The Day I Saw The Queen!

Today has been such a wonderful day, full of excitement. Mr Letters From Home and I took a very early train this morning and went to St. Paul's Cathedral in London, in plenty of time to see the Royal Family arrive for a service of thanksgiving for Her Majesty The Queen.

We saw every member of the Royal Family, but a special thrill for me, which I will never forget, was seeing The Queen.  Her car drove very slowly past the spot where I stood.  Her Majesty actually made eye contact with me and gave me such a beautiful, beaming smile.  Only a second or two in time, but at that point, time seemed to stand still.

There will be pictures of the day to follow, when we get them uploaded.

We also met some lovely TV presenters, including Susanna Reid from the BBC Breakfast News, and Nicky Campbell.  The most surprising thing was that as we were leaving to go to the tube station, we found ourselves walking with Jenni Bond, royal reporter for Sky TV.  Mr LFH whipped out his camera to take a photo of her, then she put an arm around my shoulder and suggested a picture of us both together, how kind was that!  She was so lovely and friendly, and down to earth.

Shortly after our exciting morning, we got on a train and visited our daughter, son-in-law and baby granddaughter Poppy, and spent a lovely day with them.  We watched the rest of the royal proceedings on TV, whilst madly waving the flags I had kept from this  morning, which of course Poppy loved!

I'm off to bed now, as it's been a very long day.

The more comments I receive, the more pictures of today I will publish tomorrow!  Goodnight everybody.

Diamond Jubilee

I have had a happy day watching the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames, from the comfort of my own home, with a lovely hot cup of redbush tea close at hand.

I felt quite concerned for the Royal Family, standing on the Spirit of Chartwell for hours and hours in the pouring rain, but it was a wonderful spectacle.  I love to see narrow boats, and they looked particularly splendid, bedecked with jolly bunting.

The Duchess of Cambridge looked especially chilly, as she didn't wear a coat, although she did look stunning.

Colour Analysis

Last week, I had a colour analysis consultation, which was really interesting and fun.  A friend of mine did this for me, she is very professional, I can warmly recommend her!  I always thought I was a 'winter' type, so I tend to wear a lot of black/white/red/blue, but apparently I am a deep autumn, so I've been looking online to see what colours I should be wearing.

This is my basic colour palette, so if I follow this, I should soon be looking like the lady above, hahaha, it's only a matter of wearing the right colours!

Best Colors:

Black brown, black, light yellow, marigold, peach, terracotta, salmon pink, tomato red, deep red, true red, dark rose, lemon yellow, camel, jade, moss, lime bronze, hot turquoise, cerulean, Chinese blue, evergreen, navy, purple.

Jewelry:

Shiny metals (gold), deep stones and enamels, black or white pearls, dark wooden pieces.

Your Deep Autumn look may feel...

* daring * charismatic * intense * splendid * powerful * playful * enigmatic * polished * gorgeous * grown-up * zesty * forceful * eye-catching * vivacious

* bold * enchanting * vigorous * roguish * fun * cultured * distinguished * luxuriant * clever * complex * feisty * determined * formidable * alive

Hmmm.........  I don't feel that these words exactly describe my current wardrobe, more like practical, comfy, doesn't show the dirt, warm, doesn't scare small children.....oh dear, must try harder, hahaha!

Anybody want to buy a blog?

I've just heard that Martin Lewis has sold the Money Saving Expert website for £87 million to Money Supermarket dot com.  I wonder whether they would like to buy Letters From Home too?  I probably don't have quite as large a readership as Mr Lewis, so I would happily accept just a few million.  Any offers?!

A Rest on Sunday

I have been reading a wonderful book on prayer called "God on Mute" by Pete Grieg.  He has started an international chain of prayer rooms where people pray 24-7.   You can find out all about his ministry here.  On the wall of one of the prayer rooms, someone once wrote this piece of prose called "The Vision".  I have been enjoying simply focussing on these words, which are deeply inspiring.

So this guy comes up to me and says:

“what’s the vision? What’s the big idea?”

I open my mouth and words come out like this:

The vision?

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army.

And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.

They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.

They wouldn’t even notice.

They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.

They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations.

They need no passport.

People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.

They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision ?

The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes.

It makes children laugh and adults angry.

It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars.

It scorns the good and strains for the best.

It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.

It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.

This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.

A million times a day its soldiers choose to loose,

that they might one day win

the great ‘Well done’ of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don’t need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: “COME ON!”

And this is the sound of the underground

The whisper of history in the making

Foundations shaking

Revolutionaries dreaming once again

Mystery is scheming in whispers

Conspiracy is breathing…

This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.

The tattoo on their back boasts “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain”.

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes.

Winners. Martyrs.

Who can stop them ?

Can hormones hold them back?

Can failure succeed?

Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays

like a dying man

with groans beyond talking,

with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and

with great barrow loads of laughter!

Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive

Inside.

On the outside? They hardly care.

They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.

Would they surrender their image or their popularity?

They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)

Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.

Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.

Don’t you hear them coming?

Herald the weirdo’s! Summon the losers and the freaks.

Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes.

They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension.

Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be.

It will come to pass;

it will come easily;

it will come soon.

How do I know?

Because this is the longing of creation itself,

the groaning of the Spirit,

the very dream of God.

My tomorrow is his today.

My distant hope is his 3D.

And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great ‘Amen!’ from countless angels, from hero’s of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

The House of Trembling Madness

During my trip to York last week, as well as visiting Annie Softpots, we had lunch in The House of Trembling Madness.

If you are ever in York, I can highly recommend a trip to this unusual, fascinating pub, which is in Stonegate, in fact it is right opposite Softpots.

The pub is a stone's throw from York Minster, and we could hear the Minster bells ringing as we ascended the creaky staircase.  We could see the Minster from the windows.

We were joined by a whole menagerie of animals!

The bar was originally a pulpit in a local church.

The pub is in an ancient building.  One of the walls was built in 1180 ad.  The beams sailed the seas as ship beams 800 years ago. 

There are many different drinks to choose from (although we only had diet Cokes, not very adventurous!)  The food is sensational, as it is all locally sourced and produced.  I had a pork pie, topped with Stilton.  I haven't eaten a pork pie for years, but this was a special, meaty version.  It was served with salad, and a beautiful Italian bread, which is baked daily in a tiny bakery in the Shambles, here.

The food was amazing, really different, and high quality, and the atmosphere was friendly, bustling and lively, an exciting place to be.

I am gradually getting used to the new Blogger layout.  Why do things have to be constantly changed and updated?!

Softpots

Here's a craft with a difference!

There is a lovely lady called Annie who has a craft/gardening business in York called Softpots.  I found her quite by accident late last year, one wintery evening, as we were walking through Stonegate.  Her business is in a tiny little alleyway, sandwiched between other shops, and here I discovered a miniature wonderland of plants, fairy lights and sculpture.  I was instantly hooked.

Doesn't this look so inviting?  I had to find out more!

At the end of this alley, Annie was busy potting up plants in her own unique way - you will have to look at her Website to find out exactly what she does, and how she pots up her plants, it's a secret method!

I was so intrigued, I bought a little booklet from her, explaining the process.

Fast forward a few months to last week and another trip to York.  I decided I really wanted to have a 30-minute training session, to learn more about creating Softpots, so while the rest of the family went to look at nearby York Minster, I had my training session, and made my own softpot under Annie's tuition.  Here is my finished work of art.

Doesn't it look pretty and unusual?  The colours come from sisal and gold threads and sequins - I love sequins!

I love this process, because I am not a gardener, although I do try, and so I have little rockeries in my front and back gardens, covered in blue slate, with lots of little pots of plants everywhere.  I really like the idea of introducing a few softpots into the garden, to give it a different dimension, a different medium.

Here is a little video, showing lots of the things you can make with softpots, I can't wait to make some more!

Busy week!

This week I am doing all I can to help youngest son before he returns to university, washing, ironing, proof-reading, shopping, all sorts of things!  I am loving every minute, and we will all miss him when he goes back.

To relax, I have been watching more Heidi Baker videos on Youtube.  This morning I have been watching this one called Riches of the Poor.  God is doing amazing things in Mozambique.

I recently bought this book.................

and yesterday I attempted Mushroom Risottioni.  It tasted very nice, but maybe wasn't too healthy, as there was a lot of creme fraiche in it, but we all enjoyed it nonetheless.  If you want to see a picture of it and have the recipe, you can find it here.  You'll have to scroll down a bit.  I doubled the ingredients to make enough for four people, which meant wiping 1kg of mushrooms!