Handy for the Andes!

I have been doing lots of tidying up and I found this.

It is the Peruvian Hat I knitted for Liz when she was a baby.

I found the pattern in a library book, and knitted it from oddments. Bob and Steph had them too!

 

Here is a picture of Jessica and Sam Williamson in their Peruvian hats - they sent the photo to Bob as a birthday gift on Tuesday!

I wonder why I never put the plaits on the ones I made - I guess they cannot have been on the pattern. It was about 25 years ago!

And why have I kept the little hat all this time?

The correct name for this style of hat is a chullo, and the knitters [men and women] of the Andes produce these with incredibly fine wool - some even sharpen bicycle spokes for needles!

I have learned a lot about Peruvian knitting from this wonderful site.

Now I shall get back to tidying up and see what other treasures I can unearth.

The Sewing Machine Song

Isn't this a great little song? I must teach it to the girls at Wednesday Night's Club!!

For Chairman Bob!

Some lovely autumnal flowers, which arrived for Bob on his birthday.

I don't have a proper pedestal vase, so I did the Martha Stewart Cheat thing and put a white china sugar bowl on a smaller [inverted] white china dish.

 

The office chair in Bob's Studio is looking very worn and he asked me if I could do something to improve its appearance.

So once I had tackled the ironing mountain, I found some fabric in The Great Stash and made new covers. Quick and easy - they are basically elasticated circles like Giant Shower Caps.

He is pleased with the result - and so am I [more using up of the GS, and therefore another problem solved without spending any money!]

<<before

after>>

Chariots of Fire

It has just been announced that next year, the O2 Arena [aka Millennium Dome] will be hosting the World Premier of a new performance of Ben Hur, with a cast of 400 actors and 100 animals - including live chariot races! This is to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1959 film which starred Charlton Heston.

This was the 4th film version of the book - and it won 11 Academy Oscars [a record equalled, but not beaten, by Titanic and Lord of the Rings III]

When I first read the story of the writing of the original book, it fascinated me, but such details conveniently gets overlooked by the secular media. This novel was written by Lew Wallace, a former Civil War General. His wife, Susan Arnold Elston, was already a published writer, and had produced a number of works, mostly on Christian subjects, and some of these for children. Her husband was apparently rather anti her beliefs, and declared that he was going to write a novel which would disprove Christianity once and for all.

The story goes that whenever he disappeared to his study to work on the novel, his wife gathered her friends in the parlour for a prayer meeting. As he struggled to write, Wallace was convicted of the reality of the gospel, and fell on his knees, crying "My Lord and My God!" - he went out to the women, and declared "It is all true!"

The book he went on to write was "Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ" which is the story of a man who encountered Jesus in first century Palestine. The book became the best selling novel of the 19th Century.

However I am not sure that Lew and Susan would altogether have approved of some of the changes. The original film lasted four hours - this show will only take two. According to The Times today, "Franz Abraham, the new show’s German producer, promises to create all the excitement of the film in half the time and with jokes.

Audiences attending the evening performances on September 15, 18 and 19, rather than the family matinees, will also see that the book’s rather prim orgy sequence (omitted from the 1959 film) has been fleshed out with considerable nudity and 'above the belt erotic scenes. . . which show more explicitly what happens in an orgy'."

I couldn't actually remember an orgy in the book - but sure enough, when I checked my copy, in part IV, chapter 10 ends with these words "There was a shout that set the floor to quaking, and the grim Atlantes to dancing, and the orgies began" And that's it!! Lew Wallace obviously felt that he didn't need to spell out to his readers what happens in an orgy - he had a much better story to tell.

The producer is reducing sixty-six chapters to a two hour production - but obviously feels that he needs to 'flesh out' one brief sentence on page 116 ['flesh out' is certainly what it is going to be!] I really don't want to turn into Mary Whitehouse - but is this really necessary?

I don't think I shall applying for a ticket! I may become even more pedantic than usual, and start referring to the book by its full title too - "Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ".

An Uphill Struggle

Sometimes a day in the classroom leaves me feeling like Sisyphus!

I was working with Year 1/2s, looking at a history timeline - dating from 1408 - 2008. This is hard work, because many of them don't really understand big numbers like hundreds and thousands. So six hundred years is a really difficult  concept. They have just been doing Guy Fawkes, so we had to put 1570 [his birth] and 1605 [Gunpowder Plot] on the timeline. We had a few other dates -  including 1666, 1926, and 1952.

