In The Bleak Midwinter

Wednesday night was very cold, and it snowed! Thursday morning was sunny, but still chilly. Many neighbours with solar panels woke to find frozen white rectangles on their roof. But they thawed very quickly. Which was good, because we had marked the date in the calendar for setting up the tableau.

We fetched the wooden frames down from the Workshop Loft, and the boxes of costumes etc from the Futility Loft. Some of the labels were a little amusing!

The angel is suspended, and does not have a frame like the others. Instead of gazebo legs and bits of broomstick, the heaven seraph is a polystyrene head stuck to an upturned laundry bin, with wings threaded onto an old piece of curtain track. The little shepherd was a headless shop mannequin found at a yard sale for £5

The main addition this year is a pink collecting pot for the Hospice [plus a QR code, if people want to pay by phone] We'd just finished putting it all together when someone who was visiting our neighbour walked over to have a look - and immediately put a handful of coins into the pot. This is year #5. It is interesting to see how things have evolved
2021-  Just Mary, Joseph and the baby, plus one wise man
2022 - Added; a shepherd boy, plus sheep, and Rosie's owl. Plus a net light on the backdrop
2023 - Added an angel, a red star [which didn't work properly!]
2024 - Added a better illuminated star, the wise man's gift [biscuit tin!] and a small mouse [the owl had a year off]

This year the owl is back, and there's a collecting tin, and a poster on the side of the workshop with the QR code for donations [https://www.justgiving.com/page/bob-almond-1] The lights are on from dusk to 11pm. The costumes vary slightly each year! No there will not  be a camel. Thankyou to those who have already made a donation. God bless you all.

Fancy Festive Foodstuffs

I am so very traditional when it comes to my Christmas Cake. I made it in October, on the same days as Bob's birthday cake. If the oven is on for hours I might as well have two cakes cooking. My kit is rather old...

• Good Housekeeping Cookbook 1978 [Book Club]
• Salter Scales 1988 [Holiday bargain purchase in Yorkshire]
• Kenwood Chef 1994 [from Bob]
• Mason Cash Mixing Bowl 2002 [from Steph]
• Red Melamine bowls 2009 [from SIL Denise]
• small M&S Mason Cash bowl [2015, CS]

But it is reliable, and used every year to produce my cake. Some years I have pushed the boat out a bit and tried making fancy Christmas foods.

In 2013 for our 'Open House' I made a wreath, rosemary from the garden on a round tray - with red and green grapes, cherry tomatoes and cubes of feta cheese in petit fours cases.

I note that this year Aldi have a recipe for a charcuterie wreath
This looks truly amazing, 40mins prep time, serves two [is that all?] It does look glorious.

M&S have a recipe for a mincemeat tree [serves 4, 35 minutes to prep and cook]

Costa are serving 'festive cherry bakewells' Methinks with some green marzipan and a holly leaf cutter, and I could pimp up a pack of regular supermarket ones...

I haven't decided how to decorate the Christmas Cake yet. Something simple. One year I made a croquembouche as well as a fruit cake. Stacks of choux pastry balls, drizzled with caramelised sugar. Never again! The kitchen floor felt sticky for days! 

For about 10 years we had Snowy Mountain Pudding  -it looks impressive but is incredibly rich

Kirsten  makes Speculaas as a nod to her Dutch heritage [My Belgian calls them speculoos] My FIL used to cook and press a tongue.

Do you have a go-to Christmas recipe in your family?

Does Someone Have A Screw Loose?

I quite like the work of the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt [1862-1918] He was fascinated by Impressionism, Symbolism and Art Nouveau and created some spectacular works. He painted naturalistic figures- but often against sensuous, complex backgrounds - with rich colours, geometric designs and using deep and bright colours. On Tuesday, one of his paintings sold for a record sum.

