Holiday in the Bahamas

This blog entry will be upgraded each day, hopefully, to record our time spent out in the Bahamas from the moment we left home until our return. Instead of individual daily posts it will consist of one post added to from time to time on a rolling basis.  Hopefully, photos will also be added as when they become available.

Friday 25 October 2013 – A frantic day as is usual when preparing to go on holiday – in fact, although I really love travelling and seeing new places, as I get older I hate all the upheaval which packing brings and always feel quite stressed.  Sara is the complete opposite so at least we do complement each other.  I took Thom to Nether Wallop and it was expected that Sara would pick him up but as you will read things didn’t work out quite that way!   Sara and I spent the day sorting out the house – I cleaned the car and also picked up all the dropped apples as well as picking off the tree some good ones which are now stored in buckets in the cool of the garage.   I had done quite a lot of packing the night before but today I had to hunt around for various leads for the different appliances which we were going to be taking with us – cameras, phones, laptops etc. etc.  Eventually I felt that I had done as much as I could.  I agreed to go and pick up Thom this afternoon from Nether Wallop but had been there about 15 minutes when Sara turned up to tell me that Thom’s bus had broken down at Up Somborne, only 5 miles from Winchester.  I hadn’t taken my mobile phone which necessitated Sara having to drive to Wallop to tell me. As her geography/map reading is bad, I agreed to go and find the broken down bus and retrieve Thom.  I had to take narrow country lanes and negotiated tractors until I eventually found the disabled bus and Thom all on his own apart from the relief driver.  Apparently a replacement bus had arrived a short time after the breakdown and all the students, except Thom, had been transferred.  If only he had told us that a replacement had arrived I wouldn’t have had to have driven nearly to Winchester!  This problem put us an hour back and we didn’t leave for Heathrow until about 6.30 p.m.  Fortunately the traffic was not as bad as I had expected, although it was still pretty busy around the M25 and we found our hotel with no problems. We had an enjoyable meal with a bright enthusiastic waitress called Nanci serving us.  We slept well but conscious that we had to get up at 6 a.m.

Saturday 26 October 2013 – I woke at 5.30 a.m. and after tea and repacking the clothes we had used the day before and overnight, we left the hotel at around 7.15 a.m. arriving at Heathrow Terminal 5 at around 8  a.m.  having found the car park and handing our car over for the week for safekeeping.  Check-in went smoothly as did Security apart from my Kindle causing the authorities to search my hand luggage.  This was only a small glitch in the proceedings and was handled sensitively and with courtesy.  Our flight boarded pretty much on time although we were somewhat late in taking off and the journey across the Atlantic to Nassau took nearly 10 hours in order to fly more northerly than usual to avoid a huge storm in mid-Atlantic which is heading straight for the British Isles.  It is expected to land tomorrow and cause considerable damage at home.  There is nothing we can do about it – my flag pole has been dismantled and we’ve had new stronger fencing installed.  The longer journey did have its compensations as we flew across to Canada (Newfoundland) and then down the eastern seaboard of the USA enabling us to catch glimpses of Boston, New York and other familiar locations e.g. Wilmington before flying out to sea from the north Carolina coastline and out through the Bermuda Triangle to the Bahamas crossing over Grand Bahama in the process.  We arrived at Nassau’s brand new air-conditioned terminal at just before 4 p.m.  The ground crew were unable to unlock the plane at first because they couldn’t find the key!  After completing immigration cards (not available as usual on the plane) we went through the usual checks and questions arriving eventually in the baggage reclaim area where our cases were the last on the belt!  After collecting these we then took an expensive taxi ride to Paradise Island along the brand new dual carriageway road which runs from the airport, past Lake Coyningham to Goodman’s Bay.  It is then a matter of the usual slow grind through downtown Nassau.  We were in our apartment overlooking Nassau Harbor by 6 p.m.  Thom and I went to the off licence and grocery store for some essentials – including Sands’ beer and later Thom and Sara went and picked up a huge pizza from the Marina for our supper.  I also made some hot dogs and this evening Thom and I watched the third game in the World Series between Boston Red Socks and St. Louis Cardinals which resulted in a narrow win for the Cardinals who are now 2-1 up in the series.  Sara went to bed at around 9 p.m. but I forced myself to stay up to watch the ball game although I eventually fell asleep before the end.

