Christmas Greetings to you all

I wish you all a very happy Christmas and perhaps even more importantly I wish the whole world Peace in these difficult times.

One of my favourite books as a child was Little Grey Rabbit's Christmas by Alison Uttley with as always lovely illustrations by Margaret Tempest mine is a 1946 edition which I have had for more than 60 years.

This illustrationt shows the Christmas tree provided by the generous Moldy Warp who had decorated a pine tree in the wood for all the animals.

On every branch of the little fir-tree candles wavered their tongues of flame.  Little red and gold fruits hung from the tips of the boughs.  On the ground under the branches were bowls of hazel nuts, round loaves of barley bread, piles of wheaten cakes, small sacks of corn and platters of berries ......... Icicles and hailstones shone like diamonds among the branches ......  and chains of frozen water drops swung to and fro reflecting the candle light.  Through the tip top of this wonderful tree gleamed the Christmas Star.

Across the snowy fields padded little dark creatures, all filled with curiosity to see the glowing lights in the tree.  Some were thin, and some were lame, and many were poor for it had been a hard winter..........."Help yourselves," cried Mole waving his short arms, "it is Christmas.  Eat and drink and warm yourselves.  Take away as much as you want for your store rooms."  Then every little creature ate the good food, and drank the sweet honeyed ale and carried away little bags and baskets of meal and cakes and corn.  The birds filled their knapsacks, the squirrels tilled their pockets.  When they had finished there was nothing left except the glowing candles which the wind could not extinguish.

Does this little excerpt remind you of anything more recent?

The boiler work is finished we are warm and have hot water now - I realise just how lucky we are!  There are primroses in the garden and as I type the sun is shining - all's well in my little world.

Not Forgetting The Whale

A news item on the web this morning:

 Stock markets in London, Paris and Frankfurt have fallen sharply as fears of a Chinese economic slowdown continue to haunt investors.  

London's FTSE 100 index was down by 2.6% in morning trade, while major markets in France and Germany lost nearly 3%.

Shares in Asia were hit overnight, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing down 8.5%, its worst close since 2007.

The Chinese authorities tried in vain to reassure investors.

In addition, oil prices have plunged to six-year lows, as traders worry about slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Why might I be telling you about this you ask - well because it relates to the subject of a book which I have just finished reading.

I picked up Not Forgetting the Whale at the library at the end of last week and once I started reading I was hooked and couldn't put it down.  No I don't have the foggiest about stocks and shares nor do I understand economics but this book is about a City analyst who invents a computer programme (you all know that I don't know anything about computers either of course!) which can predict how the stock markets will go and who flees the City fearing a worldwide collapse of civilisation as predicted by the computer programme he invented. 

The book can be read simply as a straightforward novel but having finished it I see that it would make a great book for discussion as it incorporates Biblical texts (from Job 41 and the story of Jonah and the Whale which apparently also appears in the Qur'an/Koran), writings by Hobbes in his Leviathan (no I haven't read it and had to check it out on the internet) which is about his ideas of political science back in the 1600's, and speculation about social collapse as in this article from the New Scientist about whether a pandemic might bring down civilisation.

In spite of all this it is at heart an optimistic easy to read book in which society  turns out to be much nicer than anyone foretold.  To listen to an opening extract of the novel click here  And for lots of reviews justGoogle the title.  I am going to reread it before I have to take it back and I'd be interested to hear what you think of it should you decide to read it for yourselves.

Coffee in the garden - yes really!

One thing about having double glazed windows and doors is that it cuts out the sounds from outside - sometimes this is a good thing but I love to open the back door when I come down in the mornings just to hear as well as see what is going on outside!  This was the view this morning about 8.30 am - the frost was white but the sun was shining and the sky blue.  We've had some lovely bright days here recently but the north easterly wind has made it bitterly cold but this morning the wind seemed to have dropped and the birds were singing in the wood and all was well with my little world.

I had a wander round the "estate" and noticed that the snowdrops were almost in flower and there were also a few brave primroses in bloom (and a lot of tidying up needing doing too!)

 Back indoors the daffodils I had bought at the Trading Post when I did my shopping there over two weeks ago are still looking lovely and fresh out in the unheated conservatory where I put them on the table so I can see them from the living room.  They wouldn't have lasted long in the house in the warm but seem to be happy out here.

 I also bought these little irises from the same place the following week and they too are looking good.

