More Prattle from Povey

  At Bayfront Park this morning  (31st  Dec 2022)    So gorgeous! Chloe 12 months old  -  She and Zion did well together. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another walker has an all Black German Shepherd,  Tucker V                                           This is a Stock photo', it is not Tucker

Christians Awake, Salute the Happy Morn. This Christmas Hymn is often sung in England, most wonderfully by Choirs in Cathedral and Abbeys - with enough choristers to make the most of the rich harmonies, or as in this case by a Cathedral full of people. (It's almost never sung in the U.S.A.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWv1Kn9PW6U The text is based on the Nativity account in Luke Chapter 2, but without the stilted text (and dreary tune)  of "While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night". LYRICS ASIDE  it's the tune "Yorkshire" (or "Stockport") which grabs me.  I love the harmonies. Here is the fun bit.  The tune "Yorkshire" is also known as the Yorkshire (National)  Anthem. Somewhere in cyberspace there is a Video of some  "Tykes" singing it, but I've not been able to retrieve that Video. Ne'er mind.  Join me in enjoying the rich harmonies of the tune "Yorkshire"  in the Christmas Hymn  "Christians A

  Another Christmas essential. When I was the Rector at St. Stephen's in Pittsfield MA we sang this every Christmas Eve, after the Epistle and before the Gospel. St. Stephen's had a great choir and a a singing congregation. Oh Glory! https://youtu.be/D7E0jM0F3M8

  I now have a magnifier so that I can read normal print books etc., pending my cataracts surgeries -  dates yet to be determined, With lighting for night time reading. Not suitable for night time driving.

Always the nuts on Boxing Day.   Bought by the Pound from the local Greengrocer. Mum's favourite.   I liked them too, but extracting the meat can be tedious. Brazils  -  absolutely my favourite, but a hard nut to crack!  I believe that the Country of Brazil was named for the nut and not the other way round. The everyday easy to crack nut.  Cobb nuts are a cultivated variety of the Hazel Nut. Not necessarily on Boxing Day, but from time to time we would share a Pomegranate.  Cut into quarters or eighths to share we would extract the seed fruit with a dressmaker's pin.  The pith has a ghastly taste! With nine children and my Dad on a low wage  I marvel that Mum stretched the budget to ensure memorable Christmas and Boxing Days.   And I haven't even mentioned the rich Christmas Cake and Christmas Puddings she  (and my big sister Maureen) made in November for our festive Christmas and Boxing Days. We were in a sense two families.  The older family: Maureen, Jean, with my twin

  Boxing Day (Dec 26th) was created by and for cats. The Proper Observance of the Honouriung of Cats  is to set out three or four empty boxes (of varying size), one of which must be laced with a smattering of Cat Nip. Failure to do so will subject you to occasional bed wetting in the coming year. Most cats have Doctorates in Revenge. Miaow --------------------------------------------------------- Today, 26th December 2020, has had the feel of a Boxing Day here in the United States. With Public Offices, Schools,  and Banks closed there has been a whiff of a holiday in the air.  (How many times did you check your mail box!) Factoid  Until 1974 Boxing Day was a Holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland.  New Year's Day was a Holiday in Scotland, but not in the other parts of the United Kingdom.  Since  1974 each part of the U.K. has had Boxing Day and New Year's Day as Public  (or Bank) Holidays. My youngest sibling Ruth was born on Boxing Day 1976.  Mum

  These days I don't get round to decorating my home for Christmas.  I got into the Christmas spirit today by using these minimalist and portable decorations. My Christmas custom is to leave cards un-opened until Christmas Day.  Thus I could savour them. When I was a parish minister I would get home from the Christmas Eve late service so pumped up that I wasn't ready for bed.  My calming technique was to open the cards to enjoy each one. These days there are fewer cards.  This is because:   I (we) get e-cards which are very nice; or we get e-mailed greetings (just a few with the traditional family Christmas letter.  As we age many of our dear friends have died.  I try to think of them as I open the cards from the living. My Christmas lunch was as a guest of friends at their Club (which shall be nameless).  My table company was great but the food was (let us say) alright in parts.  But the potatoes were under-cooked, and the beef was over-cooked.  On the other hand there were Oy

My favourite version of O Holy Night, sung by Nat King Cole https://youtu.be/gSeLzsl8xsU Stories Behind the Music: "O Holy Night" "O Holy Night" remains one of the world's most beloved Christmas carols, with uplifting lyrics and melody. The lyrics were written by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a resident of Roquemaure, France (located a few miles north of the historic city of Avignon). Cappeau was a wine merchant and mayor of the town, as well as an occasional writer of poetry.  Known more for his poetry than his church attendance, it probably shocked Cappeau when his parish priest, shortly before Cappeau embarked on a business trip, asked him to pen a poem for Christmas mass. In a dusty coach traveling down a bumpy road to France's capital city, Cappeau considered the priest's request. Using the gospel of Luke as his guide, Cappeau imagined witnessing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Thoughts of being present on the blessed night inspired him. By the time

