tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80058626684645619492024-02-07T11:24:41.682-08:00Custard and CommunionMusings and mutterings from the vicarage in which I live...AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-44812256823877531952012-05-10T13:52:00.000-07:002012-05-10T13:52:40.974-07:00<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ok, so this is the latest greetings card design...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I've emailed it to the people at Phoenix Trading. So now I just have to wait and see...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm no good at waiting.</span>AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-87602580508983791562012-04-17T14:53:00.000-07:002012-04-17T14:54:07.296-07:00Watching our children suffer...<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">...is there anything worse? No!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I am sitting next to Tabitha who is finally peacefully sleeping after 36 hours of misery. She started being sick on Monday at 5am, and by midnight we concerned enough to phone NHS direct who felt that she sounded dehydrated and recommended a trip to A and E. Now, Tabitha is normally the fittest and healthiest of children, and watching her retch so hard she was almost convulsing was distressing, as was seeing her terror at the thought of hospital (she has a needle phobia). But praise God for the wonderful medical facilities on our country, and unlike countless women who have to watch their children suffer and often die from D and V, Tabitha was treated and is now recovering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It did lead me to think, though, about the "problem" of suffering. As a Christian, I believe that God knows my suffering, because he has known me for eternity. Likewise he knows my children and their suffering. In the darkest moments of last night I did not feel angry with God. I was praying that he would take Tabitha's illness away, but I wasn't angry with him. It came to me last night more clearly than ever before that he watched his own child, his own son, suffer in the most appalling way. So realising that God not only knew that I was having to watch my child suffer, but that He has felt that agony as a parent Himself was remarkable. Our God, our mysterious creator God, through whom all things are possible, chose to let His son suffer, and through that, chose for Himself to suffer also. I often think about Jesus' suffering from Jesus' point of view, much like I view my own suffering. But last night I had a bit of an insight in to God's suffering, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">That's all.</span>AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-88351111327140299092012-04-10T19:44:00.000-07:002012-04-10T20:01:53.125-07:00Serving God Through Creativity<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Is there any point in going back to sleep? No. I need to be up again in an our and a half to take J to the station. I have a sleeping baby next to me who woke me up an hour ago wanting milk. This is very unusual, but possibly a sign that she needs bit more than milk now. We have started a bit of baby porrdige to help with the reflux, but I've been going with what she seems to want and today she was not interested at all and so has not had any.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">...as is traditional for a person lying awake in the wee small hours, I am thinking about Stuff. To sort through the wooliness of my thoughts I will present the Stuff as a list.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. I am adoring being at home with my girls.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. I really feel that me not working is better for them, and us as a family.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. Ergo, I do NOT want to go back to work. (The "NOT" in capitals serves to show how strongly I feel about this, as does the follow up explaination of the capitals with the brackets!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. How can my staying at home with them be achieved?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">5. By being financially viable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">6. Why does everything have to come down to money?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">7. Because it does.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">8. Fine. So what can I do to earn money at home?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">9. I know the answer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">10. I am very creative. I would like to use this creativity (drawing card designs?) to make enough money to mean that I don't need to go back to work. I don't mean a fortune. But just enough. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">11. I would also like to use my creativity for God, as it is He who gave me this gift. When we were at Greenbelt in 2010 I felt very strongly that He is calling me to use my creativity for him, but I have not made much of a go at it so far, being stymied by things like looking after children on practical level, and self doubt on an emotional level. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">12. I had two prophetic images given to me at a prayer meeting. One was of an open book, with pages being turned. The other was of a staircase with a door the top. Are these linked with my quest for serving God with creativity? I'm still mulling over them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">13. So, I need an action plan. Does this mean a new list?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">14. Yes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Action Plan - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. Find some time everyday for quiet reflection and bible study.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. Really listen to God.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. Get going on the drawings (because they won't draw themselves).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. Trust God. He's never let me down yet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And while we're on the subject - here's one I did earlier.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3r0zjczvKQSgoGxrFDbJBBvmGp1CEztpnVTIl5c6BTLY8TaPrGO7CV5YR9R5K-a7bwvVxSwlihP3lNKQHPvULVNM1-t8XPknWOR6w5mhZNTaig1HtNZcs9wzOWXk4n5ashz5YCHrCKb0/s1600/DSC01193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3r0zjczvKQSgoGxrFDbJBBvmGp1CEztpnVTIl5c6BTLY8TaPrGO7CV5YR9R5K-a7bwvVxSwlihP3lNKQHPvULVNM1-t8XPknWOR6w5mhZNTaig1HtNZcs9wzOWXk4n5ashz5YCHrCKb0/s320/DSC01193.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-86458933042064800522012-04-10T01:36:00.003-07:002012-04-10T02:28:21.538-07:00Easter Monday Pilgrimage<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNQPpU7B3doln7aXYZf5RzlXNXlpiTAkjWzxH2yYMMpb-FeMGF3CeVTlm8EIvvNgWDsH12ijGMuTpFFcPyy0RKtgvxc0xF9kqzPVuvFYphYZlQDBwOCUJ7sKS64A6DiQzbzGseMOTqk4/s1600/AqC1WcaCMAEq5ZU%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 240px; height: 320px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729700917946122450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNQPpU7B3doln7aXYZf5RzlXNXlpiTAkjWzxH2yYMMpb-FeMGF3CeVTlm8EIvvNgWDsH12ijGMuTpFFcPyy0RKtgvxc0xF9kqzPVuvFYphYZlQDBwOCUJ7sKS64A6DiQzbzGseMOTqk4/s320/AqC1WcaCMAEq5ZU%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a><br /><div>I absolutely love the Easter Monday Pilgrimage - Easter wouldn't be Easter without it. J and I worked out yesterday that Tabitha has been every year of her life, all eight of them! Jemima, of course, can say the same thing - I seem to remember last year she was making me feel very very sick. She slept through the whole thing; I think it was a bit hot for her!</div><div> </div><div>It was a bit different to normal, in that we processed out not in. I like gathering in the Abbey to eat our picnics and spotting as many people as possible. We know people from lots of parishes in the diocese - Potton, Dunton, Biggleswade, Hatfield, Welwyn as well as all the other Bedford ones. We never seem to be able to whip up much enthusiasm for it here, as most of the families seem to like to be away for Easter, or to have the day at home. So usually it's just me, J and T (and now of course J). The last two years mum and one of her friends has come, and then maybe one or two more. I would love to do it properly one year, and set off on Easter Sunday afternoon, camp over night and arrive by foot on the Monday. </div><div> </div><div>It was a great message from the Bishop of Hertford, asking us to go out as pilgrims and really show Jesus' love for everyone we meet, and I left feeling very enthused, although I wish they could have waited to sweep up before we'd finished processing (and having the sub dean hurrying us through was a bit of a mood killer too if I'm honest). I'm wondering if they'll stick to this format or change it back for next year! </div><div> </div><div> </div>AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-26837878005997968632012-03-12T22:09:00.003-07:002012-03-12T22:19:06.989-07:00Can't sleep.......so I thought I would blogg instead.<br /><br />This feejit thing on the side of my blogg is not very accurate. It seems to register when I view my blogg but is not at all acurate when it says where I'm from. "A visitor from Milton Keynes" is the closest it's got so far, with the Liverpool and Dromore, Down (Ireland?) being the two most random places for it to choose for me to be from!AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-86973317931287096922012-03-08T16:04:00.002-08:002012-03-08T16:08:35.876-08:00Things I have done today.1) Weighed in at Weight Watchers. - 1/2 a pound, thank you very much!<br />2) Took Jemima to the fruit and veg stall at the market, had fun buying oranges from Spain about the size of her head, some avacadoes and artichokes!<br />3) Did some ironing.<br />4) Tweeted Miranda Hart. Will she reply? Who knows!<br />5) Saw my dad's God Daughter asking a question on Question Time.AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-62375098327833866002012-03-06T13:16:00.001-08:002012-03-06T13:17:57.122-08:00New sofas!Well, new to us. They are from the British Heart Foundation shop and are gorgeous. They are red, I've always wanted red sofas!AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-5064031722241797492012-03-05T14:21:00.003-08:002012-03-05T14:34:34.948-08:00An evening in...Jeremy is having a rare evening in which means he is sitting on the sofa bugging me while I update my blogg and just generally arse about on the internet, and do a bit of knitting, which is pretty much what I do in the evenings. There are times I long for us to be "normal" but actually it would probably drive me insane if I had him under my feet every night. I quite like having sole charge of the remote once the girls are in bed!<br /><br />We're into a good routine with Jemima now - I get her ready for bed with Tabitha at about 8.00pm and she has a bottle while we do bedtime stories (Tabitha reads it now more often than not). Then I put her down in the crib and set the mobile going, and she falls asleep pretty quickly (quicker than Tabitha!) Then I give her another bottle about 11pm, sometimes she wakes up but more often than not she stays asleep. Once I put her back down she goes right through till morning, today it was 8.00am and even then she was happy to lie there until I had finshed the packed lunch and given Tabs her breakfast.