The Envelope

The postman delivered an envelope for me today.
Not that it`s unusual for him to do that (and to deliver me other peoples mail when he either doesn`t stop to read the addresses or can`t be bothered to walk up another path to another door, so he sticks them all through mine!), but this envelope I`d been waiting for but hadn`t expected for another week. Did that mean that it was bad news because it had come earlier than expected.

So there it laid on the table for me at dinnertime. I looked at it, I wanted to open it, but yet I didn`t want to open it. I was anxious about what it might say. So, I made myself eat my dinner first and kept putting off opening it, although I needed to know what it said, I was afraid of what it might say.

In the end, I opened it, slowly, carefully and withdrew the single sheet of headed paper... and thankfully it was good news, the Scan I`d had the other week had shown up no problems. What a relief.

Signs by the Sea

Walking along the sea front this evening, something I`ve not done for ages and ages, but somehow I felt drawn to tonight as it was a such a beautiful evening, the tide was full up and sea was gently lapping around the boulders, very peaceful.

As I walked I found myself idly looking at the names of the beach huts along there - what imagination some people have in the way they name them, there was Sunny Days, Green Lagoon and The Red Tardis, along with others.

But the sign that gave me the most laugh was outside a cafe, at the bottom of the list of what it had on offer the usual tea, coffee, ices, etc.. the bottom line read "Toilet - seating inside" !! Now, my pictual mind came up with all sorts of views on that, as to what toilets would be outside and not have seating!!

Who Shall I be?

I`ve got to dress up as either a nursery rhyme character or a fairy tale character next week....anyone got any ideas on who they think I should be? Who am I most like?!... no maybe that`s not a good idea, maybe I need to be someone different to who I`m like just to surprize everyone.

And then to find the costume....ahhhhh

Shock! Horror!

Shock, horror, disbelief!.... I`ve just got on the bathroom scales, something I haven`t done for many, many, many months. The numbers (it`s a digital one) kept going up and up and up. No, I`m not going to tell you what to, suffice to say that I`m now 4 stone 4 pounds (Yes, I still work in imperial measurements), heavier than I was 10 years ago.
Yet, I don`t feel that much heavier, alright, I know I`ve gone up a dress size but I just put that down to "middle age spread".

What made me get on the scales I don`t know, I wish I hadn`t!
Shall I diet? Shall I start a rigid fitness regime? No, I don`t think so, it`s not 'me'. I feel ok - well most of the time, and everyone gets days of feeling under the weather don`t they.

Perhaps I should get a new pair of bathroom scales!

Communion

Going up to our church`s Communion Table to receive the bread and wine I recently became aware of something I`d never noticed or thought of before, and I`ve have noticed it on each occasion since when our Minister is presiding.

When the bread is placed in my (and I guess everyone`s) hand, it seems to be placed firmly not on my fingers but pressed into the palm of my hand, and what struck me about it, is that that would have been the spot where nails were pierced though Jesus`s hands when he was nailed to the cross. It gives a real extra significance to the words of "the body of Christ, broken for you", and made receiving it a very moving experience.

I wonder if he does purposely place the bread there for that reason?

Soothing Chores

Standing cutting potatoes into slices and then strips to make chips a short while ago, I suddenly realised (and I remember now noticing before), what a soothing effect doing that job was having on me! I felt completely contented, not in a rush, just allowing my mind to either wander or do nothing whilst my hands did the work. Whether it was the systematic, methodic way of just slicing potato after potato to about the same size chip, that had almost a hypnotic effect on me, I don`t know.

Then I got to thinking about another cooking task that has a similiar effect, and that`s standing stirring a saucepan of gravy, or custard or anything that one has to keep stirring round, and round, and round. I never seem to be short of patience to do that either, maybe there`s a deeper level to it, that as one stirs and watches the swirling of the liquid in the centre it`s possible to imagine worries and troubles dropping down into the centre of the vortex and disappearing.

I wonder if anyone else finds similiar experiences in cooking? Or in other mundane tasks?

All Out?

I couldn`t resist taking a picture of this baby duckling, who succeeded after many attempts to climb up onto the log of wood in the lake, and looked so pleased with himself (or herself!) that they`s succeeded.

Walking round the beautiful millennium garden and wildfowl place at Pensthorpe yesterday, I started wondering.... how do they know that everyone is out when they close in the evening? There are, after all, acres of ground and paths, as well as hides to watch the birds from. Do they just rely on people watching the time and leaving, or is there someone who goes all the way round to check. But yet, if someone goes down one path to check, a visitor could be going the other way and so not been found, as there`s not a one-way system in the place.

