Saints and the Saintly

I woke up this morning in Liverpool on Malcolm’s couch in his living room after a fitful night’s sleep which was punctuated throughout by the radiator banging and gurgling as though the heating was coming on for the first time in the morning. Thinking it was morning time, I got up several times to find that it was still the middle of the night. Eventually getting up at 6.45 a.m., Malcolm joined me for tea and toast before I set off for the trip down south. Leaving Liverpool at 8 a.m. I arrived in Chandler’s Ford at 12 noon where I met up with the family at the Asda hypermarket. Tom and I then went into Southampton to attend the Saints v. Swansea City match at St. Mary’s. Saints started lively enough and had more of the possession in the first half. Saganowski scored the first goal for Saints but Swansea equalised before half-time. Both sides came back out at half time and the pace was fast and furious with much attacking from both sides. Unfortunately Lee Molyneux was sent off in the 53rd minute and Saints had to play the rest of the match with just ten men. Swansea went ahead in the 65th minute and we all feared that Saints would become dejected and we were heading for another home defeat. Fortunately Saganowski struck again and equalised for the Saints in the 76th minute and both sides held on for a 2-2 draw. It was a thrilling match and Saints fared much better against Swansea than either Portsmouth (who were put out of the FA Cup by Swansea ) or Preston North End who were thrashed 3-0 on Tuesday. Indeed, Malcolm had said that we shouldn’t expect to get anything from this match.
Returning to Winterslow, the whole family attended a concert given by the Watoto (from Uganda ) Children’s Choir. This choir is made up of children who have been orphaned. It was a joyous and moving occasion and made us all realise how well off we are even in a the grips of the recession. We decided to sponsor a child living out in Gulu Province in northern Uganda both of whose parents had suffered in the civil war torn part of the world. I was truly impressed by the fantastic attendance, especially from non-church goings, and the generosity of those present in terms of money, time in coming and sponsorship. Returning home I started work on this blog, but was so tired after all my travelling and work during this last hectic week, that having completed it I somehow pressed the wrong key on my laptop and deleted the whole of the text. This, therefore, is the second attempt at writing the blog tonight. I am so tired – my eyes feel very heavy – that I am going up to bed immediately on completing this entry. Tomorrow is yet another packed day!

Mersey Beat

Up early at 6.30 am. and down for another excellent breakfast of Manx kippers. After checking out of the Sefton Hotel, Pete and I drove into Castletown where I had a whole series of fresh meetings punctuated by telephone calls and e-mails from the UK. Lunch was a quick toasted cheese sandwich with Andrew from our Manchester office - we have an uncanny knack of bumping into each other time and time again at different locations - Dorking, Salisbury, Exeter, London and now Castletown. The weather on the island was wet and very windy and I feared that there might be some significant delay with my flight back to Liverpool. I needn't have worried for although the flight was a little delayed arriving we left promptly and arrived in Liverpool on time at 5.10 p.m. After stopping at Tesco's to purchase my "rent" currency of a bottle of decent Scotch whisky, I arrived at Malcolm's just after he had got in himself from Manchester. I admired his new black Gors and Kalmann piano which I enjoyed playing - some tunes from his tutoring book and some hymn tunes etc. by ear. It was then off to the Gulshan Indian restaurant on Aigburth Road - a favourite of Malcolm's and Sam's (Tom fell asleep last time we were there). We enjoyed a meal for two (shared by the three of us it was just the right amount each - the second Indian meal for me in two days!) ) and then back to the flat for more piano music, whisky and to write this blog. An early start tomorrow for the drive down to Southampton to see Saints do battle with a good performing Swansea City.

