Say Cheese

 

 

We were able to visit the Monastery last Saturday.  It is only a few miles from our house but it feels like it is another country.   The sycamore tree in the outdoor dining area has grown a lot.  Richard was excited to find some gluten free cookies that he really enjoyed in England (they are made in Belgium).

And I found some cream crackers for myself! Mairead from her blog had just written about finding cream crackers at her local Kroger and she did a great post abou them and you can read about them here! 

These cream crackers will be really good with butter, if only I had some good English cheese to go with them.  I just saw a photo of English cheeses that looked like a painting... Lucy from Attic 24 has them on her latest post and she has some beautiful photos, but please scroll down and look at the cheese photo...Five counties and Wensleydale at attic 24    Those cheeses look like art!

Hey, I found a Wallace and Gromit TV ad for you and it is about Jacob's Cream Crackers!  (He loves Wensleydale, you know!)  I hope you love Wallace and Gromit too. "The Wrong Trousers" is the movie that I find so funny, check it out if you get the chance.

By the way, what is the color of cheddar cheese?  What, you are thinking this is a trick question?  No! Not at all!  I was surprised when I saw cheddar for the first time in England, it is white, kind of a creamy white.   Cheddar cheese is orange because it is dyed to be orange.  I notice that in the past few years there has been a real trend towards "white cheddar" which is what it is called in America.  One of the meals that I like to have in England is called a Ploughman's , which is bread, with butter and cheddar cheese (white, of course), a bit of salad and Branston Pickle. (It is a kind of pickle-ly type of spread, a bit spicy and sweet).   I just saw today that the Branston Pickle Company has been bought out by a Japanese company.  I hope that doesn't mean that anything will change with the taste of Branston Pickle...I really like it.  There, you may read of gourmet meals on other blogs, but I will tell you about crackers, cheese and Branston Pickle!  Simple can be very good, you know.  Say cheese!
(And for a photography tip, please don't ask people to say this when taking photos of people, it is just not a good thing for photos.  Richard takes good photos, but I take good ones of people!  Sad, because no one wants their photos on my blog. Oh, the cruel irony.)

Sibol Owl Blanket/ Giveaway From Germany!

Does anyone remember that I make a crochet square with an owl?  It looked like this...

 

I made this and mailed it to England, to Sue, who runs SIBOL (Sunshine International Blankets of Love).    Sue has now put these owl crochet squares together and made the most beautiful owl blanket!  And you may see this blanket here!  

 

They are beautifully made squares, are they not? And I love how Sue has arranged and put them together with that lovely border around the blanket.  Thanks, Sue, for allowing my little square to be in the same blanket with all these beautiful owl squares!

 

Sue takes these crocheted blankets, wraps them beautifully with ribbon and delivers them to nursing homes in England.  These squares come to her from all over the world (even from Conyers, Georgia!) and that is why she calls her blog, Sunshine International Blankets of Love, or SIBOL.  If you look at her site, you can also see the one that was made for charity for MENCAP and if you look closely at that one, you might spot the one that looks like Stone Mountain, or it looks a bit like Stone Mountain, after all, I am the one who made it!

 

Wait, didn't I say something about a giveaway?  Yes! Now, you should really be excited about this giveway because it is not my giveaway but it is a FANTASTIC giveaway from Meike from Germany! (You would not be reading this blog if it had been for Meike since she is the one who started me on this blog journey so I am very thankful to her!)  Meike's Mum is a wonderful knitter and makes the most beautiful and comfortable socks that you can imagine.  I won a pair of these socks in a recent giveaway and I love them! LOVE them, I tell you, I would not lie to you!  So, make sure you visit Meike and tell her that Georgia Girl With An English Heart sent you! Go now and leave a comment on Meike's blog, which she calls From My Mental Library which you will find right here!  

 

Something hand-knitted from Germany! What do you think about that? Hoping that someone who reads this from my blog might be the one who wins the giveaway! Warm wishes to you all.

 

 Meike's Mum also has an Etsy shop where she sells her hand knitted items. You may find her at the following link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/gigunelsasocks?ref=em

The Storm Of October 2012

"Floods, fire and millions without power." 

Those were the words at the top of the newscast for October 30, 2012.   Along with the rest of the country, I was glued to my TV set last night watching the coverage of the storm coming ashore and the aftermath of it.  I am thinking and praying for all those affected by this powerful storm.  

 

Did anyone else see the US Coast Guard rescue of the crew from the replica ship of the HMS Bounty off the coast of North Carolina?  (It was a tall sailing ship built for the movie, "Mutiny On The Bounty", the one with Marlon Brando from 1962 and also used in the "Pirates Of The Caribbean" movie.)  The ship was taken out to sea in the hopes of saving it, but the winds were too much and a distress signal was sent.  There was one sent earlier but was then cancelled, and there are some who wonder had they not cancelled it, they all might have been saved.  It's hard to say, hindsight is always twenty-twenty.  I just wish that they all could have been rescued. The captain of the ship is still missing, and one of the crew, a woman by the name of Claudene Christian, died.  She is a descendant of Fletcher Christian, the man who actually led the mutiny on the Bounty.   You may read about Fletcher Christian here. 

 

This is the video of the rescue and I hope that you are able to see it!  (The voice saying "altitude, altitude"  would just get on my nerves so badly!) The waves were sometimes 15 feet high and with the heavy winds, this must have been such a difficult rescue effort.  At one point, the basket bringing up one of the rescued men swings wildly in the wind and it is such an effort for the man on the helicopter to hang on to the rope!  At the very end, when the survivors are on land, one of the men can hardly walk and people start running up with blankets and to help him walk...that is what it is all about, seeing what is needed and getting it done.  I am proud of the Coast Guard and all those who are helping in the rescue and recovery after this terrible storm.

