Exactly when do you wish someone ‘Happy Birthday’ when they were born on February 29th? Mark was a Leap Year baby so only gets to celebrate ‘properly’ every fourth year. Steph and Mark are fond of moose [mooses?] so I’ve made him an appropriate birthday card.
We are going down to London on Sunday night and will see Steph and Mark then [and deliver his birthday gifts along with more curtains!]
Answer – Rev Down.
Bob came off his bike this morning – and by the Grace of God he is absolutely OK. Sadly the bike most definitely isn’t
All this happened at around 10am when he was on his way to a Ministers’ Meeting in Hinckley, and hit a patch of dodgy road surface as he braked approaching a roundabout. The bike went out of control and went over as he got to the roundabout. Bob came off and the bike skidded round, hitting a traffic sign [thus causing damage to offside, nearside and rear]
Major damage to both panniers, the top box, the fairings, mirrors, pillion footrest, the lights and electrics…
My thanks to
At this point things went a little crazy [the caller had apparently reported ‘motorbike and car’ involved] so as well as police, along came a paramedic, then an ambulance, then the Air Ambulance. Thank you to all of them for their efficiency and thoroughness in checking Bob out [they even did an ECG]
I am so incredibly grateful – Bob really was uninjured apart from a grazed knee – but had the injuries been worse [as they so easily could have been] it is very reassuring to know that the emergency services were there so quickly. The scuffs on his leather jacket and biker boots show that they did their job too! ATGATT is a good mantra
Carole Nash Bike Insurance were brilliant, and provided prompt recovery to get the bike back home to our garage. Now we await the visit of their assessor. Then we’ll know if it is a write-off or worthy of repair [we suspect maybe the former, it’s a rather elderly bike]
We are not at all sure what happens next. Clearly our plans to take the bike to Norfolk after Easter, and also to Blackpool in May for the Baptist Assembly are scuppered.
Bob texted me at lunchtime to say he’d had an accident with the bike and that he was uninjured but the bike was a mess. I picked up the text just as my two Year 6 pupils arrived [early!] for their afternoon SATS support session.
Are you OK? one asked, so I explained why I was a little distracted..
“Miss, you can buy another bike, but you can’t buy another husband” said one of them. Which is absolutely true.
Oh and thank you too, to all Bob’s Facebook friends for their kind messages of support, which have poured in all afternoon.
And thank the Lord for his protection and grace.
RE
RECOVER
REINVENT
RECREATE
RECYCLE
RETHINK
REGARD
REDEEM
REPAIR
RENOVATE
RESPECT
RESTORE
RENEW
It’s been really cold, with more snow, recently, and rib-sticking puddings were high on my agenda.
I got out my little bowls [see my first blog about them a year ago, here] and decided to make a savoury filling.
I divided the filling between the puds and put a small knob of butter on top, then covered each with a circle of pastry, sealed and crimped round the edges. [hint; measure the distance from one edge down to the bottom and across then up the other side. Make a circle of pastry with that diameter. Now cut out one third. Use two thirds to line bowl, and re roll the one third to make a lid]
Instead of cooking them in the microwave –which I often do for speed and economy, I cooked them in the oven at 180ยบC for around 45mins. I stood the puds in a baking tin which I’d half filled with boiling water from the kettle. I popped some jacket potatoes in as well. [The oven was already hot from some cakes I’d been baking earlier.] The pastry cooked to a golden colour. I prepared some carrots and gravy too.
I presented each pudding on a dinner plate with a napkin tied round the bowl. As well as looking cute, the cloth insulated our fingers when we turned them out [I’d greased the bowls so they slid out very easily]
Very tasty, and very economical!
For Jane and Frances – Thatcher and Clinton, Clooney and Craig . I think the lipstick is a bit of a giveaway with Mrs T, but I see what you mean about Clooney/Craig, their mouths are very similar.
I am sure you guessed them all!
Mo Farah, The Queen, Aung San Suu Kyi
Maggie Thatcher, Nelson Mandela, David Cameron
Barack Obama, Marilyn Monroe, Daniel Craig.
During Lent, “Churches Together” in our village are doing this…
Every Tuesday night, we meet together, and after enjoying mugs of soup and bread rolls, we listen to a speaker from a different charity working somewhere in Leicestershire.
He told of his past life – and how Emmaus had helped him turn his life around. It was really challenging, and very moving to hear him. Many people feel that such projects are just a bottomless pit for people’s charity – but I was most impressed by these facts…
A Social Return on Investment (SROI) study carried out in 2012 by social and economic company Just Economics forecasts that each year Emmaus Communities generate £11 in social, environmental and economic return for every £1 invested. [To get a return of £4 for every £1 is considered good going by many charities.]
