This little Guiding light of mine ....

6 comments
I don't often blog about Guides. I suppose I feel it's one of the few things I DO more than talk about. But occasionally ...

Tonight, in a small, thatched village hall, nearly fifty girls and young women got together for fun activities and an Easter Egg Hunt.

The eight women in uniform - and here I'm counting one 16 year old who officially is still a 'Young Leader' but in reality is ten times more reliable and sensible than most adults - who gave their time and skill to organise the event were not paid. They are never paid.

There were girls of several religions, and none. Of several colours. Of very different backgrounds, economic, social... girls with one parent, girls with two, girls with more ! ... girls from several schools, girls who are homeschooled.

Sometimes, our umbrella organisation gets carried away, and the general public and the media have a field day, but in the end ... Jesus said ... suffer the little children to come unto me .... and He didn't attach any conditions.

A friend of our organisation frequents the local pub. He told me tonight, that a young lady who works in there, innocence long since defeated, scarred by life and growing up, told him - every time I walk into the Village Hall, I remember what it was to be happy.

She was a Brownie.

We may not be perfect. But our hearts are in the right place.

Not in My Name

2 comments
The red envelope campaign, which hails from the USA has spread to Britain, where we are urged to:

"
Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Tesco, or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to:

The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP,
10 Downing Street,
London,
SW1A 2AA

On the back, write the following message:
This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion.
It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world."


To send such a message to a man (and his wife) who held their tiny ten day old baby daughter as she died, in a country where we have cabinet government, not presidential, and where, should you feel passionately about something, you have access to your MP 365 (ish) days per year, is an act of premeditated, vicious cruelty, unworthy of a right thinking christian person.

Shame on you. And if you were one of those people pouring out sympathy for David Cameron on the loss of his precious son, Ivan, a few weeks ago, double shame on you. How long does compassion last? Or does it have a party affliation.

In the light of recent events...

1 comment
Dorothy, meet Cat.
Cat, this is Dorothy.

You will find yourselves on my blogroll, over there >>>>

It strikes me, you may have things in common, y'know?
With the stuff Cat is going through right now, Dorothy has kind of been there.

I've made some tea, help yourselves to chocolate digestives.

I'm off out to look over the horses.

:0)

Jackie

Feast

2 comments
Posted by Picasa

Homemade pizza, salad from the polytunnel, and in the background there, the real star - the first of the purple sprouting broccoli, steamed and buttered, with homemade mayonnaise for dipping.

Impressions of March

1 comment

We love having friends across the ocean

2 comments
a long time ago, just before this blog was rejuvenated, when there was a lot going on in the World shall we say politically, I discovered, or was discovered by Ellen, a fellow Amblesiding mother in the US.
You know how it is with the internet, some folks just hit it off, and that's how it was with Ellen and me, we just laughed at the same things, loathed the same hypocrisies, loved the same stuff.
Well, today, WE MET ELLEN!
It was such fun for us, they were passing through on their way to catch a plane back home, and we arranged to meet them at Avebury, on the A4, for a couple of hours of chat, and as it turned out, sunshine, laughter, and the church of St James at Avebury, which bizarrely, I have never before been in, and what a little gem that turned out to be!
It was a glorious day, and a wonderful chance to meet someone who really helped with the doldrummy worriscape around here.
Safe journey, Ellen, and Tanya. Come back soon.

I have a sick pony

Leave a Comment
and we can't figure out what's wrong. We've had the vet over, and he hoped to get bloods and worm counts etc back yesterday, but that didn't happen so we have to wait til Monday.
Poor pony is just losing weight before my eyes.
He's spent the day sunbathing, wrapped up warm, eating extra small feeds of high protein 'build up' feed, and generally feeling sorry for himself.
Poor boy.

So, these are my favourite people EVER

Leave a Comment
and you could get to win $100 just by joining in the fun!!!

Now, if you haven't seen the wonderful West Ladies on A Journey Home, or Inherit the Land, or their new series, Homestead Blessings - YOU ARE MISSING OUT! They are so sweet, and so talented and just so good for your heart!

We're off to wonder if we dare film one of our soap making sessions! Maybe bread baking would be safer .........






Franklin Springs Family Media has just announced a fun and entertaining new contest. Submit a video or photo slideshow of you with your family, or by yourself, making a recipe featured on one or more of the Homestead Blessings DVDs; The Art of Breadmaking, The Art of Soap Making, or The Art of Candle Making. If you do not have the DVDs, they can be rented from NETFLIX.com, or ordered with free shipping from Franklin Springs (www.franklinsprings.com). Use free shipping promotion code: westcontest02354

A winner for each category will be selected from all entries received by the following deadlines:

The Art of Breadmaking—Deadline for submission: April 10th
The Art of Soap Making—Deadline for submission: April 17th
The Art of Candle Making—Deadline for submission: April 24th

A Best of Contest prize of $100 will also be awarded to the best submission judged by our panel.

Whether this will be your first time making one of these projects, or you are a seasoned professional, we would love to see you have fun and enjoy these good old-fashioned skills.

All video submissions should be no longer than 3 minutes. Language and attire must be appropriate for our family audience. Franklin Springs reserves the right to disqualify any submission from the contest. By entering this contest, and unless requested otherwise, all entrants grant permission for their entry to be posted on the Friends of Franklin Springs Family Media website.

Three Ways to Enter
1. Send entry via email to contests@franklinsprings.com
2. Upload your video to Facebook, YouTube, Google Video, or any other site and send us the link.
3. Join the Contest Group at the Friends website (http://community.franklinsprings.com/) and upload your video to your profile.

Please include your name and address, and be sure to tell us how you heard about the CONTEST! We look forward to seeing your entry

This little war

1 comment
I am, as you may know, a big fan of the Home Front. Not that I think it was nice, getting bombed into the middle of next week, but I love the tales of courage and spirit, the dedication, the patriotism, and the sheer bloody mindedness of the women, children, and few remaining men, who lived through those years.

I'm beginning to see this awful recession as a little war.

For once, my passion for digging for victory and making do and mending is less amusing. Now it's quite fashionable, my little plot, growing all our vegetables, my few hens, providing our eggs, and enough money to pay for their feed and upkeep.

The quiet courage and resourcefulness of ordinary English folk. Oh I do hope we come into our own again.

We're having such glorious spring weather, we've been out in the veg plot, working ourselves up a good backache ;-)

I've constructed a seed bed, and planted leeks, brussels sprouts, and more leeks in it already. I sowed half a row of lettuce, today. Parsnips are sown, with radishes to mark the rows and steal a crop, and a good row of beetroot.

We also cleared a tatty patch by the greenhouse, today, to make into a little decorative flower border. I'm rather sorry we put the greenhouse where we did, and it's on the list to move it. But it's a long list so in the meantime, I'm trying to make it look a little better.

Neil is lambing, long hours away from home, and the girls and I are doing just about everything else, including the milking.

It's exhausting, but we mustn't complain – the unemployment figures came out today, and our area is one of the hardest hit. Work is work, albeit temporary.

Clearing up now, after a long day, girls on their way to bed, I need to pack Neil's lunch for tomorrow, unpick a dress we were given to remake for one of the girls, clean up the kitchen, if there's time, add a few photos here. And fall over.

This little war ..... it won't beat us. We mustn't let it.

Cobbett in Training - #1 Manual Dexterity

1 comment
Powered by Blogger.
Follow Me on Pinterest