BRECKLES NEWS AND VIEWS FOR JANUARY 2021

St. Margaret’s Church

The church is open on a Sunday from 9a.m. until 4p.m.

The next service at St. Margaret’s is Holy Communion on Wednesday 27th January at 10a.m.  Editor's note; Please note that all services have been suspended until January 10th, when a further review will take place. We will post updates to the Benefice page.

On behalf of St. Margaret’s PCC we wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

Karen Allen Breckles Churchwarden

Margaret Morfoot Writes

It is 5 years since I moved from Stow Bedon to Norwich which I find amazing. Thank you to Bridget Hall who posts me the Waylander every month which means I do keep up with all that goes on in the villages of which I was so much part of for 56 years. Until this year I have visited loads of village events and really hope to catch up again in 2021. I do miss you! I loved the article from Jenny and Steve Bradshaw. It brought back memories of our family connection with Flaxmoor, a much loved home for Peter's family. How amazing that the Bradshaws have been there exactly twice as long as the Morfoots, just shows how old I am!!

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and good health to all.

Margaret Morfoot

New Year Traditions

 ‘First footing’ is all about the first foot in the house after midnight. To ensure good luck the first foot should be a dark male bearing coal, salt, bread and a dram of whisky symbolising warmth, wealth, food and good health respectively.

The dark male is a throwback to Viking days when a fair-haired stranger could mean trouble. As visiting may not be so easy at the moment, maybe those of us with a dark-haired male in our bubble should send them out and back in again quickly for good luck as the New Year starts!

For those without, another tradition used to secure good luck is to open the back door of the house to make the old year go.

Village Characters

My peek back into village life in the past has continued since writing the last issue, and I found it fascinating reading Bronwen’s feature about Christmases past in Thompson. That revealed, amongst other things, that it was common for schools to close for epidemics of diseases which we now see as mild or prevented by vaccination, although they might have been life-threatening then.

Of course, since that was published, we have had the wonderful news that a Coronavirus vaccine has been cleared for use here, so we now have hope, at last, of better times ahead as we enter 2021. We all hope that the Waylander will serve in the future as a record of how our lives changed in 2020. For now, of course, we must all still be careful.

Thinking of 1920’s rural life, I remembered that one of my Grandfathers’ books, A Village Portrait, was written specifically to record what life was like back then and writing this column prompted me to re-discover it last month after many years. In it he described many village customs and traditions, explaining how the village pig club worked and even detailing what the shops sold, and how. It was like having him in the room to hear about it from him.

Although we may think future generations might not find our way of life interesting now, it undoubtedly will be, so if you have a bit of time on your hands maybe it’s worth jotting down a few memories to pass down.

The most entertaining sections in A Village Portrait were where he described many of the quirky characters who made everyday life so interesting. I found it quite fascinating to re-read, and one extract, in particular, made me laugh. He was describing a village character called Harry who undertook a wide variety of jobs around the village. One of them was helping to tend my grandparents’ garden, and like many others of that era, he lived by his folklore.

Grandpa wrote ‘’On one of his many visits Harry arrived with a good bunch of rosemary which he handed to my wife saying, ‘I sis as you ain’t got no rosemary in your garden, I thought I’d bring yer a bit. You wants to boil some, ‘ot it up in a gallon of water and then wash yer ‘air in it. You’ll never get no grey hairs come then.’

Grandpa continues “At the first opportunity Harry could find to speak to me alone he said; ‘I didn’t bring her a bit with roots on as her could plant in the garden, ‘cos you know what they says – where rosemary grows the Missis is boss.” I do wonder what my Grandmother made of that little anecdote when she read it in the book, although when my husband reads this, he will no doubt banish rooted rosemary from our garden, possibly to no avail and far too late. She might have listened to what Harry said to her though as she never did go grey!

Every village has a few interesting characters and that’s no exception today, although I doubt I would ever be brave enough to describe and identify them as he did!

Wishing everyone the very best for 2021. 

Bella Brodie

Breckles Correspondent

BRECKLES NEWS AND VIEWS FOR DECEMBER 2020

St. Margaret’s Church

Sadly as we are in another lockdown at the time of writing this, there are no services at Breckles at the moment.

The online services are still available weekly at www.waylandermagazine.org online and can be found by clicking on the Church icon.

