The Brancepeth BugleIssue Four

From the EditorThe eagle-eyed amongstyou will have noticed thechange of name. We hopeyou approve!From now own your weeklyemail will contain threeitems to download. TheBugle, the list of people inthe villagewhocanhelpwith

any errands and a list of places which candeliver to the Brancepeth area. These will beupdated each week as necessary.Go well, stay well.Love Gillian0191373 9420 gillian@smellie.com

There is another garden this weekend, however, asad and penitentiary one. In it we find Nicodemus’new tomb, a cave, in which Jesus’ body has beenhastily placed after being taken from the cross twodays before. The tomb is sealedwith a huge stoneand guarded by Roman soldiers, due to thecriminal circumstances of Jesus’ execution. Jesusof Nazareth is dead and buried, gone for good.At dawn on the Sunday, a group of mourningwomen arrive in the garden to anoint and embalmJesus’s body, to offer him the care denied him athis death. They conquer their fear to come, at thefirst moment they can, turning grief into lovingaction. And what do they find, as the sun rises?An empty tomb, an impossible miracle, new lifeand hope. For Mary, who stays longer in thegarden, there is a personal meeting with the‘gardener’, who is in truth Jesus, risen from death.From sorrow to joy, loss to restoration: this gardenis a place of transformation, into which we are allinvited this Easter.

We will celebrate this garden in both our EasterDay services, a Vigil at 5.30am set in BrancepethCastle, and an All Age celebration at 10.15am.*

Over the course of this weekend we will also bemaking Easter gardens to share online in ourGood Friday and Easter morning services at10.15am each day.*

May our gardens, and our village churchyard too,be precious places as we consider the gardens ofthe Easter story. I hope that you may meet the‘gardener’ for yourself, in new ways. Jesus knowsthe pain and sorrows of this broken world, hasborne the anguish of loss, separation and death,and has conquered their power, for us. HappyEaster!

With best wishes from all at St Brandon’s. Anna

Full details of all St Brandon’s services are on thewebsite http://www.stbrandon.org.uk/ and ournew facebook page ***** Zoom inviations to eachservice are sent via the church’s NAVIGATORemails. If you’d like to receive these, pleasecontact Hester Higton:hesterhigton@phonecoop.coop or me:anna.brooker@durham.ac.uk

Please note we now have our own facebook pageHERE

Message fromSt Brandon's

This year ourSpring gardens areall the morep r e c i o u s ,

sanctuaries where we can enjoy sunshine andobserve new life all around, as Creation continuesfaithfully. The greening trees are certainly not inlockdown, nor the birds in isolation as the matingseason gets underway…

Gardens feature significantly in the Easternarrative which Christians mark this weekend. Onthe night before his death, Jesus eats a final mealwith his friends, then goes out into the garden ofGethsemane to pray. It is a mournful scene ofstruggleand frailty: Jesuspleading inprayer that hemay be spared the horror to come, yet alsosubmitting to the greater, deeper purposes of God.And near him in the garden his friends, bidden tosupport him, but dozing fitfully, waking only at thearrival of armed soldiers, comewith Judas to arrestJesus. The powerful emotions of this scene arevery real to us in these days, as we struggle toaccept what is happening, fail to support as wewouldwish, or feel isolated andbetrayed by others.

We’ll read this garden story as part of St Brandon’sonline Vigil on Thursday evening: everyone iswelcome to join in this time of reflection and prayer,which will also include music and silence.*

The Leatitia CropleyCookery ChallengeLast week's challenge camefrom Josie Armstrong andfrom her motley fridgeingredients we bring you...Chicken in Creamy Red Pepper Sauce2 chicken breasts¼ - ½ jar of roasted red peppers (choppedfinely)150ml crème fraiche1 clove garlicPinch of dried oreganoPinch of dried thymePinch of dried basilPinch of chili powderSalt and pepper to seasonOlive oilFresh basil to garnish

