I was attracted to the premise of the book: that the legacy of Pythagoras – a way of viewing the world as being fundamentally describable with mathematics – imbued much of our modern culture and science. However the execution left a lot to be desired. A long rambling narrative about people who had claimed to be Pythagoreans through history which obscured the wood with the trees was the major issue. An incoherent superficial discussion of modern philosophy, quantum mechanics and postmodernism rounded off this conceptually confused book. I still think there is a great story to tell here about the influence of ancient greek thought our contemporary thought – but it isn’t in this book.
Mum was a gentle, mild-mannered person. She was not a judgemental person. She took everything in her stride and never lost her temper. She certainly never swore. I remember after I got my driver’s licence and one day was driving with her in my car I swore at something some other driver did and she said she was glad she never learned to drive if it meant she would swear like Barbara and me.
She loved her grandchildren. I was always amazed at her relationship with all her grandchildren. I recall my relationship with my grandmother which was not good, but Mum was great with her grandchildren, and they loved her equally as much. She waited a long time for great grandchildren and often would say that her sisters and friends had great grandchildren and it didn’t seem as though she would ever have any and then they arrived one after the other and in seven years there were seven of them.
Like most young marrieds Mum didn’t have any mod cons. She did all the washing for a family of five by hand and didn’t have a washing machine until David was born when we were 14, 12 and 10. We didn’t have a fridge until then as well. For many years she cooked on a coal range.
Most of her married life we lived in the country so there were no shops handy. We didn’t have a car and she had to rely on friends to take her to town to shop. Although in those days the butcher and the baker made deliveries to our home.
She made all Barbara and my dresses until well into our teens. She made a great job of each dress. In latter years we found out she hated sewing, but did it because she had to.
Mum was a great baker and cook. She was still trying out new recipes right up until she became ill at the age of 90 years and had to go into a rest home. A lot of her recipes have been handed down and the grandchildren are now using them. Her gingerbread, fudge and porridge biscuits were legendary.
She was a great walker and used to walk for miles and at a fast pace. Until she was well into her 80s she walked into the city which would take her about 40 minutes. Depending on what time the buses came some times she would walk home as well.
We had a lovely celebration to mark her 90th birthday. The whole family were together for the first time for many years. She really looked forward to it and I took her shopping to buy a new dress. She couldn’t make up her mind between a dress and a suit, so bought both. We also went shopping for new shoes and I was instructed to buy her a new handbag. We have some lovely photos to mark that wonderfully happy occasion.
My Saturdays have not been the same since Mum was moved out of Christchurch following the February 22nd earthquake. There has been a big gap in my life.
Our mother was a great lady and we are certainly going to miss her.
This recipe of Grandma’s for gingerbread is deservedly famous in our family, and graced the back page of the service sheet at her funeral.
Put ¼ lb butter, 1 breakfast cup milk (280mls), 3 large tablespoons golden syrup, 1 breakfast cup sugar into saucepan, bring almost to the boil, add 2 level teaspoons baking soda, pinch salt.
When frothy stir in 2 ½ cups flour sifted with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ginger, 1 teaspoon mixed spice.
Cook for ¾ hour at 350 – 375 Fahrenheit (175 – 190 Celsius).
Our mother must have been a fighter right from the start. She was the youngest of 10 children born in 1916 to Fitzherbert and Ethel Clarkson, in the backblocks of Victoria, Australia. Tragically, her mother died when she was born and she was brought up by her older siblings and then by a housekeeper who then married her father and by all accounts became the original wicked stepmother. She was just 16 when her father died following an accident in a sawmill. Continue reading ‘Barbara’s Tribute to Grandma’
Hello everyone. I’m Kevin Field. I am the privileged oldest grandchild and I had Grandma all to myself for three and a half years. When I was a wee boy, I often wondered what people thought about this tall woman, striding rapidly into town with a gaggle of grandchildren struggling to keep up. For some reason, this thought stayed with me till I was a young adult and was put into perspective when I heard second hand, a quote from Don when walking with Barbara, “Slow down, you’re not walking with your mother now”. Continue reading ‘Kevin’s Tribute to Grandma’
Grandma with Ian, Jody, Brent, Sally, Tanya and Louise
Good morning everyone. On behalf of the family can I welcome you here this morning and express our appreciation to for being here to support us on this occasion. We are extremely humble that you have been prepared to share your time with us. Continue reading ‘Ian’s Tribute to Grandma’
Like all of you here I loved my Grandma. I had a very special relationship with her – as I think did all of her grandchildren. Not everyone has such a special person and such a special relationship in their lives and we should all remember just how lucky we are to have had Grandma. Continue reading ‘Doug’s Tribute to Grandma’
My most beautiful and dearly loved Grandma – Ethel Carswell – died the other day – June 16, 2011, and her funeral was held yesterday (June 26, 2011). Many of the family travelled to turn up to her funeral, despite the issues with the ash cloud and the numerous Christchurch earthquakes. Ethel was a very special person and we will all miss her very much. Continue reading ‘Goodbye Grandma’
My little boy, Conor, is two and absolutely obsessed with trains. This is more than the usual small boy’s interest, or the standard enthusiasm for Thomas the Tank Engine. Conor loves anything associated with trains, any kind of trains. He loves seeing them bo by, he loves train stations, he loves train programmes. One of his favourite pastimes is to watch trains on Youtube - which can keep him occupied for ages. We had heard about this miniature railway in Havelock North (in the Hawkes Bay, New Zealand) so we thought we would check it out when we next visited Conor’s Aunty Marie and Uncle Pete over Easter – and aren’t we glad we did.
The Keirunga Park Railway is fantastic, and not just for train enthusiasts. This is a miniature railway, run by a local miniature railway club. The track itself is really long (for a miniature railway), with multiple tunnels and bridges, going up and round a hill. It even has a control tower! We got there at 10am, and it was just getting started, by midday the place was packed with large queues – so if you are going, get there early. There were lots of different trains, of all types (but not sizes). There were diesel locomotives, steam trains, and electric trains. Conor had six rides on six different trains. His favourites were the steam trains – fired by real coal! He had the absolute time of his life, and we would highly recommend this as a great family outing.
I quite enjoyed John Stack’s first book: Ship of Rome. John Stack’s novels are squarely in the tradition of Bernard Cornwell and Simon Scarrow: historical novels based around ancient military history with central characters of an outsider and a sidekick. The main difference being that John Stack’s books are set in the ancient Roman navy at the time of the Punic wars.
This sequel, Captain of Rome, however was a serious disappointment. There is little character development from the previous novel, the politics seems contrived and the plot dull. It feels like he didn’t know how to develop the story of the greek captain Atticus serving in the Roman navy. Even if you enjoyed the first one, I would suggest that you look elsewhere for your historical fiction.
Pythagoras: His Lives and the Legacy of a Rational Universe. Kitty Ferguson by Kitty Ferguson
