The Man On The Top Of The Clapham Omnibus*

It is half-term, last week was Liz's birthday, and it seems ages since we had seen the girls - and our present [cast iron cookware] was too expensive to post. So on Thursday afternoon, we drove down the M1. We knew we couldn't get to Steph till after 6, so we wasted a bit of time at the Westfield Shopping Centre.

Which seems like every other shopping centre, only Very Large. With Elephants!

There was one menswear shop which fascinated me - the window display was 200 redundant Singer Sewing Machines

I nearly went in and said "Can't you send those machines somewhere to be used?" [eg here]

Off to Steph's for the evening, and then up early on Friday and off to Borough Market. Unfortunately the Market did not get going as early as we had thought - so we went into Southwark Cathedral for a wander round.

Loved this inscription - sounds like a good chap!

William Winkworth's granddaughter was Catherine [1827 -1878] who translated a number of hymns. And her very elderly nephew belonged to my home church in Norfolk in the 1960's. When his widow died, I inherited her sewing basket - What a random connection!

Back outside to the market

The fish stall

Don't like the way he looks at me...

Gorgeous patisserie

Look, other people put odd things on their heads too!

Bread

Essex Oysters

But we just bought olives, aubergine paté, salad and bread, for our picnic.

It was getting to be very sunny and quite hot, and we were going to go on the train to the Old Deer Park in Richmond.

So we strolled along the South Bank towards Waterloo.

Lots and lots to see en route. Cattle as well as elephants...

 

There is a wonderful sense of history - the copy of the Elizabethan Globe Theatre, The Restoration Treasure of St Paul's Cathedral and the Contemporary Millennium Bridge

Bob was exhausted and needed a rest

Then we came across some minor excitement - just near the National Theatre, they were filming "This Morning" Live. The TV chef Phil Vickery was demonstrating his "Fish'n'chip" ice cream to a crowd [presumably gathered from passers by and to the presenter Eamonn Holmes.

There was a lot of high class recording stuff to see.

EH obviously didn't like the ice cream very much, and said so! And neither did the OAP who was also given a taste...

 

On to Richmond Old Deer Park - surprisingly empty

After a lovely picnic, snoozing on the grass and reading our books, the three of us meandered along the High Street enjoying the Charity Shops, then back to Steph's to get ready for the evening.

Mark and Liz arrived and we went out for our meal [Jon is Sheffield, so missed this treat]. I was amused by this door we passed

Steph had booked a table at Belgo - the great Belgian chain of restaurants, in the middle of their summer Lobsterfest

None of us had lobster - Mark and I had beef carbonnade, Steph and Bob has moules et frites, and Liz had goats' cheese. It was all lovely.

Then Bob and I got the train back to Elephant'n'Castle with Liz. This morning we three visited the Geffrye Museum.

The museum is "The Museum of the Home" and shows all sorts of room interiors. The building went up nearly 300 years ago as Almshouses - but closed in 1910, when the residents were moved elsewhere- but opened again as a museum in 1914. For nearly 100 years it has been maintained as a museum - but they have restored one of the Almshouses. We all enjoyed it, and although the museum itself is open a lot, the restored Almshouse is only open briefly on the first Saturday of the month [an unexpected bonus for us]. Do check out the website [here] as it has excellent pictures.

As well as the rooms inside, we enjoyed strolling through the gardens at the back. These too covered "English Domestic Gardens" from Tudor times up till the twentieth century. The information signs were incredibly helpful, and in the herb garden I learned that the word "drug" comes from "dregge" the Anglo Saxon for "dried"

Then Liz took us for lunch - to a Vietnamese Place. I had not eaten Vietnamese Cuisine before.

The good thing was that the chili sauce, chili flakes, hoisin sauce, limes, herbs etc were all served as an accompaniment, so you could make your meal as spicy or bland as you liked. I hate spicy - Bob loves it, so it was brilliant for us.

Sorry family, it is hard to get a good photo of people eating!

There was iced coffee or Vietnamese beer to drink

It was an extremely filling meal, after starters - summer rolls [much lighter than Chinese Spring Rolls] and another pancake thing - we had 'pho' which are soft rice noodles, in a bowl of broth. It took us all some time to eat our way through the huge bowls, and we all had to admit defeat in the end - despite the encouragement on a nearby shop front...

We got the bus back to Elephant'n'Castle - and outside the Church opposite Liz's flat saw a wonderful bus which had just transported a wedding party...

 

The Used Ticket bin, and the poles inside, had all been decorated with flowers- the driver let me on the bus to photograph them.

We left Liz at 2.30pm and were home in Kirby by 5pm - a brilliant, if somewhat jam-packed 48 hours of eating, sightseeing, travelling, and spending quality time with the family. Thank you to both girls - for giving us such a good time, and for giving up your comfortable beds for us oldies to sleep on! Our Oyster travel cards were useful, and well used.

