My Chains Fell Off!

Today was the sponsored Ride'n'Stride for the Leicestershire Historic Churches Trust. The church buildings were open from 10am - 4pm, and we waited to see who who come riding or striding by. The aim is to visit as many churches as you can and get sponsored and thus raise money for the LHCT.

 

Our first rider came at 10.12am, and our last at 3pm. Various willing church members came throughout the day to sit with me at the reception table and offer light refreshments, and a welcome leaflet, while we signed their forms.

Most of the day was really quiet, with no visitors, so I was able to get lots of photocopying done, and work on the laptop and generally use my time profitably. It was the first opportunity we'd had to display the new Hope/Churches Together banner. St Barts up the road hung out the matching one.

Here is Jon - a keen cyclist, [and son of Sue, who is our incredibly efficient Churches Together Secretary] posing in front of said banner.

Tomorrow the banners will be hung by our gazebos at the Funday.

The weather was good - hope it is the same tomorrow.

Will one be wanting fries with that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Credit Crunch is affecting everyone, it seems!

[thanks to Kathryn for this superb photo - and to my US blog friends, please note this lady is The Queen, NOT the Queen Mother!]

Built his house upon the sand...

Spent almost the entire day sorting out arrangements for the Sunday Funday. Why does everything always take longer than you expect?

When I was making the PA Covers, I trimmed the edge of the tarpaulin, because it was about 3cm wide, double thickness, with eyelets every 60cm. But I confess I rolled up the long eyeletted strip and kept it "just in case".

Well, today I found a use for it! Mike is concerned that the gazebos may blow away on Sunday at the Funday [one did last year!] and Bob agreed with him, and decided we needed sandbags to hold them down.

Off to B&Q for two bags of sand and a bag of 5 rubble sacks. More sewing later, and I had made 10 sandbags, with green handles [with eyelet holes, for tying in place if needed]

All that sewing, and weighing out 50kg of sand [a very complicated procedure involving two of us, with a trowel and the kitchen scales and an improvised funnel] left me utterly exhausted. I spent the rest of the evening flopped in front of the TV counting out cotton reels [that's another story altogether] watching "Random Hearts" - an extremely depressing Harrison Ford film,in which he plays a Washington policeman who has a particularly silly haircut and a bizarre relationship with Kristen Scott-Thomas who is a Congresswoman.

I know "proper" sandbags are sewn all round - but mine have a smallish "filling hole" at the top, and I was not risking my machine trying to sew up the hole once they were full of sand - and I was way too tired to handstitch them. Hence the blue nylon rope. That was left over from some other of Bob's projects. We never waste a thing round here!

Must add "Can also make sandbags and waterproof PA Covers" to my CV. Useful skills in these days of global warming and increased rainfall/flooding etc.

Out of Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week I was teaching the Year 5s about Kenya.

 

Then we heard about Steph going to Malawi in November.

Then Alex and Tom got back from Tanzania and came round today to share some of their wonderful stories about the playground they have built, and God's amazing sustaining grace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lad is one of their helpers!

Please note the concerns for health and safety!

 

 

 

 

 

Then at school today, the "Artist of the Month" was announced - Tilly Willis. She paints all those wonderful pictures of Senegal. Check out her website. Everything seems to have an African theme at the minute.

Mamma Mia!

Went out with friend Moira last night to see Mamma Mia! [had some free  cinema tickets] It was fabulous mindless fun!! The plot is utter rubbish, the way they contrive to fit Abba songs round the story is crazy...but it was such great fun. I laughed so much - haven't seen sun like that all summer here - want to visit the Greek Islands now.

Definitely a chick-flick - all but one person in the cinema was a woman and the poor bloke looked like he wanted to be asleep somewhere else as he ambled out at the end.

I enjoyed the music, the scenery, and the wonderful comedic acting, singing and dancing, especially from Meryl Streep and Julie Walters. It is reassuring that these middle-aged women can still enjoy life, even if they are slightly overweight, and wrinkled. I am not altogether convinced about Pierce Brosnan's singing ability [and how come his shirts were always immaculately pressed?]

