Tuesday 3^rd February-False start

We were up fairly early hoping to make a quick getaway-there was no chance of that; there has been heavy snow overnight and even as I write this at 11am there is a blizzard blowing. There is between 3-5” of snow here but it is drifting in places and there are reports of the M4 being blocked in several places between Cardiff and Newport.

It would be foolhardy for us to set off for Carlisle so I’ve cancelled the Travelodge we had booked for tonight.

We have some serious thinking to do; the weather forecast is the same here for tomorrow. We have a ferry booked at Midday on Thursday from Oban to Mull; we could still conceivably get to Oban in time if the weather breaks but it is a big risk. We would probably be okay to Glasgow but after Glasgow we would be in the Highlands of Scotland and we would have to leave the main roads to travel across country to Oban; we would probably be okay when we got to the West Coast but it is the journey from Glasgow to Oban that is bothering me; it is not the sort of country to be trapped in your car-we’ll just have to see what the weather does today and what the forecast is for tomorrow.

By the afternoon the snow was easing off and we could see some blue sky; we’ve decided to leave for Oban (nearly 700 miles) about Midnight tonight and we’re going to do it in one foul swoop. We’ve just spoken with the lady we’re staying with in Oban and she tells us it’s been a beautiful day there today and she has been gardening. I’m still not sure if we are making the right decision but the weather is moving north eastwards and we shall be travelling north westwards.

We have been very concerned about Drew and we hope he is getting better now; we very nearly decided to go home today to see if there was anything we could do to help him.

This will probably be the last blog entry until the end of the month purely and simply because I won’t have access to a computer once we leave (that will be strange-I can’t remember when I last spent a whole day-let alone three weeks not spending some time on a computer-I do have a blackberry-or blueberry as Jan calls it but I don’t suppose it will be the same and I have to pay to use it). So you will all be in our prayers and please remember to pray for us; especially tonight as we make our way up to Oban to catch the ferry to Mull and then Iona on Thursday.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Monday 2^nd February-Getting ready

It is the Feast of Candlemas (The Presentation of Christ in the Temple) and had fully intended to go to church today but there are no services, the feast day day was anticipated and celebrated yesterday.

Today we spent all day getting ready to leave for Iona tomorrow; we do have some trepidation as there are reports of extensive snow on the Eastern side of the country but we’ll just have to wait and see. There is no snow here yet; except on the tops of the hills but it has been bitterly cold all weekend-0--2°.

Bed at 10.30pm; it has now started snowing.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Sunday 1^st February-Beautiful but not me

We were up fairly early as we had to get to Brecon by 11am. We had a lovely drive from Clydach to Brecon; although it was cold it was clear and bright until we got to Brecon. Brecon invariably has a climate of its own as it is in the rain shadow of Pen-y-Fan the highest part of the Beacons.

We got to the Cathedral just in time and went to the solemn Eucharist there (see following reports). As we walked into the Cathedral I was transported to heaven; they were using incense (it was never used in the Cathedral in my time) the smell was just out of this world. There is so much rubbish written about incense and also much bigotry; I wish people would experience it as it is meant to be an aid to worship. I was caught out a little by my emotions as all sorts of memories flooded back as I returned to the Cathedral where I was ordained and served as a Minor Canon for two years. It was also there that we were living when Drew had his transplant nearly fifteen years ago. The worship was beautiful but not me.

I recognised three of the choir and about five worshippers but no one seemed to recognise us until just as we were going a gentleman kept looking at me as if he recognised me and eventually we did speak and he introduced me to the Dean an ex Minor Canon.

After the service we had a walk around the grounds and saw the sixteenth century Clergy House where we had lived and the Diocesan Offices where Jan had worked. It was interesting to see that all the clergy residencies now had satellite dishes!

We had lunch in the Refectory and then a drive around the surrounding area. We went out to Battle which used to be part of the Cathedral Parish but is now part of another parish. The scenery in and around Brecon is breathtaking; on our way back to Brecon we saw a Red Kite that was about car high in the field next to the road, although I’d seen them before it was the first time Jan had seen one.

On our journey back to Clydach we also saw a Buzzard which are quite common in this area; we had to drive through Ystradgynlais where we lived for a few years before Theological Training; we saw our old house, 104 Brecon Road and visited our Mother Church-St. Cynog’s at Ystradgynlais. We both had lots of fond memories of those times; they were hard but happy times.

We arrived back at Clydach about 3.30pm and I must admit we didn’t do very much for the rest of the day; I slept and Jan watched the TV. When I did wake up I joined her; it’s been very cold here, 0° but dry so we just snuggled up on the sofa for the afternoon and evening.

We watched a “Celebrity Come Dine With Me” and couldn’t believe how catty they were to each other and later on “Being Human” which is developing nicely as a series.

We both had a rest from our diets with a few gin & tonics and sausage sandwiches-manna from heaven.

I was so tired I kept drifting in and out of sleep all evening until we went to bed at Midnight where it took me about a minute to go to sleep.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Church Observation Form (Rob)

Date: 11am Sunday 1^st February 2009.

Church: Brecon Cathedral.

Information prior to service: Very good; Cathedral has a good website.

Car Parking & Access: Excellent on both counts.

Welcome: We arrived just as the service began because I’d slightly underestimated how much time it would take us to get from Clydach to Brecon; welcomers were still on duty but we arrived just as the choir and clergy entered so there was no time for pleasantries.

Ethos of worship: This was a solemn Cathedral Eucharist for the feast of Candlemas; this meant there was incense and a full choral celebration of the Eucharist. There was a self contained service booklet, the liturgy was the modern Welsh rite in English, although there was a token bit of Welsh at the beginning.

Music: The hymns were three traditional Anglican ones; Of the Father’s Heart Begotten (Divinum Mysterium), At the Name of Jesus (Cuddesdon) and Light of the Minds that Know Him (Dies Dominica). The choir sang beautifully the Byrd Mass for four voices and the voluntary was Cavazzoni’s Ricercare, they also sang Nunc Dimitis and Psalm 24. The celebrant sang the Eucharistic Prayer. It was truly magnificent but like many Cathedral liturgies not easy to join in with and although the singing was wonderful the congregations input was negligible.

Sermon Teaching Slot: The Dean, The Very Rev’d. Geoffrey Marshall preached an interesting sermon on turning from the crib to the cross for about 10 minutes.

After Service Activities: There was wine and soft drinks served in the transept but we took the opportunity to have a mooch around the Cathedral and grounds where we had lived for two years. We were introduced to the Dean as a former Minor Canon and had a chat with him.

Weekly Information: There was a good weekly bulletin enclosed in the service leaflet and other information including the monthly magazine, The Beacon was freely available.

Departure: We came out of the service at 12.20pm.

General observations: It was a truly emotional experience to return to the Cathedral where I was ordained and served as a Minor Canon for two years; in fact I was caught a bit unawares by how emotional it actually was and especially when we visited the chapel where our daily offices and communion was celebrated. It was good to see the daily intercession book I started was still there along with the opportunity to light a candle. The Cathedral grounds had undergone a tremendous change since we were there with a Heritage Centre, Shop and Refectory (where we had lunch).

Would I go again: No! As much as I enjoyed the service I couldn’t worship in that environment from week to week. As beautiful as it all was, I much prefer the rough and tumble of a Parish Communion.

Church Observation Form (Jan)

Date: Sunday 1^st February 2009 11.00am.

Church: Brecon Cathedral

Information prior to service: Good website

Car Parking & Access: Good – own car park next to Cathedral, level access.

Welcome: As we arrived just as service was about to start no time for general welcome but official Cathedral Welcomers on duty to supply us with the service booklet and candle.

Ethos of worship: Solemn Cathedral Eucharist (The Presentation of Christ in the Temple – Candlemas), including full procession, choir (30+), incense, the full works. The celebrant sung the Eucharistic prayer. Very beautiful.

Music: Three traditional hymns, although the congregation’s input was minimal. The choir sang the Kyrie Eleison, Gloria, Psalm, Nunc Dimittis, Sanctus and Agnus Dei.

Sermon Teaching Slot: Address given by the Dean, the Very Reverend Geoffrey Marshall, very good, linked the crib to the cross (approx 9 minutes in length).

After Service Activities: There was wine and soft drinks provided in a side aisle, however we took the opportunity to have a look around the Cathedral.

Weekly Information: Excellent. There was a special service booklet for the day which included the hymns, a weekly news bulletin and the monthly magazine (The Beacon) was feely available.

Departure: Left about 12.30pm (service lasted about 1hr 20mins) after speaking to the dean and a couple of other people we recognised from out time here (15 years ago).

