F*** You Africa

Is it just me or do programmes like Man Verses Food and Heston's Fantastical Food make you sad?
I mean it is just the most outrageous waste of food imaginable, an absolutely licentious example of the excessive over-consumption of the west.  It's like we have so much food we just don't know what to do with it anymore so we are just going to eat as much as we can and gorge ourselves silly (Man v Food) or make ridiculously large, comedicly over sized food just for the sake of it (Heston)  It's like we are saying "F***you Africa!" we don't care that you are hungry and dying we have more than we know what to do with. 
These sorts of programmes are my bug-bear at the moment, they really bother me, the West should be ashamed of itself sometimes, it really should, if someone in real poverty saw one of these programmes what would they think?(rant over)
I have heard people say recently"First world problem" regarding complaints that really aren't that much of a big deal when you look at the bigger picture, I have been guilty of it myself, complaining about things like "it's so annoying that the holder for the shower head is broken so I have to hold the shower in my hand when I wash myself, woe is me!"  (Hello! some countries don't even have clean water to drink,) I saw this video a while ago which really sums up how pathetic this attitude it is.



Don't get me wrong though I am not saying that we should never over indulge or enjoy luxuries from time to time, just that these should be the exception, not the rule and that we should appreciate the every day luxuries that we have and not take them for granted all the time (I say "we"  what I really mean is "I").

Right now I am trying to value things that I often take for granted, I think I find them more enjoyable when I really meditate on how lucky I am to have them.  A hot shower for example (whether I have to hold the shower head or not) can be just the most luxurious thing if I pause for a moment to appreciate the gloriouseness of it. And the fact that I have a car and I can get in it and get to places quickly and in the dry is just brilliant.  I implore you to do the same from time to time, it can only be a good thing, you never know, one day we might not have these everyday luxuries.

Fury!!

I am absolutely furious today to find another letter from the council on my door mat giving me notice of eviction from my allotment!!  I am sure you remember my previous rant about the letter I received saying that my allotment was "weedy and uncultivated"  I am sure you also remember the photos of before and after showing the amount of effort Hubby and I put in to tidying it up and the resultant hole in my welly from the frantic digging that went on.  Clearly all that effort and even a late night digging in the dark session that I did a few weeks ago has gone unnoticed.  I was utterly fuming about it and phoned the council immediately.  Luckily for him the Park Supervisor was not working today; if he had been then he would have had a piece of my mind.  Instead, I ranted on the phone to his assistant and ended up bursting into tears.  Not good at all.  (I think the tears were not just about the allotment, I have had a pretty hard week so far, plus am very tired and not quite right hormonally.)
Anyway, I will be sure to be on the phone to Mr Parks Supervisor tomorrow ASAP to tell him about all my hard work, the fact that the ground has been frozen for the past two weeks and the fact that I have two fruit bushes, a rhubarb plant, two beds of onions, two beds of broad beans and a patch of strawberry plants in my plot that I have lovingly attended yo for he last three and a half years.   Hopefully I will have calmed down a bit by tomorrow as well and will be able to talk sense without crying like a baby. 

Some thoughts on God

Well hello folks,
Whaduyaknow I am ill again. Yes I have a terrible head cold and a migraine to boot. Won't someone tell me how to get rid of a migraine without pain killers? I have tried virtually every recommendation on the internet, sleeping, meditating, peppermint tea, evening primrose oil, garlic, multi-vitamin, fresh air, fruit juice, if this headache doesn't go soon I might even try dipping a paper bag in vinegar and putting it onto my forehead as one website suggested!? This has not been a good start to the year, what with having a day off for my sore gums a couple of weeks ago, and now this *sigh* not good at all, and a sign that I have not been looking after myself properly.
Anyhow, I have been meaning to write this post for a while now, but haven't had time with work being so busy recently, but I have time right now so I will take the opportunity to share some photos with you and some thoughts as well.
I am always amazed by how beautiful this world is in its natural state, wild and free. It strikes me as proof of God, thrills me and fills me with hope. Just the other day there was a fantastic storm which turned the sky sepia; the leaves of the trees shone, glistened and were so vivid green I couldn't take my eyes off them. I have never seen anything like it. Thunder and lightning followed, and then a perfect rainbow, two in fact a sign of a promise, the hand of God at work in a beautiful and fantastic way.

A few days later I was running the worship session at the church home group I go to and decided to do an art related worship - draw how God makes you feel.
I had the advantage of having already decided what I was going to draw before the session began, and it came easily to me but I was surprised by some people's drawings. Many people draw that God made them feel small and confused. Confusion is something I have experienced with God, but I can honestly say that god has never made me feel small.
I drew a heart (which represented me) with two big arms hugging it (they represented God) I added wings to the heart and a sun behind, the a waterfall running over it. That is how God makes me feel.
How does God make you feel?
How does God show himself in your life?



