Chaos in the kitchen

The new cooker and hob arrive tomorrow morning at some time between 7.00 a.m. and 8.00 a.m. ! Which means that this evening the old ones have had to be removed and disconnected. Due to the cowboy kitchen fitters and builders almost 7 years ago, this entailed dismantling two of the built-in kitchen units as the fittings of the old hob were concealed behind the backboard. The hob was also held in place with "blu-tack". Hence, at the moment, my kitchen looks like a bomb has dropped!
Aaaaagh!

As it was ...


As it is ...


As it shall be ...

? ? ?

Tell it like it is

Browsing the web pages for the French Diocese that covers the Dordogne, I came across this article. There's not a lot one can say .....



I can see Christian relations with the Islamic world taking a nose-dive!

Falling back

to darker evenings as British Summer Time ends.

A fortnight ago (3)

... and it was a visit to Castelnaud Chateau. On the southern bank of the Dordogne, it lies halfway between Beynac and La Roque Gageac. Privately owned, it has a superb display of furniture and armaments. best of all, you can wander around on your own - no Guided Tour!

A fortnight ago (2)

... there was thick morning mist in the Dordogne valley. From the hilltop village of Domme it looked as if we were at sea ....



so it was quite appropriate there was "Isle Flottante" on the menu at lunch ....



Later there was a nice cooling "Orangina" in the sunshine at Villereal.

A fortnight ago (1)

... it was a misty morning in La Roque Gageac in France's Dordogne valley.

Damn, but I hate spending large sums of money

Well, I've finally bitten the proverbial bullet and spent almost £700 this evening ordering a new oven and hob. The present ones I inherited when I moved into this vicarage, the Diocese informing me at the last minute that it was my responsibility to provide cooking facilities in their house, and I just managed to prevent the cowboy kitchen fitters/builders from throwing them out. They were past their best then, (the cooker and hob, not the builders .... though I don't know ... ), but for the past 6 years they've cooked my meals, boiled the marmalade, and generally worked as they should. However, the door on the main over has never shut properly, and it remains a bad fit even after replacing both the hinges. I've had to prop it shut with a clothes peg rammed underneath! And then, about 6 months ago, one of the two elements in the fast electric ring went "phut", followed about 8 weeks ago by the fan oven refusing to heat and the thermostat on another of the rings not working, so that it's either "on" or "off" with no variable control. Which means I have just two rings and the small top oven working properly - though the top oven is a bit like a miniature "blast furnace"!.

As it's not my house I have dithered over replacing the units, but I really do have to do something now, otherwise it will be difficult to cook my Christmas confections, or keep hot the various dishes at the December Shared Supper which I host. (And as an aside - the photograph shows the total work space I have - just a small corner. Wonderfully designed for a vicarage kitchen don't you think?)

I await the courier's call to arrange a convenient delivery slot. I have already primed the local electrician in the village to disconnect the old units beforehand.

Oh well, the rainy day has arrived, and I can't take it with me .... though if and when I move, I just might take the cooker and hob!

More food

Tonight was a "Shared Supper" night - the monthly "pot-luck" supper held in various homes around the parishes of the Benefice. The invitation is open to all to come along - just bring a dish of food to share. The result is that you never know how many will turn up or what you're going to get. In the event there's usually between 10 and 18 people, and the dishes a good balance between savoury and sweet.

Tonight was a "protein-rich" night with 7 hot dishes of meat, one roast vegetable flan, and two bowls of mashed potato. There was also cold trout as an entree. Then there were five different desserts and a cheeseboard, so it was all rather good. There's always wine and beer and fruit juice available, and we finished with coffee.

These suppers are not a fund-raiser, they're purely social, and it's good to have a regular event that doesn't ask for money.

I can't claim responsibility for them - they were already established when I arrived, but I'm certainly going to see that they continue.

*burp* (again!)

A feast for the senses

Back from a 10-day sojourn in France to a land that is in the depths of autumn. This time last week I was wandering around in a short-sleeved polo shirt, sipping red wine and nibbling on bread, pate and cheese. Now I've a shirt and jersey on, and the heating is going. Next door has lit their wood-burner, and the delicious smell of wood smoke is drifting down my chimneys.

Last Thursday was also the day of the buffet lunch. In the Leclerc Hypermarche at Villeneuve-sur-Lot the restaurant had a massive lunchtime buffet where you paid a flat rate and ate as much as you wanted.




Four main courses, four desserts and some cheese later, and I was slumped in the chair sipping a small black coffee. It was wonderful.

*burp*

It speaks volumes

It's now a fortnight since the 3rd annual second-hand Book sale at St James South Elmham. Last year we eventually made just over £1,000 and we wondered if this year we would be as successful. It was a busy day, with lots of people in the morning, and a steady trickle through the afternoon. Money has been coming in ever since, from sales that took place afterwards, late payments, and a couple of specialist books placed with a local Book Dealer. At their Harvest festival this last Sunday I learnt that the total for this year now stands at over £1370. A magnificent result, and the event goes from strength to strength as it becomes more widely known. It's already planned to have another one next year! I thoroughly enjoy it, and always come away with several volumes earmarked for holiday reading.

Like leaves blowing in the wind

The story so far .....

I suppose that this Blog is not really an on-line Diary, more what used to be called "a Commonplace Book" containing occasional thoughts, reflections, celebrations, grumbles and disjointed ramblings.

