Hampshire through to the T20 Quarter Finals

Sara did her usual stint at Morning Star this morning and I attended Mid-Week Eucharist at St. John’s Church which was taken by Cynthia. Rosemary kindly gave me a lift back.  I walked to the post office and back to get some cash for this evening’s cricket.  Thom couldn’t make up his mind whether he wanted to come to the cricket or not but eventually decided to do so. We picked up Richard and I drove to the Ageas Bowl for Hampshire’s last T20 game against Middlesex.  Hampshire had already qualified for the Quarter Finals with a home draw and Middlesex were hoping to win tonight in order to get a “wild card” away place in the quarter Finals.  Hampshire won the toss and seceded to bat first putting on a very good 190 runs for the loss of only 3 wickets (one of which was Carberry (for only 5).  Middlesex put on a good show by return but could only manage 182 for 7 by the end of their twenty over innings.   A good, but close win (8 runs) for Hampshire who will face Lancashire at the Ageas Bowl next Wednesday in the Quarter Final tie.  Hopefully I can get tickets tomorrow.

Another Portfolio Finished!

he day started wet again and I spent the whole morning finishing my portfolio for the preaching module.  I felt a great sense of achievement when I wrote the covering letter and put the portfolio into an envelope for delivering to Church House.  This afternoon I drove into Salisbury, parked at Waitrose and delivered the portfolio – with another great sense of relief as I walked away out of the reception with the portfolio left for my mentor to mark.  I returned to Waitrose and did some shopping and enjoyed a free cup of coffee courtesy of “My Waitrose” card.  This evening after a refreshing bath I read a while and watched an interesting interview with Sir Patrick Moore which had taken place about five years ago.  I have his autobiography on my bookshelf and must read it – perhaps on holiday.

T

Hospital, College, Drop-In Centre, Parish Council

A few rumbles of thunder today.  I was up early to attend my appointment with the physiotherapist at Salisbury Hospital for my arthritic knee.  He has prescribed a course of treatment using the hospital’s gym which starts in September.  On my way back to the car I bumped into one of my ministry tutor’s, David D, who was having his hearing aid looked at.  I think we both thought that each other might be on chaplaincy duties!  I then went straight to Sarum College and parking my car there I did two hours’ work in the library on my Preaching Portfolio before spending three hours on chaplaincy duty at the Alabare Place drop-in centre for the homeless.  Sara had a business meeting for Complex services this morning and came and joined me for lunch at the drop-in centre before I returned to Sarum College to complete my studying for the day.  This evening I attended a meeting of Winterslow Parish Council to discuss putting together a Neighbourhood Plan for planning control. I watched one of my favourite films, Michael Collins, until the early hours of the morning.

Planes and Trains and Boats

A busy Sunday today.  I took the All Age Service at East Grimstead this morning which was attended by about a dozen people including one of my colleagues from the Ambassador’s Business Club who, I think, was quite surprised to see me dressed up in clerical garb taking her local church service.  Although there was only a small number of people attending, the service had a lovely intimate feel to it and was very much enhanced by the singing dog who also attend and who sang (howled) sort of “in tune” to each verse.  I was told that I must have chosen good hymns as he sang along to all of them and especially the last, Offertory hymn – “Tell out my Soul”.  Mary is thinking about flying up to Scotland on her own to visit her friend Freya in Alloa.  She and I went to Southampton airport this afternoon (costing me £3 to park the car for 30 minutes – how outrageous in that!) to find out about the accompanied passenger scheme whereby a minor is accompanied by a member of the cabin crew throughout the process of embarking and disembarking.  Mary seems much happier with this arrangement.  I did consider driving her up myself and having a short break in Scotland but once you add the cost of fuel and a hotel it is not the most economical way for her to spend a week with her friend.  After our short (very short - in view of the car parking charges!) we spent an hour or so at the Eastleigh Lakeside Railway and had a return trip pulled by 4-6-0 No. 2005, Silver Jubilee on a gauge of 10.5 inches.  Tonight, I met up with Richard for our end-of-week pint in the Lion’s Head and exchanged stories since Friday.  I, and the family, have also been invited on board the liner Queen Elizabeth, when she next docks in Southampton. 

Let it rain as long as I'm inside!