Sunday 27 October 2013 – First full day in the Bahamas and we decided to make it a fairly lazy one.  We have no internet connection and want that to act as a bit of a holiday in itself – although I do wonder how the storm has or has not affected things back home.  Thom and I went down to the Pools in Atlantis this morning and Sara and Mary were to go to the supermarket to buy all the essential groceries to enable us to keep the holiday as cost effective as possible – eating out is so expensive with four of us.  In fact Sara and Mary arrived about an hour later to say that they had missed the bus to the supermarket.  I went to see the concierge and established that the main supermarket was only about twenty minutes’ walk away over the huge bridge which spans Nassau Harbor but that it closed at 3.30 p.m. on Sundays. Sara and I decided to walk the distance and bring the groceries back in suitcases which we could wheel.  The journey out was fine – light empty suitcases and after walking over the bridge we were at the supermarket within ten minutes – very easy.  The reverse was a bit of a nightmare.  The groceries we bought were extremely heavy – including a gallon of orange juice, a heavy water melon and a bag of potatoes.  The trundled back very slowly and the high bridge was a “killer” and as I write this on the following morning my lower back is hurting.  The decided that this was not an experience we would want to try again and it reminded me of those charity stories about women having to walk several miles with pots of water on their head – also in the searing heat.  Tonight we ate fried chickens’ wings with fresh corn and potatoes – very enjoyable and all the more so because we know what we had to do to get them.  We had also brought back a lot of cans of drink and in this heat it is most important to drink plenty.  Mary, Sara and I played with the “wobble ball” in the large pool by the apartments.  It was “chilly” tonight as the temperature has dropped to about 70 degree F.  Thom and I watched the fourth game in the World Series which saw Boston equalise the series by winning 4-2.  The teams have now won two games apiece.  It certainly looks like the Series will go its full length.  Tomorrow I guess we will stay around the resort especially as I haven’t been on any of the water rides yet.

Monday 28 October 2013 – Woke early this morning with the sun shining into our bedroom.  I had a good night’s rest in the large kingsize bed which we have in our apartment out here. The weather seems much cooler today – not the usual high temperatures we are used to.  I watched the mail boat come into the harbour and dock opposite our apartment – the bay being quite busy today.  Just one ocean liner in today – Azure of the Seas.  Sara and the kids went across to Atlantis after a large breakfast of American pancakes, frankfurters and fruit.  I stayed behind for an hour and wrote up the first three days of this blog from my recollections since leaving home.  We have no internet connection and this is quite liberating.  It will also mean that this blog is not likely to get posted until after our return to England.  As I write this up I am sitting on our balcony overlooking the harbour sipping Canadian Dry whiskey and feeling like Ernest Hemingway.  After my journalling I walked across to Atlantis via the aquarium and joined the family for the rest of day enjoying the slides and water rides and also had a lovely dip in the ocean whose water was much warmer than the pools.  I really enjoyed the Rapids and the Tidal Wave but did manage to crack my head against the wall just where the wave machine is at its most powerful. Later on I was also tipped over and found my head on the bottom of the canal. Still, that’s all part of the fun of Atlantis – there has to be that slight element of fear in the rides.  Tonight we ate beans and rice and then went out to the Marina for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.  I had a particularly interesting combination of banana yoghurt with peanut butter.  It may sound disgusting but out here it seems perfectly normal.  I watched the fifth game in the World Series which saw Boston beat the St. Louis Cardinals by 3-1.    So far it has been an extremely low scoring series.  A break from the baseball tomorrow night.

Tuesday 29 October 2013 – Woke early again but had a really enjoyable lie in with Sara. After finding out about the times of the church services in Christ Church Cathedral, Nassau, I decided to spend the day in downtown Nassau and not on Paradise Island. After watching an incredible piece of American daytime TV called the Maury Show (Jeremy Kyle style) I set off for Nassau via ferry.  The ferry has now gone up to $8 return fare but still with the “cabaret” entertainment from “your friendly tour guide who doesn’t get paid by the captain”. The patter has actually changed from previous years – the Bridge Suite is no longer the “Michael Jackson Suite” but Stevie Wonder did still once stay there (“or so they told him”) and it appears that Nicholas Cage is no longer one of our neighbours.  Conch is still “Bahamian Viagara” but there was no mention of the absence of “hanky-panky” at the Yoga Retreat – although it stills remains in existence.  Four liners were in today – Carnival Sensation, Carnival Expectation, Majesty of the Sea and Disney Dream and as usual we passed them close to as we entered the dock at Nassau.  On disembarking the ferry I walked up to Bay Street and to the Effy jewellers where they had been advertising free semi-precious pendants. In fact the pendants were indeed free in a pack with two earrings.  Sara wanted one of the brown tanzanite pendants so I bought a pack for $10.  Unfortunately the Pompey slave Museum is currently closed for refurbishment and so it will not be possible to take Mary there tomorrow as she has wished.   I went into McDonald’s to use their free wi-fi before going on to Christ Church Cathedral (Anglican/Episcopalian) to attend Holy Communion in the chapel.  There were only three of us in the congregation but Revd. Father Colin Humes conducted the short service including a short homily on the parable of the mustard tree.  He asked me to read the set intercessions which I was pleased to do.  The other two members of the congregation were tourists from Spain and couldn’t speak much English.  After the service we had a long and interesting chat about things both theological and Bahamian and struck up a good rapport.  We parted agreeing to keep in touch via Facebook and I discovered later in the day that he had done just that. I had lunch back at McDonald’s and picked up my email using my BlackBerry.  I went up the hill to the General Post Office and bought stamps for some postcards and letter we want to send.  It was then time to return to Bay Street where I wandered around the various souvenir stores close to the ferry dock and liner terminal.   Tonight after a supper of pasta for the children and tuna salad for Sara and me, we played a few hands of gin rummy until going to bed quite early.  No baseball tonight.

