A day of distractions

A day entirely at home today apart from a short trip to the cricket pavilion at Barry's Field for Weight Watchers and a short bike ride to East Winterslow and back (3 miles).  I spent nearly all day in the study working and trying to sort out my diary with so many events seeming to criss-cross my life at the moment.  I also arranged to have my car parked at Bristol Airport next week for when Tom and I are away in Poland.  I also re-arranged our trip to Auschwitz for the Wednesday instead of Tuesday and booked a Schindler's List walking tour of Krakow for the Tuesday.  All now seems in place other than transport to and from the airport in Poland which I cannot see as being a major problem at the moment.  This evening I mowed the bank quite short so that I won't have to do it for about ten days now, hopefully.  The weather has been drizzling on and off all day but remains very mild.  Didn't really feel I achieved a great deal today.  Still have four essays to write and don't feel in the mood to write them.  Must focus.  There seem to be so many distractions and it is a pity that I am going to miss so many chances for free events and trips out which Sara has been saving through vouchers.  Summer holidays seem to go on for ever and both children seem to want to spend it at home.  When I get back from Poland i need to spend quite a lot of time in Sarum College reading and writing.  Lost one and a half pounds according to WeightWatchers.  Not too thrilled with that as it is not consistent.  This is another area of my life I need to concentrate on.  Why am I so distracted?  Looking forward to Polish trip now all seems to be sorted.  Tom is spending his time watching the Olympics all the time and I think the fact that these are on tends to take my attention away from what I need to be doing.  My court case is far from settled and it looks like things may kick off again.  It is useful that I am meeting our barrister in Henley on Friday.  hopefully he will have some ideas as to where we go from here.

Time marching on

I found it really hard to get up this morning.  Too many late nights and not sleeping well because of the heat.  Another bright morning but cooler than recently.  I drove into Salisbury this morning to take Hailey the Hamster in for another medical inspection.  Fortunately, she seems to be getting better but we need to continue to bathe her sore area under her neck.  I left her at the vets' and drove into the city centre to bank a cheque from clients, buy some Polish zloties, get my hair cut and buy a birthday card for my nephew.  All those things successfully done, I return to the vets, picked up Hailey and returned home.  This afternoon, I watched some of the sailing from Weymouth and dozed off for about half and hour.  Feeling refreshed, I did a little gardening - lawns and weeding, before having a pleasant bath.  Sara made a lovely cottage pie - one of her specialities - and we watched some more swimming from the Olympic Aquadrome.  One more medal today - a bronze in men's gymnastics.  So far, one silver and two bronze medals only.  No golds.  Tom is desperate to visit the Olympic arena but the cheapest tickets available are £295!  Forget it.  Maybe the paralympics if possible.  This evening I attended to some accounts for Complex Services.  Hoping for an early night but as I write this it is already approaching midnight.  Why do twenty-four hours these days seem like only ten?  Does time go even more quickly as you approach the end of your life?  So much to do and so little time, it seems.

Past Times

No church services in Winterslow this morning as, being the fifth Sunday in the month, there was a combined Team Service at West Dean which I attended.  It was a packed church which was pleasing although there were only three children present - Sophie's three.  Jane preached on the subject of the miracle of the five loaves of bread and two fishes emphasising the trust which we must place in God that he will provide the resources to do his work.  She mentioned the wonderful miracle of morning Star being able to carry out its work from small beginnings.  A very good sermon.   After dropping off some parish magazines at All Saints Church and taking Dawn back home (I had picked her up earlier) we had a light lunch before Mary and I drove over to Old Wardour Castle to spend the afternoon checking out the English Heritage facilities there.  We had a really wonderful afternoon which was enhanced by meeting Mary's former Head Teacher, Peter W, to whom I was able to personally thank him for the wonderful start he had given to both Tom and Mary and how he had improved the school during his time as head.  He told me that he has now retired although latterly had been given the role of school enhancement officer for the local education authority. Clearly his talents in improving and enhancing schools has not gone unrewarded.  Mary enjoyed looking over the old castle and the weather lent itself to a really pleasant afternoon with a good opportunity to some decent photography.  Finished off the day with a couple of pints at the Lion's Head with Richard, chewing the cud and trying to fix up some time to play golf and watch cricket.

Hot Dogs at Tidworth

Another busy weekend ahead.  Sara and Mary went into Salisbury today for Mary's cheerleading training and for Sara to visit the gym and do some shopping.  I worked at home this morning but must admit that I was heavily distracted by watching the Olympic Games on the TV - especially the men's road race which did not result in a gold medal for Mark Cavendish as expected.  It was interesting to see all these Olympic cyclists travelling along the roads around Dorking and Leatherhead which are so familiar to me.  In the late afternoon we drove over to army friends in Tidworth to enjoy a wonderful barbecue.  A fantastic evening developed - lovely food, company and masses of booze which I was unable to enjoy as I picked the short straw and agreed to drive back.  Sara enjoyed Pimms and fizz.  There were quite a few people at the barbecue including two Polish girls from whom we learnt a few words in Polish for hello and goodbye.  There were also four dogs present - two Boxers, one Labrador and one massive Great Dane.  The weather had been quite hot today but this evening there was a light breeze which was very refreshing and made for a nice evening outdoors.  Why then, did we all stay in the kitchen? - Answer, the Olympics were being shown on a lovely little tablet TV in the kitchen. 

Wow, well done London!

Another warm day.  Sara and I went out for an early morning walk up Weston Lane, around the boundary of the Winterslow Cricket pitch and then back through The Plantation.  Sara is really getting into the swing of this health kick of hers and determined to lose weight.  At lunch time I met up with my fellow theology student, Ashley, and we had lunch there served by Sara.  Mary also came to the pub but Tom spent the day in his room on his computer.  Really hot again this afternoon and I watched the CB40 cricket game on TV - Netherlands v. Gloucestershire which Gloucetershire won comfortably - especially thanks to the rain (yes it does rain outside Britain) and Messrs. Duckworth and Lewis.  Wow, what a fantastic Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics tonight!  Words here cannot describe this wonderful event.  Truly magnificent.  Most of you reading this will have seen it on the TV and so I won't even begin to describe it other than to say that for me the most memorable parts will be the rising of the chimneys from the ground, Rowen Atkinson's contribution to the "Chariots of Fire" orchestral piece and without doubt the lighting of the cauldron and, in particular, the superb gesture of passing seven torches to seven young, up and coming athletes to light the Olympic Flame.  Well done London, well done Britain.  Felt really proud to be English/British tonight. 

