Meeting Friends and Relations in Droitwich Spa

Up early again this morning and after packing the kids off to school, Sara and I set off, just after 9 a.m. for the long trip up to Worcestershire together with a car packed full of old journals, magazines and timetables to be delivered to the Kithead Trust at Hampton Lovett, Droitwich. We stopped briefly to refuel at Tidworth and made a short diversion into Swindon to drop off some old copies of Trolleybus Magazine for the British Trolleybus Society archivist. I was sorry to see these go but realise that we must make way for the house extension and that they are probably of more use properly cared for in archives than in the garage. I will also have to cull many of my books too so that I will have room for another generation of theology books which I will need if I start my ministry training in September. We arrived at Wychbold, just north of Droitwich at 11.25 a.m. where Sara met up with her niece, Natasha, and two of her four children - Kenny and Tye in MacDonalds. We moved over to the Wych Way Inn Harvester where we had coffee whilst Sara and Natasha started the process of getting to know each other again- after 24 years! Just before 12 noon I left them to have lunch together and drove the three miles or so to Hampton Lovett to deliver the boxes of journals etc. and was given an escorted tour around the Kithead archive by Peter. I had helped set up the archive trust many years ago when I was a solicitor with my own practice in Brighton and it was very interesting to see how the collection had grown. As transport companies had closed down or merged so all their records had come to Kithead and there was a myriad of wonderful documents and books. I was even offered a job there (voluntary of course) a couple of days per week. Commuting to Droitwich doesn't really appeal to me especially as it would be unpaid! Peter and I had a light sandwich lunch at a lovely hotel in Droitwich town centre - St. Andrew's Town Hotel - which is akin to a country club in the centre of a town. Very good food at reasonable prices. I return to the Wych Way Inn after lunch and spent another half an hour with Sara and Natasha (and kids) before we set off back for Wiltshire at around 3 p.m. Sara's meeting had gone well and I was quite struck by their physical similarities. I know that Sara's mother would have been delighted at this meeting as I am too. Back in Salisbury, we picked up Mary from her friend Allie's's house in Old Sarum. Leanne made us a cup of tea and I was struck by the unselfish kindness which Leanne obviously has for the elderly in her care. I dashed into Andover quickly to get weighed at Fat Fighters and was delighted to have lost another pound despite all the ice cream I seem to have eaten this week! Tonight we had a good house group with Mary J joining us. A really lovely day today - seeing an old friend and, in Sara's case, a long lost niece. It was also fun to joke about Sara being a Great Aunt who should really smell of lavender and wee!

A Morning at St. John's

Sara brought tea up to me this morning but I was already in the bathroom preparing for a shower. I walked to St. John's Church for Morning Prayer with Nils, Cynthia and Jane and following the short service returned home for a bacon and egg breakfast. I returned to St. John's on my bike for the midweek Eucharist service. It was raining heavily when I left the church and I peddled fast to get back home before I got too wet. A nice cup of latte coffee when I got back in (Sara was out this morning at Morning Star). I took some of the rubbish cleared out from the garage across in my car to the amenity tip at Boscombe Down and also did some shopping in Tesco's in Amesbury. This afternoon after a light soup lunch, Richard called round to have a look through the books and magazines which I am taking to Droitwich to see if there was anything which interested him. He took some Buses Annuals and a few magazines. The rest have been loaded in my car to take to Droitwich and a few to Swindon. Sara attended her penultimate LPA training session this afternoon and I picked up Mary from school and prepared tea for the kids. Feeling very tired today - probably because I was up late last night watching a programme about the terracotta warriors of Xian and how they were made. Used up most of my weekly points this week so not expecting much progress on the weight loss tomorrow. Think I'll have a glass or two of wine tonight to finish off a rather tiring yet uneventful day.

Decluttering

I was up early this morning and completed the Census Form before Sara and I set off for Sophie's for the Lent Group meeting in West Dean. Cynthia led the group and donated the bread and cheese for lunch. This afternoon, Sara and I started to clear out the garage ready for the builders to begin work, hopefully, next week. I took a load of rubbish down to the tip and whilst in Salisbury went to the Leisure Centre and swam fourteen lengths before returning home to mow the three lawns and sort out six boxes of old papers and magazines to take to Droitwich on Thursday. These will be added to the transport archive at the Kithead Trust. Tonight I dealt with some Complex Services work and wrote up a couple of blogs.

Coffee in the cathedral; Dinner in Bournemouth

I felt quite tired this morning and was glad Sara got up first and brought in tea for us to drink in bed. Didn't see Tom this morning - in fact, I haven't seen him since Thursday morning with me being away in Brighton and Grimsby and our last night before he returned from Rockface. Sara reminded me that we had agreed to meet her mother's friend Mary and husband Peter for coffee in the Cathedral Refectory this morning at 10 a.m. I had a number of things to do first so Sara went on ahead and I joined them at about 10.30 a.m. after having visited the bank. I has also intended to fill in the 2011 Census Form this morning but didn't get around to it - I must do it in the next 24 hours if possible and get it sent off. Mary and Peter were in good form and we chatted for an hour or so - Sara with Mary and I discussed my vocation testing for ministry with Peter who is, himself, a reader minister and assessor in the Winchester Diocese. It was very helpful talking to him. I sat in a wonderful seat with a good view of the spire (see picture) through the refectory's glass roof. I took Peter over to the Sarum College bookshop where we both wanted to buy books and I left him there and returned to my car. Back home I had a light lunch of prawns and a banana and wrote up my blog for the last couple of days. Sara returned home at about 2.45 p.m. and then went off to pick up Mary from school. I drove down to Bournemouth to attend the Installation Meeting of Bournemouth & District Installed Masters' Lodge at Boscombe with Tony Channing, Wiltshire Masters' master. We had a very enjoyable evening with an excellent installation ceremony and a talk on "Masonic Oddities" - the same lecture and lecturer we had had at Sarum's installation meeting in October. Tony and I sat on the top table where we were feted with mushroom soup, roast pork, strawberry gateaux (Tony and I had ice cream) and cheese and biscuits (no biscuits or butter for me). I returned home from Bournemouth at about 11 p.m. and Sara and I spent an hour or so talking about some matters relating to Tom. Sara went to bed at 12.30 a.m. and I wrote up this blog tonight leaving me free to deal with some important paperwork tomorrow.

