Another Diem Horribilem - An Unexpected Day in Grimsby

It was the sixth anniversary of Dad's death today - so the day of the week co-incided with that event.  My plan had been to leave at 10 a.m. to be back in Salisbury in good time to attend the Dedication of the new Provincial Grand Lodge of Wiltshire Banner - a rare event which will not happen again in my lifetime.  I was to take part in the ceremony as Senior Deacon and had also booked my dinner place.  I woke up to hear Mum at the bottom of the stairs crying that she was so ill that she couldn't even think about attending an appointment at the hospital today with the rheumatologist as she was so unwell.  She cancelled the appointment and arranged for the local doctor to call on her this afternoon.  She was complaining of acute pains and lethargy.  I agreed to stay with her.  She bucked up a bit and then cooked me breakfast saying she was feeling a lot better.  She cancelled the doctor's visit and then made another appoint,ment to visit the doctor later this afternoon.  I spoke with my sister who was unable to come over today but said she could tomorrow.  She was already planning to come over on Saturday anyway.  I went to McDonald's with my netbook in order to access the Internet on their free wi-fi (which I did) and make arrangements for somebody else to attend tonight's meeting in my place - there was absolutely no way that I was going to get back to Salisbury in time.  I also downloaded some fresh instructions from a client so that I could draft a document today - I had promised the client I would look at it tomorrow but tomorrow is now going to be taken up with travelling back to Wiltshire.  After a light lunch I drove Mum out to Conisholme to have an Appleby's ice cream and she seemed to be much brighter indeed.  She visited the doctor who said all her recent blood tests etc. were clear and nothing seemed to be wrong except that her hiatus hernia (an old complaint) might have blown up again and she had increased blood pressure.  Tonight she cooked pork chops and I drafted the agreement for my clients.  I stayed up late tonight watching the comedy movie, Micky Blue Eyes. In my snatches of communications with Sara I learned that the roof was now off the garage and the scaffolding had been erected.  Also, the oil tank had been emptied, refilled and the valve was working properly again.  Not really the day I planned today.

Across the Pennines to Grimsby

Woke quite early this morning, again. Once again it was raining. I made myself a cup of tea and wrote up my blog for yesterday. Malcolm was still asleep as I gathered together all my things to put in the car ready for my journey across the Pennines to Grimsby. When Malcolm did eventually wake he cooked me a full English breakfast – sausages, bacon and egg and coffee. I left Malcolm, and Liverpool, at about 10.20 a.m. and had an uneventful, although wet, drive along the M62 across England to Lincolnshire. I arrived at Morrison’s Supermarket in Grimsby at 12.45 p.m. where I bought some newspapers, some rose for Mum and a small amount of shopping. I phoned Mum who said that she was in a bad way – in great pain and unable to think straight. When I got to her house, she had been crying and was clearly in an uncomfortable state. I made us tea and she did cheer up. She had some soup and I had a couple of haslet rolls. We watched TV this afternoon and evening and I brought us in some fish and chips from Marklew’s. I managed to read a few chapters of Steve Chalke’s book Change Agents this afternoon and evening. I went to bed at around 11.15 p.m. and wrote this blog.

An afternoon with my spiritual director

Malcolm woke up this morning to a phone call from his mother's neighbour to tell him that his Mum had fallen out of bed in the early morning and had been rushed off to hospital in Preston.  After a few frantic phone calls, Malcolm set off for Preston leaving me here in Liverpool to take myself off to church and attend the lunch with Chris and his family on my own.  I had Malcolm's Mum put on the prayer list when I arrived at Christ Church.  The service was a Parish Eucharist led by Lynn, the curate who is to be ordained as a full priest in Liverpool Cathedral in two weeks time but the Eucharist itself was presided over by David, a retired priest who also preached this morning.  Chris was not in church as he was teaching cricket at Mossley Hill but Kathryn was there.  The church was not as full as usual - probably due to it being a bank holiday weekend. After a coffee and a chat with David and Tinho,  I went back to Malcolm's bumping into David Parry, the incumbent, with whom I had a brief chat.  He wished me well for the Selection Conference and said he would pray for me.  Such lovely people here.  I drove over to Chris and Kathryn's and had a typical roast beef lunch with them, two of their sons (the eldest Matthew is at Durham University) and another parishioner, Irene.  It was a most pleasant occasion and was followed by my three hour chat with Chris in his capacity as my spiritual director.  We went through the interview questions for my Selection Conference and I came away feeling very positive about the whole thing.  I drove into Liverpool city centre and spent an hour wandering around Albert Dock before returning to Malcolm's.  Malcolm arrived back from Preston at 9 p.m. and we then walked round to Lark Lane for a light Chinese meal and brought each other up to date on the day's events.  Back at his flat, we discussed his mother and her situation before going to bed at around midnight.  I did manage to speak to Mum on the phone this evening (her line was engaged for a long time) to confirm that I would see her tomorrow afternoon.

