Update on the letter posted here just before Easter.

Having resurrected my blog (sorry, maybe not a particularly apt term given the Liturgical season in which we find ourselves!) to post what I felt was an important letter, I feel I ought to just give a brief update for the sake of my reader and anyone else who might have been on a desert island or in some other way out of touch with things recently.

The letter was published in the Catholic Herald online and you can read it and the full list of names here.  You can also read an update of the situation on Ben Trovato's blog here and here and here.

Both these sites are of course well worth checking regularly anyway for their excellent articles. Plus naturally all the other blogs listed who published the letter and joined the appeal for signatures.

Now, I have been moved to remember how on earth this blog works (it took me a little while to remember how to access certain settings etc.) who knows, maybe I might feel tempted to post the odd item on here in the future . . . ?

In support of our priests, our families and our Church . . .

I haven't posted anything on this blog for 18 months but here is something that I feel can't be ignored  . . . 

Today, this blog and others are taking part in a somewhat unprecedented event. This post is going to appear on a good number of lay blogs in the UK, in an attempt to demonstrate the depth of support among the laity, for authentic Catholic teaching as expressed in the Magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church.

You may have seen the recent letter from more than 450 priests in support of the Church’s teaching on marriage.

We would like to invite you to sign the letter below, to be sent to the press in support of them, and to encourage others to sign it.

To sign, please leave your name and your diocese in the comments box below, or if you prefer email them to me or to one of the coordinators:
Mark Lambert (mark@landbtechnical.com) or Andrew Plasom-Scott (andrewplasom_scott@me.com)

We hope to demonstrate a groundswell of support for the priests who have stood firmly by us and Christ, a love of the Church, and a desire for sound doctrine and catechesis.

The Letter:


Dear Sir,

We, the undersigned, wish to endorse and support the letter signed by over 450 priests in the recent edition of the Catholic Herald.

As laity, we all know from our own family experiences, or those of our friends and neighbours, the harrowing trauma of divorce and separation, and we sympathise with all those in such situations.

It is precisely for that reason that we believe that the Church must continue to proclaim the truth about marriage, given us by Christ in the Gospels, with clarity and charity in a world that struggles to understand it.

For the sake of those in irregular unions, for the sake of those abandoned and living in accordance with the teachings of the Church, and above all for the sake of the next generation, it is essential that the Church continues to make it quite clear that sacramental marriage is indissoluble until death.

We pray, and expect, that our hierarchy will represent us, and the Church’s unwavering teaching, at the Synod this autumn.

Yours faithfully, 

Bye - been nice knowing you . . . And thanks for everything . .

I've been toying the with the idea of closing this blog for ages. I hardly every write anything on it nowadays. It seems a bit pointless to just add some inane post once in a blue moon merely to keep the illusion of being an active blogger.

I really enjoyed it when I began but really feel I have nothing useful to add at the moment.

If I feel moved to ever start blogging again, I think I would rather start afresh with a completely new blog, probably with different content.

I have really appreciated the support from other bloggers. I know one or two have even kindly added my blog to their blog rolls so obviously now is the time to remove the link. Thanks.

I'll still be around on Twitter @idlerambler and promise to keep checking on all the blogs of those I have always followed.

Back again - maybe . . .

It's almost 5 months since I posted anything on this blog, and I'd more or less decided that my blogging days were over, at least for a long while but it seems that there have been several occasions recently when I've been thinking, 'Oh, I could have blogged about that'.

So, I thought I'd just make contact again with the blogosphere and see if anyone out there still remembers me . . .

I have always said that this is not a Catholic blog but rather a blog written by someone who happens to be a Catholic.

I started this blog originally as way of communicating and sharing news with friends and family, especially as we have a lot of family in far-flung parts and don't see much of them.

Looking back, I noticed that I was blogging more and more about my faith and religion-related items. I think this is probably related to the way I'm becoming increasingly 'engaged' with my faith and what is happening locally and universally in the Catholic Church.

