New Year's Eve - Goodbye 2011

New Year's Eve - how quickly the year has gone.   No football for us to go to this Saturday but both West Ham and Middlesbrough had games this afternoon and an opportunity to catch up with Southampton.  However, the results went our way, again, with West Ham losing to Derby County and Middlesbrough being held to a draw by Peterborough - so tonight, Saints are still two points in the lead at the top of the championship table.  A quiet night in this evening.  I phoned Mum to find that she had decided not to go to her normal New Year's Eve party at the Cleethorpes Conservative Club due to being in pain. She was going to have a quiet night in.  Tom went to bed early but Mary stayed up with Sara and me to see in the New Year in on the TV.  What a wonderful firework display in London tonight - especially the display from St. Stephen's Tower (Big Ben) which was an innovation and worked so well.  We watched a whole series of TV programmes this evening - Michael McIntyre, Lee Mack and Mr. Bean.  A good evening of comedy.  Didn't get to bed until 3 a.m. after Sara and I had consumed two bottle of champagne during the evening.

Saints lose at home for the first time in 2011

A relatively lazy day today.   I spent the morning doing some Complex work with a phone call with a client in the morning.  I went into Salisbury briefly to let PC World have a look at Mary's laptop as the sound had stopped working.  We discovered that the sound driver (whatever that is) needed re-installing which their "technogeeks" did for me.  I also bought a DAB radio for our kitchen which means that, at last, we will be able to have a clear broadcast of sports fixtures from Radio 5 Live.  This afternoon I got out the Canon SLR camera I had received as a retirement gift from FP and investigated how to operate it.  I was astounded with the results and look forward to using it to take some really high quality photographs during 2012.  Tonight Tom and I journeyed into Southampton to see top of the league Saints take on fourth from bottom Bristol City.  If we won tonight then Southampton FC would have a unbeaten record at home during the whole of the calendar year of 2011.  Bristol City were to prove to be this season's bogie team - beating us 0-1.  Having also beaten us at Ashton Gate they became the only team to do the double over us and despite their humble position in the table they have gained six points from us.  Tonight we hold on to the top position by a thread - a win by either West Ham or Middlesbrough tomorrow will see us tied at the top spot.  Tom and I left feeling very dejected - we simply are no longer used to seeing Saints lose at home.  We will have to see what tomorrow's games bring.  Back home I consoled myself with a glass of Marston's Pedigree light ale.

Being sent to Coventry (or Ricoh, here we come!)

Tom and I woke up early this morning with the intention of getting into the queue to try and secure two of the few extra tickets which Brighton & Hove Albion had sent to St. Mary's for Saints supporters. We arrived at St. Mary's at 8 a.m. to find that the queue for tickets already extended halfway along the Northam Stand.  I dropped Tom of and parked the car in the adjacent industrial estate and then joined him in the queue.  People debated how many tickets there were available - guesses extending from 100 to 500.  As we waited for the ticket office to open I read the details of Kim Sung Il's funeral in the Times and the pundits views on the future course of that intriguing and isolated nation.  At about 9.30 a.m. we were informed by Saint's officials that there were only60 tickets left and that the allocation had only been 160 in total.  We estimated that the queue probably represented about 500 applicants.  Needless to say, the tickets ran out before we got to the ticket office window.  We had already decided that if this happened we would try and get tickets for the Third Round FA Cup tie at Coventry and I am delighted to record that we were successful.  After having half frozen to death in the cold coastal wind around St. Mary's, Tom and I walked to West Quay for a hot breakfast at MacDonald's.  The hot breakfast wrap and coffee was most welcome.  After a quick shop in H&M for Mary, we returned to Winterslow.  This afternoon I started to deal with a mountain of paperwork that had piled up over the Christmas period.  Sara has been tackling the mountain of ironing too.  An early night I think and another early morning to finish off the paperwork.

