Various Updates

I missed this week’s WOYWW unfortunately, and I’d have posted this if I’d managed to join in. I had a very busy day on Wednesday with a lunch out with friends, and after that, all I felt up to was editing a backlog of kitten videos. Yesterday I felt wiped out again and brainfogged. It’s a bit demoralising at the moment – I’m really busy on certain days, and then when I get a few days free to do the things I want to do (like art), I’m feeling too exhausted to do them and all I can do is rest. You’d think after nearly 11 years of ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) that I’d be used to this but there are times when it’s deeply frustrating…

First, our lunch out. Here’s a photo of my dessert!

It was called “Chocolate Trio” and consisted of a chocolate brownie, white chocolate mousse and Bailey’s crème brulee. I love how they’ve decorated the plate with swirls of melted chocolate and fresh raspberries. I started with whitebait and for the main, I had their lamb and mint pie – the whole meal was absolutely delicious. We had a great time together – we are the Allerton Three – the three friends who met in hospital (Allerton Ward) back in March 2013 when we were all in for our cancer operations. We’ve remained firm friends ever since, and try to meet up regularly, although it doesn’t always happen because we are all so busy!

I haven’t taken many photos or videos of the kittens lately – also due to busy-ness and fatigue. They are now 18 weeks old and are getting so big! Lily is still larger than Ruby, and over the last week I’ve noticed a change in her – she is growing the most fantastically soft coat! Her fur is fluffier than Ruby’s and feels like silk chiffon – very fine and just fabulous. It’s probably developing as she starts to grow her first winter coat.

Lily is also proving to be more intelligent than Ruby. She is doing really well with her clicker training, but Ruby tends to get confused, and do things I’m not actually telling her to do at that moment! They both vary as far as their attention span is concerned – if there’s anything else going on (like a fly in the room, or if they are too wild, or too sleepy) they get very easily distracted and wander off! Also, they are pretty good during training sessions, but during the rest of the day they are hopeless and seem to forget everything they’ve learnt!! Never mind, I shall keep persevering, because I know from what loads of people online are saying, this really does work, and a bit of hard work reaps great rewards. They will improve as they get older, I think, when they are less babyish and easily distracted by things to play with!

My hubby says Ruby is a happy little kitty who says “Hello sky, hello clouds…” and is very loving and affectionate. Lily is more independent but she enjoys a cuddle too.

The latest photos.

Lily in the hammock, aged 15 weeks.

Lily relaxing on the cat tree at 16 weeks. With her arms hanging down like that, she reminds me of Chloe, who was Phoebe’s sister – she always used to lie like this!

Here’s Chloe doing it.

Also at 16 weeks, here is Ruby sitting on the cat tree. Queen of the Castle.

This is what happens when I try to work on my laptop. They both want to come up for a cuddle and there isn’t a lot of room – I have to push the computer away a bit. They are 17 weeks old here.

Here they are together on the cat tree. Ruby on top, Lily below.

The final two were taken on Wednesday. Here is Lily with her head stuck in my shoe! They say cats have a much more sensitive sense of smell than we do. If I needed it, here’s the proof that I haven’t got smelly feet!

Not sure what she thought was so interesting in there!

Unfortunately, the kittens have now discovered loo paper…

Not sure who was guilty of this little feat, but we discovered it when I got home from my lunch out on Wednesday. I had put a new roll up in the morning. I have now wound it all back on! We are now making sure that there is no “tail” hanging down from the roll to tempt them. Anything that dangles is fair game, it seems.

They can now get up on the kitchen worktops so nothing’s safe up there any longer either!

This morning a friend from our monthly cancer Cakeathon meetings held one of the national coffee mornings in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, and several of us from the group went along. I wish I’d taken a photo of her table, groaning under the weight of so much CAKE!!! I’m afraid I made a right pig of myself – cake is so irresistible! I justified it by reminding myself that it was all in a good cause! I took along a lemon drizzle cake. Her house was full of her lovely friends and we all had such a great time. She was thrilled that we’d turned up to support her. When we arrived, she’d strung bunting outside her house – supplied in the pack that she got when she signed up to host a coffee morning, and there was more bunting inside, and balloons.

As usual, no time or energy for art, but I did manage to put a few stitches in my embroidery. Here’s the latest piece I’m working on. The French knots around the design are worked in gold – unfortunately this doesn’t show up as shiny on the photo as it is in real life.

I’ve still got quite a lot of these little pieces to do before I can assemble them into the bed drapes I’m making.

I’ve also been very busy preparing sessions for my Bible study group which resumed meeting formally again this month. It takes much longer to prepare each session than it does to teach it!!

Last Sunday we were invited back to our old church to share in their harvest celebrations. I’ve done a separate post about that. It’s such a lovely little church and special because Dad’s funeral was held there.

We are going to the harvest at our new church this coming Sunday.