There are cameo appearances from Bjorn and Benny - and if you go, stay for the credits for the sheer hilarity of watching Colin Firth strutting his stuff in a Lycra Catsuit - a long, long way from Mr Darcy in his ruffled satin shirt!

Is this going to work?

Amazing Grace has pointed out this new Blogger Widget.

I am not sure if it is going to be of any use, but I am adding it.

I suspect that many of the people who read my blog don't actually blog themselves, so it may prove to be a pointless exercise!

Thrifty puddings

One of my favourite activities when on holiday abroad is to wander the food aisles of foreign supermarkets and see what there is - and then bring a packet or two back with me.

This Tiramisu came back from Budapest - 3 years ago!

I had been saving it for 'a special occasion'. This had not materialised and according to the date on the top of the pack, my pudding had definitely exceeded its 'best before' [by over a year!]. Also languishing in the cupboard was a large sponge flan base, which should have been used up before the holiday. So I cut some circles of sponge with a pastry cutter, soaked them in leftover coffee, and topped with the pudding and a sprinkling of cocoa powder. This filled 6 ramekins [2 for tea and 4 to freeze]

HOWEVER there was still half a flan base left. Aha! Queen's Pudding, I thought. So I made the sponge into crumbs and filled 6 more small dishes and using some milk and two eggs, made custard and meringue. No raspberry jam to hand, but there WAS half a jar of cranberry sauce lurking in the fridge.

So that's 12 puddings, made using up my existing resources. Feeling extremely thrifty.

My Hungarian is not very good though.

I did work out that I needed to add 300ml milk [tej] and whip for 2 minutes [percig] with an electric mixer,  and sprinkle with cocoa powder [kakaoporral] from the helpful pictures.

But what on earth does "Fozes Nelkul!" mean?

Situation Vacant

Someone out there is the Right Person to be our Associate Minister. I really believe that. I just wish we could find that person, the search seems to be taking forever. Should I suggest to the deacons that we look to this site?

Unite for Children

Steph works for TNS, the market research company - and they have a partnership with UNICEF. This means that throughout the year, there are various activities [eg sponsored runs, cake sales etc] to raise money for this charity, and TNS as a company also puts in money.

 

 

Steph has been quite involved with this since she joined the company

- going on runs, baking cakes etc - and now is on the working party that helps plan the company's charitable activities

 

 

 

 

She texted me this afternoon to say TNS will be sending her out to Malawi in November, to see how the funds are spent! This is really exciting news, and I am thrilled she has been selected to represent her company like this. It is especially cheering when her current housing situation has been a bit depressing for her.

I confess I didn't actually know where Malawi was until just now. Yeah, I knew it was AFRICA, but that was all. It's here...

a landlocked country just below Tanzania [where Alex and Tom are - but they come back tomorrow!]

According to the TNS website...

After successfully reaching our fundraising goal for Cambodia at the end of last year, TNS now continues its partnership with UNICEF by focusing our efforts on raising money for UNICEF’s Children’s Corners project in Malawi.

‘Children’s Corners’ are dedicated community buildings set up by UNICEF to support the thousands of orphaned children in Malawi who have tragically lost their parents to AIDS. Children’s Corners are a safe place for children to learn, play and come to terms with their loss.

At these centres children have access to nutritious meals made from vegetables grown at the Children’s Corner, and can use the onsite kitchen and washing facilities. Importantly, the Children’s Corners give much needed support to orphans who have full-time care of their brothers and sisters. With younger siblings safely cared for at the Children’s Corner during the day, the older children are able to attend school or take on work.

Each Children’s Corner has its own care worker, who is trained by UNICEF and works directly with children at the centre. The care workers also support the wider community and visit local homes to provide basic medical help and practical advice.

She worked with the street children of Sao Paolo in the summer of '05, and now I look forward to hearing how Steph gets on when she visits this project.

It has helped me get things into perspective too - at the weekend I was anxious about my 'homeless' daughter - but God has provided somewhere for her to stay temporarily, and she has food and shelter and a loving sibling on hand. [And a good job] So many children in our world do not even have the security of safe drinking water, the certainty of a daily meal, or a loving family to care for them.

