Preparations

Didn't wake very early this morning as I had found it hard to get to sleep last night and spent an hour or so watching a programme about the Great Western Railway on the Sky Box. This left me feeling tired this morning. Sara went shopping in Tesco's this morning and Tom and I stayed at home. I dealt with some paperwork and got rid of some more papers out of the study. I also did a few domestic chores such as washing up and putting some more washing on. I also got together some of the resources I want to take with me to Spring Harvest such as my study bible and commentaries which I need to hunt down - found amongst some other papers dunped in the study! I downloaded some useful guides and programme notes off the Spring Harvest website. This evening I picked up Sara's free cycling pack from Argos and attend the Sarum Lodge meeting in Salisbury where I acted as Tyler for the ceremony. The meeting went well and we had an enjoyable dinner afterwards of vegetable soup, roast beef, apple pie and ice cream and cheese and biscuits.

Stonehenge Convocation

The weather was bright and reasonably warm today. I made pancakes for the children's breakfast and Sara left at around 10 a.m. to go to her Ladies Who Latte meeting at Milford Hall in Salisbury. Whilst she was out I mowed the bank and was pleased with the result although it was hot sweaty work - the self-propelling mechanism on the mower no longer works. This afternoon, after a quick lunch of crusty bread and pate, I drove up to Andover and picked up the folding bike for Sara from Argos. Tonight I attended the Installation Convocation of Stonehenge Chapter. This was the first time I've been able to wear my new Sussex Provincial Chapter regalia for a full meeting. We dined afterwards on minestrone soup, poached salmon, profiteroles and cheese and biscuits. Richard led the House Group tonight which Sara said went really well with lots of interesting questions and topics discussed. Sara and I continued some of the discussions over coffee but I really must read the material too.

The first cut

Sara and I didn't rise until 10 a.m. this morning. My back was still hurting after my skating fall and we both reckon that we need a new mattress as we are both feeling quite achy in the morning. Tom spent the day around the village with his friends and Sara, Mary and I went into Salisbury shopping. I bought a new waterproof top for golf and ordered a bicycle for Sara which I'll need to pick up in Andover tomorrow. I had intended to go to the Saints v. Leyton Orient match which I was convinced was this evening - only to find out that it was a 3 p.m. kick-off and so both Tom and I missed it. I was later told that it wasn't a particularly exciting match but Saints did win 2-1 and are now only 8 points short of the play-offs and in 9th position in the table - the highest they have been all season. Grimsby Town managed to win away at Accrington Stanley (2-3) but an away win for Cheltenham Town against Crewe Alexandra means that they remain 7 points away from safety. It's looking ever more likely that they will drop out of the Football League next year. I gave the front and back lawns their first cut of the year and will tackle the bank tomorrow. Tonight, Richard and I spent a pleasant three hours in the Lion's Head talking about church, Spring Harvest and football.

Alleluia He is Risen! He is Risen indeed, Alleluia! Easter Sunday today. An appalling fact I learned this morning was that 36 per cent of children in the United Kingdom believe that today marks the birthday of the Easter Bunny! How can the true significance of the Easter Story have escaped so many! For us we went to a packed church for the true celebration of Easter and the Eucharist. Elizabeth gave an excellent talk using balloons to illustrate how Christ's death on the cross took away all our burdens and sins. Very powerful. The service ended with the usual Easter Egg Hunt in the churchyard. Back home we had a quiet afternoon - I managed to get Tom's laptop fixed (I cleaned up some viruses he had caught using Norton 360 and also managed to get him back on line with the Internet - he had somehow switched off the wireless device on the laptop). I did try and get him linked up the the TV to create a larger monitor and although it did work the graphics on the TV screen were converted to monochrome. I think we have the wrong lead and I will call in PC World tomorrow and see what is wrong. I cooked the traditional Easter dinner of roast lamb, mint sauce, roast potatoes, parsnips, cabbage, carrots and runner beans. The lamb from Waitrose was sweet and delicious. We also watched some "Carry-On" films. I was very tired tonight and my back is still hurting from my fall on the ice yesterday. I therefore went to bed early although I did play a couple of rounds of golf on my DS!

