tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97887232024-03-08T02:50:03.771+00:00Shanny`s DayA Shannock`s thoughts & picturesIvyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.comBlogger1206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-33216884876263826982012-11-06T07:26:00.003+00:002012-11-06T07:26:51.732+00:00Strange Happenings<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 12.72px/normal arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
I had a strange experience last Thursday. I got woken up at 5 a.m. with my front door bell ringing. It alarmed me. I decided not to go down to the door and about 15 minutes later it rang again. I still ignored it. Then about 6 a.m. it went again, so I went into my office room which is at the front of the house and looked out of the window to the door, but couldn`t see anyone there, so back to bed. A short time later it went yet again, so this time I thought I`d better go down, so I put my dressing gown on went down and looked out of the front room window. No-one there and no one anywhere in sight in the road, no cars moving, nothing. </div>
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I decided there was one way to stop this, so I took the batteries out of the bell.</div>
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After breakfast I put the batteries back, and as I put them in the bell rang, and rang and rang - that`s it I thought, it wasn`t anyone at all, its the bell gone wrong.</div>
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Later that morning I went out to get in my car and the key wouldn`t open the car when I pressed it. I tried different angles etc. but, no go. Must be to do with the battery in that key I thought, so I got the other key to the car...... and the same thing happened, it wouldn`t open the door. What to do?</div>
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So I rang my local garage, he talked me through how to take a part off of the passenger door handle, and then there was a place to put the key in. That done, I had to get in (well squeeze in as it was close against bushes in the driveway!) reach across and open the drivers door so that I could get in and then take the car over to them at the garage. I tried that, but the door wouldn`t open from inside either. It sounds like the battery he said, and told me to ring the AA or RAC. I belong to the AA so rang them.</div>
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The AA chap arrived in about 30 minutes, got in put the key in the ignition and then opened the drivers door. . Then tried it all again for me and found the same problem with opening it with the key. " Sounds as if its to do with the coding in the key to the car which will need to be reset", he said then he though and asked "Can I take it down the road and try it in the next road" he asked. I agreed. So he did, and within a few minutes was back. "It`s fine he said, there`s nothing wrong with the key or car". He tried it again with my car back on the drive..... and.... it refused to open! </div>
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He explained that car keys work on radio waves, and asked if I had anything new around here that is interferring with the signal. I couldn`t think of anything. There was a police car parked just a short distance away and he wondered if it could be to do with the signal of their radio. Then he spotted the light on on the door bell, and I said about the problem I`d had with that earlier in the morning - I think that`s the cause he said and went to examine the bell for me. He discovered that rain water had got into the bell and was causing the sensor in the bell to stay on, and that was affecting the signal to the car key! He took the bell off the door for me, and..... the car key worked fine!</div>
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So, I say - Well done to the AA man ! </div>
Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-44842686175261033682012-10-27T23:30:00.000+01:002012-10-27T23:30:09.840+01:00Amazing Weekend
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">What an amazing time we had last weekend at our church. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 9pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">On the Friday afternoon a Team of 9 committed Christians, ordinary people of all ages, from all over the country came together to share a weekend with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what a weekend that turned out to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within a very short time, they became a part of us and it felt as if we`d always known them as our friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> They came from the Lay Witness Movement.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">The weekend started with one of many delicious shared meals over the three days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (Three ladies from another of the churches on our Circuit and the son of one of them provided the catering, so that we could all share in the weekend, without the worry of cooking and washing up.) </span></span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">The good food was accompanied by much conversation and laughter which flowed around the tables as we got to know each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">From the tables we moved into the church for the first of the four worship sessions over the weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were times when the Team members shared their </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">testimonies with us, interspersed with times of prayer, and hymns, both old favourites and some new ones, all sung with a real depth of meaning to the words we were singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">Times for group discussions were held within the worship time, and in </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">peoples` homes on the Saturday morning, these were a real blessing to many as the Team and us all shared aspects of our lives and faith at a deep level.