Resolutions...

...No, not screen resolutions, but the sort we talk a lot about on New Year's Eve. I've decided to make a few today, why should we save them for January 1st anyway - think I'll have a few ready for May 1st instead. So I could call these 'new day' or 'new month' or 'new Chelley year' (seeing as I gain another year this month) resolutions! After all, my faith is one that believes strongly in new beginnings - and not just the one, but repeated opportunities for a new start.

So, Resolution no.1: Wear my purple DM boots more often (see previous post). Not only do I like them, but I also have an aversion to being dictated to about what is right and wrong to wear. I have been known to shout at the TV when T & S are telling us 'What Not to Wear' - who made them the gods of fashion anyway? I appreciate that self-image can be improved through what we wear, but I think some of the issues raised go much deeper than what's in a person's wardrobe. I know my wardrobe would be totally pulled apart by those two, but really I think I'll decide for myself thank you. I admit that I have similar sentiments towards the many house programmes that tell you what your house should look like, and the garden ones that are the same. What happened to personal expression? I do recognise that if you want to sell your house then it needs to be appealing rather than quirky, but it's the general 'dictator' and 'everyone the same' principles behind these programmes that really bugs me! (Just as an aside: there is one programme that I've really enjoyed and it's an American home makover one where they bring a team in and transform the homes of families who have either had a really hard time, or who've done loads for others or their community etc - can't think what it's called, but they seem to really make a difference). I will climb down off my soapbox now!

Resolution no.2: Be more organised! Oh, isn't that a nice big one! I've had a lovely week off and I get back to my usual routine on Tuesday; and I'd love to organise my time and space a bit more efficiently (without trying to re-mold my whole personality!). I enjoy what I do, and give so much more when things are in an ordered state (both around me and in my mind!).

I think I'll stick with just those two seeing that no.2 is a rather significant resolution!
And perhaps my work space will stop looking something like this:


















Cartoon by Dave Walker: weblogcartoons.com

Purple DM Boots!

Yes, I really do have metallic purple Doc Martens (though I don't wear them as often as my run-of-the-mill beloved old black ones)! I'll wear them next time I'm on the Tube and see if Annie Mole (Fashion Victims & comments - 28th April) can catch me!

Add-on: "One should always have something sensational to *wear* in the train."
(A slight adaption of the classic line by Gwendolen in 'The Importance of Being Earnest')

Pick of the Bunch... Journalists

It was a television programme: 'Fergal Keane's Forgotten Britain' that properly drew my attention to Keane - foreign correspondent, writer and broadcaster. He had been approached by the BBC to think about making a journey around Britain:
"...when the BBC asked me to think about making a journey through the country, I did not rush to find a foreign journey to offer as an alternative. I listened to the proposal and was intrigued. If this was the country where my child would be reared, I felt I'd better get to know something beyond the middle-class zone of comfort in which I'd settled. Over the course of nearly two years my ideas about the dullness of Britain were to be altered sharply; the stories described in this book were a vivid corrective to my foolish presumption that nothing much happened in British lives."
(Fergal Keane, 'A Stranger's Eye' p11, Penguin Books 2000)

And so he made this journey. I came across the programme as Keane met a family of Welsh tenant hill farmers, struggling desperately to make ends meet. There is a real sense of a journalist giving space for those without a voice to speak out about the situation in which they find themselves, a sense of trying to understand without judgement and a desire to communicate the story and situation with compassion.
At the time I taped this, and over the last few years I have found myself pulling out the tape and re-watching it every so often. I'm not quite sure why, but I suspect it is both to do with my interest in the lives of others as well as in how we, or they, communicate their stories and attempt to increase understanding of an unfamiliar or misunderstood situation. I suspect my fascination also stems from a search for people who inspire me and give glimpses of attitude and approach to life that I can learn from.
I went and bought the book because I thought that Fergal Keane might be someone worth listening to.
"Valuable... Keane's findings carry uncomfortable soundings for Blair's Labour... [Keane] is a careful listener, a brave interloper, a clear communicator... he takes succour from the spirit of his interviewees"
Simon Garfield, Financial Times

Gorgeous Day

It is a gorgeous day today, I have the week off, I've still got some Easter egg left, and I'm about to sit and enjoy them all with a nice cup of tea. I am very grateful for all these things.

