Renewing a Stained T-shirt.

I was really cross with myself the other week.  I put on a cream t-shirt and then went outside to do some gardening.  I know, I know, I didn't even notice the stain until I was doing my ironing after washing it.  I was not happy, there was no way it was going to come out.

You can see the mark in the centre at the bottom.  I was especially annoyed because it is a fairly new fairtrade t-shirt from Marks and Spencers.  So I put my thinking cap on and now have a much nicer t-shirt.

In fact I prefer my t-shirt now to when it was plain - hooray!

The fabric I used was from an old pair of linen trousers which had worn out.  I used bamboo buttons that used to be on my duvet cover until the holes started to grow and I had to replace the buttons.  I used 2 strands of embroidery silk for the central designs and one strand for the edge stitching.  I pinched the heart design from rhonda jean at Down to Earth, she has a free downloadable pattern for an embroidery I am still in the process of! Before doing the embroidery I ironed onto the squares some bondaweb, then embroidered, then ironed the squares onto the t-shirt before finishing with the buttons and edge stitching.  All in all it has taken me a couple of hours which I have done while playing scrabble on facebook!  How smug am I now feeling!  It has been quite good biblical teaching to me as well, as it does tell us in the bible:

Revelation 21: 1-5
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more ... I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold the dwelling of God is with men ... He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall mourning nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away... And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."

Filled by Grace.

My last post was so gloomy, I do apologise, these times just happen occasionally.  I do feel that God heard my cries and I have been blessed by lovely contacts with friends and much patience by my family.  As a result God's refreshing waters have been filling up the gaping hole that I had found myself in.

Now seems a good time to sit back and look some more of the wondrous blessings that pass before my eyes each day.

201.  A safe secure home.
202.  Children willing to express their love for me.
203.  Roses blooming in my garden.
204.  Food in my cupboards, fridge and freezer.
205.  New shoes and uniforms for the children to start school with.
206.  Generous friends passing on clothes for my girls.
207.  A hospital check up with no waiting around.
208.  My car.
209.  Friends little children willing to hug and kiss me and letting me read them stories.
210.  Good books to read from the library. (That reminds me I MUST renew them!).
211.  A patient workplace letting me ease back into a job that I love.
212.  Watching my puppy dog playing with her toys.
213.  Ears to listen with, even when I do not really want to hear what is being said.
214.  My eldest being willing to go to work with my hubby for a day so that I can work.

Stuck in a Depression.

When all you want to do is get attention and please people you are inevitably going to have times when you fail.  I would love to know why I am have such a burning desire for these unattractive attributes.  For years my faith has kept these desires at bay, any hopes that they had been destroyed have unfortunately been proven unfounded.

Even writing this blog is suddenly a ridiculous self absorbed thing.

I know I have fallen into a depression,  I also know that I am not going to be able to get out of it alone.  I had a wonderful series of pictures about 18 months ago, maybe they were one of the tools God gave me to help me now.  The pictures were of a series of holes in the ground, they were deep holes and each one had a person at the bottom of it.  In each hole the person was doing something - most of them were trying to get out of their holes without success.  There were also some people ignoring the help that was being offered by others  from above their holes.  My favourite of these pictures was of the hole being filled with water by a hose put into it from people around the top of the it.  This was not intended to drown the person in the hole!  All the person in the hole needed to do was float on the surface of the water.  As they lay back floating the water lifted them out of the hole.

My prayer for the moment is to be floated out of this depression I have fallen into.

Two Hundred Blessings.

We have been away for a couple of weeks and then had a very busy week doing a childrens Holiday Club (VBS) as part of my job.  We have been unbelievably blessed, here are just a few:

180.  The rest and relaxation needed to allow me to go outside my comfort zone with the children while away.
181.  The sunshine and warmth in Turkey.
182.  The peace He gives me about my unkempt garden.
183.  The time He gives me to overcome a nasty summer cold.
184.  A boss (Vicar) who reassures me that the quality of my work is the most important thing.
185.  Children giggling with their friends after time apart.
186.  The quick sale of my parents house. (3days!!!!)
187.  A happy fluffy white puppy.
188.  Beautiful sunsets.
189.  The smell of home-made bread baking.
190.  Two weeks of doing NO cooking.
191.  Friends from the North coming for holidays in the South and popping in to see us.
192.  Girls playing with guinea pigs.
193.  A friend noticing how much my son is growing up.
194.  Cups of tea with friends.
195.  An unexpected small but perfectly thought out present from a friend in New Zealand.
196.  Refreshing rains.
197.  Answered prayers - especially those that I did not know what outcome I wanted.
198.  A husband who can hold the fort when my health goes into meltdown.
199.  A clean house - even if it only lasts a couple of hours.
200.  The blogosphere - it is always here even when I leave it.

'Church' up a tree and other blessings!

We did a first today - instead of going to our regular (hard to call it that really when we rarely go) Church we decided to do 'Church' up a tree in the New Forest this morning.

