Monday mornings

Posted on August 1, 2011 by freda

Monday mornings used to be kind of bitter-sweet, not so much misery coming after a weekend of fun, but more a change of pace. The weekends with a growing family of 4 sons were hectic, noisy, challenging and great fun. Today, I open up my mail – snail mail is getting less, had you noticed? – anyway, the ordinary mail is dealt with very quickly and I turn to the computer. 30 emails – most of them spam/scam/adverts – so they are dealt with promptly. Everything is quick, quick, quick these days. It seems to me that our attention spans and ways of communicating are being damaged, or at least altered.

Up until ten years ago I would write to friends and family. They weren’t literary triumphs, but they were the daily doings of a Minister and I had a vague sense that the letters themselves were an important part of keeping in touch and commenting on the recipients ups and downs. Nowadays people like to text with one liners and text-speak. I feel left out of it by and large, since there is rarely any mobile phone signal at home, and I get fed up wandering around holding said implement up in the air, tutting as signal bars come and go.

I guess this blog is the nearest I get to sharing ideas, thoughts and experiences with friends who drop by. Yet I know that some of my family never read it. On occasion I forget that the others do, and then if I have slipped up and allowed a down day to be recorded, there is a phone call – always welcome. Where it gets difficult in comparison to writing to an individual, is that a letter wins hands down, because it can be a personal conversation. A letter can focus on the other instead of concentrating on the self. The nature of a blog does not allow this, a blog is mixture of ideas and random thoughts albeit with opportunity for feedback and comment.

So it is back to the eternal question – why do we write our blogs? As I sit here at the computer I hear the washing machine finishing its cycle, the TV in the background, (it’s the cricket) and I look forward with anticipation to brewing the mid-morning cappuccino. It feels like I have shared a tiny portion of my life in a remote corner of Scotland. It’s been a connection, a connection that matters and grows and makes me smile. Yes, I’m sorry I don’t do letters very much, but I am glad to be part of a growing breed of bloggers.

Posted in Blog, blogging | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Sunday smile

Posted on July 31, 2011 by freda

Go on – have a 20 second smile – courtesy of God’s beautiful creatures.

Posted in Blog | Tagged | 6 Comments

200 year banner

Posted on July 30, 2011 by freda

This is a photo of the new banner which was worked on by dozens of people from the church and the community. It is to celebrate the church as being at the centre of things, and is fair comment. The photo was taken by a church member and used on the order of service, after that I scanned it and have re-saved it. Thus the quality is not as it should be. Maybe I will be able to take a photo myself, we’ll see.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

A long wait

Posted on July 29, 2011 by freda

Some time ago I had several rants and raves about a credit card scam that was costing me around £125 and a whole load of stress on the stressometer. At long last it seems to have been sorted out. I might add that there was no correspondence, only a credit on the card. I am presuming this means that the fraudulent company have been debited for the fraudulent amount.

Does this mean that I am no longer in danger of something similar happening? Sadly not, every mailbox seems to contain some scam or other. In addition, websites are offering special offers and “too good to miss” free trials of products. I have come to the conclusion that my spam programme is not working as well as it should. The real worry is for the the true elderly-elders……… it’s all too easy to lose concentration, press the wrong button and boom……. credit card details have gone zooming to a load of crooks.

I’m doing my best to be more careful. The main thing to do is to stay away from the computer and online bargains when one is either overtired or looking for retail therapy as a means of cheering up a bad day.

The lessons to be learned are summed up as follows:

  1. Take no notice to long, involved letters in bad English purporting to have large sums of money to pay into your account.
  2. Especially if the above are from Nigeria.
  3. Never give out credit card details for free offers that look too good to be true. They probably are too good to be true.
  4. Don’t sign up for trials of products.
  5. Never give your full details for companies you don’t know.
  6. Don’t click on clickables, even if it purports to come from a bank or company you know. Close down the website and contact your company direct.

Can you think of any other things to be wary of online?

