When life gives you lemons

My next Bakedin bake is lemon viennese whirls. I didn’t get my box until late as you may have read previously there was an issue with my subscription. Anyway, the box is here and my Bank Holiday afternoon will be time to bake.

My first issue was buying a lemon. The supermarket only sold them in bags of about 8, I only need one. And the ones in the bag were tiny. Fortunately we have a marketplace in the High Street and there’s an epic fruit and veg stall. I was able to buy one giant lemon for 40p.

The good thing about getting the box later is that everyone else has made them and posted their pictures on the Facebook page. They’ve also told you about any problems they had and any recommendations. A few people had mentioned that their lemon curd didn’t thicken and other suggested making it the day before and putting it in the fridge. I had some time on Sunday afternoon so decided to take that advice and make the curd early.

I’ve never made lemon curd before and I do like it. It was so simple. Caster sugar, zest and juice of a lemon, butter and a whisked egg. Heat it all gently until it thickens then strain out any bits. Only took a few minutes. So simple. Naturally I sampled it before putting it in the fridge and my word it was delicious. I may never buy it in a jar ever again.

I shall use it in the biscuit bake as instructed and if there’s any left I may just slather it on a slice of bread.

When life gives you lemons…. make lemon curd!

Feeling the energy in the room

Had a meeting on Friday night which was so good, I felt really positive afterwards and energised into action. It finished quite late, so apart from updating the action log, I left the rest of the usual post meeting admin until Saturday morning.

Saturday morning, I was so focused, I updated various other documents that needed sharing after the meeting and sent them and the action log round to the group members to review and feed back on. Then I filtered all my actions out and cracked on with a number of them. I had to forward other information to individual members of the group, so had to look a few things up, contact a few people and send messages out. I kind of really enjoyed it. Then of course there’s the satisfaction of closing off some of my actions.

The other thing I needed to do was play with a website plug in that will allow us to run photo competition in the coming months. It will allow people to upload their photos, for them to be moderated, then put into a gallery that then anyone can have access to if they need a photo of churches or bells or bellringing. Can’t wait to finalise the details and launch it.

Have got a couple of other things to get sorted this weekend and a few more details emails, and an old-fashioned letter, to knock out. This will mean that I’ll be able to tick quite a few items off of my To Do list.

Had a virtual #bellringing session on Saturday afternoon, then have another meeting on Sunday night, then another meeting and virtual #bellringing session on Monday morning. This is just as much activity as would ordinarily happen this Bank Holiday weekend as if we were able to go out to towers and ring with other people.

The coming week is going to be an epic adventure. As well as the day job, there is something every evening of the week, and at least 2 different things, if not 3, on the Saturday and Sunday. Some of it overlaps so I’m going to have to manage that somehow, but I’m sure it will all work out.

For this evening though, we’re going to kick back and have a takeaway instead of cooking dinner. Might even have a beer to go with it.

It’s a feature

I have various platforms for various activities and about half a dozen different email alias depending on whether its personal, work, local bellringing or national bellringing. Some are redirected through others and some are direct. However, what I’ve been noticing is that since using Office 365 and MS Teams for some of the bellringing activity, some emails aren’t getting through either at all, or arrive several days later, when of course I’ve missed whatever deadline was involved, or not provided feedback as appropriate.

I was on a call today where it was noted that I hadn’t given any feedback which was odd considering it was me that had raised the issue in the first place. I had to admit to not having seen an email with the relevant document at all. When I checked the various email accounts what I seemed to have had was other people’s responses, but not the original email with the attachment. Someone very kindly emailed it to me again via a different route and it did arrive.

What I’m not sure about is whether that’s because the redirects from some of the email alias’ aren’t working properly, or there’s a more fundamental issue with the setup, or whether it’s a “feature” of the system and something that I’ll have to live with. I’m not technically minded enough to be able to figure it out and due to the desired firewalls and spam blockers we have on our PCs at home, maybe some of it is getting lost in the ether.

So, if you’ve sent me an email and I haven’t responded it may well be that I haven’t had your message in the first place, unless I am actually ignoring it. I am also not permanently attached to my emails; I do have the occasional evening where I don’t spend it on the computer after a 9½ hour day at work sitting at a computer. I might just jump in an out to check that there’s nothing urgent or fire out a couple of other messages whilst I’m thinking about them.

Often, I set aside a time when I’m going to blast through emails. I’ll file the ones that need filing, respond to the ones that need responding to and maybe leave some others until another time to deal with. The other problem of course, is that to use any of the other email alias’ apart from the ones attached to Office 365 I have to use the main PC rather than my laptop, and that means waiting for C to finish whatever he’s doing.

I will get around to dealing with it eventually, but if it’s not urgent, or requires a response, I might not necessarily deal with it straight away.

What a drag

The day just seemed to drag on yesterday. I thought it was going to be a good day ahead of a nice long Bank Holiday weekend. The morning was suitably busy in the office, several emails to respond to, some reports to start preparing data for, a framework to refine and send out for wider consultation, my 1-1 with my line manager a few phone calls. All was going well until at some undetermined point in the early afternoon, time seemed to stand still. The rest of the afternoon just seemed to drag on for ages.

It may be down to the fact that I had blasted through a load of tasks earlier in the day and that what remained was less urgent and interesting and didn’t need to be responded to right away. It may be that subconsciously I’m thinking about the events of the evening and the bank holiday weekend ahead and daydreaming about being elsewhere, as I have much to do over the coming days. Whatever the reason, the long afternoon at the office just seemed to take forever to tick round to 17:30.

The idea of “protracted duration”, time seemingly slowing down, and “temporal compression”, time going by quickly, is discussed by Vyv Evans his article on Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/language-in-the-mind/201503/feel-time-is-flying-or-dragging-thats-because-it-is He suggests that a 20 minute drive to work when you first start a new job may seem to take forever as we pay attention to the route, traffic and surroundings, but after a few months the same journey flies by and you hardly notice the route, traffic and surroundings. It depends on how the time is filled as to whether you consider it to be passing slowly or fast. The same time period could be spent waiting for a train as could be having a sandwich and lunch with a friend. One will seem to drag whilst the other whizzes by https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2c7nMpXf7ckY4tRlpfB4sdq/how-to-speed-up-or-slow-down-time

So from that I could deduce that the time in the morning whizzed by because I was engaged in faster paced activities and moving from one thing to another, whilst in the afternoon, the same number of hours seemed to go slower because I was doing slower paced activities and spending longer on one specific task.

Time flies when you’re having fun!

Great Customer Service

I have a BakedIn subscription whereby every month a green box arrives with some dry ingredients and a recipe card and with a few additions, enables me to create, usually, something that looks and tastes great. Due to a recent change of bank card information my subscription renewal didn’t go through. The first I realised was when I received an email saying that they were sorry that I hadn’t renewed my subscription but that I’d be welcome back any time. No pressure, no fuss. I immediately went on to the site to renew my subscription and change the card information.

However, what I hadn’t noticed was that the date for the renewal to start was September 2021. I saw the September date and thought that meant that was when the 6 months subscription expired. Didn’t think any more of it. Realised that I wouldn’t be getting the March box, so ordered that separately. That arrived in the next couple of days, the bake was done and scoffed and all was right with the world.

Then I started to see people posting their April bakes on the group Facebook page. I don’t recall getting the email to tell me what other ingredients I needed to buy. Figured that it had got caught in the spam eliminator and that my green box would be arriving eventually. As the days ticked on, I thought that I really should have had the box by now. I emailed the company and attached a screen shot of my account details. I explained what had happened about the card but that I thought I would have received April’s box. Within a few hours I had a response telling me that the renewal start date was set to September so I wasn’t going to get anything until then, but if I wanted them to, they could reset it to start from May. That would mean that I’d have to order April’s box separately, but they gave me a discount code so that the shipping would be free (usually £2.99). I emailed back and said yes please to rearranging the renewal date and thanked them for the discount code. I then got another response to confirm that everything had been updated and May’s box should arrived at the right time.

All of this was completed by email in the space of under 48 hours. There was no hard push, there was no fault apportioned. No fuss, no hassle.

I have had cause to contact them before when one of my boxes had one of the bags of ingredients missing. I did say that it wasn’t a problem as I had whatever it was in the cupboard anyway, so was able to continue with the bake, but thought that I’d better let them know in case there was a packaging problem and others may have had the same issue. They contacted me back within an hour, apologising and said that they would send another complete box immediately. I didn’t really want another box of that particular bake, but their speed of response and willingness to put things right without argument or creating a fuss is a fantastic example of what customer service should be. It’s a shame many other organisations don’t behave similarly.

If you want to get into baking, try new skills and recipes, then I thoroughly recommend BakedIn. Something different every month.