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">The Testimonies the Team gave throughout the weekend, I don`t think could have failed to touch us all in some way, as they shared the way in which </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">Jesus had become real to them and the way in which he was working in their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the testimonies brought tears to the eyes of many of us as they so openly talked of the way God was working in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were a real inspiration to us, and really were “Sharing God`s love” with us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;">I know that the whole weekend has challenged me and made me think about my faith, and I`m sure I`m not alone in that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don`t think any of us who were present at the times of worship, discussion groups, and the shared meals, could fail to be inspired by them to deepen our commitment to Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-GB" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-GB; mso-ansi-language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">It`s really challenged me. </span></span><span lang="en-GB" style="language: en-GB; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-77928432670016823622012-01-04T22:46:00.000+00:002012-01-04T22:46:18.756+00:00Natural beautyDriving to work this morning - yes, I had to go to another location and not work at home today - I was out of the house by 7.30 a.m. and I am so glad I was - the sight of the morning sky as it became light and the sun came up was wonderful.<br />
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I am always fascinated to see, at this time of year, the trees against the skyline. To see the shapes of the bare branches, the way they intertwine with one another all being part of the one plant. To me there is a real beauty about it, and especially so this morning when the sun was coming up, turning the sky behind them to all shades of apricot and orange, before the golden ball of the sun itself appeared. It was awesome. <br />
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The forms of the trees today set me thinking of how we are rather like those trees, just one small branch or twig of it yet all dependent on the feeding and nutrients from the trunk - It made me think of God being the root and trunk of the tree and our lives, although interwined with each other and needing each other for support are yet all dependent on the care of God.Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-86804362033550675922012-01-02T20:43:00.000+00:002012-01-02T21:11:30.348+00:00ResolutionsI`ve been tossing up whether or not to make any New Year resolutions this year - I`ve done it before on here but, as I guess happens with so many of us, I haven`t manage to keep them for many weeks.<br />
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So, instead of making a whole list of them, I think this year, I`m just going to make a couple and see if its easier to keep two than a larger quantity. Perhaps if I can make 2 a year and stick to them through the year I shall in the end achieve all from the list of previous years.<br />
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My resolutions therefore for this year are:<br />
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1. To be more tidy in my house - ie. to put things away when I`ve finished with them, including filing mail as I open it, instead of piling it up to "deal with later". (Later does come, but how much nicer the room looks when it`s done straight away!)<br />
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2. To post more regularly on my blog, and to resume doing a daily <a href="http://www.counting-blessings-daily.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Counting Blessings Daily</a> in which I`ll endeavour to post something for which I thank God that day - it may be something seen, heard, something which has made me smile, a photo I`ve taken or......... who knows!<br />
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<br />Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-22281774330363208422012-01-01T09:56:00.001+00:002012-01-01T09:56:09.109+00:00It`s Two Thousand and TwelveIt`s Two Thousand and Twelve already - where have those years gone since we were celebrating the Millennium?<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: magenta;">Happy New Year</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: magenta;">to you All</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: magenta;">good health, happiness and peace in 2012</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: magenta;"> </span></span></div>Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-68296524588596083952011-12-11T08:59:00.001+00:002011-12-11T09:12:19.796+00:00A Christmas Letter to Santa<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnAxz7HFvJNTE9rVYYp-Q53D_gK69KqPPTzLUaBbZIU5Lc7UpUPZc5DJ7k3SPuBqCkQuhdE3ilm3hyHYa5FiPwV-ak17mntXJm90VAj3J2MCNW6OAZ1Yl_Oyd3IHtBENyRgHy/s1600/Christmas+2011_0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnAxz7HFvJNTE9rVYYp-Q53D_gK69KqPPTzLUaBbZIU5Lc7UpUPZc5DJ7k3SPuBqCkQuhdE3ilm3hyHYa5FiPwV-ak17mntXJm90VAj3J2MCNW6OAZ1Yl_Oyd3IHtBENyRgHy/s320/Christmas+2011_0022.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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I went to a Christmas Tree festival the other day - again a very moving experience seeing all 40 well decorated trees brought a tear to my eye, as it made me realise again just how many charities and good causes were in need of money. And, really forty is just a tip of the iceberg of how many there really are with great needs both in our local community, as well a nationally and internationally.<br />
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Some of the trees were decorated with commercially produced and purchased decorations, others with handmade decorations and items relevant to their charity, and others with photos of their aims within stars and other shapes. <br />