* "The Man On The Top Of The Clapham Omnibus"  is a British legal term, dating back well over a hundred years, it is "a descriptive formulation of a reasonably educated and intelligent but non-specialist person — a reasonable man; a hypothetical person against whom a defendant's conduct might be judged in an English law civil action for negligence."

In case you were wondering, this is what he looks like...

Martha Or Delia**?

B has asked about 'single cream' - there is definitely a problem with converting recipes between UK/US cookbooks. I made a disastrous cheesecake when we were first married because the recipe said the UK equivalent of Graham Crackers was cream crackers!

Here's a helpful chart of alternative terms ...

**For me personally it is Delia every time - Martha Stewart always makes recipes in such vast quantities, and uses too much butter, sugar and cream. Plus Delia acknowledges our human frailties, while Martha seems to expect perfectionism at all times. Follow a recipe carefully from a Delia cookbook and it will work and be edible [even if it doesn't look exactly like the photo] Do the same from a Martha book, and you will probably find yourself covered in guilt and confectioner's sugar because you don't have the exact essential piece of equipment [obtainable only from some obscure kitchen suppliers in upstate New York] to prepare the violet petal garnish!

Two to the Power of Five...

...is 32. It is 32 years this evening since we two first met [in church] His first words "You're not another teacher, are you?" I think I replied "Yes I am - you aren't, are you?" That was June 4th, 1978

So here, for Bob, is one of my favourite poems "To my Dear and Loving Husband". It is written by Anne Dudley Bradstreet, regarded as the first American poet - although she was born and grew up in England.

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me ye women if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole Mines of Gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompence.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.
Then while we live, in love lets so persevere,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

This poem was published posthumously by her brother-in-law, in 1678 - exactly three hundred years before I fell in love!

Anne's family were Puritans, and she lived a hard life, but she proved to be a strong women and this internal resolve is reflected in her writings. Anne was bothered by the cultural bias toward women that was common in her time; the belief was that a woman's place was in the home attending to the family and her husband's needs. ['feminism' isn't a new idea!] Women were often considered intellectual inferiors and because of this, critics believed that Bradstreet stole her ideas for her poems from men

Above - a portrait of Anne by American artist Ladonna Gulley Warrick

Here is the commemorative stained glass window in the parish church of St Botolph's in Boston, Lincolnshire, England - the town where her family lived before emigrating in 1628. [This huge parish church is affectionately known to East Anglians as The Boston Stump] Presumably the basket of sweetcorn is meant to indicate she settled in the New World!

I have great admiration for Anne - she managed to be a committed Christian, a good wife, supporting her husband in his busy career, a loving mother, looking after home and family, a caring friend - and she still found time to be creative.

 

If she were alive now, I bet she'd have written a great blog!

Hallelujah Tallulah!

I knew that once I had found the pattern [46p, Woman's Realm, 1976] it wouldn't take long to put the dress together

It's cut on the bias and has an elasticated back. It will look better on the star than it does on the hanger [I hope!]

My name is Tallulah
My first rule of thumb
I don't say where I'm going
Or where I'm coming from
I try to leave a little reputation behind me
So if you really need to
You'll know how to find me

My name is Tallulah
And soon I'll be gone
An open invitation
Is the road I'll travel on
I'll never say goodbye
Because the words upset me
You may forgive my going
But you won't forget me

Tallulah

Eureka! Hallelujah!

Rejoice, rejoice, for that which was lost is found...

Lurking at the back of a cupboard were five identical bags from the 2005 Baptist World Centenary Congress - but four were empty.

OK, so the pattern was not in a shoebox after all...

...the little paper star gave it away...

...and inside...

Bob says I can stop decluttering for a while

Now all I have to do is make the evening dress for Tallulah!

Where On Earth Is It?

I have lost a dress pattern. Actually I think I may have lost a small shoebox full of dress patterns. This particular one is for a night- dress which I think will make an ideal evening dress for Tallulah in Bugsy Malone. Last week I went confidently to the larger box labelled patterns [containing 3 small shoeboxes all full of patterns] But the one I wanted was not there. I couldn't locate a couple of other patterns of similar vintage, so I decided they were elsewhere. I found this one - but it's the wrong one!

 

So has begun my Half Term Quest To Find The Pattern. I have been unbelievably ruthless as I sort through boxes, shelves, cupboards in the hunt. This morning the binmen came and both 'regular' and 'paper recycling' bins were absolutely full. There is a large pink plastic tub-trug which is overflowing with 'stuff for Charity'.

And a purple one which is filling up with random craft materials for this year's Holiday Club [that will save money].

