Preston Guild 2012 photo scrapbook

My Preston Guild Photo 

Scrapbook

I have been out taking photos today for my Preston Guild 2012 scrapbook so i thought i would share some with you here. It all started with a trip to see the Methodist Church Art collection at St Peters Art Center - only it finished yesterday! - some of the leaflets had the wrong date... All photos taken 19/7/2012

This was one of  just two artworks i was able to see from the Methodist Church Art Collection at St Peters Art Center at  UCLAN . This is a collection of Christian Art second only to that of the Vatican It is entitled "The Crossover the City by Michael Edmonds, 1962, and is a polyester,brass and mosaic relief panel. I also saw the Dalit Madonna, an oil painting by Jyoti Sahi and i found this work particularly moving. Just wish i  had seen the whole collection.

I went online later to view the collection which was great

The rest were already packed up ready to go to London

Saw this on the outside wall of the church

A train in flowers on the University roundabout complete with carriage below!

And next to it - well - a flower in flowers! 

Even the bins have caught Preston Guild Fever. This photo was taken from the bottom of Friargate looking towards the town centre

A lovely lively scene of the market square ready for the Guild. There are some new flag posts but not sure if for the Guild or if permanent - look good though !

I  still felt in the mood for some culture so i decided to take a look inside Preston Minster - the Parish church of Preston - at the top of Church Street - the door was open!

A nice lady from the church explained a lot of the artifacts to me - Thank you!

A fab hand painted mural

An embroidered chair back featuring the Preston lamb

Fabulous patchwork and embroidered panel

The present church building was designed/built by E.H.Shellard between 1853-1855 to replace previous buildings withe the earliest record of a church on the site going back to 1094 and St Wilfrid - an ancient Christian site. In 2003 the church was renamed Minster Church of St John to mark the granting of City status to Preston.

Another of the handmade panels

Walking home i noticed the fence had gone from a small wild flower meadow planted at the botton of North Road. Some really pretty flowers and some new trees. I think this is part of the Guild Wheel walkway/cycleway

Finally. on the Blackpool Road/Garstang Road corner of Moor Park

Lovely food on very little money!

This week i have had to be very inventive with the food i have to stretch it out till the end of the week. It has been fun and hard too.

Great new snack! I bought a punnet of plums in a town center market stall type shop for £1 and a large punnet of strawberries from a local store for 50p as they were on their sell by date. Looked fine to me.
I had a crust of lovely brown bread so i stewed plums,strawberries and sugar and served warm on the bread. Absolutely delicious. Lots left for later. Around 50p.
I also have been making rice pudding. I bought a 500g bag of rice pudding from Marks and Spencer for £1.19 and cooked 25g with half a pint of milk to make a meal size snack. i threw in a couple of cardamon pods when cooking to add a lovely scent and taste - removed just before serving. I added 20g sugar and a little fat -10g- just before serving. Approx 20p. I don't like the skin on rice pudding and found leaving a lid on while cooking prevented this.

Last night i had chicken drumsticks 65p for 6 on sell by date and vine grown tomatoes 5 large for 42p on sell by date plus new potatoes 25p for bag. All in one pan in the oven with some olive oil,salt and pepper. My portion cost around 60p.
I feel i eat better when i have less money as i have to draw on cooking skills learnt at school and really plan to make the very best of what i have.
Tomorrow i am planning to soak and cook a bag of dried butter beans. I am going to casserole with some fresh tomatoes and new potatoes and whatever meat eg sausages i can buy on offer tomorrow. I might even try it with tuna.

And an interesting fact I read recently - just half a carrot is one portion of the 5 fruit and veg a day we are advised to eat in the UK!