G IS FOR...

...GRANDFATHER
My grandfather was born in Sheffield in 1882.  We have a newspaper article stating that he shaved a couple of years off his birth-date when he joined the British Army which was in about 1900.  I'm not sure how old you had to be to join the army then, so the 1900 date is a little flexible.

He joined the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons.  Below is a postcard of the military dress uniform which he sent to my grandmother in 1905  He addressed it to her maiden name, so they were probably not married at the time. 

In 1900-1902 he fought in the Anglo-Boer War in the Orange Free State.  In this photograph below the X points him out, with his hat rakishly tipped to one side.  I'm sorry I don't have the right military vocabulary but you know what I mean. He was small in stature so I suspect he is standing on something  here.

The Sixth Inniskillings was a mounted cavalry regiment and served not only in the Anglo-Boer War but also in India.  Below is a photo of him mounted on his horse which he rather naughtily called Kate, the name of my grandmother!

While still with the 6th Inniskillings Dragoons, he was part of a team which won the Rifle Championship of the Mediterranean  in 1909. 

In the first World War he was stationed in Mhow, Central India where his rifle skills were put to good use up at the Khyber Pass on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, (the more things change the more they stay the same!)

   

Second from the right in the photo below, he is now a sergeant with a different regiment, the 'D' Squadron of the First Life Guards in France where he fought at Ypres in 1915.  I think these men were draftees.  There were about a hundred of them and many of them had been together in India in earlier years.  According to the dispatches their high spirited  reunion and rash behavior gave the powers that be a headache. I just also discovered from a newspaper clipping that Granddad was a tank commander during the 1914-18 war. As you can see, he was small in size, but I think feisty would be a good word to describe him. From what I remember of him I don't think many would want to tangle with him.

He was a awarded a good many medals which sadly had to be sacrificed by the family in a time of need. At some point, I know he spent some time in China and that he was also appointed as batman to Sir David Rutherford. Once out of the army he remained in service with Sir David as his chauffeur and my grandmother went into service as a housemaid up at the 'Big House'. (Shades of Downton Abbey).

Happy days in retirement. 

 I remember my grandfather best for his eating very highly seasoned (hot, hot) food, for which he had acquired a taste while in India.  I remember being fascinated with the beads of perspiration that appeared on his top lip (must have shaved off his mustache at that time) while eating that kind of food.  For many years as a child I tried to copy that habit, just because Granddad did it.

He died in the sixties. One other significant memory I have of him is when he took me into the fruit cellar where all the apples off Sir David's trees were stored for the winter.  He showed me how each one was set in a space by itself without touching any other apple so that if there were any blemishes on one apple they would not be transferred to another.  He used this as an opportunity to teach a life lesson of choosing friends carefully and being careful not to influence others negatively.

I wonder if grandparents today realize how much influence for good they can have on their grandchildren.

I must give credit to my older brother who died in 1984 at age 48,  who collected and identified the photos above.   Thanks also  to my sister, Kaybee,  who conserved them for many years. Between us and with the help of blogger Snafu we now have many, many old family photos and family trees.

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This is my entry for ABC WEDNESDAY letter 'G'.  If you would like to see more of these intriguing entries, please click on this button HERE  and it will take you to the many others who are participating in this fascinating project.

TWINCHIES ON MONDAY - MIRROR

It's Monday again and time for another TW(INCHIE).  Our topic this week is MIRROR -- not an easy one for me, doing these entirely in Prisma Color pencils and pen and ink. Glass is not easy to portray anyway but mirrors with their reflections in only 2 inches square is quite a challenge.  So I gave it some thought and decided on this:

A mirror image...you don't have to look very hard to see what I've done with this.  It was inspired by an ad for United Airlines which I saw more than a year ago and have been wondering ever since how I could use their idea.  The ad used two plants side by side that made a silhouette of two faces. I think the point of the ad had something to do with communication, but I don't remember the details now.  So I wonder if it was a good ad since I only remember the picture and not the message.  I didn't realize what it was at first, but after looking once or twice I saw it.

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F IS FOR....

