Mysteries In Ministry

I've blogged before about the number of priests who end up as amateur detectives in works of popular fiction. Mostly celibate Roman Catholics, so they are not hindered by their wives, I notice! Just look at this list who have popped up on Radio and TV
Brother Cadfael [Derek Jacobi] 
Father Brown [Mark Williams] 
Rev Sidney Chambers [Grantchester]
Father Baldi [David Threlfall, on Radio 4]
Father Dowling [Tom Bosley, an American TV series]  
I'll add Harry Kemelman's "Rabbi Small" for good measure.

It has been fun watching Mark Williams return this past week for another series of Father Brown "inspired" by the works of GK Chesterton. The 1950's settings are excellent - all that 'green beryl' crockery, and twinsets, and women in hats. I'd thought the fans of this would be mainly my generation and older - but discovered two bright young teenagers of my acquaintance really enjoy this programme.

Sydney Chambers is coming back, briefly, to Grantchester - in order to hand over the vicarage to a new incumbent. Tom Brittney, billed as 'the hot new vicar' Rev William Davenport, will be taking over for series four. 
I suppose James Norton is busy doing other stuff like McMafia.

I watched the new Agatha Christie over Christmas, but I wasn't at all convinced by Jon Malkovich as Poirot, sorry. I just didn't believe in his previous priestly past. 
I enjoy mysteries/detective fiction, and I suppose the added dimension of a main character who takes the spiritual side of life seriously is an added bonus. A peaceful change from all those angst ridden policemen with dysfunctional families. But it's hardly true to life, is it? Bob was involved in solving the "Mystery of the Disappearing Overcoat" last Sunday - however there were no bodies, and no crimes committed. 
That episode won't make a TV script, will it?

Do you have a favourite Saintly Sleuth?

History On Holiday

On the one day of our Christmas holiday when we had no family events planned, Bob and I decided to stroll through some of the historic parts of Norwich. Reading 'Tombland' had made us realise just how much of the City we had never really explored. We parked the car in the St Andrews Multi-Storey, then made our way to Colegate.
Here we stopped first at St Georges Church, with its beautiful old drinking fountain outside [a tradition which Norwich ought to consider reviving, perhaps?]

Wayfaring man for thee this faucet was given, a channel to impart the boon of heaven. Drink and thank God! and in this water trace an earnest of His love and emblem of His Grace

[interesting use of the word faucet for tap back in 1860. We tend to think of it as an |American term now]

Inside the chapel was a memorial to John Crome, Norfolk landscape artist, and information about his 250th anniversary, which had been celebrated the week before.
St George is the patron saint of Norwich and this chapel dates back in part to the 13th Century.

Further in up the street, more places of worship; 
The Octagon Chapel- formerly Presbyterian, now Unitarian. It is a fascinating shape [but sadly was not open to visitors] This was built in 1756

We then walked on to the Old Meeting House Congregational Chapel. This is old - built in 1693, just after the Act Of Toleration [very important for those of us who are Nonconformists] Again, we were unable to go inside, but I found some useful information and a panoramic gallery online [click here]

The Old Martineau Sunday School Rooms nearby have a fabulous curved window. Also on Colegate is Henry Bacon's House, he was a wealthy merchant from Worstead who became Mayor of Norwich twice- but at the time of Kett's Rebellion he was Sheriff of Norwich. We crossed the River Wensum, over the Fye Bridge - passing the old Norwich Quayside- so pretty

Here's The Maid's Head - where everybody who is anybody seems to have stayed at some point. My in-laws stopped here once. And in Tombland, the hero, Matthew Shardlake stops here both before and after Kett's rebellion.

Into the Cathedral area - so beautiful on a frosty winter morning. Inside, men were diligently polishing the copper font - outside, by the Light Of The World Sculpture was a tree, decorated with prayers for loved ones.

Up Queen Street, past "St Michael-at-Plea" - the 14th church where the Archdeacon's Court was once held. The clock [put up in 1827] has a lovely "Forget-me-not" message on its dial.

Our historic walk was almost over, lunch beckoned! Past the ancient Guildhall - mentioned frequently in Tombland, and then on up past City Hall and the Market to the Forum. But that deserves a blogpost of its own.
One final sad picture- in 1938, sculptor James Woodford produced bronze panels depicting the historic characters and trades of the City. One of these depicts the execution of Robert Kett.
This is the picture Sansom has on the front of his book.

