Fun at the Science Museum

Last week my husband and I took a day off work to go up to London with my brother and his girlfriend to one of our favourite places, the Science Museum. The day was perfect for a museum visit - torrential rain and gale force winds!

We had fun exploring our usual favourite parts of the museum, the Energy Hall, Health Matters, and Glimpses of Medical History, before we got too hungry. We went to eat our lunch in the picnic area, surrounded by several parties of schoolchildren and a few bemused tourists who had clearly hoped the museum would be a quiet, reverent place and were somewhat overwhelmed by the excited shouts of children bouncing off of the cavernous walls and ceilings.

After this we decided to investigate the new Wellcome Wing that opened in 2011, briefly visiting Mathematics en route. The wing is home to the iMax cinema (which we ignored but apparently it's very exciting) and some great new exhibitions such as Atmosphere: Exploring Climate Science, and Who Am I?, which focuses on brain science and genetics. It was fascinating stuff.

Much science was learnt and admired, and many a deep conversation was had. Here's a few things that I learnt from the day:

1) My battered, broken, wind-shapen umbrella is actually at the forefront of technological fashion, and it cost a fraction of the one for sale in the museum gift shop.

2) If I was employed as Energy Minister of a random small country I would be held in high esteem because of my environmentally friendly decisions, but I would fail to keep the country's lights powered some of the time. A career that I shall not bother to pursue then...

3) I would be quite ugly if I was male.

4) I have a 'mostly female' brain, but apparently so do my husband and brother, who'd've thought it? I also have 'female' hands, and so do they... Maybe that bit wasn't working so well...

5) When the opportunity to behave like a freak presents itself, I do not hesitate (actually, I did already knew that).

My brother and I 'dancing' at the entrance to the Who Am I? exhibition

I'm sure there's plenty more we could have learnt, but when the four of us hang out together we usually spend a lot of time messing around (see the above photo as a case in point). Still, a jolly good time was had by all, huzzah!

Quote of the day from my husband came after we were reviewing various opinions on dealing with climate change. One of the comments said that we shouldn't meddle in it. To which he said,

"Science is all about meddling." 

He's got a point...

Catching Up

I've been struggling recently to sit down and write my blog. This hasn't been the first time that I've left great gaps in my writing, and by my standards, it hasn't been all that long since my last post. However, I love writing and blogging and I don't want to leave it too long, because if I do then I'm afraid I'll never be able to pick it back up again.

I've been pretty busy lately, which I know you can all relate to, so that has had an impact. But I've also been going through a bit of a revelation.

Recently I've realised just how nasty I am to myself. I've learnt that my worst enemy is myself. And I have been making 'myself' feel like total rubbish and this has been affecting everything I do.

I'm not entirely sure when or where this revelation came about, and it wasn't exactly like this either:

(Sorry, I couldn't resist adding this, because although I am generally nothing like Gollum/Smeagol, I've been wanting to say to my bitter, angry, hateful self,, "Leave now and never come back!" I  also relate all to well to my inner self constantly saying "Nobody likes you." It's also one of my favourite scenes from LOTR because it's so well done, and I feel real sympathy for Smeagol's torment.)

Anyway, over the past couple of weeks I have been making a stand. I've prayed and offered the situation up to God. The most distressing aspect was part of me believed that I had already done this, but the truth is I've never let go of my self-hatred. I've grown stronger as a person, but I still hugely doubt myself, I still worry that people don't really like me, and I struggle with guilt for ages when I don't get things right. This is not what God wants for my life.

For years I've believed that being a Christian should have changed all of that, and in some ways it should have done, but despite giving my life to God I haven't let go of certain aspects. Satan has long had a hold on the parts of myself that I don't like, and I have actually been getting worse in recent times.

Finally, I believe that I have had real clarity on the issue. I can see now just how much I have been dragging myself down, belittling myself, and beating myself up. Yes, negative things have happened to me. I've been bullied and I have been betrayed, but I have held onto stuff and subconsciously turned it into a warped understanding of my true self.