1. Mix the red peppers, garlic, herbs, chili, saltand pepper together in a bowl, add a little oliveoil to create a thick paste. If you don’t have allthe herbs, feel free to substitute, we’re allwinging it on the kitchen cupboard front!2. Poach the chicken breasts. Place in thebottom of a pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper,cover with water (about an inch over the top ofthe breasts) and bring to the boil. Let simmerfor 10-12minutes. You can fry the breasts, butI prefer them poached, they are softer andjuicier.3. Place the redpeppermixture ina fryingpan.4. Heat through for 3-4 minutes.5. Add the crème fraiche and stir through untilthick.6. Add the chicken and stir to cover with thesauce.7. Serve with a garnish of fresh basil if youhave any, or perhaps some crumbled fetacheese.

Next week's challenge comes from thefridge of Liz Thomas:1 red pepper, Cold Cooked Sausages andCheese

Parish NewsletterThe Parish Newsletter is now in full colour,and whilst we cannot read the hard copy it isavailable on-line both on the CommunityAssociation Website and the Parish Website.Please send all contributions for the nextissue to Sue Morgan by APRIL 15TH(sueatpeppermires@gmail.com)

Film ReviewsYou have watched all the filmsand programmes you had onrecord (even the reruns ofMidsomer Murders) and are nowstarting to trawl through Netflix, Amazon Videoand the DVDs at the back of the cupboard. Youhave never heard of any of them. Are they worthwatching? Liz Thomas gives you one Don'tBother and one Give it a Go.Give it a GoMuch ado about nothing. PG(Kenneth Branagh & Emma Thompson Film)William Shakespeare's classic is brought toscreen by Kenneth Branagh. A beautiful blend ofromance & comedy, trust & treachery. Beautifullyacted by an all star cast.

Don't botherBig fish. PG 2003 American fantasy drama filmabout a man who returns home to care for hisdying father. His father is known for tellingfantastical tales & his son tries to find out if thereis any truth in them. Depressing & gave myson nightmares.

Poets' CornerWe have been harbouring a secret poet in ourmidst. The Brancepeth Muse - Anon of DH7recently sentmeaselectionof his or herworks.

The trouble with self-isolationFor those of The Who generation:Remember when told,‘Hope not to grow old’Was said without thought of damnation!

More next week ...

Coffee MorningWhilst we cannot hold our weekly coffeemornings in person, our very own Queen ofSocial Activities, Josie Armstrong has asuggestion for an Isolation Coffee Morning.Run up a batch of scones (secret recipefrom Josie below) .... or open a packet ofbiscuits! Settle down in a comfortable chair,and at 10.30 on Wednesday call somebodyin the village for a chat.

Happy BirthdayThank you to everyone who sang HappyBirthday to Arthur, Fiona and Steve last week.This week we have two birthdays:James Dalton 11 AprilAnna Brooker 17 AprilPlease open the windowand sing (or play) HappyBirthday as loudly as you can and with lots ofgood cheer at 18.00 this Saturday and nextFriday It doesn't matter where you are, we willbe singing at the top our voices up at MorleyFarm, Anna and James may not be able toactually hear us (though the sheep certainlywill), but they will know that the whole village issending them lots of happy birthday wishes.If you would like to include anyone in ourBirthday sing out list please send me theirname and the date of their birthday.

Josie's FabulousCheese Scones‘Gillian asked me for myscone recipe as we are ateam for the Wednesdaycoffee mornings

So here is mine - although Evelyn Aitken is infact reigning village show scone champion - soperhaps she will share her fruit scone recipe inthe next issue [Note from Ed - yes please!]

250g. 8oz Self raising flourHalf teaspoon baking powderQuarter teaspoon Celery Salt and pinchPepper60g. 2oz Butter125g. 4oz Strong Grated Cheddar or StiltonCheeseAbout 150ml (half a pint) Milk to bind together

1. Set Oven to 200˚C fan, Gas 72. Line or grease a baking tray3. Mix dry ingredients and rub in butter untilresembles breadcrumbs4. Add 3oz of the cheese reserving 1oz forthe top5. Mix to a soft dough with the milk and rollout to half an inch thickness.6. Use a round scone cutter to make approx12 scones - or roll into a rectangle and cutinto triangles for a more rustic look.7. Brush with milk and sprinkle remainingcheese on top8. Bake in hot oven for 10 - 12 mins untilrisen and golden

Top tip - you can use a food processor tomake large quantities needed for coffeemornings.......if you are successful you are onthe next rota!

