Well, I seem to have discovered a solution to global warming. Forget bio fuels and electric cars, the answer is...homemade ginger beer!!
To be honest, it was only the first batch, but it was enough to blow your socks off. It tasted like homemade schnapps or something - pretty foul anyway. Nevertheless, I persevered and you'll be pleased to know that the second and third batches are delicious, although I'm at a point where I think I'm going to have to keep two plants going simultaneously because the 8 pints per fortnight just aren't enough!

Mitchell and Webb

Is anyone else a big fan of Mitchell and Webb? Just in case you haven't stumbled across it yet there' a new series of 'That Mitchell and Webb Sound' on Radio 4 (which is where it all began). If anyone wants a link to the listen again feature here it is: That Mitchell and Webb Sound Tee hee! Dawn x

Look I have made myself a contributer!

Hi again!
If you look to the right there is now a list of contributers AB with is me Anna and GodwinHQ which is all of us at the moment. And when I do a post (like this one) you can see its me that posted (AB)

Anna

Become a contributer..........you can sign in as yourself!!!

Hi All,

Dawn mentioned a while ago being able to sign in as yourself to post on the blog. I can sort this out. You will then be listed on the blog as a contributer. All I need to do is send you an invite to your email address. You will have to set up a Google account but this is very easy, infact the link will take you through the steps. Its just like setting up a hotmail account or other such things. If you want me to do that let me know (via email as I will need your email address) or if you are happy to carry on signing in as godwinhq then that is fine too! Please someone do it cos I want to see how it works!!!

Anna

OK, it’s not Port Meadow but we have our own floods here. This was taken last year near Cheltenham on the way to work.

Firstly, sorry for not taking more time to look at this blog before. I could come up with lots of highly plausible excuses about time and commitments and the dog eating my homework blah, blah, blah but no one who knows me would believe me so I won't waste your time.

However, what I have noticed is that as a clan we seem to have diversified (or infiltrated) into a wide variety of professions, hobbies, interests and locations. I've got to admit that I do less than I could to stay in touch with everyone (it's a sad reflection that it took a funeral for me to catch up with my cousins and extended family).

So in the absence of actually meeting someone face to face (heaven forbid in this digital age), if anyone has a website, email address, profiles or blogs that they want to share then perhaps we need to get a directory of them going.

Is there any way with this blog (I haven’t investigated yet) that we can create a sort of address book with our various contact details on, preferably one that is private to us? Perhaps something we could add into the extended info on the profile?

Matt

 

Some of the next generation of the clan.
Jack, Ben, Robin, James and William, Jesame, Ella May and Kizzie

James seems to be doing his best to unscrew his brother's head.

I've been teaching mum (Beth) to use Picasa to organise her photos and even a technophobe like her is quite excited by it. It has a neat function whereby you can load pictures directly from your albums onto this blog so once mum gets the hang of it, expect to be inundated with photos. For anyone else who's getting to grips with digital photography I can heartily recommend Picasa (just Google it for a free download) and no, I'm not being sponsored by them.

Matt

Heading to the river

 

Heading out to the river with the pram, brings back a few memories.

Taken by Beth June 2007

Explosion?

OK OK which one of you Eynsham dwellers blew Newland Street up yesterday? I hear the lots of people had to be evacuated from their homes.....

Anna

Azorean Holiday....

hi all
we are back from our holiday in the azores and as you can see from our attire we went whale watching. our clothing consisted of a ankle length yellow waterproof mac and a life jacket. the trip was definately not for the faint hearted as the sea was rather rough! penny says very rough!! when we arrived at the whale destination the boat slowed down and we just drifted, it was at this point a large hole in the sea appeared in front of us. as we entered the hole a large wave decided to fill the boat. hence penny needs a new phone as her rucksack filled with water . the water then went in at the neck of her mac and out at her feet. but we did see whales so it was well worth it. sorry there are no pics of the whales as we had to use both hands to cling on to the boat. the rest of the holiday was very very nice.
penny and merv.

Happy birthday

Hi John Happy Birhday hope you had a good day
Craig Amber & Ben

Happy Bithrday John!

Love Anna & Anthony xxxx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN

Hope you have a lovely day.... he he! to all who don't know John hates his Birthday and will no doubt be a grumpy guts!

Here is a picture in happier times as John devours our house with a hammer....

Tree felling!

Hi Dawn!
Not quite a picture of the house but a picture of Anthony, our friend Phil and his son Josh felling one of the huge confers in the back garden. The tree was as tall as the house (three stories) and Phil climbed to the top and lopped off sections!!!

Anna

thank you Anna

Thank you for you advice today Anna, I really appreciate you being there... once again it made me realise how lucky we are to have each other. And whatever is thrown our way what Nan & Gramp have taught us is invaluable....

Nan's magic wisdom too make things better lives on in each of us and you were there with her genes to help me get through!


Thank you so much XXX

Love becca

New Home

Congratulations on your new home Anna & Anthony; may you have many years of lots of fun and happiness!

With all our love Becca & John

May Birthdays

Happy birthday Leon (18 years) Jesame (2 years) Paul, James, anyone else i forgot?
Amber xx

brown jug with hunting scene from 79

hi all
i always promised nan that i would try and find out a little bit about this jug. it bore the inscription w gessy, the bull inn, charing cross, launton. on friday penny and i went to launton near bicester and found the bull inn. a large thatched building.
i showed it to the landlord and he was very impressed and took numerous photos and then he showed me a list of landlords from when the inn first opened. low and behold the landlord from 1873 to 1879 was william gessy. the jug is dated 1875. cased closed. nan could never remember where it came from although it had been in her family for many years. secondly are there any twitchers in the family (birdwatchers) if so please visit www.eco-watch.com/livecams scroll down and click on blue tit cam.you will have to be quick because they are growing fast and will probably fledge within the next 8 to 10 days
merv.