My poor studio has reverted to a dumping ground and is gathering dust. I really hope I can get back in there during the coming week – this is getting ridiculous!

Harvest Festival at our Old Church

Today was Harvest Festival at the church where we used to live, and we were invited back to share in the service and the harvest lunch afterwards. It is such a pretty little village church and they had decorated it so tastefully and beautifully so out came my camera! The theme was definitely a golden colour with lots of my favourite sunflowers.

This church is particularly special for me because it was here that we held my father’s funeral in 2013. They have an excellent organist who is also such a nice man, and he played many of my dad’s favourite Bach pieces and Dad would have been so thrilled.

Going back again was a very happy event! Everyone was so welcoming and it was lovely to see so many old friends again. During the service I got my fix of my favourite harvest hymns and Tom, the vicar, preached an excellent and heartwarming sermon about seeing God in the little things in our everyday lives and being thankful, and for a short pause being able to concentrate on our being together and enjoying good things, in the midst of a world that is so full of evil and chaos.

After the service, the pews were pushed back (they are all on lockable casters) and tables were set up and laid for lunch in double quick time – they use the nave of the church as their village hall and it’s amazing the instant transformation! We were served delicious home made cottage pie followed by apple crumble and custard – nothing better than that for a village harvest festival!

It was a very happy day all round.

Village Harvest and Art Exhibition

It’s been a weekend of harvest! Yesterday we saw all the harvest displays in Exeter Cathedral, and today we had our harvest songs of praise service in our local church. The harvest supper was on Friday, but I didn’t go to that, as I knew it would be a very busy weekend and I had to pass on something or I’d get totally exhausted!

The weekend has been full of church and community events to celebrate the harvest this year. Starting on Friday, the church was open to show all the lovely harvest displays, and the art exhibition, and the harvest supper was in the evening in the village hall. Then yesterday there was again an open day in the church, and in the early evening, a concert called “Words for Voices” with the theme of food, in which four people took part, with a combination of songs, readings, and little sketches. We hadn’t planned to be there because of being in Exeter most of the day, but we decided to call in to the church before going home, to see the displays, and found them to be in the interval, so we stayed for the second half. It was very entertaining.

In the evening there was a marvellous hog roast in the pub garden. I think it was the best I’ve ever tasted. Delicious locally-bred pork with perfect crackling, served with apple sauce and stuffing in a nice big bread roll! Lots of people there, and a good time was had by all.

Today, Sunday, again the church was open all day for people to view the displays. In the mid-afternoon there was a cream tea in the village hall – I am supposed to be watching my weight but just couldn’t resist fabulous home-made scones and jam and cream, and a slice of absolutely delicious home-made coffee cake!

After this, we had the songs of praise service in the church, with the choir, and the children singing a song, lots of congregational singing with the old favourite harvest hymns (could you possibly have harvest without “We plough the fields and scatter” and “Come, ye faithful people, come”??) and then someone read John Betjeman’s absolutely gorgeous poem, “Diary of a Church Mouse” which made us all laugh, as always!

Wine and cheese was served afterwards, and the opportunity to chat, and look at everything.

Here are some pictures of the harvest displays in the church.

Each year our local organic farm donates a selection of their vegetables for the big display at the foot of the font.

Here is one of their magnificent cabbages. I just love the design of cabbages! All those tightly overlapping leaves, gradually expanding. I’m sure there’s evidence of the Fibonacci series somewhere here! God the great mathematician!!

These were some more of their fruit and veg, on top of the font. They always put in some of those fabulous ornamental cauliflowers which are definitely geeky – living fractals! I can’t resist them!

Here are some photos of the beautiful floral arrangements around the church. I admire tremendously anyone who can do this. I may be creative in other directions, but flower arranging is definitely NOT my strong point! I’ve got no patience for it, and the results are horrible. I think it makes me appreciate what others can do even more!

Here are some of the window displays. This one depicts the harvest of the orchard. Our area of the UK is famous for its apple growing, and the production of cider and apple juice. See how the apple juice in the bottle on the left glows with the light from the window shining through it!

This arrangement was so pretty, with the delicate mauve flowers and the lace.

This next display depicts the harvest of the sea, with rod and line, fishing nets, and shells.

These stars are made from tissue paper, and they glow with the light passing through them from the window.

This church has a fine example of the sort of carved wooden screen for which Devon is famous. This year someone has made a beautiful garland, complete with lights, to adorn it! He first made one last Christmas, and someone visiting the church on that occasion, who is getting married soon, has requested that a garland be made for her wedding. I think it may become a regular feature!

Here’s a view of it from the back of the church. This photo also illustrates what a huge building this is, for a small village. This weekend has been partly about raising funds for its maintenance, as a little village is ill-equipped to keep up such a demanding mediaeval building.

Also in this photo, you can see the children rehearsing the song that they sang in the service.

