'Desserts' is 'Stressed' spelled backwards

Yesterday went really well, and the farewell lunch was especially enjoyable - but we had way more than 77 present! The kitchen team worked very hard, Matthew and Grace presented the card signed by all the children and Bob presented Dave and Lesley with a print to hang on the wall of their new Manse. Part 2 of the church gift will follow later - once it has got to the Bookshop! Everyone loved the new apron. Alyson did a great Table Quiz.

The food at lunch was splendid, and even with the extra people we still had some leftovers. The french bread came home and today I made it into a bread&butter pud - a dessert which both Bob and I really enjoy. Hard to believe such thriftiness can be so delicious [I do not subscribe to the theory that it must contain cream!]

It is Monday so we are relaxing - allegedly - just off to the Baptist Union Conference for Newly Accredited Ministers though, where Bob is plugging the Ministers' Fellowship and I am promoting Connexion. We went out briefly this morning and bumped into four church members who were kind enough to avoid 'talking shop'!

This evening I shall avoid stress by doing some more sewing I think.

Thank the Lord for loving fathers!

It's Fathers' Day - and I'm really missing my Dad who died ten years ago - but I have strong and happy memories and am so grateful for all he was to me. But I am also glad to be married to a wonderful man who is a great father to our two lovely girls.

Isn't this a cute cupcake apron? Steph found it for me in her local Woolworths for only a fiver! I shall wear it today whilst helping at our Lunch at Church - even though my contribution is not any home made delight - just sticks of french bread!

The lunch is a special Farewell to Dave and Lesley Woods, to thank them for 3 years of working hard here at KMFC whilst Dave has been studying for ministry. At the last count we had 77 people signed up.

I think 'breaking bread together' is one of the best expressions of Christian fellowship. This will be my third meal with a church group in four days - sadly my waistline reflects this enthusiasm!

Today is Humphrey Lyttleton day on Radio 4 - but that will have to be enjoyed tomorrow via "Listen gain" as I shall be out most of the day at Church. Today is also the 793rd Anniversary of that significant event at Runnymede - as Tony Hancock used to say "Who can forget Magna Carta? Did she die in vain?"!

Normal For Norfolk!

That's been a busy 24 hours! Drove over to Norfolk with The Pew Cushion yesterday afternoon. The journey along the A47 was fairly dire - I loathe those long straight stretches of road when a queue of irritated drivers builds up behind a slow moving caravan! Got to Dereham at 5.30pm just in time for tea at the Baptist Church. Splendid meal prepared by Lynne, the Pastor's wife and her friend [sorry,forgot her name] Enjoyed conversation with family, and friends old and new. The purpose of the evening was a worship session with Godfrey Birtell.

It was good to be back in the church where I spent my youth - and catch up with news. Folk there have always been so faithful in praying for our ministry down the years and I appreciate the rare opportunities I get to return to the place where I was baptised and married.

I freely admit the evening event wasn't quite my style! I am a little uncomfortable about a service that has absolutely NO moments of silence - even when we weren't actually singing, the drummer was banging his cymbal between two soft drumsticks [the sort that look like dishmops] or Godfrey was banging out a rhythm on his guitar. I thought about I Kings 19

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

I would have appreciated a gentle whisper somewhere along the line! Interesting, Godfrey claims the hymnwriter James Montgomery among his forbears, and has written a new tune for Lift up your heads. I like a lot of JM's hymns - he was a Moravian [I think we could have done with a little bit of explanation there, Godfrey - one person afterwards told me they thought Moravia was the place Dracula came from!]

Anyhow, in the middle of all the noise, I was struck with inspirations for next Sunday night's sermon, so I sat down and wrote notes furiously in my Filofax. I'd been wrestling with ideas all up the A47 and was grateful to the Lord that it had suddenly started to come together. Please note - the sermon is on Psalm 23, so I did NOT have to have a Bible open to check the passage whilst driving - I know that one by heart!

Godfrey also referred to the Celtic Christians and their choice of a Wild Goose as their symbol. He had written a Wild Goose song,and said he always ran the words of any song past a theologian friend to check they were OK before he published them. My Inner Lynne Truss wished the friend had a; gently pointed out the innumerable spelling mistakes and b; explained that 'wild goose' probably means 'not a domesticated goose' rather than 'a crazy and demented old bird'. I didn't really feel comfortable singing that "I wanna honk and flap and hoot and get loosed" But that's just me...lots of people there obviously really enjoyed the session.

