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Lyndsay....an occasional housewife and full time mother. Ours is a life of seaside picnics,cooking & crafts.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Jam Tarts & Justice

Us Eley girls have been having a strange of time of it this week. Life sans husband doesnt suit me so well and the girls are definatly missing the rough and tumble playtimes with Dad. Luckily weve had Nanny around to help out and entertain. Weve had some highs (a ride on the vintage bus,picnic at the beach and a fab pampered chef party) but weve also had a big low that,try as I might, I cant seem to shake off.

Yesterday we were really looking forward to escaping the rain and hiding out in our favourite fish and chip shop- Scoffs of Paignton. Id long been singing the praises of this place since we first tried their admittedly yummy chips. And so we settled at a table,put Iris in the slighly doddery looking highchair and Nanny gave the order to the waitress while I took Poppy to the toilet.

The next thing we know Iris is slipping down and becoming trapped in the highchair! It took four of us to free her from the cold- war-esque contraption that was folding furthur in on itself. Horrible.

The ordeal continued when I 'approached the pass' to complain to the head chimp.  Most people hearing that a child had been hurt would have shown some concern,but no,this Jeremy Kyle reject launched into a full scale grunt fest in which I was told 'I have people like you in here every day' and 'If you cared that much for the baby,youd have noticed there werent any straps'. He clearly thought I was lying or exadurating,despite the shop full of witnesses.


So,what do you do....? Well...we went home and made some tarts!

Having never actually made tarts before,I was a little unsure but we still had some shortcrust pastry left from the pampered chef party so I thought Id give it a go. I have to say they were really rather good! There was none of that icky taste of a shop brought tart or that shiny glaze that has always put me off them. Even Poppy,with her ever growing list of unacceptable foods,managed to stuff down four! Or should that be scoff...??! 

As is often the case though,sugar was only a temporary solution. My rage continued;the destabilising effect of being without my husband only hightened the bad feelings,the sense of injustice. Should I have confronted him? Should I have just sat down and had a nice quiet lunch??! Would he have dared to speak to me like that if Id had the back up of my big, strong (allbeit slightly dippy!) man?


And what is the godly response....? As I stood in front of this hideous man and accused became accuser,I had a real sense of Gods presence-a feeling that He knew where the blame lay. This man had not only put my little one at risk,she also belongs to God-and vengence is His. No,it was right to speak up and Id have done it for anyone elses child.


So often we feel God in the peace,but when he comes in anger,the rage of a parent defending their child,its always an unsettling feeling. And yet its a feeling we should encourage. This world,beautiful as it is,is unjust. And until that day when He returns,and justice flows like a river,its up to us to fight for His children. Of course,once we allow our heavenly Father to step in,we must also step back-and eventually forgive. I'm not there yet,I can still see the image of my childs squashed face trapped between tray and chair leg,and were Jeremy Vine to call me and ask me to slag them off on his lunchtime show,I have to say Id do it! But I KNOW that the chip-fat chimp will pay, one way or another.  He is still shovelling chips,whereas we have starlight strawberry tarts!


Starlight Strawberry Tarts



250g ready made desert shortcrust pastry
strawberry jam
handful of sliced strawberries
sugar stars to sprinkle

Bake the case for 15 mins on 190 then fill and return to oven until strawberries are soft.
Leave to cool!

5 comments:

  1. you made me smile love it ! Kathryn x

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  2. and I hope Iris is ok now, poor baby x

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  3. Great blog, hope you and Iris are fully recovered
    Louise
    X

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  4. Love the strawberry tarts, and I've never seen sugar stars before.

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  5. "He is still shovelling chips,whereas we have starlight strawberry tarts!"
    Lynds, YOU ARE A GENIUS and a real godly woman with a heart of gold!! Am loving your posts... Been longing to catch up on here ever since I got bk from France. And am not disappointed :)
    Great story, if also slightly horrific...!! And a great moral to your story
    AM LOVIN' IT.
    Waaaay more than MacDonalds.
    xxx

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