Our Wee Getaway

The Mhinisteir was keen to go away for  a short break.  He was tired and needed a break but I wasnt keen because of Covid 19.  When you are a Vicar, holidaying at home is not an option.  We have tried it before and it just doesn’t work.

I must confess that another reason why I was reluctant to go away was that some urgent Church related matter has a habit of cropping up whenever we go on holiday.  The truth is even days off are like that.  There have been times when we have had to delay, cut short or completely do without holidays.  Maybe because we are in a multi parish benefice so more issues and people to deal with but then a Vicar’s job is 24/7 contrary to belief that Vicar’s only work on Sundays!

Anyway, we decided to go somewhere nearby just for a couple of days.  It’s a place we know well.  We were at our holiday destination within an hour.

I personally did very little apart from reading.  However, on our last day, I managed a little shopping and I was pretty chuffed with myself.  I like to browse antique shops and so I was absolutely delighted when we found an antique centre.    We bought an Onyx Barometer.  The Mhinisteir also discovered a household store where I bought an electric bug bat.  Since then the Mhinisteir has put it to the test and it is working marvellously well.  Just a shame that we now have to wait patiently for a fly to enter the Vicarage.  Previously they would be arriving in multitudes!!!! Maybe they got the memo!

Bug Bat

Onyx Barometer

Chinese Vase from Oxfam

We had a lovely few days despite it bucketing down on Day one.   No holiday is complete without a little ecclesiastical drama!  This time it was someone getting in touch with the press to complain!  Thankfully it was a non story.  You might be interested in reading Guilty Until Proven Innocent!

Fried Oreos

FT Weekend, Life and Art, Page 3

 

Every Saturday,  I eagerly await the paperboy bringing the Weekend Edition of the Financial Times.  Yes, we do get our newspaper delivered and No, I am not in finance so please don’t be impressed!   I just love the weekend edition of the FT. With a section on homes and garden, lifestyle and fashion and a great selection of international news, it is just bliss.

One of the sections that I most look forward to reading is called LUNCH WITH FT.   An interview is done with a well known person at a restaurant of the interviewee’s choice but paid for by FT.  With post covid, the arrangement is slightly different, the interviewer and the interviewee are usually in different countries so they arrange for their own lunch but still paid for by the FT.

We the readers are privy to the name of the restaurant, the dishes consumed and the total cost.  I always make it a point to read this information first before I read the interview.  On rare occasions, I have been put off by the meal choice that I have refused to read the interview.

Last weekend, LUNCH WITH FT was with a Jim Chanos,   I was so put off by his dessert choice of Fried Oreos that I skipped the interview altogether.  Fried Oreos?

Some might say that I should be the last person to comment on Fried Oreos.  Does Fried Mars Bars ring a bell?????

 

 

Guilty Until Proven Innocent!

I rarely blog about the Church of England (COE).   There is usually not much to say about the Church of England. They are not perfect but then none of us are.  However, something that I read in the latest CHURCH TIMES has been troubling me.   A few days later something else happened (to be followed up in another blog) and that has really made me quite nervous.

The subject matter that really bothered me in the Church Times was about Clergy Discipline Measure(CDM).  According to the article in the Church Times, The Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) can leave clergy suicidal. The article also contained 2 case studies of clergy who both had to go through CDM without adequate support.  It makes me very angry that they were basically left out to dry!    This article has just reminded me of what is happening to the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford.  Again, it seems to be that there is one rule for the accused and another for the accuser.  Surely it is unfair and quite simply wrong to treat clergy as guilty until proven innocent!

If you can’t find fairness in the Church, where can you?

 

My article source is the Church Times dated 24 July 2020 (Issue No.8210)

Procrastination

I am usually not one to procrastinate but on this occasion I have been putting off completing a certain task since February!  I thought that the lockdown would force me to deal with it but it didn’t.  I finally sat down this afternoon and completed the task.  All that I need to do now is to send it off to HMRC and give myself a pat on the back!

 

 

Left in the dark!

I was reading this morning that the ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND has been officially renamed to NATWEST.  Really?  Nobody told me about it after all I bank with RBS.  It would have been nice to be informed of such a big change.   No, I wasn’t expecting a personal telephone call from the CEO.  Just a computer generated impersonal letter would have sufficed.

When I lived in Edinburgh, I used to visit their headquarters often.  Up in the highlands, I used to visit their mobile banks.  I got such a thrill when I saw these mobile banks on the road.  They would be parked in such majestic settings often near the sea.  I have such wonderful memories.  Now with the change they will always be memories.  As I get older, I don’t seem to like changes very much!

