Another hectic but satisfying day

Another hectic day today - now I am completely convinced that I have not retired.  Started to get like it was pre-retirement except I am now enjoying what I am doing; although the continuing building works is starting to do my head it - not the banging and sawing but the dust, dirt and general untidiness with children sleeping in the lounge and the family room.  I now have the bit between my teeth to get the study sorted out ready for my extended studying.  Today I managed to get on to Moodle and print off my extensive book list for the Oxford Brookes University Foundation Degree course as well as looking at many resources available on line.  Peter came over this morning to put in Mary's floor only to find that many of the laminated boards had not been cut squarely by the manufacturers so Sara had to take three boxes of them back to Wickes.  I picked up two garment rails from Argos to use for putting the children's clothes on (rather than have them strewn all over the floor) until their wardrobes are in place.  I also went to Sarum Graphics on the industrial estate at Old Sarum to pick up 850 copies of the Parish Magazine and deliver these to the distributors and the Rectory.  Thankfully my car accommodated them all easily - so glad I've now got the hatchback. Talking of the car, I had to tax it today as well and in all the mess in the study couldn't find the Certificate of Insurance.  I had to telephone the insurance company to confirm I was actually covered.  Fortunately I was and I could proceed to tax it but I will still need to track down the document.  I quickly cut the rear lawn this afternoon - it's looking really neat and tidy now and makes the garden look so much bigger. The builders have been painting Tom's room today and concreting the floor of Sara's study.  It will be fantastic when she has her own area and isn't cluttering up the dining room table.  Amongst all these jobs and errands, I also had quite a bit of Complex work to do today.  Business is really taking off at the moment. I've had a fantastic response to the Lucas/Plass Seriously Funny evening from all over the Clarendon Team - especially Pitton, Alderbury and Whiteparish.  It is so good to see the Team getting together.  I think the LWL course is bringing quite a few of us together too.  Tonight I had to rush off to Wiltshire Masters' Lodge in Ludgershall.  A really good meeting with an excellent speaker on the topic of Freemasonry and the British Forces - 1700-1900.  After the meeting David, the Secretary, told me that the Provincial Grand Master, who will be the Master of the Lodge next year, would like me to be one of his Wardens with a progression to the Master's Chair in 2013.  That is the most prestigious lodge position in the Province and an enormous accolade.  I spoke briefly to the PGM who was delighted to hear of my acceptance for LLM training and anxious for me to progress in the Province.   "Somebody" is really looking after me at the moment!  I wonder who?

St. Peter's Day - Another Busy One

A really busy day today without a moment's rest.  Up early today and drove over to Whaddon to attend Morning Prayer and afterwards breakfast with the clergy team.  Following this I attended the Mid-Week Eucharist which was also attended by the Worship Committee (consisting of pupils aged about 10) of Alderbury School.  For many this was their first attendance at a Eucharistic service and they were given pieces of paper with a list of things to look out for during the Eucharistic Prayer.  It thought it was well thought out by Elizabeth, who took the service.  I read an extract from Acts from the Good News bible about Peter's release from prison which we thought would be a good story for the children.  After the Eucharist I drove up to Leatherhead to attend a meeting with a client to try and reach an agreement over an employment dispute.  The drive up was quite uneventful until I got to Hindhead where I thought the new tunnel through the Devil's Punch Bowl had been opened.  Although it has been completed it is not yet open to traffic and I had to crawl through Hindhead. I arrived early in Leatherhead and bought myself a sandwich and a drink at Tesco's.  The meeting was not a complete success as no agreement was reached although some progress was made.  The parties are still too far apart for a financial settlement.  I managed to get back to Winterslow in good time for Sessino 8 of the Lay Worship Leaders' training course.  Tonight, Jane Charman led the session on "talking .v preaching" and it appears that as LWLs we will have quite a bit of freedom during the "talking slot".  I also registered this evening for Moodle to enable me to  access the educational resources on line for the LLM training.  Richard and I ended the evening chatting in the Lion's Head over a couple of pints of beer. 

A day in Salisbury

I spent most of today in Salisbury.  The builders arrived early this morning and I had a light breakfast of coffee and an orange.  I went into Salisbury parking my car at the Petersfinger Park & Ride after picking up a couple of cheques for Sara from a local business.  I banked the cheques and then dropped my University Foundation Course application forms into Church House for the LLM training.   I walked round to The Close and visited Sarum College Bookshop to order two bibles (one for All Saints and the other for St. John's) as part of my gift to those churches from Spring Harvest.  I also picked up a copy of "Anglicanism - A Very Short History"  by David Chapman which I need to read before I start my course in September. I then walked to Anokka's where I met Anthony outside and we spent the next five hours or so together getting up to speed with our respective news.  We had the special buffet lunch in Anokka's and then spent a good couple of hours in Caffe Nero chatting.  It started to rain as I waited for the bus to take me back to the Park & Ride car park near Tesco's.  I bought a new cat collar for Emily (turquoise as requested by Mary) and tried to buy two garment rails from Tesco's to hang up all the clothes which are currently on our bedroom floor following the demolition of the built-in wardrobes for Tom and Mary.  When I got back I discovered that the builders had increased the height of our chimney (as we requested following lots of smokey down draughts in the winter) and built the dividing wall between the garage and Sara's new study.  Tonight Sara attended a Team LPA meeting at Whaddon and I prepared for my meeting in Leatherhead (a mediation) tomorrow.