While I was going round photographing everything, the bellringers were busy summoning everyone to the songs of praise service. Here is the steep, narrow little staircase that leads to the ringing chamber.

The following are photos of the art exhibition. Both my hubby and I put things in. I was hoping to make a nice lot of sales, but eventually only sold one mirror (the butterflies one with the glass bead gel medium) and one box!! Yesterday someone said she was going to buy one of my mirrors today, but nothing happened, so I don’t know if she’s changed her mind or just forgotten. If she wants one, she can always contact me.

On the table they put out some of my boxes, and also the two frames I made (not for sale!!), one for my hubby for our silver wedding, and the other for our nephew’s wedding. (I’ve just realised I haven’t put any decent photos of the boxes on my blog – I’ll do another post with those.)

On this board are displayed my small flower paintings at the bottom, and at the top right, two little silhouettes my hubby did, and also his watercolour underneath, of a narrow boat in a lock. Unfortunately he didn’t manage to sell anything.

At the further end of the table was the glass blowing and the wood carving.

Everything is being returned to us tomorrow. I shall decide what to set aside for Christmas presents, and then I am thinking of starting an Etsy shop. Our village shop now has an exhibition corner where my hubby has had some of his watercolours, and I may put some things in there.

It’s strange. Everyone loves to look, and admire, and show enthusiasm over one’s work, but when it comes to parting with cash, it’s another matter! I certainly don’t think I overcharged – far from it – if I’d charged realistically for the time put into making the items, NOBODY would have been able to afford them!!! I thought that people might have liked to buy my stuff which was reasonable enough for Christmas presents, and I especially made the boxes with poinsettias and Christmas roses to attract the Christmas market.

The man who was organising it said that everyone who’d exhibited and managed to sell anything, sold stuff to approximately the same value, which was strange. I was pleased that one of my little flower paintings which was selected for the silent auction to raise funds for the church, received 2 bids and the final one was more than I’d charged for the other ones. So I really sold 3 items, but will only be paid for 2.

It’s been a very full, and very tiring weekend for me. I have neglected my emails and all my wonderful blog followers, and the WOYWW blog hop – my apologies to everyone! Over the next few days I shall have to rest, and also catch up with different jobs that have been neglected while I was trying to finish everything in time for the exhibition, but I will get back into some sort of routine soon!

Visit to Exeter Cathedral

Today my hubby and I went over to Exeter to attend a special service in the Cathedral for the licensing of new readers (lay preachers) in the Exeter Diocese of the Church of England. An old friend from our last church was one of the new readers and we wanted to support and encourage him – it’s been a long time coming, but at last he has finished his training which he did around his full time job. He used to lead the mid-week house group when we were there, and it’s lovely to see his gifts being used in a wider field, with more influence, and for them to be officially recognised in this way.

It was a lovely service with lots of singing, communion, and the bishop preaching, and afterwards there were photo opportunities outside, and then we had tea in the Chapter House.

The Cathedral was all decorated for harvest, which was lovely. Being such a large space, the displays round the pillars were large too, with lots of wheat, barley and maize, vegetables and fruits, flower arrangements and even the fleece of a shorn sheep!

One of the displays included a traditional harvest loaf.

The main altar for the service had been set up in the nave. It had a beautiful altar frontal.

I was surprised to see that there was also decoration on the back of the altar.

Wandering around before the service started, I discovered a wonderfully imaginative piece of art – a small triptych made of mosaic, which on closer examination I discovered to be made of tiny pieces of beer cans! This was so effective, and all the more attractive for being something beautiful, created from something that the vast majority of people would throw away as rubbish. It’s definitely something I’d like to try!

We had a cup of tea in the wonderful mediaeval Chapter House afterwards. This is the ceiling. What a jewel.

Around the walls in the niches is a series of modern sculptures created by Kenneth Carter in 1974, depicting scenes from the Bible. They are highly dramatic and contrast wonderfully with the ancient Gothic style of the building. I didn’t photograph them all, but here is a selection.

The first is a representation of the chaos before Creation: “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2).

The next shows the separation of the waters and the dry land. “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear” (Genesis 1:9).

Next is a representation of Eden, with the serpent on the left, and Adam being formed from the dust of the ground.

I love the way the man is emerging from the flat background of the niche.

From the New Testament I chose the annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah.

Then the birth of Jesus.

Then this wonderful representation of the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. Note how the sculptor has represented the water.

The final one I chose was the resurrection.

I think you’ll agree that these sculptures are very dramatic, and full of life and movement, and that the sculptor has achieved an amazing feat, and sensitively filled each niche in a way that does not detract from the beauty of the Gothic architecture in any way, but adds impact to a beautiful space.

On our way home we called in to our village church to see the harvest display and the art exhibition, and caught the second half of the concert, before going on to the hog roast, and then home. A long and tiring day, but fun!