Back to Old Clee

Woke at 8.30 a.m. this morning (what would have been 7.30 a.m. if we hadn't put the clocks forward). I made tea for Mum and myself and took her a cup. I went back to bed briefly to read my devotionals before showering and coming down for breakfast (bacon and tomato with a yoghurt). I walked to church for the 11 a.m. Service of the Word which was delivered by a Licensed Lay Minister which I observed with great care. After the service it was good to chat to some of the congregation over a quick coffee and to reminisce about my times as a chorister at the church and some of the characters in the choir, clergy and congregation at that time. They were a very friendly crowd and made me feel very welcome. I think they were somewhat disappointed that I didn't live locally or wanted to rejoin the choir! Mum had cooked a chicken casserole with cabbage and other vegetable which was very tasty and healthy. I finally left Grimsby at 2 p.m. and calle din on Tim briefly to deliver the other football ticket which I had forgotten to take with me last night. I drove over to Lincoln via Louth and Wragby and joined the A46 down to Leicester and Coventry. The road between Newark and Leicester is currently being upgraded and will cut my journey time up to Grimsby quite a bit when finished. I arrived home at 7.15 p.m. after a couple of short stops and Christina and Nigel (my old friends from Corporation of London days) called round to see Sara and me before we all went off for a drink in the Lion's Head. Richard joined us after Rockface and after Christina and Nigel left we carried on chatting over a couple more glasses of wine (I'm still off the beer for Lent). Back home I watched an interesting documentary about the comedian Ken Dodd before finally going to bed at 12.30 a.m.

More disappointment at Blundell Park

Had a leisurely morning today. Mum cooked smoked haddock and a poached for breakfast which was a very healthy low ProPoints meal. After breakfast I went to Blundell Park to buy a ticket for this afternoon's game against Tamworth (in fact I bought two tickets as there was a special offer in the Grimsby Evening Telegraph and it made sense to get two - one of which I could give to my old school friend, Tim). Whilst out, I also posted a letter for Mum and picked up a Grimsby Evening Telegraph for her. I didn't have any lunch today as the match was an early kick-off at 1 pm and I was going out to dinner this evening with Tim and his wife Sheila. The match was, to say the least, dire. Grimsby manage to get ahead quite early on and went in at half time with a 1-0 lead. They doubled that lead to 2-0 early ion in the second half and then proceeded to through it away as the second half progressed with a final scoreline of 2-2. Any chances of getting into the Blue Square Premier play-offs are now in tatters - they are 12 points behind the play-off places. They did exactly the same thing on Tuesday night against Gateshead. I walked back to Mum's quite disappointed. Mum was spending the afternoon getting herself ready to go out to a charity event at Cleethorpes Conservative Club and so I went for a nice long walk down to Cleethorpes seafront and back - about two and a half miles in total. It is bitterly cold up in North East Lincolnshire. Tonight I spent a very pleasant evening with Tim and Sheila with a meal of grilled steak and roast vegetables. We had a long natter afterwards catching up on family events and it was nice to have such a relaxing evening with friends. Mum phoned at around 11.15 p.m. asking me to pick her and her friend Freda up from the Club and take Freda back to her home in Yarborough Road which I did. The weather was still bitterly cold as I arrived at the Club. They had had a good night with a good buffet for £3 although the music had been rather loud, apparently. Tonight the clocks went forward so I didn't actually go to bed until about 1.30 a.m. Fortunately the church service tomorrow at Old Clee is at 11 a.m. so not too much of a rush in the morning.

Hove to Grimsby

Awoke reasonably early this morning at Peter’s, made a mug of tea and read my devotionals. I also wrote up my blog for yesterday before getting up and joining Peter for a second tea before we went out to Wheelies for a breakfast of grilled bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and egg. Peter was looking after his granddaughter, Leila, today and so I had the pleasure of pushing her in the pushchair along with us. Leila enjoyed toast and a sausage with us. Peter and I discussed arrangements for the extension, work for which we hope will start during the first week in April. After breakfast, and having taken Leila to the park for fifteen minutes or so to play on the slides, we returned to Peter’s and shortly afterward, I set off in the car form Grimsby travelling up the M23, M25 through the Dartford Tunnel (where there was a 2-miles queue to get to the toll booths) and then up the M11, A14 and A1 to Colsterworth and via Cranwell to Lincoln and ultimately Grimsby. I arrived at Mum’s at about 4.30 p.m. I gave her some flowers (red and white roses) which I had bought at Morrison’s on the way in to Grimsby and her birthday present (a book on The King’s Speech) and her Mothering Sunday present (the recently taken family group photograph). This evening we went for dinner at the Jug & Bottle at Holton-le-Clay just south of Grimsby and had an excellent turkey and gammon carvery at just 3.69 GBP followed, I have to guiltily admit, by free top ups of lovely Cornish ice cream in massive dishes! So tempting but not helpful for the points watching/counting. After a short drive along Cleethorpes Seafront we returned to Mum’s and chatted for a couple of hours over a glass or two of wine before going to bed at around 11.30 p.m. I couldn’t get to sleep at first and so read a few pages of the Jeff Lucas book I am currently reading.

Another weight loss this week

Weigh-in at Fat Fighters today in Stockbridge. Glad to say that I lost another 2.5 pounds this week which has now meant that I have lost 5 x 7 lbs or 5 silver awards. Total weight loss for the 18 weeks since I started is now 37 lbs or 74 packs packs of butter! After the Weight Watchers meeting Sara met Myrna, Sara's mother's former friend and neighbour, in the hotel and I left them to chat and have lunch together. I returned home and packed for my four days away - tonight Brighton and then three days in Grimsby. I washed the car, packed and had a quick lunch of crumpets and bacon before driving into Salisbury to fill up with fuel at Tesco's - one of the cheapest places at the moment (still 137p per litre!). I arrived at Peter's in hove at 3.45 p.m. and changed into my masonic suit before he drove me and his brother Roger into Brighton for a meeting of Royal Sussex Chapter. Tonight's ceremony was an exaltation with an excellent candidate who is clearly an amateur thespian. Dinner tonight was pate, roast pork and cheese and biscuits. On our return to Peter's, quite a bit later than anticipated due to the length of this evening's meeting, I met with a friend of his son's who was facing an employment problem following a need by his employer to cut costs. The advice I gave was as much practical advice as legal theory which I hope he can use to decide what he wants to do. Peter was very tired tonight so we didn't have any long discussions and I went to bed at 11.30 p.m. After speaking briefly to Sara and the phone I dealt with a few emails and read some scripture before falling asleep. A long day and a long drive await tomorrow.

