Fall in Love with the Recorder!

I've been really amazed by the effect that giving up TV for lent has had on the following weeks.  There is really very little now that I'm prepared to watch, and I only turn it on if I actually want to watch something, rather than just when I'm in that room.

Programmes that I've previously watched, just aren't watchable anymore, whether it's that the content is too extreme (from comments on FB from others, I don't think I'm the only person not watching Silent Witness anymore), or it just seems pretty pointless.

And yet, I'm discovering some really amazing things on TV that previously I wouldn't have given any time to.  This week when I did the ironing on Friday night, I watched the BBC Young Musician of the Year, Woodwind Final.  Sadly I turned on too late for the first competitor - the recorder, but heard some amazing music on the saxaphone, clarinet, bassoon & flute.  I couldn't believe it at the end when the recorder won, and I hadn't watched it, so I then saw it on iPlayer.  She was amazing!  

Links below - honestly, I'd be amazed if you didn't like the last short piece at least!

The whole recorder section 

The last short piece, which is totally captivating

Why didn't we get to play stuff like that at school?

And recently I've also learnt lots about the 'Cold Chain' with Ewan McGregor, showing how even children in the most unconneted parts of the world are receiving vaccines.

I'm not sure why I'd never have watched these kinds of programmes before, but I get some entertainment and learn new things, which are actually real, rather than based on imagined fear and violence.

I was really challenged when I started watching TV again by Phillipians 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

And I'm not sure where the thought started, but it seems to be the test by which I start and continue to watch the few things that I do nowadays.  Certainly not what I was expecting the result of a TV fast to be, when I started back on Ash Wednesday!

Topsy Turvy Easter

So the weather got it all wrong this year...we had glorious sunshine on Friday and enjoyed sitting at the Hot Walls, and then had a slightly damp breakfast at the Beach Hut on Easter Sunday.  But it's been another good Easter weekend, and as ever started with a great veggie meal with the justice gang on Thursday evening.  Leaving that evening, via the quiet room with candles, thorns, nails, wood, a hammer etc, jogs the mind to think on what Jesus must have gone through that night before it all kicked off.  (And birth experiences have definitely helped bring something more to the empathy; facing something that you know has to happen, and can't avoid, the rest of the world being asleep etc.)

Sadly a little one year old's lack of sleep (think probably relating to first year jabs...all three in one sitting!), led to being very tired at 8am on the beach on Sunday, but it was great, as ever, to celebrate the world changing, and Jesus coming back to life.  It's been a great weekend of spending time with our Portsmouth family.

Start of Spring

It's been a while since my last post, and I'm not sure why that is; partly I haven't managed many free moments, and partly I'm not sure there's anything new to write about.  

Life ticks along, but some progress has gone on in the garden, thanks to some beautiful March weather.  The shed is in situ.  Lots of little seeds have been planted...am not filled with confidence that they'll be a giant harvest, but my little helper more than makes up for my fears...hope she's not too disappointed.

Work juggling, with poorly little people, household tasks, play groups and weekends with visitors has made life feel very full.  Lots of lovely moments hidden amidst lots of routine.

Recycling continues, but I need to work on the compost bin in the back yard.  It's a very enclosed space (even more so with the new shed now), and on warmer days, the aroma is a bit strong...reminds me a micro brewery!  I've found out that Lush recycle all plastic bottle tops, and we're now a disposable nappy free house (good, other than there's no room for error on the supply of clean terries!).

Gift making continues, with recently some Piccalli (a first) and more home-made cards.  I'm now trying to get a month ahead, as otherwise I'm feeling rather too much last minute pressure to create, but it's easier said than done.

Tiredness is definitely having an impact on the spring in my step (and it is a rainy morning as I type), but as with all journeys, the honeymoon period is over, and effort is now required to find deeper richness.

Brain-freeze?

My head is hurting this week from the reading that I've been doing.  I felt compelled to read the Big Issue and Amnesty magazine from cover-to-cover this week, as they often simply sit on the table and eventually end up in the recycling bin, or a child's craft project.

Taking time to read about how other's face life each day, whilst I sit here in the glorious sunshine that bathed Southsea today is quite mind boggling.  And sending emails, writing letters and sending up prayers often seem rather lame.  But I'd prefer to be informed than have my head in the sand, so maybe this is a week of finding richness in more?

Reading the Amnesty mag also gave me a bit of a window into the world that BBC news and our national newspapers just don't seem to think there is value (money?) in reporting.  What makes some conflicts newsworthy and others not?  What political power is involved?  What corporate power?  Or is it just that the public would tune out?  

A collegue rather depressingly stated the other day 'people simply aren't interested in things that don't directly effect them'.  Obviously it was somewhat of a sweeping statement, but how many people does that really apply to?  All of us at points in our lives?  Or the majority all the time?  I hope not, and it hasn't been my experience of talking with others.

