Goodbyes and Hellos

Today the Clarendon Team formally bade Linda farewell as she lays down her duties as Team Administrator and moves across to St. Thomas's Church in Salisbury in preparation for her training for ordained ministry.  The Team Eucharist took place at St. Mary's Church, West Dean this morning and I attended.  Sara and the children stayed at home as Tom had his friend Doug over and she cooked them breakfast after his paper round.  We had a family lunch together of roast beef with Doug joining us.  This afternoon we all went to visit our niece Natasha and family who moved into their new home in Hampton Park yesterday.  Unfortunately, the previous owners had left the place in a complete mess and dumped all their rubbish in the garden.  Not a very great welcome to Salisbury.  Having brought some stumps, bats and balls I took the boys onto the Green and we played cricket for a couple of hours - Sara and Marc joining in later.  We played a form of Single Wicket cricket which was enjoyed by all.  Doug was due to be picked up later this afternoon but we were all invited to stay for a BBQ and so Doug stayed on and spent a second night with us.  Now Tom has his new bedroom there is plenty of room for him to have a friend for a sleep over without the need to use the Family Room. Eventually we said our goodbyes and returned to Winterslow.  I shall be taking the eldest lad, Harry, with Tom and me to the Rose Bowl next Sunday and again to St. Mary's Stadium on Tuesday week for the Carling Cup tie against Torquay United - Harry's first ever professional football match.   Back in Winterslow I met Richard in the Lion's Head for a couple of pints to round off quite an emotional day with the goodbyes and welcomes.  Richard and Linda will still be around in the village for a few more years even if they will now be worshipping in Salisbury.

Tom visits the opticians

After yesterday's excursion to Oxfordshire I thought a quiet day at home would be in order.  I was up reasonably early though as I had to take Tom into Salisbury for an eye test at the opticians.  Fortunately for him, he does not need spectacles although his eyes are rather slow at re-focussing from close work which might be the reason for his headaches.  A very low powered pair of reading glasses might help but he has been advised to try and do without but lessen his periods of time at the computer - music to his parents' ears!   Tom and I did a bit of shopping before returning home.  I spent the rest of the morning tidying up the front of the house and storing items back in the garage.  Peter and Ian are coming over from Brighton tomorrow to fix the door back on - it will have to be hinged but at least it will be secure. Tom had his friend Doug over this afternoon and they spent most of the time on Tom's electronic games and laptop.  I had intended to attend the Cathedral Bible Society Evensong this evening but time seemed to rush by and I decided to spend the afternoon doing some gardening - particularly mowing the two inside lawns.  The front of the house looks much better now although we still need to get rid of the skip.

Day in Henley

The weather was a little overcast when I awoke this morning and it had all the prospects of being a dull grey day. As it happened, the rain stayed off and it was quite a warm and humid day.  rSara drove me to Grateley Station this morning to catch a train to Reading where I was to be met by my good friend and legal colleague, Michael, a barrister practising from home.  Today was not meant to be a business outing but a social catching up.  My trains left and arrived on time and I was in Michael's car en route to Henley by 12.15 p.m.  After a brief stop over at his home and a chat to his wife, Denise and son, we walked into Henley by way of an excellent free house pub called the Bird in Hand where we enjoyed a couple of pints of Brakspears bitter.  Unfortunately, it is no longer brewed locally but is still an excellent drink.  We lunched at a really good Tapas Bar/Restaurant called La Bodega where I was tempted by the paella which we shared and which was truly excellent - nearly as good as mine!  We ate in the conservatory with a wonderful view of Henley Parish Church tower through the roof.  It was good to catch up and we have promised each other that we shall do this bi-yearly - Henley in the summer and Salisbury in the winter.  Denise picked us up and drove us back.  We watched some of the Second Test Match on the TV before a taxi whisked me back to Reading.  Sara again picked me up at Grateley and I was home by 7.30 p.m. having had a thoroughly enjoyable day out.

Ice Cold in Alex

First day of the school holidays with both children off.   Sara went into Salisbury this morning to meet with Alex to discuss the design work for the Calendar.  After dealing with some Complex work, Mary and I drove to Amesbury to take some bags of garden waste (mainly the cut up branches of the tree at the front) to the recycling centre and then on to Andover for some shopping and banking.  We enjoyed a frappe together in Caffe Nero and I was able to bank some more more for the Calendar Fund.  Whilst we were out, Tom's new wardrobe and bedside furniture arrived and Sara had already installed this in his room by the time we returned.  I must confess to having a short nap this afternoon as my long day yesterday has caught up on me.  Tonight, James brought around a DVD of Ice Cold in Alex as the first of our season of House Group films.  It is a long time since I've seen it.  A great film telling the story of how an enemy becomes a friend through helping in several crises.  At the end of the film we each had a glass of ice-cold Carlsberg which tasted especially refreshing.  Early night tonight (before midnight) as I have a teleconference at 9 a.m. in the morning and then I'm off to catch a train to Reading to have lunch with my barrister friend in nearby Henley.

