Keep Taking The Tablets!

 What do you think of when you hear the word pillbox?

1 a box for pills, especially a shallow round box
2 a small low concrete emplacement for machine guns and antitank weapons
3 a small round hat without a brim with a flat crown and straight sides

Obviously, 2 and 3 got their names because they resembled the medicine containers. Swanton Morley had three WW2 pillboxes, including a listed "Pickett-Hamilton Fort" . 

Situated on the runway, this is a retractable construction set in a concrete 'sleeve'. When the runway was in use, it was wound down to ground level, then wound up again to be used as a lookout/gun emplacement.

When I was six, I thought Jackie Kennedy was the most glamorous woman in the world, and decided that when I grew up, I would buy myself a pillbox hat and wear it proudly. 65 years later, I have to say I have yet to do this.

We never really had pillboxes at home, when I was growing up. My Mum had an array of brown glass bottles [later plastic] containing all her various tablets. Each one had a mysterious ball of cotton wool in the top. This was to stop the pills being damaged during shipping, and the practice began in the 1900s, but by the end of the 20th century pills were much less fragile. Nowadays all our pills come in blister packs. I wait till we have a bag full and take them to Tony at church, who recycles them for charity. 

But last week I bought myself a real pillbox.  It was £2 on a bric-a-brac stall on the market. It is small and round, 4cm diameter, with a lovely enamelled Rennie Mackintosh design on top, and inside has three sections. It was just the right size to hold three days worth of my meds for the weekend conference. Isn't it sweet? It looked very classy on my bedside cupboard. I wonder if Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis ever had a pillbox like this?

Do you use a pillbox? Or a dosette box with compartments for the seven days of the week? Have you ever had a pillbox hat?

Hip Hip Hooray!

...and Happy Birthday Steph, hope you have a wonderful day.  Looking forward to seeing you in 3 weeks time.

Hip Hip Hooray! for me too, celebrating the fact that I am not in need of a hip replacement operation. Peter The Physio says my hip pain is "gluteal tension" [!?] Entirely muscular and can be eased if I do daily exercises.
Prior to my appointment, I had convinced myself I did need one. I was chatting to an older friend at the conference, who assured me such ops were brilliant "I've had three" she said proudly, "and now I can do aquarobics and ride a tricycle". I confess that bothered me - do the prosthetic joints wear out? Or does she have a third hip?

Peter has given me a sheet of exercises to complete each morning. This is proving a challenge! I am doing my best, but I have many questions about this regime.

1. why does every chart show tall slim young women exercising? never dumpy little grannies
2. why is the middle exercise on the list the one which involves sitting on a chair? Getting up off the floor is an exercise in itself. I have moved the chair one to the end of the sequence
3. why does it keep remind you to breathe normally? I'm lying their panting, and groaning, and puffing away like a woman in labour!
4. how am I supposed to measure the 15-30 seconds duration of each activity when I am lying on my back staring at the bedroom ceiling? 
   

I finally cracked the breathing and timing issues, when I realised yesterday that my daughter is 42 today [apologies that birthday card has yet to arrive] If I sing "Happy Birthday to Steph" three times, that is long enough to keep my legs in the air, and muscles stretched for each repetition and helps my breathing.

Looking For Signs Of Autumn...

The blackberries came early, the figs didn't ripen properly, the weather has been really warm even though we are in mid October. So are there other signals that we are moving into Autumn? The shops sell "back to school bargains" before the Summer Term ends, and Halloween and Christmas displays went up in August. But here are three definite markers...

1 - The Royal British Legion have put their poppies on sale. They say there are no actual rules about when to wear them, but suggest from October 31st to Armistice Day [11th November] or Remembrance Sunday, whichever is later. [this year November 8th]

2 - Last Thursday we called in at  my favourite affordable hatshop in Dalegate Market. The manager has removed the displays of cotton bucket hat, floppy straw sunhats and natty cream panamas with petersham hatbands.  In their place are

fleecy beanies, fluffy bobbles, felted numbers, tweedy titfers,and earflapped jobbies. 

"I've gone fully woolly!" she announced. Or should that be "fully wully" or maybe "foolly woolly"? It is a phrase which sounds better than it looks! 

But I saw the definitive sign that autumn is on its way, as I stood at my kitchen sink the other morning, poking through the window to see what was happening in the Close. 

3 - Naked Running Man was wearing a teeshirt and a woolly hat! [Obviously NRM is not his real name]. He appeared at the start of the summer. He runs a loop round the village, once, sometimes twice a day. We are the middle of the run, I think - like the dog walkers, he comes round the Close, then through the alley back to the main road, and back down the hill again.

He is a young chap, always pushing a baby in a three wheeled "jogging buggy" But over the summer, he just wore trainers, a reversed baseball cap and running shorts. As he run towards you, the buggy in front of him, his shorts were obscured, and it really looked as if he was just wearing shoes and cap. All you could see was his trim, bronzed figure.[Remember those Diet Coke Break ads from the 1990s?] He is concentrating really hard, I suspect he is training for something. People who call out a cheery 'morning!" get a smile and a nod of the head, but he has no time [or breath] for conversation. I admire his diligence, especially now the weather is definitely getting autumnal. If he is preparing for a charity run, I would definitely sponsor him, he brings a smile to the morning.

What signs of autumn have you seen round your way?

Soups And Scoops

Now I am back from my conference, I need to sort out all my frozen goods. Things have got a little disorganised of late. I picked the pears and prepared and froze them, and did the same a little later with the apples. But it was all done rather hurriedly, and I didn't think through exactly where I would store them. They are packed in various sized lok'n'lok boxes, and tucked in odd corners of different drawers. And then there are half-used bags of frozen veg which fall into the gaps - and if I am not careful, disgorge a few frozen peas or sweetcorn kernels to lurk in corners.