Prayers and Breakfast in Whiteparish

Another early start this morning. I drove "over the hill" to Whiteparish (carefully avoiding the potholes of course) to join the Team Clergy for Morning Prayer and breakfast at Jane's home on the Romsey Road. This was followed by Mid-Week Lent Eucharist at Whaddon Hall which was well attended. The service was taken by Cynthia. Afterwards I called in at Tesco's and Staples for some shopping before returning to Winterslow. I joined Sara in helping out at Morning Star's Lent lunch at the Methodist Hall and then Sara went off for the eighth of her LPA training sessions - this time with the Rural Dean, Vanda. After the lunch, I went for a long walk down Witt Road and across the fields to Weston Lane via the barns and then to the school to pick up Mary. We arrived back home at around 3.20 p.m. I started to get together some old transport magazines to take to Droitwich. I am now anxious to get a lot of rubbish thrown out, as well as old books, to make more room for serious studying and study material. I cooked the children's teas tonight and Sara returned home at around 5.30 p.m. having had a heavy training session. Tonight I continued with sorting out some papers and getting ready for spending a few days away in Sussex and Lincolnshire. I heard from my old friend Christina that she and her husband would be staying with their friend Sue in Winterslow on Sunday night (the Night of the Census actually) and that it would be good for us all to meet up. This will depend upon what time I get back from Grimsby. My aim is to leave there at about 2 p.m. which means I can be back by about 7 p.m. Feeling really tired and mentally exhausted tonight. Fat Fighters tomorrow and although I have been careful this week not to use up any of my 49 "naughty points" still not sure if I have been good enough this week.

I had good intentions of starting to sift through the many boxes from the study with a view to putting together the books and magazines to go to Droitwich next week but somehow today seems to have flown by again! Quite an expensive day too! After a breakfast of grilled bacon and mushrooms, Sara and I attended Sophie's Lent Group today which was led by Cynthia and also attended by Nils and two others from Winterslow. Indeed, Winterslow residents outnumbered West Dean by 5 to 3. It was an interesting discussion on the topic of ministry and vocation. In view of my own discernment and testing process at the moment for licensed ministry, I said very little and let others contribute to the discussion. I am still inwardly testing my calling for this. We ended the session with a bread and cheese lunch. I must confess to having two slices of bread and some cheddar and Camembert which wouldn't be approved by Weight Watchers. On the way back we took photos of the offending pothole which caused so much damage to my wheel. I intend to seek some recompense from the Council if possible. The picture above shows just how deep the hole is. In fact, the Council were already filling in many others along the road - so they clearly know that they are dangerous. A poor cyclist wouldn't stand a chance. This afternoon I drove over to Wilton and picked up my repaired wheel from the welders (they had made a fantastic job of it) and then on to Bathwick tyres who put a budget tyre on it for me - £59 for the tyre and £45 for the wheel. Although it was £104 I didn't want to have to spend, a new tyre on my old car would have cost over £100. At least I got a new tyre out of it. I spent an hour in the gym afterwards and tonight Sara and I spoke on Skype to David and Andrea for an hour or so. Saints played Charlton tonight away at The Valley. Saints were winning 0-1 right up until the 86th minute when they succumbed to a late goal from The Addicks scored by former Saints player, Bradley Wright-Phillips! Tonight Saints are third in league two points behind Huddersfield with two games in hand. They still have to play Brighton so their chances of the automatic promotion place remain tight!

A Trip to Worthing

The morning seemed to go very quickly today. Sara baked bread for the Morning Star Lent lunch and because I was driving over to Worthing in her car this afternoon (the Mercedes still being out of action for all intents and purposes) I dropped her off at the Methodist Church Hall and after a quick "hello" to the Morning Star staff set off for Worthing to attend the Sussex Provincial Grand Chapter Annual Meeting at the Charmandean Centre (see picture). I arrived in Worthing at 2 p.m. in good time for the meeting which started at 2.45 p.m. Jeff L and I managed to get reasonably good seats behind those receiving promotions and appointments (including our friend Simon C who was being appointed Prov.GStdB). After the ceremony, I went for a short walk before a rather sumptuous dinner of Caesar salad, beef bourginogne, tart au citron and cheese. Probably ate more than I should and will have to spend a bit of time in the gym tomorrow once my wheel and tyre are sorted out. Sara's car radio is not working at the moment because it was disconnected from the electrics when her new alternator was fitted. Consequently I only had the SatNav to accompany my journey. I used the quiet time on a fairly empty road for reflection and prayer.

Seeking Solitude

Up bright and early today - the weather had a feel of Spring about it for once. I walked to church (All Saints this morning) where I was acting as sidesperson and as intercessor. This meant that I needed to be in church by 9.00 a.m. so I set off at just after 8.30 a.m. to walk the mile or so. It was a long service this morning - brought about, I think, by long hymns, a long sermon and, yes, rather long intercessions! I'd cut them down from the original too! Two sermons this morning! I walked back home afterwards via Weston Lane making a 2.5 miles circuit in all and I spent some time talking with Commodore Tony at the top of the hill opposite Barry's Fields. He was telling me about some of his plans for retirement and asking if the offer was still open for him to do a "pitch" at Ambassadors one morning. Back home, the kids were in trouble with Sara for one thing and another and my peaceful and reflective walk home was dashed by the mayhem. Adam was on Sara's computer via Skype and was witness to all this - not such a calm household as perhaps he thinks! I went out again to take Cynthia a small birthday present Sara had put together (a small bottle of wine and some Vie product or other) and card and met Dawn on the way with her dog. We had a ten-minute chat about cars and potholes (her car is also off the road at the moment). Sara and Mary went off to Tesco's shopping this afternoon leaving Tom to do some homework and me to mow all three lawns - a two-hour job at the beginning of the season and something I love to do when I went to spend some time on my own. The mower refused to start for me at first and so I had to clean the spark plug (it actually looked okay) and pump prime the carburettor. Eventually, after several attempts, it roared into life and so the lawns got their first cut. This evening Tom went to Rockface with Sara and I phoned Mum to confirm that I was coming up to Grimsby at the weekend (subject to my wheel being fixed by then) and that I had arranged to have dinner with a friend on Saturday night so she could go to an evening event with her friend, Freda, at the Cleethorpes Conservative Club. I hope to be up in Grimsby mid-afternoon on Friday enabling Mum and I to go out somewhere that evening. This evening Richard and I had a quiet drink in the Lion's Head (I am on diet cokes and wine at the moment having given up beer for Lent) and discussed a number of private matters. Today I have been feeling rather "wobbly" all day, on and off, with so many things going in my life, some of which don't appear to be running smoothly at the moment. It was interesting to debate where we thought we would be in ten years time and why we found ourselves in Winterslow in the first place. I am sure this period I am currently experiencing of self-awareness, self-analysis and self-criticism, as part of the vocation testing process, is having its effect. I am finding that I need to spend more time on my own at the moment without disturbance - something which my busy life often doesn't allow. Anyway, this is probably for my spiritual diary and not this blog. It will be good to get the car sorted out soon and I'll probably feel happier once that's done. Off to Worthing tomorrow for a meeting and dinner with friends.

