We left Flatford at 10.40 Sunday and drove on through the beautiful countryside to Dedham. More spring blooms here than we had seen in Norfolk last week, but I expect our village will catch up very soon, with all this sunshine. Beautiful blue skies. I need to look up Alice Lee - I am embarrassed that I had not heard of her before. The properties, from different centuries, appeared well maintained. An attractive place. That's the house of Alfred Munnings, painter, bottom left. My great grandparents were his housekeeper and handyman for a while. But I'm not sure if they lived in that house!
On to Lavenham, a fantastic place, full of amazing half timbered Tudor houses. Including the Guildhall, another NT property. We enjoyed delicious red pepper and tomato soup in the garden, then looked round the house. Many relatively wealthy people lived here through the centuries, including dyers and weavers. There were lots of examples of their crafts displayed in the upstairs rooms. Look at the gorgeous smocking on this garment!
During lockdown, one of the NT volunteers spent her time researching the dyeing methods which might have been used by the previous residents. She produced a lovely sample book listing all the dyes used, and knitted triangles of bunting in all these various colours. Onion skin, turmeric, carrot tops, woad, ivy leaves, copper, iron, walnut shells...Quote fascinating. I said to the chap on reception "perhaps I should try growing woad..." But he warned me off, apparently it's very invasive!
We walked slowly back to car and drove home. It had been a brilliant break together, and the glitches at the hotel didn't spoil that. We were home by 5pm. Early to bed, a busy week ahead.
We had a fabulous mini-break in Essex, with a few little hiccups, but a lot of laughs. We knew we needed a couple of days 'away from it all', so at the start of January, I booked two nights b&b in a Hotel on the edge of Colchester. Following our Airbed Adventures in 2019, the girls suggested maybe we ought to relax the thriftiness a bit, and pay for a proper bed to sleep in. I chose a hotel which not only had decent looking bedrooms, but also a swimming pool and sauna on site - which I thought would be excellent relaxation for us both. "I may not leave the site" I said beforehand, "I will just swim, sauna, sleep, eat and lie on my bed with a book all weekend"
Unfortunately this was not to be. The pool was out of order, and had been for more than a week. I suggested to the receptionist that had we been informed of this, we would have cancelled and gone elsewhere as the pool was the main reason we chose them. She said that a lot of the families who were booked in for half term had said the same thing!
Meanwhile Bob was trying to establish where the blue badge parking spaces were. There were three - this is the one with the clearest marking. The others just had vague yellow splashes. Despite the website saying "There is a hotel carpark" it did not make it clear that there was a daily charge for this. The two receptionists decided to waive the parking fees because of our disappointment re the pool.
But we decided not to let these things get us down. We settled in on Friday night and found the bed very comfortable, and the shower was lovely. Saturday morning we set off to explore the Colchester, using our bus passes to get us right into the centre without worrying about parking.
Lots of history - the Romans came in 20BC, and Camulodonum is the oldest recorded town in the UK. Despite some people's hopeful theories, there is no evidence that Camulodonum has anything to do with Camelot, or that Colchester gets its name from Old King Cole. But Queen Elizabeth did grant the place city status as part of the Platinum Jubilee Honours, signing the letters patent on 5th September 2022, just days before her death - and King Charles III visited on 7th March 2023.
Colchester has a long and intriguing history. The High Street is full of some splendid architecture, and behind it is the Castle Museum. And an intriguing statue of two sisters, Anne and Jane Taylor, who wrote a lullaby in 1806 which is known and loved the world over - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
We strolled slowly in the sunshine, visiting bookshops and charity shops, and a delightful coffee shop opposite the Castle. In the afternoon we relaxed at the hotel - briefly using the gym, then having a sauna. In the evening we went out to a Carvery.
On Sunday, after another delightful breakfast, we checked out* and drove up to Constable Country. I have always wanted to go to Flatford Mill, and was not disappointed.
It is managed by the National Trust - and we sat by the water chatting to a pair of kayakkers [is that a word?] The young woman offered to take our photo. Then we went to look round the Bridge Cottage museum. I loved the little family on the mantelpiece, and wondered how the mice are doing in Dereham Museum
But the ceilings in the back room were awfully low - Bob really had to bend over to walk through. I picked up a few gifts in the shop.
It was only 10.30, and the NT coffeeshop had been open since 10 - but the queue was already round the block! We returned to the car to continue our journey. Part Two tomorrow...
