Thursday 11 December 2008

Two cheering stories for the Christmas Rush!

This time of year we all get a bit stressed however hard we try to avoid it. I was going to wait until after we had been to our feed merchants this morning and then put on a blog about that. But there are two such cheering stories in today's Times I want to share them instead. One is just very funny and the other is so heart-warming in the run up to Christmas. The funny one first:-

In South Lanarkshire in Scotland a middle-aged farmer has written his name in letters 150feet high across his field with his "muck-spreader". He said that he was going to write his full name, but as JIM took three spreadersful of slurry he decided that Jim would have to do! He justified doing it by saying, "Some artists use brushes, I use a slurry tanker!" It was photographed by a flying instructor passing over head. Tried to persuade David to do the same but all I got was a look.

Now for the really heart-warming Christmas story - in Newquay in Cornwall an anonymous artist has spent his time since September painting the Christ Child on pebbles. Now he has scattered three hundred of these tiny images in the street for people to collect in the run-up to Christmas. Each pebble is only a few centimetres across and each depicts baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is the sweetest little image. The artist said, "It's just to spread the real meaning of Christmas and touch people's hearts."

Now, aren't you starting the day with a smile on your face?

26 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Yes, so festive and charming.
There is an unidentified man - I think in Chicago - who goes out on Christmas Eve and hands out $50 bills.
I wish I could do that - just have to fight out from under the flurry of charity leaflets.
How to chose? - easier to give cash to the Salvation Army on the street.
We are giving our son a goat - but sending it to Africa via Heifer international.
I would like a goat myself!!!

The Solitary Walker said...

Reminds me of that artist who won the Turner Prize some years ago with a work made of elephant dung..!

Reader Wil said...

Great stories! The second one is heartwarming and very beautiful and such a pebble is the best x-mas present one could give to a friend!

thousandflower said...

The smile is definitely on my face.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

How lovely - both stories 'spread a little sunshine'. I'd love to know if the flying instructor flies over again in the growing season and sees JIM standing out in lusher growth of whichever crop is in the field!

I'm off to spread a bit more cheese-cake base on the front drive & steps ...

Teresa said...

Hi Weaver,

Enjoyed both stories, but love the idea in the second story: taking time amongst the crowded busyness to find something really special... something that's right in front of you, but unless you look for it, you'll miss it. Isn't that just like life in general?

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

Love them both but am very taken indeed by the idea of being an artist in slurry! Fabulous.

Rob said...

I like that idea with the slurry spreading, the good thing is if he doesn't do the rest of the field it will probably show up next sping too when the grass starts to grow - thats if it is a grass field.

Dragonstar said...

Two very different stories, but yes, I'm smiling.

Mistlethrush said...

Thanks for that - made me smile even though I'm in the middle of writing an irksome essay!

Liz said...

Hi Weaver. Two great stories. That's what I love to hear. Good things at Christmas time. Like Bob's comment about the slurry. I wonder if we would see lovely big green grassy letters. The animals would soon shorten it down. Like what Elizabeth has done too with the goat being given a family in Africa that's what Christmas is all about

Stay warm and take care
Liz
Liz

Gwil W said...

This reminds me of Ahmad Nadalian who carves fish on stones which he leaves in dried-up fishless rivers in the Damavand for people to find.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Love the idea of a goat Elizabeth. We sent one one Christmas but recently some charity organisations have come out against goats saying they are too destructive of the environment.
But I think we all have so much thatat Christmas it is good to give rather than receive.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Seems it takes all sorts in the art world, Robert.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Yes, reader wil, I would love to find one and send it to you.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Pleased it made you smile, Thousand Flower

The Weaver of Grass said...

Raph - glad you enjoyed the stories - not so sure about the cheesecake on your doorstep - think of all the cleaning up when the frost is gone.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Yes .Teresa - I am thinking what I could do along those lines for next Christmas.

The Weaver of Grass said...

The possibilities are endless,Elizabeth - when the farmer gets behind the wheel of the slurry tanker, anything can happen!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Dreadnought - only a man of the soil could think of that!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Glad it made you smile, Dragonstar

The Weaver of Grass said...

Hope your essay turns out well, Carol - a smile always helps when you are in the middle of something irksome.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Glad you enjoyed the stories madbush.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

You're right, Weaver, but I'd rather have to clean the steps than have our visitors slip on them - they are awfully steep! (Been cleaning gallons of chutney off the cooker today).

HelenMWalters said...

That is a lovely story.

Heather said...

What lovely stories and what a special gift from that Cornish artist - so simple but so precious. I think it is a pity your husband didn't take up the suggestion to write his name with the slurry tanker, but just possibly he had 101 other jobs to do around the place.