Wheely mixed fortunes

A day of mixed fortunes today. I woke early and after making tea set about removing the damaged wheel and tyre and replacing with the "slave" tyre from the boot. The whole operation took about twenty minutes and went quite smoothly. I telephone Bathwick Tyres who could fit me in straight away and so I drove over to them in Salisbury arriving at about 8.45 a.m. They took one look at the alloy wheel and informed me that it was damaged by the pothole and that it was no use fitting a new tyre on it as it would immediately leak air (I wonder whether it had been damaged before as I had been losing air from this tyre long before last night's incident). Fortunately, they recommended that I visit a welding company in Wilton who might be able to fix it. Their address was almost next to the photographer, Mandie, who had taken the family portraits recently. Helpfully, they said they could indeed repair the wheel and that it could be ready by Tuesday at the latest - I certainly need it done before the end of the week as I am going up to Grimsby. They told me that mending pothole damaged wheels was becoming quite a common pastime of their company. I left the wheel in their capable hands and picked up Anthony from his home to go to Waitrose for a coffee and a natter. This evening Tom and I drove slowly (on the slave tyre) to Southampton to watch the Saints v. Sheffield Wednesday match. An important game to win especially as Huddersfield drew their game and Bournemouth lost theirs. The first half lacked sparkle from the Saints with some rather silly blunders from Chaplow but in the second half two excellent goals (from Fonte and Lambert) secured a 2-0 win and closed the gap on Huddersfield. The second promotion place now seems Saints' to lose. Sara attended a makeover party in Tidworth tonight and so nobody was at home when we got back. I finished writing my Intercessions tonight for tomorrow's Eucharist and must confess look forward to my bed tonight.

Tyreless Evening

A very long day today starting with Ambassadors' Breakfast Club at the Grasmere House Hotel in Harnham. I had to be up early this morning as I had promised to pick up Dave Parry (who has just had a hip replacement operation) from his home in The Brambles near St. Mark's Church, Salisbury. As it was, I was five minutes late as I got caught behind two lorries lumbering along the A30 towards Salisbury. The weather was drizzling as I drove in (this rain later becoming very heavy as the day progressed). A good and enjoyable breakfast this morning which resulted in some more work coming my way. After dropping off Dave back at his flat I went into Salisbury city centre to pick up an Xbox game for Tom and to get Mum's birthday present which I will deliver to her when I see her in Grimsby next week. I called in at West Dean church later this morning for coffee and to chat to Sophie, Elizabeth and Tania. Sophie's friend, Emma, wanted some legal advice which I was able to give her with some more potential work. A very useful call this morning. I drove Sara to the Lord Nelson in my car (her's has hardly any petrol in it) as, by now, it was pouring with rain. I stopped and had a diet coke with her. This afternoon the BT engineer came and discovered the reason why our broadband isn't working properly. Apparently the SkyBox is plugged into the telephone line in a socket I didn't know existed and that socket had not been filtered. A simple matter of putting in a filter resulted in the broadband working perfectly! Hurrah! Tonight I took Tom to his football training and completed the Night Sky article on the Netbook for the parish magazine whilst he was playing. I called in, tonight at the Kidszone which was absolutely manic. I don't think some of the normal church members realised just how manic and successful Kidszone actually is! Steve, by all accounts, was brilliant! After the Kidszone event, Sara, Mary and I went over to Sophie's birthday drinks do in West Dean. We stayed for about an hour and a half with Mary and I playing on the Weii. Unfortunately, on the way back my car hit a massive pothole and the front nearside tyre burst. We managed to limp home as we were not far from Winterslow but I cannot take Tom to his football match tomorrow morning. I will have to get on to Bathwick Tyres first thing in the morning.

Loving one another

Back to Fat Fighters again this morning and feeling quite anxious about the "weigh-in" today as I have not been entirely good with my points. I have tracked them but also used up quite a number of "naughty points" this week and not convinced that I have been able to do enough exercise to counter the heavy use. As it happened, I didn't need to worry as I managed to lose another half a pound which, as Karen said, is most people's equivalent of putting on weight. Indeed, it would have been nice to have lost a whole pound rather than half as that would have marked the 2.5 stones loss mark and another reward. Will have to hope I can lose more that half a pound next week. Sara, unfortunately put on another pound so I was not very popular although she still does love me (I think!). My bad week is some people's good week! After attending the Stockbridge Fat Fighters' meeting, Sara and I drove to Andover to buy some red hair spray for Mary to use tomorrow as part of the Red Nose Day (Comic Relief) celebration. We returned to Winterslow to join Richard, Ivan and others at the Lent Lunch organised by Morning Star. Excellent spring onion soup today - Dave has promised to give me the recipe. I love spring onions although I doubt that other people love me after I've eaten them. "Loving one another" was the theme of tonight's House Group meeting which was really well attended. We had a roaring wood fire going again tonight as it has turned quite cold again. We had a lively debate thanks mainly to Steve joining us. He hasn't been to House Group for a little while and so his presence changed the dynamics of the meeting somewhat. James stayed behind for a chat over an orange juice (he has forsaken wine during Lent) and Sara and I then watched Question Time from Eastbourne. I ended the evening watching a Christian comedian (and former Manchester City football player) called Charlie Hale who was entertaining if not entirely funny all the time. He did show, however, that you can have some good humour without the obscenities. Quite a satisfying day today. Sara tells me she is really hoping to get focused with her weight loss. I hope she does. She can focus on her LPA training and other things but why not weight watching!

