Wash Day Blues

You know how it is, you almost finish ironing someting and then you realise, actually it needs to be rewashed....so irritating!!! The offending article was a light coloured pair of trousers that dh had been wearing in India. The washing machine had done its best at 40 degrees, but deep-seated Delhi dust and grime was stubbornly refusing to budge...ingrained and tenacious.  

Action plan:

24 hours soak in biological washing powder in bath....followed by

Kneeling down by side of bath, bent over scrubbing with nailbrush and Vanish soap, any bits I could see.....and there were a fair few up for a fight!!!

Steam-washed on 60 degrees...

Hung out in sun to dry..

PERFECT! SORTED!

Such hassle...one pair of trousers...so inconvenient.....so  time-wasting...

but what if I had to do this every day, like some of my friends in the slums....day in, day out.. Bent over a bowl, scrubbing away, hanging things out to dry in the grimy conditions they would not choose to live in...

It made me realise, yet again, what I take for granted....and suddenly I wasn't frustrated any more with my minor annoyance....I practiced gratitude.....

Lady Dufferin, a remarkable woman!

Whilst in Shimla,we went to visit Viceregal Lodge which was a former residence of Lord Dufferin who was the 8th Viceroy of India from 1884-1888.  However, as I came back to research more about the house, which has been described as a cross between The Tower of London and Hogwarts, I became more interested about what his wife was involved in during that time.  I read the poem first, which describes the love and respect the women had for her, then I was drawn in to imagine what life must have been like before medical help was available for them. It is all in the poem, harrowing accounts.....

Lady Dufferin  went with her husband to India in 1884 when he was appointed as the country's viceroy, and set up the National Association for supplying Female Medical Aid to the Women of India a year later. She was in her mid forties.

Hariot Georgina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava to give her her full name!

This association recruited and trained women doctors, midwives and nurses to improve the situation for Indian women in illness and in child-bearing as it was not felt appropriate that they were treated by male doctors.

 This involved her in a great deal of fund-raising and is sometimes referred to as her zenana work; it was celebrated by Rudyard Kipling in his Song of the Women. She received the Crown of India in 1884 and the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert in 1889.

 The Song Of The Women

 by  Rudyard Kipling

How shall she know the worship we would do her?

The walls are high, and she is very far.

How shall the woman's message reach unto her

Above the tumult of the packed bazaar?

Free wind of March, against the lattice blowing,

Bear thou our thanks, lest she depart unknowing.

Go forth across the fields we may not roam in,

Go forth beyond the trees that rim the city,

To whatsoe'er fair place she hath her home in,

Who dowered us with wealth of love and pity.

Out of our shadow pass, and seek her singing--

"I have no gifts but Love alone for bringing."

Say that we be a feeble folk who greet her,

But old in grief, and very wise in tears;

Say that we, being desolate, entreat her

That she forget us not in after years;

For we have seen the light, and it were grievous

To dim that dawning if our lady leave us.

By life that ebbed with none to stanch the failing

By Love's sad harvest garnered in the spring,

When Love in ignorance wept unavailing

O'er young buds dead before their blossoming;

By all the grey owl watched, the pale moon viewed,

In past grim years, declare our gratitude!

By hands uplifted to the Gods that heard not,

By fits that found no favor in their sight,

By faces bent above the babe that stirred not,

By nameless horrors of the stifling night;

By ills foredone, by peace her toils discover,

Bid Earth be good beneath and Heaven above her!

If she have sent her servants in our pain

If she have fought with Death and dulled his sword;

If she have given back our sick again.

And to the breast the waking lips restored,

Is it a little thing that she has wrought?

Then Life and Death and Motherhood be nought.

Go forth, O wind, our message on thy wings,

And they shall hear thee pass and bid thee speed,

In reed-roofed hut, or white-walled home of kings,

Who have been helpen by her in their need.

All spring shall give thee fragrance, and the wheat

Shall be a tasselled floorcloth to thy feet.

 

Haste, for our hearts are with thee, take no rest!

Loud-voiced ambassador, from sea to sea

Proclaim the blessing, manifold, confessed.

Of those in darkness by her hand set free.

Then very softly to her presence move,

And whisper: "Lady, lo, they know and love!"

Comfrey under attack!

