The July Round-up

 A quiet month, nothing much happening  and it turned out to be a weird month due to getting into a slump - but you've heard enough about that already! And I'm sorry for going on and on about it. I'm annoyed with myself for even mentioning it but  feeling 99% back to normal now so it was just a blip.

In the first week of the school summer holidays I had the 7½ year old EGD here for a couple of days - totally exhausting (for me - not for her!) she then went into hospital to have her tonsils out, should improve her breathing, especially  at night.

 I didn't bother to go and look at the Rural and Domestic Bygones sale at Campsea Ash auction yard last Saturday  (the one that's  held three times a year ), after looking at the on line catalogue there didn't seem anything worth photographing for the blog and certainly nothing to leave a bid on.

Last Sunday DiL was away on a Hen weekend so son brought the YGD and MG over, with a chicken to roast and cooked dinner here for us all - what a treat. DiL will be working as a TA in the same school as the children attend after the summer holidays. It will make things so much easier for her, no more rushing to drop them off in one place and hurry over to this village for the school here and afternoons will be easier too. She had to leave this school early to get to their school so had to have a shortened lunch break to make up the time. Now she'll have a less stressful day ( although working in a school with 5 - 11 year olds is pretty stressful anyway!) The 6 year old YGD said " I've got to call Mummy Mrs C....... when she's in my class but I can call her Mummy sometimes!"

Loving the Olympics - Adam Peaty was amazing in the pool - it really annoyed me that some reporters called a silver medal a 'failure to win gold'. 2/100th of a second is hardly a failure. Other things I've enjoyed were the 3 Day eventing gold medal, another gold in shooting and the cross country mountain bike gold too. Poor Jack Draper melted in the heat playing tennis yesterday - he was playing at just about the hottest time of the day poor fella. Rafa and Alcaraz were brilliant - a dream team and being Spanish the heat didn't bother them. Thankfully it was cooler for Andy Murray and Dan Evans to play. I switched the lap top off before the end, so can't tell you the result!

Good to see the French are winning lots of  medals, it costs a fortune to host the Olympics so they need their competitors to do well to get value for money for their tax paying public.

My mojo returned just in time to take my entry form in for the Flower and Produce show,  so many things have failed this year, so only tomatoes and peppers to enter and perhaps courgettes if I have 3 the same size on the day. I wasn't going to bother at all but thought  "might as well make up the numbers ". I'll let you know how I get on next week. I'm only entering one bit of baking this year but once again I'm stewarding for the judge in the baking classes - hope it's not too hot in the marquee.

So onto the regular end of month financial roundup - Income was the usual two pensions and interest on savings bond and ISA. 

image from google freepik

 Spending wasn't too bad until this last week when I heard we were in for another mini heat wave and decided to buy an electric fan (Should have read the measurements - it's HUGE about twice the size I thought!) and some cool gel pillow things. One of the annoying things about living in a bungalow and sleeping in a bedroom at the front of the house is not being able to have windows wide open at night.

Other outgoings were mostly normal with charity donation,  Council Tax, phones and broadband, diesel for the car, electric bill, household bits. I also needed annual virus protection for my lap-top.

 I'm not buying more or different (except for some granary flour for bread) but food spending was up again this month, even taking off the few different bits I got in for EGD staying. 

The frugal stuff .........................

• Raspberries from the garden every day right through the month up until the 27th.
• Plenty of courgettes, tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers
• Someone asked about running cold water into a jug before the hot appears - Yes, I still do that but find I don't often run hot water in the kitchen, where it takes an age, it's cheaper to heat a kettle for boiling water for anything needed rather than  getting the oil-fired boiler to fire up. 
• Using the dishwasher only every other day saves electric and water too, compared to filling a washing up bowl two or three times a day.
• No books, flowers etc bought 
• Home made bread 50/50 white and wholemeal and 50/50 white and Granary
• Plenty of library books for free reading 

Personal spending was exercise group, a new Puzzler magazine and my hair getting longer was driving me nuts so I went back to normal very short again (how does Claudia Winkleman cope with that fringe?) . I bought a Radio Times for the Olympic TV coverage pages and a cheapy version other weeks. A few other expenses for visits out to windmill etc. I joined English Heritage when taking the EGD to Framlingham Castle, just for a year. Will be able to re-visit a few places I've not been to for ages.

Final thought .......... 

I hope no one in British Politics would ever call anyone "a bum" - not just once but twice.