A lovely stroll round this fine city, so much to see and to learn and to enjoy. I cannot believe it was only a fortnight ago, I seem to have been so busy since that gloriously relaxed morning!

Poole Of Resources

When I got home from school at lunchtime on Tuesday, we got in Bob's car and I drove straight back to Poole again! Our first stop was Roger's Warehouse.
I'd heard about this store, and planned a visit in the New Year - other friends beat me to it and said it was worth checking out.
It calls itself "The south's Biggest gone past best before warehouse" I'm sure that title should be better punctuated - but you get the drift. It's like Approved Foods - only you go in person, and drift round with your trolley, rather than order on line.
This was a fact-finding trip, so we didn't plan on buying loads. We did come away with drinking chocolate, udon noodles, nut butter and Kelloggs Granola. Prices were good- and displayed sensibly [VAT included, unit prices clearly marked - and individual packets on display on the top of the sealed boxes] It is a bulk buy arrangement - so you do have to buy 6 jars of nut butter, or 8 packs of cereal etc.
Friendly staff and lots of things I would perhaps buy on a future visit. But does anybody, ever, buy Loyd Grosman Sauces at full price? They always seemed to be reduced or in the clearance bins...
Into Poole and after a quick and inexpensive [but nonetheless filling, and very tasty]lunch in the Dolphin Centre, we checked out some CS. I splashed out £1 on a brand new dress pattern for a summer frock.

Then into Robert Dyas. This chain seems confined to London and the South East. The Poole store has a 'clearance section' upstairs. Bob found me some Kilner jamjar tongs only £2 [£10 in Amazon and John Lewis] These will help make my chutney and marmalade-making activities much safer [far better than my current 'oven-glove-and-fish-slice' retrieval system]

I also got a spray-and-stretch kit. A couple of pairs of my shoes have been rubbing on my right foot. I hope this is not a sign of an incipient bunion. 
I shall try stretching the shoes a little to see if it eases things.  The spray is isopropyl alcohol [which we have already] but I really wanted the stretchers. Again this was less than half the price of Amazon.

I did not buy a toaster in their sale - but I just had to take a photo of the box. I love the idea of  a "patented climate-sensing toasting cycle" I feel that the brilliant Geraint Thomas should have one of these to prepare his snacks when he is cycling in the Tour De France.

My final acquisitions cost nothing. I exchanged the Grape Tree voucher I won last year for a large bag of dates and some malt extract. All in all a fun afternoon out, very little money spent, but lots to show for it.
Poole is a strange mixture- at one end, the exceedingly affluent folk of Sandbanks... and then there's the rather rundown high street full of CS, and poundshops - and all points in between. But the people are friendly and I find the shop assistants helpful. And parking is not exorbitant.
This town is, after all, the home of Ryvita, the Mathmos Lava Lamp and the Sunseeker Yacht Company. They certainly try to cater for everybody! I definitely like going to Poole.

Loving Those Leftovers!

We didn't have a turkey on Christmas Day this year. But we are very grateful to Jon and Liz for the delicious roast beef dinner and those splendid Yorkshire Puds - and the Boxing Day feast which Bob and Liz put together with the remaining beef.  We continued to have meals during the remainder of the week which produced leftovers. I have enjoyed using up the food in creative ways.
The chicken and ham went into a batch of pies - I'd bought some frozen pastry in November, when it was on offer.
The end of the loaf formed the basis of a Queen of Puddings - but with cranberry sauce in place of jam. 
And the mince pies became Poor Man's Panforte. That's been portioned into elegant triangles, and frozen for special teatime treats.

I had a glut of carrots, so I've made a huge quantity of carrot soup [don't tell Bob, I sneaked in a couple of leftover parsnips] which has gone into the freezer for comforting lunches on cold days...
Leftover cream has been whipped and frozen, and the unopened box of fancy biscuits will remain unopened for a while [I hope] until other goodies have been finished up.
As you will see, I am not participating in Veganuary, or A Post-Christmas diet. These leftovers will form perfectly good meals, and my food-focus is definitely on more economy, less waste.

I have just borrowed this book from the library. I'll let you know how I get on with the ideas in it!
Do you have a favourite Christmas Leftovers Recipe?

