Should I Change My Name To Edna?

On the left, Edna Krabappel, Bart Simpson’s teacher – on the right, the tiny crab apple tree which is in the Cornerstones garden. The latter was a gift from Liz, soon after we bought this place [she won it but had no garden in which to plant it… long story, don’t ask!]

“Maybe by the time we retire, the tree will bear fruit, and I must learn to make crab apple jelly” I said to Bob. At the beginning of the week, I acquired some windfall apples [outside neighbour’s place – huge tray, with sign saying ‘help yourself’] Then we picked some windfall cherry plums from the heath at the other end of the village – and a few more wild apples. So I picked up some Tala preserving jars and an inexpensive jam funnel, in The Range.

Then yesterday, on our way back from Cromer, we called in on the family. My niece Lucy had been out on her bike and seen a chap giving away carrier bags of windfall crab apples – so she’d taken one for her Mum. But Marion said she really didn’t have time, and no jam jars either [they are moving shortly, so she is decluttering] Could I make use of them? Now you know me, I cannot bear food going to waste.

• Problem 1 – I have never made crab apple jelly in my life – will the Internet supply good recipes?
• Problem 2- the stool I use as a jelly bag support is miles away – how can I improvise?
• Problem 3 – I need to get some more sugar – is Tesco’s shut?

But I refuse to let trivia like that get me down – we left my SIL and shot off to Tesco’s to buy sugar. Last night I checked up on recipes, considered my provisions, and now I have the following neatly lined up in the kitchen.

Two 1kg jars of bottled cherry plums [don’t you just love the red and gold colours?]

Two 500g jars of crab-apple chutney [also containing apples, plums and balsamic vinegar]

A jar and a half of crab apple jelly [around 650g]

And a HUGE 2kg jar of apple sauce

These have all been duly preserved in the pressure cooker. I do not have a proper freezer here – and this way they should all keep well.

I have to say that actually I was not over-thrilled with the whole crab apple process. There were lots of very bruised, wormy ones which needed discarding – and the chutney recipe said ‘peel and dice’ The fruits were very small [same size and smaller than the cherry plums] It took ages to prepare them. My original 3kg bag of crab apples only yielded about 1.5kg of usable fruit. Meanwhile, Bob had a bath, and watched Torchwood, and I was still in the kitchen, working, and listening to the radio.

I strained the fruit through a new cotton tea towel draped in a colander balanced over my largest bowl – and this morning boiled up the resulting liquid in my big casserole pan. I was pleased with its jewel-like clarity though!

I haven’t spent a lot on ingredients – just the sugar - I had a lemon and an onion, and vinegar etc in the cupboard. The jars will be reusable. But if I had been paid for my time in the kitchen, these are pretty costly preserves! However, it will be very satisfying to present Marion with her jars of chutney and jelly tomorrow evening.

So that is why I was Little Miss Busy last night, and today I have been happy to sit around in my pjs all day, alongside…

Does that answer your questions, Mags, aka…

Happy Birthday To All Men-Kind!

This week it is the 40th anniversary of those creations of Roger Hargreaves – the Mr Men [and the Little Misses]

I shall be back to blogging later, as right now I have things to do. We had a super day yesterday, but not quite as I had expected it.

In the end I was being…

…until almost midnight! So today we have decided to take things very slowly. We did not go running at 7.45am, as we have on the previous 3 days. It is nearly 10am, and I have only just drunk my first cup of tea – brought to me in bed by…

…who has returned to bed with his book.It was good to see my bro and SIL yesterday. They commented favourably on the progress of our diet, which was encouraging. We feel like…

More news from Cornerstones, and these two later…

Be Swift My Soles…Be Jubilant My Feet

I started running on May 9th. Since then, I reckon I have done over a hundred miles, either on the treadmill or round the streets. I have been wearing the trainers I bought in 2002, for $10 [on holiday in Orlando]– which were already rather worn, as you can see.

Look at the lack of padding in the insole, and the foam disintegrating round the back of the heel.