Back to St. Mary's in a new strip

I was on the road again this morning at 6.30 a.m. for a further meeting with clients in Surrey which lasted all morning.  I returned to Winterslow at 1.50 p.m. just in time to chair a meeting of the Mission Giving Group at 2 p.m.  The Group met for just over an hour in which time we considered and agreed which charities and organisations we would recommend to the Parochial Church Council to receive a grant or donation from the Church. Fortunately there was much consensus and the task was not unduly difficult.  Tom and I went into Southampton this evening to watch a friendly football match at St. Mary's between Southampton and West Bromwich Albion.  This gave us an opportunity to see two new players in the side - Cork and De Ridder.  Both acquitted themselves well - Cork scoring a goal and De Ridder showing some skill with the ball along the right wing and crossing the ball into the area.  The final score was Saints 2 - 2 Baggies.  Tom and I both bought the latest shirt (see picture) so we are now completely ready for the new season.  The first league game will be against Leeds United at 5.20 p.m. on Saturday 6th August.  This game will be televised.  Still waiting for our Carling Cup tickets to arrive.

Breakfast in Rochester

Up early this morning after a good night's rest at the Premier Inn in Rochester.  Richard and I enjoyed a full English breakfast before setting off back for Wiltshire.  We had an excellent return journey arriving back in Winterslow at around 11.30 a.m.  I did some work for Complex this afternoon and mowed the front bank.  Tonight Sara went off with 21 other Winterlsow Calendar Girls to see the stage show again at the Bournemouth International Centre.  The TVs are now working in the children's bedrooms so Tom now spends his time in his new bedroom leaving Mary to watch her American TV on the satellite channels downstairs.  I have another very busy day tomorrow in Surrey with clients and then a church meeting in the afternoon and a visit to St. Mary's Stadium tomorrow night for the Saints friendly against West Bromwich Albion.

Rochester

Another fully committed day today.  I spent the morning on Complex work and phoned Mum for our weekly chat.  She is still suffering from aches and pains but the better weather is making it a bit more bearable.  We talked about my late friend and Mayor of Louth, David Kaye, whose funeral is tomorrow.  Unfortunately my commitments down here make it impossible for me to attend.  I am just so pleased that I was able to see him and spend some time with him whilst he was alive and enjoyed working with him to put together his last book.  I very kindly gave me a model of a Wolverhampton trolleybus as a keepsake which I have here in the study and which I shall treasure.  At lunchtime today we met up with the children's godparents and our bridesmaid who is over from Canada with her new boyfriends.  We spent an enjoyable couple of hours at the Pizza Hut in Amesbury before Richard arrived to take me off to where he and I were to meet with the Rev. Rob Ryan who runs a Pub Theology Group in a Wetherspoon's pub in the High Street there.  We found that our hotel was on the west side of the River Medway and about a 2-mile walk into the city centre (actually after some seven hundred and fifty years or so of being a city, Rochester lost its status as a result of a failure by the local council to secure it during the last local government re-organisation when Rochester-on-Medway merged with Gillingham).  Richard and I decided that as we had plenty of time, we would walk into Rochester town centre over the Medway Bridge.  Stopping at Morrisons for some contact lens solution, we took about an hour to get to the High Street where we had a cup of tea al fesco.  We entered the Golden Lion pub at 6.45 p.m. and were delightfully surprised to find that a pint of Adnam's beer (brewed in Bury St. Edmunds) was only £2.30 (a £1 cheaper than back home in the village).  We met Rob and three of his regular pub theologians as well as a lady who, like us, was researching the idea of pub theology for a dissertation for a degree in theology from the University of Kent. We spent about two and a half hours chatting about many subjects and getting a good feel for how and why pub theology is working in Rochester.  We will need to make quite a few adaptions for it to work in Winterslow.  We visited an excellent Indian restaurant in the High Street which Sara and I had sampled before and whose reputation was confirmed by our theologians - "Two Cities" - where we had a balti each.  After the beer and the Indian food we decided that instead of getting a taxi we would walk back the 2 miles to the hotel arriving at around 12.30 a.m.  A good night's sleep too!

Pearls

Up early this morning - Tom had his Sunday paper round to do and papers to sort - and I walked to church.  Sara was the official Church Welcomer today.  Today marked the end of an era with Linda giving her last Praise Service at All Saints before she moves away to commence her ordination training at a church somewhere in Salisbury.  Quite an emotional occasion.  An excellent service continuing the theme of the Kingdom of Heaven with pearls being used to illustrate the point that the closer we are to God the more lustre we have - just like pearls.  We shall certainly miss her.  I took the clippings from my tree pruning to the recycling centre after church.  This afternoon I spent some time putting up curtain poles in Tom's bedroom.  He has three windows in his bedroom and so three poles had to be put up - eighteen holes to drill!  All went quite smoothly I'm pleased to say, although I would never regard myself as a "DIYer".  I also started to remove some of the large branches on our front garden tree which has grown to such an extent that I am fearful that we are losing quite a bit of light at the front of the house.  A project of mine, now, is to cull some of the large bushes and trees which have grown up significantly since we moved in some twelve years ago.  It is amazing how quickly trees grow.  I treated us all to a Chinese takeaway this evening as a reward for all the work done today.

