starting to get excited...
Friday, March 30
Wednesday, March 28
a quick request...
if there's anyone coming up (or is it down?) from London in the next week who could pick up a dishwasher for us we'd be REALLY grateful - please let us know if you can...
Tuesday, March 27
the IT (and we're not talking about computers!)
amy has been blogging her reflections on the IT. her post explains it in a lovely mystical way, as you would expect from a beautiful mystical spirit(!), but as i dwell on it, it is starting to penetrate the dry areas in my bones. it is starting to take me to a new level of hope that is fresh and vibrant and all this on top of glories of God that i have been experiencing through the kitchen situation. and i can almost feel it opening the eys of my heart deeper. bring on the IT!
Thursday, March 22
the kitchen - everything you ever wanted to know, almost!
i'm uploading a file - never done this before but if it works it will fill you in on what's happening our end.
saga%20details.doc
saga%20details.doc
Tuesday, March 20
happy (official) birthday jos!
1 today, and still smiling!
sadly no birthday photo on hand, so some of us in orkney instead:
Tuesday, March 13
thanks Dr V!
just listened to a bbc lent talk. worth a few minutes of your time. i'm hoping to follow them over the next few weeks...
here's the link!
here's the link!
reflections on lent...
this year we have given up alcohol. we did this because we both felt that God was making the suggestion. We also felt God was suggesting we have an intentional response to the process and realised through a comment on andrew jones' blog that this response was one of charity and social justice.
andrew is writing as a response to an article on lancaster online about the emerging church and lent. one of the guys commenting, a friend of ours called brad (who incidentally gave us some way cool coffee pots a while back that we could with getting wired up for british electrics) said some stuff i liked, and wanted to quote:
the bigger picture of reflecting on why i do what i do in my faith journey is a picture i don't spend much time looking at. thinking in terms of lent etc... i know why i pray, worship, go to church. i know what my current beliefs are, but i continue to 'write my theology in pencil' as i know from experience and the wisdom of others that God's process of revelation is often a long, slow one. my instinct is to hear the firsr thing he shows me and set that up as 'my belief' rather than stepping into the process of revelation.
andrew is writing as a response to an article on lancaster online about the emerging church and lent. one of the guys commenting, a friend of ours called brad (who incidentally gave us some way cool coffee pots a while back that we could with getting wired up for british electrics) said some stuff i liked, and wanted to quote:
"i think this is far more complex than whether this is a 'protest' or 'reform' or 'regain' or 'restore.' i suspect that ALL OF US tend to confuse our abstract doctrinal concepts with concrete biblical facts, and confuse our so-called 'biblical' methodologies practices with actual biblical prescriptives.
one of the tasks of each disciple and each generation of disciples is to act as Bereans to investigate the Scriptures to see what FACTS are so and to keep working on improved CONCEPTUALIZATIONS of how the facts fit together. i would hope we could learn from both past and present approaches, ALL OF WHICH ARE IMPERFECT.
we should ALWAYS be 'protesting' or 'antithesizing' even our own theological patterns, if we are being as Bereans. it doesn't mean we're pro-papists or re-reformers or anti-authoritarianists or non-inerrantists, etc. we may not use the same language of theological concepts that others use, but isn't it part of our responsibility to the continuity of our faith to keep pressing toward a comprehensive, holistic, integrative worldview AND part of our presponsibility to the discontinuity of our times to embody that faith in authentic ways before all peoples?"
the bigger picture of reflecting on why i do what i do in my faith journey is a picture i don't spend much time looking at. thinking in terms of lent etc... i know why i pray, worship, go to church. i know what my current beliefs are, but i continue to 'write my theology in pencil' as i know from experience and the wisdom of others that God's process of revelation is often a long, slow one. my instinct is to hear the firsr thing he shows me and set that up as 'my belief' rather than stepping into the process of revelation.