Emmaus is really giving back to society, generating significant savings to the taxpayer. For the 21 UK Communities included in the research, the study forecasts that the present value of savings to local and national Government stands at almost £6 million per year.
Key outcomes for Government from Emmaus’ work include fewer rough sleepers, fewer people claiming benefits, reduced substance misuse, reduced crime and fewer health problems.
The report finds that Emmaus Communities successfully provide a place for people in vulnerable housing situations to rebuild their lives by offering them meaningful work and support.
I’m hoping tomorrow night’s event will be just as good!
All Saints Church, Newtown Linford, dates from the 16th century with links to the Grey family. Inside there is a stained glass window commemorating the life and death of Lady Jane Grey [who lived just across the way in Bradgate Park] Yesterday I was there for Sophie and Rob’s wedding – which was extremely lovely despite the cold weather.
The colour theme was lilac/purple [useful as it was Lent, so matched the hangings on the pulpit etc] I really should have taken photos of the two Mums, who both had stunning outfits. Sarah had a fabulous blue fascinator, whilst Lynda’s long hair was in a stylish ‘up-do’ which reminded me of Audrey Hepburn.
Sorry, I didn’t take many pictures- just the happy couple coming down the aisle. I imagine Sophie was very grateful for her little fur capelet – but I am not sure how warm Rob was in his kilt! You can just see the balloon weights inside each pew.
Here’s one of the pedestal flower arrangements I prepared on Friday [when it was snowing outside the church and freezing inside]
My friend Peter, the vicar who conducted the ceremony, gave the couple a wedding present – a “Twix”. He used this for his sermon, and said this was a good picture of marriage –
[I have also heard that James and Kirstie’s wedding was equally great, the bridesmaids in champagne colour dresses, and the wedding sermon was based on The Marriage at Cana!]
This one is not mine – it is based on something Bob did in church the other week [using photographs of our own church members]
Look at these chins – can you recognise these famous people?
Having given people the opportunity to work out who was who, Bob said that we don’t always need to see the whole face to recognise someone. Often we can work it out from just a glimpse of the person – but obviously, the more you can see, the better.
If we are Christians, do people glimpse Jesus when they see us? How much of his character is shown in our lives? Challenging thoughts.
[the selection above is quite random. I shall give you the answers later in the week!]
Just home from the Church where Hayley, our youth worker, had arranged a Music Night to raise funds for the youth group. She and her band provided music, another of her mates organised the Hog Roast, and I did an alco-free bar [ably assisted by Hannah and Grace- thanks, girls] Despite my assertion yesterday that I don’t do disco dancing, I did get a little carried away [and followed Bob and friends all round the room, dancing to "the Proclaimers “500 miles”] I shall suffer for this tomorrow!! But it was all enormous fun
Not quite sure about all those people dancing like Suggs…
But we certainly enjoyed ourselves
[If you want details of the cocktails we served, do email me.]
Love is invincible facing danger and death.
Passion laughs at the terrors of hell.
The fire of love stops at nothing—
it sweeps everything before it.
Flood waters can’t drown love,
torrents of rain can’t put it out.
Love can’t be bought, love can’t be sold—
it’s not to be found in the marketplace.
For Sophie and Rob, Kirstie and James, getting married today – may the future be filled with love, life and laughter.
This weekend, two more friends are getting married [in another church] and decided on a similar arrangement. They have managed to order the helium balloons in the right colours – but there was a problem about getting the weights which keep them from floating to the ceiling. Could I help?
We needed to recreate the small pyramid shapes
We took 18 silicone pudding moulds into the garage and gave them a light coating of sunflower oil.
Then Bob mixed the concrete and we made a batch of concrete ‘puddings’
When they had set, I cut out some circles of thin foil [these were quite large – about 12” in diameter] and bent 36 bits of wire in pairs [these were twist ties which came with a roll of plastic bags]
I used one tie to make a loop [to attach the balloon strings] and the other was to gather up the foil round the concrete lump [which looked rather like a little sandcastle]
I decided against cutting the top into fronds – but think our eighteen home-made balloon weights look just as good as the shop-bought ones. And they cost a lot less than £1 each!
There is such a great deal of satisfaction in teaching someone a new skill. Especially when they try hard, listen to what is said, and then remember it for next time!
