Don't know what I'm doing

Time Flies!

2011-04-01T21:59:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd get round to posting a bit more often, but it seems I'm as slow as ever. However, I am delighted to say that those manky old bulbs that I bunged in at the last minute have decided they'd rather live and give me a spot of colour in one corner of the garden, than die, even though I was sure I hadn't planted them deep enough for them to flower.

Spring flowers always make me want to smile! One of our Priests popped in for a cuppa last night, after doing a "heavy" shift at the school, hearing confessions - (unfortunately, I don't thing he got a lot of customers.) He said that his mother always loved gardening, and how civilizing he thought it was to have a well-kept garden. It made me think maybe I should overcome my reluctance to do anything with this one since we are mere tenants. I have been silly really, thinking like that, since we've never stayed long enough in any place for me to reap the benefits of my endeavours (in terms of the overall picture, although I have seen some wonderful plants develop). Maybe I should make an effort to get this one up to scratch, so that even if we move on, someone else will have the benefit of it.
Trouble is, finding the time!
I've just discovered in the last few days a new article of clothing, that every modestly-dressed young miss needs for her trips to the park - "Skorts" - a mixture of skirt and shorts, and today I made up a pattern for a pair and completed them so that my friend's little girl would have something to wear in the garden.

All cut out and ready to go!

Is it a skirt?

No, It's a skort!

Been knocking out Mantillas too, just in case anyone wants one - there seems to have been a proliferation of ladies starting to want to cover their heads at Mass, so I've been asked to make a few...

I like to make them nice and big, so that they don't feel like a doily stuck on the top of one's head!

Maybe after Easter I'll start digging the garden, and getting rid of the nettles, eek!

Blog Revamp; Now I Really Must do Something About the Garden!

2011-02-13T20:36:00.000Z

I do like Roses and so I thought I'd change my header and background, especially as there are no rose bushes in our new garden. As we are now in accommodation that has been provided with my husband's new job, the garden (having had several tenant carers in the past few years) although tidy, is in need of a bit of TLC. Actually, I'd have to say it's more than tidy, it's rather boring, but do I want to go to all the effort of digging up the invasive weeds, and planting out new borders and shrubs, if we are not destined to stay here any great length of time? (Somehow, we always seem to move on after about 5 years of hard labour in a garden - yep, just at the moment when it was all beginning to come together..sigh). I did purchase a huge load of bulbs very cheaply in December, but when I tried to dig some borders up there was such a tangle of roots that I didn't get very far. So the poor things sat in the garage, until a few weeks ago, when I had a mad hour or so of plonking them into the soil wherever I could. I wil be intrigued to see if any of them come up!

Still, we do have two fine Pigeons who like to be sentinels for Our Lady of the Compost Corner (we really must find her a more fitting niche!).

The Monkey Donkey!

2011-02-12T12:48:00.000Z

We moved, had lots on the go, no time or inclination to blog, 'till now...

So, here we go again.

Sometimes you just feel like a bit of an

You spend so much time trying hard to do the right thing, but in the end haven't got a clue whether what you're doing is the right thing, or not. Take the case of a home-educating mother with one son. He's about the age when he could go to school, his Dad's got a job at a very good school, but... because he was home-educated he got really into tennis (a great outlet, and if that mother is going to supportively watch any sport, tennis would be the one) so much so, that he's become quite good at it. The school does not specialise in tennis. He doesn't want to give it up. So we carry on home-educating, and getting stuck in the rounds of tennis training, tennis competition, until that mother begins to feel like a real donkey. So she carries on, carrying him around on her back* through the leafy counties of Southern England (and doing a bit of sewing in between times) in the vague hope that he will get some kind of education from the books that get pushed in his direction, when he hasn't got a racquet in his hand.

Is the plodding along worthwhile? In the great scheme of things, who knows? But Providentially (so it seems) the tennis monkey is improving, having won two tournaments last weekend, so maybe the home-schooled boy will improve too, and in the long run, maybe the donkey will cheer up...

*Actually it's a nice little red car, Deo Gratias.

Miss Moppet Comes to Life

2010-06-26T22:51:00.001+01:00

Been having fun lately – I started with this,

and wasn’t sure what it would turn out like, having not made a stuffed doll for rather a long time…

But I was pleasantly surprised to find that the pattern I used enabled me to make this,

Isn’t she sweet, and I’ve got a sweet little girl in mind to give her to…. must get her in the post!

Blogging can be useful to some!

2010-05-30T22:21:00.000+01:00

I was recently thinking about deleting this blog, since I seem to find so little time to post things; and the initial impetus for writing it has gone, or rather, I have moved on from it. We will be quitting sunny Shropshire in the Summer, and I shall miss the countryside around here. We will, hopefully, have a proper Parish, where we can regularly attend the Mass of Ages, with not an altar girl in sight (and I do love little girls, I really do - probably more so because I was never blessed with one!). We will no longer have to drive for 30 - 40 minutes on a Sunday afternoon so that we can attend an Old Rite Mass at the awful time of 3pm (I'm guaranteed to start dropping off during the sermon at that time!), but I will miss the people of the peripatetic Latin Mass community, although they are now dwindling fast due to the establishment of a regular 6pm Latin Mass in the parish of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in Staffordshire (thanks be to God!). We thought that there would not be many at Mass today, so were pleasantly surprised by the presence of a family - a young couple, the grandparents, the three year old son, and three week old daughter, who don't normally come. It was the mum who made me think maybe I should carry on posting occasionally, as she mentioned, over tea and tabnabs after Mass, that she'd recently discovered my blog, and found it helpful - she must have been reading some of my early posts, which dealt with our attempts to adopt (I rarely go back and read what I wrote, so I can't remember what's there that could have been helpful to her!!) When I first met her, we were both attending a home-educating group, and her little boy was about two then, but I knew she longed for more children. Having been in her position, I can honestly say I would have been of little help in encouraging her, as by then I had realised that prayers don't always get answered the way we want them to. I firmly believe that God doesn't give us what we want, but what we need. I am also heartily glad for her that what she wanted was what God knew she needed, and she now proudly holds a beautiful little girl! Praise Him!
As for the home educating, we are still in a quandary as to whether to carry on once we move. Our son is really flapping his wings, longing to fly further and further from the nest - all to be expected at his age, despite his inability to find anything he needs when he wants it, "Mum, where is my ..." "Right in front of your nose". But perhaps that's just a male thing, "Darling, where is my ..." "Just here, where you left it..."
Is school what he needs? - the good Lord seems to be giving him an opportunity to go. It's not what he wants, (mostly because he fears hard work, I think!). I'm not sure it's what I want, (I'd rather he remained a dunderhead and kept his Faith and purity), but God knows what is best, and we're hoping He's going to make it clear to us what should be done.

Meanwhile, I shall try and enjoy my garden as it comes into bloom, for the last time before we rent our house out, knowing that there is little likelihood that it will be cared for overmuch by tenants...

The blue and white garden that I have longed for, is still not in evidence, although there seem to be plenty of blues coming out at present, the whites will probably only put in an appearance after this lot have died off - ho hum...

I thought this rather an apt word-picture of the garden, which was reluctantly brought forth from my son's pen, as a description of what he could see from the school-room window...
"Through the French doors I see a red pot on a black wrought iron stand, which is sitting on the lawn, in the middle of which is a clothes drier. Further down, a bench with a metal arch sits, and after it a pond, over which a tall clump of bamboo hangs. There are shrubs around the pond, and up each side of the lawn there are flower beds, fillled with flowers, shrubs and bushes; and beyond the pond the untidy patch of wilderness that used to be a vegetable garden, is in full bloom with dandelions, daisies, forget-me-nots and buttercups. The shed which is hidden by the bamboo, stands behind the pond."

15 Years and Still Going Strong!

2010-03-25T10:40:00.000Z

Happy Lady Day

March 25th

(Our 15th Wedding Anniversary!)

The picture above, and the meditation below, by Abbot Dom Guéranger, O.S.B., just about sum up the importance of this day for the world; I thank God that He allowed us this wonderful day for our Wedding Day - all those years ago!!!

THIS is a great day, not only to man, but even to God Himself; for it is the anniversary of the most solemn event that time has ever witnessed. On this day, the Divine Word, by Whom the Father created the world, was made flesh in the womb of a Virgin, and dwelt among us. [St. John i. 14] We must spend it in joy. Whilst we adore the Son of God Who humbled Himself by thus becoming Man, let us give thanks to the Father, Who so loved the world, as to give His Only-begotten Son; [Ibid. iii. 16] let us give thanks to the Holy Ghost, Whose almighty power achieves the great mystery. We are in the very midst of Lent, and yet the ineffable joys of Christmas are upon us: our Emmanuel is conceived on this day, and, nine months hence, will be born in Bethlehem, and the Angels will invite us to come and honour the sweet Babe.

During Septuagesima week, we meditated upon the fall of our first parents, and the triple sentence pronounced by God against the serpent, the woman, and Adam. Our hearts were filled with fear as we reflected on the Divine malediction, the effects of which are to be felt by all generations, even to the end of the world. But in the midst of the anathemas then pronounced against us, a promise was made us by our God; it was a promise of salvation, and it enkindled hope within us. In pronouncing sentence against the serpent, God said that his head should one day be crushed, and that, too, by a woman.

The time has come for the fulfillment of this promise. The world has been in expectation for four thousand years; and the hope of its deliverance has been kept up, in spite of all its crimes. During this time, God has made use of miracles, prophecies, and types, as a renewal of the engagement He has entered into with mankind. The Blood of the Messias has passed from Adam to Noe; from Sem to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; from David and Solomon to Joachim; and now it flows in the veins of Mary, Joachim's daughter. Mary is the woman by whom is to be taken from our race the curse that lies upon it. God has decreed that she should be Immaculate; and has thereby set an irreconcilable enmity between her and the serpent. She, a daughter of Eve, is to repair all the injury done by her mother's fall; she is to raise up her sex from the degradation into which it has been cast; she is to co-operate, directly and really, in the victory which the Son of God is about to gain over His and our enemy.

A tradition, which has come down from the Apostolic ages, tells us that the great mystery of the Incarnation was achieved on the twenty-fifth day of March. [St. Augustine. De Trinitate, Lib. iv. cap. v] It was at the hour of midnight, when the most holy Virgin was alone and absorbed in prayer, that the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her, and asked her, in the name of the blessed Trinity, to consent to become the Mother of God. Let us assist, in spirit, at this wonderful interview between the Angel and the Virgin: and, at the same time, let us think of that other interview which took place between Eve and the serpent. A holy bishop and martyr of the second century, Saint Irenæus, who had received the tradition from the very disciples of the Apostles, shows us that Nazareth is the counterpart of Eden. [Adv. hæreses. Lib. v. cap. xix]

In the garden of delights there is a virgin and an Angel; and a conversation takes place between them. At Nazareth a Virgin is also addressed by an Angel, and she answers him; but the Angel of the earthly paradise is a spirit of darkness, and he of Nazareth is a spirit of light. In both instances it is the Angel that has the first word. 'Why,' said the Serpent to Eve, 'hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?' His question implies impatience and a solicitation to evil; he has contempt for the frail creature to whom he addresses it, but he hates the image of God which is upon her.

See, on the other hand, the Angel of light; see with what composure and peacefulness he approaches the Virgin of Nazareth, the new Eve; and how respectfully he bows himself down before her: ' Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!' Such language is evidently of Heaven: none but an Angel could speak thus to Mary.

Eve imprudently listens to the tempter's words; she answers him; she enters into conversation with one that dares to ask her to question the justice of God's commands. Her curiosity urges her on. She has no mistrust in the Serpent; this leads her to mistrust her Creator.

Mary hears what Gabriel has spoken to her; but this most prudent Virgin is silent. She is surprised at the praise given her by the Angel. The purest and humblest of virgins has a dread of flattery; and the Heavenly messenger receives no reply from her, until he has fully explained his mission by these words: 'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son: and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David His father: and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.'

What magnificent promises are these, which are made to her in the name of God! What higher glory could she, a daughter of Juda, desire, knowing, as she does, that the fortunate Mother of the Messias is to be the object of the greatest veneration? And yet it tempts her not. She has for ever consecrated her virginity to God, in order that she may be the more closely united to Him by love. The grandest possible privilege, if it is to be on the condition of violating this sacred vow, would be less than nothing in her estimation. She thus answers the Angel: 'How shall this be done? because I know not man.'

The first Eve evinces no such prudence or disinterestedness. No sooner has the wicked spirit assured her that she may break the commandment of her Divine Benefactor and not die; that the fruit of her disobedience will be a wonderful knowledge, which will put her on an equality with God Himself : than she immediately yields; she is conquered. Her self-love has made her at once forget both duty and gratitude: she is delighted at the thought of being freed from the two-fold tie which binds her to her Creator.

Such is the woman that caused our perdition. But how different is she that was to save us! The former cares not for her posterity; she looks but to her own interests: the latter forgets herself to think only of her God, and of the claims He has to her service. The Angel, charmed with this sublime fidelity, thus answers the question put to him by Mary, and reveals to her the designs of God: 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren; because no word shall be impossible with God.' This said, he is silent, and reverently awaits the answer of the Virgin of Nazareth.

Let us look once more at the virgin of Eden. Scarcely has the wicked spirit finished speaking than Eve casts a longing look at the forbidden fruit: she is impatient to enjoy the independence it is to bring her. She rashly stretches forth her hand; she plucks the fruit ; she eats it, and death takes possession of her: death of the soul, for sin extinguishes the light of life; and death of the body, which, being separated from the source of immortality, becomes an object of shame and horror, and finally crumbles into dust.

But let us turn away our eyes from this sad spectacle, and fix them on Nazareth. Mary has heard the Angel's explanation of the mystery; the will of Heaven is made known to her, and how grand an honour it is to bring upon her! She, the humble maid of Nazareth, is to have the ineffable happiness of becoming the Mother of God, and yet the treasure of her virginity is to be left to her! Mary bows down before this sovereign will, and says to the Heavenly messenger: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.'

Thus, as the great St. Irenæus and so many of the holy fathers remark, the obedience of the second Eve repaired the disobedience of the first: for no sooner does the Virgin of Nazareth speak her fiat, 'be it done,' than the eternal Son of God [Who, according to the Divine decree, awaited this word] is present, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, in the chaste womb of Mary, and there He begins His human life. A Virgin is a Mother, and Mother of God; and it is this Virgin's consenting to the Divine will that has made her conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost. This sublime mystery puts between the eternal Word and a mere woman the relations of Son and Mother; it gives to the almighty God a means whereby He may, in a manner worthy of His majesty, triumph over Satan, who hitherto seemed to have prevailed against the Divine plan.

Never was there a more entire or humiliating defeat than that which this day befell Satan. The frail creature, over whom he had so easily triumphed at the beginning of the world, now rises and crushes his proud head. Eve conquers in Mary. God would not choose man for the instrument of His vengeance; the humiliation of Satan would not have been great enough; and therefore she who was the first prey of Hell, the first victim of the tempter, is selected to give battle to the enemy. The result of so glorious a triumph is that Mary is to be superior not only to the rebel Angels, but to the whole human race, yea, to all the Angels of Heaven. Seated on her exalted throne, she, the Mother of God, is to be the Queen of all creation. Satan, in the depths of the abyss, will eternally bewail his having dared to direct his first attack against the woman, for God has now so gloriously avenged her; and in Heaven, the very Cherubim and Seraphim reverently look up to Mary, and deem themselves honoured when she smiles upon them, or employs them in the execution of any of her wishes, for she is the Mother of their God.

Therefore is it that we, the children of Adam, who have been snatched by Mary's obedience from the power of Hell, solemnize this day of the Annunciation. Well may we say of Mary those words of Debbora, when she sang her song of victory over the enemies of God's people: 'The valiant men ceased, and rested in Israel, until Debbora arose, a mother arose in Israel. The Lord chose new wars, and He Himself overthrew the gates of the enemies.' [Judges v. 7, 8] Let us also refer to the holy Mother of Jesus these words of Judith, who by her victory over the enemy was another type of Mary: 'Praise ye the Lord our God, Who hath not forsaken them that hope in Him. And by me, His handmaid, He hath fulfilled His mercy, which He promised to the house of Israel; and He hath killed the enemy of His people by my hand this night. . . . The almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath delivered him into the hands of a woman, and hath slain him.' [Judith viii. 17, 18]

2010-03-19T11:08:00.000Z

Happy St Joseph's Day to one and all! I'd like to say a special Thankyou to St Joseph for finding my husband a new job - we will be moving from sunny Shropshire in September (I do like a bit of alliteration!) - dahn saf, to Berkshire, not a county I know much about, but at least we'll be near a Parish where we can regularly get to attend the Sacraments in the "Extraordinary" Form, so that it will no longer seem so extraordinary, but be integrated into our daily life. I couldn't have asked for more.... but, of course, there's always just one more thing.. a little discernment on what to do on the home-educating front... we've left it in St. Joseph's hands, with a novena of prayer to him, and we now have to decide whether our nearing 13 yr old, only son should attend school. I'm still waiting for St Joe to write it up in big letters across the sky....

Homeschooling an only child, definitely needs a post of its own - I may get around to it someday, in the meantime:-

Glorious St. Joseph, model of all who pass their life in labour,obtain for me the grace to work in a spirit of penance to atone for my many sins; to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my own inclinations; to work with gratitude and joy, considering it an honour to use and develop by my labour the gifts I have received from God; to work with order, peace, moderation, and patience, without ever recoiling before weariness or difficulties. Help me to work, above all, with purity of intention and with detachment from self, having always before my eyes the hour of death and the accounting which I must render of time lost, talents wasted, good omitted, and vain complacency in success, which is so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all after your example, O Patriarch Joseph! This shall be my watchword in life and in death.

Amen.

Candlemas and Plastic Tulips

2010-02-02T13:45:00.000Z

We will take our tree down today. This one has maintained its appearance pretty well for the whole 40 days, albeit drooping slightly at the tips of the branches for the past week or so. Over the mobile phone, my Beloved and son tried to persuade me to give in to having an artificial tree this year, whilst they frantically scoured the country looking for a bargain on Christmas Eve, and found that the recession had made everyone mean - they weren't dropping their prices, as they usually do in the garden centres (and there's no way we could afford the full price.) I tried to convince myself that the convenience of it would far outweigh my repulsion at a "man-made" evergreen, and told them to do what they must.

I remember an Art history lecturer at University, telling us that the word "artificial" originally had a good connotation, ie that it meant something that had been made by art, something considered beautiful. When I was a little girl, in the days before supermarkets (gosh, am I that old? ) a great big bus used to drive to the town where we lived, and my mum would go into it to buy groceries. On the driver's dashboard at the front were some tulips, and I loved them so much that I longed for my mum to buy them (I think I asked her to once, but she told me they belonged to the bus-driver). They were artificial, but not like the modern-day silk flowers, no these were full-blown red plastic, and I don't know why, but I thought they were gorgeous! By the time I was a teenager, and my parents gave up on the yearly hassle of Christmas Tree needles ruining the carpet, I was no longer in love with artificial things, or rather, I now considered the word to be one of insult, and so loathed the green and tinsel monstrosity they put up one year, with bright red plastic tips on the ends of the branches. Suspended from this brash thing, the usual sparkle of the decorations seemed to be somehow diminished.

