Snow, so no go

Just when I was anticipating walking and swimming in glorious warm sunny weather, the snow arrives.  Last year I commented on the early snowfall on 20th/21st December - this year it's arrived even earlier, a winter visitor I could well have done without.  Today I was due to fly out from Gatwick to Tenerife.  After yesterday's snow, Gatwick was closed but looked set to re-open in time for my lunchtime flight today.  Fresh snow overnight put paid to that and my trip has been canceled.  What a disappointment.

To add to the disappointment, I've just come in from trying to build an igloo with absolutely no success at all!  The snow is very dry and powdery.  I suppose I could add water just like you do when building a sandcastle ... but it's not like I've even got a playmate to help me build it.  (Are you feeling sorry for me yet?)

In other news, I've bought a new camera to replace the old one after it developed an intermittent fault.  I asked a photographer friend for a recommendation and he made some suggestions.  In the end I went for a Canon Powershot SX30 with its super optical zoom.  Very nice too.  Sadly I won't be able to bring you pictorial delights of a trip to Mount Teide National Park - we'll both have to satisfy ourselves with others' photo-memories. 

If you're curious about the cartoon - this week I was sorting through some old photos and I came across my mother's autograph book.  I think it dates back to 1940 as there are a few cartoons in there signed like this one, 'C. Macpherson 40'.  I don't know who the cartoonist is, or how he fits into Mum's life, but he appears to have been extremely talented.  If memory serves correctly, Mum trained as a carpenter in the WAAF.  I also seem to recall she worked as a waitress in Croydon at some point before she became a mother, and I think the later entries (eg Donald Pleasance) relate to that post-war, pre-maternity period.

The Cruiser's Return

So I'm back on solid ground, and finally that rolling effect is wearing off.  I'm looking through my photos and some of them have turned out ok.  Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, the camera has developed an intermittent fault since I dropped it.  I'll maybe treat myself to a Digital SLR camera before too long.  


The cruise was called 'Colourful Coasts' and took me on an interesting voyage around the Canary Islands to Madeira and Morocco.  One of the highlights has to be the tree-climbing goats of Morocco.  It's like something out of the film, The Bucket List!  You remember the special coffee beans that caused Morgan Freeman's character so much amusement?   I have two words to say to you:  Argan oil.  Go on, look it up on Wikipedia.

Prayers for Good Weather Answered!

Service of Light
St Michael's Church, Camberley

Spiritual Journeying: Food for Thought

Regular readers may know that I help facilitate monthly meetings for people who sometimes find life difficult.  The group is called 'Spiritual Journeying' and offers themed conversation.

Today's Spiritual Journeying session was on 'Food for Thought' and was an especially upbeat one in many ways, with plenty of laughter and some deep moments.  The good news of the trapped miners in Chile being rescued led on to other spiritually uplifting thoughts.

When I got home I lit a candle and spent some time in meditation.  At one point I realised my body was warm (I'd wrapped a blanket around my shoulders) but my hands felt cold, then even as I acknowledged that, I became aware of a sensation of energy flowing into my hands, as though they were crackling with power.  I contemplated the idea it might be a flow of healing power, so I brought to mind some friends and prayed for their healing.

I then recalled something I'd heard recently, about seeking God's face rather than his hands - in other words, seeking a relationship with God rather than what he can do for us.  Before guilt could cloud the moment, I received the assurance that it's ok to ask for what I want, that my loving Heavenly Father delights in giving.  The phrase:  "A gift given and received in love blesses both the giver and receiver"  came to mind, and I was moved to tears by an overwhelming sense of being loved and enjoyed.

My prayer for you today is that you, too, will know that deep sense of being loved and enjoyed, and that you will freely accept the blessings and gifts our loving Heavenly Father longs to shower on you.

Eat Pray Love

Last night I went to see the film 'Eat Pray Love'.  It's quite long, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  I thought Julia Roberts was so believable in the role (and I think she's gorgeous anyway, so no hardship watching her eat spaghetti in close up).