I do not live in Bromley!

...Not that there is anything wrong with living in Bromley I'm sure (though I have never been there so cannot give you any accurate indication of its appeal or lack of!). But for some reason, on those odd few occassions when I've forgotten to tell the tracker to ignore my own visits to the Teapot (sometimes it's quickest to use my links from here you see), my location has appeared as somewhere around Bromley (and once or twice even further afield)!
As well as enjoying the odd cup of tea, it would perhaps help you to know that I also enjoy the random statistics and maps that SiteMeter so generously provides for me, so I do have a look every so often... (yes, sad geek, blah, blah, blah) which is why I decided to see where I lived when I forgot to ignore myself! Are you with me so far?
Anyway, nothing wrong with Bromley (feel free to enlighten us on its faults and merits if you are actually from down that way)... but I don't often get that far clockwise round the M25 (until they conveniently built the new Ikea at Edmonton, I usually only got as far round as Ikea at Lakeside!).
So, I am looking to be enlightened as to why BT (my ISP) shows a location rather further south-of-the-river than is my true home? (And yes, my SiteMeter latitude/longitude is set accurately). Does British Telecom have a secret hidden head-office internet type den in Bromley - a bit like the Bat Cave - so that's what shows up on the 'radar'?!

An aside: After this post I promise to stop asking daft questions about the 'technicalities' of blogging!

Another aside: Just in case you're actually interested, the most bizarre search that brought someone to the Teapot was 'Windy Miller fighting Postman Pat'!! See, it's very useful and informative information!

Aside to self: Information is usually by nature informative - but I won't bother to change that bit!

Flummoxed!

Shortly after my recent post Hits and Linkeage, I discovered that Technorati had generously amended my blog to '2 links from 2 sites' (so a slight improvement but still no sign of non-ring-sites who had linked here!). And then.... (drumroll please) a couple of days ago, I saw that Annie Mole (London Underground Blog) had appeared on the Teapot's Technorati 'links-here' list... they didn't bump me up to '3' links, but still it was a move in the right direction! But what do I find today - she's gone again! And I'm back to square one (well, square 2 if we're being precise).
Technorati, you have me flummoxed!

*Add-on: She's back again (about 5 minutes after I posted this) though they still haven't sprung me a '3'!

Polite Notice

I am rather lacking in inspiration today regarding what to post on (and I also have a plentiful amount of 'must-do' writing already for this evening) so here is a simple little picture for you! I took this in a pub called The Natterjack (Foxley, Norfolk). Very amusing sign I thought (and the food was excellent too!). Pop in and have a meal there if you find yourself peckish from sitting in a long queue behind a tractor and therefore missing a meal or two. (See here for explanation of that!).

Book Off The Shelf (An Excellent Book #2)

