Saturday Shenanigans - 02.08.2014

Today I have decided to focus on what I did last weekend, to put some of what I learnt in writing before it fades from memory.

Last weekend I attended the "Men Only" bible convention at the Salvation Army's Collaroy Centre. Our guest speaker was a scotsman by the name of Chick Yuill, who brought his wife along to do the bible readings which she does from memory. The title of the camp was "Dynamic Discipleship With a little Jazz"

Chick told us that we shouldn't use the Bible as God's instruction manual but look at it the way that jazzmen look at music. Jazzmen listen to music, soak it in and then let it flow out and while the music that comes out may sound quite a bit different to what they heard the melody is still there. I the same way we are to listen to what the Bible tells us, soak it in and then let it flow out. It doesn't matter if it sound a little different as long as the message remains intact.

Another thing that Chick told us was that we shouldn't call ourselves "Christians". The word "Christian" was first used as a derogatory term. We should call ourselves "Disciples of Jesus Christ". Disciples at the time of Jesus' birth were told that they should follow their rabbi so close that they wore his dust. We should follow Jesus closely and learn everything that He has to tell us.

On the Saturday afternoon we got to choose from a set of electives and I chose to attend the "Being the Man in the Marriage" session. During this session I received a little more insight into a passage that is often abused my men. Ephesians 5:22&23 says "22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." Two words in this passage are somewhat ambiguous and a lot of men take them to mean that they should be the boss of the household. The word "head" can refer to the "person in charge" or the "source" (as in the head of a river) and the word "submit" can be "allowing yourself to be dictated to" (as in submitting to authority) or "offering a proposal" (as in a builder submitting plans for approval). Personally, I don't want to be Sue's boss or have her submit to my authority (I doubt if she would anyway).

There was quite a bit more that happened during my weekend away but quite a bit of it can't be spoken about because "what happens at Men's Camp stays there". I didn't take any notes during the sessions so I have been relying on memory, at least until I can download the video and get it refreshed in my mind.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans - 28.06.2014

The last couple of weeks I have been trying to things better. Trying to do my exercises as often as possible although I can find excuses for not doing them (this week my left knee has become swollen and my right knee has been playing up a bit). I have also tried to get my crafting mojo back by setting myself daily targets although I seemed to have missed today's target.

The diabetics educator wanted me to increase the number of times I check my blood sugar levels so I try to make sure I check them first thing in the morning and then 2 hours after each meal. Sometimes that isn't possible (Sunday mornings I'm in church 2 hours after breakfast). I'm still trying to figure out if the meals I'm having are actually having an effect on my bsl because it seems to be different all the time whether I've eaten the same things or not. I will just have to check with the doctor next time I see her.

This week we had the last of our Red Shield meetings for a while. We still haven't got the final figures but we are definitely down on last year. From the figures that I've see, we're not the only corps that hasn't made their target. Our next meeting is in October so we will probably get the final figures then and find out what our target is for next year.

It's getting toward the end of the month so I guess it's time to revue my to-do list, so here it is.

Things to make to replace stock for my market stall:

Bottle Cosies in more team colours

Teapot Cosies

bag holders

Jacket, Pants and Hat set in blue (need a couple of other colours also)

Sunhat and Bootees in white

Large Jug Covers

Small Jug Covers

Small Penguin

Tiny Duck

Tiny Dog

Heather Hippo

Large Witch

Large Penguin

Current Work In Progress:

Toddlers Jacket
Trauma Teddies

Tartan Blanket – taken over from Sue

Tunisian Lace Wrap

Knooked Scarf

Woollen Baby Blanket using Motifs from Ellen's book

Bootees

Hanging Towels

Things I'm itching to get started on:

Crochenit Knee Rug (same as Cot Blanket and will also use up some of my stash of 8ply)
Crocheted Slocks
Banner for Stall

Table Runners for each Australian state and territory (currently trying to design the ACT one).

Tunisian Crochet Intarsia Table Runner

Dinosaurs (bought the patterns from PlanetJune)

I have added a few toys that I sold ages ago but never got around to remaking.

I think that's it for this week. I hope you all had a good one.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans - 24.05.2014

Twas the night before Red Shield and all through the shed, people were preparing for the long day ahead.

It has been a busy week this week with doctors visits, crochet class, Red Shield collecting and a wedding. Sitting at tables, smiling at passers by and thanking them for any donations that they care to give has given me plenty of time to work on my projects which can be seen in my Wednesday WIPs post, but that's not all that has been happening.

First, the doctors visit. This was a follow up to the blood test I had last week and it has been confirmed that I have Type II Diabetes. Not really what I wanted to hear but not unexpected. At this point in time the doctor hasn't put me on medication, she just expects me to do something about it myself to start with. This means getting back into some form of exercise, which isn't particularly easy when you have two dickie knees. I also have to test myself twice a day and watch what I eat. We will see what happens with this.

Red Shield collecting has had its moments this week including a fight that broke out near the table where one of the participants picked up an item off our table to throw at his opposition. On another day someone decided to take off with the bucket but didn't get anything because it hadn't long been placed on the table and no donations had been received yet. At another location someone else had moved into our spot and taken our table for the day. It turns out that the position had been double booked and, since we turned up late, we missed out. There have been some good moments also like collecting more than normal today at the same venue we missed out on collecting at yesterday.

The wedding today was lovely. The bride wore purple and the bridesmaids wore white and the bride was given away by her eldest son. Not exactly a normal wedding but it was a beautiful ceremony none the less.

Tomorrow, if you hadn't guessed with my attempt at poetry at the start of this post, is Red Shield Sunday here in Australia. It is a day when we send groups of people out into the community to knock on doors and collect donations on our behalf. It will be a long a busy day, giving out receipt book, handing out maps and counting money. The bank will even open for a short time so that we can deposit our takings and not store all that money on the premises. I will, of course, be doing my part and I urge all my Australian readers to please give generously.

That's it for this week. I hope you all had a good one.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans - 10.04.2014

How is it that I can't find time to do everything I want to do even though I'm not working? There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day! I think I slept in on a couple of occasions so that didn't help.

This week, amid all the shopping, craft'n'cuppa and crochet classes both Sue and I had blood tests and doctor's appointments. Sue's blood test came back pretty good but it seems that I may have been eating a little too much sugar lately. The doctor wants me to go back and have another blood test but this one will take two hours.

Today we had the launch of the Red Shield Appeal. This marks the start of the busiest two weeks on the Salvation Army calendar. If I haven't got something more important to be doing then I will be spending time at one of four collection points around the city. I'll make sure that I have a project or two with me so I can get some work done.

That's it for this week. I hope you all had a good one.

Richard.