And the geraniums seem to be happy enough even though the temperature is rarely above 7 or 8 degrees in the conservatory and often almost freezing at night - in the summer when the sun is higher I have to move the plants or they would get burned to death but just now there is no danger of that! The daffodils in the background are the remains of a pot of tete a tetes I bought before Christmas which lived out on the table till recently.  Once they have properly died off I will plant them in the garden.  All these flowers gave a real lift to my spirits and made me feel happy.  I am no Pollyanna and can be a miserable as the next person when I get one of my grey blanket periods but it's hard to be "down" when the flowers and birds are sounding and seeming so bright and happy and there is a real feeling of hope and that spring can't be far away now.

By 11.00 o'clock the sun had a certain amount of warmth to it although the frost remained where the sun didn't reach and when I noticed that the blue bench was in full sunlight I wiped off the damp and took an old cushion and my mug of coffee outside and sat there for 20 or 30 minutes.  Sheer santosha moments as I closed my eyes listened to the birdsong and felt the heat of my mug bringing warmth to my hands, my sleeves pushed up a bit to maximise the Vit D I might get, my mind wandered and for those few minutes I was truly in the moment and at peace with the world!  I checked the temperatures and discovered it was 15 degrees on the bench in the sun and only 5 in the shade.  When I came back into the kitchen there was a welcoming smell of casserole wafting from the oven as lunch was cooking another moment of happiness and I felt a sudden urge to make some flapjacks since the oven was on and they would take but a moment to make.

The washing had finished by then and I put the sheets and towels on the line - I did manage to get a couple of big bath towels dry outside last week in the wind and wondered if the sheets might dry today.  There's something so pleasing about seeing washing blowing on the line knowing that when it comes in it will have that wonderful fresh air dried smell I think.  I really can't imagine not being able to line dry my washing although I know not everyone can. By the way that isn't one of my sheets on the ground but some agricultural fleece in an attempt to warm the soil a little in readiness for the spring planting - looks filthy as cats or badgers seem to have walked all over it leaving muddy prints!

As I write this I have just had a cup of tea - not outside as there is no sun in the garden now - and a piece of flapjack and then fetched the sheets (dry) and towels (still damp) in from the line.  It gets cold very quickly once the sun goes down but it is so lovely to have the daylight till 5.30 or so now.  I don't think I would cope with living any further north where although the summer days would be very long winter would be so dark.

During the time that I haven't been blogging nor using the computer as much I have had more time for other things and have completed a crochet shawl started some months back. I used yarn I bought to make a bolero years ago and never finished!

I have been reading too and this was one of the books I read.  It was a well researched book at times shocking, frightening, horrifying and many other similar adjectives and not an easy read but one that maybe should be read widely as just becuase we don't see or know about what is going on in our world doesn't mean it isn't happening.  The book is about climate change and capitalism and whether or not one shares the author's views there is no doubt that climate change is happening.  There is a blog too under the same name if you are interested.  If you have read it I'd love to know your views as it is a book that cries out to be discussed.

 As a bit of light relief to all this doom and gloom I also read a book I'd bought in a charity shop just before Christmas thinking that if the Wanderer who was to visit then wanted something extra to read it might suit - she didn't read it but I did and I loved it!  It tells a story of a friendship between two very different women. There have been others, books I mean, but none I can particularly recommend or perhaps it is that I can't remember what they were!

Same view at 5.40 and I'd better stop waffling on now especially as it's Sunday today and not really one of my 3 days a week computer days!

Soucis, friends and books

A little pot of marigolds.  I cut some back where they were growing across the path to the washing line and saved the flowers to display in a little paste pot on my kitchen windowsill.  The marigolds grew from seeds originally given to me by Lesley over at Printed Material and the little pot is a 1950s paste pot one of several given to me by another friend when I had admired one she had.  I am reminded of yet another friend too this time a French friend who grew marigolds in her garden and who told me they were called soucis and that the word also means little anxieties or worries.

Speaking of anxieties have you ever noticed how it is that when a topic takes your eye you come across it over and over again?  Last week I watched a programme about consumerism The Men Who Made Us Spend and was shocked at the number of mobile phones that were shown being thrown away as consumers rush to get the latest and newest version. That people would be prepared to queue for 18+ hours just to be first with the latest version strikes me as crazy but then as you know I am a bit of a technological Luddite.

 Then I picked up this leaflet in the local farm shop mainly because I liked the illustrations but it seemed that the actual magazine was on a similar topic but looked at from a different view.