Third sector well-being

Third sector organisations are voluntary and community organisations which includes charities, associations, self-help groups and community groups, social enterprises etc. They are neither public nor private and are independent from government. They usually play a role in history and culture and are value driven to improve public welfare, the environment or well-being. Any surpluses are reinvested in the pursuit of their aims. https://www.nao.org.uk/successful-commissioning/introduction/what-are-civil-society-organisations-and-their-benefits-for-commissioners/

#bellringing fits firmly into that sector. We are there for the benefit of the church and communities we ring in. The social and well-being advantages of #bellringing are clear, it can give people a sense of purpose, an opportunity to socialise with others, a new hobby and sparks offshoot new interests in history, architecture, even engineering. Getting out and about, meeting new people, developing new skills are all transferable to the workplace and great for young people to add to their higher education applications. Societies are often charities, or at least their bell restoration fund is a registered charity.

As far as well-being goes, #bellringing ticks all 5 areas:

Connecting with other people. Bellringing is a team activity. It requires connection with others and leads to other social activities like outings, pubs, and other non-ringing social activities;
Being physically active. You need to be able to climb spiral staircases (often), being able to raise arms above your head repeatedly. There is a gentle cardio rhythm to it. Its not all about brute strength.
Learning new skills. It can take about 15 hours to learn how to handle a bell on your own, that’s before you add other ringers into the mix, then there are more and more complex methods to learn, if you want to. There really is no limit.
Giving to others. This is a sense of community. Doing your bit for the church or for a community activity such as ringing for Armistice or a local event or celebration.
Paying attention to the present moment. This is essential. You need to concentrate on your bell handling, your method ringing and everything in between. You can’t afford to let your mind wander.

Perhaps we should lobby to get #bellringing offered on prescription for people who are lonely or feeling a bit low. We should be offering it out as adult education classes, young people’s after school activities or holiday activities. Some already do this but wouldn’t it be great if we could spread that net wider.

I’ve signed up to attend a webinar for third sector organisations on Better Community Engagement for Charities to see if there is anything we can learn.

Hmmm, thinking caps on.

Try rephrasing it

Quite a while back now I was listening to one of the many, many podcasts I have queued on my phone. It talked about how we should rephrase things in order to elicit a different response. My overriding take away from it was to rephrase a question by using the word “would”, rather than “could” when asking someone to do something for you. By using “could you…” may suggest you doubt the person’s ability to do the task adequately, or even at all. It may also give them the option to say “I could, but…” and then give excuses/reasons why they won’t do it. Starting the request with “would you…” tends to get a more positive response because it doesn’t challenge their ability to do it, and gives less of an opportunity to give you a reason why they wouldn’t, which would probably be harder for them to justify. This is one thing that I always make a conscious point of doing.

My boss also told me something last week that I hadn’t really paid too much attention to previously. The overuse of the word “that” particularly in formal writing. For example, “where something needs more explanation so that it can be more easily understood”. Take out the word “that” and it doesn’t lose its meaning but reduced word count, particularly where word counts are important.

Others suggest we should drop using are phrases like “I don’t get it” instead use “help me understand”. Don’t use phrases such as “Does this make sense?” and “You know what I mean?” as it suggests you need constant validation. Drop the “ah, um, er..” cut out pointless filler words, take the time to formulate what you want to say before starting to say it. “it was like”, “she is like” This one is a pet hate of mine. I hate the way “like” has to be inserted in modern parlance.

We should stop making excuses for procrastinating “I’ve been so busy” or “I started the email but forgot to send it”. By not doing something we should have, we have probably inconvenienced someone else. Stop making excuses for why you haven’t done it. Apologies and deliver whatever it was. We should also stop generalising “they always….” It lacks insight and we should avoid blaming tactics.

Buzz words are also a cringe worthy pastime. We’ve all sat in a meeting where someone has suggested we ought to “think outside of the box” or “push the envelope”, or we are invited to “circle back”. Let’s be honest, how many of us have actually played Buzzword Bingo. I know I have.

Doorstepping politics

And so it begins. We have local elections at the beginning of May. C and I registered to do postal votes in case regulations on movement weren’t lifted, and the thought of going into a booth that tens of others have already used didn’t really appeal to us. We had our ballot papers, have completed them and sent them back.

Today, a Sunday, we got the first doorstepper trying to blag our vote. The fact that she looked at her clipboard and then asked to speak to either of us and used my full name didn’t start well. She said she represented the Liberal Democrats. I said that we’d already done our postal vote. She asked if I’d voted for them. I said no. Then she asked who I did vote for so I reminded her that its a secret ballot. She got a bit snippy at that and said “thank you“, rather tersly, before spinning on her heels and tottering off.