(edited in to say Andy and Dan won and them jumping about laughing was the most joyous thing to see)

Back in a couple of days. 

Sue

Pretty and Useful

 Went to Diss for the computer shop for my virus protection renewal and had a tour of the charity shops. In the animal sanctuary fundraiser shop their glass case of nice things was full of pieces of Portmeirion pottery, mainly mugs and vases. Among them was this which will be used rather than stood around collecting dust.

Several weeks ago I found two enamel pie/lasagne dishes to replace two pottery ones that had very crackled glaze after being used for many years. But I discovered the two enamel were a really annoying size - too small for two portions but too big for one.

This new one is definitely a two portion pie/lasagne/serving dish - perfect size - cost me £3. It's from their Pomona range featuring redcurrants.

This was the Portmeirion vase I found a couple of months ago, it is a dust collector but one of only a few.

 Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts. Still in a low, flat spot here........ no reason.

I'm not ill, don't need a health check as having one a  month ago has forced me onto tablets to reduce the high blood pressure - been putting off  taking them for years. Perhaps the new tablets aren't helping. I can't even blame the weather as we've had the best of it over here in the East - completely different to Paris and other parts of the UK.

Comments about "knowing how lucky I am" and "valuing each day" might work for anon but I wish it were that easy!

Hey Ho!

Still watching lots of Olympic sport but the BBC is very annoying - too much talk in the studio sometimes, when I just want to know what's happening in the sports I've not seen! Then they suddenly switch to another sport and make everyone scramble to the Red Button viewing to continue what was on the main channel. 

Could spend money on a month of Discovery+ streaming but they might be just as bad. I'll just have to shut up and put up! 

Back in a while

Sue

Still Waiting

 I'm waiting for my mojo to return to get out of this flat feeling. 

My get up and go has got up and gone, don't know where and why.

I'm sure I'll be back to normal soon.

Bit wet for the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris - I was reminded of the Queen and Prince Phillip for a Jubilee thing on the Thames when it poured with rain and the Duke was very ill afterwards. Hope all the sports men and women don't catch a chill.

Sue

The July Library Book Photo

 Another good heap of books collected from the mobile library, all books I had reserved. In Suffolk we can have up to 25 books reserved or waiting to be collected at any one time - and I usually do have that many and always have another list of books that I'm waiting to have room to reserve and all for free. No chance of having nothing to read here!

There are three more here with Summer in their titles for my summer reading 'challenge', including The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden that I read many years ago. Also here are two British Library Crime Classics; a collection of short stories by Elly Griffiths; Another in the Isobel Dalhousie series (even though I said I wouldn't read anymore- so just in case I'm desperate); Foster by Clare Keegan and a historical novel by Jacqueline Winspear that isn't in her Maisie Dobbs series. Two non fiction - I'm not sure why I reserved them, I'll probably just flick through to see what they are. Finally The High House by Jessie Greengrass - a new to me author that someone must have mentioned.

In June I collected these below and read four of them. 'Green Batch Cooking' didn't live up to expectations, nothing I wanted to make. 'One Hot Summer' was much too wordy for summer reading. and 'Reasons to Stay Alive' didn't appeal after flicking through it.

I've written about those I did read in a blog post HERE or on the Books Read 2024 page.

Back in a while

Sue 

Time Off

 Thank you to everyone for comments on Saturday. 

I'm short of ideas for blog posts and feeling flat and sad at the moment. Taking a few days off the blog.

Not Listless - but List Less

I've had a really quiet week, no long list to remind me of what needs doing, no exciting excursions, no visitors, no coffee and cakes out and I couldn't even be bothered to go right into town so called at Tesco for my shopping - my least favourite supermarket but on the right side of town. They are one of the few places to buy a single lemon, so I did, and made a lemon drizzle cake while the bread-machine made me a 50/50 granary loaf.

We had some sunny days - extra hot on Friday - which were very welcome and a bit of gardening got done - dead heading roses, pulling up and cutting back things that have finished, one failed cucumber hauled out of the greenhouse already. Had my first 'summer breakfast' which is just tomatoes on toast and I only have this when I've got my own tomatoes fresh picked from the greenhouse. I slice them and shove in the microwave for a few seconds while the bread is toasting  - works well and a change from marmalade.

