Daguerreotypes

George Gower Bruce

I am grateful to my cousin in Argentina for all the information he has sent me which I have kept as posted comments on this blog. I have not posted the comment with his e mail address, but I am able to forward any Elder comments for him . I have had a go at taking a digital photo of 3 Daguerreotypes that I have . They are the best I can do at the moment as the glass reflects.

Firstly here above is George Gower Bruce b.1794, the husband of Mary McKinnon Elder(My great great grandparents)
Next is Benjamin John Elder , a miniature of him as a young man, followed by his daguerreotype

Benjamin John Elder

Benjamin John Elder  Master Mariner

The photo below,also a daguerreotype is of Benjamin John Elder Bruce,my great grandfather, son of George Gower Bruce and Mary McKinnon Elder and nephew to Colin Elder of Skye(of Cruise of the Betsy Fame)

My own grandfather and his siblings were all born in Hull. A first son Gower Bruce was born in Scotland, and brought up by Georgiana Newell (nee Bruce ) after the death of his mother. My great grandmother was Marie Louise Bevan( from Hull). Benjamin John Elder Bruce and family emigrated to New Jersey(USA) in the 1890s but the line has now died out. My grandfather only remained in Hull , where I too was born in 1947.

My cousin in Argentina knows more than I do about the Elders. The family gathers here on Wednesday for the 6th birthday of my grand-daughter. In the meanwhile here are the Elder jewels such as they are, and the inside of MMcKEs Workbox. Will send you the outside pictures tomorrow. I cannot get them to rotate right now and it is after midnight.

Benjamin John Elder Bruce 

Sweet maidens of IsleOrnsey

I have a copy of a book, Turners 'Rivers of France' inscribed as you can read to the daughters of the Elder Family in 1840. This book has come down to me , through the family of Mary McKinnon Elder, of which all branches have now died out. I remain with my 2 sisters only. I also have Mary Mckinnon Elders workbox (sewing box) and the mourning brooch inscribed Margaret Elder 1827 (aged 18 died) and a ring inscribed MMcD to MMcB no date but looks Georgian.
I do not have any information about my Elder forbears. My Cousin in Argentina knows far more than I do.
The keeper of the family archive was Eva Borthwick , a grandaughter of Mary McKinnon Elder.I remember her well. She died in about 1955.

For My cousin In Argentina

Mary McKinnon Elder

Jane MacDonald Elder

Jane Elder

Major General Sir George Elder(from miniature)

Mary McKinnon Elder (top) is my great great grandmother. She died in Inveraray in 1880 and was the daughter of John Elder and Margaret McBean Elder of Isle Ornsey.Skye.
Immediately below her here is Jane McDonald(nee Elder) , her sister who married the minister of Glen Urquart we think?
Below her is Jane Elder (we think) the 2nd wife of the Colin Elder (farmer) of Skye whose first wife was Agnes McKay.
Major General Sir George Elder is the photo taken from a miniature . We have the Inventory of his possessions on his death in Madras In 1836. We also have a plaid (Tartan) of his which we still use on very cold nights on our bed !

Antwerp Station -not just the architecture is great

Worst Weed Wednesday

What a good idea to hold a Worst weed Wednesday. Thank-you' The Home Garden. 'Click on their name to see more about their bright idea.

Here it is then . At the moment in my garden this little weed is a nuisance. It is Euphorbia Peplus, the Petty Spurge H/A up to 20cm on a good day.

1. Firstly , it only has to look at the clouds and before the day is out it has grown 2 cm , flowered and set seed, or so it seems.
2. It hides amongst the lettuces and spinach. This would normally be ok, but I am a poor cook , unable to wash and sort through my greens. I can usually do soil to plate in 10mins . Because I do not pick out strangers in an efficient way it is not uncommon for me to cook this little spurge as well. In a dish of Spinach it is just a green mush so the dear little Euphorbia hides bitterly. It is poisonous, as are all spurges. Perhaps they should be called Purges.
3. It doesn't mind where it grows, when it grows and how tall it grows. I have seen a fresh green haze of them sprouting in February in the snow.
   
