The reading this morning came fro Luke 8:22-25
Most men, when faced with a problem, want to fix things themselves and only turn to God as a last resort.
Quite often we think our problems are sin related and ask the question "What have I done to deserve this?". Jesus' disciples didn't do anything wrong they simply followed His instructions and they ended up in the middle of a storm.
The devil will try to distract you with all sorts of "storm" to divert you from following Jesus' instructions, but we need to have faith that He will get us through. Jesus, who knew all things, would have known that the storm would come and planned to use it to strengthen the disciples faith. We need to let Him guide us through the storms and strengthen our faith instead of trying to get out of it by our own resources.
How strong is your faith? Does it need a little strengthening? I know mine does.
Richard.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The week that was 14/05/2011
Another busy week this week, although I was a bit slack in that I only went to the gym once. I really need to go at least twice a week but, with Sue not wanting to go to Aqua, I get a bit lazy. My excuse for not going Wednesday was that I was replacing the passenger side mirror on the car (Sue said "you broke it, you fix it"). This is not an easy task when you don't really know what you're doing but I got it done.
Yesterday the crochet classes started up again so I get a bit more time to work on projects. Sue is now teaching knitting at the same time but didn't have any pupils this week. I didn't actually have any pupils either because the ladies that turned up seem to know what they're doing. We had hoped for some new people to come.
We didn't go to markets today as we had the Red Shield Appeal launch in town so I haven't sold anything this week. The launch was quite a festive affair with balloons and face painting. The band played a few well known hymns and the local Scots School Pipes and Drums played a couple of brackets. The mayor officiated and the local TV crew turned up so it should be on the news on Monday (no local news on weekends around here).
I'm still waiting for my first sale on Artfire (http://rosescrafts.artfire.com) and Madeit (http://www.madeit.com.au/storecatalog.asp?userid=41667). It would be nice to get a little feedback even if it was to tell me that I'm asking too much. I'm willing to negotiate if someone thinks I'm too dear. My next market isn't for another 2 weeks so it's a long time between sales.
That's it from me for today. Hope you all have a good week.
Richard.
Yesterday the crochet classes started up again so I get a bit more time to work on projects. Sue is now teaching knitting at the same time but didn't have any pupils this week. I didn't actually have any pupils either because the ladies that turned up seem to know what they're doing. We had hoped for some new people to come.
We didn't go to markets today as we had the Red Shield Appeal launch in town so I haven't sold anything this week. The launch was quite a festive affair with balloons and face painting. The band played a few well known hymns and the local Scots School Pipes and Drums played a couple of brackets. The mayor officiated and the local TV crew turned up so it should be on the news on Monday (no local news on weekends around here).
I'm still waiting for my first sale on Artfire (http://rosescrafts.artfire.com) and Madeit (http://www.madeit.com.au/storecatalog.asp?userid=41667). It would be nice to get a little feedback even if it was to tell me that I'm asking too much. I'm willing to negotiate if someone thinks I'm too dear. My next market isn't for another 2 weeks so it's a long time between sales.
That's it from me for today. Hope you all have a good week.
Richard.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
WIP Wednesday 11/05/2011
I don't seem to have done as much crochet this week, I think that's because I haven't spent much time in waiting rooms. Ah well, crochet starts back on Friday so maybe some projects will start to move a bit quicker again.
It was quite a dull day today and it started to rain while I was taking photos so I had to move everything under cover so some of the colours aren't quite true to life.
First item this week is fresh off Sue's needles.
It's quite colourful, and I hope some child will fall in love with it.
And fresh off my hooks.
I'm still playing around with the design of these and trying something different with each one. One thing I'm a little concerned about is that none of these is big enough (especially across the opening) to take a large box of cereal. They will hold tins, smaller boxes, fruit an veg and all sorts of other things.
The next iteration of tweaking is well under way.
While chatting with Ellen and her friends on Thursday I managed to do a bit more crochet-knit.
These panels are turning out a little smaller than I had anticipated so I may have to make tqice as many of them to get a decent size blanket but I quite like the effect.
