Emerging in Ludlow

Songs of what?

This made me cry... with laughter.

HT Malcolm Chamberlain

In a strange land

Chipping away at the blog-face has been hard recently. Funnily I think this is, in small part, due to the weather, which being unseasonably fine has meant that being outside is more fun than being in. More though, there has been so much uncertainty about the future, it's hard to engage. I still face being moved at work, though resolving this could drag on for months. Beth's view is that if we have to move at all, why not go the whole nine yards - or twelve thousand miles and make it Oz or NZ.

In thinking about the idea of emigrating, it strikes me that we are always foreigners. Our country is not available yet. So feeling uncomfortable about where we may be normal. I suppose that as we grow to be more of that country, we fit in this one less well? It also amazes and appalls me how much I gain my own satisfaction and identity from my work and when I look at changing it my confidence dries up.

So, seeking divine wisdom on all this.

Krate

Ok the Rover has been replaced by an old Ford Ka. I have taken up part-time mechanics!

Updated: photos
 

greenest car?

My Rover 400 has done me proud, but it's nearly time to go. The plan when I bought it was to buy a car for a grand, use it for work and make a profit. It's worked pretty well, I have had it for nearly two years now and not spent too much keeping it going. I will use the same plan again. One thing I do notice though is that it changes my decisions about the journeys I make, preferring the income to the train. This is pretty much the same for anyone who uses their own car for work or runs their own business and rights off the mileage against tax. I have given this much thought but in our situation (four kids, living in a rural area with poor public transport) find it impossible to give up the second car - and having bought it - having to make it pay.

This is sad from an environmental point of view, though probably what needs looking at more is why in a job like mine is so much traveling involved (I fight hard not to).

So the next decision for me is to find the next car, cheap, reliable and green (of course I mean friendly to the environment not the colour)! I also long for 'fun' but didn't think that cheap, green and 'fun' went together until I read THIS

"Car magazine has been putting a few noses out of joint in the automotive trade. The latest edition features a report from an American outfit called CNW Marketing Research. It has put the Toyota Prius and other hybrid models in their place by declaring that the greenest car you can buy in Britain is - unbelievably - a Jeep Wrangler. Even a Range Rover Sport is greener than a Prius..."

The point is that when you look at the 'dust to dust' lifelong impact of a car, it may not be the same answer as the mpg - much of the impact being caused in the manufacture and eventual disposal. The simplicity and probably the longevity of a model playing a large part in the environmental impact - the Wrangler being a simple vehicle. Whilst if feels like this report comes from a bunch of petrol-heads, this is an important issue in the way that consumers are informed about 'greenness'.

Conversation with a two-year old

Me: What's this Lawrie?
Lawrie (2): Don't know.
Me: Is it a potty?
Lawrie (suspicious): No.
Me: Do we do our wees in here?
Lawrie: No, on the potty.
Me: Yes Lawrie, this is a wash-basket.

Fragile

These are new beech leaves - they can be eaten when young. I have never put them in a salad, but they taste vaguely nutty. Spring is a wonderful time. Beech is one tree likely to be heavily affected by climate change.

Leatherjackets

Our lawn is full of these - leatherjackets. There are hundreds of the little blighters. the roots and the root crown of the grass are their food and they basically destroy my lawn. They are the larvae of the Crane fly or daddy-long-legs. I have tried various methods of control, I killed 3500 of them last year by watering the lawn in the evening this makes them come to the surface later in the night. I killed them by slicing them in half with a putty knife - NICE! You can get chemicals to control them, but this goes against my intention to be as organic as possible in the garden. I think I need to improve the condition of the soil and the drainage as a longer term prevention.

I sometimes wonder if there is demonic activity like this. We usually think of the demonic (if we think of it at all) as being powerful and terrible and not very  numerous. What if it was sometimes like this, an infestation, each not doing much on it's own - just nibbling a bit, but combined having a dramatic effect?

Maybe in a more positive way this shows the combined effect of lots of small things happening at once. Jesus said the Kingdom of heaven is like yeast which works through the dough and leavens it all.

Anyway, if you have tips, let me know!

Magnolia

This is my desktop wallpaper at the moment. I like the contrast of the creamy white flower against the dark green foliage behind. There is a  little bug on a petal on the left. I like this little imperfection - which accentuates the beauty of the bloom. It was taken last weekend at Hampton Court (Herefordshire).

Organic Paint

Currently painting a window. Although our house is only three years old, the windows were not painted properly and now need re-doing. I am using Holkham's organic linseed paint. It is expensive, but natural and will outlast modern paints. I also feel much better using products that are better environmentally.

Easter egg hunt

Somerfield supermarkets were embarrassed over the Easter story; Timesonline reports here - sorry about the nasty popups but it was the best reference.

“Brits are set to spend a massive £520 million on Easter eggs this year — but many young people don’t even know what Easter’s all about,” said the press release from Somerfield after a survey.

It then went on to claim that the tradition of giving Easter eggs was to celebrate the “birth” of Christ. An amended version changed this to the “rebirth” of Christ. Finally a third press release accepted Church teaching that Easter celebrated the resurrection of Christ."

Roger Forster (Ichthus) used to say that he would much rather have 'unchurched' people to build a church with because they were ready to work harder - maybe this is an upside to the prevailing climate which doesn't like religion at all.