"Back on Track" - The lost weeks

My last post on this blog was back on the 6th December 2011 and I have been encouraged by the number of people, who seem to have missed reading my daily blog, to get my finger out and start re-blogging again.  So here we are.  Unfortunately, my daily routine of blogging was disturbed by quite a lot of work during December - both for my consultancy, Complex Services Limited and my ministry training studies - I needed to complete and submit two assignments (essays) by the 19th December and also I had a trip to Croydon to accomplish to appear before an employment judge in one of my cases.  This also required quite a lot of preparation beforehand as well as the day itself.  On top of this has been preparations for Christmas which, although largely in the hands of Sara, I have had to write and send over 200 Christmas cards.  If you were a recipient of one of these you would have also received our annual newsletter which also had to be written and printed.  So, quite a few weeks of hard work which left me feeling quite exhausted at night and not feeling very inspired to write much more.  Over those weeks we had Mary's birthday on 14th December when we all went over to North Baddesley for an excellent Chinese meal at The Water Margin (her favourite restaurant) where we had their excellent buffet and they brought her a small birthday cake which we shared.  On the Saturday she had five friends over to celebrate her birthday again which included a session at Mandy Milford's photographic studio.  Mandy took over 500 photos of Mary and her friends and they clearly had a wonderful time.  Sara and I drove them all over to Wilton where I left them and spent an hour and a half at the Wilton Shopping Village buying Christmas presents and visiting their tearooms.  Tom and I have attended a couple of Southampton games since my last blog.  They lost their home win run with a 2-2 draw against Blackpool.  It could have been worse but for a late goal from Ricky Lambert.  On Boxing Day they managed a comfortable win against Crystal Palace with West Ham only managing a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City.  As I write this, Saints are now three points clear at the top of the championship.  The weather has been quite mild over these few weeks.  We have managed to bank about another £2,000 from Calendar sales and Sara and others did a Calendar signing at Waterstones in the run up to Christmas.  Mum announced to us that her doctors had detected a growth on one of her kidneys and she is fearful that they might have to remove this and that the "cancer" she thinks she might have has gone into her bones.  She went to my sister Heather's home near York for Christmas but returned back to Grimsby early as she was not feeling comfortable there.  I am concerned about her continuing health.  Her illnesses seem to affect her badly.  As we move into 2012 the amount of work is now piling up.  I will start my practical ministry training in January with leading one church service and preaching at another.  This means quite a ,lot of preparation at the same time as preparing for a tribunal in Croydon.  I need to complete my first portfolio and will also begin my next module's study on the topic of interpreting the bible.  I have decided to attend three full Saturdays rather than ten Thursday evenings.  I anticipate quite a few trips to Sarum College library in January.  Tom and I hope to get tickets to see the Saints play at Brighton's new stadium on the 2nd January.  This will entail getting up very early indeed tomorrow and queueing at St. Mary's to try and get the last small allocation of tickets.  I have promised Tom that if we are unsuccessful, I'll try and get tickets for the 3rd Round FA Cup tie at Coventry.  I hope to report back tomorrow that we've got the Brighton tickets.  Must close now.  It feels good to be back on track again with the blogs and it was really good to know that so many of you missed reading them.

A day at home

Apart from a short walk to the post box, I spent the whole of today indoors at home.  I spent the morning in the study preparing all the paperwork for tomorrow evening's lodge meeting including recording the large number of apologies.  I have a very tight schedule tomorrow and need to prepare as much as I can today.  Additionally, I am somewhat concerned that in a case I am handling, the other side have not prepared their list of issues for presentation to the tribunal in order to prevent a full attendance being required on Friday in Croydon.  I have sent numerous reminders and the way things stand at the moment I'll need to spend most of Friday travelling too and from Croydon - not a prospect I relish.  By this evening I had managed to deal with most of the essential paperwork but still need to complete my second assignment.   I also managed to write a few Christmas cards but by last year's standards I am well behind. 

Last Tutorial this Term; Calendar Sales exceed £10,000

I had a chance to look at my car in the daylight this morning and noticed that the back bumper and the rear panel on the nearside where not true which means that the bumper will probably have to be removed, reshaped and put back on.  I rang the insurers and gave them details of the incident and the registration of the offending car.  They will deal with everything from here.  Fortunately the car is not severely damaged but it is annoying to know that there is a fault at the back.  I spent the morning either on the phone to the insurers or dealing with Complex matters - including sending out some fee notes.  Our friends Susan and Klynn have announced that they are leaving our church to join the Baptists.  They will be sadly missed by us but understand their reasons.  It makes me even more determined to pursue Mission as the main purpose of my ministry - not simply trying to keep the status quo.  This afternoon I banked a further £665 for the Calendar in Andover.  We have now exceeded £10,000 in total sales generated from its production and just below £10,000 net after taking into account the cost of printing two runs.  We shall certainly exceed £10,000 in total but it might be a struggle to reach the new target of £15,000.  I predicted £11,000 at the beginning of it all and I think we'll certainly hit that.  Sara had hoped to appear on BBC South Today (TV) but the BBC rang to say that it wasn't a newsworthy enough item for regional TV.  Never mind.  Still plenty of venues before Christmas to sell a few more.  Tonight I attended my last tutorial on Theological Reflection.  I am pleased that the tutorials are over although I have enjoyed them and meeting my fellow students.  Now I can knuckle down to my second assignment and completing my portfolio. 

