UCM Winter Warmer...

The weather today has been atrocious. Fortunately, the ladies of the parish UCM had arranged to hold a Winter Warmer lunch event this afternoon, which provided a bright spot in an otherwise wet and windy Saturday.

I don't like vegetables, so the potato and leek soup was not something I wished to eat, but I was fascinated by the use of an electronic whisk-blender thingy...

I'm afraid that I couldn't resist smirking when the blender attachment doobrey-whatsit fell in the soup and had to be fished out...

The sandwiches, homemade sausage rolls and homemade cakes were delicious... I was persuaded to buy a cake and take it home for the kittens to play with... unfortunately for the kittens, I am rather partial to chocolate sponge with fresh cream and jam filling, so it shall be mine, all mine.

Good food and good company - a very agreeable Saturday lunchtime.

Miss-ing The Point...

Miss Ellen E has been blogging over at Miscellany of Musings for three years now. She has given in to the latest makeover craze and has decided to use her Twitter nom-de-plume as her nom-de-blog: so, Miss Ellen E is now the Idle Rambler.

I have to admit, rather shamefacedly, that the play on words completely passed me by. "Miss Ellen E" = "Miscellany!" I suspect that this was because, in my mental processes, I shortened it to Miss Ellie, and just thought of Dallas. There. That's aged me.

Consecration Through Mary To Jesus...

About four years ago, I renewed my Consecration to Mary according to the method given by St. Louis de Montfort.

Not to be undertaken lightly, there are 12 days of preparation before the actual preparation begins, followed by a further three weeks. It was supposed to be an annual thing for me, but, while the spirit is willing, the flesh basically suffers from a combination of inertia and amnesia.

The Good Counsel Network is doing its best to encourage more people to make the Consecration this year. If we start tomorrow (20th February) then the day of Consecration is March 25th, which is, of course, the Feast of the Annunciation. There's nothing like doing things together as a group to help with motivation and perseverance...

Twitch of the mantilla to the Ecumenical Diablogger for highlighting the campaign!

I Never Thought I'd Say This...

...on two counts, actually!

Firstly, I never thought I'd agree with anything Cristina Odone had to say.

Secondly, I  dislike hype. Screaming fans are, for me, a turn off. Added to which I'm not really into pop music. My students, fascinated by the fact that I will burst into song at the drop of a hat, are flummoxed when they discover that I have no idea who the latest music sensation actually is.

However, it seems that teenage heart-throb, Justin Bieber, has spoken out against abortion, declaring, "It's like killing a baby!"

I still can't quite bring myself to listen to any of his music. But I shall be rather less scathing when the girls at school confess to being "Beliebers" !

A twitch of the mantilla to Bones.

It Has Been Two Weeks...

...I haven't posted anything about the kittens for two weeks, and I know that my two kittens have a great fan base out in the blogosphere! It has been wonderful to watch them develop.

Miaowrini (the younger of the two) is still rather skittish and clumsy, though less so than before. She hasn't fallen in either the bath or the toilet again. Furretti is far better co-ordinated, and is much more poised and elegant compared to Miaowrini.

I recently bought a replacement microwave, and, instead of getting rid of the box immediately, I thought I'd let the kittens play...

Furretti also loves playing with my pens... especially if I'm trying to use them...

...and Miaowrini is getting better at jumping on shelves...

Both kittens have discovered the kitchen surfaces - up until now these have (surprisingly) been kitten-free zones. I have had to put a large, heavy box in front of the catflap to discourage accidents - this is in the kitchen window, and they hadn't spotted it before. They are taking more of an interest in what is going on outside - sitting on the window ledge and looking out - and much excitement ensued when a neighbouring cat strolled past the window.

I shall be letting them out before too long...

Common Sense Has Prevailed For Once...

Pro-life groups appear to be delighted with today's High Court judgement on the proposal to allow women to take misoprostol, used in conjunction with the chemical abortion drug RU486, at home rather than in hospital.

Quite apart from the need to fight any attempts to make abortion seem as routine and unworthy of notice as taking a course of antibiotics,* I think that this is a victory for common sense. The horrendous consequences of taking this drug have been drastically downplayed by the media and the abortion providers.

Consider the following:

Firstly, the nature of the drug means that the woman must undergo her abortion over the course of a number of days. Even the president of the original makers of RU486 said “The woman must live with this for a full week. This is an appalling psychological ordeal” (Edouard Sakiz, chairman, Roussel-Uclaf, August 1990.)

Secondly, the woman would be likely to abort at home and suffer the distress of seeing the expelled embryo/foetus, which she would be required to keep and return to the hospital or clinic to help determine if the abortion is complete.

Furthermore, the side effects of misoprostol/RU486 include haemorrhages possibly requiring a blood transfusion, severe pain requiring strong pain killers, incomplete abortion, rupture of the uterus, vaginal bleeding, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, muscle weakness, dizziness, flushing, chills, backache, difficulty in breathing, chest pain, palpitations, rise in temperature and fall in blood pressure.

This is hardly the impression that was being conveyed to the public when the proposal was being put before the High Court. The convenience and privacy of taking the drug at home was all that was mentioned.

So, as I said, a real victory for common sense. It is also a victory for women, who shouldn't be tricked into thinking that abortion is a simple solution to contraceptive failure. Congratulations must go to SPUC who did so much to highlight the dangers inherent in the use of this drug.

*Actually, I suspect that the abortion pill would have been given out much more freely than a course of antibiotics. Bacteria can fight back against the drugs used to kill them. Babies can't!

Catholic Herald Up For Award...

The Catholic Herald is up for "Best Catholic Newspaper" - none of the other British Catholic papers are in the running - hardly a surprise! The Herald is far and away the best paper in the UK, especially with Luke Coppen as editor and Anna Arco as their chief feature writer.

In any event, if you want to vote, you can do so HERE.

Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. Tim.

Happy St. Valentine's Day...? Perhaps Not...

Girls, be warned! Fr. Z has given advertising space to the schmucks at the Bronx Zoo who think that naming a Madagascan hissing cockroach after one's beloved is a cool St. Valentine's Day gift.

To be fair, Fr. Z did warn that the hissing sound might be the vase flying towards the giver's head...

Reading his post, I can say with all honesty that I am profoundly grateful I'm not likely to get any St. Valentine's Day presents...