On Thursday I was working with some 9 year olds and looking at pictures of a shantytown on the outskirts of Nairobi, in Kenya. The class could not believe the appalling conditions in which these children were living - they genuinely had no concept of World Poverty. Yes, there is a "Credit Crunch" here in the UK - but 99.9% of the kids I meet are unbelievably wealthy in comparison to these African children. I am truly grateful that my own generous daughters both have an awareness of world need, a social conscience, and a sense of responsibility to others.

A splash of colour

In between all the sewing activities yesterday, I took a break to finally make the Budweiser Bread. It did not rise as much as I had hoped, and although it looks OK, it has a peculiar dense texture. Surprisingly it does not taste beery at all!

I shall have to ask Mark for some more free samples and see if I can find a better recipe.

 

Lynn over at All Things Bright and Beautiful has been blogging about seeking out colour during this grey and miserable weather. Marion and Sarah kindly brought me a bunch of flowers last night.

They have certainly added vivid splashes of colour to the dining room.

This morning we got up in a more leisurely manner and had a late breakfast, then we watched the Steve Price Magic DVD.

REMEMBER check how long a DVD lasts before you impose it on friends and family! Watching it by myself on Friday, I hadn't taken in how long it was. It is certainly excellent value for money. But once it had finished, it was definitely time for elevenses.

The other two left for Norfolk, via Aldi, and I got the covers all finished. Marion thinks Adrian will want some too. Perhaps next year I should get a stand at Plasa?!

I was pleased to hear on the radio that IBM and another company are going to help with the restoration costs for Bletchley Park. Good news for James Cary and the rest of the Hut 33 fans.

Some more colour...

 

Charlie the dog is a lot happier today, but the electrics are still being weird.

 

It was lovely to see Marion and Sarah and catch up on all the news. Maybe next time we will go over to them in Norfolk.

I've got things covered!

Yesterday was an incredibly long day! Up just after 5am [ugh!] in order to get Bob to the Bus Station in Leicester so he could get a coach to London for this show - which claims to be "the leading showcase for new technology within the entertainment, live event, corporate, architectural and installation industries worldwide"

No doubt Bob will blog all about his wonderful day, and meeting up with my brother [Adrian] and niece [Lucy] and getting lots of freebies...

Meanwhile I stayed in with a sick dog [poor Charlie spent most of day in a somnolent posture beside the TV] a sewing machine, and an electricity system prone to unexpected unpredictable outages.

I did at least get the PA covers almost finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was truly a labour of love. For anybody thinking of making speaker covers, I offer the following tips

• Change your sewing machine needle for a heavyweight "jeans" one
• Use 'sticky-backed' Velcro strips - but sew them down once you've got them stuck in the right place.
• Be consistent with Velcro - always put 'soft' loops on 'fixed' part, and the 'hard' hooks on the 'moving' flaps.
• The B&Q tarp fabric, combined with the adhesive on the Velcro keeps making the needle sticky - keep cleaning it!

PointNorth fabrics, who supplied the black coated nylon advise waterproofing seams, with PVA type adhesive.  I haven't done that bit yet.

The B&Q tarp is dark green one side, blue the other- but for some absurd reason, sheds a golden yellow dye. By the end of the evening my fingers were stained as much as someone with a forty-a-day smoking habit. This washed off my hands ok but has stained my sewing machine rather. I told Bob and he offered me some isopropyl alcohol - do I rub it on or drink it??

Static cling is a serious issue, compounded by the presence of a hairy dog - so I have been doing a lot of brushing off of dog hairs.

I was at least able to move the machine onto a small table in the lounge, so sewed away all day whilst watching Murder Mysteries on ITV3, then enjoyed the Hairy Bakers.

Finally went into the city at 9.30pm to collect Bob from coach and hear the story of his day,then stayed up till gone midnight, when Marion [Adrian's wife] and Sarah [good friend] arrived, having been at Birmingham NIA for a Stevie Wonder Concert.

More tea and conversation, then bed around 1.30am.                  