 No sport this week, Le Tour didn't get me interested so I ended up watching something I didn't see when it was originally on TV back in 2013 - 2016. Hinterland was a police series of about 20 programmes set in Wales around Aberystwyth and it seemed to be shot mainly in the dark! Either dark at night or inside old dark Welsh cottages, where everyone kept their coats and boots on. It was usually raining and I reckon the series was made to put people off wanting to move there! It was made for S4C - the Welsh language channel and filmed in English and Welsh, with the scenes in English then being reshot in Welsh, while the scenes in Welsh has subtitles  - must have taken an age to film and  it kept me out of mischief for most of the week.

I've also finished watching all 8 in the series of 'The Turkish Detective', which I noticed are based on books by Barbara Nadel. I've read some of her books which are set during WWII but haven't read any of these Inspector Ikmen series. I looked them up on Fantastic Fiction and I reckon they are completely different to the TV series so reading them now would be a bit odd, which is a shame as there are 26 in the series. Might have to give one a try but on the library website the first in the series, from 1999, now has 9 people waiting for it - so I'm not the only person who wants to look at the book after watching the series on TV!

Still on the TV theme I treated myself to a copy of the Radio Times which has a complete 16 day guide to the Olympics - " Every Sport - Every Day - Every Medal". I feel so sorry for people who don't enjoy any sports although I can't understand them! It's on BBC 1 all day, everyday, from 8a.m except for news bulletins. 

That was my List Less week - too much TV. Not good for mental health at all. Must do better.

Back Soon

Sue

Some Of My July Reading

The Women by Kristin Hannah. Published 2024

It is 1965, the middle of the Vietnam War and twenty year old Frances 'Frankie' McGrath is a nursing student, the only daughter of traditional parents. She has grown up on the idyllic Californian Island of Coronado. At a party held to send off her brother to Vietnam to be a Hero for his father a friend tells her that Girls can be Heroes too.

On a whim Frankie signs up and is shipped out to Vietnam, just a few weeks after her parents hear that her brother has been lost in action.

Nothing has prepared her for the fear and conditions of working in the heat and dust and horrors of a war zone, but with the help of two nurses who have been there a while she settles in and works to become the best nurse possible.

She has always been a 'good' girl but falls in love with one of the helicopter pilots and all good intentions soon disappear.

When her tour ends she flies home only to find that The Vietnam war is causing disagreements in California and across the US, her father had been too embarrassed to tell anyone where she'd been and no one believes that any women had ever been to war. Trying to get help for her nightmares is impossible in this world of denial, as is fitting back into a normal hospital.

Thankfully those two friends from Vietnam are able to help where no one else can, but there is sadness and tragedy still to come.

A really well written book, based around stories that the women who were there were able to pass on to the author. The women were finally recognised for their bravery years after the war ended.

Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon. Published in 2011

I was a late comer to this author but this is the 29th book of hers of now read in her Commissario Guido Brunetti series, only 4 left and three of those are either here or on order from the library. I just need to work out which is the one book I've yet to reserve. Luckily these have been reprinted again recently so the library have many more than they had when I first discovered these stories of the Brunetti family in Venice.

An old woman's body has been found in her very ordinary apartment. Her neighbour finds the woman after calling in to collect her post on return from a holiday. There seems to be some signs of force on the woman but Brunetti's boss would like this declared a simple accident and when the medical examiner rules she has died from a heart attack that should be the end. But Brunetti isn't sure and soon things left unsaid by people he speaks too have him doing some research on this not so simple old woman.

.

The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear published in 2024.

The 18th and very last book in what has been an excellent series that started in 2003

1945 and the Second World War is over, but for many of the people in London things have got worse rather than better. When Investigator and psychologist Maisie Dobbs is drawn in to find out about the group of youngsters squatting in an empty mansion along with a seriously ill demobbed soldier, she needs help from all her friends and family to get to the truth. Mysteries hidden from her in the past about the life and death of her first husband in an aircraft accident also need to be resolved so that Maisie can retire to look after her American husband and adopted daughter. 

All these were read and finished while I had the other eye on tennis on TV! - Multi tasking!

Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday about the very poor growing season it's been for some things but I've eaten raspberries everyday for a month so it's not all bad.

Back Soon

Sue

What a Poor Year in the Greenhouse

 Thank goodness the raspberries have been so good

Making up a little for the greenhouse veg where the flowers aren't setting on the aubergines, the tomatoes are spindly with few trusses of flowers and not many of those are setting either. The cucumbers that usually grow like crazy have stopped. Only two out of the four pepper plants have peppers. 