Not sure about his comment that 'many Baptist Churches are full of Masonic Furniture' either - perhaps someone can explain that one to me!

However, Godfrey did make it quite clear that the important thing is not having religion, but  having a relationship with Jesus, and I give him full marks for that. You should never assume that everyone present has already heard the Gospel.

Over the washing-up, had a good discussion with my brother Adrian and Michael about the church constitution issue. DBC are currently sorting theirs out, as we are. Particularly the issue of postal votes. I have strong feelings about this one - we are NOT a democracy, we are a theocracy, and we come together in the Church Meeting to seek the mind of Christ. I don't want to know your opinion, I want to know His Will, and I believe God reveals that to us, as we meet and pray together at the meeting. I will do everything I can to be at the Church Meeting - but if I cannot be there, I know He will be. I was reassured to find my brother has sound theology too!

Back to Adrian and Marion's place, where Lucy was dozing on the sofa. The cushion fits beautifully! They've repainted the kitchen recently though, so I wonder if I should do a fresh cushion cover in a heavier fabric which reflects the red theme.

This morning everyone was up fairly early for various appointments with hairdresser, riding lessons etc, so I was able to get on the road promptly. Remembered I needed to buy a box of chocs for someone, so stopped at the village store in Mileham and picked up some Quality Street. "Can I have a bag, please?" I asked. "Yes! here's one with writing on it!" said the assistant and gave me a HUGE plastic bag, with "HILDA" written on it in yellow pen. "Don't know who Hilda is" she said. I indicated the sign saying 'newspapers' - "Have you got The Times?" "Oh no - only Eastern Daily Press and East Anglian Daily Times. You'll have to go somewhere else if you want one of The Nationals" I waited for her to say "Why would you want to know what happens outside Norfolk, anyway?" but she didn't!

Got back on the road, and the journey back was much better than the day before. Remembered I needed to get my contribution for the Bring'n'Share lunch, so stopped off at the Big Tesco's at Hamilton. i do not like Tesco's! The bread was wrongly priced, and I pointed this out before the guy scanned it. He agreed, and summoned help. It took two assistants four minutes to work out the cost of 4 items at 60p each! The younger one was using the Doubling Strategy - slowly and very inefficiently. I confess to finding it hard to teach maths using a Numeracy Strategy which involves "Dublin, Chunkin, and Cuddly Numbers" but someone, somewhere believes it to be better than the method we used to use.

Here's a picture of my niece Lucy, sitting on The Pew, you can just see one of the cats underneath. Lucy made some excellent ginger nut biscuits, which I sampled this morning. I must get the recipe from her sometime.

I had a good time and enjoyed myself - but it is good to be back home!

Summer is icumen in, loudly sing Cuckoo!

For many, the first cuckoo signals the true start of summer. For me, it is probably the arrival of the staff tee-shirts for Holiday Bible Club, from Genesis.

I really cannot fault this company for their efficiency, helpfulness and good prices. we have been getting teeshirts and more from them for about 10 years now and they are SO reliable.

We sang 'Summer is icumen in' as a round when I was at school, and I knew that the mice in Bagpuss sing a version of it too.

Summer has come in,

Loudly sing, Cuckoo!

The seed grows and the meadow blooms

And the wood springs anew,

Sing, Cuckoo!

The ewe bleats after the lamb,

The cow lows after the calf.

The bullock stirs, the buck-goat turns,

Merrily sing, Cuckoo!

Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing, cuckoo;

Don't you ever stop now,

Sing cuckoo now!

What I have only just discovered is that this round,believed to be one of the oldest forms of English counterpoint round in existence, also has Latin Christian words.

Perspice Christicola

que dignacio

Celicus agricola

pro uitis vicio

Filio

non parcens exposuit mortis exicio

Qui captiuos semiuiuos a supplicio

Vite donat et secum coronat

in celi solio

Which probably sounds much more euphonious when it is sung than the English translation

Observe, Christian, such honour!

The heavenly farmer,

due to a defect in the vine,

not sparing the Son,

exposed him to the destruction of death.

To the captives half-dead from torment,

He gives them life and crowns them with himself

on the throne of heaven.