So it was with a heavy heart, that I agreed to allow one into my house this year. Imagine my delight when the intrepid explorers returned, (despite having been on the brink of purchasing the dreaded artificial item, they had given one last garden centre a try,) bearing one of the loveliest trees we've ever had. What was almost as much of a delight, was that it had been reduced in price from the usual 30 or more quid to £3.50 - a bargain indeed! It has barely shed a needle, (but we don't have carpets to worry about anyway!) and the decorations and lights have twinkled merrily against its dark green backdrop all the way to Candlemas.

But it was when my husband prayed the prayers of the Blessing of the tree, that we both realised that it wouldn't have been the same to utter them over one made of plastic!

Yes, I still do like gaudy things, brightly-coloured objects, and shiny glittery stuff, maybe when this lot comes down at the end of the day, I'll start researching whether one can still purchase plastic tulips; I'll need something to cheer me up!

Have You Ever Seen a Chicken Playing Tennis?

2010-01-14T10:17:00.000Z

Well it was either post something or give up altogether. I lay in bed this morning wondering whether I should give up on blogging, as I haven't managed to find time to do any for so long, and have lost my entire readership (ha ha). What should appear in my inbox but a new comment on my blog. It was from someone who consists of no name and who left a row of dots and little squares - I don't even know how to make those marks on my computer! Still it seems like I might have been given the urge to start up again.
Lately, I've been reading a lot about evolution (for which I seem to have had a natural distaste from a very early age - all those monkeys turning into humans, just didn't grab my soul - so to speak). I know there are eminent Catholic scientists and theologians "out there" who think it's all kosher, and "more than a theory", but none of them have written anything convincing about how it all works, and how God 'fits in' to their theory - because that's what they have to do, make God fit in. It disturbs me that so many people accept Evolution as a fact, but when you come to discuss the possibility that it might not be TRUE, they shy away from the discussion. After all there are plenty of scientists and mathematicians who give very convincing arguments for why it can't be true - my latest scientific discovery being the Second Law of Thermodynamics - (ie, that as a very unscientific artist with a modicum of intelligence, I've just discovered that there is such a thing, and it don't fit in with evolutionary theory... but I'm waiting for an Evolutionist to show me it does).

When I mentioned to one Priest that if we were descended from primates, then it would mean that Adam's mum was a monkey, he simply said he had no problem with that. MY GOODNESS! I'd have a real problem if my Mum were a monkey - I suspect my son wouldn't, since he probably thinks his Mum is a monkey....
BUT HE'S WRONG, because, as the photographic evidence shows, he came from an egg....

Yes, he's the first known proof that humans have evolved into more efficient sports-playing creatures, and what's more, there were no intermediate forms, it just happened overnight, and all of a sudden he could play much better tennis than the humanoid looking creature at the lower edge of the photo - amazing innit?

Holy Mother Church

2009-03-21T20:24:00.000Z

Have a Blessed Day one and all!

Achieving Culinary Success

2009-02-24T21:44:00.000Z

This was last year's culinary disaster on Shrove Tuesday, much to my disappointment.

But today I was blessed with the best results I have EVER had in making pancakes, probably due to having used the correct type of flour, and not having hurried and tried to make them whilst people were eating.

I made a batch of them, sprinkling each one with sugar, folding it into eighths, and placing it in a warming oven. Then when they were all made, I served them up with whipped cream, and lime juice - not because I wanted to be trendy, but because by the time I got to the supermarket, they had sold out of lemons - nice to think everyone in town is preparing for the Lenten fast by having pancakes and lemons....

Well, the proof of the pancake is in the eating...and we managed to get through the lot of them, with one left to fight over! I did spare a thought for all those poor mums of large families, but I'm sure most of them have worked out the "prepare it in advance method" for keeping sane on Shrove Tuesday!

Happy Fasting to one and all.

St Maria Goretti ORA PRO NOBIS

2008-12-02T12:10:00.000Z

Please, any British Catholics who are worried about the moves by our Government to make sex education compulsory for children as young as five years old, sign this petition to our Bishops, as soon as possible - THE VERY IDEA OF THIS SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED.

Here is what the petition says -

Petition to the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales
Do you wish to sign this petition? Add your name to the list here .
We, the undersigned, respectfully petition the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales to protest in the strongest terms against the latest Government proposals which seek to make sex and relationship education compulsory for children from age 5 upwards. We believe, in line with the constant teaching of the Church, that such education at so early an age could only have a severely detrimental effect on the children involved, on family life and on society in general. We call upon you as our Shepherds in the Faith to issue an authoritative statement on the Church's teaching on this matter, and to declare that you, as our Bishops, oppose any attempt to undermine the sanctity of the parent-child relationship, the innocence of the child, and our God-given parental authority in such crucial matters.
Download a copy of the petition. Download a copy of the letter we are planning to send to the Bishops.
Thank you for your support.

New Business, New Friends ...

2008-11-24T20:54:00.000Z

I have been busy for a wee while, very much enjoying a new direction in life, making modest clothing for (at present) little girls. It came about from a chat group of several homeschooling mums who were all complaining that it was hard to find decent well-made clothes for their children - there is plenty of "tarty" stuff around, or clothes with revolting logos on, but not a lot of nice traditional, well-made stuff available. So I invested in an overlocker, and got sewing. It's been fun, and hasn't turned into a sweat-shop (yet!). The business is dedicated to Madame Martin, Therese's mum, since she worked from home too.

In the meantime I also managed to make a few items of clothing for some new friends I've made - but, as we are constantly being taught in the spiritual life, we must not cling to our friendships too much, and have to follow the path of detachment (and, the Good Lord knows, we've been trying to afford a detached house for years, but he's not giving one to us .. hmmm, but, digressions aside) so I needs must send my little friends on to the Sisters of the Gospel of Life in time for Christmas, so that others may benefit from their friendship, and have hours of fun dressing and undressing them ...

By the way, if anyone fancies the dress at the top - it fits an 18 month to 2 yr old - it's waiting to be bought!

Beloved Guardian Angels

2008-10-01T23:12:00.000+01:00

To My Son's Guardian Angel.
I humbly salute you, O faithful, heavenly Friend of my child! I give you heartfelt thanks for all the love and goodness you show him. At some future day I shall, with thanks more worthy than I can now give, repay your care for him, and before the whole heavenly court acknowledge his indebtedness to your guidance and protection. Continue to watch over him. Provide for all his needs of body and soul. Pray, likewise, for me, for my husband, and my whole family, that we may all one day rejoice in your blessed company.

I have a lovely tale about my boy's guardian angel -

When he was a tiny baby, and we were living in a town with no real friends near, and family far away, my husband was studying away from home during the week. I was soooo tired (I'm sure all mums of newborns know about that feeling) but wanted a bath, yet had a fear of falling asleep and drowning, since no-one would know, and no-one would find out, or care for the baby until his daddy got back at the weekend. I got into the bath, telling his guardian angel to make sure I didn't fall asleep. Needless to say, the warm, comforting bath, and the tiredness soon took over, and I felt myself drowsing off, when I was suddenly woken by a "plop! plop! plop!" - three pairs of plastic nappy pants had been dropped in from the shelf above the bath, where they had been neatly stored for several weeks (I'd been using disposables mostly, at that time). I had to laugh, I just knew it was his Guardian Angel looking after him. What was nice, was that he didn't drop the terry nappies, as that would have made me cross, just went for the "easy dry" option, and three for the Trinity, too!!

Keep up the good work, Guardian Angels, our young ones are so precious!

And another lovely prayer to the guardian angels:-

Faithful friends of my children
Guardian angels given to them by God
I turn to you with deep faith.
May your intercession, secure for me the
grace to bring up my children for God and for Heaven.
Guard them everywhere, especially where my eyes cannot reach them.
Follow them everywhere, especially where I cannot be with them.
Warn them when they cannot hear my voice. Rescue them at all times.
Protect them against the attacks of evil forces. Show them the path to life
in God's Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.
Encourage them to give their will to God daily and seek only His light in their lives.
May the Good Lord reward you for your love. AMEN.

Sorrow turned to joy!

2008-09-24T21:59:00.000+01:00

This morning I decided to place some grocery items on a high glass shelf in my pantry. I had emptied said shelf a week or so ago as I had noticed the brackets beginning to pull away from the wall, and I had some very heavy pottery dishes on it. I had screwed the screws back into the rawl plugs, and as it had remained in position, and I'd given it a wiggle to make sure it was well-secured, I loaded it up with 'light-ish' items...

or so I thought...

I must thank my guardian angel for getting me out of the pantry -

I was in another room when I heard an almighty crash, and rushed back to find...

I don't think I've ever seen such a mess !

Thank the Lord, despite the great height everything had fallen from and the fact that the shelf itself was in smithereens, there wasn't a great deal of damage. A few broken cups, but even hubby's bottle of Mead wine, and a couple of jars of home-made raspberry jam, which I had foolishly placed on the shelf, were unscathed. The strangest thing was the sound of the glass continuing to crackle.

One bag of flour had burst, but didn't seem to have any glass in it, so after clearing up the debris, I decided to get out my bread-making machine, ...

The nicest thing was, as I stood looking at the disaster and he'd rushed in from another room to see what had happened, the bread-maker said, "I'm glad you didn't get cross about it Mummy" ... I must admit things like that don't make me cross, I think I was just so amazed by it all!

The old tin of yeast I found lurking in the back of my fridge didn't seem to have lost any of it's power!

You can tell which one the bread-making machine shaped for me...

Well, I'm glad the disaster motivated me back into making bread, even though I was exhausted after all the cleaning up...

(Edited to add, due to UKOK's comment! ...)

Good Bread Recipe

Quantities of loaves ............................3.............2................1

Flour (strong white bread flour.................3lb .....1 1/2 lb .....3/4lb
Salt (tablespoons)..............................1 1/2....... 1........... 1/2
Butter..........................................3oz ....1 1/2 oz ....3/40z
Yeast (teaspoons - tinned dried yeast)..........5.........2 1/2 .........1/4
Liquid (fluid ounces)...........................30 .........15............ 7 1/2

I tend to use organic bread flour - health-food shops, and some of the larger stores stock it (Waitrose is my nearest).
Yeast is made by Allinsons - it's not the stuff for machines, but that might work as well.
The liquid can be plain water (you get the yeast started by mixing it with half the quantity of liquid, at a lukewarm temp., with a teaspoon of sugar in it, left for 10 mins to make sure it's frothing).
However, for this recipe, and it turned out delicious, I used up a carton of Rice milk I'd kept in the cupboard in case anyone with milk allergies turned up! (It had fallen too, and looked like it might start leaking!)
Sometimes, for a richer recipe, I use two eggs (for the first two quantities, and one egg for the last) beaten, and then make up the rest of the liquid with milk (having kept some aside to get the yeast started).
I also add seeds (pumpkin, sesame, whatever you fancy!) - just chuck a couple of handfulls in to the flour, before adding the liquid.
Liquid is all added at once, once the yeast is frothing nicely, and then get bashing for ten minutes, UKOK should be alright as she has two bread-making machines she can use to help save her wrists!!!
Leave to rise for about an hour, bash down, shape, and leave to rise for another hour (although some people don't bother with 2 risings, I find it's better), place in or onto WELL BUTTERED tins, then bake @ about 200 deg.C for 10mins, turn down heat, to 180 deg. C, for another 20 - 30 mins. (It can all be done at one temperature, I'm never sure what's best, but this way it seems to turn out ok).
The way to test whether the bread is cooked, is to turn it out of it's tin (or turn upside down if it's on a flat tray), tap the base, and if it sounds hollow, it's done. If it doesn't sound hollow, (but looks cooked) I put it back in upside down, for another 5 mins or so, and that usually does the trick.
Happy munching - (you really do need the home-made raspberry jam for perfection!)

2008-09-23T11:40:00.000+01:00

Thankyou Alexa for the "I Love Your Blog" award. Not sure I want to answer the following questions with one word, but if I must:
1. Where is your cell phone? hidden.

2. Where is your significant other? school.

3. Your hair color? brunette (cough, cough).
4. Your mother? Welsh.
5. Your father? Scots.
6. Your favorite thing? gardening.
7. Your dream last night? pleasant.
8. Your dream/goal? become Christ-like (can't say that in one word, sorry).
9. The room you’re in? study.

10. Your hobby? bereft.
11. Your fear? losing heaven.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? improved.

13. Where were you last night? in bed.
14. What you’re not? sad.
15. One of your wish-list items? detatchment.
16. Where you grew up? Gloucestershire.
17. The last thing you did? put coal on fire.
18. What are you wearing? denim dress.
19. Your TV? hidden.

20. Your pet? woodlouse. (we do borrow a dog called ' Bless' occasionally too).
21. Your computer? hubby's.
22. Your mood? middling.
23. Missing someone? hubby.
24. Your car? red.

25. Something you’re not wearing? trousers!

26. Favourite store? none (but John Lewis's if near one!).
27. Your summer? where was it?

28. Love someone? aha.
29. Your favourite colour? green.
30. When is the last time you laughed? today.
31. Last time you cried? few days ago.

Now I'm supposed to tag someone with this award, but since most of my blog buddies are one step ahead of me, (or too busy, and grown up to join in these things) I reckon they've all been done, but anyone who's on my blogroll can consider themselves worthy of the award, that's why I've put them there!

Science lessons - homeschool style!

2008-09-22T23:10:00.000+01:00

I've been too busy to post anything lately, due to the fact that we've actually started using a TIMETABLE which means I can't mess around any longer when I'm supposed to be teaching! However, we were supposed to be doing science this afternoon, and since the rather ridiculous chemistry kit in an oversized box with very little in that could not be found in an average kitchen (apart from the iron filings!) didn't inspire me to go beyond the making of rose-petal perfume (which was last week's exploit) I thought the blending of butter, sugar and eggs with mashed bananas, flour and baking powder, was science enough for the day...

In the interest of scientific accuracy, for those who wish to try the experiment themselves at home, I shall note down the proceedure...

Take 3oz (sorry modern science teachers*, I still don't believe in evolution, so grammes mean nothing to me either) of butter, blend with 6oz of caster sugar, until light and fluffy. Add 2 beaten medium sized eggs with 10 oz of mashed bananas and 8oz of sifted plain flour, 3 level teaspoons of baking powder, and a pinch of salt.

For our recipe, we added some sunflower seeds, and some flaked almonds, and sprinkled extra ones on top after putting the mixture into a 2lb loaf tin.

(2 oz of walnuts can be added, if desired).

Cook for about an hour at 350 deg. F, roughly! (We actually used Celsius, but my recipe says F. and I don't know how to convert it, so we played around and it came out ok - see how scientific we are) (My son does know how to convert it, but he thought it would take too much brain effort).

* (Modern science teachers will be relieved to know that my son does think in grammes, and thought my funny old fashioned z in oz was a g, and was about to weigh out 30 grammes, instead o f 3 ounces - fortunately I realised in time what he was up to - but would it have mattered? is there a big difference between 30 grammes and 3 ounces?? I'm musing to myself here...)

Does anyone else pronounce these things "meh may"? - I never get the Dawkins connection at first!

2008-09-11T21:25:00.000+01:00

Roses and Jessamine has asked me to answer this lot :-

"Where were you and what were you doing at...?"

1. JFK's Assassination 22/11/1963
Poking my baby brother in the eye? Playing with dollies? Annoying my older siblings? No idea!

2. England vs Germany World Cup Semi-Final 4/7/1990
Now if you'd asked me about the 1966 England vs Germany World Cup Final, well, I can distinctly remember watching it from behind two armchairs (presumably the front row was taken up by male members of the family) and feeling very excited because England had won! By 1990 I was far too spiritual to be worrying about such earthly matters!

3. Margaret Thatcher's Resignation 22/11/1990
Probably still floating on my spiritual cloud, but I felt immense relief that she'd gone and I'd be able to watch the news without having to stick my fingers in my ears every time she spoke.
4. Princess Diana's Death 31/8/1997
At my parent's house in Bristol. Early morning I came downstairs and my father, a newsaholic, had heard about it and told me - I didn't really believe him at first. I remember seeing her coffin brought through the streets of Northampton, (we lived there then) on its way to her final resting place.

5. Attack on Twin Towers 9/11/2001
At our house in Bristol. My sister had been shopping at the nearby Mall, and had seen news coverage of it on the TV s for sale in the shops. She came to tell us. We didn't have tv, but we managed to get the news coverage from the internet. We spent a lot of time shielding our young son from the in your face coverage of it (he's never been allowed to watch the news). I was glad a couple of years later that we had, when with a group of young children who were about the same age as him, it was obvious that it had impinged on their lives in an unhealthy way. He knows about such things, but not from seeing the horrific visual imagery.

6. Election of Cardinal Ratzinger to the Papacy 19/4/2005
At Mum and Dad's again, in Bristol - 'cos I saw something on the telly, and we didn't have one! I was so relieved. I had been reading his "Spirit of the Liturgy", and gradually turning into a rampant Traditionalist over the previous six months - it seemed a real answer to prayer.

I think most of the people I know have done this already, so whoever wants to, feel free to consider yourselves tagged.

Happy Birthday! Mary

2008-09-08T21:02:00.001+01:00

I have long tried to achieve a 'blue and white' garden in honour of Our Blessed Mother; the last garden I had was just coming to perfection (after 5 years work on it) when we moved house. The current one has not had enough work done on it yet, not enough time, not enough money, sigh! Nonetheless, here are my gleanings, after a very wet and sunless summer, gathered this morning for Our Blessed Mother's birthday. Perhaps next year I will have a little less purple, and a little more blue!

Visit to Lisieux

2008-08-31T11:57:00.000+01:00

The Basilica is a very impressive building, but the nicest part of it is the Crypt, where we attended the Old Rite Mass on the Sunday morning. I didn't get any photos during the Mass, I felt a bit inhibited, since we'd had one old lady give us one of those severe French 'stares' (anyone who's ever visited France will understand what I mean by that!) when we entered the Chapel. The photo below is taken just after Mass, when the two young men were returning the altar to novus ordo-ability.

The Mass itself was somewhat bizarre, for those who are used to the Usus Antiquior over here. The Priest seemed very unsure of himself, presumably because it was so long since he'd celebrated this Mass, but what got us, was that the Epistle was read in French by a layman, from a lecturn facing the people, followed by the Gospel read in French by the Priest, at the same lecturn - neither had been read through in Latin prior to this. The other odd thing was that they all stood during the consecration. Still it was better than the New Rite Mass we attended in the Carmel; charity prevents me from saying too much about that - suffice to say, it seemed very modern there... (and what they've done to the interior decor of the Carmel chapel made me very sad).