Hog Roast at Morning Star

Tom was up and away early this morning to complete his paper round.  Sara drove him to the shop and then up to his first house.  I took Mary and her friend Harriet to Landford to take part in a cheer leading contest and then returned home for a breakfast of a bacon butty.  Sara went off this morning to Andover to deliver some Vie at Home products and I completed some Complex work following my visit up to Leatherhead yesterday.  This afternoon was spent carving a free range pig at Morning Star's special afternoon for supporters of the charity.  Their new IT building was opened by the Archdeacon and there were over 100 guests present.  I carved and Dave served the 100 people with roast pork and crackling.  Dave had provided me with a chef's uniform and I enjoyed the experience, having been trained how to cut up a whole pig last year. A great opportunity to see and talk to everyone. Unlike last year, the pig barely provided enough meat for everyone but nobody seemed to go without - so well done everybody.  I had a chance to have a chat with quite a lot of people including the Archdeacon afterwards who was very good chatting with Mary - encouraging her in her wish to become a vet.  A really successful afternoon.  When I got back home I trimmed the tree and bushes at the front of the house feeling that I needed some exercise after that pork and crackling - I only had one bun actually.  Enjoyed a nice relaxing bath this evening.  Tomorrow we shall attend Linda's last praise service before she moves on to one of the city's churches to commence her ministry training. 

A full day at Leatherhead

I was up very early again this morning and on the road at 7 p.m. to attend all day meetings at a clients' premises in Leatherhead, Surrey to take witness statements and review papers.  I arrived at 8.45 a.m. and didn't leave until 4.45 p.m. without a break - just cups of coffee.   I battled with the heavy traffic this evening to get back home at 7.30 p.m. in time to pick up Mary from the Youth Zone.  Sara spent the morning on the penultimate shoot for the Calendar - a Christmas scene at Wilton House.  She then did her stint at the Lord Nelson.  This evening she is baby-sitting for a neighbour.  I am writing up my blogs before plonking myself down in front of the TV with a glass or two of wine.  Feeling quite shattered after four hours of driving and eight hours of desk work.  I'll finalise the statements tomorrow. the statements tomorrow.

Morning Sports and Evening Prayer

In the village all day today after my busy day yesterday.  I had to catch up with my mail and also deal with some paperwork following my morning in Dorking yesterday.  It was the School's Sports Day today and I walked up to the Rec to see Mary in the relay race. I missed her two previous races but Sara was there to see them.  I chatted with Klynn, Susan and her family who are over from Northern Ireland.  Klynn drove me back home and we had coffee and biscuits together and a chance to catch up as we had not seen much of each other over the past few weeks.  Klynn now often goes to the Baptist Church and I am now going around to other churches in the Clarendon Team in preparation for my training - so we don't meet at All Saints very often.  I felt quite shattered this afternoon but mowed the inside lawns and then sat down and watched some of the video I had purchased at the Fete about ocean liners.  I also had a couple of business calls to deal with too.  This evening we had a relaxed House Group and celebrated Evening Prayer together from the Book of Common Worship.  A pleasant way to end the day which refreshed me and made me feel very comfortable and ready for bed.  Another busy day tomorrow with, potentially, a full day in Leatherhead with clients.

Back in Dorking

A very long day today.  I was up at 6 a.m. today and on the road just after 6.30 a.m. to drive to Dorking where I was spending the morning with a client.  It was like old times when I regularly commuted to Dorking as part of my previous employment.  The difference this time was that I am now working for myself and for completely new people and organisation.  I was in Dorking until 1.30 p.m. when I set off back for Salisbury where I was meeting an old solicitor-colleague from Exeter who was joining me for tea at the Boston Tea Party in the centre of Salisbury.  We spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting and catching up on our news over the last eighteen months or so.  I took him back to the station to catch his train back to Exeter and went home briefly before picking up James to go with me to East Grimstead for the Joint PCC Meeting to discuss the future of the Clarendon Team (or Church).  The meeting lasted for two hours without any formal conclusions being reached.  It is interesting to observe the different dynamics within the different parishes - something I will need to get used to in the coming months and years.  James and I mulled over some of the issues and discussions over a couple of pints in the Lion's Head afterwards.  Sara spent tonight attending a Jamie Oliver party at Sophie's and Mary stayed overnight.  I spoke briefly to Sara's niece and arranged to take our great nephew, Harry, with us to the Southampton v. Torquay United Carling Cup game in August.  I think it will be a nice introduction to their new life in Salisbury and an opportunity for Tom to get to know and enjoy the company of his cousin (they are actually first cousins once removed).

Shopping together in Andover

Becasue of bad weather, the School Sports Day has been postponed until Thursday - our designated day for spending time together.  Sara and I, therefore, decided to swap Thursday for today - or at least this morning - and after I had dealt with an urgent letter, we drove into Andover to visit the bank, do some shopping and have a coffee together in Caffe Nero.  The morning went really quickly and we rushed back to Winterslow where I had time for a quick bite to eat before going to the Rectory for an hour and a half's discussion with Nils about my forthcoming training as an LLM.  A very fruitful meeting which did clarify a few things.  We now have a pattern of monthly meetings for the rest of the year. Tonight Sara attended a meeting of the local LPAs and I prepared for my meeting in Surrey tomorrow.  An early night.