* I am sorry to report that as well as the pool and the parking, there were a number of other things we felt unhappy about. We mentioned them at the time. I am not naming the hotel here, but I have emailed my concerns to them.
I began this blog on March 29th 2008, my first post was entitled A Lovely Day and here we are approaching the 17th anniversary. Over 7300 posts, and more than 53000 comments from so many lovely people. On Thursday night I finished packing for our trip, then was putting my tablet on charge when I decided to look at my blog stats. I do that about once a month. I'm flabbergasted. At some point on Thursday, the blog notched up it's 6 millionth view. I can never get to know you all, but thank you for bothering to look in regularly. My blog strapline has always been "Experiencing God's Geace In The Everyday"
May you too know love, grace and peace wherever you are today...
We live in a rapidly changing world. Sometimes we all need to step away and seek a moment of peace. Bob and I are spending three days down in Colchester on the southern edge of Constable Country. We are glad to be able to 'get away from it all' just for a little while. We have been extremely busy since Christmas, and will have even more going on through the next couple of months. A weekend in Essex may not seem the height of glamour and luxury - but it will suit us just fine!
In 1986, I knitted Liz a "robot jumper" using odd balls of wool from my stash. She loved it, and later Steph wore it. Back in February 2016, Ros came into our lives. I'd bought some blue wool in a sale, and knitted a jumper for the teddy bear Liz had when she was born, and a jumper for Rosie (9-12 months rather than newborn) The spare blue wool went in my stash
When George was two, in 2022 I used that leftover blue wool and some other random red and black yarns to knit him a robot jumper.
For Christmas 2023, I bought a lot of yarn from Wool Warehouse and knitted 4 Safari sweaters, for George, Jacob, Jess, and great-nephew Arthur [a similar blue background)
The leftover wool went into the Stash. Christmas 2024 I knitted Rosie a jumper, using a pattern I'd knitted for somebody else forty years ago and wool from the Safari Stash
She loves her horse jumper. Then Steph and I were on a WhatsApp call. Jacob was in the Robot Jumper, as George has sadly grown out of it.
So I've used more of the Safari Stash (lots of ochre) plus some green, to knit a new Robot Jumper for George!
I'm not sure what I shall knit next, but it may involve stripes!!
Jess managed to top and tail Rosie's week by having a sleepover with us on the two weekends. So of course, Bob's legendary Breakfast Pancakes were requested on Saturday morning. We decided to try the ones in the Gruffalo cookbook.
We were all still in our pjs. Jess in her dressing gown, helped Bob by sprinkling the purple fruit onto each pancake. Bob used the mini pan, as the cakes were thicker than his usual crepe style, and he wanted to stack them.
They tasted very good, but I suspect it will be back to the regular ones next time [altho there have been mutterings about æbleskiver now I have the pan for it!] We served our Purple Prickle Pancakes with lemon juice, golden syrup, and dollops of home-made yogurt. A ***** recipe
I am so very annoyed with Boots right now. Have you seen this?
Initially it sounded good "Boots are going to recycle blister packs" said Bob "and our two nearest stores are collection points" Then we looked into it further...
IT IS "GREENWASHING", PRETENDING TO BE ECO FRIENDLY FOR APPEARANCE SAKE.
They say it is simple, but it isn't really. You need to have the app and scan all your blister packs. Once they are approved, you take them to the store. 15 packs will earn you 150 bonus points - but you only get them if you spend £10 within three days of donation.
If I've understood it correctly, donating 20 packs will still only get you 150 points [I may be wrong there]
Bob and I, between us, have a lot of daily meds
We drop our used packets in a box in the bedroom drawer, and there are always at least 10 per week. This appears to be a normal figure among the many OAPs I know [who often discuss their pills at the Church Café! ]
BUT a high proportion of these friends do not have smart phones or use apps. [Or bother with loyalty cards] So they can't use the scheme. Younger friends who perhaps only have 1 tablet a day will take months to accumulate 15 empty packs.
Furthermore the reward scheme mostly benefits Boots! They are in effect saying "you need to spend even more with us to get points off your subsequent spending"
I'm not fussed about reward points, I just want to recycle for the benefit of the planet. This is far too complicated for me to bother with. And I suspect Boots know this, The management of a scheme like this will be complicated and costly for them to implement. So a few months down the line, I suspect it will be cancelled, and they will tell us that they did offer this environmentally friendly option, but customers didn't take it up.
Some Superdrug stores have drop off points. No incentives or loyalty points - just the opportunity to help the planet.
