Tuesday 22nd May - Early morning swim, sauna and cold plunge pool followed by the usual excellent Champney's continental breakfast. I went for a short walk this morning up to the course of the Roman Road up on the hillside. My treatment today was set for 11 a.m. - I was wrapped and marinated in clingfilm with some revitalising herbal/aromatic cream. This was followed by a lovely feet massage - all done by a masseuse called Lizzie from Formby, Merseyside. We chatted about Liverpool and she spent much of the time extolling the virtues of Nando's. I went for a long walk in the afternoon over the hill past the Communications Tower and down towards the A3 dual carriageway. All the time my walk was accompanied by the sound of small arms fire from the Borden/Longmoor military ranges close by. This walk was an opportunity to reflect of the scriptural passages for Sunday and the basis for my sermon started to emerge - an analogy between using old OS maps and reading the Old Testament. Dinner this evening was rump steak and mash.
Wednesday 23rd May - Another day at Champney's started with my swim, sauna and plunge pool. I had to vacate my room by 11 a.m. but I was not due to leave until 4 p.m. After breakfast I spent the morning walking and reading. Lunch consisted of freshly made chicken and noodles stir-fried. This afternoon I spent half and hour in the outdoor pool. Not a single cloud in the blue sky - very reminiscent of The Bahamas with a temperature to match. I left Forest Mere at around 4.30 pm. arriving home just before 6 p.m. Tonight I had to attend a Joint PCC meeting in Pitton. I have to say that my mind wasn't really on the meeting and I felt quite dis-engaged. Not the most exciting meeting I've ever attended.
Thursday 24th May - Back working today although Sara and I went out for a walk - School - Plantation - Baptist Church - Rectory - School. House Group this evening was poorly attended but we pressed on with Romans.
Friday 25th May - After dealing with some essential work, I drove into Salisbury this morning to post yesterday's letters and bank some cheques. There seemed to be queues everywhere and it is so hot. Felt really awful - I heat too much sun and I hate queues even more. Tonight, Realising that I have an incredibly busy weekend ahead, I set about writing my sermon for Sunday and preparing the service which I am taking in the Roman Catholic Chapel in Whaddon. This became a priority today and I was still working on the sermon at 1 a.m.
Saturday 26th May - This morning began with a Men's Breakfast meeting at Colin C's. An excellent meal - a typical Mediterranean continental breakfast - cold meats, muesli, black bread, rolls, fresh fruit - ideal for this hot continental weather. It was then off to Laverstock to see Mary compete in the Mini-Marathon coming 116th out of nearly 400 and 2nd in her class. a great achievement. Her classmate Alana, who is extremely athletic, came 16th - a brilliant result. In fact all the placings for Winterslow schoolgirls had a "6" in them - the one behind Mary was 166th and behind them 206th. Amazing. Sara was displaying her Jamie at Home products at West Tytherley Fete (not a very successful afternoon for her as she seems to have made a loss) and I and Gill M (an LLM in the Clarendon Team) went to a Diocesan LLM Forum at Dinton. An interesting meeting in which LLM were able to discuss some of their worries and issues - especially surrounding the new LWL ministry. Tonight, Lucy R looked after the children whilst Sara and I went to Romsey to see the Alan Ayckbourne play, "Absurd Person Singular" which I had first seen in London's West End in the 1970s - a brilliant production tonight by the ROADS - Romsey Amateur Dramatics Society - who were very professional. A great play and it was so good to see it again after all these years. The little Romsey Plaza Theatre, the first patron of which was Earl Mountbatten of Burma, was very sweet with teas, coffees and drinks all at reasonable prices - indeed the ticket for the play was only £10 each - quite a contrast to The Mayflower in Southampton. 'Afterwards we dined out at MacDonald's in Ower. Yes, I really know how to treat a girl! A relatively cheap night out. The most expensive part of the evening was paying the child-minder. A really good break. Sara and I really don't spend enough time together.
Sunday 27th May - Another fully packed day. I attended Early Morning Eucharist at St. John's taken by Elizabeth. After breakfast I tweaked my sermon for tonight and then took Tom up to Barry's Fields for the Dads v. Juniors football match (neither of us played in it!) and the awards ceremony afterwards - nothing for Tom this year. We watched a bit of the Juniors' cricket match before returning home. This afternoon I dropped into the Ecumenical Jubilee Celebration service in the Village Hall which was well attended with members from all of the churches in Winterslow. Tonight I led the service and preached at the Roman Catholic Chapel in Whaddon. A really lovely church - light and airy. It was a blessing that I arrived early. Our Assistant Priest, Jane, was in attendance to mentor and assist me and we discovered that two of the hymns we had chosen were not of the CD we needed to use. We had to quickly chose two more and make adjustments to the service sheet. I didn't expect too many to attend so I was pleasantly surprised when we had about 15 tonight - a good number for this type of service. The service and sermon seemed to go well and I had some really good and positive feedback from Jane. It was still incredibly warm as I left the church. Back home, I spoke briefly to Mum whose health is still not good - more pain and general discomfort. I know she would like me to go up and see her; but I seem to have so many commitments down here just at the moment. The children are anxious for me to spend time with them and we all seem so busy. Any trip means at least two days away from home and I really can't get behind with my work down here at the moment. If only it weren't 260 miles away. Finished the day and week with a couple of pints in the Lion's Head with Richard and Klynn. I need to catch up on some Complex work next week.
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