Journeys

The boys and I have just been on a journey. We are currently in Brighton visiting friends which, of course entails vast quantities of driving in order to get here. I realised that along with a now older less dependent family there are a few perks. One of which is that a five hour drive to Brighton is no longer a military operation for which I must steal myself for days with organisational skills that would shame the military. In fact I can, almost, pack and go. Granted we did leave the camera behind - again!!! but otherwise we arrived intact with nothing major forgotten, nor major arguments (unless you count the usual leaving the house melt down that seems to accompany us on every journey, often even ones of half an hour or less.

In fact it was very pleasant despite that fact that the first national trust place we stopped at did not open on Mondays and we had to forgo our  sophisticated leg stretch and frothy coffee for a decaff in a local greasy spoon, still a step up from motorway services even if they do have an M&S. we arrive in Oxford for our long stop and found that the Ashmolean was also shut on a Monday and all the tourist tours were full. Sounds nightmarish when I write it down but in fact we had a lovely day. We diverted to the Natural History Museum and the Pit River Museum instead which were fabulous!!! And I mean FABULOUS. The displays were what I thought of as stuffy and old, lots of glass cases with dead stuffed things in them, but there were so cleverly arranged and described that they provoked thought and educated you just by being in the room. Even the pillars holding up the room were made from different rock from round Britain and they were all labelled with type of stone and where they were from. Animals were presented in formal classification with fossils in the same class/order.genus being presented alongside animals that we recognise. There was so much stuffed into such a small space (along with hundreds of kids on half term - a big downside for us) that in the end we were overwhelmed and left. We hardly saw any of the Pitt Rivers collection which was behind all the natural history stuff and that was more interesting- half a million objects donated to the museum by Mr Pit Rivers (whose full name is impossible to remember) on condition that they be housed in a museum for public viewing and displayed according to category rather than age or culture which is more unusual 'in order to display the sheer ingenuity of humanity' (quoted from the guide leaflet). In comparison to the recent revamp of Manchester Museum, which I have not seen for myself but have heard hideous things about, it was gold dust. Maybe the bods at Manchester could take some time to nip down to Oxford and take a peek, preferably in half term when you cannot move for kids and exasperated people who have forgotten it is half term, something that sadly cannot be said for Manchester Museum any more.

Also impressive about Oxford is it's terribly efficient park and ride scheme. Once we were in the city centre we could see why it has had to become so good but we parked the car for £1.50  for the full day, the kids were free on the bus and I was £2.20 return. I can't get to the local shops for that near us, not with the children with me.

And so we have arrived in Brighton. I have spent the day ignoring children and reading 'how to be a woman' by Caitlin Moran which could lead me into all kinds of feminist rants but i really don't feel like it. We all know being a woman is both fabulous and desperate at the same time usually and while I am a flag waving feminist, I appear to have left my flag at home. The children have spent they day with their friends making a movie, well they have made the trailer for it and it is fab, all black and white mood shots. Sadly no-one knows how to post it in the net but we will have a DVD by the end of the week to bring home and show off with.

Moving on

I haven't blogged in so long I hardly know where to start. There is so much going on just now it is hard to know which bit to write about. I have finished another baby blanket and sent it off to baby Katie. I made the pattern up so it is a bit 'hit and miss' in places and would be difficult for anyone else to replicate with any accuracy (or should I say without the mistakes) but on the whole I am pleased with it.

I have moved on to yet another blanket for a friend's baby and a teddy for her older sister. The teddy is finished but I will post a pic when the blanket is finished so I can post about them both together.

The Sports Star has left for Uni which is a massive moving on moment for all of us. All is going well at the moment, she has settled in and is enjoying it all, doing loads of sport, winning competitions, getting her head round lectures and a new way of working. She has been lucky with flat mates who appear to be reasonably like minded and she has not gone far away from home which I think has made it easier for all of us.

The Music Man has suddenly grown up, also moving on in many ways. In the last month, he has started a paper round which sees him up at 6:30 every morning so he has much more day to fill. At the moment that seems to be with excessive guitar playing and Warhammer. He will also be moving into his room in the next week (as soon as I have made the curtains), the first time he has had a room of his own since his little brother was born.The Artist also seems more grown up, less of  a little kid and he too is looking forward to a room of his own and the chance to decorate it how he wants.