General observations: As soon as I entered the Cathedral found it very emotional, bringing back memories of our time here, the smell of the incense – wow, I loved it.

Would I go again: I probably would but not for a long time, the form of worship is too impersonal and the congregation’s input in minimal.

Monday 26^th-Saturday 31^st-Catch up

In many ways this week has not been a particularly good week-expensive but not good; Sleep has been much the same all the week getting up between 1-2am although I did have one lay in until about 3am!

We bought a new fridge and tumble dryer to make it more convenient for when we’re down here.

I think it all really started going wrong on Wednesday; I’d bought and paid for a mirror on Ebay, the seller rang to say he couldn’t get hold of anymore and did I want a refund. The only problem was this was all done by phone about 8am just as I was going to bed so he spoke to Jan, anyway I told her to say yes. Then he sent me later that day a dispute claim saying that I no longer wanted the item; I should have accepted the dispute (he was doing it this way because by doing it this way he would get his seller fees back from Ebay) but because I’d just got up I was a bit fuzzy and not really thinking straight so I declined the offer. Then it began I had four very abusive and threatening phone calls (how I’d wished I’d make our phone book entry here ex-directory) followed by threatening emails-so the morning was not very pleasant to say the least but there was worse to come!

During the night I was watching a music video (The View-Same Jeans) when windows flashed a warning saying it was shutting down a .dll file; I immediately deleted the video and ran a virus scan which picked up a rootkit. Now this may be a bit boring for technophobes; rootkits are comparatively new in they were only discovered about five years ago when Sony were caught putting them on computers through their music CDs. Rootkits can be harmless but they can also be extremely nasty especially the hidden ones and mine was a hidden one hid deep in the gubbings of the system files but when I checked on the particular type (padd.sys) it came back as a recently discovered one made by Asus for their computers (which my laptop is) and it had never been associated with any malicious attacks on computers. Unfortunately those who are capable of putting such things on computers are also clever enough to disguise their name and nature. Anyway I restarted my computer with no problems. The biggest problem with rootkits is they allow others to control your computer and use it as they wish the second problem with the hidden ones is that they are almost impossible to get rid of because they are capable of resisting the efforts of anti-virus software and usually just place themselves somewhere else in your computer.

Anyway the computer restarted okay so I wasn’t too bothered given that it was shown as 0/10 problem on the virus boards. However, when I ran an Anti-spyware scan it showed two pieces of spyware attached to files but the anti-spyware said it had quarantined them okay; so again I wasn’t too bothered. Do you know that a computer is attacked approximately every 12 minutes when it is connected to the internet; that is why it is so vital to have all the necessary software running and updated, my two sons are always making fun of me because I am so neurotic about this.

After the abusive telephone calls and emails I switched the computer off for the rest of the day-I’d had enough. That was it that was the last time I saw my Laptop working. When I next turned it on in the early hours of Thursday morning-it was stuck in a loop failing to boot up (start); I tried many things that I’d learned over the years to get it out of the loop but to no avail-it was dead, deceased, no longer living-a box containing very expensive but non-working technology.

Thursday was spent trawling around PC World & various other computer shops first trying to think of somehow salvaging the laptop, buying a cheap laptop (like you see advertised on the TV (don’t believe it-they’re only cheap if you enter into a monthly mobile telephone contract). PC world was of the same opinion as me that the best way forward was to wipe (re-format) the hard drive and re-install windows. The problem was they wanted to charge me at least £60 to do it but possibly £250. To save your and my time the short of it was that they we decided to buy a new tower unit and monitor to leave here and of all places we bought it in Tesco’s (at least Jan got her points)! It only took me a day to set up!

I’ve never bought a computer from a supermarket before and although it is nothing special it will do for leaving down here in Clydach-at least we won’t have to ferry the laptop back and forth anymore. If that wasn’t enough we may well have spent considerably more on something else but you’ll have to wait and see if that comes to fruition or not.

Tomorrow (today is Saturday 31^st) we’re hoping to worship in Brecon

Cathedral, if we get there in time, I wonder if anyone will recognise and remember us. We spent two years there me as minor canon and Jan ran the Diocesan Office and the Cathedral shop and Chris was in the Cathedral Choir but it was in 92-94; anyway, we’ll see.

Sunday 25^th January-Distressing News

Up at 1.19am; I went back to bed just after 6am and was up again just before 8am.

We went to church today at St. Michael & All Angels, the parish church of Trebanos and the daughter church of St. Mary’s Clydach (see appraisal forms at end of today’s blog).

It was so good to go to a communion service as I had not received communion for nearly a month; it is very interesting to go to other denominations but I can’t get away from my Anglican roots and just how important the sacraments are to me.

After the service we had a long chat with the vicar and his churchwardens and I had one bit of distressing news that our next door neighbour at Theological College, The Rev’d. Robert Morgan RIP, who passed away a couple of years ago to what we were led to believe was cancer had in fact taken his own life. We knew the Morgan’s very well we spent two years at college with them; our sons and their children were much the same age so we were all very close. I couldn’t help but feel shocked about it and our prayers and thoughts go out to Sue, Rowan and Hannah.

It was really good to take part in a Church in Wales’ service again; I do believe the Church of England could learn something from their colleagues in the Anglican Communion. It was so good to have some real meat in the service; An Old Testament Reading, A New Testament Reading, A Responsorial Psalm and a Gospel Reading so much more their than our poor efforts at The Ministry of the Word (A New Testament Reading and a Gospel Reading). It was also good to have some intercessions for the world and the Lord’s Prayer sadly missing from the last two churches liturgy.

When we first got there the organist came and asked if either of us were organists! The vicar appeared to know me more than I knew him.

We last went to this church about 20 years ago to an Evensong but it has since had a massive refurbishment (makeover) and it is almost a different church. Jan was shown with great pride their parish Room and Kitchen by one of the churchwardens; Jan said it left Roydon’s in the shade.

Afterwards we went to Fforestfach (the west side of Swansea) for a coffee and to try and get a tumble dryer; we had the coffee but no tumble dryer. When we got back to the bungalow we had a soup and sandwich lunch and I tried to get the BT Vision going but without any success although I did get a little further than yesterday.

Then later in the afternoon, I was fiddling with the TV controls when by sheer fluke I got the BT Vision up and running; the setup instructions had explicitly said not to alter the TV settings but that was exactly what I had to do to get it going.

We had supper about 8pm and then watched a new BBC 3 programme “Being Human” about a ghost, werewolf and vampire living together in modern London; it was described as a comedy drama but I’m not too sure about that, although there was some comedy in it not enough in my mind to warrant such a description. It was an interesting programme that has potential but I’m not sure where it is going; so the jury is out on that one.

Bed at 10.30pm; although communion has helped I’m still feeling quite low at the moment, struggling a little bit about what the future holds for me and my ministry.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Church Observation Form (Rob)

Date: 11am Sunday 25^th January 2009; The Conversion of St. Paul.

Church: St. Michael and All Angels, Trebanos (Daughter church of St. Mary’s Clydach). Church in Wales (Anglican).

Information prior to service: Very poor-no web site so we had to visit the church earlier in the week to obtain time and nature of service.

Car Parking & Access: Excellent; dedicated car park on site.

Welcome: Very warm and welcoming.

Ethos of worship: Modern Anglican Communion Service; good solid worship with OT, NT, Responsorial Psalm and Gospel. There were about 25 adults there, 2 children and a baby and the vicar (a man after my own heart) made it quite clear that the children were welcome to run around the church; at several points in the service he picked one of the toddlers up. One amusing thing was that at the elevation of the elements the lights in the sanctuary went out; at first I thought this was some local tradition (there are many in Wales especially High Church ones) but later found out it was the fuse. The church was very well lit (perhaps something all our churches could do with) with the one usual exception-The Sanctuary; apart from the practicalities of the priest being able to read the Missal it should be the focal point in any church. If you go to a RC Church you will find The Sanctuary is the focal point of the church. A printed booklet was used (it was very good) with an insert with the collect, all the readings and the post communion prayer which I would recommend and commend to all churches.

Music: Three well known hymns from a modern Anglican Hymn Book (How I wish our churches would update theirs), accompanied by an electric reed organ.

Sermon Teaching Slot: The vicar preached for about 13 minutes and started off very well with anecdotes about his visits to the Mumbles as a young boy but I did find the sermon got a bit stodgy towards the end and although it was well delivered it was read; but there was some real meat in it, so on the whole good.

After Service Activities: No refreshments but plenty of time to talk to vicar and churchwardens.

Weekly Information: No weekly bulletin but notices given verbally, in good Anglican style at the beginning of the service. We did, however, get a magazine at the end of the service which has all the relevant information in.