Sunday, March 11
reflections on wool
when we left orkney debbie jones gave me a bag of raw wool. it smells of sheep and farms and has a greasy feel to it. if you teke some it pulls apart really easily. however, if you start to pull it apart slightly and twist it at the same time it forms a yarn (basic spinning). you can pull this yarn really hard and it won't break. it has incredible strength. you can then dye this yarn, wash it, knit it, crochet it, whatever. the possibilities of what can be created from the first bit of wool are infinite.
i was reflecting on this further in terms of us - psalm 139 says that God knits us together in our mother's womb. so i was thinking into that about how He takes sometghing (a sperm and an egg) which on their own are pretty week and insignificant but He makes infinite creations from it - we reflect His image and yet not one of us is like another through the entirity of time. That is a big reflection of His image!
Also though in our journey of faith and growth and life He is taking us as weak, broken, grubby things and purifying us, cleansing us, transforming us through renewal (we will be transformed daily by the renewing of our minds) and bringing us more and more into a finished garment which is who we will be in glory. but His grace is sufficient for any times we caused Him to miss a stitch or drop a stitch or caused Him to pull to tight or slacken off. all because he chooses to give us freedom to be and do what we choose. I suspect the times we choose His way and his plan, the fabric of the knitting is pretty perfect! as shannon has been known to say, "He is drawing us into His rich tapestry".
just some thoughts...
i was reflecting on this further in terms of us - psalm 139 says that God knits us together in our mother's womb. so i was thinking into that about how He takes sometghing (a sperm and an egg) which on their own are pretty week and insignificant but He makes infinite creations from it - we reflect His image and yet not one of us is like another through the entirity of time. That is a big reflection of His image!
Also though in our journey of faith and growth and life He is taking us as weak, broken, grubby things and purifying us, cleansing us, transforming us through renewal (we will be transformed daily by the renewing of our minds) and bringing us more and more into a finished garment which is who we will be in glory. but His grace is sufficient for any times we caused Him to miss a stitch or drop a stitch or caused Him to pull to tight or slacken off. all because he chooses to give us freedom to be and do what we choose. I suspect the times we choose His way and his plan, the fabric of the knitting is pretty perfect! as shannon has been known to say, "He is drawing us into His rich tapestry".
just some thoughts...
Wednesday, March 7
Inspiration for prayer
i was reading andrew jones'blog today and saw this wonderful post about the prayer of Jael. It really made me realise that so often i read scripture without seeing the story in a modern-setting. in the sense that i don't imagine things like what the person was thinking or saying etc. i find it hard to read between the lines of what was going on.
at church we're studying mark's gospel and we're using a book called "say to this mountain" by ched myers. on sunday i heard a part of the story in chapter 2 one way and then as we started discussing it and other people brought out the'r understanding of it a light came on for me. it is so exciting exploring the bible with our new church - challenging, inspirational, worshipful, illuminating, frustrating at times but worth every minute.
so andrew's post about the prayer of Jael feels like a breath of fresh air - permission to be real with God in the way that the psalms push us to be honest with God. and then, by speaking the truth in love and not living lives of falsehood, being honest with each other. this is probably the harder of the two for me because being honest with others about certain bits of me meanms i am choosing to put myself ina very vulnerable place. but God is knitting together family in our new church - that feels like how He is showing it to me. we are a brand new church - only had 2 meetings and i feel like God is saying, "you may be church, but most of all i am making you a family". i need to reflect more on what that means to be family - there is a lot of the good, the bad and the ugly in family and i wonder what that might mean in terms of church as family.
at church we're studying mark's gospel and we're using a book called "say to this mountain" by ched myers. on sunday i heard a part of the story in chapter 2 one way and then as we started discussing it and other people brought out the'r understanding of it a light came on for me. it is so exciting exploring the bible with our new church - challenging, inspirational, worshipful, illuminating, frustrating at times but worth every minute.
so andrew's post about the prayer of Jael feels like a breath of fresh air - permission to be real with God in the way that the psalms push us to be honest with God. and then, by speaking the truth in love and not living lives of falsehood, being honest with each other. this is probably the harder of the two for me because being honest with others about certain bits of me meanms i am choosing to put myself ina very vulnerable place. but God is knitting together family in our new church - that feels like how He is showing it to me. we are a brand new church - only had 2 meetings and i feel like God is saying, "you may be church, but most of all i am making you a family". i need to reflect more on what that means to be family - there is a lot of the good, the bad and the ugly in family and i wonder what that might mean in terms of church as family.