Another triumph for Hampshire

A very hot day again today.  No builders arrived today so no further progress on the extension.  Not sure whether they were expected or not but Sara certainly thought that Peter would be coming today to finish off (in fact start) Mary's laminated flooring.  Today Mary was off school again for a Teachers' Development Day and her friend Allie and her sister Megan came over at about 10.30 a.m.  Sara went to Firsdown to pick up Nobby (a 94 year old woman) and take her to the Truffles Coffee shop as part of her LPA duties.  I took Mary and her friends over later in the morning and had a cup of tea with Sara and Nobby.  I spent the rest of the morning drafting some terms and conditions of employment for a firm of solicitors in Salisbury following a telephone conversation to discuss their instructions.  I also had a telephone conversation and discussed a couple of cases with my big client in Surrey.  This afternoon I attend Rosemary's Bible Reading Fellowship meeting following which I took Mary and her friends back to their house at Old Sarum where Mary is having a sleep-over.  I then set about completing the detailed application forms for Oxford Brookes University for the Foundation Degree Course in Ministry which goes along with Licensed Lay Ministry training.  I will have an option to convert it to a full BA degree with a further year's study afterwards if I wish - something to consider. Tonight I watched the Hampshire v. Sussex T20 games on Sky.  I had toyed with the idea of going to the Rose Bowl again but was pleased to watch it on TV.  It was a thrilling game with Hampshire batting first and getting a modest 126 for 8 which looked like it might not be enough to win.  However due to the wonderful bowling again from Tahir and Alfridi, just like the Gloucestershire match on Friday, the away side were all bowled out for 91 runs.  The last wicket fell to the bowling of Dominic Cork just as on Friday.  From the fixture list, Hampshire play again on Thursday but I cannot go to that game; on Sunday 10th July at Hove against Sussex - might see if tickets are available for that game; and again at the Rose Bowl against Middlesex on Friday 15th July - a definite possibility.  It would be good to see another match or two.  I am sure Hampshire will be in the Quarter Finals. 

Owzthat!

The weather has suddenly changed today and it is very dry and hot.  Tom was up early to do his paper round again and Sara and I slept on bit although she, Mary and I did make church this morning - a Praise Service conducted by Linda and Cynthia.  Another good service on the theme of "welcome".  I walked home after the service and this afternoon cut the front lawn and bank.  We had a late lunch today - roast gammon steak and, afterwards, Mary and I played a few games of the cricket dice game Owzthat! - a game I loved at her age and which I would play a lot during the summer holidays.  We made up cricket teams from amongst our friends and rolled the dice - one for the bowler and one for the batsman.  Mary won every game and now wants to know more about the rules of cricket.   It was really lovely to play this old simple game again inspired by my recent visits to the Rose Bowl.  The game does not come with a "streaker die" though.  Spoke to Mum briefly on the phone this evening and exchanged news.  Her car is now back with her and despite a hefty bill, it really wasn't too bad considering the amount of work necessary.  At least it keeps her independently mobile.  We've had a nice quiet weekend but tomorrow will be manic again!  I have quite a bit of Complex work to do tomorrow, as well as attend Rosemary's Bible Fellowship meeting.

Repent! - IKEA is at hand (in Southampton)

Weekends seem to be so busy again.  Retirement is certainly not about sitting down and relaxing for long periods of time.  Yet another very early morning start.  Tom was off on his paper round - he loves Saturdays as he gets paid on these days - and I went across to the Village Hall to the Men's Annual Breakfast where the speaker this morning was the Army Chaplain General, The Venerable Rev (Padre) Steve Robbins who turned out to be a brilliant and very engaging speaker.  It was really interesting to hear about the role of the army chaplain in history and today, especially in Afghanistan and other places of conflict.  I received further words of congratulation from Patrick and Chris on my selection for ministry training and I sat with Patrick during the breakfast where we talked about his forthcoming holiday in Lincolnshire.  I recommended him to visit Tattershall Castle and Cleethorpes (his wife, Angela, would like to visit the coast whilst they are up there) and try out the fish and chips, which he promised to do.  They will be staying in Lincoln (their first trip ever up to that part of the world) and I also recommended that they try the ice creams at Skellingthorpe.  Back home, I dealt with some Complex work, notably I wrote out a bill for a client in Sussex - we need to get some money in with all the recent expenditure - and drove into Andover to bank some further cheques, post the bill and visit the market where I bought some lovely cherries - a fruit Mary particularly likes.  This afternoon I went with Sara and Mary to Southampton to visit IKEA - a three-hour visit which I absolutely hated (a game of cricket at the Rose Bowl doesn't last as long!).  The purpose of the visit was to look at some bedroom furniture and office furniture for the new rooms in the house and after three hours we came away with about £40 of items - mainly candles and a new desk lamp for my own study.  I really find IKEA a stressful place - things are so spread out; it takes ages to get round things; the furniture is so chunky and requires an honours degree in construction to make it; and to top it all I bought fish and chips in the restaurant under the mistaken belief that it was a snip at £1.49 to find that because I had bought it ten minutes earlier than 5 p.m. I would have to pay £4.89.  In fact, I only really bought something to make the car parking free!  I have yet to meet anybody who finds IKEA a relaxing, enjoyable experience.  Klynn described it as an example of Hell on Earth - must use that in one of my early sermons! That is bound to get people repenting!  The only saving grace was that I got a good view of Independence of the Seas as she set sail for the Med. This was a great view from Marks & Spencer in West Quay  before they built the great IKEA blot of Southampton's landscape!  Back home I was quite tired and so had a lovely muscle relaxing bath before spending a bit of time in the study talking to my good friend Malcolm in Liverpool over the telephone and writing up this blog.  I'll leave it to Sara to go to IKEA in future.  I keep thinking every time I go that it can't be as bad as the last time - and it always is!  Cheap 35p ice creams at the end are always something of an award for the endurance of it all.

