Welcome to our third issue, it is really encouraging to read your contributions and see photographs of what you’re up to during these days of ‘lockdown’. Keep them coming! Do you have a hobby? We'd love to hear about it. This week we feature paintings by Margaret, pictures from our photographer of the week Poppy, the Mount home group tell us about their favourite hymns and Scrabble dips into his postbag. As I write this Mary Berry is talking about making nettle soup on the radio – which reminds me - keep those recipes coming so our tester in chief doesn't go hungry - I wonder if there's a recipe for nettle buns! Ursula. My Favourite Hymn (for today!) 3 Father-like, he tends and spares us, All our hopes and fears he knows; in his hands he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes: Alleluia, alleluia! widely as his mercy flows. 4 Angels, help us to adore him; you behold him face to face; sun and moon, bow down before him, praise him all in time and space. Alleluia, alleluia! praise with us the God of grace. 1 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven, to his feet your tribute bring; ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, who like you his praise should sing? Alleluia, alleluia! praise the everlasting King. 2 Praise him for his grace and favour to our fathers in distress; praise him, still the same as ever, slow to blame and swift to bless; Alleluia, alleluia! glorious in his faithfulness. Like many, my favourite hymn/song varies from time to time but as we go into this time of isolation I’ve gone back to one of my old favourites. It was written by Henry Francis Lyte in 1834 and based on Psalm 103. It reminds me of happy times of celebration and sad times of loss when singing praise was a sacrifice rather than a pleasure. Now in these difficult days it comes again like healing oil on my mixed emotions. As I ponder on what the world must have been like then and how it’s changed beyond all recognition, I’m reminded in the words of this hymn that God’s love for the world does not change and He is worthy of our praise whatever is happening. Libby Wain
Transcript
Welcome to our third issue, it is really encouraging to read your contributions
and see photographs of what you’re up to during these days of ‘lockdown’. Keep them
coming!
Do you have a hobby? We'd love to hear about it. This week we feature paintings by
Margaret, pictures from our photographer of the week Poppy, the Mount home group
tell us about their favourite hymns and Scrabble dips into his postbag. As I write this
Mary Berry is talking about making nettle soup on the radio –
which reminds me - keep those recipes coming so our tester
in chief doesn't go hungry - I wonder if there's a recipe for
nettle buns!
Ursula.
My Favourite Hymn (for today!)
3 Father-like, he tends and spares us,
All our hopes and fears he knows;
in his hands he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes:
Alleluia, alleluia!
widely as his mercy flows.
4 Angels, help us to adore him;
you behold him face to face;
sun and moon, bow down before him,
praise him all in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia!
praise with us the God of grace.
1 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,
to his feet your tribute bring;
ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
who like you his praise should sing?
Alleluia, alleluia!
praise the everlasting King.
2 Praise him for his grace and favour
to our fathers in distress;
praise him, still the same as ever,
slow to blame and swift to bless;
Alleluia, alleluia!
glorious in his faithfulness.
Like many, my favourite hymn/song varies from time to time but as we go into this
time of isolation I’ve gone back to one of my old favourites. It was written by Henry
Francis Lyte in 1834 and based on Psalm 103. It reminds me of happy times of
celebration and sad times of loss when singing praise was a sacrifice rather than a
pleasure. Now in these difficult days it comes again like healing oil on my mixed
emotions. As I ponder on what the world must have been like then and how it’s
changed beyond all recognition, I’m reminded in the words of this hymn that God’s
love for the world does not change and He is worthy of our praise whatever is
happening. Libby Wain
All the beautiful garden photos through this edition have been taken by
our Photographer of the Week Jeanette’s daughter Poppy
10 Fun Facts
1. You can’t see your ears without a mirror
2. You can’t count your hair
3. You can’t breathe through your nose with your tongue out
4. You just tried no 3.
6. When you did no.3 you realised that it is possible only you look like a dog
7. You are smiling right now because you were fooled
8. You skipped no. 5
9. You just checked to see if there is a no. 5
10. Share this with your friends so they can have some fun too.
Have a Nice Day
From Dave Watts
Only the Brave - Acts of kindness
Share the Miracle: While church was still able to meet you might remember that
you were told about an initiative that Only the Brave wanted to take part in. It
involved everyone buying an Easter egg in their weekly shop and giving it to Only
the Brave who would then distribute it randomly with an Easter card within the
village. The idea was to bring joy through this kindness and show love that points
people to Jesus. While we know that we won’t be able to do this activity in the run
up to Easter there is still hope (hooray!) and so if possible
we would still like you to add an Easter egg (or other form of
chocolate) to your weekly shopping. When lockdown relaxes
Only the Brave will still be sharing the love of Jesus through
these Acts of kindness.
Toilet Tissue Tales I have a question for all those concerned
citizens who have been hoarding toilet paper:
Why?
