Electrickery

We have a small problem on the lovely Susan Skoda, and it seems to be electrical.  Actually, I suppose there are three problems: the boot won't open at all, the inside lights don't work and last night, I realised that the fan will only blow cold.  I think the problems are connected.....but not being particularly expert in all matters "car", I am not entirely sure.

Trouble is, my wonderful local garage man, who does wonders to keep Susan running, is an expert with the engine, but less confident with the old electricals.  I am going to see him today and get some advice, but I think he is going to send us out into the world of less-well-known-to-us garages to get some electrical expertise elsewhere.

When I mentioned the boot situation to him a few weeks ago, there was the slightly sharp inhalation of breath which indicates that it could be expensive.  But although Susan has well over 169,000 miles on the clock now and 10 years of experience on the roads, she is still going well in all other areas, and had a new cam belt in January, so I don't want to put her out to pasture just yet - she was a bargain when we bought her in 2012 and I love her!  Good job the savings pot is looking healthy - these are just the kinds of expenses for which it pays to have some money put aside.  And in my new job, I need my car.

Do-er or stew-er?

Which are you?  I am a do-er, I am sure.  It is therefore frustrating me that the EFG seems to be someone who stews.......I have had several messages from her overnight about how worried she is, to the point of feeling sick, about the girl coming back to the flat tomorrow.

I feel for both of them, all of them, in this situation, and I am feeling frustrated about the miles, as I said the other day.  I have just spent half an hour discussing strategies and possible actions with the EFG on the phone, things she could do, people she could speak to for advice and support......I suspect that when I get to speak to her again tonight, she won't have done much apart from come up with a few reasons why it wasn't a good idea to do any of them.....I really hope she has done something, but I won't be surprised if she hasn't.

My concern is that if all the stress of this makes her ill and she has to come home, the university will ask who she told, who she asked for help, where she went to chat with people, and whether she spoke to her doctor, for example.  They can't help her if they don't know she needs help, after all.

Half of me wants to jump on a train to Aberdeen in the next couple of hours and go to sort it out for her, but the more sensible half is saying that no, she is 19 and she needs to grow through this and deal with it.  The less sensible half may win out in the end as I am still worried - I'll wave as I travel up the country if I do go!  I have already checked the train fares and timetables........there's a bus service from Dundee to Aberdeen because of a derailment of a freight train at Broughty Ferry.

At least I can pray.

The miles

Some days I am really struggling to cope with the miles between here and Aberdeen. I wish that the EFG had gone to uni in Norwich sometimes, but then I remember that no, the course which suited her best was in Aberdeen.

Last night I spent three frantic hours worried half to death about her. One of her flatmates had had an episode of self-harming and quite terrifying behaviour and the other four girls, including the EFG, had fled from the flat in fear.  I had the EFG on the phone in tears, shaking and incoherent.  It was not a good place to be.

In near constant communication with her and the other three, I encouraged them to ring the police for the other girl's safety, but they rang 111 and didn't get a lot of support. I tried all kinds of numbers in Aberdeen to find them some help, as it was getting late.  Eventually, I managed to prise the girl's home phone number out of them and I rang her mum, and explained the situation.  Of course, her poor mum then became as upset and worried as I already was, and managed to get a lift into Aberdeen, as she lives about an hour away.  She has taken her daughter home for a few days of R&R, and possibly a trip to the GP whilst she is home too.  All was well again by midnight and we settled down!

Today I have had a lovely morning taking a service at one of my favourite chapels, and then I came home and charged up and down and round and round with my new lawnmower - it was great!  My headteacher came over this afternoon as we have a mini-crisis going on at school and she had been away with a group for a couple of nights and needed a catch-up.  Then, I waded through 5 years of old governor documents, looking for minutes and documents relating to a specific issue......I had a couple of cups of tea whilst I was doing that....

Tonight - the fire is lit for the first time this season, and it is a lovely cheery sight......just in time for Downton Abbey in about half an hour.  Love it - a perfect end to the weekend!