Recently, I've joined a group of people praying the Angelus (or Regina Caeli) on Twitter. No, I haven't lost my marbles. It really does happen and is very prayerful and supportive to know that others are praying with you.

Interestingly, I looked back at some of my old posts and found that I have posted about the Angelus at least once a year for the past few years. If you click on the Angelus label underneath this post you'll see the posts in question. No great theological insights just my thoughts at that particular time.

I think I will try and post a bit more often again. This is not going to suddenly turn into a 'Catholic blog' after all but I reserve the right to post now and again on a 'Catholic' or 'Religious topic'

There will still, I hope, be room for quite random posts and of course for garden-related ones too, although the garden has been sadly neglected of late.

I think that's enough for now and I must go and get ready for the Regina Caeli . . .

Updating my blog list . . .

I have just discovered that this little blog appears on the blog list of two other Catholic bloggers.

I naturally wish to repay the compliment and have thus now added two more excellent blogs to my own list. Do please pop over to Porta Caeli and Linen on the Hedgerow and see what they have to say.

New kid on the block . . .

This is a bit of a name-check post!

Thanks to Elizabeth of Sussex for her comment on Mac's blog Mulier Fortis in which she recommends this blog by Charlie J.

It's called Chasubles and Chalices. Go and check it out.

It's the first blog of its kind that I've seen by anyone under 21. Great blog, Charlie!

That's all I wanted to say, really.

Name Change . . .

It seems to be the period for changes and updates of blogs judging by the new layouts which are appearing.

I started this blog three years ago and I wanted a 'nom de blog' which went with the title and made some sort of sense so I decided upon Miss Ellen E. (A play on words of the title - Miscellany . . . ).

Although I thought it glaringly obvious, I was surprised to realise that not everyone 'got it' straight away.

I've always thought it didn't quite fit, however, as I'm a married women with grown-up children, and the Miss part always sounded false to me.

I do however wish to retain my anonymity for the sake of my family as much as for me so I've decided to use my Twitter name of Idle Rambler to sign my blog posts from now on. There again it was a bit silly to have two separate IDs for the same person so finally the two have become one!

I hope you'll still pop in now and again to see what this particular Idle Rambler is up to. I must confess lately I've been 'idling' a lot more than 'rambling'. Hopefully as the weather improves I'll be tempted to don the old walking boots a bit more often and post some photos of the lovely sights I've seen on my wanderings.

Blogging break . . .

Hi yo'all,

Just to let you know I'm taking a blogging break.

I don't think I'll be back in a hurry so please feel free to remove me from your blogroll.

As it's only a few days away I'll wish anyone who pops by, a very Blessed Advent.

A new game . . .

Thanks to the link on Fr Tim Finigan's blog to the photos of the recent LMS Requiem Mass posted on Joseph Shaw's Flickr stream, I've just spent a happy few moments playing one of my favourite games - 'Spot Our Eldest'.

Thanks are due of course also to Joseph Shaw, LMS Chairman, for taking and posting the photos.

Our Eldest tries to attend all the LMS events which are held in London as it's easily accessible by train from here. I always have a look to see if I can spot him in the crowd. I'm just a typical proud Mum, at heart.

If you'd like to see more of the photos, follow the link on Fr Tim's blog or go direct here.

Social Media . . .

Browsing through my Twitter timeline this evening, I noticed a link to another interesting post on Matthew Warner's blog.

In his post, he gives a list of insights based on recent statistics on social media published via a Youtube video.

Of the twelve items in Matthew's list, whilst all of them were interesting, some of them struck a particularly chord with me. (My comments in blue)

Over 50% of the world is under the age of 30.

i.e. What the young people in the Church are doing, how they are communicating, how well we are catechized and how authentic our lives are…matters…a lot.