I am now in an all male household. So far it doesn't feel much different although I do miss the female company. I am moving on in many ways. I am now a mum to older children, indeed to one young woman who is making it on her own. The relationships are changing. However I don't seem to have any more time on my hands. I guess the home ed keeps me hands on for much longer than most parents can expect. That said I have just spent the day making a Lord of the Rings version of Monopoly with the Artist so there must be some time available, even if it very quickly swallowed.

I am also moving on in my spiritual life. Not necessarily by choice this time. The Vatican has (finally) issued a new missal, the words to the Mass that I have grown up with are no more. They are not totally different but different enough to make me think. This is a good thing. Except I am not so sure about some of the changes and very unsure of the reason behind them. Some of this is natural reticence about the change of something so familiar and loved, but some of it is grounded deeper. I will post more about it in the coming days but for now I have a lot to think about. In addition our parish church has closed on health and safety grounds and no one is sure whether the closure is permanent though it doesn't look good just now.

In fact so many things are different in my life that I feel like I have picked up someone else's along the way; as if somewhere during the summer holidays I went away and came back with the wrong luggage. Two children at home not three, no parish community to speak of, a grown daughter, an unfamiliar form of worship. God has pulled the rug out from under my feet all at once and I am yet to find out where I will land. We shall see. I am still singing, still knitting, still frantically trying to meet all my commitments, still going to Mass even though it feels odd to just sit in the bench and not be involved. I miss the praise and even though 'A leap of faith' is still going we may need a new name if we can no longer sing praise music as well as the secular. All will be well.

On the March

Ok so I haven't posted for a while. Partly I have been too busy doing to write about it and partly there hasn't been much to say. Today however we joined 35,000 other people on the streets of Manchester to protest against the cuts imposed by the government on the opening day of the Tory party conference. The children dressed themselves as zombies - the generation of the living dead thanks to the massive cuts that have been made and the burden of financial responsibility that will fall on their shoulders as they mature into adulthood.

I had to ask myself some serious questions before going on this march. What did I really think? Previous demo's I have been on have been to do with climate change, third world poverty and more recently cuts in local services that directly affect me and mine. All issues that easily motivate me to get out on the streets and protest. This however felt a little different. I didn't necessarily agree with the aims and objectives of the organising group, in fact I didn't actually know what they were to begin with. I don't necessarily disagree with everything the conservatives have done. Protesting on the streets of Manchester is a very public statement so I weighed my options - admittedly only after the children had already decided they were going.

On balance there are many reasons to protest

The original meaning of the word protest is to bear witness for something, before someone. In that context on Sunday I marched to bear witness to the damage that far reaching cuts are doing to our country and to the damage they will do in the future.  I marched because people who have poor opportunities have had their opportunities reduced even further. I marched because young people have lost community groups that offered protection from gangs, university is now and unattainable goal, and EMA a thing of the past. I marched because university education will now be a means to get a job rather than a valued end in its own right and much knowledge that is not financially useful will be lost. I marched because my parents will now be unable to claim their full pensions along with many others who were just about to retire. I marched because climate change  - the most important issue to face our world to date- will now fall off the agenda in an effort to keep countries solvent. I marched because I want children who are interested and engaged with the political process that affects how they can live their lives. I marched because I do not want to loose the right to public protest and if we don't use it we WILL loose it especially in the light of Augusts riots. I marched because desperate parents have lost the support of their sure start centres as they are closed one by one. I marched because children in my local area who congregate in the library for want of somewhere else to go where someone is interested in them, will now have nowhere to go because our libraries are closing. I marched because for the first time the prospects of the generation to come are less than my own.

I did NOT march to overthrow the government or because I thought my little voice would change the mind of the government. I did not march because I agreed with all the aims and agendas of the different groups represented in the protest. If I waited for that I would never do anything. I did not march because I think the Tories are scum and I did not march because I am disaffected, dissatisfied or just generally angry.

Regardless of the outcome of the protest it has value in its own right. Jesus called us to bear witness to the truth. Many years ago a man named William Wilberforce did just that. It took over 20 years but in the end slavery was abolished. The more people remain silent, the longer we sit at home wringing our hands at the state of the world, the longer it will take.

The next demo is the one in support of the general strike called for November 30th. Will I go? Not sure yet. Probably. Do I agree with a general strike? Not sure but I know that the right to strike is fundamental and I have spent time with people from developing countries who do not have that right, people who look to our past and what the trade unions achieved for us to inspire them to fight for decent wages and working conditions. I think really we are all the same and that is all we are asking.