Tuesday, March 6
Wednesday, February 28
it doesn't fit but it's mine!
debbie and i finished my sample - it doesn't fit so today we are going to make another with some modifications. however, it may not fit, but it's mine - i designed it, and i made it (with a little help) and it's my first ever item of clothing so it's ok that it isn't perfect the first time - it wasn't meant to be. i always planned on re-designing anyway as part of the learning curve and getting the product right so what i'm trying to get my head around is that although it's not wearable, it's mine and it's an achievement so...
well done me. give myself a pat on the back!
oh, and i'm about to start cutting fabric for the second version which we'll make today!
well done me. give myself a pat on the back!
oh, and i'm about to start cutting fabric for the second version which we'll make today!
Tuesday, February 27
like a kid in a sweet store
today debbie took me to a shop called tait and style which is just up the hill from where they live in stromness. it is amazing and i couldn't help myself but buy lots of goodies - loads of cheap samples and yarn and ooh lovely things. being around debbie makes me feel so creative! she is such an inspiration.
also this morning we started making a mock-up of one of my designs. debbie is teaching me how to mark out, pin and cut a pattern on fabric and then we'll move onto sewing. i'll keep you updated.
it is peeing it down today - crazy rain but quite exciting too!
also this morning we started making a mock-up of one of my designs. debbie is teaching me how to mark out, pin and cut a pattern on fabric and then we'll move onto sewing. i'll keep you updated.
it is peeing it down today - crazy rain but quite exciting too!
Monday, February 26
the rest of day 2
we got in the car late morning and headedd off to explore the island. debbie recommended a few places to go and see and there's not many roads so it's not too difficult to get around without getting lost!
the first place we went to was Scara Brae. This is what the official orkney tourism website says, "It is an incredibly well preserved stone village containing an intricate maze of dwellings, with stone beds, lintels and cupboards are all intact, and dates back some 5,000 years. The site was revealed in 1850 by a violent storm and is now one of the most famous Neolithic sites in Northern Europe."
this photo is taken on scara brae beach:
then the boys were too cold and getting hungry. i was cold and hungry too but i become so alive when i am by the sea - it's like my blood starts rushing round my body ten times faster and i feel amazing. i want to run around and jump about and just fall down in the sand and grin. i did a bit of this but jos' face was streaming and he had snot everywhere. robin wanted to get back to the car and was hiding from the wind behind my leg and andy could barely bring himself to take his hands out of his pockets to give me the camera!
we went back to the car, realised our packed lunch was still at the house so we went back and got it then had a picnic in the car! we ate while we drove to a lookout point over a loch and then on to a viking settlement called The Broch of Guerness. Robin really enjoyed running round with Andy and playing hide and seek. Jos and I found a spot to be sheltered from the wind and jos enjoyed just exploring the properties of grass!!
we drove back to stromness through a few villages and stopped in a little local shop. we also tried to go to a couple of the craft trail places but each was closed. we went to a potters and a wool shed and i was particularly excited about the wool shed (of course!) but not to worry, debbie is hoping to show me a bit of spinning while i'm here. she's been telling me all about how wool is like to work with when it is raw and i'm really looking forward to getting into spinning yarn.
as an aside, ezra who is project manahging our kitchen, called today to say that our neighbour has flipped about the work we are having done. there were a couple of issues with him before we left on holiday but i worked really hard to resolve everything before leaving. anyway, he has now gone and told the council we are doing work without permission so we now have to put in an application for the work we are doing rather than getting a building inspector just to check it after which is how the builder normally works. all this means we are delayed by about a week on the kitchen work. not so much of a problem on one level beacsue we have amazing friends who will let us eat with them but it means the house is chaotic - something i find hard at the best of times. ultimately means i don't want to be in my own home - the lounge is currently stashed to the brim with kitchen stuff. boy am i having a clearout when i put everything back into the kitchen. and praise God, chloe has said she is inviting herself round for a cup of coffee (black, no sugar, and probably cold by the time it reaches her lips!) to help me get stuff sorted.
anyone want to come for a cleaning party once the kitchen is in a better state - the rest of the house is covered in a thin layer of plaster dudt, even though we cleaned all the floors and surfafces on thursday night right before leaving!!
the first place we went to was Scara Brae. This is what the official orkney tourism website says, "It is an incredibly well preserved stone village containing an intricate maze of dwellings, with stone beds, lintels and cupboards are all intact, and dates back some 5,000 years. The site was revealed in 1850 by a violent storm and is now one of the most famous Neolithic sites in Northern Europe."
this photo is taken on scara brae beach:
then the boys were too cold and getting hungry. i was cold and hungry too but i become so alive when i am by the sea - it's like my blood starts rushing round my body ten times faster and i feel amazing. i want to run around and jump about and just fall down in the sand and grin. i did a bit of this but jos' face was streaming and he had snot everywhere. robin wanted to get back to the car and was hiding from the wind behind my leg and andy could barely bring himself to take his hands out of his pockets to give me the camera!
we went back to the car, realised our packed lunch was still at the house so we went back and got it then had a picnic in the car! we ate while we drove to a lookout point over a loch and then on to a viking settlement called The Broch of Guerness. Robin really enjoyed running round with Andy and playing hide and seek. Jos and I found a spot to be sheltered from the wind and jos enjoyed just exploring the properties of grass!!
we drove back to stromness through a few villages and stopped in a little local shop. we also tried to go to a couple of the craft trail places but each was closed. we went to a potters and a wool shed and i was particularly excited about the wool shed (of course!) but not to worry, debbie is hoping to show me a bit of spinning while i'm here. she's been telling me all about how wool is like to work with when it is raw and i'm really looking forward to getting into spinning yarn.
as an aside, ezra who is project manahging our kitchen, called today to say that our neighbour has flipped about the work we are having done. there were a couple of issues with him before we left on holiday but i worked really hard to resolve everything before leaving. anyway, he has now gone and told the council we are doing work without permission so we now have to put in an application for the work we are doing rather than getting a building inspector just to check it after which is how the builder normally works. all this means we are delayed by about a week on the kitchen work. not so much of a problem on one level beacsue we have amazing friends who will let us eat with them but it means the house is chaotic - something i find hard at the best of times. ultimately means i don't want to be in my own home - the lounge is currently stashed to the brim with kitchen stuff. boy am i having a clearout when i put everything back into the kitchen. and praise God, chloe has said she is inviting herself round for a cup of coffee (black, no sugar, and probably cold by the time it reaches her lips!) to help me get stuff sorted.
anyone want to come for a cleaning party once the kitchen is in a better state - the rest of the house is covered in a thin layer of plaster dudt, even though we cleaned all the floors and surfafces on thursday night right before leaving!!
day 2
sitting at the breakfast table. the sun is shining today and we are going off to explore the island (or at least parts of it) today. hannah (9) is feeling poorly with a sore throat so she is staying off school - perhaps to hang out with robin but she's been told that he's going out and so isn't around for playing!!
abigail (11) was wearing a fantastic top yesterday and it turns out she made it - she and her friend eva plan to set up their own design label called 'cherry'. she also brought down a skirt made with kilt off-cuts and a diagonal zip. i think i might need to enlist her creative skills for my clothes!
tamara, known as TJ, who is 4 (5 in march) is sitting next to me at the table. she loves how fast i type but i told her that her daddy must type faster than me - he blogs so much more and is a prolific reader and writer so i'm pretty certain he has a slight advantage on speed. robin tried to do sleep over with tamara and hannah last night but he said it was too different so came back into our room.
abigail (11) was wearing a fantastic top yesterday and it turns out she made it - she and her friend eva plan to set up their own design label called 'cherry'. she also brought down a skirt made with kilt off-cuts and a diagonal zip. i think i might need to enlist her creative skills for my clothes!
tamara, known as TJ, who is 4 (5 in march) is sitting next to me at the table. she loves how fast i type but i told her that her daddy must type faster than me - he blogs so much more and is a prolific reader and writer so i'm pretty certain he has a slight advantage on speed. robin tried to do sleep over with tamara and hannah last night but he said it was too different so came back into our room.
