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Catholicism

Happy Easter!

by Kelly 1 Comment

Wishing you all a most blessed and happy Easter! If you are travelling, keep safe on the roads. 
Christus resurrexit! Vere resurrexit!  

Enjoy the Easter break and I hope you get some time for weaving. I’ll be working on this one, which is a new design for my next Etsy pattern. 

See you all soon!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholicism, Celebrations, weaving

The point at which it gets really hard

by Kelly 8 Comments

It  was really hard seeing our normally healthy 17 year old son rushed into the resuscitation unit in a medically induced coma.
It was hard having him transferred to intensive care.
It was really hard when he deteriorated and was placed in a medically induced coma.
It was hard seeing him come out of that coma days later.
It was hard watching as he was transferred out of ICU into the respiratory ward, but didn’t improve as expected.
It was awfully hard signing the consent for surgery to remove fluid from around his lungs.
It was hard seeing him experience the pain and discomfort of having a drainage tube in his back.
It was hard seeing him deteriorate again with fevers and low blood pressure and a high heart rate and having 2 larger tubes inserted in his side.
Today was a really hard day. Waiting for another, more major surgery to remove fluid again, followed by an epidural to numb his body for days (therefore numbing the pain) and then being told at the end of the day that the surgery was postponed to Monday.
Now we wait out the weekend, knowing that surgery is coming.






But you know what? I think all this has been harder on us than on him. Because he is a champion. He has endured countless procedures, needles, drugs, ups and downs without complaint. He always has a cheerful smile for us and looks forward to our visiting. He is resigned and accepting of his situation. His faith in God is strong and simple.
I think I have a lot to learn from this boy.


Please pray for the complete recovery of our son. Thank you to all those who have been praying, messaging and sending cards and parcels. We so appreciate your concern.


I’ve also set up a Gofundme campaign as a special surprise for when he can finally come home. Any donation is greatly appreciated.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholicism, faith, family

Fear of Failure

by Kelly 2 Comments

“I’m scared I’m going to fail”.
A brief pause, a very slight sigh. My husband is used to this. He is strong, trusting and practical. Me? I’m prone to nervousness, flightiness and a sense that things won’t turn out.
It’s one of those late at night conversations, the children are in bed and we have some precious moments to ourselves before we have to sleep.


“Are you scared that you are running out of ideas for classes?” he asks. Oh no, that is not the trouble at all.
It’s failure that I’m afraid of. So often there is a voice in the back of my head saying “what is the point of all this work, you know you’re going to fail anyway”. Sometimes this fear has been strong enough that I don’t try something new or pursue a different idea, fear can be crippling. Many times I have made the decision to give up on trying to make a business, only to change my mind the next day.


I have put so much work into new classes. I have taken the risk of launching on a new platform, it’s a wonderful step to have taken, but it’s expensive and risky.


My sensible and pragmatic husband listens quietly to my concerns as he has done time and again. He points out that you never know unless you try. He reminds me that it’s all in God’s hands and if the business does not succeed, it is because He wills it not to – for His own reasons and because He loves and knows me best.


My husband reminds me what I already know, but find very difficult to live. It is not all about me. Everything is a gift, including my life, and that I must be willing to give back to He who gives so generously. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholicism, faith, Thank you God for..., weaving

I’m a silly sausage!

by Kelly 10 Comments

What?! 6 months since I last took the time to post here?! Outrageous!
But let me explain.

Just over a year ago I uploaded a couple of weaving videos to Youtube. I was just interested in sharing, considering I don’t actually know any real life weavers, I suppose I was welling up with excitement at all my weaving discoveries. And sharing is fun!


So, what happened? Well, very unexpectedly, the videos were well received. People started subscribing to my channel and talking about them in Facebook weaving groups. And they’re still subscribing and talking!


All of the enthusiasm and positive feedback inspired me to make more videos. The rest, as they say, is history! 


I now have two Youtube channels. One is free to watch, the other is on a paid subscription basis. I started the paid channel because many (most) of my videos take hours in the planning, filming, editing and instructing. Plus the cost of all the materials. I have made the channel affordable and aim to have a huge library of videos available to subscribers, as well as exciting projects, techniques and the occasional giveaway. It’s the place that I’m happy to give away my weaving secrets 🙂 I’m really pleased that many have joined this new channel and hope that it grows over the next year. 


