I’ve been having a torrid time loosing my blog link but thanks to friend Jeff with input from friend Daniel here we are up and running.
Of course this last week has been dominated by the death of Brian Hogg, an actor who had the ability to turn himself into what ever the script desired. Be could be a noble man as in The Queen’s O’Neill with the Ulster Actors Company at the Arts Theatre or a raver in Rockin’ 50s and when he sang Imagine in the story of the Beatles, the director Roy Heayberd said his was a voice from heaven. He appeared in the BBC TV series Holby City and was nominated for an Oscar for the film Dance Lexie Dance. But for 20 years he was Big Mervin in Give My Head Peace, the lovable loyalist thug with a big heart, liked to beat the drum but not always sure of why he was doing it.
Tributes have come in from near and far including America, Australia, France and of course the UK. Last time I met Brian it was in the City Hall, this imposing figure surrounded by marble pillars and and the black and white floor, he looked just the part.
He was charm itself, asking after family and friends, a good setting for a good man. Much more in an obituary I have written which will be in the Irish News this Saturday.
Filling Time
A few weeks ago I was writing about tips and hints and I had a lot of people get in touch to say how much they liked them. So here are some more.
Although it still feels like holiday and with the bank holiday on Friday, a picnic at the seaside isn’t possible so the garden will probably be the plan for some fun rolling boiled eggs, a late Easter treat! To make them a bit different put a couple of teabags in the water and they will stain the shell a lovely dark brown, then have a competition and a prize for who can draw the funniest face on the egg. We used to gather whin blossom to put into the boiling water for a vibrant yellow finish but you can also achieved this using onion skins .
What’s the difference between brown and white eggs? There isn’t any. Why are there brown and white eggs? Because different breeds of hen lay different colours, no big mystery.
April Fool
I remember one April First I wrote an article about hen’s eggs which were being laid with bands of black and white on the shell thanks to a newly developed feed which had to be fed to the chickens 15 minutes apart – one scoop from the white bag and then one from the black bag. This resulted in the unique banding! Quite a reaction, shops wanted to know where they could obtain them and a farmer asked me where he could get the new feed!
Food colouring added to water in a vase of flowers is an interesting thing for children to try, red, blue or green – I think it’s a horrible idea and I avoid artificially coloured blooms but it’s a good experiment.
Thank you Joan for this floral tip; “To revive choice blooms that have faded, plunge the stems into hot water and allow them to remain until the water has cooled. By that time the flowers will have revived. The ends of the stems should then be cut off and the blossoms placed in cold water in the usual way.”
I have a great fondness for lavender in any shape or form. A little perfume rubbed on a light bulb (before you turn it on) will fill the room with scent. I also used it in a television studio when interviewing a dog handler. He brought along two doberman pinschers and in the excitement and under the bright lights they became very agitated and threatening. I asked if I could waft a tissue with lavender essence under their noses to calm them. He laughed and said go ahead. Worked like a dream, they lay at my feet docile and loveable.
It Works For People Too.
Provided you don’t have low blood pressure, a few drops of pure lavender essence on your pillow will help you sleep, it will help you stay calm in a tricky situation, a few breaths in before an interview or a tricky social situation for example, when that time comes again, will work wonders and when you walk in enveloped in a cloud of perfume it will please everyone. I also use a drop on a cut or a burn but dilute it in a little water first. I also notice midges don’t favour lavender although bees do circle twice in case you are a tasty flower.
This is a tough time for everyone but for children it must be both frightening and confusing, everything normal in their little lives has been taken from them and they are left living with confusion. I came across a web sight that might help parents keep them occupied. Just type ‘CORONAVIRUS: 10 boredom-busting ideas for kids during COVID-19′ into the search engine and you’ll find a lot of imaginative ways of filling time constructively within the family. This comes fro the National adult Literacy Agency.
Eat an Alphabet
For instance. ’Get your kids to describe how hungry they are – starting with the letter A take turns. The trick is to remember what everyone said before you. I’m so hungry I could eat an Apple. I’m so hungry I could eat an Apple and a Banana. I’m so hungry I could eat an Apple, Banana and a Cat!’
A treasure hunt round the garden, clues to find the hidden objects, if the weather isn’t great then round the house. If you have the ingredients, baking is brilliant, scones are easy and children love to get involved. Favourite with my grandchildren are pancakes, they mix the flour, milk and eggs, a little sugar and a knob of butter and then I pour into the frying pan. Being ultra careful, they are allowed to toss them and so what if they hit the ceiling or ‘splosh’ on the floor.
Back To Eggs
If any of the family cut themselves my granny immediately cracked an egg and teased out the membrane which lines the inside of the shell, She’d lay it over the cut and as it dried it drew the skin together to knit.
I remember being sent for cracked eggs for baking but she would often boil them for sandwiches and to stop the insides popping out she’d add a little vinegar to the water and she always plunged the bread knife into boiling water before quickly cutting the new loaf of bread, no crumbling or tearing and as thin as you like.
Aren’t eggs just the most useful little things. Versatile, you can eat them, play with them, blow the insides out, paint them and string them up as decorations – there’s a challenge for the children. I know one young man who, at the age of seven, sneaked half a dozen eggs out of the fridge and threw them at the wall of the garage just for fun. The look of naughty delight on his face cracked me up – just had to laugh.
Another week gone and with it precious lives leaving grieving families. As I say my heart goes out to children who don’t understand life and death and those cooped up when they should be enjoying school and playing with their friends. And for children of any age who are watching their parents and relations through the windows of care homes or worse, unable to be with them as their lives draw to a close.
Are we getting any further on with ridding ourselves of this brutal coronavirus? I hesitate to ponder that question. Some people blame God for this catastrophe but I don’t think He had anything to do with bats in China but I do think He has used good grace to grant us beautiful weather to make our lockdown situation that little bit easier to bear.
Good to be with you on Monday, hope to be with you again next Sunday.
Keep safe, keep at home, keep talking to each other.