A moving experience

 

Steph has now left Stoke Newington. There was SO MUCH stuff! The bad news is that she hasn't found anywhere else to live yet - so Big Sister Liz is being very loving and letting her stop in Elephant and Castle with her and Jon temporarily. We spent Saturday packing and loading the car - it took two trips across London - and an infinite number of trips up and down stairs at both ends, with our arms full of boxes. Mercifully the rain wasn't too bad during the 'outside' bits, and we found close parking spaces at both ends.

Steph asked if some of the stuff [like the chests of drawers and the exercise bike] could come back with me to Leicester till things are settled. She fed me tea and home-made sticky toffee brownies so I couldn't refuse!

We might have managed to sort the packing of the car so that the 'Leicester' load went in the second trip and stayed in the boot. But life is never that simple. Liz and Jon do not have a spare bed!

So we had to unload everything, and later in the evening, fortified by tea and Liz's excellent banana cake, we [Liz, Jon, and I] went to IKEA at Croydon. The plan was to get some sort of sofa-bed for the Guest Room aka Jon's Studio.

We unfolded the sofabeds and futons and stretched out on them. We folded them up again and sat on them. We decided that some would be too short for Bob to sleep on, and some not wide enough for two of us to sleep on...We were more assiduous in our bed checking than Goldilocks ever was. Then we stopped in the Restaurant for a meal [Swedish meatballs, as is de rigeur on such occasions]

Off again, with trolley, in which we collected odd bits and pieces [bath mat, potted fern, picture frame etc - BUT NO TEA LIGHTS PLEASE!] Then we got a second, flatbed trolley and went to aisle 71 of the warehouse [as duly noted upstairs] to get the Futon base and mattress. We got the base without any problem, but when we went to the other end of the aisle to get the mattress, not only were they not there, the allocated place had been allocated to something else. So we were a bit confused.

Much queuing up later, we established that IKEA had LOTS of bases but no mattresses.

Liz and Jon were - quite rightly - reluctant to  buy one bit without the other, so we came home without the bed.

I did get Knackerbrod Rye Crackers though, and Cinnamon Rolls. They didn't have the pickles Steph had requested.

But we noticed LOTS of flatbed trolleys discarded round the checkout area, with futon bases upon them. Other people had obviously done the same as we had. So WHY can't they put a little sign UPSTAIRS in the showroom saying "Sorry, this one is out of stock at the minute" ?? instead of "You can find this in Aisle 71, section 28"

We blew up the airbed and I slept on that instead. Next to the Wonderful New Bookshelves - all filled now, and looking splendid.

This morning Liz made me a Bacon Roll [her home-made bread - mmmm...] and then I drove home, arriving early afternoon - exhausted. Bob prepared me a hot steak and mushroom sandwich.

I have eaten extremely well this weekend- but mostly that's because the rest of my family have prepared my meals!!

Since 1977, I've been involved in moving house for myself, Bob, our parents and our children - at least two dozen times. It does NOT get any easier. When I get to heaven, I plan to stay in the same Mansion for the whole of eternity!

Highcross and High Crosses

I had to do the Opening Devotions for a meeting last Thursday. It was the day our new Highcross shopping centre opened in Leicester, so I thought I would mention that, and tie it in with The High Crosses of Ireland which I had seen whilst we were on holiday last month.

 

 

 

The Celtic Christians called them "Sermons in Stone" because they went up in an age when many people were unable to read - and most of those who could did not have access to many books. The pictures and carvings on the crosses showed Bible stories or symbols of faith which could be used to teach the truths of the Gospel to those passing by.

I had the devotions all planned in my head, and thought I knew what I'd be saying, until the afternoon before. That was when Betty asked my to explain the symbolism in a Passion Flower - she had planted one in her garden, it was covered with blooms and someone had told her that it had something to do with Christianity.

So I asked her to bring a flower or two to the meeting, and told them the story of Jacomo Bosio. He was the Catholic Priest in Rome, in 1609, who was presented with a Passion Flower, brought back to Italy for the first time from the New World [where the flower grows wild, by the wayside] by the Jesuits.  He looked at the flower and declared it to be God's Masterpiece - and said that the various parts of the plant symbolising the story of Easter. The story is very well documented - and the ladies at the meeting were fascinated by it.