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As another visitor said, it`s an expensive place to visit! - although the entrance is free, you want to give a donation to all the collecting buckets because they are so worthwhile.<br />
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I think my favourite part of it all was this tree and it`s letter to Santa.<br />
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(<span style="font-size: x-small;">click on the photo to enlarge it to read the letter</span>)<br />
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<br />Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-26381073595961720022011-12-06T06:51:00.001+00:002011-12-06T07:08:18.263+00:00Full NamesI wonder if others have noticed what I noticed when working the other day?....<br />
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I was addressing a lot of envelopes - no, not my Christmas cards yet - but envelopes as part of my work to post off invoice payments. Copying from the firms addresses on their invoices I discovered that, whereas we used to abbreviate the county, such Nottinghamshire to Notts., Berkshire to Berks, and Cambs., for Cambridgeshire etc..etc... they all now put the full word, as well as the postcode. And it set me wondering why. <br />
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In these days of text messaging; of shortening of peoples names, some even to just initials (I know somone who just likes to be called CJ instead of the full name); of the short versions we use of so many words in everyday language to what they used to be - all to save time, I suppose, it seems odd that the counties have gone back to the full names, especially as we have the postcodes by which I think the mail is really sorted. <br />
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In fact I did an experiment a few years ago and when on a holiday sent myself a postcard with just the house number and postcode on to see what would happen....... and, it arrived as quickly as a fully addressed envelope! Wonder what would happen if I just did that for all my Christmas cards?! It would save a lot of time!<br />
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<br />Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-46824567034920145512011-11-27T20:39:00.001+00:002011-11-27T20:47:06.596+00:00Birthday Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Better late, than never! <br />
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Having written about missing not having a birthday cake on my birthday, I decided to make a `special` cake for tea today with my Mum. So yesterday out came the mixer, tins, ingredients and I got baking.... and this is the result. Not as professionally or artistically decorated as it could have been but time was short. <br />
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The sponge, with a thick layer of chocolate buttercream filling and chocolate on top, was delicious, and thoroughly enjoyed by both my mum and myself! Anyone fancy a piece?!Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-71481618198361909602011-11-24T22:01:00.001+00:002011-11-24T22:42:37.238+00:00No Birthday Cake<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3gbs9jM7HL7PCrmOikyvYFl975lIMewlIp7I7pGeayOKtS1fTZANhSgrKxpUo7c_6IZEzaXt5ovBhG2ID9mhDr3-J8lh0-oHJ7ACqsw9ZQfsxGAvg4jnqXQXMEVdUURGc5Ftq/s1600/Burnham+Overy+Staithe+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3gbs9jM7HL7PCrmOikyvYFl975lIMewlIp7I7pGeayOKtS1fTZANhSgrKxpUo7c_6IZEzaXt5ovBhG2ID9mhDr3-J8lh0-oHJ7ACqsw9ZQfsxGAvg4jnqXQXMEVdUURGc5Ftq/s200/Burnham+Overy+Staithe+%25284%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a>Today is my birthday, and after spending the morning working as normal, I took the afternoon off. <br />
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It was a nice sunny autumn afternoon, so I took my Mum out for a ride along the coast to Burnham Overy Staithe and we sat in the car by the water. Very surprisingly for a sunny afternoon there was only one other car on the whole of the car park, so it was very quiet and peaceful. As the sun went down there was a beautiful sunset.<br />
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Funny enough the one thing I missed this birthday, was not having a birthday cake - I don`t mean a highly decorated iced one with candles, but not having a home-made birthday cake of any kind. Obviously as a youngster my mother had always made me a cake, and then when she became unable to stand to cook, I always made myself one. Not a fruit cake, as I`m not fond of fruit cake, but usually an orange chocolate chip one, with chocolate on top to decorate it. But, this year I`d not felt inclined to bother to do that. I`m getting older and I didn`t think I`d miss it - but when it came to tea time - I did.<br />
It`s strange isn`t it, how a small thing like that, which has been a part of the pattern of life, can be missed so much. <br />
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<br />Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-1044080672875868522011-11-23T07:02:00.001+00:002011-11-23T07:21:08.597+00:00Ring, ring!I was sound asleep and dreaming, dreaming something about a piano being delivered and they`d then got to the front door and were ringing the door bell.<br />
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The sound of that bell was so real.<br />
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And I awoke, and could still hear the bell ringing, it sounded like my front door bell. It couldn`t be. I looked at the bedside clock it was quarter to three in the morning. It was dark. Then I heard it again, yes it was my door bell.<br />
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I was alone in the house, I felt alarmed. Whatever it is, I`m not going to answer the door I thought. It must be teenagers on the way home playing about. It went again. So I stumbled out of bed and went into the other room to look out of the window and down to the front door. I couldn`t see anyone there, nor anyone in the road. Did I imagine it? I looked at my car, yes that was still there ok. I went back to bed.<br />