We are fortunate to have Tony at our church. He takes all our packs to a charity [I have forgotten which] who then sell them on to TerraCycle. So we will continue to do that.
I think most people who want to recycle want the simple Superdrug system [or a mate like Tony] saying "Leave your packs here, and we will ensure they get properly recycled" without apps and offers. An easy way to have a positive impact.
Come on Boots, surely you can do better than this!
Now I'm wondering what will happen if I take my bag of empty packs into Dereham Boots and try and sneak them into the box without using the app...
Firstly, thank you everyone for the kind birthday wishes for Rosie yesterday, she is definitely making the most of her celebrations. On Saturday we went on a family tenpin bowling trip, followed by lunch. If you have younger children, I can recommend the Bowling House in Norwich. This is the quirkiest bowling alley I have ever visited. A while back, we looked after the girls one evening, while Liz and Jon visited this venue [For cocktails and food, which they enjoyed] There are just five lanes, at BH and all half-length, so it suited the girls. The pop-up seating is recycled from years ago when this building was a cinema. I took three shots of Rosie bowling, and inadvertently got pictures of Jess as the seat folded up on her!
We went on to a Pizza lunch [I pleased to have discovered that I can eat pizza with vegan cheese] and the girls enjoyed desserts. Jess was intrigued by the inverted waffle cone in her ice cream sundae.
I have four glass sundae dishes at Cornerstones, They were given to me about 35 years ago- my friend was having a new kitchen and decided to clear her clutter. "You can only have them if you promise to use them" she said. I promised!
I still use them on a regular basis.
Even the most boring pud is greatly improved by fancy serving, I frequently put a scoop of plain vanilla in the dish, topped with some fruit, and home made yogurt and a 'boudoir biscuit' [I think in the US they are called ladyfingers] Occasionally there is fruit sauce or chocolate sauce too, or some crumbled cake. The girls think this is a real treat, especially when I give them the longhandled teaspoons.
In my current, ruthless kitchen declutter, I can assure you that my sundae dishes are staying! I must lay in a box of waffle cones before the Easter holidays though.
Rosie said Saturday's treat was her 'quarter final' birthday. Monday [the day itself] was to be the 'semi final' and the 'final' will be her party on Saturday - a Clip'n'Climb event with schoolfriends
We have had such a great week together - but now she is back to school in London. Growing up so fast into a thoughtful, gracious young woman. We are so blessed!
In between our trips to the Forum for the Science Stuff, there have been some hilarious moments which have caused much laughter.
I was I the bathroom with Jess. She was explaining that the Treasure in the rubber duck's chest is not real gold, it is just chocolate coins. She asked me what I thought he would say. I held him to my ear and said "I think he just said Quack! Quack!". Jess was having none of it "No Grandma, he's saying I'm calm and collected "
Where on earth did she learn that expression? We have adopted a new Spoonerism this week. Rosie requested a drink of squash. Bob offered her a choice, orange or berry juice. Except he said Jerry Buice. It has been called that for the last four days!
A lady stopped me in Norwich, and said "I love your jacket. In fact I love your look, wish I could wear that" I thanked her for the compliment. I was in my biker jacket, sweater dress, leggings and boots. Nothing fancy. Bob says the "Granny Biker Chick" look suits me. Not so much amusing as astonishing.
But the funniest thing was as we were pulling away from traffic lights in Norwich. Rosie was watching pedestrians on the other side 9f the junction. She started giggling. "That man, he was carrying an avocado in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, and when he started crossing the road, his trousers fell down!" "What happened next?" "He dropped the avocado and grabbed them!" "That's awful" "No, it was OK, he was wearing Nike Underpants"
We're all still chuckling about the incident!
*AFTHOTWTTF was a 1962 musical comedy written by Stephen Sondheim. Then it was made into a film. I know nothing about it except the opening song "A comedy tonight"
I was given the sticker at the Science Fair. But, as Rosie explained to Bob "Grandma doesn't really like the American spelling!"