That of the land or the earth and how we all depend on it for our very survival.

In the Waitrose Weekend freebie on Friday I came across this article in which Kate humble is talking about the Barefoot Wine Beach Clean-ups in which she tells of the incredible number of cotton bud sticks which litter the beaches causing death to wildlife it seems people toss them down the toilet and they then end up in the sea - I was reminded of the walk I did along Chesil Beach after last winter's storms and how shocked I was at the amount of plastic in particular the number of disposable plastic lighters there were strewn along the beach.

Having read this post  on Leanne's blog Tales of Simple Days   I also noticed this little video in her side bar and was drawn to watch it and left almost in tears.  I urge you to take a look.

All of the above made me wonder - are there any answers to the dreadful problems which beset our beautiful world?  It's not only the environment,  there's the sweatshops where cheap clothing for the Western world is produced to be worn a few times and then disposed of, the wars which take place round the world and the mindless destruction of innocent people as in the Malaysian air disaster and.........  Does anything I can do make any difference?  I remember as a child being taught that we must always strive to do the right thing but that doing the right thing might not be easy.  I think the more difficult thing is knowing what is the right thing.  I think we must believe that if enough of us do what we feel to be right things will one day improve - if it's not too late.

Now on a totally different topic: Books

Here is my current non-fiction selection from the library.  I have enjoyed the Amazing Spaces book and wonder if it is something innate in most of us to want to make a den or small place in which to live or spend time.  I'd sometimes love to run away to a small place where I could live the simple life ... or would I?  The Slice of Britain is a novel idea in which the author takes a tour round Britain sampling the various regional cakes and biscuits and idea she had when she noticed that she could have any number of foreign delicacies with her daily coffee from the local coffee shop but where were the traditional British cakes?  I haven't read it yet but it looks promising.  You will see I have got hold of a book about the Elmhirsts of Dartington as I was so fascinated with the whole place when I visited Dartington Hall and I now know what the tapestries in the Great Hall were inspired by - you might remember my photos had light reflections obscuring the information I wanted.  I am loving the bottom book in the pile which is Angie Lewins Plants and Places  I adore her illustrations and feel inspired to translate some of her designs into textiles, embroidery or patchwork or something.  All those umbellifers call to me!  I haven't yet returned the Slow Devon book as I am still wondering about making a September BBB trip!

Better stop waffling on now hope I haven't bored you too much?  Thank you for all your comments on my previous posts.

Less is often more - discuss

I have noticed recently that several bloggers have been having a sort out and clearing the decks in these after Christmas weeks.  I too have made use of these diary-empty weeks of unpredictable weather to do some clearing out here at Chez Marigold.  I swear "stuff" breeds as however often I do this there is always more rubbish next time I look!  Many trips have been made to the charity shops and one or two to the tip, I have got rid of all the clothes I never wear - now that my lifestyle is no longer that of a working woman nor even an ex-pat who entertains often I don't feel the need for so many and it is true that I wear 20% of my clothes 80% of the time.  When I think back to my childhood and the items my mother and I possessed I wonder how I have come to this situation.  When we moved we fitted all we owned into a trunk which was sent on ahead by rail and we took our personal possessions in a couple of suitcases.  True we didn't have furniture nor did we need linens, kitchen utensils,ornaments and so on but even so I doubt I'd fit even my crafting bits into one trunk these days!

 I began to think about less being more and I think that in many cases it is true.  Take books for example.  Time was when you were allowed 3 books from the library at a time now I am permitted to have up to 20 items and although I don't usually take them all at once I often have my full quota at home - does this mean that I read as carefully and appreciate them as much I wonder?  I think not as I tend to flit between them dipping into one here and another there and sometimes not actually reading them properly at all before taking them back.  The above was the current selection and that didn't include 2 books I had in my basket ready to return to the library!  If you enlarge the photo you'll see from the bookmarks poking out that I am reading several at once!  Might it be better if there was less choice both at the library and indeed on my shelf at home and might I appreciate them more and read them better if I had just 3 at a time?  Think back to when people read by candlelight whatever book they could get hold of and truly valued what they had.

In contrast here are 2 of my own books which I love and re-read constantly - The Garden Cottage Diaries is one I purchased after having had it from the library several times (if you check out the link do watch the little video on it too) and The Magic Apple Tree is one which I had mislaid or lost along the way and a blogger friend very kindly provided me with another copy.  So maybe less is more when it comes to books.

