Sunday.

Most Sundays, as you know, we worship at Aldham Parish Church, but this morning the Benefice Holy Communion Service was held at Elmsett, so we motored over to Elmsett Church which is pictured above. It's a lovely looking old Church, of different periods from quite early Norman onwards. The trees to the left of the picture are looking very handsome, BUT.... on the last day of August, their green leaves are  already beginning to turn yellow.  Ann said that some of the yellow leaves were whirling past the church windows during the service.

Inside the Church, and right in front of us was the parish War Memorial, and I saw that on the part referring to the Second World War was something very interesting indeed. After the service, when we were all drinking coffee I went and had a good look at it. In the 1939 to 1945 lower section the Parishioners listed as having been killed in Elmsett by enemy action listed ten people - six women and four men, on May the 12th, 1941.     Our Aldham Churchwarden, Malcolm, came over and joined me. He told me that he was a boy at the  time and living in Elmsett Parish, and remembered it well. The parish main street was bombed in the early hours of that morning. Malcolm thought for a moment then said there was someone in the Church who would remember it even better than he, and went and fetched one of the lady choristers over. She remembered it well. She told me that five of those killed were all in the same family, and that they were relations of hers. She said that nobody ever seemed to know why the centre of a small Suffolk village was bombed, but that night and the day following obviously lived on (nightmarishly, I should think) in her memory.

It rather went to prove what I've always found - that Suffolk people have long memories.

Monday.

                                          Mystery Object.
                                          _____________

No mystery about this object. It's a box. It measures about three and a half inches by just over two inches by one and a quarter inches; therefore either a table snuff or a tobacco box. It has a silver escutcheon (blank), and a very complex hinge.
The questions are :-  When was it made, where was it made, and of what material was it made?

                                          Good guessing, and good night.
                                          ________________________

Monday.

Published this photo, taken on Friday, of the North doorway of Uggleshall Church, mainly for the benefit of Crowbard, and in continuation of a discussion on 'comments'.  If you 'embiggen' this, Crowbard, I think it probably (neither of us being experts on early brickwork) indicates that the doorway is built of reused roman tiles (set edgeways) and bricks.

Sunday.

On Friday we motored up to Southwold to the Saint Felix School Antique Fair. Bought one item, a late Georgian brass snuff box, with a combination lock in the lid. Work though to put it back in good order. Lunch with friends, followed by business, before we set out for home. Took a different way home, as there were very delaying roadworks in Blythburgh. Came home via a village I don't remember having visited before - Uggleshall.  If the original name was something like Uggle's Hall, makes me wonder who the original Uggle was? And if he deserved the rather horrible sounding name of Uggle; sounds like a big, hairy, ancient Brit, doesn't he?  The photos are all of Uggleshall Church, which certainly don't live up (or down?) to the name, as it's rather a pretty church. It is being rethatched, and a lovely job is being made of the  rethatching.

Suffolk, I'm glad to say,  is still full of  pleasant surprises.

Took this last one of Ann, who was delighted by this unexpected little Church.

Then back on the road and home via Blyford, Halesworth, Bramfield, and the A12.

Thursday.

Very quick blog entry tonight - Ann went up to bed five minutes ago, and I told her I wouldn't be long following her. Took a snapshot (above) of a very good salad that Ann made as part of supper. She used the standard  contents but jazzed it up  with diced red peppers, geraniums, chives and chive flowers. Delicious! Split it between us as a side dish. To my mind - the only dressing a good salad really needs is a squeeze of lemon juice and a little salt.

                                                 Goodnight All.

Saturday.

Realised it is a while since I showed a 'MYSTERY OBJECT'. Both of these photographs are mystery objects.   I think most of you will guess the purpose for which the above small box  was made. The point is - when do you think it was made, and most importantly
where?
By the way, the inlaid stones in the lid are mother o' pearl and carnelian (I think).

Now this one really is a mystery object, and I must admit that I don't know the answer. I do know that it appears to be a piece chipped off a flint nodule a long time ago. It has then been decorated with a double line of dots and several lines cut into it, so that it resembles a beetle or 'scarab'. It is about one and three quarter inches long and just over an inch across. It came into my possession a good many years ago when I kicked it out of an ancient Suffolk trackway.     I would love to know where it was made and why. All (sensible) suggestions as to its origin gratefully received.

Wednesday.

Once again - been a busy day. Got up early for 7.30 a.m service. Stayed and had a bite of breakfast (eleven people present). Later in the morning motored over to Manningtree, where we were due to meet a nephew- in- law off a train at midday to discuss...... family business. As he is a vegetarian, popped into town first to check the eating houses. Talked to the new landlord of the Crown Inn, who told us that he catered for vegetarians with a range of  four vegetarian main dishes. This seemed to give a  reasonable choice so nipped back out to the Railway Station and met Liam off the mid-day train. Back to the Crown which is a big, old fashioned country Inn. Manningtree is a small, narrow town on the south bank of the river Stour. Talked business over  a decentish lunch. We all three of us would have appeared, to a casual observer,  to have chosen the same dish (toad in the hole) but Liam's  had vegetarian sausages in it. I think we all enjoyed lunch. After lunch we ran Liam back to the station (trains run from Manningtree to London every half hour - the downside of this was that a recording of a lugubrious sounding lady kept announcing over the Tannoy that the eleven thirty train from Liverpool street was getting steadily later. It was now, she sighed, eighty four minutes late. She sounded as if she suspected that highwaymen had kidnapped it, and despaired of its ever being heard of again). I'm afraid we abandoned Liam to the mercies of our railway system (he seemed to have perfect confidence that he'd get back to London) and decided we were going to have a walk along the bank of the Stour, where we took today's two photographs.

