Jesus Had Difficult Days Too...

Nick the Pastor had strung pretty lights from the balcony, and after Wednesday's "Oasis Cafe", folk had helped him move out many of the chairs, and put the tables to the side. On Friday morning I was at the supermarket at 8, buying refreshments, and at church by 9.30 preparing the space. After the dreich drizzly Monday, and the cold fog of Thursday it was good to see bright sunshine again.

I put shiny gold covers on all the tables [then put chairs round them] I stacked the gold boxes along the back wall [and stuck on labels ready for children to write their names]  At the front, the craft materials were sorted and ready to distribute. Foodstuffs in place in the kitchen.
We had a quick sandwich lunch and were at church by 1.10
Altogether there were 13 adults on the team, all present, plus a teenager and 3 children from church families.
We ran through the programme, assigned tasks [welcome, registration, kitchen duties etc] and then Nick prayed for the event, for the team, and the families who would attend.
At 1.55 we opened the doors. Nobody there! Bob and Dan stood outside to welcome people.
Nobody came
By 2.30, nobody had arrived. I tried not to be despondent. "Its the last day of half term and the sun's shining" "People will have gone to the beach" Everybody suggested good reasons why there was nobody there. Nick and Bib were encouraging "Don't be despondent, Ang, Jesus had difficult days too..." Rachel WhatsApped a few mates, whose general response was "Oh we're out because the weather's so good" 
What to do?
I said it would be good to show the PowerPoint I'd prepared [God had a Plan, Jesus came at Christmas, the light of the World" As we got the three church children settled, another family came in, and then another. We watched the PP, and sang the Boing!! song, And began a craft activity. By 3pm we were up to 10 children. And more came - we had 15 in total. 

They clearly enjoyed the crafts, and the Mums chatted away. Yes, we did have to rearrange the programme drastically. Nick did two magic tricks, we had a coffee break at 3, and finished early, as many of the children were preschool and KS1 and had clearly done all they wanted! And we didnt have enough children for the team game. 

We did play the Light Game successfully. This is like the Jelly Bean Game, but instead of acting like a Bean you act like a light [Head Light, Search Light, Traffic Light, Starlight, and Lighthouse] That game went very well.

They were all very proud of their shepherds and spinners. And took unfinished crafts and worksheets home in their boxes.

Everyone helped with clearing up - and we are planning a church lunch today to use up the food [Pizza and Soup]

Yes, it was hard, when there was nobody there at the start. I wanted to get in the car and go home, but I am glad I waited. And we sang The Lighthouse Song [they know that from school assemblies] which is always a great pick me up. 

Jesus is the peace in my troubled sea

Thank you everyone who sent encouraging messages, your words were greatly appreciated

I Hate Hallowe'en!

Despite that, we have had three costumes to help with this week. Rosie is wearing her 2023 Worst Witch Cape as part of a Traitors Outfit. Three years on, that costume continues to prove useful! Bob was prevailed upon to make a Traitors Badge, and he produced an excellent laser cut piece, sprayed gold. I found a spare chain for it. It did not get photographed, but it looks just like this one! Clever Bob 

Then I was asked to alter these two. The one on the left is a "Big Mouth Monster" But the problem with these is that the head is so big, it came right down over the owner's face, then the open mouth revealed his chin and neck - but he was totally unable to see anything! The Super Mario dungarees were way too long and baggy to be safely worn whilst in a wheelchair. They were easy to take up.

The BMM took more consideration. I needed to raise the head, so the eyes could see through the mouth without it looking stupid. I think this looks a little daft! I turned the head inside out and made an oval cardboard pattern, the same size as the brown furry hairpiece. Then I made a small cushion, stuffed with wadding and stitched that in place.

I sewed the edges of the lips together to make the mouth opening smaller. Bob suggested a strip of red gauze would obscure the eyes a little.
Here I am, about 6" taller than normal, modelling this bizarre outfit (I did not feel the need to zip up the legs! SuperMario is much less scary

If this hairy green creature arrived on my doorstep on a gloomy autumnal evening, I think I'd probably slam the door in its face, with neither trick nor treat! 

Who thought this was a good idea? 

