A milder day here too, a few patches of sleet are predicted but skies are currently blue.
Lazy morning so far but I’m teaching online this afternoon (disease prevention and health promotion). Then I’m off for a walk.
My husband is currently cooking soup in the kitchen, carrot I think.
As I am too decrepit to walk on anything icy, I am stuck indoors and FED UP! However, the sun is shining, and melting some of our snow, so I might venture into the garden and walk round to see what has died.
Roseofsharon - I remember the winter of 1946/7 - I was cycling to school every day through thick and thin! Tunics, grey socks and cold knees!
We were due to go down to Clermont (80 km or so) this evening to have dinner with the Bishop and his wife. A "swansong" if you like, as he is moving on in April. However, it has been snowing constantly for 5 hours and shows no sign of stopping. We have decided that it's more sensible to stay home - especially as we now discover the motorway is closed! So it's home made pizza for tea and MrD can watch the rugby. I may nopt make it to church tomorrow either.
Yes, he was the minister, but No, it was not entirely due to miscalculations, rather that the severity of the snowfalls of 1946/47 took everyone by surprise and what would in normal circumstances have been sufficient stockpiles ran down while the rail system was paralysed.
There have been very small flakes falling here for about the last four hours; I haven't really looked properly outside, but I suspect we're going to get rather more than the 2-4 cm they're forecasting. Also, what's falling now is being described as just "snow" rather than "light snow", which doesn't bode well.
I'm fed up of winter, and it's only the beginning of February.
We've had about 10-15 cm here; I thought it best not to drive to church. So I stayed home. I've just fed the Poor Cats and cleared both cars of snow. No more has been forecast and both MrD and I leave the house at 7.30 tomorrow, so this will make our getaway quicker - especially as it took me a good 20 minutes to clear each one of snow. He's digging the cars out now. We've put the windscreen covers on - they may freeze to the cars, making them harder to get off, but it does still save a lot of scraping!
The Poor Cats were glad to see me, I think. Their shed is (sort of) insulated, with a mixture of polystyrene sheets, old duvets stapled to the walls, and a very fetching red curtain over the entrance, and they have various crates with straw, or old curtains, or knitted blankies in. But it must still be fairly miserable for them, despite getting at least one square meal a day (though sometimes slightly weird food, depending on what the old peoples' home leftovers consist of! When I arrived they had rice and tinned fish paté left for them. I mixed it with some "proper" cat food. )
Pleasant this morning although it's now clouded over. We were cold in church as the cold-water feed to the boiler had frozen, putting it out of action. We put on a couple of electric heaters which helped a bit, then the heating came on of its own accord but too late to make any appreciable effect. We should be all right tonight though.
What's the use of a heating system that won't work in cold weather?
Again some snow (big flakes) this morning. Mostly clouded over here too. Some minor heavenly enlightenings in the afternoon.
Just listening to Choral Evensong, Radio 3, from Ely Cathedral. Unfortunately, what normally creates that fuzzy warm feeling of well-being and contentment, besides spiritual upliftedness, today seems to be rather bone-chilling, dissonant and intellectually-abstract. Other choices of music from Ely Evensong I've had on earlier occasions were far more pleasing to the ear and to the heart. But perhaps that's just because it's cold and wintry outside, and so we're all longing for whatever warmth we can get.
Speaking of which: some nice venison ragout in the making, with a bit of pasta and greeneries on the side. That should help!
We had a couple of days like BT's earlier in the winter - on one of them, we had no electricity at all until just after the Psalm.
Not so bad today - everything seemed in reasonable working order! We did a spot of candle-blessing, and our motet was Locus iste by Bruckner, which D. thought we'd done with this choir, until Thursday afternoon when he went to look for it in the choir library and discovered than not only had we not done it, but we didn't have it. Cue much scuttling round the interweb and a rather intense rehearsal on Thursday evening ...
But, like the troupers they are*, they took to it very well, and it really didn't go badly at all this morning.
Now for a spot of lunch (might try out the restaurant of a new hotel that's nearby) and then back for Evensnog.