Departure: Service finished at 12.10pm but to be fair the vicar had dashed there from Clydach and so the service was a little bit late starting.

General observations: I thought the church was very warm (both physically and in its welcome), the worship was good and satisfying (perhaps in my opinion with the exception of the peace which was ala N. Lopham totally disruptive to the service-I love the peace but why does everybody feel they have to share it with everybody it shows an immature understanding of the liturgy and the liturgical significance of the peace-the time for having a chat with everybody is before and after the service not in the middle of it).

Would I go again: Yes, definitely I would be more than happy for this to be my parish church.

Church Observation Form (Jan)

Date: Sunday 25^th January 2009

Church: St Michael & All Angels, Trebanos, Swansea,

Information prior to service: Notice on Church gates as to service times and nature of services.

Car Parking & Access: Excellent – church had own car park, level access.

Welcome: Warm. (When we sat in our chairs the organist spied us two newcomers and came over to welcome us and to ask if either of us played the organ as apparently she felt that she was not that good!)

Ethos of worship: Traditional Anglican communion service. Quite relaxed, good to see that incumbent was very child friendly and also the congregation appeared to be as I didn’t hear any ‘tuts’ when the two toddlers that were there were making noise and running about, in fact he made quite a fuss of them.

Music:  3 Traditional hymns, singing not that brilliant, but ok.

Sermon Teaching Slot: Given from the pulpit. Began well but seemed to go off track a little, approx 12 minutes.

After Service Activities: Just general friendly chatting, no refreshments today although they do on some Sundays, most people left quite quickly. Had a chat with the incumbent and his wife, had been there since April’08.

Weekly Information: Disappointing that no weekly newsletter was available, notices given out during service, although we were given a monthly parish magazine as we left.

Departure: Approx. 12.10pm, service about 1 hour.

General observations: Church had been extensively refurbished, new flooring, comfy seats, very efficient lighting and central heating. Had recently had a small extension built incorporating a fully equipped kitchen and toilet with disabled facilities.

Would I go again: Yes. 

Saturday 24^th January-Feeling so low

Up at 2am; I went back to bed just after 6am and was up again just after 8am.

It’s not been a good day today; all of my joints have been giving me some pain and even the doing the smallest things are causing me some considerable pain.

Spoke to Chris in the morning; He, Neha, Drew and Dawn had been to see a comedian in Aylesbury (for the life of me I can’t remember his name-all I know he is one of the popular new generation of comics). Chris said he never laughed so much in all his life (just what I could do with at the moment); he was on his way to a men’s day out to see some wrestling in the O2 Stadium, I think.

We went out in the afternoon primarily to buy a Tumble Dryer; unfortunately the shop didn’t have the one Jan wanted. I couldn’t even make it once round Tesco’s and I had to sit down between the shop and the car; I don’t know what has made things so bad today but it has made me feel so low. I think when I’m working when I have days like this, I just get absorbed into what I’m doing; at the moment there is nothing to distract me.

Tried to set the BT Vision up in the evening without success; I think I’ll have to get a new aerial cable.

Watched “Demons” and one of my favourite films “Alien vs Predator” on the TV; although you would have had a hard job recognising it was one of my favourite films because within 15 minutes of it starting I was fast asleep waking just in time to go to bed at 11pm.

Jan & I have been on quite a strict diet this week and Jan has started quite a fitness regime; I think that is why I am feeling so low today because it doesn’t seem to have done anything yet. I know I will have a lot of weight to lose to make any difference but it just doesn’t seem to be working at all at the moment.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Friday 23^rd January-Phone to India

Up at 2.30am; I went back to bed at 6am and was up again at 8.15am.

Jan put together the bookcase and the DVD case and I did some re-arranging with the computer and swapped the old BT Broadband over with the new one and was quite surprised when it all worked. Neither of us are very quick these days and I think we finished about 4pm.

I had a look at the BT Vision things and although it looks relatively simple; I decided that it could wait until tomorrow to install.

I spent a fair amount of time on the phone to India (fortunately on a BT free helpline number) retrieving and changing my BT and Yahoo password and username. Although we’ve had BT Broadband here for well over a year I never really knew what my password was and so thinking I might need it to install the BT Vision I set about trying to find out what it was. The chap on the helpline was incredibly patient with me and took me all through the process until eventually we got there. At least I feel as if I am the master of the Broadband here.

After the dramatic rise in the temperature yesterday we’ve seen a dramatic drop in the temperature today back down to 1°.

We had an early supper; I must say I am quite enjoying having early suppers, then we did our usual thing of vegging out in front of the TV; it didn’t take me too long to go to sleep until we we went to bed at 11.50pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Thursday 22^nd January-Dramatic rise in temperature

Up at 2.20am; back to bed at 5am and up again at 9.15am.

We had breakfast and again just pottered around in the morning. We went out in the afternoon but only to Tesco, Maplin and Argos to get a bookcase, DVD rack and some shopping.

There has been quite a dramatic rise in temperature here today from 1° to 10° and it has been quite bright although we did have some heavy overnight rain.

We had an estimate to put a fence up and a few other jobs around the house for a about a £1,000 which we hope to have done at the end of February.

We had an early supper, spoke to Drew and watched a film on the TV “Keeping Mum” a British (Isle of Man) film starring Rowan Atkinson as a vicar and Maggie Smith; it would be best described as a black comedy and although we’ve seen it before we still found it funny.

I was saying to Jan: “I’m beginning to find it a bit strange, no telephone constantly ringing and not being bombarded with emails; do you think anyone has noticed that we’re not there?”

We went to bed about 11.10pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Wednesday 21^st January-Pottered around

Up at 1.50am; I went back to bed at 7am and was up again at 9.15am.

It was a much better day today; I seemed to have got over the tiredness. It was very wet here for most of the day; there was some snow further up the Valley.

We didn’t do very much today just pottered around doing a few bits and pieces; we had a chap come in the afternoon to give us a quote for a fence at the back and a couple of other small jobs.

Had an early supper and watched a film “The War of the Worlds” with Tom Cruise; we’ve seen this film many times but still enjoyed it.

We went to bed at 11.20pm; I was going to get up at 12.30am but I went back to bed.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Tuesday 20^th January-Drugged

Up at 12.20am, I went back to bed at 2.20am then got up again at 4am; went back to bed at 4.30am and was up again at 6.15am. I went back to bed at 7am only to get up at 8.30am; I then gave up and went to sleep in the chair. I woke up for long enough to have some lunch at 1pm but I didn’t even get to the end of the news before falling asleep again; I slept through to the inauguration of Barack Obama and managed to stay awake for all of the ceremony.

I thought there were some wonderful words said at the inauguration but they will have to be backed up by actions; and what a wonderful benediction at the end of it all. Truly, I think the world stands at a new beginning where we can all have hope for the future; let us pray that we’re all brave enough to grasp the nettle.

It has been a strange day for me today; I guess my body has decided that it has had enough and has tried to redress the sleep issue; even in the evening I found myself drifting in and out of sleep, it is like I’ve been drugged.

I’ve become addicted to watching a TV programme called “Come Dine with Me” on Channel 4; It’s a reality show where 4 or 5 contestants have to throw a dinner party for the other contestants and they then vote on each of the dinner parties and at the end of the week the winner wins £1,000. Some of the recipes are interesting but it is really the interaction of the contestants which make the programme. I can’t imagine ever wanting to be on such a show but what really amazes me is the behaviour of the contestants who know that they’re on TV but still behave appallingly. I wonder if there would be a market for a church reality TV show!

I’ve tried to put our itinerary up for you to read it is on the front page of the website or here ; it all seemed like a good idea at the time but I’m not so sure now, I’m not totally sure how Dobby or I will cope with it, especially the bit on Iona as we have a very basic cottage to stay in but we’ll see.

Went to bed at 11.20pm and had no problem in going to sleep.  

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Monday 19^th January-Cheaper to go to Australia

Up at 12.50am; I went back to bed at 5am and was up again at 6.20am.

I spent all of today booking the various places of accommodation all around the country for the travelling parts of our Sabbatical; having Dobby with us made it very complicated but I got there in the end, however it has cost an arm and a leg and I’m beginning to wonder if it might have been cheaper to go to Australia but it’s done now.

We had a relatively early supper about 7.30pm and an early night going to bed just after 10pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Sunday 18^th January-Curses on Apple

Up at 1.15am struggling to sort out my ITunes, having lost about 10,000 items and all my playlists and track ratings-curses on Apple! I went back to bed just after 5am and was up again about 7.15am.

We had a light breakfast and went to church; we were back home about 12.30pm and had our usual light lunch with some soup. The rest of the day was a fairly lazy affair.

We had supper about 7pm and I then gave my sister a ring to clear up some dates regarding visits to them and to my niece in Scotland; we then sat down and made a fairly detailed but loose plan of how we intend to spend the next 10 weeks; if only we’d have done this earlier, I would have felt a lot happier.

Spent about an hour on the net checking ferry times & hotel prices etc.; it was quite interesting how few of the churches here have any presence on the net; it made me feel quite proud of our site.

Bed at 11pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Church Observation Form (2)

Date: Sunday 18^th January 10.30am.

Church: Bethel Evangelical Church, Clydach.

Information prior to service: Good informative website; very clear.

Car Parking & Access: Terrible; church is situated in a built up area where parking is a premium.

Welcome: Really good and friendly.

Ethos of worship: Fairly traditional but also informal chapel style; no set liturgy. Bible pages numbers given if you used chapel Bible. It was a thanksgiving and dedication service for a new born baby. There was about 80 in the congregation many of Indian origin also a few Chinese or similar origin. Good comfortable seats in a nicely warm chapel. It was obviously a traditional stone chapel from the 19^th Century that had undergone imaginative substantial redecoration and refurbishment. The worship was on the first floor in a bright modern worship space. No general intercessions, Lord’s Prayer or formal Benediction or ending. What was interesting was that when it came to the offering the Pastor said it was only for church members not the family party for the dedication or visitors.

Music: Four hymns sung to electric organ. Recognised one hymn but not the tune, but all were fairly easy to sing, from hymn book. I thought the hymns were not space out very well; three before the address and one final hymn.

Sermon Teaching Slot: Half an hour of good solid teaching on 1 Samuel. Fairly good and structured.

After Service Activities: None as far as I was aware of but refreshments were offered after the evening service.

Weekly Information: Notices were given in the service but no weekly bulletin or leaflet was offered.

Departure: We left at 12.15pm; service was an hour and three quarters but it didn’t seem overlong.

General observations: I enjoyed the service and felt better for attending; there were similarities to our baptism service but obviously no water and the Pastor pointed out that it couldn’t be seen as a baptism, that would come later when the child was old enough to give and understand an understanding of faith.

Would I go again: Yes, but I would need something meatier from time to time.

Church Observation Form (2)

Date: Sunday 18^th January 2009

Church: Bethel Evangelical Church, Clydach

Information prior to service: Very informative website

Car Parking & Access: Street parking only, narrow residential roads made parking very awkward

Welcome: Excellent, very friendly and welcoming

Ethos of worship: Informal but quite traditional. Service today different from the norm as there was a thanksgiving and dedication of a baby. Congregation approx. 80, number swollen by child’s family and friends, quite a few of Asian origin (being family and friends of the baby). During service children who wanted to, left to go to the Sunday School in a different part of the church. For those not familiar with the service page numbers given for bible reading and hymn numbers given although both were also displayed on a board. Prayers were of a general nature no intercessions as such and no Lord’s prayer. One thing that I had never experienced in a service before, when it came to the collection we were informed that only church members need to give nobody else has to unless they want to.

Music: Traditional but unfamiliar hymns to me, but easy to sing nevertheless. Music provided by electric organ.

Sermon Teaching Slot: Based on the bible reading  (1 Samuel 1) incorporating elements relevant to the thanksgiving of a baby. Approx. 30 mins but did not feel overlong and well delivered.

After Service Activities: None that I was aware of  but the friendliness continued with the opportunity to chat further if wanted.

Weekly Information: Information given during service but there didn’t appear to be a weekly notice sheet. A mention was made during the service of  a monthly magazine which could probably have been obtained  if wanted.

Departure: Approx. 12ish, service about 1½hrs but didn’t seem long.

General observations: Church was a traditional stone built chapel that had undergone extensive modernisation, comfy modern seats, well lit, warm. Main worship area was on the first floor but there was a lift, toilets on ground floor.

Would I go again: Yes.

Saturday 17^th January-Desperate for Communion

Up at 3.45am and back to bed about 7.30am and then up again at 9.15am.

Just a relaxed morning until breakfast and then we actually began talking about what we’re going to do; this has been a matter of increasing frustration with me, Jan’s refusal to talk about it; I should know now after 35 years about Jan’s reluctance to talk about anything but I am annoyed that we’ve already wasted three weeks of the Sabbatical. Jan always wants to talk about the minutiae rather than to plan things.

Jan went out shopping in the afternoon; I had neither the inclination nor the energy and the last thing I want to do down here is go shopping every day. Jan doesn’t seem to understand my frustration at the moment; this is a chance of a lifetime, we haven’t got off to the best start but if it’s going to be just like it is at home then it will be a wasted three months.

We had a supermarket curry for supper; not my favourite-they always look so unappetising as if you’ve got three splodges of ****** (nothing in particular-make up your own word) on your plate and I think they’re pretty tasteless as well but when you’re feeling like I am at the moment; then you will find fault with everything!

We watched Demons which I think is pretty good apart from the main character’s false US accent and then we did what I specifically asked Jan that we shouldn’t do-slob out in front of the TV until we went to bed at 11.15pm.

I would have liked to have gone to Communion tomorrow but the complete lack of any information about the Parish Church or the RC Church on the net has left us making plans to go to a Chapel tomorrow. There is no excuse for not having some presence on the net even if it is only the times of worship; is there any wonder that people don’t go to church if they can’t find out the basic times of worship-it’s not good enough.

Do you get the feeling I’m turning into a miserable g*t because I am; this should be a time of relaxation and yet I’m feeling increasingly stressed out-I could well be back to work by next week.

I am desperate for Communion!  

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Friday 16^th January-Apple not the flavour of the month

Up at 1.30am; I went back to bed just after 5am and was up again just before 7am.

It was the moment of truth; switching the portable hard drive from the main computer to the laptop. It didn’t go as planned; I lost about 10,000 items in the transfer which included purchased material from Amazon & ITunes and music I’d taken direct from my own CDs! Other than spending another week going through it all again that was it-Apple was not my favourite manufacturer at the moment!

We finally managed to get away today we left Bressingham about 12.30pm and we had a fairly straightforward journey, not that I would have known as I was only awake for about 20 minutes and the two stops we had at Reading and Magor; we arrived at Clydach just before 7.30pm which wasn’t too bad for a Friday.

For a change we took sandwiches as I’ve not particularly enjoyed the last couple of burgers we’ve had and of course it was a lot cheaper.

I know Jan did all the driving but even she agreed it was quite a relaxed run down here. Everything was okay when we got here which is always a relief.

We had supper and after unloading the car and just getting the basics out we vegged out in front of the TV until going to bed about 1.20am.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Thursday 15^th January-Round and round

Up at 1.10am; I went back to bed just after 6am and was up again at 7.15am.

A hard slog today trying to get all the ITunes library up and running and in one place; I can understand why Apple are so cautious with their products but they do make things so difficult for their users! All I want to do is to run my two computers (laptop and base) off of one ITunes library on a mobile hard disk and to sync one IPod with both; you go on Youtube and see lots of different ways to do it but be very wary because quite often they’re not. It is now 4am in the morning and I’m hoping I’ve finally got it sussed; we shall see.

I’ve utterly failed in doing one of my last tasks but I’m sure that someone will take up the task for me.

Had a takeaway supper and it finally looks as if we’re going tomorrow; Jan has finally sprung into action, I was beginning to think we weren’t going; the only problem now is fitting everything into the car, we’ll just have to strap Dobby to the top.

I’m quite worried about Dobby; her nature has changed and she’s doing some pretty weird things at the moment, she doesn’t appear to be suffering but she is not really our Dobby anymore.

I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent today on the IPod & ITunes but my head is going round and round.

Bed at 11.15pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Wednesday 14^th January-Beat myself up

Up at 1am; I went back to bed just after 5.30am and was up again just before 7.30am.

Much the same today; I could feel very guilty or even beat myself up that I’ve not really done anything but it is so supposed to be my Sabbatical and I have done something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time and that is to get my digital music collection into some sort of semblance of order so I have achieved something.

Drew had sorted out both my computers so that they started up faster and without the need to put in a password; the only problem that in doing so somehow the laptop lost the ability to support a mouse or the finger-pad. I’m afraid that was it; if the laptop wasn’t working I wasn’t going! Fortunately after just three hours I managed to fix it; don’t you just love computers especially when they’re not working!

We had supper quite early tonight which was quite good; we watched a film called “Balls of Fury” which believe it or not is supposed to be a comedy about Table Tennis. I thought the film was a load of old tosh and I’m not sure I even made it to halfway through; thank goodness!

