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Today we took the train to eastbourne from Lewes in East Sussex, which for those that don’t know is in the South east of England. As you leave the town the country opens out, to one side is the foot of Mount Caburn, probably one of the most excavated sites in Britain. The summit of Mount Caburn contains an iron age Hill Fort that now is thought to have contained a site of ritual and spiritual significance, rather than a defensive site. On the other smooth flat pasture that is part of the flood plane of the river Ouse.
Ona sunny day as it was today, and without site of Pylon or machine it appears as a Rural Idyll, the flat grazing land covered in sheep and the steep escarpment rising to an ancient topping. As the train moves on the land flattens out further and i guess we were looking across the sussex weald. I doubt little has changed on this landscape for hundreds of years and something of its ancient feel where the sunlight glazed it and the sheep and horses grazed it seeped through the windows of the smooth air conditioned electric train.
The train sped on and we lost this rural retreat as we met the shabby sprawl that has become eastbourne and walked tot eh Towner art Gallery. A Gallery that has lost much of its charm, as it somehow seems both out of place and unfinished, unclear and undirected, with its tiny shop (compare it to the one in Brighton Library, never mind the one in Brighton Museum and Gallery) and wanting us to pay to go to an exhibition that it was hard to know might be worthwhile to see. This is not the Towner I remember. It has somehow lost its soul.
There art of the General collection is good and as a start for children it is worth the trip, but there was more art in those first flat fields of sheep as we left Lewes, but then perhaps there always is and Mount Caburn could never lost its soul.
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In these more frugal times, holidays can often go by the way side, money has to go on other things. But there is a growing area of the holiday market, house swapping, people do it across the world, but it can be complicated, swapping homes, insurances, cars and all sorts of others things (ouch my head hurts!) However I noticed a new site Simply House Swap , which is UK based and helps make house swap holidays really simple.
Exchange is the new way forward, its a way of sharing, learning and getting what you need without being sucked further toward a financial problem, you might be surprised how many people borrow to go on holiday.
Simply House Swap changes all that, allowing you to safely and securely swap houses for a UK holiday. To keep it simple its just in the UK and its also a specialist site aimed at the slightly more established surfer who is going to have a beautiful house. But for those who love walking, nature, The National Trust and might want a few days to a few weeks break I think it looks to be a good idea. Imagine swapping your home in Hampshire for a Yorksire Moors cottage or that Hebridean Croft for a swish London Appartment. I suggest registering your own place and seeing what comes your way. Take the high road!
“Life swap: The essential guide to downshifting” (Jo Hampson, Georgina Perkins)
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We are all one, but it is also important to understand that we all different and that difference is OK. Very often we criticise others because they are different, or they reflect a difference in ourselves that we dont like.
Sometimes we seek out others like us, who think like us, work like us and see the world like us. Its natural and we call them clubs, societies, gangs, friends and so on. At the same time its easy to start into attacking or opposing those that aren’t like us, or dont want to do it like us.
The world would be so tedious if we all thought and did the same.
Its through this negativity that conflict and hatred is allowed to flourish. If you cannot think that maybe you might be wrong then you’re probably creating a difficult path for yourself.Similar Posts:
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Christmas Cake (jonathans recipe)
This recipe makes a 4Ib cake (approximately 1.8 Kg) great with marzipan
THE INGREDIENTS
10 oz plain wholemeal flour
1tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
4 large eggs
8oz brown sugar
8oz unsalted butter
2 tbs of honey
8oz raisins
8oz currants
4oz chopped nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts are best)
4oz glace cherries (cut in half)
4oz glace fruit
2oz chopped candied peel
1 tbs of grated orange zest (its dificult to do so buy a zester to help)
1 gill (1/4 of pint) of brandy or whisky
THE METHOD
Using a large kenwood mixer or similar is very helpful with this recipe
Butter a 8ins cake tinand line it with greaseproof paper
mix together the flour, salt, and all the spices and sift using a sieve and put it to one side in a bowl
Cream the butter beating until fluffy and then add the sugar until a light fluffy mixture is obtained
In a different bowl mix the eggs with the honey and whisk, then beat this into the butter mixture
At the end of this mixture add a spoon of flour to help stop the mixture from curdling
OK now in ANOTHER bowl mix all the fruit and nuts, a couple of spoons of flour and the zest of the orange and mix well
Now fold the remaining flour into the butter cream mixture and then fold in the fruit and nuts and add the brandy
Mix all this VERY thoroughly to ensure an even spread of fruit and nuts
Now turn/pour the mixture into your prepared tin, you may want to make a small depression in the centre of the cake to ensure when it rises that a flat top is ensured.
Bake in a preheated cool oven, 150 deg Centigrade/300 degrees F /gas mark 2 for 1.5 hours before reducing the heat to 140 C/275 F/gas mark 1 for another 2 hours or until putting a skewer or a thin knife into the cake comes out clean.
If the cake browns too quickly on the top then cover it with foil, keep an eye on it the whole time of cooking
When the cake is done remove from the oven and place on a cool try still in the tin, do not turn out of the tin until completely cool, then store in an airtight container preferably a metal cake tin…avoid plastic like the plague.
if you use my recipe and it works for you please either use the comment button underneath the article or the forum button at the top of the page to tell me how you got on.Similar Posts:
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Just as an update to a previous post here. I think I created a market for this thing, the latest one on ebay is at a starting point of £24. Luckily I did get one on ebay recently ( somewhat cheaper), thanks for all your comments and well wishes and I have blended the new in with the old and we now have two that are both well loved and swapped over.