They had heard about the Great Fire of London- one child remembered it began in a Baker's Shop. Another waved his arm at me "Yes?" "Please, Miss, my uncle lived in London. But he's dead now" - and another child said "Did he die in the Great Fire, then?"

I moved on to 1926 - the year Princess Elizabeth was born, and 1952, the year she became our Queen. "Miss - she died in a Car Crash didn't she?" "No, that was Princess Diana, in 1997. The Queen is still alive"

"So Miss, was it Queen Victoria who died in The Car Crash?" "No - that was Princess Diana - we aren't putting her on our time-line"

I continued, trying to explain just how we were going to fill in the TimeLine in our Topic Books, and once they had all the information recorded, if there was time, they could draw some illustrations [A house on Fire, A crown, etc]

"Is everybody clear about what to do?" Great chorus of "Yes, Miss!" One solitary hand goes up. "Yes, dear?"

"So did Guy Fawkes die in the Car Crash then?"

I give up!!!

Psalm 127:2

OK, I admit it - I did not go to bed last night! I sat up till 4.45am watching the US election results, then curled up for a few hours and slept on the sofa. It would have been mean to go upstairs and wake Bob - who only managed to stay up till about 2am.

Fortunately I knew I wasn't teaching today and had other stuff to do at home at my own pace, so being sleepy hasn't been too much of a problem.

I couldn't just sit about and do nothing while Dimbleby et al waffled on, so I had a tray of buttons on my lap and produced LOADS of bracelets.

I was really pleased with them, and have more than enough for my Christmas gift list.  I may take some to the Craft Fair at School and  see if they will sell there. I plan to make some voile bags to put them in.

I worked out a way to arrange them for the photo - on a cardboard

wrapping paper roll! I happen to have an empty roll because I spent Monday evening wrapping gifts. Please don't get annoyed with me! The more I get done now the more time I will have when December gets here to enjoy the important spiritual side of Christmas - the part I love the best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the voting is over, let us not forget to go on praying for the USA, and for Obama, their President-Elect.

Many Happy Returns, Old Man!

Today is Bob's birthday! He's had some great gifts [which he may blog about himself]

Happy birthday, Darling, have a wonderful day.

 

 

I really must find a better photo of him. This one is not properly in focus!

Yes he IS that tall! He shares his birthday with James Montgomery the great hymnwriter [Angels from the Realms of Glory, Hail to the Lord's Anointed etc]

I'd make more of a fuss, but I'm off to lead the Ladies Meeting Now!

God Bless America!

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, 

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:    

As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free, 

While God is marching on. 

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,   

He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is succour to the brave,   

So the world shall be His footstool,

and the soul of Time His slave,

Our God is marching on.

[shameless name dropping here - I have never met Obama or McCain, but Rick Warren gave me two hugs when I met him in Birmingham three years ago!]

Signs Of The Times

Monday - Day Off - went into Leicester as we needed the Bank & GPO.[and Maplin, and Button Boutique,of course!]

Couldn't resist taking a picture of this sign. Sadly, spelling is so bad nowadays, I am afraid that many people will not even realise the three homophones.

There was another wonderful sign on the back of a bus, which stopped beside me as I was waiting for Bob. "Reducing your Revs cuts fuel costs and Co2."

And there was me hoping we could INCREASE  our Revs by getting an Associate Minister.

Better Late Than Never

Don't you just feel silly when something occurs to you - and it is SO obvious, that you feel daft for not thinking of it before? In the past week I have had two such epiphanies.

number one - in the past few weeks I have got down my trusty Slo-Cooker. It is ancient, at least twenty years old [Bizarrely, it was a freebie when I purchased a pair of sheets for the girls bunk beds]

In the winter months I fill it in the morning and then when I get home from a day's teaching there is a casserole or bolognaise ready and waiting. What I have only just realised is that it is BRILLIANT for making stock. We had a chicken on Saturday and yesterday Bob stripped all the remaining meat from it. Last night I stuck the smashed carcase, plus a few veg and seasonings into the pot, covered it with boiling water, and left it on overnight. This morning I had some wonderful, golden stock which has formed the basis for a batch of nourishing chicken soup [I'm turning into a Jewish mother!]

number two - I have had a vintage 1960's Midwinter Sienna Cake Stand for ages. I love it - but the previous owner obviously overtightened the screws and cracked the glaze. On Saturday, for the first time, I worked out how to disguise this. Unscrew the thing, cut tiny holes in the centre of two doilies, then re-assemble round the doilies.

Voila! damaged parts covered and cake plate looks wonderful.

It looks even better piled up with goodies. I made some Button Biscuits and we enjoyed them with a cuppa on Saturday when the others were here. Only these three remain!