Things don't look too bad from the doorway, but not so good close up.

It's typical that the year I decide not to squeeze too many plants in, I shall have a shortage.

Oh well, there's always next year

Back Soon

Sue

Following A Tree 2024

 The plan was to walk up the lane to photograph the oak trees at the end of each month but I didn't get there in June for some reason - it was probably raining.

Here they are in the middle of July, the leaves are darker than at the end of May and acorns are beginning to form, critters have moved in leaving their mark. Oak trees are host to so many insects.

In the fields each side of the lane the crops are growing and ripening - despite the awful weather.

Won't be long before the barley is ready for harvest

Wheat is always slightly later

And it will be winter before the sugar-beet is reading for lifting and taking to the factory in Bury St Edmunds.

I always take a view over the village from the top of the lane . I thought about, but decided against, a photo of the gypsy travellers who have bought a plot of land and applied for planning permission for 3 static and 4 touring caravans at the bottom of the lane. They've cleared the overgrown plot, levelled it, got tarmac down and moved in with two caravans and several trucks before the planning application has even been to consultation!

The other photos from previous months are HERE

Back Soon

Sue

Wainwright Book Prize 2024

 The Longlist for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing was released on Friday. It's the only book prize I like to look at and most years I've already read some of them. 

This year I've not read a single one - but I have got Bothy on order from the library and will get around to the Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing sometime as she lives in Suffolk.

More information about the 2024 Longlist is HERE . If you like different sorts of nature writing this is a good place to find out more about some that have been popular this year.

Yesterday.

Thought it was time for a new header photo and couldn't decide so plumped for the amazing East window of Redgrave church. It deserves a longer look.

 I often fall asleep with the radio on Radio 4, it's usually fairly boring and sends me off to sleep quite quickly, then of course I wake up hours later when Radio 4 has become The World Service and it's still talking to me, which is why I woke up sometime in the early hours of Sunday morning to hear the words  'Civil War starting in the US' Good Grief!- then the rest of talking got through to me and I heard that Trump had been shot and injured and the Civil War was what some commentators were expecting to happen next.

So I'm praying that by the time this post is live things have calmed down.

As it was fine I went to the nearest car-boot sale early and came home with a bunch of beetroot and half a dozen eggs - no treasure - same old same old - children's toys and junk!

Beetroot cooked and another bowl of raspberries picked - I've had some every day for weeks and put several small bags of them in the freezer - I'm thinking pavlova in winter sounds good. I then brought the only two small aubergines in from the greenhouse. They'd not got any bigger for weeks and were starting to lose their shine so best used quickly. No other aubergine flowers have set - yet another growing fail for this dismal 2024 season. I cooked them up with a tin of tomatoes and lots of seasonings including basil from the greenhouse which made 3 portions of pasta sauce.

Men's wheelchair singles final was the first thing on at Wimbledon. Alfie Hewett there again and having a wonderful win. As he is Norfolk born he's been featured on local TV coverage and seems to have been around for ever although he is only 26, he's won many grand slams and other tournaments since 2016. I'm amazed at the strength those guys have for manoeuvring a wheelchair on grass and playing tennis at the same time.

The men's final was a bit of an anti-climax with Alcaraz beating Djokovic very easily. It was a strange match. 

Then I quickly turned onto red button TV to see Alfie Hewett again in the wheelchair doubles with Gordon Reid, they've been playing doubles together for several years, seems a bit mean to have both finals on the same day. They successfully defended their title. Well done them!

That left just the football but I'll be in bed rather than on the laptop when that finished!

 

Back Soon

Sue 

Last Week in Mid Suffolk

The only way I could get past the sadness of Friday's post was to delete it without looking at, or having to read it again -in 11 years of blogging I've never felt the need to do that before.

The weather last week was mainly cloudy, heavy and humid (although yesterday was just plain chilly) and very headache inducing - at least I Hope that's the reason for the headaches I've been having. Just recently a neighbour and friend of BiL  went to bed early with a headache and was fast asleep when her husband went to bed but when he woke in the morning he found her laying dead beside him - what an awful shock -  since hearing that it feels worrying to go to sleep with a headache.