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Pavlova extraordinaire

Posted on July 28, 2011 by freda

 

You can tell by the expression that HBTW is looking forward to the Best Pavlova I have ever seen. Not to be repeated for a while. But that’s what holidays are all about.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

The Enemy of the Good

Posted on July 27, 2011 by freda

 

For every half-dozen romcoms, or chicklits or crime novels, I try to read a decent book which is literary or worthy or just plain brilliant. The Enemy of the Good is all of these as well as being thought-provoking and mind-blowing all at the same time.

Michael Arditti is a well known author on religious topics, but this a step further into spirituality and the great themes of life and death. At first I had to struggle, then my mind was stretched and challenged, then I couldn’t put it down and finally I felt as if I had come home to a place where I belonged and where I could relax and know that God loves us all, quirks and all.

The story is told through the eyes of four of the main characters, though not in any annoying leaps back and forward of timing, that leave the reader confused. The narrative is taken forward by each character in turn, allowing for a deeper insight to that particular person and their relation to ongoing events as well as the other people.

We are introduced to a family where the older parents are a retired bishop, who has lost his faith, his wife who is an infamous anthropologist and their children, a religious artist who happens to be gay, his sister who explores the closed world of Chassidic Jews. As if that is not enough of a mix, we look at terminal illness, HIV and above all the conflict between liberalism and fundamentalism in religion.

I don’t want to give away much more of the plot, but as you can see there is plenty of scope for action. If you’ve read it, do let me know what you think. If you get the chance and are ready for a challenge, do have a go. I give it a 9.5 out of 10.0.

Posted in Book Reviews | 4 Comments

Back at last

Posted on July 26, 2011 by freda

Back home at last – in fact, I’ve been home for a few days. Getting back to normal routines like blogging and watching the news is taking longer to accomplish. The terrible events in Norway and the famine in East Africa dominate world events and everything seems a bit too much to cope with. That seems ridiculous to say when it is those involved who need our empathy, prayers and support. Forgive me, I must be suffering from post-holiday blues.

The weather has turned into summer and is wonderful, perhaps that explains some of the tiredness and lethargy. Bit by bit I shall recover and hopefully will have more to blog about than self-indulgent woes and an inability to cope with life.

We came home in time for a special service at church to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the church building. The whole village seemed to be there, plus members of the clan Gregor. Overall it was tremendous, well-supported, joyful and evidencing a community/village that is in good health and growing. Nibbles in the new community centre afterwards gave us all the opportunity to catch up and share future plans. This whole year has been one of celebration – a great way to celebrate, to involve a whole community and to get to know one another better. The Office Bearers and our minister, Liz Gibson, have been doing a wonderful job.

So why the tiredness and feeling lethargic? Particularly about getting started on this blog? I usually rush to the page, keen to share some news or something quirky I’ve come across on the web. My life is an ordinary one, with the usual ups and downs. Nowadays I tend to be grateful for peace, space to be reflective and time to meditate and pray. I enjoy catching up on reading blogs of people I have been getting to know online over the years, and I like it when they comment on what I have to share. Fortunately, most of their remarks are pertinent, encouraging and sometimes very funny.

The problem? Someone recently told me in person that my life is too small. Those were not the actual words, I had to look the words up in the dictionary. But yes……. my life is small. The marvel is that I can share my thoughts, fears, inadequacies, joys and triumphs with anyone who cares to open up the world of Dalamory.

Small and ordinary is good. I’m not a celebrity – imagine how awful that would be….. intrusive and worrying. I’m past my working life – and thankful to be retired…….. free to follow my own interests and to do what little I can to spread the news that God loves us all. I have no soap box other than a belief in goodness overcoming evil…….. even in the face of the tragedy of the shootings and deaths in Norway.

And I want to say thank you, faithful reader, for being here.