Ploughshares And Puddings

Yesterday was Plough Monday. I only discovered this when reading Sue's superb blog in the afternoon - but the first Monday after Twelfth Night has been regarded for centuries as the start of the agricultural year. 
There are many traditions surrounding this day - like the ploughs being taken into church the day before in order to be blessed, and the ploughboys getting up to all sorts of tricks in the week before, when there was no work for them.
The main thing seems to have been 'Molly Dancing' - mostly done in East Anglia [and bizarrely, Manchester] which was a form of Morris Dancing, and often involved the men having blackened faces.
In 2012, some enthusiastic guys tried to recreate this activity in Dorset, here they are dancing along Poole Quayside. I'd spent the morning teaching in Poole, and had no desire to go back and dance!
Sue linked to another blog [Lavender and Lovage] where the author gives a recipe for Norfolk Plough Pudding 

- a dish traditionally served on Plough Monday. I confess that despite growing up in Norfolk, I'd not come across this one before [although I am aware of that county's fondness for dumplings and other comforting, stodgy, rib-sticking dishes]
I'm on a Leftovers Campaign and had already intended something involving three sausages in the freezer, and some veg not eaten up at Sunday lunch, this recipe was ideal. 
I cooked it in the microwave so it took 9 minutes. [On reflection I think 7½ might have been long enough, the pastry was slightly tougher than I'd have liked] I didn't get an artistic photo with the gravy poured over, sorry!

Almonds And Walnuts

I just cannot believe I have never tried this one before. I'm ridiculously pleased with the discovery, so here's a useful tip to share.
Bob wants to sell a pair of very large speakers and replace them with some smaller ones. So he prepared to take a photo- and discovered a row of nasty scratches where one had been bumping against the rough brick edge of the fireplace.

"Walnuts!" I said - "all the old books say you can repair scratches on wood if you rub them with a walnut." I had to admit I'd never tried it, but I did have some walnuts in a jar in the pantry. I bit one in half and rubbed it over the scratches.With instant, superb results!

I cannot believe how effective it is - the scuffs and scratches disappeared like magic. Those are genuine photographs. My first Top Tip of 2019. Now let us hope Bob can find a buyer quickly.

The First Sunday Of The Year

After our Christmas break, it is always good to get back to UCF and worship with my 'church family' here in Dorset. 
There's always a sense of anticipation about the year ahead - the things we hope we can achieve in our fellowship, the continuing commitment to community involvement, and the personal issues that many of us will face, both joyful and challenging [babies, weddings, illness, funerals, employment, house-moves, etc] 
But this New Year, more than any other in my life, I think, I feel despondent about the state of our nation. I've kept Brexit discussions out of my blogposts most of the time, there is so much that is negative about it all. A few weeks ago, the media were running articles about "How to avoid Brexit Arguments over the family Christmas lunch". I cannot remember such a painfully divisive issue before.
That makes me sad. But my word of the year is focus - that upon which I must keep my eyes. I found a very comforting verse about focus in Deuteronomy - if the United Kingdom is the land in which the Lord has put me, then I shall take these words to heart, focus on them, and trust God to sort things out.

A New Year Alphabet

I'm not one for New Year Resolutions - but I loved this alphabet of things to do this year. It came from "Down on the Farm" which is a company providing alternative holiday accommodation in Aberdeenshire. A number of friends have shared it on Facebook and I thought it was worth passing on. Click on it to see the details... 

A great selection of actions and attitudes, don't you think ? 

Projects, Pirates And Puzzle Pieces

I borrowed 3 craft books from the library last week. First up, two by "The Crafty Minx" aka Kelly Doust who is a young Australian writer.

There are loads of projects in these two books. Nothing particularly new, but I did appreciate her carefully written instructions, and little tips and suggestions.
The first book is divided into seasons, and covers all sorts of crafts. 
The second book was less good - mostly projects for children, rather than ideas you could create wit them. And generally a bit twee. But both books were well illustrated and interesting to skim through ****

The title "Pirates and Pompoms - how to make children's toys and costumes" caught my eye. This was a clever book and teeming with fresh ideas. There are three main sections - Circuses, Pirates and Animals. Well written instructions and clear illustrations. 

I thought the project to make a pirate's hook was well thought out and not too dangerous!
The circus section was equally innovative. 

