Going back to Henry's time...

 A new Farm Series has arrived!

(image from bbc.co.uk)

The familiar face of Alex Langlands has been replaced with a chap called Tom Pinfold [on the right] but I am sure that the 6 episodes will still be very interesting.  The first one airs tonight at 9pm.  I shall have my knitting at the ready and watch it.

This one is called Tudor Monastery farm, and goes further back in time than any of the farm series that I have seen before although I am aware that they did a pretty ancient one before I started watching.  Wonder what they'll get up to this time?

#ShareNiger

I am still part of a group of bloggers who are supporting a number of children in Niger through WorldVision's sponsorship programme.  Unfortunately, the person who has been supporting Child 11 of our group of children cannot carry on.   I have made an extra, small one-off donation towards Child 11, but can anyone else help? 

Anything would help - a one-off donation would be a great blessing for this child, no matter how small.  Some of us are committing to support one-quarter of a child's sponsorship, so we are donating £6 a month  - could you or a group you belong to manage that?  

  

To support this sponsorship programme through the #ShareNiger bloggers, just click on the link in my sidebar to the right, and you will see the buttons at the bottom of the post it takes you to.  That link will be there for a long time, so if you can't donate today, but one day you have some funds to spare, you  know where the link is.  

I could apologise for "asking" for donations again, but I am not going to.  I look upon posts like this one as an opportunity to let people know where in the world others need our help.  I've blogged about toilet-twinning, the disaster in the Philippines, and I have told you about #ShareNiger before.  If a pound or two gets donated because I shared the information, so much the better.  

If you can't spare anything this month, could you say a prayer for these children?  Or light a candle, or just think good thoughts or whatever it is that you feel comfortable to do, please?

Just the right squidge

The YFG has been at home today, resting and watching tv mostly, as she has a horrible cough, like a bark, and her chest is just beginning to loosen, but she is coughing so much that she isn't getting a lot of rest.

She asked for a baked potato for her lunch, so I offered to bake a cake whilst the oven was on for the potatoes.  This chocolate brownie recipe was her choice - that link will take you to the recipe as I blogged about it in September.  Back then, I didn't post a photo, though, but I remembered to take one today.

Having recently bought some walnuts, I made it with those today instead of the chopped mixed nuts.  It has just the perfect level of squidginess today, with the top a light crisp sugar shell, the top layer of sponge quite light, and then a denser, moist and chewy layer.  I can't eat it, but it smells heavenly........

If you like chocolate brownie, do try this one xx

Fades away

(image from bbc.co.uk)

Whatever I was going to say tonight pales into insignificance against the news tonight that over 10,000 people have lost their lives in the Tacloban region of the Philippines after the recent typhoon.  Stood watching the news with tears in my eyes at the devastation.  People standing at the airport waiting for evacuation with nothing more than the clothes they stand up in.  Pregnant woman saying that all she hopes to do is survive today and not worry about tomorrow yet.  Puts life into perspective.

If you are at all able, there is a Red Cross donation page here

We have so much to be thankful for here tonight.

We remember, this weekend

(image from bbc.co.uk)

The annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London has brought tears to our eyes tonight as we watched the parades of veterans alongside serving personnel, and the performance by the Poppy Girls was just beautiful, made all the more special when Megan's dad appeared at the end to surprise her.  Very moving.

I have been preparing the service for tomorrow morning as well.  It is a responsibility to get it right, and not one to be taken lightly.  As usual, it has been on my mind and in my prayers all week, and then I come to get it down on paper tonight.

We had a hairy moment at the gymnastics club this morning when the Head Coach didn't turn up for the first class at 10am.  The YFG and I arrived at 9.45am by which time he would usually have been there, but he wasn't.  He still hadn't turned up by 10 when I had 9 little boys keen to begin, and so I had to start without him, with just the YFG and another coach to help me.  He wandered in at 10.15 looking very apologetic!  We have changed the time this term from 10.30am to 10am and having had two weeks off for the half-term holiday, he had forgotten!!  He is not going to live that down for a few weeks....

The YFG has had an evening out at a firework display as the guest of a school friend who is celebrating her birthday, so she has had a lovely if chilly evening!

worn-out.com

It has been one of " those" days, and I am worn out!

Starting off doing 40 minutes of Davina at 6.10am could have something to do with it, as well as all of the stuff between then and now, but I am going to head off to bed now, and read awhile, as I have to be bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning - gym by 10am and then I have Remembrance Sunday service to prepare......I seem to get all the "big" days - it is a responsibility and a privilege, though.  I'm not going to stay up late doing it tonight, though, as I won't do it justice.

My achievement of the day today has been meal-planning to the end of the month using up stuff from the freezer, so I am pleased about that.

See you tomorrow xx

Elaine's Sultana Bread

Just to share that I have got this rising near the fire this evening after making the dough in the bread machine.  It smells gorgeous already, so the aroma released when I actually cook it are going to be something else!  The FH loves this kind of bread, so he is looking forward to a taste later.  Shouldn't be too long....