Follow The Right Role Models

It took me a while to get this morning's sermon prepared, but in the end it all came together. The apostle John is comparing two people in a church group - Gaius [all round good and generous guy] and Diotrephes [a domineering, dodgy deacon]  I think John is saying something like this - "Look at Gaius, a loyal friend, walking faithfully, being welcoming and accepting, even to strangers, giving thoughtfully and generously.  He truly imitates Christ in his behaviour. Now look at Diotrephes – he has somehow obtained a position of influence. He is ego-centric, domineering, power hungry, dismissive of anyone who gets in his way, slandering them, throwing them out."*  And John's whole letter basically hangs on this verse - good advice and the main point of what I shall be saying

[* He probably lived in a white house too]

Stitching Old Things To New Life

I grabbed this one in the library on the way to the
checkout machines, it was on the end of a shelf and I liked the cover. But I never looked inside till I got home. And found it to be a lovely read! How serendipitous is that? 

Molly Martin tells how her favourite socks wore out, and her Mum showed her how to mend them 

using a darning mushroom. And she loved the idea of reinforcing the thinning stitches, restoring the socks to a new life. She has been stitching and mending ever since. She became an artist and textile repairer, and now works with the company TOAST to teach others to mend. 

This book is a distillation of all she has learned about mending, told through the garments which have been restored. 

Mollie brings the global vocabulary of mending to us - Japanese wabi-sabi [beauty in imperfection] 

and boro [tattered] where patches of fabric are stitched, layer upon layer

to make stronger, padded garments. Mottainai [not to waste] Then there is the Sanskrit word kantha - layering old saris and dhotis to make quilts. The old English word hussif - a contraction of housewife meaning a portable sewing kit [first on print in 1749] These were  used by men as well as women, 

notably soldiers across the world - from the American Civil War, through the Crimea, WW1 trenches and the Vietnam War.  And back to Japan again for sashiko ['little stabs] a reinforcing technique - and to Levi Strauss, who realised that adding copper rivets to his jeans meant they would last longer and could be patched and mended over and over again.

Her book is filled with stories of special garments mended by herself, or by friends. It is beautifully illustrated, and she devotes lots of pages to describing tools and techniques, so others can do mindful mending. And this slim volume is peppered with great quotes about repairing and restoring. I have copied them all down in a pretty notebook Kirsten sent me, and will be sharing them with you sometime. 

This book is a joy - learn about Mindful Mending - the history, the vocabulary, the techniques, the pictures, the stories. Even if you do not sew yourself, reserve it from the library to enjoy the read! *****

Stars And Stripes [ And Squares]

In this hot weather, Kirsten went for a pattern that was simple, not too brain-stretching. Life is never simple though…

Her idea was to see what happens as a two colour-changing yarns interact with each other. Kirsten chose Sirdar Crofter dk, designed to knit into a faux fair-isle pattern, and a self striping yarn with gradual colour changes. In 2010, I knitted a v-neck top in this same yarn. I think K's is more 50 shades of grey, whereas mine was darker bluey purples. [synchronicity again, both going for random dye yarns this month]

Her second yarn, a self-striping yarn where the colour changes gradually. It was a simple stocking stitch/two row pattern, The downside of a small six inch square is that the colours don't change and blend fast enough, and the stripes do not show up as clearly as she had hoped. Plus she discovered she had miscounted the stitches on one square. Then mislaid the other, ended up knitting a third, and finally found them all. Poor Kirsten, we have all been there!

She said in her email that she has sent me the one which reminded her most of my beloved Breton tops and enclosed a shot of 3 squares! 

But look, she sent me two of them. How kind. The 'flat gift' in my package is a pack of post-it notes. The covers are impregnated with daisy and chamomile seeds. The pages inside made of sustainable grass paper.  Kirsten has certainly 'earned her stripes' this month. 

I award her *****

Time And Tide

My latest square is the one on the bottom of the front cover, that attracted me to the book in the first place. [this is Block # 82 Dash ] It turns out to be another slip stitch pattern, with 4 rows stocking stitch and two rows [both ‘knit’] with a pattern of 2 slipped stitches which gives this neat broken ridge effect. There are 13 ridge rows- 5 using two contrast colours and 8 in the main colour. It reminded me of waves breaking on the seashore! 