Gosh what a stressful day

Gosh it's been a funny sort of busy and stressful day, I already had a busy day, then I got put down to do cover during my only free on my timetable and had to teach a sour faced year 11 class for an hour. Then at 3.00 I remembered that I had to do something for the worship session at the home group I attend on a Thursday afternoon, so grabbed some paper and felt tips, then remembered that I needed to scan in a painting into the computer (after my poor husband spent all yesterday evening trying to scan it into our laptop without success) the painting is this one which I have made for a commission I have accepted from a friend, the piece is for the cover of a music sheet book. So I spent a while trying to scan it in and then realised the image was too large to email to myself and had to search for a memory stick to save it on *sigh*. Then I had barely walked through my front door before I had a phone call from 02 asking if I wanted to change my mobile phone contract...normally this would by an immediate no because I like my current contaract of free text messages but if did seem like a very good offer with free text messages and 300 free minutes to all mobile networks, and unlimited landline calls. So I am now paying an extra £5 a month?! (have I been had?) Plus I gave all my bank details over the phone *eek*. Not sure what my husband would think of that. So I wait with baited breath for my next bank statement.


I have finally had a chance to sit down and it won't be for long because I have to do a mountain of ironing and tidy the house for a friend who is coming over tomorrow for my husband’s birthday (oh that reminded me I have to wrap all his presents), then do dinner and I am off to the home group at 8.00! Blimey, I am going to be knackered. Wish me luck everyone.

xxx

Sore gums

Hi everyone,
Haven't been online much in the last couple of days, firstly because our laptop charger cable has broken so we can't use the laptop (using the old PC for this) and secondly because on friday I had one of my wisdom teeth removed and have been in awful pain ever since.  I am not a happy girl.
I have been having trouble with the gum around the tooth for years, it was constantly getting infected and the last time was the final straw.  That was 6 months ago and I finally had the tooth taken out in Friday, it was a most traumatic experience, the dentist seemed to have some trouble getting it out because the nurse had to hold my head.  I tried to relax by listening to music, closing my eyes and visualising I was on the beach, but it was very difficult and I feel sick everytime I think about being back in that chair.  I had the tooth on the opposite side removed when I was at Uni for the same problem and I am sure it was not as bad as this, it has now swollen up to the point where you can see by looking at my face that it is swollen. If it is not better by Monday then I will have to go back to the dentist or Doctors and get some anti-biotics.  I can honestly say that when the anasthetic had worn off I was in the worst pain I have ever felt (even worse than when I fell off my bike and took the skin off my leg!)  It is not as bad as that now but it is still very painful.  I am feeling very miserable and just praying that it will get better soon. 
I would really appreciate your prayers too if you are that way inclined.
I hope you are all having a lovely weekend anyway, and hopefully I will be all better soon and posting up some more paintings I have done for my music cover commission.
Hels
xx

Deflated

Feeling a bit deflated today.  Had a rather unpleasant day at work with some nasty pupils and some unsupportive members of staff. I am feeling particularly unhappy about the fact that I have not had one word of thanks from the pupils or the parent's of the pupils who I took to St Ives last week.  Teaching truly is a thankless task. 
I also don't get nearly enough time to do my own art work, half the time I am at home I spend recovering from school.  I have had two very bad headaches this week that I have had to take pain killers for. Sorry for moaning but my husband is getting sick of listening to me moan about school so I need some other outlet!
On a more positive note, only one week and three days till the summer holidays!!

want to post but no time to post

Why is there never any time to do the things you enjoy?  And when you do make time to do them you just feel guilty for doing them becasue you know that what you really should be doing are the things that you don't enjoy.  Booooooo!

I have several posts in  my mind waiting to be posted but just don't have the time.  I will hopefull do them tomorrow because it's friday but in the mean time I am just going to feel fed up and miserable because I am not doing the things I enjoy, only the things I hate.  (My husband says "thats life".  Humph!)

teaching today

Teaching today was hard work, I don't usually talk about work and stuff on this blog because it is supposed to be a craft based blog, but I just feel like sharing, you can find out a bit more about me for one thing.
Here is a sample of some of the things I have experienced today:

A bobbin of cotton trailed all around the table legs of the classroom,
I was called a b**ch behind my back,
Two boys having a punch up,
Was accused of picking on a boy,
A boy mocking another for his speech impediment,
A girl bullying another girl by not letting her join their group,
Being accused of calling a girl ugly,
Two pupils walking out of my classroom without permission,
Boys flicking PVA glue at each other,

I could go on but I think you get the picture, it was not a good day!
However I can cope with all this, this is the sort of thing I deal with on a daily basis anyway, what really upsets and concerns be is the attitudes that the pupils bring to school which are most probably learnt from home.

As a Christian (and a normal human being with morals) I was always taught to love my enemy and to turn the other cheek. I was taught that two wrongs do not make a right, I was taught that if someone does something nasty to you then you should tell a teacher so that they can sort it out.   The pupils I teach have not been taught this.  The pupil I teach have actively been told by their parents that if someone hits you, then you must hit them back.  That if someone is nasty to you then you should be nasty back.  It makes for a most unpleasant atmosphere of retaliation and spite.

Am I being unreasonable?  Please share your thought.