Christmas, day 6

That makes it Sunday - we always have a combined service with three parishes together on the Sunday after Xmas.
This year it was at Shustoke, with coffee & a catch up afterwards - warm & friendly, with lots of hugging & kissing.
G has spent the day clearing the rest of the leaves in the field - 8 cubic metres!
I've made up beds, cleaned  ironed; everything is ready for the New Year celebrations - visitors tomorrow ready to join in lunch on Tuesday.
I have two salmon in the fridge & Morrison's brand new fish kettle in the porch, loads of new potatoes & ingredients for a number of deserts awaiting the Gordon Ramsey touch!
That's tomorrow taken care of.

G has had a soak in the bath & has just put the chickens to bed - two in the eglu & one perched on the field gate.
Whatever next?

We were going to the pictures to see "Impossible" tonight, but I've just checked the times & it's on at 19.00........from 1 Jan!!!
We'll enjoy a quiet night by the fire, reading the papers.  

Christmas day 4

We've spent a lovely Christmas, with most of the family.
Days 1, 2 & 3 were excellent - the turkey was moist (comments on the moistness of the turkey are compulsory) Christmas lunch went really well & everyone was relaxed.
We had some lovely presents & the grandchildren all loved their all-in ones - G covered me with the lovely rug that W & family gave me, when I fell asleep on the settee at tea-time today, before the fire was lit.
I have obviously reached my dotage!
B&E,T&KP arrived on Boxing day afternoon, shortly after P&A, J&G & families had left.
G & T worked together on T's hwk, planning a trip to China!
Yesterday Chris & Jan came to supper & we played the games that we'd practised with the family on Xmas day.
This morning I made the traditional dish with the last of the turkey (baked, in white sauce, covered with cheese & breadcrumbs), with a smaller one for Marg & Phil.
G has de-foliated the field & spring cleaned the eglu, whilst I did the laundry & turned the bedrooms around, ready for Peter & aj over the weekend.
We had a late lunch/early tea then I sat down & fell aslleep!
Shopping again tomorrow for lunch on New Year's Day. 

Happy Christmas.

,All is peace & joy - the turkey is stuffed, buttered, bedecked with bacon, foiled & has been in the oven for an hour, during which time we have wrapped the chipolatas in bacon, freed the chickens (1 egg, thank-you) & had a cup of tea.
The pressies are all wrapped & under the tree, the beds made up & the house is gleaming.
The family are arriving later.
What more could you want (apart from the rest of the family?)

We had a brandy & baklava at 1.00am & opened our presents, when we returned from Midnight Mass - a great service taken by the Diocesan Education Advisor, Peter Finch - a very tall man with a booming voice!

I hope you all have a wonderful, peaceful day with those you love.

Almost....

We have never been so organised for Christmas.
I collected the turkey from the farm shop, along with the chipolatas & a pork pie (Xmas day breakfast!), after taking the services t Sh & OW.
I have vacuumed through, made up 8 beds, put up the rest of the cards & ironed the last washing of 2012.
I have to do a final shop tomorrow for vegetables, cream, etc.
I intended to be there when M&S opened, but they are opening at midnight, so I won't be the first in.
Who on earth wants to shop/ has their brain in gear at midnight?

The weather girl has an Xmas knitted sweater dress with reindeer - very becoming.
I have a thin black & red sparkly jumper to wear with my black trousers, perhaps more suitable really.
Braunton, next to Saunton Sands has had 3ft of floodwater & on the news - the family should remember it as we went there regularly when the boys were young & we did the first holiday with the grandchildren, J & T only,  in 2005.

We went to Coventry Cathedral yesterday, compliments of E, to take part in the CWR recording of their Xmas day carol service - queued for an hour, around the block, but it was well worth it - on CWR tomorrow at 6.00pm & Xmas day at 1.00pm

Off to the Carol Service at Sh shortly - hope it's not too self indulgent - 9 readings, 7 carols & 27 choir items! 

Three sleeps to santa Claus

So Th calculated today - we have been entertained by J & Th today.
Lots to do - J helped me to lay the dining table for Xmas day, made the place names & did the seating plan with Th - a bit early, but done.
Th accompanied me around the village, him on a scooter, me putting flyers  through all doors with service times & greetings from Church - still a lot to do.
They made cards, J wrote a story & we had fresh boiled eggs for lunch - "best ever".
Later we went to Solihull to do a couple of jobs, & had tea at McDonalds (not me - coffee only)
Solihull was pretty quiet, even M&S!
Came home about 7.00pm, stopping at Morrisons en route to buy dinner - too knackered to do much cooking.
We are presently watching David Attenborough's new programme about evolution (recorded) - amazing. He is presently at Craille in N Scotland, on the beach with the fossilised stumps of trees that were 90ft tall along with 2.5m long millipedes & dragonflies with a 1m wingspan, all from the Carboniferous period - lots of oxygen in the air so faster growth.
Blimey!  
Do watch if you get the chance.

Sermon to write for services at Sh & OW on Sunday & family service to prepare for Xmas day, pressies to wrap, flyers to go to much of village, beds to make up, turkey to collect & shopping to complete.
All good fun!
Should I shop early tomorrow or Monday?
I favour Monday so I can stay at home tomorrow & catch up - weather looks atrocious - time to start building the ark!
Have a good weekend........

Sanity regns.......