Why has it become the most sought after item in the supermarket? Is there a world shortage of trees? Is an outbreak of vindaloo expected? Can you eat it if fruit and veg
become really scarce? Can you sleep under it if your house has been repossessed and it’s raining? What is wrong with last week’s Radio Times hanging on a nail in the corner of
the privy? Any daily newspaper is many times softer and more comfortable than the rolls of “Bronco”, or the even harsher “Izal” of my childhood. In fact Izal was particularly good for rubbing down old paintwork, and its antiseptic qualities could stun bluebottles at ten
paces. It just goes to show that we have become a nation of softies, and too many of us have become obsessed with the need to corner the market in loo rolls.
Before we were confined to our houses, visits to Sainsburys or Tescos were marked by
what became the new weekly shop – a very large trolley loaded with one loaf of bread, two
bottles of Sauvignon, and twenty Andrex 12-packs, often with a toddler perched
precariously on top to try and stabilise the load while mum and dad veered around the
car park unable to see past their ungainly paper mountain. Once they had found their 4
x 4 they ripped out the child seat and spare wheel and crammed in their toilet paper. Last
but one to be packed away were the bread and Sauvignon, and finally the toddler if there
was room. Otherwise he was strapped into the car seat, now languishing in the bushes,
and told his mummy would come back for him later.
Before driving off, a’whoopin’ and a ‘hollerin’ at their successful
sortie, there was one last job to do – to put a tiny sticker of a toilet
roll on the wing of the car, like the bomber crews used to do in World
War Two, painting a bomb on the fuselage of their aircraft on their
return from a raid over Germany. The tiny toilet roll marks another
triumphant mission. An official association has even been formed which awards the
sticker, which is known as a Toilet Roll Owners’ Totem. If you get two or more of them,
you have officially got the Trots.
The last question I have is quite important – what use is there for all the surplus toilet
paper once the effects of last night’s vindaloo and a bout of novovirus have been dealt
with? Can the nation possibly absorb the problem?
Although it was suggested above that you can’t eat the stuff, I have seen some recipes
online by Heston Blumenthal designed to make up for the food shortages at this difficult
time. Here are three. The Trotters might like to try them.
See next page
Come early if you want a back seat! (Notice outside a church)
There’s a bright flash of lightning. A 5yr old girl runs indoors shouting,
“Mummy, Mummy! God’s just taken my picture!”
I’ve just bought the personalised number plate BAA BAA – it’s for my
black jeep.
Are the tall black furry hats worn by the guards at Buckingham Palace
red, brown or black? (Trivial Pursuit question)
John Farrow’s
Dad Jokes
Toilet Tissue Tales cont. Mushy Pees
Take 20 sheets of Andrex, a tablespoon of mint sauce, a teaspoon of green pesto and
seasoning. Blend together in a food processor with dry ice .
The result is a green sludge, not unlike mushy peas in appearance, which makes a
tasty addition to your cod and chips.
(The flavour is much improved if you drink one of the bottles of Sauvignon first)
Arctic Roll
Freeze a toilet roll overnight. In the morning, fill the cardboard
tube with a mixture of vanilla ice cream, four eggs, caster sugar
and raspberry jam.
Serve to people you don’t like.
Toast
Put 20 sheets of Andrex in a toaster, and set it to maximum. It’s carbonised to a
crisp, of course, and totally inedible, but it gives the kids hours of pleasure watching
it ignite, and learning how to call the Fire Brigade as part of their home schooling.
Other exciting dishes you might like to try include Spring Rolls; Fig Rolls; Rolled
Oats; Roulade; Swiss Rolls; and of course the evergreen Sausage Roll.
Even after all this creative cuisine you will still have a mountain of toilet rolls clogging
up your house. You might like to use some of it to mummify your children if – as
seems likely – they get increasingly bored with your attempts to home school them,
and they become bolshy and uncooperative. In this case, wrap them tightly in toilet
paper (3 ply is surprisingly strong when carefully overlapped), and this allows you to
carry the rigid form of your child into the garden shed until you return to collect them
Minding your mental health I think it is beginning to dawn on most of us that this is only the beginning of what could be quite a long haul.
I was watching a short talk by Nicky Gumbel from Holy Trinity, Brompton this week. He was speaking about occasionally experiencing that moment of fear - which many of us are familiar with just now. He reminded us about the time when Peter got out of the boat in the
midst of the storm. Peter wobbled and began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus and focussed on the storm.
I found this so helpful. I had been watching the news constantly and looking at my Twitter feed with all sorts of gruesome details on it - and I started to feel overwhelmed. I needed this reminder to look to Jesus - and not at the storm. It is still hard going sometimes isn’t it -
but I need to fall back on the Bible and asking for the Lord’s help so much in these times. And I will be limiting my news intake from now on - still knowing where we are up to but not
obsessively so. Sarah
Sarah
Warden’s Blog
Well here we are at the end of the second week of “lockdown”.