Manx Justice

A fascinating day today. Awoke early at 6 a.m. disturbing a strange dream about me and the family working at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas on a miniature railway. How bizarre is that? Sara will no doubt have here interpretation on it. Worked on my emails until 7.30 a.m. when I went downstairs for a breakfast of excellent Manx kippers whilst overlooking the promenade. The weather is grey and overcast but not unduly cold. Rose from our Isle of Man office joined me for coffee before we set off for the Deemster’s Court which was being held in the modern Royal Courts of Justice on the hill about ten minutes walk from the hotel. The hearing into whether or not a Manx subsidiary of an Icelandic bank should be liquidated had been the subject of much interest in the Isle of Man and had been reported on the morning Manx FM radio news programme. The court was a sea of advocates’ wigs and it was interesting to see the Manx Attorney General paying homage to his younger brother the Deemster. The hearing took over three hours resulting in a decision to adjourn the hearing for a further 21 days. It therefore looks like I will be returning to the Isle of Man again on 19th February.
I spent the afternoon in our Castletown office engaged in various meetings, telephone conferences and dealing with yet more e-mails received during the morning. Leaving at 5.30 p.m. with one of our new overseas business partnering executives, Pete, I arrived back at the hotel in Douglas and after arranging to meet later for a drink and dinner, went for a swim in the wonderful Grecian-style swimming pool in the basement. The water was quite cold however as seems to be most things onthe island.
Pete and I then met up in the bar for a quick beer before venturing out into a very windy night to visit an excellent Indian restaurant about 200 yards from the hotel. A fantastic meal with the restaurant is now on my radar for a re-visit in February if/when I return over here then. Returning to the hotel at around 10.45 p.m. I spoke to Sara on the telephone. She had been at a Virgin Vie party in Harnham which had been moderately successful. I ended the day by watching an interesting programme about a team of divers in the Amazon searching out new species and drafting this blog.

Across the Irish Sea

An incredibly long and busy day today. Up early and after breakfast I drove into Salisbury to take my car into the Mercedes dealer to have the defective offside headlamp replaced. This was done very quickly but allowed me time to have one of Mercedes’ decent cups of coffee. I was then lucky to get into one of the last remaining places in the Salisbury office car park in time for a meeting with the new acting HR Case Management Consultant at 9 a.m. We discussed a number of difficult cases and in particular one which requires notification to the Employment Tribunals of the number of witnesses we will need. Following this meeting I had about two hours to deal with a large number of e-mails and enquiries – especially matters relating to my trip to the Isle of Man. Leaving the office at 12 noon I returned home for lunch and to finalise packing before setting out for Liverpool. The trip up to Liverpool Airport went well apart from delay at the upper part of the M6 where there had been an accident close to Knutsford Services which added about 30 minutes on to my journey time. Fortunately I had allowed enough time for such problems and I parked the car and checked in within 15 minutes of arriving. Passing through security – again quick and uneventful, I waited in Departures a little worried as there was thick fog outside. Asking a ground staff member if the weather might cause any delay to my flight, I received a typical Scouse humorous response of “I’ve known planes take off and land safely in this stuff but it all depends upon who’s at the wheel”. With those words of comfort I boarded my plane on time and we took off punctually through thick fog. Although I had a window seat I could see absolutely nothing and it was a surreal experience to take off from Liverpool and land at Ronaldsway on the Isle of Man without seeing anything of the journey. After reclaiming my baggage – which took only two minutes, I was greeted by a taxi driver who took me to my hotel in Douglas. We had an interesting conversation about the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. ships. My hotel is on the seafront next door to the Gaiety Theatre where, a few years ago, I saw a performance of Cavalcade by Noel Cowerd and bumped into a family I knew from Old Clee, Grimsby. After phoning Sara I then went downstairs to the “Sir Norman Wisdom’s Bar” – named after the famous comedian who lives on the island – and enjoyed roast salmon with French beans and capers washed down with an Argentine chardonnay. I had a short walk along the seafront to clear my head before I spent some time reading through all the papers needed for tomorrow’s court hearing here in Douglas. I ended the day by watching Match of the Day – such a pity that Liverpool couldn’t manage a win against Wigan tonight – and drafting this blog.

