He is Mighty To Save

I really had a great time at Stoneygate Baptist this morning - they are such a friendly congregation, and very appreciative. It was an all Age Worship Service - only the second one they have had for years. The young people had formed a band during their Summer holiday Club, and wanted to play this morning. I knew two of the pieces they had chosen [From the Rising of the Sun, and My Jesus, My Saviour]  but the third was new to me. Apparently some of them had learned it at Soul Survivor.

It was a Hillsongs track, Mighty To Save.

They had obviously practised hard and I felt they did extremely well - and their commitment and enthusiasm really came across as they played and sang. It is a real privilege to be invited to lead worship and preach - but it is really special to be accompanied by these teenagers eager to share their faith. May they know continued encouragement and many blessings as they grow in grace!

Tonight will be a much more reflective, low key service at another of the local village chapels.

And then off to Cornerstones - can't wait!

Half Term - Half Measures

A very busy Saturday, both of us getting ready for leading and preaching at two services tomorrow and a Half-term Holiday trip to Cornerstones afterwards. I am planning to take a fair bit of food with me - but also eating up a few bits and pieces first which I fear will not travel well. Yesterday I cooked a pork shoulder joint from Sainsbury's and we had that last night and tonight - and we will finish it for lunch tomorrow.

Picked up this book in the library last week, and I have to say it is packed full of good ideas and sensible advice. Elizabeth David says in one of her book that the Good Cook Never Has Leftovers - but I think she maybe wrong. The GC makes sure she has enough food to feed everyone - and sometimes the numbers of guests and the size of their appetites cannot be predicted, so she cooks a little more to ensure there is an adequate meal for all. Kate Colquhoun's book is much more realistic - read more about it here on her website. It gave me an idea for tonight's dessert.

A few - rather ancient - apples, which were beyond their best for eating raw and needed peeling and cooking made a good Brown Betty. I did cheat a little - many recipes suggest you layer everything then oven it for 50 minutes. I prepared and cooked the layers separately then put it in the hot oven for about 10 minutes to crisp the top.

In the best traditions of leftover meals, no exact quantities here!

2 cups of prepared apples [ie peeled, cored, cut into chunks]

2 tbsp demerara sugar

2 tbsp water

2 cups of brown breadcrumbs

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp mixed spice

First - put the apples, water and half the sugar in a pan and cook till the apples are soft, but not mushy

Meanwhile - melt half the butter in a frying pan, and stir in the breadcrumbs. Cook gently for about 4 minutes, stirring and turning till the crumbs go brown and crisp.

Mix the remaining 1tbsp sugar with the spice.

Now layer in a Pyrex dish IN THIS ORDER

half the apples

half the sugar

half the crumbs

half the apple

half the crumbs

half the sugar

now dot with remaining 1 tbsp butter cut into little bits

At this point, I give it 2 minutes in a microwave

Now put into a hot oven and leave for 10 minutes or so.

Serve with custard [or cream, ice cream or Greek yogurt]

Serves 4

or, in our case, we will eat half today and half tomorrow!

Ring Out Good News!

Some good news just spotted on the BBC website - the bell foundry at Loughborough has been saved from closure.

According to the foundry website "John Taylor Bellfounders continues a line of bellfounding which has been unbroken since the middle of the 14th Century, when Johannes de Stafford was active only 10 miles from the site of the present foundry. Since 1784 the business has been in the hands of the Taylor family. In 1839 the business settled in Loughborough and is now proud to operate the largest bellfoundry in the world.

 

The largest bell in Britain, "Great Paul", the massive Bourdon bell at St Paul's Cathedral in London, was cast in Loughborough in 1881, weight 37,483 pounds."

This engraving shows the bell being tested in Loughborough before it was transported to London

 

 

There are only two bell foundries operating in Britain now, the other being in Whitechapel, London, and I am really pleased that my 'local' one is not going to close. I love the sound of bells - of all kinds, from the great chimes of church bells to the pretty tinkling of Christmas Jingle Bells. And there are so many bells in literature - from Dorothy Sayers 'Nine Tailors' to Hugo's 'Notre Dame'

Technically 'jingle' bells are 'crotal' bells - but that is not a very euphonic term for such instruments of tintinnabulation is it?

And only the English could have made an art of change-ringing - the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology (such as carillon ringing) in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody. That probably seems a crazy idea to many people [but for a non-musical mathematical person like myself, it makes perfect sense!] And so many phrases and sayings in our language ...

As Sound As A Bell

Ring The Changes

Saved By The Bell

Go Like The Clappers

To Bell The Cat

Hang On The Bell, Nellie!