* The choir here is very brave - they never seem fazed by anything D. throws at them, and they're nearly all very good readers, so after a couple of runs through, most things are very nearly passable.
Have you tried anything by Jonathan Harvey? He certainly wrote some anthems. I was a student at Southampton University in the early 70s when our Choral Society sang the first performance of his extremely avant-garde "On Vision". It was very, very difficult! The concert was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 (who paid for a much-needed extra rehearsal!) At least we had the consolation that, if we went wrong, no-one would know! (We also sang, at another concert, Stravinsky's amazing "Symphony of Psalms". Sadly I missed Tippett's "A Child of our Time" by a term or too, though we did sing one of the spirituals for "Songs of Praise"). I'm going to a performance of "L'Enfance du Christ", which I sang there, in a couple of weeks' time - my wife is staying home as she can't stand it!
Thankfully the -6 last night didn’t make the roads icy because I had to get to a Banding Together day run by a couple of local Wind Bands. But that means anyone wanting to talk to me will have to SHOUT - I was sitting in front of an enthusiastic trumpet-playing tuba player still pushing tuba quantities of wind down the plumbing.
I think I've heard the name, but I don't know any of his music.
... Sadly I missed Tippett's "A Child of our Time" ... though we did sing one of the spirituals ...
We did three of the spirituals with the St. Magnus Festival Chorus about 30-something years ago and I did the solo bits. In a general way, I'm not fond of spirituals, but the Tippett ones are rather good.
@Baptist Trainfan I love L'Enfance du Christ! * I chose Berlioz as my specialist subject for my A-level French (which I took in adulthood) and listened to a lot of his stuff. I was deeply disappointed to miss the Grande Messe des Morts, in Winchester Cathedral - how do the organisers get access to my diary, so they can arrange stuff for nights when I can't possibly go?
Mrs. S, also an ex-resident of (nearly) Southampton
In terms of beautiful, albeit perhaps slightly hairy voices - for some reason, I've stumbled across Brian Blessed again. (Ah yes, via link on the Ship, of course!) Luckily, it was a soft landing. He's huge and rather cuddly.
I wonder if I should get his autobiography. There are some audiobook extracts on the web. Anyone read or listened to it?
Brian Blessed's autobiographical claims featured as an Only Connect question in this series. There's also a Who Do You Think You Are? episode from series 11, which is not available on i-player, but you could possibly find on the interwebs
Thanks, Curiosity. It fact, the whole autobiography seems to be out there, am currently listening...! And as he not only reads, but also sings (!) on there, I've just ordered the paperback plus the entire audiobook on CDs.
Cool Britannia is in fact remarkably pleasant today! It started off really grey and drizzly, but now the sun is out and I'm feeling Decidedly Warm - the BBC predicts 11C which seems quite possible.
Rather grey here, thought not as cold as it has been.
Dull day here, I’ve done my usual Monday morning admin, I’m prepping tutorials and then teaching this evening. I appear to be in a depressive mood (they don’t last long usually) - wierdly, looking at my work notes I always appear to have a depression this week of the academic year.
@Baptist Trainfan you might be interested to know that the University choral society, which now sings with Southampton Philharmonic Choir, is still doing innovative stuff, I haven’t sung with them for a good few years now (children get in the way of A Life...) but they commissioned Dominic Muldowney’s The Fall of Jerusalem. Which I absolutely hated and made me totally miserable to sing, but what do I know...
Thank you, that's good to hear. The Uni. Choral Society/Philharmonic partnership already existed when I joined in 1971! Jonathan Harvey was a lecturer in the Music Dept. at the time and the choirs were led by Prof. Peter Evans.
Having been weaned musically on the music of Peter Maxwell Davies in Orkney in the 70s, I'm usually quite open to the avant garde, but with the proviso that it has to be worth the effort of learning it (as the stuff Max wrote for my old school was).