Harry Potter - The finale

A day without appointments today so quite leisurely except I had to read through a voluminous file of papers for one of my all-day cases later this week.  Having tidied up the family room following the removal of quite a few of Tom's items into his new bedroom, I stretched myself out on the bed-sofa and doggedly went through all the papers.  Sara got on with some laundry after having been to one of the Calendar locations to supervise another shoot.  This evening we all went to Southampton to see the latest and final Harry Potter film.  We naughtily stopped off at KFC for an early supper - bang goes the diet again - before turning up at the cinema about half an hour early.  This last film is in 3-D with some amazing visual effects.  It draws together many of the loose ends from all the previous films although is still, to me, complicated as I have never been a real Harry Potter fan.  I have enjoyed all the films - a remarkable story with some remarkable acting and visual effects - and I am pleased to have seen them all.  If time ever permits, I will try and read all the books with a view to understanding some of the more suitable plots.  I might then watch all the films again.  The Lord of the Rings is a similar problem for me.  When I was at Liverpool I read The Hobbit which was a good easy story but I could never get into The Ring.  I was given the film trilogy in DVDs a few Christmas's ago and have seen the first one but before I can go on to No. 2, I'll need to see No. 1 again.  The important thing is that Tom and Mary (and Sara who still drools over Alan Rickman) enjoyed Harry Potter.

A busy Sunday

Yet more rain this morning, quite heavy again at times.  Tom did his Sunday morning paper round and Sara, Mary and I went to Parish Eucharist at All Saints.  I was intercessing and Sara leading the Junior Church today.  We were informed that yesterday's wet Fete cleared around £1,200 in total fundraising, which is not bad for such a miserable day.  This afternoon Tom and I were supposed to be attending the Clarendon Junior Football Club awards ceremony and fun day up at Barry's Field but when we arrived we found that it was not the main event (this had occurred a week or so ago) and that the fun day had been cancelled.  There was a Dads v. CJFC Under 14s game in progress which I had been invited to play it but thought better of it - many of the Dads are quite competitive and fitter, besides which I do not possess a pair of football boots.   Tom is not keen to remain a member of the team although he does like playing football.  I think he needs to make some decisions over the Summer break.  I spent this afternoon tidying up the family room and moving some of Tom's possessions from there into his new bedroom.  I then moved some of the boxes off the landing into the family room so that I can go through them and throw out any unwanted items.  I will repeat the process until my study is cleared of all junk ready to be used for proper studying.  This evening I went to BCP Evensong at Farley where Gill presided, Nils gave the absolution and an LLM from Stonehenge Deanery gave the sermon - the topic being the Wisdom of Solomon.  Tonight I spent a few hours with Richard in the Lion's Head discussing world affairs and our futures now that things seem to be a little clearer with Linda's future career.

A watery fete

The rain continued again today and it was clear that any outdoor activities at the Parish Fete were destined to either not take place or would have to move indoors.  I was due to help Richard erect the gazebos but when I did not receive a phone call from him I went over to the Village Hall were it was confirmed that they wouldn't be used.  Sara went into town this morning for some essential shopping and to pick up and bank some further Calendar Girls cheques - well over £3,000 now in the account.  I went over to the Fete at a little after 2 p.m. The hall was heaving with people but this soon lessened as people looked amongst the stalls and drifted off.  Ironically, I won the jar of sweets which I had bought for the "How Many Sweets in a Jar" competition and, honestly, I didn't count them!  Sara had a stall doing manicures but didn't raise much money.  Most of the money from the Fete actually comes from the Prize Draw.    It will be interesting to see how much is raised.  This evening I wrote up my Night Sky article for the Parish Magazine and also wrote my Intercessions for tomorrow.   I have arranged to see Nils on Tuesday to discuss the programme for my training which begins on the 3rd September.  Still quieter a few things to agree upon including a written training contract.  I am hoping for rain tomorrow so that I won't have to take part in the Parents v. Players football match at the Clarendon Juniors FC Awards day! 

Rain stopped play -again!

An early start this morning with a trip into Salisbury to attend the Ambassadors' Breakfast Club meeting at the Grasmere House Hotel. Afterwards I visited Booker's to purchase a few items including a huge jar of sweets for tomorrow's Parish Fete ("Guess how many sweets in the jar").  I briefly went into the city centre to do some banking before returning home to deal with some Complex work.  Sophie called around at 2 p.m. with her children to play an hour's tennis.  The weather was hot and dry and it was quite tiring playing tennis in the heat.  I was, therefore, looking forward to a pleasant time in the evening sunshine at the Rose Bowl.  I set off just after 4.30 p.m. and the traffic around the Rose Bowl was really heavy.  It was clear that they were expecting a huge crowd today with a warning about a delayed exit from the car park and quite a queue to collect my pre-ordered ticket.  True to form, it started to rain just before the Hampshire's T20 game against Middlesex was about to start and we were delayed for half an hour - the match being reduced to 18 overs each.  Hampshire won the toss and batted first putting on 116 runs for the loss of 2 wickets before the game had to be abandoned because of the appalling rain that was now falling steadily.  Only the English could invent a game that relies upon really good weather in their unpredictable climate!  It took me about 15 minutes to get out of the car park (a really good bit of organisation by the stewards) and I was home by 11 p.m. or thereabouts.  Despite the poor weather and lack of cricket after 13 overs, it was relaxing to get out.  The cricket which I did see was excellent and Hampshire would certainly have gone on to win.  As it is, Middlesex were bottom of the Group anyway and Hampshire are top.  Now Hampshire will face Durham at home in the Quarter Final.

Lady Godiva takes a tumble!