  

We have been up at the coast a lot in recent weeks, visiting my friend in the care home. From her window you can see the way the water appears to be different colours. 

I used white and navy blue as the two contrasts [as per the book] but my main colour was Hayfield Bonus dk yarn in a random dye shade called ’Breeze’. I liked the variations in blue – very sea-like!  

Because of the  randomness of the yarn, they have come out slightly different in appearance. And as they are unblocked, they have wavy edges. I couldn’t decide which one to send Kirsten, so I closed my eyes, and chose one at random  It seemed appropriate!

Family FITS*

,*That's Fun In The Sun

bikes, balls, beaches, brothers, books...

And sipping long cool drinks through a straw

 

It's The Silly Season!

This phrase was first coined in the UK in 1861, describing late July. August and September. It is a period during the summer months when the papers publish trivial news stories to fill space, primarily because major institutions are in recess. During this time, stories about massive vegetables, strange animal behaviour, or Loch Ness Monster sightings often take centre stage in the news.
Here in East Anglia, we have had some rather ambiguous headlines, alongside bizarre photographs in the last couple of weeks. Julian and I were reading the Eastern Daily Press online over the weekend. We honestly couldn't decide of some of these captions with the accompanying pictures were deliberately chosen, or whether the head had gone to their heads.
For instance 

Sandringham Estate in Norfolk
hit by "Vermin Infestation"

The report does explain...A tenant, who did not wish to be named, told a national newspaper: "There are always rodents in an agricultural area like this, but most people can keep the numbers under control by having a cat."…However, tenants on the estate are banned from keeping cats under a rule introduced by the late Queen Elizabeth II to protect wildlife in the area. Despite the complaints raised at the council meeting, it is understood that the estate has not received any direct reports of vermin from tenants, . …It comes after Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's new home on the estate, Marsh Farm in Wolferton, was invaded by moles earlier this year.

Next My Grandsons are particularly keen on this local theme park. But this picture certainly made Julian and me laugh

Dinosaur Park gets green light for new look

We presume the exclamation mark is to be illuminated in future !!

Thirdly

Owners of "hidden" sauna, built without planning permission, fight to save it.
The bizarre thing about this story is that the sauna never was 'hidden' - the EDP had a big feature on it back in April when it opened.

The establishment is called The Hidden Sauna Club because it is off the beaten track, looking out over the countryside. It has proved incredibly popular. Quite why the owner thought she could build this without first seeking planning permission is unclear. But she is now applying retrospectively, claiming "the sauna is small in both scale and impact"
It is proving very popular, operating seven days a week, daytime and evenings, with sessions for up to 8 people at a time.[£20 an hour, if you're interested] So it's clearly a nice little earner. But the first sentence really tickled me
"The owners... hope the council planners WILL NOT POUR COLD WATER on its bid to stay in business" 
I don't know about the silly season, but as they say round here, it is

One final thing, picked up, bizarrely, by the Manchester Evening News before the EDP or the BBC reported it - the World Snail Racing Championship at Grimston in West NorfolK, was won this year by Snailor Swift!! [here]

Temperature Spike

Julian was with us for three days over the weekend. We did fun stuff - the Bridewell Museum in Norwich, the Aviation Museum, Board Games, Lunch with family etc. In April 25, J gave me a Mr Potato Head plantholder. I filled it with an Aloe, and rechristened MrPH 'Spike' 

In 15 months, he has grown a lot more spikes. He lives on the end of the kitchen windowsill. In this extreme heat, I have kept the blinds right down all the time, so that the room doesn't get too hot. 
But I had a bit of a shock on Saturday - it was cooler, so I put the blind up a little more than it has been for the past three weeks. 
Just look at Spike now!
I do believe he is sprouting a flower,
for the first time ever.
I was ridiculously pleased that this has happened whilst Julian was with us. I wonder if the flower will get bigger or open up in anyway.? Do aloes have 'babies'?