I think Bob was getting concerned about the state of my footwear – especially as it was apparent that the running habit seems to have stuck. So he took me off to a sports place in Norwich, where they practise ‘gait-analysis’ [yes, I mis-heard too – this is a five-bar gate, this is a garden gate…] You have to run on a treadmill, whilst they video your feet! Then they advise you. It was all very helpful  [especially the information about the fact that the more expensive trainers differ mostly in their appearance, not their performance, so you do not need to spend £150 r anything like that amount]

I protested that I could make my blue ones last a little longer – at least until a month when I had earned some money Supply Teaching. I haven’t got spare cash to fling about on non essentials, I argued. But once I had tried these on, my protestations weakened, I admit.

Oh the difference! My early morning run round the village lanes is both faster and infinitely more comfortable. Thanks Bob!

Swifter soles, more jubilant feet

[did you recognise the quote? if not, click here]

REALLY Relaxing!

We went to the cinema this morning to see this

I was sort of holding out for a trip next week – to see H Ford and D Craig in ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ – but I got the feeling Bob would prefer this one today. He has read all the HP books and seen the films. I should explain, I have only read the first HP book, and that bored me rigid. Recently I have tried to watch the earlier films when they were shown on TV, and still don’t get it [unlike Narnia, and The Rings which I greatly enjoyed]

…

I am sure that if you like HP, you’ll probably like this one – although Bob did say he did not think it was the best HP film. I was relaxing so hard that just after the beginning I FELL ASLEEP!

I haven’t done that since we went to Revenge Of The Sith in 2005. I woke up to find Emma Watson had turned into Helena Bonham Carter, and was quite confused.

In the end, it all worked put just as you would expect. All a bit too clichéd for me.

I did like the pattern on Neville Longbottom’s cardigan though. I am not sure you are supposed to go to the cinema to ponder on the merits of Fair Isle Knitwear! I bought some wool on Tuesday and began a new project. I will take photos and share details soon – but right now I am still at the ribbing stage.

Order! Order!

Today marks another centenary in British History

On August 10th, 1911, British MPs voted to pay themselves a salary – but interestingly, not expenses. Nowadays, the current salary for an MP is £65,738 and in addition, they receive money to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London and in their constituency, and travelling between London and their constituency.

You can find out more on the Parliament website.

Nobody is perfect [Romans 3:23] but I want our elected representatives to be men and women of integrity, not ones who are just  self-serving . I think that is why the whole parliamentary expenses fiasco was so sad. I mean, claiming £5 for ‘money put in a collection plate at a church service’ makes me feel utterly sick. Not to mention the infamous Duck House.

I prefer to take my model of leadership from one who came not to be served, but to serve…

Fishing For Compliments

Well done Hugh – we enjoyed watching your enthusiastic campaigning on TV last night [and love the new haircut!]

Just so you know, we are eating lots of fish lately – taking the Fish Fight very seriously round here…

• haddock and chips [Holiday Club staff lunch] last Friday
• tuna wraps [rod and line caught, of course] on Saturday
• smoked mackerel [with Waldorf Salad] yesterday
• kippers for breakfast this morning
• deep fried sardines – our meal tonight.

I don’t like sardines – or at least, didn’t think I did – but Bob loves cooking when he is on holiday – so on arrival yesterday, he made a multigrain loaf, and this morning, he bought some sardines [half price in the supermarket]”You'll have to cook them” I said. He did! I made a salad, and along with the bread, we’ve had a fabulous meal. And apparently I do enjoy sardines, when cooked like this.

Here’s the man, tucking into his repast

He looks so suspicious. I promise not to photograph every meal this holiday. Before you tell me that deep fried food is not on the usual GI Diet Sheet, I will just say that we are both still steadily losing weight – and both went for a short run this morning.

We are relaxing – very seriously – it is absolutely wonderful! I’d set up some blog posts in advance – I switched off the PC on Sunday evening, and it has only just gone back on. That is partly due to a fault with the phone/broadband connection. We had not dialling tone/Internet when we arrived yesterday. Neither of us could remember who our phone contract is with. I drove over to Christine’s and checked my bank account online on her PC to see who I pay the bill to. What a wonderfully accommodating best friend to have – she made me tea and was very sympathetic to my plight. Thanks Chris!