Wednesday 30 October 2013 - We had to wake up early today to attend an Owners' meeting at the offices of the timeshare we are staying in.  The presentation - advertised as 20 minutes lasted an hour and twenty minutes and was, as we had surmised, a sales opportunity to see if we wanted to add to our existing timeshare.  We did want to discuss options for moving our weeks into another season but the cost for us at the present time would be prohibitive.  We listened to and noted the options, took our free gift (a professional photo opportunity) and politely left taking American muffins for the children.  We then all went to the water park and spent a few hours on the slides and Sara plucked up the courage to go down the Abyss - a steep slide in darkness from the top of the Power Tower - about a 100 feet drop.  She had to admit that it wasn't as bad as she had thought.  Thom and I came back to apartment early and went onto the internet - him to do some college work and me to pick up any essential work emails.  Nothing too onerous thankfully.  Tonight we had supper in the apartment - hot dogs and burgers and I watched the final game in the World Series - Boston Red Sox winning 6-1 at Fenway Park to win the series 4-2 and become "world" champions.

 

 

Holiday Preparations

A day at home apart from a short trip to Nether Wallop to pick up Thom from the Winchester bus at 5.30 p.m.  Spent the morning doing some gardening - picking up the numerous apples which have fallen off the tree and picking others to store in the garage.  They are the best crop I can ever remember from our tree and have grown to become green and rosy red and very sweet and crisp - a joy to eat. It will be fun to dip into the garage and help ourselves from our own grown apples.  I also tidied up the lawn and, hopefully, gave it its last cut of the year.  After yesterday's torrential rain the weather has been much milder and drier today.  Sara spent most of the day ironing and I went into the loft to get the various suitcases for our trip across the Atlantic. This evening we started the task of choosing clothes and putting them into the suitcases.  I checked the hotel and flights and cannot check in until tomorrow. A violent storm is predicted at the weekend - described in the Daily express as the worst storm in 26 years.  As a precaution I have dismantled the flag pole and it can remain in that condition until we return.  Klynn came around this evening and has taken our season tickets for the Fulham game.  So glad that somebody is using them as I hate to think of them sitting on my book shelf untouched when somebody could enjoy a Premier League match.  The house is in quite a mess this evening but hopefully all the necessary paperwork on my desk will be in some order by the end of tomorrow.  A response to a settlement letter which was due today was not forthcoming and so it seems that I shall have an Employment Tribunal to handle on my return.  At least the fees will defray the cost of our expensive holiday.  Really looking forward to a few days away from the law, the church and general domesticity - and also the English damp weather. 

Ministering to the Homeless

The usual start to the day - up early, cup of tea, trip to Nether Wallop with Thom.  Sara did her stint at Morning Star, making sandwiches for the banquet run whilst I stayed at home to await a parcel - some clothes for Thom to take with him on holiday.  I also checked on details of our flights and currency situation.  I went into Salisbury this morning and did an hour's stint as chaplain at the drop-in centre.  Very quiet today which gave me an opportunity to read a couple of interesting articles in Christianity magazine about some of these dubious prosperity TV preachers/evangelists.  I become very sceptical about those who have so much money and private jets.  Whilst their meetings are free to attend the offerings made seem to be obscene and I think their whole philosophy is based on very dodgy theology.  As I left the Centre I met one of my "client's" friends who would later be eating the sandwiches which Sara has made this morning.  I recognized the New York Mets logo on his baseball cap and asked him if he really supported the "Mets".  He was astounded but pleased that I recognised it for what it was, and not a Yankees' hat as so many had. He did indeed support the Mets as he had lived in the states for many years and had a family in Florida.  We struck up a conversation about American baseball and football and I have to thank Thom for giving me this interest which proved so useful in gaining the trust and respect of one of those homeless people to whom I am now ministering. It goes to show that no knowledge is wasted, After my stint, I visited M&S and topped up our dollar currency and also went into Vodaphone to check the situation regarding the cost of phoning and receiving calls from outside Europe.  It was recommended that I switch off the mobile phone but use free Wi-Fi wherever possible.  Our apartment has Wi-Fi so we should be okay if I take my small netbook with me.  I shall do this in any event so I can continue to write up this blog and journal. torrential rain again this morning (which followed on from the violent thunderstorm we had yesterday evening).  Tonight I attended a special committee meeting of the Parish Council to discuss budgets.  This will go before the full Council next month but it does appear we shall have some spare money which we can put to use in some special way.

Paperwork

Another early start with me driving Thom to Nether Wallop.  My original intention had been to join Nils for Morning Office afterwards, but I received an email to say that he couldn't attend which was just as well as Mary missed her school bus this morning and I had to take her into Salisbury where I got stuck in heavy traffic. Back home I had a cup of coffee and took a shortened form of the Office and read my devotionals. Sara went into Salisbury herself to visit her niece and go to the gym and I worked in the study ploughing through papers and writing letters and dealing with finances. Paperchasing I call it.  I had been expecting to go to Southampton to see a client today but the meeting did not happen although I was ready and prepared should that be the case. Sara had to attend Mary's tutor's evening at her school at teatime where she was delighted to hear that Mary is progressing really well and is ahead of her targets.  We are both very proud of her academic achievements so far.  This meant a bit of a rush for Sara tonight as she was being picked up at 7 pm. by Linda G to go to the Alpha Course at St. Paul's.  Mary has now finished school for the half term and spent the evening watching TV.  