It`s a scary thought in a way, that you could be locked in there for the night !

Nature`s Patchwork

Come for a walk with me today....



Enjoy the beautiful scenes of nature`s patchwork of colours, all blending so beautifully together.




And the added delight to the eye that a lake of water provides to the scene.

Insect

Can anyone identify this insect which I saw today?

A visit to the past

I went somewhere today, that I haven`t been since I was a child ! And what different views I had of it.

Being on holiday this week I decided to go to the city, Norwich to have a wander around the shops. I set off fairly early this morning, and getting off the bus in the centre of the city by the castle, I suddenly thought I haven`t been in here for years and years, I`ll go in there before I do my shopping. Having paid my entrance fee - which came as a bit of a shock(!) as it used to be free in my childhood, I wandered around. Obviously over the years there had been a lot of changes and I enjoyed taking in again the history, and it really set me thinking about the way in which the people of hundreds of years ago had had skill and initiative in the making of primitive tools, and things for their everyday life. But what a hard life it had been.

As a child I had always been fascinated to go and look at the display cases of scenes with actual birds and animals in them, albeit that they were stuffed ones. It used to be my favourite part of a visit to the museum. On going into that section today - I found it was set out exactly as it had been 50 years or so ago, not a single thing had changed, except it looked perhaps a bit dustier and rather dated - but instead of enjoying looking at the displays today I found myself appalled by them.
To think that birds and animals had been caught, killed and then stuffed just so that we could look at them in glass cases was a nauesating sensation. How could we (humans) be so cruel as to do that?
In one hall there was a whole room full of cases round the wall full of different birds, and against some buzzards was a card saying that these were now an almost extinct bird-- It made me want to say maybe if they hadn`t have caught them to stuff and put in a museum (and I guess this isn`t the only museum to have such a collection) there would still be the birds about today.

Flowers

I`ll share with you today scenes from a Flower Festival I was at today.

Meeting a little old man

I had a lovely conversation with an elderly man at the event I was as yesterday - well, I say elderly although in years he is he really seems to be of indeterminate age because he`s got such a personality that he`s always cheerful and tormenting in the humourous remarkes that he comes out with, that he doesn`t seem anything like an elderly person.

Anyway, I`m digressing! After a jovial or two praising comments on the event, he suddenly said "you`re like your Dad" (whether he meant in looks or manner, i don`t know and didn`t ask) and then he went on to talk more about my Dad, how he used to always tease my Dad about always wearing a trilby, and the reply that Dad would make, and other such reminiscences. It made my day. It was so good to hear someone talk so easily and naturally about him. And, more than that, to know that someone else remembered Dad.

I wonder why it is, that people always seem afraid to talk about someone who has died making it seem as if they never exised?

This "old boy" for all his appearance and way, seems to have it right.

Flowers

No time to write much, so enjoy the photo of these beautiful flowers which I took today. Just look at the red rose, isn`t it beautiful and wonderful the way it`s petals at the center look to be unfurling. A real joy to behold. Another wonder of nature.

A Busy Time

It must be the season of Flower Festivals, I notice that someone else was writing on their blog about being involved with one this week. I`ve been up to my eyes (so to speak) in flowers and foliage, this week. Here`s a picture of where I`ve been working today... staff on stalls were selling things quicker than I could make them.
And readers, don`t say I should have made them in advance, they were things that couldn`t be made until the last minute.

I didn`t realise until I took this photo, part of my record of the events, just how untidy I was, still I did only have a small space to work in......
......well, that`s my excuse anyway!

So, away from the clutter, here`s a picture of some flowers.

Carbon Footprint

Everyone seems to be talking about Carbon footprints lately, on wireless, tv, even as storylines in tv soaps. So, finding this carbon footprint calculator on here, I thought I`d risk giving it a go to see what they estimate my carbon footprint as.

And, it`s quite a way below the 5 tonnes per person that they say a person uses, so I`m pleased about that. Mine came out at 3.9

But, I really do wonder how much of the problem is caused by all these rockets and things being sent up into space. They must surely cause a terrific amout of pollution to the atmosphere, let alone the awful waste of money that could be far better spent on helping the starving people of the world, the homeless and trying to find cures for the many diseases about. It makes me mad at times to think of the way people suffer when money is used so inconsiderately for space travel and exploration, which really seems to serve no useful purpose.