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| Ragged courgette plants may produce one last harvest |
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| Houttuynia (a variegated herb) |
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| Pigeon’s nest exposed by the falling grape leaves |
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| One last yellow Buddleia |
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| Pepper plant to be brought into the conservatory |
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| Parsley flower/seed head |
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| Duck drying off |
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| A last strawberry |
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| Pak choi (Bok Choi) |
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| Apple mint seed heads (left for the goldfinches) |
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| Medlar (Eastern European fruit) |
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| Raised bed with lamb’s lettuce and spinach |
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| Broad bean (winter hardy I’m told) |
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| Cabbage |
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| What are these lovely berries? |
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| Ducks enjoying fresh water |
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| Ducks about to take the plunge |
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| Herb garden showing plentiful sage
Roy has been working from home since June 2010. He’s become super-organised, and usually has something in the oven for when the girls come home. Lancashire hot-pot today. Beef stew, lamb roast, and roast duck are some of his other specialties. His latest saying, “Men should run houses; we do SO much better!”
3 October
Ah, Roy’s latest culinary achievement–pretty darn good homemade, whole wheat bread. And it wasn’t too hard either. Thanks,Klaudia for giving us the idea. I think he is going to go on experimenting until he’s got it perfected!
12 October Looking forward to a quiet family weekend of movies and maybe board games. Thanks to Ruth and Matthew for introducing us to new ones in my first board games evening in years. I also enjoyed having Lesley Crawley, Alan Crawley, Erika Baker and Klaudia Schwenk here for lunch. They motivated me to get my house all picked up and tidy:)
Cold snap setting in. Grr. And we have booked a beach cabin belonging to Lee Abbey in Exmoor, Devon next week. We are looking forward to a week of some worship and quiet time at the Abbey, along with long walks on the beaches and moors. He leads me by still waters; he restores my soul. In moors of green, he makes me rest, by the quiet ocean.
16 OctoberWomen perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property!
Enjoying Roy Godwin’s “The Grace Outpouring” about the Ffald-y-Brenin retreat centre in Pembrokeshire. Going there in Dec. Has anyone been? Irene, 12 who reads and listens to books on tape constantly speaks and writes like a book. She wrote a brilliant essay, & her teacher accused her of copying it from the internet. She didn’t. It’s just how she speaks and writes. She protested & the teacher said, “Of course, dear. Class, I would rather you expressed things badly than copied off the internet. I too, twice, when younger, was accused of plagiarism because my work was too good. Grrr. The family’s bathroom is full of a dazzling array of haircare and beauty products–NONE of which I have bought or use! Sigh! #motherofIrene! Enjoyed my Zumba class : high energy mixture of salsa, Latin and African inspired dance. Felt high as a cloud doing it. Now, happy but SORE! Well-deserved Booker win for Julian Barnes. Still can’t believe his lovely “Flaubert’s Parrot,” lost to Anita Brookner all those years ago! J B Phillips: “translating the Bible was like rewiring a house with the electricity plugged in.” So too is studying it! Must carve out time! You know your daughter is doing A level philosophy when you say, “I can’t make myself pack till the last moment” & Zoe says, “Nonsense. That’s a fatalistic approach. Jean-Paul Sarte would be shocked!” Zoe effortlessly did something on my new MacBook which floored me and Roy. Zoe, I said, amazed, we’re floored. No, you are not flawed, mum and dad, she said in all seriousness. You’re just old.” Irene stands in front on the mirror, with a beanie hat on, trying to sneer . “Don’t I look really dodgy?” Zoe, “Nonsense. You can’t look dodgy with a dimple.” We try to hike the Valley of Rocks in Exmoor. I tell Irene, “The First Rule of Mountains: Things change. Be prepared.” I stride off. She joins me 20 minutes later. It is a bright, sunny day, but she has brought 1) an umbrella 2) a coat 3) hat, gloves, muffler, 4) A bag of snacks 5 A book in case she gets bored 6) A torch. Roy and Zoe get stuck into sorting out our bookshelves, and I fear they will not eat till they are done. Roy was to fix lunch. “We have human bodies,”I remind him. “And human bodies need food.” “You have a human body, but the face of an angel,” he tells me. I wander off, digesting this happily, forgetting lunch.
I hear him say, “They say, ‘Flattery won’t get you anywhere. It’s not true!” Zoe’s seventeenth birthday party–75 Indian nibbles, trays of pullao rice and naan bread, 5 curries–balti, pasanda, korma, madras, and tikka masala, kulfi and cake. Think we’re set! To be honest, Roy’s cooking one tray, and we are resorting to take-out for the rest–which should be just as or more delicious than our endeavours, hopefully!!
