One Man Went To Mow!

I should have taken more pictures – particularly of the ‘before’ category. Steph and Mark had a very overgrown back garden – the gate to the passage behind the houses was inaccessible, the shed was densely covered with ivy, and the grass was so long. Oh, and the decking was rather filthy.

There’s definitely a shed under here!

Whilst I was at my WWDP Committee in Tunbridge Wells, Bob was busy working with saw, loppers, shredder, mower, and power washer.

The shredder is about twenty years old – it was my Dad’s

Now the grass is cut short, the ivy has been cut back, the magnolia tree pruned, and the patio has been jet-washed. Still lots of stuff to be shredded…but definitely a significant improvement.

Well done Bob!

In Tunbridge Wells- But NOT Disgusted!

This week I attended a Women’s Day Of Prayer National Committee – held in Kent [usually we meet in London] We worked hard all day, there is lots of business to sort out [and I used to think WWDP was all about just one day in March!] Our venue was the church next door to WWDPHQ. During the lunch break, Nicci gave some of us a guided tour of the HQ, which was newly refurbished a couple of years ago [and won a civic award!]

It is an attractive, tall, thin building – originally a milkman lived here [and kept his horse and cart on the ground floor] then it housed a printing business

Now it is the HQ of our organisation

In this compact complex, the ground floor houses the print room, [Margeurite’s domain] a kitchenette, WC and small storage area

First floor – Mary and Nicci’s workstations [Here’s Nicci!]

Top floor is for storage [and a table and chairs for small meetings]Wisely, a small electric lift has been installed so that heavy boxes of books can be transported between floors safely. Nicci stressed it was not a passenger lift!

The three office staff work very hard all year round ensuring that all the mailings go out on time, and everything runs smoothly. You can read more about the WWDP Office here.

I found these pictures of the building both before and during refurbishment- quite a change I think! I am glad our intrepid trio have more spacious working conditions now.

Half Term Is Here, Hallelujah!

And yet another Barnaby Bear has been dressed and provided with a travelling bag. He is ready for his Half Term Holiday, even if I’m not!

I brought him home last night and made his sweatshirt. He belongs to the class I taught yesterday afternoon. I was due to teach ‘hockey skills’ to these 7 year olds – but we had to dash back inside because of a hailstorm. In May!!!!

[friends who have known me a long time will remember that I have loathed hockey all my life. I consider the hailstorm was probably Divine Providence!]

Cedars Of …Wimbledon!

We had a lovely meal with Steph on Monday evening, at a Lebanese restaurant in Wimbledon, just round the corner from her house

The decor was attractive, the food was delicious [and reasonably priced] and we really enjoyed relaxing together

I particularly enjoyed the Moutabel Dip, and the Fattoush Salad – Bob liked the Falafels and the Basturma Beef [Sliced fillet of cured beef in spices, pastrami] Steph recommended the Hummus Kawarma Dip [Hummus topped with fried spiced lamb cubes and pine kernels] and the Makanek Sausages [Little spicy Lebanese lamb and pine kernel sausages fried and seasoned with garlic and lemon juice]

Meals where you have a whole selection of small plates like this are super, because you can have a small taste of everything! We finished with Lebanese coffee and a plate of Baklava Pastries.

For once I remembered to take the picture of our dishes before we started eating [which is why there is just one small strip of basturma on my plate!]

Fleece And Flowers

Two more projects finished by my pupils this week. Another one from this book

My student didn’t like the bear’s expression [and we decided stitching was better than ‘safety eyes’ for a small child] so she designed her own face. We used a narrow zigzag stitch. She drew the design on the back of the fabric and stitched from the wrong side. Here’s the one in the book, and the one we made…

My other student stitched a cushion for her bedroom [I forgot to photograph the pretty red and pink ‘strip&flip’ patchwork back]

No sewing lessons next week- it is half-term!

Signs And Wonders

He takes the signs down

He puts the sign up

He hammers the signs in

She wonders how many people will come?

Worried About Carrots?

Just been reading this splendid library book.

The young and talented Sophie Wright has some excellent recipes. She has some sensible ideas – and one recipe I have already tried is “Carrot Cookies”

She acknowledges this is a Wartime Classic which uses up the ‘slightly floppy carrots hanging about in the bottom of the fridge’

However, Sophie brings it bang up to date by giving a recipe which is made in minutes in a food processor. As usual I ignored the size instruction and used my 1” ice cream scoop to make smaller biscuits. Doubling her quantities gave me fifty neat little biscuits.

Carrot Cookies – Prep 10 minutes, cook 12 minutes plus cooling.

• 85g butter
• 130g sugar
• 130 g plain flour
• ½tsp baking powder
• 2 small carrots [or 1 large] peeled and grated
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Out butter and sugar in food processor, and cream till pale and fluffy. Add flour and baking powder. Add grated carrot and cinnamon, and blend again. If mixture looks dry add 1 tbsp water
2. Divide mixture into balls, about 3cm in circumference. Put these on baking tray lined with greaseproof. Bake 0-12 minutes until golden brown.

I think I over processed my mixture, as my cookies didn’t have the golden shreds of carrot hers did. But they still tasted good!

I am giving away some of every batch of cookies I bake these days. If we eat them all ourselves, Bob and I will put on too much weight.

Mae West never worried about diets or carrots though…

Some Food For Thought

I have just finished reading this book, which was a birthday present. It is by Tim Chester and published by IVP

The blurb says

Meals have always been important across societies and cultures - a time for friends and families to come together. An important part of relationships, meals are vital to our social health. Or as author Tim Chester puts it, Food connects.