And boxes labelled "Bob'sTom Sauce, September" "Ang's Spinach, blanched" and some boxes with no labels at all. There are a few neatly printed tags, curling up at the bottom of the freezer. Note; Brother P-Touch labels do not stick to plastic under freezing conditions even if they work in the kitchen. I decided to use up some of the foods just to make space to re-arrange what remains. I had a lot of stock, three tubs of tomato sauce, and a box of kebabs [mined meat] which never made it to a BBQ.
The stock went into the big slo-cooker, along with a load of small homegrown potatoes from the fridge [plus some tired carrots, a few spring onions and a handful of red lentils] That burbled away happily, and then I liquidised it to get vegetable soup. Warming lunches for autumn days.

I thawed and 'dismantled' the kebabs, and using Brontë Aurell's lovely book as inspiration I turned the mince [along with breadcrumbs, onion, an egg, and seasonings like Allspice and Worcestershire Sauce] into meatballs. These went into the tomato sauce, and that's 4 portions waiting for pasta, rice or potatoes for a comforting winter supper. 

One scoop of mince using my ice cream scoop is just enough to cut in half make two meatballs [I wore disposable gloves to handle and roll them] I'm pleased with  what I have achieved, and I hope to get the rest of the frozen foodstuffs properly sorted out next week.

How do you use up oddments in the freezer?

O Sabbath Rest

Jon and Bob walking through the trees on the way back from Holkham beach last Saturday. Walking and talking together is a good thing to do - especially outside enjoying the beauty of Creation. 

And here's a picture of us sitting with Ro and Jess, looking at a partial rainbow over the sea - we had just spent ages watching a red kite diving and swooping. We think it caught a small rodent before it flew away. 

How blessed I am to live in such a beautiful county, and have such a caring family. I am especially grateful for the time to rest and reflect and feel loved and valued.

I hope your Sunday has some moments of peace, joy and love too, wherever you are. This hymn has been on my mind these last few days...

More From The Shed

Here is the newly refurbished nameplate on the Parish Church Noticeboard. Santa Bob has just fixed it in place

For the first time in years, our Parish Church is hosting a Flower Festival this weekend. They asked for help from the Mens' Shed, in making some shelves to fit over some of the pews, to enable more floral arrangements to be displayed. These have been duly created  and covered with green paper.

-The Shed has been allocated one, to promote the group. 
Bob had an idea about using vintage carpentry equipment and flowers to make a display. However I am away at a Conference, and wasn't sure I could find time to prepare an arrangement. So I did some research, and here is what I came up with. I was able to put it in place before I left!

Because the Swanton Morley Shed Project is a lively, growing group this arrangement is created with living plants rather than cut flowers. The ones chosen represent the qualities found among ‘Shedders’ using the traditional ‘Language of Flowers’

The alstroemeria symbolizes long-lasting friendship, and mutual support - its leaves twist 180 degrees as they grow which is seen as a symbol of staying connected through life's ups and downs. The six petals of the flower represent the traits required for a strong bond: understanding, humour, patience, empathy, commitment, and respect.
The echinacea [yellow coneflower] stands for optimism and good mental health
Ivy represents loyalty and companionship
Yellow chrysanthemums celebrate happiness and friendship.

Huge thank you to all of you for your kind words yesterday. I'm here in Milton Keynes at a Conference for spouses of Baptist Revs. Among many friends old and new. The theme of the weekend is "Worship is Rest" and we are expected to take time out to rest. Just what I need! 

A Dead Mouse, A Wardrobe Malfunction, And An Unexpected Delivery

Monday afternoon was awful. I went off to do a big shop at Sainsbury's and phoned Bob to say I was finished and about to drive home, but felt a bit woozy. He suggested I went to the nearby Costa and had a drink and sat down till I felt better. I was OK driving the few hundred yards from the supermarket, but when I got out of the car, things started spinning. Fortunately there was no queue as I lurched to the counter. "What can I get you?" said the cheery barista. I said I thought I was having a vertigo attack, so please could I begin with a glass of tap water with ice in it. Her colleague produced it very promptly, and that helped a lot. I thanked her, and ordered a coffee. She said the cakes were half price, so I added a Bakewell Slice. The barista said I should sit down and she'd bring my drink over. The two assistants were incredibly kind. (thank you, girls) I sat for about 20 minutes then drove home carefully. But once I got to Cornerstones and got out of the car and stood up, the nausea washed over me again. Bob sent me to bed (and brought me a sick bowl,in case) I ordered a small birthday gift online. Monday night I slept well. Tuesday I rested, and felt much better. 

Wednesday seemed OK, but there were some bizarre moments. Emptying the waste paper bins into a larger bag (it was bin day) I jumped to see a small brown creature in the bottom of the lounge wpb. I thought it was a dead mouse. Fortunately it wasn't. It was the detached leg of the teddy Jess won at a local fete. The head, and 2 of the limbs had snapped off the same day she got it, so it was consigned to the bin.

Bob went off to the Shed, and I went up into the loft. As I always do, I took my mobile phone up there with me. But then the land-line rang. I clambered slowly and carefully down the ladder, but by the time I got to the phone, the caller had left a message then rung off - but number withheld so I couldn't ring back. Never mind, at least I didn't race down the steps and risk falling. The parcel I'd ordered arrived. 

Bob came home and needed help taking some Shed stuff to the Parish Church. The ladies were preparing for the upcoming Flower Festival. "I don't know if I should say this dear, but you are wearing your jumper inside out"  I felt extremely stupid!

Then when we got home, the parcel I'd ordered arrived. Yes, in my vertiginous stupor I'd managed to order the gift twice! It doesn't matter, I can use the 2nd gift for somebody else sometime.

I should have stayed in bed on Wednesday too....