The long expected rain arrived today.   I had an appointment-free diary and spent most of the day at home – reading and attending to the odd chore.  In the afternoon I worked on my sermon for tomorrow and printed out the service sheet so that I would be ready tomorrow morning without too much running around.  It was pleasant to have a day without having too much to do or places to go to.  The cats do not like the rain too much although Ginny enjoys finding a dry spot in the garden or under a car and appreciates the coolness which the rain brings.

An evening at the Ageas Bowl

Compared to yesterday's fairly quite day, today was very busy.  Bev from Morning Star called round at 9.30 a.m. and delivered some newsletters and other at paperwork for Alderbury which I delivered to Ann.  I stopped off in Alderbury and had a coffee at the Boundary Café before going on to Alabare Place to undertake my first full session of chaplaincy work with the homeless.  I spent three hours there chatting to a number of the drop-in clients, drinking coffee and generally being available to them.  I also gave some advice on the telephone to a client of Complex relating to a difficult employment law matter. I also received a possible invite to go on board Queen Elizabeth at some time in the future.  I returned home where I gave some further advice to a new Complex client before Richard picked me up in his car to go to the Ageas Bowl to watch Hampshire take on Essex in the T20 competition.  A really interesting game with Essex batting first and scoring 182 and Hampshire winning by five wickets when they reached 183 with four balls remaining. However, their total of 183 included 33 extras and 6 penalty runs awarded against Essex for slow bowling.  Without those Hampshire would have struggled to beat Essex.  Bowling on both sides was poor as was the fielding.  Shah scored 68 for Essex and Carberry 54 for Hampshire but otherwise there was no remarkable batting either.  Hampshire are now through to the Quarter-Finals but it is still unclear who they will play. Because of the slowness of the game we didn't get back home until 11.30 p.m.  It was hard to sleep again tonight as the house remains warm and muggy.  We are expecting heavy rain tomorrow but a mugginess remains in the air.

Studying St. James

Another quiet day at home today.  I worked on preparing the service for Sunday - choosing hymns etc.  This evening we had a small gathering for House Group - myself, Sara, Ivan and James and we looked and read James's Epistle in the New Testament and discussed other various Jameses in the bible.  The weather still remains very warm and humid. 

Ups and Downs with Sara at Thorpe Park

Both Sara and I were up early again this morning - Sara to take Mary and her friend Freya for a day at Thorpe Park in Surrey and me to attend Morning Office at Whaddon followed by a half-day Clarendon Staff Team meeting at Whaddon and Whiteparish.  Following a "bring your own" lunch at Jane's in Whiteparish, I drove into Salisbury to bank a cheque and have a cup of coffee in Café Nero and catch up on my emails on my BlackBerry.  Sara returned back from Surrey at around 7.30 p.m. and we all enjoyed a Chinese takeaway from Porton.  Sara was very tired after her journey and spending a hot and noisy time at an amusement park.  I did some work on the computer this evening in preparation for the service I am leading at East Grimstead on Sunday and watched Breaking Amish on TV.  The weather remains very warm and humid - not at all pleasant or conducive to working.

Mission Giving

The excitement of the new Royal Baby continued today with people wanting a glimpse of the new child as he left the hospital with his parents - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  Torrential rain this morning (with some thunder) lowered the temperature although it did rise again in the afternoon to a sticky 25 degrees.  I took Sara into Amesbury to attend her boot camp session and took the opportunity to deliver a letter in the town and sit and have a coffee in Costa coffee and read my devotionals.  This afternoon we hosted a meeting of the Mission Giving Group of the church and spent an hour and a half considering and debating which charities to recommend to receive an allocation of money from the funds.  I was pleased with the result which enabled a number of very worthwhile charities to benefit. I visited Morning Star later in the afternoon and was greeted with warm hospitality and a cup of tea and enjoyed a long chat with Bev, Dave and the residents.  What warm, lovely people they all are.  This evening three of us (myself, David and Richard) met in the Lion's Head for Pub Theology although we spent a good deal of time talking about cricket!  Towards the end of the evening we did get on to the topic of ethics and the evangelical churches - a topic I will be studying (ethics) next term.  Lovely cool evening tonight - so hopefully I will sleep better.