Liverpool at Last! - A lovely meal at Otello's

Despite a late night, last night, I was up early today and Sara and I set about removing items from the garage in readiness for the builders to take off the roof.  Our friend Jan(et) came around and helped - especially cleaning and dusting some of the items before they were stored in the house - thank you Jan(et).  Ivan from Robin Hill Farm also came round with his van to load some of the items to go off into storage at his farm.  I had a good breakfast this morning and after visiting the shop for a jar of coffee and a newspaper eventually set off for Liverpool at about 10.15 a.m.  The road was relatively clear but for some reason I don't understand I made the mistake (which in the end was quite fortuitous) of driving up the A34 towards Oxford rather than taking the A338 towards Swindon.  This meant that I drove up the centre of the country rather than taking my usual westerley route via Gloucester, Worcester and Walsall.  As it happened, because of problems around Walsall, my route gave me the opportunity of carrying on up through Lichfield, Rugeley, Stone and Stoke-on-Trent joining the M6 north of Stoke.  Unfortunately, the motorway was blocked again and so I took a more circuitous route through Middlewich, Northwich and Runcon eventually arriving in Liverpool at around 3.30 p.m.  Malcolm and I chilled out with a cup of tea and I skyped Sara to say I had arrived safely.  This evening, Malcolm and I joined Geoff and Alma for a delightful meal at a restaurant in the unlikely location of Gatacre Park Drive. Really excellent food at Otello's which I highly recommend.  The restaurant was reasonably full but not as full as is usual, I was told, probably because of the European Champions League Cup Final between Barcelona and Manchester United.  I am delighted to report that Barcelona won!  Whilst writing my blog today I noticed an interesting fact in my On this Day column.  The two major Liverpool FC disasters, (Hillsborough - 15th April and Heysel - 29th May) both occured on dates shared with major shipping disasters - 15th April - Titanic and 29th May - Empress of Ireland.  I also have a feeling that both ships were registered in Liverpool!  How spooky is that?

Diem horribilem

Indeed it was a horrible day today.  It started when we discovered that there was no hot water for showers and that the boiler had stopped working.  Sara tried to start it on several occasions but to no avail.  To compound the problem, we also discovered that the immersion heater had stopped working too - so we only had cold water.  I was due to leave for Liverpool this morning but Malcolm's mother had fallen and broken her wrist so the trip up to Merseyside was delayed until Saturday.  Just as well as it turned out.  We were able to get Mark, the heating engineer in the village to come out and have a look at the problem.  The immersion heater was soon fixed - a secondary thermostat had tripped off - but the boiler was a bigger problem.  Apparently, there is nothing wrong with the boiler but the exit value from the oil tank has corroded and needs replacing.  The only way to replace it is to empty the oil tank which, we realised, was full to the brim having only recently been filled!  This means that the contents need to be pumped out into a temporary tank whilst the value is replaced.  To add to the problem, the tank specialist can't do that at the moment as he can't get the temporary tank down our drive because of all the building materials in the drive (skip, bricks, breeze blocks, cement bags etc. etc.).  Sara then discovered that she had triple booked herself this evening - agreeing to babysit, attend a Jamie Oliver party and do makeovers for the teenage girls at the Youth Zone as well as agreeing to letting Mary have a friend sleep-over tonight.  The builders needed paying today so I had to make a special trip to the bank in Salisbury, a client wanted me to look at some terms and conditions for an audit which his company is about to have and I had to write some letters.  As I write this, the cat seems to be having a seizure - fur balls I think.  To help Sara out, I agreed to do the babysitting (which I was told was until 10 p.m. - the parents returned just before midnight!) but I did manage to look at the terms and conditions and make some amendments on my .  We also need to decide what items in the garage need to be moved to Robin Hill Farm because the builders have announced that they will be taking the roof off the garage on Monday.  In a way, I shall be glad to be away in Liverpool and Lincolnshire for a few days.  With my Selection Conference only two-weeks away I certainly think I'm being tested.  A few days ago I was thinking I needed some more stimulus in my life - the moral of this story is be careful what you pray for!  Today seemed like being back at work full time!

Psalm Writing

Lost half a pound this week at Fat Fighters - the half a pound I put on last week!  So, in reality, I seem to have come to a sudden halt in my weight loss.  I put this down to not being entirely focused on losing weight with so many other things happening just now.  The builders were working hard today and started building the new garage wall at the rear - it's amazing how quickly a wall can go up once the footings are in.   Mary tore the ligaments in her left wrist at school this afternoon and so Sara had to take her up to the Accident and Emergency Unit at Salisbury Hospital this evening.  Fortunately, an X-ray confirmed that nothing was broken.  She was in quite a bit of pain and to help her take her mind off it we sat together in the bedroom watching a couple of episodes of On the Buses. Sophie called round at 6 p.m. for our pre-arranged game of tennis and stayed on to join us at House Group tonight.  We had a most enjoyable Group this evening discussing the Second Session in Ruth Valerio's study guide on Malachi ending with an interesting exercise in which we each (seven of us in total) wrote a line of a new psalm (which we called Psalm 151):- 

We give thanks to You, O LORD for all You have given us

Glory to You, O LORD, and praise to Heaven and Earth

Your love for us knows no limits, 

May the people who meet and fear You, praise You with clean hearts

May You show Your love in the countryside

We praise You, O LORD, who created order out of chaos

Let all of Your creatures praise you.

Busy Afternoon in the Office

Building work begun in earnest today with the arrival of blocks and bricks as well as cement.  The footings were concreted and preparations begun for the insertion of a steel girder to support the new upper structure.  The Building Regulations Inspector arrived from Wiltshire Council and seemed satisfied with the work so far.  I attended Morning Prayer, breakfast and Mid-Week Eucharist this morning whilst Sara worked at Morning Star.  In fact, this morning, Dave and Colin from Morning Star were attending to the garden and bank of our elderly neighbour across the road and I made them coffee at the same time as our builders.  I spent much of this afternoon at work in the study, first of all completing my homework for tonight's study session at Sarum College as well as talking to clients in respect of four new matters which came in today.  I also received my formal letter from the Diocese inviting me to attend the Licensed Lay Minister's Selection Conference on 11th June.  I had to complete and return a formal Declaration which I did.  I also completed the forms for my appointment at Alabare.  I went for a short (4 miles) cycle ride in Bentley Wood as I needed a bit of exercise after spending so much time today sitting down either at church, in meetings or in my study.  Tonight I attended the fourth session of the Lay Worship Leaders' Training Course at Sarum College.  Quite a long session about the church's liturgical year and calendar.  Interesting stuff including a group exercise to design a fresh service, which meant we didn't finish tonight until 9.45 p.m.  Back home I watched the final part of the film  Tightrope which wasn't quite the cliffhanger I expected.