Back to the Rose Bowl

Up early again this morning for a fully packed day.  Mary was off school today (the teachers are having training days this Friday and again on Monday) so a long weekend break for Mary.  She was spending today with her friend Allie as Sara was supervising two photo shoots for the Calendar and I had errands to run in Salisbury this morning and was then meeting a client near Southampton for a lunchtime business meeting.  Penny F arrived at breakfast time to go over to a secret location in the Bourne Valley for a garden shoot.  I drove into Salisbury to do some banking before driving to North Baddesley to meet up with my client at The Water Margin Chinese restaurant where we had a light business lunch and discussed a number of issues.  I got back to Winterslow at around 3.45 p.m. which just gave me a hour before Tom and I left again to pick up Richard and Johnno to go to the Rose Bowl in Southampton to watch Hampshire v. Gloucestershire in the Friends Life T20 competition.  Currently Hampshire are top on the South Group Table and Gloucestershire bottom.  We arrived in good time and inadvertently sat in the sponsorship area at the top of the Pavilion and had just settled when we were asked to shift.  Fortunately, we still managed to get good seats under cover.  The weather looked decidedly "iffy" all evening.  Hampshire lost the toss and Gloucestershire put them into bat.  Apart from a short interruption in play, Hampshire completed their 20 overs with a score of 139 for 7.  Not particularly high and a relatively easy target for Gloucestershire. We were running about twenty minutes behind schedule when Gloucestershire went into bat and started losing wickets almost immediately.  The score was 80 for 5 when rain forced a further stoppage of play and following discussions in the Pavilion the Duckworth/Lewis Rules were introduced and Gloucesterhsire needed to reach 124 runs from 17 overs to win.  At the time of the stoppage they had only played 8 overs.  In the end, Duckworth/Lewis did not apply as Hampshire bowled the whole of the team out for 107 before they reached the 17th over.  A great win for Hampshire.  It was interesting to see the D/L Rules in use.  We managed to get to the car park and away within 15 minutes of the game ending and were back in Winterslow at 11.30 p.,m.  I really do enjoy watching first class cricket.  Tonight we had the privilege of seeing the greatest bowler in Test history at work (Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and Gloucestershire) who has taken over 800 Test wickets and thereby beaten Hampshire and Australia's own Shane Warne.  This was the first cricket match Johnno had ever seen and so he was well pleased with it; being a good first class cricket match.  We were also treated the sight of a streaker running across the pitch in the first innings. I hope to get to see some more T20 before the end of the season.  Hampshire play Sussex on Monday.  Tempting to go again!  I spent tonight, before going to bed, trying to understand theea Duckworth/Lewis Rules in greater detail.  I understand the theory but the practice is a bit different.  How sad is that!

What's up doc?

Well, the answer is nothing!  Went for my annual check-up at the doctor's this morning, thus missing Fat Fighters, and was greeted by a smiling doctor who after checking my blood pressure, weighing me and having a general chat shook my hand and said I appeared in good health and to keep on with the exercise and sensible eating.  He said I had done really well.  I know I have put a bit of weight back on recently but hope to get on top of that once the wet weather and pressure of work (which keeps me glued to the office seat) eases off.  I cycled to school this afternoon to pick up Mary although I did spend much of the day in the office working on a tribunal claim and dealing with some essential correspondence.  Indeed, a pile of fresh mail arrived this morning including a thick package from the Salisbury Diocesan Office setting out the dates for my main training sessions (including one residential weekend) which, unfortunately, means that I will miss a couple of home football matches - Nottingham Forest and Brighton.  I also have more forms to fill in including my application for Oxford Brookes University where my course will be included as part of a Foundation Degree in Ministry. I also have a reading list of two books to complete before my course starts on 3rd September.  Fortunately, I have read one of them already as part of my preparation for the Selection Conference.  Peter was down today laying the laminate flooring in Tom's new bedroom and the builders painted his ceiling.  Mary's plaster is still wet and so no progress can be made on that room.  She will have a super room when it's finished.  I bought Peter a pint in the Lion's Head this evening on my way to Richard's where the House Group was held - we decanted from our house as the dust, general untidiness, not to mention the fact that Mary is sleeping in the lounge at present, makes it unrealistic to hold it at ours.  We watched the fourth and final DVD of Gerard Kelly's bible study sessions on Malachi.  Some very in-depth theological thinking required.  On a lighter note, I managed to book tickets for Tom, Richard, Jonno and me to go to the Rose Bowl again tomorrow night to watch Hampshire v. Gloucestershire in the Friends Life 20/20 tournament.  If the weather holds we should see some exciting cricket tomorrow. Oh, also, as I was leaving Richard's, Linda drew my attention to the fact that a large photo of me appears in the July edition of Sarum Link, the Diocesan newspaper looking very "unministerial" in a chef's hat serving sausages and burgers at an old Food for Thought event.  The chef's hat I am wearing looks rather like a bishop's mitre which drew the obvious comments!  I leave you to judge for yourself.