A Day of Bible Readings

A very early start this morning as I had four separate church appointments before lunchtime today. I joined the Team Clergy Staff for Morning Prayer at St. John's followed by a light breakfast with them in the Team Office. This was immediately followed by Mid-Week Lent Eucharist in St. John's led by Cynthia. I was asked to give the bible reading which was the very familiar Jonah Chapter 3. After this service I joined Rosemary and two others for her Bible Reading Fellowship Study Group where we look through the last month's devotionals in New Daylight. This meeting ended with a discussion about other church issues and culinary arrangements for Food for Thought's Red Nose Day involvement with the Kidszone up at the cricket pavilion. Back home for a light lunch of crayfish salad, Sara then went off to Landford for her LPA training session - today on the topic of looking after the elderly. I spent the first part of the afternoon writing letters and emails and sending out the agendas for the April meeting of Sarum Lodge. At 2.30 p.m. I walked up to the school via the footpath from the Village Hall to Yarmley Lane arriving at the school fifteen minutes early. I then walked past the old pavilion on the Rec. and along the lane at the back of the Fry's house where I met John Fry on top of a ladder cutting his ivy hedge. John told me that thieves had removed a sixth of the lead roofing from All Saint's Church! More cost in replacing it and making good. Mary went to Brownies this evening and has been rewarded by the Pack by being made the Sixer of The Imps. Well done again, Mary! Tonight, I was determined to have a free evening but had two phone calls from clients. Life is so busy at the moment. Despite this, Sara and I watched a documentary written and presented by Melvyn Bragg about the influence of the King James Bible on many historical and cultural events over the past 400 years. Fascinating stuff and quite different from our intended viewing - The Lord of the Rings Part II! Indeed, both Sara and I have been confronted by bible readings on and off all day today - although not the King James Version. Sara went to bed early tonight feeling rather unwell. Hope it wasn't the steak I cooked tonight.

Good School Report for Mary

Woke up quite early in Hove after a reasonably good night's sleep. Peter had put me in Neil's old room last night and I was able to spend the night in a good comfortable double bed - not the usual mattress on the floor of the nursery. After making myself a cup of tea I spent some time dealing with some emails on the Netbook and making phone calls. This morning, Stephen Mulrine came over and we spent some time discussing the probate affairs of his late mother as we are both executors of her will. Peter kindly made his home and office facilities available so that I could draw up a legal document for signature by Stephen. Peter and I also spent some tome this morning talking about another matter upon which he wanted my legal advice. I left Hove at around midday and drove back to Wiltshire. Having had no breakfast this morning and eaten quite early last night, I was very hungry indeed and so stopped off at Bognor Regis for some fish and chips - certainly blowing away my diet. This afternoon I attended a parent's "evening" at Winterslow School to discuss Mary's progress this year. The report was very good and I am most pleased with her progress. Sara came along later and we chatted to Nils who was welcoming parents in his capacity as governor of the school. Tonight, Sara attended a meeting of the LPAs and got a taste of the issues which are discussed at such meetings which she will have to attend regularly once she has been commissioned. She did not return home until past 10 p.m. as she had been chatting afterwards with Rosemary. I watched a repeated documentary on the post-war life of Albert Speer whose book, Inside the third Reich, I had read from cover to cover during my days in Liverpool.

Cowboys in Brighton

Tom was unwell again today and didn't attend school. Sara made bread this morning for the Morning Star Lent lunch at the Methodist Church Hall and I dealt with some pressing administrative matters in the study. I also packed for my overnight stay in Hove tonight. The post brought some very good news in the form of a letter from the Salisbury Discernment Secretary to inform me that my application for Lay Licensed Ministry had been formally accepted, that my references had been taken up and were satisfactory and that I would shortly be invited, officially, to attend the Selection Conference in June. Although I had been told this verbally my application was still subject to satisfactory references and it was reassuring to get this message in writing. My attendance is still, officially subject to the bishop's approval but as we have a new bishop just appointed that it appears to be a formality. This lunchtime I joined Sara, Morning Star members and some members of the local churches for a Lent lunch consisting of a roll and soup. Following lunch I drove over to Hove to stay with Peter and attend a meeting of Brighton and Hove Civic Lodge which took the form of a lecture on "Cowboy Freemasons" and a white table supper with wives, partners, widows and other guests. A very pleasant meal of roast chicken and (in my case) ice cream rather than the fruit crumble. On returning to Peter's we chatted until 1 a.m. on a number of topics especially education and the state of Brighton and Hove politics.

Winners - Again!

An early start this morning - and heavy rain. I hoisted the Canadian flag for some Canadian visitors to the village who are stying across the road from us. The flag simply stuck itself to the pole in the wet. I drove to St. John's for the Early Morning Eucharist (my intention had been to walk but I didn't fancy trudging through the rain) which was taken by Nils who spoke about the discipline of Lent and the pushing away of temptation and sin. James joined me in the front of the church. I also drove Sara and Tom to All Saints for the Parish Eucharist (Sara's car being out of action at the moment) and returned home to cook pancakes for Mary's breakfast. After breakfast, Mary and I went into Salisbury to attend the meeting at City Church with the Kidleys and others from Morning Star. Mary joined her age group in some activities whilst I stayed to listen to a long talk from a visiting preacher on just three verses of Colossians (a follow-up from last week). Mary and I stopped off at Tesco's on the way home to get some saline solution for Sara's contact lenses and to fill the car with fuel - £1.35 a litre now. My car tyres also needed air following the warning light coming on last night on the way to Poole. I will need to have the nearside front tyre looked at. This afternoon Mary and I went swimming and I accomplished another 30-lengths stint. Mary joined me in the marathon and did 31! Tonight after a lovely supper of boiled gammon and vegetables, and a quick chat with Mum, I joined James, Klynn and Richard to make up a team for the pub quiz. We won again! This time by 16 points! Another bottle of wine to add to the collection - nice Chilean white which I have given to Sara for her Jamie at Home Party tomorrow night.

Some Losers, Some Winners!