Bastille Day so the French flag fluttered over the garden.  More building works today as the plumber, electrician and heating engineer re-connected up the boiler in its new position in the utility room.  The electricity went off again this morning and so I went up to the Hilltop Grill for a breakfast of kippers and scrambled egg and to do some work using my BlackBerry.  Another very busy day today with the receipt of a very load of mail which required urgent reading and attention.  I also booked a ticket for the T20 match tomorrow night at the Rose Bowl against Middlesex.  Sara spent the morning up at Salisbury Racecourse attending another Calendar shoot - this time involving a thoroughbred race horse which managed to throw off its naked female rider and bolt off!  They do say that horses get easily spooked.  Fortunately the rider was not injured thanks to having the good sense to at least wear a riding hat - if nothing else! This evening we had a small contingent for House Group - just four of us - but that was rather enjoyable as I was feeling quite tired this evening and it was pleasant to sit with just a few friends, drinking coffee (later a nice liqueur from Nassau) and discussing the meaning of life as seen through the eyes of Malachi.  Another early start tomorrow with Ambassadors Breakfast Club.

Romeo and Juliet

I woke up at 6.00 a.m. this morning after having only slept for a bout three hours last night.  I woke in the middle of the night and watched an episode of Most Haunted which I know is awful TV but it is also so awful as to be compulsive - like Crossroads used to be!  As it was light and a clear dry morning I decided to cycle to West Tytherley and back (about six miles) via Dean Road coming back into the village via the Tytherley Road passed Normans Court.  It was a lovely experience.  There was a fresh breeze and I was lightly dressed in tee shirt and shorts.  It was lovely to see all the wild life with rabbits sitting on the road in front of me as well as a sparrow hawk sitting on a telegraph pole.  Having returned home an hour later I made tea for Sara and myself and cooked myself a breakfast of grilled bacon, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms - no bread.  Sara was working at Morning star this morning and I stayed in to take delivery of a replacement piece of Tom's bed (they had originally delivered one side with the wrong bracket).  More hammering and drilling came from the utility room today.  I once more had quite a few letters, emails and other documents to look at.  There was no Morning Prayer today as the clergy are attending an all day conference near Blandford but I have been asked to join Nils for Morning Prayer at All Saints on a regular basis with other members of the Team Staff.  This afternoon I went into Salisbury to have my hair cut (I still only pay children's rates which are marginally more than OAPs!) and then drove out to Codford near Warminster to return the bone china tea cups and saucers used for Sara's Calendar Vintage Tea Party.  Tonight Sara and I went to a peformance at Mary's school of Romeo & Juliet - The Musical by Years 5 and 6.  Mary, who is currently in Year 5 sang in the chorus.  An excellent production which lasted about an hour with some really great talent and confidence displayed amongst these 10 and 11 year olds.  Feeling really tired tonight following the early morning bike ride,  quite a bit of walking around Salisbury and only three hours sleep last night.

A relaxing supper

Quite a busy morning today.  Sara went off with Karen for another Calendar shoot and I stayed at home to do some Complex work whilst around me there was much banging, hammering and other incredible noises as Matthew continued to work on moving the boiler into the Utility Room from the kitchen.  I went into Andover at lunchtime to bank some money and to check on the Calendar Girls account at the bank there.  I had a wonderful brie and cranberry baguette for lunch from the cafe in the shopping mall followed by a coffee at Caffe Nero where I also dealt with some important emails using my BlackBerry.  This evening Sara and I visited Weight Watchers.  I am sorry to say that I put on another pound and a half and Sara lost half a pound.  Not at all good.  I simply have not been tracking properly and not getting as much exercise as I would like because of the amount of sedentary work I am currently doing.  Must really get back on top of the weight loss regime and concentrate on tracking.  I was so near to my ideal weight but now it is slipping away.  Tonight Sara and I had supper with Nils and Judith at the Rectory.  A lovely healthy meal of poached salmon and a nice chat.  The Rectory has such a great calm reflective aurora about it and I like going there.  We touched on my training and Sara's work but otherwise we chatted about all sorts of other things unconnected with the church. A really enjoyable and relaxing time.  Sara and I must take a leaf out of Nils and Judith's book and set aside one day for just ourselves - probably Thursdays.  This will certainly be so when I start working in the Team as Sundays are likely to be busy.  Couldn't sleep very well tonight.  Sara went off to Tesco's midnight shopping and I watched Northants v. Lancashire in the T20 competition. A thrilling finish with Lancashire successfully defending a small total and winning by just 3 runs. 

A day in Southampton

Sara and I spent a good part of today in Southampton.  We had agreed, a day or two ago, that we should try and spend a bit of time together from time to time as we are now both leading such busy lives.  The Calendar Girls Tea Party raised a staggering £926.76 and I spent breakfast time counting and bagging up this amount to bank. We drove into Southampton and parked at West Quay.  Sara went shopping in Marks & Specer's and I went into the High Street to bank the Tea Party takings.  We met up again in West Quay and found that we had both been to the Sports Direct shop - Sara to buy some sports clothes for Tom and me to buy a new pair of black trainers - my current ones are getting rather worn.  We had coffee together in Costa Coffee before driving to St. Mary's Stadium where I bought tickets for Tom and I to attend the friendly game against West Bromwich Albion in a couple of week's time.  Having stopped off for fuel at Chilworth, we just got back to Winterslow in time to pick up Mary from school.  Mary and I went for a bike ride in Bentley Wood before I had to go back to her school for a meeting about the transitional arrangements from Year 6 (Primary School) to Year 7 (Secondary School).  In all probability Mary will go to St. Edmund's Girls School in Salisbury but I brought home a couple of 11+ papers for her to do this evening which she managed, with a little help from us. 