But, the mosaics in the Crypt are lovely, and I especially liked this statue of the Child Jesus - it was hard to get a photo in focus.

The upper Basilica main altar looks like this ..

And there is a shrine with a reliquary containing Therese's arm at the side (not sure about the dancing figure on the cross above, though!)

Outside, round the back of the Basilica, we found the tombs of Louis and Zelie Martin. Although their relics have been translated, and will be placed in a new shrine in the Crypt in September, prior to their Beatification on October 19th this year, we found it a good place to pray and have our photies taken by our son ...

who had climbed up lots of steps to a lovely outdoor altar, which he pointed out would make a great place to say the Old Mass, and then he decided to oblige us with a few of the actions the Priest would make, if he were to celebrate Mass there!

As I've already mentioned above, there was a little disappointment re the actual Carmel - especially as the sisters now come "out" for Mass, and sit at the front of the chapel - no strict enclosure there anymore - but the side chapel with Therese's remains is a lovely place to pray. I have to admit, when I first saw it, I wondered whether she was incorruptible, but actually, that is a wax effigy atop the tomb - it is very beautiful though.

But the most moving place, I found, was the family home of Les Buissonets. I really enjoyed its ordinariness, (in a 19th century way!). I didn't take any photos there, but looking for some on the internet, I came across a wonderful set, here on a lovely blog I've just discovered, called Laudem Gloriae.

I prayed for the intentions of all those who read this blog, so I'm sure Therese, and her Ma and Pa are interceding for you!

Somebody Loves Me..

2008-08-28T21:48:00.000+01:00

It's nice to come back from being away to find you've been given an award by someone, which Roses and Jessamine has kindly done.

She has nominated me for the Blogging Friends Forever (BFF) Award in the Recently New Category, and so I do hope our blossoming friendship can stand the test of time! She says the last time she won something was ABBA's Super Trouper album in a newspaper competition (when she was 10) - which brought back fond memories of a SteelEyeSpan album coming through the post when I was about 14.

The funny thing was that I hadn't a clue where it had come from for a while, until I remembered that months before, I had entered a competition in the Catholic paper, The Universe, with this as the prize - I hadn't realised that I had won it, and there was nothing with the LP to tell me I had either!! Ah well, it shows me age, I suppose, but I could still annoy my husband now, if I wanted to, by singing every one of the lyrics to "All Around My Hat".

Now, as with anything in life, there are always conditions attached to these things, so I have to abide by some rules, they being,

1. Only five people allowed.

2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog.

3. One has to be someone new, or recently new to your blog, or live in another part of the world.

4. You must link back to whoever gave you the 'Blogging Friends Forever' award.

Well, I've already done rule number 4, and phew, I'm relieved I only have to find 5 people devoted to my out-dribblings, but as to whether they can be officially classed as dedicated, mmmm, let me see, well, my newest reader seems to be Journey of Truth , and then there's my greatest blogging inspiration, Alexa. Now, as for dedication, well, I don't think Mrs Pea would waste her precious time away from her lovely children, but I love reading her blog so she gets one, and I know ukok checks in now and again, and then not to be too feminist about thing, I think Lacrimarum Valle should be my token male, if he's not too offended by such a suggestion!

Actually this has all been rather complicated, and taken up more time than I thought it would, so I won't be too surprised if these chaps don't get round to putting their awards on their blogs.

I thought I'd have time to write something about our trip to Lisieux, but I'll have to save that for another day.

Beautiful Buddleia-Basking Butterflies!

2008-08-14T18:04:00.000+01:00

What a delight to come back to this view from beyond my grubby kitchen sink! There are so many butterflies feasting on the buddleia, that I had to dash out and capture some pics.
This one obliged with several poses..

And I just managed to get a shot of this chap before he flew away!

We're off to Lisieux for a few days tomorrow, so Happy Feast of the Assumption to one and all - we'll be popping in to Reading on the way for the EF Mass, and to visit some home-schooling friends. And then in Lisieux, on Sunday, they should be having one of the first Traditional Latin Masses in a long time, at the Basilica, (to which we were alerted by Fr Hermeneutic's blog!) so we hope to be able to attend that. It's funny, but when I first began to be drawn to the Traditional Mass, people used to try to convince me that the New Mass was a wonderful invention, that did away with the dry dull old one, and one thought would come to me, "But what about people like Saint Therese of Lisieux, and other great Saints - surely they were happy with the Mass the way it was?"
I shall remember the intentions of all you bloggers, and especially recommend the married ones to Louis and Zelie Martin, although I fear they may not be "in" at present - their bodies having been exhumed, due to the investigation in to their cause for canonisation. Apparently they won't be "home" again 'till September, still, I'm sure Therese will put in a word for us with her ma and pa!!

Been Busy!

2008-08-14T16:07:00.000+01:00

Just to let those of you who are interested in art know what I've been up to for the last couple of weeks!

I am a pretty fast retoucher, and as my colleague had done all the ground work in getting this picture conserved, but has a bit of a backlog in the studio, she needed a helping hand to get the job finished; so I've been chained to the easel for a while!

This is what Our Lady and her surrounding Angels looked like prior to me getting the paint brushes and pigments out:-

And once the work was done...

And here are some "before" and "after" details of the top right angel, the second photo isn't very good as I took it in a rush at the end, but it gives some idea of the completed job.

Glamour,Baggy Pants and Feminist Pride

2008-07-29T15:29:00.000+01:00

I remember a Priest once giving a sermon in which he described the idea of "glamour" as being harmful to our society. I was rather taken aback by this, having strived (most unsuccessfully) to be glamorous, for most of my art-school days. I was very much influenced by one of my fellow studentesses, a Glasweigian glamour queen named Susan; though, when I looked through the eyes of reality, I could see that two rather dumpy females below the height of 5'2", would never have made the grade! Yet, after mulling over this sermon, I began to realise that the Priest was right, in as much as so many young people waste so much time over vain things such as their looks, or rather someone else's look, and how to achieve it. It was a sad indictment of the Catholic schooling system in the 60's and 70's, that when Susan and I were in the first year of our Fine Art course, and were seated before the wonderful set of Poussin paintings of the Seven Sacraments, in the Art Gallery in Edinburgh, neither of us were able, after having acknowledged to the Art History tutor that we were the only Catholic representatives of the youthful gathering at his feet, to list what all the seven Sacraments were! But we certainly knew how to try and look 'cool' . I was brought up a Catholic, but I didn't really know my faith. I never missed Mass, but I didn't really know why. I distinctly remember loving the sermons of the Dominican priests at the Chaplaincy in Edinburgh, they appealed to my intellect, or maybe to my intellectual pride. I only had a few qualms when one of them decided to make me a "Eucharistic Minister" minutes before the Mass one day (before these things were generally allowed)- letting me know that it was only an accident of history, and our culture, that had stopped women being ordained, but it wouldn't be long now, before the Church changed.... I drank in the feminist gobbledegook that was spouted at the time.... I was able to believe what I wanted, form the opinions I chose to hold, but, I must have a wonderful Guardian Angel, and very prayerful parents, because somehow I never went too far astray. I was always interested in my Faith, and wanted to know what the Truth was, and because of that, I've never liked to rest until I am convinced one way or another about something. It is obvious that different Priests will give different opinions on what is right or wrong, and if we are intelligent, or even just bothered about where the Truth lies, we lay people sometimes have to research beyond what a certain Priest has said, and look to what the Church teaches. By the Grace of God, and the intercession of His Blessed Mother, and my Guardian Angel, I believe I was able to get rid of most of my "feminist" notions - and I have found this incredibly liberating! I eventually realised it was wrong for women to be considering that it was their "right" to stand at the altar alongside the Priest. It is the same with modesty - there are many different opinions out there about what constitutes modest dress.

Those Catholic women who love to show off their bottoms in trousers (or pants, as our American friends would call them) - and there's no denying that trousers show off bottoms, except perhaps for the ones I used to wear in my "arty" days, which my Father described as looking like an "elephant's arse hanging down" - they were otherwise known as 'harem pants' - love also to justify it along the lines of "if the men want to ogle, then it's their problem", and, "I have 24 daughters, so I know a thing or two about modesty, and it's all in their hearts, and God doesn't mind one iota whether they flaunt what they've got, coz He gave it to them". But is this really Catholic teaching, I would like to ask? Or is it just the opinion of some women (or men)? Why, may I ask, is their opinion more true than that of say, Pope Pius XII, where he says,

" With regard to clothing, modesty requires especially two things: first, care that one does not make purity difficult for oneself, or for others, by one's own mode of dress; and, second, a prudent but firm and courageous resistance to the styles and customs, no matter how popular or widespread, or adopted by others, which are a danger to purity ."

I think I would really have appreciated my mother teaching me that when I was a young woman. I might not have gone along with it, but I would definitely have kept coming back to it, because it is so True.
And I do think it so sad that so few of these women actually consider the purity of their sons, husbands, Priests, and fellow Christian men, who could be led to sin by their immodesty - surely their souls are as important to save as those of their glamorous daughters?
I suspect a lot of it is to do with residual feminist pride... Yet as a searcher for the Truth, I'm willing to be convinced otherwise, but not from unauthoritative opinions, please!

Transient Beauty

2008-07-21T07:09:00.000+01:00

I was looking at other people's blogs, and admiring their garden pictures, especially their roses. I love roses, but wouldn't choose to grow them, simply because I don't have the knowledge or time to take care of them and get the best out of them; mine always seem to end up covered in some sort of dreadful aphid or black spot disease. Despite all this, though, the few rose bushes I inherited with the garden (and my principle is, if it's a nice plant, then keep it till it dies of its own accord, or too much vigorous pruning on my behalf) have produced some lovely flowers, and I thought I should rush out and take some photos before they all get ruined by the rain and wind that is a constant feature of our summer weather this year!

One very large rose bush which is well established, and surviving nicely by my kitchen window had roses in various stages of loveliness, and it got me to thinking about our perceptions of beauty.

We start out like this rose bud,

Then life causes a bit of wear and tear, but we still look blousy and attractive,

Even when we get storm - damaged we can retain touches of glory,

But, eventually, we must wither and die.

However, the wonder of it is, that God sees us like this all the time ...

And if we let Him, He will transform us into this,

So that we can join all the Saints in glory, to Praise Him eternally.

Of Knights and Fair Maidens

2008-07-21T06:02:00.000+01:00

I recently received a lovely medal in the post, from a dear homeschooling mum friend who has six boys. The envelope was rather large for the medal, which she had told me she was sending, so I was intrigued as to what else there might be in it. To my surprise, out dropped a relic from the dim distant past..

A pair of chainmail Knight's trousers, which were somewhat past their "sell-by" date, along with a plea for something to be done about them!!! The fabric had not been easy to sew the first time round, but was now ripped apart at the seams, along with a few other damages caused by hearty warfare...

You see, when they were first made, it was to dress one little Knight of Our Lady, who, being an only child, and not having a great deal of contact with many other Knights, did not have a lot of opportunities for jousting, and armed combat, and the like; so I knew that despite the rather delicate nature of the chainmail, they would hold out for a while, long enough for him to grow out of them.

They even survived the occasional lending to a sweet little maiden who needed to dress up as Joan of Arc for an All Saints party...

So I hoiked out the old sewing machine, and got to work on repairing them, with the following rather good result (even if I do say so myself). Whether they will survive the onslaught of battle for long is another question, but since they will now probably only fit the youngest son of the six, and since the family's latest addition, to the shock, surprise, and delight of all, is a little girl, the trews probably don't need to survive much longer - (unless of course she decides she must be Joan of Arc)!

Whilst the sewing machine was out, and since the household must be rather lacking in bonnets and bows with all those male siblings to the new baby, I thought I would turn these...

into these.

Note the distinct lack of pink - it will take a while for mum to be weaned off blue...

Of Mantillas and Meatless Fridays..

2008-07-08T14:56:00.000+01:00

Here is an interesting post (with its comments), written by Rita at Tigerish waters, - it makes me feel like I'm not quite alone! I used to attend Mass in a parish where we once lived. I gradually became aware of the way young girls particularly, were beginning to dress in what can only be called an extremely immodest fashion. I distinctly remember hinting to one young lady, (a lovely girl) at the parish barbequeue, that she ought to pull her trousers up, since her underwear was showing. Later on, as I was chatting to a couple of other mums, they informed me that it was "the fashion", and quite intentional! I became increasingly uncomfortable with seeing these young girls waltzing through the Church to the sacristy prior to robing up for Mass, in their low cut jeans, showing off belly and bottom, and sometimes almost their nether regions, and other ladies, young and old, going onto the sanctuary to read, or be Extraordinary Ministers, clad in skin tight clothing, with arms and shoulders bare. I discussed this with my husband, and he said that it was a big distraction for a lot of men, since they are easily attracted by the shape and form of a woman. I began to realise how difficult it must be for some men, including Priests, who struggle with purity, to be constantly bombarded with such visual stimulation from scantily clad women - and how wrong it was for this to be going on in Church. I read more and more about modesty, and veiling, and became more and more convinced that though it may be uncomfortable and embarrassing for me, God wanted me to wear a head covering; I initially did so, as an act of reparation for all the immodesty I was witnessing. When I first went up to read, wearing my "mantilla", my husband said he thought it looked beautiful, and chaste, and modest. Other people in the parish weren't too happy, and thought that I had changed, even though I came and chatted to them after Mass in the same old way. But in some ways, I suppose, I had. I began to feel much less distracted at Mass, I could focus on the Mass, and I felt much more submissive before God. I was beginning at that time, to become aware of the Mass as the Sacrifice of Calvary in a much more "real" way, and being veiled, as Mary would have been, at the foot of the Cross, seemed so much more appropriate. I now feel very bare if I forget to bring a head covering, and I keep an emergency scarf in the car, just in case. When we moved to a new parish, I had to go through the embarrassment of being the "odd one out" again. But, I think decent people just get used to it, and don't worry about it after a while. If it bothers anyone, then that's their problem, not mine. If they want to know whether or not I'm a hard-line dyed in the wool Traditionalist, then they can come and talk to me to find out- if they choose not to, then that's up to them, and I don't mind what opinion they form of me, it's only their opinion, after all. The One who needs to know what I'm like, does so already!
I did have one chap ask me (having never spoken to me about anything whatsoever before) whether I still didn't eat meat on Fridays, as though it were some kind of a big joke. I mumbled something about 'not if I can help it', but really felt like saying 'I can't afford to eat meat most days of the week, you big fat geezer!' - he did look rather well-fed -(See what a Saint I am!).
I have moved in a different direction, to some degree; I no longer read at Mass, I don't see the need for me to do so, even though I was an excellent reader; my thoughts on lay reading have changed. My ego has improved since then too (in a spiritual way, ie, it's getting smaller!!)
I tend to go to Mass where I feel at home, and that usually means the old Latin Mass, Extraordinary, Gregorian, Tridentine, call it what you will.
And I don't always wear a mantilla - in fact, mine is not really a mantilla at all, just a huge length of black cotton lace I'd kept in a cupboard for years, Iwould never manage to keep one of those nylon lacey mantilla thingies on my bonce; I'm sure it would cause much fidgeting! I've got a brightly coloured stripey 'veil' too, which I wear Pashmina fashion.

And then there's the Martin Luther bonnet I made myself, which is great in winter,although I do look a bit prettier than him in it... and I wear it with more aplomb, (even if I do say so myself!).
It can be seen onthe corner of the chair bedecked in my "veil" collection. The little heart-shaped picture is of Saint Maria Goretti, another of my favourite saints - a good lassie to pray to, to intercede for all these silly young folk who have lost the sense of modesty, and their parents who seem unable to do anything about it.

Liturgical Feasts!

2008-07-06T23:01:00.001+01:00

We were privileged to attend a lovely Mass on Friday evening, celebrating the anniversary of Fr Anton Guziel's ordination.

He was assisted by several Priests, including some from the Birmingham Oratory.

It was a splendid, occasion, but tinged with sadness, from a selfish point of view, since Father will be leaving his Parish later in the summer, to join the Oratorians.

He has always been so good with the altar boys. My son learned how to serve the Mass with him. We pray for every blessing upon him, and that the Good Lord will send us another Priest with as much enthusiasm for the Latin Mass.

Then, today, we had a lovely pilgrimage to Holywell, to the Shrine of Saint Winefride, where another beautiful Mass was celebrated, for the Latin Mass Society.

The singing was lovely.
And to think that none of us felt great this morning, and we almost decided not to go, but our son swayed us, since he said he really wanted to be an acolite.
We are glad that he feels at home with such reverent, and beautifully celebrated Masses.
We also thank God for our Priests who want to carry on the traditions of our Holy Mother Church.

Wimbledon, and How the Other Half Live..

2008-06-29T21:41:00.000+01:00

We've had quite a busy week - piano, grade 2 exam on Tuesday morning, very exhausting for me, since I kept waking up all night with his tunes playing around in my head, panicking because I hadn't really heard him consistently play them well, because he does NOT practise enough. He's not a natural born musician, but he can play, and play well, if he applies himself. As far as his Father and I see it, he needs to have some discipline; and learning to play, and pass exams gives him this - since as a homeschooler, he won't be getting the same experience of being tested and examined as other children his age. He will be glad of it one day, even if it means he'll be able to bash away at the old joanna down the pub, with his mates, once he leaves home! Anyway, he didn't seem too phased by the whole affair, so we'll see....
Then in the afternoon, we drove down to stay overnight with an old friend of mine, (from Uni) and her husband, who live in a town just north of London. We spent time in the Abbey, and the Roman museum, and arrived at their house at a time when she would be back from work, about sixish. We had a cuppa, and a biccie, and chatted for a while. My son watched a bit of the Wimbledon highlights on the tv, and I suddenly realised how uncomfortable I felt being in the home of someone who is a dear friend, but who has no understanding of how we have been keeping our son from the impurity of tv. If we are at the grandparent's house, he knows he has to leave the room whenever the adverts come on - even when flicking through channels, but they at least have some understanding of why. Anyway, we got to the sports channel, without witnessing too much advertising for adult programmes - yes, they like to pack in sex, violence, and horror excerpts into the previews they put on before 9 o'clock of shows which are to come on after the ha ha "9 o'clock" ho ho, "watershed"; although I did have to stick my rather large backside in front of the box, whilst one such preview came on. Then my friend and I chatted some more, and I wondered when we'd be having supper. Her husband arrived, and we all decided we'd go to the allotment, and water some of their plants. I wondered some more when we'd be having supper. We got back, and I still wondered when we were going to have supper. Her husband asked my son what time he normally went to bed, he spouted some nonsense about half past nine - oh yeah, that's what he'd like it to be, but I could hardly insist too much in front of them that it was usually half eight to nine, since that was the current time, and we STILL hadn't had supper. But I think the hint was dropped, and my friend thought she'd better get on with starting to prepare some food!
It is interesting that some people who don't have children, don't have any idea that it might be appropriate to offer food to a child at a slightly earlier time than they themselves might eat!! Anyway, we got fed, and got him off to bed, ready for his big day at Wimbledon - his birthday gift from us, since we'd been offered tickets for court number one, via his tennis club - they cost an arm and a leg - but since the good Lord has only given us one child, we can afford to indulge him occasionally!
And of course, he took his own spending money, so that he could indulge himself, on the famous Wimbledon "Strawberries, and Cream" - which weren't bad, but not half as good as the strawberries we'd picked from the garden of our friends down the road, earlier in the week!!

