Harvest Festival

 I slipped into the near by sweet little Church of St Grada  , on the Lizard in Cornwall , not  for any service ,   but to quietly  give my own thanks to God for the sun and the moon , the rain and the good earth , that all helped to produce my veggies , fruits and flowers in my own garden this season .
 It was nice to see the Church so beautifully decorated for Harvest  Festival .
                I especially loved this basket of beautiful vegetables .

We plough the  fields and scatter , the good seed on the land , But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand; He sends the snow in Winter , The warmth to swell the grain, The breezes and the sunshine , and soft refreshing rain .

All good gifts around us  , are sent from Heaven above ,
 Then thank the Lord !
O thank the Lord !
For all his love .

I loved the Harvest Festivals of my old school days . We would gather in fresh  fruits and vegetables and make up pretty boxes which would be delivered to local homes for the elderly  and other good causes . We also would bake our own bread for Holy Communion and there would be one really beautiful loaf made in the shape of a sheaf of wheat ,which would have pride of place at the foot of the Altar  .
 I,m the generation that played guitars , clapped and bashed  tambourines  ....." Bake us the bread , Mary, Mary ! " and   "Give us Joy in our Hearts " " Go tell everyone  !"  and for the little ones  " He's got the Whole World in His hands " , but there would also be some of the good old traditional hymns sung  too ..usually accompanied by the school Orchestra  ....dearie me .....memories come  flooding back !

                        Quietly I slip back out into the glorious Autumn sunshine .
                                       

         At home I have the last of a bumper crop of tomatoes ripening on the kitchen window . These are the Marmande tomatoes that my blogging friend sent me seeds of back in the Spring . They were very successful in the Vegtrug and I will be saving the seeds  from one of these to grow again next season .
  Gardeners Delight also gave us a bumper crop . I just have one Cherokee Purple left growing in the greenhouse with one tomato on it ..I sowed these too late really after my husband brought seeds  back  from America .....but I am determined to get at least one tomato from it !

                                       Hope you,ve had a bountiful harvest !