This little light of mine

I love watching fireworks; the bit where they cascade into colour in the night sky! They light up the darkness, each demonstrating their unique splendour spread abroad for all to see; anyone who would look up and take notice.

If a firework, fails to light or fizzles out before it has time to shoot skywards or perhaps goes off course, we are disappointed and a low murmur is heard throughout the crowd of spectators. However the opposite is true when colour and light and energy and life explodes in front of us; we stand amazed, some of us exclaim, others stand in silent wonder. for just a few seconds we are captivated.

Light overcoming Darkness

A spark becomes a trajectory which leads to a crescendo of colour: its full potential is realised.

Can we cheer that for each other?

And when the darkness is overcome with many colours and shapes and sounds and cascades of light all adding their vibrance and voice....

Can we look to the Light and see a smile?

Chim Chim Cher-ee

This week I met a Flue Enemist.

An enemist ....da da der rada, an enemist da -da-da dar....tempting to hum along with the Muppets in my head....However there was  something I discovered, something that, to put it dramatically could have made us all really ill or worse....

An Enemist, is a Chimney Sweep and I haven't had my chimney swept since one of my boys was about 4 and was asked by the Sweep to go int the garden and shout when he saw the brush appearing out of the Chimney. I hadn't had it swept because I had a gas fire fitted  soon after that date and I didn't think you needed to get it swept unless you had a real fire.....

Fast forward to recent events. Last year we had intermittant problems with the ignition on the gas fire, some times it would light easily, other times it took some persuading. A few weeks back, we tried to light the fire on one particularly cold evening and it just wouldn't light. Ignition defunct. Time for  someone to check it out and replace offending button.

Along came Gas engineer, yep ignition not responding, out comes gas fire, dead bird at base of chimney behind fire; plus loads of soot, mortar..... Hmm. Advised to get chimney swept first " fire probably done you a favour by not working".

This week we had the chimney swept. Apparently cobwebs can build a thick barrier within chimneys and prevent airflow, this combined with the fact that we don't have a cowl on the chimney (hence bird) twigs and nests can also be a problem. Large industrial  vacumn cleaner sucked upwards in my chimney... The next day we no longer had condensation on our french windows, the next day our room stopped smelling damp....

Today the gas engineer (with whom I am now on first name terms)  cleaned and replaced the fire in its original position. The ignition worked perfectly again and smoke was seen curling up from our chimney when he did the smoke test.

We have been advised to get a carbonmonoxide monitor which can sit on a shelf , plus of course sort the chimney out, which was in the plan anyway.

Hope this helps anyone else who, like me, would not have considered an Enemist......

da-da-da-der!

Magnetic Attraction!

Take one fading picture, plus the glass out of its frame...

Separate the back from the front and prepare to change the  frame colour.

Find some matt black paint from the garage (hiding behind some paint pots). Cover the back of the frame with two coats of the paint.

Put to use the REALLY dark purple paint from the "bedroom  wall disaster colour" episode a few years back....

Get the husband to cut the magnetic grid sheet (from B&Q, we took a fridge magnet to test it!) with jewellery pliers to exact size of back of board.

Assemble all pieces and mount on the wall, with assorted magnets!

Pink magnet is a felt, flattened chocolate button shaped  item left over from another craft. I glued a spare magnet on the back.   The black flattened plastic magnet was a pack of 6 from Smiths, but as I had some tiny pink stickers left over from scrapbooking I used these to pretty them up a bit!  The peg I took off the fridge and gave it a new home!

A few more girly touches at each corner!

I know I could have bought a cheaper magnetic board from somewhere else, but this was much more fun and expressed a process of planning and pondering resulting in a pinboard uniquely designed by me learning to play and not stress over perfection!

"Creativity is contagious, pass it on! " Albert Einstein

"Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up." Pablo Picasso

This week I silenced the inner voices that told me I wasn't creative enough to come up with a design idea and follow it through to completion.  I pushed aside the "I can't write, draw or arrange ideas on paper" whinings in my head...

I determined to have a go.  

If truth be told, I had recently discovered that I was a closet perfectionist when it came to design. It shook me up. I was appalled at myself. It stopped me enjoying the process of play and discovery.  In fact, it paralysed me. It made me stressed and I don't do stress,  I reckon I'm pretty easy going really;  hence the "Wake up call"!