Sunset over Swanpool

Greetings from Falmouth!  It was cheering to drive down in gorgeous sunshine.  We arrived just after three after a pleasant journey.  The two-bedroomed apartment is called 'Seawatch' and lives up to its name with huge French windows opening onto a private balcony and a fabulous view out over Swanpool beach and the bay beyond.  We watched the pastel colours changing hue as the sun went down; a sky suffused with pink perfectly reflected in the still waters below.  Delightful!

Massaging those Vital Statistics?

Only this week I noticed that blogger now provide stats showing how many times your blog has been viewed.  It seems there are a lot more visitors than I knew:  stealth browsers slipping under the radar of Statcounter.  I was puzzled by a trend - the most visited post (averaging around 7 visitors a day) was 'House Guest', posted on 12 August 2009.  At first I thought there were a lot of dog-lovers out there. It wasn't until I read through the journal entry I realised which word was probably pulling in all the interest ... can you spot which one?


I guess the photo of an elderly cocker spaniel is a big disappointment to the majority of lascivious readers! 

Cardiff & The Moody Blues

I'd booked overnight accommodation at a guesthouse 300 metres from St David's Hall (the venue for The Moody Blues concert in Cardiff). When I'd booked it, the landlady had asked me what time I anticipated checking in and I'd said around 2 pm. She explained there was limited free parking in the street outside, on a 'first come, first served' basis. As we were getting ready to go on Friday, I emailed her an updated ETA of 3 pm and received the acknowledgment, 'see you then'.


As we crossed the Severn Bridge, we left the sunshine behind and entered the wet world of Wales. We arrived at 3.15 and were fortunate to find a parking space outside the Guesthouse, which looked across the River Taff to the Millennium Stadium.

Why do we never get an answer

when we're knocking at the door ...

We went to the door and knocked and knocked ... no reply. My friend tried phoning ... no reply. Eventually a couple came out and I took the opportunity to go in whilst my friend stayed with the car (we needed to get a parking permit from the landlady). Inside there was a bell to ring for attention. Still no reply. After a while another guest arrived at the front door and knocked. I let him in and (there being no lounge) we waited together in the hallway for a good twenty minutes. He explained he was an entertainer, booked for a nurses' party nearby, and had been hoping to get his head down for a nap for a couple of hours before his gig. I'm guessing he does John Cleese/Basil Fawlty impressions as there was a strong resemblance. Eventually our landlady arrived, dripping wet and full of apologies - she'd had an unexpected visitor and had to walk her to the station.


My friend and I were glad to get in and use the bathroom before donning our jackets and heading out into the city for a coffee and to collect the tickets from the box office. We walked around a while, enjoying some of the sights, such as this pelican statue, and the family group.

Sign on a shop window:

Laughter is the best cosmetic -grin and wear it!


A bumper sticker:

A still tongue makes for a happy life

The castle. Look, they've hung the flags out!

After a meal in Wetherspoons, we found our way back to St David's Hall. Having booked late, our seats were dizzyingly high, but the acoustics were good and we had an unimpeded view of the stage.

Besides Graeme Edge, Justin Hayward and John Lodge, there were 4 other musicians: a talented drummer (who also played the flute on one number), a bouncy guy with a large number of keyboards around him, and two gorgeous girls - a platinum blonde playing keyboard and guitar, and a brunette playing flute and guitar. Justin Hayward's voice is as true as ever. It was a fantastic experience, being bathed in the very rich smooth satin sound the group produced.

Each and every heart it seems Is bounded by a world of dreams ...	… and perhaps in my wildest dreams I might have imagined hearing the Moody Blues play live – in which case this was a dream come true
	…and somehow I’ll return again to you

Shy Kid Re-emerges

From a very young age through to late teens (or later) I was extremely shy and prone to blushing if addressed directly by someone outside my very small circle of acquaintances. Seems that shy kid is still hiding inside. This morning I visited the Saturday cafe at St Martin's Church, accompanied by my neighbour's 8 year old daughter. An older gent I haven't met before greeted me in unorthodox fashion: "Will you marry me?". It was said with a twinkle and a roguish smile. I could feel the flush burning my cheeks as I struggled to appear cool and poised and find an appropriate response. Sadly no quick-witted retort sprang to my lips.







