Ten Years On

It is ten years this week since the nation voted, and the result was Brexit. I decided to repost today the prayer which I shared on the Sunday after the vote [Written by the churches' Joint Public Issues Team] as I believe it is still very relevant.

God of every nation and people,
At this historic moment we pray for all who are affected by the decision that we have made.
Whatever differences this has revealed within our own society,
    may they not eclipse what we have in common.
Where the narratives of political debate have caused harm and division
    help us to reclaim the true values of our shared humanity.
Where exaggeration and distortion have generated suspicion and fear
    may truth and honesty restore hope and goodness.
We pray for all the nations of Europe
    that you will help us to find ways of living and working together
    to pursue the mercy and justice that you require.
We recommit ourselves – together – to the values of your eternal Kingdom
    and pray that along with all people
    we might help your world become more as you intended.

Jellyfish, Jelly-ish

Two news stories recently about Jellyfish. Rosie mentioned she had seen one on the sand on a trip to the Norfolk coast last month. She is wise enough to know the look-but-don't-touch rule. "National Coastwatch Brancaster" issued a warning in the Eastern Daily Press about these giant jellyfish

"As summer warms our seas, an all-you-can-eat plankton buffet triggers a massive jellyfish baby boom. Because these guys are 95% water and shockingly terrible swimmers, they can't fight the ocean currents. Combine that with strong onshore winds and high spring tides, and they get pushed right into shallow waters, leaving them stranded when the tide goes out." The authority has described the surge as a totally natural event and has urged those visiting Norfolk's beaches not to touch the animals. Dead or alive, these gelatinous tourists can still pack a painful sting. 

Meanwhile, in Wales, the BBC reports a number of velella vellela  jellyfish appearing on the beaches across Anglesey, Gwynedd and Tenby. The popular name for this beautiful blue babies is "by-the-wind-sailors" and they are closely related to the better known, much larger,  Portuguese Man O'War . Jellyfish are freefloating hydrozoans. These ones are about 7cm across.
They have a small sail like structure which catches the wind and moves them, in shoals, across the surface of the ocean. They sparkle in the sunlight. Their sting is milder, but nonetheless painful. 
Such fascinating creatures - very popular in children's cartoons [eg SpongeBob SquarePants] and on CBeebies...

I've Sent A Cable

 A cable [or cablegram] was the historical name given to a message sent by an undersea cable. Isambard Kingdom Brunel built the iron-hulled SS Great Eastern, which laid the first transatlantic undersea cable in 1866. My great great grandfather was on the crew of the ship at the time, and very proud of being there.
For my latest DoubleKnitting contribution I decided to do some cable knitting.

I have not knitted any cable since we retired. My last bit of cable work was at the end of lockdown in September 2020. I knitted one of my niblings a cable jumper for her new baby. It was from my much used Sirdar Baby book, and has a run of two cables centre front. Almost identical to #27 Double Cable in the book! I am really pleased with the definition of this latest pattern – it astounds me that just swapping the positions of 6 stitches can make such a huge difference. So much texture, you can follow the twisting ‘ropes’ all the way up. So very clever.

Pinning the square to the bedspread made it much easier to photograph. I did two identical green squares, Kirsten opted for pattern #34 Allsorts, but instead of using a selection of different colour yarns with a black line between, she used balls of random 'self striping' yarns. She says "I used a fluffier yarn which slowly changes colour, so I didn’t do the stripy pattern in the instructions but just kept on going. I think I prefer the more muted shades, and I like the way the fuzziness blurred the stitches and the colour changes.
I found it a bit tricky to keep track of where I was. The double decrease every other row makes it more complicated than just marking the centre stitch and decreasing from there as the actual centre stitch gets knitted into the decreases along with the stitch on either side."  she added
"When I’m knitting mindless squares, I mark the centre stitch and just K2tog immediately after on every row. Much easier, and no thinking required. There’s quite a difference between ‘mindful’ knitting and ‘mindless’ knitting! "

The way you start with casting on two edges and then keep reducing at the centre to make the diagonal is intriguing - ending with just one stitch to cast off at the top corner.

I've Lost The Cat!

 

Last Thursday, Yorkshire born, world renowned artist, David Hockney died. He was 88. He began life the son of an accountant and grew up in Bradford. He went to art college, and as his career took off, he went to the USA. He was a leader in the Pop Art movement. In 1967 he painted A Bigger Splash, a glorious blue swimming pool and hot summer sky in sunny California. 

