Fat Chance!

Did you see this news story last week? Four large barrel-shaped lumps of lard have washed up on a beach in St Cyrus in Scotland.[picture from SNH]

It is believed to have escaped from the wreck  a merchant vessel bombed in WWII. St C is a nature reserve, managed by Scottish National Heritage. They say that this has happened before – during the war, and again in the 60s and 70s. They believe recent storms have disturbed wrecks on the seabed.

Apparently the lard still smells fresh, and animals have enjoyed eating it [!] A spokesperson for SNH said it was ‘good enough to have a fry up with’ [anyone got a spare Mars Bar?] An elderly local resident says he remembers his granny salvaging the lard during the War, and boiling it up, to get the sand out! This current flotsam is covered in barnacles. I am thrifty and resourceful, but I think that salvaging this would be going a little too far.

Jesus Bids Us Shine…

At our WWDP Committee this week, Muriel led our afternoon prayers. She gave each of us a tealight [with a beautiful “Fresh Linen” scent] along with a slip of paper.

Use your candle as a focus this week

• light it and think about the amount of light it is giving out
• see how long it lasts
• check whether it appears to burn brighter in certain places
• realise it gives out not just light but also warmth and perfume
• think about the amount of light that would be radiated if all our candles were burning together and think whether that is the best use of the candles.
• think about what God might be saying to you about your ‘personal light’ – your witness.

Such a simple idea for a prayer focus, but so very challenging. Thanks, Muriel!

I Like Icicles

They’re twicicles as nicicles!

These amazing ones have formed along our front window

They are so pretty. Bob took the artistic photo for me [thanks!]

Back in 1966 Noddy sang the Ricicles song on the Kellogg’s adverts. We never had Ricicles or Rice Krispies [with Snap, Crackle and Pop] Mum bought cornflakes, weetabix and porridge oats. But I liked the little song!

Playground Progress

Here are Tom and Carla, who were in church with us last week

They were with us to give an update on their work with East African Playgrounds, the charity they started 4 years ago.This is their story…

Tom [who grew up in our village, in the house right opposite the church] went to Leeds University to study Social Policy [and in between times he worked at his father’s building firm.] In 2007 Tom went to Tanzania as a volunteer to teach adults English, but when he realised they had a better grasp than him, his attention turned to the children who struggled to pay attention in class, were bored and getting into trouble after school with nowhere safe to play.  Tom decided to create a basic play spaces with the children; painting hop scotch squares and making a toy car track on the floor. The joy this brought the children got Tom to thinking more about play so after a walk through the nearby town he found a playground that he could take the children to, Tom asked the designer if he could use his designs of the playground to build one at the school. With his building knowledge Tom set about planning to come back the following year to build his first playground.

Carla’s degree was in Childhood, Education and Culture and a background of child development and Play work. She met Tom in 2007. Tom’s plan to build a playground in Tanzania caught Carla’s imagination as she was about to travel to Uganda that summer to volunteer with a charity.

They set up EAP, and started a programme of playground building in Uganda – small at first, but growing into something much bigger…

The rest, as they say, is history – except it isn’t ‘history’ – it is happening now, an ongoing, vibrant project. On Sunday they shared much of this with us.

It was really exciting to hear how the work has developed – and how many volunteers have gone out to build playgrounds for children in Uganda. So far EAP has

- Built 20 Playgrounds
- Given over 7,500 kids fun, safe play spaces to enjoy
- Invested over £170,000 in East Africa
- Employed 12 full-time Ugandan members of staff
- Started training 2 young welding apprentices
- Brought over 120 volunteers from UK

Graham and David, two of our Church members, have been Trustees of the charity since the beginning, and given much wise advice along the way. As a fellowship, we have supported EAP with prayers and financial gifts. Do check out the website if you want to know more!

Did The Earth Move For You?