It's taken me to the end of the week to recover from the late nights, and the travelling though!

Homeschooling Craft Activity for the Sacred Heart

2008-06-19T23:49:00.000+01:00

We had our monthly homeschooling group today, and I foolishly volunteered to "present" a subject, followed by an "activity". It's quite an undertaking, since there are a lot of children, ranging in age from babydom to young adultdom. I gave a simple presentation on the Sacred Heart seeing as it's the month of June - (it's REALLY difficult to find anything pitched at the littlies, on the subject, but after much trawling of the 'net, I came up with a simple story about St Margaret Mary, and the Sacred Heart. I had a brilliant "wheeze" about a craft activity, which, when there's plenty of older people to help the youngsters, could work quite well; I'm not sure how it went down today, as I did notice a few wails of "Mummy, it's not working", from the younger ones who couldn't quite manipulate the pipe cleaners, and were getting frustrated - there seemed to be less teenagers around today, who are usually good at helping out.
Anyway, since there is a dearth of activities in relation to the Sacred Heart, on the web, I thought I would offer this contribution for all those of you out there who have "crafty" minds!

We start with two identical heart shapes cut out of thin card. One of them has three holes punched in them as you can see. Both have central cuts in them, the "holed" one is cut from the bottom point up, to half way; the other from the centre top down, to half way. We also have three pipe cleaners, of varying lengths.

The middle-sized (orange, or yellow) pipe cleaner is formed into a "flame" shape, and passed through the central hole in one of the hearts, and then secured in place.

This is followed by a smaller white piece of pipe cleaner - which can be secured to the first pipe cleaner.

Slot the two hearts together (I've missed off the flames in these pictures).

And finally thread the darker "crown of thorns" pipecleaner through the two remaining holes, being careful to leave enough "slack" for it to fit round the opened out heart.

And voila! the final product -

And here's one I made earlier, with better colours for the flames and crown, I think!

Birthday!

2008-06-19T23:43:00.000+01:00

I've been busy lately, with someone's birthday (a good time was had by all!).

Early Canonisation!

2008-06-09T19:21:00.000+01:00

I have been canonised.

I was at Mass the other night, in a Church I don't often get to, which has the Old Rite on a first Friday. After it was ended, huddled inside my mantilla (I have a very large one - a sort of "gorilla" mantilla,) making my thanksgiving and avoiding any of the chit-chattering old dears, I sensed someone shuffling into the pew ahead of me, and then stopping directly in front of me. I realised I could avoid the inevitable no longer, (there was no-one else around, so I knew the visitation was for me), looked up, and saw a little old lady, who eagerly wanted to talk to me. She wanted me to pray for her family situation - the new great-granddaughter whose father has abandoned her and the mum, due to the fact that she is to be baptised, he being a Moslem. It's funny, but whenever I get "feelings" about our failure to adopt, I often hear of a baby in need of prayers - spiritual adoption is definitely a much needed thing, these days - so many children need prayers. I have an extreme reluctance to talk to anyone whilst in Church, apart from Our Lord, unless it is really necessary, so I kept my responses to her, to many smiles, and nods of sympathy, with promises to pray for the situation. But what truly horrified me, was what she came out with next - "You are a Saint" - I think I looked suitably aghast, and then laughed in embarrasment, that she should think such a thing, but again, being in Church, I couldn't protest too loudly now, could I?

Anyway, just in case anyone else out there has got the wrong impression of me, I will now post what my husband read out to me from our Saints book, as being pertinent to my salvation - he being under no illusion as to my level of sanctity -

(This is from Saint Francis de Sales - brilliant man)

The remedies against anger are:

1) To forestall its movements, if possible, or at least to cast them aside quickly, by turning the thoughts to something else. (Tried this, it worked well for about half a day).

2) In imitation of the Apostles when they saw the sea raging, to have recourse to God, whose office it is to give peace to the heart. (Forgot this one, on the spur of the moment).

3) During the heat of passion, not to speak, nor take any action as to the matter in question. (This one lasted about half a minute).

4) To strive to perform acts of kindness and humility towards the person against whom one is incensed, especially in reparation for any of a contrary nature.(Mmmm have to wait 'till the anger subsides!)

Humble mildness is the Virtue of Virtues, which Our Lord has recommended to us, and therefore we ought to practise it everywhere and always. Evil is to be shunned, but peaceably. Good is to be done, but with suavity. Take this for your rule: Do what you see can be done with Charity, and what cannot be done without disturbance, LEAVE UNDONE. In short, peace and tranquility of heart ought to be uppermost in all our actions, as olive oil floats above all liquors.

To keep the soul continually in a state of gentle calm, it is necessary to perform every action as being done in the presence of God, and as if He Himself had ordained it.

Now isn't that the most fantastic advice for those of us who are prone to anger? - even Saints like me!

(By the way, if anyone wants to make any of those little Holy cards with pictures of a saint on, please feel free to use the images in this post).

Spiritual Reading for the Day, Husband Style!

2008-05-30T22:45:00.000+01:00

At breakfast my dearest was reading today's spiritual snippet from the book, "A Year With the Saints"; there is usually a short piece from some saint regarding the month's chosen Virtue, this month's being obedience, followed by one or two anecdotes from the lives of the saints which show how they put the virtue into practise. First I hear this quote from St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi -"A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase full of the choicest contemplations". Followed by the first anecdote of a holy nun who, whilst enjoying the company of the Infant Jesus in her cell, was summoned by her Superioress. After obeying the summons, she returned to find Jesus as a full-grown youth, thus He showed her how much her prompt obedience had caused Him to grow spiritually in her heart in so short a time. Next I hear the story of a saintly wife, who, while saying her prayers, was interrupted five times by her husband asking her to switch the Sports channel over for him, and she willingly obeyed...

I wonder if he does it to see if I'm truly awake and listening at that time of the morning!!

(The real story is of St Frances of Rome who was reciting the Office of the Blessed Virgin, she was interrupted four times by the voice of her husband calling her. Each time she answered promptly, and when she returned the fourth time, she found the antiphon written in letters of gold. So that's why all that gold writing keeps appearing in my prayer books eh?).

Calling on the Queen of the Realm

2008-05-23T23:44:00.000+01:00

James Mawdsley has written to the Queen re the latest bit of devilish legislation in our country, see his post here; it may be worth following his example, perhaps some Bishops would like to join in too?

Edited to add:- James has started a petition which can be signed here. Please add your name to the list, if you are a British subject.

Treats for Corpus Christi

2008-05-23T16:42:00.000+01:00

This is an example of some fine craft work we did a couple of years ago in honour of the Feast of Corpus Christi, at a lovely home-schooling group we used to be able to attend. The boys would generally run around being hooligans, whilst the girls, and one or two of the more "arty" boys would diligently create masterpieces. My dear son, to my chagrin, was never one of those diligent, arty children, but I think he did occasionally come back to help stick some bits on here and there, so let's say this was a combined effort. I like to bring it out around this time of year, just to remind myself that we did do crafts, once!

My husband has been in London for an examiners' meeting for a few days. He was rather miffed, at first, that he had been given a more 'downmarket' hotel to stay in, than on previous occasions. We were discussing his visit a week or so ago, and realised that he would be away over the Feast of Corpus Christi, and wondered whether he'd be able to get to Mass on that day. Now we knew that some of the "big" Churches, like the Brompton Oratory would probably have Mass in the Extraordinary Form, but he wouldn't be near there. When we looked up the Mass times for Corpus Christi, we found there was a Church named Corpus Christi, in Maiden Lane, which was having an Old Rite Mass for the Feast Day - guess where hubbie's hotel was positioned? within walking distance of said Church. The Lord provides!

My son and I managed the hour's journey to the Birmingham Oratory, as we did on the Ascension. Although we are not in the parish, my son often serves the EF for one of the priests who was to be officiating at this Mass, and he invited him to serve if we came. I was rather concerned that as it was rather late he might disgrace me and fall asleep in the sanctuary, but he rose to the occasion and made a perfect accompaniment for the other little boy who was serving (son of a famous large-familied blogging mama , methinks!) On the journey down, I quizzed him about whether he'd be ok serving, and his reply was "oh it's alright serving at these big Masses, all you have to do is sit on the sub's bench and look holy"! There you go then!
(He wants me to add "but we did end up being acolites this time, so there was more to do").

So-Called Catholic Adoption Agencies

2008-05-17T18:49:00.000+01:00

I've just come across this post on a nice blog I jumped into today - The blog owner writes,

"It appears that the new “Cabrini Children’s Society” (while maintaining “CCS”) is no longer the Catholic Children’s Society, and has ceased being “catholic” in any sense while still expecting the bishops to “continue promoting funding from the Catholic community”. The Catholic Faithful need to know that they’ve just lost £10 million (the society's assets), and been sold down the river of political expediency as it is now technically outside Church jurisdiction. We know what that means, then!
We are now living in a country where much that was good and wholesome has been sacrificed to the gods of 'progress' and 'equality'. The debacle, recently, over the status of Catholic children's agencies is just one attempt by the godless and secular state to destroy the family. This behaviour has to be intentional; no one could be so dumb as not to recognise that current government social policy is behind many of our nation's ills."

It seems to me that a lot of ordinary Catholics just don't have a clue as to what charities containing the name Catholic, really are, or have been doing with their money. If these organisations change their names, and no longer adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church, then they should no longer expect Catholic financial support.

WhiteStoneNameSeeker comments on the post:-
I don't know what's happening. I just remember my deep disappointment when I heard [an Archbishop] glibly mentioning that Catholic adoption agencies already hand over children to single gay people for adoption as though that was okay somehow. I've seen adoption close up both as a professional and as someone who just sees families with adopted kids. Sometimes I think social services actively LOOK to put kids where they'll be the worst off and refuse to put them where they'll thrive. God have mercy!

My comment included the following, which will show why this subject is so dear to my heart -

When we were in our previous diocese (Clifton) my husband and I, wanting to become adopters, had some dealings with the Catholic Children's Society. We found out that they were not averse to placing children with unmarried couples, as to not do so would "seem discriminatory"! We contacted our (then) Bishop - he never replied. We mentioned it to our PP, who told us he'd "back us all the way" in our opposition to this policy, yet several years on, he was still putting out the collection box for them as the Crib offering. We went with the Local Authority to be approved as adopters, as we were not comfortable with going with an organisation that compromised the name Catholic. Our social worker, who was very unknowledgeable about Catholicism, went (without our knowledge, but later told us) to a Catholic Children's Society social worker, to ask what she thought about us - given that we'd been foolish enough at that stage to admit to going to daily Mass etc. The CCS social worker informed her that that was definitely "not normal". However, our social worker, eventually getting to know us, managed to see enough positive things in us to get us approved. We never had a child placed with us though, even though we moved and became re-approved by another Catholic Agency, where our lapsed Catholic social worker (who "wouldn't necessarily agree with all your Church teaches") did mention that we were a rare couple for the Agency to have on its books - ie a practising Catholic couple. (As I've mentioned in earlier posts,)We've withdrawn from the process now, six years on, but we do feel aggreived that these agencies are still taking funding from Catholics, when they are frequently not at all Catholic in their policies.

When will those in authority DO something?

My Secret is Out!!

2008-05-15T22:05:00.000+01:00

Several people I know have found out I keep this blog - now I have to be very careful as to what I say, ha ha! Still, if the two ladies with whom I was talking about it tonight (and they know who they are!!) manage to find it I'll be surprised (and delighted, of course) - neither being computer whizz kids as it were, to their credit, as they spend their lives doing far more important things. As to big sis, hello there too - how's things going, down in Brissle?

We had a lovely day today, attending a once a month homeschooling group, where there is always an activity to do with the Church's calendar, as well as an opportunity for some silent Adoration of Our Blessed Lord in the Church next door. Today we were treated to a talk on Our Lady of Fatima. Then the little ones could do some colouring in, and paper flower making, whilst the older ones made Marian posters. Afterwards we ended back up at one of the most hospitable homes in Shropshire, where there is always a good meal to be had, and where I revealed all about my clandestine blogging experiences. I hadn't bothered to tell anyone I knew, because I wasn't sure whether I'd keep it up, but I seem to be fairly hooked, and since I was already rumbled a month or so ago, by another homeschooling mum, who happens to be the sister of one fairly famous Priest blogger, I thought it best to let some of the other gals know too.
Anyway, I'm off to bed now, got to get up bright and early to prepare for the dreaded French lesson tomorrow!

Hello again, here's a meme.

2008-05-14T22:01:00.000+01:00

Hello my vast readership, I've been feeling down lately, due to my own obnoxiousness, and lack of discipline, so although I've been doing things, like,

knitting,

having a birthday,

gardening,

and occasionally, homeschooling,
I thought I'd pick a nice meme to do, which I found on UKOK's blog, and as she said,

"Feel free to pick this meme up if you feel so inclined, but please remember to let me know in the combox that you are doing it, so that I can read your responses on your blog!"

What time is your alarm clock set to? Don't have one, but Mr and Mrs Blackbird, who are nesting in our hedge (and we don't have double glazing, so we hear them whether the windows are open or not) seem to start their morning racket around 5.30, 6 a.m., most mornings. (Whether or not I get up then is not to be revealed at this juncture).
What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Ah, 'tis the eyes, always the eyes. (That goes for the female variety too!!)
What movie do you know every line to?/What is your favorite movie? Might as well lump these two together, since I've just asked my dearest what my favourite film is, and he, with his usual candour answered, "you don't really have one, do you?" so that's why I wouldn't know the lines to any (although I could sing you quite a few of the songs from "Mary Poppins", if you'd like).
Is anyone in love with you? Well, my faith tells me that Jesus is, but I can't ever really "feel"that, except when my darling hubby forgives me my transgressions, and then I know He does too. But I feel that my husband is.
Do you eat breakfast daily? Dead right I do, it's the only thing that gets me out of bed, some mornings, the thought of a great big cup of dark STRONG coffee, and some toast (with raspberry jam on).
Do you sleep on your side, stomach or back? I'm a fidgeter. When we were first married, my darling husband used to call me the "Fidget Midget". So that tells you something about my stature too.
Who was the last person to make you mad? Me, moi, myself. Of course, I blame 101 other people, but deepdown, even whilst I'm doing it, I know who's at fault.
Are you a lover or a fighter? Tell you what, sometimes, I LOVE a good fight!!!
Are you a morning or evening person? As long as I've had enough sleep, I'm ok either way.
Are you a cuddler? Yep, with those who are dear to me.
Are you a perfectionist? I'm afraid so, which is why it takes me so long to post anything - I have to at least attempt to get the punctuation right!!
Have you ever wrote a poem? I have never, in my life, to my knowledge, ever "wrote" anything. However, I have written a poem or two, in my time.
Do you have more guy or girl friends? I have very few of either, I have the ideal husband (who is shouting from the bathroom as I write, "don't say that......do it, do it, do it," , but I suppose I have more girls than boys as friends - mostly homeschooling mums. (And I'm happy that way).
How many tickets have you gotten? Very few, we rarely go out. (You mean, for the theatre, of course?).
Piercings? Yeuch. (I am appalled at people who stick things in their tongues, around their eyes, and in their noses - for the latter, doesn't the snot get stuck in it?).
Do you have a tattoo? What do you reckon?
Are you patient? Ha ha ha ha ha, manic, hysterical laughter - you should've seen me this morning, in rush hour traffic, having left less than half an hour for a good half hour journey. 'Nuff said.
Do you miss anyone right now? Yes, but I won't go into that.
Tea or coffee? Thick strong Italian coffee in the morning; a nice refined cup of darjeeling in the afternoon.
Regularly burn incense? Nope, I let the thurifer do it.
Ever been in love? Still am.
Best room for a fireplace. Well, ours is in the front room, which seems fine to me, only we're having problems with it at the moment. But I won't go into that.
What do you do when you’re sad or upset? Cry. Eat sweet things. Talk to my husband.
Afraid of heights? Not particularly.
Can you change the oil in your car? Don't know, never tried!
Favorite flower? Ah, there you have me. I love blue flowers, and white flowers, and I keep trying to get my garden to grow with an abundance of blue and white flowers. I've just sown some Himalayan Blue Poppy seeds, let's see if they grow. I am partial also to aubrietia, growing down a sandstone wall, although my sandstone wall is in the shade, so the aubrietias ain't doing too well. But I make do with the flowers that I can afford, or that I am given, so if they aren't all blue, it don't matter, hence the rather gorgeous pink and deep purple tulips in the garden at present.
Favorite hangout? I love being at home, and in the garden.
Middle name? Anne.
Most romantic sounding language? Italiano.
Ever been overseas? On numerous occasions. Holland (aged 14 - got very drunk on Amstelbier) France - miserable school exchange, but I did improve my French, Germany, miserable meeting up with a boyfriend from university who was about to dump me, and who did so when we got on to Italy. But Italy was great, so who cares about the ex.! Spain, restoring an old Church, up a mountain - beautiful setting, if primitive living conditions. Spain, France and Italy on several other occasions. Croatia, Belgium, Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, the USA, and Mexico. But I've also been to Scotland, and Wales, and they deserve a mention even if one doesn't have to cross any seas to get there. Last year we went as a family to Rome, and hubby and I both, for the first time in our lives, felt an inordinate fear of flying, so maybe our days of roaming are o'er! But, I'd still like to see bits of China, and New Zealand, and maybe Canada.

It WAS Ascension Thursday!

2008-05-02T09:16:00.000+01:00

We went through yesterday thinking we wouldn't be able to get to an Ascension Mass. It's funny, but the hierarchy don't seem to have learned from past mistakes. Most would acknowledge that after the introduction of the New Rite of Mass in the 1960's there were a few problems caused amongst the laity - it was all very sudden and people were totally unprepared for what was to hit them. It caused a lot of devastation. We used to hear a lot about "collaborative ministry" in our last parish. We were frequently told "this is the age of the laity". How come then, the laity were never informed as to why little additions were creeping into the Mass - such as the priest waving a giant host around BEFORE the consecration. I realised how ridiculous this had become when at one weekday Mass, since there were no altar servers, one of the elderly ladies, Kitty (RIP), who used to ring the bell at the consecration, started vigorous ringing BEFORE the host was consecrated. It wasn't because she was old and doddery, and didn't know what she was doing, it was because she had not been informed of the novelty of Father wafting the unconsecrated host around, so she thought, as she was bound to do, that he must have got on to the consecration early! I don't remember the laity being asked whether they wanted their Feast Days moved. I know a lot of devout Catholics who attend both rites who are, frankly, cheesed off with this removal. This is because they try to live their lives in union with the liturgical seasons, and they are trying to educate their children in the richness of the Church's liturgical life. It makes sense to children, that if Jesus ascended 40 days after his Resurrection, the feast day should be on that Thursday, forty days on. It makes sense to children, that if the first novena to the Holy Ghost/Spirit, (call Him what you will) was NINE days after the Ascension, it won't fit in after Ascension Sunday!!!!
Anyway, we were EXTREMELY blessed last night because the school Parent's Evening, that my husband had had to attend, didn't go on too long, and he was able to get to the friend's house where my son and I were visiting (which is much closer to Birmingham than where we live) in time to pick us up, and get us to the Oratory for Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form - and it truly was Extraordinary, and the music was sublime, and raised our hearts and minds to the Ascended Lord. Even the traffic queue from the one accident that could have held us up (a bashed car at some traffic lights - don't think it was too serious, please God) was beginning to clear, and we got to the church with a minute to spare. After Mass was finished (although it was so wonderful, it seemed to stay in my soul) it was late, and we had to stop for something to eat (poor hubby had had nothing after his long day at school) so we stopped at a drive through place and they had burgers. (Dear son had had food earlier, but is a growing lad, so needed more!).
I wondered why my son came down to breakfast with his pyjamas inside out this morning - he'd been so tired last night that he hadn't even put the light on to see what he was doing before getting in to bed!