Sermon Prep

Next week, I am out preaching. They have given me a passage to work from, so I have been reading it through as I prepare. Here is the second verse of the third letter of John. It seemed a very good greeting to share with you all this morning.  
God bless you, wherever you are, in whatever you are doing, today!

 

Spud-U-Like*

The potato plants were looking awfully sad - and it is the middle of July, so I felt I should harvest them. 

It is not difficult when they are in pots, and in two rows of the raised bed. But they were somewhat varied in size, and rather earthy. I washed and dried them very carefully, then decided to sort them.

I am sure that the commercial potato growers have some sort of mechanical process for grading spuds. 

I used my rubber egg [which was mysteriously laid on my front drive about 15 years ago!] The potatoes were put into 4 groups thus:

• Bigger than the egg
• Egg sized
• Smaller than the egg
• Marbles [just a cupful of these]

I normally keep the potatoes I buy from the veg place in their brown paper sack, on the bench in the old garage. But it is baking hot in there at the minute. So these are all stored away, in separate containers, in the fridge. I found a fun pic on the internet

What does I Papiassos mean? Sounds like a Greek potato pun

Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do with the marble sized ones? 

If I can't think of a good way to cook them, they'll go into the compost bin.

*Back in the 90s, the family always pronounced the name of this fast food outlet as Spudoulikae, having decided it was a small village on a Greek Island in the Aegean Sea, famed for its tubers!

The Blue Bird Of Happiness

In 1908, the Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck wrote a story called The Blue Bird about two children, brother and sister, named Tyltyl and Mytyl. It is a fairy story [not specifically for children - synopsis here] but in the tale, the fairy gives them a magic diamond which will reveal truth to them. Mytyl wants to find happiness, and they seek everywhere for the mystical Blue Bird which will grant this. In the end, they go home, and there all along is a cage containing a blue bird. Tyltyl gives this to his sister. That's sort of where this happy blue bird idea started [why did he give the children such odd names though?] And in 1939 Judy sang about bluebirds over the rainbow, and soon after Vera added the bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover.
But what are these bluebirds? Here's the thing - in the USA a bluebird is one of three species of thrush [Easterm, Western, and Mountain Thrushes] with vibrant blue and reddish brown plumage. But we don't get them in Europe...

The writer of the 1941 song was from the US, and never even visited Dover till long after the war. He was unaware we didn't have bluebirds here! So people have made various suggestions

• that blue birds' represented the RAF pilots in their blue uniforms
• that they were the peregrine falcons with blue feathers in their backs - flying over the Channel, trained to intercept German carrier pigeons.
• that the swallows arriving each summer had a blue sheen to their plumage, and that return brought hope.
• they could be the Eurasian Jay which has a bright blue flash on its wing
• they could be blue tits... feeble claim, these are tiny garden birds, and unlikely to be seen soaring over Kent!

Sorry if that burst your bubble...

But do have a look at my bluebird which has just flown in to Cornerstones. A tiny little amigurami crochet blue tit. It was a gift on Monday when I delivered a pair of memory bears. My friend's mother died recently - she was a very colourful lady, 89 years old, and fond of brightly coloured dresses.

I made two identical bears, for my friend and her sister. They have blue bows at the neck and personalised backpacks. And the 'pads' are made from her Mum's fleecy dressing gown - which she wore all the time in the last few weeks of her life. I used the dg to make two bags for the bears to travel in
My friend was thrilled [I may have to include packs of tissues next time I deliver bears] and said she couldn't sew. I admired the crochet items in her lounge, saying that I struggle with crochet. She immediately gave me a tiny bluebird!
Currently he is sitting with the orchids - but I may add a hanging ribbon and put him in the Xmas Tree box.

Can you crochet?

 Have you ever made amigurami birds or animals?

What I've Been Watching...