I have to say I felt a bit cruel/guilty when I first swapped them over, but it saves on the fears and tears and keeps a little girl very happy.Similar Posts:
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If you are searching for something, feel a spiritual need; there is a way that can speak to your conditon. It is simple, honest, holistic and with a liberal outlook. It doesn’t have to take you off to a new age movement but it can help usher in that new age, it doesn’t have to point you in the direction of the east but it will help you meet that direction. In the quiet of a Quaker Meeting you can find true meaning.Similar Posts:
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A business I worked for up until August has gone into administration. The downturn seemed to hit them hard and cashflow became a problem. Credit streams were harder to access and the tax man came knocking; and from a highly visible and successful company with a multi million pound turnover to administration in a few months.
Although they had already begun to make redundancies the process of administration, as the administrators try to sell the business, will leave many more unemployed.
I heard the striking post workers comapred to the miners the other day, and a postal worker talking of how his job has been downgraded and if the Royal Mail management get their way there will be more part time workers and the wage will not support a family. The Royal mail is to me symtomatic of much of our problems here in the UK. We dont have enough business managers who can think outside the box, are well tained and qualified, have imagination and can see ahead and be proactive. Why on earth didn’t the Royal mail invest in modern technology, in email systems and othe modern communications, why didn’t it diversify? Yes they have attempted to modernise their industry but its liek modernising a horse when everyone is using those new fangled auto mobiles (motor cars).
So the many of the people who worked at my old company are looking for work, the worry, the anxiety, the fear is what this crisis is all about. No political Party can promise us more than Blood Toil and Sweat, I will be voting for the one that best allays the fears and the tears.
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]]> (No Ratings Yet) Loading ...The Friend has a new website, if you are looking for social, spiritual and stimulating topics, to read, discuss and comment then look no further than the new radical Quaker website. Designed by MILO, it looks good and the content reflects all the Journal has to offer and more, check it out here:
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Norman Baker MP for Lewes recently described his political opponents as ‘desperate’ and engaged in ‘the politics of the gutter’.
Rather than deflecting attention as was I expect he was hoping for, the frantic tone of Norman’s comments did make me wonder about his own expenses. So I decided to have a look at the receipts and claims he has made from 2004 to 2008 for myself, that can be found at www.mpsallowances.parliament.uk and I would encourage you to do the same for Norman and for your own MP, it can throw up some surprising things and reflects the culture of our Parliament and the political parties.
I wont be casting judgement on Norman for the following without hearing his own side of the story – a curtsey he never offered his so called ‘desperate’ political opponents – nevertheless there are clearly matters that require proper explanation.
For example why it appears he claimed hundreds of pounds from the House of Commons for accountants to fill out his tax returns, and whether he paid the tax on such a benefit in kind.
29th Nov 2007 – £352.50
(Pg 75) http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/norman-baker/Norman_Baker_0708_IEP.pdf
·31st Jan 2006 – £293.75
(Pg 68) – http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/norman-baker/Norman_Baker_0506_IEP.pdf
Date Redacted 2005 – £58.75
(Pg 316) – http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/norman-baker/Norman_Baker_0405_IEP.pdf
Why bizarrely, it looks like he personally claimed hundreds of pounds personally for adverts he placed for himself, in his own annual report? All the more surprising when there is no advertising listed from himself the year that he claimed, the only of paid advertising appears from commercial companies.
17th May 2006 – Letter to Fees Office
(Pg 224) http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/norman-baker/Norman_Baker_0607_IEP.pdf
12th April 2006 – £700, Invoice made out to self
(Pg 226) http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/norman-baker/Norman_Baker_0607_IEP.pdf
12th April 2006 – £200, Invoice made out to self
(Pg 227) http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/norman-baker/Norman_Baker_0607_IEP.pdf
· Norman Bakers 2006 Annual Report (http://www.normanbaker.org.uk/downloads/NormanBakerAnnualReport2006.pdf -
Note the disclaimer on the annual report that reads “This annual report has been paid for by advertising revenue from Paradise Park and Ibstock, and by the parliamentary Incidental Expenses Provision of Norman Baker MP.” Rather than, this report has also been paid for me to receive £700).
Why also does it appear that the House of Commons paid out hundreds of pounds to his local party the costs of its Freepost account. Clearly Parliament role isn’t to subsidise local party political material, and if it was printed and paid for on commons stationary relating to parliamentary matters, why was the Lib Dem party political addresses being used, and why are we paying for their postage?
5th April 2007 – £331.06
(Pg 35) http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/norman-baker/Norman_Baker_0708_CA.pdf
Norman has made clear that he is “confident that my own expenses claims have both met the rules and more importantly are morally justifiable”. You decide.Similar Posts:
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Gordon Brown
Oh yes I was there and I thought it his best speech yet, but maybe 12months too late. the films, the build up, the being tough yet fair, caring yet sensible, passionate yet meaasured, was great. It certainly lifted me and will send me back to my constituency full of fire.
But hang on what was that he said in amongst the banging up teenage mums and free child care for 2 year olds in 5 years time, whilst audiovisually comparing himself with Ghandi and Mandela?
We may know it as the great contentious issue of the age, but readers of the mirror and the sun have never heard of the Alternative Vote – Av or AV+, what is it anyway?
Has Gordon missed a trick, his chance to have a referendum on PR on election day, to make it a real campaigning issue, that Cameron would have had to oppose and seem like someone standing in the way of progress and the clean up of politics that politics desperately needs?
Its an issue that could win us an election yet if politicians say it will sort politics out no one will beleive them, start writing to the papers and asking them what it is; get the mirror and the sun to explain to their readers…you. It may be our only hope..its life jim, but not as we know it…Similar Posts:
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