Seven Quick Takes, Episode 14: in which I am forced to type standing up

Hello Hello! It's SQTday, so... off we go!

1. I'm typing this standing up. This is not due to some new health-thing. It's because I piled all of the junk on my desk onto the chair in a vain attempt to locate my library card, and now I'll have to tidy up before I can sit down again. Given my desk is where all of the odd homeless objects in the whole house go to lurk, the process may take hours, and then it wouldn't be Friday any more, would it?

2.You know how parents hide snacks out of reach so their kids can't get them? (Yes. Yes, you do). We're applying the same approach to our strawberries this year.

 Haha, slugs. I'd like to see you try.

3. This book re-emerged from wherever it's been hiding for the last few years and it made me laugh A LOT.

Dad bought it for Mam in the latter stages of her first pregnancy. Looking at some parts of the story, it's hard to believe Mr Greedy isn't just a pregnant woman.

"I woke up at six o'clock. It was my tummy who woke up first. The rest of me was fast asleep"...

Anyone who's had a case of the third-trimester early morning munchies should be able to identify.

4. Since last Friday, we've all been in various stages of being ill and/or recovering. There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel, but... bleeeerrrrggg.

5. Library fines are embrassing, right? (Yes, I forgot to renew my books on time. AGAIN.)
Unless... what if those (collective) fines make the difference between a library staying open and being shut for budget reduction purposes? People of the UK, unite! Renew your books late! SAVE THE LIBRARIES! ;-)

(On a serious note, our county council is having to shut 35 libraries to meet budget targets. THIRTY-FIVE. So there'll be more unemployed librarians, and more unemployed books. This makes me Very Sad. Even my late return fees - 75p so far this year - can't do much to help that).

6. Three day weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah, the possibilities... we probably won't do anything exciting, but the fact that we could makes all the difference.

7. Ze husband has just informed me that we won't be going clubbing tonight. Shame, I was looking forward to wearing my four-year-old's maxi skirt as a dress. With pink eyeshadow. And glittery lipstick. Or whatever you're supposed to do these days. Ah well, maybe next week.

Linking up with Kelly for 7QT. Go! Read! Be happy!




 

Five Favourites: Weight Loss Tips

We've all been there, right? The scales don't say what we want them to, and, well, it's a bit irritating. Thankfully, here are five easy, quick, and mostly painless ways to shed a few of those extra pounds!

1. Pregnant? Go and have the baby. (Please remember I said mostly painless). You may have to wait a few months, but I can assure you, the results will be spectacular.

2. Step off the scales, put down the baby, step back onto the scales. See? A good few pounds lost in under thirty seconds. Fast, effective, and safe. Unless you put the baby down in a snake pit, whirlpool or tiger enclosure, in which case a little extra weight is the least of your worries.

3. Repeat step 2, this time with the toddler hanging off your leg.

4. Remove any and all baby-related gunk from your clothing. Empty your pockets of Kleenex, Lego, coins, keys, half-eaten pieces of toast, etc. You may also want to check your bra for cracker crumbs at this point.

5. Run downstairs to stop the toddler feeding Hama beads, hair elastics or similar to the baby. Repeat step 4 with any junk accumulated in the process. Heck, just take your clothes off. No one's watching.

There, now, doesn't that feel better?

Have fun, and embrace the wobble. (Or the Womble, if that's what floats your boat. I'm not judging).  

Linking up with Bonnie for Five Favourites.

Hymns of the Week: Corpus Christi, Year C

This Sunday is Corpus Christi, so anything along the lines of bread/body/wine/blood is good here. My plan is:

Entrance: All Creatures of our God and King

Offertory: In Bread we Bring You, Lord

Communion: I am the Bread of Life

Recessional: How Great Thou Art

I was also considering "One Bread, One Body", but it's quite hard to sing and I don't feel enough of our parishioners know it well enough to carry it. Maybe another time, if I get chance to go over it with the choir beforehand...

The Year of Finishing Projects, ep. 4: Superhero cape!

I haven't had much time for making things of late, but les gnenfants and I were at a loose end yesterday afternoon, and we had the car, so we went to the fabric shop in search of something sparkly to make a superhero/princess/fairy/witch cape/cloak for their cousin's birthday next week. 

We found this fabric:

Not only was it exactly what we were looking for, it was also a roll-end remnant, and, wonder of wonders, the way the fabric is constructed meant I only needed to hem ONE EDGE. One edge, people!

I folded the top over twice and sewed it down using a zigzag stitch (the fabric is stretchy, a straight stitch wouldn't have worked as well) to make a casing, then sewed a tube from the offcuts and turned it to make a tie strip, which I then threaded through the casing. A couple of stitches to hold the ties in place, and voili voilou*... one superhero cape!

Cape/cloak kindly modelled by M, who is about a foot shorter than the intended recipient.
In real life, she does not have facial hair OR a hat the size of Mars. She is also a foot shorter than the intended recipient.





*voili voilou: an "voila", which I am currently refusing to use because I can't find the accents on my new keyboard, and that word without the accent on the a BURNS MY EYES.

