Happy birthday to me...

53 today - and very conscious of Annie Domino creeping up on me! Thus far my day has been really enjoyable - some lovely cards from friends and family, and generous gifts too. A third slogan t-shirt to add to my wardrobe, from daughter Liz. it's another fabulous one from Howies, and appeals to my sense of Make-Do-And-Mend thriftiness.

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

Not at school today,so I went to the OAP Coffee Drop In again - they are so kind, and gave me a birthday card and sang to me. After lunch I had my routine mammogram - and the staff at the Breast Unit sang to me as well [Counting the class at school yesterday, that means I have had 'Happy Birthday' sung THREE times already!] Apparently more than 15% of women fail to turn up for their appointment, which seems a terrible waste of NHS time and money - not to mention foolish. We are so fortunate to have this free screening programme here, and it is sad that people abuse the system.

We have an Interchurch Breakfast on Saturday with a Banner Swap, so I am going to sew a Banner Bag now, to carry ours in. Then I will have to tidy all the craft stuff up, so there is somewhere for Steph to sleep when she gets home tomorrow.

Bob's just returned from the OAP home where he went to take their monthly hymn service. Except it never happened, because when he got there, a chap was already installed in the lounge, playing an organ to the residents. The Staff were most apologetic - the other guy had turned up unexpectedly! Bob and his team slipped away again and went off for a cup of tea. No hymn singing there then. MY hymn for today has to be one of my late Mum's favourites - All the way my Saviour leads me

I share my birthday with my sister-in-law. She and my brother sent me a gorgeous planted arrangement of cream roses, and ivy. Thanks, Marion - and Happy Birthday to you too!

I'll never be a Domestic Goddess!

Feeling quite virtuous, having spent all day in manic domesticity - more manic than domestic, to be honest. Cleaned and tidied and washed curtains and baked [a bacon and egg flan, and banana bread] and unpacked and redistributed my Sainsbury's Grocery delivery. Things still are not straight, so definitely no photographs in this post.

Put the new eggs in the pretty basket with the few remaining older eggs. Marked the originals with a cross so I would know which to use up next. I first started doing that when the girls still lived at home, and realised they may wonder if the cross meant 'this one' or 'not this one' - so then I wrote "Use Me" underneath the crosses. It seems to me that if we are Christians, and prepared to bear the sign of the Cross, we have to be prepared to say "Use Me" as well. [see Luke ch9 v23]

Knitting group at Borders was good last night. We had three new members. Ellen, who is the Staff Member allocated to our group came along and belated received the Easter Egg we had for her. Ellen arranged for Danny, who organises the website to drop in, and we co-ordinated all the dates for the next few meetings. Thanks, you two, for the help and encouragement you're giving to our group. Ellen is a textiles student, when she isn't working in Borders. Do check out her Etsy shop, where she has some lovely stuff!

Maybe one day I shall be organised enough to sell stuff on Etsy. Maybe...

Birte, Ribba, Ram and Kladd!

Don't you just love the crazy names IKEA give to their products. It being Monday, and Day Off, we went up to the Nottingham branch, ostensibly to buy a new shower curtain for the redecorated bathroom. We came back without one, but still managed to buy other stuff. I got some of the new fabrics - planning to do some sewing for my sister-in-law soon, another 99p cache pot, a picture for the bathroom, and some more Dinera china. We use Dinera as our everyday stuff, and this was so pretty. We also purchased 102 picture frames - but these were not for personal use, you understand.

It is April, and I am already planning the activities for our Children's Holiday Bible Club in August! Hence the acquisition of craft materials.

Having begun the day with free coffees in IKEA ['Family Cardholders' don't pay for drinks] we then came back down the M1 and exchanged two vouchers for free tea in M&S. Who says there is no such thing as a free lunch!

I decided I really ought to try out the new crockery, and remembered there were some spring rolls lurking at the back of the freezer. Our menu tonight therefore;

Spring Rolls, Vegetable Chow Mein, Egg Fried Rice, Sweet & Sour Pork - plus soy sauce for dipping and Spring Onion Garnish - not bad considering it was thrown together in a very short space of time from ingredients which I just had in fridge and cupboard. Eat your heart out Delia!

The Treacle Pudding will have to wait till tomorrow, I think.

Normal Service has been resumed!

Woke up this morning to find a blanket of snow outside, the mountain ash in the front garden looked beautiful. I even managed to get a photograph against the glorious blue sky [Very carefully taken to avoid any glimpse of the seemingly everlasting building works which are going on across the road]

Then it was off to church - Bob's first Sunday back in the pulpit since his Sabbatical ended. It was a good service, and the singing was great.

We had a mixture of music, and because Bob was preaching about the call of Abraham [sermon summary - Be different, Be engaged, Be a blessing] we sung Thomas Oliver's' great hymn with it's stirring Hebrew melody, played wonderfully by Linda on the organ. The link above lists all 12 verses- we only sang vv1-4, and v12 - but I am not altogether sure why we sang the Friendly Worms Verse! The piano playing on the link doesn't really do justice to the tune either, but never mind.