I had seen a phrase written on a block mount in a shop. I loved it! I examined it. Memories of a recent holiday came into sharp focus. I nearly bought it, but then I stopped. It looked a little rough around the ages. Could I make something similer, which spoke more of my experience? I photographed it......and I went home, pondering.

The answer for me, lay in taking my idea a step at a time and allowing the next thought to come along.  

So I began  with a blank canvas, literally.

I knew I wanted the background to look like sand; we just happened to have a yellow unopened tester pot which had been in a cupboard for umpteen years (which I almost cleared out with my last decluttering episode...) Sorted. 

The shells had been collected on that recent holiday during a beachcombing afternoon. The starfish purchased at  a shop on the beach, originally intended for a shelf in our sea themed downstairs loo!

The writing was the scary bit. Lightly drawn in pencil with style ideas taken from the phrase block in the shop....and lots of rubbing out followed!

Then, about as terrifying (okay, slightly exaggerated) the attempt to write over the top of the pencil with a pen, so scared I may jog the writing, muck it all up at this stage etc etc, all the negatives from all directions....

Then the glue, ignoring the" but what ifs" playing a pessimistic tune in my head! Stay steady, take it slow....but not too slow, the glue was hardening before my eyes....

Result!

Such a  brilliant feeling of accomplishment and discovery!  New ideas being explored as the days progressed and a design taking shape over time, 

A process which needs repeating until I silence those voices for good!

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink!

How I long for one of these!

My water's been turned off and I forgot to fill the kettle! Can't face making coffee with milk, so I will hang on and be patient whilst S, who is redesigning the bathroom, demolishes the contents with gusto, banging and hammering and force feeding the skip with the contents of  his handiwork! I am longing  to peep in the room, which is directly above where I am sitting....but instead I will try and think caffeine-free thoughts and plan a little mind diversion. This is no easy task when the ceiling sounds as if it will come down around my ears!  

Even my chickens have water.....(sound like the prodigal son and the pigs....) 

Thoughts lead to gratitude, what is an hour or so? It is so easy to take water for granted isn't it?  I sit here thinking of all the jobs I could do whilst the water is off, but look at the list that came into my mind:

Washing up....
Handwash some tops...
Clean a camping table which has been in our garage for about 15 years and needs to find a new home.
Go to the loo!
Make some more gooseberry jam, nope needs water at the start....

No brainers....

So instead I practise thankfulness and enjoy watching the thrush, from my armchair, eating the amelanchier berries.  The strains of Radio 2 filter down the stairs whilst S whistles and sings along to the songs. 

I smile to myself, the coffee can wait.

This is the way, walk in it....or perhaps take the bus?!

Ordered this book recently to add to my discovery of E Stanley Jones and his writings. I'm going to be taking it on holiday, hopefully to study and reflect on.

Wasn't expecting these old London Transport bus tickets to fall out of the book sleeve!

Interesting....the reader obviously read it on route 183! Obviously wasn't a socaible companion that day!

and you won't get these little surprises on a Kindle!

The Christ of the Indian Road

I read a quote by this author whilst reading "Speaking of Jesus" by Carl Medearis and decided to investigate him further. This is the book; it was published in 1925. I am only on Chapter 4, but already I am underlining his words and am challenged by his message and the various conversations he has with people like Gandhi who was a personal friend. He has written other books about following Jesus and some of his lectures can be read online. I shall be interested to hear what he has to say on a number of subjects.  Here is one passage from the above book:

If you are interested in his biography the link below will take you there. There is an interesting comment by Martin Luther King which is worth noting towards the end of the page.
 
http://www.estanleyjonesfoundation.com/about-esj/esj-bigraphy/

 So, with Bible in hand, "church family" support and a variety of books, the "searching for and finding Him" journey continues and as we all know, it is much more fun doing this together!

Now, which one am I, I wonder?!

O Love that will not let me go

Never heard of the Gaither Band from the 1980s  but certainly appreciate this version of an old hymn they sang at a reunion.

http://youtu.be/CAH1HuUqLZo 
 

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be. 

O light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be. 

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be. 

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be. 

Thanks Mavis, for inspiring me to search this out!

Why does it always rain on me? (She sings!)

Dick has already written about the Thanksgiving service, so I will relate the taxi saga which got us there. Just outside the hotel is a taxi booth and before each journey negotiations take place (dh) for two cars. Glad to get out of the rain, off we went in convoy, dressed smartly, dh even wearing a tie (unheard of). 

