It's been a truly beautiful few days here in the lovely Tunstall Village. Yesterday I went to town to do some grocery shopping and then came back, unpacked the food and took Teddy for a nice long walk to a nearby field where he could run and play and then around the cul-de-sac neighborhood behind us. It's so strange to go from walking out your yard to see a horse farm across the street to walking just 2 or 3 minutes around the corner and find a modern complex of about 50 or so homes in a cul-de-sac. It somehow doesn't fit with the rest of the village which dates back hundreds of years but the young people need a place to live that they can afford as well and these homes seem lovely and several friendly women were out doing chores like garbage and unpacking the car from shopping.
We got back home and just relaxed and read and I caught up on reading 3 plays for the play writing contest I'm a judge for so that was very productive and I feel better for having gotten something off the check list. Yes, even in the country I still make check lists. Also on the check list was the usual vacuum up the massive amounts of fur accumulated since this morning vacuuming and mop up the muddy paw and foot prints that came along with me and Teddy going for a walk. And then there is the trying to make the Sooty Cat feel better because she's all anxious and whinny and rubbing up against everything include the dog. She is apparently in heat, oh what fun this little menagerie is at times. Yes, she and her sister Qweni, the Seal Point mix are not fixed and for that matter neither is Teddy. Their parents were thinking of breeding them I guess but poor Mimie, that's the Sooty Cat's name she's just in such a state. But I found, just by chance, that if I play Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"which I found on Youtub she calms down and usually will fall asleep for a few hours. Fortunately she never goes outside and there aren't any stray cats around so basically the ordeal is her whining and rubbing all the furniture and her doggy brother with her head and also amusingly, at least for me, rolling around the floor like she's doing kitty yoga or something.
Last night when I let Teddy out in the garden for his final wee, wee break I looked up at the sky to see the most magnificent moon and stars which I was sure meant a beautiful day on Sunday. And, as it turned out this morning it was so gorgeous with bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. Amazing when you think I'm in England and it's December 2nd. It was very cold though so Teddy's morning wee, wee was quick and we went in as fast as we could. I would just leave him out to run and play but he will only do that if I'm outside with him. If I go inside then he will just sit by the door and whine and whine and whine. It's maddening. He loves running and playing in the garden but somehow feels abandoned if you're not out there watching him. He really is worse than a child.
We took our walk around 1pm and it was still so gorgeous and sunny although even the puddles were frozen so it was a good thing I had my warm boots and down coat with gloves, hat and scarf to keep me warm Teddy on the other hand ran into the puddles breaking the ice and just romping around in the cold water.We got some nice pictures of some of our favorite houses in the neighborhood as well as a mother and child horse we came across down a path we hadn't walked before. We were headed to the church. When I got the families mail today from the box I saw a newsletter on Tunstall and included in it was a little quiz for kids on St. Micheal's church. The quiz is for next weeks Christmas Tree Festival which is being held in four neighboring villages including Tunstall and the kids need to answer the questions and submit the completed form to win prizes. The festival is next week so Teddy and I will have to go and meet some of the families and sample the apple cider and local goodies and see the trees which are also being judged.
But back to the quiz, the questions included the following which I thought would be fun to go and see if I could find what they referred to:
1. Look around and you might just see graffiti said to be 16th Century, perhaps the artist was of Orford Descent! What do the carvings represent. - well I found them and they are on the back wall near the baptismal font and they look like something someone would doodle when they're bored especially if they lived in a fishing village or had some connection to the sea as it was mostly sail boats and such. Amazing that in the 16th Century someone dared to deface the church wall but it's great to see them now though.
2. St. Michael's in Tunstall breaks from the norm because it's pews are old in form. Why are they different? How many do you see? And what do you find in pew number 3? - They differ because they have very high walls around each pew so it's like separate pew boxes and there are about 18 I think and I couldn't find anything unique about pew 3 so maybe they'll put something special in there for the kids next Sunday.3. The church is light and with a feeling of space, so look up for a lion with a mischievous face and a unicorn with hair like Rapunzel, but who is the king mentioned here in Tunstall. - I loved this one because the two other times I'd been in the church I'd seen the picture but really didn't see it until today when I looked for the expression on the lion's face and the unicorn's hair. It's so interesting how you can look at a work of art but only see a tiny part of it and then move on but when someone points out something like a mischievous face your whole perspective on the work changes and you wonder what made them put this in a church, it really doesn't fit especially with the hairy unicorn. But I guess if it has something to do with the king, he could have anything put anywhere and no I have no idea what king they are referring to, I may just have to ask someone next week at the festival.
So after we left the church which Teddy didn't much appreciate and even tried to do a wee, wee on a grave stone, we walked home.
Also in the very informative Tunstall Bulletin was an introduction to the new owners of the Green Man pub and a detailed bio of the whole family including the dogs. Information on the up coming Tree Festival and the festivities that take place on Saturday and Sunday including bell ringers opening the festival at 11:00am on Saturday and Christmas carols sung on Sunday at 2:00pm and refreshments to close this years event. There was a very nice message from the Parish clerk about general goings on in Village and St. Michael's Parish in particular needing volunteers to help maintain the Tunstall Common (I'm not sure where that is, but I imagine it's the little park near the bus stop.) And they also asked for more volunteers to keep the church keys (I particularly liked this one) as they need a volunteer each week (the hope to get a different person each time) to open the church around 10am every morning and then in the winter months lock it up around 3:00pm and the rest of the year at 5:00pm. I love that the community is responsible for holding the keys and making sure the beautiful more than 400 old church is open to visitors each day. The church is really worth seeing if only from the outside because it's made from rocks found naturally in the fields here, I recognize them from my walks with Teddy, and cement to keep them all together. The windows are large , clear glass with only the South window above the alter adorned with three colorful figures, St. Michael in the middle or course. There's a small organ and of course the 16th Century graffiti which really is rather interesting and unique.
And to wrap up the goings on from December and January in Tunstall there is a production of a Christmas Carol in a nearby village, Christmas Carols on the 17th with members of the village going from house to house singing including, as highlighted in the article, a dog who jokingly is learning to do a Silent Night solo if they can't get any more volunteers to join in. There is Baby Ballet classes in the Tunstall community hall on Tuesday mornings, Tunstall Zumab on Mondays at 7:30pm in the Village hall and Sunday football on the pitch at he community center at 10:30am and open to anyone age 15 and older and of any athletic level.
There was one section I thought useful for anyone who has children no matter where you live and it's in the section titled "From the Vicar" and read: Christmas is coming. And those of us with children in our family and among our friends and neighbors will be aware of the pressure on our children to want more and more games, toys and clothes - the ones with the right labels - and to imagine that they need these things to be popular and successful. What influences our choices in what we buy? Here is a test to apply when shopping, in a shop or online:
*Why do I want to buy it?
*How often will I use it?
*Can I afford it?
*What will happen if I don't buy it?
This is all very useful and good for any of us in our consumer driven world I thought and he also included a web site that provided the questions above and gives good advice and helpful tips for dealing with children and the way things are marketed to them, etc. www.muenterprises.org/byebuychildhoodmu/
So really there is a lot more going on in this little village than I imagined.