I love this painting. When Liz worked at Tate Britain 20 years ago, she gave me two Hockney prints. This one, and my favourite Hockney painting - Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy. 

This was painted around 1970. The couple are fashion designer Ossie Clark and his wife, textile designer Celia Birtwell. Clark and Hockney were best friends, and David was best man at their wedding.

Celia is wearing a dress called Heavenly Twins which Ossie designed for her [in

2015 it sold for £11K and is now in Manchester] I saw this dress before that at a exhibition in London with Steph, alongside the painting. The cat was actually called Blanche [Percy was their other cat!]

On Monday I decided I would get my prints down from the loft, and display them for a few weeks as a tribute to the newly deceased painter. I picked up the cardboard storage tube. It was neatly labelled "Tate, Splash, Percy"

But it was empty!!!!  Neither print inside. I cannot work this out. If I'd decluttered and donated them, I'd have given away the tube too. If a mouse got into the tube and ate the prints, there'd be evidence [we had mice up there a few years back] If they didn't go to a CS, where have I put them? Maybe they will turn up. 

I shall just read all the obits and enjoy looking at his pictures [his later ones of Yorkshire are lovely] RIP David Hockney July 1937- June 2026

Do you have a favourite Hockney painting? 

Pearl's A Singer

Occasionally when I was a child, my Mum would make a stew and put pearl barley in it. Every time, my Dad would make a joke about Pearl Barley and Pearl Bailey. That gifted American singer was born in 1918 at the end of WW1, she died in 1990. She had a long and varied career - on Broadway, on TV, providing voices for Disney animations. She was a personal friend of many US Presidents and their wives. Gerald Ford made her a Special Ambassador to the UN, Richard Nixon appointed her as an "Ambassador of Love", Ronald Reagan gave her the Presidential medal of Freedom. She won many awards, and was friends with politicians and performers. 

Pearl Barley, on the other hand is processed barley which has been polished to remove its outer coating. It is also known as pot barley and Scotch Barley. It is hearty and filling, a good source of fibre. I bought a pack in the supermarket the other day. It takes an hour to cook on the hob, but only 30minutes in my rice cooker in the microwave. I sometimes put it in a casserole. We both enjoy this as an alternative to rice, it works out around 6p a serving - and it is produced in the UK. And it works well cooked and cold in a salad too. Healthy and thrifty and tasty!
I think few people remember Pearl Bailey now, but here's Elkie Brooks with her debut chart single from 1977,  about another singing Pearl. Elkie is 81 now, and currently doing her farewell tour this year!

Do you remember Pearl Bailey?
Do you ever cook with Pearl Barley?

Harvest Lunch

On Friday, Kirsten posted about the few broad beans she had harvested which formed part of her lunch. On Sunday I was able to harvest one yellow courgette, and just a handful of strawberries. My mint is thriving [at last] so we enjoyed courgette and carrot coins with our 

gammon and potatoes after church, followed by a slice of cheesecake, garnished with a sprig of homegrown mint, and some chopped berries. The apple and pear trees look like they should have a fair crop, the figs are coming along slowly. More courgettes are on the way, also some pea shoots. And my potato tubs are looking very healthy. 

How does your garden grow?

Don't obJECT To The OBject !

 How did you get on? Here are the answers  - and Kirsten's addition at the bottom [thanks K]. Well done if you got them all. Agape doesn't quite fit, as the second meaning is pronounced with three syllables.
And moped/mo-ped is somehow unexpected. I hope you had fun😊

Member of the clergy	curate	Select the best for show
A trade agreement	contract	Get smaller
A gift	present	Attending
Way in	entrance	Charm
Disabled	invalid	Incorrect/without effect
Tiny	minute	60 seconds
Stick out	project	Plan or design
Rubbish	refuse	Turn down
Gather together	collect	A short prayer
Create something	produce	Fruit and Vegetables
Ignore	discount	Reduce in price
Fault	defect	Go over to the other side
Mouth wide open	agape	Greek word for God’s love
Was miserable	moped	A small scooter
Walk in line	process	How to make something

Happy Birthday, Jess

I feel so blessed to have such a loving family. Yesterday, granddaughter Jess celebrated her 5th birthday down in London.
She is such a character, 
entering into life with such joy and enthusiasm. She adores clothes, especially hats - and trying new foods, and dancing, and books. She loves words, and numbers, art, crafts and science. We hope you have had a great weekend, with your playdate party in the park - and we can't wait to see you again soon.