I rang Post Office Homephone and reported the problem.

“Well, it could be a fault with your equipment, and if there is a fault we will contact an engineer and get him to come out to you. But I cannot tell you about that as the account is not in your name. Is Rev Almond there?”

“No, HE is at our place, I’m at a friend’s house 3 miles away. If there is a fault, HOW will I know, and how will I know WHEN the engineer is coming?”

“Well, Mr Almond will have to contact us to find out” 

“And how will he do that?”

“He can phone us”

“But the phone is NOT WORKING at our place, that’s why I am ringing you from my friend’s phone”

“He could use a mobile”

“But this is Norfolk. The signal is weak, AND you charge for mobile calls, it is only landline calls that are free to this number”

“Hmmm, yes”

Fortunately Bob was able to call them later from his mobile, and a helpful man said it was a fault at the exchange and should be fixed this morning [actually it was between 3pm and 5pm this afternoon] and the helpful chap also put my name on the ‘approved’ list too.

I am glad to have the phone back – but recognise that having no internet for a while was a good thing too.

PC going off now, back to my knitting

To Do Lists

I am always making lists

But I am on holiday. I made one like this last week

What about this ?

 

Perhaps my ‘Summer Holiday’ list should look like this

Or maybe, simply

Yes, I think I shall go with that one!

Before Going On Holiday

…I think I should have cleaned the floor under the fridge.

Just in case…

not that we have a cat…or mice!

Saying Thanks To A Tremendous Team

We had the final event of Holiday Bible Club this morning – our special closing Family Service. It went brilliantly, loads of children and parents there. I only forgot one thing- my camera! But I did remember to take the big bundle of envelopes with me to distribute.

Writing “Thank You” letters is a habit my Mum drilled into me from the age of 5. She taught me that they must show genuine gratitude, not just be a perfunctory ‘thanks!’. She was, as usual, absolutely right in this practice. So every year we try to ensure that everyone who has been part of the Holiday Bible Club Team gets thanked [daily staff members, craft preparers, hotdog servers…] Bob says it publicly in church, and we put a note on the Weekly News Sheet – but we also send a personal note to them. And that has to be done promptly after the club [and before we go on holiday]

This year I decided to continue with the Egyptian theme and make a pop-up card with a pyramid.

It is a sheet of A4 card, which I photocopied, cut and folded – and I have written a personal message on each card.

I think the design has worked well! Here is the reverse side so you can see how it folds up.

[technical detail for maths geeks– the pyramid is made of two right angled triangles with their hypotenuses running down the vertical fold]

If you want to design your own pop-up cards, check out Robert Sabuda’s brilliant website for some good ideas.

The easy ones are just as effective as the complex!

To everyone [more than fifty folk] who helped make Mission:Rescue such a success, a heartfelt thank you from us both.

And thank you – all of you out there who have sent good wishes and loving prayers and words of encouragement – it has helped so much [especially when energy levels have flagged and my patience has wobbled]

Now I can relax properly and go on holiday to Cornerstones. And yes, PomPom, ElizabethD and others, I promise to rest. Lots!

Kindling Thoughts

Steph started this train of thought by telling me that she has her daily Bible readings on an app for her phone, so she can make profitable use of her commuting time each morning. Then Mags said she had been reading sound stuff on her Kindle whilst away on holiday [and kindly sent me a wonderfully appropriate and encouraging verse from Jeremiah] My thanks to them for their inspiration

I suddenly remembered an old hymn, which I have therefore been humming to myself all week. It is another one of my favourites by Frances Ridley Havergal – and it was verse six that I recalled. How words have changed their meaning over the years, but the truth of this hymn stands. Frances wrote it as a gift for the lay workers who helped in her church.

Lord, speak to me that I may speak
In living echoes of Thy tone;
As Thou has sought, so let me seek
Thine erring children lost and lone.

O lead me, Lord, that I may lead
The wandering and the wavering feet;
O feed me, Lord, that I may feed
Thy hungering ones with manna sweet.