4. It exudes a milky sap which is a magnet for small children playing in the what one hoped was an exciting environment of a safe kind. Is there one?

On the positive side it is a most attractive little annual, as are all its cousin cultivars. Just not at the moment Thank-you.Bet you cant spot it -but its there!

Thanking you Headmaster cyberfashion

In a while I will be doing the drive again:

• past the Orchids
  
• Reighton Hill,
  
• the 2 trees
  
• the turning to Grindale,
• the hedge with a dead fox behind it
• Bridlington Hospital,
  
• the place where Hockney did his latest Magnum Opus oka Morrissons Car park
• the MMR award to Great Planting Roundabout
• B nd Q
• SCHOOL

I am going to join your colleagues past and present as we all say THANK -YOU and wish you well as you leave the school which has been overseen by you for 20 years.
You don't know how grateful I was in the Summer term of 1993 when you gave me Supply Work. I so needed to supplement our income that I was getting free carrots from the greengrocer ,for the rabbit we didn't have, and making soup .

For the next 13 years I came and went on the Staff Team, term here ,short contract there, full time here and part time there. I was not the easiest employee I know that. The 'bit of a gob on me' part disrupted a few Staff Meetings. You will remember that you had to ask the Maths Co-Ordinator to request that I stopped calling you 'Boss' and use the correct form of address. So here I am thanking you sincerely S.... for the ways you supported, encouraged ,informed and disciplined me for my own good.

1. I am retired now, and am grateful for all the advice and information you gave as you steered me through the last Official government paperwork I will ever have to do.
2. Thank you for all the enthusiasm with which you embraced the world of ICT ,the Cyberworld, and turned me into a Techie. My family have watched me grow in confidence as I now Blog and Twitter do Spread Sheets and Websites. I am never bored. I have even written more with a real pen now that I have rediscovered language. LOL. You were the first person to show me a new Search engine ,GOOGLE ,You made sure all your staff including me had a laptop for work at home. You were ahead of the game with the introduction of Electronic Whiteboards in School, and the Computer Suite was school heaven for this older person. Now the first thing my 2 yr old Grandson says when he arrives in my home is ' Puter Grandma' . I hold my head up high.
3. Your Monday morning Assemblies were a strength. Even before I had a vested interest in what you said I appreciated the many things you said about ordinary Family things .To hundreds of children many of whom lived in extra-ordinary if not strained Family situations you talked about your childhood in Leeds, your weekly chats with your old Father, the looking forward to Wedding assemblies . Who will ever forget your pictures of the Grand Canyon ? You gave children a rounded view of contentment.
   
4. I loved your Shirts. The duck egg blue one was my favourite. The Red one however was your statement shirt, and I watched you on Red Shirt days to see where the day would go.
5. I really appreciated working in a well ordered , clean and well decorated school. You see I had spent years in a school that was so dirty and untidy that I realised that surroundings do matter. Children do appreciate care ,and learn to be careful . The working enviroment was always under review, and I am sure that aspiring Heads trained for years with you learned much good Housekeeping Practice from you.
6. You always demanded much from your teachers. We had to know what we were doing, the planning had to be done, the children had to be secure and stimulated, happy and well disciplined in our care. Working walls come and go, targets change, Govermment directives blow with the wind, Teachers climb ladders knocking off others as they go. It means nothing when viewed after a few years. BUT Thank you for liking and encouraging and affirming children. My own children would have been content in a class of yours. This to me is the bottom line.
   

LATER I have put 29 photos on Facebook. You will have to become my friend now!
Well I am home now from your DO. It was such a happy time. People were so genuinely pleased to come and wish you well for the future. May you and Pam thrive in the climate of change. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH.

PS
The one and only time I did the minutes of the staff meeting I did a spoof copy of them for a select few . I think they could still be hidden in one of my files on the Server.