As Leslie Phillips would say... "Ding-Dong!"

Love Your Local Pastor!!

Over at "Yesterday Today Forever", Karin, a Canadian pastor's wife, has a great post about October being "Pastor Appreciation Month". She says some good stuff in it. I'm mentioning it not because my Pastor feels unappreciated - on the contrary, the fellowship here are wonderful in the many and varied ways they show love and appreciation for his ministry - but because we all need reminding sometimes. And some people are working away faithfully in difficult situations with very little support or appreciation from those around them. One of the great things about last weekend's Conference was the opportunity to encourage one another from different churches in the work we're all doing.

October is a good month to show encouragement - I think many pastors will be back from their summer break, well stuck into the autumn programme and just beginning the relentless progress towards all the Christmas stuff!!

PS I appreciate you, Bob!

The Belgian Boils The Brussels

I bought a bag of Brussels Sprouts for only 10p in Aldi. This seemed a bargain - but I confess when I got them home, I wasn't so sure. My attempts with brassica can be a bit 'ho-hum' at times - either I manage to undercook [bullets] or overcook [mush]

So I was very pleased when Bob volunteered, out of the blue, to prepare them. They were really delicious - only not terribly photogenic, and I don't have a picture. He sliced some garlic and root ginger quite finely, and toasted that along with some slivered almonds [in olive oil and butter]. Meanwhile he parboiled the sprouts then tossed them in the oil and butter with the other stuff.

The taste was amazing - especially the zinginess [is that a word?] of the ginger. He could certainly give Nigel Slater a run for his money in the flavour stakes, I think.

[And no, we didn't just have sprouts for our meal - I did the meat and potatoes and the dessert and everything else!]

But definitely a bargain at 10p a bag [especially since there are some left!]

Soup, Spaghetti, Squash....and Samba!

A lovely day in school which began with Harvest Festival.

The children had brought in produce which will be taken this afternoon to a local Salvation Army centre for distribution.

No teaching booked for tomorrow, so I guess that means my Half Term has started!

 

  Although much of this stuff is in tins and packets, it was lovely to listen to the Head interviewing a child whose Dad works on a farm locally, and also hear from members of the School gardening Club talking about the vegetables they are growing [they're better at it than I am]

We sang another great Out of The Ark song, The Harvest Samba [hear it here]

It's another Harvest Festival

When we bring our fruit and vegetables

Cos we want to share the best of all

....that we've been given

Gut Feelings

First there was that dreadful Yakult advert [watch it here if you don't know the one I mean] - trying to persuade us that our digestive system talks like Arthur Smith. And now there is the news that Actimel ads aimed at children are to be banned.

Professor Jeremy Nicholson, head of surgery and cancer at Imperial College London, quoted on the BBC website said " there is some good evidence that these good bacteria are beneficial to people with health problems, but there have been no wide, long-term studies on healthy people. These bugs have evolved with us and there's actually a gigantic number in the human body. To compete with the number of bacteria in your gut you'd need to have 50,000 pots [of Actimel] a day. There are 100 trillion bacteria in your gut, 1.5kg of them, so that's really quite substantial."

FIFTY THOUSAND POTS A DAY ??!!

Am I alone in finding those little bottles so pointless? There isn't enough in them for a decent drink - and these studies imply they don't have enough 'friendly' bacteria either. The only thing I can see in their favour is that they are useful for children's craft purposes.

And did you know that if something contains both prebiotics and probiotics, it is defined as 'synbiotic' ?

[that word probably wouldn't sound too good on the ads]

 

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "one might argue that synergism is attained in vivo by ingestion of lactobacilli on the one hand and promotion of indigenous bifidobacteria on the other hand." [well one might argue that, but I don't think I could!]

My beloved late father-in-law never ate any kind of yogurt, regarding it as 'milk which has gone off'! Not sure what he would make of this current wave of scientific gobbledegook.

And who was that 'Elsie Immunitas' woman that Danone used to go on about? Was she Dr Shirota's girlfriend?

Then there is the added confusion of the American pronunciation with YO to rhyme with GO. I was listening to someone the other day on TV, explaining about her lovely new Yogurt Mat - and thought it was perhaps some sort of special cloth for filtering the stuff, or maybe a special trivet for protecting the work surface. Eventually I realised she meant her YOGA mat!

I have this mad urge to go all retro and buy some 'Miss Muffet Rennet' and make a junket at the weekend. Can you still buy MM Rennet anywhere? I used to make junket when the girls were tiny [but Bob didn't like it - following the family tradition of regarding it as 'milk which has gone off'!!]