The end of a super stay ‐ Liz, Jon and Jess arrived in the evening, and will be around till Sunday. And Monday she'll be back at school [on her birthday]
This event has been brilliant, On Monday Bob and I went with Rosie to Norwich School for "Amazing Animals"
Nate from the Braintastic Team challenged us...Could you solve a puzzle quicker than a dolphin? Test
your intelligence against the world’s most incredible animals in this fun show
from Braintastic! Science. Packed with interactive games and activities, you’ll
get the chance to complete real life animal intelligence challenges as you help
to solve tricky logic puzzles. From parrots to primates, discover the amazing
abilities of our animal cousins and learn more about the diversity of life on
Earth. That was fascinating - and 'the girl in the rainbow jumper' was the first one picked to solve a puzzle, and did it instantly. We were very proud of her. On Wednesday I took Ro in very early, and we began with "Light Up The City" a workshop about electricity. This time, she was chosen to be the switch in the circuit. I cannot decide if it is her smiling face, glowing red hair, enthusiastic arm waving, or a very distinctive jumper - but she was often the one called upon to answer the questions. After that we had elevenses then spent hours visiting all the stands in the Forum
I loved
the table of capes and masks provided for the photo-op.
Hands-on activities [bird masks, key rings, colouring, making paper aeroplanes and more] VR headsets
Gifts- bags, pens, colouring books, badges
Ticketed events, in venues across the City Centre - many where the child pays for the ticket- but the accompanying adult has free admission.
Adults spending time enthusing about their specialisms in a language understandable to children
Special shout out to UCL, who had come up from London to promote science/STEM subjects. "My parents work at UCL" said Ro, proudly, "and my sister is in the UCL Nursery"
And RW, the German company currently constructing the Norfolk Offshore Windzone, running their pipeline across the county [and through the edge of our village.] We found Cornerstones on their detailed map - and noted its proximity to the work.
Rosie absolutely loved her day, and learned a lot. "That's the best explanation of offshore wind turbines I have heard from a child this week" said one scientist.
This event happens every February half term, and families come from all over the county. It is so well planned, and offers something for everyone. Yesterday we left home at 9 and arrived back at 5!
I know things like this happen in London - but to have such a superb opportunity out here in "The Far East" every year, is utterly splendid.
- and a second riddle, what connects these four pictures?
The wonderful Hepburn/Bogart film, Jimi Hendrix, the Great Storm, and a Surrey Petshop?
Do you know? can you guess? It's this vibrant green bird,
The rose-ringed parakeet [aka psittacula krameri, ring-necked parrot or Kramer parrot] This beautiful bright green bird is a wild-living, non-native parrot, found in the UK - mostly in London, and the South East. There are estimated to be about 12,000 breeding pairs!
Nobody is quite sure how so many of these birds, with different subspecies native to Africa and India came to be flying around our Metropolis [The Esher Rugby Club has named its women's team The Parakeets in tribute to the profusion of birds around their training ground]
The four most popular theories [none of which has been fully endorsed by ornithologists] are these
[1] Some birds imported to Ealing Studios for the 1951 film escaped
[2] Jimi Hendrix, who lived in London in the late 60's released some in Carnaby Street
[3] A number accidentally escaped from a Surrey Pet Shop in 1970
[4] Some aviaries were damaged in the Great Storm of 87, and scared birds flew away In truth nobody knows when or how this influx started! But we do know they were first spotted way back in 1855 [here in Norfolk, of all places!]
In the last 25 years, more people have had cameras on their phones, and so pictures, and therefore awareness has increased.
There are some living in Rosie's Street in London - and I was surprised to see them out of the bedroom window on Saturday morning [we had stayed overnight with Julian in Romford]
There were three being quite noisy round the neighbour's bird feeders, but as I got my phone out, one flew away. There is concern about their impact on the environment, but some of our native birds [sparrowhawks, peregrine falcoms and hobbies] have been observed preying on them [and predator numbers in London have increased] But their presence has been likened to that of the grey squirrel- increasing and maybe destroying native species. But they did brighten up my Saturday morning.
**There are no Aspirins in Romford because the Paracetamol/Parrots Eat Em All.
Sorry! This old joke only works in the UK. as my US friends call the second drug Acetaminophen,
There's a new guy in the city, sitting in the sunshine outside the Cathedral . Nicky suggested I should go for a photo-op, and so Rosie came with me.
There were a dozen or more people ahead of us in the queue. Some with fancy cameras. Others [like us] with pre-prepared snacks.
But everything moved very smoothly, and we didn't have to wait long
The sun was bright and the sky was so blue,,,[the weather was still a bit chilly] The lady behind us kindly took a photo of us both, I offered her my sandwich in exchange for this. Her little girl declined, but the family behind were pleased to have a photo 'prop' as they'd forgotten to bring a sandwich. Rosie happily ate her sandwich on the way back to the car!
Half term is proving great fun thus far, more stories to follow.