The train drew up there unwontedly.

Great Railway Journeys I have done (2)

I would have loved some unscheduled stops because of the heat but these days we have Air conditioned carriages even on the (now bankrupt )National Express trains.
I have done the journey from York to Kings Cross hundreds of times, and feel I know every copse and clump of buildings. I don't of course. In my mind I have an impression of the landmarks I have come to appreciate over forty years of frequent travel.
There are catagories in which to pigeon hole my rail rambles to London and all stops beyond.
Travelling For

• Funerals-expensive journeys, tickets bought on the day, usually a day when you cant afford a bus down the road.Have to set out before 9.30 so cheap day return null.
  
• Quick day trip to visit relation in hospital. Cheap ticket-bought just in advance.
• Quick day trip to visit London Gallery. Same tariff as above
• Well organized visit ,planned in advance for stay of few days with progeny(Sussex) , taking in Galleries and the Kings Road whilst crossing London with bus pass. Using Senior railcard online ,cheaper than a meal in the Saachi Mess.
• Very well organized Progress with spouse. Abroad via Eurostar, or to Heathrow, taking full advantage of days to visit progeny,Galleries, Brighton and Aged Relations. Senior RC online again, maybe night or 2 in YHA St Pauls .

For the Ist 25 yrs of my North /South and back travels they were in fact South/North and back. The journeys are the same however , as these days even very clever forward planning soes not guarantee the direction of your seat . This may be confusing , I might have travelled on the LHS facing Edinburgh more times when travelling South than I have travelled facing Edinburgh travelling North. This might have informed my acute observation of all the sandstone outcrops at Doncaster.
Many more details of my journey may be found in another blog where I am an occasional blogger. The post is called 'Down but not out'
This journey was on an Adlesdrop day. It was indeed late June. The sides of the tracks were never so covered with wild flowers. The fields from York to the Home Counties were at their most interesting for this errant botanist. The great sight of the three Power Stations after York, before Doncaster always amazes me .
This day the dash of red gave a surreal look to the fields.
And so to that threatened Pastime. I just cannot think why bureaucracy threatens that most innocent of anorak pastimes 'trainspotting'. I always like to spot trainspotters on my rail journeys, and Doncaster is one of the best places to spot these most solitary and educated of (mostly) men. A noble hobby, a chance for members of families to have breathing space as Son or Dad takes the 04.00 to Doncaster via Leeds, returning on the 23.41.
I tried to remember location of the grove of Silver Birches on the east side of the line and south of a city Doncaster or is it Peterborough , the former I'm sure. Picture next time. And then that church sitting all on its own , no village or houses to be seen. A remnant from a medieval deserted settlement possibly. This June the Barley is nearly ready and gold and ripe looking, my pictures do not show the shimmer and the promise of each field.
Serious plant hunters like myself spot the many delights from train windows by the track . This month is the turn of Dog Roses, Toadflax, Orchids, Oxe-eye daisies .Queen Annes Lace has given way to Hogweed, Red Campion nearly over has given way to Red Valerian clinging on in the embankment walls. Buddleias are beginning to identify themselves, deep purple or pale mauve what will they be? Horsetails annoy and then the Giant Mullein promises to grow 5 'high and astound the bees. I spotted your welcome whorls.
London does not disappoint. It is so hot the city gents are not discernable,in shorts and open neck shirts. City gentesses are still in their pin striped suits in case they are not taken seriously enough, and everyone is carrying bottles of Evian.
A cooling break on the Ist Capital Connect platform- Oh! the ease here, lifts and walkways and electronic displays-there'll be no getting lost here. The next part of the journey is like being in an episode of Psychoville. Weird Mobile phone conversations need a translator, women are applying nail varnish to their toes on a moving train, young men roam in search of a discarded newspaper they have not yet read and I try to take pictures from the window. They all stare (covertly) at me now. I have become the odd one. I am actually the only over 60 female without dyed hair in London too. London Bridge and the railsides are fascinating from here to East Croydon where they become mundane again and I have to rely on the flora until Worth Abbey and the railbridge near the Cowdray Arms.
Next time I am going to concentrate on the Supermarkets seen from the train between York and Sussex. Counting Waitroses makes me realise that there are more in the South. This is not fair. This is the North /South secret Divide.
If you are wondering about the Header picture , please send all guesses to the Kings Cross Travel Centre. I think it is a Tumble drier, but not absolutely sure.

