Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along!

There’s a space between two chairs at Cornerstones which needs a small table [for 2 cups of coffee, and my book, and Bob’s tablet]

What I really wanted was one of these bobbins. I blogged about them back in May – and their £330 price tag.

Anne [from Marmalade and Catmint] said they were for those with more money than sense, and Mags said “Bet Bob could make you one”. She knows he cannot resist a challenge like that!

When Sandie [of Sandie’s Patch] moved house in April, she’d generously offered me some bits and pieces of sewing stuff she was decluttering. “And can you make use of this chipboard table?” she said. And look what happened…

First Bob took the table and made a circular base ready to screw on [using some scrap wood which was in the garage]

Then he covered the sides with a cylinder of stiffish card [also lurking in the garage. I spent £3 on some red corduroy fabric, purchased on Leicester Market. I cut the fabric very carefully, hemming top and bottom and sewing a vertical seam. Then I slid the resulting tube over the card cylinder.

The wooden base was screwed into place. Then Bob found a picture of a Sylko label online, enlarged it, and applied it to the top. He covered it with a number of layers of PVA glue.

And here we have our bobbin coffee table, ready to go to Cornerstones.

Thank you Sandie for the table, and Mags for the challenge.

I am sure you will both agree that Bob has done a brilliant job! £3 is a lot better than £330, don’t you think!

Think Pink!

My ‘knit something for charity each month’ campaign is going well. This month I have used up the pink wool in my stash [there wasn’t much!] to make three scarves. Fat Dormouse suggested I might like to join Vicki’s campaign to make pink scarves for women fighting the battle with breast cancer. [details here]

July is a busy month – so just three scarves, but all different patterns. The first one was from my brilliant Debbie Bliss Book [blogged about here]

The second was simply a moss stitch with a fringe, the yarn was dyed in shades of pink, deep pink, peach and violet. The third was a crochet ‘ruffle’ design – in deep pink with a pale pink edging. It came out very similar to the ‘sea-lettuce’ scarves I knitted a few years back.

Here are my three scarves, on a folding chair in the garden, styled as per Debbie Bliss!

I loved doing the DB pattern – it is a sort of ‘fan-and-feather’ design. She uses two colours to emphasis the rippling stripes, but I think it works well in one colour too.

Buzzing About

My turn to do Sunday School this morning – and our summer theme is "Bible Stories which have animals in them”

I’m returning to an old favourite- Samson, the lion and the bees. They are portrayed on the Golden Syrup Tin, where it says – as it has since 1883 - “Out of the strong came forth sweetness”

Among other things we will be collaging sparkly wings and black and yellow stripes on cardboard bees, and making minibooks of the story

I am going to teach the children the more modern translation of the verse from Judges

“Out of the strong came something sweet,

out of the eater came something to eat”

Bees, and honey, I like – the wasps which have been buzzing about in our loft, I am not so sure about.

Heirlooms

This excessive heat is causing me to wilt! It isn’t particularly good for cut flowers either. The bunch I received last week has gradually drooped, and after frequent changes of water and trimming of stems,  I was left with just a few golden blooms.

But don’t they look gorgeous re-arranged in this little green Hornsea “Heirloom” pattern Jug?

Having found the large Hornsea jug and sugar bowl last Saturday morning at the Great Village Yard Sale, my afternoon perambulations yielded this piece for 50p.

The embroidered mat is a real vintage treasure, a gift from an elderly lady in the church some years ago. The stitching is minute. I suspect it may date back to the 1930’s.

Worrying About Inflation…

Is she going to leave us here all weekend watching Bob’s repair to the airbed, do you think?

Dunno – but it is far too hot to do anything more energetic!

OK Bok!

Slight confusion this week, when I walked past the market in Norwich - there were buckets of flowers on display

They were labelled “BOKS £5”

I thought of springboks, the African antelopes, and of bok choy, the Chinese cabbage. But I couldn’t make sense of it

Then it dawned on me, the sign should be read b O K [bouquet]

Now wondering, is this abbreviation in common usage? I’ve not seen it before. I must check out flowers on Leicester market sometime.

This Time Next Week…

I have been given some dosh by MoneySupermarket.com to host a BBQ as part of their 2013 Charcoal Challenge. The Worship Group at church have been working very hard lately, so we decided to invite them round. More details [and photos] will be posted after the event

Thankyou to MoneySupermarket.com for their brilliant idea!

Feeling More-ish?

A couple of weeks ago, the Crazy Kitchen had a post about eating places in Norwich – and I liked the look of Moorish, a falafel bar in Lower Goat Lane. So Bob and I tried it out for a fast, early lunch on Monday before returning to Leicester.

The food is freshly made daily, and there is a wide selection of falafels, dips and salads – with sauces and pita bread –and drinks.

You can sit outside, or upstairs [the photo below taken from the staircase to show the serving area

I loved the wallpaper upstairs – and here are pictures of our lovely fresh salads and glasses of mint tea. A huge pile of freshly chopped and sliced goodness, a few falafels, and cool minty yogurt sauce.