The animal section included patterns to create animal costumes simply. When I did animals for the school play, I put ears on the hoods, and made simple masks. This book suggests making a mask - and then adding fur ears, paws and tail. 
The clever bit is that you sew the ears onto an existing woolly hat, the paws are created by sewing a strip of fur onto the back of some mittens, and the tail ties round the waist.
Very uncomplicated, but so effective! *****
Yes, I thought this was a good selection.
I was annoyed with myself for leaving my new jigsaw at home, but borrowed a 500 piece puzzle.

The Vintage Library by Ravensberger was enjoyable, but I completed it in just one evening. 
Some of the books in the picture were classics I know and love, others were titles I've never heard of. But it was good to be able to borrow a jigsaw as well as the books. 

Presents Of Mind

It's always fun to gift a little gift that shows you have actually thought hard about the recipient. Steph said in November that she was declaring "The Christmas of the Sloth" as these amiable creatures seemed to be everywhere. For her stocking, I found a sloth calendar in the Poundshop. And a cute felt sew-your-own kit in The Range to produce a Sammie Sloth ornament for your tree. I had a tiny box in the cupboard labelled SLOTH - I also had 6 others, labelled with the Deadly Sins, originally containing chocolates. I filled Sloth with mints and added a label "Sloth mints - like breath mints but you suck them slowly" These 3 items were well received. But I am confused about the pro I. When I was at school, sloth rhymed with both. Nowadays sloth seems to rhyme with Goth. 

Liz had mentioned she wanted some old style printed tea towels. I had a few which my neighbour Jim gave me when he was clearing his house before he moved into the care home. I used them instead of wrapping paper on her gifts. She was delighted. 

Simple, thoughtful gifts needn't cost a lot, but they can bring a smile to someone's face, and that's worth doing. 

Are you a sloth/both or a sloth/goth? 

Did you 

Blessed With A Word

I've been pondering on my Blog word for this new year - in 2017 my #word365 was hope and last year it was more. My inspiration has come from my Buddhist friend Bless, who shared a word in one of her Advent posts. She talked about the Sanskrit word sraddha, meaning acts done with sincerity and faith, as she puts it "with intention, purpose and focus" 
I'm not using her word - but it directed my thoughts towards focus. [Thanks for the inspiration  Bless] 
I looked up the origins... 

The ancient Latin word focus meant domestic hearth. In the 17th Century, scientists used the word to meant the point where rays of light shone through a lens converge. Because sunlight focused through a lens can generate enough heat to ignite paper, fireplace is a good metaphor.
Nowadays we use the word focus in many different ways

• The centre of our attention
• The quality of having, or producing clear visual definition [optical term] 
• A fixed point which helps define the relationship between others [that's a mathematical term, eg for drawing a parabola]

This year I'm aiming to be more focused. These 3 definitions of focus help... 

I know I'm always busy, that's how I am - but Bob is right when he says that sometimes my incessant multi-tasking makes me less productive. Filling the dining room with fabrics and sewing machines to start making costumes is fine - but maybe I should have put away the best china first [instead of leaving it stacked on the sideboard] Sitting at my desk to plan a lesson is important - but I really should not put my books on top of papers waiting to be filed. Focus on finishing off one task before starting the next, because those 5 minutes spent putting things away may prevent 20minutes frantic searching for something I've mislaid. I need to think about what should be the 'centre of my attention " at any given moment. 

I'm getting better at photography but still get many images out of focus because I'm too eager to take the picture. I need to stop and look at the subject before taking the picture. Generally I need to slow down a little to achieve clearer results, in life, not just in my camera technique.

And as a mathematician, I know the importance of the fixed point - as a Christian, my focus as I enter the new year must be Jesus. Hebrews 12;2 talks about "focusing on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith" and it reminds me to "run with patience the race set before me". In this fast changing, stressful world, He is my fixed point. 

And The Winner Is....

Thanks for the suggestions for captions for my soft slippery Christmas Icing Post [Here] The winner has to be Pauline, who sent me an email, with a caption, and a picture, and also picked up the angel theme which has dominated my Christmas this year

"Fear not" said he, for mighty dread had seized their troubled mind
"You can now get Royal Icing in a pack, no need to beat those eggs no more!"

Happy New Year