Back in August 2018, Liz and I had a long discussion about the concept of a Brexit Box. Groceries we could set aside in case of some sort of breakdown in Food Supply after we left the EU the following March. But April came, and the deadline had been pushed back to October, so we sorted out the stuff still properly 'in date' and took that to the foodbanks**, and ate up the rest. And then I prepared a fresh box as October approached. That stayed in the cupboard over the winter - and I was so glad of it in March 2020 when lockdown happened and Bob and I were already quarantined with covid.
Since then I have always maintained a reasonable stock of non-perishable food in the cupboard. The village shop is nearby but has a limited range of goods, and is not the cheapest. It is useful to be able to rustle up a meal from stores if there are unexpected visitors [taking my cue from Matthew 25;4]
It's five years since covid arrived - and eighty five since WW2 Rationing started [end of January 1940] I came across a list of foodstuffs which the government recommended to housewives in 1939, as something to keep in stock in the event of an emergency, as the War started. [we will ignore the assumption that all food shopping was done by the females!]
Have a look at this, and compare it with your cupboards
I have to admit I currently have most of these things in store, but...
No 'tinned fat' - but definitely cooking oil
Plain Biscuits and rusks replaced with sweet biscuits and cheese crackers
No Bovril [but there is always Nutella for the children]
No saccharine, but I do have some Stevia for a friend who likes sweetener in her tea
No jellies or dried eggs
Peas are in the freezer, and beans in tins
No pickled or dried eggs- ever!!!!
How has our diet changed? Well my Brexit Box definitely contained rice and pasta- two staples of my store cupboard for 40+ years, but not a regular part of the British diet in WW2 [although the list has curry powder, so what did they serve with their curries?] And a bottle of fruit squash.
Which of these items are usually in your cupboard?
Which do you never buy?
And what is missing for you?
**I usually put a few extras in my trolley at the supermarket when I do a big shop, and leave them in the foodbank donation bin on my way out, as well as supporting our regular collections at the chapel. And I try to be mindful about it - nobody wants an unvaried diet of baked beans, or pasta and sauce.
We are barely 2 weeks from Shrove Tuesday, and the start of Lent. The first Sunday of Lent will be March 9th. Since 2010, most years, I've done some sort of weekly "Pause in Lent" - a tradition started by
my friend Floss in France. The idea is to take some time to reflect,
either in a specifically Christian way or just in a more
general 'spring-time, new-life' manner, on what this season means.
To be honest, I have had no inspiration as yet as to how I will mark Lent this
year. But I hope to come up with something in the next few days [I’ve read
through many Lent resources, this site is particularly helpful, with list of many plans] I am looking for something that will impact my thoughts and actions, and hopefully have a positive impact on others around me too.
Lent is about taking time out, time out from the usual quotidian activities, time out to "pray, fast, give" as many of the Catholic websites put it
Prayer? yes definitely. Fasting? I need to think hard on that one, I admit it is not a regular feature of my Christian life Give? must ponder on giving up or giving away, or both
Are you doing anything special for Lent - does your Church have any Lent activities planned [other than Pancake Parties!]
On Thursday I went full on Good Life- donning my best Felicity Kendall dungarees and purple gardening clogs [and thermals underneath as it was freezing outside] and did some Serious Gardening
I've planted lots of seeds, now on the kitchen windowsill, and repotted a few bits and pieces. I trimmed the geraniums in the mini greenhouse, all 3 seem to have survived the winter
and two of the cuttings I took before Christmas have flourished and are now in larger pots on the bathroom sill.
I put a large bucket over the rhubarb. It is currently looking rather pathetic, but maybe this will force some sweet pink stems...
The two troughs of bulbs by the oil tank are showing green shoots. And I've tidied up my herbs.
I was given a few snowdrop plants on Tuesday, I've planted them in a circle round the pear tree. I hope they will flourish there in the grass. These came from next door - the property has been empty for well over a year. The sale should have gone through this weekend. My neighbour's daughter came to visit for one last time, and borrowed a trowel to do a bit of gardening - she returned the trowel with the snowdrops.
And after all my gardening activities, Bob kindly cooked lunch - then we popped over to Foulsham, to hang a banner outside the chapel. Lent is fast approaching!
*older readers, who can remember a time before "Strictly" may recall Victor Sylvester, who came on TV and taught us to dance the foxtrot, and his catchphrase was slow, slow, quick, quick, slow...
Preacher, teacher, wife, mother, grandmother, craftswoman. Married to wonderful Pastor Bob since 1979, now happily retired to Norfolk, but still busy. I am blessed with two brilliant grown-up daughters and four wonderful grand children
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