The Mainly Music Nativity

Our parish runs a program during school terms, called Mainly Music which is a music and movement based activity aimed at children under school age. And to end the year, the children and their parents take part in the Nativity...very low key due to the age of the main actors. 😉. The children are dressed as angels and shepherds and the baby Jesus is usually a doll. Last year however, the baby granddaughter of the lady who runs the programme played the part. Ivy was a bit too active to play the role this year, so the doll was expected to make a comeback. 

But a week before the Nativity, DH suggested that our Holly could play the role, so DD2 was consulted...and she said yes to the suggestion, but warned us that Holly probably wouldn't stay still. And so the day dawned when Holly would play her first starring role. 

But what does one wear for such a role...probably not the swaddling mentioned in the Christmas story when you are an active 7 month old! Lol

So DD2 went through the costumes box and chose a piece of white fabric ( which I suspect  was the headdress of a shepherd's costume! 😉) which she wrapped around Holly...

There were some shepherd's girdles left on the change table which Miss Holly thought she should perhaps wear too...😉

But DD2 wasn't so keen on that idea! 

Here's Miss Holly all ready for her debut performance...

As DD2 had been given the role of Mary and the Nativity started with no baby, Holly and I sat together for the start of the little play...

Here's Mary, the donkey and Joseph walking into Bethlehem after their tiring journey...'Joseph' also played the role last year when his little daughter had played Jesus. 

As the narrator ( Father Bruce our parish priest) told the story, I waited for Holly's cue. 

Some Angels came along...

and while the Carol, Away in a Manger was being sung, I walked up and placed her in the manger...it looked suspiciously like a cardboard box, covered with a cloth and filled with raffia...lol

My goodness! Did you notice in that former photo that the Innkeeper had whipped out a mobile phone and was taking photos in his stables???? Lol 😂 ( children's faces blurred with dispersion tool in Picsart) 

Holly was really good...even though it soon became obvious that she might have been a bit big for the manger! 

It wasn't long before some Kings came along...carrying 🎁! 

And pretty soon the little Nativity play was over...the children loved having a real baby playing Jesus! 

One of the little angels leaned in for a kiss...

Such joy! I've had to blur their faces but they were just so happy! 

Now some other photos.  These  are from the family archives. The year would probably be 1989 and it is the Sunday School Christmas concert in the old church hall in the same parish. DD2 played a galah ( in the middle of the photo) and DD1 played a wombat. The whole Sunday School performed the play, 'A Bush Christmas' and the Ladies Guild which I belonged to were the choir. Such memories. 

The junior classes played Aussie animals and the older children played drovers, cooks and stockmen. 

A fun night out!

In the last few years our parish has put on a dinner as a social event to bring everyone together for a night of fun. The last 2 dinners have had a Theme and so it was about a month ago that I was wondering whether I would ever be able to organise 1920s outfits for DH and I!!! I'd had no inspiration which is unusual.
Any way a month ago we met up with some much loved  in laws  from my first marriage. They had travelled from Melbourne to the Gold Coast for a week, so DH and I met up with them there over 2 days and a night. It was after dinner and we were sitting down listening to a 60s band and enjoying coffees/tea when I voiced my fears/problems to my former SiL of not knowing what we could wear.

I had asked the right person; M's 70th Birthday had been a 20s Theme. M said, just think Glamour! Within 10 minutes, I'd decided that I'd wear my wedding outfit, dressed with feather boas from the cheap shop, pearls, gloves and I'd wear that fascinator that I had worn to the wedding in July...but worn like a tiara. I would see if DsD2 still had the fake fur cape from her wedding and add that! (Turns out she'd given it away a while ago!)
By this time I was on a roll and imagined DH as a golfer; I would see if my 'Hat collection girl', DD1 had a cloth hat...and she did!
Last Friday I bought a few supplies from Spotlight to complete our outfits. The dinner was Saturday night and on Saturday morning I thought perhaps I should try on my outfit...after all, the wedding had been 13 years ago. Oh dear...a problem 🙁

So! A change of plans obviously! No longer the 20s movie star...my Plan B outfit was black...clothes that fitted! Lol
Ta dah! DH! The sweater had been bought on our last trip to Scotland and the argyle patterned socks were bought from a fundraising sock drive a while ago.