When D. took over as organist and choirmaster at St. Magnus, he inherited a commissioned piece from one of Max's protegés, who didn't have quite the talent of the man himself. The piece took months of blood, sweat and tears to learn and really wasn't awfully good; we certainly never did it again, and I don't know that anyone else did either. In the Festival Club after the premiere, the composer said he didn't like the way we'd sung it, and one of the altos in the choir (who'd had a couple of drinks) replied that we didn't like the way he'd written it either ...
It's a rather grey day here: +2° and misty, but that's no bad thing, if it'll shift some of the sn*w. Still comfort food weather though - I made an approximation of chicken fricassee for lunch.
It's been quite a day. I had a fairly heavy day's worth of stuff to do, livened by a desperate cry for a first aider. I found a colleague icy, icy white, so clammy they were dripping, and their eyes rolling in their head - though they were making sense, they were obviously in distress. Got them to the floor, raised their feet, and waited. They didn't seem to improve very much so called 111 for advice, and an ambulance was sent out.
Eventually a very wobbly colleague went home with their Mum, leaving me to try to make up for a lost 2 1/2 hours, and feeling more and more shaken as the day went on.
I eventually got the important things finished, and went home very late. Luckily the Knotweed is also a first-aider (in fact, she's doing her refresher today and tomorrow), so we could talk about it in a debrief sort of way. I feel like I've been through the wringer so lord only knows what they feel like.
D. and I both did a CPR/first aid course last summer (it was provided by the Cathedral, and the staff all had to do it, but they wanted people from the congregation and groups such as the choir as well). I hope I'll never have to use it though - although I passed the test at the end I really didn't feel confident about my abilities.
I’ve just finished an on-line course for work, and although I was glad to do it, I’m not sure how much has really gone in. And there was no practical bit of course. A few others who did the course at the same time have said the same thing.
Still, we’re not official first aiders, it’s an extra, So there’s no harm and might be some good.
I’m no longer a nurse or even a first aider, I haven’t been in practice for over ten years. But twenty years ago I was a staff nurse on a busy medical ward and was doing resuscitation at least once a week. It was so ingrained in me then that if someone collapsed in front of me now I would be able to do it again without hesitation on autopilot.
It’s a very useful skill for anyone to have, even if it’s just the basics covered. But I do really recommend the full course with St Johns if anyone can get sponsored for it.
I hold a first aid certificate for Guides and have held one for years - I'm due to renew it next weekend, on a 5 hour course complete with Resusci-Annies and we had the Guide First Aider come in to teach the Guides a few weeks ago (plus the choking vest, which I got to wear and teach). I haven't had to use CPR, but I am using first aid on my daughter currently - but that certificate saved me much worse burns last year, because I knew what to do.
It's the reaction to staying calm and going into that place of following training, then thinking about what you did afterwards that's hard.
In the Festival Club after the premiere, the composer said he didn't like the way we'd sung it, and one of the altos in the choir (who'd had a couple of drinks) replied that we didn't like the way he'd written it either
AFAICT even the professionals get a major adrenaline rush in emergency situations. When I got taken into the gynaecological emergency department (good grief, almost a year ago), I remember distinctly the moment when the medics realised that their quiet Sunday afternoon on call had suddenly turned into a major emergency. These people don’t panic – they’re highly trained professionals who know exactly what they need to do, but even so, you could smell the adrenaline in the air, because it was a very serious situation with no margin for error.
(I have zero memory of what happened next. That’s the point where my brain decided it was all a bit much to deal with and checked out of the building.)
The latest news from IICSA (the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) is that the Papal Nuncio to the United Kingdom, Archbishop Edward Adams, is refusing to attend and give evidence into the latest phase of hearings concerning St Benedict's, Ealing. Of course, as the representative of the Vatican in the UK he is de facto ambassador and so has diplomatic immunity. But is leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. [You can read more about it here]
Ooh, yes please - they'd go nicely with the Orkney cheddar cheese I found in Costco* the other day. Any chance of posting the recipe upstairs?
* Someone posted on an Orkney Facebook page that she'd found Orkney cheese in Costco in Fredericton - I don't know whether I was more excited about the cheese or that there was someone else in Freddy with Orkney connections!