Today at craft group I managed to finish the 6x6 rib and move onto the 2x2 rib on my beanie.
The last item that I've worked on this week (also at craft group) is the toddlers jacket.
It doesn't really look much yet but the pattern is starting to show.
As I said earlier, crochet class starts up again on Friday so that will give me a little more crochet time (possibly interrupted by teaching).
Bye for now.
Richard.
It was quite a dull day today and it started to rain while I was taking photos so I had to move everything under cover so some of the colours aren't quite true to life.
First item this week is fresh off Sue's needles.
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| Child's Beanie |
And fresh off my hooks.
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| Maroon Shopping Bag packed in Pouch |
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| Shopping Bag |
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| Tan Shopping Bag Packed in Pouch |
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| Tan Shopping Bag |
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| Beige Shopping Bag Packed in Pouch |
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| Beige Shopping Bag |
The next iteration of tweaking is well under way.
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| Blue Shopping Bag |
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| The underside of panel 1 |
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| The top side of panel 1 |
Today at craft group I managed to finish the 6x6 rib and move onto the 2x2 rib on my beanie.
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| Knitted Beanie |
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| Toddlers Jacket |
As I said earlier, crochet class starts up again on Friday so that will give me a little more crochet time (possibly interrupted by teaching).
Bye for now.
Richard.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Give Birth to Something
Today, being Mothers' Day, I would just like to start off by saying "Happy Mothers' Day" to all mothers. Mothers' Day isn't particularly happy around our place as Sue lost both her parents when she was just a teenager and I lost my mother a few days before Mothers' Day 16 years ago, but that shouldn't stop everyone else from enjoying the day.
Our Mothers' Day service this morning was all about what it takes to be a mother.
Paul said to the Galations that he was "in the pains of child birth", so what is required to give birth to something?
There are several things require and they are as follows:-
Relationship - giving birth is due to a relationship and creates a new relationship. Giving birth to a dream also starts with a relationship, with your heaven;y father. Giving birth requires an ongoing commitment.
Selflessness - giving birth requires giving up some things and giving yourself to the new relationship.
Perseverance - anything worth having is worth waiting for. Giving birth is a process.
Pain - regardless of what you are trying to bring forth, it's going to hurt.
Reward - every birth comes with its own reward.
God has a plan and a purpose for everyone and every church!
There is a calling on life that only you can fulfill.
Hebrews 12:1-3
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Richard.
Our Mothers' Day service this morning was all about what it takes to be a mother.
Paul said to the Galations that he was "in the pains of child birth", so what is required to give birth to something?
There are several things require and they are as follows:-
Relationship - giving birth is due to a relationship and creates a new relationship. Giving birth to a dream also starts with a relationship, with your heaven;y father. Giving birth requires an ongoing commitment.
Selflessness - giving birth requires giving up some things and giving yourself to the new relationship.
Perseverance - anything worth having is worth waiting for. Giving birth is a process.
Pain - regardless of what you are trying to bring forth, it's going to hurt.
Reward - every birth comes with its own reward.
God has a plan and a purpose for everyone and every church!
There is a calling on life that only you can fulfill.
Hebrews 12:1-3
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Richard.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
The week that was 07/05/2011
Everything was almost back to normal this week. I'm back to doing 2 sessions in the gym and Sue is back to doing 2 sessions in the pool, which means we only go over to Wodonga twice a week now instead of 4. This also means that I get at least 2 mornings a week to do housework (oh joy).
We're still looking for alternate accommodation, something without steps (or can be modified with a ramp) but so far we haven't had much luck. The last place we looked at had the shower over the bath, and since Sue has trouble stepping over the 7" hob we currently have, makes it totally unsuitable.
The crochet class is still on a break so Friday morning was another chance to do housework and we didn't have a market this week which gave me more chance to get a few shopping bags done before I try and sell them.
All in all it wasn't a very exciting week.
Richard.
We're still looking for alternate accommodation, something without steps (or can be modified with a ramp) but so far we haven't had much luck. The last place we looked at had the shower over the bath, and since Sue has trouble stepping over the 7" hob we currently have, makes it totally unsuitable.