BlackBerrys Galore

If it wasn't for the absence of the sea and the work that needs to be done the temperature could convince me that we are back in the Bahamas.  I wasn't able to sleep too much last night - the heat kept me awake as did the sprawling cat at the foot of our bed.  Ginny clearly believes that the bed is for her and we are allowed to share it with her.  Sara did her usual stint at Morning Star this morning and later gave a talk and demonstration of skin care to the ladies of the British Legion.  Quite successful I believe.  This afternoon Mary and I went into Andover to deal with some teething problems with our new phones and to change my old BlackBerry across to Tom's account.  Afterwards we went to Costa Coffee for some iced pink (grapefruit) lemonade.  Lovely.  Sara and I have put together some exciting events for the church to put on during August and Autumn which will be advertised in the newsletter.  We had nobody turn up for our House Group tonight - which was disappointing - illnesses, hay making, holiday and shifts being the main causes.  Instead, Sara, I and the children went for a lovely evening stroll along the highways and bye ways of the village.  I must confess that the heat and lack of sleep has left me quite tired today. I have, at least, done some housework and sorted out the mobile phones.  I had hoped for an early night tonight but as i write this the clock has already crept up to 11.45 p.m.!

Torture

Phew! Can it get any hotter? - yes it can!  How strange we English are - complaining about the wet and the cold two weeks ago and now complaining that it is too hot!  I am one of the worst culprits so I guess I would pass the English citizenship test with flying colours!  Not a happy start to the day - a visit to the dentist's to have two smallish fillings and my teeth cleaned by the hygienist.  The latter is a small close cropped hair sadist who clearly enjoys inflicting pain on her victims.  As I sat in the chair, visions of ancient medieval tortures came to mind - especially after having seen a recent episode of The Borgias.  I think I'll call my hygienist Lucretia from now on except she didn't relieve my discomfort with poison!  I wouldn't mind, but I am paying to be tortured too!  Those poor b*******s in the 1400/1500s had no choice!  "Relax your bottom lip" I was repeatedly told.  What!!!?  You're pouring water into my mouth as though I am being waterboarded in some terrible prison in Iraq, trying to hold a conversation with me, and shoving ironmongery with extremely sharp pointy bits into my gums and teeth. Blood money - literally in my case.  Now I know I don't have the best teeth in the world but hey, why not add to my physical torture by telling me how awful my teeth are at the same time.  Go on, add mental torture to the list of assaults I am paying you for!   Having survived the ordeal, Mary, who was sitting patiently in the waiting room, was delighted to see me and thought we were then off for that promised coffee and cake at the Boston Tea Party.  no, I informed her, that was just the overture.  Now for the big event - the fillings!  Well, I have to say that the fillings were light relief after the torture chamber.  Two fillings quickly and easily done but with rather a lot of anaesthetic which left me with a frozen nose and a dropped mouth giving the impression that I had just suffered a stroke.  Mary thought it hilarious!   The trip to Boston Tea Party, after a brief drop in at Sarum College to renew a theological book, was hilarious and straight out of a scene from the film "10".  Mary thought it so funny as I attempted to drink my cappuccino from one side of my mouth!  This afternoon the two new BlackBerrys for Sara and myself arrived and Mary accompanied me to Andover to have the information stored on our current ones transferred to the new ones and then the new ones made available for Tom and Mary's use.  We have arranged for them to go on to new contracts.  Tonight I watched the exciting Quarter Final between Nottinghamshire and Hampshire for a place in the T20 Finals Day.  What a cracking match! And a bit of a torture for the Hampshire fans watching too!  Nottinghamshire set a strong target having reached 178 for 7 in their innings.  Throughout Hampshire's innings, they were neck and neck but clinched it in the last over with a final score of 182 for 6.  So Hampshire will meet Somerset in the Semi-Final at Cardiff.  Well done Hampshire, what a great season you are having - the first season I have been a member of the Club.  I will certainly renew my membership next year.

Callings

Very hot again today - too hot to do much either inside or outside.  Some cheques I am expecting failed to materialise which was disappointing.  Sara spent the morning attending a Cheerleaders' Management meeting over in Downton and I took Mary with Hailey the Hamster to the vets in Bishopdown Farm as she is suffering from loss of fur and a redness of skin on her underside (the hamster that is, not Mary!).  Fortunately, the vet diagnosed a bacterial infection which is treatable with anti-biotics which need to be introduced into her water.  Mary, who would like to be a veterinary nurse, has an opportunity to test her calling by acting as Hailey's nurse for the next seven days. After this somewhat relatively expensive visit, I called into Church House to pick up my marked portfolio (Term 1) which had been assessed by Oxford Brookes University.  The mark given to me by the Diocese, a good pass mark, stands. Phew!  After a further visit to the recycling centre and Tesco's (what an exciting life I do lead!) I returned home.  It was "boiling hot" this afternoon and I remarked to Mary, as we drove out of Tesco's, that the car was registering a temperature of +33 degree Celsius (or 98 degrees F).  Very hot indeed and such a contrast from our "tribunal week"! Tonight I visited the Hook & Glove at Farley again - this time with Richard, Zoe and Mandy to give me an end of year assessment on how I am doing in my preaching and leading worship.  The upshot of the meeting was that I am "on course" (as far as my group is concerned) and they understand and respect my decision to fulfil my calling as a lay minister rather than being ordained.  I feel most comfortable in this role and really want to be that bridge between laity and clergy.  To this end it was confirmed that, in their eyes, I had not changed as much in my personality as those who are pursuing training for the priesthood. That is good, in my eyes, although I think Sara detects changes which others may not.  I am sure that there will be times when I may feel some frustrations at not being fully clergy but I think they will be rare.  When I see how stressed those wearing collars can become I am glad that, once the clerical robes are removed, as a lay minister I can return to being that "bloke with the flags who enjoys his beer at the Lion's Head on a Sunday evening".