Apparently nobody is quite sure which came first, the secular or Christian lyrics. If you want the Bagpuss words or the Ezra Pound parody, you will have to look them up for yourself!

Sew on and sew on

Spent Tuesday evening making more play costumes - stoats fur waistcoats. Decided to avoid fur on the carpets by cutting them out in the garden on the table. Unfortunately a gale got up soon after I started, so I had to weight everything down with baked bean cans! I marked out the pattern on the fur with chalk. Ancient chalk, from my early days in teaching.

There is something wonderfully science-fiction-esque about using a product called "Cosmic Anti-Dust"! Much more evocative than "Berol Dry Wipe Pens"

Then Wednesday evening it was off to the church for the Sewing Club - the girls worked incredibly hard, and are really eager to learn. They were intrigued about this blog, and I promised to publish pictures of their cushions and bags. I am being very responsible, and not making the girls identifiable - so here's their work, and their hands - but no names or faces!

This week they had to learn to press seams open - and most of them had never handled an iron before!

They seem to enjoy what they are doing though, and are willing to learn. Ann - one of the adult helpers - showed them some patchwork she had done and they were incredibly impressed. I am getting a real buzz out of combining two of my favourite activities- sewing and teaching!

On Thursday [today] my sewing has been limited to mending the leaking bean bags from the school PE Store!

Why do they call them BEAN bags when these days they fill them with strange shredded black rubber [old car tyres?] When they split, they leave a trail on the floor of the school hall which looks like mouse droppings! At least they can be mended, and do not have to be discarded and replaced.

Sweet treats!

I made some cookies, which I don't very often do. Modified a recipe from the internet AllRecipes site. And they came out surprisingly well, considering it was 9.45 at night and I was fairly tired

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

110g butter

130g crunchy peanut butter

100g granulated sugar

110g brown sugar

1 egg

160g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 190'C
2. Cream together butter, peanut butter, sugar and beat in eggs with handheld mixer
3. Stir in flour and b.p. and mix till all incorporated.
4. Roll into 1" balls and put on lined baking sheet.
5. Flatten each ball with a fork, making criss-cross pattern
6. Optional - make small indentation and put ¼tsp jam in centre of each biscuit.
7. Bake for 9-10 minutes till cookies brown. Do not over-bake
8. Cool on wire rack

They seem to be keeping fairly well in an airtight tin - but as they taste good, we are eating them fairly fast! The PB was from Aldi, and the flour and butter were Sainsbury's 'basics' - so not too expensive. All Sainsbury's sugar is fairtrade now, which is good.

I used my 1"ice cream scoop which is incredibly useful for biscuit making. I got it in Boston, USA. I think Lakeland really ought to stock them.

Riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an Enigma

Listened to Hut 33 again. Found it much funnier this time! After I mentioned it before on the Blog, I ended up engaging in some very helpful and thought-provoking communication with James Cary, the writer of the series, all about the mechanics of humour.

Is it right to make a joke when a high proportion of the hearers won't understand it? I know I sometimes make a passing humorous remark in class fully aware that only the brightest children will pick up on it - but if that brightens the lesson for them, it's worth doing surely? Or is it excluding the ones who don't get it - and is that unfair?

I love maths jokes - and was amused to be sent this one by a friend - but I know that it is meaningless to loads of my friends. But I don't understand the jokes they make about sport!

The bottom line is, I think, that it is important to laugh with people, not at people.  Laughter is definitely one of God's gifts, there to help us live life more abundantly. After all, He created the duck-billed platypus and the clown fish - both of which always make me smile.

Two final thoughts - did I simply enjoy Hut 3 this time more because I have made a connection with the writer? or, in another context, as I told my Sunday School Class when we did Acts 8:31 the other week "If you want to really understand The Book, get to know the Author"

And [my apologies to non mathematicians] "There are 10 sorts of people in the world - those who understand binary arithmetic, and those who don't"

How To Make A Point

Hedgehog costumes part two;

1. Wait for hot sunny morning!
2. Cover garden table with newspaper
3. Don plastic apron, latex gloves* and sunhat
4. Lay costume on table
5. Mix PVA glue in a yogurt pot - 3 parts PVA to 1 part water - stir with cocktail stick.
6. Dip thumb and two fingers of one hand in glue pot
7. Holding fabric flat on table with OTHER hand, grasp clump of fur about 3cm square between sticky fingers. Twist fur, pulling upwards to form spine.**
8. Repeat - until all costume covered with spines!