Visit to Eastern Parts

An incredibly busy and long day today. As it was also Holocaust Memorial Day we raised the Union Flag as is convention. However, this morning there was not a breath of wind and the flag hung limply on the pole. Having visited Auschwitz several years ago on a trip to Poland, the effects of the Holocaust left a real and vivid impression on me for ever. I had disturbing dreams for three consecutive nights after that visit and felt it important to commemorate the day and remember all those who died and suffered.
The weather this morning was very foggy as I left for the office in Salisbury. I spent a couple of hours in the office dealing with matters left over from yesterday and reading papers for my trip to the Isle of Man tomorrow. I then met up with a colleague from our claims department for a trip to Broadstairs in Kent to attend the Coroner's Inquest into the death of one of our policyholders. My sat. nav. showed that the distance to Broadstairs was 168 miles! In fact, it is the most easterly point in Kent and would be in England if it was not for the coastal towns of Suffolk around Lowestoft. I was amazed at the distance - not far short of a trip to Manchester from Salisbury. Fortunately the Inquest was not scheduled to start until 3.15 p.m. Arriving at Broadstairs at around 1.30 p.m. we went into Margate for an inexpensive fish and chip lunch on the seafront before returning to Broadstairs for the Inquest where the Coroner brought in a verdict of death by his own hand. The Isle of Thanet (as the conurbation of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate is called) was extremely dreary with most places near the seafront shut or boarded up. There is nothing quite so dreary as British seaside towns in the winter. Returning in the dark with a defective nearside headlamp was no fun but we arrived back in Salisbury by 8 p.m. It was then home to start packing for my Manx trip, a sandwich supper and write this blog. An early start tomorrow with a trip to the Mercedes garage to fix the lamp.

Tinnies and Dragons

Today marked a double celebration - although we didn't take part in either. It was Australia Day and also the Chinese New Year so "g'day" and "gong xi fa cai". The Chinese are celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Ox with dragons and dances whilst the Aussies will be downing plenty of Fosters around the barbie.
Here in a cold miserable grey England, I hoisted the Australian flag on our pole and then set off for Dorking - driving across country along the A31 instead of joining the mayhem on the M3 as described on the car radio. Not a particular exciting day today - several meetings and a swift lunch of soup and roll. The day really did pass quickly. Back home to make a fire and write this blog whilst watching another forensic science crime documentary. An early night as I have a long drive tomorrow to the tip of Kent (Broadstairs) to attend a Coroner's Inquest.

Water, Wine and Haggis

After a late start and quick breakfast, having first of all raised the Scottish St. Andrew's flag (see left) in honour of Robbie Burns' 250 birthday today, it was off to All Saints for the 9.30 a.m. Morning Worship service taken by Cynthia. A short service which pleased Tom with an excellent sermon from Cynthia on the subject of the Wedding at Canaan. It really must have been some party - 180 gallons of water turned into wine - and that was after the first lot had run out! Sara and Tom left for home after the service in the car following coffee and Mary and I walked the mile home after some further chatting at the back of the church. Once home it was a quick clean of the Mercedes and a lunch of spag. bol. I spent the early afternoon watching a video of a lecture by Nicky Gumbel in response to the Da Vinci Code (my mind still fresh from watching the film last night) whilst Sara and Mary made a 2nd Birthday cake for Food for Thought. Tom was busy on his laptop doing...who knows what? We all attended an enjoyable Food for Thought service in the village hall at 4 p.m. Klynn and Susan hosted it on the theme of the Creation. I helped out by giving a reading from Genesis in the style of the Street Bible (or Word on the Street as it it now called). Back home I lowered the St. Andrews flag and prepared the traditional Burns' Night supper of haggis, 'neeps and tatties although the neeps were mashed swede. Tom and Mary didn't fancy it but Sara and I had decent helpings, washed down in my case by a dram of Famous Grouse! After supper spoke to Mum on the phone. She says she is suffering from pain all over and is going back to see the doctor again tomorrow. I will give her a call again later in the week - a very busy week ahead too. I thought I would end this blog with quoting one of my favourite Burn's poems - one that is not written in the Scottish dialect. Happy Birthday Robbie:-

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer -
A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe;
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North
The birth place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Farewell to the mountains high cover'd with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forrests and wild-hanging woods;
Farwell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer
Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe;
My heart's in the Highlands, whereever I go.