I'm nurturing my newly- planted comfrey, taking great pleasure in dreaming about its many uses once it is established. I'm watching each leaf unfurl with a sense of anticipation.....but it seems I have an enemy....Tonight I wandered down the garden and see a wiltered leaf...WHAT?!!!!! On closer inspection a small yelllow and black beetle flies off just as I'm peering at yet more leaves with holes in them.  Now, I have noticed the furry underside of some of the few leaves that are starting to get established, have got a downy look to them, hmmm ?eggs, I've ignored it until now....because now means WAR!

Now having done my research before I bought said plant, I know that any gardener worth his/her salt has comfrey growing because it makes a great liquid fertiliser.  So I am keen to encourage it even if it threatens to become invasive. Apart from that it has a variety of medicinal uses which I haven't got into yet....although its claim to heal broken bones seems a little far-fetched, won't bring that up with dh!

So what to do? Trawling through web sites, it appears that getting rid of said beetle is almost impossible, if it is cucumber beetle, which I suspect it is, by its description  If , of course, someone tells me it isn't resident in the UK then I will try and see what it is...but whatever it is, I'm up for a fight! Armed with my weak solutiuon of washing up liquid in spray bottle I have drenched the plant with it, having absolutely no idea if it will work, but sounding a lot like the father in MY Big Fat Greek Wedding who thinks that Windex cures everything!  I read it somewhere on an organic gardening website years back.... Next I have covered it with fleece and peg it down with tent pegs.....we shall see. I'm up for a fight! If it dies, it dies, but it's going to go down fighting and I'm going to spray and watch it like a hawk.... my little plant needs to have a chance.....wretched beetle.....

 One day, I want to see it looking like this!!!!

Next morning:

Don't think Confrey liked my diluted washing up liquid deluge..... Leaves gone brown overnight...no sign of downy eggs on underside of leaves though.  Have  removed some leaves which I consider past all hope and covered it up with the fleeceagain! Have about 3 or 4 leaves left and a tiny leaf coming up at the base. Decided NOT to respray!! Not about to give up yet!

A Flourishing weekend with the girlies

Psalm 92:12-15

The Amplified Bible  does these verses total justice in my opinion!


¹² The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible].

¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴ [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment].

¹⁵ [They are living memorials] to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
                       
I shall be reading this verses through slowly and thoughtfully again and again....

My reflective soap carving which  is now positioned on the bedside table as a reminder at the start and the end of the day.



and on the back....as if I needed reminding....!

A privilege to enjoy a brilliant weekend with some lovely ladies, all 25 of you!

Perfect Popcorn!

It was decided. Chick flick with mates:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_to_Juliet

 A great opportunity to try out the Toffee popcorn recipe recently discovered on Pinterest (don't get me started on this site!)

 Basic Popcorn

• 3 Tbsp oil
• 1/3 cup  popcorn kernels- (this makes enough for a bowl of plain too(with salt and melted butter added to taste)
• 1 large covered saucepan

1 Heat the oil in the saucepan on medium high heat.
2 Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover the pan.
3 When the kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and count 30 seconds.  This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.
4 Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl.

 Here is the original link for the Toffee popcorn:

http://bloggingwithchildren.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/crazy-karo-crunch.html

I have added what I did below:

Crazy Karo Crunch Ingredients: 

1/2 cup Butter melted
1/2 Cup Karo Syrup (Light) - I used ordinary syrup
1 Cup Brown Sugar
 1/2 tsp Vanilla -I forgot to add this!
2 Quarts air popped dry pop corn - I filled a v large deep rectangular oven dish which was about  half of the popcorn I had prepared.
Cooking spray - Didn't bother as dish didn't need it
Preheat Oven to 200 degrees -Gas 4 in my case

 .Spread the popcorn across the rectangular dish.

3. In a pot on the stove, combine butter, sugar, and syrup on high. Stir until boiling. Reduce heat to Med-High and boil for EXACTLY 5 minutes. Add Vanilla.

Drizzle over popcorn, stir, and bake for 15 minutes. .

Remove from oven, mix the popcorn and caramel around, replace in oven for another 15 minutes.

 Repeat the above, until caramel corn has been in the oven for 45 minutes (Instructions said 1hr, but this too long for mine)  and has been mostly covered in caramel. I wanted a Butterkist look, so mine was pretty much coated! You could always include more popcorn if you want a less crunchy effect....but what's the point?! (Dentist's bill, I guess...)

 Allow it to cool, break apart, and serve.

Oh my word, it was AMAZING and really DID taste like Werther's original as she states! Thought I had made too much, but don't think it is going to last long in this house.... oh and they enjoyed the film too!