See How It Runs!

As a child, I remember seeing the blue Cerebos salt packets in the grocer’s shop - with that little boy chasing the chicken. [My family usually bought Saxo, or other cheaper brands] Nowadays I like to keep my cooking salt accessible, and for many years, I have stored it by the hob in a stoneware “Salt pig” – these allegedly keep salt dry and free running, even though the front is open.

My pig has a lovely long handled wooden spoon, made by Liz’s friend Dave. I keep my sugar in one of those dispensers [ever since a visiting child once amused herself by pouring milk from the jug on the tea tray into my sugar bowl and made a sweet sticky mess]

This past week I discovered something interesting – both of these were out on the countertop in the kitchen when we were burgled. We returned to a flooded mess- and the atmosphere was very damp. The small amount of sugar in the dispenser [which I have yet to wash out and pack] had become rather wet and was caked to the bottom of the jar. But the salt? that is still in perfect condition, still free running! According to Nigel Slater, the unglazed pottery absorbs moisture from the salt, thus keeping it dry.

NS says he likes being able to put his hand in and grab and pinch or a handful of salt. Personally I am happier with my nice clean spoon, as I can decide exactly how much to fling in the saucepan.

Where, and how, do you keep your salt and your sugar?

All By My Shelf!

Now it really does feel like we are on the move. The bookshelves are bare [well, almost] and we’ve packed hundreds of volumes. Some to come with us, some for charity, and six boxes are going to young theology students.

The boxes are categorised- Bob’s office in Ferndown will be at the church, not at home – so his theology books will be going there. My books are in groups labelled school and craft, and then we have cookery, fiction, non fiction, children’s books.

We have packed the books in the ‘small’ boxes, but they are still heavy. Removal men must dread moving clergy and teachers!

I Know Very Little About Football…

…but I do know that before the Cup Final each year, the hymn “Abide with me” is sung- and has been since 1927. In recent years, a guest soloist has performed it – but the BBC has just announced that this year, it will be a choir made up of fans – one supporter from each of the 64 teams in Round One. Anyone can enter – BBC Songs of Praise are “looking for stories that reflect the personal memories and passion of the cup from every level of the game. Maybe witnessing giant killings, perhaps the first time your non-league team made the third round or the first time your team were in the final with tales of great players, key moments, unforgettable goals and family anecdotes.”

Scotsman Henry Francis Lyte wrote this hymn in 1847 as he was suffering from tuberculosis – he died three weeks after its completion. The original has eight verses- but most of the time, we just sing five of them at church. I’m not sure what you get at Wembley.

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word,
But as Thou dwell'st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.

Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings;
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea.
Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile,
And though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee.
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Since I heard about the BBC competition yesterday, I have been humming the hymn to myself – it is a shame it so often is only associated with football and funerals! I do like the line

Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

Wordplay

I cannot remember exactly when I started reading the Ian Rankin ‘Rebus’ detective stories – it was soon after they came out, I think at the end of the 1980’s. The librarian at our little neighbourhood library in Bexleyheath pointed them out and suggested I might enjoy them. That was in the days before the Internet – and word of mouth recommendations [live or on Radio 4] was my main way of finding new authors.
I knew the word rebus meaning a word/picture puzzle – in fact I’d taught it to Liz, and she taught it to her Primary School teacher.
For years I have been reading these books, and enjoying the TV series. First with John Hannah, then with Ken Stott playing the lead role.
In December, I polished off three very different Rebus books. Thanks Dereham Library for two, and AgeUK for the third.



Saints of the Shadow Bible came out at the end of 2013. It is Rebus sorting out a case which goes back to his early years as a detective. Back in the days when some coppers ‘bent the rules’ to get results. Was he among them?
You will have to read it to find out the exact details – but I thought it was well written and I enjoyed it immensely.
The Beat Goes On is a collection of short stories featuring Rebus- many were written for magazines. It came out in October 2014 [although obviously, many stories had been written years before]  Rankin apologises that so many are set around Christmas-time, but that’s often when periodicals want a ‘guest story’! No matter, they are all beautifully crafted. Writing a short story can be harder than a full length novel, I think. Every word has to be chosen with care, no room for wasted dialogue or irrelevant flowery description. Rankin is clearly a master of the art. There are some beautiful twists-in-the-tale endings, and it was a good reading book for the Christmas holidays. Partly due to the plethora of wintry yarns- but also because their brevity made each one a good bedtime story. The book ends with a brief chapter on how Rebus came about. Which led beautifully onto my third book…
Rebus’s Scotland is totally different - Rankin writes of the Scotland beyond the tourist guidebooks, highlighting places that inspired settings for his novels. He reveals more of the story of Rebus and how this character came to be written – and how much of himself and his own background has seeped into the stories. The photographers who produce the covers for the novels have taken  over 100 evocative pictures, specially commissioned to reflect the text. It was a really interesting read [and well worth the 20p I paid!]
One more rebus before I go back to the interminable Packing Of The Boxes. It seems to be a truly Sisyphean Task!

