Pimms and a Steel Band

Today was our churches Patronal festival, so after Mass the social team had put on a BBQ and invited a steel band to come and play.
We were greeted with a glass of Pimms, (which my daughter called coke with salad in it!!) or fresh home made lemonade.
The food was lovely they had loads of burgers sausages, ribs, chicken, vegie burgers and sausages, onions salad jacket potatoes the list goes on.
Rafi came with us, I brought his water bowl and cool mat and found a nice shaded spot for us. To my knowledge he hasn't heard a steel band before and he just took it and all the people milling around, in his stride, this boy is such a good dog.

4th in Advent

Third in Advent (Pink is not for Mary!)

John the Baptist

Decorations and carols

Today I put the Christmas tree up and all the Christmas decorations. After all the sadness this past couple of weeks I really don't feel Christmassy at all.
This evening was the carols round the Christmas tree followed by mulled wine and mince pies. Well it rained so the Christmas carols were sung inside the church.
Maybe its a little bit Christmassy after all!

Oranges and.....more oranges!

Today our church held its "The Children's Society" Christingle service, there were a lot of oranges! All the children present received a christingle and any that were left were given to adults.
The candles were all lit and to my knowledge no one set fire to anyone or anything, unlike the time when my daughters were younger, our youngest daughter managed to set fire to the others hair, fortunately it was only slight and I was able to sort it out quickly!

Lord in your mercy

We give back to you lord, those whom you gave to us.
 You did not loose them when you gave them to us, and we do not loose them by their return to you.

Two simple sentences.
Very comforting words.

First in Advent

Times, they are a changing!

Well Yesterday my husband had an interview for a new parish Priest job. He got it!
We have known this was in the pipe line but until very recently we have not known where it might be. Well now we know ...until Sunday when it will be made known in both our present church and the new church very few people know.
Keeping this from friends and family has been very tough, its exciting news and we want to tell people...roll on Sunday!
It will mean big changes all round, moving my horse, dropping shifts at work to a more workable number (due to travelling and family) are another two big factors for me. For my husband it will mean a change of job house and everything. We are looking forward to the changes however many there turn out to be.
There are a couple of things I wont miss, Andy on night shifts being one and having to spend less time with my family being the other. Having less shifts means I get to spend more time at home and after the year we had last year I will be making the most of friends and family time.

THE NAMES THE SAME BUT THE CONTENT WILL BE SUBTLY DIFFERENT!

So, our lives are about to change big time and here's how...
My husband will be changing from a full time fire fighter to a full time Priest! With this change comes a multitude of other changes,
* We will be moving house!
*I may have to move my horse!
*I will be either dropping my own work hours or giving up entirely!
*My husband wants my car, I will have to get another one!
We will have to move into a house provided by the parish that we move to, these range from regular sized houses to rather large rambling places, we could be in the middle of a town or city or in the heart of the country who knows, certainly not us at the moment! This also means we will be selling our present house!
Depending on how far away we end up I may have to move my horse from where she is stabled at the moment, this will also be difficult as I love being where we are.
Because of the possibility of a very long drive to work, the fact that I will need to play a part in my husbands work, and the fact that last year saw some very shocking events, I am dropping my shifts so that  I can spend more time at home and with my family.
My husband wants my car, I was going to sell it and get another anyway so in a way this has saved me the trouble of putting mine on the market.
Even with all the above I think the biggest worry I have is how far away I will be moving from my Mum, Daughters, Granddaughter and friends( The boys are already far flung meaning we don't see as much of them as we would like) so I hope we manage to stay at least within a two hour drive of them.
So this is the story  of my life right now. My Husband finishes in the Fire Service in June this year, so all of the above will be happening before then!
My Husband has to deal with all of the above plus the bonus of a new Parish, and he can't wait,
I am confident that the Bishop and his Arch Deacon are onto it, but as we don't know anything it makes it all just a teeny bit scary.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Confirmation

This evening after rushing home from work, I went to one of our local churches, not ours, where the Bishop was to Confirm the candidates from five local churches.
My Mum came with me and we met up with Samantha and her other half, As her daughter, my granddaughter was one of the candidates being confirmed.
My husband was fully involved with the service as he had to baptise two members of our church before they were confirmed.
It was a beautiful evening in every way.

Nativity part 5

When Jesus was born, a brand new bright star appeared in sky. Some Wise Men in faraway countries saw the star and guessed what it meant. They were very clever men that studied the stars and had read in very old writings that a new star would appear when a great king was born. They set out to find the new king and bring him gifts.

Nativity part 4

In the hills and fields outside Bethlehem, shepherds looked after their sheep through the long night. As the new day began, suddenly an angel appeared before them and the glory of God shone around them. The shepherds were very, very scared, but the angel said, 'Don't be afraid. I have good news for you and everyone. Today in Bethlehem a Saviour has been born for you. You will find the baby lying in a manger.'.

Nativity part 3

In this poor place Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God. In those days it was the custom to wrap newborn babies tightly in a long cloth called 'swaddling clothes'. Jesus' bed was the manger that the animals ate their hay from.

Nativity Part 2

At this time, the land where Mary and Joseph lived was part of the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Augustus wanted to have a list of all the people in the empire, to make sure they paid their taxes. He ordered everyone to return to the town where their families originally came from, and enter their names in a register (or census) there. Mary and Joseph travelled a long way (about 70 miles) from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because that is where Joseph's family came from. Most people walked but some lucky people had a donkey to help carry the goods needed for the journey. Joseph and Mary travelled very slowly because Mary's baby was due to be born soon.When they reached Bethlehem they had problems finding somewhere to stay. So many people had come to register their names in the census, that every house was full and every bed was taken in all of the Inns. The only shelter that they could was a stable or cave with the animals.

Nativity Part 1

Hmm.....

Four days to go

Butterfly

Well that's it, all the Christmas shopping including food and drink has been purchased and is either here or on its way. I ordered the meat today, a butterfly.... that is a totally de-boned turkey breast wrapped in bacon, its going to be huge, but there will be no waste.

All that needs to be done now is to wrap the presents, this for me is the worse part of the whole celebration.

The best part??? Well. . . . that I won't be able to do this year, as I will be working, and that is midnight mass. I love everything about it...... I will have to go to Mass on Christmas morning instead.

Nine days till Christmas

Ten days until Christmas