........with not going far or doing much of interest is there's nothing to write about!
This grey, wet weather has a lot to answer for.
Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday. I've never read Moonfleet so will borrow a copy. I wanted to try and read more children's books this year anyway.
Back soonish - probably Saturday.
When I found this book at the jumble sale in Eye last month I knew it would feature many of the pubs near where we lived on the coast. The one on the front cover is in Aldringham, just a couple of miles from the smallholding.
Although a lot of information in the book is about the pubs in the past, there is also plenty about how they are now and I'm thinking the book was perhaps sponsored by Southwold Brewers Adnams.
This large hotel/pub used by the smugglers back in the day is in Leiston. It's 5 minutes walk from where YD lives and sometimes we go there for Sunday lunch when I visit.
In the 1800's the licensees of popular inns would have been an important person in the community. Between 1732 and 1834 members of the Gildersleeves family ran The White Horse. They were known to be valuable ally to the Sizewell Gap smugglers, bringing in contraband just a mile away on the coast.
This is a bad photo due to reflection but its an ancient 18th Century flintlock pistol in a case on the wall in the pub.
'there was an inquest at Leiston on Robert Debney and William Cooper who entered a cave used as a repository for smuggled goods, they were suffocated by the stench rising from it, a young man who went to their assistance was very near sharing the same fate, the cave was let down and covered over with horse manure in order to exclude excise officers'
I don't think the White Horse has much smuggling going on in the C21 but the food they dish up for Sunday Lunch is always good!
Unfortunately the snowdrops in this picture aren't in my garden. It's four years since blog reader Jan brought me a bag of snowdrops 'in the green' . I planted them in various places in the back and front gardens but like everything else planted here (except trees) they mostly vanished. A few re-appeared in 2023 but since then only one small clump . The back garden gets no sun in winter and can be a frost pocket when the weather is bad and the soil is poor anyway. No point planting more.
These snowdrops that I photographed last week are across the road on the bank of the churchyard, right by the road. They have spread really well recently coming up despite being among grass, with water splash from traffic. The bank faces south-west so is in the sun for hours which must make all the difference.
Many poets have written poetry about these small flowers
In Suffolk the mobile breast cancer screening service travels to various locations and as I'm 70 it was my turn for my last screening- unless I request more, which I probably will as there is and has been so much cancer in the family (but how to remember to contact them in 3 years time?)
The unit parks in the car-park of the Co-op on the edge of Stowmarket. It was pouring with rain so I didn't get a photo but it's this one below, which in this photo is parked in Leiston Co-op car-park where I used to visit it every 3 years when we were at the smallholding. They were running late so it was a bit of a wait, but I'd rather wait than have to drive all the way to Ipswich Hospital.
Picked up these from the mobile library, a bit different this month - only two crime and six non-fiction
Out of the huge amount brought home in January I've still got 5 here and have read seven so far.
The books I've read up to now are on the Books Read 2026 page.
I needed eggs (preferably the bargain ones) and remembered that on Wednesdays there's a Country Market in Eye Town Hall so two birds etc...........
The Country Market is individual makers joining together under the Country Markets Banner. Much smaller and cheaper than Farmers Markets. There used to be one in many towns but now just 4 in the whole of Suffolk. For many years I took produce and cards to Framlingham and before that Stowmarket and Saxmundham (all no longer running). Explanation from internet.............
Country Markets in the UK originated from the Women’s Institute (WI) market scheme, which began in 1919. Originally designed to allow members to sell surplus home-produced goods, these markets evolved into an independent, nationwide network of co-operative social enterprises while retaining their focus on locally made, baked, and grown produce.
Key Aspects of Country Markets (Formerly WI Markets):
- Origin: Started as a WI initiative, often historically referred to as "W.I. Markets".
- Produce: Markets feature home-baked goods, preserves, eggs, plants, and hand-crafted items.
- Structure: They operate as a social enterprise where local producers sell directly to the public.