<br /><br />I need to explain what animation is to Tabitha. Tonight we were watching her Snoopy DVD and she wanted to know how old the person was "inside" Snoopy.I tried to explain how animation works but was not very successful! Perhaps we need to make a flick book!AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-9702144205326445672012-03-03T02:51:00.002-08:002012-03-03T02:57:26.056-08:00Dear reader......or not as the case may be. It's a bit strange to keep updating a blog that no-one reads, but I suppose bloggs are really for the people that write them are they not?<br /><br />So. Saturday morning. Tabitha is at her extra English lesson, Jemima is having a nap and I am about to hop in the shower. I have had no sleep because Tabitha came in at 2am and then tossed and turned next to me for about an hour before going back in to her room. She came in at about 4am with a drawing for me and then got back in to bed. So today am am shattered. But there is something lovely about having Tabitha curled up next to me and Jemima breathing softly in her crib. I love being a mummy.AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-31599589496382299652012-03-02T02:44:00.002-08:002012-03-02T02:50:25.611-08:00I think this is very lazy blogging as I'm copying this over from the forum I originally posted it on...<br /><br /> When I saw the Build A Bear Workshop advert at half term it made me really cross. As part of the advert the little girl says that her favourite part of the day was the heart ceremony, where she made a wish "and it came true". To me it seemed wrong that an advert should be able to make such a statement (no matter how trivial, it was the principle that seemed so wrong) so checked what it said on the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">ASA's</span> code of practice (I had some time on my hands!) and found this:<br /><br /><em>"Advertisements must not take advantage of children's inexperience, credulity or sense of loyalty. Advertisements for products or services of interest to children must not be likely to mislead; for example, by exaggerating the features of a product or service in a way that could lead to children having unrealistic expectations of that product or service."</em><br /><br />So I filled in one of the online complaint forms on the ASA website, and two days later I had a response.They said that<br /><br /> "We have noted that the child in the ad states, "The heart ceremony is my favourite. I made a wish and put it inside my bear, and it came true..." The protection of children is one of our primary concerns but we have to assess whether what an ad depicts will, in itself, cause harm or distress to children. In this case, we consider that children seem to accept the make believe involved with playing games. Even if children were to believe that a wish has come true as a result of another child placing a wish inside a bear, this does not represent a breach of our Code and we consider it unlikely that the ad would mislead children to their detriment or that it would cause harm or distress to them."<br /><br />I just feel that that is completely missing the point. And anyway it certainly is NOT the case that all children understand the difference between what is real and what is make believe, learning the difference is part of growing up. The advert makers are clearly relying on the fact that not all children understand the difference so that they can make money! Make believe should be harmless fun, not used to manipulate children for financial gain. (And it is also certainly not the case that children will be wishing for things like ponies - what about the ones who wish that dad would stop beating up mum?)<br /><br /> I know that there are bigger fish to fry but it really bugged me. Anyway I phoned the person who emailed me and she said she would take it to the ASA Council for a decision... probably just to get me off the phone! I haven't heard anything yet, and I doubt they will change their decision, but the advert is still wrong.AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-89198003553179948442012-03-02T02:28:00.001-08:002012-03-02T02:33:18.257-08:00The blog I never knew I had."There must be some way," thought I, "That I can record my most profound and compelling thoughts for the world to see." And then it occured to me that the obvious thing to do was to create a blog. So I googled "free blogs" and found this site. Creating my blog would be free and easy and all I needed to do was create a google account. "Well I'm sure I've got one of those," I thought, and logged myself in. Behold, the blog I created in 2009 and then promptly forgot...AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005862668464561949.post-72025955963943293632009-07-28T17:01:00.000-07:002009-07-28T17:09:34.860-07:00Post The First<span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Small daughter says at tea time; "Mummy, why aren't we with God?"</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">"He's round us all the time," say I, trotting out my usual answer.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">"No," says small daughter, clearly not satisfied with that. "I meaned why aren't we in heaven NOW? Why do we have do wait?"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">I couldn't really find an answer for that.</span><br /><br />Sitting here after an almighty row with my husband, not wanting to go back to bed until I'm certain he's asleep, I am lead to wonder why myself.<br /><br />What a super first post that was!AppleTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15904438126783817615noreply@blogger.com0