The main weather news in the UK today is of course the SNOW. The school where I am currently working on Fridays closed early – and my journey home [usually around 25 minutes] took 75 minutes! The roads were very icy  and cars were sliding all over the place. Slow and steady gets home safely.

But the other news is that we had an EARTHQUAKE here in Leicestershire at 5.20 this morning [details on BBC website] It was allegedly felt up to 25 miles away from the epicentre in Loughborough – but Bob and I slept right through it.

I do hope all of you reading this are warm and safe- and that your journeys today have not been too fraught. The forecast is that it is going to get even colder over the next few days.

Hannah The Bicycle is going to be staying in the garage for the foreseeable future. I am not risking riding her in these conditions. As my teaching assistant pointed out, it would be rather unfortunate to fall and break a leg just before my knee operation!

LATE NIGHT UPDATE

Dreamer, over at ‘slow and simple life’ has posted this today, because it is A A Milne’s birthday.

I just had to add it to my post

Eeyore obviously wasn’t in Loughborough this morning.

Of Cats And Logs

Sorry Jane – these ‘cats’ are catalytic converters. My car needed a complete new exhaust system – efficiently fitted by Steve and co at Kwik Fit of Hinckley [while I was round the corner at the Hospital having my Pre-Op assessment]

It is the first major repair I have had in the ten years since I got my little blue Daewoo Matiz- and the cost…well it was almost exactly equivalent to 1p per mile that I have driven. I drive just over 4000 miles a year.

The Pre-Op thing involved being weighed and measured and tested for MRSA. Lots of advice about Post-Op exercises [and the frustrating news that I cannot go into school for a week]

The ‘logs’ were on the lovely Margareta fabric which Steph and Mark had for their lounge curtains. They were given this by someone who didn’t want it – about 11 metres of it [currently £7 a metre in IKEA] They bought lining fabric and I spent Monday making the curtains for them.

The wooden pole and rings had been left by the previous owners of the house. We were all pleased with the result!

There is enough fabric left for some cushion covers too. I forgot to take a second photo of the new sofa- it is L-shaped and fits beautifully round the corner – and the brown fabric cover is lovely. The whole room has a forest-feel!

Bless My Soul!

I am really enjoying new the “Father Brown” series with Mark Williams, which started on BBC1 this week. However I am utterly baffled as to the timing – 2pm in the afternoon? Surely this sort of detective murder mystery stuff should be at 8pm in the evening?

I watched the first episode whilst sitting sewing curtains at Steph’s place on Monday, but since then have been catching up with recorded episodes. I think the relocation to a Cotswold village with some clever twists to G K Chesterton’s original stories works well. I like Mark W’s gentle, priestly manner, and the way it has been set in the 1950s does not feel too contrived [the original 51 stories were written between 1914 and 1935]

GKC wrote 51 stories about the Catholic priest, but the Beeb have thus far only filmed 10. Maybe if there is enough positive feedback they will do some more. I’d rather see MW playing this detective than being Arthur Weasley! Back in 2008 I blogged about all those detective priests [here] and here is another good one to add to the list.

GKC came to Leicestershire at least once. We know this because he sent his wife a telegram

"Am at Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?"

she allegedly replied "Home."

Let’s Stick Together, Angela

Thank you, Elisabeth for sending me this one. I like AM – we share the same name and like me she is a pastor’s daughter.And she is a physicist. Recently she has spoken more publicly about her faith too. [She does have rather a lot of jackets though!]

Room At The Inn?