The crochet class is still on a break so Friday morning was another chance to do housework and we didn't have a market this week which gave me more chance to get a few shopping bags done before I try and sell them.
All in all it wasn't a very exciting week.
Richard.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
WIP Wednesday 04/05/2011
I haven't done a lot of crochet away from home this week. Most of my work has been done while sitting in my lounge chair watching TV.
I managed to get 2 sets of version 3 of the wine glass socks finished.
These are done in #20 cotton so there's a bit more work in them than in the others which are done in #10 cotton.
While I had the #20 cotton out I decided to make a fan bookmark to replace the one I sold at the last market.
Having completed the above I thought it was time to work on the shopping bags that I now have a pattern for (thanks to Patricia from Tasmania).
I decided to modify her pattern slightly a put handles on my bags instead of using a draw string. I hadn't quite finished the second handle when I took this photo and I still needed to attach a button and make the button hole. I found it a bit difficult to get the bag into its pouch so I'm adding a couple of increase rows to the next one to make the pouch a bit bigger.
While at the knitting party at Spotlight on Saturday I added a few more rows to my beanie.
I've almost finished the 6 x 6 rib section and will move onto the 2 x 2 rib shortly. I'm not sure that I'm looking forward to that as most people seem to find rib to be something of a pita (if you want to know what that means do a search for acronyms).
I keep looking at my stash wondering what to start next. I'm itching to try try a technique of CrochetKnit that involves working with rows that have too many stitches to fit on the hook, but I'm resisting that urge. I also want to do another Tunisian Crochet Dishcloth and take lots of pictures of my progress so that I can do a tutorial on it, but I'm resisting that urge also.
There may come a day when I have to give up crochet, but I'll keep going while I still can.
Richard.
I managed to get 2 sets of version 3 of the wine glass socks finished.
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| Wine Glass Sock version 3 plain |
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| Wine Glass Sock version 3 with colour |
While I had the #20 cotton out I decided to make a fan bookmark to replace the one I sold at the last market.
 |
| Fan Bookmark in variegated orange |
I decided to modify her pattern slightly a put handles on my bags instead of using a draw string. I hadn't quite finished the second handle when I took this photo and I still needed to attach a button and make the button hole. I found it a bit difficult to get the bag into its pouch so I'm adding a couple of increase rows to the next one to make the pouch a bit bigger.
While at the knitting party at Spotlight on Saturday I added a few more rows to my beanie.
 |
| Knitted Beanie |
I keep looking at my stash wondering what to start next. I'm itching to try try a technique of CrochetKnit that involves working with rows that have too many stitches to fit on the hook, but I'm resisting that urge. I also want to do another Tunisian Crochet Dishcloth and take lots of pictures of my progress so that I can do a tutorial on it, but I'm resisting that urge also.
There may come a day when I have to give up crochet, but I'll keep going while I still can.
Richard.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Jesus Feeds the 5000
The reading for today came from John 6:1-14
This is one of the better known passages from the Bible, even non-christians generally know this one.
The disciples were all too aware of the impossibility of feeding 5000 men (don't know why they didn't count the women and children also) but Jesus already knew what He was going to do before He asked them, and when a small boy offered his lunch that's all Jesus needed.
If Jesus can feed 5000 men with 5 small loaves and 2 small fish what can he do with what you have to offer?
If someone gives us a gift, do we leave it wrapped up? God has given us gifts, shouldn't we unwrap and use them?
Richard.
This is one of the better known passages from the Bible, even non-christians generally know this one.
The disciples were all too aware of the impossibility of feeding 5000 men (don't know why they didn't count the women and children also) but Jesus already knew what He was going to do before He asked them, and when a small boy offered his lunch that's all Jesus needed.
If Jesus can feed 5000 men with 5 small loaves and 2 small fish what can he do with what you have to offer?
If someone gives us a gift, do we leave it wrapped up? God has given us gifts, shouldn't we unwrap and use them?
Richard.
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