A Clean Sweep

A quiet day at home today with the St. George's Cross flying on the pole to celebrate the sweeping away of the Dutch manager of Saints. Hopefully we will now get a good English manager - perhaps Nick Holmes the current Salisbury FC manager. Sara, Tom and Mary went into Salisbury in the morning for Mary's ballet lesson whilst I stayed at home and swept, cleaned, polished and tidied the lounge, hall and kitchen - diversionary tactics for not tackling the trickier job of tidying up the study! We all had a light lunch of chicken noodle soup and rolls and I then fixed the handle on the kitchen fridge - an annoying little job which has been avoided for a few months now. As is usual, those jobs which you put off for weeks and weeks and months and months actually only take five minutes! The afternoon was spent watching World War 2 documentaries on the UK History Channel whilst also fixing Tom's laptop which needed new anti-virus software installing and generally cleaning up. After a pleasant dinner of baked chicken and roast vegetables I received a lovely phone call from my Aunt in Cleethorpes with all her family news and thanks for the birthday card we sent her. She was extremely flattered to know that we had also flown the Lincolnshire flag on her birthday. We also discussed the fortunes of Grimsby Town Football Club who had an extremely useful 3-0 win over Rotherham but still have Bournemouth FC hard on their heels with an equally useful 3-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers. I think that Grimsby have a more than evens chance of staying up unlike Saints. Tonight Sara and I watched the Da Vinci Code after finally persuading the kids that it was bedtime.

Alpha and Omega

In Salisbury again today for more meetings with a short break at lunchtime for fish (the source of the omega!) and chips. Back home at 6pm for a quick cup of tea before going off to the first the proper Alpha course meeting at the Methodist Church. After an excellent dinner of chilli con carne, lasagne and fruit we watched a DVD of Nicky Gumbel, the founder of the Alpha Course, giving a talk on the topic of "Who was Jesus". This was followed by a short discussion in two groups. It was an opportunity to get to know each other better and to put into practice some of the leadership/helper tips learned at St. Paul's earlier in the week. I will not be able to attend next week's due to being in Liverpool next Friday night. Back home for coffee and wine with Sara to watch the "New" Avengers.

Too many cooks?

Working in Dorking again today so an early morning start battling along the M3 (well crawling actually) in the pouring rain. What a miserable day again. At least I have now booked the flight for our holiday in the sun later in the year so there is something for us all to look forward to. More meetings and teleconferences and preparation for my trip to the Isle of Man next week. The trip home was truly awful with the M3 suffering from the aftermath of an accident near Basingstoke. To avoid this it was necessary to come home via Winchester. Our church house group started tonight only ten minutes after I arrived home. One of the results of our various discussions was the production a village recipe book although Klynn and I would have preferred a Calendar Girl's type calendar. Sara has agreed to edit it (the recipe book) and did state that she would have been prepared to be "Mrs. April" in the other publication.

Triangles and Queens

A fairly unremarkable day today. No hard commuting but meetings just up the road in Salisbury dealing with the usual complaints and disputes -bread and butter to the litigation lawyer. The evening was taken up with taking Tom to his football practice at Old Sarum Airfield and once back home cajoling him into doing his homework - maths and history. The maths exercise was to measure the area of rhomboids, parallelograms and triangles - useful I suppose if you are going to be a land surveyor but throughout my whole legal career I have never had a case where the outcome of a trial or somebody's liberty has been firmly balanced on knowing the precise area of a right-angled triangle!
I was on much more comfortable ground with the history homework which required Tom to give a short biographical precis of the lives of Henry VIII's six queens with no rhomboids in sight - not even any mathematical calculations as to the speed or size of an axe required to part a Queen's head from her body. Tom seemed to grasp the concept of "adultery" and "non-consummation" with ease but not treaties with foreign countries like Cleves. The discovery that Cleves was once part of Germany fired the imagination towards blitzkriegs and panzer divisions. Another piece of history for another time I guess.