A visit to Alderbury

I decided to go to the Healing Eucharist service at Alderbury today rather than the Family Eucharist with Baptism at All Saints where Sara and Mary attended.  This gave me an opportunity to see an Anglican healing service and to meet the Alderbury congregation to whom I will soon be taking services and preaching.  Jane took the service in this lovely church - it reminds me a bit of Christ Church in Liverpool as it was built in the mid 1800s and is quite large and spacious with a tall spire.  They have also removed some of the pews at the front which increases the feeling of spaciousness.  It was a nice service with a good cross-section of people in the congregation but certainly not as full as Winterslow's churches.  As I was close to Salisbury, afterwards I called in at Tesco's to get some essential food items before returning to Winterslow.  This afternoon I mowed the bank again and cooked supper - Mexican tacos.  Tonight, Tom and I joined Richard in the pub quiz.  James was unable to join us as he had gone sailing so we were down to only three players without James's planet-sized brain.  However, we managed to come second - beaten by Klynn, Hamish, Susan and a friend of theirs from Kent.  I thought we did very well considering and Tom contributed well being able to give us the answer to a number of questions which we "oldies" would never have been able to get! 

Buffets and Teas

I spent this morning at Calne Masonic Hall, the newest masonic hall in the county, attending a 3Rs conference hosted by the Assistant Provincial Grand Master for Wiltshire, Sir Ron Stuart-Paul.  The 3Rs are Recruit, Retain and Refresh but early on it was announced that the emphasis would now be changing and that the 3Rs would now stand for Recruit, Refresh and Retain as it is felt that a refreshing approach to freemasonry will have the desired effect of retaining members.  I could see many parallels with the problems of growing and retaining our church membership.  In the case of freemasonry, the biggest factors causing members to leave early are men joining it for the wrong reason in the first place and having joined being subject to grumpiness from some of the older more established masons.  I sat on a table with some very senior masons indeed including the Provincial Grand Master himself.  An excellent buffet lunch was provided after the half day conference.  I travelled back down to Winterslow in time to attend Sara's Victorian Tea Party at Karryn's in aid of her Calendar/Breast Cancer charity (Stars Appeal).  A wonderful event which was very well attended by many from both inside and outside of the village including the leading breast cancer surgeon and nurse from Salisbury Hospital as well as a reporter/presenter from the Spire FM.    Masses of cake and sandwiches and a fantastic raffle.  The event raised a staggering £800 for the Calendar Fund - well done everyone!  We now have sufficient money in the bank to fund the printing and launch costs of the calendar meaning that every calendar sold will represent pure profit for the charity.

Morning Coffee at Alderbury again

It was raining and blowing early this morning and the marquee at Livery Road was blown over and damaged.  Duncan returned to continue fitting and testing the electrics - necessitating further power cuts - and Sara went to Whiteparish (over the hill) for morning coffee with a friend.  I went to have morning coffee at the Boundary Cafe in Alderbury stopping off at Livery Road to help remove some of the canvas from the damaged marquee.  Once in Alderbury I met up with some of the clergy including the new curate.  I also had a lovely chat with one of the parishioners at Alderbury.  They all seem to be a really nice crowd. Their coffee shop is doing extremely well and they were very busy indeed - much busier than Truffles in Winterslow.   However it is only once a week and has become an important focal point for villagers.  I picked up a cheque for four members of Alderbury Church to join my group going to the Seriously Funny event in Southampton in November. I received a phone call from the school to say that Tom was in the sick room again but told the school that nobody could pick him up until around 2 p.m - Sara would be working in the Lord Nelson and I had errands to run in Salisbury - banking and dropping off some papers at the Diocesan Office.  Returning from Salisbury I popped in briefly to see Sara at the Lord Nelson before going to pick up Tom.  I had a chat with the school administrator whilst there and explained that it is not easy for Sara and I simply to drop everything and drive to Stockbridge if Tom is ill - we both work - in my case I almost seem to be working full time again.  Tonight Sara was out at one of her Vie at Home parties - this time in Broughton.  Mary went to Youth Zone but Tom, still feeling ill, stayed at home.  I watched some T20 cricket on the TV - Kent v. Sussex with a win for Sussex.  Hampshire lost tonight against Middlesex but still remain at the top of their group - albeit only by 2 points (but they do  have a game in hand).  I hope to get to the return game at the Rose Bowl next Friday night.  I really do enjoy watching live cricket - especially the excitement of T20.  Sara still does not understand how cricket can ever be exciting!

A frustrating day - no electricity!

