Traffic and Traffik

I awoke this morning on the lounge sofa at 7 a.m. feeling rather uncomfortable. Having watched Auf Wiedersehen Pet I stayed downstairs wrapped up in a sleeping blanket as I didn't want to disturb Sara and felt too tired to move anyway. I realised that I was due in Dorking again today so got up promptly, made tea and mustered the troops. Tom was up but both Mary and Sara were sound asleep. I showered and set off for Dorking, giving Tom a left to the bus stop for his school bus. I arrive in Dorking at around 9.30 a.m. and bought a coffee for each of me and my team and a toasted bacon sandwich additionally for me. I had no appointments in my diary so spent the day at my desk dealing with paperwork and assisting Belinda on a couple of problems. I broke with my normal routine today and had lunch with the managers. During the course of the day I educated Ann on the "evils" of the Mars bar and she is now considering only eating fair trade chocolate. Hopefully another convert to the Stop the Traffik campaign. I returned home by way of the A31. The traffic around Farnham was absolutely dreadful and I got home at around 7.30 p.m. with just half an hour to spare before the House Group started. Tonight we had Max, Ivan, Duncan, Sylvia and Klynn. We might have had more but there was a Team Council Meeting tonight too. We started off on our journey with The Apprentice and we all agreed that the camera work on the DVD was appalling and detracted from the messages being spoken. Although it was meant to be an artistic way of portraying the subject matter, the stop/start, focus/out of focus, zoom in/zoom out techniques used were irritating and most of us viewing it had to close our eyes - disappointing when you think the DVD is an integral part of the study material. We had some lively debate and listened to two songs too - one a praise song and the other a contemplative prayer type piece. I hope it was a success although the subject is quite heavy when done in an analytical way. Klynn stayed behind for a couple of glasses of Jameson Whiskey and we chatted about Stop the Traffik. I felt extremely tired when he left and Sara went to bed at 11.30 p.m. I am now feeling incredibly tired and will close. At least I am only in Salisbury tomorrow.

Mission Giving

Back to Dorking today for the first time in a week. The traffic seemed relatively light for a Wednesday morning and I was in the office just after 9.00 a.m. There was a pile of paperwork for me to attend to including finalising the monthly report. I carried on working through my lunch hour on some International matters as I wanted to leave quite promptly this evening to get back for a meeting of our Mission Giving Group at our house. On the way home I phoned Mum to see how she was as I have been so busy over these last few days that I hadn't phoned her as usual on Sunday night. She said she was fine although some of the pain she had been experiencing with her polymyalgia rheumatica had returned. She has had all the garden fencing replaced. Rosemary, Max, Gillian, and Cynthia attended the meeting and after much debate we decided to give larger sums to fewer charities this year - the principal ones being the Deanery Mission Project (Ethiopian children), Winterslow School, Medical Aid to the Sudan and, I am pleased to say, Stop the Traffik. This will all have to be ratified by the full PCC in due course on the 19th May. As a result of the meeting I missed watching Auf Wiedersehen Pet so stayed up late to complete this blog and watch Love Actually so that I could see the repeat of Auf Wiedersehen in the early hours of the morning. Back to Dorking again tomorrow.

Unexpected trip to London

As I recorded yesterday, instead of journeying to Dorking to work in my office there today, I drove to our Salisbury office this morning to leave my car there and take the train up to London to appear on my Company's behalf in the Royal Courts of Justice on a Directions Hearing before the Master in respect of a disputed health claim case. My assistant Belinda was due to attend but as the other side were using a barrister it was felt prudent to ask me to attend. I met up with Hilary, from our Claims Dept. in the office and we walked up to the station to catch the 9.20 a.m. train. I would have caught it at Grateley except that I discovered yesterday evening that if I had gone to Grateley to join it as originally intended, I would simply have watched it flash through that station at 70 mph! It was the fast express! The weather was fine when we arrived in London and we walked over Waterloo Bridge to the Courts. Having divested ourselves of metal and other objects and gone through the high security screening, we consulted the Daily Cause List to discover that our case wasn't actually listed. We made our way to the East Block and found that the Master to whom the case had been allocated was simply the Practice Master (PM) for the Day i.e. available for emergency and ad hoc applications only. I found the barrister on the other side in the Bear Garden (yes it is spelt as the animal not the drink!) on the phone trying to reach my assistant. Apparently the court was supposed to have written to the parties to tell us that the hearing had been postponed until Friday! However, as Master Foster was available as the PM he would hear our case (he didn't seem to have anything else to do at that moment). Thankfully, the barrister on the other side was most reasonable and we came away with a consensual order we could both live with. Having dealt with the matter so quickly I had a little time to spare in London, so used my otherwise lunch hour to visit Stop the Traffik near Waterloo Station and met with two of their staff over a mug of tea in one of their meeting rooms. Ruth would have joined us too but was still away in New York. It proved to be a most fruitful meeting. Back on the train to Salisbury and back to the office where I dealt with a number of emails which had piled up during the day as well as some emergency work from the Isle of Man. I managed to get to the gym this evening, with a full kit, for an hour before getting back home and being plunged into trying to help Sara help Tom with some linear equations - me who had to resit maths GCE!!? I have never found the need, personally, to know in my daily life what the value of x is in an equation such as 6(2x-2) = 5(1-x). Please don't even try to work it out unless you are sad! I had a bath to sooth my aching limbs (and brain?) - all that walking in London and on the gym treadmill - and then spent the evening doing my preparation for the House Group on Thursday. Tomorrow it is Dorking!