Common Spotted Orchid or The road to Little Egypt

Three years to the day since I mentioned in this hallowed blog the appearance of my 1st sighting of the Spotted Orchid for the year. Like surfers I have a secret spot. Not secret any more of course, I divulged the location in 2006, but maybe hidden or even so obvious its a not a spotted Orchid Secret spot but sensible overt lair near a layby of a habitat.
I travelled the same Kings highway daily for fifteen years and know every bump, raised ironwork, fencepost and tree.
I have seen the mighty Bypass built efficiently and on schedule by the workmen of England. I have felt the oozing relief of Reighton Hill as it becomes a viewpoint again. It waits patiently for the 121 bus from Hull to breeze happily through and give a sense of 'being just in the real world 'to the ribbon of cottages and tiny churches, one now a posh cottage complete with garage and tubs.

I have driven patiently behind tractors at dawn and haywains at dusk. I have been bitten by a horsefly arrogantly flying through the car window looking for a horse. I have seen barn owls flying just as the sun sets, just above the bonnet of the car. I have endured the early morning winter sun daring to shine straight into my eyes as I cross the boundary from North Yorkshire to my beloved East Riding, and dazzling my senses and boding danger.
I have seen vistas of sheer Cooks Tour loveliness- Bridlington bay from East Huntow top, a medieval view the same for hundreds of years, the Priory and two trees, one on each side of the road. Ebor flats of course may be overlooked.
In the other direction, the homeward bound , more joyful journey albeit North the view of Filey Bay from Reighton, once spoiled by Little Beirut, now a temple to the holidaying aspirations of the New Butlins folk, The Sands or some such eponymously clever and original name. Time Team 3009 will be perplexed I'm sure, with the post holes showing rows and rows of small dwellings overbuilt with larger ones, and the remains of the huge monastic fishpond lined with tiles.
I have seen the direction of the breeze , the airstrip and the windsock over Grindale way , the gradual transformation of the cafe and garage of Speeton Field, the dead windmill in the Newsham distance and all the ancient hedgerows.
It goes like this in my mind, Snow drops and Primroses at Southfield farm, a flush of green on the hawthorn heralds spring, then the Blackthorn blossom for miles and miles, white and promising sloes. Then the flush becomes a reality, and out comes the May, white, pink, red even and the verges start to grow , I wait for the Queen Annes Lace.
I remember that I have its sport Ravens Wing in the garden at home, and wonder who first thought to collect its seeds and breed it on , selecting and choosing , selecting and choosing , until Chilterns Seeds helped you to forget it had ever been Queen Annes Lace by the side of a road. I am coming slowly to Orchids because I have not finished savouring the Red Campions and the Sweet Cecily, and the Hogweed- I'm ready now
COMMON SPOTTED ORCHID
DACTYLORHIZA FUCHSII

My first Wordle

Click for larger Image.


see what you can do on http://www.wordle.net/.

Bridges and houses , hedges and ditches

Great Railway Journeys I have done .

Have to say that the journey from Congleton in Cheshire to Seamer ( Scarborough) is a near perfect rail journey. I had listened to advice and made sure I was on the right hand side of the carriage so as to take in the recommended sights , which did not disappoint. My criteria for a Great Railway Journey were all fulfilled.

• A seat alone
• Good conversation to overhear
• Clean lavatory
• An unknown crop to identify
• Clean window
• A Risk
• Wildlife to spot
• Baby lambs in field to spot
• At least one place of passing needing to be looked up in Pevsner
• A yearning to bring an OS map next time.