A rather frustrating day today.  Duncan arrived to put in a new fuse box and continue with the electricity installations for the extension which necessitated the turning off of our electricity supply for most of the day.  Sara went over to Livery Road to help organise things for her Calendar tea party on Saturday - a marquee was arriving and being erected - and I read some of the papers which had arrived for a new case.  Unfortunately I had forgotten that with the turning off of the electricity, the phones, Internet server and mobile sure signal box would all stop functioning.  I therefore went into Salisbury and used the wi-fi facility at MacDonald's to access my emails and attachments using my netbook as well as make some phone calls.  I also called in at Staples on the way home to pick up some paper for the printer and some plastic wallets for the new cases I have.  I also had lunch (a jacket potato) in Tesco's.  This evening we had a small group for the House Group - five of us.  We continued with our study of Malachi and discussed the meaning of the term "Kingdom of God".  Although heavy rain was predicted today, it remained fairly dry throughout.  I have also received details of my tutorials for the LLM course.  Starting in September I will be attending lectures/tutorials at the Diocesan Learning Centre on Devizes Road every Monday evening.  These sessions will last two hours similar to the LWL course sessions.

Legal and Ecclesiastical

Another very busy and ecclesiastical day.  I cycled to St. John's this morning to take part in Morning Prayer where I read the second scripture from Paul's Letter to the Romans.  We were joined by Debbie and Andrew and so had a full house of clergy and trainees with the exception of Mark.  Breakfast followed where Nils posed the question "What is the Kingdom of God" - the theme for his sermon at the Mid-Week Eucharist held immediately after breakfast.  I arrived back home at around 11 a.m.  to find a list of telephone calls and emails to which I needed to respond urgently.  Amongst these was a new set of instructions for Complex to act for another large client in Surrey on an employment tribunal matter.    Additionally, we now have two other tribunals in Surrey, one in Manchester and a compromise agreement to finalise.  It's amazing where all this work has suddenly come from - and just when I am on the verge of starting my three year ministry training/foundation degree course too.  It now definitely feels that I have no longer retired - just that I now work from home in the two professions of law and church.  I briefly went into Salisbury today to pick up two NRSV study bibles from Sarum College which I am donating - one to St. John's and one to All Saints - through the grant I received from Spring Harvest.  I also popped into the fabric shop in Catherine Street to buy material and other bits and pieces to make a costume for Mary for her Romeo & Juliet school play which is being performed for the parents next week.  Whilst in there I met Ella from Winterslow baptist Church who was also buying similar material for her daughter!  This afternoon I attended a Standing Committee meeting at Mike's where we spent a couple of hours considering the future of the church leadership in Winterslow and considering people we could ask to become part of it.  I cannot take on any further roles and will probably have to stand down from some existing ones in order to concentrate on my training.  I will become more Team-orientated and less parish bound as my ministry will be spread across all ten churches in the Team and not confined just to Winterslow.  I look forward to the challenge.  Finally, tonight I attended the last LWL course session before we break for the summer.  Tonight we discussed the use of music in worship and were told that we would each have to lead a service during the summer break.  We return on the 12th October for the final session which will lead to our commissioning as Lay Worship Leaders.  By that time I will have begun my course for Licensed Ministry and so I don't know whether I shall actually be commissioned.  Exciting times ahead, both in the law and church with so much work.  I can never say I'll be bored ever again.

Dinner at the Fox & Goose

The weather finally broke today, as predicted, with heavy showers towards the end of the morning.  Duncan arrived early to continue work on the electrics, particularly Tom's bedroom.  I moved some of the boxes from the landing into the Guest Room as Tom's new bed was arriving today and I would need room to swing it into his corridor.  I spent most of the day on Complex work and doing all those odd jobs which I had not got around to this weekend.  I booked the tickets for the Jeff Lucas/Adrian Plass Seriously Funny show which is to take place on Tuesday 22nd November at Totton.  We have a final number of 26 going which meant a further 10% discount on the ticket price.  I propose to use this to defray the transport costs.  Much of my work today was for my client in Surrey as the manager concerned is about to go on holiday.  It was agreed that I would spend a day up in their offices whilst he is away.  This evening I attended a new Weight Watchers' class up at Barry's Fields and found that I had put on another half a pound since I was last weighed some three week's ago.  Not bad and much better than I had thought as I have not been tracking properly.  This means that I am not too far off track but still need to lose another stone.  Should be able to do this with proper discipline starting tomorrow.  If necessary a few trips to the gym are called for.  After Weight Watchers I drove out to Coombe Bissett to meet with Lee, my masonic friend whom I am mentoring.  He would like to join my chapter in Brighton and I gave him the application form.  He was very impressed by all the work Sara has been doing with her Calendar and has promised to donate £50.  We had an excellent meal at the Fox & Goose - steak and chips for two with a bottle of Italian red wine all for £20 (£10 each).  Excellent value and well cooked too - the steak was delicious.  We treated ourselves to the cheese board afterwards.  Lee suggested we all ought to meet up there for a Sunday family roast sometime - their roasts are supposed to be really good too.  Must get to bed.  Early morning tomorrow with Morning Prayer and Clergy meeting here at St. John's.