"Kitless"

It was absolutely pouring with rain when I got up this morning. We had both slept quite soundly as the fur cover on our bed was unruffled - quite unusual. I made tea and showered and threw my gym kit in the car as I intended to go down to the gym after work today. I had a short commute again to our Salisbury office and set to work on the preparation for a telephone tribunal hearing in the Exeter Employment Tribunals. I bought coffee and a sausage muffin for breakfast as I had left the house without anything to eat this morning. The hearing went very well indeed with the employment judge giving an indication to the other side that their case was going to take some convincing. This set me up in a good frame of mind for the rest of the day although all the uncertainties at work still remain in my mind. I lunched in the office restaurant with Sara - a reasonable Thai green curry and rice - thinking that this is something we will not be able to do together much longer. During the course of the afternoon I learned that a court hearing in London tomorrow was not going to be as straight forward as we had thought. My original intention had been for Belinda to appear on the Company's behalf as it seemed that the Court Order would be agreed by the other side. This was not to be the case and so it was agreed that I should represent the Company in court. I needed to get some documents emailed to me immediately and left the office at 5.30 p.m. to go to the station and get a ticket for the 9.20 a.m. train to London from Salisbury tomorrow. After stopping to get some money from the ATM at Waitrose I arrived at the gym to discover that in my haste this morning, I had failed to notice that my kit bag contained neither shirt nor shorts - only a towel and my shoes. I had to abandon the idea of gym exercise and carried on home where Sara had cooked a lovely cottage pie. Sara intended to go to the gym herself but couldn't find her gym shoes. I offered her mine (at least I knew where mine were) but she didn't feel comfortable in them - so no gym for any of us tonight! I will have to go tomorrow on my return from London. I had a lovely long chat on the telephone tonight with Mike Billington from Manchester who was telling me all about a court case he had been conducting against his son's landlord. We made a point of promising to meet up during the next convenient trip I have up to Liverpool/Manchester. It will be so good to see him again. Mike would also like to visit Salisbury to see Stonehenge and the Cathedral. He was telling me that although he had been a devout Roman Catholic and at one point had been considering a career in the church, he was now a non-believer. Sara and I watched a programme on Henry VIII presented by David Starkey and I was amazed to find out that the sarcophagus intended for King Henry VIII (originally designed for Cardinal Wolsey actually) was finally used to house the coffin of Viscount Lord Horatio Nelson in St. Paul's Cathedral (see picture).

Washing Cars

Quite a busy day today with church in the morning at 9.30 a.m. where I read the gospel (Luke 24:36-48). It was also a very special service as Mary was formally commissioned as a member of the church choir and received her RSCM collar and medallion. It was a very proud and nostalgic moment for me as a former chorister and lovely to recite the choristers' prayer with her. Immediately after the service I drove Tom up to Barry's Fields for his Clarendon football match against Laverstock. Unfortunately they lost 2-4. I did return to church briefly for coffee and a chat about tonight's Annual Parochial Council Meeting (APCM). Back home after the match, I cut the grass on the bank and mowed the rear lawn. Both looked lovely after they had been cut. Lunch was roast pork which need a little longer in the oven than Sara thought. I tried to speed up the crisping of the cracking by placing the fat under the grill resulting in the crackling being reduced to cinders for the most part. At 3 p.m. we all went over to the Village Hall armed with buckets and sponges for the Great Car Wash for Project Uganda. As part of this month's Food for Thought, we were washing cars at £5 each with the money going to Project Uganda, a village charity, to provide mosquito nets for the people of a Ugandan village. As each mosquito net (for two people) costs £5 it meant that for every car we washed we could, effectively, save two lives. In all we washed 32 cars and raised £167.50 - a really excellent achievement. I had 50 minutes to get out of my wet clothes, have a bath and get down to St. John's for the APCM at 6 p.m. I have to confess to having dozed off in the bath but still made it down to St. John's in good time. The meeting took its usual format, reports with a lively discussion about mission giving and stewardship followed by elections. I was appointed to the Alderbury Deanery Synod and thereby relinquished my elected seat on the PCC but was immediately returned to the PCC as an ex officio member by virtue of my appointment to the Deanery Synod. This I thought meant that there would be five places for five nominees for the elected positions on the PCC and that Hamish and Stephen would be elected in addition to Klynn. However, on the night, a sixth person put their name forward and Klynn withdraw his name to avoid an election. Although it is great to see Hamish and Stephen on the PCC I was quite devastated by Klynn's withdrawal. I am absolutely certain that he would have won the election but he was concerned not to deprive the others of the opportunity. The meeting ended with an annual round up of the year in slides with a few excellent ones of Sara. I wasn't too impressed with the ones of me! Klynn, Chris and I ended the evening in the Lion's Head where we discussed the meeting and the future. I am sure that Klynn will be just as effective off the PCC as being on it. I came home to find Sara watching "Desperate Housewives".