Spanish Christmas Songs      ENERGY! Fum, Fum, Fum https://youtu.be/ECRD-aLngeE Riu Riu Chiu   https://youtu.be/gjCthWw_VyA

  https://youtu.be/yxDZjg_Igoc    

  On the retention pond at the back of my house.    (I wish that I had a real camera not just an I-phone one) It floated all alone for about twenty minutes before taking off. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Tis  a rare sight inland.   There is a migratory White Pelican rookery on an tiny Island in Robert's Bay  (Sarasota). I twice have taken a Mote Marine boat tour to explore what "natural life" our Bays offer. On one occasion the little Island was bursting with White Pelicans.                                        Stock Photo' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am more familiar with Brown Pelicans which I often see on my morning walks with Zion at Bayfront Park. They fly and fish in groups of two or three, often followed by smaller water birds which I cannot identify. When the Pelicans dive for their food (spectacular!) the smaller birds dive in their wake.  My theory

  The extraordinary story of an unjustly forgotten group of Black men in Pittsburgh who became the first paramedics in America, saving lives and changing the course of emergency medicine around the world   Until the 1970s, if you suffered a medical crisis, your chances of survival were minimal. A 9-1-1 call might bring police or even the local funeral home. But that all changed with Freedom House EMS in Pittsburgh, a group of Black men who became America’s first paramedics and set the gold standard for emergency medicine around the world, only to have their story and their legacy erased—until now. Whoop-de-doo.  My local Indy Bookstore has a copy which I will pick up on Wednesday 21st Dec

                                                Sugar Loaf "Mountain"  312 feet above sea level Yesterday I had the thought that it would be great to be on a hill with Zion where we could sit on a bench and enjoy the vista. Fat chance in flat Florida!  The nearest would be Sugar Loaf "Mountain".  It's not the highest place in Florida (that honour goes to Mt. Britten)  but it is the place which affords the best views. It's only 145 miles from Sarasota! So Zion and I went to "The Bay" in Sarasota, not to be confused with Bayfront Park.   If you live in Sarasota, or have visited us, it's the place at which the Van Wezel Performing Centre is located. At The Bay there is a decent vista of the intra-coastal waterway; looking south to the Ringling Bridge, and west to Longboat Key. Z and I were there this morning at about 8:30.   It was delightfully peaceful. Looking South with the Ringling Bridge and the Plymouth Harbour retirement community in sight.

  I woke up at 12:30 a. m. yesterday (Sat 17th December) and got myself into a two hours long  rabbit hole of nonsense about my failed appointments in Bradenton re my Cataracts. Why didn't  I do a trial run to Eye Associates a day or two before? Why did I trust Google Maps to get me there? I should not have scheduled Zion's surgery for the same day. I wish I had done this that or the other.   I wish that I had called Eye Associates to get clear directions. Could I have a Ground Hog day, but one  in which everything went right? How many days are there before my Jan 6th evaluation appointment? I fretted so much over    2 1/2  hours that I created a stress headache.  How pathetic!  The real nonsense  is this.  It was not until Nov 2nd 2022 that my Cataracts were discovered.  Of course I had lived with them long before that day.  So what if there will be a few more weeks before they are treated? " G-d grant me the serenity" etc.  

  It started well Zion's appointment at the Ellenton Animal Hospital  (19 miles away) was for 8:00 a.m.  I arrived thirty minutes early.   A staff member saw us in the parking lot, welcomed us heartily, and admitted Mr. Z at 7:35.   That gave me good time to drive home and have breakfast before driving at Bradenton for my 10:30 consultation at Eye Associates. Except that either I misread the Google Maps directions or Google got them wrong.  ( I don't have a GPS/SatNav, but had downloaded them to my mobile phone). Merde Alors I turned right off Manatee Ave. instead of turning right off Cortez Ave.  Then I got lost (very lost)  in the plusher regions of Bradenton. I called Eye Associates to tell them that I was lost and late. Ne'er mind.  I was offered a 2:30 p.m. slot today.  Whoop de doo , except that the Eye Surgeon was running late. The intake nurse saw me at 3:00. I asked if the surgeon would be through with me by 4:00 so that I could get to the Ellenton Clinic in good

  My first cousin and godson Chris F came across a stash of old photo's, mostly taken between 1976 and 1980 \  My Mum;  the wonderful Ida Andrews (Secretary at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Fitchburg MA), and parishioner Fran Brown. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Mum,  fabulous Good Shepherd parishioner Doris Williams, and Doris's son in law Rene ---------------------------------------------------------------------   Cousins Chris, Kate and Janet F, probably after  the 1979 wedding of my brother Martyn to Wendy W  at the Kensington Baptist Church in Bristol, U.K. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mum and Barbara at B's  wedding to my brother Andy ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With my Uncle Wally  ( Janet, Kate and Chris' Dad), somewhere in Massachusetts ------------------------------------------------------------- Certai