The internet is a wondrous thing and the answer to all one's questions are there at the click of the mouse and yet...  it does mean that I spend far too much time at the computer reading mail, checking out blogs that I follow which then often lead me via links to something else I find of interest and so it goes.  I remember a children's programme on TV many years ago called Sesame Street and the criticism leveled at it that it encouraged children's attention spans to be brief as they never had to sit and watch anything without a change of topic for more than a few minutes.  I don't know if that was a valid criticism or not but I do think that the internet is like flicking through a magazine and we don't actually take in much of what we see - we gain a lot of superficial information but not much by way of depth.  True or not?

Constant connection one with another is yet another thing I wonder about - time was when a letter was the preferred means of contact between friends with perhaps an occasional telephone call; both were truly appreciated but now with e-mails winging back and forth not to mention text messages (how I hate those since I am no good at saying what I want to say in so few characters nor can I get the real meaning when there is no way I can read between the lines!) and mobile phones.  Once upon a time if you were on a journey you were not contactable now it seems people are constantly available - where's the quiet and moment of calm in that?!  Of course I can see the advantages of having such instant communication in an emergency but not all the time surely?  Less use of technology is a good thing isn't it?  I have in mind making myself a challenge to have at least a couple of days a week technology free although I might still want to use the oven, the electric kettle and so on!
 
I can see that this line of thought could go on and on but maybe I will stop here and do a follow-up post another time.

Mixed bunch

Well this has been a rather strange week - an in-between sort of time when it's not still Christmas and not quite New Year either there has been nothing in the diary and the world is not yet back to normal. Here in the UK storms have led to flooding and loss of electricity along with damaging winds tumbling trees and causing damage to property along with transport chaos.  We personally haven't been affected apart from the Wanderer not being able to get to us for Christmas but my heart goes out to those whose homes are under water and who have not had any electricity for days on end.

One of my resolves for 2014 is to try bottling fruit - no electricity needed to keep fruit this way.  I remember the serried ranks of jewel bright jars in the pantry cupboard of my childhood and want to learn how to do it myself.  How come I never learned whilst my mother was busy doing it I wonder?!

 I also want to get to grips with sourdough baking  You may remember I told you about the starter a bloggy friend gave me here?  Well I did try and after a long time I managed to get the starter to froth as required.

 The bread I eventually produced though was not a success.  I ended up with this rather flat loaf - dough too moist I think - which we did slice and eat toasted but it reminded me of biscotti to look at and although it was edible it certainly wasn't what I had envisaged!  Must try harder.

 The weather has been a mixture of storms and some bright days, frost and mild grey days.  Yesterday the frost didn't melt from the garden all day and it was very cold but today dawned wet and dismal - this was the sky when  went out with the birds' food early this morning (they are enjoying the bird table I am happy to say!)

  Gradually the sky brightened...

... and the grey clouds headed east leaving us with a sunny bright morning.

After lunch I decided a walk to the Post Office through the woods would be good - it was lovely the sky above so blue even though underfoot it was muddy and the ground littered with branches, some across the path.

On my way back I picked this little posy of twigs which were in bud and some hazel catkins - hopeful eh?!

As we have spent such a quiet Christmas just the two of us I have had time to do plenty of reading and had a good selection of library books on hand for the holiday.  This one I can recommend - it turned out to be something quite different to the usual.  It is a story written from the point of view of a 5 year old which is in itself unusual but it works well.  If you want a story which will transport you to the sunny south of France, that contains no love stories or at least not the usual man meets woman sort, but a lovely sad/bittersweet tale of real love, friendship and imagination with a twist in the tail then this is for you!  If you read it let me know what you make of it  For more information see here.

I was going to wish you a "Happy New Year" but then I started to think about what is meant by this wish - happiness is after all ephemeral and I think rather like a butterfly which if you seek it will flit away but if you sit still and quiet might just land upon you only to fly away a few moments later.  So maybe what I wish you is many Santosha moments for nobody can have wall to wall happiness and it might not be a good thing if we could.  So I wish you peace, health and plenty of happy moments in 2014!

Tale of two cities and other things!

We had an outing last Saturday - again we took the train to EXETER.

Where we decided to follow the City Wall Trail which is a self guided walk round the various parts of the wall which remain - 70% of it is still in existence.

This lovely mosaic was near the end of the walk - isn't it beautiful?  Do click on the photos to enlarge them as then you can see the details better.

