Saturday Wonderful Saturday

N.B. The penultimate paragraph goes some way to explaining why this Saturday posting wasn't prepared until today!

Yesterday morning, and what a brave boy I’m becoming; another venture into town with my beloved chauffeuse, before the full heat of the day had time to make its impact felt. We found a parking spot and purposefully headed off to the store where I could spend the gift card still extant from my birthday. A previous visit ended in abject failure but, perhaps this time I would be a little more successful in my quest. I managed to find a couple of DVD’s for our collection, ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest’ (two disc edition) and ‘The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy’ (movie version), both in the ‘Sale’ at the store.

On our way to the store a notable distraction occurred, the opportunity to get close to a Honduran Tangerine Milk Snake at a new Exotic Pet shop. I missed the opportunity to handle one of the Royal Pythons, as the one sloughing its skin was closely entwined with a more temperamental companion.

I’m sure that I’ll be paying more visits to this pet emporium, even if only to visit Gilbert, the green iguana, but they have a wonderful array of parrots, lovebirds, rabbits, guinea pigs, spiders, skinks, gecko’s, fish and more. It’s wonderful to find such an environment close to home. I don’t feel capable of giving any reptiles all the necessary TLC at present, so I won’t be entering the realm of ownership. I get so much pleasure from our fish, in both the aquarium and the pond, the thought had crossed my mind that it might be good to have a pet that I could actually handle.

On our way back to the car, we stumbled upon a little brawl between a couple of yobs; it takes all sorts of events to make up the true spirit of our proud historic Spa town, but some we can well do without! At least both participants, and their friends, had elements of England regalia on their person so, it obviously wasn’t nationalistic rivalry.

In the afternoon, following a period of rest, I once more donned my chef’s mantle to prepare one of my unique beef curry dishes ready for Sunday lunch. It’s always good to allow plenty of time for the flavours to mature! Come the evening, having watched ‘Doctor Who’ (BBC1), switched on my laptop PC which started behaving in a very erratic fashion, making me wonder how a ‘logical’ machine could behave in such an apparently irrational manner. It took the consumption of at least a couple of glasses of ‘Gran Tarapaca’ Carmenere, Chile 2004, before I’d managed to resolve the problems. An even more difficult task was keeping an half-attentive eye on ‘CSI:NY’ and ‘Law & Order’ (both Channel 5) whilst sorting out the laptop’s glitches.

It was a perfect day in which I avoided the temptation to yield to frustration and, as always, delighted in the company of ma belle amoureuse.

Of Coffee, Grapes and Damselflies

A bright and early start to the day, at least by Sinna Luvva’s standards and, into the shower shortly after 9.30AM, a deed which I’m sure will be marked down in the annals of history. Post shower, the relaxation began; a lazy application of emollient cream to the lower limbs and, a bit of browsing of a technical manual, more than sufficed for the first hour of entry into the day-people’s realm.

By 11.00AM, lightweight clothes and sandals donned, I sauntered down to Open Church at St Marks for coffee, biscuits and a generous helping of conversation. Some forty minutes later, as I sauntered back from this venue, I met our friend Brian’s mum and was able to catch up on how he was coping as a guest of Her Majesty. It appears now, that the earliest opportunity for his release will be April 2007. I share her wish and concern that he will be able to find adequate support, and companionship, when the time comes. Having spent a few years alcohol free, the same temptations will be there on his return to the wider world.

As we talk, we both express our gratitude that we are able to enjoy the delights of fermented grapes as a sociable activity; there but for fortune ….

On return home, and after a little rest, my first port of call was the garden pond to distribute a few floating food-sticks. The goldfish swiftly acknowledged my arrival, and quickly devoured their feast. Both Water Boatmen and Pondskaters were in evidence on the pond’s surface and, after a few minutes a couple of iridescent red Damselflies caught my attention; so ignorant am I in the field of entomology that I’m unable to tell you whether they were the Large Red (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) or the small red (Ceriagrion tenellum) variety. To be quite honest, they could well be a species whose name I’ve not seen in a textbook; forgive my lack of expertise but, unfortunately, I’m not endowed with perfect knowledge.

After this period of distraction, there was further work to be done, removing and folding the first batch of today’s laundry from the line and, replenishing the vacant spaces with the second (smaller) machine load of washing. Once again, I have managed to remove a little of my halo’s tarnish.

Who knows where ...

Having marginally overstayed my allotted period of bed rest, I boldly ventured into the getting dressed arena, without an intervening dressing gown only period. Perhaps, the fact that I couldn’t even contemplate taking a shower made this transition a little easier.

As the atmosphere was rather muggy, swift visits to the pond, to provide some additional nourishment for the piscine residents, replaced my more sustained periods of relaxation on the garden bench.

Most of the day seems to have gone in slow motion, but not discomfortingly so, and I had to keep reminding myself what day of the week it was. I suspect that this confusion, of the days, stems from my beloved’s change of working pattern this week. Apart from putting up a new page on one of my websites and, taking a brief (almost) brisk walk with my beloved in the late afternoon, I find myself wondering what happened to this apparently lingering day.

All in all, a gratefully received relatively pain-free day; for this I give thanks.  

Contentment and Complacency

Over recent days my contentment quotient seems to have become beautifully excessive. This is not to say that everything’s fine, I still have my pet peeves, anxieties and nagging dis-ease but, I have re-discovered the virtue of acceptance and accepting.

Of course, the little grey cells send out warning signals; “acceptance and accepting … sounds like complacency to me”.
So, are complacency and contentment really that alike; I certainly hope not!