• The five petals and five sepals represent ten 'faithful' apostles after the arrest of Jesus; Judas was omitted for betraying Christ, and Peter for denying knowing Jesus.
• The five stamens represent the five wounds. [hands, feet, side]
• The lance-shaped leaves represent the spears which pierced Him;
• The spots on the undersides represent the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas for betraying Christ.
• The tendrils represent the lash which scourged Jesus
• The red stains- Christ’s blood
• The fragrance – the perfume brought by the women
• The fruit – the world Christ came to save

So we went from a Sermon in Stone by the road in Ireland  to a Sermon in Bloom by the Wayside in America.

Wherever you look, there is an opportunity to share the Gospel!

Magic!!

I am supposed to be doing admin and housework, but got totally distracted by the arrival of the post [doesn't take much to distract me from housework]

Some years ago,we had a youth worker called Alice. She had a boyfriend who was a full-time teacher, and part-time illusionist, and he used to put her in a box and cut her in half!

Reader, she married him...

Now her husband, Steve Price, has left school-teaching and established himself as a leading Christian illusionist, and they live in Surrey. Alice has recently begun working as a Youth Worker for Surrey County Council.

Steve's doing brilliantly, his show is great - we had him to KMFC last October for our Alternative Halloween Event. 

Today's post brought a gift from Steve - a copy of his new DVD "Good News and Shiny Shoes"

So I stopped all the other less interesting tasks and settled down to enjoy the show.

I'd recommend Steve's act to anyone, he is really good  and combines professional illusions with good humour, and a clear gospel presentation. He is also very skilled at maintaining the interest of fidgetty children. You can get the DVD here for only £12. It would make a good Christmas present for somebody.

I must go and do some more housework before Bob returns from Pastoral Visiting.

Off to London after lunch to help Steph move out of her flat [and temporarily back in with Liz till somewhere else turns up]

Bags more fun

The dining room is now full of bits of cut up tarpaulin, as I'm making the covers for Bob's PA gear. Still waiting for my nylon from PointNorth to arrive, so that's delaying things a bit - but I have begun construction.

Bob is concerned about Health and Safety [or "Ef an Saty" as one of my pupils once wrote!] and has purchased some heavy ribbed rubber matting to put over cables, thus protecting the cables and preventing a Trip Hazard.

He cut the strip [10 metres] into 3 more manageable lengths and stenciled them with his logo. I used some leftover tarp to make three carry bags.

The bags are longer than the rolled strip [to give you something to get hold of] and I put a casing with a drawstring round the top.

My friend Debbie kindly donated 3 net bags - the sort which come with washing tablets - and I dismantled them.

The cord was just long enough to make the drawstring and the little blue foam bead holds the cord tight when it is pulled up.

 

Such thriftiness! I am, of course, keeping the three 'unstrung' net bags now, because I am sure that I will eventually find a use for them. A couple of years ago,Debbie gave me a dozen which I sprayed with gold paint and filled with chocolates as "Christmas Favours".

An Oeuf is as Good as a Feast!

I blogged earlier about my friend Jacquie's "Eglu" and her endeavours to emulate Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and keep chickens. Jacquie's had a busy summer, with her lovely daughter's wedding and everything - but "the girls" have been busy too, laying daily.

Last night at Knitting Group, Jacquie presented me with a gift when  I arrived - and I was egg-static when I opened it -

 

4 cute little eggs from the happy chickens! The eggs are slightly smaller than the ones I get in Sainsburys.

Here is a picture of an Eglu Egg, flanked by a JS Egg and a 50p. The choice of a 50p coin in the photo is significant - see below

Bob greatly enjoyed his eggs -

I think he was worried they might get cold whilst I was faffing about with the camera.

The yolks were beautifully golden, and the shells very strong [which is a sign of Happy Hens, Bob says]

Thankyou, Jacquie and The Girls for Brightening our Breakfast Time!

My Dad usually sang the following ditty before he ate boiled eggs for breakfast

Rule Britannia, no matter what you're paid

Eggs are never, never, never quite new laid!