 I had a very surreal experience last week when I spent an hour having a coffee in the church café with my ex husband who I had not really seen since we split in 1978. We'd been together for 7 years from aged 16 and got engaged and married young as many people who didn't go to Uni did back then. I think he married 3 more times after me but I'm not sure he really knew how many!  he's in the process of the current divorce! I don't regret our meeting and marrying all those years ago as otherwise I wouldn't have got involved in Scouting so wouldn't have met Colin, so wouldn't have had 38 wonderful years, three children and five grandchildren and all the smallholding life - plus getting on the housing ladder in 1975 turned out to be a very good thing from a purely material point of view. House prices started shooting up after that and Col and I might never have afforded anything!

It reminded me of the Grammar School Reunion in 1988 or was it 89?, 17 years after we had all left school, that was a very surreal evening too. 

What else  happened last week?  Well, it was a very bad Wordle week - I had two fails in a week - never been known before. Just too many choices to go round the letters I had  - and I chose wrong too many times - good thing it's not a competition.

Had to get to grips with a new phone too, my old one started playing up too often. When I say 'get to grips' I really mean 'attempt to work out the differences while getting very confused!' I do wish they came with an instruction book, at least we have 'real people' to sort things in the Tesco phone shop in Stowmarket and thank goodness they weren't busy so he set the phone up for me and answered my probably daft questions but I  can't see how it's turned right off to reboot it when it needs doing sometime in the future so will have to go back and ask.

And  I've also been eating courgettes......................almost everyday.

Yesterday was nearly the end of Wimbledon, I didn't watch the Women's final but the men's doubles was a really good match.  It ends properly today with the Men's finals and then later the probable pain of watching England play football in the Euro finals. I'm not a fan of women's football so won't be watching their Euros qualifying and can't get cricket or golf for free so I reckon it's just the last week of  the Tour de France to follow next week. Then a blank week before the Olympics.

Back Soon

Sue

Thelnetham Windmill

 I spotted information about an open day at Thelnetham windmill, on the Suffolk/Norfolk border not too far from home. Somewhere to visit that I'd not been before.

The mill was built in 1819, replacing an earlier wooden post mill, and is one of only 4 preserved tower mills in Suffolk. It continued working through the C19 and  until it became redundant. Grain imports from Canada and the US with huge roller mills built right beside the docks put most windmills out of action at that time and by 1926 this mill was totally derelict.

For a while an elderly man lived in it and in a caravan beside it and then it was sold to be converted to a home - which never happened. 

In 1979 it was bought by a group of mill enthusiasts and  in one of the buildings they had a short film about the restoration of the mill in the 1980's. All done by volunteers during two week work parties each summer.

Thelnetham is a Tower Mill with only the cap turning into the wind but last week all the paddle bits on the sails were removed for painting so the mill wasn't actually in action that day - sadly. But still interesting to visit as I'd not been here before.

I'm afraid I didn't do the tour of the mill as there are 4 flights of steep stairs which I didn't fancy.

These two buildings below have both been built fairly recently, one is the engine shed which has a petrol engine to run the sails on days with no wind. This replaced an earlier shed that held a steam engine. The white building is called the granary and is used for school groups and the film show.

Rather oddly it seems  that the miller never had a home on site, often there is a house called 'Mill House' nearby ,but not here.

I bought a coffee and sandwich for my lunch in the other building on the site and picked up this interesting card below, showing some of the few remaining Suffolk windmills......there were once 500 around the county and would have been one in almost every village.

I've previously visited two others that are/were open to the public at Saxtead and Thorpeness (this isn't open either at the moment),  but not for many years and most of these below are in private ownership, not open and no longer working. Saxtead is owned by English Heritage and the only windmill open regularly.

 We lived not far from Friston mill when we were in the smallholding. Tim Whiting - who is the only Millwright in Suffolk and was at school with Son  hopes to restore it ........one day!

 I had friends round yesterday  afternoon - so no catch up on Summer of Sport except I did  see Taylor Fritz getting knocked out and heard that Djokovic had a walkover into the semis because Alex de Minaur pulled out.

And no intention to be online at 10pm last night  to comment on the result of the England v Netherland game, I'll leave that to others!

Back Soon

Sue

5th Summer Book + Summer of Sport

 First of all have to say thank you for all the comments yesterday about Redgrave Church - it's quite a special church. I keep being surprised at all I'm finding out about bits of history of Suffolk with my church adventures - I'm glad I started.

The 5th book with Summer in the title for Reading The Seasons was this.