With Christmas coming it is with great sadness that we have to say we cannot have a Carol service at Breckles this year either owing to coronavirus restrictions and social distancing, as Breckles is just too small.

However, Caston are hoping to have some sort of outside event on the 20th at 6.30p.m., and the Christmas Eve midnight service will be at Thompson as usual.

Fund raising has, of course, been impossible during the past 9 months. We are hoping to commence works on replacing the guttering and renew soakaways at the church sometime in 2021. We have been able to secure several grants to help us, but we are still £6,000 short to be able to do the whole project. So if you are able to send any donations to help it would really be 5 appreciated. The contact for these is Karen Allen and her details are at the front of this magazine.

On behalf of St. Margaret’s PCC we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

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100 years ago – back to the 1920’s

For this issue I thought I’d take a little look at what life would have been like 100 years ago today, and in particular what Christmas would have been like through the decades from then to now.

Of course, I wasn’t here for much of this so may stand to be corrected on my research and would love to hear of others’ individual experiences from any of these timeframes. I hope it brings back some happy memories though.

Back in 1920 the First World War had ended in victory, peace had returned and, with it, prosperity and release after a long period of hardship, hence the term ‘Roaring Twenties’. When thinking of this decade we are often led to think of jazz clubs, socialites mingling in city cocktail bars and the fashions and dances of the day, but I was more curious about life in the country in our rural communities, so did a little ‘digging’ to find out more.

Families were on average smaller in the 1920s than during the Victorian era, with 3 or 4 children being most common. Children’s toys were often homemade and spinning tops and skipping were popular pastimes. I read somewhere that carrots and turnips seemingly made good tops (who knew that?) and I’m sure many of the toys were fashioned when the children had gone to bed long before Christmas Day. In the country, pupils at some schools were apparently in some places still practising writing with a tray of sand and a stick, progressing to a slate and chalk as they became more proficient. What a change from today’s screens and gadgets!

Books were shared between groups of pupils as books and paper were expensive. Nature study, sewing, woodwork, country dancing and traditional folk songs were also enjoyed. What’s notably missing from that list is cookery so I’m wondering if this was just automatically taught at home according to resources available.

So what did Christmas look like in the 1920’s?

There are a lot of similarities with today, no doubt because traditions are passed down from one generation to the next. Trees, garlands, wreaths, candles, goodies, toys, cakes, pies and nativity sets all played a part, as they still do today. This year it’s possible that many will be putting their decorations up early to lift spirits, but although we perhaps often think of ourselves as time-short nowadays, in the past putting up the tree would often have been left until Christmas Eve, due to lack of time and resources, with most of those trees cut from their own property, family farms or locally.

Underneath the tree they would sometimes have placed train sets and villages, another tradition which is still observed by some. Their traditional tree decorations included stringed popcorn, pine cones, red and green ropes or homemade paper chains. Snowflake cut-outs and tinsel icicles were also used. Those who had electricity (!) could string lights on their trees, although most folk used candles or no lights at all.

Stockings were actual stockings or socks filled for the occasion, not the premanufactured versions we see today. They would be filled with fruit and treats to eat such as an apple, nuts, candy canes, chocolate drops and raisins and a small toy or two. In addition to spinning tops for children, popular gifts included die-cast metal toys, rag dolls, train sets and, if you were really lucky, roller skates, pull-along mini-wagons or bicycles. Back in the early twentieth century, Christmas wasn’t all about the turkey centrepiece and in fact, some families had vegetarian Christmases as meat was not guaranteed on the Christmas table.

As I was looking at dishes I could take from each timeframe, I was quite surprised at how the food has changed decade by decade and how we’ve almost come full circle over the course of the century.

In the 1920’s, some would save up to be able to afford meat on Christmas day, but not everyone could afford it, so the Christmas feast would have comprised mainly of seasonal root vegetables; parsnips, carrots and sprouts.

The 1930’s was all about zero-waste with nothing thrown away, so this was perhaps a decade we are reminding ourselves of a little today. Vegetable peel and turkey carcasses would have been incorporated into soups (I’m not quite sure we’re all going that far now but it would have been common then), and mincemeat would often have been bulked out with grated carrot. Canned food, pickles and chutneys were all the rage, as well as something of a necessity as not everyone had fridges then, keeping their goodies in a larder instead, if they had one!