I have decided it's time to dig out from the bookshelves and dust down what I consider to be another 'Excellent Book' (Book Off The Shelf #2). Book Off The Shelf #1 (you may remember) being Tarquin Hall's Salaam Brick Lane).
I first came across Out of Chingford, Round the North Circular and up the Orinoco in the late 80's when I was working in a Head Office department of 'A Very Well Known Supermarket Chain Beginning With 'T'!). My immediate boss Doris (the Office Supervisor) used to buy book upon book, and after she'd read them she would always lend them to me. I'm pleased to say that she had excellent taste in books (and by that of course I mean she bought books that I liked)! The 'Doris library' I recall, consisted mainly of Biographies, Autobiographies and Travel Writing.
So anyway, a couple of years ago I remembered (for some reason) this particular book that I'd read in my late teens and started on a mission to find a copy and read it again. Well, it took a while, partly because I couldn't actually remember the title! I remembered the North Circular bit (you can't really forget it once you've encountered the North Circular!) but the rest was all rather hazy - somewhere out of London and up a river... was it the Zambezi??
But then came the day when Amazon came up trumps as ever... and there it was - out of print but part of a motley variety of second hand copies just waiting to come home with me! I see that my beloved copy was actually published in 1989 by Coronet, so presumably Doris bought it when it first came out and leant it to her book-loving 19 year old office minion!
I suppose you might be wondering (I'm going to tell you anyway!) what the book's actually about? Authors Tanis and Martin Jordan are the adventurous couple who go galivanting around the world (usually inhospitable parts of it) and share their escapades in an amusing and gripping fashion with us, the humble readers. I think they went on this particular adventure up the Orinoco River in the 70's.
I not only love this book, but think it's probably the best title I've ever come across. I am perhaps slightly biased seeing as the places are all familiar... well Chingford (I was born about 10 miles from Chingford) and the North Circular anyway... I am slightly less familiar with the Orinoco!
So there you have it - definitely worth a read if you can track down a copy from Mr. Amazon.

Hits and Linkeage!

This blog is 38 days old today! Not a remarkeable anniversary, but I mention it because after 38 days I am still at that 'chuffed by every hit' phase in my blog-life! Unlike you wise old bloggers out there with thirty-four-thousand-six-hundred-and-twenty-eight hits each, and nearly as many comments and links, and for whom readers are par for the course, I waited with eager expectation and hope (yes, I know it is ridiculously sad!) for Technorati to show that I had my first link! And lo, one day it did appear! But at the grand old total of one, it stopped.
It would seem that I have managed to acquire Technorati recognition for the links from the two blog rings of which the Teapot is a member (which doesn't really count seeing as I went and asked nicely to be added), but no sign, hint, or glimmer of individual linkeage is to be seen.
So, I would like to take this opportunity firstly to say to Route79, Neil of the Slightly Random Wiblog and The Village Voice: thanks for linking here to my humble little blog... stay and have a cuppa... I'll go and put the kettle on!
And secondly (referring back to my total blog age and inexperience of 38 days): are Technorati just ignoring my teapot, or have I totally misunderstood what the whole links thing is about (quite probable!). Answers on a postcard would be appreciated (or in the comments if that's a bit easier - I did once send Mr. Technorati a rather dumb-sounding e-mail, but as yet he hasn't replied - probably can't believe the questions some newby bloggers ask).
Anyway, thank you for visiting...!

*Add-on: The Wibloggers are having a bit of trouble with their sites at the moment so you might not be able to read the most recent posts of Neil's Slightly Random Wiblog, but the archives are worth a visit - some right funny ones in there!

*Another add-on: It seems that you can't read the archives either so go and visit another day!

Happy Discoveries

There are some of us out in the big wide world who love food, but unfortunately food (though not all of it!) does not love us back! In fact some of it is downright malicious and has to be avoided with serious intention. I speak here of those of us with Coeliac Disease: an auto-immune condition that requires a life-long gluten-free diet.
[I just need to interrupt myself momentarily to tell you that I am listening to 'Take Me Out' by Franz Ferdinand and it is an excellent excellent song!]
Anyway, Coeliac Disease... in case you also have this condition and don't know much about it (or have perhaps been recently diagnosed) then have a look at the website of the Coeliac Society - they provide fantastically helpful info - not least the annual 'Food List' that tells you which foods/brands are safe - 'tis brilliant!
So today I thought that I'd share with you a couple of my recent happy discoveries...
Happy Discovery Number One:
It's not actually Nando's itself that I've just discovered, but that if you ask someone serving you'll find that they have a magic little book that lists the ingredients and special diet content of every item on their menu. For those of you that understand the traumas of eating out (can't even bank on chips being safe these days, as they have that crispy coating on if you're not careful!) you'll realise how helpful this treasure is! Big Brownie Points to Nando's (and their stuff's very tasty too!).
Happy Discovery Number Two:
It was pretty recently that I discovered Madisons (the website's still under construction but here it is for when they've got it finished). They do a whole bunch of food and drink that the 'normal humans' can enjoy, but also provide wheat free rolls (I haven't checked if they're gluten-free too (gluten is in barley, rye and oats, as well as wheat) but I will look next time I'm there. They also do gluten-free pasta on request, have a delicious salad bar that hasn't had a load of 'unsafe' dressings and sauces already added to it, and offer soya milk (glad at least that I don't have to drink that!) if that's what you need in your cup of tea (always a feeling of satisfaction when I manage to slip 'a cup of tea' naturally into Chelley's Teapot!).
[Just before I go, I'd like to mention that I'm now listening to 'I like the Way' by BodyRockers - another classic!]
If you feel remotely inclined to listen to either of the great songs I've mentioned, or even 'Gertcha' by Chas 'n' Dave (read this post for an explanation of that!) then go and visit Napster where you'll find them all! Mmm, and Napster: Not a new one, but I think that can be Happy Discovery Number Three!

