Switching the labels

Picture 1-UK
Picture 2 Australia

Who'd have thought that Hyde Park (London) could ever look like Hyde Park (Sydney)?
And what's with the dark skies and that white stuff on the ground in Sydney? Someone, surely, has switched the labels!

And just a little eye-candy for our Aussie friends...

Things may be very expensive here, but at least the Bananas don't require a second mortgage.

We're having a bit of a break now for a wee bit, so we shall wish Liam, Amy and Emma very happy birthdays! We hope to speak to you soon. We miss you!

I think I may live to regret this but...

We are having a bit of a crisis at church with a distinct shortfall of musicians—a typical problem I am sure. Alex had a spark of inspiration and thought some time ago that she should begin to learn an instrument in order to help out at the odd occasion when there were no able-bodied, card-carrying musicians around. What did she do? By beginning with (as any sensible former questionnaire-writing-for-a living-person would do) a list of appropriate and helpful musical instruments. These are the findings:

Requirements: portability, easy to learn, able to provide solid sound for congregational accompaniment.

Results (in order of helpfulness)
1. Piano (forced to learn it as a child, not going there again)
2. Guitar
3. Trumpet and assorted brass
4. Recorder (are you kidding? Being a Christian person is persecution enough)
5. Flute (see point 1)
6. Violin
7. Melodeon
8. Drums
...
89. Tuba (already tried and failed)
107. Bagpipes (already tried and failed-Part II)
...
327. Ukulele
328. Tenor Ukulele

So which one did A decided upon? Check out her other blog site (purely experimental of course) for photos and a very poor first uke recording.
http://smockdog.typepad.com/smockdog/

Rock of Ages will never be the same again (and nor will Middle England)

and a partridge in a pear tree...

Phew!
What a week. Let me just count up some essential facts about last week's Holiday Club:
• 61 fantastic kids
• 36 amazing volunteer helpers (many who took annual leave in order to serve)
• 684 activity book pages
• 8,340, 581 pieces of glitter and other assorted craft bits now released into the atmosphere
• 5 exhausting mornings
• 101 adults at church on Sunday morning
• 34 water balloons
• average temperature of 30 degrees (hotter than Nigeria by the way)
• 544 glasses of squash
• 128 t-shirt transfers that had to be designed, printed and ironed onto
• 96 T-shirts in 11 different colours and 15 different sizes (all too large)
• one message: "What's the greatest treasure in the whole world?"
• answer-"Peace with God!"

Thanks to everyone who prayed-the week was a triumph as the gospel was shared with kids who had never heard it before and the only injury was a very minor wasp bite. Our God is good!

PS C took on the personal of 'Captain Oz' for the week as the theme was that of pirates/finding true treasure. Perhaps he has missed his true calling?...