My life is never boring! 7.15pm and I am sitting in the Holiday Inn in Flore [off Jn 16 of M1] typing this whilst eating a sandwich! On the way home up the M1, the car made a dreadful noise and lost power. By the grace of God, I was just coming up to the motorway exit – so I limped off, and stopped at the first sign of lights and a safe place to stop! Which was here.
I rang Bob from the car park, who agreed that it was too far to limp home [and anyway I would have to go on unfamiliar back roads not motorway, in the dark…] So I came inside, got the postcode from very helpful Jesse on reception, then rang Green Flag. They should be here in an hour [and know I am waiting inside] Raj has supplied me with coffee and sandwich, and now I shall get on with the schoolwork I had intended doing when I got home.
I could moan about everything going wrong – but feel so positive- I am safe, I am in a warm place, and the Recovery Vehicle will get me home. And I have the laptop with me so my time will not be wasted I’ve got my crochet project in the car, but I think that would look professional in a place where everyone else looks like a business person with an iPad!!
The last 24 hours have been great – yesterday I made Steph’s lounge curtains, she and Mark took me out for a Lebanese meal. Today I worked had along with friends at the Women’s Day of Prayer Committee. But my stories about that will have to wait – I have just had a text to say a recovery vehicle has been dispatched.That was quick! Better finish my food – part two of this saga will probably get typed up tomorrow sometime

Update - home safe by 8.45pm. Car due to be fixed 3pm Wednesday afternoon
Thanks EVERYBODY for your kind wishes

Cobweb Blogs

I was greatly amused to hear someone on the radio recently referring to a ‘cobweb blog’ – i.e. one which has had no posts for months and is therefore a bit ‘dusty’

I was going to accuse Bob of having a cobweb blog – and then he went and posted something!

[to be fair, he posts regularly on FaceBook, and he is a very busy chap. And one good post every so often is better than daily drivel]

But I have recently been through my long ‘reading list’ and deleted some of those blogs who have not posted anything since last Summer. Maybe there ought to be a Cobweb Blog – devoted to Martha Stewarts ghoulish Halloween table settings, or perhaps pictures of beautiful spiderwebs, bejewelled with frost or dewdrops?

Maker’s Dozen

I found this on the Simply Crochet blog – 13 New Year resolutions for crafters in 2013.

I love the term to go “cold sheep” – i.e. to only use yarn from the Great Stash. I have been attempting that for a little while now. If it is not cheating, I am currently working on a combination of five of these resolutions – finishing a started project, learning to crochet better, using up my stash, to make [complete] an afghan, which will be for charity.

Having learned to crochet on my trip to Belfast in 2011, and been a ‘guest member’ of Hookery In The Bookery on my return trip to NI in 2012, I have decided to make a crocheted blanket for Heather’s son Matthew to take with him on his next Leprosy Mission trip. Now the ‘new season’ programmes have started [Lewis, Midsomer, Borgen] I can watch TV and hook away happily. And blanket making is a brilliant way of keeping my knees warm!

Have you set yourself any craft challenges this year?

The Ultimate Cruciverbalist

A “cruciverbalist” is a term for someone who compiles crosswords, or who enjoys word puzzles. I was so sorry to read that Araucaria,  compiler for over 50 years of Guardian crosswords, is very ill.

He gently announced this in Friday’s Crossword by way of cryptic clues [here] He is[I think] one of the best compilers around.

Our family have always been keen on crosswords- as a child, I’d sit on my Dad’s lap as he solved the Daily Telegraph cryptic- and then he’d explain clues to me, till I was able to start solving them for myself. Mum was good at solving too [she was a codebreaker, after all] and games like Scrabble, and Boggle, were popular at home.

When I got to Grammar School, the Telegraph and Guardian were on a big stand outside the staffroom. I used to go in [with permission] and attempt to fill in the DT puzzle. Then one term, I kept finding that someone else had got there before me! It was a new teacher. After that, we met daily to solve tem together – and he helped me to get my head round the Guardian puzzle – and we would alternately bless, and curse, Araucaria for his amazingly clever clues. Half the fun was coming back the next day to find out the answers of the ones we couldn’t solve. I learned so  much. In my student years, I became fond of the Times cryptic crossword too – written in yet another style, equally challenging.

In his ‘other’ life, Araucaria is 91 year old Rev John Graham, a retired C of E priest. But even in retirement he has continued to conduct services and be involved in church life. I love the fact that when he is not doing cross-words, he is speaking words-about-the -Cross.

