6th to 16th February, 2026

Sorry for the delay in writing, but we really have not been doing anything of such great note that a post was crying out to be delivered. Anyway, such as it is, here are the details of the last week or so.

Unsurprisingly, the weather has remained wonderful with lots of sunshine and one or two showers. Being on the coast we do get a nice breeze to keep some of the higher temperatures down, but the middle of the day we reserve for lunch and a bit of downtime (nap) afterwards. We generally manage a game of table tennis and pétanque in the morning, the latter not going very well of late, but all good fun. I continue to murder the French language, but they take it in great heart and seem suitably amused by my shouts of ‘sacre bleu’ and ‘mon dieu’. My vocabulary of French expletives is improving greatly.

Talking of international relations, I was just going for my afternoon swim, when one of the Russian guests waved a fish at me and said ‘fish’. This was a half-eaten fried fish that he was in the process of consuming. I replied ‘Fish, yes’, not quite knowing the correct protocol in these circumstances. He then tried a bit of German, so I thought, aha, he must be German, but no, ‘Russian” he said, ‘Moscow’. Aha, I thought again. He then seemed to be enquiring as to where I came from, so I said ‘England’, to which he replied ‘London’. I thought about correcting this to where we do actually live, but thought you just can’t be too careful these days, so I waved my goggles at him (sounds like a euphemism, doesn’t it?) and headed for the water.

On my exit he was still there, gnawing on his fish. He even offered me a bite, but I declined. Now it was ‘ping pong’ and it became apparent that he had seen Val and me play and wanted a game. Our mutual lack of linguistic understanding meant that a specific time could not be arranged, but the next time Val and I played, we were joined by Gennady and Serge (for those are their names). I have always rather liked the name Serge since I was at school with a Prince Serge Cantacuzene Speransky. Great name! Anyway, I digress. You might be pleased to know that it was UK 2, Russia 0. Inevitably, they were good fun and we had some laughs.

Some photos, in case you have got bored!

There is a national shrine and church about 5 minutes down the road, with a small, but very bustling market adjacent to it, so Val and I squeezed into a tuktuk and trundled down there. I have to say that I fear that the life expectancy of tuktuk drivers cannot be very high as even on so short a trip, the fumes were pretty bad. Sri Lanka has some way to go with regard to emissions.

I can tell you the following, courtesy of Google:

The Marawila Kurusa Palliya (Holy Cross Church) is a renowned Catholic shrine with history dating back to the early 1920s. It is famous for a miraculous statue of Christ on the Cross, ordered in 1909 by Fr. Ferdinand Thiri from India and installed in the church cemetery, which has become a significant site for faith healing and pilgrimage. 

Key Historical Details:

• Origin of the Statue: Fr. Ferdinand Thiri, a French parish priest (1909–1924), ordered the statue from Bangalore for Rs. 250, donated by parishioner W.W. Carolina Fernando.
• The Broken Statue: When the statue arrived broken in pieces at Nattandiya station, it was considered a loss. Fr. Thiri later bought the damaged statue at a railway auction for just Rs. 2.50.
• Miraculous Reputation: The church grounds were initially an ordinary graveyard, but after the installation of this cross, it gained a reputation for miracles.
• Healing Legend: A, widely shared story involves a child with skin ailments being cured by washing in the water used to clean the crucifix.
• Location and Significance: Situated in Marawila, the church is known for its serene environment, colonial-style architecture, and its status as a major center for local Catholic devotion. 

The church continues to be a vibrant center of faith, often visited by devotees seeking hope and healing. 

Fridays are a particularly busy day for the church and there was a long queue just to get in.

We have also had another visit to the Siviraja School for the blind, deaf and mentally impaired children as it looks like we may be able to help with a contribution towards the refurbishment of some desks and chairs

More on that in due course.

We had a nice shopping trip with Uyesha, Val’s Ayurvedic doctor, with whom we have become great pals, She is a very enterprising woman, starting with her two clinics, but she also stars in a TV soap opera (as a doctor!) and is now studying gemmology.

Other than the above, all is excellent here. I have carried on my swimming, though I managed to pull a muscle in my back, but that seems to be mending OK. We dance on some evening, the Yahtzee and Crazy Eights continue and we feel suitably well and relaxed.

Our new ‘son’, Sanka, very kindly made this video of our shopping trip with him, which I hope you can open.

More soon…