By contrast, my young friend is extremely feisty. Having learnt my children are grown up and I haven't got any grandchildren, she and her friend have made me their adoptive gran. We went to the Community Fun Day together, and I watched in admiration as she threw herself fully into every experience on offer, asking the firemen if she could climb on the fire engine, scampering up the climbing wall like a monkey and generally giving herself a grand adventure. It was great to see.









Later on I popped round Dave's to see how his garden room construction is getting on - despite the weather, work progresses rapidly.

Akiane, Child Prodigy

If you've got some time to spare, click on this link. It will take you to a website of a child prodigy named Akiane. She writes, she composes music, and mostly she paints - an inspired artist since she was 4 years old! On the home page there are a couple of videos, or at the top of the page you'll see a link to the Gallery. Follow that link and there are separate galleries for the pictures she created from 4 years old upwards. When you're in the individual galleries, there's a small cross to the bottom right-hand corner - click on that and it will take you back to the main gallery (with the menu bar at the top of the page again).

Enjoy!

Wooo hooo!

I met with a friend for coffee today and we got talking about groups from our younger days - she's going to the Weyfest this weekend to see Focus. Curved Air are also playing there (I've got their single 'Back Street Love' on the original 45 rpm vinyl). I mentioned I'd really like to see The Moody Blues live, never having seen them when they were having hits. She suggested I go and see the tribute band that do Moody Blues music, so I came home and googled ... and discovered that the REAL, the ORIGINAL Moody Blues are doing a tour ... now I've just got to choose a venue (probably Cardiff).

Things you see when you haven't got a camera

In an exception to the general rule that women are good at multi-tasking, this morning on the way to work there was a lady driving a red fiat trying to style her hair up at the same time and succeeding at neither task. As she put both hands up to her hair, the car would wander casually off course. She'd put a hand down and correct the steering, and lose control of the hair. Needless to say, I kept a safe distance between us until our ways parted.  Too much 'Spirito di Punto', methinks.

Further along, a notice on the back of a Renault Trafic caught my eye: No passengers are left onboard this vehicle overnight.

Notting Hill Carnival

Having never been to the Notting Hill Carnival before, I decided it was high time I went along to see this (apparently) world-renowned celebration of Caribbean culture happening almost on my doorstep. Accordingly a friend and I caught the tube into London on Sunday, dropped our overnight bags off at the Whiteleaf Hotel in Bayswater and walked along to Notting Hill. We arrived early. The crowd control measures were already in place with metal barriers lining some of the route the carnival procession would take, and well-policed 'sterile zones' at the junctions.

This is one of the 'sterile zones'.
In the background you can see barbecue smoke

All around the route were vendors barbecueing Jerk Chicken, corn cobs, etc, smoke rising into the Sunday morning air. The weather was behaving; reasonably mellow - a few spits and spots of rain and occasional gusts of wind, but mostly harmless.

Some guys enjoying the procession from their balcony, the guy in the white t-shirt dancing like a Thunderbird puppet!

There were some highly creative costumes - very colourful and elaborate - I've put some more photos on my homepage. Email me if you'd like the link.

After watching the carnival procession, we caught the tube to Leicester Square and watched The Last Airbender in 3D. I thoroughly enjoyed the film - it had some interesting, complex characters, fantastic effects in 3D, amazing performances and I liked the story. Very much looking forward to the sequel!

After a meal in Yates (one of our favourite eating places in London), we walked back to the Hotel. We'd booked in advance thinking that with it being Bank Holiday weekend and the Notting Hill Carnival, rooms would be hard to find. In fact it looked like there were plenty of vacancies, and lower prices than the online rates. Oh well, can't win 'em all. Earlier in the year I spent a long weekend in Norfolk, and my room there was at the top of the three-storey Guest House, with several narrow staircases and corridors to get there. Same story at the Whiteleaf Hotel, with a tortuous route all through the building and up countless flights of stairs. Despite the many sessions I spend at the gym, my heart was beating pretty fast by the time I was able to put my key in the door and let myself in. When you look at the outside of the buildings in Inverness Terrace, you get the idea that once upon a time, it was a wealthy area. I like the architecture. It's a little sad that the once-gracious proportions of the rooms at the Whiteleaf Hotel are now lost as they've been divided into such small units.