Cycling to a closed pub!!

When I woke up this morning at 6.30 a.m. I was astonished to see fog out of the window. This usually means another hot day as predicted by the weather forecasters.  Sara took Tom to the dentist's early this morning and I worked in the study until about 11 a.m. when I took Mary, with her hamster Hailey, to the vets as Mary had noticed that the skin under her neck (the hamster's that is) was sore and the fur gone.  Fortunately, the vet diagnosed a bacterial infection which can be treated by antibiotics and salty water.  Mary will have to act as Hailey's veterinary nurse for the next seven days after which we'll take her back to see how she is progressing.  I called in briefly at Church House to pick up my first marked portfolio from Oxford Brookes University and also to the recycling station to get rid of an old footstool.  I had good intentions of further work this afternoon but it had become very hot and I was gripped by the cricket at The Oval.  England made a brave start this morning but were bowled out before tea by the South Africans who were able to claim a victory by an innings and 12 runs.  The first such victory against England at the Oval - another record broken.  This evening we all ate tea together- a rare event but one which we want to try and make a rule during the summer holidays at least -  and I cycled over to Farley village through Bentley Wood and back (a distance of just over 8 miles in total) intending to stop off at the Hook & Glove only to find that it is closed on Mondays!  I enjoyed a bottle of Guinness and a bottle of Magner's cider when I got home and I am drinking the cider as I write this.  At least I saved the cost of a pint of beer in the pub.  Other than my Support Group meeting tomorrow evening, ironically at the Hook & Glove! (which is open tomorrow). I have no appointments tomorrow.  Hopefully a couple of cheques from clients will arrive.

Cricket Records tumble at The Oval

The weather has certainly changed from the endless rain to the eternal sunshine.  Another hot sunny day greeted us this morning.  I walked up to church (All Saints) today and was given a lift from near the school by our speaker yesterday, Andrew Poppe.  We had a chance for a quick snatched conversation in his jeep before my arrival a church.  There were two baptism parties today which doubled the congregation at this all Age Eucharist service.  Unfortunately, when you removed their number we would have had quite a small congregation.  We are certainly suffering from falling numbers and must find ways to appeal to the younger generations.  I remain very much committed to mission and going out into the community - harking back to Andrew's talk yesterday morning - the church should principally be for ordinary people.  It was really hot this afternoon and I spent most of it watching South Africa's innings against England in the first Test at The Oval.  Hashim Amla scored an amazing 311 not out - equalling Bobby Simpson's score in the Test against England at Headingly in 1964 which I watched with equal excitement when only Mary's age.  After declaring on an incredible 637 for 2, South Africa put England in to bat chasing 252 to equal South Africa's first inning score (England had already scored 385 all out in their first innings.  By close of play, England had lost 4 wickets for only 102 runs leaving them an enormous task to save the match (a win now being impossible). This afternoon South Africa broke quite a few records - the highest score for a batsman at The Oval since Sir Len Hutton in 1938, only the 26th 300+ score ever in Test cricket, highest ever score for a South African batsman and the only 300+ score made by a South African in England.  What an afternoon.   I attended BCP Evening Prayer at Farley this evening led by Gill Morgan with Jeremy Davies as musical director with a choir who sang the Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis  and an Anthem.  We also sang a hymn written by Jeremy and his partner, Simon.  The sermon was preached by Chrysogen Bamber who is the Deputy Warden of Licensed Lay Ministers.  She preached on the role of women in the bible (it being Mary Magdalen's Feast Day).  Back home, I watched a film with Sara and Tom called "Envy" starring Ben Stiller and Jack Black - a film which bombed in the USA and resulted in the film company making a formal apology for it! 

Another Early Cooked Breakfast

Another early start today and another cooked breakfast.  This time it was the annual Men's Breakfast at the Village Hall with a total of 35 men attending.  an excellent breakfast as always - many thanks to Thelma Broadley for the excellent bacon and sausages (Lincolnshire and Cumberland).  The speaker this year was our very own Andrew Poppe whose talk was entitle "On a Wing and a Prayer" - the story of how he went from being a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force to an ordained priest - a fascinating story and one which I loved to hear.  It reminded me of my own calling and the need to get back on track after the diversions of my recent legal case work.    This was also reinforced when I got home as Tom was watching some recorded episodes of Rev.  The message coming across very loud and clear was that church minsters are just ordinary folk from ordinary and varied backgrounds. Thank you, Lord, for these messages of support and encouragement. I spent some time today gardening - raking all the loose clipping from my mowing of the bank yesterday and mowing the rear lawn again.  Although I say it myself, it now looks fantastic. I watched some of the England v. South Africa Test from the Oval on TV later this afternoon before doing an 8-mile cycling circuit to West Tytherley Church and back.  I was delighted to have done so as I found St. Peter's at West Tytherley quite a gem and was interested to read that one of its past rectors became Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1800s.  Fascinating stuff.   Still on the religious theme (sort of) we watched The Borgias this evening but because we missed the first episode it took some time to gather where we are in the plot.  After all the exercise today I must confess to feeling pretty tired tonight so some of this blog might appear to be a bit rambling.

Well done Mary!