A Memorable Day

Today marked the beginning of a new era with the inauguration of the first Afro-American President of the USA - Barack Obama. We celebrated this event by hoisting Old Glory on our flagpole - the first time we had done so as we had pledged not to fly the USA flag until the day on which George W. Bush left the White House. It will now be flown on days when we have USA visitors (notably Sara'a Dad and wife) and on certain USA celebration days e.g. Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Pearl Harbor Anniversary and so on.
Today was also a bit out of the ordinary for me as I had to be in London for a meeting at 10 a.m. so caught an early morning train from Grateley Station (about 6 miles from home). The reason for my visit was to meet with clients and counsel and opponents to see if a settlement could be thrashed out to a tricky dispute. It turned out to be an amusing clash of counsel with ours (my friend and colleague Michael Roberts) getting the upper hand on all counts resulting in a settlement very much to our liking.
Returning home from London I listened to the new president's Inaugural Speech on the radio and later saw the rest of the ceremony on the TV. It was a most inspiring speech containing sentiments and elements of those given by Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and JFK. After spending some time with Tom on his Xbox computer game, it was a light dinner of salmon and vegetables with a glass of wine. The evening ended with writing this blog and watching a documentary about JFK.

Is there more to life than this?

A grey miserable rainy start to today. Awoke to the sound of rain beating on our bedroom window. A horrible Monday morning. In fact, I heard on the radio whilst travelling up to Dorking that this Monday in January has more people staying in bed and not going to work than any other in the year - described as the most depressing Monday of the year. This didn't seem to be borne out by the traffic jams on the M3 which were the worst since I started this blog and seemed to suggest that rather than staying in bed everybody had decided to take a motoring holiday on the British motorway system. Before leaving for Surrey, I hoisted the Lincolnshire flag in honour of my Auntie Mim in Cleethorpes whose birthday it is today. Tomorrow it will be the Stars and Stripes in honour of the inauguration of the 44th President and the removal of George W. Bush.
Returning to Salisbury in the evening, I attended the second of two Alpha Course training sessions at St. Paul's. Very inspirational and reallly did dispel the gloomy day. It has now turned very cold with temperatures just above freezing. Tomorrow I have to get up early again to travel up to London for a meeting at 10 a.m. with counsel, clients and claimants at our Wood Street office in the City.

Sunday Roast

A strange and frustrating day in some respects. Knowing that Tom would need taking to Amesbury for the Clarendon Junior FC's Under-12s clash against Amesbury Lions, I woke up early to attend the Early Morning Eucharist service at St. John's at 8 a.m. As I approached the church the lack of cars and a notice on the church door (which I didn't bother to read) suddenly reminded me that we had already reached the third Sunday in the month (how did that happen so quickly?) and there was no service there!
Back home for porridge and then off again to Amesbury. The field on which we had to park was saturated after the heavy rain and we slid into the parking place. Unlike the Saints game yesterday, Clarendon Juniors couldn't stop scoring goals and gave the Amesbury Lions an absolute Sunday roasting with a 16 (or was it 17?) -0 win! Unfortunately Tom felt so unwell after about 15 minutes that he took himself off and we left at half-time - only just got away though as the car got stuck in the mud and I had to use the reverse gear to get off the field! Before a soup lunch I cleaned up the car which looked as though it had taken part in an off-road rally. It was good to talk to father-in-law, David, and brother-in-law Adam in the afternoon on the phone before we had an early dinner of roast pork which Sara cooked to perfection. Then off for a belated church service at Farley (Team Evensong) which was in the traditonal BCP format. Not many attendees unfortunately but a very good service with a good sermon and an opportunity to chat with Elizabeth. Back home for my weekly telephone call to Mum in Grimsby and then sat down with the usual glass of red wine to write this blog and watch "The 40-Year Old Virgin". I had forgotten how funny it was and how much it reminded me of some of my earlier days!