Winchester

The weather remains warm but very wet.  I took Thom to Nether Wallop as usually in very wet conditions. Thom had forgotten to ask for any money for his lunch this morning and when he asked me just before he boarded the bus I had to tell him that as I had come out without my wallet I couldn't give him anything.  Fortunately we are going into Winchester later this morning and could take him some emergency money.  The wind was blustery and instead of hoisting the White Ensign to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar as I would normally have done, I actually dismantled the flag pole to protect it - in fact it will probably remain dismantled for a couple of weeks.  Later this morning Sara and I drove into Winchester to meet up with an old friend of Sara's Mum and her husband who is a lay minister in Winchester Diocese. We met in the coffee shop of C&H Fabrics in the High Street for morning coffee and then went on to the Refectory by the Cathedral for lunch.  I had an excellent vegetable curry with Sara enjoying some excellent salmon fishcakes.  Although the refectory isn't quite as ambient as the one in Salisbury the food is considerably cheaper and more extensive.  We chatted about many things connected with the family and, not surprising as two lay ministers inn ecclesiastical setting, about our ministries and church in general. After lunch we went our separate ways and Sara and I visited the City Museum and enjoyed looking at the Roman exhibits.  We also visited Waterstones and bought some guides to Marrakech for our forthcoming trip.  We picked up Thom after college and returned to Winterslow.  This evening I attended the sixth of my sessions for the Christian Ethics module and  we spent the evening looking at Utilitarianism or ethics based on doing what is better for the greater number of people rather than on Christian principles and considering whether utilitarian principles can ever be applied.  Quite heavy stuff which I will need to read further in the text books.  I need to start thinking about planning my two assignments for this module which, I have to confess, I haven't found easy.  Back home, Sara and I talked to David and Andrea in the USA via Skype about family news. 

Another Catch-Up or Love is like a Violin

Wednesday 16 October - Sunday 20 October 2013

Yet again I must apologies to my many regular readers who have noticed that I haven't posted anything here since Tuesday 15 October. The simple fact is that we have had quite an emotional week with, in particular, family difficulties.  Let me hasten to add, however, that I am not talking here about any problems between Sara and myself or within our own family unit here in Winterslow but within our wider family.  Much of what I would have wanted to write, therefore, has had to be confined to a private journal and not published in this blog.  There has been much reflection, theological and otherwise, and as I write this, feel so much better.

 

Picking up from Wednesday morning, I attended Mid-Week Eucharist at Whaddon as usual followed by a meeting of the Team Staff at Alderbury Vicarage.  On Thursday I met with my Rector at the Rectory for our monthly 1:1 meeting and following working on consultancy matters in the afternoon I was picked up by Mike M-J to attend Deanery Synod at Sarum College in the evening.  It was a most unusual meeting in that the Deanery Mission Project chosen for 2014 was, in fact, two organisations - there being a dead heat.  We chose The Bridge Project (Christian Education in Schools) and Living Water (a charity whose main purpose is to provide clean drinking water to villages in Africa).  It will be interesting to see how this develops as we have never before had two different (and in this case quite different) charities.  Sara and James together with Ivan and Paul held the House Group and watched Nicky Gumbel in an Alpha Course session on "Why did Jesus Die?"

 

Friday morning started at the Grasmere House Hotel with Ambassadors Business Breakfast where the speaker was Mark from Downton who gave a short illustrated talk about how Salisbury has changed in the last 50 years with great anecdotes.  The biggest change came about by the building of the inner ring road.  I had morning coffee with Bill at Alderbury before doing a three-hour stint at Alabare Place.  The three hours flew by as I was engaged with clients the whole time and had some great talks with many.  Trying to get work is proving difficult for many of them - those particularly who want to work.  This afternoon we had a pastoral visit from Cynthia after which both Sara and I were feeling much better. In fact, my stint at the homeless drop-in centre had actually done me the world of good. This evening we had our great nephew, Rio, over to stay with us for the weekend.  He really does love staying over.  I went down with James and Richard to the Lord Nelson this evening as we shall not all be available for our usual Sunday evening at the Lion's Head (Aston villa are playing at home!)

 

An exciting and different Saturday.  Sara, Rio, Mary and I went to Devizes to witness the sale of Wallace Hartley's violin which was recovered from his body after Titanic sank.  This was the same violin on which "Nearer my God to Thee" had been played in the final moments of that great and tragic ocean liner. The instrument finally went to telephone bidder for £900,000!  Sara and I bid £50 for a bit of fun knowing that we were quite safe to do so. In the same sale I successfully bid for the cheapest item - a set of ship's biscuit tins for £10!  In the news tonight the BBC said that the auction had resulted in items being sold for between £10 and £900,000.  I was the £10! Great fun.  After the sale we had drinks with our friends Nicki and Richard whom we hadn't seen for such a long time.  Both looked younger than ever and in great health and spirits.  We have agreed that we must try and attend Titanic conventions again - especially as next year they are being held back in Southampton.  Rio had a wonderful time and remarked that he thought the buyer of the violin had been ripped off because he couldn't even play it!  We ended the day in Devizes eating rather good fish and chips from The Lemon Plaice.