Saints Finally Relegated; but Mariners Almost Safe

At last, the misery of this year's football season drew to a close with Saints drawing their last home game against Burnley 2-2 which was not enough to prevent them starting next season in League 1 on minus 10 points. Grimsby lost their game at Bournemouth 2-1 but with Chester only managing a 2-2 draw at Aldershot, this meant that for Chester to stay up and Grimsby to go down, Chester would need to overturn a 20 goal deficit, win their last match and hope Grimsby lost. Too tall an order for any club, especially Chester, and so for all intents and purposes Grimsby will survive league football. Today started slowly again. I didn't wake up until nearly 9.00 a.m. In a role reversal, Sara brought in tea and then she and Mary went off to ballet. I went to the shop and bought bacon and rolls for breakfast. I also took the glass bottles and jars to the recycling station in the Nelson Arms car park and bought a Daily Mail. Tom and I left for Southampton at 12.30 p.m. We couldn't get parked in our normal car park and had to park in Terminus Road by the Central Bridge instead. We lunched on chips with curry sauce from our usual fish and chip shop in St. Mary's Road. The game at St. Mary's was an exciting one and the Saints players gave a performance far better than they have done for most of the season and significantly better than last week at Hillsborough. Saints could easily have one the match if David McGoldrick hadn't missed a penalty but what will be will be. It all became academic when we learned that Barnsley had held Wolves to a 1-1 draw. After the match Tom and I went to Quito's and had a Mexican meal. We also watched three giant cruise ships Tom wanted chocolate brownies for a dessert but when I enquired as to whether the chocolate was fair trade and being told it probably wasn't we skipped the desserts course - besides, we were both stuffed by now anyway. We called in on Sara and Mary at Andrea's where Sara is babysitting tonight and Tom returned to fetch Mary at 9 p.m. I sat down and wrote this blog in draft form for publication later tonight.

Faith Supper (Cheese and Wine)

No trip to the gym or swimming pool this morning so a more leisurely start to the day as I was in the Salisbury office again. I hoisted the Saints' flag to half-mast following yesterday's announcement that Southampton Football Club was to have 10 points deducted for going into administration. This means that the club will be playing in League 1 next season. I had a meeting in the office at 9 a.m. and arrived at 8.00 a.m. where I had a latte and bacon muffin to start off the day. Following my meeting I dealt with numerous emails and phone calls. I had lunch with Sara - excellent fish and chips and mushy peas - and returned to the office for more paperwork. I left at 4.45 p.m. and went to Waitrose to get cheese, wine, butter and biscuits for our House Group's cheese and wine party tonight. I had a bath and read a bit more of Steve Chalke's "The Lost Message of Jesus" before our soiree. Max, Ivan, Dawn and Klynn came - I was disappointed that it was not more - and we had a pleasant evening discussing a wide range of Christian topics including our usual chestnut of where is the church going, what are we called to do and so on. We also discussed the topic of "The Apprentice" which we intend to follow over the next 5 weeks using material acquired from Spring Harvest. We commented upon the fantastic work that Danielle Strickland has been called upon to do and find her a great inspiration. We all agreed that the House Group was an important and integral part of our church life and growth in faith and we need Nils or Elizabeth to attend one of our meetings and endorse the work we are doing. Went to bed late after having lost the first draft of this blog and having to write it again!

Saints' Day

A day of mixed emotions. Today is St. George's Day, a day when we normally celebrate our Patron Saint; but there was not much to celebrate of a Saintly nature today! I woke early and went to Five Rivers for an early morning swim - 12 lengths - before going into the office at 7.45 a.m. for a breakfast of skinny latte coffee and a bacon muffin. Absolutely delicious as I was so hungry after that exercise. I had a meeting from 8.30 a.m. until 11 a.m. to discuss a tricky health claim dispute and at lunchtime I joined Sara and three others for a Christian Fellowship Meeting where we discussed Mark's Gospel story of the quietening of the storm on Lake Galilee. Immediately afterwards it was back for a further meeting which lasted for the rest of the day. Sara tried to phone me during the meeting but I couldn't speak to her as I was tied up. When I eventually did phone her back it was for her to give me the devastating news that Southampton Football Club was being docked 10 points by the Football League which meant that the Saints would become a League 1 (third tier) football club next season and could start in August with minus 10 points. As I read later on Facebook, the fans are so angry at the way the directors and to some extent the players have been so greedy and put themselves before the fans. All we can do now is get behind the club and seek its survival - starting in League 1 with a positive viewpoint and work hard to get the club into the playoffs at least to get them back up again. Premier League football seems such a long way away now. Tom and I will go to the Burnley match on Saturday to show support and to find out if our fellow season ticket holders will be renewing too. Hopefully the cost of a season ticket will be reduced and I've promised Tom we'll try and go to more away matches too. This evening I went down to Bournemouth to attend Boscombe Lodge's St. George's Night/Sarum Night meeting and dinner. It was a most enjoyable event as it always is. Brilliant ceremony conducted by Gareth. We had a fantastic English St. George's Night supper afterwards of fresh homemade spicy oxtail soup - the best I've ever tasted - steak and kidney pie, bread and butter pudding with Devon clotted cream (must go swimming or to the gym tomorrow) and cheese and biscuits. On my way home this evening I forgot that I hadn't filled my car with fuel this morning and the low fuel warning light came on in the middle of the New Forest. Luckily I remembered where there was an all-night service station on the A31 and filled up. The diesel was, in fact, the cheapest I've seen it around these parts. Tonight I grappled with Facebook looking at all the comments from the Saints Fans as well as some gloating comments from Skates! A lovely evening but a dreadful day to be a Saints Fan.