May – God Give You Rest

No, that’s not a typo. Yesterday we had a Thanksgiving Service for our dear friend May Chicken who has just died. She was almost 98!

Born in 1917, she had a career working in various Children’s Care Homes [first John Groom’s Crippleage, then Barnardos].She was responsible for helping 95 evacuees move safely from London to Shropshire
at the start of WW2, and then later went to Auchterarder in Scotland with more who were escaping the Blitz in London. Miss May Grimwood was a popular Matron, firm but fair and loved by all.
After the war she continued work in the caring profession – for many years with Barnardos and then supporting older folk. She finally came to Kirby Muxloe in her 50s.
It was here that joined our church. She met – and then married – Tom Chicken, a widower who belonged to the church. They had a number of happy years together till his death in 1998.
Barnardos  gave her a certificate honouring her service. May moved into the Carey Gardens Community next to our chapel - the second resident in the scheme. She continued to love life- still enjoying the laughter of children and cutting her birthday cake each year! Sadly a fall last year led to a rapid decline in health. She passed away peacefully last week – and now is free from pain, re-united with Tom.

At the service, Bob summed her up in three words
Peace-maker, Joy-giver, Faith-sharer
We shall miss her bright smile, but we thank God for her long life of service and caring. May – God give you rest!

Gathering Up The Fragments

Over at Frugal In Suffolk, Sue was talking about the Amish & Mennonite lifestyles, and I discovered that she too has a copy of the ‘More with less’ Mennonite cookbook. Every chapter in that ends with “Gathering up the Fragments” - creative ideas for leftovers. At the weekend, Liz came down and was a great help with packing. On Saturday evening, she volunteered to make a meal, using whatever she could find in the fridge and cupboard.

She took onions, courgettes, potatoes and tomatoes – plus a pepper and some garlic and a few eggs. Liz produced Shakshuka – Moroccan baked eggs, accompanied by some fabulous “home-fried potatoes” [we were running low on bread- another time, I think that would possibly be a better carb accompaniment]

We ate it up before I found the camera, but here is the picture from the BBC Website [and their recipe here]

My egg was beaten before being poured into it’s “well” [I don’t like the taste of egg white on its own]

It was utterly delicious – and such a creative use of the contents of the fridge. Most of my herbs and spices had already been packed into a box- but Liz found some smoked paprika and Italian herbs which I’d somehow overlooked and put them in. She was going to add a tin of chickpeas, but it looked like there was plenty of veg in the pan already, so they were left for another time. There’s another variation of the recipe, and more information about this here.

Once we get settled in Dorset, I shall definitely be repeating this one – I’ll use my big, shallow, orange cast iron pan. So simple to make, and really filling on a cold winter’s evening. I have eaten it once before - Jon cooked it when I was visiting them in London last year. I’m grateful to the pair of them for introducing me to this superb dish.

Getting The Next Picture Ready

When I was a child, missionaries** would return from Africa or wherever, and we’d go along to church and they would show us slides of their work, using projectors like this one. Dad or Grandad were often asked to operate the kit, being technical types.

One time, I remember Grandad showing me how it worked- you had to put one slide in the carrier [back to front and upside down, if I recall correctly- to get it the right way on the screen] and while that one was being projected, you had to get the next picture ready.

Grandad said this to me

“Ang, always have the next picture ready in your life. Sometimes things will be awful, the picture in front of you will be sad, or cruel – but have the next picture ready to slide across and fill the screen, and make it a beautiful one. A picture of flowers, or of people who love you, or of some evidence of God’s blessings. When the bad things happen, focus on the picture of something lovely, good, and kind, and that will help you through the tough times”

I have never forgotten his wise words, and they have been a real help recently. So no pictures today of the chaotic bedroom floor, the soaked, stained carpets, the empty jewellery box, or the smashed up back door. Here are some of the pictures I have had in the other side of the slide carrier – ones I have focussed on to get me through.

So many flowers [even daffs all the way from, Cornwall], greetings cards, chocolates from a neighbour, Baklava from Wiltshire, newlaid eggs from the hens of a friend… These wonderful signs of love and kindness have been true Godsends, lifting our spirits and helping us to keep going. Thank you!