Home again after a couple of days with JR -  a mentally unchallenging experience.
I took an M&S lunch to cook, which I put in the Rayburn whilst we took Abigail home.
After lunch we wrote JR's Christmas cards the went to JS to buy pressies - bottles & Christmassy bags!
We went on to have tea & a natter with Mary, then home to light the fire, toast a teacake & snooze.
The temp in the lounge topped 80+ degrees during the evening so sleep is inevitable.
JR had a late night - 9.20pm, I stayed uo even later.
Up at 8.30am to complete the presents, visit from a neighbour/reader for coffee (hot water in his case) then off to collect Abigail, JS for lunch (theirs - I had a skinny cappuccino) then home, load up & on the road again, back to Brum!
By the time we left JS, JR had forgotten who I was & thought we were looking for a taxi - perhaps partly my fault as we were actually looking for the volvo - hidden by a dratted 4x4!
All's well that ends well, so WS said anyway.

G & I went up to church to put the lights on, including the Xmas tree lights, before the school arrived for their carol service.
Chaotic parking as the Griffin car park was closed?
Di arrived, snapped at us that we had turned the outside light off (hadn't) & so we checked that a friend would turn off the tree lights & came home.

Scrunchy duck (JS - half price) for dinner - very good.
Bedtime.   

Monday, monday.

We've had a good weekend - a final shop on Saturday morning, followed by an afternoon of cooking - Gordon Ramsey's winter beef casserole (bouef bourginone with small cubes of celeriac & carrots; spelling looks dodgy!), fresh raspberry trifle & creme caramel.
G prepared the vegetables on Sunday morning whilst I made the other puds -steamed ginger sponge, chocolate & banana bread & butter pud & apple crumble.
Twenty five of us for lunch, which was scrummy & went very well, making £240 for sh church.
We left the clearing up & went to the Christingle service at NW at 4.00pm, then home to put the house in order & collapse on the settee.

We woke at 8.30am - complaint from the chickens, but two eggs during the day.
I played tennis, came home to shower , then we went to Solihull to collect J & Th from school & cook tea. J's school disco this evening - a real disco babe!

Home to eat the remains of yesterday's meal & give a little thought to Sunday's sermon - Advent 4, Mary/love.
One source tells me that it wasn't known where babies came from in Biblical times, so a virgin birth didn't mean a lot??

wet, wet, wet.

The freeze has ended to be replaced by non stop rain.
It has rained all day, puddles reign & the yard is flooded.

I went to manor farm shop at Chapel End this morning, on the recommendation of the Pughs - fantastic, home produced meat & vegetables & a butcher who makes suggestions as to what to buy.
In this case, 10lb of beef for a Gordon Ramsey casserole for 30 for the fund raising Sunday lunch.
It was so good that I ordered a turkey & 80 chipolatas for Xmas.

I've spent the rest of the day shopping & collecting J & Th from school, etc.
Th very tired - endoftermitis!
Meanwhile, back at the homestead, G has done the ironing.........
I must go out more often!

Xmas cards almost done, presents almost sorted, food ordered, so a stress free Advent ! 

Cooking tomorrow so only some puds & the veg to do on Sunday.

Just watched Graham Norton Show - anybody with a book/record to plug, but quite funny.

Did you see us at the auction on "Flog It" yesterday, from Coventry?
We were only there by chance - selling some lots & unaware of the TV connection, initially.
15 seconds of fame!

chilly.......

Another freezing day - 4 degrees this morning.
Lots of lovely birds feeding in the garden, including two woodpeckers, tits, finches & lots of small brown birds scuttling around on the ground, where the chickens have turned the leaf litter over.
Two big eggs today.

I met with the Head at Sh school re getting more contact with the church, home for coffee then on to the shop for a couple of hours - cold - then a visit to Phil & Marg on the way home - all on foot, at varying speeds, to ensure some exercise & warm up.

Question Time on TV - that dreadful man from the Daily Mail - an eloquent bigot.
even Will Self is a pain tonight.
I do feel that marriage is between a man & a woman - same sex partnerships can be legalised in a civil manner.
I'm not homophobic, I just think that marriage is specific - it seems that I am illiberal/wold fashioned.

Must finish the Xmas cards before bed.

 

Lazy day.

Joke for the day: the assistant said to G "sorry about your weight", I replied "He's trying to do something about it"
Boom, boom.
After a lazy day, we've been to Ventura Park to get prints of our Holy Land photos, to take to the meeting - I managed a quick visit to M&S to take on some fruit & veg.
Fortunately, we came home via NW & Furnace End, to visit the garden centre for bird food; the traffic from Furnace End was queueing all the way through Sh, out of site towards Coleshill.
Cold all day, high of - 2 degrees!
Another night with the heating on, I suspect.
All this freezing weather makes me want to eat. 

Born in a Barn....

Home again for a cold evening.
Yesterday I played a couple of sets of tennis - freezing hands  blinding sun, but really good -then we ate scrambled eggs & left for an afternoon out, ending up in Chipping Norton for an early meal before seeing Jo Brand at The Little Theatre in Chippy.
We had an excellent day, pottering in Alcester, Moreton in Marsh & then Chippy, before having an excellent Indian meal (Mon eve - 3 courses with naan or rice, coffee  or ice cream, £9.95) at the far end of the town, before walking back to the theatre.
The show was v good - they try out new material at these small venues, apparently (about 200) 

We went back to B & E's for the night, so had the delight of taking T & KP to school - never at a loss for a word or two!
We pottered around Bicester in the morning; bought some great books in Sobell House shop, did Bicester village, briefly.
The latter doesn't really cater for rural 50 somethings on a budget, but the Pret a Manger is  an oasis of calm in which to watch weirdly dressed orientals resting, amongst their designer bags alongside local "yummy mummies" amongst their toddlers.
We lunched lightly at The Red Lion in Stratton Audley then on to Marsh Gibbon to watch O & the twins school Christmas production, in the parish church - another delight.
We collected RPO & drove home, separately.
I stopped for fuel & small silver Xmas trees at JS.
G stopped to shop in Solihull........
I suspect that the chickens had been in all day - G put a spotlight on the run to entice them & fed & watered them - too cold to risk a night with empty tummies!
A friend popped in for a chat for a couple of hours before dinner & then zzzzzzzzz  

Phew!