I'm not saying that things will be perfect from now on. I know that there will still be struggles, and I still battle daily with my self-doubts. Yet, I feel lighter, like a burden has been lifted. I'm scared about my writing, about my abilities as a wife, daughter, sister, friend, youth worker etc, but I feel that the grip of self-hatred is waning. It is weakening under the love of my Father.

I've needed the stress, the worries, and the angry thought patterns this past month to help me stand back and say, "Whoa, this has to stop," and for me to truly and humbly give it up to God, acknowledging the amazing and beautiful things he has done in my life, and how He is constantly transforming me. I've needed to seek His forgiveness, and I have been surrounded by His love.

Days will still be hard, but the roots of self-destruction are being torn out. It is because of this:

Because such love for me, such sacrifice for me, has made me free to live the life that I am meant to live: Galatians 5:1. He is the Champion of Hearts, and I believe this to the very depths of my soul.

Coming up soon: An adventure to the Science Museum, and updates of what is going on in our garden this spring! Down with the writer's block, I'm itching to get writing again, huzzah!

In Memory of the Punto

On Sunday our car died. It was perhaps a bit past it, and it clearly brought the house values down in our parking zone, but we loved it and it shall be missed.

My husband passed his driving test in May 2009, shortly after we became engaged. His dad had a hunt around and found him a red Fiat Punto with decent mileage for a reasonable price. We went to pick it up one fine spring day after work, and my husband nervously but proudly drove it the twenty odd miles home. There would now be no stopping our adventuring as we finally had the ability to zip up and down the country exploring.

We've had some good times and some bad times with the Punto, and it has survived much. I wanted to share some memories of particular note:

Wiltshire, Summer 2009
We went on our first holiday together, camping with my husband's family. Thanks to the car we were able to go on many adventures throughout the beautiful county of Wiltshire, the windows down, and the mix tape blaring; the Punto was a true aide to our relaxation.

Honeymoon, Summer 2010
We spent the first week of our honeymoon in Devon, where the Punto coped admirably with the many narrow and winding country lanes. Honourable mention must go to our trip to Tarr Steps, a Medieval clapper bridge across the River Barle in Exmoor. We had decided to take the scenic route and thus approached from the less travelled side of the river. We were close to our destination when we saw a sign warning us of a ford ahead. I confidently declared that it couldn't possibly be referring to the river, but it was... We had no choice but to press on, so we crossed it with lots of bouncing but thankfully no water seeping into the car. We were just about to make it out onto the bank when the engine conked out. My husband laughing, said, "Don't panic, I'll get us out!" But my heart stopped as I silently pleaded with the car, "Not on our honeymoon, please Punto, not on our honeymoon!" A few seconds passed and then the engine suddenly juddered back to life, and we successfully made it into the car park, from whence we hurried into the nearby pub for a much needed cup of tea.
We sat out in the garden overlooking Tarr Steps and the river. We were admiring some playful chaffinches flitting around us when we heard a horrible roaring and the crunching of stones under tyres. We ran to the edge of the garden to see a landrover stuck in the middle of the river. We laughed most heartily, beaming with pride that our clunky old Punto had made it through where a landrover could not.
However, when we returned to the car to retrieve our picnic we noticed something significant was missing - the front number plate! We turned to see it glistening on the riverbed.

Can you spot the number plate sitting on the bottom of the river?

My husband took off his socks and shoes, and waded out to rescue it. The water came to his knees and was very chilly but at least it was a warm day! He triumphantly held the number plate up - it looked brand new, which was pretty funny as an advisory on the last MOT was that the front number plate was becoming illegible through years of grime! When we returned it to the car we were quite confused to find the screws still in place - the sheer force of the water had lifted the plate off of the screws! At least it was easy to fix...