Morning in Cleethorpes

woke up this morning at around .30 p.m. and once more made tea for Mum and myself.  Mum cooked a breakfast of sausage bacon and eggs for us both (Tom didn't have the egg) and mid-moning we drove into Cleethopres to deliver the rest of the Christmas cards.  I stopped off and spoke to an old friend, Ken, when I called to deliver his card in Clee Road.  It was bitterly cold as we stood at his gate chatting.  After driving along the seafront and delivering a card to my namesake cousin, Michael Barratt, we called in at my Aunt's and delivered her Christmas hamper.  She was absolutely delighted with the present and was also thrilled to see Sara's Calendar.  She and Uncle Harry J bought three and were very generous in their donation to Sara's charity.  Poor Mim, both her grandchildren are suffering from brain tumours and grandson-in-law is to have a much needed kidney transplant in early January.  We left Mim's at around 12.15 p.m. to go back to Mum's for a roast pork lunch - very delicious.  Tom and I left about 2.30 p.m. for the journey back down to Wiltshire and journeyed along the A18 and then A15 down to Lincoln.  The traffic on the Lincoln By-pass was horrofic, with long jams.  We were stuck and the end of a long line of traffic at the Doddington roundabout when a car coming out of Lincoln struck the back of a car with a glancing blow as it tried to force its way between my car and the one following us.  We were both stationary when the car hit us.  The car didn't stop and disappeared into the gloom towards Doddington.  I pulled over at the next available layby (having written down the registration number of the offending car).  The damge looked light, I was able to push a panel on the offside into its slot and the offending car seemd to have deposited its paint on my bumper but no obvious damage that I could see.  We continued on our journey and eventually returned back to Winterslow at just after 7.30 p.m.  After calling Mum in Grimsby to say we had got back safely, I went down to the Lion's Head for a couple of pints with Richard who was anxious to catch up with news as we have not seen much of each other this week apart from House Group.
Will have another closer look at my car tomorrow morning in daylight.

Saints fail at Keepmoat/Meeting an Old Colleague

I had a good night’s sleep last night and woke at around 7 a.m.  I made tea for myself and Mum and went back to bed to read my devotionals.  I finally got out of bed at around 8.30 a.m. and Mum made breakfast for us – pancakes and porridge.  Mid-morning, Tom and I went off to deliver some Christmas cards around Grimsby (we’ll do the same thing tomorrow around Cleethorpes) and the last call we made was to my first boss, Cyril, who back in 1975 had given me my first full time job which led to me being qualified as a solicitor and moving down to the south of England.  As my mentor, he was more instrumental than probably anyone else in my life in giving me encouragement and believing in me to offer me a job which formed me and led to my professional qualification.  I have always felt a great indebtedness to him.  I was delighted then when, as we pulled up outside his home for Tom to drop in his card, he was just getting out of a neighbour’s car with his newspaper and some shopping.  He invited us inside his home and we spent nearly half an hour chatting and catching up on life.  It is amazing to think that he is now 89 years old but his memory and wit are as sharp as ever.  He is now quite frail and he sadly lost his wife Connie some four years ago but sti8ll keeps active with work for a charity for the blind and with church work.  He expressed great delight in what he described as the success I had made of my life.  He clearly was pleased.  After this wonderful diversion, Tom and I then drove to Doncaster to attend the Doncaster Rovers v. Southampton football match.  It was really cold this afternoon with a cold cutting wind and many black clouds.  The football suited the weather too.  Saints played really poorly today with Do Prado missing many opportunities.  Doncaster, who are bottom of the table, played up well and were rewarded with a goal in the 60^th minute.  Saints simply couldn’t respond and at the end of the game the score removed as a 1-0 defeat for Saints.  We fully expected Southampton to drop to second in the table but a massive cheer went up as it was announced on the public address system that West Ham had also lost, at home, against Burnley.  Well done Eddie Howe, he saved a total  south coast humiliation. Whilst these game were going, Grimsby Town could only manage a goalless draw at Salisbury and so Salisbury City will have to go up to Blundell Park on a cold December night on Tuesday the 13^th.  Grimsby should have been able to secure a win against the lower leagued team.  Salisbury will be well pleased with the result as they will, at least, be in the hat for the third round which could mean they will have the prize of a club to play against if they win the replay.   On the way back my car’s warning system announced that my front tyre was leaking air again which means that I must get the wheel looked at when I get back down south.  I filled it with it with air back in Grimsby and will keep an eye on it tomorrow morning.  Mum was not feeling too good when we got back, she had been out shopping today and was in pain so didn’t want to go out for a meal as we had suggested.  Instead, Tom and I went to the local fish and chip shop and brought back haddock and chips and mushy peas for the three of us.  In fact, Tom much preferred that to going out for a carvery – so everybody was happy.  What a great day – the highlight being to see Cyril – the low point being a poor performance from Saints.