My mind just seems to be in overdrive about all this, this week, and I think it started when I saw 15 mins of a DVD entitled 'Jesus, Bombs & Icecream'.  It's a film from a 90 minute variety show conceived by Shane Claiborne & Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry's).  15 mins was enough to get me angry about the state of our world.  We'll be having a showing at our house in the near future (icrecream will be a highlight of the event!), but before then I want to find the stats that relate to the UK in comparison to those of the US.  Should be an interesting, if not challenging night.

Amidst the joys of work, sick children, household chores and family life, I think I'm experiencing brain-freeze!

I've won something!

http://www.beaulieu.co.uk/

So it feels like I never win anything, and I'm sure that's mainly down to the fact that I never enter anything...but on a whim a month or so ago, I entered a competition with Families SouthEast (a local magazine with info on stuff to do with kids) and I got an email this week to say I've won a family trip to Beaulieu!  Hubby gets to see James Bond cars and a Top Gear exhibition, and I'll get a day out in the fresh air with the kids.  Brilliant...and all for the cost of the petrol to get there (think it would take a bit too long on the bike ;-)

So that's added some joy in an otherwise mixed week.

And lots of people are asking how no TV is going, and so far evenings are passing with me getting lots of stuff done.  I'm listening to a bit of Radio 4 (my general knowledge is going to increase lots...especially after a 3 hour ironing fest, and just listening to what happened to be on!).  I'm definitely noticing how much I would out of habit, pop it on in the evening, even if it's background whilst I'm doing bits on the laptop.  So it's not an easy thing to give up, but I think it's good.

And this is an interesting site with ideas on things to do in Lent that are positive.

http://www.40acts.org.uk/

This is also the week that I first discovered Pinterest.  A great way to keep track of cool things you find online.  Very useful as I can never remember where I've seen stuff. 

Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent

So Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter when people think about Jesus, his life, journey, and suffering, and many do things to help them think about it each day, either by giving something up, or by doing something proactive.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've given up TV...and on returning from work tonight with the kids in the bike seat and trailer, with drizzle hampering my efforts to get us all in and heading bedward, the thought of no TV to look forward to later was unbelievably weighing on my mind.  In the end I've had a lovely evening; finishing off a present I'm making, listening to an amazing array of programmes on Radio4 and sitting down and listening to a couple of tracks to help focus my mind on God.  But how depressing that giving up TV should be compared to the suffering of Jesus!  How good is my life in comparison to so many!  And how has TV pervaded my life so strongly?

Anyhow, I hope to have a good journey through Lent, and find more richness in less.

The words of the track I listened to tonight were interesting, as one of the lines was '...in your will, is where I find rest.'  I've been thinking recently about all the things I'm up to, and I am naturally a person that juggles a lot.  In the past many people have suggested that I should spend more time doing nothing, which they call 'resting' as that's where we meet God.  It's taken several years, but I can quite confidently say now, that 'being the person that God made me, is where I find rest'.  That I do actually feel at peace, love life, connect with God and feel rich, when I'm busy.  It's how he made me, so I enjoy being me, and I hope you can enjoy being you this Lent-time.

Bounce-back Cash

So it was only last week that I as feeling rather low about all the money that we'd had to spend last month (had to ??), well, what a strange week since my last posting.

Firstly, our lovely neighbour came round this week to ask if he could pay for half of the fence work...and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.  Who's boundary is who's has always been a bit of a mystery to me, everywhere we've lived, but always going dutch seems a great solution!

Secondly, whilst at work this week I had a phone call from the bank.  They are returning my NI payment into our account, as HMRC has contacted them to say that the bank account no longer exists!  First reaction: wow...all that money back.  Second reaction: I now need to call HMRC and try to get to the bottom of it.  Third reaction: how ludicrous that you're sent a letter with an April 2012 deadline (admittedly several years ago) and then close the bank account that you want payment into...I'm sure I'm not the only one that's left it to the last minute to send money.

So it's not like all the money's come back, but it has been a strange week!

I was also feeling uneasy about the expense of sorting the digi-box, but this week I've felt the need to do something for Lent.  (I don't normally give anything up.)  There are a couple of things that I really want to invest some prayer into, and fasting is a great way to focus the mind, so I'm thinking of giving up TV for 40 days and using some of the time when I'm not watching, to pray and some of the rest to do some of the creative projects I'm not finding time for.  I don't think I'm going to inflict it on the kids this time, as it's quite a major aid in getting us out of the house on time for work & nursery, and bedtime when we've just walked in the door (think removing that would tip me over the edge, let alone them ;-).

Note re: Waste - my eldest had her first sleep in a terry's nappy last night...wanted to know why she was wearing a 'baby nappy' rather than a 'big girl nappy' aka: disposable, but was up for giving it a go...slight leakage, but definitely worth trying for a while (might even help motivate her to stop wearing them at night all together).  So we might have a disposable free house soon, and weekly bin bag weighing less than 1kg!