A Little Crash, Autumn 2010
We had a (thankfully) minor crash on the way back from the in-laws' one afternoon. We'd hit a slippery patch as we neared a bend and unfortunately caught the back of another car as we swerved. Although the other person's car had minimal damage, the front wing and headlight of the driver's side of the Punto were completely smashed up. We were able to drive it back to the in-laws' where my husband's dad took care of it for us. It looked good as new after Christmas, although it was now sporting a green patch. We've always been trendsetters you know...

Shropshire, Summer 2011
Another holiday, but again the Punto coped admirably with narrow and winding country lanes, taking us on more adventures, including traversing another ford. Thankfully there was no getting stuck or loss of number plates this time!

View of our gorgeous limo from the tower of Stokesay Castle, Shropshire

So, thank you Punto for being a good car, for enabling us to go on many adventures, for getting my husband to work, for helping us gallivant around the country for weddings and for family gatherings, for taking us to high up points where we've seen the most amazing views, for keeping us dry as we cross rivers, for offering our missionary friends a mode of transport when they were back here, and for being a great first car. Your green wing, your fake V8 sticker, and your distinctive engine roar will be the stuff of legends. And never has a National Trust membership sticker been on display in a cooler car. RIP Punto.

Photos my own.

From Ear Muffs to Soot Sprite!

I have a confession. I have a serious case of craft envy. I have many talented friends who are very good with their brains and their hands and create beautiful work. Some have their own businesses, others just make fab things for their homes, babies, friends etc. I look admiringly at their handiwork and long to make similar masterpieces myself. I want to be uber housewife, who in her spare time (what's that anyway???) creates pretty things that make others swoon with delight.

I have a problem with seeing through such dreams however. First of all I lack patience. I want to see my work come to fruition as soon as possible and preferably with little effort. Even when I do sit down and work on something painstakingly, I'm all fingers and thumbs. I'm lucky enough that I can sew buttons back onto clothes, but even they unstitch themselves within a matter of weeks *sigh*

One thing I do consistently try to make an effort with though are making cards for people. I like doing it, especially when I can reuse old cards, calendars, ribbons, and other materials - I actually have a whole chest of drawers full of exciting things to decorate cards with. Sometimes I am a little too ambitious and my final products usually look like they were made by an eight year old, but I try.

Mei with a Soot Sprite

This being the case, I was extra chuffed with the birthday card I made for my brother's girlfriend this week. When we were spring cleaning recently I found my black ear muffs which had broken at the end of winter and I just tossed into a corner of the living room, too angry to dispose of them properly at the time. When I found them on top of the magazine rack I declared to my husband that I could make a Soot Sprite birthday card for my brother's girlfriend with them. Soot Sprites feature in one of her favourite films, My Neighbour Totoro. She actually painted me an awesome picture of Totoro in a memory book created by my friends for my hen party, and she also painted me another awesome picture of Sophie and Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle for my last birthday, so I knew I had to make something cool for her.

It was simple really. My husband detached one of the muffs from the headband, whilst I cut out two eyes from the scraps of a white sock that I had used to make my husband's stuffed owl a lab coat one day when I was bored... I then used a black pen to draw pupils on the sock eyes, and used glue dots to stick them to the muff. I then used several glue dots to stick the muff that was now a Soot Sprite onto the card. Unfortunately I had not been able to find any better glue for this, and not being naturally craft-minded I wasn't even sure what type would work best in the circumstances.

Anyway, for someone as ham-fisted as I am when it comes to delicate work, I was very chuffed with the result. He looks a little angry, and I haven't created anything on par with the Studio Ghibli themed crafts I've found online, but he's still very cute, if I may say so myself.

Ta da!

I presented it to my brother's girlfriend on Monday at a surprise birthday party organised by her sister, and thankfully she loved it, yey! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA!

Picture from http://miyazakihayao.wikia.com/wiki/My_Neighbor_Totoro
Photo & card my own :D