Sitting relaxing by the fire after a prawn on puri, followed by chicken tikka dhansak & pashwari naan.
The church looks fantastic,especially in the dark, just lit by 27 twinkling Christmas trees.
We've spent most of the last two days at church, welcoming visitors - actually I spent a couple of hours clearing up, vacuuming & laying up the tea table before shopping for the panetone & stollen at Morrisons, to complement the christmas & chocolate cake ( with Xmas tree & dusting of icing sugar)  before the first visitors, at 11.00am.
We had J & G & family over for a 6th b'day lunch for Oscar, along with 3 friends, P & A 7 family - hot dogs, crisps & healthy nibbles for 14!
All went well & the children all enjoyed playing in the garden afterwards.
Up early to make a big coffee cake for church before taking the Advent 2 services at Sh & OW this morning, coffee at home then back to church, finishing with a short, informal carol service at 4.00pm, more tea & cake, then home, knackered.

Hectic week ahead here - hope you all have a good week.  
 

Oh Tannenbaum!

You may have noticed that I haven't blogged for a few days - this is because W, MK & family have been here fro Denmark & I have fallen asleep each evening before reaching the laptop.
We have had a grand few days; the boys have been great fun & W& MK have behaved well!
On Wed, they headed home, via Booth Hall Hospital, Manchester, we headed for Shirley to see Th's school Christmas play - "The Christmas Tree".
It was brilliant! (at risk of sounding like "William's Little World" stream of sub consciousness), a real tear-jerker.
We hurried home to dress in rags & head to church to help Maurice put 26 trees in blocks & position around the church, each accompanied by a set of lights.
A friend came to sort the wiring - 5 sockets in total - with miles of cable.
We came home with an hour to get ready & go to Chris's Barbers' Shop concert, in Coventry.
We couldn't find the venue, so settled for a row & came home.

We have spent most of today at church, erecting & decorating trees & clearing up.
Folk who have sponsored the trees have been in to decorate & G decorated th biggy - 20ft - needing ladders at full tilt - nearer Thy God to Thee!
I've since made a v big Christmas cake, ready to decorate, to serve in church at the w/e.
I bought a stollen (yes, I paid for it), at Morrisons  - £1.67 & scrummy, to test.
I shall make a chocolate log & buy the stollen & panetone.
Shustoke Church will be open from 11.00 - 5.00pm on Saturday & Sunday, finishing with a 20 minute carol service - come along & see the church, lit only by the trees - they look fantastic, & have a cup of tea & cake.

More work & church open tomorrow for the final trees to be decorated by their sponsors.
No heating in church - you cannot believe how cold it is - vest, cashmere, woolly & fleece, with gloves.

Starbucks is going to pay tax, but is it enough?

family get together.

W, MK & family arrived late last night, the family being asleep at the time, & so to bed.
The rest of us enjoyed a bottle of wine before retiring.
This morning we all drove to Bicester, W & MK breaking their journey at Bicester Village, whilst G & I went to Marsh Gibbon to visit the family.
We all went to witness T's music group "busking" in the town centre - great to have the family all together, if only briefly.
The band were brilliant, playing Christmas music for nearly 3 hours - well done to Costa Coffee, who provided hot chocolate for them. (They also provided hot coffee & chocolate for us, to keep us warm, at a marginally higher cost)
G & I had hot pork rolls from the local butcher & have so far disproved W's theory that the white bread roll would cause our mutual demise before tea-time!
The family are having an evening together, us oldies came home earlier, before dark!
A big family lunch here tomorrow, following Advent service at NW.

Brill

What a great day - I took the car to Tollbar for it's beauty treatment, swapped it for a spanking new C30 & went shopping for the day.
What more could you want?
I went to Alcester - a really pretty little town full of alleyways, with an array of antique & charity shops..
I had a potter around, then bought some bits in the antique shop, which I am delighted with, then drove back to Warwick, had a nice lunch, pottered round the shops, then went to reclaim the car.
I finished the day out in Knowle where I bought chicken from the butchers, for dinner.

We have had a fund raising meeting tonight, to sort out the details for the Mid advent festival, then a glass of wine, to get over it.

G had an altercation with a driver who parked on the grass outside, ploughing it up.
When she turned round he realised that it was a friend who went to the Holy land with us.
Oh Dear.
I shall e mail her to invite her to park in the drive whilst she walks her dog.

I still have a sermon to write. 

Time for bed.....

To make up for going to bed ridiculously late last night - I kept nodding off as I was so tired after doing the sale, then it becomes hard work to go to bed.
I had a really lazy morning - let the girls out then went back to bed with a cup of tea & read the paper then had a long bath & didn't start the day until lunchtime.
Lazy or what?
I walked to the village to deliver some letters & get some exercise, did a few jobs en route then realised that I had a lot to do.
I've emptied the car,ready for it's beauty treatment tomorrow, sorted & put away the remnants from the sale, done washing & ironing, cleaned the bedrooms & made the beds up ready for W & MK, etc, arriving on Friday.
I drove to Sh & NW churches to take stuff that was in the porch - NW was fun as I had a drawer of bric a brac, which was cumbersome & I had to negotiate the two doors in the dark.
I had a prawn salad for dinner - daren't risk another banana sandwich!.
Off to bed - sermon still to do!  