This journey had a tantalizing beginning, and here I give Congleton Station the equivalent of a Richard and Judy Bookclub award, which I will call an Adlesdrop award. For in the tiny Booking Hall was a shelf of Books to borrow , worthy of Boots Lending Library in the 1950's.

WHAT A GOOD IDEA!
I had of course brought one of my Arthur Upfields to read so was replete so to speak.
And so to scenery. No one prepares one for Cheshire to be so picturesque from the train. The Cloud first, and then streams ,and field systems, pales and lambs and water meadows all the way to Bramhall . Here the back gardens of the upwardly mobile beckoned but I have seen it all before in Surrey so it held no thrall for me .
I mention here that the sides of the track between Congleton and Manchester were the cleanest and most rubbish free I have ever seen.
Now Stockport , theres a Business park of a place from the train. Not what I imagined , having only known about a past Bishop , Gordon Strutt from my Aunty Mary, so fondly thought it would be full of gleaming spires, instead - pyramidal multiplexes and ugly walls and chimneys. Made mental note to get off the train here another time and look at the Hat Museum, remembering that 'Aunt 'Ada Watson was a Court Milliner from Cheshire in the Edwardian era.
Levenshume was a ME sort of a place. I could just tell from the names of the businesses and the sort of washing on lines.
Manchester Piccadilly takes some working out. Now I am home I have worked it out. Trains that terminate and trains that go through determine , of course, the platform arrangements and so now I have it . I think. The loos are 30p and the change machine doesnt work . Thank God the Transpennine had clean ones and were easy to use.
The journey across or should I say under the Pennines was magic.
Canals and Mills along the Colne Valley would have looked so different a hundred years ago. I loved it now, without the smoke and the grime.
One businessman was overheard to recount to another a Question on some TV Quiz programme where the contestant did not know that Bread Sauce was an accompaniment to Turkey. 'Well ,I did not know that' said his travelmate, and I with him was silently amazed. I thought everyone knew that. Apparantly , I am naive.
So on past the familiar, Leeds, York, Malton , Seamer -I have travelled these rails a score of times since returning North from Surrey in 1992. The stretch from York to Malton along the Derwent Valley deserves a prize of its own . The best Field Systems I have ever seen are on the North side of the river, and then the glimpse of Kirkham Priory through the trees, as the river upstream to Malton tempts speculation always as to the height of the water. Here my journey took a new twist. Two young ladies from across the pond had discussed their complexions ,crowlines and wrinkles all the way from York. As they decanted to thrill a small agricultural town with their conversation , the carriage discussed the triviality of their very public musings.
On to the hedges and ditches of the Carrs, that great Lake Pickering emptying into the North Sea at Filey, its rich ,alluvial soil almost working before ones eyes to support rows of Potatoes , Wheat, Barley and oilseed Rape. No children clambering and scrambling, no runaway carts , just GLIMPSES GONE FOREVER.