O strengthen me, that while I stand
Firm on the rock, and strong in Thee,
I may stretch out a loving hand
To wrestlers with the troubled sea.

O teach me, Lord, that I may teach
The precious things Thou dost impart;
And wing my words, that they may reach
The hidden depths of many a heart.

O give Thine own sweet rest to me,
That I may speak with soothing power
A word in season, as from Thee,
To weary ones in needful hour.

O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord,
Until my very heart overflow
In kindling thought and glowing word,
Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show.

O use me, Lord, use even me,
Just as Thou wilt, and when, and where,
Until Thy blessèd face I see,
Thy rest, Thy joy, Thy glory share.

Whatever you are doing today, may you have a Sunday full of blessings.

Tubtrugs And Trivia

This is a tubtrug. I love flexible tubtrugs. I have 6 of them – 4 purple, 1 pink and 1 yellow [actually the pink and yellow are not genuine – and they are not such good quality]

I dream of possessing a rainbow of them…

I have spent most of today unloading them – the house is full of trugs and boxes overflowing with the debris** of holiday club and that all needed to be sorted. The trugs were emptied- then filled with loads of washing, as I try to get ready for holiday. Then I found a trug which had shopping in it from two weeks ago [cans and packets] which had somehow got pushed into a corner and not put away [now coated with fine layer of Plaster of Paris dust!]

I've posted my blogswap to Canada [at last] – and a snake to a friend who asked for one at the BBQ last night [that’s a bottletop snake, not a real one]

I came upstairs an hour ago to sort the laundry and begin the ironing…but have got distracted catching up with all the blogs I have not had time to read this week. People back from holiday, getting degrees, reading and reviewing books, buying and selling things, celebrating various anniversaries…and there is no time for lots of proper comments, so

welcome home, thankyou and congratulations!

[delete where applicable]

Bob has got the motorbike ready for riding to Norfolk on Monday – and put bicycle racks on the roof of his car [which I shall be driving]

I must go and sort out all that laundry or we will be without clothes next week!

[**after all that effort, I have half a dozen plaques left over – but have found good homes for the spare bottle tops]

Happy Birthday WWW

Twenty years ago, Tim Berners Lee started it all off! The world's first website, http://info.cern.ch, was launched on 6 August 1991. It explained the World Wide Web concept and gave users an introduction to getting started with their own websites. I only switched on my PC this morning to find an address in my email inbox – but as usual got ‘sucked in’

It is 9.40am, and I have only just got out of bed – having been brought  Breakfast In Bed an hour ago. what laziness! What decadence! [What a gorgeous husband] I am sorry Frances, I know you requested a picture of me on a bike – but without careful searching, all I can come up with right now are these two…

Trip into town to buy buckets [May 2010]

The picture above [c.1956] shows myself driving, cousin Ollie on pillion. Note the anxiety in her expression, and my determined consideration of the road ahead [is it safe to overtake that man with the camera?] This was on my Dad’s “Ambassador”

After such a slow start to the morning I really must go and sort out packing for the holiday.

ATGATT

It is a lovely sunny evening, and we are off to visit friends for a barbecue. I have the obligatory pack of wooden skewers [which I have been soaking in water for a while] and a bag of marshmallows.

If you’ve never roasted marshmallow kebabs over your bbq, you have missed a real treat.

I am wearing my leggings and my “Isaiah 61” tee shirt, which is my current favourite [apart from my Mission:Rescue one, of course]

It is a beautifully warm evening, and not a time for thick jumpers and warm skirts.

But we are going over on the motorbike. So I shall wear my leathers over the top. It will be easy to peel them off when we arrive. We have seen too many foolish young riders this summer wearing just shorts, teeshirts and without gloves. Their only protection, the obligatory crash helmet.

The mantra is ATGATT – All The Gear, All The Time – and this is why.

Bob is an extremely good biker, I would not ride pillion if I felt unsafe with him – but it is madness to get onto the bike without adequate protection. I am sure Denise and others will agree.

Rant over…off to the barbecue.