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A few minutes later my phone rang. What to do? Should I answer it or not. By now I was feeling more alarmed, I could feel my heart thumping, perhaps something was wrong and someone was really trying to get me. I looked at the number showing on the phone, it was a mobile number, so that didn`t tell me anything. <br />
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To answer it or not? I decided I`d better answer it, so I picked it up and said a very curt `Yes`, not my normal way of answering the phone. I somehow expected to hear no reply, but a voice said, It`s Xxx...... I`m so sorry to ring you in the middle of the night, but I`ve just driven all the way up to here (the house next to mine) and I`ve been trying for half an hour to get my key to open the door and it won`t, can I bother you for the key you hold. <br />
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Putting on my dressing-gown I went downstairs and got the key for him. So relieved that it wasn`t bad news or anything like that. Then I went back to bed, but sleep was a long while returning.Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-87964840225022803912011-11-01T22:00:00.000+00:002011-11-02T07:13:49.560+00:00All Saints DayToday is All Saints Day and is the day that was also my Dad`s birthday. Tonight our church held its special service for All Saints Day and the coming All Souls Day.<br />
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As we entered the church we were all given a stone. During the service we were encouraged to think about that stone as our loved ones who were no longer with us and to think of the journey of our life that they had shared with us. We then brought these stones to the front of the church and built them together into a cairn.<br />
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Following the very moving sermon by our minister, we were invited to come and place lighted tea-lights on the cairn in memory and giving thanks for our loved one. The church lights were then dimmed and we sat as long as we each wished before quietly leaving the church.<br />
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It was a very special, emotional, meaningful and moving service.<br />
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<br />Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-28646642883157116152011-10-05T19:46:00.001+01:002011-10-05T19:46:38.781+01:00What is Life?I was very challenged today, when a friend, who was obviously feeling a bit "down" on having discovered that something he had hoped for most possibly wouldn`t be able to happen for them (and I`m not refering to material things), suddenly said a very serious "What is Life?"<br />
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How to answer?<br />
- I thought for a moment and then said "that`s a very deep question". I sat and thought, but I couldn`t find words to really answer it, and I ended up saying "that`s something that very difficult to describe and to put into words". <br />
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I felt that I had let him down, by not being able to give a better answer. And that he was probably expecting a better answer from my faith.<br />
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I wonder what answer others would have given or what any of you would advise me to say if a similiar situation arises again? <br />
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<br />Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-35880742863259122011-09-27T07:24:00.000+01:002011-09-27T07:26:59.419+01:00Thank God for a busOne of the memorable things about my recent holiday was something that happened on the second morning there.<br />
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Living in Norfolk we have few, if any steep hills around where I live, so although I had been to North Yorkshire several years ago, I`d forgotten quite how steep some of those hills were.<br />
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When I arrived I safely navigated my way down steep hills to the flat where I was staying. The next morning deciding to go out for the day, I ofcourse had to drive up the hill, so knowing the road I had come down was steep and twisty I decided to try the other one out of the village. But, that was just as steep and I found myself stalling the car and struggling to get up it.<br />
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So, the next morning I was very apprehensive about going out with the car, as which ever way I went I had to go up a steep twisting narrow road. I knew I couldn`t stay in the small village for every day of my holiday, for one thing there was no grocers or butchers and I needed some food! And common sense said to me, you`ll have to go up the hill when you leave on Saturday and the longer you wait the worse you`ll get about it. <br />
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I got into the car, praying that I`d get up the hill ok. <br />
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As I left the driveway of the flats, a bus was just pulling away from the bus-stop in the road, `Oh, no`, I thought `I`ve got to follow that bus I just hope he doesn`t have to stop at a bus-stop on the hill`. But, as we began the ascent of the hill, I found myself thinking `Well, if he can get that bus safely up the hill, and he`s much bigger and heavier than me, I must be able to do it`. And I did, very easily! I found myself then thanking God for sending that bus to guide me up the hill that morning. I think it`s something I shall always remember of God answering prayer.<br />
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<br />Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-87564210112114873792011-09-18T17:03:00.006+01:002011-09-18T17:04:01.002+01:00Holiday favouritesHere are a few of my favourite scenes from my holiday<br />
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Yes, the sky really was that colour, and shortly a heavy shower fell!Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-33650898764004846442011-09-14T20:55:00.000+01:002011-09-14T22:45:02.585+01:00Memories of bygone daysAn old village street.....