A Taxing Day

Today I worked in Salisbury and arrived at the office at 8.00 a.m. I had planned to go to the gym this morning early before going into the office; but somehow I seemed to run out of time after getting ready for work and preparing tea for me and Sara and soda bread toast and marmalade. I also hoisted the Jolly Roger pirate flag as it was Budget Day today. As usual the Budget meant increased taxation on wine, beer, spirits and tobacco as well as petrol and diesel. Alistair Darling also announced an increased band of income tax of 50% for those earning over £150,000 (not a problem for me then!). I spent the morning working in our HR Department with a number of meetings and telephone conferences. I had an omelette lunch with Sara and afterwards made a short trip out to the bank and to Boots to get Sara some "lippie" as the assistant called it. As usual, I found the task of getting the correct lipstick a challenge as the name of the shade was not on the spent tube she had given me and whilst she had called it "Spice" there was no such shade in the shop - only one called "Spicy" which didn't look the same colour to me! By method of elimination, an assistant daubing her hand with samples from the spent tube and a fresh one in the shop, and after a phone call back to Sara, I decided to buy the "Spicy" version which, in the end, appears to have been the correct choice. Back in the office I continued to deal with emails and telephone calls. Having missed out on going to the gym this morning I decided to stop by and the way home. however, Sara and I were due to go to Test Valley School to attend a presentation connected with Tom's forthcoming trip to Normandy in July. Sara and I decided that the easiest thing was for her to go to the School and I would get home to look after Tom. My visit to the gym, therefore, was cut down to 30 minutes which I spent on the treadmill and upright bike. Sara had, in the meantime, arranged to go the Test Valley School with Susan and so Samuel stayed with Tom at our house and played on his Xbox and later we all played blackjack with real cards and chips. I mowed the front lawn this evening before having a shower and watching Auf Wiedersehen Pet. At 10 a.m. my programme ended and Sara started watching...Desperate Housewives!! I checked on the football scores before retiring to bed to find that Manchester United had beaten Portsmouth 2-0 to go top of the Premier League by three points with a game in hand. It looks like Liverpool's chances of winning the title have been struck a major, possibly fatal, blow.

Another day in Dorking - two in row. Today I didn't need to pick anyone up at any railway stations but did need to drop off some money with Hilary for the latest edition of New Daylight - my book of daily bible readings. I packed ham and cheese rolls for lunch and arrived in the office at around 9.30 a.m. Quite a fruitful day with a lot of paper shifted and some settlement agreements drafted. My assistant got her laptop delivered at long last too! I worked through my lunch hour, eating my rolls, and also paid a couple of bills. I also spoke to Simon at Stop the Traffik with my initial views on their problem which coincided with the views of their legal intern (a Harvard law graduate). We had a pleasant chat and he invited me to drop into their offices next time I am in London to meet them and see their operation there. This evening was taken up with mowing the lawn and then sending out a number of emails inviting people to a House Group introductory cheese and wine evening on Friday at ours. I intend to use the material we obtained at Spring Harvest for the next House Group Sessions on the theme of "Walking with Jesus - being an Apprentice of Christ". It will be interesting to see how many people decide to join us who were not at Spring Harvest.

An Unintentional Lie In !!

All the long days, long journeys and short (late) nights must be catching up on me. I woke at 5.45 a.m. but fell back into a deep sleep until 6.45 a.m. I woke with a jolt remembering that I was to give Anthony an early morning call at 6.30 a.m. to ensure he was up and about before I set off to Grateley Station to pick him up. When I did ring him at just after 7 a.m. he was already on the train for Grateley. I explained that I would be about 10-15 minutes late. I hastily drank some tea and had toast and marmalade for breakfast. I quickly made a couple of cheese rolls and put them and some yoghurt and fruit into my lunch box. I arrived at Grateley at 7.45 a.m. and although it was the first day back for many after the Easter break, the traffic was not too bad until we reached Guildford. We managed to get in to Dorking at 9.30 a.m. The morning was taken up by a presentation by Lexis Nexis, the legal publishers, demonstrating their website resource which provides and immense legal library online. A useful resource which means I can carry around a massive law library on my laptop! With help from our administrator I managed to log on to the system and sort out my password - will I remember it tomorrow? At lunchtime I spent half an hour in the gym on the bike and the treadmill and the afternoon was taken up in what I hope are settlements of two of my employment cases. I arrived back home at 7.30 p.m. and set about the awful task of cutting the grass on the bank surrounding our house. The grass was very long and I needed to use a high cut. The mower has lost its self-propelling mechanism so it felt like I was in the gym for the second time today. Sara showed me the notice of potential redundancy she has received which indicates that, in all prbability, her last day with the Company will be 20 July 2009. My intention now is to have an early night tonight although I note that it is fast approaching 11 p.m. as I bring this blog to a close.

A Morning in Grimsby and Cleethorpes

I must have been very tired indeed last night as I didn't awake until 9 a.m. this morning - incredibly late for me. Mum brought me up a mug of tea and I read my daily readings before going in to see Tom who, also, had failed to awake at his usually early time of 7 a.m. I had a shower and after cajoling Tom to wash his face we had breakfast - me porridge and apple followed by toast and marmalade and Tom had breakfast cereal. I sawed off a couple of branches from an overhanging lilac tree for Mum and moved a heavy rock to ease the work for fencers who are coming tomorrow to install new fencing around her garden. Tom and I then left the house at around 11.20 a.m. after watching the football "highlights" on TV. We called in on Auntie Mim just as Uncle Harry J was getting off the bus. We spent half an hour with them discussing fair trade chocolate and Uncle Harry J's operation on his hand. Mim's granddaughter Mandy's tumour has caused her problems again and she is on chemo. My cousin Ann, is also unwell. We invite Mim and Harry J to Sara's birthday party in June but it doesn't look like they will be able to come. It was lovely to see them and they made us very welcome as always. Tom and I then went down to the seafront at Cleethorpes parking the car in Prince's Road and walked through the railway station to the amusements on the front. We had a few good wins on the "roll a [two]penny" before returning to Carr Lane for a lunch of roast chicken and Yorkshire curd. We left Grimsby at around 2.15 p.m. and took the A16 road (stopping at Fotherby for Appleby's Ices) through Louth, Boston, Spalding and Stamford and then on to Kettering and Northampton on the A43 to join the A34 down to Bullington Cross and home. We arrived back at 7.30 p.m. Jill Hougton had left me a lovely bottle of red Argentinian wine as a thank you for copying discs for her of Danielle Strickland's talks at Spring Harvest. I spoke briefly to Mum to let her know that I'd got back safely and wrote up my blog. Sara watched - yes you can guess by now - "Desperate Housewives".