We simply strolled along until we came to a place where there were fallen trees that we could sit on and then my husband got out his Bible and sat down all together.  Looking for something tree related we read John 15 where Jesus describes God as being the vine and us the branches.  You can just see on the far right a holly tree, this was the perfect example to explain these verses more clearly for the children especially as it had berries growing on it.  There was an air of quiet as we looked at all the dead wood around the tree........

It also gave us the opportunity to talk about 'grafting' as in Romans 9, especially in relation to our eldest being grafted into our family.

The kids were really relaxed, it took very little to keep them focused, we said the Lords prayer together and then continued to enjoy our walk and scrambling in the trees.

There was space for us all.

Pippin was able to join in to!

Time for conversation un-interrupted.

....and best of all for me, when we walked back towards the car the pub was open and ready to start serving food, so the youngest two got to play while they waited.  Whilst the oldest firstly got mistaken for working there, which she really liked and then got to go chat to some ladies with their ponies in the car park.

Great walk, great time with God, great food to finish, nothing could have made this more perfect.

continued to count my blessings with the community created by Ann Voskamp

178.  That first cup of tea in the morning, especially when it can be drank in the garden.
179.  Being able to give the kids the 'treat' of staying up 'late'.
180.  A garden that continues to grow and bloom despite my recent weeks of neglect.
181.  The wise wisdom of my spiritual director.
182.  Meetings completed without making me feel to blue.
183.  Volunteers willing to work with me and take risks, outside of their comfort zones.
184.  30 children already signed up to attend my holiday club.
185.  Fun and laughter in the woods with the kids as we make a 'film' for holiday club.
186.  Indulging in some embroidery which (except for cross stitch) I haven't done for around 20 years.
187.  A settled week for my parents.
188.  Letter arriving that I have requested to use in an appeal.
189.  Discovering what my puppy dog needs to stop her waking up at 5.30am in the morning!

Continued Blessings.

Is there such a thing as Bloggers Block?  If so I appear to have caught it!  Most likely I am just a bit too busy at the moment.  But I am determined to never be too busy to count my blessings, big and small. (no photos though this week).


163.  Cooler nights and the feel of warm cotton sheets.
164.  The patience of others around me when I am wound up.
165.  Listening ears of friends.
166.  Rain falling on my garden.
167.  Gods forgiveness when I am struggling to forgive.
168.  Siblings looking out for each other.
169.  The sound of my little girl singing whenever she is alone.
170.  A card received when actions cannot express love.
171.  Orchids flowering at my kitchen window.
172.  Not having to fight for a disability parking (blue) badge.
173.  Emails returned when I have regretted sending them.
174.  Words to form difficult letters that have to be written.
175.  The willingness of others too help me in my return to work.
176.  A day at the beach with friends.
177.  The first supper party with friends and their kids since our eldest arrived over a year ago.

A time for us (in Paris!!!!!!).

Last weekend, was wonderful, it was the result of a very very spontaneous decision just a few months ago.

My husband had come home from work having heard of a special deal that Air France were doing to train their staff on a new plane the A380 (the super jumbo).  A little search on the internet, a check of our diaries and the booking was made, for an incredible cheap price to.

Here are a few piccies of our special weekend.

Our plane coming in at Heathrow, my husband is a HUGE aero enthusiast and this is the first time he has been on a new plane type so soon after it has been put into service.  The journey was definately his big treat!

Leaving Blighty, an amazing view over Brighton you can see the pier and the marina amazingly well.

And relax, what a treat to find an incredible vegetarian restuarant just around the corner from Notre Dame Cathedral.  After a very leisurely meal we were then able to wonder over to the Cathedral which we were surprised to find still open.  We took the opportunity to light a candle and pray over all that we had been discussing over our meal, sealing our hopes and thanking for where we were.

We were able to linger and read some of the love messages that folk have engraved onto padlocks and affixed to this bridge - how unique and beautiful.

The under chapel at Saint Chapel in the courts of justice, my favourtie place in Paris, but not for this downstairs, for this view, which is well worth the very difficult stone spiral staircase to get to.........

This 13th century church just blows me away, it is soooo majestic, to see the results of those spiritually convicted to build something to Glorify God all those years ago is magical.

Who could this gorgeously handsome gentle man be?  My husband?  Really?  He's mine?   WOW!

We stayed in an old Parisian hotel very close to the Louvre, treating ourselves to a luxury room (after getting such a good deal on our flights).  When this photo was taken I had fallen alseep in the jacuzzi bath after a hard days walking.

On our way home again.  This was the first time we have been abroad alone since having my children 10 1/2 years ago.  It was quite a big deal, the last time we tried this was for my 40th birthday 18 months ago when we had planned to go to Prague but had to cancel it because of my sister becoming very sick and then dying.  It might have been a very quick couple of days but to be able to spend that uninterupted time with my husband was just what we needed.  Hopefully it is not going to take us 10 1/2 years to do it again!