Pimm's and Patchwork

Hello, thank you for dropping in.  Are you enjoying sunshine?  We are, and after last week's cool temperatures, rain and thunderstorm we are revelling in it.  The Best Beloved and I spent several hours working in the garden on Sunday while the butterflies fluttered about and a buzzard was mobbed by crows overhead.  It was all quite blissful.

 

On Saturday I went to an event at a local church with some friends and I have been reflecting on it ever since.  I hadn't intended to share it with you here, but it seems to have become quite important in my head.  It was an event for Christian women, a day of relaxation, pampering and creativity and I went with a group of friends, none of us in the best of health at the moment.  We arrived to a breakfast of pastries and fruit,  there was a salad bar for lunch and before we left, Pimm's and ice cream ("because it's summer", they said).  Hot drinks and homemade cake were available all day.  It was definitely a day full of treats.  The day was topped and tailed with short acts of worship, there was a terrific speaker and there were workshops: one friend did some Gentle Pilates, another had her nails painted, one watched a demonstration of Indian cookery and I did some patchwork.   If you just wanted to sit and chat with friends, or do your knitting on a sofa, that was fine.  The tables were dressed with tablecloths and jam jars containing bluebells and cow parsley and bunting was strung across the room. 

 

 

I have been reflecting on what made this day so special - the event has run twice a year for the last five years and about seventy women of all ages attend each one.  I think that it's because it is a day for women to put aside our responsibilities and concerns and enjoy being in the moment, catching  up with friends, indulging ourselves with delicious food and creative activities without feeling guilty.  The organising team went to so much trouble to make us feel cared for, decorating the room, bringing in rugs and cushions and even sending us home with goodie bags.  Crucial to this, I think, is that the event is free, it is a gift given to all of us and it is brimming with generosity; donations are welcomed and in fact encouraged, to cover the cost of the food, and there is a small charge for some of the workshops, although most are free, but I am sure that the response to the gift is generous.  Best of all is that it is such a positive day, there was so much encouragement for each other - as I was leaving, a young woman who I hadn't met before and whose name I still don't know came to find me and thanked me for encouraging her with her sewing.  Never mind me encouraging her, that act of thanks encouraged me hugely, learning that my small words had made a difference to her. My friends and I went home feeling that our souls had been soothed.

 

There are lessons for me in this.  (And I think there are lessons for other churches in this.)

 

See you soon.

Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x