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An old village store and post office.... </div>
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....inside the village store...... <br />
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....what memories it even brought to me of some of the items on the shelves.
It made me feel quite old! All the village from the chemist shop with all its wooden drawers and glass fronted cabinets full of pills, potions and equipment, the dairy with its churns and butter pats, to the wash-house with its old mangle and dolly tub was an intersting insight into how different life was years ago. How much harder even the ordinary everyday tasks were.<br />
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And, at the bottom of the garden was ....Lila Cottage.....<br />
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So named, it was said, as lilac bushes used to be grown all beside it, to try and mask the smell !<br />
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No. I don`t remember using one of those! <br />
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To see more of this fascinating place click <a href="http://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/explore.asp?bid=19&bpid=190#">here </a>Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-22614342468144848042011-09-13T22:39:00.000+01:002011-09-13T22:39:09.802+01:00Steps and more steps<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrmEjLqVv0YkOQSl4x6EXDeHusRP3y_izupiiarbkr6-3GaQRvBbI-LwIFoLGUdvflgeBVqc5UWSLSyeaf3W0X8a-o89Nd29Ofmr_ezJt5qK39a5D3zo2Rq0fBB5It-EZS9SE/s1600/Robin+Hood%2560s+bay_0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrmEjLqVv0YkOQSl4x6EXDeHusRP3y_izupiiarbkr6-3GaQRvBbI-LwIFoLGUdvflgeBVqc5UWSLSyeaf3W0X8a-o89Nd29Ofmr_ezJt5qK39a5D3zo2Rq0fBB5It-EZS9SE/s320/Robin+Hood%2560s+bay_0008.JPG" width="240" /></a>One thing that came to me during my holiday was a great admiration for the people of past generations, for how fit and active they must have been, to have lived daily climbing all the hills and steps of this small village. <br />
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And, as to the workmen who had built all the cottages and houses in such a hilly location, bringing their materials up and down the hills and the narrow passageways, what muscles they must have had. Or, did they bring the stones, tiles, wood and other materials by sea to build with. Yet, either way they would have needed to either go up or down the steep slopes.<br />
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What, I wonder made them decide to build where they did. And to build such tall thin houses. No planning rules and regulations in those days! <br />
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It was a lovely, quaintly beautiful place to stay for a holiday and to explore with all it`s nooks and crannies - but would I want to live there all year, especially in the winter, with snow and ice on those hills - no thank you!<br />
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<br />Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-26728371823580012242011-09-11T23:09:00.002+01:002011-09-11T23:11:59.971+01:00I`m BackI`m back, and once I got used to driving up and down lots of hills and climbing steps and hills (!) I had a great holiday.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdFiPcjuc4wQ4ZsRQY85blwykStSmx7DHdCSX264kouRo0URHLfa8CuNggvInsvr_32mLBLxctJDJpChPlFyRJOfEwTxLlbwmp69cDd3NBkxKrJIdlRAOyl3t_o-xEeU46voD/s1600/P1000408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdFiPcjuc4wQ4ZsRQY85blwykStSmx7DHdCSX264kouRo0URHLfa8CuNggvInsvr_32mLBLxctJDJpChPlFyRJOfEwTxLlbwmp69cDd3NBkxKrJIdlRAOyl3t_o-xEeU46voD/s200/P1000408.JPG" width="200" /></a>On arrival at the place where I`d booked a flat to stay in for the week, I opened the downstairs outside door, and immediately wondered if I`d done the right thing, it smelt musty and was rather dark. I couldn`t see a light switch (and never did the whole week!), but I climbed up the twisting carpeted stairs to find the door of the flat, opened it very dubiously. On entering I was faced with four closed doors, again it didn`t feel welcoming and my immediate thoughts were, I want to go home. But I opened the doors one at a time, and found the rooms to actually be light, bright and big and airy. I propped all the doors open and immediately it felt better.<br />
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I enjoyed the freedom of staying in a flat as opposed to a B&B or hotel, which I`d always done in the past, especially on one morning when it was very windy and rainy, so I just stayed in and relaxed with a book and didn`t fell obliged to go out, in the way I would have done in more formal places. The whole holiday was very relaxing and just what I needed. (except for all the many, many phone calls from my mother!, but more of that another day)<br />