Tom was unwell again today so he didn't take part in the Clarendon Under 14s football match this morning. This left me free to complete the construction of the rest of the dining chairs which took me around an hour and a half. I then took the packaging and the old desk chair down to the recycling unit at Amesbury using the trip to also do some shopping at Lidl's just around the corner. Tom stayed home all the time lying on the couch watching TV. Mary went with Sara into Salisbury for her ballet and other shopping. Today was a really important day in Saint's fixture calendar - the first league away match against Bournemouth in 51 years. A win against Bournemouth would mean going up a place in the table and being only 2 points short of the automatic promotion place with two games in hand. Could we do it? I started to listen to the match on the radio when Sara phoned me to say that her car had broken down on the forecourt of the BP garage in London Road. The car was full of frozen products from Tesco's too. I drove to the garage with jump leads borrowed from Klynn but couldn't jump start her car as I couldn't find a battery in my own (apparently it is under the floor somewhere!). Fortunately RAC arrived promplty and Sara's car was towed to the local garage in Winterslow. Saints did win, by the way (3-1) which leaves them fourth in the league table tonight after all the other teams around them also won). I took Mary and the frozen food home in my car. Tonight, as I had promised, I took Mary to Poole to go greyhound racing. On the way my own car's red warning light came on to indicate low tyre pressures. I thought my nearside front tyre appeared to be a bit low and so I will need to have that looked at tomorrow. Mary and I had a wonderful evening at the dogs. True to form, Mary managed to pick two winners and came away £35 up on the night! I've never known anybody so lucky on the dogs as Mary!

New Dining Table Arrives

I spent the morning at home today with Sara tidying up in readiness for the delivery of our new dining table and chairs. This included dismantling the existing table and find room for the chairs (which we are keeping). Richard called round to show me how to convert a document to an earlier version for those who could not open attachments which I had prepared using a later form of Microsoft Office. I also discovered how to convert documents to pdf format at the same time - a useful tool. Linda M called around to discuss an employment law issue with me and also brought a Weight Watchers' lunch of soup and bread (only 5 propoints). Whilst she was with me, the table and chairs arrived - in large cardboard boxes indicating that I would be spending the afternoon constructing their contents. Sara arrived back from the Lord Nelson at 2.30 p.m. and we set about building the table and two chairs. I went for an hour's walk to the shop and then through the copse to Weston Lane and then back home via the barns and Witt Road. This evening, Sara hosted a Pampered Chef evening with Lucy N, Shaz from Morning star, Ruth from the shop and one of Ruth's friends. Sara had hoped for more but they hadn't even replied. After picking up Mary from the youth club, I went down to the Lion's Head to meet with Richard and Klynn to discuss setting up a Pub Theology Group. We spent a very pleasant three hours discussing this and other matters before I returned home and then, rather badly, helped myself to some more wine and a few peanuts. Down the gym again tomorrow I think!

Eat Dust!

Off to "Fat Fighters" (Weight Watchers) again this morning for the big weigh-in. Today we took Karen B's little boy Nathaniel with us as Karen had to go up to the hospital. He was really well behaved despite having to spend an hour so so with us "fatties". This week I lost a further 2.5 pounds and Sara stayed the same. Now my lowest weight since 1990! We had a bit of fun today as we were each asked to bring in our favourite low propoints and I chose to bring in a bag of dust (a la Marjorie Dawes from Little Britain). We had a good laugh. Frustrating afternoon talking to the BT Technical Helpline in India. The BT Internet Broadband is still not working and I have been taken through the same procedure again today by some technician called Gaurav or some such name. I have told him that if he does not get the engineers to ring me to sort out the problem by 11 a.m. tomorrow we will be in state of war. I sounded rather like Neville Chamberlain but not in such a measured voice! This afternoon Sara and I walked to school to pick up Mary via Weston Lane - a two miles walk which earned me quite a few activity points. Tonight I led the Lent Group entitled "Fully Alive" whilst Sara went to do a Vie Party at Sophie's. The Group was very successful, I thought, and we certainly didn't run out of topics to discuss. We shared bread and grape juice and had a quiet prayerful time before reading the material and scripture and launching into a discussion. James stayed behind for some more grape juice (he has given up wine for Lent) and Sara returned from a very successful party to join us. Sara is suffering from a really bad back at the moment and went to bed before me. Feeling quite contented at the moment both physically and spiritually. Not sure how long this calm will last. I have to face another session with the BT Indian Call Centre tomorrow.

Ash Wednesday

I guess today was remarkable by its lack of mince pies. Seriously, it was another early start as I had to drive over to Whaddon this morning to join the Team Clergy for Morning Prayer with breakfast afterwards at Elizabeth's home (the former Alderbury Rectory). This was the first time I had ever attended a service at St. Mary's Church Hall or visited the Alderbury Rectory. Breakfast consisted of hot rolls and coffee and orange juice - most welcome after an early start. We all returned to St. Mary's Hall for 10 a.m. where Nils and Jane were taking the traditional Ash Wednesday service. The hall was fully packed with members of congregations from all around the Team. Winterlsow was well represented. Gill sat next to me and spoke very encouragingly. After the service I returned to Winterslow. Sara was back from her stint at Morning Star but had to go off again very shortly afterwards to pick up Tom from his school's sick room. This morning he had complained of feeling sick and lethargic. Sara booked an appointment to see the doctor in Salisbury this afternoon. I went to the gym after lunch and spent just over an hour there before returning home via Tesco's to pick up a few groceries. The doctor has diagnosed Tom as suffering from "childhood migraines" which are a less severe form of the condition than those experienced by adults. He has been given some medication he must take if he has further attacks. Tonight I met with the Baptist Church pastor and members of the Methodist Church to plan an ecumenical service for May's Food for Thought. We made great progress and now have a plan put together for a truly ecumenical event. I need to take this back to the FFT Planning Group for approval. I am very excited at the initiative of the churches in Winterslow doing something together. On my return from the meeting at the Baptist Church, Sara was in conversation with her Dad and Andrea in the USA via Skype. It is David's 74th birthday today. Sara has been on a fast today - being the beginning of Lent - and is very grumpy as a result. It reminded me of the time when she first tried to quit smoking. Best to leave well alone at these times. Today I also managed to fix up a meeting in Droitwich with my old clients Kithead on 31st March and Sara will come with me to meet up with her niece at the same time.

Pancakes! (Oh and mince pies too!)

