He Is Risen!

John 20:1-18

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my LORD, and I know not where they have laid him.
And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the LORD, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

Palm Sunday & Easter Week Plans

Good morning!
I have just returned home from my (early) morning walk & it is a glorious spring morning!
Today is Palm Sunday - a day that we usually go for a Praise Walk, followed by a picnic (weather permitting). We are doing something different today - meeting up with friends at their caravan. We are taking some food to share: cupcakes made by Elianna, strawberries, cheese & juice. I will be taking along my knitting & also the mountain of fleece that is waiting to be carded : )
We have planned an afternoon of sitting & knitting (& carding!) while the children play. Bliss.

Palm Sunday

In All Year Round, the authors speak of Lent as a time of renewal, in gathering forces needed to meet the vital renewal of our daily lives.
What a reminder of our minute-by-minute need for God!I love this time of year - the call to deepen my love for Him.

As i mentioned, we would usually go for a praise walk, followed by a picnic ~ Marveling at the wonders of nature are prayers of praise. As we walk outdoors, we can reflect upon the Lords creation & praise God for giving us a world that meets our needs.

We will be reading "The King Comes" from The Childs Story Bible as our Bible reading today.

This evening, as each evening of Holy week, we will light a candle on our nature table.
Also this week will make time to read The Jesus Garden & our verse will be At Easter Time (Stories for The Festivals Of The Year)

Let our trust in God become
Like the good earth, firm & strong.

As the water, rising & falling,
Let God’s life be always flowing.

Our Voices carry through the air.
Softly withing, God’s call is heard.

Fire gives warmth, fire gives light.
God’s love burns within our heart.

In all the elements, God is there
Bringing new life, everywhere.

Other ideas for Palm Sunday:

~ Bake date bread & make palm crosses as gifts
~ Sew grass seeds in a bowl of earth to place on the nature table.

Holy Thursday

~Purchase Easter lillies
~Read John 13:1-5

Good Friday

Light our candle
Bake & eat hot cross buns
~ Read The Jesus Garden
At 3pm blow out our candle, followed by a quiet hour of reflection
(I give my children their prayer journals, coloured pencils & their picture Bibles, they can draw prayers to the Lord, Illustrate the story we read or look at their Bibles.)

Easter Saturday

“A quiet day, a day of Waiting”
Dying Eggs
Laying out new easter clothes
Cooking for the feast tomorrow
In secret, make a few butterflies to hand over the dining room table for Easter Morning

Lazy Day..

We have had a glorious sun-shiny weekend, which I have taken advantage of!

I have washed one of my four new shetland fleeces, purchased from Jamieson & Smith
Now washed & dried I have begun the slow & theraputic carding process.



Here are some of the rolags, all ready to spin. Soft as can be, like wee puffs of air!



I picked a pot full of dandelion heads. My intentions are to spin a 2 ply jumper yarn from all my shetland fleeces & take advantage of the natural colours. I have one fawn, one pale grey, one white & one that is possibly white, or could be more of a natural or beige, or - who knows, 'till it is washed!



The dandelions are all cooked & I will leave them in the cooking liquid for a day or two to steep, before straining & reserving the liquid for dyeing at a later date.



I found an inspiring blog post detailing dyeing with dandelions.
Liberty's Yarn, has a great tutorial for dyeing yarn.

Well, I am back off into the garden to carry on carding.
Have a super day whatever the weather.

An update:
My friend Helen owner of My Heart Exposed Yarns left me some wonderful tips for dyeing with dandelions in the comments section.
Here they are:

"I am very excited you are trying dandelion dye Lynn, some tips for you, after your flower heads have been steeping for about 24 hours, pop in either a sliced lime or a sliced lemon without the pips and allow to steep for as long as possible, minimum of 24 hours more though.

The lime and lemon give the liquid a beautiful glowing delicate yellow colour causing the pigment in the dandelion stamens to really come alive when applied to fibre for dyeing.

Also, next time instead of using alum mordant, soak your fibre in a cold tea solution made by boiling about six tea bags on the cooker in some water then allowing to cool to room temperature before soaking the fibre. When you then apply the dandelion and citrus liquid to the pot the fibre turns a beautiful amazing burnt sun gold colour which is so unique it cant be described or repeated, will be different each time because using tea bags is not an exact science as you personally dont know the precise measurement of ingredients which make up each tea bag."

Thanks Helen!

In Pictures