My 2018.

01 Tue Jan 2019

Tags

2018, building works, Christmas, church, Days out, holidays, home improvements, medical problems, no rector, retrospective, weddings

I will begin with a couple of thank yous. Thank you to everyone who has kept in touch with me and kindly asked how I have been during the past few months. Thank you to all of you who have continued to follow my blog despite my not having written much all year.

We have had quite a busy year which, as you know has included having our old conservatory demolished and a new room built at the back of the house.

During the building works in the spring

Building has begun!

Ta-da!!

Elinor continued attending art classes three times a week at Wensum Lodge in Norwich until mid-summer and was also interviewed by and accepted at East Coast College to start a Level 3 Art and Design course which began in September. Richard and I share the driving, taking Elinor to and from college in Lowestoft. There is no direct public transport between where we live and where she studies; it is quicker and probably cheaper for us to drive her there. In the autumn we took her to three East Anglian universities that run degree courses in the subject she wishes to study. They all held open days and we were able to tour the colleges and listen to the tutors speaking about the subjects they teach. Elinor was able to speak to these tutors and ask relevant questions. We visited Suffolk University in Ipswich, The University of the Arts in Norwich and Anglia Ruskin College in Cambridge. She is currently applying to all three and has filled out her UCAS form and paid her fee. We now wait to see if and when she is called for interviews.

Because we still have no rector for the eleven churches in our benefice we have had to become more involved in the running of the benefice by attending more meetings and in taking some of the services. Richard took a few services in Rumburgh church during the first half of the year and I took a couple in the second half. We have attended fund-raising events such as coffee mornings, sales and quizzes and have tried to be as supportive of the other churches in the benefice as we can. As well as being on the cleaning rota for Rumburgh church I have been doing most of the cleaning at St Margaret South Elmham church all year as there has been no-one well or fit enough there to do the job. All cleaning is done voluntarily as most of the churches do not have the funds to pay for a cleaner. As St Margaret has discovered, even when money is found to pay for a cleaner, no-one wants to do it as many local people are afraid to enter these old churches on their own. All of our churches are medieval buildings needing constant work to keep them from falling down. This past summer, with its lack of rain, we have found cracks appearing in many of the churches in the benefice. Some of these repairs have been attended to but we at Rumburgh are still waiting to see when and if ours can be done. We also have lost a number of glass panes from our windows which meant that birds and insects got into the church during the summer and cold, wind and rain is getting in this winter. The window repair job will cost about £1000 and we will have to find the money from somewhere. We have an on-going problem with bats roosting in the church.

Rumburgh church decorated for Harvest Festival. You can see the cracks above the East window.

A closer view of the cracks above the window

Another crack

and another.

The floor tiles are disintegrating.

I visited Alice in February so that I could see her act in ‘Sense and Sensibility’ as I mentioned in a post at the start of the year. I drove to Kent in March to make a long overdue visit to my sister who was not at all well at the time. Richard has visited Manchester a couple of times to see his brother, his nephew and his family. I travelled to Liverpool for a couple of days in June to re-visit old haunts and to see a dear blogging friend who made me very welcome indeed.

The Liver Building in Liverpool seen from the Mersey ferry in June

Richard, both girls and I spent a week on the Isle of Wight in July and then Richard and I spent a week in the Peak District in August while Elinor stayed with Alice in Sheffield.

Looking out to sea from the Isle of Wight in July

The Peak District in August

We visited my dear friend Wendy and her family in August and then, before we knew it, it was the beginning of term and we were driving to Lowestoft three times a week.

We celebrated my brother’s wedding to Helen in May and Richard, Elinor and I visited Pensthorpe Natural Park for the day in June to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary.

Pensthorpe

We have all had to attend many medical appointments. I take my mother to the eye clinic every five weeks and despite having eye injections because of her macular degeneration she has almost completely lost the sight in her left eye and the sight in her right eye isn’t too good but it is stable for the time being. She also has cataracts and glaucoma. Her arthritis is painful and she can no longer stand up straight. Her pet cat died in the summer while we were away on holiday and she misses him very much. I am spending more time with her.

Richard had a hospital appointment for a procedure at the end of May during which he had to be sedated. During this procedure it was discovered his pulse rate was irregular and faded away at times so the investigation had to be abandoned. Since then he has had a number of tests to see what was causing this problem and the specialists were very puzzled for some months. Of course, Richard was quite anxious all this time not knowing how serious the problem was and wondering if he would need an operation or not. A couple of days before Christmas he received a letter telling him the latest test had shown that the problem wasn’t as serious as previously thought and he would just be needing a course of statins. This made us very happy. The test for the original problem for which he needed sedating is no longer needed either!