The children's talk was about Lyle's Golden Syrup [like our Church, it is 125 years old this year] Cannot find a picture of the special Golden Anniversary Tin so here is the traditional green one. I shall have to make a treacle pudding tomorrow I think!

Everybody was very solicitous about my health - and seemed pleased Bob's Sabbatical was over. It's good to have you back, dear!

I want to marry a Lighthouse Keeper...

It is the beginning of April, so I have just put away my winter jumpers and skirts and got out the summer wardrobe. If I can, I try to arrange this changeover when the daughters are around - they act as my own personal 'Trinny and Susannah' and make helpful comments about what to keep and what to give to charity. It is a strange reversal of 10 years ago when they were teenagers, to hear them telling me "You aren't going out looking like that!" However this week I did the sort all by myself [but very slowly, with lots of sitting down to rest in between] All the fashion books say that middle aged women should give up tee-shirts with slogans on, but I resolutely hang on to two I bought last summer.

This one - because I was born in Romford and I am proud of that. And before you ask, yes, I did get married in 4" white stilettos. But then I am 4'11" and he is 6'4", so I needed the added height.

And this one - because I love everything about it - the girl on the motorbike, the Bible, the slogan, and the Bible reference [Romans 12;2] oh, and the wonderful red boots! It seems to sum up many things about me.

The red tee shirt is from Howies, who make wonderful tee shirts and stuff. the black one came from an exhibitor at the Christian Resources Exhibition at Sandown Park last May. Always a Grand Day Out.

On the subject of clothes - I really enjoy the current M&S ad, and have recently been humming the song round the house in my tuneless little way. Apparently the song featured in the film A Clockwork Orange [which I have not seen because I don't like violence] The ad was filmed in South Africa. But I wish to have a little rant here...this strikes me as a little hypocritical of Stuart Rose et al - if M&S really believe "There is no plan B" why did they fly Erin and Twiggy and co all the way out there to make the advert? That sort of behaviour isn't helping save the environment, is it?Particularly when you consider that someone the finest lighthouses in the world are here in the UK designed by the talented Stevenson family, and also John Smeaton. I suppose they would argue the light was wrong, and the weather too cold for wearing bikinis.

The great advantage of keeping my wardrobe in two parts and alternating them every six months means I feel I have suddenly got lots of new clothes to wear for the summer- and really do not need to go out and buy anything. Which has to be better for the environment [and the bank balance]

Less challenging book reviews!

If you want some Serious Reviews, check out the blog of Bob, my better half - but I have just finished The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs, and then I re-read Harnessing Peacocks by Mary Wesley.

One is American, the other (very) English - but in both the protagonist is a single mother with a teenage child. The plots both involve relationships between women who are friends, and also involve older 'wiser' women, and the fathers of the teenagers. I enjoyed the Knit Club book - although it is heavy in parts and rather sad at the end, whilst Mary Wesley's book was light and amusing (But the characters live according to a totally different moral code from my own, and use very ripe language at times - sensitive readers be warned!)

The really sad thing about both books is that they describe the messes which people make of relationships by not dealing with rifts and problems when they occur, but rather let things build up to complete breaking point. People DO make mistakes in life, which have a knock-on effect and hurt others, but to cut off ties with family members, or friends, and leave the hurts festering for years, and sometimes turning into bitterness is such a bad thing. Often the initial issue was one of misunderstandings not cleared up at the time. What the speaker says and what the listener hears are not always the same! I was glad that both books showed some measure of reconciliation for many of the characters though - I believe passionately in forgiveness, redemption and hope.

Speaking of misunderstandings, are there any other Archers Addicts out there who are getting irritated with some of the current story lines? I know Alan (the Vicar) wants to marry Usha (the Hindu) but I do think that the scriptwriters should have done a little more research before they penned the lines for Mabel (the mother of Alan's late wife) If M is meant to be an Evangelical Christian then she probably wouldn't say she was praying for Usha "to convert". It is surely more likely she would say praying for her "to become a Christian" or "to come to Jesus". It takes away Mabel's credibility to have her speaking 'the language of Zion' but using the wrong regional dialect!

I did glance at the Archers Webpage Messageboards - but after wading through heaps of posts about "What do clergymen know about real life? they only work on Sundays" I gave up in disgust!

I ventured out to the Coffee Drop-In at church this morning. Everyone was extremely kind and told me not to do too much. I am trying hard to listen to this advice. Thank you Scott for being willing to take my Sunday School class for me this week!

Too woozy for words!

OK, I admit it - I AM a dreadful patient, and I DID do too much yesterday. Have felt incredibly sleepy all day, and not achieved anything much. The house smells beautiful - lilies at the front, freesias at the back,from the bouquets which kind friends sent after my op.

It seemed time to put away my knitted Easter Eggs  which have been on display for over a week now.Thanks Julie! it was an incredibly easy pattern and used up lots of oddments of wool. I got the polystyrene eggs very cheaply in The Works in Leicester.

Maybe we should decorate our homes more at Easter - it's just important a celebration as Christmas, if not more so.