Royal Baby Boy Born - Celebrations

This is my 1,5000th post and what an historic one too!  The birth this afternoon of a prince to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who will be third in line to the throne. The whole country is in a state of excitement wanting a first glimpse of the future King of England whose name will not be revealed, probably, for many days.  It has also been the hottest day for seven years with temperatures of 34 degrees Celsius recorded in London.  The Royal Baby was born at 4.34 p.m. but the birth not announced until after 7 p.m.  On a more mundane level, Sara went off to Amesbury this morning to investigate a personal training company with one of her "boot camp" colleagues.  They have both decided not to pursue this avenue.  I did a bit of gardening in the morning - weeding the drive before it got too hot.  I did some preparation for the Mission giving meeting tomorrow by updating the spread sheet.  Some thunder late this afternoon (at the time of the Royal Birth) with a short downpour.  We are expecting heavy rain and more violent thunderstorms tomorrow morning. 

Morning Baptism then an afternoon at the Ageas Bowl

The weather seemed to be a bit cooler today but the temperature soon rose into the upper 20s – but certainly cooler than yesterday.  I attended All Saints Church this morning where I was the sidesman.  There were supposed to be two of us but the other person did not turn up.  An interesting service combining a baptism, Eucharist and healing service all in one.  I am not sure that is such a good idea especially when over two-thirds of the congregants are the baptism party.  It was, however, a really nice service with Nils preaching on Mary and Martha – one of my favourites in the bible. David called for me at 11.30 a.m. and we set off for the Ageas Bowl with him driving under my directions.  We arrived quite early although the car park was already very full.  This morning there was a T10 match for the disabled using a ball with a bell as some of the players were blind.  Amazing how they can still hit the ball without being able to see it! We had taken packed lunches which we shared supplemented by drinks from the Members’ Bar in the Pavilion.  A lovely afternoon of watching first class cricket; but not such a good afternoon for Hampshire who lost to Kent by eight runs.  Hampshire could have so easily won the match if it wasn’t for poor bowling and fielding which cost them fourteen extras to Kent.  Saving those alone would have been enough.  They also didn’t take the sort of risks necessary in T20 cricket e.g. they only took singles when two runs could have been possible. Somehow they remain on top of the table with a game in hand.  Looking forward to seeing them take on Essex next Friday evening. Watched some baseball on TV when I got home. Still so very hot and difficult to sleep again tonight.

 

Watching Cricket (Mainly)

A fairly free day today spent watching the cricket – again the heat is intense at 30-odd degrees. It continues to be relentless.  I drove up to Amesbury to recycle some tin cans and also to do some shopping at Lidl’s and Tescos – nibbles etc. for the cricket tomorrow.  England continue to put on the runs with Bell reaching 180 eventually and Australia having to chase 566 runs – an impossible task. There is certainly no prospect of rain to spoil England’s chances of winning as I see it.  I am so grateful for my air-conditioned car but I still have no real incentive or desire to go out anywhere in this heat.  Returned home to watch the cricket.  Sara was out this evening as Mary had a party to go to in Salisbury and so Sara took her in this afternoon and rather than returning home decided to stay out and have a meal at the new Café Rouge. 

Chaplaincy Induction at Alabare Place

I felt that today was much more productive than yesterday both for me and also the English cricketers. Australia were all out for a pathetic 128 runs giving England the opportunity to make them follow on or bat.  They chose to bat.  They already have a 250-odd lead.  I took the Park & Ride bus into Salisbury where I delivered a missing page from my portfolio and then spent about four hours or so at the Alabare Place homeless drop-in centre learning about the centre and undergoing some essential induction before I formally take up my position as its chaplain.  Wonderful light airy atrium area with interesting art work suspended from the roof. It was pleasant to sit and chat to some of the service users and staff and I am looking forward to a rewarding time ahead with them working at the centre on a weekly basis.

England make a slow start at Lords

Sara is saying I am becoming obsessional about the weather but in the same way she is always moaning about being cold I am reciprocating by moaning about being too hot!  Shorts and short-sleeved shirt today.  I had a meeting this morning at the Rectory with Nils (my usual monthly meeting) when we discussed a variety of things and particularly the need to put in place a formal ministerial contract to replace my training contract in October.  I spent the afternoon watching the cricket (Second Ashes Test) – England made a slow and difficult start.  Not looking too hopeful at the moment after the First Day.  Tonight I attended a very warm Parochial Church Council meeting at St. John’s Church – warm in every respect and was grateful to have the opportunity of having a beer with Richard in the Lion’s Head afterwards.