Posted in Blog, blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Puppy Love

Posted on July 11, 2011 by freda

Just for fun…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0VcDc-Wwxw

Posted in Blog | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Chilling

Posted on July 10, 2011 by freda

It’s sometimes difficult to keep up with internet-speak, text-speak, online chatting terms and so forth. But one word I love to hear the grandchildren use so happily is “chilling”. This is not the way they describe a bad experience at school or a particularly frightening film, rather it is a complete kidnapping of the world to mean the essence of relaxation and happiness. In a sense it is kind of what I am doing right now. Usually when at my computer at home there is a hustle and bustle of keys and near-frantic activity as I do half a dozen things at once – checking mail, looking at news and weather, bringing blog up to date and reading the 100 or so I look at intermittently – oh yes, I might also be checking items on ebay and doing an online order for shoes.

No wonder computing is tiring.

Each year when I go on holiday I decide to post a few items in advance and hope that my faithful readers will forgive me for not responding to specific comments that need a reply. This year, #3 Son and his family are in residence so I am more relaxed about sharing details of our hols. I suspect lots of bloggers are wary of advertising their absence, which is probably daft. The last person who is likely to be reading a winsome load of nothingness is a potential burglar.

Anyway, campsite wifi tends to be slow, the laptop is elderly with many and various quirks, (like me)  so the whole process has to be slowed down. Thus, I press a key to find a website, then look round at the gentle process of everyday chores around me. People are collecting water, tightening guy-ropes, shaking out carpets from caravans and so on. HBTW is sitting guarding the washing whilst happily reading his kindle. Wood pigeons whoo-whooo…. and the wind rustles the trees in the high hedge next to me. I muse on the fact that I forgot a cable and cannot therefore share photos, so word pictures will have to do.

The motorhome is filled with the scent of lavender – purchases from the lavender farm we visited yesterday. Today we are too lazy to do much but a few chores…….  such is the joy of a campervanning holiday. Tomorrow it is off to a national park for a few days. There may or may not be wifi there, but one thing we do know is that there is a pub next door. That means a release from cooking and dishes.

Being away and being lazy about newspapers has meant I have been rather isolated from the News of the World and the surrounding issues. No bad thing, I suspect, though I suppose I should use some online time to catch up.

That’s all the news from Sherrif Hutton today, Misty sends her love and says to tell you all that she is enjoying her holiday but could she please have less walks today.

 

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Travelogue

Posted on July 7, 2011 by freda

The good thing about travelling by campervan is that you cart your holiday goods and chattels along with you. Lunch can be a choice of a layby next to a field full of wheat dotted with poppies, or a pub lunch in a garden. Following the sun is the main aim of this couple of weeks. It seems trite to go on and on about the weather, but it is true that in May 2010 Dalamory had 46.77mm (2 inches of rain) whereas this year (2011) it was 390.6 (almost 16 inches.) In other words we have been suffering badly from too much rain and wind. So you can imagine that a few days of sunshine followed by sun and thunder-plumps has seemed idyllic.

So far adventures have included:

  • Walks on an adjacent beach
  • Watching wildlife in the raw – a cygnet snatched by a gull
  • Admiring a cliff of kittiwakes amidst their noise and quarrels
  • Misty going for Day Care and pampering; tea-tree shampoo smells great
  • Adults having a day out at Alnwick Gardens and Castle
  • Putting the warm fleeces away
  • First class steak and warm French wine

And lots more to come no doubt. The Day Care was a particularly good idea. Castles and Gardens tend not to allow dogs other than Assistance Dogs. Misty may consider herself our carer, but she does not have the appropriate uniform. It has been too hot to leave her in the campervan, so a pamper day was the ideal solution. Unfortunately, I am unable to do the photos yet, but will do a holiday compendium at a later day. Cascades ie water fountains and displays, seem to be the next new thing. There is something so soothing about water – both the noise and the display.

Still to do before moving on: more gardens, a bus ride – first for Misty -and a dog-friendly lavender farm. Happy holidays to those still waiting to go.

 

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments