Monday 28 December 2009
Wednesday 23 December 2009
Merry Christmas...
Tuesday 22 December 2009
Happy Anniversary, Prince Charming! (Or a life in a tree!)
A New Year in Times Square honeymoon. 1999, followed by a few years running around with friends.
Baby's first Christmas. 2003. Babies' first and second Christmases. 2004.
Shattered parents.
Nativity plays.
Wife recovering from knee surgery for tenth anniversary. 2008. Thanks for the ten tins of tuna, Edwards family!
First family trip to the theatre. 2009.
Monday 21 December 2009
111. Hope, peace, joy, love-
112. Wensleydale with cranberry
113. Mince pies
114. Snowball fights in street with friends
115. Warming up with friends and big mugs of tea and left-over carrot cake
116. Driving out to more friends for mulled punch and afternoon tea!
117. A husband who sings Joseph's Song with a sun in one hand and guitar in the other!
118. Nativity plays and family with whom to enjoy them
119. Interesting Woman's Hour discussions about Christian Christmas vs a Christmas without the negative undertones of sanctified virginity and death
120. Jesus
Sunday 20 December 2009
Fourth Sunday in Advent
Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup, The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, Surely I have a delightful inheritance. Psalm 16:5.
Saturday 19 December 2009
Santa, sofas and cakes
Lo, snow!
Suns won't finish until Tuesday, however, but it was nice to be a four family walking up the hill this afternoon- devising rhyming sentences for snow. Because it did snow for the brief twenty minutes it takes us to get home! We got to five...
Lo, snow! I know. Let's go. Don't be slow!
Thursday 17 December 2009
Christmas presents too
These were possibly the smallest Christmas presents in the world for our morning coffee at the Bean today! Here snuggling in the branches of our tree, pre-departure! They were Snapdragon brooches that I got at the Country Living fair when Mum amd I were in Glasgow last month. The VW Camper Van was obviously for Crafting Catherine who craves one!
It was a morning of threes. These are two out of the three Bean snowmen, and the sign beyond, which I couldn't capture, advertises three wishes- or three tasty coffee options!
Queen Niqi had brought us her speciality Christmas boxes, each filled to the brim with QS. Lovely! Small tokens of huge esteem...
My term ends tomorrow, suns' term ends Tuesday, Bean Nativity is Wednesday with associated children suitably attired. Merry Christmas, Bean Crafters!
Wednesday 16 December 2009
Christmas Presence!
Monday 14 December 2009
Joy
102. Finding joy regardless of circumstances.
103. Finding faith regardless of feelings.
104. Having suns who flourish and flower and think and feel and deduce and conclude and explore and express and still find time to hug their mum!
105. Having three babies in the house today who all went home ultimately without my having to change them or feed them or anything!
106. This progression that I've never fully considered before that starts with the hope of Christ, without which there wouldn't be the peace of Christ, and now to wallow in the joy of Christ, because all else can nestle in the preceding two.
107. The delight that I admittedly feel at the Secret Santa present I have for Mothers' Union tomorrow night!! Approved by PC, still on his Advent Conspiring, "Presence, not presents"...
108. And on Wednesday SarahC flies off to a university interview. Was she even one when I met her?
109. CoGS Christmas dinner on Saturday night! A revelation!
110. Easy times over the last few days- a nice reminder that sometimes life isn't so complicated, especially when your Christmas cake comes out of the tin and opens slowly like a flower!
Sunday 13 December 2009
Third Sunday in Advent
Third Sunday in Advent- joy! And even a joyous Christmas present from Crafting Catherine that I was instructed to open immediately- how perfect!
Every year we know it's Christmas when we have our annual Mince Pies and Mulled Stuff Open House, so that was very appropriate for a joy day as well! I loved it today- thanks to all of you who came and brought us joy (and homemade mince meat and homemade fudge and homemade Christmas scones- oh wow, Martin!- and sweets and presents and cards!)
You bring us joy all year round! We went from this, and more...
Saturday 12 December 2009
That lovely day!
It's the third weekend in Advent and joy is seeping through; this was the first hopeful weekend...
Tuesday 8 December 2009
The Advent Conspiracy
http://www.adventconspiracy.org/
Monday 7 December 2009
Peace
91. Mattman wasn't kept in hospital yesterday and is holding an attack at bay.
92. Mum's arm is not broken, and she rings Physio tomorrow.
93. Jojo negociated a birthday party today with no aggressive outburst- that I could see!
94. Strawberries have manfully taken over the role of Ghost of Christmas Present, me having found myself unequal to the task!
95. I have been gently prompted by Prince Charming to open my annual Book of Christmas and write a list.
96. I will be taken, I am informed, to Chirpy Chappy (local butcher) to order a turkey tomorrow!
97. If Mattman makes it to school tomorow, PC and I will have a whole school day in town alone together.
98. If Mattman doesn't make it to school tomorrow, he'll have some Alone with Mum and Dad Time in town!
99. The Beatties
100. The January 11th entry of Daily Splashes of Joy
Second Sunday in Advent
Second Sunday in Advent- Peace.
Mattman wanted to put the santons out this year, and so he did. I got around to looking at them the next day, and was stopped in my apathetic tracks by his arrangement. No posing for the audience in his mind. All intently focused inwards, lost in wonder, love and praise...
Monday 30 November 2009
87. This week has the thought of Hope throughout, brought by the first Sunday in Advent, and remaining with us, note to self...
88. Honesty and nights of sleep.
89. Beatrice who comes to visit at a different season every time, and lets us look at the Lough with which she has fallen in love through her spell-bound eyes.
90. Although even Mattman felt the awe of the sunset over the waters and the hills yesterday afternoon. "Mummy, I'll never be able to draw like real artists." "Even real artists were just six at one point, my love..."
Sunday 29 November 2009
First Sunday in Advent
We do put our decorations up on the first of December every year- and always have done, so can't blame it on the suns! We're not generally organised in advance though, so the Advent candlestick isn't ever in place for the first Sunday in Advent, hence the little temporary replacement!
First Sunday in Advent- hope.
We went from church this morning straight to Belfast's annual Continental Christmas Market- as if our French visitor wasn't familiar with the very best of market life! Obviously crepes were de rigeur..
The matching of Mattman's hat to the carousel lights was, however, a fortuitously happy touch!
As Beatrice shopped we took warm refuge in a cafe (not just any cafe, a well-known high street brand cafe) and discussed what we hoped for this Christmas. My peace in Afghanistan won few plaudits; Jojo hopes for snow every day over Christmas, while Mattman just hopes that every day could be Christmas!
A short chronicle of yesterday's lovely, lovely, lovely Preparing for Advent will come soon- just waiting for photos from Cooking Catherine's camera- as obviously I had forgotten mine own!
Happy Advent...
Friday 27 November 2009
One more sleep
Cooking Catherine has the house ready- and her husband and four teenage men know that lunch will be served here with my menfolk.
Crafting Niqi has Christmas Boxes scored and ready to assemble.
I have a Mary and Martha thing simmering in my mind, and we have a Cloth for the Cradle thing to tie it all up at the end. (I must remember to cut fifteen lengths of varied material before I go to bed...)
All that remains is for Prince Charming to collect Beatrice from tonight's Paris flight and for a nice bottle of white to be consumed after sunny bedtime!
Sunday will be the first Sunday in Advent- hope.
I hope now actually to start thinking about Christmas and all that it brings!
Tuesday 24 November 2009
Gratitude and Glasgow
And because I'm endeavouring to sleep more and stress less, I'm off to bed with my unfinished Georgette Heyer; bonne nuit!
Wednesday 18 November 2009
This week I am extremely grateful that 72. if I had to be in the middle of so much money being sucked into my cars' calamities it at least happened at a time when I'm teaching one extra day a week and still at the library for two evenings a week.
For 73. I am most grateful that Mattman's teacher has changed her focus, and for 74. I LOVE how well my two clever suns do their homework, even coming home briefly from Saint K's house this evening for that express purpose.
I know he's in a lot, but at 75, I really love my husband. Who will not only have been the main man tonight and tomorrow while I'm at work, but will also be the single rudder, peace broker and referee when I'm in Glasgow this weekend.
76. I'm in Glasgow with my mother this weekend! For the Country Living Christmas Fair in Scotland and there's even a French Film Festival on at the same time. Christmas is coming early to Mags! She might even buy something nice- perhaps at the Burrell Collection on Sunday!
77. is for our new vice-principal who does seem to be a most humane individual, and he has a very nice green coat. 78. is for the kind colleague who will give me a lift to school on Friday morning. 79. is for the other kind colleague who reminded me that it's not actually me who has to produce GCSE coursework for all the recalcitrant pupils under my tutelage.
On the other hand (pun alert) I shall give 78. to the fine set of elegant grey wrist-warmers that I have nonetheless managed to produce in time for Glasgow.
79. is for the Christian God who is unashamedly the reason why I unreservedly celebrate Christmas and who graciously continues to sustain this little family of mine.
80. belongs to all the friends offering car journeys at this carless time, but 81. is for the summer eleven years ago when we held out for our house because it was in such beautiful walking distance of everything we need!
Monday 16 November 2009
Cars and crises
At 12.10pm today I remarked to Bean Boss that my life was either crisis or boredom, latter being my temptation just now.
At 12.12 I reversed my car straight into the car behind.
At 12.22, on my woe-ridden way home, the clutch died unredeemed.
The most expensive ten minutes of my life- I'm asking for yours?! Crafting Niqi's were apparently those spent deciding not to replace the central heating pump, but redo the kitchen instead.
Ouch x2...
Monday 9 November 2009
60. My mother
61. Aunt Mog, the fairy (trips to London and the National Gallery) godmother
62. Margaret, youth leader extraordinaire
63. Claire, woman of God
64. Fiona, first teaching colleague and friend
65. Carol, woman of worth and integrity
66. June, hospitality is a sign of the Kingdom
67. Catherine, food and knitting and a house-load of teenage boys and Steve Bidulph
68. Karen, neighbour and rock
69. Catherine, craft, coffee, care
And the last thanks go to a man, because he has blown me away with his wisdom and protection this week!
70. PC
ps I should probably put Jane Brockett's domesticity thing in as an influence at number 71!
Tuesday 3 November 2009
Monday 2 November 2009
Sunday 1 November 2009
Why did the saint cross the road?
Time stands still
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