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

**In view of yesterday’s post, I feel obliged to point out that even I am not old enough to have met Mary Slessor, although my Mum did once meet Gladys Aylward, the great missionary from China.

One Amazing Lady–With A Great Legacy

Today marks the centenary of the death of Mary Slessor, the “Queen of Okoyong”. Do you know about this remarkable woman? My parents and grandparents told me about her when I was a child – she was one of their heroines, and became one of mine too. You can find out lots more here. Why was she so great? Well simply because she went out as a single white woman to be a missionary in Africa, at a time when that was pretty dangerous.

But more than that, she did not go out to ‘civilise the natives’ – she went out to share God’s love, and to help improve their quality of life. She lived among the people, not in a separate ‘missionary house’, she dressed like them, and shared their lives.

She had been a worker in the Jute Mills [from the age of 12]  and a somewhat unorthodox Sunday School teacher in Dundee, before she went out to Calabar at the age of 28 [inspired by David Livingstone] to an area where no European had been before. She was particularly distressed by the way twin babies were treated. The people believed that one twin was inhabited by an evil spirit, the other by good- so automatically put one to death at birth. Mary adopted many babies herself to save them from this fate.

She was recognised by the people of Calabar as a wise, loving, generous woman – and elected the first ever female Magistrate of the British Empire. Her memory is still revered in Nigeria- and in Dundee part of the city museum is dedicated to her. The curator, Carly Cooper has spoken of how Mary changed the way people perceived missionaries…

"That's what made her different - in many respects perhaps the first of a new missionary kind, not just importing stuff from this country but being sensitive to the culture and the needs of the people there. Her legacy is that you can't just take your beliefs and standards and values abroad and dump them on people. If you're really interested in people's lives and making them better, you have to understand where they come from. You have to understand them as people and love them as people, and that's what Mary Slessor did."

She was the first non-royal female to appear on a Scottish banknote, back in 1998

When I gave away my collection of straw hats last month, I kept one special one. It was the one my Mum always wore when the sun was too hot. Dad called it her “Mary Slessor hat” – because it enabled Mum to keep going even in bright, headache inducing sunshine, doing the work she felt called to, sharing God’s love with people.

I do hope the centenary celebrations planned in Scotland help to make this woman’s legacy better known!

Splash!

You can walk round downstairs without things going ‘squelch!’ anymore. One dear reader of this blog, who lives in Leicester, contacted me to offer the loan of a de-humidifier [thanks M!] You cannot believe how much water has been collected and emptied from its reservoir. Bob has been burning joss-sticks in his study to mask the awful damp smell. Now it smells very like a 1970s student flat! I feel I should put up a Che Guevara poster and wear some loon-pants and love-beads! [the older ones of you will understand those references] But instead I have just packed box after box after box…

Sunday morning was fantastic- we had a baptismal service at Church. Michelle and Cameron spoke of their faith, and Hayley, our former Youth Worker, came back to share in the service, as she’d been part of the spiritual journey. I was on prayer and towel duty, but Rachel kindly took these photos on my camera.

A true Scot, a dried off Cam returned to his pew in his kilt! As Sarah is back at Uni in Durham, her sister Kathryn ‘face-timed’ the service on her phone.

The church was packed, the atmosphere was one of joy and celebration  – really good to feel that Bob’s ministry here is ending on such a high note!

Text Messages In A Crazy Week

Some words which have helped me in the past few days

for my wonderful neighbours

Jesus asked “Which of these do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of thieves?” The man replied, “The one who was kind to him.”

for the helpful police and insurance folk

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin [and floods!] do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

for the person who now has my Dad’s Boys’ Brigade medal

We lay hold of the hope set before us, which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.

And the best news of the week for my niece, who has just had her first baby [I’m a Great-Aunt!!]

She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.” [Samuel means  “God heard”]

Shades of Gray

,

I loved Alan Bates, Julie Christie,Terence Stamp and Peter Finch in the 1967 version of FFTMC, I suspect I shall enjoy this new version too. The title comes from "Gray's Elegy" [written 1750] and this film is released 150 years after Hardy wrote the book. My Dad loved Gray's Elegy, and could recite it by heart, so I knew it from early childhood. But I had only just started reading Hardy when the first film came out. 

At Uni, I had a boyfriend who was studying Hardy as part of his degree course, so I read even more then. Just to warn you - once I move to Dorset, I plan to re-read lots of Thomas Hardy, and go on and on about him. I really need to investigate more about his life. 

[and no I shall not be bothering with that other film, not my style, thank you very much!]