A Day with Alabare

I spent most of today with Alabare - first at St. Francis's Youth Centre off Salisbury's Castle Road and then, in the afternoon, at its big celebration, award ceremony and AGM in a beautifully air-conditioned City Hall.  Both lunch and tea were provided.  The morning session was concerned with the second part of my chaplaincy training - quite a bit of the material duplicating my pastoral care module - listening skills etc.  So pleased to be an air-conditioned building this afternoon as once more the temperature has soared up to 34 degrees today and we are expecting similar temperatures tomorrow.  This evening I worked on my portfolio again and made better progress than yesterday - but it is still unfinished.  hopefully, I really will get it done tomorrow.  So hot in the night still although the temperature outside does drop.  Unfortunately it still seems to remain high inside.

Ear Problem

The temperature continues to rise and today my car recorded 35 degrees in Salisbury.  Sara did her second session at the Amesbury Boot Camp and was feeling in much pain afterwards.  I dropped her off, went into the Tesco store to buy some discs so that I can record my presentation for insertion into the portfolio I am currently working on.  I also treated myself to a cup of cappuccino at Costa Coffee until it was time to go and pick Sara up.  Worked on my portfolio on and off today and went into Salisbury to visit the doctor about my left ear which feels blocked and causing some tinnitus.  The doctor's verdict was that there may be some fluid in the inner ear and I should allow it a further week to see if it pops.  It is causing me some discomfort, although it is not painful, and my hearing is much impaired.  That combined with this excessively hot weather makes me feel lethargic and irritable.  I delivered a few more leaflets for the Parish Council in Glenfield Close this evening, continued with putting together my LLM portfolio but decided to call it a day at around 10.30 p.m. with my eyes hurting from dryness and the heat still strong in my study.  Found it difficult to sleep again.   

Hot! Hot! Hot!

I woke up this morning with such good intentions to do all the things on my list - above all to complete a portfolio! It wasn't long before this incessant heat started to get to me!  The winter I can cope with - you can keep warm - but I find it impossible to get any cooler!  Mary is taking part in a tennis coaching week and as a result has got severely sun-burnt in Victoria Park and I find it hard to find anywhere cool.  Sara was taking her friend Jane into Salisbury to catch a train to Taunton for her retreat holiday and Thom and I decided to come in with her as I wanted to bank a business cheque and also we needed to buy a new charger for our cameras - the previous ones having gone mysteriously missing!  We also bought two small fans for my office and Thom's bedroom.  Sara seems to like working in a hothouse so she continues to work in her study without any breeze. We did all our business but this did put me somewhat behind in my timetable.  Back home I found I had no appetite - just wanting to drink tea and fluids - and I dealt with some complex form filling for my City of London pension, my application for admission as a Licensed Minister and the paperwork to transfer my personalised registration number to my new car.  All these things seeming harder than normal because I felt so tired and hot.  I did have a small siesta towards the end of the afternoon and this evening I wrote up my blog - but didn't start on the portfolio.  Will do that tomorrow now that I have got out of the way these nit-picking forms to fill in.   Sara went to a boot camp this morning and came back feeling awful.  This weather does not bring out the best in any of us.  I like it warm but not this hot.  Apparently this weather is likely to continue for another two months and may be hotter than in 1976 - my first year in London which I recall was extremely horrible on the Underground. It's now 10.35 p.m. and think I'll go to bed.  Portfolio can wait until tomorrow and I'll blitz it then!

England Win First Ashes' Test / Preaching at Two Churches

Not the best of days to be wearing a cassock and surplice but I was preaching at two separate churches this morning along with Zoe, one of our lay worship leaders, who was to lead the services - one at West Dean and the other at Farley.  Not many at West Dean this morning - just 8 of us but Farley was better attended with about 18.  I enjoyed the preaching - a good subject - the Good Samaritan the text of which can be found on my other blog page http://pulpitmichael.blogspot.com.  It was really pleasant to stand around chatting over coffee in a cool church on such a hot day.  The conversations seemed to centre on flying and cricket!  After having dropped Zoe back at West Dean to pick up her car I tuned into the radio to find that Australia needed only 46 runs to win but only had one wicket left.  By the time I reached home that run requirement had been eroded to just 22.  Lunch then occurred and England managed to get the final wicket - thanks to modern technology - with Australia still needing 14 runs to win.  what an exciting Test Match this has been! This evening, Richard, David, James and I took part in a poorly attended Pub Quiz at the Lion's Head.  With such little competition (only two other teams) we won comfortably again.  Still very warm as I walked home and had difficulty in sleeping again tonight.