Off to Grimsby

It would have been my Grandfather’s 112^th birthday today and so I hoisted the Norfolk flag in his memory.  A hectic morning as I was driving up to Grimsby this afternoon and seemed to have 101 things I needed to do before setting off.  Sara had to go over to Amesbury to deliver some Vie products and and I started the process of getting everything together to pack.  Sara was back by 10 a.m. and I went over to West Dean to support Sophie’s mulled wine and mince pie morning at the church.  She had a small number of supporters but not the numbers which I think she would like.  Back home I finished the packing and Sara completed the Christmas present wrapping.  I left home at around 3 p.m. and picked Tom up at his school at 3.20 p.m. and we started the 260 miles journey up to Grimsby.  We made really good time as the traffic was very kind to us.  Despite stopping for nearly an hour at Leicester Forest East services on the M1 we arrived in Grimsby at 9 p.m.  We drove via Newark and Lincoln and were able to sample the new improved A46 link between Leicester and Newark.  Tom helped me to unload all the presents and luggage before going to bed quite early at 10 p.m.  I sat and chatted with Mum until about 11.30 p.m. when I too went to bed.  I was briefly to Sara on the telephone – she has been appearing in the Pantomime again tonight. 

Christmas Shopping

I spent most of this morning in Salisbury shopping for Christmas presents to take up to Grimsby tomorrow. Not my favourite pastime but at least it wasn't too crowded.  I also bought a convector heater for Tom's bedroom which can get really cold, situated as it is above the unheated garage.  I spent this afternoon on Complex and other paperwork and preparing for our House Group.  We had five at House Group this evening and I shared with the Group the seminar I attended on Monday which was very well received.  Sara was out at a Vie party this evening and arrived back in time to join Sophie and I for a chat and a glass of wine.  Went to bed after watching the latest episode of Rev.  Need to do quite a lot of preparation for our trip to Grimsby tomorrow morning.

Tea with the Bishop (and Archbishop)

Again, I spent most of the day at home.  Tom was also at home as the public sector workers strike against pensions and pay changes had closed his school.  The less militant Winterslow School remained open and Mary, reluctantly, had to attend.  Sara did her stint at Morning Star as usual.  I did a bit of Complex work and cleaned my car as well as tidying up some of the family room and putting some bits and pieces in the loft. This afternoon, I went to PC World again to buy a monitor cable for my laptop so that I can show a PowerPoint presentation on the TV to the House Group tomorrow evening.  After this I attended St. Mary's Church Hall in Whaddon to have tea with the new Bishop of Salisbury who was accompanied by Archbishop Daniel of the Sudan.  The tea was for him to meet all the Licensed Lay Ministers and trainee (me!) in the Alderbury Deanery.  I had a long chat with him about a number of things including Sara's work on the Calendar and I also gave the group my view about the need for missional work (not missionary work) if the Church of England is to have a "hopeful" future.  The bishop listened carefully to all his lay ministers had to say and seemed interested in our ministry.  There is often, I sense,  a feeling amongst the laity that their views are not held in much esteem above the views of their ordained brethren.   We have a very special ministry, as I pointed out when I spoke in open session, to get alongside ordinary lay people as part of laity ourselves - a unique and blessed position to be in.  This is what I feel I have been called to do and this is what I expressed to Bishop Nick, as he likes to be known.  Feeling quite tired tonight and looking forward to a good night's rest.  Need to press on with my second essay tomorrow and will be pleased when the first portfolio is finished.

Saints set a record for successive home wins!

I had planned to go to Morning Prayer at All Saints this morning but nobody turned up - this is the problem with not having a weekly newssheet any more.  The weather was quite grim today with reports later on of tornadoes breaking out in the UK.  I worked in the study in the morning writing and sending out quite a number of letters and emails for Complex.  At lunchtime I went into Salisbury, leaving my car at the Peterfinger Park & Ride, and getting the bus into the city centre.  I did some more banking for the Calendar (another £200-odd) and met Sara in Pound Stretcher quite by accident - I went in to buy an exercise book and Sara was doing some Christmas stocking shopping.  I spent this afternoon in Sarum College library planning out my second assignment and listening to the howling gale and rain which was pelting the windows. However, by the time I left at 3.45 p.m. the weather had abated and I walked out in quiet and fairly mild weather.  I called in at PC World to buy Mary's birthday present and got home about 5 p.m.  Tonight Tom and I went into Suouthampton to watch the Saints v. Hull City game.  Saints played poorly in the first half letting in a goal before half time and going into the break losing 0-1. West Ham were winning away at Middlesbrough by the same margin.  Two quick goals from the Saints in the second half assured another win - the 21st successive win at home (St. Mary's) and a football league record (previously held by Liverpool).   West Ham beat Middlesbrough 0-2 which meant that Southampton remain top of the Championship but only two points and two goal difference ahead of West Ham.  However, Saints are eight points clear of the playoffs and the table tonight really does show how West Ham and Southampton appear to be running away with the two automatic promotion places at the moment.  Off to Doncaster on Saturday - I have now got the tickets.