It was a delightful meal on a really hot day. Thanks, Crazy Kitchen for the recommendation. Service was good, and prompt, portions were generous. Prices start at £2 for basic Hummus+Pitta, and falafels begin at £3.60 [3 falafels, hummus, + 2 salads] There is a kid’s menu, and a choice of hot and cold drinks. I can recommend the mint tea!

Going Ape In Norwich

On Monday morning when we were in Norwich, we were amused by the charity ‘Gorilla Trail’ being hosted this summer.

We did not see all the gorillas – but here are a few of them

They are quite large, as you see…

Village Treasures

On Saturday morning we had some spare time [our timetable for work at Cornerstones had to be changed as we waited for the Wickes delivery] so we walked round Swanton Morley and looked at the Yard Sale. It was a village wide event, in support of the Parish Church. Sellers paid a small fee to be involved, and then their addresses were included in the leaflet which was sold to buyers for 50p. ‘Genuine’ sellers had an orange poster [last year a few people joined in who had not paid up. Shame!!] It was a great opportunity for people to have a declutter.

About three dozen homes were involved – and refreshments and excellent cakes, were on sale at the church and at one home at the opposite end of the village.

One house – which has a very large garden also had their workshop [full of old vehicles being restored] and the ‘museum’ open for people to have a nose round.

That was quite fascinating

Can you see these things in the two pictures?

• the WW2 helmet
• the flat iron
• the magic lantern
• the two swords
• the horse’s bit
• the safe
• the height gauge
• the carousel
• the sheep shears
• the railway,man’s lantern
• Thomas the Tank engine
• the leather hat

As we walked round the village, we bumped into a few old friends – and I also met the son of one of my old schoolfriends for the first time [sadly Jane and I lost touch after Uni, and she died a few years ago] I met a couple who had retired to Norfolk from Leicester in the 1980s and wanted to know what the place is like now, and another couple who had known my father very well. Lots of great conversations – but did we actually buy anything in the yard sale?

The morning’s selection [and plenty of change from my £10 note]

A Hornsea jug and sugar bowl

A basil plant

A Dereham Baptist Church bicentennial mug [I never got one at the time of the event]

Pair of Boden shorts

A silk tie

A pair of ‘Wolf’ cutters

And an Oscar![you never know when you will need one of them]

The bookmark came from my neighbour, whose little daughter suffers from Ataxia-Telangiectasia.  A-T is a progressive genetic condition which causes severe disability and shortens lives, and Justine was collecting for the charity [website here] It is fairly rare, and I promised I would blog about it to help raise awareness.

On Sunday, as we drove to church, we spotted a few people who were continuing their sale for a second day. If you wanted baby clothes/toys/old handbags/plants/books/videos and curtains, it was definitely the village to visit! Even more fun than a Boot Fair

The only downside was that whilst visiting the far-flung houses, down the back lanes, I brushed up against the long grasses on the verges. This caused some sort of allergic reaction, exacerbated by the heat. By Sunday, my legs looked like they have been smeared with raspberry jam! Fortunately it is subsiding a bit now, and the itching stopped once I took anti-histamines.

Keep Your Head!

Last term I was talking to a pupil at school who said he had a bicycle for his birthday. “Do you wear a helmet?” I asked “Oh no, Miss, I would get laughed at” THIS photo shows why cycle helmets matter [click to see photo]

On Friday, Liz rang us to say Jon had been knocked off his bike at the Elephant and Castle roundabout, by a white van, which did not stop. By the grace of God, Jon was unhurt, and there was a St John’s Ambulance guy in the vehicle behind – which did stop, and gave assistance.

Cycle helmets don’t cost that much – but they could save your life. Looking at the hole in Jon’s helmet, I am so glad he was wearing it!

A Riot Of Colour!

Yesterday afternoon, Christine  and I visited West Acre Gardens, near Swaffham. What a beautiful place, such glorious flowers! You can find out more from their website. I first read about it last week on Maggie’s blog [here] I was impressed by the friendly and helpful staff [but we didn’t buy anything]

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

High Flyer

We have just watched a paraglider coming over the roof at Cornerstones. Wow! Rather him than me!

A Collection Of Collectives

One of my Minister’s Wife friends recently posted on Facebook about “collective nouns”, and it has set me thinking. Many of the terms for groups of animals and birds date back to mediaeval times – murder of crows, parliament of owls etc [the ‘ducks’ one below seems to be more recent, around 1970]

My friend mentioned two more modern terms for groups of people

an impatience of wives

an ambush of widows

I thought these were both incredibly negative, and I have been thinking about more positive words for groups of people. If people have a good term attached to their group, it inspires them to live up to it.