Flog it.

Aj gave me a couple of boxes of objets d'art to sell on my "Hollylands Heirlooms" stall at the open evening in the village hall this evening.
I spent much of the day putting together a couple of boxes of really good things, washing & packing everything.
This afternoon, G set off to visit M in Guildford.
I visited Blyth Mill to check on the Christmas trees then loaded the car, set the burglar alarm off - had to re-open the back door because I'd left the key in the lock - put the chickens to bed, then off to the village hall to set up my table.
I sold over £100 worth of things -  far more than any of the other stall holders, I think - drank a glass of wine, packed it all up again & came home before 10.00pm.
I've since had a banana sandwich & two pints of decaf coffee, reported back to aj - £10 of her things sold, done some ironing & made up the bed.
Tomorrow, I'll empty the car 

Wet, wet, wetter.

I can't remember what we did on Saturday - I remember reading the paper, but that couldn't have taken all day. It did rain all night, loudly & we were flooded out by Sunday morning.
I had services to take at Shustoke & OW - only three at Shustoke as as even Whitacre was flooded in, & I couldn't get to OW, despite trying to go through Furnace End, Shawbury & Whitacre.
We put on our wellies & cycled round the villages, walking through the floods.
Wow.
 I vacuumed & mopped downstairs whilst G watched the grand Prix - i was ttrying to shut out the noise - unsuccessfully - then cooked stew & dumplings & lemon sponge.
Jan & Chris came to dinner, then we looked through holiday photos.

This morning I caught up on e mails - creating a group to invite to our "Final Fund raising Lunch of 2012" & arranging a mtg for the MAF - then we took a heap of G's clothes to the charity shop before going to solihull to shop & on to Shirley to pick up J & Th from school, tea & a play.
we visited JS on the way home as they have great deals on wines, including a favourite of mine - Glenridge Point sauvignon blanc for half price with 25% off for 6 or more bottles.
Dinner, TV & a nap.
Raining again!

Wet, wet, wet.

Aj & I had a fun day in York on Wednesday - we visited J & aj's new grandchild, Lily, both  gorgeous, & then to town to shop - mainly at M& S to be honest, they had everything we needed, well, almost - clothes, food & a coffee shop.
I drove home at 7.00pm, all well until near home, when the floods caused me a slight problem, as did G, who had left the key in the door, so I couldn't get in!

We went to see J & G on Thursday,via Airkix at Milton Keynes for G to do his indor skydiving (see pic) having lunch en route, I went on to collect T & KP from school, to shop in Tesco - self scan - KP holds, T scans - then on to swimming lessons, collecting Ben on the way.
We collected G on the way home & had a lovely evening with B & E.

We stayed over, both wearing B's pyjamas!

The journey home involved over two hours stuck on the M40 due to an overturned car transporter. 4ours from bicester to Tamworth!!
I had my hair done, then we scrubbed up & went to DMP to the conservative dinner, which was scrummy - soup, roast pork & fruit salad.
The speakers were Christine & Colin Still - BBC commentator & Olympic coach.

We cleaned the church this morning to prepare for preparing for the Mid Advent Festival in ten days time.
It has since rained - yard flooded, I've written tomorrow's sermon, ironed, cleaned the cooker & changed the bed - leave a bloke at home on his own for a couple of days........

Dinner by the fire 7 an early night, I think.  

Up North.

I am having a short break in the frozen North, visiting aj.
Yesterday I visited the new Morrisons supermarket in Coleshill - it's opening day.
It is brilliant!
Wonderful fresh food, lots of variety & helpful staff - everything the Co-op lacks!
I had decreed that I would always support the old shops, but after 2 minutes in Morrisons, I changed my mind - the Co-op does not deserve my custom.
I may feel guilty about this.

I then played a couple of sets of tennis, went home for lunch, then drove North, arriving in time to have a nice cup of tea, watching "Flog It" - by the way, did anyone see G & I on the Flog It auction from Bigwoods, last week?

I woke up by 4.30, then walked into Acomb, pottered, shopped in Morrisons, then came back a couple of hours later to get a meal on before aj came in from work.
She was critical of my pan fried haddock with sugar snaps & stewed vegetables - the "Strangest combination she had the misfortune to eat".
Well!
You try & give folk healthy food & they throw it in your face.
She only managed to get it down with 3/4 bottle of Sauvignon Blanc!

Today we went to Wetherby for a potter this morning, then we did Acomb this afternoon - much warmer today - 12 degrees, only 5 degrees yesterday - colder than CPH!

Waiting to see Last Tango in Halifax".
Looks good.
Home tomorrow evening, after seeing aj's new granddaughter, hopefully.   

shops to avoid.

The Sunday Times has listed the shops to avoid/use depending on fairness of tax paid:
Coffee; Avoid Starbucks, shop Costa
Books: Avoid amazon, shop WHSmiths
Clothes: Avoid Topshop, Miss Selfridge, BHS, shop John Lewis
Selling:Avoid e bay, shop Freecycle
Computer search engines: Avoid Google, shop Wikipedia.

I'm safe on all counts apart from Google - don't know how to avoid.

Lovely day today, once the hard frost went - hedge cut & cleared, half-way up the garden.

Well I voted!