If you like sport, then the last few weeks have provided some good TV. Tennis, Football, Grand Prix...and more.(sad that England lost last night) If you are like me, and don't really like watching sport on TV at all, the programme listings have been a little dull. 
However, I did manage to catch some of the Penelope Keith programmes, following her recent death. How I loved her wardrobe - both as Margot Leadbetter and Audrey Forbes-Hamilton! She was so tall and statuesque and could really pull off those fabulous silk kaftans, satin evening gowns and glorious millinery. At a diminutive 4'11" with a small budget, I was more at home in the old jumpers and dungarees favoured by Felicity Kendall. PK was a brilliant actor and I can watch re runs of The Good Life any time. 

At last Quizzy Mondays have returned. This week we had to deliver something to a friend, and we were delayed, so it was just after 8pm when we arrived "I thought you two would be the sort of people at home watching Only Connect right now" she said. Our friends know us too well! We watched it later, when we got home. Good to see Clive, Amol and VC-M quizzing away as before. 

We have been watching the 2010 reboot of Hawaii Five-O on Netflix. Quite enjoying it, altho it can get a bit violent.  But we are particularly grateful to Liz for alerting us to a policeman called Panda

NO not Peppa Pig's Policeman Panda, voiced by VCM's husband David Mitchell, but a French crime drama on Channel 4's Walter Presents

Panda [aka Victor Pandaloni] is an ex-cop, turned relaxed vegan pacifist, who is reluctantly dragged back to the force. But he insists on working on his own terms. So no early morning callouts, cycling rather than using a car, no weapons or violence.
It's so clever and so witty. Providing you can cope with subtitles , it is easy viewing for a warm summer evening. Set in the Camargue [yes there is a pony, sunshine, sandy beaches etc] It has all the usual tropes...

-longsuffering boss [permanently tired due to young family]
-attractive but highly-strung female partner, who is his polar opposite
-younger idiot cop who worships Panda 
-teenage son whom Panda 'accidentally' adopted

C'est Très Drôle

No Reds Under The Beds Here!

When we got married, Bob's parents bought us a bed. The guy in the shop told us to turn/rotate the mattress every three months to ensure even wear. I diligently marked each corner, top and bottom. Thus in the corner under Bobs pillow, it would say Jan 1st/ Apr 1st/ July 1st/ Dec 1st depending on which season we were in. We kept the bed, but changed the mattress a few times. The bedframe had four built in underbed drawers. So useful when we lived in tiny flats.

Then Bob got sleep apnoea. We got a new bed and a new mattress. Now we had one with a definite top and bottom, so it's turned round, but not over - every six months. Last week we did the July turn. This is an IKEA Malm bed, and matches our bedroom cupboards [as does the one in the back bedroom] IKEA are about to phase out the Malm range. Look out for bargains on FB Marketplace!
A few years back, IKEA had an ad campaign for its beds "Where family starts" claiming that German researchers had discovered than 10% of European babies were conceived on IKEA beds. They had a photographic family tree including bed pictures. [The other Europeans were presumably conceived "out of bedlock"]

It is always slightly embarrassing to see how much dust collects under my bed despite my 'swiffering'. There are a few things which live there

• the extension cable for plugging in bedside light, phone charger etc
• A small zip underbed bag where I keep our summer sandals and beach shoes over the winter.
• The big pack of spare kitchen tiles, because when the boiler dies, probably soon, I will need to fill the gap. And these tiles are big and need to be stored flat
• A small box of emergency foodstuffs. A hangover from the days of my Brexit box, I check this and use/swap stuff that is going out of date every so often. Rosie recently asked me "Grandma, why do you keep snacks under the bed?" I pointed out that a can of red kidney beans doesn't really count as a midnight snack!

In the back room, the bed is a little higher, and I have two proper Malm storage drawers. One has all my craft paper and card [flat and accessible] The other holds spare bedlinens and tablecloths. The contents of both drawers are slowly being used up/donated to CS. 

There is something very satisfying about doing a thorough clean, washing the bedside rugs, putting fresh linen on the bed... 

At the moment I use the duvet cover as a loose top sheet. Even in hot weather, I like to have something over me when I sleep] My preferred heatwave pjs - an ancient "Friends" t-shirt, and M&S men's boxer shorts.[3-pack, for £10 in 2023] Confession; some of these hot mornings recently, I get to lunchtime and I'm still slumming around the house in these!