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I kept my camera busy all the holiday and have taken lots and lots of photos - will post some in the next few days. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-10277047394675744692011-09-01T20:36:00.001+01:002011-09-01T20:50:21.984+01:00Just One Day to go!Just one more day, and I shall be off on holiday. <br />
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I eventually plucked up enough courage on Sunday afternoon to tell my Mother - at first I thought she hadn`t taken it too badly, she seemed interested and asked me several questions, but as I left her that evening she began to get tearful.<br />
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After getting home, she rang me full of tears and full of "reasons" why she didn`t want me to go - didn`t want me driving all that way on my own, and couldn`t I at least not go so far; who was going to look after my little pet bird (I`d already arranged for a friend to do that!) etc...etc...<br />
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Monday was much about the same with her. On Tuesday I went over to see her, and she seemed more like her normal self. That`s good, I thought, she`s accepted it.<br />
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But, come Wednesday morning I had her on the phone early in the morning full in tears again, this time I think a combination of worry about me, and also her carers had told her that a blood test and water test which she`d had taken a week of two ago had got lost so the needed to do it again. She ofcourse didn`t think that they`d lost them, but that something was wrong with her so they needed another one. I tried to convince her that it was probably right that they`d mislaid them, but she was full of "I`ll be in hospital when you`re away, and you`ll be a long way away....." etc. <br />
She still sounds weepy today.<br />
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I`m not looking forward to having to go and see her tomorrow and especially of the reaction I`ll get when I come away. I`ve promised her that I`ll ring her every day while I`m away, but have warned her that because it will be mobile phone, she must realise that in some area`s of the country there isn`t a good signal. <br />
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So wish me luck! <br />
<br />Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-52435655196587395642011-08-29T09:29:00.000+01:002011-08-29T09:29:25.837+01:00High TideYesterday evening, being a nice sunny evening, I took my Mother for a ride to Blakeney, to sit by the water there for a while.<br />
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As we approached the quay, I said to her `I think the tide`s going to be in` as I could see as we went down the narrow hill into the village the water in the distance, which last night looked to be have something disticitively different about the view. (Usually the tide nearly always seems to be out whenever we go there). As we reached the car park, it was still quite full of cars, and driving on we could see why - the tide was in, and very high, but we managed to find just one parking space left away from the water`s edge.<br />
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I got my camera and got out of the car to take some pictures of the sights before us.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAAr5u-2juKCYOZ3fBmCbZwPw8wawY7MSHwaNytid5KgkXgpb6OoBuOXIwJSB_4qaNrCvJhgaiBLITitvxyPFBJ7KVvOf2Ri2825QJ7klb3rZ7xedDG7GU-AnnU81spAPFXWd/s1600/P1000390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAAr5u-2juKCYOZ3fBmCbZwPw8wawY7MSHwaNytid5KgkXgpb6OoBuOXIwJSB_4qaNrCvJhgaiBLITitvxyPFBJ7KVvOf2Ri2825QJ7klb3rZ7xedDG7GU-AnnU81spAPFXWd/s320/P1000390.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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And, along with the vessels normally in the water was......<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJVjBqO06x5CQgatGqKX2_kEk0HnFP8M-XHxN3EISxMs_vhBG42vpus1IpxeAov849-apxzo5ux1jmxz-TWkE99prMC-bkLj0B5kuWkuBmGTlxeZvfrZboyzpr2Mg-8U2r5pR/s1600/P1000392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJVjBqO06x5CQgatGqKX2_kEk0HnFP8M-XHxN3EISxMs_vhBG42vpus1IpxeAov849-apxzo5ux1jmxz-TWkE99prMC-bkLj0B5kuWkuBmGTlxeZvfrZboyzpr2Mg-8U2r5pR/s320/P1000392.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Obviously parked too near the tideline when the tide was out, and the occupants gone off for a walk. Quite a crowd of people gathered watching it as the tide continued to edge higher<br />
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Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-74895535948783350262011-08-27T09:05:00.000+01:002011-08-27T09:05:55.487+01:00Plucking up CourageA week today I`ll be heading off for a holiday in North Yorkshire. The first holiday I`ve had away for three and a half years. <br />
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But.... before that, I`ve got to pluck up the courage to tell my Mother that I`m going away. <br />