Along with 59 other people in Shustoke - a good turnout compared with the rest of the country.
One Polling Station in Wales had no voters, the average turnout was a mere 15% countrywide.
I believe that the turnout for the 3 bi-elections wasn't a great deal higher - Labour won all 3 .
Well done Ed.
Possibly the most satisfying result was the rejection of the day was that of John Prescott, not the Police Commissioner in Humberside.
One gravy boat he won't be in!
Yes!

Totally political tonight - I urge everyone to boycott Amazon & Starbucks until they start to pay the taxes due on the large profits they make in this country.
I don't go to Starbucks but boycotting Amazon, especially at Christmas will be a nuisance but I really do enjoy Waterstones & they have excellent staff who do know what they are talking about.

Good news - we had an egg today - the first for 3 weeks.
The less good news - winter arrived today - cold & damp, colder than CPH.
The bad news - Hamas & Israel are blasting rockets at each other & a ground invasion is on the cards.

I have a sermon to complete on Mark 13, 1 - 10 - a gift as it is set/refers to the very spot that we visited last week - the temple in Jerusalem & the Mount of Olives, just across the valley.
JC predicts that "not one stone of the temple will remain".
He was right - only the steps remain - see photos posted yesterday. & read it, if you have time.

Polling Day - time for photos!

We have done our bit & voted for the Commissioner of Police for Warks or some larger area.
We have had no information on which to base our choice apart from a phone call from the Tory Party!
Why is the appointment political?
Surely it should be the best wo/man for the job.
I was tempted to take the advice heard on Radio 4 - veto the vote.
We were voters  no 15 & 16 at midday, so no great rush on.

Cold & foggy this morning, now just cold & damp, so not a garden day - the chickens were all perching on the branches of the large shrub by the front gate - entrance really since the gate went  over 30 years ago, quickly followed by the brick gateposts, as one was "Pisa like".
A domestic day - I'm on the third load of washing - everything not nailed down!
E mails to do & a sermon to start, which I can finish tomorrow morning whilst serving in the village shop.

Israel trip seems to have been just in time - the troubles are escalating sharply after 4 years of peace.
A selection of our photos - hope they are of interest.

 Me, photographing jerusalem of Christ's day - the cardo.

 Old Jerusalem - following the Stations of the Cross.

 The Western /wailing wall - mens' end!
 Prayers are written & pushed into the gaps in the wall, removed regularly & buried on the Mount of Olives.

 Drink pomegranite juice - live forever!.

 Locals in Jerusalem.

 Jan at theEighth station of the Cross, where Jesus consoled the women of Jerusalem -
"Weep not for me. Weep rather for yourselves & your children".

 Me, in blue, to celebrate the Obama victory, in Manger Square, Bethlehem.

 The marble slab, similar to the one on which Christ was laid, in the Church of the Sepulchre,Jerusalem,yards from the site of the cross & the tomb of Christ.

 The El Aqsa Mosque on the temple Mount in Jerusalem.

 Rules for church entry in Jerusalem!

 Looking over Jerusalem, when not posing!  Note G's new T-shirt & my camera.

 Nazareth - the Cave of the Annunciation where Gabriel appeared to Mary, in the crypt of the Basilica of the Annunciation.

 Hotel room with mezuzah - prayer holder, by door.

 New York...........

 Church of the Beatitudes on lake Galilee - site of the Sermon on the Mount.

 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven - start of the Beatitudes.

 Sailing on the Sea of Galilee in a deluge - Brian, Steve & Keith.

 The storm brewing....

 Total immersion ceremony in the Jordan.

 War memorial  in the Golan Heights.

 Haifa -  The baha'i Shrine & gardens.

 The Roman aquaduct near Caesarea - 11 miles long, some buried in sand.

 

The river Jordan for a paddle & communal blessing of each other.
 

Leaves away.

It has been a glorious day today, perfect for gardening!
We went out & cleared leaves for a couple of hours,I tackled some of the prize nettles from the top of the field, whilst G put right the damage done by Bostock's cows along the verge outside.
After showering & ham rolls we went to Solihull, had a potter, a cup of tea/coffee in M&S, courtesy of aj tokens, then on to see "Skyfall" at 5.45pm - home in good time for dinner & bed!
The film was really good, with some brilliant vintage Bond bits.
Home for Vienna schnitzels & julienne veg - all cooked & served in 4 minutes!
We've watched some TV, by a nice fire - Michael Palin in Brazil - a remarkable likeness to G, only more wrinkled/older??

I phoned the new wedding venue in the village (crippsshustoke.com, if you're interested) this morning. We went to look at the barns yesterday - only shells at the moment, they open for business next July.
I hope that they may agree to host a church do as a trial run & do some good public relations.
Fingers crossed.

Thanks for statin comments - research to be done.

Bother.

Today has had it's highs & it's lows.
After an early start, a lie in & a bath, we did the DT crossword (easy), then I wrote an account of our Holy land trip for the parish Magazine, The tidings.
G typed it up in the correct format & sent it off, whilst I went shopping, via Coleshill.
I collected G's prescription from the doctors, they had my blood test results & a cancellation at 2.50pm, so I did an economic drive to Ventura Park (45 miles to empty), shopped at M&S, had a large skinny, decaf cappuccino, courtesy of aj's premier club tokens - still 4 to us by 15 Nov - filled the tank at JS, then went back to the doctors.
I went in feeling young & fit - I was told that my cholesterol level was 6.9 (high), having risen gradually from 4.7 in 2001!  HDL is 1.7, not good enough to cancel out the bad?
This, combined with my BP, Mum's demise at 59 with a coronary thrombosis, my weight (73kg), gave me a heart age of 71!!!  CVD risk in 10 yrs, 17%.
We agreed that I was not going to take statins at the moment (be it on my own head), but would have another test at the end of January to see if it would go down with diet & exercise.
Any advice?