It was reasonably clean but offering none of the refinements (no fridge in the room, no complimentary shampoo/shower gel), and although breakfast was included, all that was on offer was cornflakes and toast. Overall I guess it was cheap enough but I can't recommend it.

Sew creative!

Today I'm feeling inordinately pleased with myself on two counts :

1. I began the day with a trip to the gym - always a good way to start the week (not least because of the extra calories I've indulged in over the weekend).


2. At the weekend I noticed that the plastic peg basket was broken. I also noticed when we were playing Scrabble there was a hole in the letters' bag. This morning I got the sewing machine out and made myself a new letters' bag out of a scrap of green fabric I happened to have lying around, then went on to make a new peg bag from part of an old curtain.

I may have mentioned before that I detested sewing lessons at school, probably because I felt so inept at it. That might go some way to explain why I'm feeling so pleased with my new-found ability to create useful things from material.

Some work, some play

Had a lovely weekend - Vicky came to visit. Saturday afternoon we went to see the exhibitions on at The Light Box in Woking - 'Escape to Wonderland', a history of children's book illustration, and Lord Snowdon's photographs of artists. Back home we played a game of Scrabble, the first I've played in a long time. It was my mother's favourite game - she played daily with my aunt, and I imagined them watching over our shoulders as we played, whispering tips in our ears.

Dave and Vic had been working hard on the construction of Dave's garden room, so we invited them over in the evening to share a home-made curry with all the trimmings, followed by games of Dominoes and a card game Vicky taught us called, charmingly, 'sh-t-head'. Dave spotted the Scrabble box and commented that there's been a change of rules which has hit the headlines in a major way - apparently you can now use real names. I confess the news had escaped my notice and I can't really understand why the change anyway. Oh well, time moves on.

Sunday Vicky and I went to see 'Step Up' in 3D. There are some amazingly talented dancers out there these days - some of those moves are just mind-boggling - how do their bodies do that?!? Incredible strength and flexibility, I guess.

Ebay Success!

A post-script to the story of the stool make-over: I listed for sale on ebay the yellow patterned leatherette fabric that came off the seat pad, with the suggestion it could be used as a kitchen floor-covering in a dolls' house. Amazingly there were 6 'watchers' including a lady in Australia who wrote to ask if I'd be prepared to post it overseas. Unfortunately I had restricted the sale to UK bidders only, and wasn't able to amend that aspect, so I had to disappoint her. Nonetheless, the fabric sold for £2.64!

Stool Makeover

So here it is, the finished job. What you can't see from the photo is the little mistake I made. To remove the seat pad I had to unscrew 6 screws, which I carefully preserved ready to screw it back once it was re-covered. As my staple gun was one of the tools I lost when the allotment shed was burned down by vandals back in December last year, I nipped over to Dave's to borrow his. Only problem was his staples were far too long, so I zipped up to AHC Tools to buy some shorter ones. Whilst I was in the shop, we could see lots of police motorcycle activity outside and one of the shopkeepers explained today is 'Passing Out' day at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy.

Clutching the staple gun and new staples, I exited the shop and went to my car. Where I was parked, I could see a cavalcade of police motorcycles behind me and another one up ahead. It wasn't immediately obvious what I should do ... should I wait in the parked car or use the opportunity of the traffic being stopped to make my getaway ... I chose the getaway and pulled out from the layby. Immediately a policeman zoomed up and motioned me to stop, and then a motorcade of black limousines sped by us towards the Academy. Silly me was so busy watching the policeman, I didn't even think about peering into the limousines to see who was passing by.

Talking of 'passing', I'm told that the 'Passing Out' parade is aptly named, as sometimes one or two will pass out during the course of the day.

Anyway, back to the little mistake ... by the time I got back to Dave's and he helped me staple the new fabric to the wooden base of the seat pad, I'd forgotten to make sure that the screw holes were accessible. Oh well, it seems quite firmly wedged in place, perhaps it won't matter it's not screwed down.

Whilst I was at Dave's, I took the opportunity to photograph the latest stage in the Garden Room construction. It's coming on well, isn't it! Work is going on pause for a few days whilst he enjoys a short break in the South of France. I've agreed to take care of his Senegal parrot whilst he's away.