Black Day for the Saints

A truly low point for Southampton FC this afternoon with a 1-2 lost match at St. Mary's in front of a poor crowd of only 15,000-odd. Tom and I arrived at St. Mary's quite early and took our seats in the Chapel Stand together with our usual season ticket acquaintances. We had high hopes of a win which would have seen us rise above the relegation zone. Doncaster Rovers, who were just below us had been in the Conference League only a few seasons ago and had only been promoted to the Championship at the beginning of this season. Saints on the other hand had spent 27 years in the Premier League until four seasons ago. Saints started well with a few shots close on target but never finishing and we felt frustrated that we were still 0-0 at half time. Our colleague who sits next to me (Andy, "Shaun's Dad") felt so confident of a win that at half time he put £10 on Saints to win 2-0 at 7/1. He had just resumed his seat telling us about his bet when, less than one minute from the start of the second half, Doncaster scored. We all found that amusing in the context of the £10 bet. After that Saints looked dejected and when "Donny" scored the second, the fans started either leaving or singing "Swing Lowe, Swing Rupert Lowe, Swing him from the Itchen Bridge" and chants of "Lowe Out". It started to look ugly in the Northam Stand with clear scuffles as fans got ready to invade the pitch. Indeed, two hapless souls did just that at the end of the game and were brought down by about six safety stewards. Saints scored a consolation goal in stoppage time but that was not enough to prevent Saints ending the day second from bottom with a 3 point gap between them and safety. Our only hope is that there are three teams worse than us at the end of the season. At the moment that does not look likely and the radio pundits predicit we will be playing in League 1 next season. One silver lining today though was that my home childhood team, Grimsby Town, beat League 2 leaders Wycombe Wanderers 0-1 and with Bournemouth losing at Rotherham have increased the gap between them and non-league football to 10 points. Sara and I ended the day by watching the film "Mesmer" on a DVD which we both thought was poor - although Sara remains in love with Alan Rickman.

A Christian Supper

An interesting and varied day today. Hoisted the Thai flag in honour of niece Jessica's birthday. The Thai flag created much interest amongst villagers who did not recognise it. Chris was the only person I met who knew what it was. As a naval man I would have expected that. A commute to the Dorking office first thing for meetings with my staff and general admin work. A clear run on the motorway as usual on a Friday. After a fish and chips lunch returned to Salisbury for another meeting and then back home in time to attend the Alpha Course Supper at the Methodist's Church in Winterslow. Although not as well attended as we had hoped, due to a rival meeting at the Village Hall to discuss the "Village Plan", we had 12 attendees and a superb meal - curry, con carne, vegetarian curry, cold meats, salad and rice not to mention wine and dips in the Team Office before (the Methodists don't allow alcohol to be served on their premises). Elizabeth spoke well - she really is brilliant - and despite the small numbers we all agreed that the course should pick up - it was just a pity that the supper coincided with the big meeting in the Village Hall.
After the meeting it was over to Klynn's for a quick whisky and then to join Chris, Janet and Maggie in the Lion's Head for a glass of wine. Pouring with rain when I left the pub, I had to feel my way back home (not because of the booze before you ask!) because it was so dark and I had forgotten to take a torch with me. Writing up this blog just before midnight with Sara watching Rosemary's Baby on the TV.

In Quires and Places

Another day in Salisbury today and quite a long one too - more back to back meetings, teleconferences and drafting. An eleven hour working day with no break. Back home at 7.15 p.m. and just enough time to prepare for our church house group which I lead. A really good lively discussion on how we, as Christians, can make the world (well at least Winterslow) a better place.

Quite a special day for our daughter Mary today too. She attended her first choir practice this evening having decided to join All Saints choir on Sunday. I thoroughly support her in this as I was, myself, head chorister of my church in Grimsby back in the sixties. I am hoping that it will engender a real interest in music and I am also trying to encourage her to play the piano although she insists upon playing "chopsticks" rather than trying to follow the "dots" on the music page. It will be a real thrill to teach her some music if she gets the bug! Back to Dorking tomorrow with the Alpha Supper in the evening.