So now we can celebrate the transferred Feast of Saint Joseph the worker today too!

Praying for Saint Joseph's intercession, that all those who are out of work, especially husbands and fathers, will be able to find employment and be able to support their families. Also for all those people who are in difficult work situations, and would like to find other employment.
Here's a lovely prayer for all of us :-
Glorious St. Joseph,model of all who pass their life in labour,obtain for me the grace to work in a spirit of penance to atone for my many sins; to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my own inclinations; to work with gratitude and joy, considering it an honour to use and develop by my labour the gifts I have received from God; to work with order, peace, moderation, and patience, without ever recoiling before weariness or difficulties. Help me to work, above all, with purity of intention and with detachment from self, having always before my eyes the hour of death and the accounting which I must render of time lost, talents wasted, good omitted, and vain complacency in success, which is so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all after your example, O Patriarch Joseph! This shall be my watchword in life and in death.

Bring Flow'rs of the Rarest..

2008-05-01T14:06:00.000+01:00

I thought, instead of bemoaning the fact that one can no longer celebrate Ascension Thursday - unless one has access to a city where the EF is being said - I would give honour to Our Blessed Mother at the beginning of this month of May, which is especially dedicated to her.

I love this hymn:-

Bring flowers of the rarest,bring blossoms the fairest,
From garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
Our full hearts are swelling,our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!

Refrain,
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

Their lady they name thee,their mistress proclaim thee,
Ah, grant that thy children on earth be as true
As long as the bowers are radiant with flowers,
As long as the azure shall keep its bright hue.

Refrain..

Sing gaily in chorus;the bright angels o'er us
Re-echo the strains we begin upon earth;
Their harps are repeating the notes of our greeting,
For Mary herself is the cause of our mirth.

Refrain..

I'm afraid I couldn't find many rare and fair flowers that I could bring to Our Lady, so I made do with bringing her to the few I have in the garden, at present.

Then she got a little bouquet, when I brought her indoors!

It's Just Not Cricket!

2008-04-29T15:36:00.000+01:00

What do you keep a cricket in?
I knew a lovely lady who was from the US, but worked as a textile conservator in the UK. My conservation career started out with me volunteering for her at a museum. She was very popular, and had a wide social circle, into which I was invited. She loved antique things, and would invariably have some interesting trinket to show people. I remember one time when there was a gathering of friends, she was showing off a little round wicker box with a lid, that she had found in some junk shop, and we were debating what it could have been for. My friend thought that perhaps it was for keeping an insect in, so said that "it may be a cricket box". At this juncture, any Englishman worth his salt will know exactly why all the men in the group fell about laughing. I myself (being younger and shyer than most of the company who, to me, all seemed very knowledgeable about the world and life) was unsure of what the term "cricket box" actually meant to them, but was able to quickly guess that it was something to do with the game of cricket, and probably some sort of protection that only men would need!

Well, my education was completed recently, when my boy decided he wanted to take up cricket, and so joined a local village cricket club. The only essential equipment he needs at this beginning stage is a cricket bat, and of course, the famous box. We rushed around our local towns, and successfully found him one before his first match - this being the result.

Last night, he had his second match, but being in a rush to get there, he forgot to attire his nether regions in the appropriate under wear. Apparently, boxer shorts are not the right sort of thing to wear, as my lad found out to his cost - the box falls out! Well, his papa and I had done one of those brilliant parental changeovers, whereby, I had heated up his supper and taken it in an earthenware pot, while my husband was to meet us at the cricket pitch straight from his work, where he could then eat at his leisure. This was to save his darling wife from having to sit through the excruciating experience of watching an under 11's cricket match -have you heard the expression "watching paint dry", well that's how cricket leaves me feeling. (The match lasts TWO hours). I had wrapped said hot pot in a nice large tea cosy I have, to keep it warm till my beloved knight came to rescue me, and I felt quite proud of my wifely efficiency (I had to, it was a RARE occasion of such efficiency!)
When they got home, my son recounted the tale of the habitual trouncing.
It strikes me that he has probably joined the worst team in the County, which is possibly why he was so easily taken on, but I digress.
More importantly though, he was holding something out to me, and telling me that he had had problems with his box falling out. However, his ever-resourceful daddy had given him an alternative, which, when it was removed from down the front of his trousers, after his turn at batting, had caused the other boys on his team much merriment...

I suppose it was a good job he didn't have an opportunity to score any runs - he wouldn't have been able to run very fast with that stuck down his front!!!

(Footnote for my international readership - cricket is a game played with a VERY hard ball, which is thrown hard and fast directly towards a wicket, in front of which the batsman must stand to defend it with a bat - needless to say there are many opportunities for said ball to hit the batsman in a place that could cause a lot of pain if not covered with a tea cosy).

Maths avoidance sometimes brings benefits.

2008-04-28T20:10:00.000+01:00

Today we should have continued with the maths programme we are using. There is a lot to cover in it, and we are already several weeks behind. This is due more to the fact that one would need to study for about 2 hours a day if one intended to keep up with it! I haven't been able to work out which bits could be skipped, so I plod through the lot! It's all good practice, I suppose. My dear son would not agree with me though. He is capable of the work, he just doesn't like doing it. He practised at the piano first thing - this is inevitably done as the lesser of two evils - he knows if he doesn't get on with it, mummy will call for the maths books to be brought out. Then, after a break, he managed to convince me he was working, by reading a book all about how electricity is made, moving on to another one, on how things work. The maths books were out, but he looked out of the window at the garden, and exclaimed, "Look, they're like electric light bulbs, cups, filled with the sun!" I wondered to what he was referring, and came to see - my white tulips, certainly were like cups filled with sunshine! So I suggested that would be a good starter for a poem, and off he went and wrote one - anything to get away from the maths, I suppose. And I trouped off down the garden to get some photos of the few floral exhibits I have therein, this spring - anything to get away from the maths, I suppose!
The poem was very good too, worth avoiding maths for!

(Edited next day to add)

I actually can't get over how brilliant these flower-heads are, so I'm posting this picture I took today, as well. Even though the light isn't as bright as yesterday, they really are radiant, like light bulbs!:-) The wonders of God's creation!

Parable Meme

2008-04-27T22:43:00.000+01:00

Rachel, at Chasing Butterflies, has asked me to do a parable meme, it seems quite straight-forward, list 5 favourite parables, and then tag the same number of people. I think I'll give the tagging bit a miss this time, as I found it hard to find 5 people for the last meme I did, but if anyone wants to join in, please do so.
It's funny, but apart from the really obvious parables, the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, and the Sower sowing seed on different grounds, I couldn't readily bring any others to mind, and didn't know if I even have favourite ones, but once I'd looked them up, there were of course, plenty to choose from.
1) I should have remembered the one about the unscrupulous judge and the widow who kept pestering him for justice. I still remember the little cartoon sketch my husband did for me to remind me of this one when, after we'd been married over a year and a half, we still hadn't conceived, and I felt like giving up praying for a child. It spurred me on to keep nagging our heavenly Father for what we wanted!
2) There were some lovely illustrated books I used to read to my little boy, or he'd look at during Mass when he was very small. I still remember the one about the two sons, one who says he'll do the Father's will, and doesn't, and the other who initially says he won't, but then thinks better of it and does help him out.
3)The selfish farmer, who builds bigger and bigger barns, to store all his grain for himself, and then dies the next day. Helps me to not put too much store in what happens (materially) to me in this life.
4)Lazarus and Dives. Apparently, according to my learned husband, (who I think got this from Scott Hahn) it is the only time a character in a parable is named, and one could identify the Lazarus in the parable of Luke with the real Lazarus in John, who Jesus actually did raise from the dead, yet the pharisees still didn't believe in Him. I was intrigued by this, it shows how much more depth there is to the parables than at first reading.
5)The wise and foolish virgins. It took me years to appreciate what this was all about - that's the trouble when you're young, you always empathise with the fools, and feel sorry for them, but that's because you are a fool yourself eh? Now, I realise the importance of being ready and waiting for the Lord, as the awareness of my own mortality grows.

We have been graced.

2008-04-19T23:02:00.000+01:00

We had a visitor round for dinner tonight. A Priest. We feel truly blessed that he came to our house. He also blessed our house, for which we are grateful. He asked us how we met, and we related our story. After he had gone, my husband expressed to me what he had felt, (which was what I had also felt), that it was like a renewal, being able to go back to how it all started between us, and how God acted in our lives.
Thank you Jesus, for this Priest.
Thank you Jesus, for all our Priests.
Thank you Jesus, for our marriage.
Amen.

God's Providence and Trench Warfare

2008-04-16T22:03:00.000+01:00

Look what came out of the garden this morning. My boy decided to dig a trench in what was the potato patch last year, (it had something to do with trench warfare, I believe. I blame that dratted homeschooling family we know with six boys for introducing my little darling to the concept). I've been longing to dig it over, now that we are having some sunshine, and if I'd just asked him to do it for me, he would have run out of energy after the first spade-full, but as he decided, on his own initiative to dig a trench, and I knew this would be at least helpful in getting the plot dug, I let him have his fun. Mmm, I could get into this 'unschooling' type homeschooling. He found the small pile of spuds - they don't seem too bad considering they've been in the ground all winter. I then decided (since he'd got every single spade, fork, trowel and hoe out of the shed) it was about time to dig up some of the leeks and parsnips on the plot next to the ex-spud plot (can't use the same ground again this year for the spuds, apparently). Look at how well they've grown - well, by comparison to the three beans I got out of my fancy Italian bean crop last year. The reason there's plenty of them left, is that I don't really like parsnips, and only use leeks in moderation, and it's been so wet and murky all winter that I couldn't be bothered to make the (short) trip to the vegetable plot to dig 'em up!
Anyway, the lads love parsnips, so I suppose I'll just have to get my pal's curried parsnip soup recipe out (yeuch) and make it for them. What martyrdom we wives and mothers go through!

I thought the veggies on the edge of the sink would have made a good still-life, but by the time I would get round to painting it, they'd have self-composted.

That reminds me of a lad who was in my year at art school. He wasn't noted for his attendance record, so imagine our dismay when he came in one day with a dead fish to paint. Yes, it sat there for a week or two, waiting for him to come back and paint it - I can't remember how the situation was resolved, suffice to say, I was pretty glad I worked at the other end of the studio.

(We love the family with the six boys, by the way - they're expecting their 7th child in the Summer, aren't they blessed!)

Saints Leo the Great, and Guthlac of Crowland

2008-04-11T09:48:00.000+01:00

Two great Saints share 11th April Feast Day.

LEO THE GREAT, POPE, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, died 461.

During the disintegration of the Western Empire, when heresy was rife and all moral values were threatened by the barbarian invasions, Pope Leo I stands out as the resolute champion of the faith. His courage and sagacity lifted the prestige of the Holy See mightily, and earned for him the title of "The Great," a distinction bestowed on but one other pope, Gregory I. The Church honoured Leo further with the title of Doctor because of his expositions of Christian doctrine, extracts from which are now incorporated in the lessons of the Catholic breviary. Of his birth and early years we have no reliable information; his family was probably Tuscan. In 440 he was consecrated Pope. Ninety six sermons of his have survived, in which we find Leo stressing the virtues of almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, and also expounding Catholic doctrine with clarity and conciseness, in particular the dogma of the Incarnation. Also one hundred and forty-three letters written by him, and thirty letters written to him, have been preserved; they illustrate the Pope's extraordinary vigilance over the Church in all parts of the Empire.

It's amazing how people think that the Catholic Church's teachings were all made up in the Middle Ages, and yet there is so much written evidence for Her beliefs from such an early age.

Pope Leo vigorously fought against several heresies - Manichaeanism - Priscillianism - Nestorianism, and its opposite, Eutychianism.
I love the names of these heresies, but it's so hard to get the spelling right!! They are fascinating to study, and if one does, one can see how they rear their ugly heads again in some of the theories that are put about today, even amongst people who call themselves Christians. It just shows how the Church needs a leader who can definitively guide her through the murky waters.

Basically, the Manichaeans had a theory that all matter was evil. The Priscillian sect had made great headway in Spain, and as it developed there, it seems to have combined astrology and fatalism with the Manichaean beliefs - has a New Age tinge to it doesn't it?
While Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople from 428 to 431, taught a doctrine of the humanity of Christ, according to which God the divine Son and Jesus the Man were always two distinct persons; Jesus alone was born of woman, and as a man of surpassing goodness became the dwelling place of the Word, which was incarnate in him. He was deposed and excommunicated by the Council of Ephesus. This was the Council that defined Mary as "Theotokos", ie, the Mother of God, a widely-held orthodox belief, that Nestorius preached against.
I have spoken with several Protestants who do not believe that Mary is anything other than an ordinary, good woman, not entirely sinless, but one who had a special role to play. I believe that if they can not see that Mary, defined so early on in the Church as the Mother of God, had to be sinless, then they do not fully understand her Son's Divinity or humanity. They end up making up a God to suit their beliefs, rather than allowing themselves to be led to the One True God by His Immaculate Mother.

Then Abbot Eutyches of Constantinople, was condemned by a synod in 449, for falling into heresy. In his writings it seemed clear that Eutyches had fallen into the error of denying the human nature of Christ, a heresy which was the opposite of Nestorianism.

Leo's “Tome” (written in 449 ) was read by his legates in 451, to a council which was held at Chalcedon. In it he concisely defined the Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation and the two natures of Christ, avoiding the pitfalls of Nestorianism on the one hand and of Eutychianism on the other. "Peter has spoken by the mouth of Leo!" exclaimed the bishops. This statement of the two-fold nature of Christ was to be accepted by later ages as the Church's official teaching.

So, any "Christians" who still don't believe that Jesus is Fully human and Fully divine, should get off the boat now! (And stop calling themselves Christian too!).

Our next wonderful Saint of the Day is said to be one of the most popular Saints among Englishmen prior to the Norman Conquest, second only to Saint Cuthbert.

He was born about 673, and died at Crowland, England, on 11 April, 714. The authority for the life of St. Guthlac is a monk called Felix, who, in dedicating it to King Æthelbald, Guthlac's friend, assures him that whatever he has written, he had derived immediately from old and intimate companions of the saint. Guthlac was born of royal blood, from the Mercian tribe of Guthlacingas. In his boyhood he showed extraordinary signs of piety; after eight or nine years spent in warfare, during which he never quite forgot his early training, he became filled with remorse and determined to enter a monastery. This he did at Repton (in what is now Derbyshire). Here after two years of great penance and earnest application to all the duties of the monastic life, (where he wasn't too popular because of his total abstinence from intoxicating drink - made all the others feel guilty, I suppose!) he became fired with enthusiasm to emulate the wonderful penance of the Fathers of the Desert. For this purpose he retired with two companions to Crowland, a lonely island in the dismal fen-lands of modern Lincolnshire. In this solitude he spent fifteen years of the most rigid penance, fasting daily taking only coarse bread and water. Apparently, he was tempted by the Devil, who came disguised as his (very holy) sister, Pega, who was also a hermit at Crowland, trying to get him to break his vow never to eat before sunset. To prevent further attempts of this nature, Guthlac ordered Pega to leave the island, and they never met again. The picture above is taken from a late 12th C. set of illustrations, usually called the Guthlac roll, now in the British Museum, and shows Pega being sent away. Thus Like St. Anthony he was frequently attacked and severely maltreated by the Evil One, and on the other hand was the recipient of extraordinary graces and powers. The birds and the fish became his familiar friends, while the fame of his sanctity brought throngs of pilgrims to his cell.
Guthlac, after his death, in a vision to Æthelbald, revealed to him that he should one day become king. The prophecy was verified in 716. During Holy Week of 714, Guthlac sickened and announced that he should die on the seventh day, which he did joyfully. The anniversary (11 April) has always been kept as his feast. Many miracles were wrought at his tomb, which soon became a centre of pilgrimage. His old friend, Æthelbald, on becoming king, proved himself a generous benefactor. Soon a large monastery arose, and through the industry of the monks, prospered. Felix's Latin "Life" was later turned into Anglo-Saxon prose by some unknown hand.

Two very inspiring men.

Suffering, or Miracle-Working?

2008-04-09T21:26:00.000+01:00

Every morning my dear husband reads a page from a book entitled "A Year with the Saints" published by Tan, which he found in a souvenir shop in Lourdes. The readings are wonderful, and the excerpts from the Saints' lives and speech are inspiring.

I often think of the debates that are had in blogland. There was one blogger who liked to pop in to Catholic blogs and put in his (Ex-Catholic, now Evangelical Protestant) penny's worth in the comments boxes. He frequently berated Catholics, particularly those who liked to attend the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, for not performing miracles, whilst he claimed he, and his charismatic friends were causing miracles left right and centre, even raising people from the dead. He also took exception to the Catholic acceptance of suffering.
This morning's reading seemed very appropriate to this debate - it is from St. John Chrysostom, who lived from about 347 until his death in 407 AD.

"If the Lord should give you power to raise the dead, He would give much less than He does when He bestows suffering. By miracles you would make yourself debtor to Him, while by suffering He may become debtor to you. And even if sufferings had no other reward than being able to bear something for that God who loves you, is not this a great reward and a sufficient remuneration? Whoever loves, understands what I say."
The Saint set such a high value on suffering that he even said: "I venerate St. Paul not so much for having been raised to the third heaven, as for the imprisonmment he suffered. And so, if I were asked whether I would be placed in Heaven among the angels, or in prison with Paul, I would prefer the latter. And if it were left to my choice whether I should be Peter in chains, or the angels that released him, I would certainly rather be the first than the second."

Now there's a saint who goes back a long way, so our Catholic view of suffering isn't all a Mediaeval invention, after all! (As our Protestant friend would claim).

Now all I need is the grace to be able to stop waiting for miracles to happen, and just get down and accept all that suffering that I get thrown at me, with a great big, Thank You Jesus!