The 1940’s were key rationing years due to World War II, and apparently only one family in 10 had a turkey, so vegetables remained a mainstay. Carrots would also have been used in Christmas cake and pudding, and mashed potatoes in pastry, apples to bulk out mincemeat, or occasionally savoury dishes such as one called ‘Mock Goose’ – made from layers of potatoes and apples, flavoured with sage and sprinkled with cheese. People were encouraged to form clubs to buy, feed and look after pigs, and then the meat was divided between members with a proportion sold to the government to help with rationing.

The 1950’s saw the first mention of pigs in blankets, and beef became a popular choice of centrepiece for the Christmas meal.

In the 1960’s the price of red meat rose, so turkey and chicken rose in favour for Christmas.

In the 1970’s Delia Smith found fame as a TV chef, and cold starters like prawn cocktail and avocado boats were all the rage, staying in foodie fashion for quite some time. Then there was the fondue; the ultimate dinner party feature to help create a good atmosphere at the table.

In the 1980’s canapes were popular, so vol-au-vents, devilled eggs and anything on a stick would have been handed round as nibbles although many of these appeared individually earlier. I remember seeing devilled eggs much earlier in my Granny’s cookbooks, along with mousse, blancmange and jelly moulds, but I thought these were a hangover from a previous era – Mrs Beeton’s little tricks and tips!

No doubt all of these items would re-appear randomly from time to time in various decades, presented slightly differently. Deserts from around the globe started appearing more such as Black Forest Gateau, Baked Alaska, Yule Logs and Stollen – and who could forget the Vienetta!?

In the 1990’s vegetarianism was on the rise thanks to Linda McCartney, and processed foods and ready meals continued to rise in popularity with health conscious consumers driving the demand for premium ranges, and pre-prepared platters of ‘posh’, ready to heat bites making party preparation easier than ever (I know – parties…. let’s hope we can all remember how they work by the time we get them back!).

So to the 2000’s – what can we remember 7 from that decade? Possibly the ‘anything goes’ decade of fancy cupcakes, Christmas jumpers, themed Christmas tree decorations becoming a bit of an art form?

By 2010 The Great British Bake Off had arrived inspiring a new wave of creative activity in the kitchen, and Prosecco sales hit an all-time high.

Then something happened in this decade which has been a major part of our year in 2020 – the change in the way we keep in touch with loved ones with explosive growth of social media, programmes like Zoom, Skype and the like, and email and messaging as additional methods of communication. Although it doesn’t replace face to face contact by any means, this year might have been even more difficult without some of these means of contact. So now we are in 2020 we’re definitely in an age of ‘flexitarian’ eating playing to a range of preferences, dietary requirements, budgets and family groupings. Again it’s anything practical with little waste, and veganism has risen in popularity too.

It seems that we’ve taken everything we’ve learned from previous generations and decades and deployed it fully this year, revisiting ways of adapting to whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. We’ve all been back in our kitchens making the most of anything we have in.

Whatever we have for our Christmas table this year, no doubt we’ll all be very thankful for it. One thing I’m sure we’ll all be doing is raising a glass to those who we have shared a Christmas table with; past or present.

As for 2021, Let’s hope it’s the year when we can all hug again safely. I know we will view everything very differently, and with fresh appreciation for all we have.

Bella Brodie

Breckles Correspondent

BRECKLES NEWS AND VIEWS FOR NOVEMBER

St. Margaret’s Church, Breckles

Morning prayers will take place in the church on 18th November at 10a.m. 

There will be a Carol Service or two in the churches, dates to be announced in December, and to keep numbers at COVID acceptable social distancing levels, entry will probably be by ticket.

With the lack of events and activity currently, the news and views for this month are largely my own but as always, submissions are very welcome from Breckles residents.

Massive congratulations go to Bronwen Tyler on being awarded the BEM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to the community in Thompson. We know that her work has extended to the wider Wayland community through her roles in the Wayland Partnership Development Trust and indeed the Waylander Magazine, and she has played pivotal roles in both. This summer Bronwen led our board on the creation of a guideline document for management of the magazine while also adapting to current times and restrictions and that was quite a chunky piece of work we were grateful for. Her knowledge and steady hand in leading our merry group enables us all to do our job in turn and contribute to the process efficiently, and she does it all quietly and modestly.

