Hallelujah He is Here - Chataway

[DutchOma]

Well here you are then I don't post often, but just to save Nickel a job...

Are you driving back to the UK, then, millie? How long will that take? Do you have young dcs?

Wow, mhd, your tent sounds like the ones in Harry Potter! Lol at entertaining 30+ in there.

Yes the plan is to drive back. Other people we know have done it and it seems 4 days is a reasonable pace. We probably will take longer and stop off more on the way. There are places we'd like to see that we'll be driving past so it seems sensible to take the opportunity! I have heard that if you drive continually you can do it in 2.5 days but certainly not with DCs (who are 7, 5 and 2).

The advantage is that we will have a car for the time we're in the UK (albeit with the steering wheel on the wrong side which I am not looking forward to). We've got a lot of visiting/travelling to do and to hire a car for that long would be ruinous

MHD sounds like my type of camping. I need all the mod cons.

We're going to CLAN Gathering in Scotland which is a NW event. We go every year and the DCs love it. We enjoy it too, though they probably get more out of it.

On a completely different subject.... i've just found out that Mothering Sunday originates from a Christian celebration in the 16th Century when people went back to visit their Mother Church. I thought that was a nice idea. Seemingly it's the only holiday that some people got in the year.

Interesting. I never really thought of people moving in the 16th century; kinda thought they were born, lived and died in the same parish.

Yes Lost. It wasn't something I'd thought of either. However, I suppose if someone married a person from a neighbouring parish that could account for some of it.

Here's a link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_Sunday

Hope you are all having good mother's days. My DD wrote me some poems .

I guess that some people moved for work (although not so much in the 16th century). I'd always heard it was important to maids etc who were in service and it was one of the few Sundays that they would get off. Interesting!

I got some cards and breakfast in bed. But now I'm preparing lunch for visitors .

I had flowers from ds and a happy mother's day message from dd. Since that was the first message I'd had for three weeks from dd I feel I didn't do so badly

DO, I'm glad dd sent you a message. ((hugs)), and lovely about the flowers from ds :)

I got flowers Tim had arranged before he went to sudan, they're lovely, and the dcs have been spoiling me.

hello all, and happy mothering Sunday! I'm just back from a weekend conference at Swanwick. I lead a Community Bible study group locally, adn it was our national conference this weekend. Had some excellent teaching, good times of discussion and fellowship, and no cooking or washing up!

DC very pleased to see me, this year they appear to have spent their own money on me - DS bought me an Amazon voucher for my Kindle, and DD bought me flowers and chocolate. lovely!

I got flowers from dh, too, and 3 sweet cards that the dcs had made at school. And a cup of tea and cereal in the kitchen (not bed!) made for me, which was lovely. And then we went out for lunch to new friends in the neighbourhood, which was a huge treat - no cooking and washing up for one thing! Funny thing about having 4 dcs, you don't get many invitations out - not as a family, at least.

It occurs to me that Mothering Sunday always passed us by when we were overseas, so this is the first one I've really had!

That's no good lost I've managed to get two in quick succession this year as 8th March (International women's day) is also celebrated here as mother's day

glad you all had good mothering sundays.
we've had a fantastic time.
we couldn't do our originally-planned anthem because DH didn't factor enough time for it (evensong practice took longer than he expected), but we did The Lord bless you and keep you instead, which was lovely.
got a posy of flowers in church (all ladies do in our church, not just mothers) and it was lovely to be a mother. last year, i was contemplating what it would be like to be a mother!
DD had asked DH to make me a cake, a lovely Victoria Sandwich with real buttercream icing (homemade) and jam with hundreds and thousands.

and cos DH is still on holiday, yesterday he looked after the shop, and DD and i went to Busy Bees at st mary's.
it was fab.
and then i did some sewing (not as much as i'd hoped because i couldn't find my elastic.)
:)

Oh lovely nickel - clever dd asking daddy to make a cake! :) Glad you enjoyed your first mothering sunday as a mum.

Have my parents coming up for the rest of the week, very thankful as finding things very hard without dh around.

oh, good, you'll have some adult company and (hopefully) some help! :)

The archbishop of Canterbury is coming to our Palm Sunday service

I have chosen the music
We're doing (the obvious)
All Glory Laud and honour
This is the day (omitting verse 2)
Christ is our cornerstone
Ride on ride on in majesty

choir during communion:
Psalm 118, vs 12 and 24 to whatever it is (as set)

Oh wow. Very nice music too.

thanks.
the second hymn is a bit HC, but i'm allowing the juniors to clap to "we will rejoice" lines. It fits with the psalm, and it was the first thing that came into my head.

Nickel I look the other way for a few weeks, and then I come back and find you endorsing clapping!

Seriously... wow! and, yes, excellent music! He must have heard what an excellent choir you have there. Fabulous!

Creatovator - what is Clan gathering like? I quite fancy trying something like that but DH is quite definite that it is not his cup of tea. Am I right in thinking it is near St Andrews? If so, I could get there and back in a day. Is there lots to do for kids? If so, I might think about taking them there myself for the day and just travel home again in the evening.

Oh wow nickel, that will be awesome! You must report on it all for us, v exciting :) lol at clapping and TITD being HC (lol at acronym there too, I'm such a child) It's too ancient to be HC surely? There must be a cut off point as to when songs can become 'not HC' - 2000 perchance?

Pleased for you, will be great and your choir will do brilliantly I know. :)

Jaffa, yes get along to clan if you are able, it's run by NEw wine (or originally was I think) so same kind of thing, there will be clubs for the dc and usually loads to do, I'm sure you'd love it if it is not too far.

DH described it as a "children's hymn"

and we're also quite chuffed cos he's likely not to have heard that version of when i survey, too.

I didn't know that version, it's good and your choir sound great :)

You have to get them to shout 'hey' in the final 2 lines ie 'This is the day - HEY!...that the Lord has made'

no.
no adding noises/words that aren't there.
it's bad enough that they'll be clapping!

LOL Nickel. :o, and YAY at the ABC coming! With him moving to Cambridge, we're hoping we might see him at Morning Prayer occasionally at Ely Cathedral :).

DD's confirmation has been moved to Pentecost. She is rather disappointed about it, but she was the only candidate from our church being confirmed at Easter, and I asked begged her to move it to give our priest a rest as she would have to attend the 5:30am service, after leading a vigil service at our church, then later there would be a 9am service and a 10:30 service, finishing with evensnog, which would be a heavy workload for her otherwise!