Ubi Caritas...

A year ago my husband, Keith Charles Hawkins, was released from the terrible addiction that had made a nightmare of all our lives. He turned to the addiction to cope with his fears and stresses, but I hope, pray and believe he is free from those now, healed and forgiven. Here are some pictures from his life:

Chubby bubby!

Batman outfit - a present to celebrate his new baby brother's birth.

What a beautiful little boy!

1970s school cricket team. Keith played many sports for his school and his county.

Running man - with hairy chest!!!

With new girlfriend...

Officially engaged.

Wedding day.

Proud dad.

Love my toddler.

Daddy/daughter pointing competition.

On the doorstep together.

One of several trips to Disneyland, Paris.

A Master Mason in 2000, we raised lots of money for the local hospital at our Ladies' night.

In his work suit.

My handsome man.

Till we meet again.....   x x x x

Mysterious Ways....

God works in mysterious ways....    Gotta love God's sense of humour:

 I went to the toilet as usual first thing in the morning and, as usual, my cat Bramble followed me in. (He likes to sit in the sink for some reason.) I looked at the floor and thought to myself once again "I really must get the mop up here and give this floor a wash!" I've been telling myself this for a week or more now, but I always forget again by the time I get downstairs.

Anyway, another thing Bramble likes to do is have a good drink out of the bucket of rainwater that sits in the bathroom, with which I flush my loo. The only trouble was this bucket was only half full, so said cat couldn't reach the water. Being a resourceful chap he decided to tip the bucket up......   

Well, my bathroom floor certainly got cleaned, though mopping with towels whilst still in my nightdress wasn't quite what I had in mind!!

The culprit, in the sink.

The patience of Job.....

What a time I've had these last couple of days! 

It started well, with Daughter being home from uni this weekend. In order to make the most of the stay, and to get her back in time for a lecture Monday afternoon, we decided the best plan for her return was to drive to Birmingham (119 miles) on the Monday; then Daughter was to catch the train back to Aberystwyth while I  had a break before driving home again. That plan was foiled by long traffic queues - missed the train.

Plan B - park the car in long term parking, then both catch next train. Daughter would miss first lecture unfortunately, and I would return on next train, pick up car and drive home. Foiled again - being unfamiliar with Birmingham, couldn't find suitable parking at a price I could afford.

Plan C - drive to Aberystwyth (122 miles), stay over night, return next day. This necessitated phoning to book hotel, cancelling several things planned for next day, and arranging for neighbours to leave out food for the cats. (Bunny was inside and had enough hay to make do till next day.) Might have worked if I had paid better attention at a junction and not pulled out in front of another car! Managed to hobble car off road and ring insurance people. I am VERY grateful to God that no-one was hurt, and that the other driver was very kind and understanding. Car was taken away to be repaired.

So, Plan D - train to Aber, stay overnight, return by train next day. Of course, I wasn't prepared for an overnight stay so had to buy toiletries, undies, a nightie etc.

So that was yesterday!

This morning, got to Aber train station in good time, bought ticket, boarded train. Then it was announced that, due to flooding on line ahead, we were to go by bus to Shrewsbury (75 miles). Off we went, many of us having a good snooze on the way. We were just 2 minutes late for the connecting train to Birmingham, so had to wait nearly an hour for next one.

Anyway, although now an hour later than anticipated, rest of journey went well. When I got home, after 8 and a half hours of travelling, I found a message on the answer phone from Monday inviting me to a long-awaited job interview TODAY!!! Too late to ring them back, though I did try. Will have to ring them first thing tomorrow.

Image found on Google search.

Ah well, the main thing is that I got home safely, and Daughter got back to uni safely. And I got to read the whole of my Miss Marple book that a friend had lent me!  ;-)

Random Piccies Around the House

Hi everyone! Sorry haven't posted for a while - just been busy. Took some photos of latest harvesting and then wandered round the house, whilst I had the camera in my hand, taking more images to share with you. I know I like peeking into other blog friends' houses this way, so thought you might enjoy it too.....

The climbing beans that I'd almost given up on, having re-planted them 3 times, have finally produced! Also in this piccy are courgettes (zucchini), and my first ever apple (Jonagold).

This is a cute doorstop I bought at Laura Ashley. I could have made it myself, or purchased it somewhere cheaper, but I had a gift voucher to use up.

Two beautiful wood carvings now that I picked up from the artist herself at a healing fair in Penzance. (I bravely ignore the capital 'E' in the first one....)

One of my Purry Panthers came to have a look..... (I think this is Luna, the girl.)

Some lovely fabric I picked up at a charity shop (old curtains), and the pattern I bought on Ebay which I intend (someday) to use with it.

