Sleepless 3am on Easter Sunday morning

Of the things we fashioned for them that they might be comforted, dawn is the one that works. When darkness sifts from the air like fine soft soot and light spreads slowly out of the east then all but the most wretched of humankind rally. It is a spectacle we immortals enjoy, this minor daily resurrection, often we will gather at the ramparts of the clouds and gaze down upon them, our little ones, as they bestir themselves to welcome the new day.

John Banville The Infinities

I'm taking some sick leave, fine folk. I shall float imperceptively in the air of your words and drink them in like medicine! (Don't you find when you read Banville that the words in your head take on the merest echo of his?! Oh for such articulation, even for his vocabulary!)

Jusqu'ici, tout va bien!

Doesn't sunny weather make everything easy? Hope your holidays are full of easy, abundant, gracious life!

Last Pause in Lent

So off set Cooking Catherine and I on Wednesday morning. Only half an hour later than we should have done to be there on time! There had been one sick child, one sick car, and one very sleeping-in me to contend with so that wasn't bad...

It was also the perfect introduction to the first section of the retreat day- well underway when we were ushered quietly in! Intentional Living- not stopping for any distraction on the path to the goal. Not settling into any stage other than transition. Setting our faces resolutely to Jersusalem, as He did, and becoming covered in the dust of our rabbi as we go.

The main wake-up call for me came in the idea of the Big Picture. Catherine and I had been laughing on the long drive up about how obsessed with your children you get. She thinks that I keep the Big Picture. I know that I don't- loving to talk about it isn't quite the same thing, methinks! Anyway, I was trying to draw this in my Lent journal in the first "quiet time". Then later, after we had laid tear drops prayers on the paper cross, I noticed that someone had written a prayer for those who have lost the big picture!

So as Holy Week begins, and I contemplate making an Easter picture day by day this week with suns, maybe, we could start with palm trees and dusty roads and see whose perspective we'll want to see with as we go.

Made with our crafty rector in Children's Church today- thanks, Arlene!

Jo's Friday Cake Bake

Happy Easter Holidays!

Strawberry alphabet soup

Alphabe-Thursday has been good fun. I'd heartily recommend the Round 3 which starts next Thursday. In fact, all week I've been wondering what on earth I'll have to post about now. My mind has disintegrated badly over the last little while and I feel utterly thought-less, thought-free, thought-poor!

The conclusion this week is to be whichever letter you like, but I used that cross-reference facility of Blogger and thought I'd compile my alphabe-profile! So here she is: strawberry mags...

Advertising Angst, Books, Contemplation of Conkers, Danger, Exploring and Emails, Favourite Films of Fortnight, Greatitudes, Hopeless Homework, Ideas, Joachim and Jesus, Last day of uniforms and nearly of Macarons, Barbara Pym, Roden Court, Salopettes, smiles, sticks and stomach cramps, (Tea), Uninvited and Unconnected, Vernal Green, Who else but St Patrick, X not marking rabbits, (Lost) Youth, Zarathustra.

Thank you, Jenny, and Goodnight!

Busy, busy, busy

Is all well in your strawberry patch? I do hope so, and that the sun is shining bright! Happy Birthday, Angela, too! It's all fine if frantic here, and today I have a sun at home with appropriately fierce temperature. A bientot- on a Lent retreat day tomorrow so might have something more worthy than shoes and sequins on which to report!

Thus spake Zarathustra

I used to know all about Zarathustra. That may have been many former lives ago. To be honest, today I've mostly been concerned with trying to walk in the above.

They may seem wholly insignificant to you, but to me it feels like teetering in these! If I find someone to put up my hair, if this new tan stays on, and if I don't break my neck, there may be a nice night out this weekend...

Weekend WIP

For our posterity, since the book's formula for waterproofing your paint isn't proving entirely moatproof! Week's WIP is a project on orangutans. Feeling like an old woman of the forest amid card, print-outs, library books and glue!

A Pause in Lent

<\div>I don't know how you organise your i-Tunes but it all gets a bit random here. Last night we had a lovely quiet dinner with one of PC's guitar heroes in the background. But by the time all was cleared up and men had scattered (hopefully not entirely like the proverbial seed) all over the strawberry bed I discovered that I had been mooching around here listening to Christmas carols for an unspecified period of time!

Which was good when Chris Tomlin's Hark the Herald Angels brought tears to my eyes. I had another horrendous day in our Very Challenging School on Friday. It's hard to model patience and virtue when you've been sworn at constantly and listened to less. I'm not very good at it.

So when it came to "pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Emmanual" I just lost it. Christ by highest heaven adored decided to walk amongst people whom he knew would spit at him and humiliate him and torture him to death. Well, if Jesus decides not only that it's worth it, but is pleased so to do?

This morning, obviously Mothers Day, is also the Mothers Union service in church and we had the amazing Barbardo's project manager Claire Humphries this morning talking about work in difficult areas to persuade young people and families that education is worthwhile. You can see my weekend's theme emerging!

We had chosen Micah 6:6-8 as the theme of the talk. What does the Lord require? Act justly, love mercy, live humbly. In the desert.

How to really blow your carbon footprint

1. Drive as a family of four from the northern suburbs into the centre of the city to have dinner. Wave off PC who has driven his car into town before heading after dinner to "team building" at the rugby.

2. Pay bill and head back to car. Discover that you didn't ask for the car key. Ring PC's mobile to discover that it won't connect. Ring saintly brother aka knight in shiny car. Knight in shiny car drives into centre of city from northern suburbs. 3. Drive back to strawberrys' suburb for spare car key. (Knight has had to detour via mutual parents' place for strawberry spare house key because I hadn't brought any keys.) Remember now that spare key is in the car.

4. Finally reach PC on phone. Exchange words.

5. Drive in knight's shiny car from northern suburbs back through town and out to Ravenhill on southern edge of town.

6. Retrieve keys from PC who has talked his way out of back gate of rugby and has a steward to usher him back in.

7. Drive back from all the way there to here. Wave off knight in shiny car as he gets finally from here to back up the hill.

Thanks, Wills!