Friday Family Funday

Poor Bob, we are holding a Holiday Club at Church today and for a fortnight he has had to live with crafting stuff all over the house. It is only an afternoon event, not the full week of activities which we used to organise in our other churches before retirement. But it does take a lot of time and preparation. There will be four different craft activities [my responsibility] and media stuff - songs, music, powerpoint [his area of expertise]  Nick, our pastor is doing two magic tricks
Our theme is Jesus- Light of the World. Good to have some light and joy on the day before dark, spooky Halloween arrives. The crafts are Christmas related - my justification for this is that God was planning Christmas from the foundation of the world! [also I happen to have all the resources for these in my stash already] We don't use the "Messy Church" logo - ours is a Family Funday.

• We are making shepherds - left over bottle men from Pyramid Rock two years ago, with new outfits.
• Globe baubles - an easy one, recycling old Christmas cards
• Wooden 'baubles', which Bob laser cut for me, with a candle design
• And angel spinners using old CDs
• And there are the usual worksheets with colouring and word puzzles 

I am always mindful that children frequently leave things behind in the rush to go home. In Kirby, they all had folders for sheets and 'flat' crafts, and a labelled carrier bag - on the last day, everything was distributed and taken away. This year I appealed in church for old shoeboxes and got lots - thanks friends! I spent Wednesday evening covering them with gold foil. Each child will have a shiny box to carry away their creations. The gold foil is from a huge roll [it is 5 foot long, and quite heavy] which my dear friend Dave Ford gave me nearly twenty years ago. Bob is afraid it will last forever even though I keep using it for projects. 

I will tell you how it went next week..

With The Girls At Blickling

 

Well done National Trust for so many autumnal activities at Blickling Hall this week.
The girls loved all the fabrics, Jess explained to the guide about the Uzbek dress her Daddy brought back for her from his work trip. Rosie enjoyed designing a kimono. Shaun the Sheep is there advertising an event starting in November. 
The Global Textiles Exhibition started three months ago - I was pleased to see how it has developed with extra stuff [eg a local secondary school made some collaborative kimonos using separate fabric squares stitched and dyed by pupils] 

The hot chocolate was very welcome after a cold walk following The Crone Trail. I wasn't so sure about that, a bit too spooky for Jess [and me] - we weren't told it was really for age 7+. We skipped the really weird bits - but did dance round the tree singing "Mulberry Bush" and we answered the question "Who might have gone through the ancient doorway 50 or 100 years ago". Jess thought of a sad person who had lost a friend. Rosie decided on a barefooted stable boy who was too poor to buy shoes - I imagined a girl in a miniskirt and heels, who'd just got her degree and was skipping happily along [as I myself was doing 50 years ago...]

Bizarre conversation with another visitor, who asked me if I thought it was worth buying the Norfolk Museums Season Ticket. "Oh yes," I said, "You only have to go to the castle or Gressenhall a couple of times to get your money's worth" and she asked me if I knew anything about Gressenhall. Funny you should say that....

Once Again, I am Unwittingly Fashionable

Back in September, as I packed for Cyprus, I discovered my wardrobe already reflected the very trendy Coastal Grandmother look. I was happy in my lightweight white and blue tops, cool linen trousers, white plimsolls and brown leather sandals, and my favourite sunhat.
But as they say on Game of Thrones [not that I have ever watched it] Winter is Coming! so time to swap over between my summer and winter wardrobes.

On Monday, I took Ro and Jess to Blickling Hall, it was a drizzly, windy day. I wore my dungarees [bought with a gift token in FatFace Sale, about 10 years ago] and my LLBean lumberjack shirt [Camden Market, 2nd hand, £5] This outfit is warm and comfortable. [My hair is growing really long now, you can see the ponytail in the mirror] 
I dress for comfort these days.  But then I read in the Guardian yesterday that I am incredibly on trend. "Everyone is dressing like Barbara in the Good Life" - this style is called allotmentcore.

Would you believe it? The article goes on to mention clogs, gilets, woven baskets and the Norfolk based Carrier Company. CC sells Norfolk 'slops' - fisherman's smock for £90 - I got my for £4 in a CS nine years ago

“I’d describe it as Little House on the Prairie meets Felicity Kendal in The Good Life, meets Bill and Ben,” says Mal James, professor of fashion design at the University of Edinburgh. But he is sceptical about whether the allotmentcore look has life beyond social media. “I haven’t seen anyone actually garden in it, that’s for sure”  Well, Mr James, you should have been in Swanton Morley last Saturday morning! I was out there weeding.