St. Alban's Day - Lovely Messages from the Team

Yet more rain today - how miserable this "summer" is turning out.  I cycled up to St. John's Church this morning to take part in Morning Worship with the clergy and joined them for breakfast afterwards.  Jane and Elizabeth expressed their delight in my acceptance by the Diocese for licensed ministry training (this was the first they knew of my success at the Selection Conference) and welcomed me formally to the Team saying how wonderful it was that I was now joining them "officially".  They went to great lengths to make the point that licensed ministry was just as important as ordained ministry and that the two were different but complimentary and not to think of it as being "second division".   To prove the point further, Nils then gave me a difficult passage from Genesis (full of Hebrew names) to read at the Mid-Week Eucharist declaring it to be "good for my training".  I suspect that this won't be the last time I hear this phrase over the next couple of years!  When I got home I received, in the post,  a lovely card in the post from Auntie Mim and Harry J from Cleethorpes in the post congratulating me on being accepted for ministry training, writing in it they they never doubted I would be successful.  They would have heard via my cousin Ann (who is a friend of mine on Facebook). What a lovely surprise.  I was really touched that she had taken the trouble to get a card and send it to me and what a wonderful sentiment. On a recent visit she had said that she thought that I would be well suited to such a calling.   I penned a short note back thanking her for such a lovely gesture.  This afternoon I went into Salisbury to do some banking, visited Sarum College bookshop, then finally picked up some more laminated flooring for Mary's new bedroom from Wickes.  I treated myself to a pot of tea and a scone (yes I know naughty! naughty!) whilst I read some of the papers for a tribunal I am doing in Croydon.  Just as I am on the cusp of starting my pre-training prep. an enormous amount of new employment law work has suddenly come it.  Well at least it will pay for Spring Harvest and the annual costs associated with the apartment in Nassau.  Talking of which, it looks as though I will need to visit the lawyers out there in connection with Maureen's estate.  Tonight it was Week 7 of the Lay Worship Leaders' course at Sarum College.  This week we studied Intercessions.  I had previously attended a three-week course on this and so much was very familiar.  Interestingly, the tutor this evening was a licensed minister echoing the comments made earlier this morning. As we wewre leaving, Zoe, from Whiteparish, gave me another card of congratulations with more lovely personal words written inside.  It is difficult to believe that it is only four months since I first saw Nils, with some apprehension, to tell him of my calling to receiving all these warm wishes, congratulations and blessings from so many people.   Back to earth, no Fat Fighters tomorrow as I have a doctor's appointment here Winterslow.  Probably not a bad idea as I feel I have slipped terribly with my weight-loss regime recently. This awful weather has not helped one iota. Nothing to worry about on the doctor front though, just a general check-up.

Launch of my new Titanic Speech in Cirencester

Another very busy day today.  I spent the morning making sure that the Titanic talk for this afternoon was well prepared with some last minute changes to the slides and additional notes.  I picked Richard up at around 12.15 p.m. in my car and we set off for Cirencester arriving at about 1.30 p.m.  The hall where I was due to speak was, in fact, a URC church and instead of the 30-40 audience I was expecting found seating set out for over 100!  Therese, my cousin twice removed, greeted me as the Speaker Finder for the University of the Third Age whom I was to address.  Obviously the topic, Titanic, was extremely popular and we had a full audience.  I found myself speaking up in front of the altar and Richard operated the audio-visual equipment.  We hoped to be able to link the laptop up to the fixed ceiling projector but we couldn't find the correct connections.  With only ten minutes to go we had to abandon the attempt when the "technical adviser" announced that he did "sound" and not the visual side of the presentations.  We managed to erect a spare screen up in front of the altar to the side of where I was to speak and we kicked off in good time.  I spoke for about 50 minutes having to cut out a couple of videos due to time but seemed to keep the audience interested - in fact one lady said that this was the first talk in a long while in which she hadn't fallen asleep.  I enjoyed doing it although we had a couple of technical glitches and I actually forgot, for a moment, the name of the designer of Titanic!  I did remember it a couple of minutes later - Thomas Andrews who actually shares the same birthday as Tom.  I was delighted to receive a speaker's fee/expenses which I will put into my "church account".  Therese seemed well pleased with the presentation.  It was really hot inside the church and standing in front of 100 or so gave me a bit of a foretaste of what it is going to feel like when I come to preach in due course.  At least, with Titanic, I had a specialist knowledge which the majority of the audience didn't have and so was a bit in command.  A bit different when it comes to ideas on faith.

Struggling with PowerPoint

The day started off bright enough but during the afternoon the rain arrived with a vengeance - it is so hard to believe that we are in the mid-summer period.  It is cold and wet.  Peter arrived from Hove early this morning and he and Sara spent some time discussing the progress on the building works and went off to but laminate flooring for Tom's bedroom and hallway.  I spent most of the day grappling with PowerPoint to finalise my presentation/talk on Titanic to the University of the Third Age at Cirencester tomorrow.  After lunch I went up to Richard's to ensure that the laptop/projector audio visual system was working properly for tomorrow.  This afternoon Matthew, the plumber, arrived to install a new radiator in Tom's new bedroom and remove the old one which is now in the hallway.  Immense noise all around me which really didn't help to my preparation for tomorrow's talk - especially as I was really struggling with the PowerPoint and it took me several attempts to get my notes inserted into the slides to use as a prompt.  Eventually I managed it with Sara's help.  Tonight Sara attended a Vie branch meeting down in Bournemouth and I continued with the Titanic research in a somewhat quieter environment.  The rain simply didn't let up and let Sri Lanka off the hook with a draw on the final day of the Test Match at the Rose Bowl.  In fact yesterday proved to be the best day to have attended the Test as it was the only day on which play was continuous with any stoppage for rain.  Watched a couple of episodes of Whatever happened to the Likely Lads? on the DVD player upstairs before Sara returned.