Building Work Commences

The builders arrived early this morning and started to clear away the vegetation at the back of the garage and dug the footings for the extension.  a skip was also delivered which now sits on our drive where my car is usually parked.  I have had to move my car into the layby in the close.  Sara went into Wilton to view the first Calendar photos at the photographers and came home very briefly before going on to the Lord Nelson where she was serving a group of doctors before going down to Poole to observe a wedding makeover being done in preparation for one she is doing herself shortly.  Peter arrived later this morning to supervise the building works and he and I went to the Lord Nelson for a spot of lunch before he returned to Hove.  I spent most of today sorting through paperwork and paying bills.  I have made quite good inroads into all the papers on my desk which I gathered up, put in a large box and which I am now going through with a view to actioning, filing or destroying them.  I picked up Mary from school this afternoon and attended a short briefing session about Mary's forthcoming trip away to the activity centre at Fairthorne on the Solent.  This evening, Tom and I joined Richard in  a game of golf at Wilton and the inevitable pint of beer (coca cola in Tom's case) at the Lord Nelson (again!).  Feel I have achieved quite a bit today but still quite a bit to do on the paperwork front.  I'll be up early tomorrow for Morning Prayer and yet more paperwork.

Shopping in Tesco's, Andover - highlight of the day!

A fairly quiet day today.  I started the morning off bright and early cutting the grass bank which I had completed by just after 9 a.m.  I had breakfast of sausage and beans and coffee before showering and then going round to Rosemary's for the Bible Reading Fellowship Meeting which lasted until midday.  Back home, I had just missed a visit from Sophie, I started to go through some paperwork in the study and tidy up the desk to give me a clear run to deal with some important matters.  This afternoon I visited Andover to bank some cheques and did the shopping in Tesco.  On my return I met the builders who have, at last, turned up to start works on the extension.  Tonight, Sara went out to Basingstoke to conduct a Vie at Home Party which, by all accounts, was a bit of a disaster with very few sales.  In fact I think she lost money on the evening after her travel expenses are taken into account - two gallons of petrol at least.  Spoke to Malcolm in Liverpool tonight as well as Mum and intend to travel up to Liverpool on Friday staying there for three nights to meet with friends and also my spiritual adviser (we have arranged to have lunch at his home in Aigburth) and then drive over the Pennines to Grimsby for one night to spend Monday and Tuesday morning with Mum on the sixth anniversary of Dad's death.  Still waiting for Sara to return from Basingstoke as I write this.

Mary cheerleading at Newton Tony

Tom was up very early this morning to do his first Sunday morning paper round which included putting all the Sunday paper inserts in the papers.  I went to Early Morning Eucharist at St. John's which was taken by Elizabeth.  As part of my LWL training I had to study the liturgy in the context of the Church's calendar.  I wanted to attend the service at Salisbury CityChurch this morning which was the reason I didn't attend Linda's Praise Service at 9.30 a.m.  None of the family went to church this morning - Tom was "tired" after his paper round and Mary still tired after her run yesterday.  I met Richard at Waitrose after the CityChurch service who said Linda's service had been a great success.  This afternoon, Sara and I went to Newton Tony to watch Mary perform as one of the cheerleaders at the  Newton Tony Dog Show.  I managed to video their performance which will be found on Facebook.  Tonight, Sara went to Southampton to a Vie at Home promotional launch, Tom went to Rockface and Klynn came round for a chat and a beer - staying until midnight.  I managed to get to speak to Mum in Grimsby who is feeling quite poorly at the moment.  It is a pity that my busy schedule down her prevents me from getting up to Lincolnshire as often as I would like - the terrible price of fuel doesn't help either. 

Running

Big day for Mary today - she competed in the mini-marathon - that annual event when all the primary schools in the Salisbury area meet up for 2300 metres runs.  Mary came 121st out of a 285 runners in the Girls Under-11s and about third out of the sixteen or so runners from Winterslow School - so well done her!  If I had been competing I doubt I would have made 230 metres let alone 2,300!  She seemed to enjoy it and although last year she came 81st, the race was shorter and there were less competitors so she has acquitted herself well.  Although I wasn't running, I felt quite exhausted just watching her and, I must confess, had quite a lazy afternoon watching the film "Porridge" and despite having seen it many times before still enjoyed it and think it is a piece of poor genius in its writing.  Ronnie Barker was certainly a very talented comedian. The film is based on an escape attempt and Fletcher and Godbar's "breaking in" to the prison to get back.   This evening I cooked a BBQ for us not realising that I was supposed to be attending a BBQ party tonight at Klynn's to welcome a number of German trainee pastors who were over here to study and explore the Fresh Expressions initiative.  Apparently I was missed as I would normally give apologies if I couldn't attend.  It simply slipped my mind - either a first sign of dementia or the fact I have so much on my mind at the moment or simply that I was feeling tired.  Sara and I watched the first part of the very sinister movie, Tightrope, starring Clint Eastwood.  Battling to stay awake I decided to watch the climax of the film another day - so please don't tell me how it ends!