In the previous photo, DH looks like he's smoking a pipe. We are both non smokers but it's amazing what you can buy at Spotlight! 😉

My persona wearing the black outfit now became more 'gangster's woman' than movie star and during the evening I found a few gangsters I could pal up with! Lol. Some even complete with violin cases!!!!

That tough looking bloke on the left is our parish priest and the stern looking one on the right is my friend's husband and a sweet guy really.
Here's a pic with another two friends who I've known since the mid 1970s. C arrived looking a bit upset as her husband had said she looked like her grandmother!!! I told her she looked like Tilley Devine, ( an infamous Madam in Sydney in the 20s and 30s; one tough cookie!) but she didn't mind that!!!

We had a lovely roast dinner for the meal...here is our table just starting on the bread rolls...

As part of our ticket, we all got a complimentary mocktail. I find such drinks are usually too sugary, but my pear flavored one was just all natural fruit...delicious!

Some of us brought along dessert; DH and I brought along a pavlova and I'm pleased to say there was none left to bring home!
After dessert, we had a murder mystery game. Our MC was in charge of this and handed out parts to people.


DH was given a character to play...

Yes! He was that ubiquitous character...the butler...but he didn't do it! Lol
Myself, and a few others guessed who the murderer was...it was a gut feeling for me; the clues didn't really help me!! Lol. I got a chocolate horse as a prize!

Another activity was the toy roulette game...

Or having your photo taken in the 'old car'...one of our parishioners is a talented artist!

There was also a sheet of questions on 1920s slang words and their meaning, for each table to fill out. Our table got 17 out of 25 and came second to the winning table who had 21!
And my friend C won the raffle which was a basket of cheeses, wine and other yummy stuff.

And these three lovely ladies were the organisers of the night; a job well done!
Edit
And I had been forewarned by my SiL that the feather boas moult...this is just a small number of feathers I left in a trail that night, both at home and at the church hall.

Some of us in costume got a group photo too...

February's Morning Tea...

I've written a few posts about our parish morning teas. It's a great way for people to gather, catch up over  a cuppa and have lots of laughs usually too. Many organisations have capitalised on people's love of morning teas and use the idea for fundraising.  We all know of the Biggest Morning tea concept which raises much needed funds for cancer; and who could forget all those 'pink foods'!

Anglicare, which is the welfare arm of the Anglican Church encourages parishes to host what is called a Heart Morning Tea to help raise funds for the services that they provide. So our February morning tea became a bit special. What a great excuse to load up a table with goodies, fill the teapots and put out the china plates! 

And what a great excuse to invite some extra guests to help with the fundraising. So the Red Hat ladies from the nearby group joined us!

My friend Patricia worked away in the kitchen...

Our lovely priest Father Bruce also helped out on the tea/coffee counter...

Two Anglicare staff joined us and Jan gave a talk on  Anglicare services...ahem...she focussed on Aged Care...but I'm sure they didn't mean me! lol

Caroline was the other staff member, representing the nursing staff. Originally the nursing service was called St Luke's but is now under the Anglicare banner. St Luke's staff cared for my mum all those years ago.

We had a lovely morning and those Red Hat ladies are real characters I can tell you! We've told them they are welcome back any time!! And we raised $200 for Anglicare.
 ( Aussie readers...Jan recommended that all Aussies of a certain age (60 ish?) register with the government website My Aged Care, so that if circumstances change suddenly and you need services, you are already in the system. ( at a stressful time this could be a godsend and save time accessing services) After DH's medical dramas of late, we will register. You can register before 65 but eligibility for services is from 65. )

Doing a bit to help...

On the last Friday of most months our parish has a morning tea at which everyone and anyone are welcome. Some of the ladies take the opportunity to cook the most calorie laden items possible, which balances out the cheese and crackers that I bring along! Some months we all bring along an item for a theme that has been set the month before...such as favourite china items, favourite poems, books etc. These are all designed to really get conversations going.
But having parishioners gather like this is always a perfect reason to get a 'few jobs done'.