In the Dentist's Chair

No commuting to Dorking today as I had several "back to back" meetings in our Salisbury office which is only 8 miles from home. A very full and productive day with more legal drafting and a working lunch with our claims manager. The day didn't start off too well though - with a visit to the dentist for a checkup resulting in an announcement that I need to have a filling replaced - the date of this operation to be 3rd February so I have a little time to get wound up about it! I guess that I am lucky in having an NHS dentist so close to home as I often hear horror stories of how people have to scour the country - even going abroad to Poland - to get their "hampsteads" seen too. This evening I swapped my "lawyer's wig" for the ubiquitous "chauffeur's hat" to drive Tom to his football practice which now takes place in a huge aircraft hangar on Sarum Airfield. As the U-12 Clarendon Junior FC's Admin. Manager -well you didn't expect me to be the Coach did you? - I had the job of handing out subscription demands to all the kids and those parents who attended. The hangar was like a huge fridge so I spent most of the time in the warmer car listening to Radio 4 and the Archers. It was then back home to Sara's homemade "homeopathic" lentil soup, a glass of wine and to write up this blog.

Another day in Dorking

Another day on the M3 to Dorking and a day spent drafting defences to court actions received. At least no meetings today to distract me from completing the work I wanted to do yesterday.

In the evening I attended the first of two Alpha Course leadership training sessions at St. Paul's Church in Salisbury. Now looking forward to the Alpha Supper at the Winterslow Methodist Church on Friday and the second training session next Monday. Tomorrow I have meetings in the Salisbury office which means a later start but the attraction of being in Salisbury tomorrow is somewhat tempered by the prospect of being in the dentist's chair at 9 a.m.

Monday Commute

After a really enjoyable weekend it was back to the weekly grind again and the Monday morning battle with the M3 Motorway up to Dorking. Having a meeting in my Dorking office at 10 a.m. meant waking up at 5.30 a.m, taking Sara her early morning cuppa, a hurried breakfast of two slices of toast and then off to Grateley Station on the London-Salisbury railway line to pick up a colleague who was going up to Dorking with me. The day in the office went extremely quickly with the morning being taken up by our Senior Management Meeting followed by a light lunch and some drafting of legal documents in the afternoon and finalising arrangements for a business trip to the Isle of Man later this month.. Back home at about 7.30 pm to the usual "bedlam" of warring siblings! Now a nice glass or two of Chilean Carbernet Sauvignon whilst watching crime documentaries on TV. And tomorrow? - the M3 beckons again!

Winterslow Changes

I awoke this morning to a changed Winterslow - the deep frost had departed and the temperature had risen to a mild 5 degrees C. The day started with a most beautiful sunrise - one of the best I've seen in a long time - a deep orange as though there was a massive forest fire in the nearby Clarendon Forest - and there was a fresh ESE wind blowing. I hoisted the St. George's flag on the garden pole which immediately fluttered majestically. After a hurried breakfast the whole family attended the Clarendon Team Eucharist Service at All Saints in Winterslow which was the first occasion on which the new Team Priest/Vicar, Elizabeth preached. She has made a great impression on us already and we all look forward to working with her over the coming years. A really new era for the church here.

We had a full house for lunch with our friend Klynn and his three daughters and our friend Dawn sharing the roast chicken meal. Good food, wine, excellent company and conversation made this a very relaxing and enjoyable event. Whether it was the warmer weather and sunshine, or the uplifting church service I am not quite sure (probably both) but we all seemed to be in good spirits with much laughter and chat. It really did remind me of how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful place.

Wintery Scene from Winterslow

Saturday 10 January 2009 - As you can see, Winterslow very much lives up to ts name today - at a temperature of -7 degree c. it is extremely cold here. This is the view from our garden at lunchtime today. I remember such cold winters when as a young child I lived in the north east of England. I think the effects of global warming have by-passed the UK this year although it is said that its effects have pushed the gulf-stream further south leaving us to be exposed to the types of climate usually experienced by mainland northern Europe.

WELCOME

Hi, welcome to my new blog site. It's Saturday 10 January 2009 and this is the first entry on my new blog site. In the course of the next few months I will be keeping you all updated on what I, and the family, are doing so please call back soon.