Category: Other cool stuff

Do rugs really move around by themselves?

Other cool stuff

This is a science experiment that my four year old son has wanted to do for ages. We have a rug in the bedroom that seems to walk across the floor while we are not looking.  We know it does this, and I am fairly sure I know how (it’s to do with the pressure of feet on the rug crushing the pile of the carpet beneath, which then gradually straightens up again, moving the rug very slightly.  The direction of movement will be consistent because it’s due to the the direction of the pile of the carpet, rather than the direction people were walking over it.

So, here’s the experiment, which my son devised pretty much all by himself:

I have two 5kg weights that I use very occasionally in an attempt to be strong and healthy.  We have put them at one end of the rug to weight it down, and we’ve used stickers on the carpet to mark the rug’s starting position.  We plan to mark the new position of the carpet first thing in the morning every day, to see whether the rug still walks in a straight line, or whether the weights stop one end from moving so that it starts to move in a circle, with the weighted end as a fixed point.

We only started today, but early results are suggesting that circular motion is likely.  My science-mad son is very excited about this, and I’m really proud of him for not only enjoying the wonder of small things, nor even just because he longs to understand them, but because the understanding only increases his sense of wonder.

Authorised Lay Ministry final day

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Here are some of the wonderful peopple who have been training as worship leaders, youth ministers, children’s ministers, pastoral assistants, and various other ministries. It’s great to see such a diverse bunch of people all energised by the desire to be part of what God is doing in the world, and to hear from some of them about the good things that have been taking root and growing around the Diocese. Super stuff.

Surreal moments in worship

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Apologies to those of you who have seen this through twitter and facebook, but I felt I had to share with the world a beautifully surreal moment during our midweek Eucharist service this morning in Buckden.

It’s a BCP service. There’s three of us there.  We’ve had the creed, and reached the offertory.  This is generally the moment when bread and wine are brought to the altar. 

Today, however, at that moment the church door opens and a man walks in carrying a large parcel.  He strides confidently all the way down the nave, and all the way down the chancel (it’s a sizeable church).  I stand at the altar, and he comes straight up to me, and says, ‘Ive got a parcel for you.’  I think, ‘Yes, I can see that.’  I invite him to put it down on the sedilla (the little alcove seats built into the sanctuary wall) and he shows me where to sign for it.  I sign.  He nods politely, turns and walks all the way back to the door, closing it quietly behind him.

We pause for a moment, and then continue with the service as if nothing has happened. 

Now, the question is, how did he manage to time it for the offertory?

By the way, the parcel contained a man hole cover for the church extension.

Tea party season has begun!

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Here are the good folk of Offord Women’s Guild and Baptist Fellowship. We’ve just enjoyed reading from Stephen Cottrell’s ‘Do nothing to change your life’ and sung some hymns, and I’m about to indulge in an egg sandwich and some dropscones. Bring it on!