Next time I shall roll them a little thicker,  bake them for a shorter time and probably reduce the temperature slightly - these were a little bit overdone at the edges! The recipe came from the Ideal Homes 2008 Christmas Guide. The button idea appealed to my ongoing and insatiable love of haberdashery**.

BUTTON BISCUITS

1. Combine 125g softened butter with 125g soft brown sugar
2. Sift in 250g plain flour, 2tsp ground ginger. 1tsp baking powder, 1 tsp mixed spice. Mix well, add 3tbsp golden syrup
3. Mix, then knead to a dough by hand. Wrap in clingfilm, chill for 30min. Preheat oven to 190ºC.
4. Roll out on floured surface to 5mm thickness. Cut out with round cutter. Make 4 holes with skewer [large, as they close up when baking] Use a smaller cutter to make an indent for button edge [I used a glass, and found it worked best if I pushed into a piece of clingfilm so it didn't stick]
5. Bake 15 mins.

** I have been trying to find the origin of this word and it appears there are at least two theories. It definitely dates from the 14th century - but it is either from the anglo-french word "Hapertas", a kind of coarse fabric, or it is a corruption of "Habt ihr das?, when German peddlars were asked "Do you have that?" All this may of course just be haberdoedas - which is dutch/flemish for gibberish!

Random Numbers

Jo, another blogging Supply teacher, has kindly awarded me this

I feel highly honoured to have received it.

I am now required to post 7 Random Facts about myself, and then nominate some other bloggers.

That is quite hard, but here goes

1. My Grandfather's cousin survived the sinking of the Titanic.
2. In 1963 I went to a CSSM Children's Holiday Club - and I still have the badge they gave me in my jewellery box
3. I am exactly 150cm tall [and have been known to lie down in carpet shops in order to measure the size of a rug]
4. I was born on Easter Sunday [1955] and baptised on Easter Sunday [1969]
5. When I was at School, I won a certificate for "Progress in Maths" but it was awarded by the Guinness Company - so my teetotaller mother refused to display it [even though she had my other certificates framed]
6. If I eat cheese I vomit!
7. This month marks 40 years since I started preaching [and 30 since Bob did - that's seventy years between us.Gracious me!]

I nominate Seraphim, Monica, Tina and Lynn

Unbirthday Party

It was lovely today - my brother Adrian, sis-in-law Marion and niece Lucy came over from Norfolk for the day. In the next two weeks, both Bob and Adrian have birthdays, so after lunch we had some present-opening, then we ventured into Leicester so they could visit the Highcross Centre.

Adrian is a Deacon at their church and Marion is in the Worship Group - so we find it really hard to get together as we are all so busy. Family days like this are very special and precious.

Adrian had brought a faulty PC with him, and whilst he and Bob got that fixed, Marion and I shortened her skirt.

It is a full-length Per Una skirt - she has had it a while, but always felt it was a little too long. The design on the fabric is lovely. However it's one of those crinkly affairs - and to shorten the skirt and the lining means sewing nearly 5 metres of hem!

But we picked up some cones of thread in John Lewis, and it was a matter of minutes to re-do the hem on my trusty Toyota Overlocker.

It is really satisfying to be able to do a job like this for someone, and make a garment useful and wearable.

The finished skirt looked good, and Marion was pleased with it.

Yesterday I did a bit of baking, and used my new mini-morsel baking tin [purchased at Lakeland in Windermere last week] to make some chocolate tarts for dessert, and some salmon and chive mini-quiches for tea.

They looked remarkably impressive [almost good enough to be from M&S!] but I think I shall need to tweak the recipe a bit to get the quantities right. I forgot to take pictures of my creations before we ate them,so here is the picture from the Lakeland website.

Despite the awful rain, the family got home safely and in good time.  I don't think we will be able to meet up again now until we go over to Norfolk on New Year's Eve.

Confessions

It was me! I was in Borders and they had a big display of new books. I decided that there were rather too many on show by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross. So I..erm..rearranged them, and put a number of these two editions on top of them!

This one is a re-issue of a book that the Blessed Saint Delia first brought out in 1976.

Back then it was a cheap'n'cheerful paperback -slightly more in keeping with it's title.

The other one was Jamie Oliver's latest offering.

After reading Bob's recent post I think I should perhaps put JO on my Conversion Prayer List. Imagine what a phenomenal evangelist he might be if he became a committed Christian! [His language would improve too]

Looking for something else on the kitchen bookshelf at home this morning,I found my copy of the More With Less Cookbook. [Apologies Liz, and Steph - as I had suspected one of you two of 'borrowing' it!]