30 OctoberTrying to eat significantly less. Amazing how clear-headed this helps one feel and how well one can concentrate:)
Grieving for the hour of daylight so soon to be stolen from me. Celebrating it with a bonfire for Zoe’s 17th birthday 🙂 #Hatewintertime. A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song. – Maya Angelou Roy’s just returned from our brilliant small group, which, sadly, I decided not to go to today. A member of the group who spends the meeting sleeping explained why. He’s an early riser. “Christians who want to go to heaven should be asleep by 11.” Lol! Never heard that one. Which gives me 48 minutes to be asleep. Good night, world!
Don’t we all need a reference letter from the poor when we meet Christ?
Ann Voskamp Confused. I wrote and spelled Indian English, then British English, until I moved to America in my twenties, and then wrote and spelled American English for 17 years. When I returned to England in 2004, I used American English, though have slowly begun shifting back to UK English. Thank goodness for spell-checkers, since I have honestly forgotten a lot of British spellings. Realised, not realized. Goodness!
13 November Forgiveness means it finally becomes unimportant that you hit back. It doesn’t mean you have to have lunch with that person. Anne Lamott.
 Okay, we attend a beautiful baptism and confirmation service yesterday. And you know what Roy whispers to me as we exchange the peace? “It’s like Halloween. The inflatable swimming pool for baptisms. The vicar in fishing waders. The bishop in golden vestments. His dishy chaplain in red vestments, carrying an outsize crozier.” Nope, not Halloween. Just a bit Anglo-Catholic!
14 NovemberLesley Crawley, Alan Crawley, thank for hosting such a relaxed, lovely lunch. Jules Middleton, I loved meeting you at last:)
Surprise gift of an evening! Was about to go out to a friend’s house at 7.45 p.m. when I was overtaken by a paroxysm of coughing. Stayed home. Surprise free evening. Yummy. Odd how happy you are when even things you had looked forward to going to get cancelled. I am so enjoying blogging these days:-)
 Overheard in our home, “Mum, you need to have an extremely interesting life to be on Twitter.” !!
‎22nd Wedding Anniversary. Roy gives me a gift engraved with, “When I count my blessings, I count you twice.” “Aww,” I say, and he adds, “I won’t say how often I count you when I count my worries and my problems.” 22 years, and we’re still untrained!! My daughter, Irene, 12. “God should have put evolution in the Bible. If that’s not in there, it makes you wonder what else is not in there!” A Scriptural mandate to rest!A whole day to rest! Oh how I love Sundays!! (Middle-aged moment!) Roy has been working from home since June 2010. He’s become super-organised, and usually has something in the oven for when the girls come home. Lancashire hot-pot today. Beef stew, lamb roast, and roast duck are some of his other specialties. His latest saying, “Men should run houses; we do SO much better!”
3 OctoberAh, Roy’s latest culinary achievement–pretty darn good homemade, whole wheat bread. And it wasn’t too hard either. Thanks,Klaudia for giving us the idea. I think he is going to go on experimenting until he’s got it perfected!
12 October Looking forward to a quiet family weekend of movies and maybe board games. Thanks to Ruth and Matthew for introducing us to new ones in my first board games evening in years. I also enjoyed having Lesley Crawley, Alan Crawley, Erika Baker and Klaudia Schwenk here for lunch. They motivated me to get my house all picked up and tidy:)
L14 OctoberCold snap setting in. Grr. And we have booked a beach cabin belonging to Lee Abbey in Exmoor, Devon next week. We are looking forward to a week of some worship and quiet time at the Abbey, along with long walks on the beaches and moors. He leads me by still waters; he restores my soul. In moors of green, he makes me rest, by the quiet ocean.
Like · · 16 OctoberWomen perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property!
Enjoying Roy Godwin’s “The Grace Outpouring” about the Ffald-y-Brenin retreat centre in Pembrokeshire. Going there in Dec. Has anyone been? Irene, 12 who reads and listens to books on tape constantly speaks and writes like a book. She wrote a brilliant essay, & her teacher accused her of copying it from the internet. She didn’t. It’s just how she speaks and writes. She protested & the teacher said, “Of course, dear. Class, I would rather you expressed things badly than copied off the internet. I too, twice, when younger, was accused of plagiarism because my work was too good. Grrr. The family’s bathroom is full of a dazzling array of haircare and beauty products–NONE of which I have bought or use! Sigh! #motherofIrene! Enjoyed my Zumba class : high energy mixture of salsa, Latin and African inspired dance. Felt high as a cloud doing it. Now, happy but SORE! Well-deserved Booker win for Julian Barnes. Still can’t believe his lovely “Flaubert’s Parrot,” lost to Anita Brookner all those years ago! J B Phillips: “translating the Bible was like rewiring a house with the electricity plugged in.” So too is studying it! Must carve out time! You know your daughter is doing A level philosophy when you say, “I can’t make myself pack till the last moment” & Zoe says, “Nonsense. That’s a fatalistic approach. Jean-Paul Sarte would be shocked!” Zoe effortlessly did something on my new MacBook which floored me and Roy. Zoe, I said, amazed, we’re floored. No, you are not flawed, mum and dad, she said in all seriousness. You’re just old.” Irene stands in front on the mirror, with a beanie hat on, trying to sneer . “Don’t I look really dodgy?” Zoe, “Nonsense. You can’t look dodgy with a dimple.” We try to hike the Valley of Rocks in Exmoor. I tell Irene, “The First Rule of Mountains: Things change. Be prepared.” I stride off. She joins me 20 minutes later. It is a bright, sunny day, but she has brought 1) an umbrella 2) a coat 3) hat, gloves, muffler, 4) A bag of snacks 5 A book in case she gets bored 6) A torch. Roy and Zoe get stuck into sorting out our bookshelves, and I fear they will not eat till they are done. Roy was to fix lunch. “We have human bodies,”I remind him. “And human bodies need food.” “You have a human body, but the face of an angel,” he tells me. I wander off, digesting this happily, forgetting lunch.