Swann-songs

Just heard on the BBC of the death of Ian Wallace [aged 90] - a great entertainer of bygone days- especially good on the radio programme My Music, where he frequently performed the songs of Flanders and Swann with skill and aplomb. In fact "The Hippopotamus Song" was his signature tune. I wanted to post that- but couldn't find it.

On Saturday at our concert, my gifted friend Laura Staves sang another F&S song - so here instead is a youtube video of Ian Wallace singing that same number. Enjoy!

The Jungle was giving a party, a post hibernation ball
The Ballroom was crowded with waltzing Gazelles, Gorillas and Zebras and all.
But who is that animal almost in tears, pretending to powder her nose? A poor little Warthog who sits by herself
In a pink satin frock with blue bows.
Again she is nobody's choice and she sings in a sad little voice:
No one ever wants to court a Warthog
Though a Warthog does her best

Life In Technicolor [part 2]

It was such a good conference. We enjoyed our first keynote speaker, Jonathan Edwards, enormously.

The main hall had comfortable seating - always important wen you have to sit for a long time!

People here all look happy, anyway

 

On the Saturday, as well as talks from Jonathan, we had some less formal moments. In the afternoon there was an opportunity to go to workshops. I chose jewellery making.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all concentrated really hard under Jill's guidance and some lovely necklaces and ear-rings were created.

Other friends learned puppetry, or handbell ringing, whilst others shared book reviews. Quite a few people took advantage of the nearby Sports Centre, some went for healthy walks- and a number just sat around chatting and drinking tea!

After our evening session, we had a concert. This was full of what my cousin calls "Tena Lady Moments" - with normally respectable women, wives of Baptist Pastors, rolling on the floor in hysterics. I am not posting pictures of these indignities! but...

...the bellringers rang beautifully...

...and the puppeteers performed ...

 

Afterwards we sat round till almost midnight talking and laughing.

I ought to explain that Connexion is for Pastor's spouses - so we do have a few husbands in membership. Just one came to this year's conference [brave man!] As he lived locally he just came for the day. His wife had come over to the Concert, and then they planned to go home. But then we realised at 211.45 when they came to leave that the door was locked, and alarmed and the Centre Staff were in bed!

As my bedroom was on the ground floor, I suggested they could climb out of my bedroom window. But the window had a security thing on it and would open far enough to let them climb through! [Minister's wife from Leicester caught in the act of pushing another woman's husband thru bedroom window... they might throw Bob out of the Baptist Union!] But mercifully we found a Conference Delegate who went for early morning runs, who'd managed to acquire a key - so we let them out in a respectable manner [with much giggling] via the Front Door after all.

 

Sunday was lovely - here is our Cross of Prayers.

Val had started us off on sewing a technicolor cloth which was placed on the communion table. She has taken it home to sew more patches on it.

 

Our speakers on Sunday were Alex and Dorcas Afriye

They are from Acton in London and talked about the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis.

We finished at 1pm with lunch and then Elisabeth and I drove back to Leicester. Looking forward to October 2011 and our next Connexion Conference.

 

When I got home, I went with Bob to a Churches Together United Service at a nearby Chapel. The Pastor, Ian, gave a great word, and his wife led worship - it was all really inspiring. We finished with one of my favourite songs

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

It was a lovely end to a brilliant weekend! So grateful to all the Connexion Committee for their hard work in making it all possible [having spent so many years involved in the organising of Conference myself, I know what is involved!]

Conformitas Christi!

One blog I really enjoy - because it combines thought-provoking ideas on theology and life with a GSOH is 'Living Wittily'. In a recent post, Jim spoke about "being conformed to Christ and being called to ... pattern one's life in Christ" - in Latin conformitas Christi!

He said he'd like a shirt bearing that slogan.

So out came the machine, and I stitched him one.He has been wearing it - but now makes the valid point on his blog

"Only thing is - you wear something that says you're a Christian, there is a question of being consistent with your clothes. Which was what Paul meant when he spoke of Christian believers, having put off their old garments and being clothed with Christ - I think, maybe, as one exegetical option..."

During the last few weeks I have been challenged in lots of different places [Bob's sermons on evangelism, blogs by Jim and others, things said at my weekend conference etc] about how the way we live is crucial, as is the witness of our words -  and we must "walk the talk"if our evangelism is going to carry authority and authenticity. Expect more on this theme...

Back to Borders !