- Locations: Held regularly in various towns and villages across the UK.
If you are into sport on TV did you know that the Curling at the Winter Olympics started already - it was on BBC i player at 6pm last night and several times today also some Ice Hockey. All before the Opening Ceremony on Friday evening.
Who could resist the title and cover?
More batch meals made last week to pop in the freezer. This time it was Salmon, Pasta and Broccoli Bake. I used two tins of Aldi salmon, value range penne pasta, a head of broccoli plus white sauce made from powdered milk and cornflour. I made sure to make plenty of white sauce because last time I made it the portions ended up a bit dry when reheated. It was topped with grated cheese and home made dried breadcrumbs.
6 portions made - 1 to eat and 5 in the freezer and now I've no more freezer storage boxes with lids that fit them!. The total cost was around about £4.
The first piece of news on the BBC News at One yesterday was about that awful Ipswich man who killed five women in 2002. He has at last admitted to kidnapping and killing a young school girl several years earlier. A case that has been unsolved all this time. How cruel that he has waited so long to own up.
January spending and saving, or did Just-Stay-in January help finances?
Income was the usual State Pension and County Council Spouses Pension and income from the downshifting savings.
Regular outgoings are the direct debits for Council Tax, charity, phones and broadband and the monthly electric bill. They came to £337 this month.
My personal spending was a hair cut, exercise group and some photos printed.
Looking after the pennies..................
Going forward to February............ I'll probably need some heating oil plus there is the half year water/sewer bill but there's no Council tax. I'm aiming for another low spend month again staying mostly at home.
It's less than a week until the mobile library is round again, bringing me at least seven books but I still have so many here unread.
As always ................so many books.........not enough time.
I've read 5 of the books I collected at the beginning of this month but the one below was 'A Book Too Many'
It's the 29th in the D.I Wesley Peterson Tradmouth series and I've read all the others but just struggled to get into this one - it's just like all the others, much too much the same - details HERE. Maybe I'll come back to it sometime when I'm short of ideas.
I ought to be reading this
But instead I'm reading this
the latest in this clever series about our late queen and her investigations. This time it's 1961 and an unreliable witness says that from her window on the royal train she's seen someone murdered.
And I'm lucky to have been gifted copy of this
by J, my friend from exercise group. She had ordered a copy and then been given a copy and I'm the lucky recipient of the spare. Thank you J.
Imagine having nothing to read..............it never happens here!
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| A page from last years Folklore Diary |
In an article written by Michael Sidney Tyler-Whittle entitled ‘Witchcraft’ in the East Anglian Magazine of October 1952, it read: "I have heard it said that until quite recently there was a hole in a field beside the Swanton Morley-Bawdeswell road.
I didn't have many home-made batch-made meals left in the freezer and ate the last box of curry last week so gathered up a lot of veg and a pack of quorn pieces, tins of coconut milk and korma paste and cooked up a nice big pan full.
For the first time in a week the sun shone on Saturday and I popped 15 minutes away to a Jumble Sale.
There was a long queue ready for door opening, as usual - but look - Blue Sky!
and it's a tiny village hall but very well used. The Jumble sale is a fundraiser for the hall.
It's a squash inside when everyone is in and requires much shuffling about. This year I only found one thing to buy- a Mason Cash pudding basin for £1 (no books sadly, last year I found a Kristin Hannah that I'd not read).. The bowl is a replacement for one that came back from BiL's after Christmas with a huge crack. He said it was OK when he washed it up!
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| It says 'God save the cream' with a crown! |
There was time to go home get lunch and then out again for the Scout Jumble Sale in Eye Town Hall. The queue to get in was even longer than the one at Thornham and the squash inside so big that after a while they were operating a one in one out system.
It was nice to get out and about after several grey, wet days at home. Sadly the sun hasn't been seen again since and the forecast is just as dull. The jumble sales, exercise group and a quick dash out for a shop were the only trips out all week and I realised I'd not had any sort of proper conversation with anyone for 6 days!.