A lot of what she does goes under the radar but is crucial in joining things up and making things happen which then make a real difference to others. A very deserving recipient of the award.

After reading the piece Bronwen wrote last month on History Begins at Home, I’ve enjoyed taking a look at that website and finding out more about others’ memories. It’s a great way of bringing back many of your own happy childhood memories so well worth a visit. It does also make you realise that everything we write now is a snapshot in time for future reference in a turbulent year – a window in time which others will undoubtedly learn from and about in the future. Of course, life is not always a bed of roses, but we can also take strength from reading about the way others have managed their passage through difficult times.

Their coping mechanisms nearly always featured family, community and faith fairly predominantly, all aspects of our life which most of us hold very dearly, now more than ever.

Aren’t the policemen looking young?

Sitting in what’s probably thought of as middle age in my 50’s, I’m part of a generation which until 2020 has probably looked much younger thanks to the benefits of hair dye, but of course one of the results of the lock down is that suddenly we have a larger chunk of the population who have chosen to let their greys through, so that changes the look of that middle generation considerably. I remember when I was little seeing a lot more grey-haired grown-ups about so while some may see this as a step back,

I quite like the idea of things returning to the age where you could work out the natural order of things. I think every generation is suddenly feeling a little older though and I agree with Rev Adrian’s tips to get up and keep moving where you can otherwise we’ll all seize up or size up, one or the other! While this is no doubt ‘policemen looking young’ syndrome, I can’t help but also observe that at the other end of the scale many politicians are also looking very old suddenly.

Meanwhile, I’m definitely raising a hat to many of the older generation who are learning to explore a bit more online too, despite completely understandably resisting that previously. I have heard it being compared to driving a car blindfold wondering what damage you’re doing and where everything will end up but the reality is that there’s a limit to how far wrong you can go – ish...

Autumn thoughts

Many of us will have put our garden furniture away for the winter and will have been making our homes and gardens winter-ready, lighting our fires and getting our hot water bottles and blankets out to keep warm and toasty. It’s definitely perfect timing for picking out a good fireside read to look forward to, and that makes it a time of year I really love.

With more planning needed to shop now, I know many are also making more lists than ever and with that better planning less food is also being wasted as a result, so there are quite a few positives to all this.

Speaking of forward planning, how many of us are looking ahead to Christmas and trying to make it less commercially focused this year? Sewing kits may be being put to good use and those home-made preserves may be more popular than ever as gifts as we’ve all started to appreciate every mouthful and flavour of anything home-made and produced.

At this time of year, most of the national magazines have just sent their December/Christmas issues to press and in the week of writing this I’m sending two December issues off at work myself. One thing was noticeable this year – I am usually bombarded by high-value Christmas gift ideas throughout September and October, and this year it’s mostly earthy, ‘retro’ themed items with more accessible price tags. PR’s have guessed that we’ll be going back to traditional core values, and the suggested activity sets are not necessarily family games either if they involve touching the same pieces, so they are really thinking about it and taking care with their promotions.

Magic sets, solo puzzles and kitchen gadgets are unsurprisingly making plenty of appearances, along with items displaying a personalised message to remind the recipient how much they are loved. It will be interesting to see how creative we all get!

I’m starting to plan a Christmas tea as it would have been in the past. I suspect the fact that the Great British Bake Off made pineapple upside down cakes a couple of weeks ago may have inspired me, combined with a trip down memory lane via History Begins at Home. I’m planning an item per decade to make a game of it and see who guesses the time frame, even within our restricted bubble. From my own first decade, cheese and pineapple stick hedgehogs may well be involved rather than an upside-down cake, and the rest is yet to be determined.

We used to dress up in our best party dresses for Christmas tea so with that in mind as one of my happiest memories, my thinking for this year is that it’s not what we have or what we do this time as that may not be within our control, it’s about the style and sense of occasion with which we do it!

Bella Brodie

Breckles Correspondent

BRECKLES NEWS AND VIEWS FOR OCTOBER

St. Margaret’s Church, Breckles

The church will be open on Sundays from 9 until 4 for private contemplation and prayer. For the time being Breckles is one of three churches which will not be used for group services, however, morning prayer will be held at Breckles on Wednesday 7th at 10a.m.

Churches Trust Cycle Ride – well done all!