Awoken by my alarm at 6.30 a.m. and made tea for Sara and myself. I hoisted the Thai flag to celebrate Adam's (Sara's brother) birthday. Again I was greeted by a deep frost and a biting chill in the air. The flag hung rather limply although the wind did get up a little later. I dropped Mary off at school this morning, in the car, and then drove into Salisbury to spend an hour and a half in the gym where I used the cardio-vascular machines and had ten minutes or so in the steam room. It was really good to lie there in the heat and reflect on many thoughts going through my mind at the moment as I was feeling a bit grotty, mentally, today. Returning home I found that Sara had gone off to Sophie's House Group with Linda and she didn't return until 2 p.m. It hadn't been an easy group to lead. This afternoon I picked Mary up from school and we went over to West Dean to lend Sophie a hand with her pancake afternoon. I spent the best part of two hours cooking pancakes for her to serve up in the church whilst Mary helped both cook and eat them! I also took over a stack of the infamous mince pies in the hope of them being consumed. Sophie had a good crowd of people attend - including many children and it is good to see she had the support. I returned home about 5.00 p.m. and Tom and I went over to Southampton to watch the Saints beat Yeovil 3-0. Again, all the other teams around them (excluding Bournemouth) also won so the Saints remain 5th in the League Table. They still have games in hand over all the top clubs except Brighton who seem unstoppable. Andy is currently recovering from a knee operation and was on a crutch - enabling us to give him "some stick" but it was all good natured fun. After feeling a bit grotty earlier today, this afternoon and evening brightened things up. A good laugh at the pancake cook-up and at the football (with a win) made me feel heaps better. Back home from Southampton to check on emails and write up this blog. Have another early start tomorrow morning.

Lunch with an old friend at Anokaa's

A cold frosty start today and I had to scrape ice off the cars before I took Mary to school. Sara went off to Basingstoke this morning to retrieve a Vie at Home bag which she had left at the home of her last hostess - a poor party by all accounts. I don't think Sara was particularly thrilled to have to drive the seventy-odd miles there and back and use up another £14-worth of petrol for the privilege. Afterwards, Sara went with Sam and Sophie to a "secret location" (I'm sworn to secrecy) to size up a possible scene for the front of their Calendar. I drove into Salisbury and spent an hour in the gym before using up all my hard earned ProPoints (and more) having an Indian buffet lunch at Anokaa's in Fisherton Street with my old friend and work colleague Derek who told me all about the latest twists and turns in his love life. looks like I might be getting invited to a wedding soon - makes a change from all the funerals I've been going to recently! After lunch I picked up Sara's "maternity" ring from the jewellers - a very special item as it was the first piece of "serious" jewellery I gave her to celebrate her first pregnancy with Tom. It had needed cleaning and the shank strengthening. They have made a wonderful job of it. I walked back to Waitrose, where I had parked the car and, hopefully, earned enough Weight Watchers activity points not to have done too much damage today. No dinner tonight I fear! Have to confess that I had a little nap this afternoon whilst watching Tom & Jerry cartoons on the box. A combination of a late night and plenty of exercise today has left me feeling rather tired tonight. I think I will have an early one. Tomorrow Tom and I will be late back from Southampton where we are going to watch Saints against Yeovil at St. Mary's.

Who ate all the (mince) pies?

Up early this morning to attend Early Morning Eucharist at St. John's which was taken by Elizabeth. Instead of walking the short distance as usual, I drove there as I had a large box of Morning Star mince pies to take and distribute to the congregation. In fact, Elizabeth handed out the pies as she stood by the church's door when she was seeing people out. A large number of the pies did indeed disappear - the remaining ones going down to All Saints for the 9.30 a.m. service. I returned home to cook breakfast whilst Sara and Mary went off to All Saints (with more mince pies!) and Tom washed my car. After writing up Saturday's blog, I set off in my nice shiny car into Salisbury to attend the City Church meeting at South Wilts. A very lively event as usual with a 45- minute talk on 1 Colossians 19-20 - yes 45 minutes on just two verses of the bible! Dave, Bev and the rest of Morning Star were there and yes, you guessed it, complete with boxes and boxes of mince pies to hand out to those attending! I had been invited to have lunch with the pastor and his family and other leaders at a house in Roman Road after the service. I spent a pleasant hour or so eating chili con carne and salad with the option of mince pies(!) as a pudding. I decided against the mince pies after having seeing several hundred of them already today. I returned home via Homebase where I put an order in for a new dining room table - our current one is on its last legs (literally!) - and then returned to Salisbury to take Sara into town to shop at Waitrose and spend an hour swimming with Mary. Tonight Tom went to Rockface whilst I chilled out after quite a busy day watching Little Britain. Sara went to bed quite early and I stayed up to watch a couple of documentaries - one very interesting one about how Billy Graham had been instrumental in the fall of communism in eastern Europe.

The Fellowship of the Ring

A quiet day at home today. Sara and I woke quite early this morning and had tea in bed. I took Tom up to his football match at Barry's Field (they lost 1-2 against Bishop Waltham) this morning and this afternoon must confess I had quite a lazy day reading the newspaper whilst Sara cleaned our en suite bathroom - I am scheduled to do a lot of cleaning and tidying up on Monday morning. Danny and Shaz from Morning Star called around this afternoon with four boxes of mince pies for us to give out at church tomorrow as well as a box of "goodies" for us - most of which we can't eat because of Weight Watchers! Tonight I cooked lobster for Sara and myself washed down with a nice bottle of dry white wine. Once we has finished, Sara, Tom and I watched the first of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring) which I had received as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. I had read The Hobbit when I was in Liverpool but gave up on the Lord of the Rings after a few pages as I really didn't think it was "my thing". It became quite a cult novel in the 70s. The film lasted about three hours so we ended up having another late night! We will try and tackle the second of the three films tomorrow night.

Pub Theology?

Breakfast at Ambassadors’ business group this morning where the talk was given by a nutritionist who explained her work and how to ensure you have eleven portions of fruit and vegetables in a day. I returned home around 10 a.m. to find Sara missing – she had said she would be at home when I returned. In fact she had a meeting with our friend Lucy over in Whiteparish. I had a telephone conference with a client (my old assistant at Friends) to discuss an employment problem he is having. I have spent most of today dealing with paperwork (catching up on being away) and hardly moving out of the study (what’s new I can hear Sara say!) I have managed to fix up a meeting at the Baptist Church on Wednesday to discuss an ecumenical Food for Thought service in May. This will be with the Methodist and Baptist ministers. Tonight I took Tom to his football practice and used the time and my Netbook to catch up on this blog. Richard called round a little after 9 p.m. (Sara was out at a Vie party at Sarah’s in Weston Lane) and we managed to polish off a bottle of wine whilst discussing church matters – particularly my suggestion about starting pub theology in the village. We are both keen on this idea which is proper outreach by encouraging people to join in discussions on spirituality over a pint or two of beer in the local pub with Christians.

