Waffling on.....

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to one of the residents about Belgium; she was born in Antwerp.  As we looked at photos of the beautiful architecture of Belgian cities, she talked about her childhood, and she rhapsodised about Belgian waffles, hot from the stove. So we resolved to find a recipe, and make some.  Belgian waffles are characterised by yeast batter, which should be left to rise, and become light and bubbly.

 

 We used an electric waffle iron, although it is unlikely such a contraption was available in Belgium between the wars!  The waffles cook in about 5 minutes, before being slathered with butter, jam or chocolate spread.

The taste test........Well they were ok, but nothing like as good as mother used to make. 

Bonfire Night

 

On November the 5th, staff and families joined residents for fireworks in the garden.  Emma helped furnish everyone with sparklers as Mick criss-crossed the lawn clutching his torch trying to find the fireworks he set carefully in position before it went dark!

As the evening's display drew to a close, scented with gunpowder, residents and visitors withdrew to the warmth of the house, to be met with mulled wine, soup, baked potatoes and home made toffee apples.

Elvis is in the building

On Monday the 3rd of November, we had another visit from Pete Webb, who performs as Elvis.

Residents really enjoy this, some of them finding the whole performance utterly hilarious.

Things that go bump in the night...

Hallowe'en was unseasonably warm, with an atmosphere full of the benevolence of a late summer day. In a valiant attempt to instill the evening with some creepy ambience, Emma set about making pumpkin lanterns with the residents. In the end there was quite a production line going.

Lino Printing

When we went to the Higgins on th 22nd, we were able to see some of the original lino blocks that Edward Bawden used to produce his beautiful prints, alongside the finished work. Lino printing is probably the simplest method to understand; you simply cut away the parts of the block you don't want to print. The main limitation is that it is difficult to reproduce fine detail, as the lino is soft, and can be very crumbly.  As the cutting process is quite laborious, today we are going to just use an existing block and take some new prints.

The ink is thick and sticky, so it must be rolled out evenly before inking the block. 

 

Marion inks up the lino block. Because we don't have a printing press, we are going to use a tablespoon to burnish the back of the paper, to transfer the print. 

 After carefully peeling off the paper, we have our print.

Cheese and Wine Evening

On Friday the 24th, we had a French cheese and wine evening, with music from the 1940s.

 

 

Residents thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and carried on singing even after the entertainer had left!

Gallery Visit

 22nd October

A group of us went to The Higgins Gallery in Bedford. We spent the morning visiting the Bedfordshire lace exhibit, and the display of Edward Bawden prints.  Edward Bawden retired to Great Barford after a long and productive career, and left a huge collection of prints to the gallery. We saw some of his work for London Transport, but the display is changed frequently, as there is such a wealth of material to choose from. The Higgins logo at the entrance utilises his illustration for Aesop's fable of the Frog and the Ox.

 

In the Bedfordshire industries gallery, we study the lace making exhibit.  Joan recalls seeing her grandmother making pillow lace at home, and explains the uses of the equipment on display. The stool on the left has a candle mounted on it, and a glass globe which magnified the candle light to illuminate the work. The frame supporting the pillow is called a horse. Just out of sight is a fire pot, which contained embers, to keep the feet warm. Open fires created too much soot, and risked discolouring the lace. Workers were paid a few pence a yard, and sold their work on to lace dealers.

                      
The work from this cottage industry was sold all over the world.  A prominent Bedfordshire dealer called Thomas Lester exhibited Bedfordshire Lace at the Great Exhibition, and the World Fair in Chicago.  Lester gave his most productive workers souvenir bobbins inscribed 'a gift from Lester'.  Unusual bobbins were collected by lacemakers, who were proud of the tools of their trade. Some macabre examples of these are 'hanging bobbins' which were sold to mark executions at Bedford.

After visiting the Edward Bawden exhibit, we had a delicious lunch in the gallery cafe.  Discussing what we had seen, we decided that there was still plenty to merit a return visit, and on that perhaps next time we could concentrate on the china collection.

Back in the taxi to go home.....   With special thanks to Paula, Emma, Jean and Hoffi for supporting this trip and making it possible.  Thank you lovely ladies!