Got home about four o'clock, had a quick zizz, changed into work clobber, and have been pottering about in the workshop ever since.

Good Night All.

Tuesday.

On Sunday morning last got up quite early, because I had a clock to deliver and set up in our area - the dial clock I illustrated on Saturday. After that returned home and loaded car, because I had a second clock (a Suffolk made long case) to deliver to son Jonathan and partner Jude, near Cambridge,where, after setting up said clock, we had lunch with them. Jude had made a very traditional Sunday lunch; she knows our tastes. She gave us roast beef and yorkshire pudding with all the trimmings (roast and boiled potatoes, etc.), followed by a fresh fruit summer salad, then coffee. At around three o'clock back in the car and drove across to the midlands where we spent a couple of days with my brother (who blogs as Crowbard) and his wife Judy. We'd packed a balancing game for their granddaughter. It's an old one that our children (and eventually our grandchildren) liked. The above photo shows niece Jessica, Crowbard, and great niece Lottie, playing the game. Lottie loved it, and was very good at it - it requires a very steady hand.

As there was a summer storm coming up, Jess and Lottie drove home at about six. Just before they hit the road, Crowbard and I serenaded them by singing 'Good Night Lottie' to the tune of 'Goodnight Ladies' and set  to improvised words. This appeared to please young Lottie (who is three) greatly!
Afterwards, and about halfway through supper's first course ( a roast leg of lamb) the storm suddenly brightened, and I thought that, given the weather conditions, there might well be a rainbow. I excused meself to Judy, and stepped outside. There was a complete and DOUBLE rainbow (shown above) - the best I'd seen in years. In the middle of a perfect meal (Jude is a great cook!!!) it made an already pretty good   evening into a magic one!

The following morning we went to see an old friend who lives quite near Crowbard and Jude. He is an antique dealer I've known for forty (or possibly fifty) years. He sometimes has antique guns in, and this time he offered me a Brown Bess musket in very good condition. The only drawback was the price (exorbitant is the word that springs to mind !) so although tempted, I eventually left the gun and bought four pieces of pewter. This morning we went to a new, and nearby, antique centre, but found nothing buyable, so went on to a nearby garden shop that Ann and Jude always like. Had a light lunch there, then back to Carl and Jude's. Packed the car, and drove home, arriving here just after five p.m.   Been a lovely break.  Being called upstairs to supper, so :-

                                     Goodnight All.

Saturday.

Been a good, busy day. This morning met up with four friends (Hilary, Ruth, Gloria and John) at our favourite farm shop for breakfast at 9a.m., which went on till just after eleven (lots of news to catch up on). It's becoming a very popular meeting place in our area - at least partly because the staff never try and hurry people!

Ann and I then went on to the Queen's head in a nearby village to a Birthday party being held by friends of ours, Barbara and Jim. It was Barbara's 65th birthday. Met a good many people we know, and a few new ones. We both thoroughly enjoyed the party.

Then home to put the finishing touches to a repair I did yesterday. It is a very large dial clock, the actual dial being eighteen inches in diameter. It's nice to think that later today it will be back in the building it's inhabited since it was made in about 1830 -40. It's very satisfying bringing a dead clock back to life, especially when the cause of the problem isn't too obvious. Had to strip the clock right down before I could see why it wasn't running. Got to go and arrange its re -instalment now.

P.s. Should have said the top two pictures are of corners of our garden. The middle picture shows, behind the urn, the fig tree I put in a couple of years ago. Today we picked this year's  first ripe figs from it. They were delicious!

Thursday.

Been a good, busy week (so far). Long Melford on Wednesday. Spent Monday and Tuesday getting ready for it. This morning we went into the town, did various jobs, then on to David and Sue's for coffee (by arrangement). Then a wander round their lovely garden (David refers to it as 'the Estate', and although he's joking, it's not far out - it's a very large garden, in several different departments). The main garden is like a small meadow, with an orchard of fruit trees in the grass, and surrounded by flower beds. Lovely!  David gave us some fresh cut beans to bring home (which - being us, we forgot; but, David being David, he called round later and delivered them - they are good friends).  Later on both of us felt a bit lackadaisical (after Long Melford yesterday) so decided to go and have lunch at Hollowtrees, which was as good as ever.

Then pottered back home through the lanes around Linsey and Kersey. All the photos are of Linsey and were taken near the Church, or of the Church.

This picture and the third picture is of the Church porch, and I found meself wondering how many people (tramps, travellers, and homeless folk) have stood in the same position, looking along the porch towards the church door, and thought what a good place it would be to sleep of a summer night, the two stone benches would make convenient, if hard, beds, and are nicely raised off the ground. The porch faces South and sunrise on a summer morning would be a cheering sight to wake up to, I should think.

Must stop day dreaming, and get on and do some work. Got a couple of recently acquired snuff  boxes to clean.

Tuesday.

walked into town this morning, and on the way home saw these flowers growing out of the cracks in the pavement outside the house of a friend of ours. Don't know what they're called (the flowers that is - I do know what our friends are called)  but aren't they pretty? (again - the flowers that is - you won't know if our friends are pretty or not).

Just shows- it pays to keep our eyes open.

P.s.It also shows that pronouns can give rise to problems.