Rock Band

Walking along the prom here in the sun this afternoon, I came across an unusual art form.

I`ve seen sand art before on the beach before,where characters and scenes are made totally of sand.  But I`d  not come across Stone Art, until today.  (Click on the pictures to see them larger)

There, on our beach is a rock band with audience, all made of beach pebbles.  They are not stuck or cemented together, but just cleverly stacked and their natural shapes, markings and colourings giving inspiration to the young man to build these works of art.

The drummer....

...the pianist...

;
Talking with the young man doing these, we discovered that he`s homeless, but has been walking all round the coast of the country doing these works of stone art, starting at Brighton, going up the West Coast of Englad, all round the coast of Scotland and is now coming down the East Coast. He is aiming to raise money from this and from writing a book about it, to help other homeless people.  To read more about this chap, click here 

It will certainly make me look more carefully at the pebbles when I walk on the beach and realise they are all individual - just like us!

The last farewell

 Yes, our shop closed for good last Sunday, and the last couple of days the staff have been empyting shelves, loading goods into huge cages, which now stand in the deserted shop awaiting transport to other branches.


I`ve just come back from a little farewell do that our "boss" kindly had for the staff,  including a fish & chip supper, gathered together in the middle of the stop.  Memories of times and people were laughinghly shared, and then.... it was all over and we left to go our separate ways.   Ok, I know that in a town like this we will still come across one another from time to time, but I`m feeling sad at the moment on having walked out of there for the last time, after over forty-one years, and more so in a sense the loss of a “family”,  we`ve always been there for each other, through good times and bad.

Rules for Hymn Singing

I`ve just discovered something I didn`t know.

No, I`m not saying that I know everything, far, far from it.

But, looking at details of the new hymn book to be produced for the Methodist Church later this year I was just surprised to find that John Wesley had written a set of rules for people for singing hymns.  

Rules that particularly caught my eye were: -

3. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a single degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing. 

4. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, then when you sung the songs of Satan. 

5. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound. 

7. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven. 



The full list of rules can be found and read here

I think it would be good if they printed the list in the hymn book when it`s published.   Wonder if they will?

Mystery parcel

On entering our Church on Friday morning, I found on the table there a smallish brown parcel box, and on the top of it was written my name.

Full of curiosity I opened it, and inside was a book.   I was mystified.   I hadn`t ordered any books.  Maybe it was meant for our church Christian Bookstall I thought.  So I looked again at the top of the outer box, no, it was clearly hand written addressed to me care of the church, I could see that the original postage label had been removed and my details written, so it must be for me.  

It wasn`t my birthday, nor any other occasion of link that I could think of.  I continued to puzzle over it.  Looking at the cover of the book I saw the words "World Book Night 2011".   I pondered, who had left this for me or had it been left for me to do something with.  I tried to recognise the writing on the box, but couldn`t pin point it to any for certain, and I couldn`t see anything else with it to give me a clue.

Taking the box and book "Half of a Yellow Sun" home with me, I took the book out again and opened it, and the mystery was solved! - there inside the first pages of the book was a note from the kind person who had left it for me.

I`d heard about World Book Day and World Book night, but had never imagained that living here in Norfolk I would be part of it to receive a book (big events and things seldom seem to happen outside of cities).  So it really "made my day", and especially as the person who had left it for me, is my blogger friend from Finland.

Thank you Lorna.

How to use bread crusts!!

I`m on holiday this week.  I`ve not gone away anywhere (lots of problems if I do that), but am having a week off of work at home and having time to do what I want to do.

Finding some spare bread crusts in the bread bin - Yes, I know I sould eat the end crusts of a loaf, but I don`t very often - I decided to take them for a ride with me along the coast to where there are some wildfowl on a stretch of water.

They enjoyed the crusts far more than I would have!!

Then along came these little furry creatures to eat the crumbs left......

.... I guess they are probably rats - but they had such cute sweet faces I just had to take a picture of them!

National Chip Week

This is National Chip Week.

I love chips and often cook them, so I thought I`d share some with you today.

 And, here`s the piece of haddock I battered and fried with them .......

Delicious!!

Single Difficulties

At times it`s difficult being single.  

For instance, the other evening on hearing that a colleague was going to be on his own at the weekend, I said to him, "would you like to have Sunday dinner with me as you`re on your own that day".  

He declined.

Thinking about it afterwards, I realised how it could have seemed - a single woman asking a married man to lunch when his wife was away!