Sadness at Hillsborough (100th Post)

Tom and I were off to Hillsborough today to watch Southampton play against Sheffield Wednesday – a must win if they were to have any hope of staying up in the Championship League if 10 points were not deducted. I had high hopes that after their home win against Crystal Palace they would be fired up to put on a good performance. I hoisted the Lincolnshire county flag denoting that Tom and I were to spend that night and most of the weekend in Grimsby following our visit to Sheffield. I hastily threw together a few clothes in a case (but not my wash bag unfortunately), packed the car and then cooked bacon sandwiches for us before setting off at 8.30 a.m. We had an excellent journey up by way of Newbury, Oxford, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield arriving at Hillsborough at around 12.15 p.m. I managed to park my car only about 200 yards, if that, from the Leppings Lane entrance to Hillsborough Stadium and on a street tramway route too! We watched several supertrams pass by as we organised our possessions in the boot of the car. Walking back up towards the football ground we spotted a KFC and went in there for lunch. We got chatting to an Owls fan who predicted that Southampton would get three points today as Sheffield Wednesday were awful at present. After lunch we strolled over to the Hillsborough Disaster Memorial which was festooned with flowers, shirts and scarfs (see photo). Wednesday, Sara’s birthday, being the twentieth anniversary of that dreadful event. Tom and I silently prayed for the souls of those who died and for the injured and bereaved. There were many messages left demanding “Justice for the 96” and whilst I can accept their bitterness that nobody was ever prosecuted,and convicted of any crime, I do question what should and could be done now. There was the Taylor Enquiry, the private prosecutions, the Coroner’s Inquests, the re-opening of the Inquiry by Jack Straw and so on. It will not bring those people back and the bereaved, although still hurting, need some closure to this. We then went into the Megastore to get Mary her football bear and me my club pen and walked back along Vere Road into Leppings Lane and to the dreaded turnstiles where so much anger and pushing had occurred that hot April day twenty years ago. The design has changed somewhat and the outer perimeter fencing and gates removed but the restricted turnstiles and exit gates remain as does the sloping tunnel (of death) through which many walked or were carried along to their deaths. Our tickets showed that we were in the Upper Tier of the fateful West Stand but on entering the ground we were told that all Saints Fans would sit in the Lower Tier and we were directed down that same notorious tunnel feeling the sloping ground and empathising with those Liverpool fans who would have found it impossible to turn back once they’d entered it in 1989.

When we got to the front, behind the goal we noticed that 96 seats in the front two rows of where the two death pens had been situated, were cordoned off and a bouquet or floral tribute stuck to each one. It was as if 96 ghosts were sitting in the stand at the front. Tom and I were seated about six rows back from those two floral rows behind the goal on the spot where so many had been crushed that Saturday. It felt quite eerie. A one minute silence was beautifully observed, not a sound anywhere in the ground, and we kicked off, ironically, at around six minutes past three – the time that the Liverpool v. Nottingham Forest game had been abandoned. The football did not, alas, live up to expectations – the highlight being Kelvin Davies booting the ball clean over the North Stand. Saints played poorly and lost 2-0. It really does look like the end of Championship football for them – especially as Nottingham Forest won today. The brightest piece of football news was, however, that Grimsby Town beat Port Vale 3-0 and Chester lost meaning that Grimsby and Bournemouth (who also won) are now four points clear of Chester. One win form the next two games, therefore, will mean Grimsby can look forward to continuing to play league football in 2009/2010. I am convinced that if they do survive and Mike Newell stays, then they will be knocking on the door of League 1 the following season (to play Southampton?).

Tom and I left the ground at the end of normal time and managed to get away in the car without seeing any football traffic at all. I drove on to Grimsby by way of Barnsley, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, and Brigg using the old roads and not the M180/A180. After stopping off at Morrison’s, for some fair trade chocolate, wine, flowers and the contents of my left behind wash bag, we arrived at Mum’s at 7.30 p.m. At 7.55 p.m. I left to go and get some fish and chips from our usual chippie in St. Peter’s Avenue, Cleethorpes to find that it closed at 8.00 p.m. on the dot – four minutes earlier. Fortunately I was able to park just off the Market Place and found that Ernie Beckett’s didn’t close until 9.00 p.m. I brought back three enormous pieces of haddock, chips, mushy peas and scraps – all beautifully cooked and too much for us all to eat. We finished the day by watching Al Murray Live at the Apollo and the football highlights on Match of the Day. Tom went to bed at 10.30 p.m. and after wine and cheese and biscuits, Mum followed at 11.30 p.m. leaving me downstairs to complete this blog. I am now so tired that I will finish here.

