Anna Jones Buttimore

  Last September my husband and I bought an MG 5 LR EV Exclusive. That "LR EV" stands for "Long Range Electric Vehicle." Our first electric car. I'd long been thinking that we were the ideal family for an electric car. We rarely drive long distances, we have our own driveway, and with three members of the family suffering from asthma we're keen to be part of cutting emissions. Hubby said he would have been okay with a hybrid, but that sounded like fence-sitting to me. With the price of a litre of diesel touching £2.00 at the time (US$8.40 per gallon) and the petrol crisis still fresh in our memories, I was keen to get away from the need to buy fuel at the forecourt. Our diesel Kuga was approaching the end of its contract and it was time to choose a new one. So off we went to the Ford showroom and asked what electric cars they had. Only two: a Mustang (a sporty beast) or a Transit van. The Mustang looked very pretty, but wouldn't fit Roderic's hockey ...

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Straight in with a really challenging verse. God is meting out the punishment to Eve of her disobedience in allowing herself to be tempted by satan into eating the forbidden fruit, and the punishment is pain and subjugation. My church officially believes in the literalness of the creation story, but I don't know of many actual members who do. Most Christians I know believe the Bible has a lot to say about the "why" and "who" but not about the "how", and that the Genesis accounts actually do tie in with current scientific thinking on the "how". I tend to believe that anything in the scriptures is there for a reason, because of what it can teach us, and the account of Adam and Eve is no exception. They are a metaphor for all of humanity - it's tenden...

I haven't written anything on my blog for years. Initially this blog was to promote my books but I've got posts about every other subject under the sun here now, from running to my late cat to drag queens. I think now I will use my blog as somewhere for self-expression. An online journal where I can put out into the world the things I want to say without the expectation that anyone will actually ever read it. A brain-dump, if you like. One of the things I think I need to publish is my 3:16 experience.  A few years ago I went through a period of several months where the numbers 3:16 kept appearing. I'd wake up in the night and check the time and it would be 3:16 (and no, I didn't have any kind of alarm set). I'd check my watch in the afternoon and it would be 3:16. My new favourite song was 3 minutes and 16 seconds long. My habitual locker at the gym, when I finally looked at the number, was number 316. My best time on the card game app I like is 3 minutes and 16 sec...

In a famous line from Romeo and Juliet, Juliet says  O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Lots of people think she’s asking where he is, but she’s actually asking, “Why do you have to be Romeo Montague?” Juliet is a Capulet, and the Montague and Capulet families are old enemies. Romeo’s name is a problem to Juliet, because it means they can’t be together. Later in that same scene she says What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. She has a point. What we call things is largely arbitrary – it doesn’t change the nature or existence of the thing in question. In fact, everything has many names when we consider how many languages there are which might all have different words for that rose. I’ve had three surnames in my life but I’m still the same person.  So what’s in a name? Why are names important? The folk tale Rumpelstiltskin, although popularised by the Brothers Grimm, is thought to be up to ...

I've been asked for these so often I figured the best way to pass them along is just to dump the whole lot online. Most of them are also Slimming World friendly. Enjoy! Vegetable Tagine 2 tsp each ground cinnamon and cumin 1 tsp each dried red chilli flakes, ground coriander, smoked paprika, ginger and turmeric 1 large onion, finely sliced 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 tin chopped tomatoes ½ tsp sweetener 350 ml vegetable stock 200g each butternut squash, carrots and maris piper potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-size pieces 1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed Handful of dried apricots, cut into halves (leave out for syn free) Couscous Fry the spices with the onion and garlic. Add the tomatoes, sweetener, stock, vegetables and chickpeas and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the apricots and serve with couscous. Veggie Burritos 3 sweet potatoes 1 onion 200ml vegetable stock 1 chilli, chopped Tin of mixed beans (drained) 1 tbsp tomato puree Fajita seasoning or other Mexican spices,...

One of the interesting effects of the covid-19 pandemic has been the increase in religious behaviour. Research by Tearfund and Savanta ConRes  suggests 44% of UK adults now say they pray regularly, and 24% have "attended" an online church service since the start of lockdown. Churches were quick to respond to the pandemic, moving services online via YouTube, Facebook Live and Zoom, and this has made it easier for the "church-curious" to get involved. After all, it's much less daunting to watch a YouTube livestream on your phone in your own living room than it is to walk through heavy double doors into an imposing building full of over-friendly strangers. I'm ahead of the curve because I've been attending church services on a regular basis for around the last 30 years. But you know, church is for life, not just for a crisis, and I fully endorse and recommend the church-going lifestyle, whatever your beliefs. Here's what it has done for me: It's giv...