Fellowship and Prawn Linguine

Off to Fat Fighters this morning. Sara didn’t want to go as she has missed two weeks (this would be three) and she is convinced she will have put on at least 5 pounds. I finally managed to persuade her to come with me – especially as I also think I’ve put on weight. Sara was very pleasantly surprised to find that she has lost two pounds over the last two weeks and my weight has stayed the same! So I was correct in thinking that I wouldn’t have lost anything and pleasantly surprised to find that I hadn’t put anything on either. I will have to be careful next week! Sara and I then drove into Salisbury to meet up and have lunch with our former colleague, Serena, in ASK. We are all on Weight Watchers and therefore chose as carefully (my favourite prawn linguine) as we could. Poor Serena has been unable to find a job since she left Friends in December 2009. She is hopeful of a role as an Assistant Town Clerk in Dorset. Sara and I went our own separate ways after the lunch – Sara returned to the car and I walked up to the law courts to get the probate papers for Maureen’s will. That transpired to be a wasted journey as the local probate court is actually in Winchester! Never mind, the walk helped to gain some activity pro-points. This evening there were eight of us for the House Group – a good number – and we tackled the final two Minor Prophets – Zephaniah and Zechariah. I approached them differently this time by getting somebody to read a small chunk and then I would read out the corresponding commentary from a handbook I have. Wehave all found these minor prophets difficult, but at least we have, during the last few weeks, read fully twelve of the sixty-six books making up the Bible. We all agreed that it would probably be a very long time before we read any of them again – with the possible exception of Jonah. James stayed behind for a glass of wine and to discuss PCC and ministry matters. It would be good if he joins me on the Deanery Synod next year. I found it difficult to get to bed tonight and so stayed up quite late watching some of the evangelists on UCB TV and also watching a very interesting documentary about the role of the emergency services during the Second World War Blitz. In fact I didn’t go to bed until 2 a.m.!

Prayer

Back to the early mornings today. I joined the Team Clergy at St. John’s this morning for Morning Prayer followed by breakfast with them which was a very pleasant experience. Nils kindly showed me around the Common Worship Daily Service book and we had ten minutes of silent prayer which I found very helpful. It seemed to me that my prayers were more focused and relevant than the disjointed way I often pray on my own and the ten minutes seemed to go very quickly indeed. Over breakfast I joined in some of the liturgical discussions surrounding Holy Week. I did not stay for the Morning Eucharist as Sara had bought me a golf lesson at Paulton’s Park Golf Club which I needed to take that morning. I therefore drove to Ower after having walked home and spent an hour on the driving range being videoed by the professional, Dean, who was able to show me that I needed to straighten my arms and keep my feet more solidly planted when I took a swing. In fact, after a few shots I found that I could hit the ball much further than before. This afternoon, Sara was picked up by Sophie and taken over to Landford for her LPA training session and I walked to school and back to accompany Mary home. Tonight I attended a meeting of Sarum Lodge in my capacity as Secretary and Peter Martin from Brighton & Hove Civic Lodge joined us. In fact, Peter delivered the Traditional History for Lee’s Third Degree ceremony in my place as the events of the last few days and all the travelling had made it difficult for me to find the time to sit down and learn this quite complex piece of ritual. Indeed, I will need to take more of a back seat if the Selection Conference in June leads to the amount of theological study expected in my ministry training. A very pleasant evening indeed but I am concerned that at Fat Fighters tomorrow I will have put on weight this week. So many buffets and dinners with high pro-point foods. It will be a miracle if I have lost any weight and quite likely that I have put some on.

Liverpool One

It was a real luxury this morning not to have to rush off anywhere. I woke up in Malcolm’s lounge in Liverpool at around 7.30 a.m. and made tea in his kitchen before returning to my sleeping bag on his settee to read my devotionals and have a bit of quiet prayer time. Malcolm joined me for tea a little later and then he went across to Aigburth Road to buy us newspapers – him The Times and me The Independent (not my usual newspaper but it seemed silly to buy two copies of The Times). He cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast which was very welcome before we walked to St. Michael’s Station to catch a train into Liverpool Central. Malcolm showed me the site of where a Turk had been recently shot outside The Belgrave pub in St. Michael’s. The individual, named Bahman, appeared to have been the victim of a gang execution. We arrived at Liverpool Central Station at just before midday and strolled up Bold Street to visit one of Christ Church’s congregation and client of mine, Caroline, who runs a fashion business from a small workshop/shop in one of the side streets. We spent an hour with her talking about business,the recession, the church and occupational psychology and employee behavior. Sara would have enjoyed that discussion. After our cha, Malcolm and I walked down to Liverpool One, the new shopping centre of Liverpool and strolled around Albert Dock and the new Echo Arena. Liverpool is a fantastic city these days – so changed from when I lived there in the drab 70s. With apologies to the Scouser readers of this blog, I must repeat a great joke which Malcolm told me which goes something like this - “Back in the dark days of the 70s if you left your car anywhere in Liverpool you were likely to return to it with the wheels removed and standing on bricks. However, since Liverpool became the European City of Culture that no longer happens; when you return to your car it is now propped up on books!” After a coffee in Liverpool One (a free one thanks to my Caffe Nero loyalty card) we caught the train back to St. Michael’s and read some of Bahman’s tributes on our way back to Malcolm’s flat. I quickly loaded up the car, finally said my fond farewells to Liverpool at around 3.30 p.m. and drove the ninety miles or so to Walsall to attend the Walsall v. Saints game. Supper tonight was a prawn chow mein bought in a Chinese takeaway, not far from the Banks’s Stadium, where I chatted in Mandarin (only one word in all honesty) to the two little children of the proprietor. Should have stayed in the Chinese! The game was, to say the least, frustrating with Saints failing to convert good crosses time and time again, a handball in the penalty area was overlooked, and finally conceding a silly goal at the other end. We all left Walsall feeling gutted with a 1-0 defeat and still a long way back to the south. The ground was half-filled with Saints fans too. I will not dwell too much on the game. I had a good drive back home and arrived back in Winterslow at 15 minutes past midnight. How nice it was to be back in my own bed after two very emotional and tiring days up north.