Sweet Remnants of Summer by Alexander McCall Smith. In the Isobel Dalhousie Philosopher series set in Edinburgh.

I did say I wouldn't read anymore of these are they are all a bit 'same-y' and Isobel and Jamie are so perfect it's quite annoying!

But as it was a Summer titled book and I knew it would be quick and readable I gave it a go and it was similar to all the others with Isobel getting involved in other people's problems, editing her Philosophy newsletter and dealing with her Housekeeper and her children while the beautiful and perfect Jamie cooks up wonderful meals!

Monday's best sport was a really good match at Wimbledon between Taylor Fritz from the USA and Alexander Zverev of Germany which went to 5 sets with Fritz having to win the last three to get through to the quarter finals - and he did. Djokovic got in a tizzy about the spectators shouting Ruuuuune for his opponent - he seemed to think they were being disrespectful and booing him. I didn't think so and nor did the commentators  but who knows - he does divide opinions. Djokovic went on to win in 3 straight sets anyway.

Tuesday was the first of the quarter finals. There was no play at all on the outside courts - it rained there all  day (Suffolk was a bit drier - just long enough to get raspberries picked and cat proof fences organised for the kale plants which are due today). I half watched the two quarter finals in the men's singles. I'd have preferred Sinner to win.

They are so far behind with doubles matches now and running out of days to catch up. Hope the next few days are dry.

Back Soon 

Sue 

A Special Church - St Mary's, Redgrave.

 This church is now looked after by the Historic Churches Conservation Trust. When I visited the Chapel of Ease to this church  in nearby Botesdale  HERE. I wrote about the way the village walked away from St Marys Redgrave in 2004 when it became too expensive to maintain. They hoped the Trust would take it on and thankfully they did.

Here is what Simon Knott from The Suffolk Churches Index says about the recent history of the church

 The cost and effort of maintaining this vast barn full of priceless treasures had become too great a burden for the small congregation, so they locked the doors and decamped to the village hall, declaring that St Mary was now no longer their responsibility. As you may imagine, this caused a certain amount of consternation. While Redgrave church is a building of national significance, there is a certain protocol required if you want to declare a building redundant and have it conveyed into the stewardship of the Churches Conservation Trust. Not being able to pay the repair bills is not considered a good enough reason to declare redundancy. Even so, the parish persisted, which rather placed the Diocese in a quandary. While their first responsibility was to the parishioners, they clearly did not have the resources needed to look after St Mary, and yet the church commissioners would have looked with some doubt on any attempt to declare the building redundant.

It was, in modern political parlance, uncharted territory. Nevertheless, it was obvious that the ultimate destination must be to ensure the future security and upkeep of the building, and so after eighteen months or so of what one imagines must have been fairly tense meetings, the church was conveyed into the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

And in the meantime, something else had happened. The shock of the incident had galvanised some local people, including a few of the former congregation, to get together and form a group to look after St Mary. With the support of the Churches Conservation Trust this has become one of the most successful support groups in the county, putting on exhibitions and concerts for which the church is eminently suitable. Before the end of the decade, the Daily Telegraph newspaper awarded Redgrave church the prize of English Village Church of the Year. 

The church stands on a small rise over a mile out of the village. From outside it's large but quite ordinary, except for the unusual white brick tower.

But step inside and you find it is HUGE, one of the largest parish churches for a small village. It had been funded by the Abbots of Bury St Edmunds Abbey who had a shooting lodge in the village and plenty of money for the building .

I visited on a day I hoped it would be open as I knew they were having a concert later in the day. And there was a man beginning to get ready who was very keen to explain all sorts of the special things to me which was good but meant I kept forgetting to take photos!

It's so wide and light with huge arches and windows. The pews, each with it's own little door at the end, could probably seat several 100 people

The East window is magnificent

And another lovely window in the South Aisle Chapel

which now holds the village war memorials

Some of the other memorials in this church are so big and seem really out of place for a village church.

This below is for one of the Holt family, a life sized monument - he was Lord Chief Justice and sits in his lawyers robes, with the figures of Justice and Mercy on either side.

The carving is incredibly detailed

The font is nicely carved too

Up above the font on the North wall is this huge Decalogue - The 10 Commandments

And also huge is this life size tomb to Sir Nicholas and Lady Anne Bacon from the early C17. I meant to go up the steps to take a picture from above but the man took me off to look at something else and I forgot to go back!