A little light relief - "Flog It" (recorded this pm, as usual, to watch later) came from Coventry, with the auction sale at Bigwoods in Stratford - the sale that G & I went to, when some of our things were sold,
We featured quite widely, me wearing a rather eye-catching sugar-bag pink gillet.
There was even a full screen close up of me, smiling.
Of course, this was before I knew how old my heart was.

An enormous hornet did a few circles of the lounge, having stowed away in the log basket.
Scary.
It went outside again, trapped in a coffee cup. 

Home again

We returned home from the Holy Land yesterday  in time for a nice cup of tea.
A party of 16 of us flew out to Tel Aviv last Sunday & have visited Masada, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee, the River Jordan & the site of Jericho.
It has been a wonderful experience & the group, joined by  ten others, has been supportive & fun.
We have lots of photos - some to follow.
Now to lose the weight gained......

Recovered.

We woke up at 8.30am this morning!
Steve had already freed the chickens, who now rush to the back door as soon as they hear us about, led by their stomachs, not their hearts, I'm sure.
J & Th have entertained us today - we went to Solihull after lunch as G had a battery to collect, for his camera.
We had a potter & went to JL to the toy dept & then met up at McD - Th being hungry as it was at least two hours since lunch!
Back home for J & Th, who were going to a firework party -flash, bang, wallop.
G bought fireworks to put down the mole runs on the lawn - hate them to miss out on the celebrations!OW, LM & ?

Hope you could place some of the photos.

Dans la maison.

We arrived home yesterday after a few days in France.
We drove down to Dover on Friday & stayed in The Loddington, a small hotel in the Georgian terrace just along from the docks - charming.
We had a v good Italian dinner, in a small family run restaurant & a morning shopping in the town, before catching the 12.30pm ferry to Calais.
We drove South to Amien, where we stayed in The Priory next to the Cathedral - a delightful cell with  gothic, vaulted ceiling.
After Amien we travelled along the Somme, visiting some WW1 sites, staying in Cambrai & St Omer.
On Monday, after touring St Omer, on foot, we visited Montreuil, then drove up the coast, through Le Touquet & Hardelot, scene of many a past KS holiday, before staying overnight in Calais, in a lovely old house, near to The Mairie, catching the ferry back on Tuesday lunchtime.
If I were an entrepreneur I would build a decent department store in Calais & some shops & restaurants on the port, which is totally devoid of anything apart from toilets.
The highlights, apart from some excellent regional dinners - abandoned the diet for the duration  - were the Gothic Cathedrals of N France & the battlefields around Vimy Ridge, still pitted with holes & craters from explosions from the years of battles as the allies attempted to dislodge the German army from the only high ridge amidst hundreds of miles of flat landscape.
The Canadians finally succeeded in 1917, with great loss of life.

I went out early this morning & washed both Volvos, which were amazingly filthy, before we went to Solihull, G to the bank whilst I bought fish & vegetables, to renew the diet & shake off the regained
3 lb!! - the cost of high living!

G gave me a camera for an anniversary present - photos to follow!

  

Passed the test.

I went to Solihull in the alternative volvo today - brill!
Quieter & smoother than it's older cousin.
We are deciding how to distinguish between them, in conversation - old & new, silver & black, RPO & JLU (Jesus Loves Us - love it), yours & mine?????
Any ideas?

We rolled out of bed early, well, 8.15am actually, but we had a late night owing to having fallen asleep on the settee, put on old clothes & raked up leaves for over two hours.
We cleared the yard, garden & this end of the field - 4 cu m of leaves shifted.
I reckon that we must be amazingly carbon negative, considering all of the CO2 utilised in the production of all those leaves.
A leaf-free environment = a happy G!
A bit like me & a clean, tidy house.

I made soup, cheese scones & rock cakes for lunch - Jan came so that we could get the advent festival letters sorted before a bigger meeting tomorrow.
I have to admit that I ate a scone - they are small. (&delicious)
I bought & posted J's b'day present in Solihull, drove to P & A's then walked to collect J from school.
We collected Th later, after football coaching, then cleared up after the gardener & cooked tea.
Their drive is like an emmental cheese as the gas Board lay new pipes to the house - they'll be filled in a couple of days, by different contractors, so I understood.
strange!

Grilled herring followed by chicken tikka  followed by a brandy before bed, to settle my stomach!
This is not a recommended combination!

No eggs again today. 

New wheels.

We have added to the fleet - a "Saville grey*, pearl" V50 with extras - just like our other one but with built in SATNAV & bluetooth & reversing alarm & younger.
*bet they drop that name, however many Ls.
G drove it to Solihull, then home, after we had done the school pick up & tea, I followed on in the old........
We bought the car at Tollbar in Warwick - great people.
I stopped for a quick saunter in Warwick en route forSolihull, then collected J then stopped at JS for fuel on the way home.
JS have really good offers on wine+ 25% off for 6 bottles.
I/we'll have another look tomorrow - some real bargains.
Look for the "Taste the Difference" - their winebuyers' choice, with a purple band, we have always found them to be v good.

P & A are having the garden cleared - a muddy job today, but looking good.

A little leaf clearing tomorrow - ash leaves down in abundance, a mtg with Jan about the Mid Advent/Christmas tree festival,before picking up J & Th from school.
Anyone want to decorate/sponsor a Christmas tree?.

All aboard!