Hominid/Homonym - A Weekend Quiz

This is Ook,the Orang Utan librarian who keeps watch over Bob's library of Terry Pratchett books. He is a hominid. 
The word watch can be a verb [to look upon] 👀or a noun [a timepiece] ⌚. Such a word is a homonym. A word with one spelling and two meanings.

I came across a short list of homonyms recently which fascinated me - each had two syllables. But the stress was on different syllables, and that made all the difference. For instance
subject - what you learn at school
subject  to force someone to do something
"I should do a blog post on that" I thought. And then I completely forgot about it. Till Thursday, when we happened to be in Waitrose. Bob had suggested we drop in for some Thai Red Curry Paste** and a yellow-sticker hunt. At the back of the store I saw this display

Their new range of summer crockery is called "Curate" -which is a homonym. The dictionary says 

1. curate -  to select the best and moat appropriate for presentation
2. curate - a member of the Anglican clergy.

So is this new range designed for Vicarage Tea Parties, do you think?

Here's a weekend quiz for you. A list of paired definitions. Between them, in brackets, the number of letters and the initial of the word in question. Remember, same word, but two pronunciations and two meanings. I will give the answers on Monday. The first one is obviously curate. The last two are a bit more challenging!

Member of clergy	[6,C]	Select best for show
A trade agreement	[8,C]	Get smaller
A gift	[7,P]	Show, or bestow
Way in	[8,E]	Charm
Disabled	[7,I]	Incorrect/without effect
Tiny	[6,M]	60 seconds
Stick out	[7,P]	Plan or design
Rubbish	[6,R]	Turn down
Gather together	[7,C]	A short prayer
Create something	[7,P]	Fruit and Vegetables
Ignore	[8,D]	Reduce in price
Fault	[6,D]	Go to the other side
Mouth wide open	[5,A]	God's love [Greek]
Was miserable	[5,M]	A small scooter

**to make some fish curry for the freezer. Thank you Sue for that idea! 

Washing My Dirty Linen...

 On May 30th, Bob and Rosie were swimming in the sea, on June 2nd I was muttering about 'Flaming June' and wanting to wear lightweight clothing, last Friday I was writing about hot, sticky summery days. 

I complained to Bob that the water butt was empty...

And then this week it has rained, and rained

Don't you just love this picture entitled "Spring Cleaning the Ark" ? It is by London artist William  Heath Robinson [see here]
Mrs Noah, and her sons and daughters-in-law, got all the animals onto the roof, and they are giving the boat a proper clean. [even tho it is still raining!]
I had planned to be out working in the garden, but had to come inside when the sharp hailstones descended. I've spent much of the week doing little odd jobs which should have been done last month.
To be honest, in the run up to Bob's hospital visit I didn't feel like housework. 
Now he is feeling better, and we are both sleeping better, I have had a bit more OOOMPH!. As opposed to 0mph, which is Zero Miles Per Hour. I've become very determined in my cleaning regime.

Steph recommended The Pink Stuff, miracle cleaning paste [not that I had any miracles which needed cleaning!] It does seem to tick many of the boxes regarding the environment. Yes it is a little abrasive and there are surfaces where it is not a good idea to use it. But it is brilliant for dirt on the base of my saucepans [they call it 'bottom grime' - an unfortunate name I think] also marks on the oven door and shelves, and bathroom grouting. I keep old toothbrushes for small scrubbing jobs.

Over half term Liz said she'd had a go at her white towels and sheets, using Ariel Bio detergent. I stopped using bio detergent in 1985 when Steph had a really bad reaction when wearing clothes washed in biological detergent, and ended up in A&E [she was about 8 months old] Forty years later, she lives on the other side of the country. So I decided I would try again. These pods were on offer, so I bought a box. My sheets, towels and hankies are whiter - but I did a longer, hotter wash than usual. Perhaps I should have tried that programme with my regular Lidl powder first. I have ditched the dinge!
Thanks Liz and Steph for the cleaning tips!

Have you noticed that Peter Crouch is all over the ad breaks lately? In the last 6 months, he has done, Ariel, Paddy Power gambling, TNT Sports, Chery SUVs, Victorian Plumbing, Shark Ninja BBQs, Bovril, Alpro Breakfast foods... It is 8 years since he stopped playing professional football.  Maybe he needs to pay for more tooth whitening. .
And still it rains. We have had spectacular thunderstorms. The lightning was so close- we watched it strike our friend's house a couple of gardens away - mercifully no real damage or injury [just a blip in his power supply] 

I am hoping it is dry tomorrow, there is a Yard Sale in Foulsham, and I am looking after the pitch outside the Chapel. I would like people to turn up and pay up! At least we do have the Big Gazebo to shelter under.