Elinor has scoliosis and has a trapped nerve in her spine which has caused part of her leg to become numb. The problem appears to worsen during the winter months when she gets cold. She has been having physiotherapy to see if anything can be done to ease the situation. Nothing so far has made a difference.

My rheumatoid-arthritis is still in remission, which means I have had no flare-ups for some time. My joints are quite severely damaged, especially my hands and feet but I am used to this as I have had it for many years. Unfortunately, I have now got osteo-arthritis which is causing yet more damage to my hands and feet. As everyone knows who has osteo-arthritis, there is nothing that can be done for it except pain relief and eventually joint replacement if appropriate. I also know that the best thing that can be done is to keep using the joints and keep them moving.

After many years trying to get a full-time job Alice was at last successful and began working at Manchester Metropolitan University in November. She now has a challenging job as befits someone with a doctorate but has to commute from her home in Sheffield to Manchester each day. There are regular problems with the trains and she often doesn’t get home til very late. However, once she is on the train she can enjoy an hour’s reading which is a great pleasure to her. She will be receiving her doctorate at a graduation ceremony in a couple of weeks time. She and her partner, Phil got married on 1st December. They organised the event themselves and as they couldn’t afford a big wedding they only invited very close family and friends. There were eighteen of us all together and the wedding was a Goth-themed one. We had a wonderful time and we all got on very well together.

Alice and Phil

Alice and me on her wedding day

Alice and Elinor

No photos of Richard, unfortunately!

We couldn’t get to church for Advent Sunday as we were returning home from Alice’s wedding that day; my brother and Helen took Mum to church. The following Sunday, the 2nd in Advent, I took a Morning Prayer service at Rumburgh and on the 3rd and 4th Sundays in Advent, I took Mum to church at her church in the town of Eye.

The Advent Crown on a table in our new garden room

Our Advent Crown

The view from the garden room. Apologies for the reflections in the windows.

Another view from the garden room

We have had a very nice Christmas. We attended the Carol Service at St Margaret South Elmham on the 20th of December and Richard organised and ran our Carol Service at Rumburgh on the 23rd of December. Richard, Elinor and I collected Mum and took her to Midnight Mass at Eye church on Christmas Eve. She came to us for the day on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. We had friends visit for coffee on the morning of the 28th. Alice came to visit on the 27th (on her own as Phil had to work) and was due to go back home on the 29th but when we got to the station we discovered that there were no trains running to or from Norwich due to signalling failures. She had to return here for the night and eventually got home the following afternoon.

St Margaret’s church at the carol service

A frosty view from the garden room on Christmas Day

I think that covers everything! I hope I am able to get back to blogging some time soon though, of course, I cannot promise to be any better at it than last year!

May I wish you all a very happy, healthy and successful 2019.

Happy New Year!

01 Mon Jan 2018

Posted by Clare Pooley in Rural Diary

≈ 67 Comments

Tags

candlelight, carol service, Christmas, garden, greylag, midnight mass, New Year, snow, Suffolk

Taken at dawn on 12th December

We had a few days of cold and snow in mid-December but the year ended with much milder temperatures, wind and lots of rain. All our local rivers have burst their banks and everywhere is wet and muddy.

‘Evereste’ crabapple tree in the snow

Crabapples

Once the apples had been frosted it took no time at all for the blackbirds to eat all the fruit on the tree! The deer helped themselves to the apples on the lower branches.

Female Muntjac deer

2nd Sunday in Advent

We had a Sunday service at our church at Rumburgh on 10th December. The day started with heavy rain but as we got the church ready for the service the rain turned first to sleet and then to snow. The Archdeacon arrived to take our service, his cloak covered in snow. He preached and played the organ too but sadly, not many of our mainly elderly congregation turned up.

A snowy churchyard

Our damp, but festive church porch

Snow covers a multitude of sins and our garden looked almost picturesque!

The view from our front door

Our larger pond. This was before the rain added a number of inches to its depth

We have also had all the willow saplings and brambles on the little island cut down since this photograph was taken. The greylags should find it easier to make their nest there in the spring.

Here is a female greylag with her goslings in our garden a couple of years ago

The path round the pond

Looking across the field from our garden

After the sun had risen I took this picture from an upstairs window

We haven’t had much snow in the last couple of years and we don’t know if we will get any more this winter either. This might be all we get!

We held a carol service at our church on 20th December.

I took this photo a while before the service began.