In no way was it meant like that, it was just an automatic friendly gesture, to help.  And, although throroughly enjoying living on my own, it is nice sometimes to share a meal with someone and have someone to cook for.

It made me realise as I thought about things, just how much everything seems to be geared up for couples or families, and how difficult it is for a single person to make friends or socialise.

Closing Down

No, although I`ve got out of the habit of writing posts as regularly as I used to, it`s not the Blog which is closing down, its sadder than that.

I`ve got some sad news here,  it`s something I`ve know about since before Christmas but had to keep it to myself, but now it`s come out in a way that we didn`t want.  

Because of the way things have been going for the store where I`ve worked and we`ve been losing money for a long, long time, J (the owner,) reluctantly decided that he`d have to sell the store here.   He intended telling the staff once things were finalised and he could tell them definitely what was happening, as he was trying to find jobs for some of them in another store.   He`d got a buyer in the process of buying it (a totally different multiple store, not grocery), so all was going ok.   Then one day this week the staff found out through someone, we don`t know who, leaving purposely for the staff to find, one of the Estate agents business for sale leaflets on the premises early one morning.    It was the worst way for the news to have got out.  

I`m lucky in that it doesn`t affect my job, as I now do the office work for all his stores, but I feel so sorry for the girls as the shop, especially those who have been there many, many years, and I also feel very sorry for J, because he is so caring for his staff and he didn`t want them to find out like this, he wanted to tell them properly once things were certain.  

It`s also sad for the town, in that it`s always, as far back as I can remember as a child, been a grocery store in the middle of the town, and having worked for them 41 years it will be sad to see it no longer exist.

So its sadness here today.

Waiting for chips?

The sun shone the other afternoon, so, a ride along the coast brought me to this spot.  Normally there is a whole row of cars parked and lots of people walking about, but at this time of year, despite it being a nice day, we were the only ones there.    I think these seagulls were all sitting wondering where the people were as they areno doubt used to being fed with chips as people stand by the sea wall eating them.

It was just us and the birds, the sea was a beautiful shade of blue, it was quiet and calm and perfect.

Discover Norfolk

Well, I think it`s about time I started writing posts for this year!

Firstly, a belated Happy New Year to all.

Do you know Norfolk (UK)?  -  
I`ve just come across this interesting site, so click here to see it and take a tour round the museum.

It`s Christmas - Celebrate Jesus` birth

A Happy & Peaceful Christmas to You

Christmas Trees

To me, Christmas wouldn`t be Christmas without putting up a Christmas Tree. Although I`ve not yet put mine up at home, I`ve been surrounded by trees since Wednesday!

And the view when it gets dark is so beautiful.....

It`s very moving too, as each of these 42 trees are all in aid of a different charity, and it makes me so aware of how much need there is for aid, not just internationally or even nationally, but right here in our own community.

Snow

We`ve got snow!

Ok, I know that most of the country has had it all week.   Even just a mile away there was snow, but our  town by the sea had none.

Last night it fell, and I awoke to a pretty white world this morning.   I quite enjoy truding through the snow when its first on the ground, all soft and white, so as I needed so milk off I went to the town, a short walk away.  The side streets were fine, it was when I got into the main street where people had been walking more that it became all slushy and slippery on both the pavements and the road. 

I safely negotiated crossing the road to get to the supermarket, got my milk, bread, some meat and some skate to cook for my dinner, turned to recross the road...... and......down I went on the slippery slush.   Fortunately I didn`t do any harm to myself other than some bruises.  

I still like the look of the snow, but won`t be in a rush to go out again!!

Time passes

I see its over a fourteen days since I wrote a post.    I suppose that just goes to show how mundane and uneventful my life is.

My birthday came and went last Wednesday, didn`t do anything special to celebrate it.   Worked in the morning, went to see my mother in the afternoon.   I was going to have tea with her, but it snowed so hard there and covered the roads in about and inch in a short time, so I came back home.  And sat by the fire and watched tv in the evening.     No birthday cake.   Infact still no present from mother, as I`ve to take her out shopping to get it and until this weather clears that won`t happen!     I did though have 19 nice birthday cards from different friends, so they`re standing on the mantlepiece and cabinets in the room making the place look nice and bright.    (the cards are standing, not the friends!!)

Other than that, nothing different has occured.   Which, I guess in a way is something to be thankful for.

Feeling sorry for myself

On top of everything else, I`ve now gone down with a cold or virus of some sort, and feel like curling up in a corner and being left alone.  