#ShareNiger

I'm part of a group of bloggers who sponsor children in Niger.  People come and go within the group and it seems that several slots have been left vacant, and the organiser of the group has been covering the sponsorship of these children herself.

We each pay for one quarter of a child's sponsorship each month, at £6. 

If anyone is interested in joining us in order to keep these children all part of the #ShareNiger sponsorship gang, then please do get in touch.  I was very grateful for a lovely lady being able to become part of it last time I appealed for support.  

If you click on the badge in the side bar that looks just like this one, you will be taken to a post which explains all about it.

It is a worthy cause that I support but I completely understand that we all have our own choices of charities which we support to the level to which we are able, and this is by no means a hassling post.  I just like to let readers know when slots open up in the group in case they feel drawn to come forward. 

Thank you for reading x

A special request

In conversation with my Superintendent minister today, I have discussed blogging, and been asked to consider developing a ministry to widows.  I know that there are widows who read this blog, who have particularly identified with me in my situation, and some of you have made yourselves known.

In order to develop this, it would be very kind if some of you would email me, at the address in the sidebar to the right, in order that I might be able to discern more about how such a ministry might work and what support widows of all ages might benefit from having.  I know how I feel but I am just one amongst many.

I'm never going to identify you on here, never going to expect you to do anything with which you don't feel comfortable, but it would help me to help others, if I could ask you some questions privately.  Whether you feel able to respond will be up to you, if you contact me.

Your faith background is not relevant to this, as I want to know more about the general level of support you have had since your partner died, and whether you think that it has been enough, and what more you would have sought or appreciated, and perhaps what barriers you felt there were to you accessing such support.

With love and thanks.

Recipe round up

(image from idealwt.com)

Some great posts you might want to check out:

An appetising recipe for what look like cinnamon swirls but are actually Maple Frosted Spicy Scrolls from a "cheapskate" blogger down under. I'm going to be going through her blog looking for other fab recipes to share!

Mimi is another Aussie blogger who I have added to the blog roll, and I came across a link to a really good chocolate cake which she describes lots of modifications for, in order to turn it into a variety of different cakes - all from the same basic mix.  This is going on my "To Try" list very soon.

The Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog always has something worth trying on it, and this recipe for Ginger Biscuits looks superb - if mine turn out as good as these look, I shall be very impressed!  Just have to get some molasses.......not sure if golden syrup would work?

And these gluten-free cookies look amazing - I am slightly concerned by the length of the ingredient list, but they look like they might well be worth the effort!  Gluten-free food is very expensive bought off the shelf, and these may be a good alternative to some of the things I like the look of but have to turn up my nose at the prices!

This crock pot website may be just the thing we need for scrummy winter-warmers as the colder weather approaches. I am going to have a good look around here for some fresh inspiration.  And there are more on this site, which I just came across: this person has obviously published books but there is a big section of free recipes, including crock pot ones.

More tatties?

Looking around the internet, I came across this helpful website, powered by Sainsbury's, which allows one to tell it which ingredients are in the cupboard, or in too plentiful supply, and then it can supply a limited number of recipes to use up said ingredient.  I like it!  It has quite a few potato based recipes!

Tonight's delicacy was Rainbow Vegetable and Egg Bake and it was very well received.  It didn't look much like this, though...

(image from homemadebyyou.co.uk)

Well, I used white onions instead of red ones, left out the sweetcorn and the courgette, didn't have any rosemary either.......I suppose you could say it was inspired by this recipe, even if I didn't follow it to the letter!  We didn't have much Cheddar left, but we did have some mozzarella, so I chopped that up and popped it in as well as three eggs.  It is getting to the end of the week, so it didn't get served with salad, but green veg and plenty of them.

I don't think anyone has gone to bed hungry, and the whole lot was from in-stock ingredients.  And we have used up all the forked potatoes, so that is an added bonus.