Month: January 2019

THE TWELVE THANK YOU NOTES OF CHRISTMAS

Dec 25 – My dearest darling Edward, What a wonderful surprise has just greeted me! That sweet partridge, in that lovely little pear-tree; what an enchanting, romantic, poetic present! Bless you, and thank you.

Your deeply loving

Emily xxxxx

Dec 26 – Beloved Edward, The two turtle-doves arrived this morning, and are cooing away in the pear-tree as I write. I’m so touched and grateful!

With undying love, as always,

Emily xxxxx

Dec 27 – My darling Edward, You do think of the most original presents! Whoever thought of sending anybody three French hens? Do they really come all the way from France? It’s a pity we have no chicken coops, but I expect we’ll find some. Anyway, thank you so much; they’re lovely.

Your devoted

Emily xxxx

Dec 28 – Dearest Edward, What a surprise! Four calling birds arrived this morning. They are very sweet, even if they do call rather loudly – they make telephoning almost impossible – but I expect they’ll calm down when they get use to their new home. Anyway, I’m very grateful, of course I am.

Love from

Emily xxxx

Dec 29 – Dearest Edward, The mailman has just delivered five most beautiful gold rings, one for each finger, and all fitting perfectly! A really lovely present! Lovelier, in a way, than birds, which do take rather a lot of looking after. The four that arrived yesterday are still making a terrible row, and I’m afraid none of us got much sleep last night. Mother says she wants to use the rings to “wring” their necks. Mother has such a sense of humor. This time she’s only joking, I think, but I do know what she means. Still, I love the rings.

Bless you,

Emily xxx

Dec 30 – Dear Edward, Whatever I expected to find when I opened the front door this morning, it certainly wasn’t six socking great geese laying eggs all over the porch. Frankly, I rather hoped that you had stopped sending me birds. We have no room for them, and they’ve already ruined the croquet lawn. I know you meant well, but let’s call a halt, shall we?

Love,

Emily xx

Dec 31 – Edward, I thought I said NO MORE BIRDS. This morning I woke up to find no more than seven swans, all trying to get into our tiny goldfish pond. I’d rather not think what’s happened to the goldfish. The whole house seems to be full of birds, to say nothing of what they leave behind them, so please, please, stop!

Your Emily xx

Jan 1 – Frankly, I prefer the birds. What am I to do with eight milkmaids? And their cows! Is this some kind of a joke? If so, I’m afraid I don’t find it very amusing.

Emily x

Jan 2 – Look here, Edward, This has gone far enough. You say you’re sending me nine ladies dancing. All I can say is, judging from the way they dance, they’re certainly not ladies. The village just isn’t accustomed to seeing a regiment of shameless viragos, with nothing on but their lipstick, cavorting round the green, and it’s Mother and I who get the blame. If you value our friendship, which I do (less and less), kindly stop this ridiculous behavior at once!

Emily

Jan 3 – As I write this letter, ten disgusting old men are prancing up and down all over what used to be the garden, before the geese and the swans and the cows got at it. And several of them, I have just noticed, are taking inexcusable liberties with the milkmaids. Meanwhile the neighbours are trying to have us evicted. I shall never speak to you again.

Emily.

Jan 4 – This is the last straw! You know I detest bagpipes! The place has now become something between a menagerie and a madhouse, and a man from the council has just declared it unfit for habitation. At least Mother has been spared this last outrage; they took her away yesterday afternoon in an ambulance. I hope you’re satisfied.

Jan 5 – Sir,

Our client, Miss Emily Wilbraham, instructs me to inform you that with the arrival on her premises at 7:30 this morning of the entire percussion section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and several of their friends, she has no course left open to her but to seek an injunction to prevent you importuning her further. I am making arrangements for the return of much assorted livestock.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully,

I. Creep,

Attorney at law.

 

 

Fungi Competition

 

A big thank you to all who took part in the Fungi competition and to the judges who decided which should receive an award. Over 100 entries were submitted, most of these were in the photography and art categories with only two craft entries. The Primary School took part enthusiastically with both younger and older children involved. 14 prizes representing £150 in cash and vouchers have been distributed – one of the prizewinners is shown in the photo.