The weather makes it difficult to get up the enthusiasm for anything..... except reading!.
Back Tomorrow
..........................I didn't make lemonade.
Early last week I had a prickly throat and thought it was a cold coming - so had a look in the freezer for lemon slices to make a hot lemon/ honey drink but there were none. The prickly throat didn't develop into anything thankfully, but I still put lemons on the shopping list.
Aldi don't sell lemons individually - I don't think many supermarkets do nowadays - so it had to be a pack of 4 Wonky Lemons but I didn't want to slice and freeze all four so rustled up a couple of lemon drizzle loaves.
I've just looked to see who does sell individual lemons and Tesco do for 35p each but the Aldi pack of 4 are 89p so 22p each which is quite a saving - as long as they all get used. According to ads on TV the average family wastes £1,000 worth of food each year. Selling things in large packs is probably one of the reasons.
The top wasted foods (supposedly) are potatoes, milk, bread and cheese.......Cheese? who on earth throws out cheese? ....that really should be a criminal offence!
Back Tomorrow
Tomorrow, 25th January is St Paul's day and Burn's Night and also celebrates a Welsh saint too - St Dwynwen's Day - Wales' patron saint of lovers. According to my book Everyday Folklore couples might peer into Dwynwen's Well and have a look for the fortune telling eels and if they can see them their relationship will last.
According to my Book of Saints January 25th actually commemorates The Conversion of St Paul. A man who hated and persecuted Christians. He was on his way to Damascus to seize the Christians there and bring them to Jerusalem for punishment when the famous conversion took place.
.................was a bit of a write off.
It was raining in the morning and raining in the afternoon it might have stopped now and again but it was still half dark all day.
I should have or could have done something useful but didn't.
A January Painting
Morning in January 1956
Gerald Gardiner (1902 -1959)
A January Poem
Winter, The Story of a Season by Val McDermid is a small book but interesting. This is a book about the joys of winter rather than just surviving it. She is the same age as me and grew up in Scotland but some of her memories of things like childhood Christmas Decorations, the winter of 1963 and November 5th firework nights are similar to mine.
"In Winter she takes us on an adventure through the season, from the icy streets of Edinburgh to the windblown Fife coast, from Bonfire night and Christmas to Burns Night and Up Helly Aa. She remembers winter from childhood, the thrill of whizzing over a frozen lake on skates, carving a 'neep' (swede) for Halloween and being taken to see her first real Christmas tree in the town centre, lights twinkling bravely in the dark night".
She writes about how she sits down to write her books each January, a winter train journey across Russia, birdwatching, Christmas lights, Hogmanay celebrations past and present and soup!
I came across a book blog that gives a good write-up on Winter HERE . I'd love to write book reviews like this but mine are much shorter as I'm always in a hurry to get on with reading the next book!
Winter is one of 4 books about the seasons commissioned from well known fiction authors. Spring is by Michael Morpurgo, Summer and Autumn are not yet published but will be by Bernadine Evangelista and Kate Mosse.
Back Tomorrow
Yesterday, the 18th we had the first new moon of 2026 and the first new moon of the year was very useful in the past for girls wanting to find out who they would marry.....
On the evening of the January new moon sit on a gate or across a stile, look at the moon and repeat:
All hail to the moon, all hail to thee, I prithee good moon reveal to me this night who my husband should be.
After that they would go home and straight to bed and their intended would be revealed in their dreams and apparently putting a sprig of oregano under the pillow would make the dreams clearer.
Did girls really do this?
I do wonder where some of these old sayings come from.
...........................I have no idea.
As well as the short outings I finished the small cross stitch picture and got it into a card blank,
Got all my scrap book bits onto the table and filled up more pages
And read a good book
Hope you have a good weekend - I shall return Monday if I can think of something to blog about.
