My journey of faith (so far!)

Earlier this year I was asked to write an article for the church magazine on my journey of faith. Here it is.

I spent my early years in Birkdale on the Lancashire coast, my parents were occasional church attenders and I attended a Congregational (now URC) church there, I still remember being asked into the pulpit aged about 6 as part of a sermon being asked to read something!
As I grew older and busier church was left behind; I first moved to Macclesfield in the 60's when pharmaceutical companies set up there and my father moved with them. Eventually I returned to belief with becoming more independent and thinking around issues of significance, through looking at a meaning beyond ourselves and things like music and the vastness of mountain scenery were instrumental in that; I came to accept the reality of faith and a God I could then name.

After University I spent a few years in computing and then threw that over to join Scargill (a Christian community running holidays and conferences) and possible ordination. Scargill was a time of learning, of seeing me and other Christians values in a very hot house environment. Whilst there I met Beth we married and after a time in Leeds we moved to Macclesfield, we have 2 grown up children.

The last few years have been rather bumpy, events on various levels - family crises, losses of jobs (one very dubious) I'm currently looking around for employment, which in my 60s, has not been easy!

I have tried to follow the call of Christ particularly on justice issues - I was involved as a Traidcraft rep for over 20 years which helped me to think about issues of development and trade. For a number of years I've been a member of Changing Attitude a group which seeks to help the church to think positively about issues of sexuality. Both these calls have cost in terms of commitment and putting my self in difficult positions.

In the last few years I have gained much from the St Michael's contemplative prayer group - being silent in the presence of God and others to allow God to speak rather than a putting of my many concerns and agendas. Silence has its challenge but meeting God there without the defence of words makes me aware of our dependence upon him.

I am a Reader - someone who preaches & takes services. For many years this has been an opportunity to minister but also, I hope, to give time and space for me to hear God's call to me.

I think to draw together these thoughts as I've journeyed I've tried to meet God in the world as it is (and that's usually painful) and to hear His voice even in the noise and challenges we face everyday.
There's been a lot of long term journeys in the above, journeys are messy things it would be nice to arrive! But for the moment I try to find God in the journey, CS Lewis wrote `I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but by it I see everything else.' Sometimes the messy nature of what's around us may obscure the view but the stops where is it clear and seeing the panorama give me confidence that the journey is worth while.

Mutterings - June 1

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Travel :: [broadens the] Mind
2. Glitz :: Glamour
3. Bark :: Tree
4. Wicked :: Witch
5. Fifth :: Amendment (not being an American I have only a sketchy idea what this is!)
6. Photography :: Darkroom
7. Yellow :: Belly
8. Counter :: Shop
9. Country :: Nation
10. Speech :: Figure of

Open Gardens

St Michael's Macclesfield is running an Open Garden event on 5/6 July this year in aid of the `Raising the Roof' fund. As part of that our (well Beth's) garden will be open - you can find the full list of gardens (as a pdf) here. Tickets are available on the day or you can get one from me. The photo is of our garden at the moment, no doubt things will be different in July! Hoping for good weather....

View Open Gardens in a full screen map

Updating Ubuntu

Earlier in the week I got around to updating the desktop to the new release of (K)Ubuntu 14.04 - I run the version using the KDE desktop - though I have lots of the ordinary Ubuntu packages installed too. Around 50 mins from the projected end of update the machine locked up - I was doing various other things at the time on it which may have contributed to this. No response to anything from mouse/keyboard - the sysrq magic keys had no effect either, but I was running an ssh server on the dekstop so I logged in remotely and rebooted.
When it came up again the boot screen appeared to think it was running 14.04 (rather than the previous 13.10) however at the login screen neither keyboard nor mouse got any reaction (and the ssh server wasn't running the machine hadn't registered with the router). I tried re-booting a couple of times with no effect.
I then broke into GRUB (at boot - press down the shift key) and booted the minimal 13.10 install (still there!) and ran the dkpg fix option (I previously tried minimal with 14.04 which again failed) which ran to completion. A reboot then gave me a working system!
Looking at the upgrade log file the last lines of /var/log/dist-upgrade/term.log read as follows:

Setting up openssh-server (1:6.6p1-2ubuntu2) ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init/ssh.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/pam.d/sshd ...
ssh stop/waiting
ssh start/running, proce

Yes it stops there! I had it down as a problem with the NVIDIA graphics driver, this might suggest something else - I wasn't connected via ssh when I was running the upgrade so it wasn't a a case of the connection dying. Still puzzled but putting this here in case it helps anyone else.
The other problem I found (so far!) is that Ctrl-Space doesn't appear to do anything - I use this key combo a lot - in Emacs. So it was a bit painful, a websearch reveled that ibus was the problem so I ran ibus-setup and stopped that grabbing Ctrl-Space for 'next input method' and assigned it to a different key.
So far everything else appears to work...

Mutterings - May 25

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Apple :: Tart
2. Queasy :: Nausea
3. Cheeks :: Blow
4. Nostril :: Snort
5. Tee shirt :: Slogan
6. Enough :: is Enough (a book about over exploitation of the Earth from the 1970s)
7. Maybe :: Perhaps
8. How? :: Paleface
9. Palace :: Garden
10. Satellite :: Telstar (shows my age!)

Teaser Tuesday - May 20

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

'I wanted to let you in on something very serious. The pope just phoned me from the Vatican, really pissed off at you.'

from Andrea Camilleri's The Shape of Water - our book group book of the month. An Inspector Montalbano mystery - here's a review. Needless to say that wasn't the Pope....

Mutterings - May 19

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Submit :: Concede
2. Evidence :: Partial
3. Investing :: Time
4. Awkward :: Posture
5. Body :: Count
6. Extension :: Plug
7. Period :: Free (that goes back a long way to school!)
8. Support :: Bridge
9. Carried :: St Christopher (that's probably a combination of this and the previous one!)
10. Anxious :: Nerves

Teaser Tuesday - May 13

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Oh, Anders! To have been sent off on a mission you were never right for. To be regarded after your death as an error of judgement

I'm in the midst of a re-read of Ann Patchett's State of Wonder. I'm not sure if I hoped that this would be our book group's book of the month - it's on the list we draw randomly from.. but I picked this book up in a charity shop last week and thought I'd enjoy owning/re-reading it. Here's my original teaser, comments and a link to the author talking about it.

Mutterings - May 11

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Warning :: Gale
2. Resume :: Restart
3. Meeting :: Business
4. Squares :: Diamonds
5. Alternate :: Current
6. Prison :: Iron Bars (... nor iron bars a cage)
7. Swamp :: Monster
8. Games :: Leisure
9. Months :: Years
10. Share :: Generosity

First walk of the summer season

We were the only walkers this evening so cut the walk short but not before a good view across the fields.

Teaser Tuesday- May 6

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

And a day late...

In the middle of the trip
he picked some ripe lemons
and was throwing them at the water
until the water seemed golden.
And in the middle of the trip,
under the branches of an oak treee
the police came along and took him away.

Another from The Journals of Thomas Merton 'Run to the Mountain' - a bit of a cheat as here Merton is quoting from Lorca's poem The Arrest - Prendimiento de Antoñito el Camborio - here's the whole poem. Difficult in view of the circumstances of Lorca's own death.

Mutterings - May 4

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Death :: Skeleton
2. Skirt :: Avoid
3. Lust :: Pant
4. You :: Me
5. Repeat :: Ad Infinitum
6. Exhaustion :: Mental
7. Obstruction :: Road Block
8. Secret :: Squirrel
9. Shiny :: New
10. Tell :: William

Beeston View

This afternoon I reconnoitered a walk I'm hoping to lead later this month up to Nab Head. We climbed out of Bollington and came to this view over the Harrop valley. Pretty close to the view from my room when I was a teenager - though with not so many houses in the foreground!

I used to often walk up Nab Head in the 60's until the foot and mouth epidemic and the path was closed. It was only opened again after a long struggle so seeing the route again was good! It's a steep climb but not as hard as White Nancy!

Hmm that doesn't look a very good link anyone running other browser's or OS's like to comment? Try here to take you to the photo.

I voted for Chirac!!

A horrifying confession - but it was the story of the left in 2002 in France when Chirac and Le Pen were the 2 candidates left in the second round.

We went to an OU French association film day on Saturday where we saw 'Le Nom des Gens' - a querying of identity in modern France. It puts various modern French taboos in conjunction - the Holocaust, the Algerian war, race and asks what they mean for modern society, have they assimilated them or just glossed them over. Here's a trailer (no subtitles)and here's a shorter version - with subtitles and more inhibited! We had a few talks which explained some of the complicated cultural references... (just one) Arthur Martin (the name of the male protagonist) would be like being called John Lewis in the UK! The film is neatly set between the 2002 and 2007 French elections.

Teaser Tuesday - 27 April

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

"Hey, family? I just want to thank you for not teasing me when I change into shorts the second we get there."

again a teaser from Margot Page's Paradise Imperfect: An American family moves to Costa Rican mountains our book group book of the month!

Mutterings - April 20

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Steady :: as she goes
2. Sleep :: Deep
3. Thumb :: Sketch
4. Straighten :: Bend
5. Wake up! :: Alarm! (and the TV cabaret show with Billy Cotton back in the 50's..)
6. Diminish :: Shrink
7. Scarred :: Wounds
8. Horn :: Cape
9. Pace :: Steady
10. Correspondence :: Letter

As Night Falls

The news came though yesterday of the death of the writer Jim Cotter - the composer of numerous liturgies, prayer and a thoughtful speaker. His webite is here. Having just returned from a Maundy Thursday service ending in darkness may this prayer be a memorial.

Through the dark despairing depths and the drought of the desert, through the abyss opened up by our failings and folly, we dare to risk our cry to the living God. For you will not let us escape from our greatest good. In our struggle with you, fierce, fiery Lover, let some new glory be wrought and new and unexpected life come to birth.

From Jim's service for Maundy Thursday from 'Darkness Yielding'

Teaser Tuesday - April 15

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Was this how it was supposed to be? I had no idea and nothing to compare it to.

from Margot Page's Paradise Imperfect: An American family moves to Costa Rican mountains - our BATS (book group) book of the month. Margot Page is a friend of Dave Mock the vicar of All Saints Macclesfield - but I'm quite enjoying the story of the trip - a family with young children throwing everything up for a year in Central America.

Mutterings - Apr 13

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Shame :: Disgrace
2. Business :: Monkey
3. Cats :: Youtube
4. Green :: Politics (I'm sure I didn't see the line below.. my mind just works the same as the compiler's!)
5. Politics :: Influence
6. Boston :: Tea Party
7. Healthy :: Fit
8. Pint :: Pot
9. Owner :: Occupier
10. Sorrow :: Child ( I see that See Him a lying on a bed of straw is behind this - though I had to web search for the link!)

Teaser Tuesday - April 8

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Then we cross the river, and up the hill between high banks, and high over the road a metal suspension footbridge joins the halves of the estate the road, in its deep cut, divides. A the top of the hill Feltonfleet School [flowery font]

well that's what the text says and you have to imagine it! This is The Journals of Thomas Merton 'Run to the Mountain' the diaries of the Trappist monk. I'm currently in 1939 and deep in Merton's reflection on the start of the war.

Mutterings - April 6

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Rabbit :: Hat
2. Judged :: Show
3. Produce :: Stall
4. Bank :: River
5. Standard :: Gold
6. Mister :: Harris (A Tom Robinson Band number i think)
7. Tissue :: Sneeze
8. Summon :: Judge
9. Selfishly :: Blind
10. Chatting :: Light

Mutterings - March 30

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Escape :: Great
2. Deals :: Shady
3. Throat :: Deep
4. Pipe :: Stand
5. Flood :: Raven
6. Nose :: Running
7. Crooked :: Stile
8. Flashes :: Inspiration
9. Noisy :: Neighbours
10. Corrupt :: Power

All Saints' - new website

A notification for the locals that the All Saints' website has moved and can now be found here

Mutterings - March 23

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Encourage :: Friend
2. Geography :: Map
3. Entrance :: Exit
4. Helicopter :: Blades
5. Creation :: Flash
6. Pillars :: Doric
7. Article :: Definite
8. Desk :: Hot
9. Discouraging :: Snipe
10. Display :: X

Teaser Tuesday - March 18

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Frau Anderson is a woman in her mid-fifties. It is hard to tell what she really looks like because she is wearing makeup to disguise.

From Anna Funder's Stasiland - a series of stories told by those who lived in the former East Germany under surveillance of the Stasi. This is our book group book of the month and I'm beginning to get into it, bureaucracy gone mad (even after unification)...! Here's a review.

Blinkers

From a post on Ecclesia commenting on 'The(?) Evangelical Group of the General Synod calling for licensed lay people as well as clergy who contract marriages to people of the same sex to be disciplined:

Its letter describes its own perspective as “biblically orthodox” and refers to “the clarity of Scripture and the vision it offers for human flourishing”. Yet interestingly it seems less interested in punishing those who are unjust to the poor, migrants and others who are vulnerable, a matter on which the Bible is a great deal more clear and consistent than on homosexuality and gender identity. Nor does it acknowledge the hazards of being judgmental. Overall there is a notable lack of awareness of the risks of projecting human bias on to God.

Well quite, blinkers to avoid frightening the horses. I'm reminded of a certain Reform fanboy church not to far from here who seem to only focus on a few bits of Christian ethics. I wonder if one of their parishioners still reads here ;-)

The Wave

The last Silkscreen film was The Wave based on the story of a simulation where students are asked to cause pain to someone else but because they're asked by an authority figure - an apparent scientist - it must be ok. This film places the action in a school where the students are undertaking a political studies course where things become rather too real.

I found it very difficult to suspend my disbelief - the group coalescing in less than a week, but maybe I'm sceptical about group think! Or maybe like the students at the start of the film I also think we're beyond than? Here's a review.
I was reminded - at a certain point - of the scene in 'The White Rose' where other students put subversive literature in a university..

Mutterings - March 16

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Crunch :: Credit
2. Handle :: Pointer (via a software development link)
3. Stoned :: Pot
4. Kettle :: Black (good 2 line link there!)
5. Worst :: Sausage (oh it isn't wurst!)
6. Agreement :: Handshake
7. Keg :: Gunpowder
8. Legacy :: Application
9. Gig :: Music
10. Nails :: 9 inch

Teaser Tuesday - March 11

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Incidentally he gave me to understand that Kurtz had been essentially a great musician. 'There was the making of an immense success,' said the man, who was an organist, I believe, with lank gray hair flowing over a greasy coat-collar.

Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness - I've never read this before and wanted to after reading Anne Patchett's State of Wonder about a similar journey into the interior. I found it difficult to get into the Conrad, there's so much that's allusive and interior in it, I think I'll have to reread when I'm paying more attention!
That is a totally random choice of sentences but when I read them I was reminded of Albert Schweitzer another westerner and great musician (organist), theologian.. who lived in Africa for many years.

Crocus

Crocus, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

It feels like spring is on the way - a view of our garden after lunch today. Another photo here

Mutterings - March 9

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Personal :: Data
2. Coworker :: Dilbert (and cow-orker)
3. Sofa :: So-good
4. Serious :: Expression
5. Chords :: Plagal (cadence)
6. Platonic :: Relationship
7. Jacket :: Smoking
8. Neck :: Vampire
9. Scatter :: Cushions!
10. Nailpolish :: Purple

You need to recompile the kernel

I was searching through some old papers this morning and came across a document describing how to set a Linux machine up to retrieve email from freeserve. In amongst the 10 pages (or so) was this gem:

So if you didn't have the dummy interface and didn't have ethernet (fairly common in those modem based days) you needed to recompile the linux kernel to enable it. I sign of how far things have moved since then! It then goes into the gory details of sendmail....

Teaser Tuesday - March 4

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Yet I knew, as I stood there, that I had, in loving Etna, touched something extraordinary in myself. It was the one occupation that had engaged all of me: my senses, my intellect and my emotions.

Anita Shreve's All He Ever Wanted our book group book of last month. I started this with a particular image of what I thought it was likely to be like 'chick lit' and was pleasantly surprised, though it is an uncomfortable read - a pompous, egotistical man's view of a marriage back in the early years of the 20th century. (Etna is the name of his wife!).
I'm not doing well at tuesday teasers (or blogging) at the moment, let's hope things improve and I find some impetus!

Mutterings - March 2

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Get back :: Beware
2. Kids :: Teacher (there's a Pink Floyd association hovering around this and the above!)
3. Plus :: Bonus
4. Tamborine :: Sleigh Bells
5. Thursdays :: Chesterton (The Man who was...)
6. Hems :: Cough
7. Busted :: Drugs
8. Polo :: Water
9. Discount :: Store
10. Balanced :: Budget

Mutterings - Feb 23

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. White House :: Log Cabin
2. Coffee break :: Biscuits!
3. Retirement :: Pension
4. Lipstick :: Red
5. Department :: Store
6. Blinds :: Venetian
7. Diploma :: Piano
8. Communication :: Line
9. Budget :: Project
10. Things :: aint wot they used to be!

Teaser Tusday - Feb 18

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

A neon poodle prances across its sign for all eternity. It wears a little doggie bow tie.

Another teaser from David Mitchell's Number9Dream - I've nearly finished this now and I'm not sure that it's getting any clearer! First teaser of February - I've not been remembering! The poodle is, presumably, an illuminated street sign.

Mutterings - Feb 16

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Wine :: Bottle
2. Cooperate :: Partnership
3. Dropped :: Brush (no idea - maybe the next line?!)
4. Painter :: Easel
5. Binger :: Bonger (what's a binger?)
6. Knot :: Reef
7. Collar :: Clerical
8. Barefoot :: Trek
9. Town :: Gown
10. House :: Home

Monsieur Lazhar

Silkscreen showed Monsieur Lazhar last week - similar in styl to 'Etre et Avoir' from the point of view of primary schoolchildren - but here dealing with the death of a teacher and their handling of the emotional trauma with a new rather unconventional M Lazhar. A very powerful film which engages with wonderful performances by the children and you gradually realise that the pain of the children and the new teacher are one. Here's a review.

Nigeria and Anglican Mainstream

I was looking through some old blog entries here and came across this from 2007 when I quote a letter to the Church times from Anglican Mainstream about legislation against homosexuality in Nigeria:

Anglican leaders in Nigeria have been working closely to uphold human-rights issues in the proposed legislation on homosexuality.

I wonder how that's going? As you probably know that law has recently come into effect and Anglican Mainstream have been somewhat silent on the issue.

Mutterings - Feb 9

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Person :: Individual
2. Children :: of God
3. Tweet :: Succinct
4. Points :: Railway
5. Grill :: Barbeque
6. Traces :: Remains
7. Unsolved :: Mystery
8. Lines :: in the sand
9. Fourteen :: Quatorze (and thence Louis!)
10. Coincidence:: Funny

Mutterings - Feb 2

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Doorknob :: Broomstick
2. Arch :: Bridge
3. Clay :: Pot
4. Doves :: Flock
5. Bloom :: Bialistock
6. Curious :: Feature
7. Kissing :: Gate
8. Stomach :: Churn
9. Courtyard :: Paving
10. Shorts :: ..to ground

Teaser Tuesday - Jan 28

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

I know that eye. It gleams, and the animal sidles away with a twitch of its tail.

David Mitchell's number9dream. I'm still early on in this book and at least there's some narrative I can get hold of! The first chapter left me struggling (well 15 pages in I was lost!)! Here's the Guardian review which might give a few pointers..

Mutterings - Jan 26

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Vex :: Annoy
2. Ghost :: (in the) Machine
3. Detail :: Fuss
4. Furthers :: Aims
5. Foxy :: Lady
6. Hybrid :: Breed
7. Maximum :: Temperature
8. Wonderful :: Life
9. Munch :: Scream!
10. Organize :: Chaos

Teaser Tuesday - Jan 21

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

The true story we remembered at Any Virsries was only part of what had been handed down to us from the beginning. There were some things that Angela told to just two of her daughters, Susie and Clare, the ones she thought most sensible and grown up, and told them to pass on only to girls that they knew they could trust.

Another teaser from Chris Beckett's Dark Eden, a careful entrusting of tribal history. Though there's also the preserving of unknown, slightly garbled, significant events!

Mutterings - Jan 19

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Voice :: With One (a hymn book of the 70s)
2. Counter :: -point
3. Marked :: Man
4. Loving :: Couple
5. Coat :: Frock
6. Pounce :: Cat
7. Dehydrate :: Thirst
8. Desire :: Urge
9. Concern :: Care
10. Broth :: Scotch

Helen Haslam

Rachel and Helen's sister, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Today's I've been to Helen Haslam's funeral. I knew Helen back in the 70s-80s when her husband Frank was vicar of St Michael's Macclesfield and also in his role on the Scargill council.
It was good to meet the children whom I'd not seen since then and recall the past and where events had led us since. United in memory of a lovely person, collected and yet sparky. Two other photos are here.

Teaser Tuesday - Jan 14

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Gerry was looking at him like he was some kind of hero. David Redlantern, that hard batface, was glaring at him like he was a piece of buck shit.

Chris Beckett's Dark Eden again, I've got to the Fall and it's getting rather interesting!

Mutterings - Jan 12

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Funk :: Blue
2. Marketing :: Lies
3. Standards :: Ethical
4. Best friend :: Dog
5. Search :: Web
6. Pizza :: Box
7. Jeans :: Seams
8. Singapore :: Island
9. Executive :: Pay
10. Find :: Search

Teaser Tuesday - Jan 7

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

It wasn't just my eyes that had gone. It was all my bloody senses.

A suitably dramatic start to the New Year! Chris Beckett's Dark Eden, the Guardian review describes it as theologically nuanced science fiction! It's recently won the Arthur C Clarke award, a dark vision of the future, or perhaps the past. Around 25% of the way through and I'm enjoying it - I'm also re-reading David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and it was interesting to read the far future section of that work set alongside Beckett's writing. I believe there will be a sequel to Dark Eden published later this year.

Mutterings - Jan 5

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Gravity :: Centre (of)
2. Universe :: Cosmos
3. Jewels :: Crown
4. Velour :: Smooth
5. Bribes :: Corrupt
6. Pen :: le
7. Presents :: Christmas
8. Impressions :: First
9. Heat :: Deep
10. Pining :: Fjords

Mutterings - Dec 29

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Business cards :: Logo
2. IT :: Arrgh
3. Liver :: Lights
4. Rugged :: Cross
5. Destruction :: Age (misremembering the Barry McGuire Eve of Destruction?)
6. Cast :: Die (probably the six sided object rather than engineering)
7. Gratification :: Delayed
8. Pizza :: Base
9. Cutest :: Cat
10. Best :: Brightest (I'm obviously getting in tune for Epiphany...)

The website appears to have a second set of words for today maybe they're next week's but I'll put these here too:

1. Once upon a :: Time
2. Winston :: Smith
3. Frost :: David (Paradine)
4. Flute :: Debussy (the start of L'Après Midi d'un Faune)
5. Antlers :: Deer
6. Jolly :: Sailor (a local pub of that name)
7. Mound :: Mott
8. Gallery :: Uffizi
9. Trades ::Jack
10. Flake ::Cadbury

The Hunt

It's a little time since I saw Vinterberg's The Hunt at Silkscreen and Christmas eve would seem to be a good point to comment (in as far as I can still remember) - one of the film's big scenes (more than one) takes place on Christmas eve. I saw it twice - I was projecting the later showing so I went to the early so that I could give it my full attention. A powerful of suspicion and the hunting of an unjustly accused man - I doubt think the film ever leaves you in any doubt as to the innocence of the principal character. But it's also a film about forgiveness but how even with that, the marks are still there. Wonderful acting by Mads Mikkelsen and his young accuser Annika Wedderkopp - some of the audience were talking as they headed out as to how depressing it was, maybe the scenes of suspicion , but the end was, for me, far different.

Teaser Tuesday - Dec 24

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

It had hung there so long - all Carrie's life certainly - that it was no longer any particular colour. It had been packed away for the summer but she knew where her mother stored it in the bottom drawer of the hall chest of drawers and she hung it as fast as she could, to block any view through the letter box or fanlight, where camera flashes were intruding with frightening rapidity.

This is a bit of a cheat as I read this book earlier in the autumn and have just seen that it never got teased. Patrick Gale's 'A Perfectly Good Man' a tale of a Cornish clergyman - I thought this was wonderful, a very powerful tale of goodness and fallibility. And that extract makes a very good teaser! I hadn't spotted that one of the characters in the book is a continuation of someone from his earlier Notes from an Exhibition. Here's the Guardian review. If you go to the author's website you'll get his view and some more reviews.

Mutterings - Dec 22

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Drape :: Funeral
2. Visitors :: Christmas
3. Garage :: Light
4. Disney :: Mouse
5. Among :: Surrounded
6. Trend :: Statistical
7. Holiday :: Rest
8. Lightbulb :: Filament
9. Zing! :: Zap
10. Efficient :: Energy

Teaser Tuesday - Dec 17

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

'Oh, I thought he'd died. I thought I'd never see him again.

Clare Balding rattling on at a fair old pace in her My Animals and Other Family (the same as last week and our book group selection) and a more dramatic but less thought provoking teaser! The 'him' is inevitably an animal.

2013 in summary

For friends who don't follow my feed on twitter or other social media.. our Christmas newsletter is on the home webserver as a pdf - I guess most of it has appeared on this weblog at some time or another but here it is in summary.

Mutterings - Dec 15

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Comedy :: Legs (there's probably a John Cleese connection)
2. Warning :: Shot
3. Bowling :: Alley
4. Picked :: Nose
5. Shotgun :: Riding
6. Accommodate :: Inn (looking towards Christmas)
7. Everybody :: Stand
8. Hypnotic :: Music
9. Penthouse :: Suite
10. Hockey :: Stick

Teaser Tuesday - Dec 10

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

They were invented in Norman times to get round some daft law that said only the gentry could own smart, majestic breeds like the wolfhound or deerhound. Commoners were effectively barred from owning a sight hound, in case they used them to poach game.

The 'they' are lurchers - from Clare Balding's autobiography 'My Animals and Other Family' - and explicit homage in the title to the Gerald Durrell book about his early years. This is our book group for the month - something relaxing for over Christmas! Here's the Telegraph review.

Mutterings - Nov 8

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Games :: evening
2. Younger :: Pitt
3. Propose :: Marriage
4. Closer :: Lean
5. Cleaned :: Rubbed
6. Fresh :: Vegetables
7. Crunch :: Credit
8. Centers :: Gravity
9. Shiny! :: Surface
10. Horrific :: Scene

Liturgy and Doctrine

In its comments on the Pilling report, 'Anglican Mainstream', has this:

Anglicans believe that liturgy expresses doctrine.

And then argues that blessing of a same sex civil partnership would therefore change Anglican doctrine. Doesn't this imply that any Anglican service which isn't approved of by synod has the same effect? I didn't realise that an action by a local church had such powerful consequences. I'm off to plan a service!

And I'm sure that many Anglican Mainstreamish churches are quite happy to have unauthorized services when it suits them.

Teaser Tuesday - Dec 3

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

We had not heard Boerhaave descend the companionway & nudge open my door! Torgny cried out in dismay, declaring his guilt in a trice.

A re-read of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas - I see it was nearly three years ago that I first read and teased it.

Mutterings - Dec 1

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Taxes :: Death
2. Deter :: Threaten
3. Regret :: Rien
4. Consume :: Feed
5. 1600 :: Pennsylvania Avenue (via Bernstein)
6. Retire :: Withdraw
7. Console :: VT (virtual console)
8. Property :: Ownership
9. Return :: Fare
10. Laughter :: Joy

Who are the bullies?

At General Synod last week the Church of England announced that it was going to work with Stonewall to address homophobic bullying in schools. In response there has been a typically mean spirited statement from Angican 'Mainstream'. Changing attitude has delivered a robust riposte. To quote Colin Coward:

Anglican Mainstream says that children's lack of psychological and cognitive maturity makes them vulnerable to ideological and sexual manipulation. The statement implies that Stonewall manipulates children ideologically and sexually – it's a disgraceful statement and deeply homophobic.

Anglican 'Mainstream' is deeply homophobic and some of its supporters indulge in bullying and intimidation of those who disagree with them - excusing their behaviour by claiming that those they attack are 'guilty' of first order offences whereas their 'ends justify the means' approach should be disregarded. They need to look at themselves!

Teaser Tuesday - Nov 26

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Have you ever noticed that when your mind is awakened or drawn to someone new, that persons name suddenly pops up everywhere? My friend Sophie calls it coincidence, and Reverend Simpless calls it grace.

Stirrings within Juliet Ashton in (again) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows - our book group of the month. Here's the Guardian review - he liked it. On the other hand from a goodreads review -

This book is a lot like my mother's pie. It looks pretty, the crust is warm and flaky, but one bite and the filling sends you into a diabetic coma.

Mutterings - Nov 24

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Directions :: Compass
2. Juror :: Oath
3. Cheating :: Cards
4. Fact :: Balance
5. Clue :: -do ( the game)
6. Week :: Working
7. Enthusiasm :: Dog
8. Smug :: GAFCON (sorry! ;-) )
9. Venture :: lose our.. (Shakespeare)
10. Bench :: Judge

Yes I know it's Wednesday - Teaser Tuesday - Nov 20

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Doubtless you know of the huge memorial Victoria had built for her beloved consort, Prince Albert. It is the jewel in the crown of Kensington Gardens - a monument to the Queen's refined taste as well as to the Departed.

An old dowager gets up steam in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows - our book group(!) book of the month. The book takes the form of a set of letters written shortly after WWII and reflecting on the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands.
Yes, this should have been posted yesterday but it kept slipping my mind!

Loubressac

and again!, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Sunrise from the Relais de Castelnau in Loubressac - I thought I ought to add this photo as the view at breakfast was so memorable. One of the prettiest villages in France - according to a guide book and I wouldn't disagree!

About Elly

On Wednesday, Silkscreen showed the Iranian file About Elly - last year they had Asghar Farhadi's 'A Separation'and as that was popular they decided to programme another of his works. It tells of a group of friends going to the Caspian sea for a break but the female school teacher of one of their children has also been invited as has a recently divorced man. As the film progresses the original simple lies become ever more complex giving a real insight into the nature of Iranian society.

I thought it was very involving - even for so different a culture, I spent sometime trying to work out why it felt different and only at the end when the music started did I remember the spoken introduction (by the presenter) mentioning the lack of background music to that point. You didn't feel it was a film and the tension was suddenly ratcheted up and never let go. The Guardian's review is here, much of it felt improvised but there was a very clear direction.

Mutterings - Nov 17

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Jealousy :: Rage
2. Twin :: Matching
3. Logo :: Slogan
4. Bang :: to Rights
5. Darts :: Board
6. Window :: Frame
7. Arcade :: Shopping
8. Sniff :: Scratch
9. Tickets :: Train
10. Eraser :: Pencil

Teaser Tuesday - Nov 12

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

And he took out his pocket-book and began adding over his accounts, - a process which many gentlemen besides Mr. Haley have found a specific for an uneasy conscience.
The boat swept proudly away from the shore, and all went on as before.

Haley the slave trader in Uncle Tom's Cabin, of Harriet Beecher Stowe, carefully closes his eyes to the moral issue! I was prompted to read this - for the first time after our book group reading of Tracy Chevalier's The Last Runaway - the original underground railway book!

Mutterings - Nov 10

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Reality :: Light (cold light of?)
2. Fanfare :: Trumpets (sounded for him on the other side, `there won't be trumpets'?)
3. Share :: Equal
4. City :: London
5. Stepping :: Hill (Stepping Hill hospital is near here!)
6. Entitled :: Benefit
7. Movement :: Slow (as in music)
8. Review :: Favourable
9. Advertise :: Wares
10. Largest :: Greed

Domaine de Poujo and starter

Domaine de Poujo and starter, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

The dinner on the final night - meals were excellent here too - the food over the 10 days was very good and we probably returned fitter but fatter! As we had to leave the hotel at 6:30am we were fairly gentle with consumption on the last evening.
We returned by train from Souillac to Paris Austerlitz - roll on when the TGV's are running this route! - and then by Eurotunnel back to London and then back to Macclesfield. If you're doing a similar route beware if hoping to charge up electronic devices - the first charging point we saw was at Euston! By that time most of my toys didn't have much charge left!
A very enjoyable holiday with memories to take into the winter evenings! I've included this link before but it's the flickr album for my photos. I might get around to copying some photos others took in time!

Rocamadour

Rocamadour, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

The last day was a rest day - at least walks were suggested and we ignored them. We spent the morning investigating Rocamadour. Starting at the top level - most easily reached from Hospitalet - and a vertiginous walk on the ramparts - for which there's a charge and a turnstile - probably to keep down the numbers in peak season! The photo is looking down on the church from the end of the parapet - I think my sense of balance is getting worse but I managed this photo! Then down through the basilica - which was celebrating 1000 years of pilgrimages (I think the dating is a little suspect!) and 100 years since the restoration of the site. I kept my eyes open for mentions of Francis Poulenc (who died 50 years ago) who came here and the place inspired some of his religious music but didn't see anything. A light lunch in one of the cafes and then back up the Voie Sainte to the hotel and a gentle afternoon, I paid a visit back to Hospitalet to try to get sunset over the Rocamadour but unfortunately dinner came too soon!

Rocamadour from Hospitalet

Rocamadour from Hospitalet, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

The last day with a major walk, we started at Calès and walked back along the Ouysse until it disappeared under the ground and then along a winding gorge until we reached Rocamadour. I had a lot of anticipation - when would Rocamadour be visible - we were traversing the pilgrim route - that the medieval walkers would have taken - though in their case from Rocamadour towards Compostella.

The town didn't come into view until we were walking through the gates and then you were aware of the towering cliffs and buildings on so many levels. Walked through the town - staying on the lowest level - exploration was for tomorrow. A drink at a pavement cafe and then up the Voie Sainte to this view and then on to the Hotel Troubadour just out of Hospitalet.

Caugnaguet mill from the outside

Caugnaguet mill from the outside, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

We left Lacave on a misty morning with Belcastle invisible and wandered gently along the Ouysse. We saw some divers about to explore some of the submerged caves before arriving at the mill at Caugnaguet - which was open for visitors. The Inntravel itinerary says that it closes from 15th October so I'm not sure whether that's incorrect or whether we were just lucky to find it open. We were guided around and some of us sipped the walnut liqueur! Then through wooded paths to Calès. Drinks outside (watch out for the flies!) but then a marvellous evening meal - it certainly equalled the Michelin starred place - some of us thought it was better. I had snails (with mushrooms which merged nicely , you were never quite sure which you were eating in case you were cautious!) and duck - we had a lot of duck this holiday - I saw a fixed price menu in one place which had duck for 2 of the 3 courses!

reflection

reflection, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Day 6 was spent around Lacave - a trip down the cave - steps and reflections here too! Gentle lunch in the village. The Hotel du Pont de l'Ouysse - where we stayed - has a Michelin star, and a wine list with prices to match, I spotted a St Emilion for 1500€ we stayed a lot further down the price range. The food was wonderful and there was the theatre of pouring hot chocolate sauce over a chocolate ball and watching its contents being revealed. You can't quite see the hotel in this picture it's at the foot of the cliff - the castle, on top, is owned by 3 retired schoolteachers - apparently they were offered a lot of money by a Hollywood star for the place but they wanted to keep their piece of heaven! We spent the afternoon lazing outside the hotel in their comfy chairs by the Ouysse. We met a couple also with Inntravel there they were on a cycling tour and on their last day, we had a few more days walking before Rocamadour.

Teaser Tuesday - Nov 5

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

I look out, through the steamed-up window; through the mist hiding most of the view, but not all, no; there's not enough of it to hide the thick black smoke that pours out above the trees. Our trees.

Now there's a dramatic moment - Stef Penney's The Invisible Ones our book group book of last month. We had the discussion meeting last night and I think it was uniformly liked. A tale of the relationships between the Gipsy community and the surrounding community. A detective(?) story where things are not quite what they seem. Like her earlier book this is about isolated communities - though in a completely different context! Loved the telling of part of the story through JJ's eyes - a young gipsy. Here's the Guardian review.

Creysse

..and again, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

A view of Creysse - the taxi which took us to the starting point for the day's walk was a little late so we enjoyed a walk around the village. After being dropped by the taxi in Meyronne we took the easier of the day's 2 alternative walks and enjoyed a spectacular walk through the trees ascending the side of the Dordogne valley (did I not take any photos here? - I need to search the cameras memory card!) we had lunch by a very quiet aerodrome - really just a landing strip and then the walk into Lacave and a refreshment stop before heading to the Pont l'Ouysse - of which there are lots of photos uploaded but I'll hilight one when writing about day 6.

Experimental Nut Station..

Experimental Nut Station.., a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Day 4 - not the longest walk but there was a sting in the tail! After a wonderful sunrise viewed from the hotel terrace (see the album for the photos!) we headed for Creysse. Again through the woods with a stop at a take off point for hang gliders with lovely views over the Dordogne - the spot was off the route so kudos to Inntravel for highlighting it. Then down to cross the river at Gluges and at this point we thought a drink and a stop would be good. Unfortunately none of the refreshment stops were open so we continued. A quick search of the village revealed a Place Edith Piaf without even a bar or cafe! There's a good reason for the square being named in her honour.

Then came the hard part of the day - first of all a gentle wander along the road beneath huge cliffs - but then the road started to ascend (fortunately the cliffs became less high) - but it was a struggle! On getting into Creysse we reached this experimental nut station - there are lots of walnuts in the Dordogne and at the time we went we were perpetually crushing the shells under our feet. The Auberge de l'Ile is wonderfully situated - close to the river and in the midst of a lovely village.

Mutterings - Nov 3

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Partner :: Howdy
2. Villain :: Cartoon
3. Signature :: Email
4. Homespun :: Yarn
5. Ultimate :: Challenge
6. Don’t! :: Stop
7. Musical :: Broadway
8. Candor :: Honesty
9. Terrified :: Shadow
10. Virus :: Antibiotic

Gouffre de Padirac

Gouffre de Padirac, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Day 4 was (nominally) a rest day, so we did one of the recommended walks to the Gouffre de Padirac and a trip by boat through the cave - very worthwhile. The gouffre is very busy in high season, in October it was quiet though the cafes afterwards were mostly closed. On the way to the Gouffre you pass this memorial to Helène Bimberzy (Bomberzy?) martyred in 1844 - one wonders as to the circumstances (web searching hasn't, so far, helped - ah it is Bombezy - there's a mention here, but no help as to the background)! After the walk back to Loubressac, I enjoyed walking round the village and watching the sunset over the hiils.

Castelnau

DSCF9204, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Day 3 was the longest walk but there were a number of highlights, walking though the Glanes vineyards, the impressive chateau of Castelnau and the views and climb up to Loubressac. Route finding was straightforward and the views of Castelnau as it appeared through the trees was unforgettable! In Loubressac we stayed at the Relais de Castelnau - modern hotel but we thought there was a certain lack of attention to detail. The views from the terrace though were wonderful!

The door of the church at Beaulieu

The door of the church at Beaulieu, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

The first day's walk was a gentle start. Well it would have been if it hadn't been the only day it rained and if I hadn't got us lost and heading back the way we came. My route memory is getting appalling - when the Inntravel itinerary says an obvious clearing it means a huge clearing! We walked from Beaulieu to the small village of Port de Gagnac via quiet forest tracks with a visit to the village from the Hotel before we settled down for the evening meal at the Hotel du Vieux Port and made our first acquaintance with Coteaux de Glanes.

Teaser Tuesday - Oct 29

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Your wife has written for you to the king. Asking for mercy. You have a great many friends.

Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies. I see I've not teased this month's book group book - I'll have to fake an entry later this week!

Beaulieu

it was a misty and wet morning!, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

We've just returned from a walking holiday in the Dordogne. As so often in the past few years one arranged by Inntravel. We made the trip to Beaulieu by train with a stop in Paris overnight and a few tourist sights and then after a dinner at the Velouté in Beaulieu awoke to this view of the Dordogne. The photo album for the week is mostly uploaded and accessible here. The trail followed, mostly, the pilgrim trail from Rocamadour to Santiago de Compostela - though in the reverse direction! Hopefully further accounts of the individual days will follow!

There's a few mentions of the composer Francis Poulenc in my entries on this walk but I hadn't realised that he wrote his clandestine cantata Figure Humaine whilst staying in Beaulieu - he rented a two room apartment here containing a poor piano during 1943 whilst setting poems by Paul Eluard with the final hymn to Liberty.

Mutterings - Oct 27

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are (yes we've been away):

1. Poison :: Gas
2. Las Vegas :: Taste (lack of)
3. Nanny :: Mary Poppins
4. Tablet :: Android
5. Trail :: Discovery
6. Innocent :: Drinks
7. Invited :: Guest
8. Life :: Well-lived
9. Tormented :: Soul
10. Lousy :: Mattress (thinking of the animals!)

Mutterings - Oct 13

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Untraceable :: Hidden
2. Senator :: Grandeur (that's probably the Roman variety!)
3. Humongous :: Problem
4. Drinks :: Alcohol
5. Ringing :: (the) Bells!
6. Overloaded :: Function
7. Annoyed :: Cross
8. Blondie :: Harry
9. Suits :: You Sir!
10. Deadly :: Enemy

Teaser Tuesday - Oct 8

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

During the mid-1970's and subsequently, Rowan came to see that these arguments were still more significant when given a religious twist. If language itself involves an act of trust by expecting to evoke a shared world, the a progressively suggestive inference may be drawn: that there is an affinity between the structure of thinking and the structure of reality - an affinity where love and imagination are integral to the picture.

Some hard thinking(!) required there - a re-read of Rowan's Rule by Rupert Shortt, I read and teased it back in 2009, I bought the book a few years ago and am only now getting around to reading my own copy. The context of the quote is Rowan Williams (for this is a biography of him!) thoughts on Decartes, Wittgenstein and Edith Stein.

Leawood Pump House

..working harder, a photo by rajmarshall on Flickr.

Yesterday, we walked around Cromford and visited the Leawood Pump House which used to transfer water from the Derwent to the canal back in the 19th century. The huge pump was working this weekend - one of the stationary engines was also going to be running today - so unfortunately we missed that. Photos of the day are in this flixkr album. It was an interesting visit in view of my having recently read Dickinson's Pauper's Gold where the heroine is born in Macclesfield and then enters servitude (well officially an apprentice) in a mill not too far from Cromford - it also functioned as a getting fit exercise before we go on a walking holiday!

Mutterings - Oct 6

This week's free word associations from Unconscious mutterings are:

1. Latch :: Key
2. Standard :: Lance (or Coding)
3. 60 :: Aged
4. Maple :: Leaf
5. Final :: Straight
6. Bickering :: Children
7. Diner :: Petit-dejeuner(!)
8. Nasty :: Party
9. Ohhh! :: Buffin! (a long story!)
10. Leeches :: Medicinal