Iden

SEA FOOD AND EAT IT!: My husband and I are dieting [not before time]. It’s a difficult process, counting calories, ignoring the Quality Street left over from Christmas, and basically pretending that we loath and detest the sugars and fats which pile on the pounds [which is phenomenally untrue!] We have a big salad each night, lettuce, grated carrot, peppers, celery and tuna or some chicken perhaps, and a few low-calorie flavourings and maybe a few nuts and bits and bobs to make it resemble a meal. I love salad, but my other half moans that he’s turning into a rabbit. He also blames me for every blip in his diet. “I only eat what you give me”, he says, putting the onus on me, but I’ve seen him tucking into chocolate fingers behind the Daily Mail. My mother in law used to think that she could eat whatever she liked as long as it was accompanied by a slice of lettuce. She’d look up from a scone, jam and cream and say “no, I can have this because I’ve just had my piece of lettuce.” [I think it helps to have a grasp of calorific values before commencing a diet!] One thing I miss is cupcakes. I love cupcakes. Every now and again I have one as a treat, and it feels like having the first decent meal in a concentration camp. I only hope I stick to my diet and don’t fall off the wagon. I fear that Peter Rabbit [him indoors] has already fallen off [someone is eating the Christmas cake!]

A JUMBLE SALE TOMORROW!: There is a jumble sale in Iden Village Hall tomorrow at 12 midday, in aid of Iden Bowls Club. Everyone is welcome. There will be teas and coffees and a cake stall. Last minute jumble can be brought to the hall, but no electrical goods.

BOWLS CLUB BINGO: Bingo, held in Iden Bowls Club begins again on 22nd February. All are welcome for a fun evening. Doors open at 6.30pm, eyes down at 7pm.

A SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION: There is a Service of Holy Communion on Sunday, at Iden Parish Church, beginning at 9.30pm.

MUMS, CARERS AND CHILDREN: There is playtime and fun for pre-school children, at 10.30 am -12 midday, every Wednesday morning in the Old Hall. All are welcome for a tot’s get-together.

IDEN AND DISTRICT NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY: On Friday 8th February, at 7.30pm, in Iden Village Hall, Paul Ripley will give a lecture entitled ‘Ferning In Mexico’. All are welcome, the lectures are of very high standard. Visitors pay £3.

THE IDEN PARISH COUNCIL MEETING: The Council Meeting is on Tuesday 5th February at 7.30pm, in Iden Village Hall. The meetings keep us abreast of what is going on in Iden, Rother, and East Sussex in general. Anything which affects our village can be discussed. Everyone is welcome. Rather than discuss things on Iden’s bush telegraph, come to the meeting where things can be discussed and mulled over openly amongst friends.

AN INTERIM PERIOD: This post -Christmas moment in time can be plodding and dismal can’t it? We are all waiting for Spring with bated breath. Spring makes us wait though, holding us all to ransom, teasing us with its shards of sunlight. My house looked bland, dusty and nondescript this week, so I bought five bunches of daffodils [little yellow angels], which cheered the place up. I bought the bits for a new embroidery too. What has happened to the world, I can seemingly only buy iron-on transfers from the internet [I like to buy mine from an old wooden drawer in a haberdashery shop]. I do enjoy channelling my whole existence into a needle and thread. No worries, just a French knot . I can almost hear my mum warning me to keep the back of the embroidery as neat as the front. I’m very small-minded I know, but I feel so happy and satisfied to be breaking in the newness of the cloth, using specially chosen silks. Their colours thrill me, and buying a new array is the bee’s knees. That’s what hobbies are, things to make your heart sing. I remember my father in law, cigarette clamped to his lower lip, spying a raised car bonnet in the street, always sauntering over to investigate. His love was cars, and the grease and rust that went with them. I watch ‘Car S.O.S’, on TV’, not because I love cars, but it fascinates me to see the absolute joy a rusty heap brings to Tim and Fuzz! [I don’t know if you’ve ever watched it] We all bring something to the table, don’t we? Our diverse passions make life interesting, otherwise life would be as bland as the interim time between Christmas and the first Snowdrop!

CONTACT ME: If anyone has anything to add to the Village Voice, please contact Gill Griffin [telephone 01797 280311]