I can’t get over how tired I am at the moment; I’m going back to bed in the morning, I’m having a nap in the afternoon, generally falling asleep in the evening and not staying up to late so I can’t understand it.

I have no idea if we’re going tomorrow or Friday; Jan seems very reluctant to talk about it and I think even Drew has doubts whether we will actually go or not. We’ll just have to see.

Bed at 11pm

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Tuesday 13^th January-Hard slog

Up at 2.10am; I went back to bed just after 7.30am and was up again at 9.15am.

It was a day when I did much the same as I’ve been doing lately but the end is now finally in sight there are just three very minor things now to tie up; it seems to have been such a hard slog and to be quite honest I made it much harder than it needed to be but I just don’t seem to be able to concentrate at the moment.

I guess it is because I normally live such a busy life but when you take the busyness away everything just stops and because of that it has been so hard to do anything; at least it now looks as if we’ll be able to get away either on Thursday or Friday. I think it boils down to one thing; it seems that I have only two speeds-full speed and dead stop, it would’ve helped if I’d have had a sort of coasting speed.

Bed at 11.30pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Monday 12^th January-Ploughing through

Up at 1.50am; I went back to bed just after 5.30am and was up again just before 7.30am.

It was just a day of ploughing through the bits that needed to be done; we did make some headway today though thanks to Jan making up my diary, with a good following wind, hopefully, we should be finished by tomorrow so we can then go on Thursday. Even Drew is beginning to wonder if we are actually going to go or not.

We sat down for supper at 9.30pm before going to bed about 11.15pm; I am just so tired at the moment.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Sunday 11^th January-Restful

Up at 1.50am; I went back to bed just after 5am and was up again at 7.45am.

We went to the Vine Church at Eye which is described as a “Friendly growing Charismatic Church belonging to the Baptist Union.” We were nearly caught out because it took us half an hour to get there but it was worth it; it was a good experience (see Church Observation Forms at the end of this blog).

Jan did some shopping on the way home so we got back about 2pm and after our usual light lunch we had a restful afternoon.

We must make a real effort to get away this week as much for Dobby as us as she’s fallen down the stairs twice. We’ve still got a few things to tie up but hopefully we’ll crack them tomorrow.

Had a restful evening meal whilst watching the film “Atonement” which is a powerful wartime love story and the consequences of falsehood.

Bed at about 11.30pm.

Jan’s Church Observation Form

Time & Date: 10.30am 11^th January 2009.

Church: The Vine Church, Eye Suffolk.

Information prior to service: Just that it was a Baptist chapel with evangelical tendencies

Car Parking & Access: Car park close by, level access, no steps

Welcome:  Very warm and friendly

Ethos of worship: Very relaxed, open, loose structure

Music: Modern, worship group, very good and enjoyable. Good not to have any hymn books as screen used

Sermon Teaching Slot: One main sermon, very good. A couple of other short slots but they were more concerning general info on work etc of the chapel. One talk content somewhat confusing

After Service Activities: Refreshments and social conversation, once again very friendly

Weekly Information: A fairly good weekly bulletin with all that was necessary for the coming week.

Departure: Left after coffee and conversation

General observations: Made to feel very welcome. General content very good, prayers somewhat sketchy and perhaps lacking a bit in structure but nevertheless very sincere

Would I go again? Yes

 

Rob’s Church Observation Form

Time & Date: 10.30am 11^th January 2009.

Church: The Vine Church, Eye Suffolk.

Information prior to service: Good basic website with all relevant information.

Car Parking & Access: Public car park within 100yds; access easy especially for disabled.

Welcome: There was a good welcome and people were genuinely interested in who we were. It wasn’t overbearing.

Ethos of worship: Modern gentle charismatic. I felt that the worship was genuine and warming; although I did think the prayers were a bit unorganised and very brief relying very heavily on the congregation.

Music: All modern worship songs led by Worship Group (drums, organ, 2 guitars and tuba); volume was just right (not too loud-our Music Praise & Worship Team could learn from this). Words projected onto a central screen using Songpro. Singing was adequate, confident  and in a comfortable key which is unusual in our churches.

Sermon Teaching Slot: There appeared to be three teaching slots (although I suspect the first two really should’ve really been classed as witness). The main teaching slot was long but interesting on fasting-good Biblical teaching but I was surprised that the fasting & temptation of Jesus in the wilderness was not mentioned.

After Service Activities: Coffee and general fellowship; I was not the only vicar there-the Rector of Botesdale and his wife were there as well. Nobody forced anyone to talk it was genuine fellowship not the false must stop for a coffee type.

Weekly Information: A fairly good weekly bulletin with all that was necessary for the coming week.

Departure: We left just before 12.30pm but to be quite honest it didn’t seem overlong.

General observations: When we first arrived about 10.26am we were the only two in the congregation but by 10.45am there were about 25 in the congregation. We had a cup of coffee with the Pastor at the beginning and he did explain that they have a very relaxed beginning to the service. Although it was quite cold (one of the worship Group wrapped herself in a blanket and had a hot water bottle) Jan and I had dressed appropriately in light of our experience with our churches and neither of us felt overly cold (which is unusual for Jan). In front of us were some of the service team with a 15 year old autistic boy who was really accepted into the worship of the church, I wonder if ours would have done the same (one would hope so). I did feel that one of the acts of witness was overlong and unnecessary and seemed to benefit the speaker rather than the congregation but otherwise I felt it was a good vehicle to enable me to worship God.

Would I go again? Yes, definitely; but I am a person who needs to participate in the sacraments of the church as well and I would like to know if they share communion at any time other than by fellowship.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Saturday 10^th January-Drained emotionally and physically

Up at 2am; I went back to bed at 5am and then got up again at 7.45am.

Jan was up fairly early today as we were travelling down to Ruislip to see her 97 yr old Uncle the last and closest of her relatives. We had an uneventful journey down there in heavy mists with temperatures varying between -1 to -3°. We stopped at Birchanger Services for lunch, it was absolutely freezing!

We arrived at the Residential home without a hitch; isn’t Sat Nav marvellous? The home was in good condition and was well kept; we met Fred in a side lounge and I think we were both shocked at how much he had deteriorated since we’d last seen him, which was about a year ago, although Jan has spoken to him on the phone. He has Parkinson’s Disease and was extremely fragile; we weren’t even sure if he was totally aware of our presence although he did have a moment or two of recognition. Jan knelt beside him the whole time holding his hand and talking to him; Jan had taken him a belated Christmas present a picture of him and his brother and sister (Sid & Jessie who have both since passed away) at the last Christmas that we all spent together which was three years ago; I’m not sure that Fred actually responded to the picture; we were expecting floods of tears from him and us.

Fred is a man who has always been successful in life and has lived mixing with the highest circles, including HM The Queen Mother, in racing life; as the Catering Manager at Sandown Park Race Course he saw an aspect of life that many of wouldn’t be so privileged to see. He has an oil painting of him and HM The Queen Mother. It was so sad to see him in his present state but a timely reminder of many of the Psalmist’s words that we are but grass that is green an fertile today but withered and burnt at its life end; a lesson in life that is always the more painful to learn when it concerns one of your loved ones.

We did have a few funny incidents in the lounge with some of the other residents; one lady came in and was bemoaning the lack of a table only to see one at the other end of the lounge being used by another lady. She went up to the table and unceremoniously took the drink off it and gave it to the lady sitting there before dragging the table down to the other end of the room so she could put her dink on it; the look on the other lady’s face was priceless! There was a man sitting in the corner of the room who was taking all the magazines and putting them in a bin only for one the care assistants to almost immediately put them back before it was repeated again; but before we went we had a lovely chat with him and he promised to look after Fred.

We left after some time with I think rather heavy hearts; knowing that this was probably the last time we would see Fred; but then, who knows?

We then did some shopping at Sainsbury’s in Ruislip and I partook in one of my favourite games; I love watching people and trying to imagine what their story is, not in a judgemental way but one of curiosity. As I can’t walk very far, I normally spend the time Jan is at the checkout watching people. I watched a couple of late middle age with three young children from about 6yrs old to a toddler all of different ethnic origins and I was really bowled over by the love and respect they had for the children-I guessed they might be Foster Parents. There was another chap who it looked as if he’d not been up very long who also looked as if he’d been dragged through a hedge backwards; his only shopping was a rather expensive looking orchid which he looked as if he was rather begrudgingly carrying it by the stalk rather than the pot. I couldn’t but help thinking here was a man taking a peace offering to a partner after a rather good night out-probably totally wrong but I love to weave stories around people. We often mention the increasing foreign languages we hear being spoken in our local supermarkets here in Norfolk; in Ruislip you would have had to have worked hard to find a race that wasn’t represented here, a fascinating blend of ethnicity and cultures.