 

And I would like to say, I think we should stop naming hurricanes...I know that it is considered traditional now, but how would you like to have the name "Sandy" or "Katrina"?  It just does not seem right to me... I think one day hurricanes will not be named anymore and you can say that you heard it here first!  And I just saw on the news that there was a hurricane in New York City in 1938 which killed 800 people.  Obviously, with all that is available to us now, there were plenty of warnings and lots of time for those to move to higher ground and to evacuate as needed.  Had these warnings not been given and heeded, this storm could have been even worse. 

 

The following prayer is from the 1789 Book of Common Prayer:

 

  O MOST glorious and gracious Lord God, who dwellest in heaven, but beholdest all things below; Look down, we beseech thee, and hear us, calling out of the depth of misery, and out of the jaws of this death, which is now ready to swallow us up: Save, Lord, or else we perish. The living, the living shall praise thee. O send thy word of command to rebuke the raging winds and the roaring sea; that we, being delivered from this distress, may live to serve thee, and to glorify thy Name all the days of our life. Hear, Lord, and save us, for the infinite merits of our blessed Saviour, thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

William Wordsworth/Dorothy Wordsworth

 From William Wordsworth:

...All at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee

To this entry from Dorothy's journal:

When we were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow park we saw a few daffodils close to the water side. We fancied that the lake had floated the seeds ashore and that the little colony had so sprung up. But as we went along there were more and yet more and at last under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful they grew among the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay ever glancing ever changing. This wind blew directly over the lake to them. There was here and there a little knot and a few stragglers a few yards higher up but they were so few as not to disturb the simplicity and unity and life of that one busy highway.
 

I like the poem and I also like what his sister wrote describing the exact same view. (The simplicity, the beauty...the life!)   I am still looking for the comparison of their writings about the view of Westminster Bridge in London.  Perhaps I was thinking of this, and just imagined how Dorothy Wordsworth would describe that poem in her own way.  Sometimes, my imagination plants ideas and facts into my mind that are not based on reality.  If anyone does find what I am speaking about, then I would really love it if you would let me know!  Thanks, GB, for starting a lively discussion and appreciation of the poetry of Williams Wordsworth.  And thanks to Chris for having that poem in one of the comments.  (See my last post if you have not read it yet!)

The only bridge I have seen lately is the covered bridge at Stone Mountain Lake and it might not be famous, but I think William Wordsworth, and his sister, Dorothy, would both like it.  I know I do.  Years ago, I memorized the last stanza of the Daffodils poem, simply because I loved it so...

For oft, when on my couch I lie,
in vacant or in pensive mood,
they flash upon that inward eye,
which is the bliss of solitude.
And then, my heart with pleasure fills,
and dances with the daffodils.

Too Much

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. --Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

William Wordsworth

This poem came to me today as I was thinking of how busy I have been this week and seeing everyone rush about on a busy Friday.  Our walks at Stone Mountain and Arabia Mountain are good for us physically but they are also good for our spiritual health.   Perhaps by noticing all that Nature provides, it does keep us in tune, much as the English poet, William Wordsworth, expressed it.

 
Of course, "Too Much" is also one of the big hits from 1957 (a very good year) from Elvis Presley!  The song uses "too much" in a very different way.  I love this song, the way Elvis sings it and the great guitar by Scotty Moore!  Now, do you see that this post has a poem from a famous English poet and then a song from a famous American from the Deep South?  Well,  I am Georgia Girl With An English Heart!
I am sorry that I have not had much time to post this week or to visit all the blogs that I like to visit and to leave comments.  Oh, and I just read that in the Superman Comic Books, Clark Kent is giving up his reporter job and starting a blog.    Superman's blog...what would he call it?  Please tell me, you guys are always so funny and clever, you are just TOO MUCH!  (And I mean that in a good way.)  Must go to bed now, I am cream crackered or plumb tuckered out...they mean the same thing.

Colors At Stone Mountain

 

Beautiful colors at Stone Mountain but not leaf changing color, not just yet, but soon, very soon. Just recently, we were walking down the path to the carving at the front of Stone Mountain and I looked down and saw red berries beneath my feet.  I looked up and I saw this:

 

 

Those red berries against that blue sky! It was breathtaking! I wonder how many people walked underneath this beauty and never saw it.   If you notice petals or berries at your feet, please remember to LOOK UP, you just don't know what you might miss.  This is a pyracantha.  I have one with orange berries but I must say that I would love to have this red one.

 

Another beautiful bush that I think a lot of people might miss at Stone Mountain has the wonderful name of Beautyberry.  Wonder what it might look like?  Wonder no more, here it is!  Can you see the ladybugs?  I didn't until I saw this on my computer!  This bush is at the top of Stone Mountain and is right in front of the building for the sky-lifts and people just walked right past this without a glance, but you know this Georgia Girl didn't!  By the way, I took the close-up photos of both of these plants!

 

There are always visitors from all over the world on top of Stone Mountain.  I found that someone had written this in black marker and while I don't approve of people defacing the mountain, I did wonder what this said...could anyone translate for me? I hope that it is a nice thought and nothing that would offend anyone!

The leaves were just turning on these trees near the Grist Mill at the lake which is just beside the Cherokee Trail.   

 

We did make it to the top of Stone Mountain! That's Richard looking out over the mountain, and that's me in my pink shirt, again!

Hope y'all are enjoying all the colors of this season, wherever you are in the world!

One Big Party!

Politics and religion, very hard for me to write about and to discuss intelligently.  But a funny TV commercial?   You can bet that is something that I will share with you every time!   Hope you enjoy!

Even the green M&M is holding back a giggle!