Fun and Games in Fordingbridge

I slept through until 7.30 a.m. this morning and then continued to doze until just after 8 a.m. I remembered that I was giving the Intercessions at church this morning so roused the two children (who both needed rousing) and cooked bacon for them which I served as bacon rolls with the crusty rolls I bought as Asda's yesterday. I quickly checked the BBC News website to make sure that there hadn't been any big rail, road or ship disasters or that a volcano or tsunami had wreaked havoc anywhere in the world overnight. Fortunately the only news was that that the last WWI combatant had died aged 111 - quite an achievement. We attended church on time - Mary singing in the choir and Tom sat next to me. There was an amusing or embarrassing moment when Nils and the choir entered and Tom and I, who were seated in the front pew, remained seated. It was only when Nils the Team Rector said "Please be seated" that I realised we should have stood up! Not unsurprisingly that provoked a wry smile from Klynn seated in the pew behind - that smug kind of "I thought he knew his liturgy; what planet is he on today" sort of smile, or "look at me, I know what we should be doing"! I am sure I am being unfair and he was not thinking any thing of the sort - after all, he is a Christian! The sermon today was about having faith - feeding 5,000 people with five loaves or bread and two fishes. What a miracle, and before the days of Tesco home deliveries too! My intercessions were on the lines of summer holidays and the suffering they cause. Not sure if that went down all that well - doesn't everybody suffer being in close proximity to their family for a couple of weeks?! Perhaps it's just me and the fact that Sara is away for three days and I'm in close proximity to the children for three/four days! After church coffee we rushed back home to get our things together to go to Fordingbridge for Food for Thought fun and games. The weather looked threatening as we set off and it never did prove to be that hot summer day we expected but spitted with rain throughout. An absolutely lovely spot close to the river (see photo above). We played cricket for a couple of hours and I realised that my bowling days are over - the opposition could win any game on my no balls and wides alone - but I am still a mean batsman. Tom and I joined the cricketers whilst Mary and the girls were intent on getting as wet as possible in either the river or the paddling pool. On the subject of getting wet, there was another Christian Church Group who used the proximity of the River Avon to conduct a full immersion baptism service for two of their brethren. Us blokes missed that as we were too intent on reliving the Ashes Test. Tonight Klynn came round and helped me polish off a bottle of the Quiz wine and some of the beautiful brandy left by my mother at Christmas. Sara phoned and told me of her day at Forest Mere and that she was now a convert to the sauna and plunge pool. Klynn left about 11.30 p.m. We had a long interesting chat about our role as fathers and remembered times when our own parents had brought us up. I recounted my mother's great love of cricket and how she played with us during the summer months on our small lawn in Grimsby. Those days seem so long ago but so vivid too - Mum bowling middle stump with her mean under arm!