Daft Animals...

After the cat's refusal to cooperate with this photographer recently, I have now managed to catch her in more usual doolally bag-mad mode! Any bag (or box for that matter) that is left laying around she will dive into and play in for hours, and chuck in a pencil* too and she's a happy little bunny (...well, cat actually..!).

Speaking of bunnies though... we've got a mad one of those too, here practicing her 'foot'ball skills.... (Better remember the red-eye flash thing next time!)


*pencil for general flinging around the place, rather than a bit of artistic scribbling - just in case you were facetiously wondering!

The Temple Curtain

A Good Friday reflection from our 'Watch at the Cross', with the theme of 'objects around the cross'. This one is a reflection on the Temple Curtain:

Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!”
(Mark’s gospel, chapter 15, verses 37 to 39)

“You shall make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim skilfully worked into it. You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, which have hooks of gold and rest on four bases of silver. You shall hang the curtain under the clasps, and bring the Ark of the Covenant inside, within the curtain; and the curtain shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy. ” (Exodus 26: 31-33)

This beautiful curtain formed an entrance, and a barrier, to the holiest place in the Temple, the place where no person was permitted to enter but for the High Priest – and even for him entry was permitted only once a year. For the people of Israel, to enter the Most Holy Place would be to enter into the presence of God – and for sinful humanity that could not be. Walking into holiness would bring death. The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.”
We cannot even look directly at the sun, how then could we come and look directly at the God of light and holiness – not without a covering provided by him. And so, for the people of Israel – there was one day when entry was allowed and by only the High Priest, on behalf of many, with numerous and essential conditions, on the Day of Atonement.

And just as the curtain guarded the most holy place in the Temple, so it also symbolised the barrier between sinful humanity and the heavenly sanctuary of God’s presence. Just as the people of Israel could not walk into the place that represented the presence of God, so we could not come into his holy presence… But for the cross.

For on that day, as Jesus hung nailed to the cross, as he breathed his last, and as he cried out, “It is finished,” that curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The curtain that was the barrier between the Israelites and God, the curtain that represented the ‘no entry’ sign into the heavenly sanctuary was ripped apart as Jesus completed what he came to do, as he gave up his life, as he removed the barrier between us and God.

The curtain was torn from top to bottom. ‘From top to bottom’ has a ring of thoroughness about it, doesn’t it? My mum used to use that expression a lot when she was having a blitz of house cleaning… “I’m going through this house from top to bottom!”
And the atonement of Christ on the cross could not have been more thorough – the once-for-all sacrifice that opened the doorway between God and us.

The shedding of Jesus’ blood was effective, because it was the sacrifice of the perfect Son of God. One perfect sacrifice for the sins of all.

What does it mean to us to have the curtain removed, to have the barrier destroyed? It means access to God, to his presence: when we worship we don’t only sing about God, but we draw near to him. It means we can pray, can talk to God, can stand, sit, kneel before him and talk to him – tell him our needs and concerns, our hopes and dreams, cry out for the needs of the world. It means we can walk with God, live life in fellowship with him, hear from him; be strengthened by him. It means the beginning of eternal life with him, life that continues through death. It means accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for us and living in the light of it: no-one has to walk with Jesus through the curtain, past the barrier but when we do there are both rewards and challenges.
It means help and hope.