A Morning at St. Mark's

Up early this morning and after a light breakfast of two rounds of toast, I drove to the London Road Park & Ride site and then from there walked along London Road to St. Mark's Church to attend a seminar on Mission and Evangelism called "From Aquarium Keepers to Fishers of Men". A really interesting and insightful morning.  Sara took Mary into Salisbury this morning to the Drop-In Health Centre as her ears have been troubling her and she has been in great pain.  It appears that her "tubes" are blocked and she needs a course of decongestants to help clear them.  Fortunately nothing serious.  From St. Mark's I walked into the city centre and banked another £185 of Calendar proceeds as well as posting some letters in the Central post Office.  I had a coffee in Cafe Nero and made some phone calls and answered some emails including a telephone chat with Mum about my impending visit to Grimsby.  On my way back to Winterslow, after walking back form the city centre to the Park & Ride, I called in at PC World to find out whether it would be possible to get a laptop for Mary in blue.  It appears that HP have sold out of the particular colour and model she wants and so we'll have to re-think the whole thing.  Tonight I attended the ninth of  my theological reflections tutorials.  I now need to hand in my first assignment (which Ashley thought was very good) and get started on my second.  I will probably go to Sarum College tomorrow and start work on it after some further prayerful reflection.  An early night tonight as I also have some important Complex work to deal with tomorrow morning.

Advent Service at St. Thomas's

A more typical day today.  Sara and the children had a lie-in this morning as I went to the 9.30 a.m. Morning Praise service at All Saints which was conducted by Maggie and Jane.  A really good service but poorly attended, I regret.  I gave Jan a lift to and from church and I was back home by 11.00 a.m.  I spent most of the afternoon completing my assignment and Sophie called round just after 4 p.m. to have a look at it and give me some tips (as she has recently completed an Open University Degree course she is well versed in academic essay writing) and tweaked it a bit.  Richard and Linda called round at 5.30 p.m. and we all went to the Advent Service at her new church, St. Thomas's in the city centre.  A lovely warm candlelit service with a wonderful choir.  Not much input from the congregation but a great opportunity to meditate and reflect upon the coming Christmas season.  We were each given a strip of linen to complete a crib on the altar.  Rod, a fellow Freemason, was in the congregation and appears to be involved in that church.  Sara spent most of the day ironing all the washing I had done whilst she was away at Champney's.  I spoke to my sister, Heather, briefly on the telephone this afternoon and it seems that there will not be the opportunity to meet up with her in Doncaster on Saturday.  Christmas presents will have to be left at Grimsby.  Richard and I met for a couple of pints in the Lion's Head to end the week and back home Sara and I watched an interesting programme showing private cine film of the Kennedy family - pictures never seen before.  The weekend seems to have flown by and has been really packed with unusual events.

An old friend visits - Saints lose

Winterslow Village Hall featured in my life for a third day this week - but more of that later.  A busy Saturday morning with me taking Tom up to football on Barry's Field where Clarendon Juniors lost to the top of the league club by 1-3.  Tom and the team were quite demoralised by this defeat - their team is certainly not doing too well at the moment.  Sara was out in Amesbury this morning and at lunchtime today my old student friend from Liverpool days, Dave, came over from Swindon (where he now lives) and we all went to the Lord Nelson for lunch.  The kids were introduced to the game of dominoes for the firs time - I hadn't realised that they have never played this game before - and really enjoyed it.  We have a really good set of tiles in the family room and must get it out one evening.  Dave came back, after lunch, for coffee where we nattered until he left us a 4 p.m. to go into Salisbury to attend the Advent Parade at the Cathedral.  I had intended to work on my essay this afternoon but watched the live football scores coming through on Sky TV.  A disastrous day for Saints today.  They lost 2-0 to near bottom of the league team Bristol City.  That defeat was compounded by a resounding win by West Ham against Derby County (2-0) which now leaves Saints with only a slender two-point lead at the top of the Championship with West Ham breathing down their necks!  Tom and I watched the West Ham game live on Sky.  Tonight, Sara and I went to Penny F's 50th Birthday Party at the village hall (second day in a row that I've spent my evening there) where we spent about 3 hours chatting to friends.  We can chili con carne for the main meal with excellent cheese and biscuits and puddings (one supplied by Sara - her famous lemon mousse) and a cash bar run by Roger from the Lord Nelson.  Although I am not a great party goer it was a lovely way to end a rather interesting and unusual day - seeing an old friend and watching Saints lose!