A good weekend - the barn dance went well, with over 80 there & a really clean floor as the hall had all been scrubbed after the dog show!
The catering was spot on & the supper was great & well received.
We came home & slept through the recording of "Strictly", with relief.

Church this morning, followed by a Paleo breakfast of bacon & egg before going to The Cruise Show at the NEC, compliments of Fred Olsen.
Full of middle aged + cruising types, we were quite out of place - much too young & fit!

Weird chickens - taken to sitting on a horizontal branch half way up the hedge or on a tree branch in the wood - they fly down the field when called/ when they hear us.
the one thing they don't do at all this week, is lay eggs, not in the laying box, anyway!

Exciting day tomorrow, picking up some new wheels!!!
More later.
  

Costco.

I've now done this blog twice, just to watch it disappear from the Universe for no apparent reason.
This effort will be brief!
A fun trip to Costco with Jan & Hazel (she has a card) to buy the vittles for the Barn dance tomorrow - cheddar cheese & Wiltshire ham, in the main.
Scrummy & a good price.

G stayed at home to welcome the aerial man as we have signal problems.
The aerial needed rewiring, but we still have a problem, with intermittent loss of signal.
Perhaps it's the box.

I went to Solihull afterwards, catching up with g, who had gone to oversee the finalising of the new boiler installation at P & A's.
On seeing the rather strange, elongated flue emerging at the side of the garage door, Th immediate concern, was "Will father Christmas get down that?"
I doubt it!

I stopped in Knowle en route & bought a picture of an owl - vintage majolica tiles by Maw & co, Burslem - they started making them again for a while in 1974, using techniques dormant since the 1880s.
It's brill!

Home made chili chicken & loads of vegetables for dinner - the highlight of the evening as TV is rubbish, as usual.
Looking forward to seeing the new bond film next week.
Barn dance looks hopefull - about 70 tickets sold.

Home again

Having a busy evening on the computer, doing the final drive to sell tickets for the Barn Dance, on Saturday evening.
We've had a relaxing couple of days, visiting B, E & family in Bicester.
T helped us on the computer & KP entertained as only KP can, & declared the Granny's egg was "the best boiled egg ever", at breakfast.
T had his egg with two rashers of bacon & a slice of fried bread, followed up with a crumpet with jam!
That should have kept him going until lunchtime!
I took T & KP to school this morning, had a cuddle, then we pottered around the town, had a scrummy lunch at the Great Western Arms, which is on the canal, next to the railway in Aynho.
The food is excellent/recommended.
A little time in Warwick, then home for a nice cup of tea.

Costco in the morning for some of their very best English cheddar.
To Solihull later to pick up J & Th, then home to light the first fire of the season, unless there's a change in the weather. 

Windy.

It is 25 years since the great storm in 1987 - amazing!
The weather today tried to emulate 1987, but failed.
We had planned to spend the day cutting the front hedge, had a relaxed start to the day, whilst waiting for the sun to come out, then put on lots of clothes & got on with it.
G does the cutting & I do the collecting. A lot of leaves were blowing down, which added to the mass of material to be collected - we dragged a loaded tarpaulin up the field to the bonfire six times, finally finishing shortly after 6.00pm, both knackered!
We've recovered, after hot baths & dinner - a nice piece of fish with stir fried vegetables.
We are rewarding ourselves with two days off - going to Bicester tomorrow to see the family, perhaps taking in a National trust establishment en route.

Hilary Mantell has just been awarded the Mann Booker prize with "Bring out the Bodies", a sequel to "Wolf Hall" that W & MK bought me for Christmas two years ago.
It was/is brilliant - an historical novel about Cardinal Wolsey & Henry V111 - anyone want to borrow it?

Wet & windy again tonight then a good weather forecast until Sunday - brilliant.
 

Ssssshhhhh

Having been entertained by O & the twins since Friday evening, it was really quiet here yesterday evening; J & G came for Sunday lunch & the circus left town at teatime!
The children had a great couple of days - G was like the Pied piper - behaved brilliantly & ate like horses (no, not the hay diet, W)
We had a bit of a lie in this morning, tennis cancelled.
G cut the front hedge whilst I washed & ironed then spent an hour in Solihull, taking on essentials - rat poison - then on to collect J & th from school.
Tea & a chat & home by 6.30pm.

I spent two hours yesterday, making phone calls to drum up support for the Barn Dance on Sat.
I left a lot of messages, so hope for a few positive responses - the more the merrier.
I have to shop for the bread & cheese, etc for the ploughman's suppers, so need some idea of numbers before the weekend.
It'll be alright on the night!

Rubbish TV again tonight - Dragon's Den on BBC 2, but "signal too poor".
Caught up on e mails & entered a couple of competitions.
A day in the garden tomorrow, cutting the hedges, all is done then, ready for the winter.
Visiting B & E on Wed to catch up.

Apparently more English want Scottish devolution , than Scots - 9/10 Scots take more from the public purse than they pay in taxes.
How can that work?

Time for bed.

Day out in Borchester/Solihull

G tackled the triffid on the front of the house yesterday, whilst I went shopping - O & the twins for the weekend, from teatime Friday, then combinations of the family for meals, concluding with Sunday lunch - Danish pork, ridiculously cheap.
I hassled Solihull College as I haven't been paid for April & May - perhaps get it in time for Christmas!
Did my usual shops in Knowle & Solihull, ending at M& S - even had time for a large, decaf, skinny cappuccino, copliments of aj's premier membership.
Fresh boiled eggs x 3 for tea - they made friends with the chickens & there will, hopefully be egg/s to collect today, bath & bed.
I had a quiet, with the remote control & aj on the phone whilst G went to the boxing dinner at DMP.
I helped the club in the early days by having the coach into school to work with some special groups of students - good for self esteem, development, balance.......
Those were the days!  