Margaret Morfoot very kindly rode to raise funds for Breckles and reports that she loved every minute and was pleased to receive such lovely welcomes at Stow Bedon and Breckles, which were both 5open as was Watton on the day. At Breckles she was greeted by Pat Goddard who was on duty keeping the church open on the day (thank you Pat) and Margaret added that ‘it really makes it so much more worth while to sit and have a chat’, so we know that welcome was much appreciated.

Thanks also go to Ann Cuthbert and Chris Allen for taking a turn welcoming visitors on behalf of the St. Margaret’s to help keep it open. Ten riders signed in at Breckles, doubling numbers on last year, and we know that Margaret raised £100 so if any more would like to donate I’m sure that would still be gratefully received. Well done Margaret and all who helped at the churches on the day – it is all very much appreciated.

An easier challenge

Behind the scenes at the Waylander we have been busy updating notes to cover the changes in the way we have been operating this year and the addition of the new website at www.waylandermagazine.org. It’s a pleasure to be part of such a dedicated and forward-thinking group as Breckles correspondent and web editor supporting our main editor Jacqui and the board in getting our news out safely.

It’s got me thinking though, and as a result I’m setting myself a bit of a challenge this month which I hope others might join me on. Throughout this issue you’ll find many of our loyal advertisers who are great examples of small and medium-sized businesses supporting our local communities brilliantly with services and supplies. I’m going to have a closer look at the adverts than usual this 6issue, to see if what they offer is relevant to me and if I can start using them if I’ve not already done so.

I’ve already picked up the magazine regularly in the past when looking for something local, but this is a step further in more of a conscious effort to ensure I’m doing all I can to support those businesses on my doorstep and adding at least one of them to my ‘go-to’ list. I hope you will consider joining me if you haven’t already done the same. Thank you.

Bella Brodie

Breckles Correspondent



NEWSFLASH - PRAYER MORNING 25TH AUGUST 



Morning prayer at St Margaret's - Tuesday 25th August, all welcome.



Prayers will be led by Rev Adrian Bell. Please wear your face covering as usual. Hand sanitiser will be available and social distancing observed. 





 SEPTEMBER 2020

  

BRECKLES NEWS AND VIEWS



St. Margaret’s Church, Breckles

The church will be open on Sundays from 9 until 4 for private contemplation and prayer.

For the time being Breckles is one of three churches which will not be used for group services. The Rev Adrian Bell has kindly said that he is happy to take garden services by pre-arrangement in any home or garden, and for these social distancing will be observed. Please do get in touch with him if you would like one of these services.  We hope to arrange morning prayers in the church on a Tuesday in September and will add the date to the website at www.waylander.org on the Breckles page as soon as it has been confirmed.

RIDE AND STRIDE FOR CHURCHES, 12^TH SEPTEMBER

Ride+Stride for churches is a sponsored bike ride or walk between churches, exploring and enjoying the countryside from Cornwall to Northumberland. It’s led in Norfolk by the Norfolk Churches Trust and takes place every year on the second Saturday in September. The trust supports church buildings with advice and grant aid to ensure they are maintained as places of worship in the County of Norfolk and the Diocese of Norwich. The parishes in our benefice have always taken an active part in the event, and this year that will continue, but with a few small differences to ensure the safety of all concerned in relation to Covid-19. 

They have offered the following tips for those taking part in Norfolk;

· Take your own pen and don’t worry if there is no register

· Toilets in some churches may not be open

· You may find some of the churches are not open but there may be paperwork left outside.

· Fewer churches may have people to welcome you

· Sign your own sponsor forms if no one is available

· We suggest you take a photo to show where you have visited and please send us any good
pictures. You might win a prize!

Further information can be found at www.norfolkchurchestrust.org.uk/bike-ride/

At St Margaret’s church in Breckles forms will be in the porch and one of us will be there all day. 

Margaret Morfoot has kindly (or should that say bravely?) volunteered to cycle again to raise funds for St Margaret’s church in Breckles, so if you would like to be added to her sponsor sheet, however small or large the amount, all support would be gratefully received. Margaret can be contacted on 01603 611504 or you can pass details or funds on to anyone from the Breckles PCC team who will safely pass it on. Many thanks.