Two of the most well known are "Portrait of Emily Floge" and "The Kiss" So I was quite excited to spot a jigsaw, reduced to £1 in the Cancer Research Charity Shop. It was in a round box, and the label informed me it was double sided, 19" in diameter, and had 500 pieces. I already have some puzzles yet to do, but this was a bargain!

It was from 'Past Times' - that retailer of retro goods which went into liquidation in 2012, and was bought out by WHSmith [I cannot call them TGJones] I have no idea how old this jigsaw is - but the plastic bag of pieces has never been opened. I suspect [like many PT products] it was given as a gift and never used. Emilie was a fashion designer, it is thought she designed - and maybe stitched - the gown. I know that Kaffe Fassett likes Klimt too, his knitwear is full of coloured patterns like this! 

Inside the box is the sealed bag, a small information leaflet about Klimt - and a small brass screw. We have no idea what it is - and suspect it has nothing to do with the puzzle. But how did it get there? and what is it for? 
Perhaps someone was clearing up the Christmas decorations and found it on the floor, so popped it in the box, and forgot about it.

Which side should I complete first? the blue Emilie, or the golden Kiss?

The Wife Of Bath

I have never actually read this story from The Canterbury Tales [ my knowledge of them is lamentably poor, I confess] Although I do know that "Bath" refers to the city, not the place where one washes.
I was thinking about baths this week - one friend has problems with her boiler, another with her immersion heater. Lack of hot water is an issue for both of them. I remembered my childhood - how different things were back then.

I usually had a bath once a week, and there was not much water. I'm amazed we didn't have one of those black lines painted round, as they did in the war years - only 5"water allowed. Sometimes there was just not enough hot water. So I was given a 'strip wash' at the sink, involving a damp flannel. The bathroom was so cold.

And sometimes, I had to kneel with my head over the bath, and Mum would wash my hair. She would pour water from a jug, and somehow it always went in my eyes and down my neck! I was so excited when we got one of those y-shaped rubber thingies that fitted on the taps, so she could direct the shower head onto my hair/head and the process seemed easier.

My own daughters hated hairwashing when they were very young [I usually did it as they sat in the bath] I am not sure those hairwash shields were very effective. But eventually they got used to the idea. We were pleased when we got Cornerstones, to discover the bath is quite long - Bob can sit in it quite comfortably. Yet we have hardly used it, preferring to take a quick shower. I am not one of those candlelight, lots of water and bubbles, and a glass of wine sort of bathers [like Bridget Jones and co] 

The bath only really gets used when the grandchildren are here, and Rosie & Jess, or George& Jakey, pile in together and play with the rubber ducks and the pirate ship. And they gleefully squirt Grandad with the water cannon.

Our washing habits have, I hope, improved since the Wife of Bath and her medieval friends. We have baths, showers, bidets etc. We should not take our hot washing water, and cold fresh drinking water for granted. So many in our world go without either.
During Covid, the Toilet-Twinning charity did tap twinning, to enable people in the 3rd world to maintain good hygiene standards in the pandemic. We twinned the tap in the Futility Room. That group no longer offer this twinning, but another group does. And Water Aid does an incredible amount across the globe, to provide clean water, toilets, and good hygiene. Spend a penny, then send a donation...

Angels And Snowflakes

We had a workshop at the craft group yesterday. Barb, who is a beading expert, taught us to make angels and snowflakes.

Here are our efforts, hanging on the tree. I managed one snowflake and two angels. I wasn't happy with the nylon line so have replaced that with fine cotton hanging loops. They make attractive little gifts, don't they?

I have a lot of beads in my stash, and hope to make some more little decorations.

They look very pretty as they turn and catch the light.  Thank you Barb for a fun, creative morning.

Christmas Craftiness

What makes something 'hand crafted'? It sure has to be something which requires thought and the 'personal touch'. I have no problem with use of machines - lathes, sewing machines, food mixers etc - because they require a degree of skill to be operated well. But I am uncomfortable with items which are just an 'assemblage'. 