"To infinity ... and beyond!"

Yes, folks, I went to see the latest Toy Story in 3D. A friend said it was recommended to him and a little reluctantly I agreed to go along. We went to a showing at 8.25 pm - which seemed a little late to me for what I thought of as a 'kid's film' - but with an audience aged late teens right through to senior citizens, I didn't feel at all out of place. It was brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed it and can now understand why adults are recommending it to other adults.

The Wine-Making Continues

Decided today was the day to decant the blackcurrant wine-in-the-making from the bucket to the demi-johns. The funnel I have is quite small. I draped the clean jam muslin over the funnel to strain off any solid matter, with the result that it took a long time to pour the wine into the two demi-johns. I started the job outside, guessing it might be a messy process, and realised it was attracting wasps and flies so I brought everything indoors. I was glad I'd stood the bell jars on trays - as you can see from the photos, a fair amount of wine ended up in the trays. As I looked around at the mess, it reminded me of something that happened a number of years ago: one day I had had a couple of failures in things I'd tried to do, and was making something in the kitchen and even that went wrong. I was starting to sink into self-pity mode, thinking to myself , "I'm no good at ANYTHING", when the little voice in my head offered: "You're very good at making a mess in the kitchen!" - which was absolutely true, I'd got almost every utensil and pan I own dirty and there was a mess over every worktop. I burst out laughing and it banished the self-pity almost before I'd owned it.

One of the things that amazes me is how the jam muslin comes up nice and clean again when you boil it up with some Persil then let it go cold and rinse thoroughly.

Stool Make-Over

Here's the stool after a couple of coats of paint. Now I'm looking on ebay to see if I can find some reasonably priced leatherette to re-upholster it. There used to be a stall at Farnborough market selling material but it wasn't there when I visited yesterday. There weren't many stalls there at all and I don't know whether that's because it's holiday season or whether the market has generally diminished.

Domestic Goddess?

A number of years ago I bought this tired kitchen stool at a jumble sale, intending to paint it and give it a new lease of life. Two house moves and 25 years later and finally its time has come! I've bought some claret paint to match the decor in the kitchen and given it a first coat (not shown). I want to find some leatherette or something suitable to re-cover the seat pad.

I also got the sewing machine out and had a go at turning a long-sleeved shirt into a short-sleeved shirt. I wasn't satisfied with the result, despite taking an hour trying to achieve perfection. All good practice, though.

On another note, a friend and I are each going to research 5 potential holidays then choose the one we like best for later in the year. Now where in the world do I want to go?

Inception

I've mentioned blackcurrants a few times ... this morning I spent three hours over the allotment. I did some weeding then picked some more blackcurrants. Here is today's crop - they're now very ripe, plump little globes of goodness packed with vitamin C - and this bowlful represents about two thirds of one plant's harvest.

After a busy day it was nice to be whisked away to Woking to see Inception. I found it gripping - it didn't have many relaxing moments! Amazing cinematography and special effects - absolutely incredible! Very clever stuff, with an intriguing theme and storyline. I liked how the cast handled it. They seemed natural together and likeable, helping to draw you into the film. The friend who took me recognised a building in the film and on the way home we detoured to see it. That was pretty neat, too.

Salad Days and Home-Made Wine

At work it seems we're a health-conscious bunch - in the morning the fridge is crammed with everybody's salad lunches. Here's a photo of mine. Colourful, n'est pas?



This year has seen a huge crop of blackcurrants from the allotment. I've made plenty of jam and jelly and after chatting with the lady who runs the gardening group at work, I decided to venture into a little home wine-making. My mother was quite successful with home wine-making, as I recall, but this is my first batch ever*. It's releasing an interesting yeasty aroma at the moment in the first stage of fermentation.
*PS Having written this, I remembered I have made wine before - there were grape vines at my previous home and a number of years ago in another life I tried making wine from the grapes. One batch was drinkable if a little too acidic and I don't think the other batch worked for some reason.

"Go ahead, inconvenience me"

What is it that prompts us to do something different spontaneously? I have my own theory. Recently I read a blog post by Mark Landreth-Smith. (Follow the link if you'd like to read it yourself). Called 'The 15 Revolution' after a book by Paul Scanlon, Mark's post informed me the book has a motto: "Go ahead, inconvenience me".