I attended Ambassadors' Business Breakfast meeting this morning at the Grasmere House Hotel.  The weather certainly seems to have improved with no sign of any rain today.  Sara joined us later after a visit to the dentist for a filling and we spent some time at the Wilton Shopping Centre having a coffee and a look around some of the outlet shops.  We returned to Winterslow so Sara could do her stint at the Lord Nelson.  This afternoon, Sara and I attended Mary's Leaver's Service at Winterslow School which was quite an emotional time for many parents and especially the girls in Mary's class.  It was a very thoughtful and well constructed service with Mary's class teacher, Mrs. Chisnell, leading it.  Each pupil was asked to give a short description of their most memorable moment during their last year and Mary relate her trip to Fairthorne when, in the middle of the night, she picked up a slug instead of her torch.  That got quite a few laughs from the children and parents alike.  The most emotional and proudest moment for me was when she was presented with the "Creativity Cup" for being the most creative pupil in the class (the photograph above shows Mary receiving the cup from the headteacher, Jane Greenaway).  Well done Mary.  As Mrs. G passed the cup to me she warned me that one of the handles was a bit loose and to handle it with care.  Shortly afterwards I needed to hand it to Sara for "safekeeping".  Sara immediately took hold of the cup by the dodgy handle which came off much to Sara's horror and the amusement of others.  Well, we have a year to get it fixed and engraved with Mary's name.  Tonight, after cutting the bank and going for a short cycle ride to East Winterslow via my normal circuit (3 miles) I met Richard in the Lion's Head for a pint or two.  A very enjoyable and satisfying day.

Barcelona trip booked - or is it?

At last, a day without rain - although everything is still really wet.  No appointments today, other than try to tie up and the finalise the agreement from my tribunal case last week.  Sara did her usual stint at Morning Star this morning and I drove Tom into Wilton for his work experience with Mandy, the photographer.  After dropping him off, I drove into Salisbury and spent an hour and a half in the gym.  Although I prefer to exercise by cycling and walking in the countryside, this awful weather has made it either impossible or unpleasant and so the gym beckoned.  I am conscious that I have not been doing as much exercise as I should and that, coupled with the appalling weather, has made me feel rather lethargic. After the gym I drove and parked near Milford Hall Hotel and walked into the city centre to bank a couple of cheques and meet Mandy and Tom in Cafe Nero.  They arrived late which left me time to enjoy my latte and read my book - Sons of Thunder by Dave Hopwood.  We sat and drank coffee and chatted and after a quick visit to Iceland (the shop, not the country) I drove Tom home where we had fish fingers (recently bought!) for lunch.  This afternoon I tackled the rear lawn which had become a bit of a meadow and had my second "gym experience" of the day.  Tonight we should have had house group but for a variety of reasons nobody was able to attend so Sara and I spent most of the evening booking a hotel and flights for a holiday in Barcelona in October.  After a few hiccups - especially with trying to get two room for the same nights in the hotel - we finally managed to get cheap flights which co-incided with hotel availability - albeit by cutting our holiday down by a day.  No sooner had we booked it than Sara suddenly remembered that the day we were travelling back co-incided with Mary's cheerleading competition in Eastbourne.  As I write this, the issue has not yet been resolved but it looks as though Sara will have to amend the flights so that she and Mary return back to the UK a day earlier!

Mary's End of an Era Party

Woke early this morning (6.00 a.m.)  It wasn't raining but it was very cool and overcast.  Sara persuaded me to join her on a one mile early morning walk up Gunville Hill and back via the Cow Field.  I must say that it was a very good way to start the day and it cleared my head.  I am acutely aware that I am not getting as much exercise these gloomy rainy days as I would wish and my bicycle hasn't been out of the garage for weeks.  When I bought it I really thought that I would be cycling long distances during the summer and chose it, with its light frame and 21 gears, for this purpose.  I attended Mid-Week Eucharist at St. John's this morning followed by a full Staff Team Meeting in the Team Office afterwards.  This afternoon I chaired the Parish's Mission Giving Group at our house where we had to decide upon which charities to give our budgeted £5,500.  The meeting lasted about an hour and a half and we chose with care to give to some charities we have given to in the past, some new charities and have had to cut down on some others.  Everybody seemed to go away fairly content.  During the meeting the rain started to pour down again by the bucket-load.  Where is it all coming from I ask again!  It must simply be going round and round and round.  We all attended Mary's leaving do at Winterslow School where the boys and girls in her class had a wonderful time in the school pool totally oblivious to the rain hammering down.  Thankfully it stopped and we had a relatively dry evening which meant that the BBQ could go ahead.  Masses of food - especially calorifically high and sugary cakes and puddings.  Tonight, when I got back home, I had a phone call from my good friend Malcolm in Liverpool.We chatted for a good hour and a half catching up on each other's news.  He has had some interesting times at work recently and has followed most of my movements and news on this blog.  We agreed that I was long overdue for a trip to Liverpool and he would like to come down and go over to France and Belgium for a few days.  This will give me an incentive to crack on with my academic studies over August so we can arrange something in September. 

BTEC Qualification

Weather dull but still brighter this morning.  I hoisted the Union Flag to commemorate the birthday of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and it fluttered majestically in the light breeze.  I spent most of today and Linda M’s with Sara and seven others undertaking a BTEC Level 2 course and examination on Customer Service.  I am delighted to report that both Sara and I, as well as all the other candidate, passed handsomely and we  all now have that qualification which is equivalent, I read, to  two GCSEs at A* level – all for the cost of spending six hours on the course and taking the exam.  Although it is an NVQ, nevertheless it is good to have this and add it to our qualifications for our business.  After the course, I took the Morning Star members who took part back to their home and Sara took Mary into Salisbury to have a filling at the dentist’s.  Mary wasn’t at all happy as she had to have an injection and the whole experience was not a pleasant one for her.  It has, I hope, at least reinforced the need for her to look after her teeth and keep them well cleaned.  I cut the bank this evening and as I did so, torrential rain came again.  I carried on and finished the job but was soaked in the process.  I still have to mow the lawn at the back which, like the others, resembles a meadow.  Tomorrow I have another full day – staff meeting at St. John’s followed by a meeting of the Mission Giving Group which I chair.  Once this wretched Tribunal case has been finally settled, I can crack on with writing the four remaining essays for this term and get the portfolios together before 12 September.

Prizes!