With UCB in London

Up early this morning to catch the train up to London to attend a lunch at The Rubens Hotel being hosted by UK - the producers of TV, Radio and Word for the Day.  I wasn't entirely sure why I had been chosen to attend this rather small intimate gathering and so was curious to find out - besides a trip up to London is usually an enjoyable experience.  I caught the 8.57 a.m. train from Grateley - the first train  one can catch to take advantage of the off-peak fare rate.  Mt train arrived at Waterloo at around 10.20 a.m. and I walked to The Hub at Church.Co.UK where I knew I could enjoy a decent cup of coffee at a reasonable price and sit and read my Rob Parson's book "Teenagers" in a cosy quiet environment. I also made a few phone calls and dealt with some emails - one in particular was an email from my previous colleague at FP who was wanting me to provide a short testimonial for the leaving presentation she was giving to our secretary, Karen.  I was more than delighted to do this.  At around 11.30 a.m. I walked from The Hub over Westminster Bridge and along Victoria Street, passing the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey in the process, to Westminster Cathedral where I spent a short time in prayer and lit two candles - one in memory of Dad and Gillian (Sara's Mum) and the other as a prayer for all the living members of our families especially Sara, Mum, Mary and Tom.  I arrived at The Rubens at 12.30 p.m. and was introduced to the Chief Executive, David L'Herroux, Carl Brettle, Director of Mission and Ruth Irwin, Director of Strategic Partnerships for UCB Media.  We were joined by Sir Euan Calthorpe of Calthorpe Estates, David and Rosemary Bell (David in Managing Director of JCB, the earth moving company) and Robert Hawker of Robert Hawker Associates - surveyors.  Quite a select and intimate gathering as I said earlier.   UCB gave is a short presentation on their company and also their plans in partnership with the  More than Gold initiative for the 2012 Olympics. Click on the link :  http://www.morethangold.org.uk/  which explains that initiative.  Lunch consisted of lamb noisettes with diced vegetables and potato cake followed by a very rich creamy dish like creme brulee without the brulee but with fruits of the forest on the top - all contained in a large wine glass.  A lovely red wine accompanied the dish.  The conversation was fascinating and stimulating and UCB's presentations very inspiring.  A common thread was that those around the table had all been involved with Alpha or HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) at some time or another. I was also invited to visit UCB and tour their radio and TV studios in Stoke-on-Trent.   I walked back along Victoria Street stopping off at Westminster Cathedral again to but Sara a small LPA Commissioning present (a cross necklace) and I was back on the 3.50 p.m. train to Grateley arriving home at around 5.30 p.m.  We were all feeling rather tired tonight.  I went up to bed reasonably early but Sara didn't come to bed until the early hours of the morning - apparently she had fallen asleep on the sofa.  A lovely day today and the trip to London made a very interesting and enjoyable change - although I wouldn't want to do it every day.

Back in the Gym

Another bad day at Fat Fighters!  Put on another half an pound!  Now seem to be on a roundabout or see-saw - losing half a pound, putting on half a pound in alternate weeks.No major progress in my weight loss over the last four weeks.  Whereas at the beginning I was regularly losing 3 and 4 pounds a week now I seem to be stagnating - but at least it is not going up significantly.  After returning from Stockbridge, I had a two-hour meeting with Nils, our Rector, to go through the interview questions for my Licensed Ministry Selection Conference.  Again he was reassuring.  I need to continue my exploration of self-awareness and prayer.  After our meeting I went into Salisbury to do some banking and spent an hour in the gym to try an kick-start my further weight loss.  The scales in the Leisure Centre showed that I weighed two pounds less than those at Fat Fighters.  I was encouraged by this until I spotted that they also recorded a height loss of one and a half inches too!  Still, by comparison with the last time I used them in February I had, at least, lost exactly a stone in weight.  Nothing to despair over.  Tonight we held our usual bible study group - this time with a DVD of Gerard Kelly preaching at Spring Harvest.  Ironically, many of the issues which I had discussed with Nils earlier today (about worship on our everyday life) were discussed in the DVD.  God never ceases to surprise me in the way things always end up seeming to gel together even when we think, at the time, they are not.  Up early tomorrow to go to London.

Liturgy

Off early this morning to Whaddon to join the Clergy Team in Daily Morning Prayer and afterwards the Mid-Week Eucharist.  As Elizabeth is currently away there was no breakfast but Jane brought coffee in a flask for us.  Met a very pleasant elderly gentleman from Whaddon who chatted to me both before and after the service which was a very good experience.  Afterwards I drove to Tesco's and Staples for some shopping and also to have a belated breakfast of a bacon roll and coffee.  This afternoon, Sophie came over with her two youngest children and we spent an hour on the tennis court.  Her tennis is much improving - the danger of teaching somebody to play tennis is that eventually they get better than the teacher!  Found myself running around the court a bit more today but that must, at least, help keep me fit and keep my weight down.  This evening I attended Sarum College for the third session in the Lay Worship Leaders' course - this time on the subject of the structure of worship services within the Church of England.  The session was most instructive and I learned quite a few things.  Richard, Sophie and I called in at the Lord Nelson this evening where Sara was just finishing a briefing session for her Calendar Girls.  We had a beer and a chat with Roger.  It was also good to see some of Sara's former colleagues from FP there who are also taking part in the Calendar. 