Seven Quick Takes, Episode 13: In which I actually talk about organs, for once

Happy Friday, t'internets!

1. Given that this blog is purportedly about playing the organ (well, sort of, sometimes), I feel I should disclose the fact that I now have a key to the church organ loft!!! What does this mean? Well, it means I've graduated to the Big Organ, not the little electric one at the front of church. I like this. No-one will be able to see me, and I can pretend I'm playing on my own. WIN. 

2. Also on an organ note, if you're not on the organ donor register, please rectify this. Now.If you're in the UK, the link is here.
(OK, that was a slightly random segue, but it's important, people! Spare parts for humans are harder to come by than spare parts for 28-year-old food processors. Ask me how I know...)

3. We finally watched the Lego movie on Sunday evening (it's on Amazon Prime at the moment), so we've all been singing this all week: 

 
Two of our children have three-syllable names, so there have been a few new versions of the song, too... 
Incidentally, if anyone has any suggestions for family-friendly stuff that's free to watch on Prime, please let me know!

4. R is currently running around the living room going "aaaaaamem, aaaaaaaamem, aaaaamem". I'd love to know what's going on in his head.
(N.B. for "living room", read "whole downstairs part of our house excluding the 12 sqft of kitchen". We wouldn't want to give people the wrong impression).

5. The legend that is Fr. Bruno Clifton is running an ultra-marathon again this year to raise money for the Dominican training fund. Please support him if you can:  https://www.justgiving.com/Bruno-OP
He's also made a series of vlogs about everything that goes into training for an ultra-marathon - if you're a runner, they're definitely worth a look: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFwb_sS2gpzBw7r9sbGx0MA . Go Bruno!

6. Since I'm on a YouTube kick today, have a motet to brighten up your Friday!

    

(I'm trying to get our church choir to sing this in a few weeks' time. Main reason? The organ part is SO MUCH EASIER than the Mozart Ave Verum.)

7. In true 7QT style, it's taken me five hours to get up to no. 7. That's what you get for trying to write a blog post while the small people are actually awake ;-)

Happy weekend!

Linking up with Kelly for 7QT. You know what to do.  

Five Favourites: New Baby Gifts

Happy Wednesday, the internets!

I've had a couple of weeks off from Five Favourites whilst work things got a bit more settled, but the translatory-stuff is going pretty well, so here we go again!

Ze Husband and I are just at that stage in life where all of our friends are starting to have babies (we got a bit of a head start), which is pretty amazing, since now everyone else *needs* to be in bed by 10 pm too, so social events are getting earlier/more family-friendly/etc. Also, pregnancy is a whole different kettle of fish if two or three of your best friends are pregnant at the same time (between the multiple pregnant women, new babies, two obstetricians and an anesthetist, I think we pretty much terrified the menfolk at our last big get-together).

(Returns three hours later) So, yes, where were we?  

New baby presents! I'm thinking outside the box here - baby clothes are lovely, yes, but they grow out of them SO FAST, and by the time you're on your second/third/fourth/ninth, you probably have a pretty decent supply.

1. Steak.
Yes, I said steak.
The baby has milk, nappies and parents that love it. The parents... well, the parents don't know what's hit them, and a little treat for them might be just what the doctor ordered. New mothers need plenty of iron, right? ;-)
We buy mail-order meat for special occasions from www.donaldrussell.com. I have been assured that the steak is awesome.

2. Something useful... BEFORE the baby comes.
This one is pretty good for first babies, especially if you know the parents and their tastes quite well. Get something they'll need, but a nice version - funky muslin squares, or exciting nappy cream (yes, that's a Thing), or a really soft blanket... you get the picture.

3. Time. If you live close enough and know the family well enough, offering to come and cuddle the baby for a bit whilst the parents do something else, then making sure they take you up on it instead of being "polite", would be a nice idea.

4. A reading light. If you have a tiny baby sleeping next to your bed, reading after small-person-lights-out is a no-no. Reliable sources inform me that most babies won't react to a clip-on book light type thing. I'm in the process of acquiring one myself, so I'll keep you posted.

5. Cake. Can't go wrong with cake. Unless you feed it directly to the new baby, in which case yes, you can go wrong. Step awaaaaay from the baby.

Linking up with Bonnie for Five Favo(u)rites.

Hymns of the Week: Trinity Sunday Year C/First Communions

*sneezes*

Ok, I'm going to try and stop sneezing long enough to post this week's hymns...
It's First Communions here, so I had a list of hymns the children all know from the catechists at school *stops typing to rub eyes*, some of which aren't in my "usual" rotation, but I can't just play Holst and Vaughan Williams arrangements...
*sneezes*
*goes to wake husband up for work* (keeping it real here...)

Entrance: Here I am, Lord

Offertory: All that I am

Communion: This is my Body

Recessional: Shine, Jesus, Shine

Otherwise, it's Trinity Sunday, so another chance to get the Holy Spirit-y hymns out...