Green Patches

Moving On - Growing Greenpatches

Green Patches is moving! I'll keep this blog up  - and will dip back into it from time to time; however, for up to date ecological, theological and definitely illogical meanderings and more besides,  you'll need to hop over to my new Growing Greenpatches blog. See you there...

 

Pop!

" ‘Whizz pop whizz pop pop pop poppety pop pop,’ faster and ever so much faster flew the pancakes. Thicker and thicker. Bigger and bigger. They came out flatways and edgeways. They shot high in the air and stuck to the ceiling. One sailed across the room and hit the Vicar in the waistcoat, where it may or may not have reminded him of the ironholders for the South Crashbania natives. Pop poppety, pop pop pop. It was like a machine gun but much more sploshy. The Professor struggled out of his pancake just in time for another one to drop over him. Two pancakes were on the clock, four were draped over the light. The Mayor was eating his way through a complete set of pancakes of varying sizes that had fallen in front of him. The four firemen put their helmets on and brandished their axes, but only succeeded in smashing two cups, one saucer and the sugar basin. Mrs Flittersnoop put her head gingerly out from under the table and was immediately gummed to the carpet by a three-foot pancake two inches thick that had just shot out.”
From The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm by Norman Hunter

 

 My favourite pancake-making scenario: A recycled recycled recycled blog for Shrove Tuesday.

 

Blog of The Week - Dave Walker's teapots

 Tea drinking is a serious business and should be undertaken with all due solemnity.  So with that in mind, who could resist Dave Walker's cartoon teapots! 

Lent approacheth

 

 - Bruce Munro's 'Light Shower' at Salisbury Cathedral, January 2011

 

 When Classic FM begins to slip  Gregorio Allegri's Miserere mei Deus  into their playlist, you know that Lent can't be far behind.  So continuing the theme of my last post, here's another Lenten themed recycled Greenpatch: my account of a Grand Day Out a year ago to see artist Bruce Munro's Light Shower and Water Tower's installations at Salisbury Cathedral.

Recycled Greenpatches - Psalm 51

 

From February 2008 - Psalm 51.

Sustainable Smellies - the return

Update on the hair situation over on my Musings blog. Mr GP demonstrates commendable tact, given that it's Valentine's Day and all.

Blog of The Week - Lucy Mills on Life

Lucy ponders the inclusivity and exclusivity of social media, and suggests we pray for discernment to know when to use it and when to use our own hands and feet.

Do we save our comfort and companionship just for those who are easily reached on our devices? Do we neglect those who are not part of this happy digital ‘community’? So we never get round to – dare I say it – writing a letter or a card to someone who would deeply, desperately appreciate it in a world of 140 characters or less?

 - check out the rest of Lucy's post here.

 

I've touched on this topic myself  in the past.  Thanks  Lucy for reminding me of it.

 

Sustainable Smellies - the sequel

I'm not too sure about this smellie business, you know.  Gory details over on my Musings blog.

Contemplation and navel gazing - float on...

 - the peaceful waters of St Mary's Loch, taken during our Durham-Iona pilgrimage last year

 

The credit for this post goes to Smudgie of wibsite renown, whose description of her floatation tank experience bears an uncanny resemblance to the struggles I sometimes often experience when I try to pray,

 

I did not like the way my thoughts continued to  bombard my brain but without being able to gain a purchase and be resolved…a bit like those squelchy toys you throw against a mirror which sort of stic k but then slither down and fall off onto the carpet where they pick  up all the loose hairs and  fluff. I didn’t go into a meditative state – I went into a teflon state, but still with the myriad of thought-directions sparking off inside my brain…together with a sense of guilt that I should be relaxing.

Teflon prayer - I love it! To stretch the squelchy toy analogy even further,  our son threw  half a squelchy santa way up and out of reach  near the landing ceiling just after Christmas.  We're still waiting for it to work its way back down to earth.   Anybody who  fancies speculating as to what that has to say about my current spiritual state is welcome to have a go. 

 

 

Recycled Greenpatches - 'Enough'

From the Greenpatch archive, 6 February 2008: Mr GP reviews John Naish's "Enough":

From Mr Greenpatch's cycle blog:

Have been catching up on some reading. Particuluarly impressed by "Enough" by John Naish.

The central tenet of this book is that we would be happier if we could realise when we have enough of something and having more won't make us any happier, indeed could make us feel worse.Interview here gives a feel of the ideas. 

This simple proposition is one of the pieces of wisdom I have come to realise as I get older. An e.g. of how I applied a couple of years back was in taking the policy decision to break the ages old habit of listening to the Today program from the moment of waking to arriving at work. I felt I had reached to point of news saturation. This doesn't mean I have cut myself of from the real world, I will listen to news headlines/peruse the BBC online news/watch the occasional newsnight and avidly listen to podcasts on subjects of special interest or quality ("From our own correspondent" being an e.g. of latter). 

What I don't want to do is fill every idle moment with news updates which seems to be the desire of 24 hour news channels (and apparently society in general if the evidence of our dentist waiting room is anything to go by. A giant plasma screen has been installed there showing BBC News 24 as if somehow hearing about a stock market crash here or the latest news of the diana inquest there is going to take patients minds off the upcoming visit to the dentist's chair...)

Back to the book, the crucial world is in the title. One of the pre-requisites to knowing when you have enough is having sufficent of something in the first place. So really its a new experience for us, as recently as my parent's generation scarcity was the norm. Also having enough means having more than nothing. So its OK for me to want (any buy) a high tech gadget that I can attach to my bike to help me navigate my rides without constant stops/recourse to maps.