A Certain type of Wealth and Poverty

2008-04-06T21:12:00.000+01:00

This is something I needed to come across, read, and digest. Ponder. Take to heart. The author of this post is a real inspiration. Her name is Helen, and she has the Castle of the Immaculate Blog.
She writes about it here , but I'm going to put it on my blog so I can read, and re-read it!

Wealth and Poverty

Who can “handle” another child? Who truly is capable of providing for the needs of another soul made in the image and likeness of God? Who can be trusted to guide a new life safely through this life of dangers and pitfalls? We are all stricken with the illness of the soul – original sin. We all labor with darkened intellects and weakened wills. So, who can “handle another child?”

The Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph were so good that God entrusted Himself as a baby to them. Despite their physical poverty, they were made fit spiritually for the dignity of the office of parenting God. With complete dependence upon the Will of God and prayerful serenity, the Immaculate and Her chaste spouse accomplished the impossible: They parented God! How can man parent the Creator? This is an impossibility. Yet this is precisely the vocation of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph. How often did they tremble at the road which lay ahead of them?

We have to trust that despite our weaknesses and failings, by trusting God, we will be made fit to steer the young we are given into the paths of God.

The wealth of fertility:
You know every one who comes into contact with your baby. Everyone. You know where your baby is every second of its new life. Your baby is with you right now, no guessing where he is. You know every sound and voice your baby knows. You know and control every thing your new baby eats. You can speak to your baby immediately. You can communicate to him with your heart and he knows you and you know him. You have new life within you, even if it is briefly. Every sacrament you receive, he receives.
The wealth of privacy:
In a perfect world, a baby should be between a husband and wife and no one else. When you have the wealth of fertility, you do not have to ask anyone’s permission to have a baby. You do not need to explain to your doctor, the pediatrician, the social worker and adoption agency, and the state all the personal plans you have for your family and future. The wealth of being sure of God’s plan. Conformity to the Will of God is the sure path to sanctification. The wealth of fertility allows you to know what God’s plan is for you. In marriage, if you find yourself expecting, you know exactly what God wants of you. The path is clear.

The great women we find in the Old Testament considered children a great blessing. When these women called to God in poverty, they cried because they couldn’t have children. For example, Hannah (Samuel’s mother) and Rachel (Joseph’s mother) both beseeched God because of their poverty (and Rachel was very prosperous in the eyes of the world). They suffered the poverty of infertility. For those who do not have the wealth of fertility, the poverty can be distressing. Rachel in the Old Testament expresses the feeling of infertility dramatically: “Give me children or give me death.”

The consoling way to look at infertility is to turn to the Gospel and see infertility as a poverty. Then we can take this cross, this terrible pain, and turn it into a great, sanctifying grace. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When the Lord spoke of the Kingdom of heaven, He said: “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Meaning the Kingdom is already here. He is the Kingdom, the manifestation of the Trinity. When we draw close to Him and His ways we find the Kingdom of heaven. In the beatitudes, Jesus teaches us that this Kingdom belongs to the poor in spirit. With the poverty of infertility, one is given the opportunity in prayer to be truly poor: “May I also have a child in my womb, but if I cannot I will be satisfied (and greatly satisfied) fulfilling Your Will for me. Thy Will be done, not mine.” Since no new life is created within the barren womb, this allows the great emptiness to be filled with Jesus Himself.

Isn't that a beautiful way to look at it? I pray for the grace to be able to say always, "Not my will, but Thine be done, Oh most loving Jesus"

Let's Adopt This Little Girl Instead!

2008-04-06T10:55:00.000+01:00

There is a member of my family, who, when asked a few years ago what she thought about adoption (she has two fine healthy children, a girl, and a boy, a very large house in the country with lots of rooms and a huge garden) said, "We thought about it, but then we got [let's call it, for the sake of anonymity] Bonzo". Yes, they now have three Bonzos. Mmmm. Now, they're not practising Catholics, but "cultural" Catholics. The social services would have loved them. Still. It's not for everybody, I suppose.

So, seeing as we've not been allowed to adopt a child, I think of all the animals in the world that I could cope with, this is the one Bonzo I'd take on:-

She is very sweet, and no, we haven't exactly adopted her, we're just looking after her for two weeks while her owners are on holiday, and seeing as they semi-adopted my son when we lived next door to them (letting him roam free in their garden) I think it's not too much of a favour to do in return.

We had snow today, the first to settle this winter, or should I say spring, and she was out first thing in it with my son. Both loved it. We have to make the most of snow here, it lasts about 4 hours at most!!!!

The snow was very heavy, (but not very deep)all the bamboo is flopping over the pond.

But once the sun begins to shine, it's pathetic really!

Not even enough time to build a snowman, like we did on our one evening of snow last year...

Still, we don't have all that "yard" cleaning that the Americans have to put up with! (or maybe even people living in Kent - I haven't looked at the news yet, I get a bit fed up with all that stuff about "global warming" Ha Ha!)

We Think it's All Over

2008-04-05T22:21:00.000+01:00

We have been waiting for a decision recently about whether we were to have a 6 year old child placed with us for adoption.
I mentioned in an earlier post about the difficulties we've had in adopting within this country. What is our big problem? We don't drink to excess, we haven't abused our birth-child in any way, we don't smoke, we aren't hugely overweight :-) ! We have a nice house (3-4 bedrooms), a big garden. We love each other, and get on well together, and are respectful towards those of different belief-systems to ours. We have a stable family life, and a good sense of humour. We've been waiting for six years now, having been approved by three social services panels.
So, what could it be? Well, the first serious problem is that we are Catholic, yes, really Catholic, that is, we actually go to Mass, and sometimes more than once a week. We also accept what the Catholic Church teaches on faith and morals.
But this is where the real irony lies. More than the Catholic bit, the social workers can't get their narrow minds around the fact that we homeschool....we actually like children enough to want to spend whole days and nights in their company! We are NOT normal. We wanted to bond with our children by being close to them, showing them that though they have been rejected, or abandoned once by adults, it isn't going to happen again. We wanted them to not feel abnormal in school because they are the only ones who are adopted. We even said that if the child insisted that they wanted to go to school, we'd let them go!
A month or so ago, we were close to being matched with a little baby. Our social worker thought we'd be a good match, the family finder social worker thought we'd be a good match, and was keen to arrange a visit. Then it all fell through, why? because the child's social worker (who is supposed to be guided to some extent by the family finder) looked at our form, read the bit about homeschooling, and didn't want to have anything to do with us!! (And they are short of couples ready to adopt in that Local Authority). Then, even more irony, whilst all this was going on, another social worker in the same department overheard about us being homeschoolers. She thought, "I know of a child who is experiencing difficulty in school, she would benefit from being home educated. Let us look at this family". Thus, we began to look at the possibilities of taking on a much older child than we had ever considered. We thought and prayed long and hard about it, and as they were keen on meeting us, we agreed to a visit from two social workers, and the child psychologist who had been dealing with the child. They visited with us for over an hour, and the discussion was thorough - we had to find out what problems we would be bringing into our home with this child, as well as the good things. The meeting was very positive, but after they'd left, my husband and I remained undecided as to whether it would be right for us to take on an older child with no experience of the Catholic faith. Although they were very impressed with us, and had no problems with the homeschooling, ultimately, they chose another family, who they believed met the child's needs. This could have been because they were not religious, and I think in this case, that may have been better for the child, and maybe for us.
Only God knows why we have been down this adoption path, and failed to adopt.
We know of at least two other Catholic homeschooling families in the UK who have managed to adopt. It is not impossible. But my advice to families who have children who are pre-school age, and want to adopt again, is "don't mention ze homeschooling!" the social workers really don't need to know. I do hope, and pray, that one day, social workers will look more favourably on home-education, and the positive effects it has on adopted children.
As for us, we are about to formally resign from the adoption agency we are with. Our social worker has tried hard on our behalf, and we are grateful to him for that, but he himself sees how near impossible the situation seems to be in our case.
I just pray for all those children in the past 6 years, who have been placed with homosexual couples, when they could have been given a home with a "normal" couple like us, who, let's face it, could have met their needs far better, given that every child comes from a mummy and a daddy.

Trinitarian Pelargonium, my First Curry, and my First Meme

2008-03-28T15:28:00.000Z

The third flower has come out on this cutting I took from my citrus-scented pelargonium, and even though I know I'm not supposed to let cuttings flower, I hadn't the heart to destroy them. It's a shame I can't do the blog in "smell-o-rama" as the leaves smell gorgeous when they are crushed, more of an orange than a lemon scent mmmm.... much more wholesome than those dreadful air-fresheners which always make me gag!

However, even that wouldn't mask the smell of curry in my kitchen at the moment, I actually made curried chicken pieces for lunch today. The flavour was quite good, but the sauce was a bit watery (I followed the recipe exactly, so I presume it was supposed to be). I think we're so used to thickened Korma sauces from the take-away, that we're not sure how home-made curry should turn out! Anyway, if I manage to perfect it, it could save us a bob or two on take-aways in future!!

Now to the serious stuff, which Alexa tagged me for!
I have to admit I panicked when I saw this meme thing, as I don't really know what a meme is, but if it just involves answering a few questions, then I think I can cope with that! I think this is wot I'm supposed to do -

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

It seems straightforward.

What I was doing 10 years ago:

I was probably playing with this wee lad!

Looks like he's dressed up in his Sunday Suit - one of my handmade efforts - poor child! He'd've liked the buttons though, they were ladybirds.

I think I'd got over my post-natal depression by the time he was 9 months, but I didn't really like where we were living at the time - that used to depress me somewhat. It's funny when you look back at old photos - I had to do this to trigger my memory of what I was doing 10 yrs ago - one always looks so happy, and yet it's not always a true reflection of how one felt a lot of the time. And does any of it matter anyhow, in the big scheme of things - we're one of the first generations to have detailed photographic records of our existence - is it healthy to look back at our youth, is it what God wants of us? Getting a bit too deep here, let's move on.

Five things on my To Do List today:

Firstly, one thing I never do is make lists. I know I should, and that life would be perfect if I did, but I have a HUGE psychological resistance towards lists.

Well, it's getting late in the day, nearly 5 0'clock, and I've cooked lunch, but haven't done the dishes, so that's one thing I need to do.

I have to take my boy to tennis in 5 minutes.

I have to pick him up an hour later, on the way to our Friday evening Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

I have to not look at any more blogs - it's getting addictive.

I have to make my husband a nice cup of tea, and spend some time with him.

Snacks I enjoy:

Walkers salt n' shake crisps, I never put the salt on, so they are just fried potato flavour.

Roasted peanuts.

Crunchy juicy apples.

Cadbury's Mini Eggs, but you can only get them around Easter time.

Biscuits (cookies).

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Buy a detached house, on a hill, overlooking the sea - possibly in Wales. Pay off any debts, family debts etc. Save a bit for my son's education, and our old age. Give the rest away to good Catholic Charities, and anyone I thought was in need.

Three of my bad habits:

Losing my temper when I get frustrated by something.

Living an ill-disciplined (list-free) life.

Eating too many sweet things.

Five places I have lived:

Stonehouse, Gloucestershire (England).

Dursley, Goucestershire.

Bristol, England.

Edinburgh, Scotland.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.

Swansea, Wales.

London.

Northampton.

New Mexico (USA) for 3 months.

Shropshire, England.

(Just for my benefit, I thought I'd try and remember all the significant places I've lived in, that comes to 10!)

Five jobs I have had:

Saturday shop assistant in a gift shop.

Shop assistant in a grocery shop.

Night shift worker in a frozen raspberry factory in Scotland, whilst staying on a pig farm - nightmarish experience!

Chocolate factory worker.

Paintings conservator in various museums and private studios.

I've got to add a sixth - wife and mother - the job I always aspired to!..

Five people I want to know more about (a nice way of saying TAG!):

Ooer -the hunt is on not because I don't want to know about lots of people, but because I don't think many know who I am, and I can't do Alexa, as she's already tagged me!

First I'll do Lydia at When the Magnolias Bloom

Then James at Ecce Mater Tua

Followed by Leutgeb at Bara Brith

Next I'll try The White Stone Name Seeker

And finally Rachel at Chasing Butterflies

Off to the Movies

2008-03-26T22:24:00.000Z

We had our first family trip to the cinema today - ever! We've never seen anything that looked suitable for our son to view up till now, but we thought "Horton Hears a Who" would pass muster, and it did. I really enjoyed it, and so did my husband (even though he'd been tempted to save money, and not come with us, thinking he might not find it to his taste). But our son loved it, and really appreciated having both of us with him to share the experience. It does have a pro-life message "A person's a person, no matter how small" even though sadly, I found out later, that Dr Seuss (and especially his wife) were against pro-lifers using that phrase. As my husband says, now he's met Jesus, he'll know that it is an appropriate catchphrase to apply to the unseen unborn babies in the womb!

We might try Prince Caspian next, when it comes out in the summer.

Thirteen Years On, and still Laughing

2008-03-25T16:44:00.001Z

We almost forgot that today was our 13th Wedding Anniversary! It usually coincides with the Feast of The Annunciation, which it would have been today if it weren't the Easter Octave!

We usually think of the Feast of the Annunciation as our Wedding Anniversary, and when it gets transferred, (as it sometimes falls in Holy Week) we transfer our celebrations too. But as this is a joyous time, we should really be celebrating today.

I waited a long time for my husband, we met at a prayer group at Church, and when he first expressed an interest in me, I didn't look twice at him -he was 7 years younger than me; still, he was very persistent, and God let us know that we were meant to marry in so many ways, that after going out together for about 4 months we got engaged. Despite making our Priest very worried at our lack of pre Marriage instruction, we insisted that we wanted to have our wedding on the first Marian feast, on a Saturday that we could find - it happened to be 6 weeks later, on 25th March - Lady Day!

The new fleur de lys background to my blog is from the material of my wedding dress, which I made myself, (I also made two bridesmaids dresses, and iced the cake - all in six weeks!) We are very fond of fleurs de lys - or should it be fleur de lyses? - as they symbolise our devotion to Our Lady. I don't know how we managed it, but we've had so much fun, and so many blessings in our Marriage, that despite the few downs, I want to say a Big Thankyou to Our Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph, and Our Lord, for bringing us together. Also a big thankyou to my husband, for marrying me!

I love you more than ever!!! God Bless You.

Let Yourselves Be Fed

2008-03-24T21:48:00.000Z

I just read the following about Fulton Sheen on Paul's blog -(http://onthesideoftheangels.blogspot.com/).

A couple of months before his death Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was interviewed on national television. One of the questions was this:"Bishop Sheen, you have inspired millions of people all over the world. Who inspired you? Was it a Pope?"Bishop Sheen responded that it was not a Pope, a cardinal, another bishop, or even a priest or a nun. It was a little Chinese girl of eleven years of age. He explained that when the Communists took over China, they imprisoned a priest in his own rectory near the Church. After they locked him up in his own house, the priest was horrified to look out of his window and see the Communists proceed into the Church, where they went into the sanctuary and broke into the tabernacle. In an act of hateful desecration, they took the ciborium and threw it on the floor with all of the Sacred Hosts spilling out. The priest knew exactly how many Hosts were in the ciborium: thirty-two.
When the Communists left, they either did not notice, or didn't pay any attention to a small girl praying in the back of the Church who saw everything that had happened. That night the little girl came back. Slipping past the guard at the priest's house, she went inside the Church. There she made a holy hour of prayer, an act of love to make up for the act of hatred. After her holy hour she went into the sanctuary, knelt down, bent over and with her tongue received Jesus in Holy Communion, (since it was not permissible for laymen to touch the Sacred Host with their hands.) The little girl continued to come back each night to make her holy hour and receive Jesus in Holy Communion on her tongue. On the thirty-second night, after she had consumed the last and thirty-second host, she accidentally made a noise and woke the guard who was sleeping. He ran after her, caught her, and beat her to death with the butt of his rifle. This act of heroic martyrdom was witnessed by the priest as he watched grief-stricken from his bedroom window.
When Bishop Sheen heard the story he was so inspired that he promised God he would make a holy hour of prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament everyday of his life. If this frail, little child could give testimony and witness to the world concerning the real and wonderful Presence of her Savior in the Blessed Sacrament, then the Bishop was absolutely bound by all that was right and true, to do the same. His sole desire from then on was to bring the world to the burning Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

When my son was about two and a half years old, we were in the Chapel of an elderly people's home that we used to frequent for Holy Mass. Some of the children from the Catholic primary school next door had attended Mass on this particular day, it being the Feast of Corpus Christi. My little boy liked to help clear away the hymn number cards, so we were on our own in the Chapel carrying out this task after Mass, when suddenly he said "Mummy, here is a Body of Christ", and, to my horror, he was holding a host in his hand, that one of the children must have dropped - we were half way down the Chapel - it was not as though the child who had dropped it had attempted to consume the Host anywhere near the altar. There was no-one else around, and I suppose I was worried that he might be tempted to eat the host, so I told him to bring it to me; I took it from him, and I knelt down, and consumed Our Lord. I was pleased that he had an idea that it was something special, and that he should tell me about it, whilst being sad that the child who had been given Communion had no idea that they had dropped Our Blessed Lord on the floor. I'm not sure, in the light of what I've posted above, that I should have touched the host, but those were the days when I still thought receiving Communion in the hand was ok under certain circumstances. I wish now, that I had got my son to place it on my tongue. I no longer believe that lay people should receive in the hand - the Priest's hands are consecrated - I've read plenty of stuff on the internet and elsewhere, to convince me that there is no need for lay people to receive on the hand. I remember when I was made a "Eucharistic Minister" at a Church in London, many moons ago, (I was young, and enthusiastic, and wanted to be involved in my parish, so accepted when I was asked to be one). It never felt right. I almost lost my faith in the Real Presence. It was a horrible experience. I didn't do it for long, and I never felt inclined to offer my services - or desired to be asked, when I moved on to other parishes. When I read about that little girl, and her tremendous faith and courage, and then think of some of the First Communion Masses I've attended where the children return to their seats after taking Our Lord, and immediately spend their time chatting to relatives, and posing for photos, I see how devastatingly the loss of belief in the Real Presence has taken hold. When I think about children dropping hosts, (or receiving Our Lord whilst still chewing gum) and the casual attitude towards Holy Communion so evident in many Churches today, it makes me want to weep. I weep for my casual attitude on so many occasions. I weep for any time I have dared to touch Our Blessed Lord with my unconsecrated hands, and I want to make reparation by kneeling, and receiving on the tongue, and by recommending that every true Catholic with faith in the Real Presence of Our Lord God Almighty, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Sacred Host, stops continuing the practice of receiving in their hands, and encourages every child to receive on the tongue. Only in this way will the loss of faith in the Real Presence be reversed.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

2008-03-23T10:57:00.000Z

Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!