Sara Commissioned as a Lay Pastoral Assistant

A hugely important day for Sara today.  I woke this morning feeling much better than yesterday after a relatively good night's sleep.  There still appeared to be a lot of last minute things to do today for tonight's service and several phone calls were made sorting out things like the candles, food, hymns, readings etc.  I am delighted to say that in all came good in the end with a marvellous service at St. Mary's Church, West Dean tonight.  The church was absolutely packed and it was delightful to see all the residents from Morning Star present as well as so many other LPAs from the Team.  It was a superb service led by Alan the Archdeacon with the Rural Dean preaching. I was immensely proud of Sara as she received her Certificate of Commission from the Archdeacon - the first official certificate from the church since her Communion.  I know she will discharge her new ministry with great dedication and sense of vocation.  The hymn, "I Lord of Sea and Sky" was absolutely lovely - a very fine hymn used at most ordination and licensing services.  After the service there were refreshments at the back of the church.  The Archdeacon pledged a donation to Sara's Calendar - a great acknowledgement of the church's approval of this worthy cause.  Sara, Sophie and Alan read the scriptures beautifully and led the intercessions well too, lighting candles as each one was concluded.  One of the loveliest services I have ever attended.  Back home we cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate the beginning of her new ministry.

Feeling Lethargic

It seemed very quiet with Adam gone today.  Back to the usual morning rush with the kids except that Mary was feeling unwell this morning - feeling feverish and with aching limbs - perhaps contributed by the long cycle ride yesterday.  She therefore stayed in bed most of the day with a light lunch of cinnamon grahams and milk.  Sophie called round at 1 p.m. and we played an hour and a quarter of tennis.  Sophie's tennis has much improved (not sure whether it was the new racket, new balls, greater confidence or me feeling a little slow and lethargic today) and we have arranged to play again on Wednesday when we'll start scoring properly.  As mentioned, feeling a bit slow and lethargic and certainly not on top form. However, this morning, I did write up my article on my Spring Harvest experiences for the Parish Newsletter and  completed a job reference for a friend on mine in Brighton.  This evening, Sara cooked a chicken curry tonight which I ate without the rice.  This evening I wrote up my Night Sky article and sent it out to those magazines which publish it and to those on my email list.  Went to bed quite early tonight and read the first part of Rob Parson's book on Teenagers!  Some really good stuff there but not sure it is so easy to carry out in practice.

Visits to West Grimstead and West Tytherley

This morning I went to West Grimstead Church to attend the All Age Eucharist being taken by Gill instead of joining Sara at the Parish Eucharist in Winterslow. The reason for this was threefold - first of all, in completing my homework for LWL training, I wanted to chose a different service from last week, secondly, I thought it good to visit a different church in the Team and thirdly, it would give me an opportunity to observe a service taken by a licensed minister instead of an ordained one. The service lasted just 31 minutes with a congregation of 19. Very different to the services we experience in Winterslow. Even after a coffee and a chat afterward, I still had time to get to Winterslow and join the congregation there for another coffee and a chat. Adam and the children spent the morning spraying the fence. After a lunch of roast chicken, Sara and Tom took Adam to Heathrow Airport to catch his return flight to Bangkok. Mary and I went off on an eight and a half miles cycle ride through Bentley Wood and then across to West Tytherley where we stopped off for drinks at the Black Horse Inn. Back home I cooked us a seafood curry dish (Mary's without the curry). Sara returned back at around 9.15 p.m. I phoned Mum in Grimsby who is still suffering from her polymyalgia pain and feeling rather down. She is seeing the doctor again tomorrow.

A Day in Southampton

Up early again this morning to take Adam to Southampton Solent University where he was attending a three-hour seminar as part of his Open University course. We arrived in Southampton just after 9 a.m. and parked at Trethowan's office just off The Avenue. It was a fifteen minute walk from there to the University Building where we had a coffee in the coffee shop overlooking the Guildhall Square. I hadn't been down in that part of Southampton for a long time and was impressed by the way that the Guildhall facade had been opened up onto a square - very similar to that in Portsmouth. It really has opened up the Guildhall vista and made something of a campus for the new Solent University (the old Southampton Institute). After Adam left for his seminar I stayed on in the coffee shop and wrote up the last two day's blog on my netbook - unfortunately I was unable to post it as the public Internet link wasn't working. After finishing my work and coffee I strolled down to Mayflower Park and took the above photograph of the Independence of the Seas - the largest ocean liner ever to grace Southampton Water - and I must confess treated myself to an ice cream. It was very pleasant to wander around the old town and shops before returning to Solent University. Adam was pleased with the way his seminar had gone and we then strolled back to Bargate where we ate a lunch of baguettes and soft drinks. We also visited Sports World where I bought another tennis racket, some more balls and a good pair of walking shoes. Adam bought some tee-shirts. We listened to the FA Cup Final and the car radio on the way back - Manchester City beating Stoke City by 1-0. This evening, Manchester United drew against Blackburn Rovers to claim the Premier League title for a record nineteen times - ousting that record from Liverpool. I only hope that Liverpool can back a great comeback next season under Kenny Dalglish. I went to bed quite early tonight leaving Adam and Sara downstairs to watch the Eurovision Song Contest and Match of the Day. I had walked about eight miles today and was feeling quite tired so treated myself to a nice hot bath before going to bed.

Two wins for Mary; Calendar Girls shoot begins

Sara brought tea and some paracetamol up to me as I was feeling a little “headachy” and certainly aching in my limbs. It was the day of Sara’s real photo shoot at Wilton House and so after taking Mary to school she set off for the first picture for the Calendar. Despite my aching upper limbs, I decided to continue my exercise regime by cycling to Buckholt and back (a total of six miles) much of which was uphill. It took me about an hour and on my return, after a refreshing shower, I cooked myself a grilled breakfast of bacon, tomatoes and scrambled eggs. Adam spent the morning studying on his laptop but our Internet connection started causing problems and the Orange Network seems to have gone down. Sara returned from the shoot and she and Adam went to the Lord Nelson. I joined them later restricting my drinking to a pint of lime and soda which I drank with a plate of whitebait for lunch. This afternoon I did some work on the laptop and also had a power nap – I was feeling quite tired. Later I found an old Liverpool student friend of mine on Facebook who studied law with me and who is now an ordained Baptist Minister running a small Baptist Church with his ordained wife in the heart of the Lake District. They also run a retreat there. I have sent him a message on Facebook and look forward to hearing from him. It doesn’t surprise me that he became ordained as he was quite instrumental in me joining the Christian Union in Liverpool and I have thought about him quite a lot recently in reviewing my spiritual journey for the Selection Conference next month. Strangely, as I type this, he has just responded! Tonight we all went to the Greyhound Racing at Poole. As usual Mary was the only winner (she picked out two winners) although her winning tonight only amounted to 2.60 GBP. Still she still retains the Midas touch!