Winterslow 1990-2010

Up early again this morning sorting out the children for school.  Took Mary to school and returned home where I did some housework and dealt with some paperwork.   The morning seemed to go incredibly quickly and Sophie called around at 11.30 a.m. with Rachel to go through my LLM assignment with me.  We sat in the kitchen whilst Rachel watched children’s TV.  Sophie took a critical look at the work I had so far done and made some suggestions as to how the essay could be structured.  I intend to get a first version completed by Sunday evening.  I made us a prawn curry for lunch and Sara returned at about 1 p.m.  Sara remarked that the house smelt like an Indian Balti House. We sat in the kitchen and the lunge chatting and watching children’s television with Rachel.  This afternoon, when Sara went out to pick up Mary from school I dozed off in the armchair for half an hour and didn’t even hear somebody at the door- must have been exhausted.  I really am a “morning person”.  This evening I attended a local history slide show in the Village Hall presented by Norman, the village’s local historian.  He was showing slides of the village and its people and events between 1990 and 2010. Very interesting but it did emphasise how, over the years, there has been so a large degree of inter marrying between families and how the same families have run events over the decades.  Sara spent the evening at Ruth’s attending a jewellery party in Firsdown.  Back home I watched an episode of Storm Chasers before going to bed.

Lunch in Warminister

Woke up in bed alone this morning as Sara is spending her first night away at Champneys, Liphook.  Tom needed waking up and got himself ready for school but Mary needed a bit more encouragement from me.  I took Mary to school and spoke to Sara on the telephone - she is certainly enjoying herself away.  This morning I drove over to Warminster to meet up with my fellow student, Ashley, to discuss our LLM assignments and he showed me what he had so far written.  I also gave him details of the tutorial on Monday which he had missed.  We met in a lovely little cafe called Rosie's Team Room Restaurant which is in the cellar of a card/gift shop.  I had a very good brie ploughman's and Ashley soup and a roll.  We spent about an hour and a half together encouraging each other in our studies. I also did some banking and called in at the  I was back in Winterslow just in time to pick up Mary from school.  I cooked the children a pizza for tea and had some caviar on crackers for myself.  Jeremy called round at 6.3o p.m. for his interview for my assignment and stayed for our House Group which saw five us us tonight.  We started on the theological reflection exercise but this ended as a general discussion about the history of our churches in Winterslow and varied issues surrounding ecumenism in the the village.  Went to bed after watching the latest episode of Rev. and Not Going Out.  A light hearted end to quite a heavy day.

Stargazing with the Brownies

I went to Mid-Week Eucharist this morning - a very small congregation of just five!  It was a pleasant little group and Cynthia presided.  After lunch, Sara drove to Champney's Health Resort at Liphook where I had undertaken my retreat immediately before my selection conference for LLM.  How I envy her - such a wonderful and tranquil spot.  She has taken a lot of paperwork with her to sort out in the quiet of the resort.  Wonderful food there too!  Tom didn't get to football practice tonight as I had to give a talk to the Brownies on astronomy and we were able to do some star gazing at the back of the village hall.  Unfortunately, when I retrieved my telescope from the shed, condensation had got into the tube and so the mirror and the objective glass were wet.  I have now moved the telescope into Sara's study where it is currently drying out.  I think the evening went well although I am not sure if the older ones were really concentrating.  I was quite exhausted when I got back home.  Had a relatively quiet night tonight watching TV and went to bed relatively early.  I put some washing on too - quite a remarkable achievement worth putting in the blog!  Another busy day tomorrow - a trip to Warminster to discuss the LLM course with fellow student Ashley, and House Group in the evening.  Sara is not back until Friday afternoon so I am Mum and Dad all day tomorrow and half of Friday.  Survived the first half day, anyway!  Kids still alive!