And a yellow one with small boxes and bits of fabric for my class at school who need them for technology next week

 

 

Bob is really quite pleased at all this energetic decluttering. In fact, I could almost suspect him of having found the pattern a couple of days ago, and hidden it just so I will keep going. But he is way too kind to do that.

 

However since last Wednesday, I have to report that I have found the following items - many of which I had forgotten I still possessed

A set of Cambridge Logarithmic tables from 1967 [do they still use them any more? my edition is selling for £2.70 on Amazon] kept

A File full of various newspaper clippings for things like"The Times Beach Body Diet 2007" ""Good Housekeeping Bikini Diet  "PrimaDietClub etc - none of which I ever got round to following! recycled

Loads of greetings cards which I kept because at the time they felt  important "Thank you Angela, for your kindness, love Valerie" - who is Valerie? When was I kind to her? recycled

A set of beautifully designed, laminated cards in an envelope labelled "Maths Game" - but no instructions, and I cannot remember how you play it!discarded

A ringbinder containing newspaper pages which was obviously my mother's - full of articles from the Dereham And Fakenham Times [DAFT] - the local paper from home. "Dereham Girl Achieves Top Award" "Local Boy Wins Norfolk Poster Competition" "Church Celebrates Pastor's Anniversary" Except Mum never sees to have got any further than just ripping out the pages and tucking them in the folder- they aren't trimmed/dated/stuck in - just loosely folded up. kept [I will sort them out - someday!]

Also about £8 in loose change [that got spent on Saturday!] and an amusing Father's Day Card [still in cellophane packet] which - according to its label - was bought, greatly reduced, in M&S, in January 1998. [Dad died in February 1998 - but why have I kept the card?] kept temporarily [I shall send it to Bob in 2 weeks time then he can recycle it]

And then there is all the random haberdashery which seems to have been put down in the wrong place- spools of thread, tape measures, safety pins

...and dozens of pens, pencils, notebooks and diverse small stationery items.

I could probably stock a branch of Staples I think!

kept- and put away properly!

I have listened to lots of interesting radio whilst working, and found all sort of things which will prove useful eventually.

But still no sign of that pattern...

It is there somewhere -back to the decluttering!

Oh Crumbs!

Woke up early and realised I had invited a friend for coffee but forgotten to get any biscuits. Such emergencies call for "Steph's 4am Cookies" - so named because she originally produced them in the early hours of the morning once, after a party with friends when they suddenly all had a craving for biscuits!

The great advantage is that they are virtually foolproof [i.e. Steph's mother can reliably produce a batch of them even when stressed] So out with my treasured Mason Cash mixing bowl [a lovely Christmas present from the girls many years ago] and in with the butter and sugar

The recipe is American [from Hersheys/Reeses - the chocolate & peanut butter cups people] and so all in cups [so no fussing with scales]. I used my hand blender - couldn't face getting out the Kenwood Chef this morning!

The mixture is quite stiff - but scoops out beautifully with my 1" ice cream scoop. Another advantage - the baking sheets can be used as they are - no faffing about greasing/lining them.

The recipe suggests adding Reeses Peanut Butter Chips - but we can't find them here [and they'd probably be prohibitively expensive anyway - although Mark brought some back from Canada for Steph and she said they did add an extra dimension of flavour]

I scooped out 75% of the mix onto three baking trays, they while they were cooking, fished around in the cupboard and found some mini chocolate beans, so stirred them in.

And within 30 minutes I had a whole batch of cookies. The recipe says 'yield 52' - but I got 78 which is amazing. So some on a plate for Helen, some in a tin for later - and two tins to put in the freezer to store [yes there is sellotape on those tins - not that it will prove much a of deterrent to you-know-who]

Using my scoop means they cook into amazingly regular circles and fit beautifully into the cylindrical tins!

Here's the recipe.

STEPH'S 4 a.m. COOKIES

• 1¼ cups softened butter or margarine
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups unsifted plain flour
• ¾ cup Hershey's cocoa powder [Aldi's is very good value!]
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda [baking soda]
• ½tsp salt
• [2 cups Reeses Peanut Butter Chips]

Preheat oven to 180°C. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl till light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.

In separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt - gradually blend into creamed mixture. Stir in pb chips [or chocolate beans or whatever]

Drop by teaspoonsful onto UNGREASED baking sheets. Bake for 8-9 minutes.

DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cookies will be soft - they will puff up in the oven and flatten on cooling. Cool on sheet until set - about 1 minute, then cool completely on wire rack.

They keep in tin for a week, or for a month in freezer [if family do not get hold of them first!]

Thank you Steph for the original inspiration, and Liz for the storage tin.

Question - is it teaspoonsful or teaspoonfuls? I feel it ought to be the former, but the spell-checker insists on the latter!!

Now all I have to do is wait for my guest to arrive...