Friends And Neighbours

It has been a real privilege to be part of the Friends and Neighbours group here at KMFC for the past 19½ years. I was invited, as the wife of the new Pastor, back in 1995, to be the President of this group, and it’s been great fun. Ann, our secretary, works efficiently to organise everything – and the rest of the committee do their fair share too, so the group runs well, and truly lives up to its name. We have new members joining each session, but keep in touch with older folk who no longer feel able to come out in the evenings. And our programme is varied and interesting. But last night was my final evening. Ann had made a point of checking I would be there – but I was bowled over by everyone’s kindness.

A card, a cake, a book, a gift token, AND flowers!

I want to thank them for all their love and support - for being true friends, and good neighbours - I shall miss these people so much!

Committee Christmas Card

When we attend the WWP Residential Committee each November, we are asked to take one Christmas Card. These all go in a basket and we each take one – more sense than sending two dozen! I try to make mine special – so here is the one I sent this year. I used the hemisphere design which I used when making Hayley’s wedding card in April. I took WWDP images for this year’s theme [The Bahamas – and a verse from the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet]

I wrote my greeting on the inside, so it is visible when the folded card comes out of the envelope- but not on show once the bow is tied and the card is standing up.

Update…

We have had a succession of Facebook messages, emails and phone calls all day, from friends offering support and sympathy. Seven friends have come round at various points to help with the clearing up/house-move packing – and others delivered flowers and chocolates. A policeman came round to check we were OK and happy with their actions yesterday [most definitely] The man from Leicester Mercury came to interview us and take pictures! The report is already online – and maybe someone will read that and recognise the stuff if anyone tries to flog it in the pub. Thank you so much for all the kind comments and loving words. Both of us are very tired- but know it will all be fine in the end. Thank you, dear friends – your kindness means so much!

Squelch!

This is the plaque on the wall just inside our front door. Sadly, on our return from holiday yesterday, there was no echo of peace- just “Squelch!” The house had been burgled in our absence - and the burglars had blocked the kitchen sink and left both the taps fully on.

Downstairs, carpets in the hall and Bob’s study were utterly sodden. Boxes and tins had been opened and their contents deposited everywhere in the water. The back door had been jemmied open [and there had been attempts to open the conservatory door too]

Upstairs was dry – but in total chaos. The police were rapidly on the scene, after we had called from our neighbour’s phone. As nothing large had gone [TV, Bob’s audio gear, computers etc untouched] they suspected the thieves were merely looking for cash, and small items to put in their pockets, and sell on quickly. They had completely emptied my tiny jewellery box, and taken all the contents.

Nothing of great monetary value, but a number of small family items with sentimental value [all insured though] However they had emptied every drawer of its contents, clearly hoping that something more valuable was hidden inside.

In the kitchen, the contents of the tin of cookie cutters were floating in the water. Upstairs, all the haberdashery I had so neatly packed for moving was strewn all over the floor. The policeman said that as these tins all rattled, they probably expected jewels of coins inside – not a few hundred buttons, and Christmas jingle bells!

That Jackson Pollock installation, bottom right was a new box of 250 IKEA plastic drinking straws! The cash box [bottom left] was empty to start with. My neighbour wondered why they didn’t stop when they realised that there clearly wasn’t going to be anything else to steal. The box labelled ‘hats’ was full of …hats, and the tin labelled ‘interfacing’ contained interfacing. Perhaps they couldn’t read! They’d opened my filing drawers – and tipped out all my WWDP stuff, and generally made a mess. The water had poured off the worktop into the drawer of spices and seeped into the jars and packets – I shall have to claim on the insurance for them [cinnamon sticks don’t grow on trees, you know – oh, hang on, maybe they do!]

But outside on the drive, we found this – my Brigade Queen’s Award. Very precious, awarded to me in 1971. I was the youngest person in the world ever to get this, a few days after my 16th birthday – and I will always hold that record, because after that they changed the rules and 18 is the minimum age now.

The burglars must have dropped it as they made their getaway.

This wasn’t the way we expected our fantastic holiday to end, and the hassle of insurance, changing car locks, replacing damaged doors and carpets is all a bit much alongside the packing and moving. But it is only stuff after all. We still have our faith and our family and our friends, and so many, many things to be thankful for.

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will garrison our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Making A Stand For The Family

January will be rather busy with packing and moving, so I am going to prepare some posts in advance about some of our Christmas gifts. I had quite a few random plates in the sideboard – some inherited from Bob’s Mum, some from my Mum, and some were just pretty ones I had picked up in Charity Shops over the years. They cannot all go with me to Dorset – and it seemed a shame just to box them all up for a CS. So Bob worked incredibly hard, giving up precious days off, to go out into the garage and drill them.

