Good Sunday morning, my friends....

[timer lady]

I'm up early to enjoy my last day of respite .... yup, that's my story & I'm sticking to it.

HMJ is ready & I plan on making a fresh batch of muffins - almond poppyseed. So any of you who aren't in line for drug testing today or tomorrow are welcome to come over for coffee & warm muffins.

My cat Sam, is sitting on my desk keeping me company this morning as I listen to World with-o End by Ken Follet. Okay, he's also fascinated by & watching intently my beta fish, Ruby. It's a morning ritual with the 3 of us. I told husband yesterday that I needed a bigger desk if this was going to keep up. I'm just thankful that Sally, our wonder dog, sits at my feet. Pretty crowded in my little corner of the world this time of day.

Today is watering & dusting my plants, planning menus, placing grocery orders & a few other small things that need to be done around the house. Nothing to draining energy wise & if it doesn't get done it really won't matter (except maybe the food delivery).

Of course, we have to plan on the traditional St. Pat's Day dinner tomorrow evening. I'll skip making the soda bread though - just too much work for too little interest.

Enjoy your Sunday. It's to be a day of rest - I hope it proves to be so for you & yours.

 

[Marguerite]

G'day, Linda. My crowd are also planning to celebrate St Patrick's Day. As easy child 2/difficult child 2 said, "BF2 & I both work across the road from an Irish pub; why wouldn't we go there to celebrate?"
difficult child 1 has offered to be designated driver, so he will be in the pub and not drinking a drop (alcoholic). Our laws are VERY strict and he is still on his red (first year) provisional licence.
We had a really great day at church today - a visiting group, mostly Maori, took over the place and it was fun.
difficult child 1 & I talked to a couple of church elders and it looks like difficult child 1 & girlfriend will be able to get married here at our church, possibly November. It still has to pass the rest of the church elders but it shouldn't be a problem. girlfriend will be very happy - she will now get her wish to be married on the beach (in front of the church).

husband & I came home and began making the Paschal candle. Someone asked about this yesterday - some churches have a tradition where they have one large candle which is lit every Sunday. The candle needs to be big enough to last a year, and is replaced every Easter Sunday. Some churches have really elaborate decorations - husband's church when he was a teenager had some lovely ones, all decorated by one of the elders. The detail was amazing.
The decoration usually revolves around a cross theme of sorts, with specific symbolism. Traditionally, whole cloves were pushed into the candle at five points but these days it's simpler, more stylised.
You can buy these special candles already decorated at speciality religious shops, but for many years now someone at our church has made the candles. My best friend used to do it; when she left the church I took over the task. She used to decorate the candle with calligraphy on parchment which she then stuck to the candle with clear contact. The problem with this (although it looked wonderful) was that when the candle burnt down far enough, and if there was a breeze blowing, the decoration sometimes caught fire and became a second wick.
So I have tried to decorate with coloured wax - not easy, because it does need to be pliable, to get it onto the candle without being too brittle. So I cheat - I get my coloured wax from CHEESES! (if you read that aloud, you will get the very bad pun).
Edam cheese is coated with a malleable red wax which I pour into a flat sheet and cut into shapes and letters. Works for me.
But this year I'm going to be more adventurous (and hope it works). I'm going to try to use glass paints. Only some types work.
A few of you may remember, I was asking for last minute advice last year.
Well, this year it should work (hopefully).
I've got to have it done and decorated by Thursday, because that's when our friends from Philadelphia arrive and we'll be very busy after that.
We cast it today, it's about 3" diameter and 2' long, in a copper pipe. The trouble is, as a wax-filled shape like that cools, it shrinks from the middle around the wick, a long way down, and I have to keep the deep hole open so it doesn't close over and form a nasty air bubble (it would turn the lit candle into something looking like a flame thrower, at some stage during the year). I had to keep topping it up with wax all afternoon and keep the hole open. We also have to keep the wick lined up neatly in the middle, too. It's tricky, a brain-teaser challenge.
I get the wax from every family in the church, as well as anybody from the village who wants to be included. Visitors who light a candle (even if it's just for light, or to relax by in the evening) can contribute that candle and it all goes into the melting pot. Previous years' candles go into the pot as well, so many people now scattered around the world and not seen for years, are still connected to this.
A candle from a store might be tidier, might be prettier, but this is HOME. And community.

So there you have it. And now the copper column is outside cooling. Maybe tomorrow night we can unmould it and hopefully it won't break. Then it's trim. polish, decorate and keep it safe. Dropping it on the way in the door on Sunday is NOT a good idea!

So have a really enjoyable Sunday, everyone. I wish I could get a candle from every one of you, around the world, of all religious views and persuasions (including none) to put in this candle. Or maybe a CD candle?

Marg

 

[tiredmommy]

Good morning!

Linda- I can picture your morning get together, it sounds adorable! Enjoy your day!

Marg- The candle making sounds wonderful. If you don't mind, I may pass the idea along to our priest, I like the idea of the wax coming from the families.

I have a feeling it's going to be a long day, Duckie has already started. I'm making her sit in a corner of the kitchen and watch husband make pancakes since she had a fit insisting that he make them for her... bossy little thing that she is!

Anyway, we have church today, no Sunday school as it's Palm Sunday. I doubt we'll process through the village this year as there is currently a rain/snow mix falling. But it's a beautiful service. There is a drum played throughout the readings, which are read by the choir. The drum sounds like a heartbeat, calm at first but then racing, then... it stops suddenly at the death. It's very powerful and moving.

Afterward, Duckie and I have a major change of pace. We are working a cookie booth with a few other Brownies. I hope it goes well!

Have a great day!
-TM

 

[Fran]

Good morning everyone althout it's almost lunchtime here.

Linda, I like your little pet family sharing the morning quiet with you. Enjoy your respite. I'll have to pass on the muffins today. I'm still on my way to the size that is comfortable in my jeans instead of sweats.

Marguerite, I'm old enough to remember the Pascal candle. It was an elaborate beautiful one that was lit at Easter. I am old enough to remember marching in procession holding lillies while singing/chanting in Latin. I don't know what they do at Easter now since I haven't been to an Easter service in quite a long time. Enjoy your St. Paddy's day celebration.

TM, sounds like Duckie was in need of an attitude adjustment.
Enjoy your beautiful church ceremony.

We had a good soaking rain yesterday, which was needed. The low rumble of thunder had HoneySue up the steps and in the closet so quickly, you would never know she had bone cancer.

This morning signs of spring are everywhere. It was a lovely walk to see all the buds on trees and daffodils. The tulips are about a week away from blooming. Hope you have a nice St. Paddy's day everyone.

I'm heading to the shops to get Easter cards for those who live far from me.

 

[ML]

Good morning to all!! You all have such a great way with words. I feel like I'm reading a beautifully written novel that I can't put down. Your words of description bring me to each of your parts of the world. I sure appreciate being part of this group.

I have a list of to do's. I got most of the hard stuff out of the way yesterday so today it's taking the car to be washed (I usually do it myself but it needs an extra good cleaning) and coloring the gray out of my hair. I will also try to get in a 2 mile walk.

I wish everyone great Spring/Fall days.