventure at the LMC,

Ed & Phyllis Shirk - LMC Hosts

Spectacular Springtime

Bluebells in UK are spectacular. They come up everywhere and last for several weeks. The blue is so bright it hurts your eyes and the greens of the stems and leaves are so rich. What a treat.

This is Sharon's idea of a gag birthday present. I guess this is proof that I should keep my opinions about vegetables to myself. They didn't go to waste though. I advertised then via email to my fellow staff members and they were gone in an instant. Yuk!

I have been working with this apple tree now three seasons. When I got here they told me this tree used to produce a tremendous amount of tasty Bramley apples (great for baking), but for the last number of years it was completely barren. So I pruned the tree a bit the first year and I got one blossom - but no apples. Next I pruned the tree harder taking of six or seven years growth. This spring I got FOUR blossoms. That's progress - 400% improvement! I hope it will really take off next year.

Church Weekend Away

Our church had our biannual weekend away in Kent which is in South East England. This is a retreat type place called The Friars where the buildings are from the 13th century. This is the dining hall.

We took a long walk on Saturday afternoon in between sessions. The sessions were led by Dave Nussbaum who used to be a member of our church and is presently the Chief Executive of WWF (World Wildlife Fund) He has worked with many charities and has a theology degree from Cambridge. His emphasis was titled "One World, One God". We explored through the bible different areas that refer to the relationship between nature and humans. That puts it into very simple terms but it was a very good weekend. We had a good amount of free time so there was lots of visiting, game playing and strolling around the grounds.

The is part of the Rosary walk.

On our hike we came into a large area of wild blue bells.

A view from our hike of the surrounding area.

Glastonbury

On the way home from our Cornwall & Devon getaway, we stopped at the town of Glastonbury. This town has a huge music festival every year, mostly rock musicians and such. Many of the people walking around the town then and other times of the year are hippy looking kind of people, or new age types.

This is an old Abbey that fell into disrepair during King Henry VIII reign.

And some beautiful daffodils around the Abbey.

Tintagel & King Arthur

The town of Tintagel has the ruins of a castle high on the cliffs of the sea/Bristol Channel where the legend is that the castle was that of King Arthur. It is mostly ruins but the beauty of it is that of the view from above looking out over the sea.

This bird caught our attention when in very gusty winds, he was able to hold a position just as you see him about 15 feet above the ground. He didn't move more than a few inches in any direction for several minutes at a time. Notice he is looking down which we supposed was to catch a glimpse of any four legged creatures emerging from their hiding places. Every now and then he would swoop down to apparently nab something.

One of the views from the cliffs of Tintagel.

Tintagel is on the north coast of Cornwall.

Another day in Cornwall.

We saw lots of sheep grazing in the beautiful green fields. It was lambing time as there were often little tiny ones that were barely walking.

More views of coastlines from quaint villages along the drive. Whoops! I just realised that I've already added this picture in the post previously. I must really like it!

I forget which village this is but cute all the same.

A natural harbour. The tide is out and we were able to walk quite a ways out onto the ocean bed.