Advent carol service

I've volunteered to read at the King's advent carol service next week and I got to pick which reading I wanted to do. I've picked this one by Gerard Manley Hopkins - it's beautiful! I only hope I can do it justice

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
   It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
   It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed.  Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
   And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
   And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
   There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
   Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs--
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
   World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Posts elsewhere

I am currently remembering to sort my posts according to blog type. So remember to keep an occasional eye on http://the-natural-observer.blogspot.com/

Walking through the park

I love crunching through the fallen leaves in my boots

And look what I found randomly under my feet. I thought it was a daisy until I took a closer look

Joining in the fun at Like mother, Like daughter

A blog that I've been following with much joy is

and I've finally attempted to join in the wonderful idea of capturing the contentment of everyday life. So here's my

{pretty}

I love the way the moon lights up the clouds around it, even if I haven't captured very well

{happy}

coming home to a husband, and a lovingly prepared awesome supper

{funny}

My attempt at sock ears

{real}

Work and lots of it

Ship ahoy

For all those who love ships in bottles, here's one big enough to satisfy the most ardent

It's almost December

I should be shocked at how early the shops get their Christmas decorations up, but they are so pretty that I secretly love them.

View from the past

Wow!! Comparing Norwood in 1864 http://london1864.com/stanford71.htm with Norwood today (look it up in the satellite version of Google maps)

It's fascinating how the road and railways are the same, but there are fields instead of houses. St Luke's church, Norwood Cemetery, the Tulse Hill Hotel were there in 1864. And All Saints church on Rosendale Road isn't there because it began ten years later. The little pond up in the top left corner is fascinating because I bike past there now and it definitely isn't there. I think there's a road there instead. And how much more effort it was to create an accurate map in those days!