I know that a group of Baptist Pastors’ Spouses is a Connexion [because I was the one who first came up with that new name for our national fellowship nearly twenty years ago, because ‘connexion’ is an old term for a group of Nonconformist Christians, and the one connection between us is that we are all married to people in some form of Baptist Ministry]

How about this selection?

a faithfulness of wives

a reminiscence of widows

a helpfulness of husbands

an encouragement of deacons

an exuberance of Youth Workers

Can you add any to the list?

Hot Diggety Dig

Tools ready

 

Bob started very early before it got too hot

He knows the drill, but is never boring

 

Bit on the side?

Fork ‘andles!

The Parson’s Saw

Dig for Victory!

You are a brick, Alwyn! [our neighbour donated these]

Is your spirit level?

The Rake’s Progress

 

Thumper [but not Bambi]

 

Pegging out in the extreme heat!

Pythagoras was here

    

Watch this space and see what comes next …

Finished!

I’ve done it! My cardi is all done. I think I like it – but I am a little slimmer than when I began knitting it, I may have to take it in a bit. I spent ages deciding on buttons – Sandie [of Sandie’s Patch] had some beautiful blue shell buttons, which she very kindly offered me – but there were only 5 and I needed 6.

I decided to pick out the colours from the pastel multicolour yarn spots in the ribbing. I found 6 different vintage buttons and sewed them on. If a sugar pink one turns up in the stash, I may replace the red one at the bottom – but I love the Dolly Mixture feel of it!

Now to consider my next knitting project…

Bowled Over!

I was delivering some cards to the Care Home next door to the church and two residents were in the communal garden – I stopped for a chat. One admired my hat  - it’s an ancient black wedding hat, but brilliant for keeping the sun off, and preventing headaches. They lamented the demise of hat-wearing, and one suddenly said “Would you ever have any use for a bowler hat, Angela?” I said I’d love one, as I knew I could use it for Holiday Clubs, drama stuff etc. My mother had one which frequently appeared in Girls’ Brigade Displays and the like, but it had gone AWOL years ago.

And immediately this dear lady popped inside her front door and came out with a hat. She explained that it had belonged to her late husband – and she couldn’t bear to just throw it away, but had no use for it and no space in her tiny new flat to store it. “Here you are, I am glad to think it will still get used” she said. How generous is that? Thank you so much, my friend!

It is lovely quality, from Dunn and Co of Piccadilly. If fits well- but Bob and I realised that was due to the folded bands of newspaper inside the leather hatband.

This was a really exciting discovery – the front page of the Daily Express from August 17th, 1971, when the weather was dry and hot. There was an  article about “umbrellas with air-conditioning” costing £6 – the paper itself cost 3p.

We were apparently  blaming Richard Nixon for the “Dollar Crisis” two days before, but Britain was ‘sitting tight’.

The paper also featured a picture of baby Denise Weller – who had been snatched from her pram in Essex in July – it would be five whole weeks before she was found [safe and well] in Yorkshire, on September 4th.

I love my new hat, and all the history behind it. I am sure that 42 years ago, the person who folded up the newspaper to make the bowler fit more comfortably never expected where it would end up! The first bowler was designed for Edward Coke, son of the Earl of Leicester, whose Norfolk estate is just up the road from Cornerstones! [read more here] You know what they say…

If you want to get ahead, get a hat!

No Double Yellow Lines Here!

You have probably sung these lines [from the hymn “At the Name of Jesus”] and maybe wondered about that train

Brothers, this Lord Jesus shall return again,
With His Father’s glory, with His angel train;

My thanks to Sarah for sending me her photo of the sign we saw in Derby a few weeks ago which indicates where they will be parking…

]

[AT is a train leasing company – I wonder if they know the hymn?]

Actually It Is Only 36 Years

…since a Brit won Wimbledon – people seem to have forgotten Virginia Wade’s triumph in 1977 [or do only men** count?]

VW is a clergyman’s daughter and a Maths graduate, she smiles a lot and she wears great cardigans. In fact we have much in common [although I am 8” shorter, and totally hopeless at playing tennis]

**as well as VW winning the Women's’ Singles in 77, there was Dorothy Round Little in 1937, Angela Mortimer in 1961, and Ann Hayden-Jones in 1969. British women have won Wimbledon three times in my lifetime.

1977 was the Queen’s Silver Jubilee year and the centenary of the Wimbledon championships. Her Majesty actually attended the final and presented VW with the trophy. She didn’t give her an OBE for another nine years. If Andy gets a knighthood, surely her Damehood is well overdue!

Happy Birthday Virginia, 68 today

Blue Skies, Blue Paint…

it is warm and sunny again, and the sky is blue…

My friend Tony [a poet living in Scotland, who knows about creative things] suggested I should have made Bob’s component bag in fabric which was coloured IKB [International Klein Blue] I looked this up.

Here is IKB 79. a painting by Yves Klein which hangs in the Tate. He did 194 of these monochrome canvases, originally untitled, but after his death, his widow helpfully numbered them.

It’s a pleasant colour, I admit [read more here] but it does remind me of a well known Swedish furniture store!