G is for garden

The last few cosmos of summer

 The garden hasn't been as good as usual this year because I am waiting to have various alterations done to the house and that will risk damaging plants.   I chose not to buy lots of bedding plants rather than let them be run over by a digger.  However, the Mighty Jack has been doing his usual thing so it has still been pleasant to wander around my plot.  

The front garden is referred to as Jack's garden.  This means that he is allowed rather more leeway than in "my" garden which is behind the house.  He disapproves of poppies, hebes, foxgloves and lots of other things which I can't remember at the moment. (It's quite a long list!) I find it rather comforting that he disapproves of more than just me.  He didn't come for a while a few years  ago (health and family issues) so I snuck in various things.  Somehow, though, there weren't many poppies this year.  He doesn't know where they went, or so he says. 

The last of the summer veg and the promise of winter goodies!

I am allowed to have what I want in the back garden.  What I want is flowers and vegetables.  He doesn't mind that either but I insist they have to be grown together.  Personally I think that an obelisk covered with runner beans is a glory in any flower bed while tagetes and snapdragon deter various pests and attract bees and beneficial insects in the veg plot.  

F is for friends

 

Really it should be that a Gold Star is for friends.  I've collected them all my life.  Here are a few.

First S.  Her parents were friends of my parents and we started school together.  These days our friendship is mostly conducted by Christmas letters and the occasional e mail but last year I had the privilege of conducting her mum's funeral.  That wonderful lady used to hide several of is when we bunked off from cross country at school!   S and I spent a hilarious afternoon remembering each other's mothers.

A little later I met A.  She had spent her early years in Northern Ireland and the family moved here during The Troubles.  Again we knew each other's family and a few years ago I went to her mum's ninetieth birthday party - once again a hilarious time of reminiscing.

I got E from a jumble sale!   I was behind a stall at a sale to raise funds for Girl Guides.  E was quite a tough haggler at such events so we got talking.  I mentioned that I was hoping to set up a new Guide Company and she offered to help.  Nearly fifty years later she is living in France but we email regularly and still see each other once a year.

M also came along to help at Guides.  We were in the same church and she had a young daughter who wanted to join Guides.  Several years later I conducted the daughter's wedding.  M is now very house bound but we phone each other weekly and I think both if us have smiles on our faces for quite a while after the call has ended.

J came as my chimney sweep.  When he had done the job he told me that he always gave his clients a gift before he left.  That year it was shoe polish.  In subsequent years he gave me rum flavoured bubble bath, Winnie the Pooh sticking plasters and a bunch of carrots with a knife to scrape them.  Just in case you haven't realised J is Jack - you can find out more about him if you click on "Jack" in the sidebar. 

I could go on about friends I have met through Church, about my neighbours and about people I met casually but wanted to know better.  All of them are precious to me.  Here's a round I learnt in Guides many years ago

Make new friends, but keep the old

One is silver and the other gold.

E is for Enegy and EDF

 I am not one of nature's ranters but EDF has got right up my nose!

I think I am one of the luckiest people on the planet because I bought a thirty month energy fix last August before prices went haywire.  My monthly direct debit is very low now compared to many especially as I have built up a large credit over the last year.  I've had a more efficient  boiler installed and I have been replacing quite a few appliances with energy efficient jobbies as the old ones have come to the end of their life.

Where I am not lucky is in my smart meter!  I am very pro smart meter and I used to have one which worked well and definitely helped me reduce my usage.  However, it was replaced about eighteen months ago and the new one, although it is supposed to be smart is DUMB!  It won't communicate with EDF and the in-home display won't work either.  

I complained to EDF and an engineer came and said the chances of it ever communicating with EDF are negligible and it needs replacing but EDF won't do that.  My meters have to be read manually and as I am disabled that is difficult for me - which is why I want a smart meter.  Initially they said they would read quarterly (because of my disability), then they said annually, and now it will be only once every two years!!!  

It is read only biennially so I will receive an accurate bill only once every two years.  The corrections will be made at the end of those two years at the rate chargeable at that time.    I shall have to ask other people to read it for me.

This makes me really angry.  The change of frequency has received no publicity and it will hit vulnerable people very hard.   I am OK but please help anyone who might need help in meter reading and submission of readings.