It means that in life, and after death, we can walk through the curtain into the Most Holy Place, and live.

No Trains!

Click here for an amusing story!

Wonderland

Today's tea break is in Wonderland (where better?). So, see what you know...

Who Said What in Wonderland?
Wonderland Trivia Quiz
Do you know your Wonderland stuff?

And finally, which Wonderland character are you most like?
I seem to have emerged the 'Mad Hatter' (which will probably not surprise those of you who have read my blog!)








You scored as The Mad Hatter. In the simplest terms, you're crazy. You usually go off on tangents when you're talking, and forget what you were talking about to begin with. You love riddles, and of course, tea.

Which are you? To find out, click here.

Bit From A Book...

Today I think I'll start an occassional post series entitled, "Bit From A Book." It will not take the genius's (what's the plural of genius?) among you to work out that "Bit From A Book" will contain... well... a bit from a book.
So, anyway, today's selection has to come from that dry-witted observationist Bill Bryson. Despite having all his books, I had no hesitation in choosing the following snippet which, the first time I read it, caused me to laugh out-loud like a drain (it was quite a long time ago, but I seem to recall that I may have been in a public place at the time - a train maybe). This is taken from 'Notes from a Small Island' - describing Bryson's wanderings around Britain. (A quick aside - for those of you from distant parts of the world who get a little confused about us over here: Great Britain is the big island consisting of England, Scotland and Wales; the UK is what we are as a big mush with Northern Ireland included (I am not inviting a political discussion here!) and whose full title is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Ireland is a whole separate country which uses Euros instead of pounds sterling (I have got two Irish Aunties - they are lovely!). So I hope that helps those of you likely to answer in a similar vein to the American lady who, when asked which part of England she liked best, replied 'Scotland'!! This is marginally less dangerous than if the question and answer had been the other way round: Should she have been asked, 'which is your favourite part of Scotland?' and replied, 'England' she may well have been lynched by any passing Scot - end of aside!).
So, back to Mr. Bryson, here is the bit that made me laugh like a drain:

[In the residents' lounge of a grim old-fashioned B&B in the 70's, Mrs. Smegma is the formidable proprietress]
"When the programme finished , I was about to hoist myself from the chair and bid this happy trio a warm adieu when the door opened and Mrs Smegma came in with a tray of tea things and a plate of biscuits of the sort that I believe are called teatime variety, and everyone stirred friskily to life, rubbing their hands keenly and saying, 'Ooh, lovely.' To this day, I remain impressed by the ability of Britons of all ages and social backgrounds to get genuinely excited by the prospect of a hot beverage."
Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island, pg 24, (Black Swan 1995)

It is funny because it is sadly true, I mean, you even get Brits who call a bloomin blog after a teapot - what's that all about?!

Camper Dreams

Back to VW Campers again today. A couple of weeks ago I posted on the 'Mobile Minister' taking tea and the gospel around his parishes in a VW Camper. That story was likely to prick up my ears (or eyes I suppose as it was on the net) seeing as it contained reference to Campers (love them), cups of tea (well this is Chelley's Teapot) and the gospel* (something else I am very interested in!). The nearest I have got to having my own VW Camper is the one pictured, well it's a start! I don't have to wait 'til Greenbelt now anyway to hunt out the stall I saw last year selling the models - as I found this one in a seaside shop in Cromer last week - there's all sorts of little gems tucked behind the buckets and spades! Well, as I'm a little way off going wandering in a battered old VW I thought I'd see who is managing to live my little dream - so here's link number one on the Camper Trail...
Right, seeing as it's Easter this weekend, I'd better get on with some slightly more focused reflecting and writing!