From the Vicarage Kitchen – Dairy & Gluten Free Fish Pie

Waiting to go into the oven but forgot to take a photo when it came out!!!

 

I love fish and a good fish pie.  I know from experience that it is impossible to find dairy & gluten free Fish Pie on a restaurant menu but that shouldn’t stop us allergy sufferers from creating one ourselves!   This fish pie is not only tasty but it is easy to make.   The recipe is as follows:

Dairy & Gluten Free Fish Pie (Serves 3- 4)

Ingredients

500g Fish Pie Mix.  (I get mine from my fishmonger.  If you can’t get fish pie mix, make up your own.  You will need about 350g white fish such as haddock and 150g of smoked haddock.  I like to add a bit of salmon to my mix.  The addition of salmon makes it luxurious!)

300ml dairy free milk ( I used rice milk)

1 onion peeled

1 bay Leave

1 tbsp olive oil

75g gluten free flour

3 hard boiled eggs – shelled and cut into quarters

Salt (You can add pepper too if you like)

Topping

4 medium sizes Potatoes  ( I used organic potatoes)

olive oil (about 3-4 tbsp)

Salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200c.

2. Put the fish pie mix, milk, onion, and bay leave in a saucepan and bring to boil over a gentle heat.

3. Simmer for 2 minutes and then remove from heat.

4. Cool for 30 minutes.

5. Strain and reserve the liquid. Discard the onion and bay leave.

6. Flake the fish and remove any bones.

7. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and add the flour. Cook for about 1 minute.  Gradually add the reserved liquid while stirring all the time.

8. Take it off the heat and add the flaked fish.  Add the quartered boiled eggs and season well.  Pour the mixture into a pie dish.

9.  Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes or until the potatoes turn a golden brown and start to colour.

10.  Serve with peas.

11. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Crochet | Curtain Tie Backs

I decided to crochet some curtain tie backs and this is the result!  They are not perfect but they compliment the Vicarage curtains.

The yarn used is Jomil Starmist 4 Gold.  As for the pattern, I have got absolutely no idea as I made it up as I went along!!!!

Squalid Little Rag!

This is how the Private Eye is described in at least one episode of the 1980s BBC sitcom, Yes, Minister!!!

I am not sure how I should feel now that I have just renewed our subscription to the Squalid little rag!!!!

Face Masks & Shields

Another face shield arrived this week.  This is the second face shield that I have bought in four weeks.  Both are for the Mhinisteir for when our Churches reopen.  Churches were officially allowed to reopen from the 4th of July but in rural parishes such as ours it is simply impossible as almost all our Church wardens are above 70 and shielding.  We can only open the Churches gradually.  Anyway back to the shield…..

When the first shield  arrived, the Mhinisteir opened the envelope, looked inside and  gave it back to me to assemble.  There were no instructions whatsoever!  It was just one big rectangular plastic sheet with a piece of plastic strip.  The only reason why I had ordered this particular shield was because the Mhinisteir had requested for a Shield that didn’t have  the words “Face Shield” printed on them!

When our hairdressercame a week later, she was wearing a shield identical to that of health workers.  She said it was easy to assemble and use.  I decided to go ahead and purchase a similar one.   It does have the words “Face Shield” on it.  Tough! I would rather the Mhinisteir has a shield than not!!!! This is no time to be fashion conscious!!!

The second shield arrived two days ago.  This time the Mhinisteir did take it out of the envelope and try it on!  That’s progress!

ps: I was trying to photograph the first shield for this post when I accidentally assembled it!  Sadly, the photo wasn’t a success! One can’t be good at everything!😜

Awful night

Unfortunately, that peaceful night’s sleep slipped away.  No fault of the mattress topper I hasten to add.

I kept waking up every hour as my leg was hurting.  Strangely, my body knows in the form of aches and pains when it is going to rain.  The rain was lashing at the window when I went to bed.  I need a barometer I think.  I tossed and turned and hoped for some respite but the respite never came so this morning I walked around like a zombie.  The Mhinsteir suggested that I get back to bed but I know I won’t be able to sleep.

I decided to listen to the Daily Service in bed instead.  It was only recently that I discovered that I could listen to it online as it is in long wave.  I don’t have DAB radio.   I really enjoy the service and so have been making a point to listen to it everyday.   The theme this week is Old Testament Prayers.

Oh help! I have just waved to my postman in my pyjamas!  The Mhinisteir is in a zoom meeting and so I ran (tried to anyway!) to the window to acknowledge the parcel that the Postie brought.  On my way back to bed, I decided to look at myself in the mirror!

BAD IDEA!