Pi, Paddy, a Picnic, and Planets!

The last week has been one of small celebrations that have brightened up March as the sun has begun to shine more, and spring has truly sprung.

The first celebration was Pi Day on 14th March - or March 14th I should say, as it actually makes sense the American way for this occasion ;)  Pi is a highly revered number in this household, something I am reminded of everyday as for years the symbol has been permanently branded on my husband's arm in the form of a very handsome tattoo. This year we didn't do anything irrational to celebrate but we did indulge in steak and stilton pie for dinner that evening. Naughty but delicious. And, you know, it's not appropriate to celebrate Pi without pie!

The second celebration was St Patrick's Day. We're not Irish and we have no Irish blood that we're aware of. But our youth minister comes from Belfast and she planned an Irish themed party for the youth group on Friday. We encouraged fancy dress, played a range of Irish music, and served green lemonade. There were plenty of potato and leprechaun themed games, a quiz on all things St Patrick and Ireland, and the kids got to decorate their own cakes with green icing. The highlight of the evening was when we sat them down to watch a Riverdance video, and as soon as the music grew dramatic all of us leaders burst into the hall attempting Irish stepdancing ourselves - Michael Flatley, eat your heart out! It was hilarious, although I don't know who was laughing more - the youth or the leaders!

The third celebration was Mothers Day. We went up to stay with my husband's family for the weekend, and on the Sunday the grannies came to visit and we all went out to a local country park for a walk. The park was covered in daffodils and many other beautiful spring blooms. We wandered around the nature reserve where we were lucky to see lambs basking in the sunshine, piglets playing together, and many other cool animals, including a raven who cried out rude words! We then headed back to the house for a tea party. We had actually intended to have a picnic at the park but the weather was on the temperamental side, so we decided it was safer to have an indoor picnic instead! There were lots of sandwiches and cakes and plenty of tea. It was lovely, and very relaxing, and as far as I can tell my mother-in-law and grannies-in-law enjoyed themselves. I plan on treating my mum to a gift and afternoon tea later this week.

We got home too late to go the evening service at church, but we still went along for the youth group that's held afterwards. As we were walking down there my husband pointed out Orion. This is nothing new, we can see Orion all the time from where we are, so I decided to go one step better. I proudly pointed out  Jupiter and Venus to the right of us, shining brightly and beautifully in the night sky, and then to the left of us, Mars, its red glow making it stand out especially from the stars we could see around it. My husband checked a phone app to ensure I was correct in my planetary assertions, and indeed I was. OK, I'll admit my knowledge was thanks to one of my friends pointing Jupiter and Venus out to me a few weeks ago, as well  reading my mother-in-law's Guide to the Night Sky that morning, as she is an enthusiastic amateur astronomer. But anyway, how cool is it to see the planets?  Agreed, it's even more fab through a telescope. We got to see Saturn through my mother-in-law's last year, rings and all, awesomeness! Anyway....

Spending a few minutes gazing at the stars and planets was a lovely end to a pretty good week. Next up is an adventure of the historical variety. We're so excited we might not be able to sleep the night before! I hope to report back in a few days!