The man uncovered this brass for Anne Butts in the floor of the sanctuary for me to see. The inscription says

The weaker sexes strongest precedent
Lies here belowe; seaven fayer years she spent
In wedlock sage; and since that merry age
Sixty one years she lived a widowe sage
Humble as great as full of Grace as elde,
A second Anna had she but beheld
Christ in His flesh who now she glorious sees
Below that first in time, not in degree

Around the walls are 13 hatchments -  or coats of arms for the deceased - for many Suffolk families, more than any other church in Suffolk.  The one below was once thought to have some connection to the beginning of the US flag because of the stars and stripes.

Please have a look at all the details on Simon Knotts website HERE for some information about the lady who accidently discovered the opening to the vault beneath the church!

I have a favourite large church - Blythburgh, a favourite small church - Thornham Parva and now Redgrave is my favourite Heritage Church!

More sport tomorrow - probably.

Back Soon

Sue

Summer of Sport 2024 + This Cheese Was Suggested............

.........................by someone for a taste test. I'd not even thought about Aldi having any Artisan cheeses so it was a good bit of information...thank you to whoever. 

Beacon Blue is on their Specially Selected bit of the cheese shelves, along with a couple of others.

It's described as a creamy, mild and sweet blue goats cheese and this is what it says about the cheese and the company making it from Butlers Cheese website.(They also make another very easily available favourite - Blacksticks Blue)

Beacon Blue, our award-winning blue goat's cheese is silvery like the moon, silky smooth, creamy and fresh on the tongue, yet a good helping of peppery tang quickly develops leaving you craving more and more!

One of the reasons that our blue goat's cheese tastes so delicious is the freshness of our milk. The freshest goat's milk makes the best goat's cheese and ours comes every day from Nicola Butler’s herd on our family farm, just down the lane from our dairy.

There is no escaping it, we are a family business est. 1932. That’s what makes things exciting, and these family values are the bedrock of our culture. Richard and Annie started it, Jean and Tom nurtured it. Gill and Colin opened it, and the history page is just turning for Matthew and Daniel 

It was a strong cheese - not mild and creamy as described - and OK but  I thought a bit sort of harsh tasting - people who've had 'goaty flavoured' goats cheese needn't worry. There's no billy goat taint in this thank goodness.

It won't become a regular purchase as there are other blue cheeses I like better.

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The weather on Saturday was dreadfully wet and I didn't go far, lots of water across the road in places and the low tyre pressure light came on in the car so I went home again and after the rain stopped pumped up the tyres and got the warning bleeps turned  off. At Wimbledon the outside courts were covered and uncovered several times . I watched Cam Norrie get knocked out and then Harriet Dart. Heard that Emma Raducano had decided against playing mixed doubles with Andy M after all - something to do with match timings I think. Then I saw a bit of the football and after Switzerland scored, gave up and found a new Midsummer Murders to watch instead. I didn't know until Sunday morning that England had equalized and then won on penalties - glad I didn't see that bit - penalty shoot outs are bad for the heart!

The middle Sunday of Wimbledon used to be a rest day but they've had to use it for playing several times due to rain so changed it to a usual day of play a couple of years ago. Carlos Alcaraz had a battle but won through but the one remaining British singles player - out of the 19 (I think) that started, was Emma Raducanu who got knocked out by a qualifier from New Zealand. Only Brits left were in the men's doubles

I caught the Tour highlights at 8 - a bit rough and dusty there as they were racing partly on gravel which, I discovered, isn't what builders call gravel - and seemed totally pointless- and that was the end of sport for the day.

 Then there was a new crime drama on BBC - The Turkish Detective - interesting - presumably we are running out of locations for crime dramas set  in this country!

Apologies to several people whose comments went to spam, I check regularly but then found 15 there on Saturday, some from a week earlier - weird.

And talking about weird - there have been some annoying weird words on Wordle recently - it's took me all 6 goes to get them. - Spoiler Alert -  yesterdays was a maker of cameras! (of course it had another meaning that wasn't a brand name - but a rarely used word)

Back Soon

Sue

Hollyhocks out of Nowhere + First week July

 Seven foot tall and appearing where no Hollyhocks have appeared before. These are out in the front border.

 I've frequently tried to invite them into various gardens without much luck, although maybe one might have appeared in the back garden in my first year here? - never to be seen again.

BiL has lots growing every year right by his path to the back door. I never remember to collect seed pods to bring home - I'll try to remember this year.