Seriously Funny at Totton

Took Mary to school first thing this morning and then after a quick breakfast, I went across the road to Karen & Paul's to interview Paul as part of my theological reflection assignment - men and church.  I worked at home for the rest of the morning and early this afternoon went into Andover for shopping and banking - another £400 banked from the sale of Calendars.  This evening 26 of us went to Testwood Baptist Church at Totton to see Adrian Plass, Jeff Lucas and Nicki Rogers in "Seriously Funny".  They had some new material since their tour last year but were just as funny as last time.  Really enjoyed it with some good messages and thought provoking stories and anecdotes.  Sara and I got a chance to speak to Jeff before the show and with both Nicki and Adrian afterwards.  Adrian signed a copy of his latest book "War of the Worlds" for me.  I shall enjoy reading it as it seems to contain quite a bit of his dry wit and humour.  Its theme is about the war which is going on in the Church - a war between two worlds - the world where honesty is valued and the one where it is shunned.  Between appearing to do what is right and expected (keeping up appearances) and also being just ourselves.  Fascinating stuff and something which Nils and I were only talking about on Thursday.  It will be good to go back and reflect on this topic in the context of Adrian's humour.  All those I took, including Sara and Tom, said they had a thoroughly good night.  Tom especially enjoyed it.

More Reflections

A day mainly at home again today working in the study.  Sara was also at home most of the day doing a mountain of ironing which seems to have accumulated.  This evening I attended the eighth session in my theological reflection course in which we each had to relate a "critical" incident in our life and then undertake a reflective process of considering themes that run through the bible and looking at proper biblical quotes in their right context which might help the reflection.  Some quite heavy critical incidents were shared.  Back home, I watched an interesting programme about the Secret Service Detail for President Kennedy and his wife during the fatal Texas trip.  It was interesting to hear their accounts and to see them as old men.  The assassination still seems to be only a few years ago - not 47!

A lazier Sunday

Sara, Mary and I attended the Parish Eucharist at All Saints this morning which was taken by Alec Knight, the former Dean of Lincoln Cathedral who has retired and now lives in Whiteparish here in the Clarendon Team.  A good service and sermon on the theme of Sheep and Goats from Matthew's Gospel.  The church was quite well attended this morning.  We had a roast pork lunch today and the kids were asked to tidy up their bedrooms before lunch.  We all had quite a nice lazy Sunday afternoon watching TV and, I must confess, a bit of a snooze in my reclining armchair.  I attended the BCP Sung Evensong this evening at Farley this evening where the preacher was the new Master of St. Nicholas's Hospital, Harnham, Canon Michael Goater.  St. Nicholas's Hospital provides sheltered accommodation for the aged who require some looking after but but wish to and do remain independent with their own separate accommodation within the hospital.  I did find his sermon rather erudite, I must say, although well executed.  Quite good in the setting of a traditional BCP service.  It is quite interesting analysing various preacher's styles from which I can learn for my own future preaching career.  After speaking to Mum on the phone, and I was pleased that she has been feeling much better today (she had been in my prayers frequently today) I ended the day and the weekend having a couple of pints in the pub with Richard and Klynn.  We see little of Klynn these days as he is commuting to Europe (particularly Paris) with his job.  It was good to get together again for an hour or so.

A Day at College

A full day at Sarum College today where all the LLM/Fuondation Degree students met and then went to our various different study groups.  Today I was in the group studying the planning and leading of worship and preaching.  I had already completed the Lay Worship Leaders' course so much of the course work for planning and leading worship was very familiar to me.  After an excellent lunch in the refectory, I enjoyed the afternoon session on preaching.  I will need to lead three services and preach three sermons before June 2012.  I will also need to attend services of another church - an evangelical/charismatic church and a higher Anglo-Catholic church and study the liturgy.  Following on from the subject of theological reflection, this is much closer to what I feel called to do.  Quite a lot of work ahead still.   I met up with Sara andMary afterwards in Lidl's where we did a large shop of groceries for the week ahead.  Tonight Sara and I watched a movie of TV and caught up with the football events of the day.  Neither Tom nor I had been able to St. Mary's today where the mighty Saints beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 and reamin five points clear at the top of the Championship table.  They now have 39 points!  Portsmouth lost away at Watford (2-0) and Grimsby could only manage a 2-2 draw against struggling Newport County.   Just hope that Saints win against Hull in a couple of weeks when I return to St. Mary's otherwise my friends in the surrounding season ticket seats will want me to stay away more often.  Now a month since I sat in my seat!  The tickets for the Doncaster game didn't arrive today.  If they don't arrive on Monday I will have to chase them.