Michelin Starred it never was

I feel I actually deserve to be recognized for my ingenuity and skill when feeding the under fives. They can be so contrary. Yesterday they ate pasta with pesto , but today they won't. I am not going to rant about the modern Scarborough child v the Hull fifties child.
We did not have the choice of food . Our mothers , unless they came from a different culture from ours served 'plain food'.
This was usually a roast dinner on a Sunday, sliced joint with gravy re-heated on a Monday, and Minced on Tuesday. By Wednesday it might be some braised meat, usually leg of beef and beasts kidney which had stewed slowly for hours. On Thursday a Cauliflower Cheese, would always be followed on Friday by fish. The butcher from Sutton Village (Mr Hickey) called twice a week with his van. The fishmonger from the village (Mr Hilyard) called on Fridays. Joints were usually big. All mince and all roasts , pork or lamb beef were served with Yorkshire pudding cooked as I do now in one large tin. Chicken was for special occasions, and came from Mr Baston who kept a free range flock in the field behind our house. When we wanted eggs , my mother would hang a basket on our shed next to the fence, and the eggs would be there by the evening.
My school friend who lived in Eastmount Avenue had a mother who could make a raised Pork pie. One always hoped to be invited for a meal, and frequently was. The food in this house was different, but it was still plain and of traditional English cuisine. Up the road in Saltshouse Road we had a neighbour who returned from trips on his Trawler and brought us gifts of huge parcels of Halibut and Skate, Haddock and Cod . He later started a frozen Fish Business called Herons, which is still going today , though he and his family emigrated to Canada many years ago. Fish was grilled or poached and served with a white sauce, or fried in a shallow pan of lard.We had no fridge until 1960, so meat was never stored. Most vegetables were home grown. Mr Wiles came up from the village to help with the garden. His dog Judy used to run along side his bike. He had fought in the Boer War. I used to watch him sowing vegetable seeds from a little dispenser . No carrots-they never did well in the clay Riseholm soil. Rows of potatoes. sprouts and beetroot fed us.
"Just go and pick some Kale for lunch will you Margaret?" Remember sisters that awful Kale! We didn't have anything but tinned peas, except in season from the garden, until Erin brought out a dried sort that you added boiling water to !
We always has gravy made from meat juices from the pan, or Bisto with Mr Hickey's sausages.
Our food never varied as it does today until the advent of the supermarket, which promptly killed the trade of our village shop 'Myers'. My mother just loved a trip to Frank Dees supermarket on the Holderness Road in Hull in the 1960's. We began to have different types of cheese and sausages, biscuits and bread, and cakes (Bought Rubbish they were affectionately called by my father).
Here in our small town just south of Scarborough we are still able to buy from small local shops and I do . I never buy vegetables or meat from the Supermarket (which was part of the Frank Dee Chain in the 1970s). I never buy fish from Herons. but from the fishmonger . I am doing my best to cut down airmiles. The spinach in our small garden is feeding us well. With all the option excess we enjoy however I still cannot please the palettes of the under fives. They have never before in history had so much delicious food to choose from. They do garlic, cous -cous, mangoes, chorizo, cumin coriander and quinoa, tropical this and that and malt loaf.
I cooked too many vegetables yesterday to accompany the meatballs and pasta shells. Today they were pureed into chopped tomatoes with 5 cloves of garlic and made in to a sauce for the spinach and rice pie. Right now on the beach are 2 small boys reeking of garlic, and even then one didn't like the pie, just the broccoli and sauce.
What has changed? Were we fussy ? Were our parents stricter? Or have we just forgotten that we put food we didn't like surreptitiously under the table for our spaniel.

Felix Mendelssohn -his part in our life

I have just listened to the Service on Radio 4 as I do every Sunday Morning before going to do girly music in St Oswalds.

I am a big fan of the blog of Bishop Baines who coined the words and set the hare running again (I saw a huge hare on the Wolds on Thursday, not 10 m from where I stood) . Simon Rudiger in the Filey Parish blog has done his usual 'get you think' provocative blog (sans capital letters), this time commenting about that article in the magazine 'Sorted' (Loaded Correctly) which suggests that men are staying away from church because the music is not macho enough.This may run and run , I dont care. My very own macho man loves flowers, a former LSO chorus member has a really eclectic taste in music, church or otherwise. Not like his narrow minded spouse.