Tim argues that meals are also deeply theological - an important part of Christian fellowship and mission. He observes that Luke's Gospel is full of stories of Jesus at meals. And these meals represent something bigger… Moving from New Testament times to today, the author applies biblical truth to challenge our contemporary understandings of hospitality. He urges sacrificial giving and loving around the table, helping readers consider how meals can be about serving others and sharing the grace of Christ.

The book’s six chapters set out Chester’s argument thus

• Meals as Enacted Grace: Luke 5
• Meals as Enacted Community: Luke 7
• Meals as Enacted Hope: Luke 9
• Meals as Enacted Mission: Luke 14
• Meals as Enacted Salvation: Luke 22
• Meals as Enacted Promise: Luke 24

It is clearly rooted in Scripture, and but Chester also quotes from a diverse range of other authors [and he illustrates his points wonderfully using film references too] I don’t think he has said anything particularly ‘new’ – but do I like the way he has brought together a ‘theology of mealtime’. I have read it once, in two sittings – but now want to go back and re-read it more slowly, savouring each mouthful, digesting it properly.

At the end of Christian Aid Week, when I have also been thinking about the IF campaign, and those who go to bed hungry each night, it has been a useful exercise to consider my own attitude to food. And to remember to be truly grateful for every plateful. 

I would recommend this book because it is a challenging read –but you don’t need a theology degree to understand it! *****

Thank you, Mags and family for this great gift!

Hobo For Hombolo!

Heather’s son Matthew is off again to Hombolo, in Tanzania [see here] with Leprosy Mission Northern Ireland. In January I made a blanket which he could take out there. Heather said that they really wanted to take gifts for the women, as well as the babies and children. I thought about this, and came up with an idea…

I used the bag pattern which we did at Sewing Club 5 years ago [tutorial here] but this time I modified it. Before sewing the lining and outer together, I put some pleats along the top. It gives the bag a much better shape.

This style, I have discovered, is called a Hobo Bag. I made eight for Hombolo as part of my Monthly Charity Stashbusting Exercise. Thank you to Joyce and Rhiannon at Sewing Club who helped me finish off the last three.

They are both lightweight and strong. The picture at the bottom right shows how tidily you can fold and stack them – so they have packed easily into a jiffybag [for me to post to Heather in Blefast then Matthew to take in his case to Africa] I think my favourites were the last two I made

The left one is ‘half and half’ – because I couldn’t decide whether to put the floral or the plain as the lining, so paired them. The right one is a particularly favourite print from my stash.

I do hope that the African girls enjoy these!

Two other people have put in requests for me to knit for their charities, so I have ideas for June and July, and I am sorting out the wool for them, and for my August project [an appeal I spotted in a local free newspaper] Not sure how many items I will make over the summer. Holiday Club keeps me pretty busy, and also I find it hard to knit when it is hot.

Oh hang on – I think I may have missed the hot and balmy summer weather – wasn’t that Tuesday last week!!!

Pentecost Sunday

Here’s one of my favourite Pentecost hymns [written by William Booth – the guy who started the Salvation Army]

O GOD OF BURNING, CLEANSING FLAME:
Send the fire!
Your blood-bought gift today we claim:
Send the fire today!
Look down and see this waiting host,
And send the promised Holy Ghost;
We need another Pentecost!
Send the fire today!

God of Elijah, hear our cry:
Send the fire!
And make us fit to live or die:
Send the fire today!
To burn up every trace of sin,
To bring the light and glory in,
The revolution now begin!
Send the fire today!

It's fire we want, for fire we plead:
Send the fire!
The fire will meet our every need:
Send the fire today!
For strength to always do what's right,
For grace to conquer in the fight,
For power to walk the world in white:
Send the fire today!

To make our weak hearts strong and brave:
Send the fire!
To live, a dying world to save:
Send the fire today!
Oh, see us on Your altar lay,
We give our lives to you today,
So crown the offering now we pray:
Send the fire today!

And here’s a Sally Army Choir singing it on BBC Songs of Praise – along with clips of the SA living out their faith

My Church Family

Today is Pentecost – the ‘birthday of the Church’ and here is a photo of my wonderful church family [taken July 2011 after a morning service] I love them all so much [sadly a few have died since this photo was taken]

And I have just learned a fabulous new word for family, it’s originally a Maori word, but now accepted as part of “New Zealand English”

whānau

Whānau is often translated as ‘family’, but its meaning is more complex. It includes physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions Whānau can be multi-layered, flexible and dynamic. It’s based on a Māori and tribal world view. It is through the whānau that values, histories and traditions from the ancestors are adapted for the contemporary world. Early anthropologists had a common definition of the 18th-century whānau characterised by:

• a family group usually comprising three generations – an older man, his wife and some or all his descendants and married spouses, or some variant such as brothers, their wives and families [including fostered or adopted children]
• a domestic group occupying a common set of buildings
• a social and economic unit responsible for the management of daily domestic life, production and consumption

The original concept also included relationships with family members who had ‘passed on’ – but nowadays people often speak of

whānau ora

That is living whānau – and can represent a group of people all still alive, none deceased – not necessarily related through blood or marriage. These men and women have come together through their common purpose. They may not occupy a common set of buildings, and may represent more than three generations, but they have shared values and beliefs, which determine their lifestyle.

Isn’t that what the church family is meant to be? If I had the time, and a better grasp of theology, I would write a book about

“the Church as Whānau”

I am still having a mental debate about the ‘ora’ – one should not forget the ‘Church Triumphant’ after all! Two final comments

1. There is a Facebook page for “The whānau Church” – but I haven’t yet found any theology books about the idea [so if you come across one, let me know]
2. I should have said this earlier – the word whānau is actually pronounced “far now” [and most of you have been reading it as wha-now, haven’t you? I certainly did at first]