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I didn`t tell her when I booked it months ago, as I know she`d try to put all kinds of obstacles in the way and get wound up and worried. I know she`ll still do that, but at least for a lot less time, only 7 day instead of weeks and weeks. She always imagines that something is going to happen to me, like an accident if I`m driving anywhere (not that I`m a careless driver, but it`s all the others on the road she says! yet she loves getting the car and going out with me). <br />
I`m sure it`s more a case that she`s thinking of herself and what she`s do if anything did happen to me, she keeps saying I`m all she`s got. Which is so possessive and selfish. Where she lives she has carers on hand 24 hours a day so she`s well looked after.<br />
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I`ve never found it easy to tell my mother anything, and I`ve been trying to analyse why. It makes me now wonder if I`m actually afraid of her, and always have been in some way. Not that she`ll physically hurt me, although as a child she was the one who would hit me at times if she thought I`d done something wrong, I can never remember my Dad hitting me. <br />
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I know envy is wrong, but I do so envy those daughters who have such a good relationship with their mums. I`ve never had that. <br />
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So, wish me luck as I pluck up courage today, or tomorrow, or the next day...... <br />
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Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-51521931340280314082011-08-26T07:04:00.000+01:002011-08-26T07:04:32.205+01:00First HarvestAt last I`ve got my first Harvest of the year. As I wrote in an earlier post all I`ve managed to grow this year is a really, really good crop of weeds, but yesterday my patience was rewarded and I got my first vegetables from the garden for this year......<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzBWPc46T69fj-RJS4aTuX6SvI6rXLY0GZPAYIWqCJdI25crpYCHegVhmNBxQ8UkAbfXunGoTCmE2xOZmf4_qkex_i0W2gkPCCpGL7iD84rdlqrFir6g7S37BppRvmYrKfNDQM/s1600/P1000373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzBWPc46T69fj-RJS4aTuX6SvI6rXLY0GZPAYIWqCJdI25crpYCHegVhmNBxQ8UkAbfXunGoTCmE2xOZmf4_qkex_i0W2gkPCCpGL7iD84rdlqrFir6g7S37BppRvmYrKfNDQM/s320/P1000373.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Yes...just 4 runner beans!<br />
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but there are others forming on the plant - but I guess they`ll all be ready to eat on the week I go away on holiday - so I`ll miss out again. <br />
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Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-2078057191952514222011-08-14T21:36:00.000+01:002011-08-14T21:36:32.147+01:00Floral seaToday was Sea Sunday at our church, and yesterday was my turn to do the flowers for the weekend, so of course out came the crab pot and net from our storage shed.<br />
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On starting to unroll the net (an authentic fishing net from years ago), in front of the pulpit, I suddenly looked down at the floor, and there marching across the carpet were a whole army of woodlice!.... they`d obviously got into the net whilst it had been in the shed. So what to do about them before they got loose and invaded all the church, I could just picture them creeping on everyone during the service! The quickest solution was to stamp on them. Anyone looking in the church must have thought I was doing a war dance! <br />
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Thankfully, I remembered that the caretaker was on the premises cleaning, so he came through with his hoover and helped me unroll the rest of the net and hoovered them all up. I kept my eye about whilst completing the flower arrangement, and during service this evening, but thankfully didn`t spot, or feel(!) any.<br />
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Here is the arrangement, I don`t think you can see any woodlice there!<br />
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Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-24544513625810252342011-08-09T07:35:00.000+01:002011-08-09T07:35:00.349+01:00Hunt the vegetables!Earlier this year, full of the feeling of spring I set to work on my vegetable patch and set carrot and beetroot seeds and some onion sets, looking forward to being able to enjoy home grown produce during the summer. A few weeks later, there were tiny green seedlings beginning to appear. Something I always marvel to see. As the weeks went on I realised that the tiny green stems and leaves which were appearing weren`t my vegetables but were weeds. So, a dilemna, do I pull them out and risk loosening any baby vegetable seedlings which may be starting to grow, or do I leave them until I can see what is what. I decided to leave them. After a few weeks still no carrots had appeared, but the beetroot had. So I very carefully, on my hands and knees, picked out all the weeds. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIjJ0UGhOveY0m6ylJw9aUVUwiS0XB5TRohM3AG3vDIrAL7OCy2U6LNF4z9iGEsH92ZF9kz6RqsgbT0eMkSv_fOr46K27bGG4xjOU3VXw2ejpXq3LmkH1O1XtD2OOvn08TMhC/s1600/P1000360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIjJ0UGhOveY0m6ylJw9aUVUwiS0XB5TRohM3AG3vDIrAL7OCy2U6LNF4z9iGEsH92ZF9kz6RqsgbT0eMkSv_fOr46K27bGG4xjOU3VXw2ejpXq3LmkH1O1XtD2OOvn08TMhC/s320/P1000360.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