Sunday, February 25
day 1
so we had a good night's slepp although as usual the boys woke early - jos actually. robin seems to like sleeping here. this afternoon he slept for about 2 hours on me. unheard of! went to andrew and debbie'd church this morning. it was a lovely, simple get together. they do soup and bread afterwards and everyone was really freindly. met and chatted to a wonderfully eccentric guy called chris - he came back to andrew and debbie's after and is great fun!
this afternoon we just crashed out at the house - need to take photos to show you. andrew cooked a lovely roast beef dinner and he also did crepes fr breakfast. when you come to the jones' you know you are going to eat well! i love how they weave food into family life in a really special way. it means that wherever they're travelling (soemthing they do a lot) they have the same rhythm to family life. so friday is always pizza night, tuesday is sausages, sunday morning is crepes and so on.
tomorrow we are going to head off around the island and explore. robin really enjoyed the beach at thurso (where we spent the morning waiting for the ferry check-in). i think we'll try and find some of the orkney beaches which are meant to be beautiful and then a stone village which is very old and preserved. i'll tell you more about it in my update tomorrow.
gutted to miss our first time together ass a new church. chloe texted me to let me know that they were knitting as part of church - how cool. can't wait to find out more. i've been doing my knitting up here - finishing off andy's jumper. on the second sleeve now and then i only have to sew it all together. hooray!
this afternoon we just crashed out at the house - need to take photos to show you. andrew cooked a lovely roast beef dinner and he also did crepes fr breakfast. when you come to the jones' you know you are going to eat well! i love how they weave food into family life in a really special way. it means that wherever they're travelling (soemthing they do a lot) they have the same rhythm to family life. so friday is always pizza night, tuesday is sausages, sunday morning is crepes and so on.
tomorrow we are going to head off around the island and explore. robin really enjoyed the beach at thurso (where we spent the morning waiting for the ferry check-in). i think we'll try and find some of the orkney beaches which are meant to be beautiful and then a stone village which is very old and preserved. i'll tell you more about it in my update tomorrow.
gutted to miss our first time together ass a new church. chloe texted me to let me know that they were knitting as part of church - how cool. can't wait to find out more. i've been doing my knitting up here - finishing off andy's jumper. on the second sleeve now and then i only have to sew it all together. hooray!
Saturday, February 24
we've arrived!
very tired but feel we have achieved something great! orkney so far is lush - andrew cooked great burgers for tea and they have done their place up beutifully. true jones style!! we'll try and stay in touch over the week - see you soon!
Tuesday, February 20
flower fairies
i have always loved the flower fairies. do they have them overseas? when i look at them i think they must be english but perhaps not. here is the flower fairy for the letter 'R' which is my initial (for Rebecca). chloe reminded me of them while i was browsing her blog. quite a funny post about how she accidentally let slip some nonsense to her 2yr old about fairies coming out to dance at night and now she realises she needs to tell ruby the truth! it really is a funny post but also so beautifully written that you can see why Chloe is persuing writing children's books.
anyway, i found the image below of flower fairy 'R'. interesting that it is 'R' for ragged robin and obviously robin is called robin. maybe i should get him one for his wall. i hope you like it.
anyway, i found the image below of flower fairy 'R'. interesting that it is 'R' for ragged robin and obviously robin is called robin. maybe i should get him one for his wall. i hope you like it.
