Sunday 14th April - Palm Sunday Catchup

This is probably the first of a series of posts today in random date order as I try to recall what we've been up to this week.

Both the orchids, which seemed so unpromising when I first received them, have really come up trumps. The little yellow one came from a pupil last year, with a couple of miniscule and unprepossessing flowers, has turned into a thing of delicate beauty. And see below; a couple of leafy stalks are now a feast of white flowers with pale greenish centres and a faint tinge of pink around the edges. 

It is a bit saddening to think that my Easter Holidays are halfway through - but gladdening to think that there is still next week and a bonus Easter Monday still to come, although all the Bank Holiday Mondays coming up are a bit of a headache when I'm trying to plan the teaching schedule for next term and make sure that the children will be ready for their music exams in June. Hey ho - que sera and all that. I'll take comfort from the fact that the child doing her Grade 1 at the end of last term has passed - hurrah! - and hope that this will be a good omen for the next batch.

We made it to church this morning - hence the palm crosses stuck into the flower pots - I must have a dozen scattered around the house.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entry_of_Jesus_Christ_into_Jerusalem.jpg

The vicar used this icon of Jesus entering Jerusalem as an illustration in the sermon today; the picture on the screen in church was a bit small so I hunted it down when I got back. I love the stylised landscapes, the man in the tree (Nicodemus? probably) and the child with the very small bit of palm, which the donkey might be about to eat.

The weather has been bright and sunny, but very, very cold. T stayed in yesterday, doing a Christmas jigsaw - so seasonal, in a weird way, don't you think?

I was stuck for a while at this stage

  

Until I realised that the bottom left corner should be the bottom right corner (and the bottom right corner the bottom left, obvs) and then progress became quite rapid.

Not a very Christian subject, but definitely Christmas. We gave this as a Christmas present to my Godmother, and, as usual, she gave it back to us - every time we visit she clears some more from her house. This time it was two jigsaws and a canteen of silver cutlery. She's not very well at the moment; if you are a praying person, say one or three for her. We went on Friday, and are going to see her again tomorrow.

The crochet is going well;

I've decided that I shall make up a number of squares each using an entire ball, and then sew or crochet them together at some stage. I might choose different colourways - why not indeed! They are named after various artists and composers, and somehow Maria Callas is included. I've had to look up Gericault and Boccioni; I hadn't heard of them.

I think it will be a perfect 'portable project'. \Knitting is tougher to carry around because of the needles.