I didn't tell her there was a catch

Back in March I asked my Mum what she wanted for her birthday and she said I could sew some things for her.  So I refashioned a dress into a skirt and then Minnie became ill, so I didn't get anything else done in time for Mum's birthday.

That was 3 months ago, but as I am now back in the sewing swing of things, I decided I should probably make good on my promise.  However, I didn't tell Mum beforehand that I would want to blog about my sewing for her and that that would require a photo.

Here she is the new top, the pattern is Simplicity 2371.  If was quite a straight forward pattern to make, I made a few minor alterations.  I shortened the notch at the front and shortened the sleeves and put in small side vents.  Mum seems to like it.  I think she would quite like me to make her the trousers now.

I don't know if I'm being unreasonable

It's been a very long time since I have eaten red meat.  I announced to my Mum when I was thirteen that I was becoming a vegetarian and she told me that I wasn't.  She was worried that as a teen age girl a vegetarian diet would not provide me with enough iron or protein, it was the 1980's, she probably wasn't wrong.  We came to the compromise that I wasn't going to eat red meat, but I would still eat chicken and fish.

This has been the status quo for almost 30 years.  However, I find that I am increasingly adding vegetarian meals to the weekly menu and cutting down on the meat and this is not always going down well with my Mum.  I made the cover recipe from "Vegetarian Living" for Sunday lunch this week, a Borlotti  Bean and Chestnut Stew and Mum's initial reaction was to ask why we weren't having Chicken or Salmon.

The are several reasons that I am switching to more vegetarian meals, it's cheaper, it's healthier, it's also more exciting for me to cook, I love trying new things.  Is it unreasonable for me to expect my Mum to eat this food?  I don't mean to give the impression that Mum is a whinger, most of the time she happily eats the food I put in front of her.  I am just being too sensitive about any negative comments?  Maybe I just need to chill a bit and cut back on the Celeriac.

Bon Voyage

My Brother, his Wife and their little one (not so little at nearly 4) are flying off to Australia today. I wish them a safe journey and look forward to seeing them on their return, when ever that may be.

I haven't posted in so long

My darling Fluffrick keeps telling me I need to post more, I don't know if this is what he had in mind, but I just need to vent.

I'm probably getting my knickers in a twist about something I really shouldn't be stressing over, but I can't help it. My darling has been asked by his brother to be the Godfather to his children. They now have three boys and the oldest (5 years old) goes to a Catholic school, but as yet none of them have been christened. I don't know the motivation for getting the boys christened, but it does strike me as having more to do with wanting to keeps their boys in what they deem to be a "good" school, as apposed to an over-riding faith in the Catholic Church.

My darling and his brother attended a Catholic school, but since the age of about fourteen, my darling stopped attending church and is now atheist. He has agreed to be their Godfather, not in a religious sense, but as an Uncle and hopefully a positive example in their lives. However, I think he has been asked to be Godfather because he is "Catholic" and it is my understanding the other 3 Godparents are not.

Okay, so ego does come into it somewhere. I have not been asked to be one of the 3 other Godparents, my services are most definitely not required. I hope to think, had I been asked I would have respectfully declined, as I couldn't personally reconcile it with my own atheism, I don't know. I am a Godmother to my best friend's child, but in my defence back then I was merely agnostic, not atheist.

I don't know what to do, if I protest and don't go to the christening, am I going to cause a major family rift, that will probably not have a significant impact on me and my darling, but could on my lovely mother in law. Or do I go and support my husband and just play happy families and no one is any the wiser of my contempt for the whole charade.

It is not my intention or desire to hurt anyone I love, but I don't know how to reconcile my beliefs and my actions.