Beginning of Lent

We had a beautiful, albeit small, gathering to celebrate Forgiveness Vespers. Beforehand, the four of us went out for dinner. Hibi got to choose where, because Paul wasn't able to make it for dinner for her birthday, so this was a birthday dinner. She chose Ethiopian food, which we've discovered in the last year and love. If you eat vegetarian Ethiopian food, you also are eating vegan, since they don't use dairy or eggs in their cooking. Which makes for an interesting pre-Forgiveness Sunday dinner--usually I try to eat as much dairy before church, and then during the service when we're changing over to Lent, I feel weird because I still have a cheesy taste in my mouth. But not tonight!

While we were eating dinner, we were talking about the Clean Monday retreat that Paul is going to be leading tomorrow at Camp Angelos, which is only about half an hour from here. Paul was trying to figure out where he could get some inexpensive notebooks to give out, so people could make notes if they wanted to. But buying "inexpensive" at the expense of people in Taiwan who work for pennies wasn't his goal. Then Hibi had an idea. We could make them ourselves! We had books of fabric samples that we bought at SCRAP for Zac's party, and I was going to use the rest for little bags for my homemade soap. But they are the perfect size to put around a few pages of folded-in-half paper. And, while I sure didn't think I was buying a sewing machine to sew notebooks, I did just buy one because I like to keep one on hand for repairs and to make simple things like the invisibility cloak I made for Hibi. But we used it tonight for sewing the notebooks. Here's how we did it (and it was definitely a family project!) We took three or four pieces of nice, 8x11 paper and folded them in half. Paul cut fabric to cover with just a bit of overlap. I sewed them down the crease in the paper, down the middle of the opened notebook. Zac then trimmed any threads. They're very rough, with non-hemmed (and raveling) edges, but they'll do for jotting a few thoughts down.

We were starting to glue the end papers to the fabric, but found that a. it wasn't sticking very well and b. the paper was getting wet and it just wasn't working. So, we'll just leave it as is.

I think that anyone could benefit from a trip to SCRAP, just to see the creative ideas they have for re-using. I was thinking today, as I brought my plastic cup home from eating kolliva in at church, that I could wash it and save it along with other kolliva cups and take them and donate them to SCRAP, because someone would be able to use them. Or, I could start bringing a small bowl and spoon with me to church, for kolliva and snacks, and a mug for coffee, then that's one serving less of disposables that will be thrown away. Paul was talking about the gospel of the feeding of the five thousand, how one of the gospels tells that Jesus told the disciples to take up all the remains of food, so that none should be lost.

I hope you all (who are observing) have a wonderful, blessed Lent. On this Sunday of Forgiveness, please forgive me of any wrong I have done to any of you.