*good news of Jesus Christ

Comparative Traffic Jams

Well, here is a demonstration of my *superior skill in photography* hmmm! I took this picture from the kitchen window of our Norfolk holiday cottage. It was in fact taken to provide an eternal snapshot of the cow that was staring straight at me (don't ask me why - that is, don't ask me why I took it, not don't ask me why the cow was staring at me - though you can ask that question as well if you like, but I won't know the answer to either!) rather than a snapshot of the attractive washing line! (If you squint and peer closely at the middle of the picture you may just about manage to spot said cow just above the fence). Anyway, despite the distant fuzziness of cow and dull foreground washing line, it still provides a more scenic country view than that of my usual kitchen window. It was also amazingly and wonderfully quiet there, with the odd tractor bombing past in the lane and of course a bit of mooing.
But this post is entitled 'Comparative Traffic Jams' rather than 'Hazy Cow in Distance' so I'll get onto that... I observed while in Norfolk (wish you could spell that with a broad Norfolk accent!) that there were almost as many traffic jams and hold-ups as down here in the traffic filled just-north-of-north-london, but that the causes of jams were quite different.
In Norfolk we found ourselves sitting in queues caused by tractors seeing how much traffic they could accumulate behind them and how long it would take some lunatic head-case to overtake the whole lot on a bend. Whereas down here, just-north-of-north-london, queues are related more to volume of traffic, to workmen randomly digging up bits of road, and to drivers deciding to stop and shout at other drivers. I experienced one such incident recently on my way home from the local supermarket. I was in a line of traffic following an older woman driving a flashy Mini Cooper. She was driving in a rather frustrating manner, taking an age to pull away at every set of lights, and I could see the driver of the car in front of me getting more and more wound up. So, after following Ms. Mini Cooper for several junctions there appeared a dual carriageway. Ms. MC still took too long for car-in-front's liking and got beeped before pulling into the now available left hand lane. So the two drove the 100 yards or so in parallel lanes until they reached the next set of lights, which were red. You'd think at this point that the car-in-front-of me would have been eagerly revving to get past Ms. MC after all that impatience - but no! What do they do instead - as the lights turn green car-in-front rolls down window and procedes to shout abuse at Ms. MC who replies in similar style, thus blocking both lanes of traffic. Makes absolute sense doesn't it! Not sure whether I prefer the Norfolk tractors with mental overtakers or mouthy North London drivers?

Back Home to the Teapot...

Ah, it's nice to be back! Chelley's Teapot has been redundant for the last few days while I, and someone-who-knows-me-well, had a refreshing little break in Norfolk. Tea breaks have not been neglected while away from the Teapot, but have been taken in various random East Anglian establisments, such as: the Little Chef on the A11 at Barton Mills:











They do a right decent cuppa now (well a mugga actually) and you even get one free refill.
And then there was the warming brew at Norwich Market:









This market is like no other (that I have seen anyway) having rather impressive lockable stall-type-spaces. The tea from Jozo's was welcome but a bit strong for my liking - ideal builder's brew though I'm sure!
The best cuppa of the week though had to be the one I had with friends (you know who you are!) - unbeatable!









Anyway, it's good to be home - just going to put the kettle on and spend a while catching up with life out there in the great blogosphere...

Archive Trawling

One of the good* things about having only just discovered a whole bunch of blogs that I now enjoy reading, is that I have a ton of archives to trawl through! This morning I found myself reading the 'May 2005' posts on Annie Mole's London Underground Blog. I was particularly gripped by the post entitled 'Cutting Remarks' - about the false fronted 'houses' in Leinster Gardens, Paddington/Bayswater! Unfortunately, the piccies seemed to have vanished into the great blogosphere void type place (the one that is a little white box with a red cross on it) so having become quite curious about all this, I went on a little net search for Leinster Gardens. On the off chance that you are also interested in seeing what 23 and 24 Leinster Gardens look like then here's another link that shows you! This is just the sort of oddity that I find fascinating!
So anyway, long-standing bloggers out there, if you find that you're suddenly getting comments left on posts from the dark ages of your blog, it's because lunatics like me are still trawling their merry little way through your archives!

(*sad/pathetic)