Welcome to... our Wonder 'n Ponder Land!

Behold, to us (Jonathan & Monika and Elbert & Annewieke) was given a wasteland, a piece of land in the midst of Stoke. Stoke, the asphalt desert, the great city of coal fire and smoke, ally and predecessor of Mordor. In the midst of Stoke was given to us, a land of thorns and thistles, which strangled the herbs of the field. Strawberries, leek, potatoes and beans, they were all devoured by the withered and thin weeds, thorns and thistles that sprang up after them. And the land that was once fruitful, was like a wasteland, inhabited by the beasts in the field and no man dared to set foot in it again (especially Monika).

Then we said to each other, "You see the distress we are in, how the Allotment lies waste, its crops are burnt and its greenhouse is falling apart. Come and let us build paths in the Allotment and build the wall of the greenhouse, that we may no longer be a reproach." And Jonathan rose up with his brethren Alastair and Peter, and next to him Monika, his wife, and Elbert with Annewieke, his wife. And we build a shed that was given to us, and we laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And we laid bare the paths that were made and the ground that was covered with weeds and thorns and thistles. And behold, we found that the land was indeed fruitful and suitable for the planting of vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers.



And the land was prepared for sowing with manure.





And paths were build to work the land.





At that time we grew in love and understanding. We worked together in rain and snow. We learned how to speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. We learned to sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in those days, when the love for the land grew, the land and it's composition was named, and we named it our Wonder 'n Ponder Land, exploring the good gifts in the Creation of the Lord our God, our Father in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

The beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground.

As people here spoken of, we set forth again to the allotment to work it and to keep it. We made separation between the good raspberry bushes and the evil and wicked weed. And while the summer season progressed in the year 2004, Alastair went along with the people and joined them, together with his younger brother, Peter, who is the greatest among the Roberts.
Then they observed the creatures sustained by every green plant that was given to them and remembered how it is written, that "The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you."
















Everything that lives? Well, yes, "but you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it."...

Bon appétit!

Composition - Chronicles of an Allotment

At the twenty-third day of the eighth month of the first year that we, Elbert & Annewieke, became residents of Stoke-on-Trent: at the 27th of June 2004, an allotment was allocated to Jonathan & Monika Roberts and us, situated at Campbell Road, Stoke-on-Trent. It was allocated to us to work it and take care of it. Now the allotment was formless and empty. It was full of weed.

And we entered into the allotment and observed the awaiting labour.

And we said to one another: let us make an expanse between weed and crop. And we saw that the raspberry bushes were very good.

On that day we arose and set forth to the allotment, and made an expanse between the weed and the raspberry bushes.

And while we made an expanse between weed and crop, behold, we experienced what is written in the book of Genesis, in the third chapter:
"...Cursed is the ground because of you. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food...".
As for the other events of the life of Elbert & Annewieke, and all they did, behold, it is written on their blog Engelandvaarders. As for the other events of the life of Monika, behold, it is written on her blog, Monalisahus. As for the other events and the account of the history of the allotment, observe, will it not be written here, on this blog? As for the Dutch, an account is given in their own language at De Compositie.