St Andrew's Church Alderton

 On the wettest and gloomiest day of last week I went to Alderton to visit another of the 100 churches mentioned in my book.

Apologies for the quality of the photos - it was just too grey and wet to get anything decent.

 Difficult to get a photo of the whole of the outside of the church, and I wasn't going to keep trying different shots in the rain!

 

This church is featured in the 100 treasures book for its alter frontal. Designed by Lida Lopes Cardoza Kindersley and made by Maureen Rasmussen in 2004, it's theme is 'the light of the world' and the fish symbolise St Andrew.

 But I think it should get a mention for the tower which finally collapsed in 1821, supposedly killing a cow. I assume the cow was in the churchyard rather than inside the tower!

leaving this amazing ivy covered ruin, surrounded by fencing and trees

 

 From inside the remains of the tower have been bricked up and painted. It's all rather odd.

 The oldest part of the original church is the medieval porch

with it's very old door

Inside the church, apart from the altar frontal, there doesn't seem to be much of interest. No stained glass, the font is ordinary but the war memorial is well carved

And these old choir stalls are interesting

 

 Not the most interesting church I've visited.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

 

Shopping Lists

 Move house and there's usually something that needs buying or work that needs doing. 

In my case this time it was a fridge/freezer, a dishwasher, two pairs of black-out curtains for my bedroom, a heavy duty dirt trapper runner mat for the hall, a whirly washing line and an extra long curtain rail for the living room and more recently a small chest freezer to put in the garage. No furniture, no painting and decorating, no carpets............... I reckon I got away lightly!

But and it's a big but  (or even 4 Butts!) there have been a few expenses for the garden and I use the word 'few' with my fingers crossed.

 

The most expensive purchase was the greenhouse and it's concrete base. The only expense for making the raspberry bed and the 3 vegetable beds has been a bag of soil and some bags of compost. The wood edges were all recycled. I've bought 2 pear trees, 3 Minarette apple trees, 15 for the price of 10 Raspberry canes and a gooseberry bush. I don't count the odds and ends of decorative garden plants because they've been the sort of purchases that I might have bought anywhere and many have come from boot-sales anyway.

Thank goodness the garden shopping list has now shrunk to............................

 

1. 3 (or maybe 4)water butts with taps and stands and the connections to greenhouse guttering and house down-pipe(s) (first one for Greenhouse now on order) Once I get the water butts set up I can sort out getting a water meter and save on the cost of my water supply and sewerage charge.
2. Wire for tying in the raspberry canes in the new bed
   
3. Netting to cover the long thin raspberry bed
4. Netting to cover the other raspberries up against the fence
   
5. Automatic window opener for greenhouse 

What a good thing it was a down-sizing move leaving some money spare!

Then there is the  one list that's needed all year round.......... the general shopping list. I keep it in the kitchen with a pen and add things as they are needed, before I run out. This month  very few things needed as the garage freezer still has some of the things I got in for Christmas when I didn't know who was where and when.

And talking about shopping lists, it will soon be time to start thinking about what I need to look out for at car-boot sales. The first sales are noted in my diary for the beginning of March, and the way time flies by now I'm old, that will be here in no time.

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Another Old Post Box

 Finally, weeks after my other Post Box posts, (Which are Here) I got to Bawdsey to take a photo of a very special postbox. This is the only known survivor of the Ludlow wall boxes with the cipher of Edward VIII.

Edward VIII was only king for a few months before abdicating so only 161 postboxes of any type with ER VIII were made. Ludlow boxes - named after it's Birmingham manufacturer were made specifically for sub-post offices in rural areas. They started production in 1885 and closed in 1965.

The building this is in is no longer a sub-post office or even a shop. Bawdsey is a small village at the end of the road before the river Deben and is better know for Bawdsey Manor, the home of the development of Radar during WWII. 

The Wolf Moon was huge and the sky was clear last night.The photo is taken from my front path, just after 5pm, far enough away from the front door to make the (annoying) security light go off.

I've taken photos of the full moon before when I was at Clay Cottage, and I'd love to know why my camera takes better photos of the moon than it does churches, views or  flowers in the back garden!

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue