And suddenly it was advent! ¡Y de repente era Adviento!

Me and Alex have been very cosy this winter. Alex has been making some delicious treats, experimenting with pastry to makedelicious apple turnovers and a caramelised banana tart... yummy. All I've wanted the last month and a half is to seek out heat. Eat yummy food and hibernate.

turnovers

We've also had some fun nights out recently. It was Laura's 30th in November and we went to La Banca in Cotteridge for a delicious Italian meal. We also met up with Pete, Vicky Steve and Leon and Teresa for a night out in honour of it being Leon's birthday, a reunion and also Pete and Vicky's engagement.

Laura's bday celebs

Pete and Vicky looking glam

Al and Steve

Leon and Teresa

I was sat in St Nicolas a few Sundays ago and suddenly it was the first weekend in Advent. The Jesse tree was up, the first advent candle was being lit and we were singing our first carol; 'Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel'. Suddenly there was something to get excited about. The last few months have been hard; the wintry nights have drawn in, the wait for the bus has got colder and my bus partner Marilyn has been put on a new rota so we no longer get to chat to pass along the time. Then suddenly the German Christmas market made its annual appearance and the lights went up and the city centre became a twinkly forest of Christmas goodies. I felt very upbeat.

That sunday, after a very lovely service, Rob the vicar announced that during the Restoration they had found the body of a small baby buried just outside the church boundary. The small child had died in the 1500's, and no doubt had been buried in secret by a distraught mother, perhaps this anonymous buriel was the closest she could get her child to salvation. After the service Rob said that he was going to give the baby a buriel and that anyone who wanted to attend would be very welcome. In the end the majority of the congregation piled out into the wintery cemetary to commemorate this sad event. It was amazing to be a part of that community. Kings Norton was a village 500 years ago and it still is in many ways. For the sake of a mother who lived centuries before any of us were born; for the love of her child we buried that baby, and felt the bonds of our own family ties all the more strongly. And that's Christmas isn't it? For the love of a small child men crossed a continent on camels looking for a miracle; Parents risked their lives and a King fled his own nightmares. God knows the trials that mother endured back in 1500. But ever since her and for many more centuries men and women will visit this church and bring their own pain and tragedy with them in the hope that they'll find some sort of peace. I love Christmas, but not just for the sparkly decorations and the presents, but because it honestly does remind me of how loved and lucky I've been. I was glad to be able to do that small thing for that mother; I hope she knows she's not been forgotten.

The congregation gather

Selling off our forests

A few weeks ago I heard on the news about the government's planned sell-off of about 40,000 hectares of our ancients forests and woodland.


Here's how another, more well-informed, blogger sees it:



At the moment, the whole of the public forest estate is independently certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council – the Forestry Commission being the first forest service in the world to achieve this status. New owners will not be required to certify their forests, and the likelihood is that most of them won’t. Only 16% of private woodlands are currently certified. All Forestry Commission woodlands are managed under a Forest Design Plan, which determines the balance between commercial value from the timber, public benefit and environmental protection – the essence of what is known as ‘multifunctional forest management’. There’s more in those forests than money alone. However, there will be no requirement for new owners to maintain any kind of forest design plan, and their track record in this area is hardly encouraging.
And as to access, anyone who buys land freehold from the Forestry Commission is indeed required to allow access on foot, under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, and indeed to keep open public rights of way. However, there will be no requirement to maintain forests walks in good condition, or to provide any kind of parking facilities.
And here’s the rub for Mrs Spelman and her chums in the Forestry Industry. Treasury’s principal concern here is to maximize the financial value of any forest disposals. The harder Defra tries to protect the conservation and amenity value of the forests that are being sold, the lower the sale price they will be able to command on the open market.

 http://www.jonathonporritt.com/pages/2010/11/forests_on_the_front_line.html

Having signed the petition (click here for petition) I've looked up my MP (using this link) and shall be emailing to register my concern that if this has to be done at all, that it be done well.

I love the fact that in Britain there is so much free and easy access to land that is green and in its natural state. The fresh air and the break from city life is a great plus to living in this country and the ancient woodland is our birthright; a living legacy. This is an issue that is much more than about earning some money in the short term; and if we're in such dire straits that we're forced to consider this then we should impose restrictions on how the land can be managed post-sale; thereby lowering the value as Jonathon makes in his final point and rendering the whole thing useless. Surely we could be doing better things with our time and effort than attacking such and important natural resource?

LONDON!

I'd been looking forward and planning this trip for months with Leon and we finally went. It was a great 3 day holiday; loads of fun!

We arrived in London at 11.50 at London Victoria, hot and sweaty after a 2 and a half hour trip on the Megabus which with ten minutes to go the driver suddenly realised he hadn't switched on the fans. We were all half boiled to death, but it was very entertaining to see how embarrased the driver was! Anyway we walked to Buck house and along the Pall Mall to Oxford St for a nibble and then to Leicester Square and up Shaftesbury Avenue for the 2.30pm matinee performance of Yes Prime Minister at the Gielgud Theatre.

It's an update on the timeless classic TV show, one of mine and Al's favourites, set in a coalition government familliar for all the old YES PM jokes like 'Oh god, have I been corageous?!' - Jim Hacker (PM). It was very funny, even though we all thought the second half wimpered out a little, it still had us all howling.

Afterwards we took the tube to London Limehouse and walked to the Holiday Inn Express to check in. Our rooms were really great, it was a really decent price and even though not as central as some locations I'd definately recommend it.

Afterwards we went to Islington to a gig organised by Dan and Jo, Leon's brother and sister in Law. It was an evening of assorted rock music, quite experimental, but a good time was had by all even though we all flaked out at 11pm, meaning we missed Dan's set at the end of the night...

But we had to keep our energy up because the next day was a busy one. After a big breakfast we went to St Paul's cathedral. We were allowed in during the service and we were able to soak up the timeless energy and peace of the place while the vicar did his semon. It always humbles me to think of these places, sources of rest, healing and inspiration for thousands of people over hundreds of years. It's a beautiful place. Then we walked across Millennium Bridge to Tate Modern and spent the next 2 jhours absorbing the mass of artistic endeavours in that place. Some inspire, some frankly I find difficult to take seriously at all. But it's a great place to visit. And as with almost everything we visited, free! Sundays in the capital have a lovely atmosphere, somehow it feels calm and relaxed even though there are still loads of people about: it still has that Sunday essence. After a quick leemonade and a rest in a pub we all separated, Leon and Teresa to go and visit family and we went to see Will, Al's mate from school.

Helen Will Al and me

We met Will and Helen in Green Park station. It was a beautiful day with clear fresh air and blue skies and so everywhere we walked was extra pretty. They took us to an area not far from Green Park called Shepherds's Market, a place that reminded me of Greenwich Village in New York. We eat lunch together in a pub that was really nice, although they did have a bit of a nightmare with not having things in when we ordered. Still, even with a long wait for our food, it was a great way to relax and catch up, as we rarely get to see Will since he moved to London.

 Later on we caught back up with Leon and Teresa in Covent Garden over a cup of coffee. There was a classical concert taking place a few metres away which was very entertaining and the usual mish mash of entertainers sprinkled around the square. We took a walk to soak up the atmosphere and ended up carrying on through Soho until Leon and Teresa went home. Me and Al went on to China Town and caught a live jazz band in a bar there called Huw and Bukky. They were magnificent! We really enjoyed listening to the music and then afterwards got the munchies and headed for some food. We were in China Town so what else would we do, we found the restaurant with the most chinese eating there and sat down for a very satisfying meal. We had duck with noodles and I displayed some pretty good chopstick action even if I do say do!

Next day we went to South Kensington for The Natural History museum but unfortunately the queue went around the block so off we went to the Science Museum. Afterwards we went to Kew Gardens. We met my lovely ex flatmate Sarah at a cafe there as that's where she lives and she's currently on maternity leave and had a natter over lunch before heading to Kew Gardens itself.

I must say that Kew, though I wasn't expecting it, was the highlight. It's beautiful. And in autumn with the leaves turning even mor so. After 2 days of hecticness it was the perfect antidote. We took the treetop walk, found the Pagoda and saw one of the glass houses in detail, but honestly it's so huge you could go back 10 times before you saw it all. It's not cheap but it was worth every penny. Fabulous.

Then it was a last trip back to the centre and a meal at the American diner (We had burgers and shakes) before a very comfortable and quick train ride home, courtesy of Megabus also - cheap as chips - genius!

Garden Attack

You should have seen the cat's face when three men and a lorry turned up a few weeks ago to massacre the garden, sorry her garden... Appalled.





Nevertheless the pictures do a little justice to the immense amount of chopping that went on that day. 6 trees were reduced to three and the remaining three were halved in height.






It was quite exciting! It's amazing how much more light and rain gets in down the end and our poor lawn at that end is even starting to recover, just a bit. Got a project in mind to restore it to some health but that's all got to wait til the spring.



Meantime we're just enjoying our new view, and appealing to the cat for forgiveness...