Normally when I drive home, I come up College Ride. Today on impulse I used the A30 route. As I was approaching the traffic lights at Caesar’s Camp Road, I noticed on the opposite pavement a cyclist sitting down with the bike lying nearby. It was obvious at first glance the cyclist had come off, with large dark stains all down one side. This much I took in as I sped by. I wanted to get home quick because I needed to use the bathroom (having ignored the inner prompting to use the loo at work before I came away). Then Mark's blog post came to mind – the motto from the book, “Go ahead, inconvenience me”. As a result, I turned around and went back, pulling up alongside the cyclist. I’d thought it was a teenage boy, in fact it was a Slovakian lady in her 50’s cycling home from work. It was clear she had had a nasty fall and was badly bruised and shaken up. Together we managed to load the bike in the back of the car (it’s what estate cars are for) and set off for Blackwater where she was able to direct me to her home. She was very grateful (and I was very grateful to be able to use her bathroom before I came home). Seems the book’s influence is wider than its readership, thanks to the power of the internet!

Norfolk Lavender

I had the idea that lavender is an important crop in Norfolk so this weekend I went to see it. I'll confess I was the teeniest bit disappointed not to see huge fields of glorious colour, but it was a lovely weekend nonetheless, and the seals at Blakeney Point were one of the highlights. I've written about the weekend at length elsewhere, with photos. Email me if you would like the link. You'll find my email address on my profile page.

Girl on a Motorcycle: Then and Now

Vicky my biker-chick daughter has now acquired a Yamaha Diversion. As you can see, motorbikes have been 'in her blood' since an early age.

"When I grow up ..."

"It's NOT pink!"

Summer School

I've been attending some of the Guildford Diocesan Summer School sessions:

1. Who do you think you are? (Based on Ignatian Spirituality and the Spiritual Disciplines)
2. Explore your faith
3. Storytelling and Truth: From Milton to Philip Pullman
4. Murals of St Martin's Church, Blackheath

Session 3 was led by Dr Anthony Cane, Chancellor of Chichester Cathedral, and he offered us some very interesting thoughts and ideas along with a wealth of quotes from C S Lewis, Philip Pullman, John Milton and JR Tolkien. Are storytellers 'sub-creators', sharing the creative attribute of God? We heard a definition of a parable: 'Truth jumps through the window while the mind is opening the door'.
Today's session began with a visit to St Martin's Church, Blackheath (the smallest village in Surrey). After hearing an abridged history of the village, we turned our attention to the murals decorating the inside of the church. These were painted in the summers of 1894 and 1895 by Anna Lea Merritt, most famous for her portrait, "Love Locked Out".

The writing above the tomb (in the picture below) is Hebrew for Joseph's Place




Helpfully, the signpost proclaims: This Way, That Way, Somewhere Else. What more could you need to know!

That Berry's Busty!

Recently I introduced myself over the fence to the neighbour who borders the rear of my garden and he invited me to go round and see his wooden figures. Today a friend and I took him up on the offer, and were delighted by his collection. He makes them all out of Lime wood. The Polar bear is bleached Lime. The key and chain is carved out of a single piece of wood. Also delightful was the collection of stories with which he regaled us. Besides the wood-carving, his other hobbies include radio-controlled boats and making dolls houses, then at Christmas as if all that wasn't enough, he dresses up as Father Christmas. A natural born raconteur!

I took him a little dish of freshly picked strawberries from the allotment - excluding this odd shaped one. Don't you think it looks like it has breasts? I think if 'That's Life!' was still on TV, it would have had a starring role.

Labouring in the summer sun

Knowing the day was going to be sweltering, I went down the allotment early whilst it was still reasonably cool. I was there from 7.30 am to around 9.45 am then went on to the dump to dispose of all the weeds, and from there to Dave's house. He's had the week off working on the construction of his garden room, and he was quick to rope me in as general labourer for the day. We went to Wickes and bought some more ballast, then on to a woodyard - Covers in Aldershot. The guy there was extremely helpful discussing the selection of timber and construction methods. Dave bought 10 hefty beams (see photo for an example) and they helped him load it onto the roof-rack. We took 6 the first trip and came back for the other 4. Between us we managed to get them unloaded and through to the construction area. Then I got on with digging out the holes for the last three footings whilst he mixed the concrete. Some careful measuring, and finally the last three padstones were in place. It was hot, thirsty work. We stopped several times to cool off, drink some water and munch our way through a large bunch of cherries from his neighbour's tree (with his neighbour's permission, of course).