An active day

The day started better than expected when a visit to Fat Fighters revealed that I had, very surprisingly, lost half a pound in weight. Not quite a restoration of the pound which I put on last week but a step in the right direction despite Chinese meals and trips to the Swindon Harvester – not to mention beers in the pub. Still need to lose a further 6.5 pounds to reach my golden target. This is likely to take ages unless I step up the exercise. With this in mind, Richard and I went to the Chandler’s Ford Golf Academy and hit 200 balls each on the driving range. We also played some chipping and had a meal of fish and chips and a pint of beer as part of a Groupon deal which Sara had managed to secure. Later this afternoon, I played tennis with Sophie before our House Group started. Felt like my left arm was going to drop off by the end of the day! Successful House Group this evening. Further study of the Book of Malachi with some very interesting personal discussions. We are lucky to have such a lovely group of people. Richard didn’t turn up tonight but not totally unexpected as he told me that he had quite a headache today and I am sure that hitting 200 golf balls didn’t help all that much. Adam went over to Romsey this evening to see an old friend, Kevin, who brought him back after House Group had finished. Kevin was fascinated with Titanic and so we talked a little about maritime history and the fact that his grandfather had been on the RMS Queen Mary. To bed tonight feeling a little achy after all that exercise!

The cost of motoring

Another busy day. This time I did take my car in for its service on the right day and was given an A150 Class Mercedes in return. It also proved to be an extremely expensive day. Not only did I have to pay for the cost of the major service but, also, new brake pads and shoes. I could have bought another car, I think, for the cost of the garage bill. I attended Mid-Week Eucharist at St. John's this morning whilst Sara was working up at Morning Star. I ate a light salad lunch and this afternoon did some work for a client who is facing disciplinary action at her work as a nursery carer. That done, I picked up Adam from Grateley where he was returning following his night away in Nottingham. This evening I attended the second of the Lay Worship Leaders' course sessions at Sarum College which was taken by Nils and Jane Charman. Jane was an excellent tutor and I really enjoyed the session. If this is a foretaste of the LLM training course I really look forward to it. We analysed our homework from last week and talked about the persona of a public minister. So much to learn. In a way, I shall regret it if I don't complete the course because of the LLM training and hope that I will be able to do so.

A false start then a trip to Andover!

I foolishly got up early and drove into Salisbury to take my car in for a service only to find, when I got to the Mercedes garage that it was booked in for tomorrow! For some reason I thought today was the 11th and not the 10th! Returning home, I had a breakfast of egg and bacon before taking Adam to Grateley Station to catch his train up to Nottingham where he is spending tonight with friends. I then went on to Andover to do some banking, had a nice coffee in Cafe Nero and then called in at The Bridge Christian bookshop where I bought a reduced book on Men's Ministry, was given a book on Christian Thinking (a gift for all ministers and those in training) and had a really lovely chat with the Rhodesian couple who were minding the shop today. At lunchtime Sara had another photo shoot for the Calendar and I spent the afternoon doing some gardening. This evening I walked to St. John's for the PCC Meeting and Richard, James and I continued our own meeting afterwards at the Lion's Head! It seemed very quiet without Adam around tonight.

Visiting Family in Swindon

Sara woke me with a cup of tea this morning. I was still feeling tired and had little incentive to get up! However, I was up and working in the study by 9.30 a.m. Sara and Adam went into Salisbury for some essential shopping for Adam and I spent the morning dealing with correspondence and paying bills as well as mowing the front lawn. I had a light salad lunch and at 1.45 p.m. Sophie came over for our pre-arranged game of tennis at the Village Hall. It was great to have a tennis partner during the daytime when the court is relatively free and we spent a pleasant hour knocking the ball backwards and forwards - neither of us particularly skilled but producing some extra exercise which I certainly needed. After Tom arrived back at school, I drove us all to Swindon to meet up with Sara and Adam's niece and family at a Harvesters just north of the town and conveniently situated on the road between Salisbury and Worcester. We spent a very enjoyable three hours chatting and eating together. This was the first time Adam had met his niece in over 25 years so there was much to talk about. tom and Mary got on very well with the children and Tom remarked how it was nice to have family whom he could also relate to as friends. A nice sentiment. We took some family group photos and Adam presented some gifts from Thailand before we left. A really pleasant evening and one which I am sure all will remember with affection.

Food for Thought - An Ecumenical Event - Another Pub Quiz Win!

