Tag Archives: Easter

Another Relaxing Day

I’ve done very little but sit down, read and eat today.

Julia cooked an excellent roast lamb dinner with a multiplicity of vegetables (potatoes, beans, brussels, carrots and celariac) and we had chocolate cake for dessert. I’m digesting that as I write.

The young couple next door (as I persist in calling them, in an elderly sort of way) brought us simnel cake cup cakes. I like them. And I like simnel cake too, just to avoid ambiguity.

I also wrote a sonnet. It’s a proper one, fourteen lines, iambic pentameters, a rhyme scheme and a volta. It took me twenty minutes and actually makes reasonable sense. Despite this, it still isn’t particularly good, but it’s a start. It just goes to show how constant practice makes it easier to write.

Now I just need a way of improving the quality.

I may search the internet for “How to Write Like Shakespeare”. I found this article. It’s not a great help, being geared more towards plays than poetry. I then found this article when adding “sonnet” to the search.

I also found a random sonnet generator, but I won’t post a link because it isn’t very good.

Six minutes to midnight – time to press the button.

Simnel Cake and Easter Chick

Reading, Writing, Researching, Reviewing…

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Easter Sunday, being one of the two days of the year when the shops close, is the perfect guilt-free day for catching up on things I want to do. There are no launderettes, no shops and no garden centres to reproach me for my lack of activity. I do experience a slight twinge of guilt at not going to church, and it does bother me that Julia has to work, but a sit down with a nice cup of tea usually helps me get over it.

Today was similar, as we both decided to block out the weather and watch poor quality TV. Or, to be more accurate, we decided to block out the weather and watch the only TV that was available.

It’s a bit like junk food, sometimes it’s just what you need.

I’ve been using it to do some reading, as I don’t seem to have done much reading recently. I’ve also looked some things up and taken photos of book jackets ready to do a bit of reviewing.

What I haven’t done over the last two days was much writing. I think the cause of this lies in potential – as I prepare, the whole world of blogging is out there, waiting for my masterpiece.

Once it’s written it’s just one more slightly disappointing post.

Just like Jane Austen

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The day started well, with a telephone call from the pharmacy. This allowed me to drive down to the shop and use the words “Incontinence Advisory Service” for the second time in three days. This time there wasn’t a crowd of people listening, so it was a less embarrassing experience than the first time.

I am now fully equipped for the next eight weeks and, as a result, feeling relaxed.

After that it was time for a trip to the jeweller’s. I don’t need any jewellery, watch batteries or repairs but I don’t really need an excuse to gossip and drink tea. With my current set-up I am able to drink tea without worrying about the consequences. It was a relaxing interlude, as it’s part jeweller and part antique shop. As I think I’ve said before I feel at peace in three places – church, antique shops and bookshops.

I also feel at home in “all you can eat buffets”, as you can probably tell from the self-portrait, but for some reason I’m never made as welcome there as I am in the other places and don’t feel so comfortable. The staff always seem edgy when I walk in…

The last visits of the day were to drop off some Easter cards. It involved more tea and a look at several gardens that I used to look after. One of the ladies showed me her 80th Birthday Album. She had spent the week in Whitby with her children and grandchildren. It looked like a good time was had by all, and the Birthday Cake was made by Botham’s teashop. The picture on top was a view of the Abbey framed in the Whitby Whalebone Arch.

Whalebone Arch – Whitby

As a result of getting out and about I feel much happier, even if the weather forecast is not good.

In fact, with all this tea and visiting I’d go so far as to say I feel very Jane Austen.

Stained Glass for Easter

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Angel with Spear, 1860s. By N H J Westlake or J M Allen. St Michael’s and All Angels, Derby

St Mary Magdalene and Jesus after the resurrection by John Hardman Powell c 1852, from St James’s Church, Clifton, Oxfordshire

Octofoil window – Angel by John Hungerford Pollen 1863 Our Lady of the Assumption, Rhyl, Denbighshire

A few more pictures from the stained glass museum at Ely. I thought it was an appropriate time to show a few more. After a struggle with my connection, which turned out to be a problem with my WordPress account, I’m short of time, so will add detail later. (I have now added details to the photographs, in case you want to know more about the glass – not sure if they show on the featured photo but they are the same as the one below from Essex Unitarian Church.)

Henry Holiday 1907 Essex Unitarian Church Notting Hill, London

St Joseph and the Angel c 1920 by Wilhelmina Geddes.

Hitting the Big Time

Sleepless in Screveton

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I’m in the grip of a really nasty cold. Having spent two sleepless nights coughing fit to bring my lungs up I’m sleepless in Screveton, cold, shivering, sneezing and generally ready to drop. Quite clearly I’m descending the pit into man flu, a fearful disease that women refuse to believe in.

Despite this I’ve taken part in two meetings, eaten several small cakes with Easter Eggs on top and built a cardboard sheep.

Time for bed now.

Hopefully I will be better tomorrow, or at least suffering from something my wife believes in.

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Life after the Care Farm