It's not that bad, Mr Sainsbury

It's been quite a while since I last posted anything on the blog. To get things restarted, I thought I'd share this bit of a Sainsbury's receipt that has already done the rounds on facebook. Sometimes there are just things you can't anticipate with abbreviation and initials.

It's actually cranberry raspberry and apple flavoured sparkling water and doesn't taste bad at all.

Fairmined gold

It's great to see that the Fairtrade movement has now managed to get a standard for gold, called Fairmined. As well as offering a fair price to small scale miners, the certification requires that the extraction of the gold is done without toxic chemicals (such as cyanide and mercury) and with a regard for the environment.

It is estimated that 100 million people depend on small scale mining, but they find it hard to get a fair price on the open market.

The good news is that the royal jewellers, Garrard, have already indicated that they wish to use Bolivian Fairmined gold.

Anti-Apartheid Movement logo

It's not the first time that the sourcing of gold has been used as a way of achieving greater justice. In 1991, we bought a wedding ring for me from Traidcraft, who offered rings made entirely free from South African gold. The negotiations for transition from white minority government to democracy were underway, and this was a small gesture to maintain pressure. It also  gave other gold producers a place in a market dominated by South Africa. As well as the usual hallmarks, my ring has the anti-apartheid logo stamped into the metal. A reminder of very different times

Thankfully that era is over, but a fair deal for small, responsible producers and the campaign to stop "dirty mining" are still greatly needed.

Related articles

• Fairtrade hallmark sets the gold standard (guardian.co.uk)
• Fairtrade gold in pictures (telegraph.co.uk)
• Fairtrade gold to protect miners (independent.co.uk)

Guarantees

The usual rule observed in everyday life is that the higher the cost of a guarantee, the less likely you are ever to need it. A by-product of this is that when something goes out of guarantee, or you don't extend the warranty for a further year for some astronomical sum, the appliance fails.

Just at the moment we're living in the middle of an exception. 3½ years into a free 5yr warranty the Smeg* dishwasher gave up. Error code 6. Someone came, checked it out, ordered parts, came back, replaced parts. Next wash error code 6 is flashing. Canny engineer on 3rd visit spots that error code 6 came up 1 minute after the first error code (8) has flashed. Nifty concealment strategy from dishwasher is now thwarted. Parts are on order. 4th visit awaited.

It doesn't quite match the best warranty claim I've ever been involved with. At St James', Whitley we had a flat roof on the main body of the church, and one morning water was pouring through near the pulpit. Church roof + leak usually = large bills and an appeal. However Pete, the church warden, had the presence of mind to check the filing cabinet. The roof had been resurfaced and had a 10 yr warranty. Luckily the work had been done 9½ years previously. Result: a free repair.

Why can't it always work like that?

* I feel the need to point out this is a bog standard, white box dishwasher, not a v expensive retro-style brightly coloured one!

Beer with a wicked twist

The recent bone breakages in our household put a hold on Debbie and I going out for a meal to celebrate our wedding anniversary. However, we did manage a quick and very nice lunch out at the Hest Bank Hotel (at Hest Bank). An excellent selection of ales (Black Sheep ale, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Butcombe) and good food. Not cheap, but good for a treat. Bluffers fact: Hest Bank is the only place you can see the Irish sea from the West Coast Main Line.

Anyway, later in ASDA while shopping for tea, I picked up 3 ales, one of them by Charles Wells, called Bombardier Satanic Mills (obviously referring to the line in the hymn "Jerusalem") When I got home, and marvelled at my skill at getting nearly everything on a Multibuy, I noticed "satanic ale" on the listing. Is somebody trying to tell me something?

In preparation for Christmas

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

A day of disparate bits

Just wanted to log something today. I have done an online ASDA shop, moved furniture, cleared up, printed Christmas cards and congratulated John Pritchard, the new Bishop of Oxford on his appointment (he was my tutor at Cranmer Hall). Now I'm trying to find inspiration for the service tomorrow. Something interesting to prepare for Christmas for Encounter, which is a worship/teaching/breakfast happening for 11-16s at St Thomas', Lancaster that uses St Martin's Chapel.

PS to the Arthur and George entry. There is a Damaris discussion on it here, but it gives away some stuff I quite enjoyed discovering as I read the book, so beware