I am listening to Elijah on BBC iplayer as I write, recorded last Friday.
"If with all your heart you surely seek me ,ye shall ever surely find me" is playing now.
When I am down, I always listen to this Oratorio, it hits all my highs and lows. The composer has managed to bring the Bible text alive for me. I am so glad that such a great Man of God as Elijah was depressed and anxious, successful at times and then totally lost enough to run away emotionally. Mendelssohn touches my soul with his understanding of the text in music, romantic and utterly serious.
Praise for this short lived genius has been mutated in to the genes of Bridteacher. Historically I come from a musical family. My great great uncle was an original Savoyard Charles Kenningham,, his brother Alfred a vicar choral at St Pauls, my own great ,great Grandfather Edmund Kenningham died after singing 'The heavens are telling" . Spouse always calls this 'The tenors are yelling."
My own Classical musical Education began with a trip to the City Hall Hull with my school Greatfield High School (Newton Hall) in about 1961 to hear my first orchestra .We were accompanied by the music teacher Miss Nottingham. This was the real thing and I knew it was. In the evening, this small group of us , in special cheap seats for the schools of Hull sat and took it all in, not even sure whether we liked it , but knowing it was grown up , and trying to find something in it to like. I was asked after which music I had liked best,out of the Short Overture, the long Symphony and the other shortish piece. I had no hesitation" 'Fingals Cave' "I said. It had entranced me . I have recalled this lollipop moment many times, and when my Father went to Sidney Scarborough's and bought me an EP of Mendelssohn Overtures, Fingals Cave on one side and Ruy Blas I played them so often I had to have more ,so joined the Music Library as soon I was old enough. I came home with Chopin one week, Liszt the next , worked my way through all the Classics, always dreading that moment back in the Library when the librarian checked all the LPs for scratches. Mendelssohn started me on my lifelove of music. I am open to anything from Sparklehorse to Anthony and the Johnsons, from Bach to more Bach via Mozart and Wagner. Oddly enough I don't like G and S despite my illustrious forbears. I have just found my Great-Grandmother Kenningham's copy of Mendelssohn's 'Song without words'. She was a gifted pianist and well known in musical circles in Hull in the 1880s and 90s. Her daughter , my grandmother Gertrude Alice Bruce was once visited by a famous musicologist of the day Dr Orlando Mansfield. The family anecdote goes that my grandfather was so shy that he didn't speak a word during the whole social call, and my grandmother never let him forget how he had embarrassed her.The fly leaf of the Folio Book is inscribed thus;
Listening to the service on Radio 4,this morning I am sure I heard the commentator say that Mendelssohn had been almost worshipped in his day. This obviously carried on for many years after too, for the Folio Book to have been used like a family Bible for the recording of ownership. So I am enjoying this Mendelssohn weekend on the BBC. Thank you very much. I am listening to 'Thanks be to God now'. I think it could be Macho Music, Elijah seemed a Macho Man,with the sensitive side that 'Girly's ' share. Does it really matter? Nick Baines doesn't think so and that's good enough for me!

Echium again

Am delighted to announce that spouse has allowed me to have yet more of the south facing border to accommodate my growing family of the Genus Echium.
I am so pleased with the buds on the sp. lusitanicum spp polycaulon . It is at the front of the border , (see picture)where I nurtured it all winter, and really should be further back, but will give it a year. The 2 E.russicums are at the back , but higher up the slope, hope they will flower too, they are in bud. I have kept 1 E. russicum in its pot, just incase I have to move it. The orange peel is to deter cats from using the facilities in this garden. It seems to be working. Even Kiaoracat is being more considerate at the moment.

Have 10 E. Fastuosums dotted around the garden, but they are poor specimans and have no buds . This is so exciting. I sound like a real anorak. Don't care .

Magpie Eye

Just been to see the eponymous exhibition at Scarborough Art Gallery . Finishes next Monday May4th. The family have already seen it, and spouse several times. We have had the poster up in the kitchen since before it opened. Not exactly an exhibition, but more a collection of quirky objects trouve to compliment the work in the neighbouring room ,of Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious.