I appreciate she’s got a job to do and they need to attract as many waivering voters as they can, but that doesn’t give them the right to know who I vote for. My own husband doesn’t even know that. And I don’t know who he votes for.

We’ve had a tonne of paper nonsense through the letterbox. One person even went to the trouble of handwriting our names on an envelope first. We have a couple of weeks of this to go yet.

I try not to be rude to the poor people who come to the door, they’re just doing their job. But just wish they wouldn’t. I hate having this conversation everytime we have elections. And we still have the party political broadcasts to come yet. They’re an instant turn off.

Let’s get this over with.

Ne’er cast a clout til May is out

An old English proverb, cited in 1732, advising us not to put away our winter woollies until the end of May. Or it could relate to the Hawthorn tree blossom.

I have, however, decided not to heed such advice and have swapped my winter and summer clothes over before the end of April, albeit retaining some thinner jumpers and cardis for layering when required.

I do seem to have quite a lot of clothes, even though there is a proportion that I don’t wear very often, or I forget about and end up rotating the same few items. About 18 months ago we bought some of those storage bags that you vacuum the air out of so I could put clothes in them and store them at the bottom of the wardrobe without them taking up too much room. Have to say, well worth the investment, particularly for putting away big winter jumpers which take up a tonne of space.

Every spring/autumn I swap over the contents of the bags and as I do so, check which items are no longer required and bag them up for the charity shop. The trouble is, I then also supplement it by ordering some new stuff.

I’m trying to introduce some colour and femininity and some sort of style. I’m trying to move away from black/blue jeans and #bellringing polo shirts. But I do like to be comfortable so cotton, bamboo, and roomy is essential. I’m not a girlie girl so don’t tend to wear skirts or dresses as I find then intensely impractical and uncomfortable for most of what I do. And of course, I’m a bit of a chubster so like things that cover up the bulges.

I’ve just bought some new tops from Joebrowns.co.uk having been introduced to this by my sister. I like some of the shabby Boho chic style and also the long tunic tops the cover my belly and butt. I’m now looking for a couple of pairs of coloured jeans. I have white ones but was thinking or coral, orange or red. Can’t seem to find any I like. They all appear to be cropped length not full length.

Recommendations gratefully received.

God for Harry! England, and St. George

According to https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/whats-on/st-georges-day/9-things-you-didnt-know-about-st-george/ for some reason England adopted a guy who was born in what is now Turkey and died in what is now Israel. He wasn’t a knight in shining armour either. He was a warrior on horseback or an officer in the Roman army. He is described as a martyr for his Christian faith but was probably executed for refusing to make an offering to a pagan deity. And he never came to England. It seems that he had a reputation for virtue and holiness across Europe and England adopted his saints day in the 9^th century. He was popular with King Edward I, Edward III, but the George Cross wasn’t adopted to represent England until Henry VIII’s reign.

The addition of a dragon wasn’t until several centuries after George’s death. The dragon may have just been a symbolic portrayal of good versus evil. Pope Gelasius canonised George in AD494 and his feast day of 23^rd April was thought to be the date of his martyrdom. St George’s day then became popularly adopted in England in 1415.

Shakespeare, whose birthday is also 23^rd April, called on the popularised supposed protection of St George in Henry V, where the king cries out “Once more unto the breach, dear friends. God for Harry! England, and St. George”

So just for fun, during the evening’s Ringing Room virtual #bellringing practice, we rang St George Bob Minor and The Dragon Bob Minor, spliced. St George and The Dragon. Geddit?

A few years ago there was a campaign to get St George’s Day more celebrated and to have #bellrinigng as a way of celebrating England’s national day, and making as much of it as we seem to make of St Patrick’s Day. It did get some traction, however in 2020 of course, we were in lockdown, couldn’t ring and couldn’t celebrate. The Ring for England website http://ringingforengland.co.uk/ hasn’t been updated since 2019, so I don’t know whether the person leading the project has given up, or just didn’t bother with it in 2020, or indeed is no longer with us.

At a recent Central Council Public Relations Workgroup meeting we discussed using saints days as opportunities to promote ringing. St Andrew’s day in Scotland is well celebrated and there was enthusiasm for including St David’s Day and St Patrick’s Day as well.

But for now “Once more unto the breach, dear friends”.