Our Christmas tree at church

The service was taken by Maurice our hard-working Elder who has taken on most of the admin duties for the benefice since we have been vicarless. We heard the Christmas story in some readings from the Bible and we also listened to a few seasonal poems. We sang lots of carols and then ate sausage rolls, cheese straws, cake and mince pies and drank sherry or fruit juice.

Kneeler at church

Richard, Elinor and I went to Midnight Mass at South Elmham St Peter’s church on Christmas Eve and we spent a peaceful Christmas at home, my mother visiting us for lunch and for the afternoon on Christmas Day and for an evening buffet meal on Boxing Day.

Christmas tree decorations

Alice stayed in Sheffield for Christmas but came to visit us for a couple of days, arriving on the 28th December. It was lovely to have her with us!

I took this photo with my phone on Boxing Day during our walk in the late afternoon

We don’t party on New Year’s Eve but stay at home quietly. I had taken my mother to her church in the morning while Richard went to Ilketshall St John’s church in our benefice. The roads were all awash but the rain held off for most of the day. Richard, Elinor and I went to Southwold in the afternoon to walk by the sea. We parked by the pier and walked along the front to the far end of the town where we bought some chips. We walked back to the car as it got dark and came home again. A pleasing end to the year. No photos from Southwold as I left my camera at home.

Happy New Year, everyone!

December and Christmas 2015

02 Sat Jan 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in family, Rural Diary, theatre

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

busy, Christmas, family, tired, wasitworthit, yesitwas

December was very busy with few opportunities for taking photographs and fewer for taking walks!

All the things we hoped to do before Christmas that I mentioned in my Advent post were done, with the exception of taking my mother Christmas shopping. She gave me a few shopping lists of things I could more easily get for her and we did a big shop for her at the supermarket on the day before Christmas Eve. She decided to give everyone some money for Christmas instead of buying gifts and we were all very content with that.

I did spend a lot of time shopping in December but mainly for food items and ingredients for Mum and me. Most of the presents were ordered on-line – this is the easiest option for us as we live some miles from the nearest shops.

I spent a whole morning away from home at the doctor’s surgery followed by an appointment with the optician. Elinor had a doctor’s appointment to discuss a couple of problems she has and then I went for my regular blood test. At the optician’s, Elinor was told that she needed yet more new glasses and we made an appointment to return the following week to collect the new prescription.

Elinor’s last couple of weeks at college went well. We attended the parent’s evening, viewed her work and listened to the wonderful things her tutors had to say about her. They predict very good marks for her at the end of the year. We went to see her artwork on display in a gallery in Norwich.

Elinor’s Red-Riding-Hood design in her ‘altered book’ is on the left on the shelf behind the chair.

The gas boiler was serviced and we discussed having a new boiler installed in the summer. A representative from the firm that will be replacing our garage doors visited us to talk about the work to be done and we were told the fitters will be installing the doors in a couple of weeks time. We had to have a water pipe moved to make way for the new garage doors.

The flush on our downstairs toilet kept going wrong and has now given up for good. The whole contents of the cistern will need replacing I think. We will have to call the plumber back yet again.

I got a puncture in one of my car tyres but fortunately it was repairable.

We attended the December Coffee Morning at the Rector’s house and also helped host two Carol Services at our church in Rumburgh.

I baked more than six dozen mince pies.

I wasn’t able to attend church on the 3rd Sunday in Advent as we were returning from our trip to Manchester that day. We had a lovely meal with members of Richard’s family in Manchester and exchanged presents with them. Our hotel was comfortable and for the first time ever on a Manchester visit, I managed to sleep well and for most of the night too!

We had a delicious lunch out with my brother Andrew and we exchanged Christmas presents with him as well. He was expecting both his children to stay with him for Christmas.

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A photo I filched from Facebook. This is my brother Andrew and my niece, Natalie

He gave us his presents for my sister and her children as we were to visit her in Kent the following day. Our car was full of gifts on our 150 mile journey south to Francesca’s house and we brought a different lot home with us again that evening. Francesca made us very welcome on one of her very few days off work this Christmas. She had already worked 80 hours that week! Over-worked, under-paid and under-appreciated she spends her life as a paramedic practitioner saving the lives of others and looking after the welfare of her staff and colleagues. I am so proud of her.

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Here she is (on the left) at work yesterday. I appropriated this photo from Facebook too.

We wrapped countless presents and sent off a number of parcels to people we couldn’t manage to visit. Many, many cards were written and posted or delivered by hand. A number of letters and e-mails were written to friends and relatives and some phone calls were made and received. I also managed to keep up with all the housework and the washing and ironing.

I had a book of daily readings for Advent recommended to me by Rachel from Could Do Worse . I found them very useful and was able to spend at least 15 minutes each day in quiet contemplation and prayer.