The technical terms for the black and white squares are ‘darks and lights’. John knows there will be some ‘darks’ ahead- but can look forward confidently to the Eternal Light ahead of him. May God give him wisdom and grace, as he faces this final illness.

Marks And Sparks

A few years back, my Auntie Peggy gave me a table runner one Christmas. It is polyester and has white and gold embroidery. It was just the thing to drape over the stand we were using at Church for the Advent Candles this year. Unfortunately I discovered that a spark had somehow burned a hole in the central section, and left a mark. The fabric had melted and discoloured badly.

 

I decided that I could perhaps embroider a white dot over the mark, but that I would then need to do another on the other side to balance it. However I was not sure that I could do a neat enough job of hand stitching without puckering the thin fabric.

I set up my embroidery machine, and went to the Gothic Font section – then embroidered a couple of large full stops! Machine embroidery thread has a good sheen and although these two dots are not invisible, they look better than the black burn mark.

I suspect that the spark happened when one of the matches was struck for lighting the candles.

At least it only melted a tiny hole – it would have created a stir if the whole cloth had gone up in flames halfway through the service!

I Got A Sticker!

After lunch, two of my class had to take something to the Head’s Office. They returned, grinning, with this little sticker

“It is for you, Miss, cos you are working so hard on your first day here” they said [The head had been into the class earlier, as had the deputy, to check all was well]

I had a really lovely day [but a little tiring – so much to take in] and everything went well. Sadly the little boy for whom I made the wordbags is off sick at the minute. Never mind, they will be useful next week.

To answer all your questions and comments…

Jane – I pay for the resources myself, but then I get to keep them to use in other schools. And £1.50 seemed a small outlay for such a useful box of bits.

Fat Dormouse & Jo – this is a VERY temp job – just 6 Fridays till half term- but there is the strong possibility of some more days soon.

EDL on A Shoestring – yes I have always resisted using Scrabble tiles in school because of the capitals – the idea of using lower case Junior ones only struck me this week!

Everyone else – thank you so much for all your kind comments and words of support and encouragement. I have been taken aback by the good wishes from so many people as I have returned to the classroom this week.

Just A Word Or Two

This is it. New job starts today. Oooh… mixture of excitement and nervous anticipation. I have been told that one child has particular needs and I should not expect him to always follow what the others are doing. He will have one-to-one support though [that’s good]

I picked this up in the charity shop on Tuesday afternoon

For only £1.50, it is a brilliant source of letters and I thought I would make some word bags. Simple drawstring bags, each containing 5 or 6 letters – and he can take them and try and make as many words as he can from the selection inside. I have started with

b r e a d

s m i l e

l a r g e

p a s t e

s p o u t

t h r e a d

but I can always change these around later.

[I wanted sets of letters which made 2, 3,4 and 5 letter words]

The rest of the class are working on speech, and inverted commas, so i have also made a bag of word cards so he can try building up sentences.

All of these have gone into a larger sack – which has his name embroidered on it.

I am hoping he will enjoy these activities- and it will be useful resource to have in my school bag.

The prospect of doing some teaching again is quite wonderful. as is the prospect of being paid again!

Half The World’s Food Is Wasted

Lord forgive us for our careless, selfish use of the resources you have given us. Reports like this make me weep when I think of all those who will go to sleep hungry tonight.

[picture from Unicef]

Her Name Is Hannah

Following various suggestions [thank you everyone who put forward various monikers, all of which received careful consideration] I have decided that the bicycle will be called Hannah. Bob’s reasoning was that the bike having been emancipated [from a rubbish heap] it deserved a name relating to emancipation.

Hannah More was one of the bluestockings of the 18th century, born in 1745 – and her life and achievements are astounding.