A display of some of the entries can be seen in the Wenvoe library starting during January. This project was funded by Grow Wild and Kew Gardens.We have been fortunate to be granted 60 native hedging shrubs which will be used to create a hedgerow around the new orchard at Goldsland Farm. We are not sure when these will be delivered but we will then need to get them planted or heeled in as they will be bare-rooted. These have been donated by the Woodland Trust

 

 

Leftover Turkey Jambalaya

Leftover Turkey Jambalaya

4 tsp garlic olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red and green pepper, de-seeded and chopped
4 sticks of celery, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
4 spicy sausages or chorizo, cut into chunks
450g leftover Christmas meats [turkey, ham, pork] cut into chunks
2 large red chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped
500 long grain rice
2 tbsp. turmeric
2 tbsp. Cajun spices
1 tsp Tabasco
2 pints chicken stock [use two oxo cubes]
3 med tomatoes, chopped
4 tbsp. frozen peas
450g prawns
sea salt and fresh black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pan or a deep Wok. Fry the
onions, peppers, celery, garlic and sausage for about
10 minutes.
Add the cooked meats, chillies, rice, spices and Tabasco,
stirring well so the rice is well mixed in. Pour
in the stock and bring to the boil. Then add the tomatoes,
peas and prawns. Reduce the heat to simmer
for about 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste
for seasoning, adding salt, pepper and more spices if
required. Serve, enjoy with a good chunk of fresh
bread and a cool glass of wine

 

 

Guest Speaker Don Llewelyn

It was a great pleasure to meet Don Llewelyn who was guest speaker at our last meeting of the Autumn session. In his working life Don had been a television director, although when leaving art college his interest had been still photography. He had worked in every aspect of television when in 1981 he went to work at the HTV studios in Culverhouse Cross (nicknamed the Taj Mahal).
His first big job there as a director found him following up on an idea that came from America which was to do a programme about an outdoor pursuits competition. This was all new to him and involved using a crew of 12-14 people which in itself was a challenge. There were several unconnected film units that were all over the place and as it was all about sport there was only one chance to film it. As the director he obviously knew the bigger picture and was responsible for every aspect of the final production.
He travelled extensively making programmes from various locations in America to Moscow and beyond. Whilst talking he showed us dozens of photographs on the big screen and this was just a snapshot of the many thousands he has at home. Many of the photographs showed the stunning locations he had filmed including some beautiful parts of Wales. In some instances he showed pictures of well known people he had worked with from Max Boyce to Catherine Zeta Jones. We spent much of the time star spotting.
While filming in America he became interested in the contribution Welsh people had made to America and whilst doing some research he came across a Welsh man called Murray Llewelyn Humphreys. This character turned out to be a top gangster who had created an alibi for Al Capone for the famous ‘Valentine’s Day Massacre’. Don subsequently made a documentary on the subject.
His career had obviously been a fascinating one but he emphasised on several occasions that he had been honoured and privileged to travel the world at other people’s expense while doing a job that he loved and meeting such interesting people along the way. He never considered it hard work.
We are grateful to Don for sharing his many experiences with us and his talk was a wonderful end to what has been an excellent session of Tuesday Group. Many thanks must go to Irene for arranging the speakers and we look forward to resuming once again in January. The programme for the Spring will be published in this edition of the What’s On and new members will always be welcome to join us in the annexe of the village hall at 7.30pm.

 

 

Happy New Year

2009

Happy New Year

New Year traditions and celebrations vary enormously across the globe. This is perfectly illustrated by countries in Asia. China and India for example are among many countries who celebrate New Year on dates other than January 1, which has been widely used since the official adoption of the Gregorian calendar from 1582. As in the other continents, Asian New Year celebrations reflect a huge range of cultural and religious differences.

The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month. The exact date can fall any time between January 21 and February 21 (inclusive) of the Gregorian Calendar. In the Chinese lunar calendar, following a twelve year cycle, each of the 12 years is named after an animal. Lord Buddha asked all the animals to come to him before he left the earth. Only 12 animals came to wish him farewell, and as a reward Buddha named a year after each one.

New Year is a very important Chinese celebration. Chinese families travel far and wide to be together. In fact, Chinese New Year leads to the biggest movement of people on any one day during specific dates in the year. People carry lanterns and join in a huge parade led by a silk dragon, the Chinese symbol of strength. According to legend, the dragon hibernates most of the year, so people throw firecrackers to keep the dragon awake. 2019 will be the year of the pig.

The Balinese New Year, based on the Saka Calendar is called Nyepi, and it falls on Bali’s

Lunar New Year (around March). It is a day of silence, fasting, and meditation; observed from 6am until 6am the next morning. Nyepi is a day reserved for self-reflection and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is restricted. Although Nyepi is primarily a Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents of Bali observe the day of silence as well, out of respect for their fellow citizens. Even tourists are not exempt. Although free to do as they wish inside their hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth.

In Thailand, a special three-day water festival on April 13–15 marks Songkran, the Buddhists’ celebration of the New Year. Parades feature huge statues of Buddha that spray water on passers-by. In small villages, young people throw water at each other for fun. People also release fish into rivers as an act of kindness. During Songkran, people tie strings around each other’s wrists to show their respect. The strings are supposed to be left on until they fall off naturally.

Europeans of course are no different when it comes to unique New Year traditions. For Italians, new beginning means getting away from everything old and useless, so on New Year’s Eve they throw out of the window their old furniture or other discarded things, like old clothes or dishes. So, if you ever want to spend the holiday there, be careful while walking on the streets, especially in the south, where this tradition is particularly popular.

 

 

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