For the second Sunday running I was the only member of the family to attend the Sunday morning service at All Saints. I needed to, however, as I was giving the reading and also as part of my Lay Worship Leader's training was tasked with undertaking a service critique as part of my homework. Cynthia led the service which was not as well attended as normal - partly because of the Food for Thought (FFT) service this afternoon and partly because there is a major scouting event going on in the north of the county which involves quite a few children and their parents. Back home I finalised a few details for the FFT service and we all sat down to a Sunday roast pork meal with pink champange to celebrate Saint's promotion. I did manage to quickly mow the rear lawn (wiull try and do the others tomorrow if time and weather permit). This afternoon I led the FFT service which was well attended (at least 60) by members of all the churches. I think it went down well although it was a little longer than antipated and in hindsight we could have cut out one of the talks in the middle. The bring and share food went down well and I think most people enjoyed it. However, I was quite tired afterwards and think this is the last one I'll be planning. Hopefully, my time, as from next month, will be taken up with the preparation for full ministry training. I had a quite hour or so on my own in the bedroom afterwards where I watched an interesting documentary on the history of the Orthodox Church and also wa sable to speak to Mum on the phone for a short while. Adam and I then went to the Lion's Head to join James and Richard as part of a pub quiz team "Papaya Salad". Klynn, Jeremy, Tim and Jo made up another team. Surprise surprise, we won again (by just one point) despite having an incredibly difficult and bizarre round where we had to match the breed of pig with their pictures! A very long, tiring but satisfying day. Another busy day tomorrow - work, tennis and a reunion with Natasha in Swindon.

We are going up! A Celebration

Today was another early start with a Men's Breakfast at Colin's. The thunderstorm and heavy rain had continued throughout the night and so everywhere was very wet this morning. I hardly slept with constant rolling claps of thunder and, particularly, the noise of very heavy rain. Adam joined me at the Breakfast where Colin and his with Trish treated us to a full English breakfast. The topic of conversation turned to the different cultures between east and west and Adam was able to give us some views on how Thai culture differs from that in the US and the UK. A most interesting and stimulating conversation from which, I think, we all benefited. Sara and Mary went into Salisbury this afternoon for Mary's ballet lesson and at lunchtime, Tom, Adam and I drove into Southampton to watch the last game of the season at St. Mary's. We parked at Trethowan's and walked to St. Mary's Street for a quick lunch at the chippie before going on to the Stadium. As predicted, the game was a sell-out with over 32,000 fans attending - a whiff of promotion and all the "fair-weather" fans return! Saints sealed promotion with a relatively easy 3-1 win over Walsall. I was pleased that, despite their defeat, Walsall managed to stay up in League 1 as a result of Dagenham & Redbridge losing to Peterborough. It was great that both sets of fans were able to celebrate - Saints with promotion and Walsall with not going down. As predicted, there was a pitch invasion afterwards and all the fans gathered around the Itchen Stand podium to see the League 1 Runners-Up Cup presented to Nigel Adkins and the team. A day never to forget. After all the disappointments and worries over the past five years it was a wonderful experience - promotion without the lottery of the play-offs. Unfortunately I learned that Lincoln City were relegated to join Grimsby Town in the Conference and Scunthorpe have been relegated to League 1 (now the only Lincolnshire team in the FA League). Sad days for Lincolnshire football. Tonight we all met up again at the water Margin Chinese restaurant in North Baddesley. Yet another fantastic meal but a major blow to the diet! The food is just too good to leave alone! Feeling very tired tonight with another busy day ahead tomorrow.

Busy Day; Stormy Evening

An incredibly busy morning today starting with Ambassadors' Breakfast Club at the Grasmere Hotel where, instead of my normal pitch, I made a plea for support for Sara's calendar. Then it was over to Alderbury to support the opening of that church's Coffee Shop where I had another cup of coffee and lovely chats with Alison and Elizabeth. I then dashed up to Barry's Field where Sara was hosting a Calendar Fund Raising Event with the Friday Art Group - another cup of coffee! From there it was then on to the Rectory for a meeting with Nils as part of my Selection Conference preparation. Nils was ten minute late (he had already forewarned that he might be) so I found myself having ten minutes to read my daily devotionals and gather my thoughts before our meeting. I was coffeed out by the time our meeting started so declined another cup of coffee. Nils was very encouraging and I feel that the wobbles I had earlier this week were very unjustified although they do help, perversely, in getting my mind clearer on what I am embarking upon. I left feeling quite uplifted and more confident. I picked up Adam from home and we met up with Richard for a beer and a bowl of chips at the Lord Nelson where Sara was serving behind the bar. We agreed that we, together with James, would form a Quiz Team for the Pub Quiz at the Lion's Head on Sunday evening. Adam and I spent the afternoon shopping at the Cash n' Carry, Tesco's, Staples and Lidl's. He was able to get many of the things requested by his friends in Thailand. Tonight we had a BBQ but the weather, as expected, broke and tonight the sky was rent by a very strong electrical storm with constant lightning and thunder and torrential rain. This went on throughout the night. Hopefully it will be a bit better in the morning as we have a party to go to at St. Mary's - to celebrate Southampton FC's promotion to the Championship.

A Black Day

No, it wasn't a good day - put on a pound in weight at Fat Fighters this morning much to the delight of most of the women (Sara included) who said that I must be human at last. The new members couldn't understand why a great cheer went up when it was revealed that I had put on weight!! It seems that my putting on weight is the greatest incentive these women can have. Sad! Sara managed to stay the same weight. After the weigh-in (I didn't really want to stick around), Sara and I drove to Andover to visit the bank and deal with the last bits of documentation necessary to open The Winterslow Calendar Girls bank account with the HSBC. That completed, we stopped off for a coffee at Cafe Nero and also visited Iceland to do some grocery shopping. I skipped lunch today and spent the afternoon cleaning and tidying up the family room ready for Adam's visit. At 5 p.m. Sara drove off to London Heathrow Airport with Mary and I prepared for the House Group. We had a good attendance tonight despite Sara and Paul being absent. I started the evening, after prayers, with an Old Testament card game I had devised to test people's existing knowledge of that part of the Bible followed by watching a DVD of the first of Gerard Kelly's bible studies at Spring Harvest on the Book of Malachi. By the time the DVD had finished we had little time for further discussion so will hold that over until next week. James stayed behind for a glass of wine and met Adam who arrived shortly after the House Group had finished. He was laden with goodies from Thailand including two bottle of rather intoxicating-looking Thai rum! I didn't get to bed, finally, until nearly 1 a.m. with a very busy morning ahead of me tomorrow.

