Saturday 27 May 2017

Five May Things

Hello, thank you for dropping in here.  Thank you to all who left comments on my last post; it seems that most people are unaware of the British Army's involvement in Salonika during the Great War which is one reason why I wanted to share my great-grandfather's story here and I am pleased that so many more people now know about it; I think my father is, too.
 
The sun has been shining and May is working her magic on the landscape as new, lush green growth grows apace and flowers bloom.  Yellow oilseed rape shouted in the fields, bluebells rose dreamily in the woods and frothy clouds of Queen Anne's lace appeared to border the lanes.  The holly bush outside my front window has been covered in tiny white blossoms which bees visited greedily - I've never noticed before.   
  
Here are five things I have been doing since I was last here:
 
1.  A death in the family
 
My bookish aunt died on 7th May and I was asked to give the eulogy at her funeral.  I felt honoured to have been asked but it's not something I had ever done before so inevitably, I was nervous.  I wandered through the house for a week pulling off the shelves some of the books she gave me, holding them in my hand, trying to feel the essence of her as I prepared the words I would read. 

 
2.  Making stock
 
Almost every weekend we cook a chicken and because we buy free range and it's not cheap, I insist that we have to get three dinners out of it.  The third is always soup: I put the carcass into the large pot which my mother used to use, together with an onion, a carrot, some peppercorns and dried herbs, bring it to the boil and then let it gently simmer away for a couple of hours.  I find this all immensely soothing in its old-fashioned simplicity and at a time when my mind was almost completely preoccupied, it was good to be able to cook something without really thinking about it.

 
3.  Crochet
 
I finished the baby blanket.  I am SOOOO ridiculously proud of myself!  I shall write a post about it soon but in the meantime, here's the edging, inspired by the small tortoiseshell butterfly.

 
4.  Photographs
 
I have numerous packets and envelopes of family photographs dating from the 1890s to the present day and I really need to pull them all together and decide how to organise them.  I know that we are in a digital age but I am old-fashioned and I like to hold an album and turn the pages, and I like there to be some text to explain who the subjects are so that the album is meaningful to others as well as to me.  It's an exciting idea, one which I shall enjoy, but I just can't decide on the details yet.  I have started to plan.


 
5.  My hawthorn tree
 
The tree outside my bedroom window donned her best dress on 1st May and wore it for three weeks, during which time I opened my bedroom curtains as soon as I woke up, hopping straight back into bed afterwards so that I could enjoy her knock-out beauty while I drank my Earl Grey.  She was absolutely glorious.
 
 
 
I am linking with Tricky Wolf at  F.A.S.T.  for Five on Friday so if you have time, please click on the link to hop over there and see what everyone else is sharing this weekend.  Thanks, Tricky, for hosting this party every week and linking us all up together.

One more thing, for C, who has emailed me about St Bartholomew's Church at Moreton Corbet: I have found something which might be useful to you but I can't email you because your settings are "no reply".  Could you alter the settings and contact me again, or use a different email address? 

See  you soon.
 
Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x
 
 
 
 
 

23 comments:

  1. An interesting five. I would be nervous to give a eulogy. I'm a shaker which makes speaking in front of crowds tough. Your hawthorn tree is a beauty! I really enjoy home made broth. Have a good Sunday since I think Saturday is winding down in your neck of the woods.

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    1. I was VERY nervous Ellen. I read it aloud to my husband and girls eight or ten times beforehand so that I was very familiar with the words and on the day, I was OK. Phew! x

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  2. Good five, I did enjoy your earlier post about your great great grandfather. Love the edge on the afghan. Whenever I buy some expensive food I always try and get more than one meal out of it.

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    1. Oh thanks Janet, I am so glad you enjoyed reading about Jack's exploits. The edge on the blanket was copied from Lucy at Attic24, it's her Spot On Edging and I am very pleased with it. x

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  3. Sorry to hear about your aunt! I'm sure you did a wonderful job with the eulogy.

    I love the crochet and can't wait to see the complete blanket!