More heavy rain again today.  After some respite from the rain yesterday (which produced 79 overs of cricket) it was back to the drenching precipitation again.   I had hoped to do some gardening today – the lawns are looking like meadows – but that was simply not possible.  Sara informed me that Morning Star’s prize draw was to take place at Truffles Coffee Shop across the road this morning and I agreed to accompany her to help.  I hadn’t bought any tickets so thought that I had better buy a  strip for £5.  After my experience at the Bowl yesterday, I didn’t expect to do any good but thought that it was all in a very good cause.  We drew the tickets after a short interval of fifteen minutes and I not only won first prize – a month’s membership of a fitness centre in Salisbury – but also a huge hamper of food delights, which is probably why I needed to win the gym membership.  Two other people helping in the coffee shop also won prizes!  I had hoped to win the family ticket for the Tank Museum in Dorset but will have to settle for the swimming tank at the fitness centre.  On my return I spent some time working on trying to finalise the settlement from last week’s court case.  The wording of the settlement is still not agreed.  Later this afternoon, I drove into Andover for banking purposes and to do a little shopping.  Tonight, Sara and I watched The Madness of King George on a video before going to bed reasonably early – around 11.30 p.m.

A full afternoon's cricket (at last!)

Felt really quite tired this morning and so decided to have a bit of a lie-in with Sara and didn’t go to church (I wasn’t on duty anyway).  After a hectic week in Surrey it was pleasant to crash out and not worry about having to be in any certain place at any certain time.  A leisurely morning with a late breakfast followed.  This afternoon I took Tom and his friend Doug along with me to the Ageas Bowl to watch Hampshire take on Durham in the Clydesbank 40-Over series.  This was Doug’s first ever outing to a professional sporting event.  It was an exciting if, at times, slow game.  Durham batted first and put on a modest 200 runs for 7 wickets after 40 overs.  Hampshire, in chasing this rather mediocre score, managed to win by four wickets with a final score of 201 for 6 wickets in the penultimate over of the game.  Although, at first, it seemed that Durham’s total was an easy target, Hampshire did make rather heavy weather of it and at times were behind the Duckworth/Lewis figure.  Still the win left Hampshire, tonight, top of their Group table.  I bought one of the Golden Draw tickets for a £1 today – No. 7303.  To my amazement, and disappointment, the winning ticket was 7313!  How close can you get!  It would have netted me £39 which would easily have paid for the afternoon out and my beer round tonight.  After dropping Doug back at his home in The Wallops with good feelings about watching cricket and declaring that he would like to come along again, I returned to Winterslow and walked down to the Lion’s Head for my usual pint and chat with Richard whom I hadn’t seen in a while.  We caught up on events and agreed that we really must get some golf in before the end of August.  I couldn’t sleep too well tonight – probably because of my lie-in this morning.

Olympic Torch in Southampton

I woke up again, this morning, to the sound of torrential rain outside - another wet day ahead.  Sara escorted Tom around his paper round - part of her exercise regime - and left me to snooze.  I finally got up at 9 a.m. (very late for me) and after a breakfast of sausage and bacon rolls, helped Sara take a load of old games and other bric a brac over the the village hall for the Church Fete.  I also bought £20 worth of prize draw tickets which resulted in winning a large box of Thornton chocolates and some "smellies".  This afternoon, Tom and I drove into Southampton and after parking at Trethowan's just off The Avenue, we walked into the city centre where there was a wonderful festival atmosphere in anticipation of the arrival of the Olympic Torch later that afternoon.  There were many stalls selling all sorts of goodies and food.  A group from the Amana Trust were giving away free study New Testaments which we acquired.  We left the razzmatazz of Above Bar and walked to St. Mary's Stadium where there was another festival air to the place.  Upon showing our tickets for the Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup tournament we were admitted to a funfair outside the stadium and indulged ourselves on a small "ghost train" ride.  The Jeremy Kyle Show is probably scarier. Still, it was free and a fun thing to do.  Inside the stadium we were entertained with three games of football lasting 45 minutes each - Saints v. Anderlecht (0-1); Anderlecht v. Arsenal (0-1) and Saints v. Arsenal (5-4 after penalties).  Each team won one game but Arsenal won the Cup by virtue of only losing to Saints on penalties - Arsenal's first silverware for five years! During the break between the first and second games, the Olympic Torch arrived in the Stadium and was run around the pitch (see picture).  It was quite an emotional moment to see "The Kiss" as the runners exchanged the flame in the corner between the Northam and Itchen Stands.  Tom and I finally arrive back home at around 10.15 p.m.  We had missed the Church Fete but had an incredibly enjoyable and interesting day, once more, in Southampton.  Back there again tomorrow, hopefully, to see Hampshire v. Durham in the CB40 cricket match at the Rose Bowl.

A day of mediation

Michael and I had to be up early this morning as we were due in Tribunal again at 9.30 a.m. to take part in a Judicial Mediation with the hope of finally settling our case.  We ate our, by now, customary “continental” breakfast at the Gypsy Moth and took the taxi into West Croydon.  Today we had a Mercedes E-Class with a white middle-aged driver – something unique in this part of the world.  He got lost!  I ended up having to direct him the final few yards to our destination.  We started promptly at 9.30 a.m. and apart from a lunch break at 1 p.m. went right through until 6 p.m. this evening.  For obvious reasons I can’t write the details here but, suffice it to say, after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing we managed a settlement which was quite satisfactory and which, apart from some tidying up of the agreement on Monday, means that we have avoided a 10-day trial in March and will free my diary up, considerably, to concentrate on finishing my portfolios for my ministry training.  I drove back this evening along the A272 to avoid heavy motorway traffic and stopped off briefly to have a look at the church in Midhurst where Sara and I met and prayed together on our first day together on 10th March 1996.  It was a very nostalgic visit.  The church has had its dark wooden screen removed and replaced with a plate glass door and screen which considerably lightens the inside of the church.  I spoke briefly to some members of the choir who were just finishing choir practice.  I eventually arrived back home at around 9 p.m. and Sara greeted me with a supper of surf n’ turf – my  favourite – steak with grilled shrimp.  Ironically, it was just what I had eaten last night at TGI Friday’s!  Feeling quite exhausted tonight and looking forward to a bit of a lie-in tomorrow.

