Monday, 31 January 2022
End Of January
Saturday, 29 January 2022
Last Saturday of January
That makes for a random odds and ends post about nothing much .
A new police drama with Martin Freeman (he seems to be everywhere) started on Monday night - I watched some of it but a policeman having a breakdown was something I could do without so I won't watch anymore. The new Sunday night bomb-disposal police thing was a much better watch although the bomb at the end was a shock and.... spoiler alert........ killing off one of the main actors in the first episode seems a bit odd.
On Tuesday I thought I saw my cousin on Bargain Hunt. He lives in Ipswich and the programme was from Newmarket and he does sell stuff at Antique Fairs, it probably wasn't him though. I'll have to ask him at the next funeral we meet at!
This week I've been grateful for
- Not needing to do anything urgent
- Food in so I didn't have to go out
- Grass cutting done
Friday, 28 January 2022
Friday 28th
Nothing to write about today so I shall share this, which Ken Bruce has been playing on Radio 2 this week. A new release - The Best Mistakes by The Divine Comedy. Just love Neil Hannon's voice.
I
discovered he is on tour through 2022 and at the Ipswich Regent in May
although at £28+ a ticket maybe not. That's probably the going price but
not for me.
Thursday, 27 January 2022
St. Michael and All Angels Church,Brantham
Love the weather vane
The East window had some good stained glass
The Lectern is also beautifully carved, behind it is a colourful painted hanging
These lovely candleabras are fixed on the pew ends all down the nave
The Christmas tree and the nativity scene were still in the church- weeks after Christmas. Perhaps they keep them there until Candlemas - in the old way.
The painting below is huge and is a copy of John Constable's Christ and the Children, painted in 1804. The original is in Emmanuel College Cambridge. East Bergholt, where Constable was born, is a neighbouring village to Brantham.
An interesting and obviously well loved church.
Back Tomorrow
Wednesday, 26 January 2022
To Feed the Birds or Not, That Was the Question........
........... I couldn't decide, because bird feeding was really Colin's thing. At the smallholding we had loads of wild birds and we fed all year round. Colin bought some mesh and made some huge feeders and we bought peanuts and wild bird seed mix in bulk from the same place that we got chicken and goat feed.
On the old blog I wrote about when he did the RSPB Great Garden Birdwatch in 2015..............
To do the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch Col wrapped up in extra layers and
sat outside for a while and then came in and sat near the back door. He
had put all our feeders in one area during the week so as to be able to
see everything at once.
The amount he saw was incredible. I never see this many of anything at
any one moment during one hour because I haven't got the patience to
stay still long enough!
(7 years later I still don't believe that list!)
I wish I still had pictures I took of a feeder completely covered with long-tailed tits but can't find it anywhere on my old blog.
We fed the birds at Clay Cottage too and I carried on for sometime after he died but never saw the variety we did at the smallholding.
After 9 months of living here and thinking about it, I finally sent for a feeding station complete with feeders, a stabiliser stand so it stays upright (unlike the one we had at Clay Cottage which kept falling over) and a small selection pack of different feeds to try and encourage the birds in, without the expense of buying 20kg of peanuts all at once.
I fixed the darn thing together (not straight-forward as some of the wing-nut fixings were too stiff to turn! and I had to find the WD40 and a pair of pliers) and put a little of everything in the feeders.
Tuesday, 25 January 2022
Charity Shop Find and ONS
On Saturday morning I decided to do a 1 mile detour on my way home from a church visit and went in the Sue Ryder charity shop in Needham Market. They always have a huge selection of nice things although tend to be very expensive (I looked at a pair of 'Brand New With Tags' oven gloves - which were priced at £6 - which in my opinion is quite a lot for something that has been donated).
The pricing in charity shops often puzzles me and the £70 pound! for a set of slate table mats that I saw in the EACH charity shop in Diss seemed rather excessive.
Monday, 24 January 2022
Last Week at W.I.
W.I. last week was all about SERV. Service by Emergency
Response Volunteers. One of the Suffolk motor-cycle volunteers did a
presentation. They are a Nationwide Charity. The short video shows what
they do......
We got the 2022 programme for WI and I was a bit disappointed at the things planned but often the dullest sounding subject is most interesting, so we shall see. There was coffee and cake of course and the raffle (didn't win anything again- never do!). The committee are discussing if we should move our meetings to the large hall at the community centre/primary school from March (costing more and awful acoustics) so we can spread out as there are about 10 people too frightened to come to meetings in the small United Reformed Church since Covid.
Next month I've got to remember to go early, as I'm on the rota for helping, and to take a raffle prize.
Saturday, 22 January 2022
Made Cards and Plant Labels
I finally got round to making some terracotta plant labels for myself after finding the pack of air-drying Das clay at a car boot sale last year. (I made some the same for the Hampers in 2020)
Yes, there is one printed the wrong way round. |
These are now drying, they will just need a little sanding on edges and then I have to find the tin of clear varnish - hope it moved here with me - I shall be very cross if it didn't
I also made up the 3D Decoupage cards ready for Christmas and, with what were left from this year, I don't need to buy any unless there are any cheap charity packs at a boot sale.