What is your favourite cleaning product?

To Coin A Word

The words “to coin” can be used as a verb with a literal meaning to mint a coin, but in 14th century Europe, the term “coining” was associated with inventing words. By the late 16th century, “coining a phrase” implied the invention of a series of words used to complete a sentence. There's also a Greek word koinē, meaning "common" or "shared".  It is used for common language or lingua franca used by speakers of different original dialects or languages. The New Testament was originally written in Koinē Greek, which was the common language, accessible to all, rather than the formal Classical Greek.
I love discovering the history of words, how and when they were first coined, and how their meaning has changed down the centuries. In the study, we have a little paper cup. It is full of the odd coins we find in pockets and bags at the end of the day, or when we are tidying up the table...

What do you call such a collection?

Is it small change? Or loose change? 
I remember that when we had that huge mortgage, I used to say "We do not have loose change here, only tight budgets"

Have you come across the word

shrapnel?

I was thinking about this, and wondered who coined this term. It is an eponym, for Henry Shrapnel [1761-1842] who invented an artillery shell filled with lead musket balls, and a bursting charge, so it exploded in mid air.

The debris from exploding shells and bombs generally was called shrapnel. In WW1, metal and paper shortages meant they had problems at the Monnaie de Paris [the French Mint] and made cheap coins, and there were locally produced banknotes on cheap paper called billets de necessité. Troops fighting in France referred to the tattered notes as shrapnel - . By WW2, shrapnel  had become the slang term among the forces for any small coins. However it was not recognised in British dictionaries till 1984. 

Bob and I were talking about this - I first remember coming across the term in the 90s when I met my friend John [ex Forces] 

Whatever you call such a pot of dosh**,  it is useful to have some around, for charity pots, car park machines, and grandchildren who would like to buy their own treats. Many older people, and people managing debt issues, prefer to pay with real cash they can manage, rather than the credit card, which is 'virtual' money and sometimes hard to keep track of.

I for one do not want a cashless society, for lots of reasons.
What do you call shrapnel?

Are you happy to go 100% cashless?

 [they can't agree on the origin of dosh- it may be doss, the price of a bed for the night, dash, the Colonial African word for a bribe, or the Russian-Jewish word dosh meaning nose, as in pay-on-the-nose, i.e. pay in cash]

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Sometimes my Mum would serve a can of meatballs for tea along with mashed potato. When I was first married, I cooked Mary Berry's frikadeller recipe from Home&Freezer Digest, using a mix of pork and beef. IKEA arrived in the 80s and I was hooked on their Swedish meatballs. Now they sell meatballs, chicken balls, veggie balls and plant based balls. A useful freezer standby - I posted about how to serve your 'Swedish' meatballs in a variety of different ways back in 2015
Recently I rustled up some home made meatballs - this time with a middle eastern twist, using my Ottolenghi Simple Cookbook which Julian gave me for my birthday last year.

I had some leftover lamb and I flicked through this book and found this. It was very easy and very tasty. I had enough lamb to make enough for four portions - so we ate half and put the rest away for later in the week. 

500g minced lamb
100g feta, crumbled into roughly 1cm pieces
2 tbsp picked thyme leaves
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
10g parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 slice white bread, blitzed
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Salt and black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp pomegranate molasses, plus 1 tbsp extra to serve (optional)

Heat the oven to 200C. Put all the ingredients apart from the oil and pomegranate molasses in a large bowl, add three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper, and mix with your hands to combine. Still using your hands, divide the meatball mix into 18 roughly 35g portions and form each into 4cm-wide balls. Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high flame, then fry the meatballs (cook them in batches, if need be), for five to six minutes in total, gently turning them throughout, until golden brown all over. Transfer the meatballs to an oven tray lined with baking paper, drizzle pomegranate molasses over the top, if using, and bake for five minutes, to cook through. Serve hot, with a final tablespoon of pomegranate molasses spooned on top. [I baked mine in the air fryer]

I forgot to take a picture of mine - but they did look exactly like Yotam's, and we liked the flavour. It was the end of my bottle of pomegranate molasses, I shall have to get some more at Oli's when I am next in London with Liz. It does give a lovely sweet-sharp flavour. I served the meatballs with plain boiled rice, and a quick salad made with grated carrot. 

This is such a fun children's book. We have had hot weather, cool weather, dry weather, rain, thunder and lightning in the past fortnight. But no meatballs!

How do you eat yours?