We had an uneventful journey home with just a stop for some coffee at Birchanger but this time we didn’t get out of the car but having it from a flask Jan had made. I had had real problems staying awake between Ruislip and Birchanger which was a bit of a nuisance as I was driving! Thankfully Jan took over at Birchanger and all I can remember is leaving the services before waking up in the driveway of the Rectory; as I’d spent most of the journey there and back asleep, perhaps I ought to get Jan to drive me about at night!

We had supper and watched the second episode of Demons which I thought was quite good apart from the obviously almost comically false American accent of the lead actor (an Englishman) and I couldn’t help thinking, why?

Bed at 11pm both absolutely drained emotionally and physically.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Friday 9^th January-Funeral

Up at 2am; I went back to bed about 8am and was up again at 9.45am.

I did a funeral at W. Suffolk Crematorium at 1.30pm; yes, I know I’m supposed to be on Sabbatical but this was a 95 year old lady I took communion to and that I’d promised to that I would take her funeral. I was pleased to be able to do it and hopefully gave a very personal funeral service that hopefully did her family and her proud.

Jan drove me to and from the funeral which I was really glad of as I’m feeling extremely tired at the moment; my sleep patterns are even more erratic than normal at the moment. On our return to the Rectory we had some lunch and a rest.

Did a little work this afternoon but I’ve still got a little more to do before I can go to Swansea with a clear conscience.

Bed at 11.30pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Thursday 8^th January-Arm and a leg

Up at 3.35am; I didn’t go back to bed this morning. I have a very difficult thing to do today; I need to cull some of my tropical fish because one of my tanks has become overcrowded, I’m not relishing doing it. If I don’t cull them they will be riddled with disease so it is for their welfare although I’m having a little bit of bother in believing that.

Eventually got round to doing the dastardly deed; from the research I’d done on the internet it seemed the most humane way to do it was to have a bucket of near freezing water (with recent temperatures-there was no problem in having that ready) mixed with oil of cloves. Although I didn’t like doing it my conscience was eased somewhat by the near instant death of the first fish with no obvious signs of distress; I went on to do another ten fish and putting two other fish into another aquarium. We then changed some of the water (which had been stirred and churned up with trying to catch the fish-they were experts at evading capture) and then Jan cleaned the filter. We completely emptied an older tank which we’ll dispose of; it was passed its best when we obtained it from Swallow Aquatics. We are now running just two tanks but I was quite shocked later to see that we should have culled about another 12 or more fish but I don’t suppose we’ll do that now.

In the evening we took the boys and Dawn & Neha out for a meal to the Old Ram it cost us an arm and a leg but it was worth it to share an evening with them; the food was excellent and so was the company and I think we all had a laugh about old and new times. I know it sounds morbid but if I’d have died it would be with happiness after last night in sharing a special evening with them all; even Jan enjoyed it, which she doesn’t often do when we spend amounts like that. I felt very proud of our family and felt that we must have done some things right.

It is looking highly unlikely that we’ll get away to Swansea until Tuesday now but I’m looking to attend a Puppet Course at the end of February the only problem is that it is in Buckfastleigh in Devon so maybe we’ll tie that in with our visit to Cornwall.

Bed at Midnight after a wonderful family evening.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Wednesday 7^th January-Erratic

Up at 12.05am; I went back to bed about 6.30am and was up again at 8am.

I’m finding it very difficult to get going in the mornings at the moment; I don’t know whether it is just all the tiredness catching up with me but I need to get into a daily rhythm but I suspect I won’t be able to do that until we get down to Swansea, whenever that may be!

At the moment I’m carrying with on with my music files; I do have rather a lot of them and it is quite painstakingly slow but this is a good opportunity to do it. First I would like to get as much of my music (over 2000 CD’s ) digitalised and on my computer; then I would like to synchronise my two ITunes’ libraries so I have exactly the same on my laptop as I do on my home computer. It is taking some working out the best way to do it but I hope I’ll get there in the end.

I’m not doing anything else at all and I do still have some things to be done before we go to Swansea; at the moment it is looking as if it might be Sunday but we’ll see.

Bed at 1.30am my sleep patterns are even more erratic than normal!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Tuesday 6^th January-Slobbish glory

Up at 3.30am; I went back to bed just after 8am and I was up again just before 9.15am.

It is just as before I’m afraid; I did have a visitor this morning, Trevor from Scole who came here expecting a Deanery Chapter. It had been moved from here to Earsham and then subsequently cancelled; Trevor is one of the few clergy who are not on Email so I don’t suppose anyone thought of ringing him!

He caught me in all my slobbish glory eating my breakfast at the computer (faithful Dobby by my side waiting for her portion) and wearing my dressing gown and authentic multi coloured skull cap all the way from Israel; he said I looked like some sort of guru sitting there. He seemed quite bemused by the fact I was dealing with my ITunes library; for someone who confesses to being computer illiterate I wasn’t at all surprised, mind you I was beginning to wish I’d never heard of ITunes either!

I got a great new magic trick from eBay today: I can’t wait to use it in a service or an assembly both Jan & Drew were suitably impressed especially considering I hadn’t really practised with it. I’m always on the lookout for suitable tricks and illusions to weave sermons around.

It was a bit of a shame today because we had been invited to a special person’s special birthday today but we declined thinking that we wouldn’t be here and in the end we could have gone after all; so happy birthday B and sorry we couldn’t be with you.

Watched a film tonight called “Termination Point” which was so good that I fell asleep half way through!

Bed at 10pm

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Monday 5^th January-Work today

Up at 12.10am; I went back to bed at 5.45am and was up again at 7.30am.

I had to do a bit of work today; I saw a bride to be to go over some last minute arrangements and then I had a much longer funeral preparation interview which went on into the afternoon.

Other than that it was much the same as the last few days; I would really like to get my ITunes’ libraries sorted out before I go, it is taking much longer than I expected.

I received my latest puppet from eBay today Dudley the silver Dragon; he is quite magnificent, can’t wait to use him.

Watched a DVD tonight “Dark Knight” the latest Batman movie; my two sons had both raved over it but I’m not at all sure about it; it took comic book films into a different realm. I’ve no doubt it was a good film with some tremendous acting in it but it was far too violent for me; not the usual silly violence (where no one really gets hurt) in the comic book films but some very real sadistic violence where people get killed (yes, I know it is only a film but I don’t like violence-I’ve seen enough real violence to last me a lifetime-so I’m not very keen on violence) and there was far too many knife scenes in it which I’m not sure is helpful in our current “trendy” knife culture among young people. The thing that really horrified me was that it was only considered a 12 for age rating whereas I thought it was easily an eighteen. I’ve also been uneasy about Heath Leger’s performance as the Joker; although I think it was an inspired performance I can’t help but wonder how much it inspired him to his subsequent early death because of a drug overdose; I find it quite sad that he may well win a posthumous Oscar for his performance.

Jan went to bed quite early but I didn’t go up until 12.30am.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Sunday 4^th January-Fell at first fence

Up at 1.50am; went back to bed at 6am and was up again at 7.45am.

After all I said yesterday about going to church it was us who fell at the first fence: a vicar’s wife I know quite well was not too sharp getting up and my cold was beginning to take hold so we didn’t actually go to church. However it was nice but strange to have a day off and really all I did all day was continue to put my CD’s on ITunes; so it wasn’t very exciting at all.

Bed at 10.30pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Saturday 3^rd January-What an idiot

Up at 1.10am; I went back to bed at 5am and was up about 7.45am.

I spent most of the morning putting music into my ITunes and finishing the weekly Admin off; it feels strangely nice to know I won’t have to do that again for a while.

In the afternoon set off for the last distribution run for a while; it didn’t go well, we got to the first port of call only to realise that I’d left some of the stuff behind, so we had to go all the way back to the Rectory to get it. Started again this time we nearly got to the end at Reg’s in Diss when he asked what about the keys? What an idiot, me that is not him, I’d completely forgotten about giving him any keys; not that he needed them all but I thought that perhaps he would need Roydon’s keys at least. So after we finished the round we set off again this time with the keys for Roydon; not that I would have known, I fell asleep in the driveway of the Rectory until I was woken up as we got back, I, of course was totally disorientated and thought we hadn’t gone yet.

I guess it was just after 7pm by the time we got back; had a snack supper while watching the new ITV programme “Demons” which wasn’t bad, it certainly has potential if you like that sort of thing. I was a bit disappointed by the announcement of the new Dr. Who, a 26 year old unknown actor but we won’t see him in action until 2010.