F IS FOR ...FIFTY YEARS AGO and  a couple more...fifty two-to be exact.

Here we are are in August 1960, about to board the train in Derby to be whisked away to Canada.  Both sets of parents and my sister Kay were there to see us off -- not to mention my ever faithful dog, Rip. 

Left to right:  Barry's dad, me 22 years old, Barry's mom, my mother, my sister, my father and Barry.  

It was quite a confusing experience at this point, as we had planned to cross the Atlantic by ship from Liverpool, but there was a shipping strike and at the last minute Cunard decided to fly all the passengers across to Montreal from London.  A lot of repacking had to be done.

My parents were living in Derby at the time, where my father was the manager of Ind Coop's The York Hotel, so although we had been living in Liverpool we all joined my family in Derby for the day of departure.

We had been married less than a year  and this was one of several major steps in our lives.  Our destination was Toronto to attend Toronto Bible College, now known as Tyndale University College.   At this point it was not our intention to stay in Canada, but the Lord had other plans.  We could never have guessed that we would be living in Southern California for 40 years (and counting).

FRIENDS FOR MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS (FROM HIGH SCHOOL YEARS)

These are not friends we have just recently contacted again, but friends we have stayed in touch with over all these years.

Janet and Gerald

Maurice and Jennie

Margery and Norman

Sadly Norman passed away a year or two ago, but Margery still lives there in Flamborough, E. Yorks (from which my blog's name is derived) and  their sons are continuing the fishing tradition. Margery could have wished it were otherwise, but it was in their blood and the family have been a prominent fishing family in Flamborough for a good number of generations.

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Join us at ABC WEDNESDAY to see all the array of entries for F day. Thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and her faithful team we are in our ninth round and still going strong.  Click HERE or on the badge in the side-bar to be whisked away to the ABC Wednesday page.

TWINCHIES ON MONDAY - DREAM

Twinchies are Inchies only instead of 1 inch square they are 2 inches square.  The theme this week is DREAM.  My Twinchie represents my dream in about 1948.  

The war was over, but there were still many shortages and one of them was sugar.  My mother would tell us about sugar mice, licorice sherberts, barley sugar and much more.  We would see the old, empty, metal chocolate bar dispensers, on the railway stations.  We couldn't even imagine being able to purchase chocolate bars out of a machine. The British are known for having a sweet tooth and was I certainly no different.  In fact, even today, I can't pass a booth selling cotton candy (candy floss).   I can pass by cake, pie, and ice-cream -- but candy, especially chocolates -- that's my weakness!

To see more Inchies or Twinchies, click on the badge in my side bar, or click HERE.

E IS FOR...

E IS FOR EVANGELICALS
 It has frequently occurred to me that although most people know the word ‘Evangelical’, they don’t really know what an Evangelical is.  So I thought this would be a good opportunity to explain and clarify, in a hopefully succinct and understandable manner.

There are two highly important things that evangelicals believe without which nothing else that they believe would make sense.

FIRST:  Evangelicals believe that THE BIBLE IS THE WHOLE WORD OF GOD and that all their basic beliefs are clearly taught in the Bible.

SECOND:  Evangelicals believe that JESUS CHRIST (THE MESSIAH) IS GOD and therefore sinless.

It is on these two truths that all other beliefs of the evangelical are based.

Evangelicals believe that the Bible teaches:

……that mankind is basically sinful, that there is no-one who is perfect or who can be perfect in this life since we are born with a sinful nature and a natural tendency towards sinning.

……that the penalty for sin is death. Since no sinner can enter heaven because God is holy and heaven cannot contain sin, man is condemned to death.  Sinful man cannot go to heaven as a sinner, so he must die here on earth in his sinful state.

……that God, in His love, has provided a way for mankind to escape the penalty of death and receive eternal life. They believe that God sent Jesus Christ to pay the penalty by His death for all who want to be rid of their sinful nature and live forever in a perfect environment (Heaven). Because of Jesus’ death, God will pardon all those want it. For his part, all the sinner has to do is first acknowledge that he is indeed sinful, then tell God that he is truly sorry in a heartfelt way for the sins he has committed. Finally he has to accept the pardon (forgiveness) that God is offering by acknowledging that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for him. When that person dies on this earth he will go to heaven to be with the Lord and be given a new, sinless nature and will live in this state forever.

