Out of the roof came forth sweetness...

Have lived below a colony of wild bees for the last five years who have kindly created all this honeycomb (4.5 cubic feet) ready for some seriously local honey to be extracted. East Mersea's bee man Peter Inson both supervised opening up the roof and safe removal of the bees which will now be under his care. He estimates this haul should produce around 80lbs of honey with a shelf life of ~4,000 years!

Help for Heroes... Mersea style

 

There was a bit of excitement on our fair Isle this afternoon as the British Army managed to get one of their trucks seriously stuck in the Mersea Island mud! In the true spirit of Island community the farmers and fishermen rallied round and assisted with tractor and knowledge to extricate...

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The ONE artist meme...

 

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, answer these questions. Be as clever as you can. You can't use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think...

Pick your Artist: Peter Gabriel

Describe yourself: Across the River
How do you feel: Down To Earth
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Mercy Street
Your favourite form of transportation: On The Air
Your best friend is a: Kiss Of Life
You and your best friends are: Heroes
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called: Shock The Monkey
What is life to you: The Book Of Love
Your current relationship: The Power of The Heart
Your fear: Here Comes The Flood
What is the best advice you have to give: Love To Be Loved
I would like to die... Home Sweet Home
Time of day: Big Time
My motto: Don't Give Up

h/t Rev Sam and tagged by Canon Phil

I tag: Pastor John, The Artist and Tartist, Jon Evens, Tim Abbott and RJ (when love comes to town)

We all fall short of glory...

The 7 Link Challenge

1. Your first post - Seeing a No Entry sign and chain right across the entrance to a local church cracks me up (and saddens me) everytime I drive past. Managing to finally have photographic evidence was the incentive to start blogging! Next post showed how the pub approached it
2. A post you enjoyed writing the most - Having listened to the Podcast called GodPod #53 I saw an opportunity to respond and release my thoughts about art, music and have another pop at modern worship music.
3. A post which had a great discussion - My heartfelt post about struggling to understand Anglican obsessions Let me Through I'm an Anglican provoked comments with concern and resonance. The picture is not about voting with feet and more about our when offering resource(s) is turned away by attitudes of the 'shouty loudest' minorities.
4. A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written - This has to be an articulate outburst by musician Steve Lawson taking the greedy record companies apart as a result of the threat of the Digital Economy Bill. Steve's post also includes his favourite post of 2009.
5. Your most helpful post - Slightly tricky to determine so probably embedding the very clever World Cup Planner I tracked down, lots of return visits to check updates and results.
6. A post with a title that you are proud of - It's got to be Spinal Tap meets Chequebook Worship.
7. A post that you wish more people had read - It was one of those Memes that I pondered over muchly: I need(ed) some Time to Think...!

From: ProBlogger h/t The Church Mouse

The Village People rule OK

Sometimes I'm really glad I do actually say what I think! For a while I have been commenting on how wonderful the in-house honey and mustard salad dressing tastes at the very best eating place on Mersea, The Art Café. I've been calling it 'Jungle Juice' and they've kindly been giving me extra helpings! Then on Friday, at our staff training lunch, the proprietors, the lovely Maggie and James presented me with my very own bottle of their delicious nectar!

A very chuffed and smiley BanksyBoy!

Allotment pre-production line...

It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine... Ezekiel (quotation, NOT context!)

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Computer destiny post iPad domination...

Pc Coffee Maker

See more funny pictures and videos at Fugly.

A use for all the old PCs after Apple iPads take over the armchair world... as long as it's Fairtrade coffee, of course!

Coffee much needed today at the half way point on After The Fire's wee Help for Haiti tour of Essex and Sussex, last night centre of the lesser known universe, Mersea Island, tonight down in Burgess Hill.

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Putting money where mouths are... for Haiti

Delighted us old rockers, After The Fire, (or ATF) have been approached to play not one, nay, two fundraisers next weekend to raise money for the needs of the folk in Haiti:

Jan 29th 2010 - Haiti Fundraiser - ATF plus two Bands £5 min donation
Essex Youth Camp - Mersea - CO5 8SX - Doors Open 7:30pm

Jan 30th 2010 - Haiti Fundraiser - Touchstone, The Puritans and ATF £5 min donation
St Paul's Catholic College - Burgess Hill - RH15 8WA - Doors Open 6:30pm

Spread the word!

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Mad Mersea Mayhem!

 

Scenes at the fourth Mersea Island Boxing Day swim to raise money for the RNLI today... a gorgeous day for it! This event has now grown from a handful of entrants in its first year to nearly 100 watched by a crowd of around 600.

Away in a (bus shelter) manger..

After our local Christmas Market here on Mersea my son and I were 'walking' the crib back to the church when I thought I would quickly snap our local bus shelter with the manger inside... this links in with the bus stop ad that's running. Then today I read Ship of Fools co-editor Steve Goddard's tweet about the nativity cribs abandoned in London to draw attention to the plight of the 100,000 children that sleep rough each year. This is a campaign launched by the charity 'Railway Children' which champions the welfare of street children.

Encouraging yet deeply challenging stuff...

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Time and Tide...

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One desirable aspect of when the tide comes up over the road on Mersea Island is that there is a little window when everything stops for a while... no-one can get on or off the island (via the causeway called 'The Strood' locally) and midweek there is a peace that gently descends, wonderful!

Thursday looked good!

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History was made today, the first time it has rained at the East Mersea Fete - Barbeque Summer?

Ancient and Modern

This is here just because I like it... blog discovery of the day

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