• she was a teacher in her father’s boarding school in Bristol
• a friend of actor David Garrick and his wife, she loved theatre
• she met with Joshua Reynolds, Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke and other ‘celebrities’ of her time
• she was a foremost member of the Bluestocking Circle of intellectuals who met in Elizabeth Montagu’s salon
• a prolific writer, after she became a Christian she wrote hundreds of moral tracts
• a vociferous abolitionist, she gave great support to Wilberforce in his fight against slavery
• she set up many free schools in the Bristol area
• in her time, her books outsold those of her contemporary, Jane Austen
• she set up ‘women’s benefit clubs’ in Somerset, which lasted into the 20th century
• born in obscurity, she died in 1833 leaving £30,000

This woman just kept going, working hard to educate the ignorant, free the oppressed, bless the poor, share the Gospel, liberate the women, love the unloved…

…and she enjoyed good books, witty conversation, trusting friendships

And no tablet or laptop [or even ballpoint] she just had a quill pen to write it all down.

I feel incredibly lazy just reading about her. On the other hand, if my bicycle just keeps going, and is a benefit and a joy, then Hannah is a very apposite name.

The name ‘Hannah’ means ‘Grace’ – I think that’s utterly amazing.

Finchley Central is Two-and-Sixpence…

…from Golder’s Green on the Northern Line.

So sang the New Vaudeville Band back in 1967. I never dreamed when I used to sing that song to myself 45 years ago that one day I would have two daughters both living within a stone’s throw of Northern Line stations.

The Underground is so much part of our culture, and my own family’s history– I cannot remember the first time I ‘travelled by tube’.

My great grandfather [on Dad’s side] was involved with the underground and overground London railway systems, and his son [my grandad] was too. During the Blitz, my Mum used to go with friends from her church, to support people who were sheltering in the underground stations to get away from the bombing. She would sit and talk with them, encourage them, pray with them – and dispense tea and biscuits!

Since the end of WW2, various family members have been regular travellers on this brilliant system. I’ll be at Baker Street Station on Tuesday, en route to a committee meeting.

So that’s two songs with tube stations in - I cannot begin to list favourite books which involve the Underground

…and I mention all this because today the London Underground is 150 years old. Many happy returns [and single fares too!]

Cut And Sew

Sewing Club tonight, and I am planning to wear some appropriate Christmas Presents. My Rend Collective tee-shirt [which Bob purchased when we were at the “Big Church Night In” in November

Isn’t it wonderful?

And then, I received from two sisters in the club this little box containing jewellery for a needlewoman…

I love these little scissor ear-rings. Steph, being my Christmas Elf-And-Safety, suggested I should not run whilst wearing them. According to Debs, their Mum,the girls spotted these last summer in the V&A, and bought them then and there to keep safe and then to give me for Christmas. I shall treasure them!

Thank you Bob, Hannah and Grace for such splendid gifts.

Keep Taking The Tablets!

Last Saturday sitting in another Church [induction of new minister] I realised that three of the key people ‘up front’ were using iPads.

I wondered, is it necessary now to have one of these tablets before you’re considered fully equipped to lead worship/ preach/ etc?

[Clearly not - Bob was on the platform, and he hasn’t got one - yet]

I can see their value, but I don’t think I personally would get enough use out of one to warrant the cost. And I like to have my sermon notes and lesson plans on pieces of paper so I can add scribbled notes easily [and on occasion, give them to someone who has asked for a copy]

The only notebooks I possess are much more modest. I found a brand new one tucked in the bookshelf last week and decided it would be useful for my new job.

But this was ‘new’ only in the sense of ‘unused’ – I think I purchased it about 5 years ago. The red elastic strap had completely perished and was useless.

I restored it with a length of white stuff from my stash. Not as pretty – but at least it fulfils the purpose of keeping the notebook closed in my bag.

I admit to a weakness for pretty notebooks – and have often received them as presents. But then I keep them ‘pristine’ because I cannot find a use which I feel justifies writing inside them. I have decided that this year, I will use up my notebooks and the odd scribble, or doodle, or crossing out will not matter.