The Christmas wreath on our front door

We attended the local theatre at The Cut to see Richard Durrant’s Candlelit Christmas concert on the evening of the day we had lunch with my brother. We enjoyed the concert very much. Here is one of the pieces of music we listened to.

The house was decorated a couple of days before Christmas and Richard put some lights up outside the house.

Alice was coming home on Christmas Eve but as she was working that day her train wasn’t due in to Diss station until well after 9.00 pm. Unfortunately the train was delayed because of signalling faults before it got to Sheffield and was 45 minutes late. This meant that Alice was unable to catch her connections and there were worries that she might not be able to get home at all that night. Fortunately, the train she was on eventually arrived very late at Norwich so that is where Richard went to collect her. After I had given her a cup of tea and something to eat she had some present-wrapping to do and unpacking so she didn’t join us at Midnight Mass at St Margaret South Elmham church.

Mum joined us for Christmas lunch the following day and brought the Christmas Pudding with her. We went to her house on Boxing day for a buffet evening meal.

Richard and I went to church on Sunday morning at St Peter’s church and celebrated the Feast Day of St John.

The following day we were all going to go out for a walk together but I spent the day in bed with a migraine instead. Richard, Alice and Elinor went to Walberswick Woods.

DSC_0683Elinor and Alice at Walberswick woods

Alice and Elinor in Walberswick Woods

On Wednesday, my mother had a 9.40 am appointment to attend at the Eye Clinic at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital so I picked her up at 8.15 am and drove to Norwich. The appointment went well and she only had to wait twenty minutes after her appointed time before being seen! We did some shopping for her on the way home and after taking her to her house and having some coffee I was back at home by 1.30 pm.

All too soon, it was New Year’s Eve and Alice had to take the train back to Sheffield.

Alice, Richard and Elinor on Diss station.

I managed to take a couple of photos of the flowerbeds at the station to take my mind off my sadness at saying goodbye to Alice.

Calendula in flower

Bergenia and Viburnum in flower

I leave you with another of my favourite tunes.

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas

30 Tue Dec 2014

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, cooking, Rural Diary

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Christmas, Christmas Day, Christmas Tree, decorations, food, tradition

My mother’s Kissing Ring. My mother’s family had no tradition of having a Christmas tree. They had a kissing ring instead. This one has a sprig of mistletoe for kissing under.

We have had a very pleasant and quiet Christmas so far. Christmas Day itself began at Midnight Mass held this year in St. Mary’s church in Flixton. The Rector handed us all a slice of Christmas cake as we left and when we got home we had some hot mulled wine and a mince pie before going to bed. I was a little late in going to bed as I still had a few presents to wrap which I did after quickly washing the kitchen floor. Yes, I know what you are thinking, but it needed doing and that was the only chance I had to do it!

In the morning we gathered together in the living room where the presents had been put under the Christmas tree and drank a cup of tea while we exchanged our gifts. In recent years our breakfast has been Italian pannetone which is luxurious but light.

For lunch this year instead of turkey we had rib of beef and it was gorgeous! I had a lot of help from Alice who peeled and chopped all the vegetables for me and she also made a lovely lemon sorbet for a starter. We had roast and mashed potatoes, mashed swede, roast parsnips with honey, carrots and brussels sprouts. I had another attempt at making Yorkshire puddings and my usual failure. Why I can’t make them I don’t know but this time they at least were light and in one piece but they were flat like pancakes! I made some gravy which was rich and good and also some stuffing. Why stuffing when we had no bird to stuff? Because Elinor my youngest daughter loves it and it wouldn’t be Christmas for her without sage and onion stuffing.

Richard went to collect my mother who always joins us for Christmas lunch and she brought with her the Christmas Pudding. She has always made her own puddings and they are very good indeed. She makes them in October and they are left to mature until Christmas when they are steamed for two hours. She brings our pudding hot from the steamer and well wrapped and insulated. I make thick custard to go with it and provide cream as well.

The afternoon is spent quietly together, talking and drinking tea, coffee, wine or spirits and sleeping. Richard spent quite a lot of time washing up and loading and re-loading the dish-washer – a seemingly thankless task but a necessary one and I am very grateful to him for doing it.

Mum had invited us to her house for a buffet evening meal the next day, Boxing Day, so Richard and I decided that it might be a good idea if we went for a walk during the afternoon. Neither of the girls wanted to come with us.

