Where's Janet?

Just before Christmas last year, our friends at Ray Lodge URC said a sad goodbye to their church secretary, Janet Jackson. Following her husband Clive’s retirement, they moved from Woodford to the wilds of Shropshire. We have stayed in touch with Janet and we were pleased that she was able to make it back to Ray Lodge to join us for the final worship service before the amalgamation with Woodford Green.

We had heard about the snow in the loft over the winter, involving Clive handing buckets of snow down to Janet for disposal!

Well thankfully all repairs have been completed before this winter and they are beginning to realise their dream of running a smallholding growing vegetables and keeping animals.

Janet writes:

‘The whole house has been reroofed and the lofts insulated during the summer so now we should be water and snow proof this winter and a lot warmer.’

‘In the smallest of our fields there is an ancient oak tree which is well over 100 years old with an old natural hedge of hawthorn and holly. Our plan for this field is to make it more a part of our garden by turning it into a wildlife area. We have not planted much fruit and veg yet in the other fields as Clive is still preparing the land, but we do have two existing apple trees in the garden. There has been a bumper apple crop this year, so I am practising my jam making and preserving skills.’