At the first Test Match to be held at the Rose Bowl

A Sunday off from church today as Klynn and I spent the day at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, watching the fourth day of the Third Test Match between England and Sri Lanka - the first Test Match ever to be staged at this prestigious new cricket ground.   We set off at just before 8.30 a.m. and arrived at the Park and Ride site near Southampton Airport at around 9.15 a.m.  The bus whisked us off to the Rose Bowl arriving at about 9.30 a.m.  We wandered around the ground, had coffee and a bacon butty before the game began, on the dot, at 11 a.m.  We had good seats but being in the open we were subject to the odd shower of rain and cold wind.  Despite being nearly at the point of mid-summer, the weather never really got very warm and we did suffer the odd small shower.  Luckily the rain was never sufficient to call off the game and we had uninterrupted play all day.  England increased their first inning's lead to 194 before declaring just before tea after the fall of two successive wickets were taken for 0 (Prior and Broad).  Bell managed an astounding 119 and Morgan 71.  It was great to see a Test Century, a Test half-century and a century partnership all happen in the space of a couple of balls.  I was surprised that England declared so soon and by the end of the day Sri Lanka had managed a score of 113 for 3 (only 81 runs behind).  It is almost impossible for Sri Lana to win the game but England may also struggle to win tomorrow if Sri Lanka continue to score runs without loss and the predicted rain arrives in the afternoon.  The Rose Bowl is selling tickets for tomorrow's game for just £10 but, unfortunately, I have a busy day ahead and can't go.  Sara cooked a lovely roast chicken supper tonight and the children bought me some Weight Watchers' cookies and two lovely book-marks (in fact one of the bookmarks was from Sara).  The house is in even a bigger mess as Mary has now moved most of the contents of her bedroom into the Family Room and tomorrow looks like being chaotic with the plumber coming down to look at moving the boiler.  Peter will also be here.  I must not get too distracted as I have to finalise my talk on Titanic for the University of the Third Age tomorrow.

A wet, wet, wet Saturday (Summer Fair Day)

Another wet, miserable day today. A typically English summer again!  Tom was up early this morning to start his paper round and Sara took him to the shop in her car and then on to his first house.  I wrote up yesterday's blog this morning and Sara took Mary into Salisbury for he ballet lesson.  Tom's friend Doug from Middle Wallop spent the day with Tom here at home (on laptops and play consoles) and I made them a pizza lunch - I had crab pate for myself.  This afternoon, Sara, Mary and I attended the School Fair on the Recreational Ground which was slowly turning into a mud bath.  The rain was torrential when it came down and several times we had to head for the cover of a stall's gazebo.  In fact, Sara and I spent most of our time in the tea tent talking to various villagers to stay out of the rain.  Mary was taking part in a cheer leading demonstration which I managed to video but which I couldn't post on here because of its size.  I spent most of the rest of the day cleaning and tidying our bedroom and putting away masses of clothes which Sara had washed.  The house remains in an absolute mess and is shortly to get worse when Mary's bedroom wall and built-in wardrobes are demolished.  At least I enjoyed two DVD's of Al Murray's Show and two episodes of the likely Lads whilst I was cleaning and tidying the bedroom.  The one thing about working in the bedroom is that I can watch the TV or a DVD whilst doing so.  I really do wish this weather would improve as I hate all the mud.  The Test Match was rained off for most of the day and I hope that we get to see some cricket tomorrow when Klynn and I go to the Rose Bowl for the fourth day of England's Second Test Match against Sri Lanka.

Titanic 2

Can't believe its only two weeks since the last Ambassador's breakfast meeting - but here we are again at the Grasmere for the usual unhealthy breakfast.  In fact, I had sausage, (1), black pudding (half), beans (a tablespoonful), mushrooms (loads), scrambled egg (tablespoonful) and half a fried tomato.  No bread or hash browns.  Today Richard Smith from Computersmiths talked to us about backing up important data.  After the meeting I worked on my netbook for a short time in the hotel lounge before going to the gym for my health/workout review.  The gym were very pleased with my progress - my body/fat ratio was down from 31% to 23.7%, my waist had shrunk by 5 inches and my weight down by 20 kilos since 2009.  My blood pressure was lower (although it has never been high anyway) and my fitness level generally improved.  This was all a great boost after yesterday's day at Fat Fighter's especially as their weighing machine showed my weight to be below 12 stones now.   Called in at Waitrose and Staples on the way home.  Sara and Sophie had been shopping in Tesco's and I just missed them.  When I got back home I discovered a huge scaffolding lorry in the drive and the scaffolding from around the extension had been removed and some erected around the chimney - following the chimney fire last year some repair work is needed as well as extending the chimney to the roof line to produce a better draw and reduce smoking.  Tom's room has now been plastered and the corridor from his existing door to his new room completed.  The next stage will be removed the stud wall in Mary's room to enlarge that.  Sara was out at Ludgershall tonight doing what tuned out to be a very poor Vie party.  I completed the Night Sky article for the magazine and then watched Carry on Matron with Mary.  When Sara got home, we watched a terrible film called Titanic 2 - about a modern day replica of Titanic being hit by an iceberg carried on a tsunami.  Most of the film was made on board a very thinly disguised RMS Queen Mary and was never convincing with poor continuity.   Terrible acting and terrible plot.  