Contentment is to do with (almost unconsciously) counting one’s blessings, despite one’s limitations; complacency is being so content with, and possessive of, one’s own lot that, you can let all the rest go hang.

Contentment is being at peace with the world but, it does not entail indifference to the gross ills and injustices that surround us. Complacency is when I am the world.

When one is truly content the capsule of self dissolves into the oneness of being.

And this is Sapphire ...

... one of our neighbours cats, who likes to keep me company in the garden. At the same time, she can't understand why all the birds have flown and, the goldfish have all darted into cover.

A Bobbing Sea of Sparrows

Sections of our lawn are currently abob with sparrows. Our policy of allowing and encouraging swathes of the garden to be a ‘wildlife area’ seems to be reaping its rewards. Simultaneously, there are at least a dozen young sparrows joyfully inhabiting the garden bench. It is indeed a privilege to have the time to stand and stare.

For a short time yesterday afternoon, my beloved and I occupied ourselves in removing, once more, some of the ground elder and yellow loosestrife which seems to delight in making it’s presence felt in the more cultivated area of the garden. At the same time, we observe with great pleasure the multifarious varieties of grasses and a range of wildflowers at the gardens wilder end. Even the blossoming wild brambles are a source of delight.

A Surfeit of Chirrups

This morning, it seems as if all the shrubbery and foliage in our garden, of which there is an abundant supply, is alive with the chirruping of sparrows, fledglings and adult birds alike. Some of the young birds are still being fed by the adults, a wonderful sight. By the time I’ve sat beside the pond for a few minutes, several fledglings perch themselves on the bench which I’m occupying and, come and drink from the birdbath, three feet away from where I’ve situated myself. I just wish I had my camera with me but, I have this sneaking feeling that they’re going to prove camera-shy should I make the effort to retrieve my camera from the house.

I content myself, just listening to the sounds and observing their activity and, even find a moment to feed the goldfish and enjoy their frenetic response to my charitable act. For these valuable moments, I become oblivious to all the world’s woes! For such moments I give thanks.  

Making Peace is a long hard road!

Three items from Ekklesia caught my attention this morning.


Firstly in the Balkans Mennonites work with soldiers who turn their backs on war


Second - USA Combat fear, fundamentalism and Fox News, says church leader


Third - Scottish church leaders denounce Trident nuclear weapons

When Is A Message Not?

When it’s a sequence of numbers left on our telephone answering machine. The sequence definitely sounded like a mobile ‘phone number but, the voice uttering this sequence didn’t sound at all familiar to either my beloved or myself.

The outgoing message on the machine specifically states, “if you would like to leave a message, please speak after the tone”. We do not request a random sequence of numbers, nor do we make any promise to get back to the caller but, it seems common-sense to us that a message should communicate something. We do not have a caller's name, no hint of what they wanted to speak about nor, did they say whether the sequence of numbers was some sort of a code, a telephone number to be avoided at all costs, a new theory of everything, or a number which they wished us to call.

We are always reluctant to call mobile ‘phone numbers, because of the expense involved; the same goes for any premium or ‘special’ rate numbers, so we trust that Mr Anonymous will not be too disappointed if he was expecting a call back!

When is a message not a message? When it fails to communicate anything!

A Visit, An Anniversary and, Chefly Delights

Rather unusually, I felt quite alert when I retrieved myself from duvet land and, within fifteen minutes had made my way to the shower room. Stranger still, this occurred after I had my acupuncture session yesterday afternoon whereas, recently, my usual morning after response has been to feel (not unpleasantly) floatingly zonked out.

A degree of tiredness overwhelmed me during Kazim’s late morning visit; I’m afraid that rapid fire talking, by a guest, tends to have a head-swimmingly soporific effect. It really is rather sad that some people, desperately seeking friendship, tend to become over loquacious, in their attempt to demonstrate / display their friendly qualities and an over-preparedness to oblige. Unfortunately, the reality is that friendships take time to develop, unlike acquaintanceship which is more instantaneous. We’re happy to extend our hospitality but, we don’t rush into committed friendship; that takes time and effort. It is one thing to befriend, something quite different to become bosom buddies!

I recovered sufficiently by mid-afternoon, to visit the 75th Anniversary Exhibition of the Methodist Church in Starbeck, where my father was a Supernumerary Minister for twenty years. It was good to see a photo of my Mother, with a small group from Women’s Network which I’d never come across before. The twelve floral displays, on the theme of Christian Heroes, was quite impressive and, it was encouraging to see that some of the displays had been prepared by members of their neighbouring Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches.

Whilst listening to the Jazz on Radio 3, I adopted my Cheffish persona to devise a main course for Sunday Dinner. The resulting creation has been christened as ‘Spiced Chicken & Pineapple Casserole’ and, it smells far more enticing than you can possibly imagine. .As usual, most of the initial cooking was of the griddle pan variety; I started by coating a few chicken breast fillets in a concoction of ground black pepper, coriander, turmeric, garlic and ginger before griddle pan frying them along with onions, peppers, mushrooms and some freshly diced pineapple, with generous lashings of basil and thyme infused olive oil. I diced the chicken in situ, partway through this preliminary cooking, before tossing all the griddle pan contents into a casserole dish. To this I added 750ml of a garam masala laced chicken gravy. The casserole dish, complete with contents was then popped into a pre-heated oven for twenty-five minutes.

Next came the par-boiling of my spice and herb imbued roast potatoes. Come tomorrow, all that remains is the roasting of the potatoes and heating through of the casserole.

I rejoice and am glad in this day the Lord has made.