6 - 12 October 2015

We have been asked to be shift coordinators.  This week we were in training with Brother & Sister Cooper here to guide us along.  There is a lot to learn in how to fulfill the assignment.  They were great in showing us the way.  Next week will be the real test!

I was busy with planning rehearsals for the missionaries here to participate in the Crawley Stake Choir for conference on December 6.  Thank goodness for email in making it easy to contact and converse back and forth with those interested.  There will be around twenty of us.

We did the usual of house cleaning and laundry, shopping, and I was off to the doctor about my eyes. The infection has returned and he prescribed a more intense treatment in hopes of clearing them up.

As members of the activities committee, we are in charge of the Hi & Bye programs.  We held one this Sunday for the Coopers and the Garretts.  It will be sad to see them go as they have been such great workers at the temple, both in duty and in spirit.  Forty-four of us went to dinner the night before at the Tarana Indian restaurant in Lingfield.

Sandi & Steve Garrett from Colorado

Darryl & Terry Cooper from Wyoming

Fall is upon us and the trees on the temple grounds are parading their brilliant hue of colors for all to see.

On Monday, we took a ride on the Bluebell Railway.  The steam train took us on a 20 mile return trip between East Grinstead and Sheffield Park.

When we got our tickets punched, I thought of the conductor on the Polar Express!

 At Sheffield Park we toured the engine shed which houses many steam engines no longer in service. We enjoyed lunch in the cafe and a look through the gift shop.  We had hoped for a better day for picture taking, but it was overcast and a cold wind blew.

 The Bluebell engine pulled us back to East Grinstead.  We rode in the front of the observation car, giving us a view of where we were going.

 The engineer said she was burning Russian coal and it is blacker than other coal they use.  It belched out huge puffs of dark smoke.

 The engineer was a woman.  It was interesting to see her French manicure, pearl earrings, and necklace with coal dust covering her chest, face, and hands.  She was all smiles and seems to really enjoy her work.

 We traveled through a tunnel that extended for about a mile.

We went under a few bridges; passed fields of cows, sheep, and horses.  Pheasants were plentiful with flying up as the little train went chugging by.