Skip to main content

Easter 2015: Fun and Faith

Remember Easter?  Once you get back into the regular routine, it quickly seems like a long time ago.  Just in case you need a reminder, here's a quick recap of what we got up to this Easter holidays.  Toby was keen to write down what we were going to do on the whiteboard, like we did last summer.  His writing has improved so much!
 
Easter Holidays.  Tesco, biscuits, boat, Maisie and Poppy [friends]

The weather was variable, to put it mildly:
We floated paper boats in a puddle in the pouring rain.

I learnt how to fold a paper boat!
We made bunting (which was originally going to be flags to fly outside) on a day when it was too windy even to fly a kite.

Not a great picture, I know.  It was an old burp cloth, decorated in pen.
We planted pansies on a lovely warm sunny day.  Theo helped so enthusiastically that he had to be bathed afterwards!

On a more Easter-y note:
We invited the girls next door round to help cut out, bake and decorate Easter cookies.


We sent Toby on two egg hunts - a teddy-bears'-picnic-themed one at Sudbury Hall, and a flower-themed one at Carsington Water.  Don't worry, both finished with a chocolate prize!



We made giant egg decorations for the mantlepiece.



We baked an Easter cake with chocolate nest topping and plenty of mini eggs!

And just in case that all sounds a bit too pagan:

We read Haffertee's First Easter, in which Haffertee, a toy hamster, learns all about Mr Jesus King.

We went to a Good Friday service where Toby enthusiastically flicked red paint at a painting of a cross, Theo played with green balloons, Graham reflected on Jesus' final words and I ripped a piece of cloth in two to remember the tearing of the Temple curtain.  Our church had done an amazing job of creating different experiences relating to aspects of the Easter story.

That's actually Lichfield Cathedral, but it kind of sums up the experience!

We ate hot cross buns for breakfast.

We sang our hearts out on Easter Sunday!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trent Valley: the march of the pylons

In the 1980s, the River Trent supplied the cooling water for fifteen coal-fired power stations, each one gobbling up coal from the local mines and quenching its heat with gallons of river water. The area was known as Megawatt Valley . As the 20th century gave way to the 21st, the mines closed, the coal trains stopped running, and the iconic cooling towers, one by one, fell to the ground. The high-voltage electricity lines which connected the stations to the grid are still there, however, and they dominated the walk I did today. The stately silhouettes of pylons stalked across the landscape, carrying fizzing power lines which sliced up the sky. At one point, I was within view of two of the remaining sets of cooling towers. Diving further back into history, I parked by Swarkestone Lock on the Trent & Mersey Canal, walked past St James' Church, and arrived at Swarkestone Bridge, a 14th-century causeway which still, remarkably, carries traffic today. It was famously the southernmos...

The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor   Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as ...

Theo Alexander

The due date was fast approaching, and, having had Toby five weeks early, this pregnancy was feeling like it had dragged on far too long.  On Sunday morning, two days before D-Day, we went to church, wearily confirming to eager enquiries that yes, we were still here, no baby in tow yet.  And then, at 3:30 am on the morning of Monday 10th February, my waters broke and things began to get moving.  Fast. Yes, I know I had to apologise to you ladies who have gone through long-drawn-out labours last time , and I'm afraid I have to do it again.  The change in the midwife's attitude when we got to the hospital was almost comical; she breezed in and put the monitors on and said, "I'll just leave those for a few minutes, then".  Back she came for a proper examination, had a quick feel, and: "OK, we'll get you to the delivery room RIGHT NOW," followed by a mad dash down the corridor in a wheelchair!  Our new little boy was born at 5:16 am. You...