This system seems to have worked, I now have two costumes suitable spiny.

*the gloves supplied with hair dye are useful for this. In fact they are incredibly useful for all sorts of gross activities. Steph wears hers whilst emptying humane mousetraps!

**Keep a second yogurt pot with just plain water in it. If the spines separate, twisting them again with slightly moistened fingers seems to help them hold together.

Here are both hedgehogs drying in the sun. Please note the lawnmower in the background- Bob working very hard to cut the grass despite being afflicted with hayfever this morning, and sneezing repeatedly.

Gesundheit! I don't think that's what Bob meant last night in his sermon, when he encouraged us to bless people this week!

Gesundheit!

We had a lovely service this evening on Psalm 20, and blessing. It was good to talk with others, and bless them and feel blessed by them. Lynda and Gwen sang beautifully. Bob gave us a sheet of Celtic prayers and blessings, and encouraged us to consciously bless others as we go about our week. A few months ago I decided to end my emails "Love and blessings" and have been surprised by the number of people who have responded positively to that.

Here's one of the prayers

A Familiar Stranger

I saw a stranger today.

I put food for him in the eating-place

And drink in the drinking-place

And music in the listening-place.

In the Holy name of the Trinity

He blessed myself and my family.

And the lark said in her warble

Often, often, often, goes Christ in the stranger's guise.

O, oft and oft and oft, goes Christ in the stranger's guise.

Celtic Rune of Hospitality

Not quite so sure about this next one though! Mustn't use it for my friend Carole who currently has her leg in plaster!!

May those who love us, love us.

And those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts;

And if He doesn't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles,

So we will know them by their limping!

We also sang "Best be the Tie that Blinds" but in the entire congregation, only Brian was wearing a tie, bless him!

A great cloud of witnesses

Really good Family Service this morning - all the preparation paid off and everything worked. We had clips from Evan Almighty, and sang some great songs - old and new. Bob, resplendent in the Noah's Ark waistcoat I made a few years ago, agreed to my request for "Our God is a Great Big God" [Vineyard Songs] We sing that a lot at my school and the kids there love it. Bob didn't know it - but we did it this morning and it went really well. People joined in the actions too!

Our God is a great big God, our God is a great big God

Our God is a great big God, and He holds us in His hands.

He’s higher than a skyscraper, and deeper than a submarine

He’s wider than the Universe, and beyond my wildest dreams

And He’s known me, and He’s loved me,

Since before the world began

How wonderful, to be a part, of God’s amazing plan

Our God is a great big God, and He holds us in His hands.

The theme of the service was Faith and the passage was Hebrews 11 [beautifully read by Bethany and Katie from my Sunday School Class] so lots of OT characters got a look in.

At one point Jess, the puppet, abseiled down the side of the organ!She was acting the part of one of the spies helped by Rahab in Joshua 2. Then she sat on my knee and told her story. Usually Steph does the voice of Jess, hiding in the pulpit with the radio mic. But Steph's grown up and gone to London, so this morning Sarah did the Jess voice for me. When Steph and I first began the Jess thing, six years ago, there were people in the congregation who thought I was a ventriloquist!

We also sang "There's a Sound on the Wind"

which I love very much - and then a couple of older ones - He who would Valiant Be, by Bunyan the Baptist from Bedford, and When a Knight Won His Spurs by Jan Struther. These two authors both fascinate me

I've always loved Bunyan, and Pilgrim's Progress was required reading in my childhood - but since coming to Leicester, I have discovered that Bunyan had an experience here which profoundly affected him. A soldier in the Civil War, he stepped down from his watch, for another to take his place - and almost immediately his replacement was shot dead in front of him! This is a brilliant county for lovers of Nonconformist History.