Dick was advised to use his seatbelt, which would be handy if there had been a slot to insert it in. I think the driver wanted him to look as if he was wearing it, in case we were stopped by a policeman. Meanwhile the single windscreen wiper (driver's side, thankfully) was fighting a losing battle with the rain... 

It wasn't long before I became aware of a "little light showering " from within the vehicle....Everyone else was oblivious, windows were up, I scanned the area, wiped my face (slightly gritty sensation)...tried to ignore it....more drips...suspicious dart of eyes around the area...then I noticed my arm.....I have freckles?!!! This is new, moreover I have wipeable freckles and a forearm that glistens. "A little drop of rain will hardly hurt me now" comes to mind and I know I will be humming Les Mis for the next hour. Now my companions in the back seat are aware of my situation, apparently the freckles are also on my face (not a good look) and there is a damp clingy sensation on my leg where the material has sealed itself on my ankle.

It is at this point that Dick, in the passenger seat, looks down at his smart shirt.....smattered with tiny polka dots, brown or shall I say taupe, not sure how the fashion industry would describe the look.... Not sure who is the most dismayed, he or the taxi driver who calls out an expletive (in English) and thrusts a rag in the general direction of the, now obvious, source of the flow. The dashboard is parted and jets of "water" are spraying without restraint at Dick and beyond him to me. Dick spends the rest of the journey pressing the rag (not sure of its previous use....) into the aperture, not terribly successfully, due to bumps and braking suddenly.

We arrive at our destination, thankfully not too grubby. The travellers in the second car, emerge dry, smart and amused when we recount our tale!

Not really that Sim-ple

The plan seemed straightforward enough: buy a cheap phone, purchase a Prepaid Sim card to make calls/send texts to the UK for a fraction of the price. Yes made sense really  as we come backwards and forwards to India regularly.

First get two Auto Rickshaws and get chief negotiator(dh) to agree a price. First "Auto" takes Nigel, Sue and Janet then disappears into the traffic, apparently knowing where the drop off point by the phone shop is. Second "Auto" with dh and I follows some distance behind. Second "Auto"arrives at destination,  first "Auto" nowhere to be seen.  We hover by road squinting into every "Auto" that flies by....nothing, no sign. Okay, we proceed with Plan B which is to buy the phone and Sim card, text Sue on Indian phone and find out where they are. Phone is bought, a cheap Nokia one (about £15). 


We then discover that Sim needs to be bought from a shop on the next floor, so up we go (still no sigh of the others) Sim selling shop is spotted, in we go. Man at computer desk manages to hold conversation with us whilst rarely removing eyes from computer screen before him (epic fail, I think to myself, having recently done an exercise in "listening skills"....try not to make judgement....epic fail on my part...) Sim can be bought here but will take 2 days to activate....silence....I look pitiful. Man looks up, must note my expression and offers helpful advice: "if you go to the Vodaphone shop at Vasant Vihar, they can do this for you today." Decision made, hail another auto rickshaw, drive to aforementioned shopping area, find Vodaphone shop, in we go. Sim card  sealed pouches are flashed before us,  Two forms are produced, filled in, passport and visa details entered.home address, Delhi address. Passports are photocopied, the end is in sight....um no... "We need a passport sized photo to put on the form" she says. "you will need to go to a photo booth."  "Okaaay, is there one nearby?" Apparently there is possibly one at a neighbouring shopping area, we will need another auto rickshaw..


We leave the shop undecided. For a few minutes...we walk in silence, suddenly it all seems one step too many....we decide to regroup at the hotel and meet up with the others who have ended up at a Bazaar and  bought a few bits and pieces.  Everyone seems cheerful enough, so we sample some of the Indian snacks they have bought and plan our evening meal out at "Punjabi by Nature" less than a minute from the Vodaphone shop.

 
 The assistant seems genuinely disappointed at our decision not to proceed. We'll ask Freddie's advice when we see him! The best laid plans and all that!

Practising with Live Writer!

So, the idea with this is that if I can get used to adding to my blog next week whilst I am offline, it will enable me to  write up the day's events at my leisure and then simply upload it to my blog when I can get online.  Sounds like a plan!  I have always felt under pressure due to internet time constraints especially when it comes to uploading photos, so let's see  what happens when I do this:




and just in case that was a fluke:







Yes, I'm getting it, I think! Perhaps a link to the India blog?
http://asha2013.blogspot.co.uk/

Well a bit of tweaking was necessary, but  it's worth persevering, I reckon.