And, with all the reading I mentioned yesterday, that was another week gone.
This week I am grateful for
- Good books again
- Sunshine
- A Warm house
Friday, 21 January 2022
Racing Through Crime Fiction
Thanks to everyone for comments yesterday and apologies for not replying.
It's crazy how many books I've read since I picked them up from the library van. All due to snooker being on TV which is something I can half watch but read at the same time and the books being crime fiction which I tend to race through as they don't take a lot of effort to read.
As Clare investigates she realises this victim wasn't selected at random. Someone knows who took the baby girl, and why. But will they reveal their secrets before it's too late?
So similar in many ways was this one by Ros Watkins - The Devil's Dice.Totally different, even though it's crime fiction, is this by S.J. Bennett - The Three Dog problem.
Thursday, 20 January 2022
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.
Wednesday, 19 January 2022
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!
- 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.
- Wire for tying in the raspberry canes in the new bed
- Netting to cover the long thin raspberry bed
- Netting to cover the other raspberries up against the fence
- 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.
Tuesday, 18 January 2022
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!
Monday, 17 January 2022
Full Moon
With only a cheap diary this year it doesn't have the days for full moons etc so I found this moon phases calendar online and of course I have the moon phases gadget on the right which changes as the nights roll by each month.
Jan | 2:, 9:, 17:, 25: |
Feb | 1:, 8:, 16:, 23: |
Mar | 2:, 10:, 18:, 25: |
Apr | 1:, 9:, 16:, 23:, 30: |
May | 9:, 16:, 22:, 30: |
Jun | 7:, 14:, 21:, 29: |
Jul | 7:, 13:, 20:, 28: |
Aug | 5:, 12:, 19:, 27: |
Sep | 3:, 10:, 17:, 25: |
Oct | 3:, 9:, 17:, 25: |
Nov | 1:, 8:, 16:, 23:, 30: |
Dec | 8:, 16:, 23:, 30: |
It was youngest Granddaughter who gave me the idea for this post as she pointed to the moon appearing as they were going out the front door last week around 4pm. Why is the moon there when it's daytime she wanted to know. Good question. Then she was saying something about the boy who lived on the moon? And I tried to think of the nonsense rhyme..........
Which ever bit of memory did that come from? and does it, like so many rhymes, have some sort of historic story . Daughter in Law said she'd never heard of it, but thanks to Listen With Mother, probably the only children's radio programme in the late 50's, I seem to remember all sorts of children's nursery rhymes. If only I'd kept a book I once owned on the history of children's rhymes by Iona and Peter Opie, then I might be able to look up the origins, but the book has gone and the origins are probably lost in history.
beneath an old grey hill,
And there they brew a beer so brown
That the Man in the Moon himself came down
one night to drink his fill.
The ostler has a tipsy cat
that plays a five-stringed fiddle;
And up and down he saws his bow
Now squeaking high, now purring low,
now sawing in the middle.
The landlord keeps a little dog
that is mighty fond of jokes;
When there's good cheer among the guests,
He cocks an ear at all the jests
and laughs until he chokes.
They also keep a hornéd cow
as proud as any queen;
But music turns her head like ale,
And makes her wave her tufted tail
and dance upon the green.
And O! the rows of silver dishes
and the store of silver spoons!
For Sunday there's a special pair,
And these they polish up with care
on Saturday afternoons.
The Man in the Moon was drinking deep,
and the cat began to wail;
A dish and a spoon on the table danced,
The cow in the garden madly pranced
and the little dog chased his tail.
The Man in the Moon took another mug,
and then rolled beneath his chair;
And there he dozed and dreamed of ale,
Till in the sky the stars were pale,
and dawn was in the air.
Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat:
'The white horses of the Moon,
They neigh and champ their silver bits;
But their master's been and drowned his wits,
and the Sun'll be rising soon!'
So the cat on the fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,
a jig that would wake the dead:
He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,
While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:
'It's after three!' he said.
They rolled the Man slowly up the hill
and bundled him into the Moon,
While his horses galloped up in rear,
And the cow came capering like a deer,
and a dish ran up with the spoon.
Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle;
the dog began to roar,
The cow and the horses stood on their heads;
The guests all bounded from their beds
and danced upon the floor.
With a ping and a pang the fiddle-strings broke!
the cow jumped over the Moon,
And the little dog laughed to see such fun,
And the Saturday dish went off at a run
with the silver Sunday spoon.
The round Moon rolled behind the hill,
as the Sun raised up her head.
She hardly believed her fiery eyes;
For though it was day, to her surprise
they all went back to bed!
Thank you granddaughter W for giving me an idea for a post!