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All of the above is what Evangelicals all over the world, in all countries and denominations of the Christian church believe.  There may well be many people who believe all that and don’t know that what they believe is the same as what evangelicals believe.

Beyond these fundamental beliefs that all Evangelicals agree on there are other issues about which we differ with one another. 

For example: how the world was made; how we should be baptized; how and when the world will end; how and when Christ will come again; how and when and to what extent we should evangelize others.

In recent years homosexuality and abortion have become major topics of controversy for Evangelicals.  This is because the Bible teaches that they are sin and Evangelicals believe the Bible is God’s Word.  But then it also teaches that adultery, murder, stealing, lying and such things are also sin.  The difference is that no-one is insisting that Evangelicals must accept, support, employ or allow their children to be taught that adultery, murder, stealing, and lying etc. is O.K.

I do hope that for those of you who have been able to read this blog to the end, I have been able to shed some light on what Evangelicals believe.  In addition, I ask you to understand that as in all religions, there are extremists at either end of the spectrum with whom the majority of Evangelicals have little in common.

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Next week I will try to post something that is more fun for 

ABC Wednesday 

This is my contribution to ABC Wednesday .  If you would like to read more entertaining submissions to this project run by Mrs. Nesbitt and her team, please click on this LINK

TWINCHIES ON MONDAY - firelight GLOW

Our subject this week is GLOW,and since we live by the Pacific Ocean it would have been easy to go with a great sunset glow of which we have many that are spectacular.  However, I have wonderful memories of a firelight glow I experienced a couple of years ago when we went to Norway.  Traveling far north we visited a place where sledding dogs were raised and trained.  It was a cold, cold day with wind and rain.  But the dogs were wonderful and we were able to hold a couple of puppies as well as pet the dogs.  But the cold was worth it.  There were several tepee-like yurts in the grounds where hot tea was offered.

Take a look at this:

This is the photo on which I based my twinchie.  A wonderful experience of a firelight glow, followed by hot tea and some kind of cake, which I don't remember too well, since the hot tea and the firelight glow were paramount.  Wonderful memories!


To see more inchies for Monday please click on this LINK 

WHO'S DA BOSS ???

When our sons left home many years ago now, we turned one of their bedrooms into an office for Barry to work in away from the bustle of downstairs.  He has used this office for many years to prepare his sermons.  However since his retirement and since he has been traveling to various mission fields he has not used his office nearly as much.

Meanwhile, Scruffy,  the new addition to our home, recently found that Barry's comfy office chair is great for  for his afternoon nap.

Two weeks ago Barry was asked to be a guest preacher at the church, so he hived off into his office to get on with his preparation.  Half way through the afternoon he had a visitor.  Scruffy came looking for his usual spot for his afternoon nap.  He was not pleased.  He meowed a few times and looked expectantly at Barry.  He got a couple of scratches on his ears and that was that. So then he jumped up on the desk and started 'sorting' through all the papers and books there.  Barry kept working away.  


So then Scruffy jumped across to the bookcase and knocked down a few papers.  Barry got up and put him down on the floor then returned to his books.  Scruffy responded by jumping up on the other bookcase.  Barry ignored him.  So he jumped down and sat by Barry's chair and started pawing at him and making more complaints.

Barry gave up.  He moved his large, comfy office chair to the other side of the desk and got himself a folding chair.

Guess what happened next!

SO WHO'S DA BOSS ??

Snoorrrre....

D IS FOR...

D IS FOR DIDGERIDOO

I can't believe I haven't used this photo before for the letter "D"  but my search says no.

My husband took this photo a few years ago when we were in Australia.  A didgeridoo is a wind or horn-like instrument  that is distinctive to the aborigines of Australia and is thought to have originated as much as 2000 years ago.  As I recall it sounded a bit like the blowing of a conch.  I'm sure all our ABC fans in Australia and New Zealand are well aware of what this instrument is, but we thought we were pretty privileged to see and hear one.