It's been a mostly chilly week because Summer went away around midday on Tuesday. It came back briefly for a few hours on Thursday so people didn't get wet while going out to vote but Wednesday and Friday were horribly cold and grey and the wind on several days has had a real bite to it.

I raced around Monday morning getting loads of jobs done so I could watch the tennis and have been watching as much as possible all week. Thursday was the best day with so many Brits playing - all at once sometimes. Did you know there are 46 courts at Wimbledon if you include the practice courts and the 8 clay courts, I didn't, until it was a question on the Radio 2 Zoe Ball show mini quiz. Play on 18 main courts are often all on TV - difficult to choose.

I'd planned a swim again Friday but woke up feeling rough so cancelled that until next week, my own fault for getting cold when shopping.

It's odd sometimes to find the things people don't know. - On the local Next Door website page- which is usually lost cats - several people moaned about Green Party representatives sitting outside Polling Stations on Thursday - some folk were very irate that it should be 'allowed'. But it's something that used to happen a lot and there is no need to speak to them after all and the street is still a free country - thank God! 

Good to know that there was no fuss or cries of 'cheating' or 'fix' after the election results. Hand over is always polite and quick............unlike some countries! and they are able to get removal vans for Number 10 at very short notice - very different when the rest of us are moving house!

This week I've been grateful for

• Gift of Broad Beans from BiL who had been gifted more than he needed from a neighbour
• Huge bowlful of raspberries from the garden everyday
• Tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes all ready now
• Another handful of green beans
• Plenty of good reading. (The final Maisie Dobbs from Jacqueline Winspear was excellent)
• Rain - just in time to fill the water butts

Not sure what I'm doing this weekend. 

Back Soon

Sue

So Which Prediction Was Correct? + Summer of Sport

 So which of the bits of paper through the door earlier in the week was right? A new constituency  so nothing to compare with last time.

The Labour prediction  for here was Way out! and the Greens did much better than they predicted for themselves - getting over 20,000 votes compared to Conservatives 14,000+. Labour came in 4th behind the Reform Party. So we have a Green MP, one of 4 who will be sitting opposite the Labour Party. 

My prediction is, that he needs to  speak up for the area really well, or it will be a one-off vote.

Enough of all that! 

Yesterday I went shopping good and early to make the most of so many British men and women playing at Wimbledon. The first match was a girl I'd not heard of before this year -  Yuriko Miyazaki - Japanese /English. She lost rather quickly. Then I thought I ought to catch yesterdays Tour highlights as everyone was raving about Mark Cavendish and his new record number of stage wins.

The handy thing about watching Wimbledon on iplayer is you can press a button to 'watch from the start' so after the Tour highlights I went back to the beginning of the Katy Boulter/Harriet Dart match. Surprise that Harriet won but it was a good game. 

The Cam Norrie v Jack Draper match was a bit one sided which was a bit sad to see, but Cam played much better than he has done for a while.

Then there was the emotional Andy and Jamie Murray doubles. They lost in straight sets but it was the farewell to Andy afterwards that had everyone in tears!

Today is a new day! 

Looking very dull outside - rain forecast for later, I need to get the raspberries picked before that happens.........much more important that the shenanigans that will be going on in Westminster.

Back Soon

Sue

Election Day + Summer of Sport 2024

 I shall stroll up the road today to cast my vote in the General Election for a political party that have promised much but probably won't be able to achieve anything! 

And as all of them have done that it's no help to you guessing who I'll vote for!

I finally got information through the letter box from all the other Parties standing, but the Green Party have certainly outdone the rest for pieces of paper - how very ironic.

So, will our new  Waveney Valley constituency really put a Green Party MP into the Houses of Parliament or will tradition win out and the area remain blue Conservative? Or will we be one of the 'Huge swings to Labour' seats?

The two bits of 'propaganda' through the letter box yesterday completely contradict each other so we will have to wait and see.........

I hope everyone will go and vote, everyone should vote - it's your right and we don't have many rights left, and if you don't, you can't moan about the result.

Summer of Sport yesterday was cold and chilly and wet but Emma won through - well done that girl.  Lots more Brits playing at Wimbledon today including several pairs in the Men's Doubles - much more interesting than election results!  (can't believe that once, when I was very much  younger, I stayed awake half the night listening to results coming in - mad)

Back Tomorrow........... when we'll know who we are to be governed by for the next 5 years.

Sue