Reflections from the Retreat March 2025

Last month I had some special visitors to my home in Grenada. Tina and Peter are some of my closest friends from the UK and we were often a four, along with my husband, Hosten. It was therefore a poignant joy to show them around his homeland and to share my new home with them. It was helpful to get Tina's advice on planning the vegetable patch at the back of the house and we enjoyed a leisurely trip to a local garden nursery to look at options for the garden. We went to various places around the island and we also had a day flying to the neighbouring island of Carriacou. As this was a long and busy day, I decided it would be good to have a quiet day the following day and for us to stay at home. This day was a very significant day for me because it naturally developed into the first intentional silent retreat day of the retreat house and was a taste of what this house is all about. I will leave the rest of the blog for Tina to share her reflections....

It was a joy and privilege to stay with Hilary for two weeks at the beginning of February. Our families have been close for many years. Peter was Hosten's best man, and Hosten was Peter's. Hilary and Hosten are our son's godparents and we are Hayleys.

Peter found the weather too hot which was challenging for him, but he appreciated his time there, none the less, especially the trip to Carriacou. The damage from the hurricane was still very evident there. We loved meeting one of Hosten's brothers and his lovely wife. Just down the hill from their home is the family cemetery, a minutes walk from the beach. It was very poignant to see Hosten's gravestone there. The photo below of Peter is taken from the hospital grounds which offers the best view over Hillsborough, the main town of Carriacou.

I was really impacted by the history of Grenada, which is also the history of all the Caribbean Islands - that almost all the inhabitants are descended from enslaved people, and not so many generations back. Such sadness. Such a complicated heritage. You can still see plantation owners houses on the island - they were owners of the huge sugar cane plantations, but also owners of these precious people.

Grenada is still pulling itself out of that time, still very much a developing country with relative poverty. It reminded me in many ways of what I saw in India when I visited there in the 1980s. But the people are gracious and kind.

Hilary has become an experienced tour guide! We were taken up into the rain forest, to a local rum distillery, saw how chocolate is made, swam at beautiful beaches, and visited a fort above St Georges. A meal at The Nutmeg restaurant in St Georges, where Hosten's mother used to work, was very special, and delicious! And a day at a local hotel, enjoying their pool and cocktails, was a luxurious treat the day before we flew back to the UK.

Hilary only had a few things on her list for me to do! We shortened some of the curtains, and bought and planted tomatoes, cucumbers and egg plants. I showed her how to protect these young plants from Cosmos the cat, who loves to dig! But even the bamboo sticks formed in a protective tepee structure around each plant didn't quite stop him digging up a couple of them! We also planted melon plants in what will become the vegetable garden at the back of the house - Hilary had grown them from seed!

One of the many highlights for me was the guided tour with Hilary around Laura's Herb and Spice Garden. How amazing to see where so many of the spices in my kitchen come from!

Another highlight was the silent retreat day that we had during our second week. Hilary is putting together some wonderful resources for this, including the Soul Space and the Reflective Garden, and a folder of so many different ways that you might want to use the day. In the Soul Space there is a delightful wee set of drawers, that I remember from their home in the UK. She invites you to choose a drawer and then choose one of the objects inside that you are drawn to. My eyes lighted on the tiny compass. That then enabled me to reflect, with God, on where I may be heading in the months and years to come. Timely, given that I have just retired. It was so good to realise again that Jesus is my true North - that I want to walk with Him in the direction that He wants to take me. Physically walking through the door in the Reflective Garden, later in the day, sealed that commitment.

It was great to attend two of the local churches. Hilary is much appreciated and esteemed there! So wonderful to see all the precious relationships she is making. She stops and chats all the time! - forging links and friendships.

Peter will need to do without me for a couple of weeks in 2027 because I'm coming back to Grenada!