I'm up early to go through tomorrow's sermon, before anyone wakes - movement overhead - sounds like the furniture being moved - I'd better investigate!
Have a good weekend.

Another exciting day in ambridge.

Dum de dum de dum de dum.......
Happiness is making the most of what life offers to you, & enjoying it.
I am happy.
I drove back from Cambridge yesterday afternoon, having spent a couple of days with cousin JR, who has dementia  - his carer got lost on the way back & didn't know the address.
She wasn't difficult to find - a large black lady wandering around the country lanes - all's well that ends well!

Prepared a sermon, did loads of washing & ironing & three hours running the Village Shop today.
I served quite a few customers almost competently!
I hardly dare mention that I'm about to cook dinner - gammon steaks & egg.
I'm ravenous!

I hope that this isn't too challenging/boring for my faithful followers!

Hummm...

Today did not go as I had anticipated: tennis
                                                             potter in Coleshill while g had a mtg
                                                             shopping in Solihull (Mother Hubbard!)
                                                             picking up J & Th from school/tea
                                                             home to cook dinner
No tennis - all but three of us on holiday!
G & I went for a bike ride to Fillongly, up the killer hill, instead.
No TV last night/ no signal, so G sitting astride the roof fixing the aeriel.
This made us late for his mtg, too late to stop in Solihull, so straight to pick up J, in pouring rain, then on to collect Th, still with the big brolly up.

G went to the dive shop (1hour), then had to put the new door on P's dishwasher, whilst I played lego harry Potter (J won, as usual) football & cooked tea.
I eventually went to M&S Food, on the Stratford Rd, about 6.20pm & arrived as everything was reduced, so had a bagful of bargains, plus a Christmas pudding!
Late home, but fish & stir fry veg didn't take long & the TV is back on track.

I had last another pound this morning - 4 to go to the next  stone.
Off to see JR tomorrow, for a sleepover, then back for a meeting on Wed evening.
The lotus needs just a few bolts  to hold the seats in then G will have wheels......

Just off up the field before bed - we think that the earthworks may be badgers.
They are rarely seen during the day, even if near at hand, as they are nocturnal.
Perhaps we're totally mad........time will tell 
     

Monsoon delayed.

I understood that Thursday & Friday were going to be very wet.
They weren't!
In fact, yesterday morning was bright & sunny; I went out on my bike, putting up Barn dance posters & visiting friends, whilst all the sheets & towels dried, on the line in the garden.
We had a late bacon & egg breakfast, so skipped lunch - a great time-saver!
I cleared detritus from the dining room & cleaned downstairs, just in time for a meeting of the Holy Land revellers, in there at 7.00pm, with the well-travelled Broad brothers.
All went well, helped along by a couple of bottles of wine (non-vintage, the Tealls arrived half an hour early, so offered drinks.........)
Eventually tucked into cauliflower bolognaise at 9.00pm. 
No Internet access & pixilated TV.

Bt came this morning & doubled the broadband speed, apparently.
Now all TV channels are pixilated apart from ITV, which is rubbish, pixilated or not.
G is making do with recorded Goodwood - I shall sit on the central reservation of the M6 tomorrow evening, for some peace & quiet!
I got up early this morning to writ Sunday's sermon - Mark 10 - marriage & divorce.
I've avoided this one by preaching on the epistle reading for the last 23 years.
Remarried divorcees aren't all adulterers after all.
Phew!
I should have tackled it before - another couple of hours needed to finish it, tomorrow.

We went to Brmingham later; had a scrummy lunch in Pret a Manger - "no-bread sandwich", better known as a salad!
PaM is brill - food is always great as is the tea & coffee - even G enjoyed it.
B'ham city centre is the pits.
We went into Rackhams/House of Fraser, which used to be quite special.
It is cheap & tatty, the basement has changed from household, food & cafe to "Big Name Clearance" - like an expensive Primark, but scruffy.
I shall never darken their doors again!
Visited the Jewellery Quarter to look at wedding rings, but no sale.
Leaving the Pitts & off to bed. 

Before the monsoon

Played tennis in bright sunshine this morning, home for a bowl of soup, then off to Solihull for an hour in M&S sale, whilst G went to his favourite haunts, then on to collect J & Th from school.
Nothing exciting in the sale.
J & Th helped to decorate a cake for A's b'dat, tomorrow - designed by J & a joint effort - turned out well.
Cassoulet with sausage, bacon, veg & yesterday's stew - really good - for dinner, then relaxing with the TV.
Plenty of exercise, but a lazy day.
Home tomorrow, putting up posters for the barn dance & blackberrying, if available, with some housework ready for a meeting in the evening re the Holy Land.

Yesterday's photos are from the holiday in Vietnam, alongside me this weekend - spot the difference! 

Lazy day.

I used a shop till for the first time today - running the village shop for a couple of hours.
I bought a few items before any customers came, to practise using the till, then served the three customers  - not busy in the mornings - quite efficiently.
I did read a bit of Sir William Dugdale's biography, "Settling the Bill".
It is fascinating - the family made their money from the local coal mines after Grandfather overspent on Merevale.

I've been lazy since getting home - did most of the T crossword, watched some TV, did some polishing, made a stew and a chocolate cake.

G has been in the Lotus all day - it's getting there.

I've been to an Almshouses meeting this evening - it's cool, wet and windy out.
Just watched Hotel GB - quite good.

Weight down another couple of pounds - hope it continues for a while/another stone!