Bad News / Good News

Another day of pouring rain with intermittent sunny periods.  Today the builders broke through into the existing house and created the doorway between Tom’s old bedroom and his new.  Tom has had to “decant” himself into the Family Room for the time being and, consequently, the house is more untidy than ever.  I took Mary to school today in the car (it raining and Mary feeling somewhat tired after her sojourn away at Fairthorne) and then drove to Stockbridge for the Fat Fighter’s weigh-in.  A horrible revelation today – I’ve put on 4 lbs this week!  This means that I have not progressed in my weight loss for over two months.  I think that this is largely due to having other things to think about – builders, selection conference, mother’s health, etc. etc. and not properly tracking the food I have been eating.  Complacency has also set in to a degree I think.  After the meeting I went and had a skinny cappuccino in Lillie Langtry’s and read the newspaper.  On my return home I picked up the morning’s mail which included a number of items I had been waiting for including the formal letter from the Bishop of Sherborne confirming that I had been selected for licensed ministry training.  It was so good to get that letter. Dawn was in the kitchen with Sara and her dog.  The dog had terrorized Emily the Cat and also broken Emily’s cat flap so I was not  too impressed.  The builders, also, were making such a noise that it became impossible to work in the study so I took myself off on my bike for a ride round to East Winterslow with my mobile phone so I could make some essential calls.   It started raining hard and so I sheltered under a tree close by the bench along Pincroft Lane overlooking Salisbury Plain.  Despite the heavy rain it still remains a tranquil spot. I used the time to phone Mum and tell her my news as well as discuss with her whether she should keep her car after she had learned that it would need over £500 spending on it to pass its MOT.  She has decided that the freedom/flexibility of having the car is worth the cost.  I picked Mary up from school (walking with an umbrella) and after a short stop at the village shop escorted her home.  Tom's room had been plastered and it was now possible to get a good idea of its dimensions - not far short of double its previous size with a double aspect.  Essentially, he'll be able to divide it into a sleeping area and a study area.  Tonight we held a House Group meeting and studied the third session on Malachi in Ruth Valerio's book.  Some really good discussions which ended with James, Sophie, Sara and me watching a couple of episodes of Monty Python.  How do you get from deep theological discussions to Monty Python!    Answer, a vicar who sells dodgy watches!

A hint of good news

This morning I joined Richard and Linda in ringing Butlins to make a group booking for Spring Harvest 2012.  After half an hour, Richard got through but all three-bedroomed apartments had already gone and so we had to make do with five 4-bedroomed apartments.  There was no clergy meeting this morning so I returned home whilst Sara went off to Morning Star to do her normal Wednesday morning stint at "Newlyn". At lunchtime I went into Andover to do some banking and shopping returning home in the early afternoon.  Sara picked up Mary from school where she had returned from her few days away at Fairthorne. She and I watched Sleepless in Seattle together as the builders were making such a noise that it was impossible to do any work in the study.   This evening Richard, Sophie, Maggie and I went into Salisbury to attend the sixth session of our Lay Worship Leaders' course - this evening to learn about putting together a form of informal worship.  After the coffee break Nils came up to me to say that he had received an email from the diocese with a draft copy of the Bishop's letter to me confirming that I had got through the Discernment Conference and been recommended to him for training at a Licensed Lay Minister.  Richard, Sophie, Maggie and Zoe were delighted and Richard, Sophie and Maggie came back home with me to celebrate over a glass of wine.   Sara was dismantling Tom's high bed when we got back and that needed completing before we could celebrate. I should receive the Bishop's letter tomorrow.

A morning in the gym

Up very early again today - I had a dental appointment at 8.20 a.m. in Salisbury.  Although I arrived five minutes late, I was still kept waiting about ten minutes.  Unfortunately, the examination revealed that I needed another filling on the top and so I had to make an appointment to return for this work to be done on 1st July.  After the dentist I strolled into the city centre (I left my car in College Street as normal) and had a coffee and a bacon sandwich before spending the rest of the morning at the Leisure Centre - first of all in the gym and afterwards swimming - a total of 2 hours of intense exercise.  The scales there indicated that I had lost another pound and a half since last week but I don't think I can rely on these.  Indications are that my weight has stayed the same. The builders have now started putting the roof on the tiles today and Peter was across from Brighton helping and supervising the work.  Before the end of the day the new windows had also been installed in Tom's room ready for the break-through of the extension into the existing house.  What a mess that will create!  Sara went over to LED Synergy in Andover to look at potential LED displays for the Calendar.  Peter was expecting to go with me to the pub for lunch but I had a lot of paperwork to catch up on and I also spent quite a bit of time today getting the Orange Wi-Fi working again.   Tonight Sara started to dismantle Tom's desk ready for the emptying of his current bedroom before the builders break through.  They have done a tremendous job so far and I am very pleased with the standard and speed of their work.

Cycling

Mary was off to Fairthorne Activity Centre (on Southampton Water) with the school today and so this morning was rather frantic as she and Sara got everything together for her 3-day trip away from home.   Sophie came round later this morning and she and Sara went off to the Leisure Centre to use the gym - this is, hopefully, the start of Sara's new fitness and weight loss regime.  I drove into Salisbury to have my tyre fixed at Bathwick Tyres.  Unfortunately, there was a tiny puncture in the tyre which necessitated a new one being fixed.  At least I hadn't bent the wheel again.  The repair took only about 15 minutes and I was pleased to have the car fully functional again.   I drove into the city centre and parked the car in one of the street behind Friends Life.  I banked some money for the Calendar Girls and popped into Caffe Nero  for a free coffee and to read The Times before driving to Southampton Road and shopping at Lidl's.  i also popped into Halford to look at their lighter 24-gear bikes which I am tempted to buy to replace my heavy steel-framed Apollo.  Having enjoyed cycling with a lighter bicycle at Champney's I think I would really enjoy cycling around Winterslow with a better geared bike.  Talking of cycling, I enjoyed a six-miles cycle ride into Bentley Wood and back this evening.  The weather was beautiful, after all the rain of yesterday, and it felt really good to be alive.