A Trip to Calne

Up early this morning on what must be the hottest day so far.  During the course of the day my car registered 34 degrees Celsius!   I drove to Durrington to pick up Sarum Lodge's newest member to take him to the 3Rs Conference at Calne Masonic Centre - a journey of about an hour.   The Conference was well attended and some very useful work was done and good discussions held on the topic of retaining and recruiting new members.  There were also a few horror stories too - one in Swindon of which I knew the background but didn't let on.  I couldn't touch the steering wheel when I got in the car to leave at 1.30 p.m.  I returned back to Winterslow, after returning John to Durrington and stopping for a much needed ice cream at Amesbury, at around 3 p.m. and called in at the Church Fete.  There were not as many people there as normal - people were either at the seaside or staying indoors to follow the cricket - England were putting on runs at a fair lick.  Sara had a stall outside painting nails.  I bought a book of raffle tickets and had a cup of tea and a cake whilst chatting to a number of people.  I bought my tickets only five minutes before the draw and won third prize - a bottle of good real champagne and a couple of champagne glasses.  Tonight was another difficult one to get to sleep - it remains so hot and I watched the Test highlights on TV during the middle of the night.

Lunchtime with Alabare

Another hot day today - it seems to be getting hotter and hotter and there has been a heatwave warning from the Met. Office that this dry weather may last for some time. I really do hate this hot weather as it leaves me feeling tired and lethargic and I have so much to do.  I met Zoe for coffee in Alderbury this morning to go through the two services we are doing together on Sunday.  She seems well organised unlike me who has still to complete the writing of my sermon - although I have a good idea of what I am going to say.  I left Alderbury at 11.40 a.m. , after a quick chat with Bill about black holes in our galaxy - always such a fascinating man to chat to and it was a pity that I had to go off for my next appointment.  I spent the next couple of hours at the Alabare homeless persons' drop-in centre talking with the manager and some of the clients.  This was my first time at the centre and it will be here that I will be spending a couple of hours each week as their chaplain.  Quite an interesting couple of hours and I was truly amazed and delighted by the facilities which there are available for the homeless of Salisbury.  I called in at the Lord Nelson on my way back home and sat in a corner with a pint of shandy completing Sunday's sermon in manuscript.  It was very busy this lunchtime with a birthday party.  The cold bitter shandy was very refreshing in the hot weather.  I spent the rest of the afternoon watching cricket and feeling I deserved a complete break after receiving a mark of 70% for my last assignment.  Still have to complete the portfolios though.  This weather is just not very conducive to brain work or any work for that matter!  This evening, Richard, James and I went to the Ageas Bowl to watch a thrilling game of T20 cricket - Hampshire (122 for 6) v. Sussex (118 for 7) - Hampshire winning by four wickets.  It all came down to the last ball with Hampshire needing one run to win - they got four thanks to a boundary made by McKenzie.  Who can ever say cricket is boring - certainly it hasn't been over the last few days.

Agar makes Test history

The weather has been a little cooler today - but still quite dry.  I was up early this morning and mowed the bank with the hand mower - it took over and hour but has left the bank looking smooth and neat.  At the same time Sara and Thom finished off painting the front picket fence which looks really lovely - a good job done.   I have received written confirmation about my licensing with an email containing full details of the service and the various declaration etc. which I have to sign.  Quite exciting but also a full realisation of the responsibility and expectation which are now placed on me.  After a busy day in the office yesterday I decided to have a semi-day of rest and watched the second day of the First Ashes Test on the television - and what a great day to choose to watch cricket! Australia were almost all out for 118 after losing four wickets for 5 runs and a disputed run-out. Eleventh man Agar then proceeded to smash England for 98 runs - the highest score ever for an eleventh wicket batsman on a Test debut and with Hughes the highest partnership score for an eleventh wicket stand. History was certainly made today.  After such a commanding position Australia, with a score of 280 left England chasing 65 runs.  At the close of play England were 80 for 2 - just 15 runs in the lead.  It is going to be an exciting day of cricket tomorrow but, unfortunately, I have a series of appointments and so am unlikely to see much of it.  I phone Mum at lunchtime to ask her to come to my licensing ceremony.  She is not too sure and is still suffering much pain and thinks she can only come if we can get a wheelchair.  Sara and I will look into this.  Paul led the House Group this evening and did a wonderful job.  It was so nice for me to have a night off.  Quite a relaxing day today but know tomorrow will be much busier.