I felt so at home in Magpie Eye. We have a house with small collections loitering around corners and sitting on shelves. We love our mirrors crafted by Anna Lambert. It was great to see the Cockerel Soup Tureen with the clever Tail Feather ladle , sitting proudly next to a vase of full blown tulips. I have been going to galleries and exhibitions since I was a child taken to Ferens Art Gallery (Hull) by my aunt. She, was a watercolourist and enthusiast for colour. She had an eclectic taste . She , housebound for many years would talk about her visit to MoMA in 1961, her delight at seeing Guernica, her joy in the colour of roses, her taste for the Pre-Raphaelites for the stories behind the paintings. She loved like Mark Hearld to see design and colour in everyday objects. She would have absolutely adored Magpie Eye. A few years ago we discovered the work of Angie Lewin, and bought as many greetings cards and notelets as we could in the shop in the Geffrye museum. Now 3 years later she has found many more outlets for her work, even the here in the wilds of the north. It was no surprise really then to realise that the echo of something already in the soul was in the Flyer for Magpie Eye , as Mark Hearld exhibits in the same Gallery.Where is my rambling going ?
This morning we opened a new box of Organic Oats. We only bought them because we liked the design of the box. Could have been 'School of Hearld or Lewin'. No but we like you too Clare Curtis.

AGMs All Gods militia

I have been to every single AGM of my anglican church since becoming a voting member. So that adds up to 41 meetings as for 1 year I had to belong to a fellowship (House Church).This was when my vicar said I was a heretic after getting Baptised as an adult by Total Immersion in 1985. I am under authority so treated the family to a year of guitars, prophecies and comfy seats. Back in the muddled folds of the Cof E since 1986, at home, happy with 'A word from Wormingford'once again , and now needing to read that bible of the interpretation of Holy Writ, the ABC for the PCC.
Last nights meeting for the Parish of Filey was worth the wait of 41 and 1 off years .
It will have fulfilled every legal requirement of Canon Law, but something more was going on last night. Besides the obvious presence of the Holy Spirit, there was a sense of order, calm and fellowship. The Lord was in control.
Max -your humorous diatribe was excellent. It would make a pamphlet as required reading for churches in the land. What you said, couched in such Cof E speak was that we need to get back to Bible teaching. You did that so subtley by your mention of wise and foolish virgins. I have nt heard that parable spoken of for years!
Mary -you have the gentleness of the strong, and its word is Meekness, it is what Jesus had.
Here is a cartoon for you all.

Thank you sister

The infinite wonder

http://twurl.nl/6k26xr Thanks to Bosco Peters for the tweet about this.It takes a while to load and you will see why!

Facebook Passion On Good Friday

Who ever thought this up as an April fool must have been reading that bit about 'For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.. What a great idea. I actually followed it through our 3 hour Vigil today. Well done whoever you are, and thanks Clare Rishbeth for sending me the link to Peter Oulds blog.

Twitter and Pruning

I am no stranger to Pruning. I remember my Grandfather Benjamin John Elder Bruce showing me how to prune roses in 1959. I was really honoured that this man of so few words would take the trouble to explain something so grown up to this 12 year old girl. I was affirmed. I didnt really even understand what pruning was for, or why he only did the roses. He died soon after, they were the last roses he would prune. The roses were there for many years after that. I remember their lovely names, Josephine Bruce, our family rose, Peace, Fragrant Cloud, Golden Showers.
Our daughter the Landscape architect is a very hard pruner. She arrives in our walled garden and tells her father to' cut that right down', or she will do it. Her father has cut the Zepherine Drouhin right down. I hope it will cover the arbour again.
I see a new occupation coming in to the Twittersphere. People are having to prune the people they follow. Bishop Alan and Rev Bosco Peters have done their lists. I value both of their input to the Twittershere and Blogsphere, but am now having to rethink where I think the whole pruning thing will lead. Will someone invent a Tweetdeck that will do an automatic prune. You could put in a sort of search word like 'football' or 'synod' and all the' friends' who use those tags more than once a day could be pruned. Or perhaps those who like me have only 28 followers could do a reverse prune , or growth spurt thing and anyone who uses the words 'Echium' or 'Dark night of the soul' would have to follow me.
Of course, Jesus had only 12 serious followers at first, apparantly. I bet Jesus Barabbas had thousands.

Palm Sunday

People must have thrown coats and branches down in front of the colt because the road down from the Mount of Olives is so steep.The colt could have stumbled otherwise.