Pentecost

It rained continuously all day today.  Despite the warmth and dryness of yesterday, the rain was ceaseless.  This was Tom's first real baptism of a Sunday paper round in the pouring rain.  Mary stayed over at Sophie's last night and so it was very quiet this morning.  Sara felt a bit achy and so decided not to come to church today.  That was a pity as it was a brilliant service today.  As a Team Service it was taken by all four priests with a worship band made up of players from several of the Team churches.  The children played a large part in the service with a three-dimensional jigsaw of the Clarendon Team (clearly Steve's handiwork) which they had made and thousands of small pieces of red and orange tissue paper were strewn all over the church - a complete and utter "messy church".  People were encouraged to wave flags and dance through the aisles.  There was cake and coffee afterwards.  About 100 people attended which made for a very enjoyable and lively service.  I had a long chat with Cynthia, Zoe and Nils about yesterday's experience.  Back home, Sara cooked grilled chicken for lunch and I had an uncustomary nap this afternoon - the busy events of yesterday and not being able to sleep very well last night have taken its toll.   Tonight, Richard, James and I were hosting the monthly Pub Quiz at the Lion's Head.  Not many takers this month - probably a combination of appalling weather, the Grand Prix on TV and so many people going to the Lord Nelson last night.    Predictably, Klynn's team (Klynn with Hamish and Jeremy) won convincingly.  Another late night tonight as Richard, James and I stayed on for an extra pint afterwards. 

LLM Selection Conference / Italian Evening for the Calendar Girls

A really busy day today.  Tom was up early this morning in the rain to deliver the papers and I got up to shower and have an early breakfast.  I needed to be at Church House at 9.00 am. for the Seelction Conference.  I had to drive slowly into Salisbury becasue of the tyre situation but still maanged to  arrive quite early.  I sat in the Lush huose car park for 10 minutes and read my devotionals before driving into Church House's car park.  Other candidates (there are eight of us in total) were also arriving.  The day was long with a short period of worship, a group exercise, a pastoral letter to be written and four quite intense interviews before finishing the day with another act of worship.  The time went incredibly quickly and apart for a twenty minute break when I went outside for some fresh air, the whole process was continuous.  I left feeling comfortable and resigned to whatever decision was made.  I had been open and honest throughout the interviews and if I wasn't the correct material for lay ministry then so be it.  It now rests in the hands of God and the Bishop.  As light relief, tonight Roger put of a special Italian evening in aid of Sara's calendar with seven of the Calendar Girls serving.  richard and I shared a table with Karryn and Simon from the chicken farm.  It was a great evening with lovely food and a wonderful atmosphere.  The Lord Nelson was absolutely packed and I would guess, by the generosity of the patrons, that the evening would have made a substantial contribution towards the Calendar Girls' funds.  Went to bed at nearly 1 a.m. after a really full and interesting day.

Across the Plain - Another flat tyre

Final day before the Selection Conference and I decided to make it as usual and stress free as possible.  No Ambassadors this morning. The builders are also having a day off and Duncan arrived to start the work on installing the electrical wiring for Tom's new bedroom.  This afternoon I decided to drive over to Frome to deliver the Complex accounts to our accountant and then drive over to Chippenham to attend the Wiltshire Provincial Secretary's briefing at the Masonic Centre there.  I decided to set off at around 3 p.m. (which is a good job) and before I reached Amesbury I received a warning from the car's computer that there was low pressure in one of the tyres.  I stopped near Boscombe Down to find that one of the tyres was almost completely flat.  I filled the tyre with air in Amesbury and continued on my way only for the warning light to come on again in the middle of nowhere halfway across Salisbury Plain.  It was clear that the nearside front tyre was leaking air so I drove slowly into Warminster where I parked up at the central car park and set about changing the tyre.  I chose this location as it is a flat tarmaced surface with a public conveience where I could wash my hands afterwards.  Having changed the tyre, I drove on to Frome, delivered the accounts and then drove to Chippenham via Westbury and Devizes - not the most direct route.  I had to drive at around 40 mph because I was now using the spare "slave" tyre.  As I arrived at Chippenham, the heavens opened with torrential rain and I got soaked walking from Tesco's car park to the Masonic Centre.  The annual meeting took its usual format (the minutes of the last meeting could be used almost unchanged for this year) followed by a very mediocre buffet.  I drove slowly back home via Devizes and Upavon arriving in Winterslow at about 10.30 p.m.  To bed fairly early as I expect tomorrow to be a long and taxing day.

Beaten at Tennis!