    I hope you can stop by:

    http://collettaskitchensink.blogspot.com/2017/05/tea-time-cream-puff-cake-and-atlanticus.html

    Colletta

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    1. Completed blanket is coming soon, Colletta. One day I may be able to crochet as well as you can, but I don't think it'll be soon. x

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  4. My condolences to you for your dear aunt. I love the edging on the blanket you made. It's so pretty. Hope you enjoy your weekend, Pat xx

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    1. Thank you Pat - on all counts. The blanket edging is Lucy's Spot On Edging from Attic24. x

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  5. Sincere condolences for your dear Aunt. I make scrapbook pages for special events/photographs which makes a lovely record. Looking forward to the seeing the hat, the edging is a delight.

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    1. Thank you for your condolences, I appreciate them very much. Scrapbook pages is a lovely idea for some of the photos but I have hundreds. What to do with the rest? x

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  6. A great assortment. I hope the eulogy went well, not an easy thing to do but I'm sure Aunt would have been proud. Photos are such a problem, so many to sort and catalogue. Have a good week.

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    1. Thanks Karen. The eulogy did go well and I even relaxed enough to ad lib a little, eventually. My uncle enjoyed it, which is the most important thing, and my girls told me that he led a round of applause at the end, which I didn't notice because I was entirely concentrating on getting back to my seat without embarrassing myself! x

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  7. Sorry to hear of the loss of your Aunt, writing an eulogy is such a hard thing to do. Photos are a great problem,I have boxes of very old ones and no idea who all the people are. Our albums stop as soon as we got digital cameras and that is sad really although we make various back ups of all photos, there are hidden away in the computer. Your hawthorne tree is lovely:)

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    1. I love that tree SO much Rosie, it's almost ridiculous! My mother-in-law threw away some very old photos she inherited from her mother because she didn't know who the people were and I felt that she should have offered them to her cousin, who researches their family history and may have been able to put names to some of the faces. Some people don't see the treasure under their noses! (Then again, some people have very tidy, minimalist houses. I don't!) x

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  8. sorry you lost your aunt, and i hope i never had to do an eulogy - i think it's really hard.
    love the old photos - the women and men are dressed so well

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    1. Thank you for your condolences. Doing the eulogy was really hard but it was special to be asked, and at least it gave me the platform to share the things I wanted to say about my aunt. I think having one's photograph taken was a bit of an occasion in times gone past, so people dressed up for it. x

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  9. No doubt doing the eulogy was hard but I'm sure you did a great job honoring your aunt, may she rest in peace. Thank goodness for digital, but now the task of sorting through all those photos from the past. I'm with you, I do like to hold an album in my hand. But there are many printed photos from back in the day that no longer hold any meaning so begins the tasking of sorting and purging. Never easy. Your crochet blanket is very pretty. Enjoy all that is blooming and growing around you.

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    1. Thanks Tammy, on all counts. I did my best to honour my aunt and although it was very hard, I was pleased to have been asked. A cousin of mine played the flute at the service so it was very much a family affair, which I think was important to my aunt. I can't bear the thought of purging photographs! x

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  10. I take a picture of the very old photos and then work on them until they look as if made yesterday !

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    1. That's a good idea! You are far more technical than I am. x

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  11. Sorry to hear about your Aunt. Such an honor to do her eulogy. How wonderful that you have so many old photos. That is something I need to do - sort through the photos - the hubby and I were just talking about it at dinner the other night. How nice to finish your little blanket. It looks to be very sweet. The hawthorn tree is a lovely thing to wake up to. I wish this time of year could last forever. Hope your week is lovely. xx Karen

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    1. Oh yes, I wish this time of year could last forever too: everything is so lush and growing beautifully and the earth seems full of promise. Thank you for your condolences, they make a difference. x

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  12. This is such a lovely post and I enjoyed reading your five for May - your hawthorn tree is stunning and put on a spectacular show. You have some treasured memories in the books that your aunt gave you, as well as the family photographs. I agree about having proper photos and an album - we got away from this with digital cameras, but I've started to get prints again. Hope you have a good week. Marie x

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