Years ago [having read the joke in one of her dad's books] my daughter asked her Sunday School teacher

"Is it true that we come from dust and go to dust?"

The somewhat surprised lady said "Well, that's what the bible tells us, dear"

My cheeky child responded "Well, there's a lot of people coming and going under my bed then

Seeing Double

On Sunday evening we went into Norwich for a classical music concert. The two performers were identical twins, Peter and Zoltan Katona, playing identical guitars. They were absolutely stunning. Although they are Hungarian, they are expert in Spanish guitar. They thrilled the audience with Scarlatti, Manuel de Falla, Bocherini and more

The two came to England to study at the Royal Academy of Music, and then settled in Liverpool. They love the Beatles, so their encore was a great rendition of "Come Together" 

It was a simply magical evening. Bob had booked the tickets months ago, not really what to expect. They are in York this week, Cheltenham next. There are tickets still available. Do check out their Website.

Have you ever heard them play? What did you think? 

Hanging Hockney

Never one to hang about, Bob got busy on Saturday morning withe the Hockney print. He trimmed it square to fit the frame, then prepared the hooks. Et voila! 

It works beautifully on the blue wall. Also in the room are two photos [Holkham Beach, and Liz, Steph and Ro in Dorset] plus Steph's painting of beach huts.

Bob thoughtfully used his Xtra Hand,the brilliant attachment for the vacuum cleaner,which sucks up all the dust when drilling. I've posted about this before . You can buy cheaper copies,  but reviews all say how flimsy and inefficient they are. This pukka gadget would be a good gift for any DIY-er. 

Goodnight, Ladies

 Four notable, strong women have died this week.

1. July 7th - My Auntie Jean, at 101. The rest of the world did not know her, she won't get a mention on the BBC, but for her 100+ relations, and her many friends, her passing will be noted, her life and faith celebrated. She gave so much to so many. always with a warm smile or a cheeky grin.
2. July 8th - Bonnie Tyler. Aged 75. 
   This Welshwoman, with a wonderfully powerful voice had been ill for some weeks. She had been married to her beloved Robert for 53 years. They had no children, but she did a phenomenal amount for charity across the world, but particularly in Wales, especially child-related projects. Her most famous hit was "Total Eclipse of the Heart" [my favourite is "Holding Out for a Hero] Deeply loved, she was described as 'a proud Welsh Icon' by Prince William
3. July 9th - Anne Widdecombe. Aged 78. A feisty, outspoken woman, of very strong views. She was raised Catholic, became an agnostic, then Anglican, then converted back to Catholicism. Brought up Conservative, she was a local councillor, became an MP in 1987. She joined the Brexit Party, then the Reform Party. She remained single and had no children, saying she had chosen to commit her life to public service. In her later years she became a 'celeb' appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, Celeb Big Brother and made numerous other TV appearances. Rev Richard Coles described her as "Ann Widdecombe, who I knew a bit, both as an adversary and as an inconveniently congenial acquaintance." and wrote a prayer on Facebook which was very gracious, I felt. We have since heard that she was murdered. So incredibly sad. 
4. July 10th - Patricia Greene - aka Jill Archer. Aged 95. Part of the soundtrack of my life until I stopped listening to the radio soap during Covid! She was 'married' to Brookfield Farm for 69 years! She did other roles here and there on TV - but basically she had one job, and she did it brilliantly. The longest serving actor in any soap [radio, TV or Internet] in the world. The matriarch of a huge fictional farming family - her character was so popular [Queen Camilla is apparently an Archers Addict] She continued recording, even when she moved into a care home. Patricia [Paddy] was a much loved member of the Archers Team, "unfailingly warm and encouraging" She was awarded an MBE ' for services to broadcasting and charity.

May these strong women rest in peace, may their loved ones be comforted, may others carry on the good work they did and the generosity they showed.