The Ashes kick off

Inspired by the good mark I received for my last assignment I decided, whilst in the zone, to write up my very last assignment for the year and get it sent off for marking.  That will just leave me with the four portfolios to construct and get off by the end of July.  With all the assignments completed that will be the bulk of the work done.  The portfolios are well on their way to completion and the latter part of July can be spent concentrating on them to leave me with a free August.  The Ashes started today with 14 wickets falling in the first day at Trent Bridge. England batted first and were all out for 215.  By the close of play Australia were 75 for 4.  At this rate, the match will be over by the third or fourth day - there will be no fifth day.  After a day at home working and listening to the cricket I needed some exercise so delivered some Parish Council leaflets in Yarmley Lane and the Plantation.  Returning via Weston Lane I completed a 2.5 miles circuit.  The weather is hot and dry again here but in Nottingham it has been overcast. 

Lunch again in Westbury

Yet another very hot day today - 27 degrees registered on the car thermometer.  I drove over to Westbury for lunch with my fellow student, Ashley, where we had an excellent and leisurely meal in the Tale of Spice II restaurant - nice and air-conditioned.  I was there principally to give him some TUPE advice and my fee today was a "free" lunch.  We also talked about our studies and it is such a pity that he won't be licensed on the 28th September along with me as expected.  Whilst in Westbury I received a copy of the marking sheet for my last essay - 66% which, together with 71% for my other assignment in that module, should give me a good mark for my portfolio which now needs to be completed.  Just one essay to complete for the two years of study at Level 4.  Incredibly hot this afternoon.  I called in to Warminster to buy fresh printer cartridges and to top up my car with fuel before returning home.  Too hot to do much this evening so watched a couple of documentaries about the Dragon's Triangle (a "Bermuda Triangle" in the Pacific Ocean) and the Mary Celeste.  Hard to sleep tonight with the heat but nothing much worth watching on TV.  Eventually managed to get to sleep at about 3 a.m.

Another Doombar Day!

Can it get any hotter?  Today seems hotter than ever and as I walked around Salisbury today it reminded me of being in Nassau except there are no pools to jump into or many ice cold air-conditioned shops.  I spent the morning in the study and at lunchtime drove into Salisbury to get my haircut and do some shopping – including getting a V14 form so I can claim back my road fund licence fee from the Mercedes (unfortunately I lost the form somewhere in Waitrose and will have to get another from the village post office!).  Thom and Sara started to paint the front picket fence as a result of which Thom has bad sunburn this evening.  I wore my cricket hat most of the day as it has a wide brim to keep the sun off my face and head. I also visited the Cash n’ Carry and stocked up on fresh Doombar beer – a case for me and a case for Richard (which I delivered to his house later on this afternoon).  Feeling really lethargic and hot but did mow the rear lawn this evening.  Went to bed relatively early for me (10 p.m.) although I read for a while and played on my old DS console – a sight training game which I bought for £2.50 from Game.  Trying to keep my brain and sight active in this intense heat.  Apparently I was asleep and snoring by the time Sara came to bed.