So at our October morning tea we all pitched in and packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child which is run by Samaritans Purse. This task entailed packing gift items into shoe boxes and these would then be sent overseas to designated countries and distributed to needy children. In a previous morning tea we had brought along suitable items to start a stockpile for the boxes.

 Items for the boxes are based on 6 themes; something to wear, something to play with, something for school, something to love, something special, something for personal hygiene. Of course, different ages and boys and girls are catered for and the labels we place on the boxes show this.

Our parish contribution included not only filled shoeboxes, but also 3 bags of items that we couldn't fit into the boxes we had collected. Each box has to be accompanied by a $9 donation to cover costs of shipping. Again, generous parishioners donated more than enough to cover that cost.

There are those who feel that 'charity should begin at home' and frown on sending items overseas, but I know a number of people who have been doing Samaritans Purse for quite a while, so when our parish decided to become involved, it seemed perfectly natural. At the same time in the last few months of 2016, our parish collected toiletries and other items as gifts for the Mission to Seafarers gift giving program for any merchant seamen in the port of Brisbane in December. We also were collecting non perishable food for local charities to distribute. So all, in our small way, can help so many others.

At the November morning tea, before we sat down with our 'cuppas' we packed home baked biscuits (cookies) and slices ready for sale at our Christmas Craft markets the next day.

 

The tray of chocolate coconut slice that I made was packed in some boxes that we had left over from another function.

Throughout the year we save wide necked jars to pack the baking in and then decorate the jars a bit to make them look festive. 

In 2016 I made sure that I was available to help 'all day' at our Christmas Craft Market( really only 7.30am to 2pm), as our number of helpers is getting less each year as the older people move away...or pass away. Other years I've just done a few hours early in the day and then headed off to another commitment that I go to on the same Saturday every month. So I helped in the kitchen with the morning teas until 10 and then manned the parish stall until close of business...and it was fun.
The collage shows some of the stallholders at last year's market; most are regulars who book a table every year.

 

A view of the parish stall which I looked after. The big gap on the table was caused by the 'roaring trade ' I was doing with our home baking.

The parish made a nice profit from the market, so that was good!

I think we skip morning tea in January as it is around Australia Day, so February will be our first one for 2017.  

A get together...

On the last Friday of the month, our parish has a morning tea gathering in the church hall. Last month we were invited to bring a 'cup and saucer' that had a story or some meaning attached to it.

A few people brought along something to talk about. There were some rather valuable Shelley ware which were part of one parishioner's collection.

There was a cup,saucer and plate souvenir of Queen Eluzabeth's 1954 visit to Australia. It had belonged to my friend's mother but the story Patricia told was delightful. Pat could remember seeing the Queen in 1954, but as a child she was convinced the family walked from Goulburn to Canberra. In reality they travelled in buses with lots of other residents of that city. 

There was a very elegant cup and saucer (on the left front of the photo) which had been a gift to one of the ladies. Another lady brought in a tall mug that she had bought many years ago in Harrods...Fiona said she likes a big cup of tea and this mug fits the bill. And then there was the teapot that Patti had brought along. She collects teapots and this one was a gift from her husband. We all loved it! 

And what did I take along? Well not any delicate bone china...not a collectible piece...but something that still makes me smile...it's a rather chunky mug which is not my preferred style, but it does feature a Gary Larsen cartoon. In the 1980s-90s, I really loved those Larsen cartoons and had a number of the books of his cartoons. 

Here's a closer view of that sign...

My 2 girls knew that this cartoon struck a chord with me, so when they were still little girls, they convinced their dad to buy the mug as a gift for me from them. Maybe you noticed the Dymo label around the bottom of the mug? A mug with a cartoon about school is perfect as a work mug for a teacher...and so it was! You may have heard stories about teachers being 'caught' with up to a dozen dirty cups belonging to others; these cups would be discovered in end of term/year, room/desk/shelves clean up. Well it's true! There are cup/mug 'thieves' in school workplaces, lol. So my girls's father, thoughtfully made the label and it must have worked....I didn't lose it!

Next month we've been invited to bring along another cup with a story...hmmm, I wonder what else I've  got which has a story attached?