Good Morning Sunday

[Marguerite]

What a day!

Palm Sunday for us here (different calendar for some, I know). husband & I went to church leaving difficult child 3 to get on with his school assessment task at home alone. Church was great - a talk from an Indian missionary who has been staying with us for a few months, they leave in just over a week. This bloke is a great speaker, he's become a good friend and really understands Aussie humour. His wife is Australian but they live and work most of the time in India. There was another missionary family there also (from Korea), they have been here for a few months learning English and are off to Turkey in the next few days. Very interesting.

I have one week now, to make the church candle for the next year. We get candles contributed by people passing through as well as our church family members, all the wax goes into the melting pot along with last year's candle. I'm trying to involve as many people as possible, today I asked for ideas for the decoration as well as asking for anyone who wants to learn how I do this, to come for coffee on Wednesday when we do the first pour.

husband & I chose to not stay for lunch, we came home and got into our work clothes so we could go play at mother in law's with the new mulcher. I'd been wearing high-heeled boots to church, I was glad to get home and "step down". Back in jeans and singlet top, work gloves and a bucket of manure to drop in to neighbours on the way.

We got mother in law involved with the mulcher, as husband & I cut all the adult foliage off her creeping fig, mother in law fed it into the mulcher. As the catcher got full I spread it over her garden beds. We've covered about a third of her garden beds and mulched twice as much at least, as we normally could cut and stuff into her council green waste bins. THis gizmo is marvellous!

And tonight, my legs are aching and feeling like jelly. I've been wearing the high heels so I can get used to them and be OK in heels for easy child's wedding, but I just realised, they're giving me a helluva workout too, and I need the exercise.

So tonight, after we've done such a much-needed few jobs at mother in law's plus got all that exercise, I feel very virtuous.

difficult child 3 and the assessment task - he still has about half of it to go, but I'm impressed and pleased with him.

Daylight saving finished for us today, maybe that's why we got so much done. It takes a few days for us to adjust back, but I like this end of the process, it feels like a sleep-in every day.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Marg

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Good Sunday Morning Marg and all to follow!


Marg, it's Palm Sunday here in the states as well. Sounds like you are working the heels! I love the end of daylight savings time in the fall! Extra hour of sleep, gets dark earlier, time to cozy up by the fire!!

The shoulder and arm are getting better, but nothing sets it off like typing. I've been reading the board though.

Want to say bon voyage. The kids and I leave for our cruise today. I'll be waking the kids up very shortly. Their clothes are laid out already, the car was packed last night, the light timers are on....it's just lock up and go!

I won't have internet access, well I could for a fee, but I'm going to purposly stay off the computer and my cell until next Saturday. This is a get away, forget, relax, rum punch kinda vacation !!

Be good....

Sharon

 

[Kjs]

Good Morning everyone

Marg - the candle sounds really neat. How big is it? Where is it displayed? I think that is a really neat idea.

Sharon - Enjoy! Will be waiting next week to hear how things went.

Weather is suppose to rain, snow, wind from now until Monday night late. Going to watch movies today.

Have a great day

 

[Marguerite]

Sharon, enjoy the cruise. Have a piña colada for me...

Kjs, the candle is the main altar candle (Paschal candle) and is lit every Sunday during the church service. There are fairly standard decoration elements for these candles (the cross, the year, the alpha and omega) but after they are there, it's a very individual thing. This candle is about as thick as a man's forearm and about twice as long. We have a copper pipe that husband procured for te job. Before that the candle was moulded in a PVC drainpipe, but years of very hot wax was distorting the pipe and making unmoulding tricky. With that shape and size, the shrinkage effect of the cooling wax makes the job tricky, a cavity formss down the middle and I need to keep it filled with more wax and not let an air bubble form. If I miss an air bubble, then at some later stage in the year when the candle burns down to it, there will be a whoosh and suddenly the candle will burn down fast and hot. Not good, for something that has to last a year! So I have to be patient and keep watch, armed with a long satay stick.

I've had a little practice tonight with the new glass paints I bought, I need to make sure they will stick to the wax. Glass paints don't always work, sometimes they just rub off again too easily. I had some good ones last year, except that a couple of colours were too pale. This year I've got a black glass paint liner pen, if it works right it should make the candle look like a stained glass window effect, where I paint it.

As for the date of Palm Sunday, orthodox churches around the world have a different calendar most of the time, they seem more closely aligned with Passover's date in the Jewish calendar. My GP is Coptic Orthodox, last year they had Easter two weeks later. It's important for me to know this, so I don't try to ring for an appointment during their Easter. Orthodox Easter is one week later this year. difficult child 1 is thinking of going to the Coptic church for Easter this year, I recommended the Saturday midnight service for Greek Orthodox, but I think Coptic might be similar... we do have a Greek Orthodox church in the area too, the kids have choice.

Today at church the woman sitting next to husband mentioned she'd been in to the Great Synagogue in the heart of Sydney for the beginning of Passover. We're a fairly ecumenical mob.

Feast days such as Easter and related feast days, are called movable feasts because their date varies from year to year. When husband was younger, the back of the Anglican church hymn book had a list of these movable feast days headed "Table of Movable Feasts". At our church we have a serving table on castors, it is loaded with whatever we're eating for lunch after church and wheeled out onto the veranda. It's called the Table of Movable Feasts.

It's going to be a busy week...

Marg

 

[Andy]

HAPPY PALM SUNDAY!
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Marg - It is Palm Sunday for my church also (Lutheran). The date is based on the stages of the moon is what I have heard. I do know about the Paschal candle also. We had our day light change about a month ago. It used to be about this time of year but the powers to be decided to change it to earlier in the year.

Little Dude's Mom - I am sure you are well on your way. I hope it is fantastic and relaxing.

KJS - Sounds like perfect movie weather for you.

For Palm Sunday in Sunday School, I will read a short story book to the PK - 6th graders during opening devotions. Than for my class of 3rd - 4th graders, I will do the Easter Egg devotion. They are a set of 12 plastic eggs each containing an item of the Easter events. I have 10 - 13 kids each week so each kid will get to read one bible verse and open the egg that goes with that egg.

The Board of Education had decided to give our 1st quarter offerings to the family whose mom is in her 5 or 6th round of chemo for cancer and the dad is dying of brain, lung, kidney cancer. His time if very limited. I have not done the work of getting the gift card to the grocery store yet. This week I purchased the gift card and bought a "Thinking of You" card. I will have the Sunday School students sign the card today. I am thinking the grocery card will come in handy for their family's Easter dinner - most likely the last one with dad.

difficult child and his bowling buddy will go bowling later this afternoon. We called and reserved a lane. The bowling alley is so busy we need to reserve a lane those times we really really really want to bowl. I kinda hate doing so though because usually difficult child is alone in bowling and they can use it for a bigger group.

Everyone have a great day and find a way to make your kids laugh.
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[Wiped Out]

Good Morning,

Marg-I love that you make the Easter Candle for your church, it sounds like a cool process. I love that the heels are giving you a work out. I rarely wear heels-maybe once or twice a year and for as little of time as possible.

Sharon-ENJOY! I hope your arm and shoulder continue to improve.

Kjs-Same weather here-we'll be watching dvds tonight too.

Andy-Sounds like a busy morning at Sunday School. I hope difficult child enjoys the bowling!

I've already been to church for Palm Sunday. I was leader of prayer at the 7:30 a.m. Mass. When I came out of church the snow was flying! We are only in an advisory, 3-5 inches. I don't mind it too much now that I'm home.

Later I plan on heading out to the health club. Right now I am going to take a nap.

Wishing everyone a peaceful day