'How well we are catechised and how authentic our lives are . . . matters . . . a lot.' How right he is. I think one of the best ways that all of us can help our young people is to be a good example of what it means to be a Catholic today. This means not only practising our faith but being informed about it and prepared to answer questions about what we believe and why.

iPod/iPhone applications hit 1 billion downloads in 9 months.

How many of them were Catholic apps? How many were made by Catholics? How many were actually good? Also - I’d love to see some creative and entertaining Catholic apps made by Catholics come out. Not just ones with lists of prayers (those are good, too, though).

I have just checked the apps on my iPhone. I have 68 (I was surprised to find it was so many!) in total at the moment and of them 9 of them are Catholic, mainly reference or liturgy/Divine Office based. I think all the Catholic apps I have are excellent and I use some of them daily.

The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 yr old females.

I thought this was one of the most interesting stats. While Facebook and other social media platforms are currently dominated by younger people, that is quickly changing.

Well, I guess I'm one of those 55-65 year-old females! What Matthew doesn't mention is that often once we 'oldies' latch onto something like this, it tends to make it less popular with younger people. After all, how many youngsters want to be associated with something that their parents, and even their grandparents are getting into? I don't know if this is the case with Facebook or not. It will be interesting to see if it can manage to keep its appeal for the youth at the same time as attracting a wider age-range of users.

Britney Spears has more twitter followers than the entire population of Israel, Ireland, Norway or Sweden.
How many spiritual leaders or positive role models get this kind of attention? Sad. But also an opportunity.

I would say there is definitely a Catholic presence on Twitter. In addition to many individuals, the Catholic press and Hierarchy are well represented. It seems to go hand in hand with blogging. Most bloggers are now on Twitter, I've noticed.

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.

How many Catholic videos are on there? How many have been viewed more than 18 times? How many are well-done and a good representation of our Catholic faith?

There are many Catholic videos on YouTube. Some of them are very well done, especially those produced in America, I've noticed, but there's certainly room for a lot more, and some are pretty dire but then again so are a lot of the other videos on YouTube.

Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. Decades from now (if not already) we will look back on this time as just that, a fundamental shift in the way information is shared and communities are nurtured. Will the Catholic Church be one of the shining examples of success? Or one of the laggers-behind?

Sorry, this has turned out to be quite a long post but do go on over and have a look at Fallible Blogma to see the whole list. It makes interesting reading.

Just musin' . . .

Firstly, apologies both for the lateness of yesterday's posting and its length.

I think it should really have been two separate posts but I was having such a battle with our Internet connection that I was just relieved to be able to finally publish it!

In between waiting for the router to decide to connect us with the Internet and pulling my hair out, I began thinking about blogging in general.

Why do I blog and who is it for? . . . I think the answer is really that I do it for myself.

I began this blog as a sort of online diary mainly aimed at family living overseas as we have a lot of family spread over different continents. As some of them found it difficult to cope with the password system I had set up to keep the blog fairly private, I decided to 'go public' as it was the only way they could read it. This changed the nature of the blog somewhat as I am not comfortable posting photos of our family that are open to all or writing about them in ways that would easily identify them. (I should add, members of our family were themselves also not happy about this).

Gradually, the blog seemed to take on a life of its own and I found myself talking about my faith and referring to parish events or the Catholic Church in general. I have never pretended that this is a serious Catholic blog. If you like, you could say it is a Catholic blog, merely because the author is a practising Catholic.

Sometimes, however, I have found myself discarding a topic that I was going to blog about in case someone disapproved of it, or even feeling that I really ought to write a few lines about something that would be particularly relevant to Catholic readers. I don't want to feel under any pressure to either write or not write in a particular way so I think what I'm trying to say is . . .

This is my blog and it reflects who I am. If you like to read it, great but if you don't think it's serious enough; is too serious; is too miscellaneous in content; is not Catholic enough or is too Catholic for your taste then that's fine too.

I won't be offended if I am removed from anybody's blog roll. I'll continue to read blogs that interest me and comment when I have something to say.

Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest.

So what have you been doing all this time?

I've been trying to think what has been keeping me from blogging recently. What exactly have I been doing with myself?

Well, I didn't queue for hours to buy one of these . . .

Though I did spend a while downloading the new Version 4 software so my home screen now looks something like this . . .


Much as it is needed, I can't say I've spent that much time looking after these . . .


I have watched some of this . . .



And I have been doing a fair bit of this . . .

But no more than usual.

Do you remember this old song? I think this sums it up pretty well!

Well, I never! . . .

Someone gave me an award! Thank you very much Breadgirl over at Last Welsh Martyr for giving my little blog a Sunshine Award. It may not be the Nobel Peace Prize, an Oscar or an Oxbridge First but it's very much appreciated nevertheless.

We all need encouragement and things like this really pick you up.

Now comes the hard part; it's payback time and this is what I have to do now:

The rules are as follows:

1. Post the logo on your blog and/or within the post.
Check!

2. Pass it on to 12 other bloggers.

Not quite so easy; I follow lots of different blogs but it's not always easy to tell who'll appreciate light-hearted things like this so I hope I don't offend anyone by nominating them. I hope they'll also consider it as much of a compliment as I did.

3. Add links to these 12 bloggers within your blog.
Here goes;

Mulier Fortis

Mother's Pride

Catholicmumof10militant

Libera Me

Time for Reflections

Catholic with Attitude

Veni Sancte Spiritus

In Hoc Signo Vinces

Mrs Pogle's World

The Eyes in Which I See the World

Drawn to Catholicism

Campionist

4. Let them know they are receiving the award.
Check!

5. Share the link of the person from whom you received the award.

Check! Good, all done, now I can relax and bask in the knowledge that I've done my bit and that it's comments that make the blogosphere go round.

In case you were wondering . . .

In case you were wondering . . .

I'm just taking a little blogging break. I'll be back soon.

Quarant'Ore . . .

I'm very grateful to Dominic Mary of Libera me Domine not just for this super picture of the Quarant'Ore at The London Oratory but also for the encouragement to go along and take advantage of this great opportunity for prayer in such a beautiful church.

I'd been thinking I might use my day off to go up to Victoria and visit the Cathedral and nearby bookshops so his post just came at the right time for me.

I had a super day out. The weather has been so much kinder recently and it was great to walk around London without having to fight against a biting wind or driving rain.

I timed my outing just right. Setting off in my own time after the morning rush, I got to The Oratory in time for a good period of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and then was able to move to one of the side chapels for Mass (Novus Ordo, Ad Orientem, for those of you who are interested in this sort of detail) before making my way back to Victoria and on home. Naturally, there were also coffee-stops and window-shopping to fit in along the way!

There are so many situations and people that I wanted to pray for, it was great to have this chance today. Needless to say, I included all my blogging friends in those prayers.

It's not too late to go along yourself - the Quarant'Ore finishes tomorrow with Benediction at 7pm. For more information have a look at the Oratory website.

Westminster Cathedral was looking quite magnificent in the afternoon sunshine and the piazza was relatively quiet so I couldn't resist taking a photo. Sorry, I'm not proficient enough to be able to fit all of the tower in the picture without standing in the middle of the road!

One Word Comment - a 'meme' of sorts . . .

As seen on Mulier Fortis' blog.

Please be kind in your comments. I'm a fragile little thing and don't handle abuse well! :0)

"Let's see how forthcoming my blog buddies are. Leave a ONE word comment that you think best describes me. It can only be one word. No more than one word. Then copy & paste this post on your blog so I can leave a word about you. This should be interesting."

Coincidence . . .

I've spent a little time recently exploring a few blogs that I haven't come across before.

They've probably been out there for a long time but I'm beginning to notice how many young Catholics there are 'out there' blogging about their faith - and how well they do it too - it puts me to shame to see how articulate they are when writing about their experiences. I struggle to put my thoughts into words and I'm sure I would certainly have not have been anyway near as 'clued up' as these young people are when I was 'just a girl'.