The picture is the 25th Anniversary Edition - mine is one of the originals from 1978.

This book is written by a Mennonite, and has some lovely recipes in it. [Please pay no attention to Marge Simpson at this point, who once declared "Ooh, the Amish are so industrious, not like those shiftless Mennonites…"

Mennonites are, for the most part, peaceable, hardworking Christian folk who do a lot of good all round the world - and they have delicious food too. You would not find them broadcasting crude and insulting messages on Radio 2!

We Need A Sign

Having just read this post on Glen's Blog,I decided to make a sign for Bob's study door!

Crafty moments

Christmas presents and other craft stuff well under way.

Here's a 'teaser' shot of one of the baskets I have made.

I also spent some time one evening working on the button bracelets. I am quite pleased with the three I have made so far. 19cm does seem the right diameter.

They are threaded on fine copper wire [from John Lewis Haberdashery] and then there is a fine cord elastic loop on the last button.

So you can undo them and fasten them on to your wrist - but there is just enough give in the elastic to pre-fasten it and slide it over your hand.

Most of my buttons are really old, and many have been given to me - but some are salvaged from outgrown garments. The blue stars came from a pair of PJs Liz had [a Christmas gift from my Dad]  when she was about ten, and one of the green ones was from a cardigan she had when she was two [knitted by my friend Libby, whose husband Graham was at Spurgeons College with Bob. They are now pastoring in New Zealand] One of the pinky/purple ones was from a top I made in 1972 when I was in the sixth form! My friend Alison bought the Simplicity pattern and about five of us made up the top. It was really complicated, cut on the bias. It is such fun, going through the button tin and recalling the memories of good friends and good times!

The girls at Sewing Club are continuing to work hard to produce goods for their Charity Sale - but have realised that we cannot do it before Christmas, simply because they haven't produced enough stock yet. Here are three aprons and a peg bag!

These are all being produced from recycled vintage fabrics.

The pocket on the third apron is really cute - it was originally the edge of a sheet and has three gambolling sheep on it.

The bias binding on the pegbag was made with my lovely bias binding maker. A brilliant gadget which saves no end of money!

It was a Christmas gift from Auntie Peggy when Liz was a toddler [so must be at least 25 years old] and you simply thread a strip of fabric through and iron it as it comes out, and voila! binding ready-to-use.

I have got two now, for standard and wider bindings.

They cost about £6 - but as there are no parts to go wrong and they are incredibly simple to use, they last for years.

I have got to move the machines and stuff now though - family coming to visit tomorrow, and I mustn't leave their Christmas gifts on show, and spoil the surprise!

2 Corinthians 5:7

I went off early this morning to the Opticians. I was due for an eye test in August but never got round to it - but Annie Domino is creeping up on me, and I felt my eyesight had changed a bit.

I was right - I DO need new glasses! Choosing frames is always difficult  - for a start, when I try them on, they do not have the correct lenses in - so I can't possibly see properly what they look like, then there is the cost of the wretched things. My current frames are called "Esther" [why? we know that the biblical heroine was beautiful, but it doesn't tell us she was myopic!] When I got them, they were half-price because they were about to be discontinued- apparently.Today, more than two years later, they still have them on sale [but at twice the price I paid] Can I have new lenses put in these old frames? The advice was yes, but it would cost nearly as much as new frames and obviously they are not as strong [Luke 5:36 etc]

The helpful assistant pointed out a pair she thought would suit.I picked up an almost identical pair which seemed a lot cheaper. The cheaper ones did not include lens price, so in the end would cost more. It all got very complicated. Finally we found a frame that we both liked, and which was appropriate for my varifocal lenses, and titanium, so would be strong enough to withstand going on and off whilst I'm wearing my crash helmet.

"They are a bit 'Sarah Palin'" I said. "Who?" said the assistant. "You know, the woman who is standing as the Republican Candidate as Vice President of the USA" She looked blankly at me [at least I think she did, I wasn't wearing my glasses] "I don't really follow politics and things"

"Look, the Democrat candidate is the black guy, Barack Obama, and she is the running-mate for the other one, McCain" "Oh - I thought they had elected the black guy already"

I was slightly gob-smacked. She genuinely thought that America had already got its first black president.

Bob teases me for listening to Radio 4 all the time and being a News Junkie - but I think it is important to keep in touch with world events. How else can we pray intelligently?

My Dad used to tell of a bloke at Bible College with him, who began his prayer with "Lord, as Thou hast read in tonight's Evening Standard.." - that's not quite what I mean!

