damesallsprint

Every Tuesday..for the last few weeks..I have put down my gardening-fork..and donned my Lycra-lightweight-sports-habit...

Morphing into a `Wii-fit-Instructor` for a well known charity that represents older people, has been both entertaining and worthwhile.

For many of the group..even those in wheelchairs..the chance to play hula-hoop, golf and keep fit..has been a revelation...

Last week..one particular woman, who is quite shy..nearly 90, and confined to a wheel-chair..was persuaded to hold the console..and try `jogging`...

Two minutes later..clutching the hand-set..and arms moving in circles like train-pistons..she led the entire room on a lenghthy run around unknown Nintendo-created-landscapes...

Like a cliched `old-timers-sing-a-long`..all those present ALSO moved their arms in repeatitive circles like the workings of Casey-Jones`s steam-engine...

Halfway through the epic marathon..I asked if she would like to pass the baton on..to let someone else try the controls?

Without a break in her momentum..said entrant replied...

`No dear..NO! I AM going to make the finish-line if it KILLS me...`

If you haven`t walked unaided for some time..and then someone supplies you with the virtual reality that allows you to sprint through vast swathes of countryside...

..Well..don`t expect to have a go..for quite some time...




..Tomorrow..I am ready for various unlikely candidates to re-discover their competitive streaks..and goodness knows what else..SO...

Be scared..be very scared...

A heartfelt `Rest In Peace` must wing its way to `Greenwoodgirl`..who lost her brave battle with cancer yesterday...

I am so grateful to her wonderful husband for letting me know..

Through everything that she had to endure..she loved life, her family..and always held others in her thoughts and words, even when their concerns would seem small in comparison.

`Greenwoodgirl` had eclectic tastes and interests; The environment, nature, walking, the arts, and a passion for books of all sorts.

Not only a fellow SU member, but someone who became a friend and contact in the `real` world...

(..Not a usual state of affairs..as the cloister cottage and garden has only one old phone..and has been mostly closed to visitors..)


To`AgingTenor`..her other-half, and their children...
B-h and I are thinking of you.

Though not a religious sort..I have a vision of your Wife, and Mother..running a highly-successful second-hand book shop..and watching over you all, whenever you pick up a good tome.



`Greenwoodgirl`..x.

..`Scrumping..` What ARE the rules of etiquette for filching fruity-booty..?

( My apologies..for the rather parochial attempt at street-patois...
I shall confess later to the sin of..er...Well, not sure really..?)

The resident `child` of this abode..( who is aged aged 41..) is busy carving a prime pumpkin..into this years spooky-lantern...

Annually, about this sort of time..two or three `tools` appear...

These orange-plastic instruments serve only one purpose..but serve it well...

One of them, a small plastic-scraper, with no obvious dangers for small fingers..really is the skeleton-key of the pumpkin-carving world..able to chip,scrape and poke equally well...

Half an hour ago..the Small-ones tongue was stuck out in concentration...

This years scenic, slightly personalised template..shows an owl..in an eerie wood...

Two friends are arriving at the cottage on Saturday night...

One insisted on apple-bobbing..the other is bringing a barrel of wine...

I shall wear my black-hessian-habit..and cook things warm, and fiery...

( I have a cauldron of a pot simmering away at this very moment..with a bubbling-good chicken-stock.)

Though the fruit-bobbing..and pagan imagery may not seem to sit comfortably with a good Catholic-habit-wearing soul..The wine..is allowed.




The Cloister-garden..Will be lit by a flickering candle-in-gourd-lamp..scraped to perfection..by my Lovely.

May your ghouls all be fictional...`..CHEERS!..`

NB..I will endeavor to upload an image of the genuine article..when how to do so becomes clear..!

Yesterday..I helped two good friends shift a tractor-load of horse-manure, from the entrance to their site to the actual plot...

Ten minutes in..the heavens opened..and monsoon season arrived...

A dear old Italian allotmenteer in a practical full-length Macintosh..rushed over to assist..and managed a very impressive few journeys with his spade and big squeaky-wheeled-barrow...

It would be safe to say that after much HAIL...
A skid-track of epic proportions was created..BUT,

All the `stuff` was tipped on the right place...

Last night..B-h and I watched the much talked about `Question Time`..with the added ingredient of the BNP`s `charming` Nick Griffin...

Mr Griffin..is a one time holocaust-denier, generally bizarre soul..and one who would like the UK to return to being full of..`its indigenous people`...( ? )

Somehow..these two anecdotes found common ground...

Hopefully..you will excuse language that is unbecoming of a good nun..BUT...

They both contain much s**t...

Today..I volunteered to show a group of older people..the `fun` that can be had with a `Wii-fit` game...

Sometimes life takes the most bizarre turns..eh?

Led by someone who had used the contraption before...

Two particular residents showed great aplomb..with particular favourites being the football goal shoot-outs..and..hula-hooping..(!?)

After a nervous start..even this old thing hoisted habit, and played along...

My very special talents..are reserved for ski-jumping..which was a surprise success...

I shall return next week..whether the gardening weather has returned or not..for their benefit, you understand..?

B-h and I watched the `Young At Heart` dvd last night...

Thoroughly recommended, it has the lot..pathos..humour..and bizarre re-workings of punk and popular songs from other diverse genres...

A life-affirming must-see for gardening-free days..when the RAIN IS STILL AT IT...sorry...





The dvd is available in the UK from last Monday ( 5th Oct 2009..)

`..For a red face...

take the whites of 20 eggs...

half a pound of the juice of betony or lambs-ears, and much of purslane and of all alum the like quantity...

3 quarts of wine...

Still it all together as long as it will run...

Wash the face therewith..first and last...

..twice a day...`


This 16th century recipe, from Lady Grace Mildmay..is quite gentle in comparison with others for piles..rabies, and worse..

From Radio 4`s ` A History of Private Life`...

( Available to listen to..for the next few days..Really..DO! )


Go on..create your own `still-room`..full of potions, and cordials...