My latest sewing pupil had never handled a sewing machine before. At our first session recently, she learned to thread up the machine and make a tissue holder, and produced a name-badge on my embroidery machine. At the second session, she made a bag to hold future sewing projects.
My efforts at teaching numeracy and literacy do not always produce such good results in such a short space of time. Maybe I should have concentrated my career on being a needlework teacher!
“Have I taught any of you children in this class before?” I asked some Year 3 children this week, when doing supply cover.
“Yes Miss, in Year 1 – you told us the story about Bob and Ben the builders” replied a little girl
“And Ben built a bungalow on the sand, but Bob was sensible and put his at the top of the cliff” added one of the boys.
I found it quite encouraging to realise they remembered the story, when that RE lesson must have been about two years ago.
Today will be intensive numeracy and literacy support groups all day!
Just before my op, I borrowed this lovely book from the library
I fully intended to blog about it – and then completely forgot! It has all sorts of fun projects – knitting, sewing, crochet, papercrafts etc.
I have never done needle-felting, but I was particularly taken with the lovely little Christmas Village. Felt is so warm, and tactile…
Then yesterday I read a post by Pomona – about Gretel Parker, the talented artist who created this felt project. Although I did not recognise GP’s name, I remember seeing some of the Christmas Decorations she has designed for Gisela Graham [they sell them in the posh shops of Upmarket Bosworth near here]
Since Christmas, Gretel’s life has been turned upside down, and she is experiencing real problems. Only a few weeks after buying their first home together, she suddenly lost her sweetheart, Andy, after 21 years together. She has to face bereavement, funeral costs, a mortgage to pay…and much else besides [and artists don’t earn much, and don’t have a regular income, and she’s not in a position to create much right now]
Gretel’s blog is read by artists and craftspeople round the world- and two of her American followers, Suzanne and Tara have worked out a way to help Gretel. They set up an online charity [here] with the aim of raising a fixed sum in 40 days. They are two thirds of the way through their time – and thus far have just 40% of their total. But as the story is spread, I hope there will be a greater influx of donations.
Just lately I have thought so much about what it means to be “Community” and this is one example of the Virtual Community of Blogland working together to do good.
I am not suggesting that everyone who reads this blog should send some money – giving is a very personal thing, and we all have to decide how and where we share our resources. But if 20% of the people who read this blog pass on the story – through blogs, Twitter,or Facebook – and 20% of their followers reblog or retweet – and 20% of their followers each sent just £2 …they’d probably exceed their total! If you do feel able to help – thank you!
adjective, blander, blandest.
1.pleasantly gentle or agreeable: a bland, affable manner.
2.soothing or balmy, as air: a bland southern breeze.
3.non-irritating, as food or medicines: a bland diet.
4.not highly flavoured; mild; tasteless: a bland sauce.
5.lacking in special interest, liveliness, individuality, etc.; insipid; dull: a bland young man; a bland situation comedy
Blandings
A wonderful [and anything but bland] comedy which has brightened Sunday evenings for the past few weeks. And now, sadly, it’s finished. I do hope the Beeb produces another series!
Mags tells me it was filmed on the Crom Estate in N.I. That’s another reason to go back to the province for a visit!
Perhaps he is most well known for “The Good Life”- with Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith – and of course his ‘screen wife’ Felicity Kendal.
My earliest memory of RB is of my parents watching “Marriage Lines” on their little black&white TV, and laughing their heads off. [63-66]
It is actually fifty years this month since that series came to the screen. Richard was ‘married’ in that one to Prunella Scales [I suspect she may count as a National Treasure too] I guess many people have forgotten that programme now. But it was great fun at the time
Richard was also an oddball husband in “Ever Decreasing Circles” – married this time to Penelope Wilton [now Mrs Crawley in Downton], with Peter Egan playing the chap next door – and of course, Howard and Hilda in their matching jumpers [that was 1984-89]
And most recently, married to Susan Hampshire, Hector and Molly in “Monarch of the Glen” It ran from 2000-2005 altho Richard left at the end of series 3 in 2001 [but re-appeared as a ghost in the final series!]
And quite apart from all his TV appearances, mostly light-sitcom-on-a-Sunday-night sort of stuff, Richard Briars had a very distinguished stage career [including lots of Shaw and Shakespeare] and did some children’s TV [Bob the Builder, Roobarb]
Earlier this year Briers stated that he had smoked half a million cigarettes before quitting in 2003, and had been battling lung disease since 2008. I find that very sad. His wife Ann and daughter Lucy are also actors.
Did you enjoy any Richard Briers programmes-
and which was your favourite RB character?
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