D is for Deacon

 I decided not to write a post yesterday because I wanted to save "D" for today, the anniversary of my ordination as a Deacon.

Dressed as a Deacon ready to officiate at my first wedding

It was in 1990 that I was ordained in Leicester Cathedral, now famous as the burial place of Richard III.  In the Church of England and some other churches, the diaconate is the first stage of ordained ministry but in some other churches deacons are not ordained.  However they are appointed, deacons are a sign of servanthood in the church.  The word "deacon" actually means "servant".  Our ordination service says 

"Deacons are ordained so that the people of God may be better equipped to make Christ known. Theirs is a life of visible self-giving. Christ is the pattern of their calling and their commission; as he washed the feet of his disciples, so they must wash the feet of others"

Although I have since been ordained priest, I will always be a deacon, a servant.  I value this ministry.

But ordination cannot compare to baptism, that sacrament in which "Christ claimed me for his own".  What a blessing!

C is for Christmas

 I almost started this post by saying "Sorry about that" but I don't feel apologetic  There are eighty eight more sleeps before Christmas so no need to panic, but I want to get a good start on my preparations now. 

I know I've said this before, but when I was in the regular vicars I knew I had to have my personal Christmas prepared (cards written, presents bought and wrapped etc) by the end of October or I didn't get a personal Christmas.  November I prepared my professional Christmas and then in December I went to all the carol services, Christmas parties and general socialising that I was invited to and still had time for the funerals and pastoral visiting which are part of every minister's everyday life.  

Once I retired I let early preparation slip a bit, but last year I made a very determined effort to get ready for Christmas really early, and I was so glad that I did.  December I was able to enjoy Advent and then Christmas, I was able to reflect and pray and the real meaning of Christmas was able to shine though the razzmatazz.  

So, here are two of the first presents I have made.  I made something similar for several friends last year but these are destined for friends who live in different parts of the country.  Each wreath will have to be mailed so they are robust enough to be posted.  My cards are written but left unsealed in case of last minute messages.  

B is for blogging

You've probably realised that I am struggling a little to get back to blogging.  I doubt if I will get to thinking about what X, Y and Z are for but B for Blogging sounds like a good idea.

But why blog anyway?  It's a question which appears on many blogs from time to time and it's a question which probably occurs to most bloggers rather frequently, especially when they can't think what to write about.  I am in awe of people who publish every day!

I blog because I enjoy writing.  Each post is very carefully considered and I try very hard to use just the right words and careful grammar.  I like the feeling of contact with other people, most of whom I have never met - thank you anyone who comments.  I like reading other people's blogs and this is my contribution to the blogosphere.  

I have a Facebook account which I never use and I don't bother with Twitter, Instagram or anything else.  I don't approve comments before they are published but I delete any that are "dodgy".  I've never worked out why anyone would try and advertise escort services in Mumbai on a blog belonging to a retired lady vicar in Lincolnshire!   

A is for Autumn

 

Autumn.  It was so exciting to go back to school in the autumn when I was a child.  It was the time we got a new teacher and, four times in my school career, it was the time when I started at a new school.  For three of those I had a new school uniform and then there was the bliss of Sixth Form College and no uniform at all.  

There were seasonal games,  especially conkers.  Leaf kicking was pretty good too.  Seasonal activities included the auditions and first rehearsals for the school play.  And as the term wore on we started to learn new carols for the end of term carol service.

Foods changed too.  Stews were the order of the day and Mother would be well into jam and chutney making.  The house smelt wonderful.

As I get older I worry a little about fuel bills but I love wrapping myself in blankets and throw in my armchair.  I rather like my thick winter tights and cosy jumpers too.  Christmas is to be planned for and delightful meals with friends anticipated.

I rather like autumn!  How about you?

Quirky Garden

 Not from here is the Walled Garden at Baumber.  It's one of the quirkiest gardens I've ever visited.  

The tea room and snack shack are both built from reclaimed doors and windows.

Despite being several miles from the sea there are beach huts and a boat.

And, despite being thousands of miles from Egypt there's a Pharaoh and a crocodile.

I shall be going back very soon!