Croydon Day 2 - Thank God it's Thursday

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day - perhaps the summer has arrived at last!  Blue sky and no clouds - even quite warm.  No need to get a taxi into Croydon today as MCR and I were due to spend the day with clients in Leatherhead.  After a "continental" breakfast of cereal and soggy toast (with soggy coffee to match) we set off along the M25 for Leatherhead where we went through a substantial amount of paperwork ready for tomorrow's judicial hearing back in Croydon.  By mid-afternoon the English summer weather returned - heavy rain!  We cruised back to Croydon (cruising being a good word judging by the rain on the road) driving through South Croydon to see if we could spot a decent restaurant to eat tonight.  The only one looking half decent was Anna's Thai Restaurant where Sally G and I had eaten during an earlier tribunal case for Friends Provident. In fact on returning to our hotel on Purley Way we spotted the TGI Friday's place right opposite us on the main road.  With the heavy rain and the close proximity of this restaurant, we chose that for our evening's culinary delights.  First of all we had our usual pre-dinner drink at the Gypsy Moth (I had a fruit cider which tasted rather like alcoholic Vimto!) before crossing the dangerous A23 for nachos, steak, burger and shrimp washed down with red wine.  MCR had a tequila for starters and I had a "Godfather" - Famous Grouse whisky and amaretto. Interesting flavour.  The service was excellent served by a charming Australian girl so we were happy to leave a decent tip.  Early night tonight as we have a long and interesting day ahead tomorrow.  Some good news today - Portsmouth FC have been deducted 10 points at the beginning of their League 1 season.  How ironic - exactly the same position Saints were in three years ago when Portsmouth jeered us.  What goes around comes around!

A Day in Tribunal

Awoke early this morning - 5.30 a.m. and spent the time before breakfast inserting Chronologies and indexes into the bundles.  Michael R and I had a light breakfast at The Gypsy Moth before setting off in a taxi through the back streets of Croydon to arrive at the offices of the Employment Tribunals at 9 a.m.  A long frustrating day.  Without going into the boring details, the hearing has been postponed until March 2013 when it will be set down for ten days! However, we spent a whole day in and out of the Tribunal Room today on various interlocutory matters such as disclosure, timetables and so on.  We are to have the case set down for a Judicial Mediation on Friday which is likely to be another long drawn out day.  Although it was tempting to return home tonight, MCR and I have decided to stay on here in Croydon (after all, our hotel is paid up for the next three nights) and spend a day with our clients tomorrow in Leatherhead preparing for the mediation and dealing with some of the issues which arose in the tribunal today.  Tonight we were entertained with a massive thunderstorm and took a taxi to Tai Tung Chinese Restaurant which is part of the Wing Yip complex just down the Purley Way.  An excellent meal - I had crab with ginger and spring onion sauce - messy but delightful.  We walked back along the Purley Way to our hotel feeling very full and quite exhausted.  An enjoyable evening of witty story-telling.  It is good to be back working with MCR again.  Like old times when I ran Barratt & Company.

Back in Croydon

A hectic day today preparing for this weeks 3-day trial in Croydon.  Worked solidly in the morning with telephone conferences and emails constantly going to and fro.  More appalling weather today - torrential rain and warm sun making the grass and weeds spring up everywhere.  This afternoon I eventually left home at 3.30pm. and arrived at our clients offices at 5.30 p.m. for an hour and a half's consultation on the bundles.  Thunder and lightning in Surrey! I arrived at the hotel which is our base for the next three days at 7.30 p.m. with our counsel, Michael, joining me at 8.30 p.m.  We went over to the nearby "pub" ("The Gypsy Moth" - see picture) for what can only be described as a mediocre dinner (pan fried chicken breast and sausage and mash) but an acceptable bottle of Rioja.  A good conversation - it was good to chat together tonight about sport and the state of the world as well as about tomorrow's case.  Both feeling tired so off to bed quite early.  a long and interesting day tomorrow in West Croydon.

Still no women bishops

Yet another wet and miserable day today.  An exciting one though for Tom and Mary.  It was Tom's first day of Work Experience and he is working with professional photographer, Mandy, at Wilton for two weeks helping her design some new flyers initially.  for Mary, she spent today at her new secondary education school, St. Edmunds for Girls in Salisbury.  Both quite new experiences for them.  I drove into Salisbury early for a dental appointment - I need another couple of small fillings - and then on to Sarum College to pick up a library book and the Cathedral where I joined the Rural Dean and others for half an hour of a prayer vigil for the General Synod meeting today.  The result of the deliberations on whether there should be Women Bishops ended in an adjournment on the issue until the Synod meets again in November.  No women bishops for the time being.  Before returning home I called in at the gym for half an hour.  Back home I spent the afternoon working on the tribunal case.  tonight, Sara and I watched the highly acclaimed film "The Help" which is concerned with the plight of black maids in Mississippi in the early 1960s and the whole Civil Rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jnr. Very tired tonight - especially after the visit to the gym.

Next year Andy? You did us proud.