Jan Struther, on the other hand, not only wrote lots of hymns [Including Lord of All Hopefulness] which was on the Radio 4 service this morning - but also wrote that amazing story Mrs Miniver, which was filmed in 1942 with Greer Garson and alter Pidgeon, and told the story of an 'ordinary' middle-class family in WW2. Jan's real name was Joyce Maxtone Graham Placzek, so I am not surprised she used a pseudonym! Joyce was the daughter of Har­ry An­stru­ther, MP At her private school, she used to sit behind Eliz­a­beth Bowes-Ly­on (the fu­ture Queen Mo­ther) and would dip the long tresse­s of “roy­al” hair in­to the ink-well. In lat­er life, when quizzed about this, the ever-tact­ful Queen Mo­ther de­clared that she could re­call no­thing of it! Jan went on to lead an extremely ...er... colourful life - so her penchant for hymn writing is very intriguing!

I am sure other people learned "When a Knight Won His Spurs" at school, and wondered who Valerie was, for whom he rode through the land!

Here's the back of the waisctcoat. I bought it at a Craft Fair at the NEC about 10 years ago - it was just a kit sold as a printed length of fabric. I cut it out and lined it with navy polka dot sateen. The elephant's ears are sewn on separately, and they can flap! Also the tails of many of the animals are made from plaited embroidery floss, and many of the creatures and plants are embellished with buttons and seed beads. It took ages - a true labour of love.

One other thought from this morning's service - if Barack Obama is named after the OT hero, Barak, why did his mother put a C in his name? Mind you, I read once that Oprah Winfrey said her mother wanted to name her after Ruth's sister-in-law Orpah, but she spelled it wrong on the birth certificate!

All in all, it was a great service!

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. What more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them.

Thanks, Bob!

Well here are the steampunk goggles Bob googled - and then below them, a picture of the goggles Bob created from the plastic B&Q goggles.

 

 

 

He's a very gifted chap, my spouse. This week we celebrated having known each other exactly 30 years. We met on 4th June 1978, and his first words to me were "Not another teacher!" [I was wearing a College Sweatshirt at the time] We met in church, and by the end of that summer we were engaged. That very week, someone asked me what qualities I would look for in a potential husband, and I replied "He must be able to mend cars, put up shelves and read Spurgeon"

God is amazingly gracious - and sent me a bloke who can only do all those things, but also preach a cracking sermon, cook incredible meals, let me ride pillion on his motorbike and steampunk goggles!!!

Steampunk, Furzepig and Thwart

They really ought to be a firm of dubious solicitors, but they aren't! In reverse order...

Thwart #1 - after three nights without sleep and then three days of constant busy-ness, I made the mistake of thinking I could fit in a 'quick' trip to the City Centre after School yesterday. Discovered I hadn't enough money for park'n'ride, OR pay'n'display, so had to park in the [expensive] shopping centre [pay-on-exit] car park. Dashed to bank etc, and other places - got all the things on Bob's list - and none of the ones on mine! Got back to car park within the hour. Only to discover whilst going up in lift that I had mislaid my ticket "That'll be twenty quid, luv" said cheery man beside me. Returned to car, just in case I had left it there. I hadn't. Rang Bob, feeling distressed and depressed, and he said all the right things. Went back to pay machine and spoke into the little grille. VERY KIND DISEMBODIED VOICE said "Well, I should charge you £20, full day rate, but as you say you only parked less than an hour ago, I will charge you for TWO hours as a goodwill gesture.

Thwart #2 - got home, and Bob made me a reviving cup of tea. I fed the dog, then went off to make our meal - only to discover that the meal I had planned, using leftovers in fridge wasn't going to happen. Bob was feeling better, so he had eaten a hearty lunch! Put an alternative meal together, eventually.

Thwart #3 - this morning, got up early, loaded washing machine, and got ready to go back into town [Bob had offered to take me on the bike] and couldn't find my phone. Hunted everywhere. Convinced myself I had left it in pocket of jeans. Which were in the washing machine. Had to stop machine mid-cycle, drain and empty everything out. No phone! Still couldn't find phone anywhere. Went out to get on bike - and hallelujah - it was in my car all along.

These things all seem to have taken up a lot of time, and left me feeling annoyed with myself - but looking back now, I can see that the eventual outcomes weren't that bad. The car park only cost £2.20, not £20. There was enough other food in the house for a meal. The phone wasn't undergoing total immersion and I haven't had to get a new one. Must work harder on the "Don't beat yourself up about it. Get over it. Move on" attitude. Count your blessings, Ang!