Watching The World Go By

Friday was really quite tiring. We went to see my old schoolfriend, A, who I reconnected with in the autumn, who is now out of hospital. But her mobility is poor and she decided she was not able to look after herself properly any more. So she's relocated to a care home by the sea. I have visited her there three times now. The journey is quite exciting, as the satnav takes us on a route through the backroads, and villages I have never heard of before. Like Sco Ruston, a tiny hamlet mentioned in the Domesday Book. 

Last week, we went down a hill, on a narrow hill between some cottages and rounded a corner. Bob slowed right down as he steered the sharp right hand bend. And there, in the middle of the road was a guy in a red stripy jumper and bobble hat. "There's Wally!!" called out my witty spouse, as he braked. We did not see Wally this week. 

A has no phone and no internet connection. She asked Bob to sort something out for her. He spent the morning setting this up - once the care home had managed to find the wi-fi password for her. I don't think many of the residents are able to use modern technology - and her bedroom is woefully short of power sockets. We finally got away at 2pm, and decided to go to Sheringham for lunch.

I had my first ever iced matcha. I suspect it may be my last. It was cooling, but I didn't feel it was that special. As I told Bob "It doesn't taste green either!" We popped into a few charity shops, and I bought a mug. I don't actually need it, but it brought back happy memories. 

You may know La Vache Qui Rit, [the Laughing Cow] the processed cheese made by the Bel Cheese Company in France for over a century.  There is a Belgian company with a similar name

When we had a family holiday in Belgium 25 years ago, we saw adverts for "La Vache Qui Regarde Passer Les Trains" [the cow that watches the passing trains] This is the logo of a  family company producing foods which are organic, vegan, and made with ingredients sourced locally to their factory near Liege.

Sauces, dips, spreads, biscuits, crackers, desserts, chocolates...all very delicious, and good for the planet. We enjoyed some of the foods on our holiday.  At one of the major Belgian stations, there was a lovely tiled mural. The cow is standing, wide eyed, chewing the cud, watching the world go by.

The girls were growing up, that was one of our last family holidays together, just the four of us. Bob had spent all his childhood summers in Belgium staying with his grandmother. We took the girls once. So I treated myself to this mug because of the joyful happy memories that flooded back. And I shall show it to the grandchildren when they visit. 

I do like this little cow, and if it were not so hot right now, I might even get out my silks to embroider a picture of her on a piece of cotton. 

Standing watching the world go by is about all I have the energy for at the moment...

Bits And Pieces

Thursday was busy, and hot! We began by going into Norwich, as Bob has a follow-up session with his consultant regarding his recent back treatment. We got there early, and had time for a coffee in the Priscilla Bacon Hospice Coffee Shop, which was close by.
Bob's doctor was very pleased with his progress, and made helpful comments about lifestyle and exercise . We are so grateful for the improvement in his health and relief from constant pain.

We went into the city and mooched about a bit, and found a couple of CS bargains. Bob found this for £5 - a large frame, big enough for the Hockney Print! The sticker on the back says it came from the Nelson Hotel - which is due to be demolished soon and rebuilt.

I guess they will have lots of new pictures! I spent £1 on this pretty Italian sweet tin - I shall put some of my haberdashery in it. Home via Aldi, and the first Big Shop of July.

Then long cold drinks of water, and time to sploot on the bed with our books
Bob fell asleep so I tiptoed into the lounge. He came through later and asked if I'd looked at Facebook. Why?

My cousin Miriam in Perth, Western Australia had posted that her Mum, my Auntie Jean has died. She was 101! this photo was taken just three weeks ago. Uncle Ted died in 1997. They had ten children - so the Hall family in Perth now numbers somewhere around 100 people!
She was my last surviving aunt - so it marks the end of an era, but I am not sad. Her faith was strong to the last, and she was confident Jesus had a place ready for her in heaven. Such a positive lady, leaving many happy memories behind. But I guess it will be hard for Mim - they did so much together especially since M retired [she is 72] 
Today is another busy day - I doubt I will live to 101, but I am determined to make the most of every day God gives me. 

I hope your day is good, and even if the weather outside is blistering hot, try and follow the words of George Fox [founder of the Quakers] who said 

"Be still and cool within thy soul"