I could have given Felicity K a run for her money! Who am I kidding - I am more in the Bill and Ben league when it comes to stylishness!

Speaking of stylishness, That Beard is growing thick and fast. Bob is looking less like his much-missed brother Frank, and more like Bradley Whitford in The Diplomat....

Bob has very kindly managed to save the Gressenhall Museum radio clip to an audio file. [CLICK HERE] I hope this means friends across the Pond can hear it after all. 

Oh and I must say a huge thank you to Liz, who gave me a pair of IsoBaa slipper socks for my birthday, They are so thick and warm, and so brilliant to wear around the house. The grippy soles prevent slipping, and they keep my feet and ankles toasty warm. I keep my gardening clogs just inside the back door - I can slip the clogs on over my socks if I need to pop out to fetch the washing or deliver tea to Bradley Bob in the workshop

Diamond's Are... A Girl's Useful Craft

 I just realised I have not posted any pictures of my Thrive Conference the other weekend. It was really good, and I appreciated the time with old friends, the opportunity to rest, the encouraging study sessions led by Sara and Sam Hargreaves [see here] I had been asked by the Steering Group to run a couple of craft workshops on the Saturday afternoon. I decided to do a simple sewing activity - making diamond decorations. 

This would be something which people might enjoy creating - and also a useful standby if they got landed with the job of producing the tree for a Tree Festival which might happen in their area.

I first made these down in Dorset eleven years ago and at the time, posted a tutorial here on the blog. It proved a worthwhile project back then, and so many people got involved. We inserted embroidered panels in each piece, bearing one of the names of Jesus [Light of the World, Lamb of God etc]

Here are some of the photos of people the other week with the diamonds they made. I provided beads for extra embellishment, and suggested for a 'one off' they might put a family names or similar on the back.

We had a lovely time, people worked so hard. Hannah was really chuffed- she had never really sewn anything before so was very proud of her piece.
So easy, and they look so good when completed, with or without an insert!

Perhaps I should make up some kits for my online shop

Famous For Five Minutes

I have posted often about the Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, a few miles up the road. It is owned by Norfolk Museums service. Built in 1777, next year is the 250th Anniversary. 

In 1946, 80 years ago, what had been the Workhouse was turned into an Old People's Care Home, called Beech House [for the large tree at the front of the premises] It remained a home until 1975. when it was closed, and became part of the museum service.

Rachel Kidd, curator of the Museum now, felt that those 30 years were not properly marked in the Museum, so decided that next year there should be an acknowledgement of the Beech House years. 

An appeal went out this summer for anyone who had a memory of Beech House. I replied - saying that as a child/teenager I had gone with my Dad, to visit church members who were resident there. 

We would talk with them, and say a prayer before we left. Sometimes young people from our church went and sang hymns [and carols at Christmas]  Rachel was really interested, and so in August I went to be interviewed about this, and Gabby Meadows recorded our conversation. I was the first recording she'd made. I gave my permission for the recording to be used as and when needed. G thought there would probably be an audio section as part of the displays.
Then on Saturday morning, I was reading the BBC news website, and in the Norfolk section there was an article. It mentioned me, and the fact that I'd said residents were unhappy being sent to live in "The Workhouse". They were the generation who were told "Be a good child or you will end up in there" - and they lived through 2 world wars, and now were sent here in their old age. It was hard to convince them that this was not a punishment!
I'm on the BBC News Website!! I shouted to Bob
Then yesterday at Church, Barbara said she had heard me speaking on the Radio. BBC Radio Norfolk had interviewed Rachel, and two clips from recordings had been played. At the end, the two people were named and thanked - and one of them was Angela Almond!! Barbara said she remembered me mentioning the interview back in the summer.  I have tried to find it, unsuccessfully on BBC sounds. 
I will wait to see if anybody else messages me about it. 

Slightly frustrating to be on the radio, and not get the chance to hear it!!

Update, Barbara has just sent the link Here  1hour17 minutes into the show