Not just a pile of old rubble but part of the ancient wall - originally built by the Romans about 200 AD but repaired by others over the centuries although some of the original Roman work still exists.

 Another section of the wall is situated in a peaceful grassy area - really quiet.

This information board was at the South Gate which had at one time been a prison and I was fascinated to see where the phrase "living on a shoe string" came from!  You learn something new every day!

Having completed the trail we had lunch in the Real Food Shop which I would definitely recommend.

Then yesterday we took advantage of South West Trains offer of £15 day returns to anywhere in their region on Saturdays and Sundays till beginning of September and went to LONDON

I liked the monochrome scene with just a little dash of red in the boat.  I tried later to get the same view with a couple of red buses crossing the bridge but ended up without St Pauls in the frame!

 I wanted to go here where I purchased a pair of sandals and from there we walked along the Brompton Road towards Knightsbridge passing Brompton Square where at one time my aunt had worked in one of these houses and I wanted to see it again - I remember visiting her occasionally when she lived here (watch out I feel another memories post coming on!)

I love the architecture you see especially if you look up when walking in London - this is of course the V and A.

After lunch we parted ways and I went to Covent Garden where I hoped to find this shop having been unable to do so last time I was in London.  This time I was in luck and spent a happy time browsing and finally left with a purchase.  Everywhere I saw so many flowers like this - wonder why it is mainly pubs which do this though?

We met up again and then made our way towards the South Bank and Waterloo station.  We climbed up the steps to visit this lovely area of garden - who would believe that it is on the roof of a building on the South Bank? 

It had been on my list of places to visit for a while and I will have to go again as I have just discovered that there is more than we saw as it has been extended over to the Hayward Gallery as well!

We were lucky with the weather as although there was a shower it was whilst we were inside but on the way home the skies darkened and it began to rain but by then we didn't care!

On Tuesday we went for a walk - an AA (as in Automobile Association and not Alcoholics Anonymous!) walk Mr M had found on the internet which sounded just our cup of tea being about 5.5 miles and taking around 3 hours.  I made us a picnic and filled a flask with tea and we set off for Minterne Magna.

We had printed out the instructions and a diagramatic map but fell at the first hurdle as the path stated had been closed and now it started back at the car park.  So we had wasted a quarter of an hour before we got going!

The route was lovely although at times we couldn't understand the instructions nor the map and indeed we met a lady with a couple of dogs who happened to be doing the same walk who was also having difficulty.

We reached The Cerne Giant about 1.30 and made use of one of the benches in the little viewing area there to sit and have our lunch. Not every lunchtime that we spend viewing a naked man whilst eating our sarnies!!

After lunch we set off again and soon reached the pretty village of Cerne Abbas.  Where I enquired at the Village shop whilst buying a bottle of water where we would find the Pottery mentioned on our instructions only to learn it had closed 10 years ago!

This path was quite difficult to walk along being so narrow and I felt a bit like a mountain goat or sheep but less agile.  There were many lovely wildflowers including  delicate pale blue harebells which I haven't seen for many years along with soft mauve scabious and lots of bees and butterflies flitting about.  We met a group of about 20 ramblers going the opposite direction and had to scramble to one side where the bank was a little wider to let them pass!  It did give us a few moments to get our breath back though.

 By now we were lost and none of the things we were told to look out for appeared to be where they should nor was the diagram much good either - moral here is to ensure the stated route is up to date and to take an Ordnance Survey map along as well!

 It was all very scenic though and we did eventually find our way back to Mintern Abbas...

 ... see here is the house and gardens I had wondered if we might visit when we got back thinking it might be about 3.30 but...

 ...here is the church clock showing 5.15!!  We'd been walking for 5 hours apart from the sit down to eat our sandwiches.  It was a lovely route and would have been even more enjoyable had we known where we were going.

On Wednesday we had thought of going to Salisbury for the day but after our tiring day on Tuesday we stayed at home though I did walk into town to pick up a library book I had reserved.

Speaking of library books here are a couple of recommendations you might like:

 If you like Victoria Hislop's The Island and The Return you might like this one - I hadn't known much about modern Greek history, I am ashamed to say, so it was educational too for me as well as an enjoyable read.

This one is written by a husband and wife taking turns to tell of their voyage down through France by canal to the Mediterranean.  They left London with their two small children and set off into the unknown - a really interesting read.  Check this one out here.

If you are still with me - you deserve a medal!  And to think I said I was giving up blogging!