I hope you are all continuing to cope well. Praise the Lord for
ZOOM! And all other electronic communication. And a big
THANK YOU to Aden for all his work on streaming the services,
despite gremlins getting into the system.
I continue to go into the Church towards the end of each week to check all is well.
You’ll be glad to hear that it is still standing! Electricity remains on (to power the
freezers and the smoke detectors) but the water is off. Every week I shall turn the
water back on and flush the toilets/run the hot taps to try and minimise the risk of
Legionella. Once we re-open the building, the water system will be completely
flushed out for the same reason. (Many thanks to John Sandison for his excellent
advice here!)
I’m STILL waiting for the flooding under the dais to be dried out and will be chasing
up the contractors later this week, but appreciate they are under considerable
pressure following the storms earlier this year, and self-isolation of some of their
staff. Could you please pray that this all gets sorted out before rot sets in? Thanks!
John Farrow
Church Notices – all from the Diocese of Salisbury !!!
Don't miss the Young Wives' Victorian Evening next month. It will
be a fun night and some of the women will wear clothes.
Remember the church jumble sale. We have a gents three-speed
bicycle, also two ladies for sale, in good running order.
There’s more further on!
Here are some of the amazing things people have been
spending their time creating.
Claire has produced this lovely
crocheted bedspread
Spare leather pieces that I was always
going to do something with! A tote bag
for when we can go away took a day to
make.
Trish
Margaret has been busy with the paint brushes. All of
these completed since the lockdown started.
Here’s a photo Joyce Webster has sent me of all
the Easter chicks she’d knitted for the
Sunbeams toddlers. The toddlers will be getting
them once we’re back open.
Aren’t they wonderful! They all have an Easter
egg under them… don’t know about the
toddlers …I want one
Jeanette
Feed Phil
Ofcake Report Apr 3rd 2020 – Dr Philip Extance Recipe supplied by Sarah Birchall
Date and Walnut Cake (Queen Mother’s Recipe – the pudding version!)
Margaret, my wife and resident chef, baked this splendid cake/pudding to provide me with some luxury calories that were desperately needed. It is notable in requiring no
eggs (which may be helpful) and Margaret’s version used Greek Yogurt rather than cream in the sauce (just in case I became accustomed to indulgence). Just to provide evidence of the hard work performed by Ofcake please note the
requirement to taste the raw mix straight from the mixer. This self-sacrifice is performed at no extra cost. The third photo provides evidence of working from home.
And so the cake itself. This is a cake to savour as a dessert being rich and full of flavour. My portion was served with ice cream which was an excellent accompaniment but I realise there may be those of you who might enjoy custard with it. The particular
version provided came with an architectural feature seen on the left-hand side which is not necessary and I am told was caused by a deep fold in the baking paper and is not geological in origin. The cake is reminiscent of sticky toffee pudding and as such is to
be highly recommended. I cannot comment on how long it will last as I suspect this is a test that Ofcake is unlikely to be qualified to perform.
I did not know the Queen Mother personally but she was clearly a person of great taste!!!
Queen Mother’s Date and Walnut Cake with Fudge Icing 4oz/110g chopped dates
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 6floz/170ml boiling water 6oz/160g plain flour
2oz/50g butter at room temperature 6oz/160g dark brown sugar 2oz/50g chopped walnuts (you can omit these)
1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla Preheat the oven to 180 deg C and line an 8” cake tin with parchment. Pour the boiling water over the dates and bicarbonate of soda and leave them to bubble while you mix
the rest of the cake. Beat the butter into the flour, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Finally add the dates, mix everything together and pour it into the tin. Cook for about 25 minutes until a (warmed) knife stuck into the cake comes out clean. Cool
completely before making the icing.
Icing: 5 tbsp soft brown sugar 2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cream In a pan, melt the butter, sugar and cream together, stirring, then boil for 3 minutes.
Allow it to cool slightly, then beat it until it has thickened and pour over the cake. This is the interesting part – too soon and it doesn’t set, too late and you get fudge! Decorate with walnuts.
Random Rachael Thoughts Following on from me praying in the hammock last
week, this week we have Jeanette praying with the
Easter lambs – though she did scare them away!
I also attach a picture of a (well camouflaged) frog.
Finding him got me thinking who do we share our
property with? I would say I share my house with
Sam and 2 cats, but then there is the spider that
scuttered across the living room floor, or the fly who
buzzed in through the open window, a quick dig in
what I call my garden and I suddenly realised, that
my property isn’t mine. It’s ours, shared by a whole
plethora of nature, including Mr. Frog.
This week to pass the time of an evening I have been