Anyway, this morning's trip into town was much more successful. And good fun too - being on the pillion means I do not have to think about driving, I can just enjoy the scenery. Recent rain has left everywhere so green and lush looking. Came back with some fur fabric and other bits and pieces.

Set up sewing machine and made a hat for Mr Toad. The one in the props cupboard was a bit small, so I used it to cut out a paper pattern and make a larger one.

Initially I made one from a bit of old sheeting to see if it would fit.

This worked, so I decided that it would make a good lining. Made up the whole thing and was very pleased with it.

The hat looked fine.Next thing was the driving goggles. The mother of the girl playing Toad had kindly supplied some plastic safety goggles, B&Q type. I thought with modification they would fit  nicely on the cap.

I showed them to Bob who promptly said "I could steampunk them for you, if you like"

WHAT???!!!!

 It appears that the word refers to the idea of combining new technology with Victorian style. More information here.

Furthermore, if you google "Steampunk goggles" [images] you get this picture - which is great fun and there is an accompanying article on converting new goggles into 'old-style' ones.

Typing google and goggle in the same sentence is hard!

Following the success with the millinery [I sat in front of TV to do the hand-stitching, and enjoyed watching Leslie Howard in The Scarlet Pimpernel.  Lovely old b&w version.Still prefer Richard E Grant and Martin Shaw in the recent TV production though.]

Then I began the hedgehog costumes. Charlie the Dog is moulting and Bob's been especially diligent in brushing him, because he keeps leaving clumps of fur everywhere. But that is NOTHING in comparison to the way this fabric sheds! Here is the carpet after only a few minutes trimming.

How to make a hedgehog outfit - cut two trapeziums [or trapezia - either plural is acceptable] of fabric, and sew them together to make a cylinder which will fit round the child, and reach from shoulder to knee.[about 40" x 28"]. Leave slits for hands. Sew along top for shoulders. Cut another trapezium for hood. Sew on. Drop whole thing over child's head. She should then be able to put her hands through the slits like little paws. The outfit is relatively restricting,so only allows for small scampering movements. WARNING if you are the adult who is making this costume DO NOT make the mistake of trying it on to check the effect! You will be unable to extricate yourself, and will need a helpful husband or other friend to get you out. You will get hot and bothered and your hair will get dishevelled [another form of steampunk!]

The latin name for the European hedgehog is Erinanceus Europaecus however they have a variety of regional names and these included: hedgepig, urchin, furzepig and graineog.

The costume doesn't look much pinned on the curtain, but I think it will work out OK in the end. Tomorrow I plan to experiment with PVA glue, and try to twist the fur into stiffer spines.

The kids at school are practising like mad - my colleague Claire is doing a great job with the music, teaching them the songs. It is lovely to be involved in a production like this.

I have vacuumed all the fur off the carpet with my wonderful Sebo [imho much better than a Dyson] and now I shall feed the dog and get ready for the evening. Bob is definitely better, and working at double speed getting ready for Sunday. But you need to check his blog to find out about that!

Flit on, cheering angel*

I recorded and subsequently watched the BBC programme about the Lady with the Lamp last night. My earliest introduction to this heroine was through a Ladybird book from 1959.

As far as I was concerned, when I read it as a child, she was good Christian woman who went to a dreadful place and worked hard as a nurse to save those who were suffering in an appalling war. And as my family were, by and large, pro-Christian, pro-women, pro-nurses, and very anti-war, she ticked all the right boxes for me. But never having been good with blood and nasty smells, I didn't feel a personal sense of calling to hospital work.

When Hugh Small's scholarly, and meticulously researched, book [Avenging Angel] came out 10 years ago, I learned lots more. She was a gifted mathematician [tick another box] but after the War was deeply concerned that so many died OFF the battlefield not ON it. On her return to England in 1857, she persuaded the Queen that a Government Commission was needed. Florence's statistical research convinced her that actually, her own Hospital at Scutari was a major contributory factor in many of the deaths due to poor hygiene and misunderstanding of basic sanitation.

The Government suppressed the reports [afraid of the public mood if the "Angel of Scutari" was shown to be flawed in any way] but Florence was overcome with remorse, and spent the next 50 years of her life trying to atone for what she saw as her personal failure to care for these men. She developed protocols and principles for hospital organisation, any of which are still in use today.

She was finally awarded the Order Of Merit [the first woman ever to receive it] in 1907 - FIFTY years after the War!!