By a strange coincidence, I've come across two blogs written by young women in America and both have written about their preference for wearing a mantilla. See here and here.

Is this something that is to be found more in the US, I wonder? Is it only in 'traditional' parishes or when attending Mass in the Extraordinary Form? I don't think I've ever come across anyone under the age of about 45-50 in our parish wearing a mantilla. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with this. I think it's great that young people feel so strongly about their faith that they have decided to adopt this outward sign of their humility before God.

I personally don't feel the need to cover my head but I can understand and respect the feelings of those who do. Maybe, it's because, as a convert, I wasn't brought up with the practice. Talking to friends of my age who were at Catholic schools, they seem to look back fondly at wearing a mantilla at Mass when they were schoolgirls.

I just can't see it happening in our parish. These young women must be very strong characters to be prepared to stand out amongst their peers as I can't imagine it is the norm, even in the US.

What do you think?

Wasting time - again!

Saturday afternoons can go either way for me - either I am very industrious and spend hours in front of the ironing board listening to the football on Five Live until my ironing basket is empty . . . or . . . as was the case today, I spend ages messing about doing nothing in particular until I suddenly realise it's time I thought about preparing a meal for 'the troops' - oops!

I came across this fun quiz on Molly's blog 'Faith of a Convert' - a new one for me. I find it very encouraging that there are so many young Catholic bloggers out there. Anyway, I haven't posted a quiz for a while so I thought I'd do this one.

I hope you have a go yourself. I'm not sure what the men are supposed to do - maybe there's a 'Which Jane Austen Hero are You?' out there somewhere.

Take the Quiz here!

Go forth and blog . . . .

Many Catholic bloggers have commented on the Holy Father's recent comments about the 'new media' and his encouragement to priests to embrace these new forms of communication (including blogs) and to use them in their ministry to spread the Word and to uphold the teaching of the Church. Fr Tim Finigan, as to be expected, has an excellent post on the subject.

In fact, most of the blogs that I follow have commented in some way. I won't link to all of them here but you can see what I mean by a glance at my Blog List.

I just wanted to add a few words from a different perspective. As a lay person, since I discovered the 'blogosphere', I have gained so much from reading blogs, both those of 'blogging clergy' and laity.

I have been introduced to aspects of my faith and the teaching of the Church that I doubt if I would ever have come across otherwise. I'm sure I'm not the only person who would say this, so I would like to record my thanks to all those who take the time in what is usually a very busy life to write a blog. The Holy Father, as usual, is spot-on!

If ever you feel, it's not worthwhile, your time could be better used doing something else; who reads it anyway? or any other discouraging thoughts, I assure you that there will always be someone who has gained a lot by your posting.

Finally, as well as the many excellent, learned blogs by priests, religious and laity, I also think there is a place for blogs from what I call 'simple, ordinary Catholics' like myself. Just by seeing that other people have the same struggles and difficulties, the same joys and hopes, and that they are trying to live their faith in their every day life, is also beneficial. It's good to know you're not alone.

OK, enough rambling now.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening . . .

'Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening' . . . One of those poems that you learn at school and are stuck in your mind for ever . It felt just like that going for a walk this afternoon.

The poor old birds on our local pond were struggling find a bit of unfrozen water.

Lovely Christmas card shots for next year!

The entrance to our road on the way home. I don't think I'll be driving to work tomorrow, somehow.

No, dear reader, you're quite right . . . my hibernation didn't last long after all. I suppose we humans are not really cut out for it. It sounded like a good idea but I couldn't resist wrapping up and going out for a walk in all that beautiful unspoilt snow I could see from the window.

I'm sure it won't be so much fun tomorrow when the reality of not being able to get from A to B really sinks in.

I expect everyone is writing 'snow posts' today but the scenery is so beautiful it demands it.