To go online and buy little red trucks, mini Xmas trees and a ball of silver thread, then sticking them together to make a hanging decoration is not craft imho. Neither is polishing a load of pennies with Brasso, sticking them individually on cardboard tags, and selling each for £5 as a 'lucky penny'

I am not selling at any craft fairs this year. For one thing, the only craft I have done recently has been churning out shed aprons. Thanks to Nancy's good marketing efforts, we have just about raised enough to cover the Shed Insurance premium for the coming year! 
Last week I made a dozen aprons, and the striped fabric is almost all used up. Bob will try to sell the remaining aprons at the Shed AGM later this month. I recently borrowed some crafting books from the Library

Margaret Bloom's book was brilliant! A section for each season, and appropriate dolls - covering folklore, fairytales, seasonal and religious celebrations. Good illustrations, clear instructions, well drawn templates...*****  WEBSITE HERE Check out the little video [even more fun at 2x speed!]

Supercraft Christmas is by two German women. Lots of interesting ideas, ranging from simple [put sprigs of greenery in an assortment of wine bottles] to crazily complex [embroider white snowflakes all over a white tablecloth "depending on the size of cloth and your level of diligence, this will take between 5 hours and 50 years"]
I think this one gives you the starting point and you can develop the ideas to suit. Sewing, painting, cooking, many skills - for decorating, wrapping, and giving. There's even a pattern for an apron! ****

55 Christmas balls by Arne and Carlos I know many of you follow these two crazy Scandi guys
The book is such fun, and there are indeed 55 balls, with variations, to try out. The patterns are clear, with only 2 colours per row and short 'floats'. But they are all using the same basic 41 row pattern worked on dpns. [if you didn't know that means double pointed needles, 

then abandon plans to make all fifty five any before Christmas!] But I am still awarding this one **** because it is so joyful, with little quotes, and bits of folklore, and a whole section on 'religious' motifs. Jesus is the Reason for the Season, after all

We called in briefly at the Festive Fair in Dereham on Saturday. I bought myself a pair of ear-rings from Bitzy, in support of the Norfolk Blood Bikes,. She works in the blood unit at the hospital in Norwich. Her stall was all eco friendly, zerowaste and the diverse range of stock was created by her work colleagues. Bob got a collecting box from Abbie, whose organisation recycles ink cartridges He is hoping to raise some more funds for the Shed. We were not tempted to buy anything else! 

A Word Of Appreciation

Covid prevented many important social gatherings - weddings, funerals, birthdays - and retirement events. I was sad that after 40 years in the same job, serving so many churches and communities as pastor and friend [councillor, school governor etc etc] Bob felt his ministry had sort of fizzled out unnoticed. He didn't get the big send off that most ministers do. I was determined to do something to rectify that. So in June I sent out about 30 emails, to the people and places where we'd been since 1981 when he first became a student pastor, up to the present day. I asked for letters, just acknowledging something about the friendships he had made over the years. I asked people to pass on the request to others. The letters were all to be sent to my friend Wendy [so he would not suspect anything] He had no idea!
I was delighted to receive 50 letters, representing over 80 people. Some I had completely lost touch with, and wondered how they had heard about the secret project. The letters were so appreciative, from pastors he had mentored, people whose marriages he'd conducted, or families who appreciated his input when they were bereaved, college staff, those in the community who had benefitted from his contribution to the well being of the area...

I collected the letters and took them secretly to a friends, where I printed off Bible verses and favourite hymns too. And on the evening before his birthday, after our special meal together, I presented it. We were both really moved by the kind words we read together. I am not posting any of those here - they are his letters and very personal. Just a few photos

But the day after his birthday, a letter came from Rosie. This is going to be added at the back of the book, after these final photographs.

Bob, your ministry certainly has not fizzled out unnoticed. In retirement, you are still doing amazing things here in Norfolk, and with your family. We love you so much - cooking pancakes and bbqs, craftsman, doing silly voices and telling great stories, the best grandad, dad, husband...

That's definitely the end of the 70th birthday celebrations!