But, after a few days I looked again and the weeds were back twice as big as before, but the beetroot had got no bigger, and still no carrots, and the onion sets weren`t showing much signs of life either apart from about half a dozen of them. I again went to work on the weeds and removed them.<br />
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After the third or fourth time of doing this, I got so disheartened that my veg weren`t growing that I gave up - so here is my veg (weed) patch! At least the runner beans which I started off in pots and set out later seem now to be doing and have some flowers on them, so hopefully I`ll at least get a crop of them.<br />
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Somewhere in among there, should be a few onions and a few beetroot - anyone want to come and find them?!<br />
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The patch is fenced in to keep neighbourhood cats out, because they caused damage last year to my vegetables by scapping and leaving `little messages`, the fencing has kept them out but - how do I keep weeds out?? <br />
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Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-59885447007072300002011-08-08T20:27:00.001+01:002011-08-08T20:29:00.603+01:00Earliest cooking memoriesI`ve a friend staying for a few days, so I did a batch of baking on Saturday, something I`ve not done for quite a while. But I found myself really enjoying getting into it again. I made some sultana scones, a cherry cake and an apple pie, the apple pie we had for lunch yesterday. <br />
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Eating the scones and some of the cake for tea tonight, we got round to discussing our earliest memories of getting involved with baking and cooking. And I found myself remembering when I was very little (and that`s many, many years ago now!) how when my Mum made pastry, she would always give me a little piece of it to roll out with my little rolling pin, then I had a tiny (I think it was a silver thimble) to use to cut out little rounds, and place on a tiny tart tin, then put a minute amount of jam in them and she would bake them. When my Dad used to come home from work I used to give him the little tarts I`d made for his tea. Only as I grew older did I discover that he didn`t really like jam tarts! <br />
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I wonder what any readers first memories are of cooking/baking? <br />
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Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9788723.post-85982456890380375482011-08-02T07:50:00.001+01:002011-08-02T07:55:52.327+01:00Building spaceWhat a difference a few bricks make. My front garden wall and fence over the past months has been getting worse and worse. Pieces of the fence were beginning to come loose and fall off, depite me trying to knock them back in, the bricks were flaking along the top. So the time had come to do something about it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yw2R1XwvBnUG0QcLqUftVZkfHk3vXUn7-j7cp3sEWmNn81aseXBYe1xKiSjWiTMYaQyfzrHrWkaFLiPS16FViu8mUt3cgEhAOfAiMZuB7gceyFZGzhXEgm9NKHrhAZuEViKU/s1600/Wall_0000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yw2R1XwvBnUG0QcLqUftVZkfHk3vXUn7-j7cp3sEWmNn81aseXBYe1xKiSjWiTMYaQyfzrHrWkaFLiPS16FViu8mUt3cgEhAOfAiMZuB7gceyFZGzhXEgm9NKHrhAZuEViKU/s320/Wall_0000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Having measured up the wall, I ventured into the unknown (the local builders merchants, feeling very unsure of myself) to buy some bricks and coping stones. A very helpful salesman there helped find what I needed, and the materials were duly delivered.<br />
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Last week my special builder, Dave, arrived, and set to work to remove the fence, the old bricks and rebuild me a smart new wall with a pillar at the end to finish it off nicely. What a difference it makes.<br />
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As I drove my car into the drive the next day, something seemed strange..... No, I didn`t drive into the wall !..... I seemed to have a much wider entrance. It`s not physically possible to be any bigger because the wall and pillar are in exactly the same place, but it does seem a bigger entrance, so it must somehow be an optical illusion. <br />
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I`m really pleased with the new look it gives as one comes along the road to my house too. A job very well done.<br />
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</a></div>Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984981877936138387noreply@blogger.com1