 

On Sunday I had arranged to get somebody else to administer the chalice at Winterslow's Parish Eucharist and went along with Sara and Rio to St. Paul's Church in Salisbury instead. A wonderful uplifting service.  Rio really enjoyed going to one of the children's groups and Sara and I were treated to a really good sermon from the Rev. Brian Meardon who spoke about Mission in a most engaging way - entreating us all to live out the Christian life in our everyday life.  He spoke along similar lines to my own preaching and had the congregation spellbound.  I felt on quite a high again after the service which also consisted of Holy Communion.  This afternoon I went along to the Italianate church in Wilton to witness a number of  Clarendon students receive their Aldhelm Certificate from the Bishop of Salisbury.  He spoke very well and expressed his concern that so many of the candidates were women (probably 80%) and wondered if this was indicative of the churches in the Diocese.  I think it probably is and was something I had also remarked upon earlier in the week when I saw the list of Clarendon candidates (100% female).  This really does show the need for men's ministry and I am currently thinking of ways of widening pub theology within the Team.  Busy week ahead as we prepare for our holiday in the sun.

 

A Strange Day

A strange day today and quite untypical.  It started off normally with me taking Thom to Nether Wallop arriving only 3 minutes before the bus arrived to whisk him and his fellow students away to Winchester.  Instead of coming back home as normal I drove on to Amesbury for a meeting with new clients from Surrey who had been introduced to me by my HR contact in Devon - hence the decision to meet halfway between the tow on the A303 at the Holiday Inn at Solstice Park.  I arrived well before the clients and had a cup of coffee and a bacon butty from the bar.  Pam, my HR consultant arrived just before 9 a.m. and we then had a 3 hour meeting to discuss the client's issues and agreed an action plan.  I returned home for a light lunch of tomato soup and whilst I was eating this Peter and Steve turned up to repair our hall ceiling - by removing the artex, repairing the water damaged part and finally (tomorrow) plastering the smoothed surface. I worked on completely the Night Sky article for the Parish Magazine and started writing up the minutes of the last lodge meeting.  Mary came home with her arm in a sling - apparently she had fallen awkwardly on her arm at school and so Sara had to take her to Salisbury Hospital for another x-ray (she has only sprained it thankfully).  Richard came round this evening and we watched the England v. Poland qualifying match for next year's World Cup.  England won 2-0 and thereby have now qualified for the finals in Brazil next summer. 

Salt of the Earth

Sara was up early this morning and took Thom to Nether Wallop  to go and pick him up from Winchester at lunchtime - he only being at college for half a day.  This morning I drove into Salisbury to pick up some papers post to me from clients which had been sent recorded delivery and which couldn't be delivered on Saturday because both Sara and I had been out.  I parked in St. Paul's church yard, picked up the paper and then walked over to SP2 (St. Paul's 2 - Community Centre and Coffee Shop) where I had a really lovely cappuccino and spent an hour reading through the file of papers.  I then drove straight to Winchester arriving ten minutes before Thom needed to be picked up. We had a lunch of fish and chips (al fresco) and talked about the recent family events which it would be inappropriate for me to record here.  Sara spent some time dealing with family matters in Salisbury today and after working in the study this afternoon attended Sarum College this evening for the fifth session in my module on Christian Ethics. Sara and the children came into the college before the beginning of my session to bring me up to date with things and for a general natter.  Mary had a cervix cancer preventative jab at school today and is feeling quite poorly.  Apparently she fainted - she is definitely my daughter as my father, me, Thom and now Mary all suffer from fainting in medical situations.  A good session tonight with Stella and Rachel. We discussed what is meant by "Justice" and then went on to discuss the effects of globalisation.  If I didn't learn any theology tonight I did learn that all the little salt sachets used by McDonalds all over the world are made in an industrial unit in Salisbury! Wow!  So when we put salt on our chips in Nassau, Bahamas, the little sachet came all the way from Salisbury.  Mind boggling.  When I got home tonight Mary was really feeling sorry for herself with her arm still hurting from the jab and asked me to spend some time with her before going to sleep.  I think the issue with the other family has affected her and she wants reassurance that all is well in our family unit.   Sara has been an angel as always - I am so lucky to have her. Salt of the earth!  Tonight ended with a Skype session with Sara's Dad and Andrea in America and we brought them up to date with everything.  I finished the day writing up this blog for the weekend as I simply had not had an opportunity to do this before.    