I hear him say, “They say, ‘Flattery won’t get you anywhere. It’s not true!” 29 October Zoe’s seventeenth birthday party–75 Indian nibbles, trays of pullao rice and naan bread, 5 curries–balti, pasanda, korma, madras, and tikka masala, kulfi and cake. Think we’re set! To be honest, Roy’s cooking one tray, and we are resorting to take-out for the rest–which should be just as or more delicious than our endeavours, hopefully!!
Trying to eat significantly less. Amazing how clear-headed this helps one feel and how well one can concentrate:)
Grieving for the hour of daylight so soon to be stolen from me. Celebrating it with a bonfire for Zoe’s 17th birthday 🙂 #Hatewintertime. A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song. – Maya Angelou Roy’s just returned from our brilliant small group, which, sadly, I decided not to go to today. A member of the group who spends the meeting sleeping explained why. He’s an early riser. “Christians who want to go to heaven should be asleep by 11.” Lol! Never heard that one. Which gives me 48 minutes to be asleep. Good night, world!
Don’t we all need a reference letter from the poor when we meet Christ?
Ann Voskamp Confused. I wrote and spelled Indian English, then British English, until I moved to America in my twenties, and then wrote and spelled American English for 17 years. When I returned to England in 2004, I used American English, though have slowly begun shifting back to UK English. Thank goodness for spell-checkers, since I have honestly forgotten a lot of British spellings. Realised, not realized. Goodness!
13 November Forgiveness means it finally becomes unimportant that you hit back. It doesn’t mean you have to have lunch with that person. Anne Lamott.
 For domestic goddesses: “The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” William Morris
Okay, we attend a beautiful baptism and confirmation service yesterday. And you know what Roy whispers to me as we exchange the peace? “It’s like Halloween. The inflatable swimming pool for baptisms. The vicar in fishing waders. The bishop in golden vestments. His dishy chaplain in red vestments, carrying an outsize crozier.” Nope, not Halloween. Just a bit Anglo-Catholic! Like · · Share · 14 November‎Lesley Crawley, Alan Crawley, thank for hosting such a relaxed, lovely lunch. Jules Middleton, I loved meeting you at last:)
Surprise gift of an evening! Was about to go out to a friend’s house at 7.45 p.m. when I was overtaken by a paroxysm of coughing. Stayed home. Surprise free evening. Yummy. Odd how happy you are when even things you had looked forward to going to get cancelled. I am so enjoying blogging these days:-)
16 NovemberOverheard in our home, “Mum, you need to have an extremely interesting life to be on Twitter.” !!
‎22nd Wedding Anniversary. Roy gives me a gift engraved with, “When I count my blessings, I count you twice.” “Aww,” I say, and he adds, “I won’t say how often I count you when I count my worries and my problems.” 22 years, and we’re still untrained!! My daughter, Irene, 12. “God should have put evolution in the Bible. If that’s not in there, it makes you wonder what else is not in there!” A Scriptural mandate to rest!A whole day to rest! Oh how I love Sundays!! (Middle-aged moment!) |
Read my new memoir: Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India (US) or UK.
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My book of essays: Wandering Between Two Worlds (US) or UK
.jpg "Rhododendron, Clematis and other garden news")
Hi Freda, I am SO untechy. I posted it into word and it got centred, and those underlinings got put in somehow. I will see if I can persuade my husband to sort it out for me, somehow. It looks so unprofessional and untechy:-(
Glad you liked the garden pictures. Next year, we'll focus on aesthetics. It's our first year growing veggies, and we are so thrilled with them!!
It took me a little while to get to the bottom of the post – my technological skills are not so great. I love all the garden photos – cannot believe what is happening to the weather, it is mild even in Scotland.