John Lewis just telephoned - someone (fraudulently) tried to use my card on the Internet. As I had not used my card for MONTHS until Monday when I used it in the Oxford Street Store, it all seems a bit odd. I have been told to cut up my card and they will send me another. Well done JL for being so alert. Please hurry up now and get the new Leicester Store open (I moved here nearly thirteen years ago, and have really missed JL)

Trip to London

Sunday morning began with breakfast here, cooked Matzo Brei from Martha Stewart - which was incredibly filling and very tasty. Its definitely a recipe designed to use up leftovers from your Passover meal - matzo crackers, and spices, apples and raisins from the Charoseth. I thoroughly approve of such thriftiness. The Old English word for 'a meal from leftovers' is "Orts". when the girls were small, we had Orts so often, I think they couldn't ever remember what the original meal might have been!

Anyway later on, Bob drove me down to London to see the girls. He left me with Steph in Stoke Newington.In the evening, she and I walked round to Clicia in Church Street for a splendid Mediterranean meal in attractive surroundings.

After a Jewish Breakfast,it was more of a Turkish Supper!

The restaurant is right opposite the house where Daniel Defoe used to live. In fact, Stoke Newington is a hotbed of Nonconformity - Isaac Watts, the hymnwriter lived here, and his memorial is in nearby Abney Park Cemetery. It's all to do with the Nonconformist Academy, apparently, started locally for those who wanted to study, but could not get into University because they weren't Anglicans! For current Nonconformists, all very much alive, check out the London Baptists

On Monday we had a lazy start, and met up with Liz to potter around various places. I really enjoy being with my daughters, and being in London - so it was tremendous fun.

They really indulged me by letting me spend ages in a wool shop I had not visited before - although I have to say that the assistant was not very chatty and didn't seem at all concerned to sell us anything. I got some pretty Rowan wool to make some more scarves. Then we went on to John Lewis and they disappeared to look at kitchen stuff whilst I went up to Haberdashery (Whose bright idea was it to relocate H to the 4th floor?) Wanted to buy some fabric to make a summer skirt, but hadn't remembered to copy quantities down from my wonderful, but ancient, needlecraft book,so ended us standing in the store with my Filofax, drawing diagrams involving pi and Pythagoras. Hope I got the calculations right, or it may end up more A line than circular!

In the evening we ate a Lebanese meal at Beirut Express - more aubergines, and tender lamb, and pitta bread... We were all very taken with the wonderfully named hand dryer in the Ladies Loo! Then we parted company with Steph - she returned to Stoke Newington, and Liz and I got on the bus for Elephant and Castle.

Home in time to watch Delia Smith! I didn't sleep that well - woke very early and listened to the Dawn Chorus, and finished my book. The Friday Night Knitting Club. Will blog more about that later.

Got up at 7.30am, packed my bag - including my craft purchases - and then Liz and I headed off to get our buses. I forgot breakfast!

The lovely variegated colours of the wool have not shown up too well in this photo. The second photo is the other end of Liz's sofa, with the Orla Keily cushions I made for her last year.

Once I got to St Pancras,I grabbed hot chocolate and a croissant from Pain Quotidien, and thus armed with my Daily Bread I climbed aboard the train to Leicester.

It's good to be home! But Bob's sabbatical is over, and he is back to work now - time to go off to the Ladies Fellowship.

I am using Windows Live Writer now - must be careful not to get too carried away. Do not expect so many photographs in subsequent postings.

A lovely day!

After much dithering, I have decided to start a blog! I keep reading those written by other people and now it is my turn. Whether or not I am disciplined enough to maintain the thing remains to be seen.

Technically the whole thing seems to have been a bit challenging thus far - just sorting out my profile and loading a photo was hard enough. My only excuse is that I had a general anaesthetic 2 days ago and I don't think my brain has recovered yet, the pain killers have left me very woozy. But thank you to everyone at the Royal who provided such brilliant care. I am supposed to be enjoying bed-rest for 48 hours but I am a terrible patient!

This morning I had a fabulous French Breakfast - Bob went off early on the motorbike and returned with a newspaper and fresh croissants. We ate off our new tablecloth (free from Bonne Maman Confitures) and used the wonderful red crockery we bought in Paris nearly 27 years ago. (It was on the day of Charles and Di's wedding - sadly my cups lasted long than their marriage) The table looked so splendid, I decided to photograph it.

The rest of the day I have done very little, which has been difficult - we did have a trip to Borders, and coffee in Starbucks, then came home to watch the Boat Race. Very satisfying to see Oxford rowing well, they deserved to win. Did not really envy Steph standing in the rain watching it live, by Hammersmith Bridge.

It has rained such a lot today, and there has been very little sun - but a favourite hymn has been in my head since I woke up, and so I am posting it here. It seems appropriate, at the end of an Easter week during which there has been love,light and joy, as well as pain.

O Love that wilt not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in thee;

I give thee back the life I owe,

That in thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

O Light that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to thee;

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from thee;

I lay in dust life’s glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.

(check out the full story at http://www.igracemusic.com/hymnbook/hymns/o08.html)

That's enough for one day.Must go and put the clocks forward, ready for Low Sunday tomorrow!