Bella Brodie

Breckles Correspondent

SINGAPORE CURRY NIGHT

A belated thank-you



So much has happened since the Singapore Curry night at Caston Village Hall in March this year. It was a lovely evening and very successful in raising funds for St Margaret¹s Church, Breckles. We were very fortunate in having had some wonderful donations for our raffle prizes. As lockdown restrictions are now easing somewhat, it seems an opportune time to thank our sponsors and to recall the rich variety of our local businesses and groups who need our support now more than ever.



Our thanks then to the following for these donations:



·      J C books 55, High Street Watton. A donation of two lovely books detailing the history of Watton with some interesting old photographs of familiar shops and streets. 

·      The Tea Lady at Caston for the donation of presentation pack of preserves and pickles.

·      Rosie Hall Massage and Beauty therapist for the voucher.

·      Peter Bance. Sikh historian and author for the donation of his book. 'Sovereign,

·      Squire and Rebel Maharajah Duleep Singh’, which has historical links to Breckles.

·      Heather Graham – for the beautiful handmade dish.

·      Walnut Tree Nursery for their generous voucher.

·      The English Whisky Company who donated tour vouchers.

·      Broom Hall Hotel Watton gave a cream tea for two.

·      Wayland Players kindly donated two tickets for the April production of “Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders”.

In summary

Finally thank you to everyone involved and not included above for making the Singapore Curry Night so memorable. For lots of us it was the last get together with friends until the lockdown suddenly became such a strange reality.  Please remember and offer whatever support you can to our local businesses and services during these difficult times so that we can all look forward to a brighter future together. 

Ann Cuthbert



AUGUST 2020



BRECKLES NEWSAND VIEWS



St. Margaret’s Church, Breckles The church will be open on Sundays from 9 until 4 for private contemplation and prayer.



The PCC continues to raise funds for new guttering and donations are welcome.



The Annual Parochial Church Meeting for Breckles is expected to take place in August (this has now been confirmed as 2pm on 27th), and a notice outlining full details will be posted on the church noticeboard near the gate as usual. As you will probably have read elsewhere, church services have now restarted carefully in the benefice, although for the time being Breckles is one of three churches which will not be used for group services.



The Rev Adrian Bell has kindly said that he is happy to take garden services by pre-arrangement in any home or garden, and for these social distancing will be observed. Please do get in touch with him if you would like one of these services.



Re-emergence



And we emerged. Slowly, carefully, gently. Renewed with appreciation for the most basic of things; nature’s blessings, companionship, faith, and those who had cared enough to help others. Not everything was as it was before. We cared more, and the things we cared about had changed. Authenticity became the new celebrity, connectivity replaced remoteness. Love crossed the chasms of time and distance and found a way through. As we tiptoed into our new world we were changed and took the things we had learned with us as our new compass. Whatever the road ahead, we faced it with a new way of being.



Advice from previous generations – not to be taken too literally!



If the first week in August is unusually warm, the coming winter will be snowy and long.



For good luck throughout the year eat 5sauerkraut and pork neck bones at midnight New Years Day (who else didn’t do this on 1.1.2020 – tut tut!).



Never give someone a knife as it represents cutting ties.



If you put on a piece of clothing inside out by accident, it could be your lucky day. You may not notice your mistake before bedtime. If someone points out your mistake, just smile and be happy. Do not correct your mistake. If you take your clothing off and put it on correctly, your good luck will be gone. Legend has it that William of Normandy inadvertently put on his shirt of mail back to front just before the Battle of Hastings; when his courtiers pointed out his mistake and said it was a bad omen, quick-thinking William assured them it was not and was in fact a sign that he was about to be changed from a duke into a king.



Never cut your nails on a Friday or Sunday. Cut your fingernails early Monday morning and you might expect a gift. Cut on a Tuesday for thrift, cut on Wednesday for news, cut on Thursday for shoes, cut on Friday for sorrow, cut on Saturday to see your lover tomorrow, cut on Sunday for evil.



Hiccups are caused by someone who dislikes you complaining to someone else. The only way to stop them is to guess the name of the person maligning you.



A bird that flies into a house, foretells an important message. Sneeze ‘once for a wish, twice for a kiss, three for a letter, four for something better’.



A spider is a repellent against plague when worn around the neck in a walnut shell.



Swallow a toad in the morning and you will encounter nothing more disgusting the rest of the day.



Bella Brodie Breckles Correspondent