Last night's programme was billed as 'ground-breaking' and 'finally revealing the truth' - but in fact did not say anything that Hugh Small had not revealed ten years before. Bizarrely, his work was not given any mention at all in the credits. According to the reports, the producer hadn't read Small's work in depth, but had gleaned a lot from the internet' - since when did the Internet become a "primary source" for historians? Truth according to Wikipedia? I think not!! I am a little disappointed with Norman Stone - and the BBC for not following its own code regarding credits.

Two other comments about last night's production - when Florence shuts herself away for a week, eating nothing, and finally allows her father to see her [excellently played by Michael Pennington] - why why why was she clearly wearing [smudged] mascara??

It was also interesting to see the way that the 'public' view of Flo was portrayed by use of the music Hall. Roy Hudd -a very sprightly 72 year old, as well as an expert on the Music Hall - took the part of a 'Barker' and sang many of the contemporary songs.

I still maintain my original position, adopted in my youth - she WAS a good woman, seeking to serve God. She made mistakes - who doesn't? - but was honest enough to admit to them, and did all she could to put them right. And she was undoubtedly incredibly brave. [* the title is a popular Victorian anagram]

"The Nightingale Pledge"
"I solemnly pledge myself before God and presence of this assembly;
To pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully.
I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous
and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug.
I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping, and family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling.
With loyalty will I endeavour to aid the physician in his work,
and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care."

Playing THRIFTY could score me 110 points!

It has been a relatively quiet Day Off - mainly because my better half in unwell, and is catching up on 2 nights without sleep. During the Wee Small Hours I was awake, and began thinking about our summer hols - and how it would be a good idea to take a Scrabble Set. We have THREE sets -the one from my childhood home, the one we bought when we were engaged, and the Greek Set we got when Bob was learning NT Greek for his College entrance. Trouble is, a regular board is 14" square, and not a convenient size to fit into a motorbike pannier. So somewhere around 3am, I worked out how to cut and fold the board into a 7"square [with the green outside of the board still on the outside] and remembered I had a piece of plasticised cotton to make a waterproof bag, and an old pencil case [split] which could be sacrificed to provide the zip. Then I remembered that in his hanky drawer is a "Magnificent Mouchoir" which was a Christmas gift about 14 years ago, imprinted with a Scrabble board from the 1993 World Championships. This hanky has NEVER been used.

So here is my tutorial for today's project.

CONVERTING REGULAR SCRABBLE INTO A TRAVEL SCRABBLE SET

1; draw a horizontal line across the centre of the board

2; Using ruler and sharp scalpel cut line right through on RIGHT hand side ONLY

3; Trim the cut edge, which will be rather messy and bind with clear, wide tape. I used clear parcel tape.

4; On the LEFT hand side of centre, SCORE carefully, on BOTH sides of the board. On the reverse, carefully trim away a strip of the green to enable better folding.

You should be able to fold the board as follows;

Fold conventionally down original vertical fold, then with fold to left, and slit side underneath, fold top section over and down, so "raw edges" are along top edge.

5; When you are satisfied that the board is folding properly, strength both sides of scored line with clear tape. Run a knitting needle [or similar] down centre of crease on both sides. Check the board will lay flat. Take a break and make a few words with the tiles!

6; At this point, I decided my board was looking tatty at the corners and so re-inforced them with lengths of clear tape too.

7; The outer storage bag I made from 2 pieces fabric each 10" square.

8; I sewed a patch trimmed from the hanky on one, just for decoration, and then sewed the zip in place. Check out this tutorial for the details! Make up the pouch.

9; Now with another piece of hanky fabric, make a simple drawstring bag for the tiles. I used some purple cord which was a handle from a free carrier bag I got given at CRE the other week!

10; Find a notepad and pen [more freebies] and there it is!

I put 2 racks at the bottom, and one each side, then slid in the board [re-inforced folds to the top works best for ease of removal] Then in went pad,pen and tile bag.

I am very pleased with this set and look forward to taking it to Ireland this summer. Packed away it should fit neatly into one of the panniers.And for anyone who might be wondering, no, we do NOT play much Greek Scrabble these days. It has a detrimental effect on the koinonia between us!

Time to make - 2½ hours

Cost - all materials to hand already - so nothing spent today!