Afterwards he treated me to a KFC for dinner - ahhh, we know how to live! Odd though it sounds, I enjoyed the day. I haven't done so much manual labour recently, and it feels good when your body proves it's still capable.

The photo is a post-script, taken a week later and showing one of the padstones I helped lay, with some of the building's timber framework in place.

Concert, favours, synchronicity

Last night I went to see Suzanne Vega in concert at The Anvil in Basingstoke. It was my friend's choice - my knowledge of the music scene isn't as extensive as his and I didn't recognise any of her work. Very talented lyricist with a pretty voice. Suzanne told the story behind many of the songs, which made it more interesting. One about New York being a woman led to a conversation with the audience, explaining that at the previous gig in London, she had asked the audience if London was male or female, and been told 'female' ... then asked how that female would be characterised. Someone retorted that if New York was a woman, London was a whore! She put the same question to Basingstoke - would people of Basingstoke characterise the town as male or female. It seemed the majority agreed 'male' and one lady in the front stalls suggested Basingstoke is a 'conservative pig', which had the audience laughing. Suzanne pretended to find inspiration for a whole new song in this.

Today was a nice day. It began with my accustomed reading/meditation on a lesson from 'A Course in Miracles' on the theme of being led by the Voice for Truth: "I will step back and let Him lead the way". I had an early morning phone call from a friend asking if I could do her a favour, and happily I was already planning to visit the place where she was asking me to go as I had an appointment there, so that was an easy favour to grant.

After the phone call, I took some stuff down the municipal dump and went from there to (son) Dave's house. He wasn't at home, but whilst I was parked outside his house a delivery van arrived with something he'd ordered. I unlocked the garage and the delivery man carefully unloaded the large item, delighted that he wouldn't have to come back again some other time. The timing couldn't have been better. I sent Dave a text letting him know and he phoned back equally delighted.

Later still I went to the allotment and picked a handful of ripe strawberries, then back home I had a super text from (daughter) Vicky letting me know she has been offered the job she interviewed for on Monday and asking if I could help her out with something which again was very easy to grant. We arranged that as she's coming up this way at the weekend to attend an old school friend's party, she'll come to visit on Sunday.

Tooth Fairy & Letters to Juliet

Monday night's treat was a trip to Woking to see The Tooth Fairy which had me laughing out loud. It was an early screening and we had a tasty meal at the Auberge afterwards. Then Thursday night my gallant escort suggested another trip to the cinema, this time for the romantic Letters to Juliet. Given the later start I had time to get home from work and prepare us a simple meal before we went. It was an enjoyable end to a good day - earlier in the day I'd visited a couple of community activities (in my role as a Community Development Worker) and felt a sense of things going ok. I notice I'm dialling back my positivity a notch - I want to say things went well - not sure what that's about unless perhaps a fear that being overly positive could adversely affect outcomes.

The message of The Tooth Fairy is the value of dreams, and interestingly enough, synchronistically enough, the Word For Today has also been exploring the value of dreams and dreamers. As it's now 10 pm, perhaps it's time for me to sign off here and go and dream a little ...

Brighton Beach & George Benson

A friend wanted to go and see George Benson in concert. We checked out the tour dates and settled on Brighton, as I'd previously expressed a desire to go and see the Brighton Pavilion. I drove us down there, leaving around 9.45 am and taking the 'A' roads rather than the motorway. We stopped for coffee en route and arrived in Brighton in time for lunch.

On our list of places to visit were the delightful St Anne's Well Gardens where we had a lovely lunch in the busy little cafe. A combination of the beautiful summer weather and half-term school holidays had drawn out lots of families.

Here's the Royal Pavilion. The exotic architecture looks fantastic against a clear summer-blue sky.

