Church Rat or Siberian Hamster?

For a second day the snow was not falling but the compacted snow was rock hard and the roads treacherous. Sara decided to sleep on and so I set off for All Saints Church on my own, on foot, once I'd hoisted the New Zealand flag for New Zealand Day. The snow was well compacted as I gingerly walked across the field towards the school. As I reached Winterslow Primary School, Jill came by in her 4x4 and gave me a lift up to the church. We arrived early and were offered coffee - an unusual event as coffee is usually only served after the service. It had been discovered that the Codlington Door at the back of the church had been badly damaged - gnawed by a rat (or was it a Siberian Hamster which is more used to this kind of weather) and that it had managed to get to the food crate for the Trussell Trust. In fact it had gnawed its way across the top of the crate until it discovered some Scotts porage oats which it burrowed into and consumed. The service today, which was led by Linda, was a praise service and being Education Sunday was attended by quite a number of school children and their parents. I returned home across the field between the church and the rec. accompanied by the sound of machine gun fire away on Salisbury Plain. It was all rather surreal and must have been something similar to what the citizens of Leningrad experienced during their siege - snow, cold and firearms. Once home I made several attempts to release my car from the icy grip of the frozen snow - all to no avail. Following an excellent lunch of roast chicken cooked by Sara I made further attempts before Eddie came and assisted me. Eventually I got the car out of the drive and onto the road at the top. I then helped him shovel away the icy snow from our neighbour's drive. Job done, a hot bath beckoned. We then all went to Klynn and Susan's for an informal worship service at their house. We sang a few songs around the piano, which Nicola played, and had some reading and prayers. It was a lovely warm informal setting for worship. Once home I cooked us all a vegetable curry and phoned my mother in Grimsby. She seemed to be better and much relieved that she thought that the doctor may have found something wrong with her blood and is sending her to see a consultant. All other recent tests have proved negative. She believes that all her pain is blood-borne and with father having died from leukaemia is often likening her illnesses to his. She will be seeing the consultant next week and will hopefully know more then. At this stage it is difficulty to know what, if anything, is wrong. Off to Dorking tomorrow morning if the weather behaves, with the afternoon off in Brighton.