Monday, February 19
today was a great day!
robin, jos and i spent the majority of today in Chesterfield, an historic market town 10 miles from Sheffield. we went becasue i really wanted to get hold of some fabric to take to orkney (i'm hoping debbie and whitney might be able to help me get some samples made). i haven't been able to get what i needed in sheffield and Chesterfield has a great market and there were two fabric stalls and each one supplied me with a different fabric so i have two and i really like them both. they are similar in weight and composition to the final fabric but as i will be using organic or sustainable fabrics for me clothes when i get them made 'proper' i won't be able to get the same great patterns that these have!
robin went on a carousel for the first time ever - the typw with cars and things, rather than horses. he looked petrified all the way round to the point that i nearly wet myself with laughter, but he said he enjoyed himself afterwards!
i'm a little stressed at the mo but feeling ok too - i have to pack up my kitchen as i have a bloke coming to collect some cupboards on weds morning and someone else coming to collect the laminate floor on wednesday evening. then on thurs dan and i are ripping out whatever is left. then on friday we are going to orkney. we are driving through the night becasue we think that's the best bet with the boys and it also means that, although knackered, we get a good amount of time with our friends up there.
the other thing i did today was have a nap in the car, lying uncomfortable across the front seats as the boys had fallen asleep in the back. i figure i need to sleep every opportunity possible if i am losing a night on friday!
robin went on a carousel for the first time ever - the typw with cars and things, rather than horses. he looked petrified all the way round to the point that i nearly wet myself with laughter, but he said he enjoyed himself afterwards!
i'm a little stressed at the mo but feeling ok too - i have to pack up my kitchen as i have a bloke coming to collect some cupboards on weds morning and someone else coming to collect the laminate floor on wednesday evening. then on thurs dan and i are ripping out whatever is left. then on friday we are going to orkney. we are driving through the night becasue we think that's the best bet with the boys and it also means that, although knackered, we get a good amount of time with our friends up there.
the other thing i did today was have a nap in the car, lying uncomfortable across the front seats as the boys had fallen asleep in the back. i figure i need to sleep every opportunity possible if i am losing a night on friday!
Sunday, February 18
windows data execution prevention aka DEP aka pain in the ass...
having been rediculously frustrated by windows service pack 2 blocking me from using windows explorer, because it would seem using windows to browse around folders (including changing settings, or running hard drive performance checks for eg) is a dangerous thing to do and therefore brings up an error message closing the window.
so you go throught the help files and it tells you you can allow access to certain files by... going into the settings window - the same window that DEP blocks.
trawling the internet has finally bought about the following:
Where Can I Find DEP On My PC?
so if anyone else has the same problems....
(posted by andy, not bea)
so you go throught the help files and it tells you you can allow access to certain files by... going into the settings window - the same window that DEP blocks.
trawling the internet has finally bought about the following:
Where Can I Find DEP On My PC?
so if anyone else has the same problems....
(posted by andy, not bea)
Saturday, February 17
HELLO THE MALLONS!!
thought seeing as our friends Keith and Dawn Mallon, who are off on a ship as missionaries, might be looking at our blog soon, i would give them a special welcome.
as for the rest of you. life is fine. we are fine. sorry our blog is quite dull atb the moment. we are busy planning jos' dedication and naming ceremony in march. also we are heading up to orkney to stay with our wonderful friends the jones' and also we'll be seeing our other friends brian and whitney who live there too. both sets of friends are international - debbie jones is american and her husband andrew is kiwi. brian and whitney are both texan (a nationality in itself!).
the other thing we're getting ready for is our new kitchen! ooh - it's so exciting! on thursday my friend dan and i are ripping out the kitchen so that the builder, plumber and electrician can all come in while we are away. then ezra, our kitchen fitter friend, will fit the kitchen when we return. this means chaos for a couple of weeks and i need to organise for friends to have us round for tea a lot!
so that's us at the moment. how are you?
as for the rest of you. life is fine. we are fine. sorry our blog is quite dull atb the moment. we are busy planning jos' dedication and naming ceremony in march. also we are heading up to orkney to stay with our wonderful friends the jones' and also we'll be seeing our other friends brian and whitney who live there too. both sets of friends are international - debbie jones is american and her husband andrew is kiwi. brian and whitney are both texan (a nationality in itself!).
the other thing we're getting ready for is our new kitchen! ooh - it's so exciting! on thursday my friend dan and i are ripping out the kitchen so that the builder, plumber and electrician can all come in while we are away. then ezra, our kitchen fitter friend, will fit the kitchen when we return. this means chaos for a couple of weeks and i need to organise for friends to have us round for tea a lot!
so that's us at the moment. how are you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)