For the first time in months I actually got to knitting group tonight at our local Borders Bookshop. It was so good to see friends again. Some of them had been kind enough to email me in recent weeks asking if I was OK as they hadn't seen me since about May! One thought maybe I had moved to Cornerstones permanently already. Everyone was busy making beautiful things, but the highlight for me was seeing Chrissy's bag [I did ask if I could post these pictures of it]

She has blogged about this bag herself - but it is a phenomenal piece of work. She will tell you that knitting is easy, but the sewing part is a real challenge for her. But this bag is great! She knitted it, then felted it, then sewed on the coloured felt tulips and embroidered their stems, then sewed in the fabric lining - which includes a key fob and phone pocket, and then attached the strap [which looks like leather but is plaited cotton].

It's really lovely Chrissy - and you are quite justified in feeling proud of this piece which displays so many different crafts.

It was fun to be at the group, but I couldn't stop too long, as now I have school stuff to prepare for tomorrow.

My pictures from the conference will have to wait until Wednesday to be posted. I had a fabulous time at the weekend - and today has been a real opportunity to relax and chill out with Bob [and go into Leicester on the motorbike together]

Life In Technicolor

The Conference is going really well –but I was obviously more tired than I thought, as last night’s pictures are all out of focus! King’s Park Centre is a great venue, our speaker Jonathan has been great, and Val our President has led things brilliantly.

Technical stuff all OK after an initial glitch [a multiway socket was malfunctioning – but it wasn’t one of mine, and it took a while to identify that as the cause of the fault] Our Evening Session was a thought provoking Question Time with 2 Pastors and 2 spouses then we had ‘After Hours’ which involved a chocolate fountain with dips.

Messy, and not good for the waistline, but great fun.The bedrooms are ‘well apppointed’ as they say and the showers work well.

A late night phonecall to Bob was great – apparently the Michael Card concert went exceedingly well.

Now I shall go to the area with WiFi and try to post this before breakfast.

A Pair of Headless Chickens!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My good friend Dulce Domum has commented on my recent Victoriana post that life [and laundry] in those days would have left her a gibbering wreck. Not sure about that - but in this house today we definitely have two headless chickens. Bob is wrestling with a very recalcitrant computer printer whilst fielding calls from people who have only just decided to buy tickets for tonight's Michael Card concert, and I am trying to remember all the stuff I am supposed to be taking to my Connexion Conference this afternoon - and sadly having to turn down last minute supply teaching work for today!

I have made a list - and checked it at least twice - but I am sure I have missed something out [clothes?]. Still, I am encouraged to note that I wrote "Bible" down in two separate places. My soul will be on track even if I have no clean underwear!

Not sure what opportunities I will have to blog again before Monday - but taking a camera and laptop with me anyway. Really glad to have the chance to catch up with my mates, and especially grateful for company on the journey [my friend Elisabeth] E & I will chat non-stop about the vital issues of life [children, church, Connexion and the Archers!]

Have a good weekend everybody!

Silent Lights...

No that isn't a misprint - SL is a company which produces display lighting for Churches and Christian groups. I have seen their stuff at the Christian Resources Exhibition and it is very good.

The latest mailing from them is full of brilliant ideas for using their illuminations at Hallowe'en as well as Christmas.

Their website is worth checking out, particularly the page about getting involved.

The idea of handing out sweets with a Christian message attached to trick-or-treaters isn't a new one, but to have an illuminated angel instead of a jack-o-lantern and matching angel tags on the goodie bags is very creative.

It is probably a good thing that following Monday's Burglary I am still without a credit card, otherwise I'd be very tempted to go online and purchase a whole heavenly host of sparkling seraphim to shine over the village!

Thank you Natalie

There is a lovely craft blog, Cinderberry Stitches, written by Natalie Lymer which I enjoy reading. In June I showed the girls at sewing club Natalie's [free] tutorial for making a Needlecase. Over the summer, the girls designed their own cases using her idea, and last night, Rose was the first one to complete her needlecase.

The central panel is embroidered and the fabric used for the rest is from IKEA in shades of pinks, reds and oranges.

Inside is a felt section for pinning needles. The whole thing fastens with a button and loop closure.

I emailed N when we began the project and she was kind enough to reply. I've just sent her these pictures. I think it is really important that we credit people when we use their ideas. It must be so frustrating for people who are trying to make a living at a craft to see their ideas taken and used without any acknowledgement - especially when other people are making money out of it.

Sewing Club is going well - the girls are still very enthusiastic, and we are getting lots of encouragement from other people. And I confess that I get a real buzz from teaching these skills to another generation.

I've got some of my own sewing projects in the pipeline at the minute - but they are Christmas Things, so you will have to wait and see...

Victoriana

Having missed the recent Anstey Gala [I was at a birthday lunch party in Norfolk] I was pleased when Debbie showed me two photos of herself and her friends from the Farmers' Market, all dressed in their Victorian Costumes enjoying the sunshine. Glad to hear you had such a good day, Debbie!