I should have been going to Norwich today to learn something else to do with my work - I`m now going to have to contact them and say I can`t go.   No way can I drive there sneezing away all the way.    My head is fuzzy and my mind won`t concentrate on anything, so to try and learn something connected with accounts would be absolutely useless.

Why did I have to get this, this week?

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

That expression came into my mind today with how I`m feeling at the moment and have been feeling these last two weeks.   But I think more appropriate to me would be if it said "the flesh is willing but the spirit is weak" !

Since All Saint`s Day (which also would have been my Dad`s birthday),  I don`t know what`s happened to me.  It`s just over 18 years since my Dad died, yet everything seems to have come back so strongly to me these last two weeks, lots of memories, feelings and the sadness of those weeks.   I don`t understand why after all those years I should suddenly feel it so deeply again.

Added to that, I seem to have so many different things to do this week especially, I`ve had two church meetings to attend and related work following them, I`ve had to prepare items for a Christmas sale for tomorrow.  As well as my Work work and all the things I normally do in a week, including visits to my mother - all of which take time.

I`ve started jobs, very half-heartedly, put them down, tried to do something else then thought of something else I should have done, so left that and done something else.  I`ve just got no enthusiasm or drive to do things, not even tne normal things that I would do.  The house looks a tip I`ve got different bits of paper and things in all rooms, from when I`ve started something and put it down.    I feel quite down and stressed about things. - and that`s not like me.  I`m not sleeping well either so that doesn`t help.

So, although my arms and legs work ok, it`s the spirit to do the things that is lacking.  I feel snowed under with everything.

Dramatic sky

I love sunsets - and this one last night just made me get my camera out.

Just wished the telephone wires didn`t get in the way!

It`s In !

Yes, finally my kitchen window has been sorted out and I`ve a brand new window.  A full pane of glass to see out of, without the monstrosity of a big square white fan in the the top quarter of it.    The kitchen is so much lighter and brighter now.

All, I have to do now is wait for the bill ! - but the chaps (and they are ones I trust) tell me that the cost of the window will be cheaper than the cost of a new fan in it would have been.   That sounds amazing to me.

What`s that noise?

Coming out of the butchers and going to the Post office this morning, I became aware of a strange sound in the town.

It was a sort of metalic clanking sound.

I walked further along to the greengrocers and the sound became louder.   It was like the sound of the clanging of a herd of cows with cowbells on them.

People were standing and looking up the road, trying to identify what the sound was.  It appeared to be getting closer.  Then we could see a group of people walking down the centre of the road, all dressed in colourful costumes and ringing large bells as they came.

It turned out that there was a Town Crier competition in the centre of the High Street, and town criers from across the country had come to take part in it.

Very colourful they all looked in their outfits on the sunny morning.

Removing the fan

continued from yesterday.....

The workman- two of them and a young lad, came in carrying a big bag of tools and a new extractor fan to fit in the kitchen window.   Now, I should add that it was early evening when they came, so dark outside.  
Looking at the fan they said that they just needed to unscrew the fittings on the current one and then put the new one in,  wouldn`t take long.   One strapped a light to his head and went outside to hold the outside part of the old fan.

They got the screws out, but, the fan wouldn`t lift off of the window.  We just need to cut the seal all around it then it will be free to lift out I heard them saying.   So they did that.  The chap outside was trying to pull his side off, and the ones inside were doing the same, but, the fan still wouldn`t budge.   So next they tried dismantling more of it.    I went off into the other room and left them to it.  I could hear them knocking and banging away at it.  

A while later one of them came through to me,  "We`ve a problem, a little mishap - but it`s nothing to worry about" he said.  "the glass has cracked around where we`re trying to get the fan out".   We`ve found that whoever put the fan in, didn`t do it right - they`ve completely stuck it to the window with strong sealer, and we can`t get it off.   So, I went throught with him to see.  

He showed me the cracks (actually not quite as bad as I expected).  "We`ve got to get a new pane of glass for it -then it will be easy to put the new one in.   It won`t be your expense" he said.

"How long will that take", I asked, and was told 3 or 4 days, but we`ll block the fan blades etc all up so that you don`t get any draught in he said.   Then spotting that I`d got an extractor over the cooker, they asked if I really wanted a fan in the window, or just a plain window.    Now, to be honest, I`ve never liked that big monstrosity in the window - so I jumped at the chance of having the window replaced with a plain piece of glass.

So..... now I wait.