A Wonderful Day - Sporting History Made

What an amazing day – for all of Great Britain.  The weather was again extremely hot reaching 29.7 degrees in Bournemouth where Mary and Sara spent the day at the National Cheerleading Competition – Streetz came fifth in their class – not enough for an award but better than I think they had imagined.  I conducted and preached at the 11 a.m. Morning Worship service at Pitton – a full church with about 13 children present.  A wonderful atmosphere with the joyful sound of children enjoying themselves.  I really did enjoy taking this service and the congregation seemed to be very attentive to my sermon.  There was a good feel factor and the children were wonderful – going out into the sunshine and visiting the “Jewish Village” as part of their lesson about the sending out of the 70 (or is it 72) disciples.  I got home in good time to watch sporting history being made – Andy Murray beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British man to win the Wimbledon Men’s Singles since Fred Perry in 1936 – 77 years ago and he did it on 7/7/2013.  The last woman to win the singles title was Virginia Wade in 1977 – how coincidental is that!  A really fantastic feel good factor today – all around.  I once more grilled some burgers on the BBQ which Thom and I ate for supper.  Mary and Sara didn’t return until quite late tonight.  After the awards ceremony at the BIC they went to Mudeford and spent some time on the beach enjoying the cool water and breeze eating pizzas.  Sara remarked how much she enjoyed it down at Mudeford and I told her how we, as children, had stayed there for two consecutive years in the 1960s. The only difference is that the trolleybuses have now gone from the Bournemouth scene.  We have decided that although we have Bournemouth on our doorstep we don’t visit it as often as we could.  Ended the day sitting in the garden drinking Doombar beer with Richard - a cheaper alternative to going the pub and an opportunity for a private natter and to drink our favourite beer.

 

Grave Hunting in Bournemouth

A really hot day again today with the sun shining very brightly.  Both Sara and I were up early this morning as we had to take Mary to Fordingbridge for a last minute rehearsal of her cheerleading routine in preparation for the national competition at the Bournemouth International Centre tomorrow.  We left Mary at the Burgate School with her colleagues and then drove down to Bournemouth to try and find Sara’s grandfather’s grave in the huge Charminster Road cemetery (a major junction back in trolleybus days).  We had only a small plan of the cemetery with an approximate location but when we arrived there we could see that we had an immense task ahead of us.  We spent an hour and a half looking around that part of the cemetery in the boiling heat without success but whilst searching I came across an extremely interesting grave – a white one which stood out from the rest – “John Nelson Darby” the founder of the Plymouth Brethren.  Only one week ago we had been talking about this man over dinner with my pastoral care tutor in Seend – so I felt that the search had not been completely worthless although Sara was very disappointed as I think she had imagined that the search would have been much easier.

This afternoon I watched the Ladies’ Singles Wimbledon Final which was won by Marion Bartoli in straight sets over Sabine Lisicki.  Marino was awesome and won convincingly although Sabine put up a tremendous fight at the end – but too little too late.  It’s BBQ weather and our barbecue remains out at the moment so we threw a few sausages and burgers bought from Downton onto it.  I love the smell of BBQs in the summer but could do with as little less heat.  I finished off writing my sermon for tomorrow which Sara proof-read for me.

 

Wimbledon Excitement - Murray through to the Men's Singles Final

A really hot day today - at 25.7 degrees C it was the hottest day in Wiltshire this year so far and we are expecting a really hot weekend ahead of us for the Wimbledon Finals.  I was up early this morning to attend the Ambassadors' Breakfast Club at Grasmere House Hotel and then went on to Sarum College to finalise yesterday's assignment and to start writing my sermon for Sunday.  I stayed in the Sarum College library until 1.30 p.m. calling in at Mary's school on the way home to sign a consent form for her to visit the Intech. Science Centre near Winchester - a place I would love to visit and keep forgetting to organise a trip.  Both children have been and say it is really good.  There is a planetarium there too.  After a lunch of roast chicken and chips I have to confess that I spent the rest of the day (it was too hot to do anything else) watching tennis - the two semi-finals the first of which broke all Wimbledon records for the length it took to complete - four hours and fifty-five minutes with a win for Serbian Djokovic over Argentinian Del Potro.  This was followed very late by the second semi between Poland's Janowicz and Britain's Murray which Murray won after going down in the first set.  so Sunday is going to be another day of watching TV in the afternoon - a great final between the world's No. 1 and No. 2.  I am taking a service at Pitton in the morning and then had planned to go out somewhere in the afternoon.  My afternoon is now sorted for me - TV and a glass or two of beer I think. Later in the evening I watched an extraordinary match in the T20 Cricket competition - Yorkshire v. Lancashire at Headingley.  This game resulted in a tie at 152 runs each and so they share the points.  I am really looking forward to seeing T209 Cricket live next week at the Ageas Bowl.