Dorking and Chocolate

Back to the commuting again today although the traffic was still light due to the Easter School Holidays continuing until next week. The heaviest traffic seemed to be along The Warren where the parents were delivering their little darlings to Norman Court Private School in their "off the road vehicles" - pushing my "on the road vehicle" off the road if you understand me! It was drizzling as I left home and positively downpouring (is that a verb?) by the time I got to my Dorking office. My desk was littered with files and documents requiring my attention and I set about going through them systematically without my secretary - who is up in Manchester today. I was feeling quite groggy with the heavy cold I seemed to have caught in Minehead. I was, however, determined to soldier on until the end of the day. I brought in some sweets from that Somerset resort for the staff and my team members. In the course of the day I managed to set in motion three potential settlements of niggling cases. At lunchtime, although still feeling groggy, I went to the gym for half an hour which I spent walking on the treadmill - light exercise but at least it was some exercise and kept me away from the restaurant. My colleague Sara (not my wife but my "office wife") said that I sounded much better and chirpier after my "one-mile" walk. I was absolutely starving hungry when I got back to the office and wolfed down my home-made haslet rolls and yoghurts. I rang the Stop the Traffik office at lunchtime to enquire how best I could make my donation to them from my CAF account and spoke to Simon. The conversation resulted in me receiving an email this evening from Simon requesting my assistance if possible to their legal intern on a matter of law for one of their projects. This evening I undertook some research and provided them with an initial response. The legal issue is in an area of law I have advised on previously in the context of my current job. It's great to be able to provide some direct help to this wonderful organisation. During the course of the day Sara kept me updated with her search for a fair trade chocolate fountain company for her party. I am so glad she hadn't jumped in with an earlier quote as many of the companies, when asked about the provision of fair trade chocolate, came up with such excuses as "No it would damage our equipment" or "No we feel it is more important to give our customers the best quality chocolate [blood can buy?]" - I added the bit in square brackets. I mentioned this in my conversation with Simon and he said "What tosh. I guess their equipment works better when it's lubricated with blood". Sara's patience and insistence paid off as she finally found a company that advertised itself as a fair-trade chocolate fountain company and Sara established that it was run by four young Christians who only use fair-traded chocolate; and the price was much less than previous quotes too. God working hard for us today? Tonight I spoke briefly to Mum about our trip to Grimsby tomorrow. I will need to pack early tomorrow morning as Tom and I are going to Hillsborough for the Saints match against Sheffield Wednesday. It is only three days after the twentieth anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster and we will be sitting in the same stand as those poor unfortunate Liverpool victims. A one minute silence is to be observed and I do hope that the Saints fans observe it with dignity.

Back to Work(outs)!

Back to work today - at least it was in Salisbury and not Dorking. I hadn't slept very well - principally because I was suffering from man-flu or a very heavy cold and I kept waking up. I think I probably only snatched a couple of hours sleep. I had an early morning meeting at 9.00 a.m. and spent most the the rest of the day going through my huge list of emails - accumulated whilst I was away in Minehead. After work I attend Five River's Leisure Centre for my gym induction and was put through my paces by the instructor who provided me with a sensible exercise programme. Although needing to lose some weight I was delighted that it isn't as much as I had thought and that my blood pressure and general health seem to be okay for a 55-year old codger! In fact the training programme was increased slightly as I seemed to be able to cope with the heavier exercise. I felt quite good when I left with no aches and pains - those came along later when I had been home for a little while. I had a warm bath and a light supper of muscles and fresh crusty bread. Sara went off to Tesco's at around 9.30 p.m. leaving me to write my Night Sky article for the Parish Magazine and this blog. I am in Dorking tomorrow and tomorrow evening will be packing for the trip, with Tom, to Sheffield and Grimsby.

Sara's "Big 5-0"

Yes it has finally arrived, Sara's 50th Birthday! We are now both in the same decade of age again for a few years and I feel young again. I hoisted the Somerset county flag and Sara had tea from her special April cup given to her by her mother many years ago and I traditionally drank from my Cunard cup and saucer to remember those Titanic survivors who were picked up this morning, 97 years ago, by the Cunard liner Carpathia. Sara opened her presents and cards (a bible case and a silver charm bracelet from me - she had also received a beautiful pearl necklace from me at Spring Harvest - another necklace from Tom and a bracelet from Mary). Following this Mary returned to her bedroom and slept in until 11 a.m. whilst Sara and Tom went off early to the gym. I went to the village shop and bought bacon and crusty rolls for a late breakfast. Sara received a phone call from Myrna and her Dad before we set off for Southampton Ocean Village for a family lunch at Quito's (Mexican food) and then to see Monsters and Aliens at the Cineworld multiplex cinema, also at the Ocean Village. It was a good light-hearted film with some good messages about teamwork and accomplishes major and seemingly impossible tasks by people (in this case "monsters") who would otherwise be outcasts (Klynn another film for our house group?). Returning home, Susan came to look after the children for the evening whilst Sara and I returned to near Southampton (North Baddesley to be precise) for our Chinese meal at The Water Margin. As the other week, the food was excellent and I enjoyed the szechuan lamb again. We returned home just in time to crack open a bottle of vintage champagne for Susan to enjoy with us and in time to watch - yes you've guessed it "Desperate Housewives"!!! No red fonts today!! What about "Desperate Husbands"!!

Spring Harvest Day 6

Well the final day of Spring Harvest has arrived and it was so difficult to get up today. I woke with a sore throat which I think must have been caused by a combination of tiredness and some heavy duty singing in the Big Top last night. It is always such anti-climax to have to pack and trundle our baggage out to the car park. Fortunately it was much easier this year as the car was such a short distance from our chalet. Tom acted the typical teenager and didn't really want to help which got me quite angry and took the edge a bit off the feeling of contentment I have been feeling. We managed to get to the Big Top in time for some brilliant uplifting singing and an excellent talk by Phil Wall - the theme being that we may be broken but we are still qualified to go out as disciples (Matthew 28) - perhaps because of our brokenness. We sang my favourite songs and I was overwhelmed with the fantastic Spirit that moved in that place. It was, as usual, so sad to sing that final song "Blessed be Your Name" - a great song to send us out on. We must look positive as we return to our normal lives and also look forward to returning next year. The Alibocuses joined us in the Skyline afterwards for more shopping before we went into Minehead for a fish and chip lunch at the Jaws restaurant where Mary and I had eaten earlier in the week. We finally departed at around 3 p.m. and I drove back via Bridgwater (where Sara was born nearly fifty years ago to the day) and through Street, Glastonbury, Frome and over Salisbury Plain and back to Winterslow. Everything seemed to be in order and I washed Sara's car and mowed the inside lawns before sitting down to update this blog site. It is so difficult to describe to people who haven't been the extent of the power and energy which Spring Harvest produces and how exhausting it all can be. We all come back physically exhausted but spiritually fulfilled. Tonight Tom told us that Spring Harvest had had a profound effect on him and he wanted to lead his life on a more Christian basis. As for Mary, she has been inspired by the music and is so full of joy. I shall go to bed tonight tired but very happy - blessed by a wonderful family and a faith that sustains.

