Family Day Tomorrow,

[Caran]

I suppose I mean later today. Can't do Sunday as all grandchildren have rugby and football matches , so it's a three line whip we all go out for Mother's Day on Saturday. SIL has come up with Prinknash Abbey followed by a Chinese takeaway. Any thoughts on going there. We've not been before so not sure what to expect.

[Barsel]

We are doing Saturday instead of Sunday for different reasons so it looks like Mothers Day will be spent on my own :-( x

[bunkmoreland]

I've never been to Prinknash Abbey,but over 10 years ago,I picked up the most gorgeous little hand thrown simple jug,at a car boot sale,for £1. The stamp on the bottom was Prinknash Abbey. If I lived near there,i would definetely visit based on the simple classiness of that little jug;-)

[Buenchico]

According to the website, you'll be able to stock up on rosary beads and incense:
http://www.prinknashabbey.org/

Couldn't your SIL have found a religious institution where the monks actually produce booze? Shame on her!
;-)

[Caran]

Son in law not sister in law Chris!

[Buenchico]

Even worse then if it's a fella that can't sniff out the monastic alcohol!
;-)

[bunkmoreland]

Looks as if they're not doing pottery any more then! Cancel my idea!

[Caran]

We are not really impressed with his choice but he was thrown in the deep end.
He's not good at this type of thing. So we will go along with it. Hopefully it will not rain.

[Buenchico]

PS: I should, of course, have worked out that (in view of the presence of your grandchildren) 'SIL' was more likely to mean 'son-in-law' rather than 'sister-in-law' but I'm currently handicapped by a bottle of rather nice (and ridiculous cheap) Merlot. Hic!

[1ozzy]

You had me very worried for a moment, Mothers day is in May over here, phew.
Minor panic avoided ;-)

[Buenchico]

I bought a Father's Day card for my Dad in Adelaide, 1ozzy, only to then realise that I needn't have panicked over nearly missing the day because it was still months away in the UK ;-)

[Caran]

Hope you enjoyed the Merlot Chris. I'm off now up the wooden hills to bedfordshire so I bid you goodnight.

[Jackdaw33]

Mothering Sunday, also called Refreshment Sunday, is the 4th Sunday in Lent when some gentle respite from Lenten discipline is allowed before the rigours of Passiontide.

[Buenchico]

Goodnight, Caran. Sleep well.

(And if you're in Asda, look out for their 'La Moneda' Chilean Merlot. It's under £4 a bottle but worth far more!)

;-)

[Buenchico]

>>>Mothering Sunday, also called Refreshment Sunday, is the 4th Sunday in Lent . . .

But it originally had nothing to do with celebrating female parents. It related to Christian believers' 'mother church', not to their parents.

[Jackdaw33]

You are correct, it was adopted as such by analogy. In the late lamented Book of Common Prayer the Epistle for that Sunday speaks of, 'The heavenly Jerusalem above which is the mother of us all', hence Mothering Sunday, whilst the Gospel appointed to be read tells of the feeding of the five thousand, hence Refreshment Sunday. I know you don't do religion; I am not preaching, merely giving the background to the terminology.

[Buenchico]

>>>I know you don't do religion; I am not preaching, merely giving the background to the terminology

Well I can hardly complain, can I? After all it was me that referred to the origins of the term in the first place!

(Yes, I 'don't do' religion but that doesn't mean that I've got no interest in the etymology of terms with religious backgrounds!)

[Jackdaw33]

Fairy Nuff. It's just that I have found that when trying to explain something on this site from an historical, religious or etymological viewpoint some people immediately chip in with cries of, 'fascist, bigot, deluded believer &c'. Explanation does not indicate an acceptance of what is said, in my view.

[1ozzy]

I haven't had that much education on a Saturday afternoon in a long time.
Thank you to both of you.

And I thought it was just another retailers day in disguise ;-)

[Buenchico]

>>>And I thought it was just another retailers day in disguise

That could only apply if, for example, the retailers decided to move the date from where it appears in the religious calendar to where it suits their convenience, but nobody would actually do that, would they?

Oh, hang on a moment, they seem to have done it in somewhere called . . . Australia ;-)

[Jackdaw33]

No, Ozzy. Mothering Sunday is centuries old. The retail offshoots are Fathers' Day, Grandmas' Day, Doggies' Day, Pussycats' Day and all the rest.