St Cuthbert'sMany charities are suffering a severedownturn in in their income as shops areclosed and fundraising events are cancelled.St Cuthbert's Hospice was planning a hugelaunch for their lottery this month. Under thecircumstances the launch is more low key andby word of mouth only. However, the need fortheir services has not reduced and their costsare mounting. If you would like to play theirnew lottery please find the details here.

Safety and SecuritySadly a national crisis does not bring out thebest in everybody and there are a number ofpeople taking advantage of our fears. DurhamPolice andWhich have both issued some veryhelpful advice and guidelines about some ofthe scams around at the moment.

Durham PoliceWhich

You can also check suspicious informationwith:

SnopesFull Fact

Channel 4 News Fact Check

Rainbows for hopeWe all have plenty of timeon our hands at themoment. Some of us areleaping up and down withJoe Wicks every morning,others are buidling raisedbeds and some of us are doing none of thosethings! I have a huge pile of WIPs (works inprogress) that is gradually getting smaller.Although I have yet to tackle the mending pile!If you are a knitter, sewer or crocheter and arelooking for something a little different, a newproject there are plenty of ideas both directlypractical and somemore whimiscal and aimedat keeping our spirits up.You will no doubt have seen all the rainbowsthat children have been drawring and hangingin their windows to remind us that there isalways hope. If I hung one in ourwindowsherein Morley nobody would see it. So I crocheteda couple of rainbows and a set of rainbowbunting to hang on our hedgerow.

It occured to me that perhaps we coulddecorate the village with our own knittedrainbows and bunting. Please only decorateyour own doors/railings. However we do havepermission to decorate around the CastleGates. If you would like to make somethingrainbow to hang on theCastle gates I will leavea sealed plastic box by the gates. Pleasewashyour item, place it in a sealed plastic bag andthen in the box andSusie and I will collect themand hang them up. Perhaps when this is overwe can take them down and use them fordecorations for our own celebration of the timewe can hold hands and be together in personagainHere are some patternsCrochet Rainbow 1 Crochet Rainbow 2Knitted Rainbow 1 Knitted Rainbow 2

Culture on-lineThis week we are focussing on concerts,opera and dance.The Royal Scottish National Orchestra havea Friday night club concert each week. Thisweek at 7.30pm they will be performingBrahm's German Requiem.Operavision has a huge collection of fulllength performances of a wide range ofoperas from around the world.The Metropolitan Opera is releasing many ofits performances and interviews withmusicians as well resources for children.The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet arealso releasing many of their recordings towatch online via You Tube, Facebook andMarquee TV.Saddlers Wells has launched The DigitalStage.The Easter Weekend will be a musical feastwith Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Shows mustgo on.Choreographer Drew McOnie is handing hiscompany’s Instagram account over to aseries of short dance films called The DigitalDance FestivalTwo full-length concerts each week from theLSO in their on-line Always Playingprogramme.The Bolshoi have a rich and varied selectionof works on offer on their YouTube ChannelFor something a little different what aboutCirque du Soliel's new CirqueConnectchannel.Questlove from The Roots presents aregular DJ night from his YouTube channelChris Martin was an early user of the internetto live stream music during lockdown andyou can see his mini gig hereGarth Brooks live streamed a half hourconcert on Facebook hereAnd finally, the BBC Culture in QuarantineSchedule is now available here

Sing Resurrection - Easter SundayAt 10am on Easter Sunday 12 April peoplearound the country will be going outside tosing Jesus Christ is Risen Today and Thinebe the Glory at the top of their voices! Whynot join us? Lots more information here