Povey Prattle

To be eaten with Can you guess when I will eat it?

Penne I cried for three days when she left this life in February.  She was a good friend for nine years. Ben was with me for just three months then he had to be re-adopted because his separation anxiety when I left my home was pitiful. He is now happily living with a family who already had a Greyhound, so Ben has a good pal. But I still remember that as we walked he would often nudge my hand, a lovely sign of affection. Izzy the new light of my life. She is not usually allowed to be on the sofa, but I allowed her to stay there until I took this picture of her- in all her majesty and beauty.

I have a new car. It is a silver grey coloured small car, a Kia Forte There are too many silver colored small cars. So I am that poor old duffer who wanders around parking lots trying to look confident, but in truth utterly unable t o find which of the silver colored small cars is his, and hoping that no one notices that he is trying to unlock every single silver coloured small car until he finds his own. "But there he goes"  they think or say.: "that poor old senile fool who cannot find his car". YUP.  That's me!

My new car.  Not really.   My Christmas Day meal was at a  pretty swanky Club.  This Rolls Royce (**)  was not in the general parking area. nor in the valet parking area.  It was parked immediately outside the main entrance -  where the valet parking staff could keep it under their watchful eyes. W hen I was a parish Rector I left the opening of my Christmas Cards until after "Midnight Mass".  I needed to wind down after the various Christmas services before I was ready for sleep.  No parish duties these days but I still leave the cards unopened until Christmas Day. I especially like the photo' cards.  Some of the babies I baptised are now teenagers.  Some of the teenagers in the youth groups are now college graduates, some of them are married, and some of them have children of their own.  I feel so old, and so very grateful. It's against the rules, but I allowed Izzy to sit on the Sofa on  Christmas Day.  She is so utterly

CHRISTMAS DAY 2017  For the fourth year in a row I was with my friends (the Revd) Fred Emrich and Diana Emrich.  Fred, jmp,Diana We enjoyed a splendid buffet lunch at their Club on Longboat Key (Sarasota) FL. Terrific salad bar with oysters on the half shell, shrimp, salmon, asparagus etc. Over abundant and tasty main course buffet. Desserts "to die for" especially if you like chocolate. (I chose Flan for dessert - Spanish/American style. not British style.) Flan U.K. Flan USA/Spanish ================================================================ BEFORE DESSERT! My main course, Veggies, Prime Rib, Turkey Breast  and Codfish  (hidden under the Turkey Breast) COOL!

December 26th is a public holiday in the U.K. and in some Commonwealth Countries. There are many tales and myths about its origins (see Snopes article below) . I have uncovered the truth. It's a public holiday created by and for cats. https://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/boxingday.asp

I post this every year at Christmastide  https://youtu.be/gSeLzsl8xsU   "O Holy Night" Nat King Cole sings with beauty and with such superb diction. The History of "O Holy Night" The following is not my writing.  I "lifted it" from the WWW Stories Behind the Music: "O Holy Night" "O Holy Night" remains one of the world's most beloved Christmas carols, with uplifting lyrics and melody. The lyrics were written by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a resident of Roquemaure, France (located a few miles north of the historic city of Avignon). Cappeau was a wine merchant and mayor of the town, as well as an occasional writer of poetry.  Known more for his poetry than his church attendance, it probably shocked Cappeau when his parish priest, shortly before Cappeau embarked on a business trip, asked him to pen a poem for Christmas mass. In a dusty coach traveling down a bumpy road to France's capital city, Cappeau co

On Friday 22nd I went shopping and tuned in on my car radio to WUSF our local public radio station. WUSF (University of South Florida)  was beginning yet another dreary political taking heads programme (lots of opinion, few facts), so I switched over to WSMR   (Sarasota Music Radio). there to encounter Christmas music of such immense beauty that my heart was filled with wonder and joy. It turned out to be an (edited?) version of the recent Christmas Concerts given by Sarasota's fabulous KEY CHORALE under the direction of the storied choral conductor Dale Warland. Since I was driving and shopping I could  not enjoy every moment of this wondrous Concert, but there were three pieces which took me back into "lovely memory land". FIRST  Es ist ein Ros entsprungen   by Michael  Praetorius (translated or paraphrased ) into English as "A Great and Mighty Wonder". MEMORY  As a High Schooler in a "pretty good" School Choir I set out with others