A bit like life, really.

Away day

The AA (Automobile Association) web site kindly provided me with the route down to St. Alban’s, avoiding motorways, the itinery saying it was a distance of 112.3 miles which would take 2 hours and forty-five minutes. Somewhat optimistic!

The route down took me via a wonderful new A road, virtually clear of traffic after a slight hold-up at road works at Duxford and the Imperial War Museum, and then onto an horrendous B road that was single-track with Passing Places! And I met a bus!

Still, allowing for the rain and slow traffic through the centre of St. Alban’s, I made it to the West Herts Crematorium in just over 3 hours.

The return journey was worse.

With the M25 solid from accidents and road works, and not wanting to try and find my way back along the narrow B road, I took a route through Hitchin, Welwyn Garden City and Hertford, and then onto the A10 for Cambridge. The traffic was bad, and it took me an hour to reach Hertford. Eventually reaching the A10 I headed north and turned off for Duxford. I met the queue for the road works about half a mile along the road, and it was still some 10 miles to Duxford itself! I turned round and continued up the A10. This would lead me to the M11 and I could go up that and join the A14 to bring me eastwards round Cambridge, back to Bury St. Edmunds and thence to Bungay and home.

I joined the M11 to find it crawling, and so I came off at the next junction that led me into Cambridge itself. The Ring Road is badly signed, and after a circular tour of the centre and past the Fitzwilliam Museum, I finally found a sign for Newmarket. It took me over an hour to negotiate the city.

I finally got home after four and a half hours on the road.

As to the funeral service itself – it was Humanist, and although it was very well taken, it has left me with various questions. My cousin told me that as my aunt was not religious they thought this was the best service to have, and I quite agree. Any funeral has to keep integrity with the person being celebrated, but why then did we listen to a choral recording of the hymn “The King of love my shepherd is,” and say the Lord’s Prayer together? Also, the officiant kept emphasising that my aunt would live on in our lives through our memories that would be with us forever. Actually, they would be with us for the length of our lives, and then, in the Humanist view, on our death they would vanish. This then leaves the grieving relatives with a burden to carry, that it is their responsibility to keep the memories alive so that the person “lives on”. On their death there could be a sense of guilt that their relative will now be forgotten and be “out of mind”.

The Christian faith takes away this sense of responsibility. The person lives on through the gift of eternal life granted by God through Jesus. And it’s into that care and love that we commend them. As the curtains drew together today, we were told once again to keep my aunt alive through our memories of her, and our sharing of those memories.

Well taken, and no doubt absolutely right for many people, but for me it was lacking hope. But then hope is a gift of the Christian faith, and if you are not a believing Christian, then perhaps the hope is not missed.


Aunt Kathleen on her wedding day with her lovely smile

Taking a back seat

Tomorrow there's a drive down to St. Alban's for the funeral of an aunt, and for once I haven't been asked to take this "family" farewell. Which in some ways is a bit of a relief. I haven't attended a funeral as a "spectator" for some 20 or so years. It will be interesting to see if I can sit through the short Crem service and not keep thinking, "I wouldn't have said that", or "I wouldn't do it that way."

I think that it will be good for me.

This drive comes just two days after a trip down to the south coast and friends near Brighton. I called in at Lewes on the way back. I've always liked this view of the Harvey's Brewery from the river.

Right of Way

Driving across to a meeting tonight, road gives way to rail, every time!


Especially when there are no barriers!

Piratical exclamation

AVAAST BEHIND!

Too early

I had my first Christmas card in today's post! It came from a charity I support, along with their Christmas Catalogue. Sorry. Too early. It's all gone straight into the recycle bin!

Stap me vitals!

I've had a complaint that it's too long since my last post, so as the midnight hour draws nigh I'm rectifying the situation.

Tomorrow is TLAP Day! For the uninitiated, that's "Talk Like A Pirate Day".


So expect a lot of timber shivering, barnacle blistering, and other nautical terms as I voyage around me parishes, me hearties! I might even clip a wooden parrot to my shoulder.

So get into the piratical mood, ye bilge rates, pass round the grog, and hoist the Jolly Roger. Arrrr.

The Sparrow

Dietrich was marvellous, but I never saw the other great female singer of the time - one who was a close friend of hers - Edith Piaf. When in Paris in the summer of 1976 I made an attempt to see her grave, but never found it. Something still to do ....

A change of colour

Having put up the post about the "Blue Angel", today was the day for the Spice toilet! Tired of the badly-painted lemon-yellow upstairs convenience, months ago I bought a tin of "Spice" which I thought would look rather smart. So this Saturday was spent with paintbrush and roller in hand, and to the accompaniment of a CD of Noel Coward, firstly putting white on the ceiling, then cutting-in the orange-red around the edges, rolling the walls, and finally doing the gloss whilst the fabric blind was in the wash, A "turn-off brain" day before the spiritual exercise of tomorrow's services. By supper-time I was ready for my large Yorkshire pudding filled with the left-overs of the Thursday braised beef stew. Delicious! However, I forgot to have a glass of red wine with it. Perhaps I'll have one now .....

The Blue Angel

Between May 28th-June 2nd 1973 the great Marlene Dietrich performed at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. I managed to get tickets, and I sat spellbound throughout. She was fantastic, and her stage presence made you forget the rough edges to her voice. I count myself very lucky that I got the chance to see this legend. This clip is from her London show that year.