Growing the dream. 
All of the above has allowed me to hope a little more that my dreams may be possible. I may eventually be able to move past the “pocket money” stage of online teaching into the “actual income” stage. I may be able to start teaching real life classes.
And ultimately, one day, I may be able to have my own teaching studio. Big ask, I know!


in 2017 I’ll be putting a lot of work into my paid channel. Doing videos for both channels this year has been rewarding in many ways, but in addition to my homeschooling commitments I have found myself a little burnt out and suffering some niggly health conditions at this end of the year. I feel I spent way too much precious time sitting at the computer! So, the paid channel will be my main focus next year. 


If you haven’t seen my channels yet, you can find the free one here and the paid channel here.

I hope you had a most blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!


I’ll try to make it here more often, really I will…



Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholicism, Celebrations, my youtube channel, rigid heddle weaving, weaving

Bite your tongue Mum.

by Kelly 3 Comments

“You are such a naughty child!”


“Sometimes I wonder whether you will ever learn anything!”


“Are you kidding me, you tipped it over again?!”


“What is wrong with you?!”


“You have ruined my day!”


“Why can’t you be like your brother/sister?”


“You make me so angry!”


Gosh, aren’t they nasty statements? 


Well, I’ve thought of all of these, quite regularly in fact. The worst part is I’ve even said some of them to my children. 


It’s really hard to not verbalise these thoughts sometimes. But I look upon it like this. I’m storing up treasures. These treasures are especially for my children. Each time I bite my tongue is a little victory. Yes, for me, but so much for them.


They may not know about your interior struggle but they will remember your words. 5, 10, 20, how ever many years down the track, they will remember your words and how you made them feel.
I know this. You know this.


Is it time for you to start storing some treasure too?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholicism, children, home education, home making, Homeschooling, mothering

So, what’s happening next year?

by Kelly 5 Comments

I don’t know, I really don’t. Of course I have hopes, dreams, aims, goals, but I have learned (and it’s taken a really long time) that life is easier when you let God do the planning and you do the following.



At the moment, I would love to further my business. I’d like to wake up, have a shower, some breakfast, maybe walk the dog and then sit down to my loom and weave. And just keep weaving until I wanted to do something else – probably some dyeing. I’ve tried to work more on being a “real” artist for years and failed over and over. But I don’t feel too sad about it anymore.  Because I’ve come to a realisation.





Being a real artist is not my real job. Being a wife is. Being a mother is. Being a servant of God is. These are the things that God is calling me to first. Everything else has to wait, and this fact is good and right. He gives me time here and there to work on the things I love, but only after my other duties for the day are fulfilled.





Maybe one day I will get to work full time on creative stuff. Or maybe God has other plans for me – whatever the case all He asks is for me to listen and obey, and with His grace, this is what I intend to do.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholicism, the trouble with being an artist, weaving

Merry Christmas!

by Kelly 2 Comments

I hope you all have a very happy and holy Christmas, may God bless you all!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholicism, Celebrations, christmas

The week that went so fast…

by Kelly 4 Comments

The word “busy” is a bit overused these days I reckon, but I will admit that it was a very “full and varied” week for us! I was looking forward to today and thinking of the sewing I need to do, that great looking cook book I got from the library I haven’t had time to browse, and of course, I could warp up the loom ready for a new project. The reality of the day has been taxiing my son to kung fu, walking the dog (well that was relaxing at least!), shopping, laundry work and cooking up huge batches of bolognaise and stew for next week, which also promises to be very “full”.


I started to reflect, in my tired and slightly overworked state, that I didn’t give enough time to the kids this week, I didn’t get to help my son with that maths he’s been asking me about, didn’t get time for much reading with the girls, didn’t get to do much preparation for my daughter’s up and coming First Holy Communion… 

But then I had a little reality check, that is that God was so good to tap me on the shoulder and say “wake up and check the facts”. I was really busy this week, it’s true, but what was it that kept me so occupied? 
My vocation of course!
A wife, a mother, this is my vocation and this is what I do. I may not have been able to do everything that I thought was necessary, but it was because I was actively caring for my family and home, something that takes a lot of time and work. 
I thought of my future self, when the children are grown and making their own way in the world. Will they say “Mum, thank you for making us study so hard, I feel so much smarter for it”. Is that what I want to hear?
Or would something like: “Mum, thank you for your constant love, care and sacrifice. Thank you for letting us be children, for enriching our lives, for being fun, for passing on our beautiful faith by your example” be more pleasing to my ageing ears?