* * * * *
The temperature here has (temporarily) sky-rocketed - it's cureently +8° and a modicum of thawing appears to be in progress.
I am also marvelling at the fact that one can make digestive biscuits oneself. Do you have a recipe please?
Well, they didn’t come out like a Mcvities, but tasty enough to have to keep going back to the biscuit barrel for (why do I ever kid myself and put biscuits in a barrel?).
I based the recipe on this one but because I’m oat-free I ground up some rolled barley in the food processor, and because I’m dairy free I used 100g Trex. Everything was whizzed up together &vrolled between sheets of baking parchment not cling film.
... Orkney cheddar? Is there therefore an opposite cheese called "Somerset stromness"? ...
I'm a Kirkwall girl - you don't think I'd eat something called "Stromness"*, do you??? Is outrage!
In fairness, I deliberately left off the capital C in "cheddar" - although the cheese was always referred to as "Orkney cheddar", it's no more Cheddar than any of the umpteen cheeses that glory in that name in every supermarket.
* Stockan's oatcakes came originally from there - in my Baptist days, I had a massive crush on the bloke who now owns the firm ...
Oh, I do like cheese, one of my favourite things. When I used to moderate an eco parenting board I organised an annual cheese swap in October where we sent each other £10 of nice cheeses.
I’ve got a rotten dry cough which is making my chest hurt. Alas, I also have a stack of marking to get done. So not at my brightest.
On a more positive note, I’ve done my morning walk and the weekly shop and have just purchased a joint membership of a Cambridge Botanic Gardens as a Valentine present. My husband’s office is next door to the gardens so he can escape there to work, I can walk there for exercise and we can meet for lunch.
@Heavenlyannie what a lovely Valentine's present. Enjoy your walks and lunches.
Having been and done a bit of shopping and gone for a swim I intend to spend the rest of the day doing lazy things. BBC iplayer hasA Matter of Life and Death available on it's film section, so that's this afternoon sorted!
Comments
Going to visit a friend in hospital on the other side of the city this afternoon. I hope the gilets jaunes aren't out in force...
Lazy morning so far but I’m teaching online this afternoon (disease prevention and health promotion). Then I’m off for a walk.
My husband is currently cooking soup in the kitchen, carrot I think.
Roseofsharon - I remember the winter of 1946/7 - I was cycling to school every day through thick and thin! Tunics, grey socks and cold knees!
Yes, he was the minister, but No, it was not entirely due to miscalculations, rather that the severity of the snowfalls of 1946/47 took everyone by surprise and what would in normal circumstances have been sufficient stockpiles ran down while the rail system was paralysed.
I'm fed up of winter, and it's only the beginning of February.
The Poor Cats were glad to see me, I think. Their shed is (sort of) insulated, with a mixture of polystyrene sheets, old duvets stapled to the walls, and a very fetching red curtain over the entrance, and they have various crates with straw, or old curtains, or knitted blankies in. But it must still be fairly miserable for them, despite getting at least one square meal a day (though sometimes slightly weird food, depending on what the old peoples' home leftovers consist of! When I arrived they had rice and tinned fish paté left for them. I mixed it with some "proper" cat food. )
What's the use of a heating system that won't work in cold weather?
Just listening to Choral Evensong, Radio 3, from Ely Cathedral. Unfortunately, what normally creates that fuzzy warm feeling of well-being and contentment, besides spiritual upliftedness, today seems to be rather bone-chilling, dissonant and intellectually-abstract. Other choices of music from Ely Evensong I've had on earlier occasions were far more pleasing to the ear and to the heart. But perhaps that's just because it's cold and wintry outside, and so we're all longing for whatever warmth we can get.
Speaking of which: some nice venison ragout in the making, with a bit of pasta and greeneries on the side. That should help!
Not so bad today - everything seemed in reasonable working order! We did a spot of candle-blessing, and our motet was Locus iste by Bruckner, which D. thought we'd done with this choir, until Thursday afternoon when he went to look for it in the choir library and discovered than not only had we not done it, but we didn't have it. Cue much scuttling round the interweb and a rather intense rehearsal on Thursday evening ...