My spectacles should be ready in about two weeks. And no they do not make me look like SP, a moose-shooting Republican, I prefer to think that they have more of the Tina Fey about them [smart and witty]

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."

Let us continue to pray for all our friends in the States - that God will guide them as they vote for the new President, and that "In God We Trust" might be a reality, not just a motto on their currency.

And They All Lived Happily Ever After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy getting ready for Friday Night's Alternative Halloween Party, on the Saints and Superheroes theme. I have decided not to go in costume - I have finally had to admit that I am just not tall enough to be Xena, Warrior Princess! The children are going to make mini-books. I've prepared one, which will print out on an A4 sheet, then with some nifty cutting and folding will end up as A7 size, about 7.3 x 10.5 cm. They love making these.

You can find a good tutorial about making these books here, on the Toymaker Site. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night's group were incredibly welcoming, and very apologetic that they were so few in number. It didn't bother me - I would rather have an appreciative audience of seven than a roomful of fidgetters!

Did supply for a year 1 class, and the literacy lesson was interesting. They are studying "Traditional Tales" and they had to decide who was the goodie and who the baddie in various stories. Some were not too hard to sort out [Fairy Godmother = Goodie, Troll in 3 Billy Goats Gruff = Baddie]

but what about these characters...

Goldilocks - she broke in to the property, stole food, and vandalised the place.

The Gingerbread Man - very proud and boastful.

Red Riding Hood - disobeyed mother's instructions about taking shortcuts, and made rather personal remarks about Grandma's appearance.

Jack acted stupidly, disobeyed his mother's instructions regarding the sale of the cow, and then broke into the giant's home and stole things. And damaged the beanstalk.

The Seven Dwarfs [Dwarves?] shamelessly exploited a homeless orphan girl and made her their skivvy, cooking and cleaning all day.

Of course, the added complication to any of these is that today's child only knows the story via Walt Disney's Syrup-Laden Interpretation. And furthermore, as the 'traditional' family unit is less common now, is it helpful for stepmothers to be classed as 'wicked' and half-sisters as 'ugly'?

Disney's heroines all tend to be tall and slender. I realised long ago that I would always be short. Unless I find something to stand on - as the song says

Some day my plinth will come...

Back to work

Yesterday afternoon was fun- we went over to Newbold Verdon Baptist Chapel for their 175th Anniversary Celebration service. Dianne, our Regional Minister, led the prayers, a lady called Gayle was baptised, and Bob Simpson, the pastor, preached. I only have a picture of Dianne, so here it is.

A joint Methodist/Baptist choir, made up of ladies from the village, sang.  Sylvia, who lived in NV, but belongs to KMFC had made and iced a splendid cake. It was a good Sunday on which to end our holiday. I do hope my friend C's baptismal service, just up the road, was as joyful.

Today I have been preparing for tonight's speaking engagement [God, Me and a Sewing Machine] and realising that so much of the stuff I sew is for other people, so my demonstration samples are somewhat limited. I can hardly take a pair of curtains and an ironing board cover to show them!

Charlie has been to the Vet, for claw clipping and general health check. The vet was very encouraging and prescribed painkillers to go along with his anti-inflammatories. She stressed he is getting older, so we should expect to notice a general slowing down. She asked if he had developed any strange habits which showed he was going senile "For instance, does he just stand and stare at the wall?" We said he didn't do that.

Is that a strange and senile habit, then? I mean, if I cannot remember something, I just stand and stare blankly for a while till it comes back to me. I think I have done that all my life. I am definitely now at the age where I believe in The Hereafter. I get upstairs and think "What am I here after?"

Bob has just directed me to the wonderfully intriguing entry in Wikipedia regarding Newbold Verdon, which I feel obliged to share with you.

"Newbold Verdon is a village in the county of Leicestershire, England. The first settlers in the 600s were Christian Anglo-Saxons, which named the site 'New Sodom' due to a Biblical misinterpretation. In the Domesday Book the settlement was called Niwebold."

But there is no sport of explanation as to why they thought it was the New Sodom!!

Going away for a holiday is wonderful - but there is always so much to be done when you return [laundry to be done, mail to sort out, bills to be paid].

One thing to celebrate - I have finished knitting all the sea lettuce scarves I plan to give as Christmas gifts! If you missed my tutorial with Jennie's incredibly easy pattern, it is here

Friday's Alternative Halloween Event is looming up on me. I hope the numbers for that have picked up a little. Lots of crafty things to get prepared and photocopied for that.