A Really Busy Day - The LWL Course starts at Sarum College

A very busy day indeed today with back-to-back meetings. The day started with Sara being up and early to listen to herself giving an interview on spire FM Radio about the Calendar. This was repeated with different sound bites throughout the morning. I left home early to drive over to Whaddon for Morning Prayer and breakfast with the clergy followed by Mid-Week Eucharist at St. Mary's Hall, Whaddon. Back home after my weekly devotions, I set about dealing with an Employment Tribunal matter in Manchester to ensure that an application on behalf of a friend/client was submitted on time. After a quick lunch of prawn salad, I then walked up Gunville Hill to Richard's to attend a meeting of the Parish's Standing Committee. The meeting went on much longer than I anticipated but I was advised that the Deanery had approved a book grant for me for my studies to be a Licensed Minister should I get through the Selection Conference next month. I was very touched by that. Back home, I had a brief hour to get all the paperwork ready for the Sarum Lodge meeting in Salisbury at 6.30 pm. which I was attending this evening but not staying for the dinner and entertainment (a magician/illusionist). I managed to get to the lodge meeting with only 10 minutes to spare and then had to rush off to Sarum Theological College to attend the first of ten training sessions to to commissioned as a Lay Worship Leader (LWL). There are eighteen of us on this pilot course including Richard and Sophie and eight others from the Clarendon Team. I found the session most interesting and look forward to the remaining nine. We started off tonight by looking into what worship is and the different forms it takes with a couple of exercises and some "homework" to do. It really is a good taster for when study begins in earnest in September.

An afternoon in Brighton

I didn't sleep all that well last night and was up in the middle of the night watching a programme about Himmler! I think my insomnia is coupled with my anxiety about the amount of tasks I seem to have outstanding and I was panicking a bit about whether I could (and really wanted to) do the lay ministry training. Sara reminded me that it was a calling which I mustn't ignore. I guess I am somewhat tired and as I go into self-analysis mode I keep questioning my abilities and purpose in life. In the past my career has been mapped out for me by my employer. Now I have so many free choices. Deep down I know what I must do - stick with the plan given to me. The holiday season is now finally over and today saw a return to routine - or so I thought. A very busy day indeed. Sara and I woke early and after a quick cup of tea I went down into the study to deal with emails and other paperwork. The children were back to school and the morning passed very quickly. Linda called around with the flyers for Food for Thought which Sara had finished. At lunchtime Sara went off to her LPA Commissioning Service rehearsal at West Dean and I drove over to Hove (via Rustington where I did some banking) for a meeting with one of my clients to discuss matters connected with his mother's estate. I also dropped some papers off at my old house for Laura (my ex-wife). This evening I attended my Preston Park Royal Arch Chapter in Brighton which was very poorly attended. Such a pity. I arrived early and went for a walk to the station where I had a coffee in a little cafe across the road. At tonight's meeting I was inducted as the Second Principal (an office I have held twice before) and this was followed by an interesting Question and Answer session. Dinner tonight comprised an Italian salad, fish and chips and ice cream (I refused the apple pie). Got back to Winterslow at 11 p.m. I am almost certain to regret eating such a meal when I attend Weight Watchers on Thursday. I definitely know it will not be good news this week. Worked on this blog and dealt with more emails until quite late (Sara already in bed).

Saints Promoted (Almost!)

Another bank holiday today which Sara and I spent almost exclusively in tidying and cleaning. I dusted the lounge and cleaned the hall and kitchen floors whilst Sara did a mountain of laundry. This afternoon we listened to the Plymouth Argyle v. Saints match on the radio which resulted in a 1-3 win for Saints and almost certain promotion now to the Championship. Norwich beat Portsmouth at Fratton Park this evening to gain promotion to the Premier League. I really do hope that Saints can follow Norwich next year. So far they have been following the fortunes of Norwich albeit one year behind. We opened the champagne and had a BBQ to celebrate. Technically we are still not up -but Huddersfield would have to win by a margin of about 15 goals and we would have to lose our last game against Walsall on Saturday as well to be denied promotion. Not a likely scenario. I also learned that Salisbury gained promotion to the Conference South by way of the play-offs so it has been a great day all round for football. Pity I had to spend so much of the bank holiday on domestic chores - but as we are now "retired" bank holidays do not have quite the same significance as in the past.

Back on the Golf Course

Another lovely sunny day. I went to church on my own this morning as Sara and the children found it hard to get up. Elizabeth gave another very good talk and service using a banana to show how it could be turned into a penguin to a few of the children to illustrate how something can seem incredible to those who are excluded from the secret. This was, of course, to illustrate how Doubting Thomas must have felt when excluded from Christ's appearance to the disciples after his crucifixion. I left the New Testaments I had bought at Spring Harvest in several of the pews and was delighted to see quite a few people reading them. Sara cooked an excellent Mediterranean style roasted lamb with roasted vegetables. This afternoon, Tom joined Richard and me in a half round of golf at Wilton. Tom played really well compared to the rather inconsistent play from Richard and myself. Tonight Richard and I spent an evening at the Lion's Head chewing the cud. Big day tomorrow for Saints. If they can beat Plymouth Argyle at Home Park tomorrow afternoon they are assured of promotion to the Championship. Nail-biting stuff.