We set off for Mum’s house just before 6.00 pm and it was just starting to rain as we got there. She had provided a sumptuous spread for us and had worked very hard. A gammon with orange, chicken pieces coated with sesame seeds, mixed roast vegetables, sausage rolls and a selection of crisps and savoury biscuits. She had also made an apfel strudel and a yule log with chocolate and chestnut filling. The rain was pouring down when we left and continued all night and into the following morning. Many of the roads and fields were flooded but we didn’t have the snow that fell just to the north of us.

Making Mince Pies

21 Sun Dec 2014

Posted by Clare Pooley in cooking, Rural Diary

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

Christmas, Christmas cooking, Mince pies, mincemeat, sweet shortcrust pastry, traditional British food

We had our Carol Service at Rumburgh church on Saturday and I made two dozen mince pies to take with me as part of the after-service refreshments.

Sweet shortcrust pastry ingredients

Sweet shortcrust pastry is used for French fruit flans, tarts, little fancy cakes – and mince pies! The following recipe makes about twelve mince pies. I use the same method when making little individual apple pies which are lovely for buffets, packed lunches and picnics.

225 g / 8 oz plain flour

pinch of salt

50 g / 2 oz butter

50 g / 2 oz lard or vegetable shortening

25 g / 1 oz caster sugar

1 egg yolk

a little water

This makes 225 g / 8 oz pastry

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl

Cut the fat into the flour

Rub in to a breadcrumb consistency

As soon as I think that I have finished rubbing in the fat I then tell myself to continue for another minute. I always find a piece of fat I had missed.

Add the sugar and mix together

: Add about two tablespoons of water to an egg yolk

: and beat them together

Add the egg and water to the flour, fat and sugar

Mix them together

I always just use my hands, never a spoon, when making pastry. I find it mixes together quickly and easily and I can feel when it is of the right consistency rather than just trusting to my eyes. I have never used a blender to make pastry either.

Keep mixing the ingredients together, adding a very little more water if necessary.

Sometimes just dampening my fingers adds enough water to make the pastry smooth and elastic. Too much water makes the pastry slimy and horrid and will never be anything other than tough to eat.

Knead lightly until smooth but don’t overwork it or it will lose its lightness.

The finished pastry – which needs to be rested in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before being rolled out. I wrap it in cling-film.

Mince pie ingredients

Flour your work surface or pastry board and start to roll the pastry out carefully.

As the pastry is very short (crumbly – difficult to keep together) it requires careful handling or it will split and fall apart. If you haven’t added enough water when mixing it will fall apart very readily. This problem can easily be overcome by adding a sprinkle more water and re-kneading the dough.

Roll the pastry out very thinly, 2.5 mm / one eighth of an inch thick

Cut out 12 rounds with a plain or fluted cutter. I use a 7.5 cm / 3″ one.

017Circles of pastry in patty pans (640x480)

Line a pastry pan with the pastry rounds and prick the bottom of each pie with a fork to help the pastry cook through

Fill each pie with a teaspoon of mincemeat

I have never made my own mincemeat but have been meaning to for years! Bought mincemeat is very variable, some very poor and more like runny jam than proper mincemeat. I have found one that is very good and I use it every year. Some bought mincemeats can be improved by a little lemon juice or a small drop of brandy or rum.

Mincemeat is made from shredded suet (beef or vegetable), grated or finely chopped apple, mixed dried fruit (sultanas, raisins and currants), brown sugar, chopped blanched almonds, chopped candied orange and lemon peel, finely grated rind and juice of a large lemon, mixed spice, cinnamon, grated nutmeg and some brandy, whisky or rum. Hundreds of years ago it did contain meat as well, hence the name of mincemeat, but no longer. If vegetable suet is used then the mince pies can be eaten by vegetarians.

Cut out 12 smaller rounds of pastry with a plain or fluted cutter. I use a 6 cm / 2.5″ cutter. If you don’t have enough pastry to cut out all the rounds you need, gather all the trimmings together, knead them with a little water and roll out again.

Dampen the edge of the pie with a little water and cover the filling in each tart with the smaller round of pastry, pressing down firmly so the lids are secure. Cut a small hole or cross in the centre of each lid to allow steam to escape.

Place the pies in their pastry pan onto a baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven at 220 degrees C / 425 degrees F / Gas Mark 7 for 12 to 15 minutes or until well risen and golden.

Baked pies.

More baked pies!

A finished pie

Leave to cool in the pastry pan for a few minutes and then place on a rack to finish cooling.

If you so wish you can dust the top with a little icing sugar.

Mince pies can be eaten hot straight from the oven or cold, on their own or with custard or cream and even as an accompaniment to Christmas pudding if you are so minded. They keep for days and days in a sealed container and can be re-heated. I love them!