"The hare's not running"

Not the best of days sport wise today. I spent quite a bit of time today on my own with Mary which was a delight as I do tend to spend more time with Tom and feel I don't even my time out as I ought. After breakfast, Mary and I went to Basingstoke to try out my new skates at Planet Ice. Arriving there at 11.30 a.m., the rink had only been open for half and hour and so the ice was very smooth. My new skates had much sharper blades than the dull blades usually carried by the hire skates and I found that the friction between ice and skate was much less resulting in me moving much faster and falling over three times - more, I think, than I have fallen over on the last six visits to the rink! The third and last time I fell over I was travelling very fast and landed firmly on my back which still hurts this evening as I write this. I was severely winded but got up and after five minutes or so sitting down was off again. Fortunately, when I fell, my back took much of the force when I hit the ice and my head only grazed the ice - unlike some very unfortunate woman who cracked her head as she went down and had to be attended to by an ambulance. She seemed to have sustained a serious injury and her prone body was coned off whilst first aiders attended to her. This resulted in skaters having to circumnavigate her and in so doing everyone slowed down and caused others to go down too. Mary and I ended the session skating very slowly around the edge - especially as we had both taken tumbles with our new skates. After lunch at KFC where we both recovered somewhat we returned to Winterslow to pick up Sara and we went into Salisbury where I parked in Waitrose's car park. Sara and Mary went shopping whilst I walked into the city centre and met Anthony H for a coffee in Cafe Nero. We spent a pleasant hour or so catching up with news about That Company and our own personal circumstances. The discussions made me feel, once more, how lucky I had been to be retired on the terms I was but also reminded me that I must not drift with my new freedom. Tonight, Mary and I drove through torrential rain (yet again) to go greyhound racing at Poole. Racing normally starts at around 7.30 p.m. but tonight it started an hour earlier. When we arrived there had already been three races (although one was voided) and so our first bets were on Race 4. Mary did a trio prediction for dogs 1-3-5 and the result of the race was that dogs 1-5-3 came in. Had she got the order right she would have won £87.00 for a 50p stake. The next (and 5th) race never happened. The hare stopped running and despite valiant efforts by the staff to get it going again in the pelting rain, it never ran again. The meeting was abandoned just after 9 p.m. After collecting our bets we left with a voucher to return again (with free admission, race card and drink) before 24 April. At least we didn't lose much money tonight - only £1.50 in total. Tom is spending the night in prayer and vigil, sleeping in all Saints Church with other members of Rockface.

Good Friday

Torrential rain marked today. We all went down to the Methodist Hall where the Junior Church members were joined by children from other villages for the traditional Good Friday workshop. It was a really good turnout. Sara prepared the Easter Garden and I helped her with that. We walked down to the Village Hall in the pouring rain following the cross for the Good Friday Family Service. This had been prepared by Linda and the Junior Church and was absolutely fantastic. A foretaste of the wonders of Spring Harvest. It was very emotional as we lit candles either in front of a cross covered with rubbish (to bring and shed our sins on) or one with new plants on (to offer ourselves for new life). I chose the latter. After lunch of a hot cross bun and a yoghurt I attended the Passion Service at All Saints which took on a more familiar and traditional pattern. This evening I cooked tagliatelle and smoked salmon in a creme fraiche sauce with white wine. We all played a game of Football Club Trivia this evening. This was a present Tom got for Christmas which we haven't yet got round to playing. It consisted of looking at a card for ten seconds which had printed on it facts and trivia about one of the 92 clubs in the football league. Tomorrow I am taking Mary to the ice rink at Basingstoke where I can try out my new skates.

Maundy Thursday

Another cold day today although the weather was changeable with some sunny spells and yet more showers. I spent a good deal of the morning dealing with emails and doing some work for a client. I also tidied up the side of the house and and collected together quite a lot of junk to take to the Amesbury tip this afternoon. My new ice skates arrived. They seem to be a little tight around the ankle (size 8) but I would rather have it that way as loose skates are more likely to cause one to keel over on the ice. They will become more supple with wear. They feel like the ones I normally wear when I hire them. I will only be wearing them for an hour at a time anyway as I find an hour on the ice long enough. I did better with my calorie controlled diet today - grilled bacon, mushrooms, beans and poached egg for breakfast; clear chicken noodle soup for lunch; crayfish salad with new potatoes for dinner and a small bit of cheese and crackers tonight as I had some points in hand. Tonight I went to West Dean church for the traditional Maundy Thursday "Upper Room" service with feet washing and giving each other communion to re-enact the Last Supper. I was asked to help drink up the sanctified wine (which was a real red wine) at the end. This is followed by stripping the altar and the vigil (which this year lasted only until 10 p.m.). I stayed for about 20 minutes in silent prayer. On the way back to Winterslow I listened to the last fifteen minutes of Saints game at Brighton. They were losing 2-1 when I switched the radio on but as I entered Winterslow, Lee Barnard had scored an equaliser. The game ended as a 2-2 draw. Not good enough for Saint's playoff attempt but at least a point where one didn't look likely. Tonight I spent some time reconciling my accounts and writing this and yesterday's blog.