New Year's Eve - Goodbye 2011

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

Saints lose at home for the first time in 2011

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

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

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

"Back on Track" - The lost weeks

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

A day at home

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

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

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

Morning in Cleethorpes

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

Saints fail at Keepmoat/Meeting an Old Colleague

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

Off to Grimsby

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

Christmas Shopping

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