This painting hangs over our mantelpiece in the living room. It was painted by my late Father-in-law some years ago. He was in the merchant navy in his youth and adored old fashioned sailing ships. As he was red/green colour blind he had to ask us if he'd got the colours right - the sky was green originally!! He named the boat after his late wife, Irene Rose.

I bought these beautiful ceramic tile pictures at Caithness Crystal. It was difficult to choose which ones, but I love the brightness and joy of these two.

These hang in my hallway. The picture of the wren is another charity shop find.

In two weeks' time my beautiful Daughter will be off to Aberystwyth (I have to type that name slowly to get it right!) university. As she has chosen to be self catering there are a lot of things to buy. Naturally, she doesn't want the old fashioned stuff from the house that I've offered; only new stuff will do! This is just some of it. How on earth we'll fit it all in my car for the long drive to the other side of the country is a mystery still to be solved!

And finally, here is the tv on the ultra modern glass table hubby loved but I hated.....

And here's the much better, natural, wooden replacement I found in yet another charity shop...

Ahhh, that's better! By the way, that monstrous tv is going too. The rental place can have it back and I'll buy a much smaller one, since I hardly watch the thing and Daughter will be at uni! (Don't worry, she does know what I've planned!)

Well, that's it for now - hope you enjoyed the piccies. Blessings to you all  x x

July goings on.

July has been a busy month so far. 


Inspired by this book:

I thought I'd have a go at bottling (or 'canning' in America) gooseberries. I bought some from a PYO farm I came across to eke out the ones I grew myself.

I used my new preserving pan to sterilise the jars and lids, with a tea towel folded at the bottom as instructed. 

Topping and tailing the gooseberries was rather tedious, but necessary. Miss Read, in her Fairacre series of books, says she uses a pair of nail scissors but I prefer my knife.

I packed each jar with fruit then added hot syrup (Just sugar and water). I screwed on the lids and slightly loosened them, then lowered them into the hot water and brought the water to 88 degrees Celsius for the amount of time it said (20 mins I think - it varies, depending on the fruit used).

The finished result. Now that the fruit has softened there is loads of room left in the jars!

 I was amazed at how the jar lids dimpled down, indicating a vacuum has formed. When you think about it this is just the same process as tinned fruit that you buy in the shop. 


I'm very excited about all this! I love seeing the pictures of Amish cupboards filled with jars of produce, and I love the thought of preserving food without needing a freezer. I've bought some smaller Kilner jars to preserve rhubarb, chopped peaches and chopped pears. I would like to preserve vegetables, soups and stews this way too but, due to low acid content and the danger of botulism therefore, I would need to get a special canning pressure cooker for these.


This month in the veggie garden, after weeks of rain:


First potatoes dug up.

Courgettes (zucchini) are forming. Had to pick these a bit smaller than usual due to slugs nibbling the skins off!

My one remaining Pumpkin plant is now flowering. It always amazes me just how big Squash flowers are! I caught this one in the morning; by midday it had curled up again.

The mint plants, which grow wherever the mower can't reach, are also coming into flower. The bees LOVE them!

And finally my 3 'helpers'....


Bramble,

Luna,

and Flopsy.

What have you been up to this month?

Veggies, water and washing

Some piccies from my garden today...

Busy washing day! Boil washed my un-paper towels, then hot washed towels, hand washed 3 things and ordinary washed the rest - 3 linen lines worth. I love to see washing blowing in the wind. It connects me with all the women all over the world, all through the past, who have cared for their families by washing their clothes.

I have two water butts but they have yet to be connected to the drain pipes. Still, I leave the lids off to collect what they can and......

.... I leave all this out to collect more rain then pour them into the water butts. This has really transformed my attitude to rainy days from gloom to excitement. I love harvesting the rain God sends!

The St. John's Wort is living up to its name by blooming in time for St. John's day. (June 24th) Picture is slightly blurry, sorry.

Mint grows wherever the lawnmower can't reach.

The potatoes are flourishing - looking forward to the first dig!

By contrast the beans are really struggling. This is the second sowing, 24 bean seeds each time, and only 3 have made it. 

The strawberries are beginning to ripen, a few at a time; not enough for a bowlful yet.

Apples are swelling on my new Jonagold tree.

The onions are coming along nicely - apart from the one I accidentally chopped with the hoe. Oops!

The courgettes have survived the slug attack....

..... but this is the only one of 3 pumpkin plants to survive the chomping molluscs.

The gooseberries are almost ready to pick!




And finally, two nosey pets who just had to come and have a look....

Luna, our little girl cat....

...and Flopsy, peeking coyly over his shoulder.


Hope you've had a good day too!  x x