I love the way this photo captures the very essence of a British seaside town, with a gull flying past a sign for fish and chips in the lower right-hand corner, and the fairground at the end of the pier in the upper left corner (not to mention the pebble beach and the merry-go-round).

I'll confess I didn't enjoy the concert as much as some of the others we've been to and I was glad to get home and climb wearily into my bed after a delightful yet tiring day at the seaside.

One small step for womankind

My mother was a very practical person, good at carpentry, decorating and sewing. When I was growing up, she occasionally made me lovely clothes. When she died, I inherited her old Singer electric sewing machine and sadly not her expertise. I used it for doing very simple stuff until I managed to get some thread stuck in it. I took it along to a specialist mechanic and he showed me what was broken. Between us we came to the conclusion it was beyond economic repair and I bought this beautiful refurbished machine in its place. That was in March - and it has sat in its box ever since. Today I was waiting in for a phone call and decided it was time to unpack it. It has a self-threading feature - very handy when your eyesight's maybe not as sharp as it was.

What a joy it is - you can set the speed really slow so that it stitches one stitch at a time rather than running away with you the instant you step on the pedal. So far I've only repaired a couple of pillowcases, but having discovered how easy it is to use, I'm encouraged to have a go at hemming a pair of walking trousers next.

It was a day of small triumphs. There were a couple of dead shrubs in the garden and I've now lifted those and put them ready to take down the dump tomorrow; I've cut the grass front and back, and changed the bulb in the light in the understairs cupboard. It's a bulkhead light with a protective metal cage held in place with a small screw, so once more I wielded that trusty Phillips-head screwdriver, and once more gained a sense of accomplishment.

Back in 2008 I had an operation to excise a small area of breast tissue affected by Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS). Yesterday I went back to the hospital for the annual mammogram to check there has been no recurrence, and found myself sitting next to one of the nurses from Wingfield Ward (there escorting a patient). It was nice catching up with each other's news, and being able to tell her I'm now back to work.

The House at Cat Poo Corner

Here's a problem that is vexing -
moral question quite perplexing -
when a cat poops in my garden
should I offer it a pardon?

I confess to you, my forgiving readers: recently I did an officially 'not-very-nice' thing. Yes, I've checked my actions out with a trusted friend who assures me it is definitely not the thing to do if I want my neighbours to like me. Who of us wouldn't prefer our neighbours to like us?

Are you burning with curiosity to know what I did? Dare I tell you? But you might not like me! You might not leave nice comments on my blog! What? Oh yes, that's right - you don't leave nice comments anyway. Ok, I guess it's safe then.

Early one morning as I strolled in my garden enjoying the blue skies and golden sunshine and proudly checking out the newly sown flowerbed-in-the-making, I noticed a fresh fecal deposit in said seedbed. As mentioned in a previous blog post , the garden appears to serve as the public cat-litter box. Carefully with a garden trowel, I lifted this undesirable gift and just as carefully deposited it through the open trellis fencing into the neighbour's garden, inwardly justifying my action as one does in such matters by saying that it was not my property, and I was merely returning it to the owner.

Subsequently I advertised on freecycle for chicken wire or the like to lay across the ground in order to deter further unwanted deposits, and the photo shows the mesh panels I received in response to my request. These haven't been quite as successful as I'd hoped, the sure-footed culprits merely selecting the fringes of the area which the panels don't quite cover. Besides the mesh panels I received a couple of, um... 'helpful' suggestions:
1)grow a lemon tree. Apparently this is a sure-fire way of letting cats know your garden is off-limits. No explanation on how this works was offered.
2) scatter the ground with half-full plastic water bottles. No data on how many bottles per square metre was supplied. I suppose if there were sufficient, there would be no room for the cats to walk. How the seedlings would fare as they tried to emerge under the weight of the bottles is also undocumented.

So there you have it, folks. I know the Bible is very clear on the principle of 'turning the other cheek' should the enemy smite you on one cheek. I suppose going the extra mile in this instance would be creating an inviting custom built dirt box as I read about on this blog. (the link will take you to another webpage - scroll down to read how Mad Wicca dealt with her own cat's toileting needs). Will I be doing that in the near future? Answers on a postcard, please - or why not use the comments link below?