Spring Harvest Day 5

Waking up this morning it is so hard to believe that this is the last full day of Spring Harvest. Every year is the same, it goes so quickly and we want so much more. We went again to the Big Top in the morning to listen to Danielle Strickland who was at her best today. She was speaking about working as an apprentice and in particular modes of evangelism with some great anecdotes. Following mid-morning coffee at Maxime’s we returned to the Big Top to listen to Ruth Dearnley and Jeff Lucas for the final time. Sara cooked us an omelette for lunch and I spent the first part of the afternoon browsing in the Skyline to pick up some books and other resources to use at home and in the church. I bought the Apprentice DVD and Guide, a book by Jeff Lucas and some CDs. I joined Klynn again for the Leadership Masterclass with Phil Wall. In the evening we took Holy Communion in the Big Top with 5,000 others! We had a powerful talk from Russ and yet again very stirring worship songs. Afterwards, Sara picked up the children and I went to hear Ruth Dearnley speak at a Stop the Traffick reception. I had come across this organisation three years ago when Steve Chalke had launched it. The prime am is to stop this dreadful modern day slavery and it has been instrumental in getting the chocolate industry to move towards fair trade products. Cadbury’s and Mars have made some commitments but not Nestles yet. I had an opportunity to speak to Ruth and was given a free copy of Steve Chalke’s latest book called Stop the Traffick. I have been thinking and praying about where I should gift my CAF money and have decided that Stop the Traffick is the right place. This seemed to come over loud and clear. We in Winterslow have been giving some small amounts and with the financial stranglehold are currently experiencing for Mission Giving I feel I should give my donation to Ruth and Steve and their organisation. I shall continue to think and pray how I can help further. I met up with Sara and the children in Hamish and Nicola’s apartment (Maxime and Anthony had already left to return to Salisbury) – Hamish had some rather interesting blended whiskey (Irish and Scotch!) and we had a very enjoyable evening discussing what we are going to do when we get back to Winterslow.

Spring Harvest Day 4

What a fantastic day to be at Spring Harvest. Although we missed it – due to another late night last night - there was a sunrise service on Minehead beach this morning at 7.30 a.m. (a little after sunrise actually) with Spring Harvesters and a number of the churches in the town of Minehead. Sara and I went along to the Big Top for 10 a.m. to listen to Danielle Strickland again – what an inspiring woman and so amazing that she has packed so much into her life already. We learned something of her life in Vancouver living close to the red light district and the problems of the east side there (drugs, crime, homelessness, prostitution). After our usual mid-morning coffee with Maxime and the others in the Blue Skies resort apartments, we returned to the Big Top to listen to Jeff Lucas and Ruth Dearnley. Their inspirational talks from yesterday were further re-inforced by their equally, if not better, presentations today. I also learned how to play the credit card like a Jew’s Harp (well I guess I can definitely say that I will be returning from Spring Harvest with a new talent!). Lunch was a Cornish pasty following which Mary and I spent an hour in the Splash having a great time swimming in the “tidal” river and also experiencing the Master Blaster boat/slide ride. We only did it once as there was quite a queue to use it. After a cup of tea I joined Klynn in the Leadership Masterclass where we heard some amazing testimony from Yvonne Richmond, a canon at Coventry Cathedral who has been working with the homeless and drug addicts, whose husband died only one month after last year’s Spring Harvest. Despite all her adversities, especially battling with the Anglican Church to convert her non-stipendiary ministry to stipendiary and being turned down, and fighting with financial despair, bereavement, and the politics of the Church of England, she showed us the grace which so many of us long for and find so hard to find even in lesser troubles. Sara cooked us all an excellent roast chicken dinner and after dropping the children at their respective clubs, we went into the Big top where Danielle was preaching again. Wow, such a powerful message tonight making us feel giddy and wishing we could find the answer to what we are here to do. In writing these blogs, I see how much more my time and life could be enriched it I can just find what I am being called to do. Certainly, an extension of the house groups is an important start. We gave some money to the work of a new mission to ensure that the younger generation throughout the world get the teachings and support they need to discover and practice their faith. The evening ended up with us all in Maxime’s for cheese, biscuits and wine – right up until midnight. These evening sessions are so important as this is the time we can discuss what we have heard and consider what we, as a church, can do to carry forward the message. I felt a great feeling of warmth and contentment tonight and very close indeed to Sara who so changed my life thirteen years ago.