We Have Lift-Off!

Hello Goblins!

Just to let you know that I have finally embarked on the great Ginger Beer quest and have started a plant! The fresh yeast was a bit weird, it came in a block like a bar of saop (like I remembered it) but the instructions said to stir till it became liquid. Well, after being a little sceptical and fighting the urge to call my mum (some things never change), suprise, surprise, it became liquid! I will be feeding it religiously for the next 10 days at which point I will be dividing my plant and will have a spare plant. If anyone wants to join the quest, let me know. I'll keep you posted and will let you know how things progress. First batch will be ready 3rd June, so perhaps I should find a way of dropping off a batch for the family picnic so that it can be sampled by a panel of experts?

Dawn

Mags...

Hi there,
If anyone is interested Custom Made has been featured in a couple of magazines this week. You can have a look on my other blog www.custommadeuk.blogspot.com

Anna

beccas memory garden

hi becs
would you like me to dig up some cowslip plants for the memory garden. you could keep them in a pot or plant them in a rough patch of ground until you are sure where
you want to put them . i am going down on sunday with your mum and could dig them up then . please let me or your mum know.
merv.

Hi all, finally found time to sit and read blogs. It is a great way to keep in touch and will definitely keep Nan and Gramp's memories alive.

Congratulations Lisa on your new arrival! Hope you are all keeping well and Elliot is relishing being the big brother.

I am going to mum's for half term in May and on my way back through to London wondered if anyone would like to meet for a picnic down the river, weather permitting? The boys have never been down to play by the river and we could either go to the spinney or near the bathing place. It would be lunch time on Sunday 3rd June.

I have inherited a book which I gave to Nan years ago for her to write memories, poems or thoughts in. It has been wonderful to read the things Nan felt were important to her and I thought I would share a quote that Nan has signed as "Peggy", so I think she may have written it herself as everything else in the book has the source written beneath it.

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I cannot see you.
Walk beside me and be my friend."

Hope to see a few of you in June,

Ros

79 godstow road garden

hi all
dont forget if any of the family would like plants from nans garden please help yourselves

Nanny’ s Memories.

Have you ever wondered where Nanny got her sense of humour?


A sooty story.

A story I remember very well from my childhood. We had a very dear uncle who went to live in London.After winning a scholarship to Culham college he had become a teacher in London where he met and married very lady-like Aunty Dolly.
When they came on a visit, we children called her Queen Mary, o.ften looking very queen-like in her flowing georgette dresses. On one visit we were having a very lavish afternoon tea.(Aunt Dolly in daffodil georgette ) It was a very cold Easter. Mother had urged Father to make a huge fire in the open fireplace. It was soon blazing beautifully when suddenly there was a tremendous roar – the chimney was on fire! Mother looked accusingly at Father who had only swept the chimney a couple of days before, but he had a little trouble with the brush. It would not come down so Father being Father had left it up there.How did he know it would catch fire at such an unfortunate time ?
Down came the brush, soot and and all, showering the beautifully laid table, Auntie Dolly, and yellow georgette with a fine layer of soot. Father , by this time, was helpless in the kitchen, shoulders shaking. He always saw the funny side of everything.
Poor Auntie Dolly. I don’t remember what happened about her lovely dress, but they quickly left for London in the morning. My brother went up the very wide old chimney with water and some cloths and put out the fire. An old wooden beam had nearly caught on fire. Mother did not let Father sweep any more chimneys!

posted by Beth

Button Brooches

Hi everyone,
Here are a couple of the brooches I made from the buttons Nan gave to me. Sorry the picture isnt very good! If anyone would like one let me know. Just email your address and I will send you one.

Anna

new baby

to lisa and cecil and elliot
congratulations on your new arrival
penny and mervyn

Happy New Baby!

We're so thrilled for you all. Hugs and kisses to Lisa, Cecil, Elliot and little Alexa. Can't wait to see pictures! With love from Dawn, Todd and the girls x

Congraulations to Lisa,cecil And Elliot
well done to the 15th great grand child and in to the godwin clan
lots of love Craig,Amber & Ben

Congratulations Lisa, Cecil & Elliott!

Congratulations to you all on birth of baby Alexa, what a gorgeous name! we wish you all the happiness in the world

Love always Becca & John XXXXX

Buttons!

Hi!
I wanted to show everyone the bag of buttons Nan gave me a little while ago! I'm busy sorting them as we speak and I'm going to make some lovely things wih them. I will keep you posted!
Anna

Hello Everyone,
here's the original GINGER BEER recipe as given to me by Nan.

TO START PLANT>
2oz fresh yeast,
2level tablespoons sugar
2 level tablespoons ginger
1/2 pint water

1 Blend yeast and sugar until liquid
2 Add ginger and water and stir well
pour into covered jar.


EACH DAY


stir in 1 level teaspoon sugar
1 level teaspoon ginger



AFTER TEN DAYS

Dissolve 18 oz of sugar in 1 1/2pints water.
Bring to boil then cool slightly.Add juice of two lemons

Strain ginger beer plant through fine muslin and add liquid to syrup and lemon juice and 6 more pints of water.
Stir well and bottle at once in strong screw top bottles.
Store in cool place,ready in two weeks.



TO KEEP PLANT GOING.

Halve the left over sediment and place in two jars,add 1/2 pint of water, 2level teaspoons of sugar and ginger.Stir and cover and feed as each day.One plant may be discarded or passed on to someone else.



GOOD LUCK , LOVE JILL