It was amazingly quiet today as there are no builders around.  In fact, they have got on with the work so quickly that they are now well ahead of schedule and have decided to have a few days off. Sara and I went to Weight Watchers this morning and I am delighted to report that I have lost the two pounds I put on last week so, hopefully, I am now on track again.  Just need to lose another 2 lbs to reach the three-stones loss mark. Sara, unfortunately, put on another half a pound.  I called in at Alabare Christian Care Centres offices in Salisbury later this morning and undertook my CRB check to enable me to join their HR/Safety Committee as their employment law adviser.  Afterwards I met Sara in Barclay's Bank where we had a meeting with our bank manager to discuss our investments and how badly they are doing!  The economy being what it is at the moment, it is hard to know where to put ones money.  This afternoon I cut the front lawn, worked on an agreement for a client in Surrey and prepared for tonight's House Group by watching the Spring Harvest DVD of Gerard Kelly's third morning study of Malachi.  I think I must have dozed off for about fifteen minutes during it.  Sophie came around just before 6 p.m. and we played an hour's tennis.  I am afraid to report that she beat me 4 games to 1 in our first ever proper scoring match.  I have obviously been teaching her to play tennis too well! House Group was very full tonight with Susan joining us to prepare a report back to Nils on what we are doing.  James stayed behind afterwards for a whiskey and de-briefed me on the Deanery Synod meeting last night.

Champney's at Forest Mere - Day 3

My short break at Champney's comes to an end today - so quick and feels, as usual, too short a stay.  I got up early for a swim in the main pool to find it occupied by a group of ladies jumping up and down doing aquarobics whilst being shouted at by a trainer on the poolside.  I decided to duck into the steam room for ten minutes followed by a cold plunge.  I did manage a twenty-minute swim before showering and returnning to my room for a cup of tea and to start the packing process.  I manged to get most of the packing done and stowed in my car by breakfast - my last meal here for a while.  I enjoyed a healthy breakfast of fruit and cottage cheese with some wholemeal organic toast.  I spent the rest of the morning sitting by the window in the Piano lounge reading Steve Chalke's book.  I treated myself to a latte and a slice of lemon drizzle cake before finally leaving Forest Mere just before 1 p.m.  I arrived back home at about 2.15 p.m. to find Sophie with her daughter here.  We chatted over a cup of tea - Sara was busy answering telephone calls - and she left us about an hour later.  Tonight was the fifth seesion of the LWL course at Sarum College when we looked at the Traditional Offices and went through the Book of Common Prayer versions of Morning Prayer and Evensong.  I sang some the the versicles to Evensong with other members of the course singing the responses. 

Champney's at Forest Mere - Day 2

Lovely to wake up and find oneself at Champney’s although I didn’t sleep too well last night.  I think it might have had something to do with the vast quantities of water I drank yesterday!  For some reason, I always seem to drink litres and litres of the stuff when I’m here. Started the day, after a cup of tea, with half an hour in the pool, steam room, sauna (not yet hot enough to do any good) and finally a proper lunge in the cold plunge pool – nowhere near as frightening as I expected – in fact rather nice leaving me with a warm feeling on getting out.  I shan’t shun it in future.  A healthy breakfast followed – fruit (including a rather bland example called dragonfruit), cottage cheese with fruits of the forest and a bagel.  I also took a banana for later.  I hired a bicycle this morning and set off on a 2-hour bike ride around the forest.  I cycled to the main road at the entrance to Champney’s returning via the lakeside path and finding this had only taken half an hour decided to be a bit more adventurous and turn off left towards the O2 transmission mast on top of the hill overlooking Champney’s.  I was amazed at the ease in which I took the hills on this bike – it was light and had 21 gears – and realized that just how poor my own bike is – 10 gears and a heavy frame.  I now know that with a better bike I could really cycle long distances to keep my weight down.  Must look into the possibility of changing it.  At the top of the hill there was a very encouraging sign – “MOD Land.  Do not pick up military debris as it might explode and kill you”.  In fact, I was on land belonging to the Longmoor Military Camp made famous by the comedy film St Trinian’s Train Robbery when the old Longmoor Military Railway was used.  I met a jogger who directed me to the golf course (at the entrance to Champney’s) except the golf course he directed me to was on the other side of Liphook.  I cycled a good 2 miles before arriving at the golf course and a pub on the Longmoor Road!  I stepped into the pub to find that I was a good three miles from Champney’s and had to cycle through Liphook on the main road to get back or come the way I had just come (back up the hill!)  The pub (The Deer Hut) had some good beers on draft but fortunately for me I had no money to be tempted!  I eventually got back to Champney’s in time for lunch – Chinese noodles cooked to order.  I spent the whole of this afternoon going through the Selection Interview questions, reading my application form and reference and reflecting and praying.  By the end of the afternoon I felt very comfortable and at ease with myself and relaxed about Saturday.  I feel that everything is outside my control other than ensuring that I am myself and am honest with the selectors.    God has called me and it’s always going to be his call!  I spoke to Sara who was entertaining her niece and family who have decided to move from Worcester to Salisbury. I think that it is good for Sara to have family so close.  When I first knew Sara she had no family at all close by.  Now she has her own family here in Winterslow, her niece (shortly) in Salisbury and the love of a whole family of friends and colleagues in the village.  We are truly blessed.  How great life has become since those dark days of 1994/1995 – for both of us.  I realize just how true is the phrase – it is always darkest before the dawn.  I enjoyed a lovely meal this evening – seared salmon on a bed of asparagus and sugar snap peas, pan fried lambs liver – cooked to perfection – the way I like it – and a very naughty apricot custard tart slice!  I spoke to my sister this evening who confirmed that Mum was well and that she had had a good day with her on Saturday.  Mum had been shopping and done some gardening.  I was pleased to hear this news.  Spent this evening re-reading Steve Chalke’s book “The Lost Message of Jesus”.  It is on my reading list and felt I should remind myself of precisely what the lost message is.  Ironically, I got a Twitter message (tweet) from Steve to say he was appearing on the Chris Evan’s Morning Show on Radio 2 tomorrow morning.  Must listen to it.