Studying

At the request of a villager, I hoisted the Oman flag today.  He has been working out there and wanted to see the flag flown in the village on Oman's National Day. It was Ambassadors' Breakfast Club this morning so another early start.  Following the meeting, and after delivering a letter to Anthony and filling the car up up with fuel at Waitrose,  I drove to the Park and Ride at London Road where I left my car and caught the bus back into the city.  After banking nearly another £600 of Calendar money, I went to Sarum College where I spent about four hours in the library working on my first assignment essay.  I finished the first 500-odd words and then emailed to my tutor (whom I afterwards discovered was sitting in the next library bay).  He will let me know if I am on the right track before I continue it.  I picked Mary up from school this afternoon passing Sara on the A30 as she drove into Salisbury for a hair appointment.  This evening I interviewed one of the members of our Men's Breakfast Club as part of my essay assignment.  We chose the venue of the Lion's Head and had a very interesting discussion over a pint of Exmoor winter ale.  Tonight was Children in Need Night and we sat down to watch the event.  A relatively early night as I have college all day tomorrow - the beginning of my next module - Planning and Leading Worship and Preaching and Teaching.  Looking forward to the Preaching bit which is what I really feel called to do.

New Sofa and Chair Arrive

Up early this morning helping Sara prepare the lounge to receive our new leather sofa and recliner. After taking Mary to school, the tree loggers arrived to remove the front cherry tree.  I was rather saddened to see it go but also felt relief that we will not have thousands of dried leaves blown into the front porch this and future years nor traipse cherry blossom inside the hall for several weeks.  We certainly have more light at the front of the house.  Next year we will also have the hedge reduced in size.  I had my monthly training meeting with Nils at The Rectory at 10 a.m. and we sat and discussed my training requirements and examples of theological reflection.  We agreed that I would lead a service at Winterslow in the New Year - an Evening Prayer service using Common Worship and not Book of Common Prayer, liturgy.  I am looking forward to it.  After my meeting I returned home and our new sofa and chair were delivered.  They match my own existing recliner and the lounge looks really smart now.  House Group was abandoned this evening when three of my group couldn't attedn because of their involvement with Sara's Calendar, one ill, Richard in Cornwall, Sophie in Wales and one tired after a heavy day at work.  Only Dawn arrived and she stayed for coffee and watched The Vicar of Dibley with Mary and me.  After she left, Mary and I watched an hilarious "Rev".  An excllent comedy which I can really relate to as I work more closely with our local clergy.

An Ecclesiastical Day

I woke early this morning and made tea for us.  I decided to deal with some emails and other work first thing and try and leave some time today to go into Salisbury to spend time at Sarum College library doing some preparatory work for my first assignment (essay).  As it happened, with frequent interruptions from phone calls, I didn't get into Sarum College until after midday and spent a couple of hours researching and putting some thoughts on paper.  I had to get back to Winterlsow for 3 p.m. to pick Mary up as Sara had an afternoon appointment at the dentist's.  Tonight I attend the Joint PCCs meeting at Pitton School which was preceded by an excellent supper for the Full Ministry Team Staff at Debbie's which is next door to Pitton School.  The meeting went quite well - nowhere near as heated as one had imagined it might be - and following the single Winterslow PCC meeting which took place immediately after the Joint PCCs meeting I was home well before 10 p.m.  Tomorrow I hope to continue my exploration of the themes and ideas for my essay.  I would like to have an outline draft of it for next Monday if possible.

Marooned in the office

Apart from attending Morning Prayer with Andrew at All Saints this morning, I spent the entire day in the office at home ploughing through paper and catching up on all sorts of odd bits and pieces of reading and responding to what seemed endless emails.  Right at the beginning of the day, Sara and I pulled the sofa matching armchair out of the lounge and put then up at the top of the drive for the Council to take them away.  Our new sofa and chair (brown leather to match my existing recliner chair) ahould arrive on Thursday in time for House Group.   Sara spent a good part of the day in Stockbridge having coffee and then lunch with Mary and Myrna, her mother's old friends.  This left me free to get on top of some work but, unfortunatley, my planned studying in Sarum College library didn't materialise and I was working right up to 10 p.m. with still some church papers to read in bed before I finally go to sleep.  Sara has borrowed a heavy duty carpet cleaning machine from somebody in the village who frequents the Lord Nelson pub.  She managed to clean the stairs but when she tried to use the main machine for the carepts it fused the downstairs circuit several times.  Clearly there must be a problem with the machine.  In the end the carpet cleaning exercise had to be abandoned. Richard can't take Tom to the Saints v. Brighton match on Saturday so it looks like he will miss it.  I can't go because of my commitment at Sarum College that day as I start my preaching module.  Everything seems to be crowding in on me at the moment and I seems to be fighting to keep on top of everything.  At least the Complex work has eased off a bit - I am ahead of the ga,me on that at the moment.  Tomorrow I am setting aside for studying and then attending the joint PCC's meeting at Pitton.