My Grandfather's Grave...Another Coffee Cake..and Dropping the Ceramics

The main reason for stopping over in Hong Kong on our way back from Fiji was to visit our grandfather's grave - our father's father. He had been a missionary in China and died in Hong Kong in 1948. 

We got a taxi from the hotel to Electric Road and the Hong Kong cemetery - although it's surrounded by high rise buildings in the middle of the city I found it green and peaceful and timeless.

Luckily other members of our extended family have visited the grave over the years so we had details and directions about how to locate it in amongst all the others. It wasn't too badly overgrown or neglected,

and while we cleared away some of the weeds this sweet little sparrow hopped  onto the concrete surround and stayed a few moments....

 I liked to think it was the spirit of my grandfather coming to say hello. 

We tried to clean the inscription with my sister's wet wipes...not very successfully.

It says -

John R Temple (1885 - 1948)

Methodist Minister in China 1910 - 1923

General Secretary

British & Foreign Bible Society 1931 -1948

With Christ which is far better.

We found a glass bottle near by and filled it with leaves and wild flowers 

and laid this little bouquet on the bible at the end of the grave which was added for my grandmother  after she died.

My grandfather was 63 - the same age as Robin -  making my grandmother a widow at the same age as me. I didn't have to go through what she did though - the shock of her husband dying in another county half way round the world with no chance to say goodbye.

Here I'm holding a photo of my father in this same pose when he came to visit in 1977.

As it was unbearably hot and sticky we returned to the hotel and had a sumptuous lunch followed by this plate of desserts.....the Chinese do tiny and delicate to perfection.

On Saturday I made another coffee and walnut cake - using a different recipe -  having abandoned  the one I made the other day - knowing it really wasn't up to par. 

I was pleased with the even rise and proper sponge texture of this one.....although I realise I hardly ever make traditional cakes any more ( I found the butter icing on this one incredibly sweet) but as it was for my brother-in -law who is a traditionalist, and it was for his delayed birthday, I did it anyway. It reminded me of when I used to bake and sell cakes for the WI in the 1980's! 

 For supper I made my traditional  apple Tart Tatin....also very sweet but a totally reliable recipe.....the secret is using my own apples of course .....

Today

I peeled and cored and sliced and cooked up three huge saucepans of apples for the freezer ....sweet as can be with out a spoonful of sugar in sight.

This afternoon, while I was doing some sorting and clearing in Robin's office I slipped on one of those plastic folders I'd left lying on the carpet and I dropped the box of  his ceramics that I was carrying...smashing some of the contents into little pieces..... a  bronze painted creature with lots of  spindly legs....

I wanted so much to say sorry to him....and had to forgive myself instead.....which took a  little while.

Thankfully this wasn't the one I dropped.