But, like the troupers they are*, they took to it very well, and it really didn't go badly at all this morning.
Now for a spot of lunch (might try out the restaurant of a new hotel that's nearby) and then back for Evensnog.
* The choir here is very brave - they never seem fazed by anything D. throws at them, and they're nearly all very good readers, so after a couple of runs through, most things are very nearly passable.
I hope your hearing will recover soon. <votive>
Mrs. S, also an ex-resident of (nearly) Southampton
I wonder if I should get his autobiography. There are some audiobook extracts on the web. Anyone read or listened to it?
Dull day here, I’ve done my usual Monday morning admin, I’m prepping tutorials and then teaching this evening. I appear to be in a depressive mood (they don’t last long usually) - wierdly, looking at my work notes I always appear to have a depression this week of the academic year.
When D. took over as organist and choirmaster at St. Magnus, he inherited a commissioned piece from one of Max's protegés, who didn't have quite the talent of the man himself. The piece took months of blood, sweat and tears to learn and really wasn't awfully good; we certainly never did it again, and I don't know that anyone else did either. In the Festival Club after the premiere, the composer said he didn't like the way we'd sung it, and one of the altos in the choir (who'd had a couple of drinks) replied that we didn't like the way he'd written it either ...
It's a rather grey day here: +2° and misty, but that's no bad thing, if it'll shift some of the sn*w. Still comfort food weather though - I made an approximation of chicken fricassee for lunch.
Eventually a very wobbly colleague went home with their Mum, leaving me to try to make up for a lost 2 1/2 hours, and feeling more and more shaken as the day went on.
I eventually got the important things finished, and went home very late. Luckily the Knotweed is also a first-aider (in fact, she's doing her refresher today and tomorrow), so we could talk about it in a debrief sort of way. I feel like I've been through the wringer so lord only knows what they feel like.
AG
Still, we’re not official first aiders, it’s an extra, So there’s no harm and might be some good.
MMM
It’s a very useful skill for anyone to have, even if it’s just the basics covered. But I do really recommend the full course with St Johns if anyone can get sponsored for it.
It's the reaction to staying calm and going into that place of following training, then thinking about what you did afterwards that's hard.
It's *always* one of the Altos....
(I have zero memory of what happened next. That’s the point where my brain decided it was all a bit much to deal with and checked out of the building.)
* Someone posted on an Orkney Facebook page that she'd found Orkney cheese in Costco in Fredericton - I don't know whether I was more excited about the cheese or that there was someone else in Freddy with Orkney connections!
* * * * *
The temperature here has (temporarily) sky-rocketed - it's cureently +8° and a modicum of thawing appears to be in progress.
Home made digestives? I’ve never had them but they sound good!
(Mind you, I have it on good authority that a lot of Caerphilly cheese is made in ... Preston).
I based the recipe on this one but because I’m oat-free I ground up some rolled barley in the food processor, and because I’m dairy free I used 100g Trex. Everything was whizzed up together &vrolled between sheets of baking parchment not cling film.
In fairness, I deliberately left off the capital C in "cheddar" - although the cheese was always referred to as "Orkney cheddar", it's no more Cheddar than any of the umpteen cheeses that glory in that name in every supermarket.
* Stockan's oatcakes came originally from there - in my Baptist days, I had a massive crush on the bloke who now owns the firm ...
I’ve got a rotten dry cough which is making my chest hurt. Alas, I also have a stack of marking to get done. So not at my brightest.
On a more positive note, I’ve done my morning walk and the weekly shop and have just purchased a joint membership of a Cambridge Botanic Gardens as a Valentine present. My husband’s office is next door to the gardens so he can escape there to work, I can walk there for exercise and we can meet for lunch.
Having been and done a bit of shopping and gone for a swim I intend to spend the rest of the day doing lazy things. BBC iplayer hasA Matter of Life and Death available on it's film section, so that's this afternoon sorted!