The Parish LANTERN The magazine for Kenwyn with St Allen, Zelah, Allet and Shortlanesend June - July 2020 Church Directory Vicar: Rev Chris Parsons 01872 263015 (day off Friday) email: [email protected] Ordained Local Minister (retired): Rev Bob Humphries 01872 862827 email: [email protected] Reader: Tess Dean: 01872 279794 email: [email protected] Worship Leader: John Dean: 01872 279794 Churchwardens: Kenwyn: Sally Searle: 01872 859170 Martin Wright: 01872 222264 email: [email protected] St Allen: Adrian Hare: 01872 540307 David Burgess: 01872 263935 Parish administrator and PCC Secretary: Helen Perry: 01872 277117 email: [email protected] Bell ringing: Norman: 01872 242569 Choir and organist: Angela Gilbert: 01872 277725 email: [email protected] Mothers’ Union: Tess Dean: 01872 279794 email: [email protected] Wednesday Fellowship: Jean: 01872 271658 Flower arrangers: Val: 01872 222037 To hire the Lychgate room please contact Helen Perry: 01872 277117 email: [email protected] Parish Magazine editor: Jenny King: 01872 225661 email: [email protected] Please submit items for the August/September 2020 magazine by July 15th thank you From the Vicarage There has been much activity in our garden of late, with several different kinds of birds on our feeders, not to mention the squirrels! Sometimes we have had as many as five at a time chasing round the garden. I have failed completely to stop them from getting at the bird food, especially peanuts and fat balls. Grease on the pole from which the feeders hang didn’t stop them for long, nor did all other kinds of deterrents tied to the pole – in fact it helped them! However, I think I may have cracked it at last by hanging the fat balls on a very thin branch of a tree which will not take their weight, but even then I wouldn’t be surprised if they find their way around this in the end! I can see their brains ticking over as they eye it up from the ground. Having become so fearless, they come right up to the French doors and don’t attempt to move when I approach the bird feeders. Shouting or clapping has little effect. The activity in our garden has been a welcome distraction from the 24 hour news coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic and I’m sure there will be many who welcome some lifting of the restrictions on our daily lives, even though of course, great care still has to be taken. Our prayers go out to those frontline staff and key workers who have continued to work and to those now returning to work and to their families and friends. Also, to those who have lost a loved one in recent weeks especially, in such difficult times. We think as well of those who have been unable to see members of their families. We can’t know with any certainty how long it will be before our lives can return to some greater degree of normality, but if we believe, we know we have Jesus walking alongside us, no matter how difficult life might be. He is the one constant in our lives, despite how uncertain life around us may seem. Our churches may be closed at the moment, but it has been encouraging to see how nationally, large numbers of people are following services on-line, many of whom don’t normally attend church services. People connecting with God and the Christian faith. Although we look forward to when the church buildings open again, let’s remember that the church is actually the people, the body of believers. And we can join one another in prayer from our homes or even use platforms such as Zoom to have bible study and prayer together. If nothing else, I am learning fast how to make greater use of technology! By the time I write again, the church buildings may be open, even if we have to practice social distancing. Until then my prayers and blessings go out to you all. Chris Parsons A poem - The NHS army I’ll tell you a tale, that’s been recently written, Of a powerful army, so Great it saved Britain, They didn’t have bombs and they didn’t have planes, They fought with their hearts and they fought with their brains, They didn’t have bullets, armed just with a mask, We sent them to war, with one simple task, To show us the way, to lead and inspire us, To protect us from harm and fight off the virus, It couldn’t be stopped by our bulletproof vests, An invisible enemy, invaded our chests, So we called on our weapon, our soldiers in Blue, “All Doctors, All Nurses, Your Country needs you” We clapped on our streets, hearts bursting with pride, As they went off to war, while we stayed inside, They struggled at first, as they searched for supplies, But they stared down the virus, in the whites of its eyes, They leaped from the trenches and didn’t think twice, Some never came back, the ultimate price, So tired, so weary, yet still they fought on, As the virus was beaten and the battle was won, The many of us, owe so much, to so few, The brave and the bold, our heroes in Blue, So let’s line the streets and remember our debt , We love you, our heroes, Lest we forget. By Matthew Kelly Coronavirus...... What is currently available? There are a range of Christian resources already available: • The BBC's Daily Service and Sunday Worship - radio and television stations are broadcasting programmes regularly • Prayer for the day- each day the Church of England publishes audio and text of the Prayer for the Day. • Live streaming services - users can watch live streams of services from a range of churches see AchurchNearYou.com Quiet afternoons with cream tea A series on mysticism Enjoy a series of quiet afternoons exploring the lives and example of three mystics. Each afternoon will include a short talk, quiet space for personal reflection and a cream tea. Friday 12th June: St Teresa Led by Revd Tess Lowe Friday 17th July: St John of the Cross Led by Daphne Atkinson Arrive at 1.45 for 2pm start. Finish around 4.30pm. Cost: £7 per afternoon. To book, email [email protected] or tel. 01872 272249. Please phone ahead to make sure that all these events are still being held. Thank you Dates for your diary Please phone ahead to check that these events are going to be held Gardening Now is the time to start enjoying the results of all your earlier work. Bedding, hanging baskets and tubs can all be safely put out now as chances of frost are slim. The largest concern for these plants is the watering. Keep the moisture level up in the pots and make sure you avoid getting water on the leaves, it can reflect the suns rays and cause scorching on the leaves, even the stem in some cases. I’m a big believer in collecting and using rainwater as it is better for the plants, there is no chlorine in and of course it’s free. I always have a water butt somewhere in my garden and with a cheap connection kit, fitting them to a down pipe is easy. Some of your delicate house plants will do a lot better with rain water, especially the carnivorous type, natural rain water is really the only way. The rainfall over the winter making areas boggy and after the dry April the newly seeded lawn areas are struggling. Through April I really struggled to get some of my large seeded areas to germinate, there was just not enough rain and when we did have the odd shower the drying wind would soon dry the surface up. May has also been particularly difficult, with more weeks of dry weather. what germinates now will just have to be irrigated until established. Unfortunately, with the current situation the bedding in Truro has taken a knock. We will still have displays in Truro but somewhat reduced. However, this does give us a chance to do things we haven’t tried before. Tregolls road has all been sown with wildflower seed mixes and should they germinate will provide a stunning display as you drive into the city. Wildflower mixes are of course stunning and easy to do, but as with the grass seed, need a careful eye casting on them when it comes to moisture. The wildflower was sown in early May ( I would have preferred to have done this earlier in April but time did not allow) just before a few days of rain. However, after this the weather changed and the top level of the ground started to dry down to about an inch. The new seedlings have small roots of only a few millimetres, so irrigation has had to be put into place. We’re trying our best and all being well our work on this will pay off. Truro will also have basket displays this year. Again, things are on a smaller scale but will look just as colourful as usual, I’m sure. A home a project for me is standard Fuchsias. I have taken cuttings that have now rooted and the plant has started to grow up. The secret for quick upright growth is to take out the side shoots and leave the leaves on the stem, under no circumstances pinch out the top bud, this will stop the upright growth and make your Fuchsia bush out. You only take the top shoot out when your Fuchsia has reached the height you want it to be.