A day working in Surrey/Well done England!

Up really early today as I had a day's work ahead of me at clients' premises in Surrey.  I left home at 8 a.m. arriving at the offices of my clients at 10 a.m. where I worked until 3.30 p.m. including a working sandwich lunch.  We really got a lot of work done before I returned to Winterslow via the pretty route (A272) because of travel warnings of traffic congestion on the A31, A3 and M3.  After stopping off at Winchester for some shopping at Tesco I finally got home at 6.30 p.m.  Exciting night tonight with England needing to win or draw against the host nation, Ukraine, in the Euro 2012 competition, in order to go through to the Quarter-Finals.  In fact England, after a rather shaky start, managed a 1-0 win thanks to a header from Rooney in the 48th minute and Sweden managed to beat France in the same group meaning that England topped their [D] Group and will play Italy on Sunday.  A really great result for new England manager, Roy Hodgson, and one in the eye for those who doubted his abilities.

An evening of first class cricket

Another full day today.  I spent the morning in the study working on Complex work and sorting out paperwork and spent this afternoon at Winterborne Earl's vicarage with Frank G and Peter O-E working on the mission strand for the Alderbury Deanery Strategic Plan.  At the end of the afternoon we had a clear idea of how we were going to structure the document and I will sit down later this week and put a formal draft together using the template I've already prepared.  This evening, James, Richard and I attended the T20 cricket match at The Ageas Bowl, Southampton where, unfortunately, Middlesex beat Hampshire by six wickets (Hampshire, who batted first were 157 for 6 at the end of their innings and Middlesex were 161 for 4 with four balls to spare).  The weather was bright and clear but got quite chilly towards the end of the evening.  We spent the evening on the terraces in the Shane Warne stand.  As a member I am entitled to use the member's facilities but this would have been a bit unfair on James and Richard so we all agreed to slum it.  A really enjoyable evening, despite the defeat, and I am really looking forward to going again on Friday night for the match against Kent Spitfires.

Fathers' Day

Sara woke me up this morning with a cup of tea and presents from the children.  A wonderful card as well. Mary bought me an England flag for my car and a DVD of pub quiz questions; Tom bought me a DVD on the life story of Adolf Hitler (I think he wants to borrow it too!) and some Vimto ice pops (again I think for him too!).  Sara and I went to the 9.30 a.m. Parish Eucharist at all Saints this morning where Nils gave an excellent sermon on the topic of having faith and not relying on just what you see.  He gave the story of two brothers who visited the country for the first time; one brother went back to the city after a very short time as he didn't understand why a farmer would plough up a field and scatter seeds whereas the second brother had the patience to stay behind and watch and understand the whole process of sowing and reaping.   After the service a presentation was made to former churchwarden Norman Thorne, who had completed 25 years as churchwarden and 50 years as a member of the Parochial Church Council. There was the ubiquitous coffee and cake to accompany the occasion.  This afternoon, as a Fathers' Day treat, we all went to a special Family Day at Salisbury Races.  Unfortunately I won nothing but Mary won £4.50 and Tom £6.50, each picking a winner, so they were quite happy.  tonight we invited our friends, the Breachs round for dinner - a Chinese banquet ordered from Porton.  We also watched American baseball tonight on TV.  A really lovely day and it ended well with a great meal shared with good friends.

A lazy day watching sport

A quiet day today at home.  Sara and Mary went into Salisbury for cheer leading leaving me and Tom at home.  I did some work in the study - principally uploading and updating my blog and watched the England v West Indies one day international from the Ageas Bowl on TV.  Tonight, we all watched the Czech Republic v. Poland Euro 2012 game which resulted in Poland going out of the competition together with Russia.  Czech Republic won the Group (A) and go through with Greece.  All in all, quite a lazy day!

Well Done England!

Another early morning as this morning was Ambassadors' breakfast club at the Grasmere House Hotel.  Afterwards, I met Sara at Dreams bed shop to look at mattresses the cost of which was incredibly more than I could ever have imagined.  In the end, we bought two pillows which we hope will improve our sleep.  We called in at the Boundary Cafe in Alderbury on our way back home and had a coffee with Ann, Gordon, Alan and a few others.  a lovely group of people.  I spent the afternoon working in the study and this evening Tom and I watched the two football matches in the Euro 2012 - Ukraine v. France which was interrupted after only 4 minutes due to a violent electric storm which threatened to strike players and spectators alike.  The final result was a 0-2 win for France.  This left England needing to win to ensure their continuance in the competition.  This was achieved with a 3-2 win over Sweden who are now eliminated from the quarter finals. England were 1-2 down when Theo Walcott came on and scored the equaliser. Welbeck scored the winner. England are now second in the table (behind France of goal difference) so it is now in England's hands to beat Ukraine to secure their place in the quarter finals.

Bicycle Repair Man Cometh!

It's nice to be back home and after all the driving around over the last few days it was good to stay at home.  I mowed the grass bank this morning which was quite a big job as the rain and warm weather had resulted in the grass and the weeds growing up quickly.  Sara spent the morning working at Morning Star.  This afternoon I went into Andover to do some banking - a client's cheque had arrived whilst I was away, I took the opportunity to visit Halfords and get some inner tubes for Mary's bicycle as, for some reason, the tyres on her bike keep going down and I can't detect any puncture after I repaired a small hole. It seemed cheaper and easier to replace the inner tube rather than try and track down the leak.  Tonight Sara joined other female Christians for an evening at Sara Bossom's in Pitton whilst I held a much reduced house group in which we watched a video of Steve Chalke's talk at Spring Harvest this year.  Sara has been asked by the Rural Dean to deliver the Intercessions at the licensing of the Rural Dean and Assistant Rural Dean at Porton on the 25th June.  That is a real honour and clearly Sara is well thought of by the Rural Dean.   

Back Home to Wiltshire

I woke early this morning and packed up my things in good time and put hem in my car. Mum cooked bacon rolls and once everything was washed up and put away I drove her to her hairdressers in Freeman Street where I said goodbye and set off back down south for Wiltshire and home.  I had a really easy journey back - using the same route as my journey up here - Lincoln, Newark, Leicester, Coventry, Oxford, Newbury, Andover.  I stopped off in Andover, re-filled my car with fuel and picked up some shopping requested by Sara.  Felt really tired once I was back.  I was only at home for a couple of hours before setting off for my tutorial at Seend near Devizes.  One of my fellow students is anxiously waiting the result of the selection conference on Saturday.  Ashley and I did our best to encourage and support her.  By the time I got back home I was feeling really tired - both physically and mentally.