We don't have a lot of images of the risen Christ, so I had to hunt around in my old art books, and found this lovely image by Titian, to put on the mantelpiece, after we got back from the Easter vigil, in the old rite, held at a tiny little Church in Cheshire, an hour's drive away from us, with a Priest from the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. My, do they do stirling work, these Priests - he had to sing the Exsultet (there was no deacon), and then all the lessons, the Gospel, and practically everything else! There was a small choir to help out, but as it's a long time since the Triduum was held in the old rite in this country, it is hard for the congregation to help out with the singing, as many of us don't know the chants - hopefully some of the younger people will get more of an opportunity to learn them. He did it beautifully, though, and we felt the solemnity and the magnificence of a liturgy appropriate to the occasion.

And now from the sublime to the cor blimey! as my dad used to say:-

Even the "boiled egg" is a sugar-coated chocolate one!!! My lad gave up sweets and fruit juice for Lent, so Easter breakfast is a bit of a strange mixture! His aunty, and godmother, (my sister) has over-indulged him with chocolates, but she did give him the big lamb with a card saying "Enjoy the chocs, but don't forget the Real Lamb". I'm not keen on the "bunny" imagery; eggs are ok, as they remind us of the stone being rolled away, and Jesus bursting forth from the tomb, and it's always good to find a lamb, to remind us of Jesus' sacrifice, but I can't see any merit in the "Easter Bunny" - it reminds me a bit of "Father Christmas getting stuck in the chimney" - a jolly figure that detracts from the religious meaning of our key Christian festivals. Still, we can always have fun bashing up the chocolate to smithereens, as a punishment for its irreligeosity!!!!

When I stayed with a charismatic Catholic community in the USA one Easter (aeons ago, before I became the hardened bitter and twisted Traddie that I now am) , the Priest, who had a great sense of humour, on Easter morning would get a large plastic bottle, dressed up with with a pair of bunny ears, and a bow, and say to his dog, Lisa, "Now Lisa, show the folks what we think of the Easter Bunny" and Lisa would proceed to "savage" the bottle. We all found it hilarious, but when I related this story to a German friend, he seemed very offended - I wondered then, whether the Easter Bunny has a deeper significance for the Germanic people?

Anyway, God Bless, Happy Easter, and don't overdo the Chocolate, Merlot, Coffee, etc. etc...!

Good Friday thoughts

2008-03-22T17:10:00.000Z

I have been struck by two things over the last few days.

One is the tremendous offering our Priests make of their lives. A good Priest, who truly understands and follows his vocation is a wonderful gift to the laity. The dedication and faith of those who are following Christ's teaching, and helping the lay faithful to do so likewise, is awe inspiring. I pray for all our Priests that they may be blessed by a full understanding of their vocation at this special time. Whilst I was being "struck" by these thoughts, my husband came across an interview that Mother Angelica did with a young Priest, on EWTN. I was busy scrubbing the mould off the pantry window, but as always, these things are compelling, and I eventually stopped to listen. The Priest, (I've forgotten his name) was relating how he had been in a terrible car accident a few years ago, after he had been ordained for about 12 years. Many people prayed for his recovery, and judging by the type of injuries he sustained, the fact that he recovered at all, let alone was able to be interviewed, was nothing short of miraculous. But what he then said was quite striking. After his recovery, he had a vivid memory of going before Jesus to be judged. Jesus pointed out all his failings, and asked him what he had to say for himself, and he knew that there was no escaping the condemnation, all he could do was agree with Jesus; and finally Jesus said that his judgement was that he should go to Hell, and the Priest had to agree that that was the just judgement. Then he heard a woman's voice, asking that he be spared, and pruned to see if he could bear some good fruit, and Jesus could not resist His Mother's petition, and so the Priest was allowed to try again, thus he recovered. He said himself, that if you'd asked his parishioners whether they thought he would have been destined for Hell, they probably would not have thought so. However, he knew that he had not been living his Priesthood as he should - the Holy Mass was not overly important to him, and he didn't pray the Divine Office. He didn't have a great devotion to Mary. Of course, he now knew that he had to live his life differently, and now was trying to live his Priesthood for the Lord, not for himself, as he had formerly done.

This leads to the second thing that struck me. The amazing gift of generosity of her self Mary made when she said her "Fiat" to the Father. She was not only saying yes to having a baby, she was saying yes to seeing that child, who she knew was Divine, and totally innocent, suffer and die the most cruel death. I have spoken to a few very devout Protestants who think that Mary was quite an ordinary woman - some don't even believe she was sinless, which leads me to wonder whether they fully understand the Divinity of Christ, His holiness - how could he have entered into the womb of a sinner - it doesn't make any sense to me to think that Our Heavenly Father could not prepare a suitable tabernacle for his infant Son to reside within, for the first nine months of His life on earth. She was a devout Jew, she understood the Scriptures, and she must have been fully aware that this child of hers had to undergo the most awful suffering in order to "Make all things new". We watched Gibson's film of The Passion, and it again helped to impress on me Mary's gift to us.

I pray that all those who claim to follow Christ, look to the Mother of God, who was given to us to be our Mother at the foot of the Cross, in order to find the True Son of God. I pray that she will intercede for me, and my family, when we come before the Just Judge.

Every Child Matters

2008-03-13T19:40:00.000Z

So the Government tells us. They want to make sure every child is safe when they go on the internet - that they can't get access to pornography etc. That they get the best educational start in life etc. etc. Surely this should have been a priority years ago - the internet is only a "final straw" nowadays. Pornography abounds in our society - All you have to do is take your child shopping down any high street in any town in the UK and your child will be exposed to some titillating imagery selling anything from cars to knickers. We moved from a fairly large city where indecent imagery was commonplace, to a small country town where we thought we'd be safe from such things to a certain extent - but right next to the one tiny toyshop in our town, was a "lingerie" shop, which had a full window display of "sexy" undies, just the thing you want the children to walk past on the way to the toy shop! Well, we didn't often go to the toy shop, and we prayed that the other one would close down, and after a few months - the good Lord answered our prayers, and it is now gone. But I still have to make my eyes form an advance guard as we walk past the newsagents, or video shop. And then there's, which petrol pump to park the car at, as you don't want your child to be able to see the front pages of the newspapers set out for everyone's delectation - yes, it's adult material, but it's being displayed for all. And again in the supermarket, the newspaper stands will be displaying Betty Boobs, or Brenda Buttocks, right at child's eye level. So you try and whisk past them and on in to get the fruit and veg, but as you are waiting in the queue at the checkout, you then have to contend with the special selection of magazines that are such essential reading for the British public these days, and of course, because every child matters, and the government has been doing its job on getting our 4 & 5 year olds to read, our little ones will be able to read the lurid headlines too, let me give you some examples from "Chat" magazine -
"Mr Perfect, then he hammered my skull"
"My Poor Babies, Slaughtered while they Slept"
"I Had this Beautiful Baby, for my Best Mate" all accompanied by glossy photos.
Or maybe "Now" magazine, where the stars can show off their bodies, with accompanying headlines to reveal so and so's "Secret Boob Job" .... well, you get the gist.
Is there any reason why these are displayed at the end of the conveyor belt, below the sweeties? just to enhance our children's reading skills perhaps?
I have a friend who is an Educational Psychologist. We go back a long way together, but she does not share my Faith - or any faith for that matter. She tells me that there is plenty of evidence to show that the children who do best in school are those who have been looked after in the first three (or more) years of their lives by... can you guess ... their Mums, not those who get shoved into nurseries at an early age. Of course, there are cases of disfunctional parenting, but for your average child from a stable two parent relationship, it actually does the child good to be with its Mummy. The Government has been presented with this information, but it chooses to ignore it. That must be why, when I received my child benefit information the other day, a jolly little leaflet had been inserted into the envelope, giving me some government information... they are definitely trying to tell me something... mmmm...there are lots of little toddlers saying things like:-
"Mum goes to the office, I go to Karate, Aiiiiii-ya!"
"Mum goes to work, I go to afterschool club, Rat-a-tat-tat!"
"My Mum goes to work, I do art at pre-school, splat!"
Oh, I've got it now, we stay at home mums are a waste of space - every child matters to the Government, they need them under control so that mums can get out to work.

A Timely Bunch of Flowers and Incense Excitement

2008-03-09T21:09:00.000Z

UKOK awarded me this, just when I was needing a nice bunch of flowers! (And of course, I can't have a real bunch in this liturgical season!!)

I've been stuck in bed with the 'flu' all day today, so missed Mass. It was to have been a High Mass too, in one of the more "EF friendly " Churches where the TLM is held. My son was supposedly going to be 'doing the incense' for the first time ever. I felt strangely glad I wouldn't have to witness this - visions of the thurible flying everywhere, or burning incense being dropped on the sanctuary carpet, or the whole thing getting caught in his cotta, or that awful moment when he can't work out which of the chains he's supposed to pull on!!! But to my great relief, once he arrived home I was informed that one of the adult servers turned up, so could take on the role, and my boy happily did the bells, and cruets. Typical mother - worrying over nothing!

Whilst in bed I read Corrie Ten Boom's "The Hiding Place" right through - it was very moving.

How to get to Heaven

2008-03-06T09:06:00.000Z

A prayer that says it all, lifted from Death At One's Elbow on Paulinus' blog, it's from a 1928 book called The Treasury of The Sacred Heart.

Remember, Christian soul, that thou hast this day a duty:
God to Glorify,
Eternity to Prepare for,
Jesus to Imitate,
The Angels and Saints to invoke;
Your Soul to Save,Your Body to Mortify,
Sins to Expiate,
Virtues to Acquire,
Hell to avoid,
Heaven to Gain,
Time to Profit by,
Your neighbors to Edify,
The World to Despise,
Devils to Combat,
Passions to Subdue,
Death Perhaps to Encounter,
and Judgment to Undergo.

I need to learn this off by heart.

Taking God for Granted

2008-03-05T20:34:00.000Z

At the end of Mass this evening, in a village Church near us, after most of the congregation had left, a young man who is handicapped in some way, began to sob very loudly. He seemed to be distraught, and beside himself, but the carers who come with him, and Father, who came over to comfort him, were unable to pacify him. He left with his carers, still sobbing. My son, who had been serving, and had been in the sacristy had found out from the caretaker of the Church the reason why he had been crying. The young man usually goes up for Holy Communion, but this evening, perhaps because he had been deep in prayer, he had missed going up. Father usually notices if he doesn't go up, and brings the Lord to him, but tonight Father must have overlooked this (I think he has a lot on his mind at present). It was difficult for Father to be able to tell what the matter was, as the young man can not express things very clearly in a verbal way, so by the time Father knew what was the cause of the grief, it was too late for him to give him the Blessed Sacrament from the Tabernacle.
What struck me most after this, was that I can't imagine myself weeping for the loss of my Lord in such a way, if I were unable to receive Him, (and there are many occasions when I am unable to, due to my not being in a state of grace). How much I take Him for granted, I feel I should weep with shame for not having one ounce of that young man's devotion, yet I blithely take the Host on so many occasions when I have been so distracted that I have barely acknowledged Who it is that I am about to receive.
Thank You Jesus, for that lesson tonight, may I cherish the sound of that young man's sobbing as a reminder of my lack of devotion, and as a prompt to stir me out of my complacency before You.
And bless and comfort him, and all those who long to receive You, but are unable to.

Jam on the duvet, weak cold coffee and a bad back!

2008-03-02T11:14:00.000Z

Happy Mothering Sunday to all mothers, expectant mothers, godmothers, and spiritual mothers in the world. (I know it's not Mother's Day in the USA, but it is in England, and it is Laetare Sunday everywhere, so today I'd like to Praise God for our Holy Mother Church, and for our Heavenly Mother, Mary).

Now, to the title of the post - yep, it's that once-yearly ordeal I have to suffer at the hands of my beloved son, and it delights him so much that (in true motherly form) I accept it graciously - Breakfast in Bed. He doesn't think of it at any other time of the year, so I get off lightly!! But I do find sitting up in bed to eat toast and jam a most uncomfortable experience, and now I've got raspberry jam stains on the duvet cover!!!

But he did give me the delightful gifts above (oh, and a giant packet of Revels, but I don't see much aesthetic value in a bag of chocs!). The donkey I fell in love with, in a charity shop, but as I don't like spending money on myself (miser that I am) I persuaded my husband to induce our boy to buy it for me for Mother's day, whilst I sauntered off to another shop pretending I couldn't possibly afford it! There's something so spiritual about donkeys - I suppose they seem humble beasts, and I always think of the one that carried the pregnant Mary to Bethlehem. The splendid fellow above obviously had a former life as a souvenir from some exotic country, and used to be a cigarette holder, as the lid of the chest on his back is supposed to spring open to offer ciggies (but the spring no longer functions). However, I'm sure he'll be really good in the Nativity set, bringing gold coins on his back along with the 3 kings.

The primulas are beautiful, and just as I was despairing that my garden has very few flowers in it, my darling boy got me these. I've just finished transplanting them to the garden (poor lad thought I would kill them by putting them outside, so I explained that they would be much happier out there - I hope they spread, like the ones I used to have in my last garden)

And this is the book I want to finish reading, and once I've digested it, shall be posting on it too.
Fulton Sheen really has a good way of explaining the Church's teaching on Mary - it seems to make so much sense to me, that I wonder why Protestants so often baulk at the idea of Catholic devotion to her.
Mary, Mother of God, Mother of us all, Pray for us, and pray that I may fulfill my role of wife and mother, as God wills. Amen.

Pro-Life Journey

2008-02-20T22:39:00.000Z

I've been reading a lot on blogs about the horrific situation in the UK with regards to abortion. When I was very very young - I can't quite work out what year it took place - I went with my parents on some kind of pro-life demonstration, a big march in London. I was taught abortion was wrong, but I didn't know what it was about. I grew up knowing that the Church told us it was wrong, but I don't remember ever really being taught what it was all about. Once, when I was at art school, there was a discussion about it in the tea room, at break time. I distinctly remember knowing that I knew abortion was wrong - because I had always been told so, but I didn't want to admit it. My mum worked in the Life office at the time, and I had some vague idea that that involved helping women who wanted to keep their babies. I must've told one of my friends about this, and during the "big discussion" I felt mortified that my friend revealed all about my mum's work! Why did I feel like that? Perhaps because I still didn't KNOW what abortion was all about. When did I find out about it? well, it was years later, when the Good Lord whisked me off, against all my inclinations, to stay with a Catholic community in the USA. They felt called to undertake Pro-Life work, and one day I found myself in a "picket" carrying a placard with the most horrific image of an aborted baby on it, but worse still, I was obliged to view a similar gory image being held by the person in front of me, as we walked and prayed silently around the doctor's office. NOW I knew what abortion was all about, (and felt heartily ashamed for having avoided it for so many years). I also realised, by the reactions of the people passing by, that folks in the US were not indifferent to this topic - they either backed you all the way, or they hated you all the way. The community didn't just "picket"the offices of doctors who performed abortions and tried to keep that side of their career hidden, they also prayed the rosary outside abortion mills; and they provided practical help to mothers in distress, a bit like the Sisters of the Gospel of Life do in Glasgow. They promised to help the woman get a job, or a home, or medical insurance - whatever she needed, and they kept their promises enabling the baby to be born.
Back home again, I knew I couldn't remain indifferent to this issue. I tried volunteering with the Life organisation, and started training to be a counseller, but I couldn't agree to leave my Catholic faith out of my work, I knew I wouldn't be able to let a woman walk away thinking it was ok if she went ahead with her abortion (as one counseller had told me she'd done). "Just make sure you come back for post abortion counselling" - seemed nonsensical to me. And by then, I knew all about the abortifacient effects of contraception too, so I couldn't remain neutral on that one either.
Then I met the man of my life (or rather, of my earthly life). He was madly pro life too. We tried to get people in this country to be moved by the American pro life literature that we had, but we found that any unpleasant imagery turns people off, doesn't stir the good old British conscience. So we did the most pro life thing a young married couple can do, and had a baby. I insisted that I would not be seen by a single doctor who performed abortions. My GP (whom I had chosen because he was a practising Catholic, and was meant to be pro life) was rather surprised by my insistence, but said he wished more women had taken this stance in 1967 - 30 years before. However, because I was considered rather elderly to be having a first child (in my mid 30's!), I was supposed to be under the "care" of a consultant at the hospital. I knew there was a consultant who wouldn't perform abortions in a neighbouring town, but not a one could be found in my local hospital. I insisted, and in the end a compromise was reached. I could be under the care of a registrar who wouldn't do abortions - she was Muslim, so she was allowed to get away without doing abortions. Funnily enough, she didn't really understand why I was so adamant, she sympathised with her fellow doctors who had to do them - it reminded me of that doublespeak "I don't agree with abortion, but I'm not against those who are for it".
So we had our baby - and once we'd got into a routine, we wanted to carry on a more spiritual battle against abortion. So we started to pray outside abortion hospitals. We have always done this on our own, since there were never any organised prayer events wherever we lived. Except for a time, in Bristol, when my husband was in the SPUC group, and more people came along to pray outside the Marie Stopes clinic. Our little lad has always been with us, and has grown up knowing abortion is wrong. He doesn't know the gory details, yet. He will have to be informed when he's old enough - I don't want him to be indifferent to this matter.
Now we pray, on a Sunday, on our way to Mass, outside the PAS building in a nearby town. It is not a job I like doing, I feel self-conscious, but it's just a small sacrifice to make.

2008-02-17T09:43:00.000Z

Important information for the UK Welcome to the new Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill Website . There is an online petition to sign, which can be accessed here www.passionforlife.org.uk/. We must fight this government's anti-life policies.

A Great Catholic Wife and Mother

2008-02-15T22:33:00.000Z

I've been meaning to post about my confirmation saint, and inspiration for my blog name. We visited her house, in York, several years ago, and I found it very moving to be there, and to be able to pray at her shrine. We even managed to get to see her hand, preserved in a Convent in York. I'm sure I didn't really appreciate who she was when I chose her name, at the age of 11, although I have always been profoundly moved by her story. Yet I'm sure she's had a hand in guiding me through life, and I feel it is significant that she was a wife and mother, as I have become; also that she died on 25th March, the Day of the Annunciation, which is the day my husband and I married. She died for her Catholic Faith, the Truth, which she could not deny - I hope and pray that she will intercede for me if I am ever put in a situation where I have to stand up for the faith.

Her husband was devastated by her death: “Let them take all I have and save only her, she is the best wife in all England, and the best Catholic”.

Here is a short biography of her.