College Day

Happy 4th of July to all our American cousins!  The Stars and Stripes were hoisted on the flagpole first thing this morning. Rather a muggy day today - very warm with heavy moisture in the atmosphere and the feeling of drizzle.  Walk up early and drove into Salisbury to spend most of the day in Sarum College library where I prepared Sunday's service in Pitton and also wrote up my assignment for the "Being an LLM" module.  Once this is back and marked I can put together another portfolio.  fter a full day in college I attended Evensong in the Cathedral which was well attended as it was a special service for the Cathedral volunteers.  I had to sit in the north transept instead of the choir.  Tonight I cooked home made burgers on the BBQ for the family and afterwards led the house group in a study of Sunday's readings - helpful for me in putting together a sermon.  Didn't go to bed until 1.30 am as I stayed up to watch highlights the Middlesex v. Essex T20 match at Lords.  Middlesex won by seven wickets.  Hampshire are in this group and have two games in hand.  Looking forward to going next week to see Hampshire v. Sussex.

Sandwich Making

Sara took Thom off early for his taster day at Peter Symonds College in Winchester.  As Sara wouldn't be back until mid-morning I agreed to help out at Morning Star making sandwiches for the Banquet Run.  Today they were having ham and tomato, cheese and pickle and egg mayonnaise.  Sara arrived just before 10 a.m. and we had finished by 10.30 a.m.   After returning home for a quick coffee I walked to the Rectory for the weekly Staff Meeting which only lasted about an hour.  During that time Wiltshire Council had removed the fly-tipping rubbish in the Plantation.  This afternoon I did a little gardening and watched the first four sets of Andy Murray's quarter final match.  After being two sets down he went on to win himself a place in the semi-finals.  Tonight I attended a Deanery Grand Chapter buffet evening at Porton Rectory with Cynthia.  The Bishop of Ramsbury was present together with the Archdeacon and a number of clergy both active and retired from within the Deanery. I was heartened to hear that my sermon at Porton had gone down very well on Sunday. A pleasant evening.  a pity that Sara could not have joined me  - she was invited - but Mary was having a few problems this evening and it seemed unwise to leave her.  Busy day tomorrow - I intend to spend a bit of time at Sarum College writing up my penultimate essay for this term.

At Salisbury Hospital Again

Today has ben a much more typically British summer's day - overcast with some rain in the late afternoon and evening.  Thom spent the day at Barton Peveril College in Eastleigh having a "taster" day with Sara taking him over there and bringing him back.  I had an appointment at Salisbury Hospital this morning at 9.00 a.m in the physiotherapy department following the problems I have been having with my right knee.  I am suffering from osteoarthritis which I was informed is not curable but by gentle exercise the condition (or its symptoms of pain) can be controlled.  I spent about 45 minutes with two physiotherapists discussing the condition and trying out the exercises.  I have to go back in three weeks but in the meantime will be walking as much as possible and doing the exercises.  I spent this afternoon on a few financial matters and went for a one and a half miles walk this evening through the plantation.  I need to read the scripture for Sunday and prepare a sermon as well as getting at least another essay out of the way this week.  Thom enjoyed his  time at barton Peveril.  This evening Mary had to go over to Landford for more cheerleading practice.

Chairing the Parish Council Meeting

The weather was still warm today but instead of going for a morning’s stroll I decided to spend the time before breakfast mowing the bank using the hand push cylinder mower.  Its lightness makes the task easier although it is a much longer process than using the motor mower.  Sara went into Salisbury with Thom to get his hair cut and run some other errands.  I went into Andover at lunchtime – the first time since I picked up my car that I had driven it any distance, to bank some cheques and deal with other financial matters which need attention at the beginning of every month.  This evening I chaired my first Parish Council Meeting in my capacity as Vice-Chairman, (the Chairman being otherwise engaged) and it all seemed to go smoothly.  We had a visit from the local police officers to discuss speeding and petty criminal issues and it is re-assuring to know that Winterslow does not have anything like the problems other areas might experience.  I managed to get the meeting to end before the 10 p.m. deadline just – although there was quite a large agenda to get through.   One thing being on the Parish Council does is make one have a better and clearer understanding of the village and it buildings, issues and problems.