Another strange day of strange weather.  For the first time in quite a while, Sara and I went to church together - both as congregants without any duties.  We attended All Saints Winterslow where Cynthia led and preached on the gospel reading of Jesus going back to his native village to teach and preach and not being well regarded.  Some very interesting thoughts entered my head as I heard those words.  As she also spoke about her time in Venezuela, little did I realise that listening to her intently would lead me to being able to answer a pub quiz question correctly later tonight - not that that should be the reason for  listening to sermons!  This afternoon Tom and I visited the Ageas Bowl to watch the T20 game against Essex - one point to secure Hampshire's quarter-finals place.  As we entered the Members' Pavilion, the heavens opened and we had half an hour of torrential rain! This was enough to result in the game being eventually, after several pitch inspections, abandoned.  Hampshire got themselves into the Quarter-Finals thanks to the weather!  Tom and I watched Andy Murray put up a brave fight against Roger Federer in the Wimbledon Mens' Singles Final.  He had a great start but, at the end of the game, was clearly no match for the stamina and expertise of such a fine tennis player as Federer. The one good thing about the poor weather was that Tom and I were able to sit in the comfort of the Members' Pavilion enjoying our drinks (and in my case an enormous Ploughman's Lunch too) and watch the tennis on a high definition flat screen TV.  I was very disappointed to find that in trying to get my £5 back for Tom's ticket. I would have to pay £3 admin fee.  Eventually, therefore, I will get a cheque in the post for £2 from Hampshire CC!  Lesson learnt - always pay by debit card!  Never cash.  Tonight I joined Richard, David and James for the pub quiz.  A large number of entrants tonight - 14 teams I recall.  Where did we ("Last of the Summer Wine") end up? - why top of course.  Back to our winning ways after a three-months break - bringing hope the bottles of wine!  The charity tonight was The Link Scheme - volunteer drivers to take the less-abled into Salisbury or collect their shopping etc.  A wonderful resource in the village.  Hampshire will play Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in the T20QF but on a Tuesday evening when I can't make it.  Pity.  Now a really busy week ahead.

Masonic Meeting in Calne. Will it never stop raining?

Yet more rain - fetes, sporting events, garden parties - all seem to be cancelled.  I was up early this morning and took Tom into work (paper round) before driving up to the north of the county to attend a masonic meeting at Calne to discuss the 3Rs initiative  -recruitment, retention and refreshment - although not necessarily in  that order - I always forget which order they are!.  I met Lee, our newest member there and was also surprised that it wasn't raining "up north".  A very interesting meeting with a number of lodges describing their recipes for successful retention and recruitment. Our lodge, Sarum, has tried most of these but still suffers - probably because of its demographics - mainly elderly masons who live away from Salisbury. I gave a short presentation on our own experience.  The meeting was followed by a buffet lunch and I then returned home.  The rain returned with a vengeance once I reached Devizes (I seem to be driving through that town at least once a week at the moment).  I was hurrying back to attend Morning Star's Garden Party where I was due to carve the pig at their hog roast.  Unfortunately it was - yes you've guessed it - cancelled.  The British Grand Prix was also affected today but the Wimbledon Women's Final went ahead with Serena Williams picking up her fifth title.  Still feeling really grotty at the moment.  It was good to find that a Freemason colleague of mine reads this blog and for those of you who have been following my ministerial training I have now added a link on this page to the blog which contains all my sermons delivered since I started preaching in January (http://pulpitmichael.blogsopt.com).  It's 10 p.m. as I write this and I think I'll have an early night. I have no church duties tomorrow but hope to get to see the Hampshire v. Essex T20 game tomorrow afternoon and then join my "Last of the Summer Wine" team in the pub quiz. 

Murray through to Wimbledon finals

The rain continues to fall - how absolutely awful.  I really cannot recall such a long period of continuous rain ever before in my lifetime.  Coupled with my severe cold I felt really miserable this morning.  Normally during summer, I would get extra exercise by cycling, playing tennis or playing golf but the weather just hasn't been conducive to any of these activities.  I therefore, and unusually, stayed in bed this morning until about 10.30 a.m..  Normally I would have attended the Ambassadors' Business Breakfast Meeting this morning but I really felt unwell and had no appetite.  I still had to deal with some paperwork and phone calls connected with next week's tribunal but other than that I had little energy for much at all.  The raining just continued to fall.  This evening, feeling a little better, Richard and I went to the Ageas bowl to watch Hampshire take on mighty Sussex in the T20.  Mighty Sussex indeed.  On arrival at The Bowl, we were greeted with blue skies and no rain, having left it behind in Wiltshire. Because of their far superior batting, Sussex put on an amazing 203 runs for the loss of 5 wickets by the eighteenth over when the rain started to pour down again.  Sussex were awesome with Matt Prior (England's wicketkeeper) hitting sixes and fours to make 81 runs off only 37 balls.  Hampshire were heading for a defeat as we couldn't see how they could match Sussex's run rate without taking risks and losing wickets.  We were not to find out as the game was abandoned resulting in Sussex having to share the points with Hampshire - one each.  This means that Hampshire are now almost certain to gain a quarter-final place - albeit an away fixture.  Another sporting triumph this evening, and a very historic one was Andy Murray's triumph at Wimbledon  being the first British tennis player to reach the finals since 1938!  There was great excitement in the Hampshire Members' Lounge as the semi-final victory was seen on the large TV screen.  Looking forward to an exciting Sunday final.

Bundles!

Felt really unwell this morning - I am definitely suffering from my wet day in Southampton on Tuesday.  I found it really hard to get out of bed and so decided to do some work from my bed using my BlackBerry which enabled me to deal with emails, texts and phone calls. I was being intensely optimistic if I thought that this would work!  After receiving a phone call from our counsel, I felt compelled to ring our clients in Surrey and arrange to go up to see them to organise the tribunal bundles.  I left at 11.30 a.m. and was up with them at 1.00 p.m. - totally unexpected and unscheduled.  However, I am pleased I did and in the course of the next four hours or so I was able to get the bundles together in a reasonable shape for printing.  It also gave me an opportunity of reviewing the paperwork again and familiarising myself with the finer points of the case.  I returned home via the A3 and the Hindhead Tunnel - what a marvellous piece of engineering that is - a mile and a quarter long drilled through the Surrey countryside.  I was back in time to lead House Group although by now I could hardly speak - my voice was going, i was coughing and spluttering and I am fully blocked up with cold with a pounding headache.  We managed to have a good evening all the same with some interesting discussions on the state of the church and spirituality generally in the west.  We ended the evening by watching a couple of episodes of "Rev" to emphasise the point.  I found it hard to sleep tonight and watched some T20 Cricket on the TV.