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All the time I have been wondering what else to use for the letter 'D', and here it has been staring me in the face for weeks.  My banner painting is of 

DANES' DYKE

Danes' Dyke is on the East Coast of Yorkshire and is part of Flamborough Head.  The headland juts out into the North Sea about 6 miles.  If you have been following my blog for very long at all you will know that Flamborough was where I spent 10 years of my young life.  Living there was a transforming experience for me and some of my happiest days were spent exploring the headland, cliffs and beaches..  That is why my blog is called Flamblogger.

Danes' Dyke is an earth work or ditch which some say was cut across the headland in order to make it an island.  It is similar to other earth works across Britain and was probably used as a defense.  It certainly very effectively isolates the village of Flamborough, which until the last 50 or 60 years has had a reputation of being very independent from its surroundings.  The village of Flamborough is thought to have been inhabited by the Danes and Vikings from around the 8th - 10th centuries.  It used to be known as Little Denmark.  

Danes Dyke is quite heavily wooded on its southern end and almost disappears at its northern end, the land at that end being very rocky with cliffs as high as 400 feet.  The southern end reaches the beach  where there are many fossils to be found.  Part of the Dyke was excavated in the 1800's when arrowheads and such like were found, but nothing very exciting.  I  think there are a good number of archeological treasures to be found in this area, but so far no-one has recently taken the time to look.  In one sense I'm glad for that because the longer Flamborough can keep its uniqueness the better it will be. It is generally believed that the Dyke's history goes back further than the Danes after which it is named.

As children we roamed the Dyke at will.  A small stream runs through part of it to the south side of the Head and the banks on either side rise as high as 20 feet or more.  All kinds of birds, flowers trees and bushes are to be found there.  I particularly remember the loud popping of the broom seed pods in August as we played in and out of the bushes.  Today there are well-kept nature trails and bird blinds to discover. 

The Manor House was located there and I remember it clearly.  It was a great Victorian building and was the home of Mrs. Cotterill- Dormer.  After the family vacated it, it stood empty for many years and was said to have housed a priceless collection of stuffed, rare birds from all over the world.  Sadly the house was pulled down in the late fifties, but there are some tourist facilities and parking where it once stood.

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One more "D" is for my DOG, Rip who lived with me there in Flamborough.  I recently came across this photo from about 1950.

Here he is in such a cute picture with two neighbor children and my sister (on the right.)  He thought he was just one of the kids and was thoroughly happy to be included in this circle of friends.  What a sweet dog he was. He went everywhere with us and we all had the freedom to roam the headland together in safety and with great fun -- not the least of which for Rip, was to chase the rabbits on the cliffs.

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This is my contribution for ABC Wednesday.  Do join us and if nothing else take a look at what a great many others have contributed for the letter "D".  Please click on the LINK.

TWINCHIES ON MONDAY - FLYER

The topic for this Monday's Twinchie is:   FLYER

Well I thought of a pilot, an airplane, an advertising flyer, but none of them meant much to me.  But birds have always been part of my hobbies.  So the next question was, which bird?  I flipped through the photographs on my computer and found one I had taken while on a cruise a year or so ago and it was doing what a flyer should do --that is fly!  I think it is some kind of an albatross and I know it was very hard  to catch with the camera.  There were quite a few following along with the vessel and I took a lot of shots I had to throw out.


This is the original photo:

With a little enlarging and cropping  and a tilt of the photo I came up with something I could copy.  I used my Prisma Color pencils and a black pen.  

I'm having two problems with these twinchies.  I can't find a black pen that is fine enough and comes out with a clean line.  Also, when I photograph the finished twinchie, I can't get a sharp enough copy from the camera to the computer. I'm still learning the new editing programs on my new computer but nothing does nearly as well as my old digital imaging program, which isn't made  any more.  I might do better with Picasa but I don't have that program on my laptop and I'm a little leery of putting too much on my lap top and slowing it down.  Even though we have the new computer, I like to work with my laptop on my knee in the evenings.

For more Twinchies and Inchies on Monday, click on the link below.

http://everyinchiemonday2012.blogspot.com