Harvest Festival

A busy and emotional Sunday.  Although I woke quite early this morning I had a bit of a lie in before getting up at 9 a.m.  I was taking the 11 a.m. service at Farley this morning together with morning Star and I arranged to call around to their premises for us all to go off together to the church.  Sara had intended to take Mary to St. Paul's this morning but, last minute, Mary didn't want to go so Sara, Thom and Mary all stayed at home.  After picking up the service sheets from St. John's I arrived at Morning star a little late but we made it to All Saints, Farley by 10.30 a.m.  A really packed church this morning (about 40-50) which is really good for Farley.  As it was the Harvest Festival service we had the old favourite hymns - We Plough the Fields and Scatter and Come ye faithful people come together with another two favourites.  David read the Gospel and Bev and Jake gave their stories just as they had done at Alderbury last week.  Again we had an amazing response and we left Farley with a van load of food which had been collected around the village and presented this morning in church.  Wonderful.  I arrived home at just after 1 p.m. and had just finished a wonderful sausage casserole when Sara received a text from a relative which suddenly changed our whole day and she had to rush off into Salisbury leaving me with the kids.   I briefly phoned Mum this afternoon before I had to dash off again to Morning Star as I had agreed to help them navigate their way over to Lover, near Redlynch, where we were to take part in another harvest service but this time with the Rev. David Bacon officiating.  A beautiful Victorian Oxford Movement church. Another wonderful service with a packed church - about 60 - followed by a really nice harvest supper in the village hall just up the road.  A total amount of £250 was collected for the charity. I arrived back in Winterslow just in time to take part in the second half of the pub quiz.  My team was lying in second place when I arrived and I helped to complete the dingbats and with the rest of the questions.  In the end we managed to win and I came home, once more, with a bottle of red wine as a prize.  Went to bed quite late after a long discussion with Sara about the ups and downs of the day. 

Another defeat for Grimsby Town

A bit of a lie in this morning - Thom did his paper round quite early and was soon back.  A fairly leisurely morning with me finalising the Harvest Festival service for Farley which I am taking tomorrow morning. This afternoon Thom and I went to Salisbury City's football ground, the Raymac Stadium, to watch them take on my home club, Grimsby Town and we stood in the away end.  The first half of the game saw Grimsby as very much the dominant force but a goal from Salisbury in the 47th minute (2 minutes into the second half) sealed a win for the newly promoted Conference side and resulted in an ignominious defeat for the not so Mighty Mariners!  Poor old Thom - he has been to dozens of Grimsby Town's matches and only ever seen them win once! I enjoyed a quiet evening in this evening which I spent most of in the family room watching some transport videos.   I know tomorrow is going to be a very busy day.

We're going to Africa!

Another fully packed day today.  Up early to take Thom to Nether Wallop to catch his bus to Winchester and then back home for breakfast.  However, before breakfast Sara and I worked together to get a hotel booked and flights arranged to go out to Marrakech for a few days so we could use up some time-limited points we had earned when we bought our time share apartment in the Bahamas.  I have wanted to go to Marrakech for decades when I discovered it was a favourite haunt of Winston Churchill where he painted many pictures.  Recently Sara and the children saw a Jamie Oliver programme from there and fell in love with the idea of eating some of the Moroccan dishes displayed.  Nuria at Sheaton Hotel Group was fantastic in helping us get two rooms in a Five-Star hotel in a smart part of the city.  We probably won't find the time to visit the Atlas Mountains but we will certainly see them.  Really excited about going.  We've also managed to get cheap flights from Bristol Airport too so this is a real bonus after a really busy year.  Later this morning I did my 3-hour stint at Alabare Drop-In centre and was busy the whole time talking to quite a few of the homeless who use the centre.  They are now used to me being there and want to chat.  In particular I was able to chat with a newcomer who just wanted to chat about his problems and when I left was using Alabare's facilities to sort out some of the problems he faces as I had suggested.  He gave me a lovely smile and a wave as I left - that was such a rewarding moment. From the Drop-In Centre I went to the blessing and dedication of a new Veteran's Home for ex-servicemen in Salisbury and was asked, as the Alabare's Volunteer Chaplain, to say the Alabare prayer during the service.  I had tea and biscuits afterwards  and spoke to some prospective candidates for chaplaincy who wanted to know a bit more about the service.  I left before the fuller presentation and wine and nibbles as I had to get back to Winterslow to attend a special Parish Council meeting to discuss the formation of a Neighbourhood Plan with Firsdown.   The meeting finished at 9 p.m. and I spent the rest of the evening watching TV with Sara and a bottle of Doombar.  A full and satisfying day - not to mention exciting with the thought of visiting the African continent again soon.

A day of preparations

A day pretty much spent at home although I did get up early and attend Morning Office at All Saints at 8 a.m. with Nils, Elizabeth and Maggie.  This was an earlier start than normal as there was to be a harvest festival service at 9 a.m. for the school.  After the Office I returned home, picked up Thom and took him to Nether Wallop to catch his bus to Winchester.  Sara spent the morning with our niece, Tasha, at the gym at Five Rivers Leisure Centre. I did some Complex work today in readiness for a meeting with new clients in Amesbury on Monday.  This afternoon I worked on putting together the Harvest Festival service for Farley on Sunday - this involved writing up the service, choosing readings and emailing the readers and warden.  I am using a similar formula to the service in Alderbury last Sunday but within the context of harvest thanksgiving.  Again, no sermon needs to be written as Morning Star will be giving the talk with testimonies.  This evening we held our house group - there being six of us this evening.  We finished our study of 1 John with a discussion on ethics and the biblical origins.