Jan & I discussed where we were going to worship tomorrow; I want our worship to be refreshing but also a learning experience, so I would like to worship somewhere different every Sunday and preferably with a mixture of denominations. I’ve devised a sort of form that we can both fill in to get some comparison between the various places; I don’t want our worship to be purely an academic exercise but I would like to bring back some fresh ideas in April. I would like to have worshipped somewhere where they didn’t know us but I’m not sure that that is totally possible here. My first thought was the Banham Fellowship but as I can’t find any trace of them on the net it looks as if they have fallen at the first hurdle. My next choice is the Baptist Church in Diss but they have no easy parking access so they also fall; It is left between DC3 and The Vine Church in Diss but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens.

We also talked about me having a day in a crematorium observing funerals; I’m not totally convinced that we do a good job in crematoria so it might be an interesting experience but I shan’t do that until I go down to Wales. When I was training I spent a week with a Funeral Director in Swansea learning about what happens from their side; I also spent a day at a crematorium looking at the other side of funerals and what happens behind the scenes at a crematorium, it might be good to re-visit that again, but we’ll see.

I’ve had a cold all week but it has never really come out; it seems to be alternating between my throat and nose and although it isn’t bothering me that much it is causing my throat to be really dry. The other two patients seem to have fully recovered now; only Drew’s gout is still bothering him a little.

I’m a little disappointed that the website is not being updated but I am trying desperately not to interfere although I will take a few items off the front page because that needs to be done at a more advanced level.

Bed at 10.30pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Friday 2^nd January-Parish Admin

Up at 2.05am and I went back to bed about 6.30am and was up again just before 9am.

Well here I am on my Sabbatical and what am I doing-Parish Admin again-but hopefully this will be the last time until April.

I’ve been freezing all day; but then that is my fault as I‘ve been wearing just a T-shirt and shorts; I’m just trying to convince myself that I am on my Sabbatical, I don’t suppose it will feel real until we’ve left the Rectory.

I’m still ploughing through all my CD’s trying to get them all on my ITunes before we go; it has been something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

I finished working about 7.30pm; we then had supper after which I fell asleep to be woken by Jan to go to bed at 11.15pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Thursday 1^st January 2009-Family meal

Up at 2.10am but I went back to bed about 6.30am and was up again at 9.30am.

Didn’t do much at all today other than putting music on ITunes. Chris fitted up slingbox which was brilliant; in the evening had a family meal with Chris, Drew & Dawn and then had a lovely chat with Drew & Dawn. Spoke to Susie, my sister who lives in Sleaford.

Bed at 12.15am.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Wednesday 31^st-That was it

Up at Midnight but I managed to get back to bed just after 5am and was then up again at 7am.

Quite a busy day ahead today; I took the 9.30am Communion at Roydon, I don’t normally take this service, it is normally taken by Reg or Ben but I felt as it was my last working day before my Sabbatical that I would take it. It might well be the last communion service I take before my return on 5^th April.

Straight after the service we had a meeting of the Fersfield PCC in the Parish Room at Roydon; this was a meeting to formally accept the grant offer from English Heritage, to sign the contracts and get the whole thing in motion.

I then had a couple of appointments to see people at the Rectory which kept me busy until about 1.15pm; there was just time then for a quick lunch before taking people communion at home in Diss. These were regular members of Roydon both at home and in Walcott Hall; I took communion to 6 people all in all and visited another in Walcott Hall.

By the time I finished it was 5.30pm and I got back to the Rectory just before 6pm, it had been a long day but I was glad to be able to see so many people on my last day. I sat down to have a cup of tea and that was the last thing I remembered until Jan woke me up for supper at 8pm.

We watched a film on TV “Dead Again (1991)” a sort of mystery thriller; Jan thought it was good, I thought it had a good ending but was pretty cheesy most of the way through. We then watched the ending of “Event Horizon (1997)” a Sc-Fi film Jan and I have seen this film many times but never the whole way through, we’ve seen the beginning, the middle but never the ending so we finally got to see the ending tonight. One day we’ll have to sit down and watch the whole thing from beginning to end in one go.

We’re not really New Year Party type people; in fact some times in the past I’ve deliberately gone to bed early on New Year’s Eve but tonight we stayed up to see the New Year in so we got to bed about 12.30pm.

It just dawned on us during the evening that that was it we were now on Sabbatical; it seems a long time coming but it is finally here. I want to spend the next few days tidying up the final bits of admin and filling a few holes in the Worship Rota for January and February before doing some visiting next week and travelling down to Swansea after the funeral next Friday.

I’m not totally sure what I’ll do with the blog, I will certainly continue to write it but I’m not sure if I’ll publish it every day (I’m sure it will be pretty boring) or whether I’ll publish it every week or so or when I do anything of any interest, we’ll see.

There is one thing I’ve been meaning to put in my blog for the last week; we’re very blessed in this part of Norfolk of having so much varied and interesting wildlife but I’ve always thought it was strange that in the twelve years we’ve been here we’ve never seen a fox (we’ve seen them in many other places but not here) well we saw one on Christmas Eve as we were going to the Midnight service at Fersfield, it was running across the road between fields in Hall Lane.

I'd like to wish all my readers a hopeful, peaceful and healthy New Year in 2009.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Tuesday 30^th-Awe and excitement

Up at 1.55am and I managed to get back to bed at 6.30am and was up again at 8am.

Not too bad a day today; the morning and early afternoon is spent preparing for the children’s party later today.

Jan and I went to Roydon about 3pm to set up for the party; we were a little disappointed, to say the least, to find that the magazine was being collated so we had to sit around until about 3.45pm until that was finished. Why had no one told me; apart from the fact we might have been able to have helped, especially as I’d asked in church on Sunday if anyone knew when the magazine was to be collated?

It wasn’t too bad really except people kept leaving the door open so by the time the party started at 4pm the room was freezing!

When it got to 4pm we only had two children and I thought that perhaps this was going to be our first disaster but thankfully it wasn’t to be and we ended up with 22 children and 16 adults which was a good number it was far more manageable than when we get up into the 30’s.

I think we had some great fun; there were terrible cracker jokes by the bucket load with the children themselves making a fair contribution, games, magic (thanks to Magic Mark book him for your children’s party), stories, food and an introduction to Godfrey the Gorilla (one of my puppets). Jan particularly watched the children when I had Godfrey out and she said that most of them were mesmerised by him; there were a few who wanted to hit him but most thought he was adorable. He was quite a hard puppet to handle because he was quite slippery inside and my hand kept coming out of the mouth part so I wasn’t able to control his lips very well; I don’t suppose it looked brilliant in having to keep pulling him down my arm as he rode up, I’ll have to work on that.

There were two things that were really fascinating: One was M got them dancing and the other was K and S’s noisy balloons and exploding bits and pieces the children were absolutely brilliant in their reactions to both, especially the younger ones. I couldn’t help but watch the two youngest ones F & J as they were just so excited at watching the balloons. If you ever felt blue this was the antidote just to watch the sheer look of awe and excitement on their faces.

I even got Jan to teach them an old scout song with absolutely no warning; I did think she was going to explode when she was doing it though.

I had two strange things said to me at the party: The first was when one child sidled up to me and called me Dad and the other was being told a rather unsuitable joke about the Sun Newspaper by an eight year old which I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to stop them from relaying it to the other children (I can’t tell you what it was but it was about Page 3)!

I think on the whole it was a great success thanks to J, S, C, K & M without their help it wouldn’t be possible; I think even the parents enjoyed it. We even gave every child a book token as a Christmas present from the church; I just love giving things away even though a vicar’s wife I know says I spend far too much on doing so.

If I should die or retire tomorrow I would consider the work we’ve done with children here would make my life worthwhile; of all the things I’ve done in my life, including being a policeman it has been my work, with others as a team, with children that has given me my greatest satisfaction.

Tomorrow is my last working day before my Sabbatical and it is a very busy one which is befitting of New Year’s Eve.

When we got back to the Rectory I was just so tired; Jan had to wake me for supper, then again for dessert and then again to go to bed at 9.55pm with sleep following on at 9.56pm.

I can only count my blessings that there is a small dedicated team who share my love of working with the children; how I wish I was 20 years younger and as fit as I was then; but I thank God that he has given me the privilege of working with children. I just wish the Benefice would rejoice and celebrate the work we do with children, not me but the team we have.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Monday 29^th-World annihilation

Up at 2.35am but I managed to go back to bed at 6.30am and was up again at 8.30am.