Visit to the doctors with Tom

A day without any appointments - very unusual at the moment.  It was also a very hot day too - according to the weather forecast the last hot dry day for a while as we are expecting rain and thunder storms as the week progresses.  I spent the morning reconciling the bank balances and dealing with some Complex work.  Tom's school rang up to say that he was in the sick bay again - feeling giddy and having blurred vision.  Sara went to collect him from school while I went into Andover to bank some money.  On my return I cut the front lawn and later took Tom into Salisbury to visit the doctor and discuss his problem.  The doctor gave him a sight test and took his blood pressure.  No problems seemed to be recorded but the doctor believes it might be a problem with his sinuses (or hay fever) and suggests he takes decongestants.  He also suggested that Tom has a proper eye test at the optician to rule out any problems there.  Tonight I cooked us an Indian takeaway meal from Tesco's.  Delicious.  I couldn't get to sleep tonight easily and found myself getting up in the middle of the night to watch some TV - a feature about Ratner's faux pas in the 1990s, followed by watching Part IV of Diarmaid MacCullough's History of Christianity - Protestantism/Evangelism and finally a programme about Storm Chasers in the American Mid-West.

All change at Winterslow Parish

Another hot dry day today.  Walked to church this morning to get there at 9 a.m. as the family was acting as sidespersons.  Today was an All Age Eucharist which was advertised as with a baptism but there were no children to be baptised.  Not that well attended today - possibly because of the good weather - certainly not that many children in church. Nils announced that Richard and Linda would be leaving this church and team so that Linda could pursue her ordination training in an urban setting - probably Salisbury city.  This means that Richard will also be resigning as churchwarden and giving up quite a few positions in the church.  Norman has also announced that he will be resigning as churchwarden next April.  This will leave a major gap.  Although considered, I cannot take on this responsibility because of my own ministry training which starts in September and Sara has already turned down the opportunity of putting herself forward for the Team Administrator's role in view of her existing commitments. The new curate, Andrew, was introduced to us this morning. He seems a really nice chap and we spent quite a bit of time chatting after the service.  I then walked back home across the fields.   Had a light lunch of a burger and this afternoon I took Mary swimming.  There had been some misunderstanding as Tom thought that we were going greyhound racing again this evening as I had been given a voucher for free admission tonight.  Sara had told me that Mary didn't want to go but wanted to go swimming instead.  I took this to mean that any plans to go back to Poole were shelved.  In hindsight, we should have had a family conference to discuss what we were doing.  In the end, Mary and I still went swimming but Tom was very angry and upset that the trip to Poole was off (it was never entirely on in my book).  A major communication problem.  Feel everything seems to be my fault at the moment and felt quite down today.  Went to Sung Evensong at Whiteparish this evening.  Only eleven of us there.  Elizabeth gave a good sermon and Alan, the churchwarden who is also on the LWL course with me, was very pleased to see me.  John for the Astronomical Society was also present and we chatted for a while after the service.  Rang Mum tonight.  She seems much better and had spent the day with her friend Freda who is recuperating from a small hospital operation.  Had a couple of beers in the Lion's Head tonight with Richard and discussed the future of the church after this morning's announcement.

Going to the dogs!

I found it difficult to get out of bed this morning.  I woke at around 7 a.m. (Tom went off to do his paper round - with Sara driving him to the shop) and then dozed until 9 a.m. having quite a few dreams in that period. The weather was warm today.  Sara took Mary into Salisbury for her ballet and I stayed at home to write some important business letters for Complex surrounding the tribunal I am currently doing in Manchester. I later drove into Salisbury myself to post the letters (the collection in the village was too early for me to catch it) and run a few errands and meet up with Sara and Mary at The Boston Tea Party coffee/tea shop where we had a pot of tea each.  This evening, Mary and I went to Poole Greyhound Stadium for a bit of time together - I don't often have much time on my own with Mary - and we had a most enjoyable (although very unprofitable) evening.  We met and chatted with one of the dog owners and Mary seemed very interested in understanding more fully the racecard and its terminology.  I think that rather than studying form and the scientific aspects of greyhound racing, she should go back to her "intuition" as we didn't have even a sniff of a win tonight.  Never mind we had a lovely evening and a pleasant drive back through the New Forest and over Dean Hill. 

Coffee Morning!

I should have attended Ambassadors' business breakfast this morning but I had a dental appointment at 9 am to have a filling.  When I arrived at the dentist (on time) I was told by the receptionist that my appointment was for Monday evening!  I knew that I had not made an appointment for an evening and had not changed it so producing my appointment card - which luckily I had managed not to lose - they had to accept that the error was on their part and agreed to see me.  It was a difficult pieve of dentistry and the sound of the drill reminded me of all the building work going on at home.  Following the visit, I went into town to do some banking and then drove to Alderbury to pop in to the Boundary Cafe there and support Alison and Andrew who are running it.  I met Gail and a nice couple who live in Alderbury but don't attend church.  The cafe is doing really well and is clearly an important social gathering for people on a Friday morning.  I also called in at West Dean to see how Sophie's coffee shop re-launch was going.  Sara was already there meeting with Cynthia to sign her LPA contract.  I stayed for another cup of coffee and a brownie before returning to Winterslow.  This afternoon I attended to some more work and this evening played a couple of hours tennis with Tom, Mary and Sophie.  This is the first time Mary has played tennis properly and she is making progress.  It was good for me to get some more exercise in as I have been sitting down quite a lot recently working at the computer.  After Sophie left we had a Chinese takeaway meal for a change. Mary is now in her new bedroom following the painting of her walls (there remain some imperfections which need sorting out) and loves it.  At least one of the children is sleeping back in their room.  There is still quite a lot of electrical work to be done and Mary doesn't have her TV socket installed properly yet.  We also need to buy and install her wardrobe - still things are now, at last, taking shape internally.