Bring on next week!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholicism, home education, home making, Homeschooling, mothering

“Can you find Saints” book review

by Kelly Leave a Comment

I purchased this book by Philip D. Gallery recently after reading about it on Catholic Icing. I wasn’t sure what to expect other than a “Where’s Wally” style fun book.
But it’s much more than that.
Not just a fun book but an educational tool that doesn’t feel like education. It’s a chance to reinforce the saints you already know and read small snippets of those you may not know so well. The short readings on the saints to be found really make this a multi age book. For younger children, you can read briefly to them about each saint before they get to spot them in the pictures. For middle children who can read, it can be read together and the saints can be found together. And for older kids, it’s a brief, fun picture book that teaches them something. Each of my children (aged 4, 6, 8 and 13) enjoyed this book and are asking for the other books in the series.
Something I like about the book is that it can be used as a tool for further discussion and research. Besides the saints who are described and that you search for, there are many, many other saints in every picture and they are labelled with their names (there a quite a few that I haven’t heard of!) There are also optional extras to find on each page for children who really like to search and find.
As my husband pointed out to me, when you look at the “Where’s Wally” books, although they are clever and entertaining, they often make light (a mockery even?) of horrific historical events. It is refreshing to find a book that is completely good for a child, faith enriching, educational and fun! 
I highly recommend this book for children of all ages 🙂

If you click on this link to purchase the book you will be blessing me and my family with a small percentage of the total sale, thank you.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: book reviews, Catholicism

How do you make your children behave in Mass?

by Kelly 3 Comments

I get asked this question constantly! I’m not saying my kids are perfect, but generally speaking, they are pretty well behaved in Mass. I thought I would share my observations and things we’ve put into practice over the years- the things that DO work and the things that DON’T.

Lets start with DON’T:

*Don’t give your kids sweets or drinks in Mass. Ever. No food, no drink. Most Masses go for 45 minutes – 1 hour. They won’t starve or die of thirst in this time! They also won’t leave sticky finger marks, spills or distract other children. The church is not the place for food and drink.

*Don’t let them play with your phone or other gadgets. This is training them that they need to be entertained.

*Don’t allow other (often well meaning) church-goers to hold conversations with your children in the church. Politely explain to these people that you are happy to speak to them outside after Mass, but you are trying to teach your children to be silent in the church.

*Don’t let your children leave their seat. Children being allowed to run up and down the aisle or near the altar during Mass is something I find totally unacceptable. If they don’t comply they need to be taken out of the church into a quiet area where the Mass can still be heard. Don’t take them outside and let them play, that is counterproductive.

*Don’t allow your children to attend “Sunday School”. A child will never learn to sit still and be quiet if they are allowed to go out of the church 10 minutes into the Mass to do colouring in and often “soft” teachings. Keep them with you, where they belong.

Now for the DO’s:

*Do give your children a solid grounding of their faith at home so that they have some sort of understanding of what they are doing at Mass and why. Set a good example in the church – genuflect, whisper or be silent, move in a posture of respect. Children need to see faith in action.

*Do remind them of the rules before entering the church if necessary. Children need to know what is expected of them.

* Do reward them for good behaviour in the church. Suitable rewards for us are praise, a trip to the shop, a special outing etc.

*Do remove your child/ren from the church if they are misbehaving and refuse to stop. Don’t make this an easy way out, they are to stand or sit quietly somewhere as a punishment. If the child is crying or noisy I would take them out of earshot of the rest of the congregation but would never let them run and play. The idea is that you make the idea of being in the church more desirable than being stuck outside in punishment mode.

*Do allow them to take religious books into the church. If they start to get restless, this can be a welcome relief.

*Do sit right up the front! What? I hear you say- my kids are so naughty, we always sit down the back for a quick exit! Sitting near the front means they can see what is happening, feel more involved and are less likely to misbehave.

*Do sit between children who are misbehaving, however you can separate them. I often do this still as I see little developments and lack of concentration.

*Do, if at all possible (and I know for some it isn’t possible) have a helper. Whether it is your husband, a friend or relative it is so helpful to have someone else, especially if you need to take one child out and leave the others.

As you can probably tell, I have fairly strong feelings about how children should behave in Mass and I see parents constantly getting it wrong. For me, this is all a very necessary part of giving due respect, reverence and worship to our God who deserves the best from all His children.

“There is a proverb; a boy will keep the course he has begun; even when he grows old, he will not leave it”.
Proverbs 22:6

Questions? Ask away!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholicism, Celebrations, children, training children

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