Easter Garden

 It's become a family tradition to make an Easter Garden, usually on Easter Saturday. We take the Lent Garden and transform it with from sand and rock to plant and seed filled soil. One of my sons came around the woods to gather some of the natural elements and the other helped sow grass seeds. Little jars are tucked in place to hold flowers and candles. For the Saturday we put a big stone across the moss-covered 'tomb'.

On Easter Sunday the garden comes alive with added flowers, figures, candles and Easter decorations suspended from budding branches. The boys wooden eggs from Easter Club take pride of place.

What I love seeing is how the garden changes over the weeks that we will have it. Already a few little chicks and some eggs have crept in, thanks to my younger sons. I know there will be a variety of visitors to the garden! But somehow it brings the story of Easter into our everyday, announcing good news to all! The grass has sprouted, and now ten days later, it has had it's first haircut, with the trimmings going to our real chickens, happy for some spring greens. If we remember to water the garden, it should be with us for the whole six weeks of Easter, reminding us of new life daily.

Back to the 80s!

Some good friends turned 50 recently and threw an 80s party in our village hall. As we were teenagers then it wasn't hard to come up with costumes. I was very happy to spend the night dancing with one of my teenage crushes, Robert Smith of The Cure! And doing his makeup, no less (his and hers black eyeliner, yikes!). The boys went as Luke Skywalker and a Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle. I just went as my younger backcombed self, a look that can only be described as Oxfam chic. It is amazing what still lurks in old jewellry boxes. Thomas wore my Dad's old dinner jacket, which I used to wear myself in the 80s. The other costumes were brilliant too, ranging from Margaret Thatcher to Wonder Woman. There was a mixture of wonderful and truly awful music - which surely sums up that decade, it was all so over the top and theatrical. And no longer being angst-ridden teenagers, we enjoyed it all so much more.

Easter Club Week Six

Happy Easter! Last weekend was so full of celebration that we needed a day or two to recover! Now is the school holidays so between time with the family I am slowly catching up. Our final Easter Club was on Easter Saturday, not quite the end of Lent, but I wanted us to enjoy the celebration of Easter together, so it had a festive feel.

I told a Godly Play story about real Easter Eggs, using the psanky that I had made. I also made lots of flat egg shapes with many of the traditional Ukranian designs, colours and their meanings. The children each designed their own, on paper, then on flat wooden egg shapes. They worked so hard! They finished them with ribbons to hang as Easter decorations. 

I had also found these lovely card baskets to make. They were perfect for their eggs and some Easter candles.

And the sun shone! So we were able to head out to the garden to hunt for chocolate eggs - an essential way to finish! It was a lovely end to a lovely few weeks. I shall be happy to have my Saturday morning lie-in again, but the children have asked to get together for a Pentecost Club...of course! But I'm not quite sure what you do at one of those...I'll have to have a think about it.