 

 

Have your cake...and eat it

Well - we ate the chard. It had a bitter-ish sort of taste, and neither of us was that keen on the flavour. It looked very pretty on the plate though! Not quite sure what I shall do with the other half of the bundle. Maybe make this pesto sauce For pudding, I made the Dessert of the Month from Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

Here's the picture from the magazine. The blurb says...

The carefree days of summer are embodied in this relatively effortless, yet elegant, skillet dessert. Aromatic lavender permeates the lightly sweetened cornmeal cake, and plump peaches impart even more fragrance and flavour.

Mine looked like this >>

I am afraid I didn't slice the nectarines into slices - mine were round blob shapes!

It wasn't totally authentic - I realised I had no cream, so planned to substitute Greek Yogurt. Then I missed out the crucial line in the recipe where you 'mix in cream and vanilla' !It is meant to serve 8, so we had ¼ tonight and I have put half into the freezer. We spooned Greek Yogurt over it. It tasted very nice - the cornmeal gives a pleasant sort of sandy texture to the sponge.

PEACH AND CORNMEAL UPSIDE DOWN CAKE INGREDIENTS Serves 8

• 5½ oz butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 peaches/nectarines, skins on, cut into wedges
• 1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta
• 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons chopped lavender
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup double cream

Preheat oven to 180' Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat, using a pastry brush to coat sides with butter as it melts. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar evenly over bottom of skillet, and cook gently about 3 minutes. Arrange peaches in a circle, on top of sugar. Reduce heat, cook until peaches begin to soften, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat.

Whisk dry ingredients. Beat remaining 4oz butter and 3/4 cup sugar with a hand mixer, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl. Mix in vanilla and cream.Beat in cornmeal mixture.

Drop large spoonfuls of batter over peaches, and spread evenly. Bake until golden brown 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer skillet to a wire rack, stand for 10 minutes. Run a knife or around edge of cake. Quickly invert cake onto a plate. Tap bottom of skillet to release peaches, and carefully remove skillet. Reposition peach slices on top of cake. Let cool slightly before serving.

Not quite sure about "the carefree days of summer" - MS is very fond of flowery prose when describing her recipes. The lavender was an unexpectedly fragrant addition however. I shall try it again sometime with half quantities in my smaller skillet. If it works without the lavender, and using canned peaches and soft marg, it could be a useful, inexpensive store-cupboard standby.

If you burn it, do you get Charred Chard?

I went with my friend Debbie to a nearby Country Market this morning. I didn't buy much - just some blackberries [because I haven't had time to forage in the hedgerows myself this autumn] and some Swiss Chard [because I don't recall ever cooking or eating it in my life]

Having it for tea, with the second half of yesterday's beef casserole, with a recipe from this site. Yesterday the casserole was served with some beautiful beans from friend Irene's garden. Trying really hard to eat plenty of veg lately!

Swiss Chard Recipe

1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard

1 small clove garlic, sliced

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp water

Pinch of dried crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon butter

salt

Method

1 Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. Remove the toughest third of the stalk, discard or save for another recipe . Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips.

2 Heat a saucepan on a medium heat setting, add olive oil, a few small slices of garlic and the crushed red pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add the chopped Swiss chard leaves. Cover. Check after about 5 minutes. If it looks dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Flip the leaves over in the pan, so that what was on the bottom, is now on the top. Cover again. Check for doneness after another 5 minutes (remove a piece and taste it). Add salt to taste, and a small amount of butter. Remove the Swiss chard to a serving dish.

Betty - who sold me the chard - was telling me about the competitions at Village Flower and Produce Fete last weekend. She won two cups - and came second in the 'Marmalade' Class [which, bizarrely, was won with a jar of rhubarb and ginger jam] and my neighbour submittted a jar of fruit vinegar, which came first in the 'Homemade Red Wine' Class. Jan's photograph of the children and parents queuing outside the church for Holiday Club won the first prize in the 'Photo of A Village Event' Class. Well done, Betty, Jan and co.

It was, apparently, a very successful Fete - despite the absurdities of the judging! English Village Life is not yet dead.