Last lick of misson module

4th July - USA Independence Day - midsummer!  Another miserable wet day again today.  Feeling rather poorly today - probably as a result of getting thoroughly drenched in Southampton yesterday.  No plans at all today other than some Complex work and certainly no appointments.  I had intended to go to Mid-Week Eucharist at St. John's but had to spend the morning working on the tribunal case and so couldn't attend.  I also received another resignation letter from a member of Sarum Lodge which brings our membership down to 22.  The viability of the lodge must now be in serious question.  This evening I attended the penultimate tutorial on "Mission in God's World".  For me, this will be the last tutorial on this subject as next week I shall be in Croydon on the employment tribunal.  Sara made a wonderful chorizo and tomato salad this evening - a Jamie Oliver recipe, which was absolutely delicious. I have also booked our trip to Auschwitz.  We will be joining a small group of about 12 in a mini-bus.  This will give us longer to look around than the organised coach trips. 

Nostaglia in Southampton

Awoke to another miserable day today - raining yet again!  One of those mornings when you really don't want to get up.  Eventually persuaded myself that work needed to be done and so went downstairs and cooked myself a breakfast of sausages with brown sauce - lovely.  Part of my protein diet! Sara and I were both in all morning and I spent on paperwork and emails.  Today marked two great anniversaries in shipping history - the 60th anniversary of the maiden voyage of the US liner, SS United States and the 175th anniversary of the founding of the P&O Line.  I marked the former by flying the Stars and Stripes (confusing some people into thinking that I had hoisted the flag for Independence Day one day early!  The latter I marked by deciding to go down to Southampton to witness the sailing of all seven current P&O cruise liners which had come into their home part together this morning.  They were due to sail at 6 p.m. in convoy led by a Trinity House vessel with the Princess Royal on board followed by HMS Dragon - one of the latest Type-42 Destroyers. Before going down to town Pier to watch this procession, I went to St. Mary's to get Tom's and my shirt personalised with our initials and Premier League badge (so nice to have that back on our kit again reminding us of those great 27 years in the top flight).  I had intended to get these done at West Quay but was told that they could only be done at St. Mary's.  This meant a long walk to St. Mary's in the pouring rain and a long queue to get them done.  I also bought tickets for the Memorial games on Saturday 14th July (which unfortunately will clash with the Parish Fete).  I trudged to Town Pier in the pouring rain and joined thousands of others to witness the departure of the seven liners - Adonia, Ventura, Arcadia, Aurora, Oriana, Azura and Oceana.  By the end of it I was soaked to the skin, shivering with intense cold and my camera stopped working because of the rain which had penetrated it.  Fortunately, it was working again by the time I got home.  The bad weather prevented the Red Arrows from performing and whilst we could hear the fireworks we certainly couldn't see them.  The highlight for me was seeing the three tall funnelled ships - Oriana, Aurora and Arcadia all together, one behind the other in the Western Docks.  It was like the old Southampton when the funnels of liners dominated the landscape/seascape.  Although I felt, physically, very miserable, I did feel nostalgic not only for seeing the ships but walking along the same bits of Southampton as on my first date with Sara.  It brought back memories of the greatest day of my life - one which changed my life and my world forever.  a day I never will regret.

Another rainy day - Where is summer?

I can't believe that this is July.  The weather, once more, is atrocious - cold and wet.  Certainly not the weather for long walks or cycling.  I spent much of the morning working in the study on my big legal case; had a light lunch of oxtail soup with Sara - who attempted spicy Mexican soup following her visit to the dentist this morning - and a visit from Sophie this afternoon.  I drove into Andover during mid-afternoon to bank some cheques and do some shopping at Iceland.  This evening we visited Mary's new secondary school where she will be going in September - St. Edmunds.  Very impressed with it.  I think this will be a good character building place and quite different for her as it is an all-girls school.  I was impressed we we visited it before choices were made and I remain positive that it is somewhere where Mary will have an opportunity to develop well.  Wrote up my outstanding blogs this evening also and then a relatively early night - 11 p.m.  A red font night! A fairly mundane day today though not helped by the weather which simply makes you want to stay in and do as little as possible.

New Saints Shirt has arrived (Liverpool FC?)

Having missed being given Communion by Andrew yesterday (he had given it on the opposite of the cathedral to where I had been and I had missed the service at Farley through being at the cricket in Southampton) I decided to go to the 8 a.m. Early morning Eucharist at St. John's where Andrew was to celebrate the Eucahrist.  I therefore got up early and went along the road to St. John's to find that Nils was taking the service and had given Andrew the morning off after all yesterday's excitement and emotion.  Sara took my place as sidesman at All Saints and I spent the morning working on the service I am to take this evening at Whiteparish. Tom and I ventured into Southampton this morning to buy our new Southampton Premier League shirts.  We parked the car in Brighton Road and walked along The Avenue and London Road to West Quay Shopping Centre to get our shirts from the Southampton FC shop.  Today there was a cycling fest going on with literally hundreds (if not thousands) or visibility tabard clad cyclists riding in every which way you could imagine and we needed to dodge them as we walked along.  Arriving at the Saint's shop we found and enormous queue stretching from the shop outside the shopping centre.  We were advised that there was a 2-hour wait.  Having come this far we decided to queue although I did start to worry that I would not be back in time to take tonight's service at Whiteparish. We started queuing at 1.20 p.m. and finally got served at 3.10 p.m. As soon as we had chosen our shirts we rushed back to the car, dodging the ubiquitous yellow clad cyclists who just seemed to be going round and round to annoy us or knock us down, and back to the car and back to Winterslow. Sara, bless her, had prinited off my order of service, sermon and intercessions and ironed my short ready for tonight.  In the end, I was back home with an hour to spare.  Not a big congregation tonight - only 10 of us with my support group missing. Jane D kindly acted as mentor and will give me a full report.  Seemed to go down okay.  I preached on Paul's message to obey authority (government) and contrasted this with the Holocaust and the cry of "I was only obeying orders".  A difficult piece of scripture (Romans 13:1-10).  Hopefully it provoked some reflection.  After a quick, but really good stir fry meal of pork and noodles tonight, I went down to the Lion's Head for a couple of pints with Klynn and watched Spain devastate Italy on the football pitch in the Euro 2012 Final (4-0). I dread to think what the score would have been if it had been a Spain v. England Final!