There’s no place like home!

The question is where is it? is it where you live? Is it where your parents live? Is it where you grew up? Well in many respects I suppose it can be all of them, for me when I think most about home I think about Mulbarton, the place I spent my life between the ages of 8 and 22. Last week we went home for a few days (of course it’s only home for me as neither Gill or my children have ever lived there) and it was great, it was a year since we last got up to Norfolk and things they are a changing, firstly the village where did that round about come from? And how come the road now goes left into Long Lane instead of through the bends and into the rosary? And what is going on with those new houses, they look very nice but out of place, they belong in a town somewhere not a small village. Apart from that it was great to be home, and I still feels like home, despite having moved away to collage in 95 I can still go for a walk and will usually meet people I know (even if I do forget their names, sorry Alice). It was great to see old friends, visit God Children and I’m sorry for those I didn’t manage to see, it’s very difficult finding the balance between visiting people and actually getting a bit of a rest. It was also great to get into Norwich, now I’m not a fan of shopping but if I have to go Norwich would be my preference every time (although it’s getting busier) there are more new shops but the good old favourites there is something about it, there is now huge choice but it is still the place I know where to get what I want even Gill now starts thinking after walking around shops not finding what we want we know exactly where we would go in Norwich. On top of all this we went to a Jim Bailey Praise part on the Saturday evening which was great and then back to my old Church in Mulbarton on Sunday Morning more catching up with old friends and feeling as always when we go excitement about the amount of new people we don’t know but also like it’s somewhere we fit in and feel at home as if we haven’t been away, this is for Gill to (I think). Anyway a great few days.
Upon returning home I had a letter to say my paper and everything was alright and I shall be licensed this coming Sunday so that’s good, looking forward to it.
Now just to get on with everything else!

Christmas Cards

Last Christmas Gill and I decided that we would not send out Christmas cards, not because we were feeling skint or lazy but because we felt there was something better we could do and so we did, this year we intend to do the same again and several people I have spoken to are also intending to do the same this year. Each year there are goodness knows how many millions of Christmas cards sent around the country alone each is then dutifully displayed for a few weeks before being (hopefully) recycled but how much money has been spent on buying and posting these things, how many trees were cut down, just for a pretty picture for a few weeks. So last year we brought a couple of goats from the alternative gift catalogue, we wrote a short news letter and emailed it to all those we would normally have sent cards to explaining that we had spent the money on goats instead (we printed a few to send to those for people who still don’t have internet). It was done in such a way that people could print it and have a picture if the wanted but people still knew we were thinking about them. This was not a money saving exercise, in fact we probably spent slightly more than we would have on cards because we felt it was important that we still used that money but for something so much better. So this year I want to encourage you to do the same. You don’t have to but goats (we might not this year) there are loads of things to chose from starting at just a few pounds and going into the thousands. Just think if everyone you know did this instead of cards how many less trees would come down, how much less landfill would be used how many more people less well off that ourselves could really benefit. Go on give it a go!

Straight Jacket Escape - Flying Cat Circus

I don’t know about you but I find you tube can be quite helpful, I can see that it could become a distraction but I think when you are looking for ideas and inspiration it can be a good place. For example as many of you will know from a post a made a few months back I now have a straight Jacket from which to escape, this has two purposes really:
1. It can be use to get a message across.
2. Two it can be used as part of a performance, especially as either a crowd puller or as a show ender.
So I was looking up how other people do Straight Jacket performances and I cam across this one and just loved it, it’s the kind of thing you see and you just wish you could take credit for something like that (or at least I do)
Be warned it is 5 1/2 mins long!
Enjoy