The Crowing of a Rooster.   https://youtu.be/K3CenN7d30Y There is at least one, or maybe two roosters who make themselves known each morning  at Sarasota's Nathan Benderson Park. One of them could well be from a chicken owner at the south end of the Park. The other could be feral. What a great sound on the fringes of the City. I enjoy this non-City sound, especially because I hear it from  distance, and  not from a nearby coop! And because Roosters are so ballsy!

                                                         Stock photo' I go to bed very early  (7:00 p.m.) and I get up very early  (4:00 a.m.).  Lord knows why. I often wake up at 11:00 p.m., and wander the house for ten minutes or so. Such was the case on Saturday 10th.   My body or mind was crying out for a roast beef sandwich on white bread  (don't judge me about the bread!) No white bread, no roast beef in the house I figured out that I'd have to wait until 7:00 a.m. to buy the bread and beef at my local supermarket.  That I did. Leftover Pizza is one thing for breakfast.  A roast beef sandwich would certainly be    de rigueur. So I had Granola with a Banana for breakfast; and a Bratwurst Casserole for lunch. I'd intended to have a RB ON WHITE BREAD SANDWICH   for supper but I was no longer food lusting, nor was I  hungry. Ah well, there is always   mañana.

  We were at the Nathan Benderson park last week.    We came across two women who were walking their dog.  One of them said that she felt certain that she had met Z at another Park. I asked if it could have been at Arlington Park.  She replied "Oh yes, and his name is Zion!"   I was at our local independent Pet Food supply store on Friday to get some NUTRO kibble for Z.   There was a bit of gentle confusion as to who was next in line at the check out.  It wasn't me.  The woman ahead of me asked  "It's Zion isn't it, and Michael ? NOT  " Michael and Zion" .  I know my place! Turned out that the woman and I have met from time to time at the 8:00 a.m. opening of our cult meeting: a.k.a Trader Joe's. There is no locally owned version of Trader Joe's.  But I am delighted to take my business to an indy Pet Supply Store;  and also to our Sarasota treasure -  an Indy Bookstore where I ordered a book today. Fie on Amazon and on the Pet Food chains. 

                                                         and ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICE MAX My ancient  HP printer  (Colour and Black and White) fought valiantly with Bronchitis and Arthritis to no avail.  It was telling me "I don't want to do this any more". So be it.   Farewell dear friend. I decided to replace it with a b/w  Laser Printer since I rarely used the colour feature offered by my old pal.   Deciding to avoid the congenitally short staffed "B.st B.y ,  I took myself to a local Office Max/Office Depot on Tuesday of this week. It was a good choice.   The helpful and non-obsequious staff member showed me exactly what I needed, and which was within my price range.  Delivery was promised for Friday 9th, but it happened on Thursday 8th. Set up was more or less easy. The most difficult task was opening the mailing box and retrieving the contents !   I have already used it to print the forms I will n

    One of my fitted sheets has this handy tag at both ends.  Makes the job a bit easier (once I have unraveled the sheet - in itself a bit more difficult than solving Rubik's Cube). My older sheets don't have this useful tag.   So before taking them off the bed prior to laundering them), I marked them with a waterproof Magic Marker.                                                   Voila!

                                          https://www.cuisineryfoodmarket.com                Fava Beans  (to which I am almost addicted).                   "Bistro" Sausage with wine and herbs from Provence.                   Veal Osso Buco   (Sometimes available at Trader Joes)                            Duck Breast.   Such a treat! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------                                All packed in Dry Ice.   I had the sense to wear Oven Gloves to carry the plastic bag containing the Dry Ice.   Now it is "doing its thing" in my kitchen sink.

  Ah well -  I now have to get Large Print Books , this one from the Sarasota County Library system.  Roll on my cataract surgery: dates yet to be determined, "Carlos Eire was born in Havana, Cuba, on 23 November 1950. [1]  His mother was Maria Azucena Eiré González and his father was Antonio Nieto Cortadellas - a prominent judge before  Fidel Castro 's revolution. He also has two brothers, Tony (blood relative), and Ernesto (step-brother); the latter was disliked by all in the family, but the father. Eire (age 11) and his brother Tony fled to the United States in 1962, becoming another statistic of the 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children airlifted by  Operation Peter Pan . His mother would eventually join him a few years later, but never his father. He is now  is the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of  History  and  Religious Studies  at  Yale University .  He is a  historian of  late medieval  and  early modern Europe ." (Excerpts  via Wikipedia) --------------------------