Spring Harvest Day 3

Today was a confusing and challenging day as is often the case at Spring Harvest. Today we were moving from “Learning” to “Living” as Apprentices. We only managed to get to the last ten minutes or so of the Big Start and then met Klynn for a coffee in the Skyline. I decided to join Sara and Maxime for the Bible Study in the Big top – labelled for pragmatists and was so pleased to do so. Ruth Dearnley and Jeff Lucas were excellent presenters – both with humour and a serious message to give us. Afterwards, Mary and I went into Minehead to buy birthday cards for Sara’s 50th Birthday next week. The weather was absolutely glorious and quite hot. We sat outside a fish and chip restaurant with the sun beating down on us as we had a lunch of excellent cod and chips – beautiful fresh fish. We stopped off at the penny arcade on the way back and spent a £1’s worth of 2p pieces on the penny falls. Mary loves this and had a few good wins before returning all the 2p pieces back to the arcade owners. It was probably a good job, therefore, that I was going to a seminar on addiction in the afternoon! We each had a lovely locally produced ice cream on our way back to the Butlins’ site. After attending the addiction seminar I joined some of the other male attendees watching the football results – Grimsby lost at home again 0-1 (against Accrington Stanley) but fortunately so did Chester. Supper was bangers and mash. The Big Top event this evening was fantastic – uplifting songs and another excellent talk by Ruth. We left the Big Top feeling so elated. We spent the rest of the evening at Hamish and Nicola’s discussing the events of the day with me describing how uplifting I had found the day and also considering what we can do for our church going forward. Plenty of wine was drunk too. I returned to our chalet and watched with Sara the last part of a thriller staring Bruce Willis. With some more lovely red wine (addiction?). We went to bed feeling mellow and relaxed after a great day.

Spring Harvest Day 2

Good Friday and it seems strange not to be spending the morning at the Winterslow Methodist Church with the children and then parading with the cross to Winterslow Church Hall. Instead we are here at Minehead for the second day of Spring Harvest. I didn’t sleep very well last night and got up in the middle of the night (around 3 a.m.) with a pain in my left foot where I had an old ankle injury. I watched a bit of a programme about the deployment of British troops in Afghanistan for about an hour before returning to bed. I awoke around 8 a.m. and we mustered the children to get them ready to join their activity groups. We all went to the Big top for the Early Start singing some familiar songs – some we especially like and this was followed by a bible study of Acts with Danielle Strickland, a Canadian preacher now living in Melbourne, Australia. She was very good. After coffee at Maxime’s, Susan and I went off to join the “Theorist group” in Jaks and Sara and Maxime went off to the Big Top to join the Pragmatists’. Susan and I found Jaks absolutely full so joined the Activisits in Whitehall. The presenters included Emily Chalke, daughter of Steve Chalke, who discussed some of the work she has been doing with the prostitutes of Thailand. Lunch was baked beans on toast which was followed by Sara going off to a seminar on bringing up children, Tom went off to the Skyline to watch the Wolves v. Southampton football game (Saints lost 3-0 again – their future looks ever bleaker) and Mary and I went to Splash for an hour of fun swimming. It was lovely to spend some quality time with Mary and she really enjoyed her swimming – what a water baby! This evening we returned to the Big Top after a supper of spaghetti bolagnaise for more praise songs, dance and a talk from Philip who asked us what was preventing us from going out as disciples/apostles. I learned that difference between disciples and apostles tonight – disciples are followers and apostles are those sent out to spread the word. So I guess we are called upon to be apostles as much as disciples. After the Big Top I went to a seminar on how we can find out what is our vocation. I thought the session was poor and left early but did take away a quote from Aristotle which I will muse upon – “When your talents collide with the needs of the world you will find your vocation”. I may not have got the quote quite correct but will look it up later. I joined Sara and Mary and the others (minus the Galleys) at Klynn’s apartment for red wine and cheese where we discussed more theology and how we had each found the day.

Spring Harvest Day 1

The first day of our seven day break from work –and six of those days to be spent at Butlins Minehead attending the wonderful Christian Gathering of Spring Harvest. This will be our fifth time and we are really looking forward to it. Sara and Mary went into Salisbury first thing – Sara to pick up her 50th Birthday present – a silver charm bracelet with Salisbury Cathedral on it as a starter. Tom most of the morning on his Xbox after having half-packed his suitcase. I packed all my clothes in another suitcase and got out all the paperwork we would need for checking in once we got to Minehead. I cooked some bacon to make bacon rolls for breakfast (Tom had heated-up leftover pizza). Although we got up quite early, we didn’t leave home until about 1.30 p.m. the journey to Minehead taking us until around 4.30 p.m. to complete. Traffic was very heavy around Stonehenge, Yeovil and Taunton which meant we lost about half an hour on a normally two and a half hour journey. On arrival, booking in seemed incredibly easy and we were parked only about 25 yards away from our apartment in about 10 minutes of arrival. We were able to transport our luggage to the apartment without the need of any trolleys. Sara made popcorn for the children and tea for us and we then went into the Skyline to get study (now called “learning”) guides and programmes for the next six days. Tom joined his friend Samuel for the teenagers group, Mary was registered for the 8-11 group and I joined the rest of our group for the first evening event in the Big top – Sara joining us after sorting out Mary’s registration. We had great uplifting songs – many of the Spring Harvest favourites and a brilliant talk by Jeff Lucas. His theme, and the theme for the whole week is “The Apprentice – You’re Hired” emphasising that even if we often don’t feel worthy, we can become a disciple. The type of events we go to tomorrow will depend upon our learning style and we had to complete a psychometric test of sorts which established that my preferred learning mode is theory whereas Sara is “activist” – as is Klynn’s. After the Big Top event, and a late supper (or was it lunch) at Burger King, we went to Max and Anthony’s luxury apartment in the Blue Skies complex for wine and cheese and a good “natter” about many varied things from Winterslow church matters to Anthony’s job prospects! It looks like being a packed day tomorrow.