Whilst on the subject of Victorians, I have been enjoying the repeats of "The Victorian Farm" on BBC2 recently, and noticed this book in our village library this week.

Beautifully written and presented, it has lots of extra little details which were not in the actual programme.

I am especially excited to discover that the trio went back to the farm in July and prepared a three part Christmas special to be shown in December. More details on that here.

I love this paragraph... "There will also be an accompanying 'Make Your Own Victorian Christmas' website on bbc.co.uk featuring 25 festive projects that you or your family can do at home. Each one will have step by step instructions, a presenter led video to guide you and beautifully designed print out guides and templates"...sounds just up my street!

Read My Lips!

Bob went to another of those exhibitions for people who do PA stuff. We have noticed that in these days of recession, there are less freebies at such events than there used to be. But he brought back a present for me - a lip balm on a lanyard from the audio-technica stand.

This is really cool- and thank you, darling. But I'm a little confused- usually freebies are pens, mouse mats, post-its or coffee mugs - what you might call 'non-gender-specific'. Often at these PA events, they are bottle openers, which I tend to consider 'macho' - but lip-balm? This seems a surprisingly 'girlie' gift for an event which is 99.99% likely to be full of blokes! On the other hand, full marks to a-t for giving away something a little different.

Oh dear, am I guilty of terrible stereo-typing? is the world full of male sound engineers applying lipbalm, and female techies opening beer bottles?

Whatever, I shall hang this round my neck with pride. A girl needs to keep her lips soft, cos she never knows when she will need to 'pucker up' !!

Fall In Worship

It is starting to get quite autumnal here. Pompom on her post about Fall reminded me of an Elizabeth Barett Browning quote [from the poem Aurora Leigh]

"Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees takes off his shoes- the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries"

 

While I am grateful for the bounty of the hedgerows, I hope I never forget the One whose goodness provides it.

 

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love

Unexpected Blessings

Well, first of all, I had a lovely message from Jonathan Hart, MD of Caffe Nero - offering me some vouchers to replace Bob's mislaid loyalty card. How kind is that?

And then, having planned a top-up grocery shop this morning I went off to Sainsburys bright and early. As I'm at a conference this coming weekend I need to leave Bob lots of fruit and yogurt and other healthy snack food. I thought I would use my accumulated Nectar Points [other cards being currently cancelled]. It transpires I had £38 on the card. Way more than I thought, so was able to buy him some treats to eat in my absence as well.

Finally, as I got home and reversed onto the drive, I saw something bright red and blue in the hedge. No not Spiderman this time - it was Bob's motorbike keys! We had forgotten they were with his wallet - the burglar must have grabbed them too, thinking they were car keys and then tossed them away when he realised they weren't.

So - great coffee, good food, and we still have the motorbike and its keys. Much to be grateful for.

How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful unchangeable Friend!
His love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end!

’Tis Jesus the First and the Last,
Whose Spirit shall Guide us safe home,
We’ll praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all that’s to come.

Matthew 6:19

Despite the alarm system, we have had a burglary during the night. Someone jemmied open a window and lifted Bob's wallet . If they had come in at any other point, the alarms would have gone off, that was the ONE place...

Good news - there wasn't any cash in the wallet

Bad news - it had a lot of other stuff in it

Good news - nothing else was stolen

...but it has meant a lot of hassle, cancelling cards [thank you M&S for your efficient CardSafe system which deals with much of it all in one phone call] and trying to remember what was in the wallet.

And what about all those loyalty cards - only one stamp away from a free coffee at Caffe Nero!

The craziest call was to Staples about Bob's business card. He rang and reported it stolen, and was asked for the number. "How do I know what that is?" "It is on the back of your card Mr Almond" "What did I say I was ringing you about? " "Ah...."

And then there was the Prepaid Hospital Parking Card which you swipe through the machine each time [useful for emergency pastoral visits] - but how much credit was left on that?

And so many of the cards are in our joint names, so mine are effectively useless as well, and I too have to wait for replacements.

And the Driving Licence - which cannot be replaced until you pay £20, and you cannot do that on the Internet without a credit card...

Karl our Village Bobby was as helpful as ever [lots of this happening in our village at the minute, apparently]

I wonder if the burglary was what woke me at 4 this morning?

In real terms we haven't really lost anything much - just time spent sorting it out - and it will all get replaced. This is nothing compared to those people affected by tsunami and earthquake and flood.

We'll be fine very soon - but spare a thought and a prayer for those who have really suffered loss in recent days.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also