Date Night (but not for us!)

I was up early this morning and took Thom to Nether Wallop to catch his bus to Winchester.  Sara did not do her normal stint at Morning Star as they are having their kitchen upgraded.  Instead, she made the sandwiches for the Banquet Run in our own kitchen.  I attended Mid-Week Eucharist at St. John's Church and then was given a lift by Nils to the Rectory for our Staff Team Meeting and luncheon.  After any essential business was dealt with we had an interesting session following up on our reflections at Brayford a few weeks ago.  This afternoon I mowed the front lawn and the bank and dealt with essential paperwork - still more to do tomorrow.  I picked up Thom again this evening (a late bus this time) anjd tonight Sara, Mary and I watched a movie on TV (Date Night) with Steve Carrell and Tina Fey - a charming comedy in which critics have described the two stars as having a good chemistry like the vintage comedy/romantic duo of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. An entertaining little film and a pleasant interlude in today's busy life. 

Irish Rarebit/Mary at A & E

An early start today - up at 6.30 a.m.  I think it better for me to get up early and go to bed earlier as I am definitely a "morning person".  I took Thom to Nether Wallop so that he could catch the 7.25 a.m. bus for Winchester.  The weather is definitely turning autumnal now with heavy dew and a chill in the air.  We are getting to that time of year that I hate - long, cold, damp nights but this year, hopefully, the nights will be graced by the presence of a bright comet from November.  After coming home I had another cup of tea before attending Morning Office with Nils (which I led this morning).  I find that this sets me up well for the day.  A bacon roll for breakfast when I returned and then Sara went off to the gym picking up our niece, Natasha, on the way.  I drove over to Westbury for lunch (Welsh Rarebit or perhaps it was Irish Rarebit as it had lots of eggs in it) and to discuss our assignments and projects for the coming weeks.  I returned to Winterslow via Warminster where I picked up some more cartridges for our printers. Mary came home from school and quickly went out again to her friend's house, Izzy, where she decided to demonstrate some new gymnastic moves and thereby sprained the ligaments in her neck (a form of whiplash).  Sara had to miss her Alpha course this evening at St. Paul's and instead spent three hours up at Salisbury District Hospital with Mary in their A & E Department.  It wasn't serious enough to warrant a Masonic Teddy for Loving Care but I lent her one when she came home.  Thom and I watched a couple of disaster documentaries before I shut myself away in the study for a couple of hours to tackle some of the emails and paperwork on my desk.  I made much progress and so will go to bed tonight reasonably early feeling that I have achieved something today.

Grappling with Natural Law Ethics

I hope to revert to daily blogs again and try to be a bit more organised during my day.  I made a start on clearing the pile of papers on my desk today and also wrote a few thank you notes to people who had so kindly come down to Salisbury from long distances to witness my admission and licensing in the cathedral last week.  I have been overwhelmed with the love and support of so many people who made the effort to give up their Saturday to make it a special day for me - something I will not forget.  However, it is now back to the mundane for a while - a few weeks at least until we go away on holiday. Sara stayed at home with me for most of the day too - ironing and doing other domestic chores.  We spent some time together this morning in the kitchen washing up - a good opportunity to chat and catch up on news.  I drove into Andover this afternoon to take some rubbish to the tip (mainly cardboard from the packaging for the new bed) as well as pay a cheque into the bank.  On the way back I stopped off at Nether Wallop and waited for Thom's bus.  He was really tired when I picked him up - he had had a heavy day of tutorials and lectures and this on top of a late night last night watching the Panthers' defeat in Phoenix. We ate roast chicken and roast potatoes for a snack meal tonight as I had to rush out for my two-hour seminar on Christian Ethics at Sarum College.  Tonight we grappled with ancient classical ethics and in particular the theory of natural law ethics propounded by St. Thomas Aquinas.  Heavy stuff!  Came home to find the hall stripped of paintings and furniture (thank goodness we have got rid of the old heavy piano) as Peter and Steve are here tomorrow to take down the old ceiling (which has been water damaged) and replace it with a new smooth one.  It will mean chaos for a couple of days.  It is my turn to take Thom to Nether Wallop tomorrow early and I will then attend Morning Office with Nils at All Saints.  I have a lunchtime appointment with Ashley in Westbury to help him put together a presentation for one of his modules (one I have already done). It will be good to get him finished with last year's modules before Easter so he can be admitted and licensed ahead

of next October.

A week of Joy, Laughter and some Tears

Monday 30 September – Sunday 6 October 2013

Another very busy week which seems to have precluded me from being able to write up this blog on a daily basis – a bad habit to get into – and so I am, for the second week, writing a “catch-up” seven day blog to complete the record of my life over these last few days.  for once Sara is more disciplined than me as she is now keeping a daily journal herself.