St. Margaret Clitherow, Martyr, called the "Pearl of York", born about 1556; died 25 March 1586. She was a daughter of Thomas Middleton, Sheriff of York (1564-5), a wax-chandler; married John Clitherow, a wealthy butcher and a chamberlain of the city, in St. Martin's church, Coney St., 8 July, 1571, and lived in the Shambles, a street still unaltered. Converted to the Faith about three years later, she became most fervent, continually risking her life by harbouring and maintaining priests, was frequently imprisoned, sometimes for two years at a time, yet never daunted, and was a model of all virtues. Though her husband belonged to the Established Church, he had a brother a priest, and Margaret provided two chambers, one adjoining her house and a second in another part of the city, where she kept priests hidden and had Mass continually celebrated through the thick of the persecution. Some of her priests were martyred, and Margaret who desired the same grace above all things, used to make secret pilgrimages by night to York Tyburn to pray beneath the gibbet for this intention. Finally arrested on 10 March, 1586, she was committed to the castle. On 14 March, she was arraigned before Judges Clinch and Rhodes and several members of the Council of the North at the York assizes. Her indictment was that she had harboured priests, heard Mass, and the like; but she refused to plead, since the only witnesses against her would be her own little children and servants, whom she could not bear to involve in the guilt of her death. She was therefore condemned to the peine forte et dure, i.e. to be pressed to death. "God be thanked, I am not worthy of so good a death as this", she said. Although she was probably with child, this horrible sentence was carried out on Lady Day, 1586 (Good Friday). She had endured an agony of fear the previous night, but was now calm, joyous, and smiling. She walked barefooted to the tolbooth on Ousebridge, for she had sent her hose and shoes to her daughter Anne, in token that she should follow in her steps. She had been tormented by the ministers and even now was urged to confess her crimes. "No, no, Mr. Sheriff, I die for the love of my Lord Jesu", she answered. She was laid on the ground, a sharp stone beneath her back, her hands stretched out in the form of a cross and bound to two posts. Then a door was placed upon her, which was weighted down till she was crushed to death. Her last words during an agony of fifteen minutes, were "Jesu! Jesu! Jesu! have mercy on me!" Her right hand is preserved at St. Mary's Convent, York, but the resting-place of her sacred body is not known. Her sons Henry and William became priests, and her daughter Anne a nun at St. Ursula's, Louvain.
Her life, written by her confessor, John Mush, exists in two versions. The earlier has been edited by Father John Morris, S.J., in his "Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers", third series (London, 1877). The later manuscript, now at York Convent, was published by W. Nicholson, of Thelwall Hall, Cheshire (London, Derby, 1849), with portrait: "Life and Death of Margaret Clitherow the martyr of York". It also contains the "History of Mr. Margaret Ward and Mrs. Anne Line, Martyrs".
[Note: St. Margaret Clitherow was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970.]
Publication information:
Written by Bede Camm. Transcribed by Marcia L. Bellafiore.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV. Published 1908. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York

Is the Excitement Waning?

2008-02-09T21:20:00.000Z

I'm feeling hungry, and it's bedtime. Usually we indulge in a few snacks, a nice glass of wine, a DVD, before bedtime. But so far, I've managed to not buy anything that could take us off our Lenten course. Hubby has broken up for half term today, and we'd normally have a coffee and a bun or two to celebrate. Whilst our son was at his tennis lesson, we narrowly avoided the temptations of the coffee shop by bumping into another "tennis mum" who's very down to earth, and is training to be a social worker - you can imagine what we had to talk about (see previous post) and that took up all our time. She's not religious, but does agree that there is a lot of rubbish being taught on her course. She wants to do things differently, but has to toe the party line until she gets her degree. We wish her every blessing in her endeavours to fight the system. As she said, she'll probably end up getting the sack. This afternoon, I went shopping for the few items we need prior to going away to Bristol, where we'll be staying with my parents for a few days, and I'll be able to boost the family income by doing a spot of picture conservation with someone I know who runs a studio (and calls me in to help her out with my super quick retouching skills!). I only needed milk, & fruit, but ended up wandering through the bakery section. I realised as I strode determinedly past all those cakes, biscuits, and sweets, just how little nutritional value any of it had, and how little so many people in our society appreciate what they have. I thought of the photo of a little African boy I had seen on an excellent blog I'd come across earler, Ecce Mater Tua and could not feel sorry for myself having to give up something that wouldn't even do me any good. I have placed the photo on the side, under the Lamb of God. I just feel how paltry my efforts are. How little I deserve. I thank God for all He has done for me and my family. I pray that I can do something for one of these little ones, as well as pray for them.

Why are we waiting?

2008-02-06T21:37:00.000Z

I said in a previous post that I should write one with the above title, with regards to our adoption saga. It's a funny thing in this country that we are always being told that there is a great need for adopters, and yet, we have waited for over 5 years for a child to be placed with us. We are deemed "not normal". Our current social worker had to inform us today that the social worker of the baby for whom we were being considered was put off by certain facts about us. We don't feel too devastated, (although we were lead to believe we had a very good chance of being given this baby), since we have been let down on several previous occasions, and we have psychologically geared ourselves up to this likelihood.

So, what's the matter with us eh? Well, the sad truth is, in this day of inclusiveness, where anything goes - even homosexuals being able to adopt, there's just one kind of 'not normal' that social workers can't seem to include, ie, a practising Catholic couple, who homeschool, and who don't have a tv!!! Which of these three things is the greatest block in the social workers' minds, to giving a child a loving stable home, where they will be cherished is anybody's guess.

We started out on this course of self-inflicted disappointment because we thought it would be our way of being open to life, and something that God was calling us to do. We are learning something from all this, but I think it will take some serious prayer to understand what God has been teaching us.
Why did we receive this news today, perhaps it is fitting on a day for renunciation of all attachment to earthly things. Even the desire for another child?
I don't think we'll be waiting any more, it must be time to let go.

Lent Begins

2008-02-05T21:24:00.001Z

Lent starts tomorrow, and I am looking forward to the Great Fast this year. I don't know why, but I'm really glad it starts so early. Usually I dislike Lent because it always shows me up for the failure I am. But this year I feel almost excited about it! (I'm sure that this won't last long, when I sniff the coffee packet that has to be consigned to the fridge for the next 40 days).

The Station of the Cross above is one that I have been restoring for a local Catholic Church, which was recently renovated, and does look very beautiful, so the Stations now need to be done too. I've just been patching up 5 of them which were damaged whilst being taken down. (So much unneccessary damage is caused to pictures through bad handling!). I tested this one to see if they would benefit from cleaning, and quite clearly they will look much brighter. So the Parish Priest may commission me to do the rest. It is very time-consuming work, so I'll have to do them one at a time, in between my housewifely, and homeschooling duties.

This picture shows a detail, during cleaning, where it can be seen how much dirt has been removed from the Magdalen's cloak.

Now, I may be good at restoring pictures, but to my endless shame there is one thing I can not restore:-

Yes, these are close-up details of my attempt at pancakes!!! I hate "pancake day", it fills me with angst. I can cook cakes, scones, biscuits (ie cookies, to my overseas readership - if you're reading, Alexa!), and a few savoury dishes well, but I NEVER succeed with pancakes. What did I do so wrong this year? I used self raising flour (at least, I think that's what went wrong). My lovely son was very forgiving, and didn't mind that I gave up and chucked them all in the compost. Still, the replacement pudding was eaten so fast that there was no time to take a photo - shop-made meringues, with cream and tinned pears. (Well, it all needed eating up!).

Bye Bye......

Realities of Homeschooling

2008-02-03T12:00:00.001Z

Someone left a comment re homeschooling in the UK on my first post - saying,

"is there a Catholic org in the UK that has good advice on homeschooling? You got me interested in the subject."

As I replied, the short answer is there is no organisation, as such. There used to be a Catholic homeschooling network, but that folded a couple of years ago, although there may be moves afoot to start a new one. A lot of the Catholic homeschoolers know (or know of) each other, and try to link up with others in their area, and some families arrange meetings once a week/month etc. There are many different types of Catholic homeschooling families, (as in, ranging from those who adhere very much to the Traditional Latin Mass, to those who are at home with the New Rite,) and each family chooses their own curriculum. What most of the people that I have met are trying to do, is to retain a sense of their Catholic identity, and to pass that on to their children.

A lot of people are disaffected with the state of Catholic education in this country, and the iniquitous "sex education" (otherwise known as child abuse, to my mind), has been gradually adopted by many Catholic schools, starting from aged 5 upwards. My husband is a Catholic R.E. teacher in a secondary school who has children coming to his lesson from the science lesson, where they have just been taught all about contraception. He then has to teach the "Catholic view" on contraception. The children quiz him about this discrepancy - they can see how irrational it all is. He once had a girl arriving at his lesson, wiping her hands, and saying "ugh this stuff is horrible to get off" what was it? Spermicidal jelly!!! In a Catholic school! He did complain about this to his Bishop, and his headmaster. Nothing has happened - and now it's a year on and the lessons are due again - he's wondering what will happen this time round.

But Catholic homeschooling isn't merely being done for negative reasons.

We got the idea of doing it from a Catholic Charismatic Community in the USA that we were involved with a long time ago. I first visited it when I was single, and the children of one of the families there were the most fantastic, well-balanced, and self-disciplined young people I had ever met. I was impressed with them, and their parents, and loved the idea of having one's children around, and educating them oneself. I have watched these children grow, and the oldest batch (they came in two batches, with 4 older ones, and then a second spring, with 4 younger ones, much to their parent's delight) are fine adults, making their way in the world, one training to be a priest. They have all kept the faith.

I knew, once I'd met them that I would, if I were ever blessed with a husband, and children, home educate (given that my husband would agree to it!). Well, I was truly blessed with a wonderful husband, and he visited this community with me after we were married, and he was convinced of the home-education being a good thing too. We in turn were blessed with our son, and I often thought to myself, whilst longing and waiting for more children to come, that I might not be so convinced of home educating an only child. However, since when you have a little child, you spend the first four or five years of their life helping them learn, it seemed like a logical extension to carry that on, and so we have done. He is now ten. We tried to adopt, but no child has been given to us in the five years since we were officially approved to adopt. And so he has been homeschooled on his own, and we have to make efforts to help him to meet up with other children.
We moved into Shropshire two years ago, and have found a couple of other Catholic homeschooling families fairly close by. One in particular, in a neighbouring town, have 3 boys around our son's age, and they all belong to the same tennis club (which has a brilliant youth section, and is very cheap! - unlike the hoity toity clubs elsewhere). So we try to meet up once or twice a week, and I have even begun to teach the boys French each week (which is just about all my rusty brain can stretch to!), and we have started to attend some sign language lessons, which a deaf friend of their family has been offering them for a while.
The situation is not ideal. Children need to be with other children, but an only child, who is homeschooled, has to make extra efforts to meet up with others. Our lad has attended soccer training sessions, but last time he went, he admitted that he had been bullied by two of the boys, and also that several of them use bad language (which he hates). He is quite resilient, and will probably want to go back this week, but I do wish there were some Christian youth teams around - one's that don't make a God of football, but where the children can just play to enjoy the sport.
Homeschooling is not easy, it involves sacrifice, but it is a good option if both parents are committed to it. It doesn't work for all families, some homeschool some of their children and let the others attend school. And it can be an expensive option too. Most families need two incomes to pay the mortgage, due to the ridiculous price of houses - we find it hard to break even most months, and we do not have an extravagant lifestyle, we also have to pay taxes which go towards state-funded education, but don't receive any financial assistance for our efforts! However, if you know where to look, there are plenty of cheap, or even free resources around, at least whilst the children are little. As they get older, it does involve a cost for buying in a curriculum.

We sometimes say to our son that he can go to school if he wants to, then Mummy can go out to work, and we can all go on expensive holidays, but up to now, he has declined the offer! I think he knows he's on to a good thing! He knows that we have chosen this way of educating him because we think it is the best thing for him. He knows his Faith better than a lot of the 15 & 16 year olds that my husband tries to teach. He loves to serve at Mass (Old and New rites - though I think he prefers the Old!). He has always had an amazing confidence, and ability to chat to people of all ages - he can play with little children, and hold conversations with adults - he is the most sociable child I know, despite the so called "lack of socialization" that he is supposed to be experiencing by not attending school. But he can be strong-willed, and lazy, and I do have to deal with that too. Maybe in his teenage years it will get harder, maybe it will get easier - I have to leave my son's future in the Lord's hands, I only hope and pray that we can continue to help him develop into an adult who knows and loves Our Blessed Lord through the Truths of the Catholic Church He founded.

It's Still Christmas and Epiphany in our house!!

2008-01-29T13:15:00.000Z

Our fireplace is falling apart - our house was built in the 1940's so has what is known as a backboiler somewhere behind the open fire grate in the front room. As I was cleaning it out last spring, a big lump of metal fell off, consequently, we didn't know what to do with the fire, where the smoke would go etc., if it were lit. This year we haven't had an open fire; a shame, as our son bought a bag of chestnuts in order to roast them over it, as in the song he hears us try to sing around Christmas time. In our "second reception room", a.k.a. the dining room, the fireplace was blocked in a long time ago, but a peculiar little wooden alcove with a hidden light fixture was left just above floor-level. We decided we'd get a man in to estimate for fixing the fireplace in the front room.
I suppose people who have to enter other people's houses, for their work purposes, must be used to seeing some odd sights.

He did very well on entering our front room for he batted not an eyelid about the lovely Mexican crib we have above the fireplace, nor the Christmas cards festooning the walls.

We then took him into the dining room to quiz him about the possibilities of opening up the other fireplace. He again kept his cool, when confronted with our other crib nestling in the strange alcove -

Not to mention the Christmas tree in the corner!

He was very professional, and kept his mind on the job, and has since sent us a reasonable estimate, though we still can't really afford to have the work done. I do wonder what he was thinking though!

The Christmas tradition in our house is such - we put up our tree on Christmas Eve, and sing no Carols until then either (although the occasional silly song about chestnuts on an open fire does sometimes slip out). We try to maintain that spirit of anticipation and preparation for our Saviour's birth, which Advent was once all about, before the "shops" took it over.

Christmas day we celebrate with Mass in the E F, as one is now supposed to call it, if we can get to it. We don't really open presents on This day, although there's usually some small gift for each of us. (We've already celebrated St. Nicholas' day with sweets in our shoes). Then we have a lovely meal with whatever special meat we can afford to get - there are usually some good bargains on Chrismas Eve! We desperately wanted to try goose one year, but they were prohibitively expensive, we settled for duck this year, which we all loved. One day, maybe, we'll be blessed with a goose!

When we see people within the Christmas octave, and they say "did you have a good Christmas", although I usually try to politely answer, "yes, thankyou", I do think to myself, we're still having a good Christmas! - and it's not over for a long time yet! It saddens me to hear people moaning about it, and saying "thank goodness that's all over for this year"

Present opening comes at Epiphany for us. When he was little, our lad believed the 3 Kings brought the presents, as they did for baby Jesus. Now he still enjoys the thought of it, and understands that that feeling of expectation, mystery, and joy, all relate to the gift of Christ to us, and our longing for Heaven.

So, we keep our tree up as long as we can, usually it's shedding fast by the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and often I take it down then, (which, I think, is when Epiphanytide ends, liturgically speaking). However, this year we were blessed with a lovely long-lasting, non-shedding, tree, so it's staying up, along with the cribs until the Feast of Candlemas, (which is when we always take the cribs down) as we celebrate the Presentation in the Temple of the Baby Jesus, as well as the Purification of Mary, on February 2nd. Then the remembrance of Christ's infancy and Divine Childhood gives way to our preparation for Lent, although since that starts so early this year, we won't have long to wait!

(Hans Holbein's Presentation in the Temple)

One for the resident Monkey

2008-01-28T19:13:00.000Z

Hello there, monkey, this is a post just for you to read!

This is a post for my son, who is a Preston North End Supporter. (By the way, any experts out there, is there such a thing as Preston South End?). Here is their badge, and maybe one day I’ll get round to knitting its design onto a jumper for you, sweetheart!

This is where the badge comes from. The lamb is the symbol of St. Wilfrid, patron saint of Preston. The monks of Ripon, where St. Wilfrid had been abbot, held land around Preston in the middle ages, so St. Wilfrid became the their patron and his symbol was adopted by the town and, eventually, by the football club. (Thanks to Simon Platt for this information).

Well done for their win the other day, now let’s see if they can keep it up when they play Portsmouth!!

A Slow introduction

2008-01-25T21:16:00.000Z

Well, it's about a week or so on since I last wrote anything, which proves to me that I am not an avid blogger. Some days one feels one has a lot to say, other days one thinks, why bother saying anything?
I homeschool an only child, a lovely lively boy of 10 years. It has been a privilege to watch him grow and develop, and at times, I have enjoyed teaching him, at other times it IS hard work. He is a boy, and so is reluctant to get on with his work. Girls just seem more diligent - but I could be generalising a bit too much here! He is bright, and imaginative, and learns quite easily. I often think back to when I was his age, and consider the amount of things I was taught, and realise that I didn't know half the stuff he already knows, so I'm not too worried about keeping up with the "National Curriculum" (I managed to go on to further education, and I'm sure he'll be able to, if and when the time comes).
My husband and I were just discussing one thing about our boy, the fact that, despite his bursts of obnoxiousness, he has maintained (by the grace of God) his purity, and modesty. He hates to hear swearing, and see immodest pictures, and he is still innocent when it comes to the things children aren't meant to know about - at least until they want to know about them! When we were being assessed to be approved to adopt, (over 5 years ago now - ho hum, but that's another story, one entitled "why are we waiting") I remember our social worker at the time asking me "does he know about the facts of life" (I'm sure she didn't use that phrase, but it was sooooo long ago, I can't exactly remember her words), and I told her bluntly, he hasn't asked, so I haven't told him anything yet, when he does, I will. I am still amazed that primary schools have disgusting books explaining what mummy and daddy do to reproduce, available from an early age. Talk about abusing children, our schools are doing it wholesale. Our lad's not stupid, when he wants to know something, he'll ask. And we're giving him the chance to do it when he's ready.
Thanks be to God that we have St Maria Goretti to intercede for our young ones (and ourselves).

Catholic Homeschooling in the UK

2008-01-19T15:44:00.000Z

My first posting.
What shall I say? the blog title seems to express it quite succinctly.
Homeschooling is a bit like this, most days I get up and - I don't know what I'm doing; I only know that my husband and I felt like it was the Right thing to do, that it was what the Holy Spirit was calling us to do, and maybe writing things down will help me to keep finding the way forward, even though I often feel stuck.
I've spent the last few months reading other people's blogs, on and off, and never felt like starting one myself, but the things some people write are so audacious that I felt I had to have some identity in order to comment on their blogs, so in trying to do that I seem to have accidentally created a blog of my own. If I keep at it, maybe one day I will be able to say I DO know what I'm doing, at last!
We are Catholic, unashamedly and gratefully Catholic. We want the Catholic faith to be experienced as something beautiful, and true in our children's lives, and we see the rapid decline in purity in the young as something that has to be countered.
But it is not easy. Children can not live in a vacuum, they have to engage with the world. It is a difficult fence top to be balancing on. How can we enable them to keep their purity, whilst still being a part of a world where impure images, and ideas abound.
How many parents really want their children to be exposed to the front page of the "Daily Star", or whatever it is, that always has some poor exploited woman being exhibited. Why are these papers being shown in Morrisons, Tescos, or Sainsburys at child's eye level?
All our children are precious. Homeschooling is just another way, that has been shown to us, in which we as parents can try to keep them precious, and unspoilt.