The red one [front right] is the cakestand Bob made for me just before my birthday, using the fittings from my Scout Rummage Sale bargain. The red Grindley plates in that are ones I collected from the little hardware shop in Kenilworth when I was a student.
The turquoise blue plate which came with the fittings in April became the middle plate in a new stand - that went to Steph for her 30th birthday, as a stand with plates from her two grandmothers above and below.[Pictured second from left]
The others have gone to family and close friends as Christmas presents. The drill bits are now completely worn down and have gone into the recycling!

Food, Fun, Fizz

New Year’s Eve was great fun – Adrian and Marion came over [with a bottle of Moet and a trifle] and our neighbour Alwyn joined us [bearing a sticky toffee pudding] Bob had turned all our leftovers into an amazing Chinese buffet. As usual I forgot to photograph the food before we started eating – but here are the half empty dishes – beef in a chilli sauce, pork in a ginger sauce, plain chicken with soy dipping sauce, egg fried rice, noodles, and a selection of spring rolls/sweet’n’sour parcels from Aldi. And those superb puds…

The food was lovely, we laughed a lot, and played Cranium – which is good fun because it gives everyone a chance to show off their best game-playing skills. The challenges include drawing, sculpting play-doh, charades, humming, general knowledge…

…here is Marion recreating the Millennium Dome…

We wanted to keep the buffet hot –so I had to improvise something, as unlike Victoria Wood’s Freda, I do not possess a Hostess Trolley. I took two roasting pans, put 4 tea lights inside each, and then balanced foil covered oven shelves on top. I stood the pans on table mats, and put the food in pyrex dishes. This worked really well- but people devoured the food like the Assyrians coming down like the wolf upon the fold, so it didn’t need to be kept hot for very long! [I suspect this was due to Bob’s excellent cooking – it all got eaten up!]

We watched the end of Jools Hootenanny, toasted the new year with the Moet, and then enjoyed the London fireworks on TV. The guests left, and we fell into bed around 1pm. I hope that your New Year Celebration was good fun too. And now it is early nights for me, for the next few weeks, I think!!

The Lord Says “Have I Not Commanded You?…”

…I have decided to take these verses from Joshua Chapter 1 to be my encouragement for the year ahead. Over the past couple of months, whenever I have felt less than confident about what is in front of us, these words have come to mind…

[but much as I would like one, I shall not be wearing the cape as I leave Kirby and flit to Ferndown!]

Ignauis Nunquam!

This is the Latin inscription over the Jenyn’s Arms, at  the Denver Sluice near Downham Market. It means “Dastards Never!”

I guess that should deter cowards and evildoers from calling in at this delightful waterside watering hole. But we went- along with Steph, and Mark, and Ruth and John. R&J are ‘relations-by-marriage’ as their son is married to Bob’s sister [so they are my in-laws-in-laws I suppose] We had a lovely lunch in the winter sunshine

We sat in the conservatory- still festively decorated

The boats were moored – but the swans swam happily up and down

And we had a great meal together. Highly recommended *****

No dastards spotted anywhere

Hobbit Forming

It was really lovely to do our traditional Christmas Cinema Trip in the company of Steph and Mark yesterday. I enjoyed the Hobbit [#3] and thought Martin Freeman was excellent, as were the rest of the cast. Lots of brilliant British character actors [James Nesbit, Ken Stott, Billy Connolly and others, and a final cameo from Ian Holm] It is quite bleak though, and a lot of battle scenes- some quite grisly. I was surprised at the age of some of the young children in the cinema – I’d have had nightmares if I’d watched this sort of thing when I was in primary school! [I have nightmares now sometimes, after scary films!] I’d rate the film ****

We went to the 2pm showing, so were able to come home and spend hours preparing the Wedding Plan Spreadsheets. Twenty weeks to go – and lots of other things to do in between. It will all come together, I know. Steph and Mark are working as a team on this, which is exactly how it should be. I am very proud of them both.

Yes, I did go and see The Imitation Game. Yes, Benedict Cumberbatch and co were good. But I decided it is best enjoyed by those who go to see it as a piece of entertainment. If you are a Bletchley Park Geek [as I am] you just get very frustrated by the major inaccuracies. I realise it is a film, and facts need to be ‘tweaked’ to fit it into the time available. But I was not happy about a number of details.

So I shall not give it a review here as I know am irrationally prejudiced. Go and see it for yourself!!

To All My Friends…

…may the year ahead be full of love, joy and peace – for you, and those you love. Thank you for sharing your friendship with me in this past year – even though I haven’t met all of you in person, you are still a very important part of my life, and I hope you’ll still be there in 2015