After all the busyness and excitement of the weekend – anniversary, birthday, licensing and Wembley trip, I tried to get back to some normality.   However the heavy colds which had affected Thom and Mary finally got to me and I have not felt 100% at all over this last week.  On Monday evening I attended my course on Christian Ethics at Sarum College and was “picked on” by my tutor Stella in the nicest of ways by being asked all the difficult questions in class because I was now a “Minister”!  All of a sudden I should now know all the answers to life and Faith (not).   It does make me realise the great and wonderful responsibility that now rests on my shoulders and how the wearing of a blue scarf makes so much difference to not only how people perceive me but also as to how I feel myself.  A worry though that I know no more than the moment immediately before the bishop handed me my bible and invested me with the scarf of authority.

It’s been a mixed week really.  I am still on a high (as much as having a heavy cold can let me) and I felt a new found confidence when attending the Staff Team meeting in Alderbury on Wednesday.  I now feel that I am indeed a full member of the Team whereas before I was simply a trainee and felt reticent in saying too much.  Wednesday also saw the Installation Meeting of Sarum Lodge with the Provincial Grand Master, Francis Wakem, presiding.  A lovely meeting with many visitors, The following day at the Annual Meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge Francis announced his retirement following the Sarum meeting next year.  I felt very sad at this news and had a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat – I don’t think that I was in any way alone.  He is an outstanding Provincial Grand Master and Mason and I felt extremely privileged that he attended my admission and licensing at the cathedral last weekend.  He also found that a very emotional experience.  So much emotion in such few days.  He shall be sorely missed.  We had our usual house group meeting on Thursday evening when we watched the final session of Gerard Kelly’s bible study talks from Spring Harvest (the First Epistle of John).

On Friday, after attending Ambassadors’ Breakfast Club I was on duty as chaplain at the homeless drop-in centre where I am now getting reasonably well known and finding the role extremely rewarding.  Tonight Mary attended a youth service at St. Paul’s.  She loves this church and the people she is now meeting.  I am so pleased for her.

On Saturday morning  I went with James to St. Francis’s Church to hear our MP, John Glen, speak at a men’s breakfast meeting organised by St. Francis’s, St. Paul’s and CityChurch.  He gave a very powerful speech making it quite clear that he would never sacrifice his Christian principles for the sake of the political “greasy pole”.   A real inspiration.  I spent a good deal of Saturday afternoon preparing the service I was officiating at Alderbury the following day with Morning Star.  The other part of the afternoon was assisting Sara in building our new low bed.  Between us we managed to work out the complicated instructions and we survived Saturday night without a collapse.

I was up early on Sunday and drove over to St. Mary’s Church, Alderbury where I led my first service as fully qualified church minister.  I wasn’t preaching and so I only had to concern myself with the liturgy and the rubric.  Morning Star (Bev) gave a wonderful presentation with Jake assisting by reading the gospel from Luke and giving a short testimony.  Another occasion when there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!  A really lovely service and I was so pleased that it went well.  Morning Star and I received a really warm reception and I will look forward to going back there again sometime.  Next week I will be repeating the service at Farley.

After the service, Thom and I drove to Southampton for the Saints’ game against Swansea.  A 2-0 victory has left them in fourth position in the Premier League.  I rang Mum this evening.  She had had a visit from my sister but was not feeling very well.  We only spoke briefly and I let her get an early night.  Richard came over at 8.30 p.m. and instead of our habitual Sunday evening at the pub, we had an “American Evening” in with Thom watching the Carolina Panthers lose 6-22 to the Arizona Cardinals.  Thom had been hoping for a perfect day – lovely church service, a Saints’ win and a Panthers’ win.  It wasn’t to be.  Richard left at half-time (around 10.30 p.m.) and Thom  went to bed before the end of the game (in frustration for his team). It was a lovely evening though, with hot dogs, nachos, peanuts and beer.  A real American evening at home.  My desk is littered with papers and unanswered letters and emails so it looks like a long day in the office tomorrow – and a further tutorial in the evening.

 

Apologies - Big Occasion

Big apologies to all my regular readers of this blog.  Since the last post on Sunday 22nd September I've had an amazing and emotional week with so much happening in my life - a significant wedding anniversary, a significant birthday and my admission and licensing as a Lay Minister in the Church of England by the Bishop of Salisbury on Saturday 28th September not to mention my first ever attendance at an American Football game at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 29th September when Minnesota Vikings took on the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I still don't understand the game but it was a great fun day out and something very special for Thom. 

A really special thank you for all those who attended the Cathedral on the 28th.  Photographs of the occasion can be found on the Salisbury Diocesan website at : http://www.salisbury.anglican.org/news/lay-ministers-2013
with a link to more photographs including some of Sara, Thom and Mary.  The service was spectacular with many of my favourite hymns and very emotional indeed. I felt the strong presence of the Holy Spirit as I went forward to take my oath and be admitted by the Bishop.  what an amazing privilege it is to serve God as one of his ministers and what an awesome responsibility.  I have had much time to reflect on all this and will write at greater length when time permits.

God Bless you all

Michael