Drew is suffering again but this time with gout which he gets from time to time as a result of a side effect from his anti-rejection medicines he has to take because of his kidney transplant. This particular attack is a very nasty one which is causing him great pain. He has to get an emergency appointment to see the Doctor to get the necessary medication to relieve the problem.

Staff meeting at the Rectory at 10.30am with Ben and Reg; hopefully I was able to put some of Reg’s fears to rest about what is expected of him during the Sabbatical. Most of what I do normally is being covered by lay people; so all Ben and Reg are being expected to do is to maintain the services with the help of the lay readers and other clergy and cover for any immediate pastoral emergencies and funerals that may crop up.

Number 1 Son, Chris is here with us today to set up some bits of technology like a Blu-Ray Player he and Neha gave us for Christmas and a slingbox to enable us to watch Sky television down in Wales. Of course he does neither but he has done some other important bits for me; the new giant monitor is now up and running which does have a certain WoW factor, he managed to get that going with some highly technical rejigging of internal settings. He also managed to get a network storage system working for me that provides Raid Technology which is a good back up tool.

Sadly Neha couldn’t be with us today as she is now unwell, which is a shame because we were looking forward to seeing all the family together; get better soon Neha. With no Neha with him Chris decides to begin the world annihilation of all brussel sprouts; so if you hear of a gas explosion in the region of Sunnyside you’ll know who is to blame! We all missed Neha tonight.

After a long drawn out Christmas Dinner Supper, but a very enjoyable one we went to bed about 11.50pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Sunday 28^th-Pre-Sabbatical Meal

Up at 2.15am.

It all feels very strange today; today will be my last Sunday on duty in the Benefice until 5^th of April (Palm Sunday), thankfully it is not a difficult day with only two services. I just hope I can keep my emotions in check; although our intentions are to come back after three months of Sabbatical one of the main reasons of the Sabbatical are to test my vocation and to try to discern if God still wants me to be a parish priest or if he has some other plans for me. We have been overwhelmed by the number of people who have made us promise to come back.

I have a little bit of a sore throat this morning which sometimes for me this is a precursor for a cold or something; I hope not because there are still things to be done this week so I don’t really want to be ill until Thursday at least.

The two morning services went very well albeit not very well attended; the nearer Christmas Day is to a Sunday the poorer the attendance is on the Sunday, so the next few years means that the Sunday after Christmas will be poorly attended. Both services are attended by about 45 people all in all which is pretty poor for five parishes, but at least we are all gathered in one church rather than being spread around five.

Thankfully no emotive speeches made other than a wish you well by A; although rather strangely in the coffee afterwards I am kissed by some of the female (thankfully) members of the congregation, do they know something I don’t?

When we return to the Rectory it all feels rather strange that I won’t be doing any Sunday duties for another 14 weeks; although there is still a little bit of work to be done this week, in fact there are three quite busy days.

As usual we have our light Sunday lunch; soup and a sandwich before I become unconscious. Then it feels even stranger that there is no evening service; I’m already beginning to feel disorientated and I haven’t even started the Sabbatical yet.

Number 1 Son, Chris called into see us fresh back from their holiday in Harrogate. Tomorrow is our Christmas Day as we are all gathering in the evening for a pre-Sabbatical meal because we won’t be seeing the boys again for this time; I’m looking forward to that, the family gathering that is not the not seeing the boys for 14 weeks..

I’m continuing to work my way through my CDs trying to get as much as possible onto my ITunes; one of the personal things I hope to achieve in the next three months is to get my extensive music collection into some semblance of order and to listen to it. I love listening to music but I’m always afraid that I’ll miss the phone or the doorbell (I do like to listen to it LOUD) so I don’t normally listen to it while I’m working.

We had a lovely pasta supper whilst watching the Hellboy 2 which is right up my street-Comic Book Hero with lots of monsters and special effects; I very nearly fell asleep at the beginning but actually managed to stay awake for the whole film.

Bed at 11.55am.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Saturday 27^th-Beginning to wilt

Up at 2.40am.

Kept plugging away the admin until going down to Bressingham about 11am for the wedding; at least today there is no distribution run, as all our services are in Roydon tomorrow, I’m hoping that I can get most of the distribution done there.

Both of the patients are getting back to normal; Drew is still a bit washed out and as always after a cold or flu Jan has a hacking cough.

I forgot to say that the cheque from the Funeral Director’s in Thetford finally turned up albeit with the payee blank and for the wrong amount; if I was a cynic I would say that it was delivered on a Saturday morning to prevent me from paying it in until Monday, but then I’m not!

The wedding was a small affair with eleven of us present; we had it in the choir stalls which made it very intimate and relaxed. I think everyone seemed to enjoy it; I certainly did, I always enjoy weddings but I think this one was very special as they are a very nice family.

Back to the Rectory for some lunch and a rest; I didn’t get the chance to go back to bed today so I was beginning to wilt.

Continued with the admin up until about 8pm; I finished all that I had planned for today including some laminated service posters up until April; there’s just a few more things that I’ve got to do next week and then everything will be completed for the Sabbatical; I will have done as much as I can do, the Benefice will then be on her own.

We sat down to have a light supper and watched The Transformers movie on the TV which is really good if you like Sci-Fi/action films, as any regular reader of this blog will know that I do.

Bed at 11pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Friday 26^th-Thermal underwear

Up at 1.10am; I went back to bed at 4.30am and was up again at 7.15am.

Off to N. Lopham for a rare treat sung Matins; it has become a bit of a tradition at N. Lopham to have sung matins on St. Stephen’s Day. It is a shame that only six of us gathered for a service that is truly beautiful. I was a couple of minutes late getting there which was terrible considering the time I was up.

Back to the Rectory for a quick cup of coffee before going down to Bressingham for a wedding rehearsal for tomorrow’s wedding; although it is a beautiful sunny day, it was only about 2° and probably a lot colder in the church. The bride to be is a bit concerned about her wedding dress; this is a case for thermal underwear! I always enjoy rehearsals; it’s a good time to really get to know the couples and also to have a bit of a laugh but I’m not sure my humour is totally understood by the bride and her sister who are both South African, I was certainly given a few strange looks. It was a very intimate rehearsal; bride, groom, flower girl and bride’s sister who is giving her away. We decided to have the wedding in the choir as there will only be 11 of us there tomorrow; so they will be getting married in the round so to speak. It will also be better for concentrating some heat on them.

After returning to the Rectory Jan and I had a light lunch before having a very lazy afternoon; it would have been nice to have carried on into the evening but if you are a regular reader of this blog you will know what Friday means-Parish Admin and Christmas or not it still has to be done. Most of it was done by about 10pm so just the laminated posters for the notice boards and the registers to be done for tomorrow’s wedding; they will have to wait until the morning.

A cold meat supper and catching up with the Christmas Day Dr. Who which I thought was very good; I can’t wait until it starts again, there are not many TV programmes I look forward to watching but Dr. Who is definitely one of them, I’ve been hooked on the series since I was a boy and watching the first episode-how sad is that?

Bed at midnight both of us tired and looking forward to some time off; I only have four services to do now before the Sabbatical and writing the bulletin I was a little taken aback that after Wednesday my next service in the Benefice will be on Palm Sunday, April 5^th AD2009!

News from the two patients today; Jan is getting better each day but can’t get rid of the headaches and is still not eating properly and Drew ventured out for the first time today; it seems incredible that he and Dawn haven’t seen each other since before Christmas but very wisely kept apart as Dawn has some elderly relatives staying with her.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Thursday 25^th-Hot Tub

Up at 4.41am.

Off to N. Lopham for the family communion at 9.30am; there was a good congregation there and I thought it was a lovely service even if I did forget the prayer of preparation. After the service, once again there was much interest in my chasuble, even though no one knew what it was called. I found that a bit sad; I don’t think for one minute that not knowing what a chasuble is, or indeed anything else, disqualifies anyone from being a Christian but what I do find sad is that people who have been in the church all their lives are not interested enough in the church as an institution so as to know the ins and outs of the church.

I was also asked rather disdainfully: “And where did that service come from?” It was advertised as a Family Communion and consequently I used one of the modern Common Worship settings for communion; the question did come from an 8 o’clocker.

After taking G home I then went on to Fenners for a delightful informal Christmas morning of Carols, prayer and a reading before they set off for their Christmas lunch in the Park Hotel.

Then onto a home communion in N. Lopham where since my last visit their dog had been put down and their almost permanently lit log fire had been replaced by an electric fire-all signs of advancing age but nevertheless I was well received and I had a lovely chat with them.

I returned to the Rectory just after 1pm; the earliest I’ve done so on Christmas Day for many years; what with the death of one home communicant, two others being in hospital and the general reluctance to have me call on Christmas Day (quite understandable) this is the fewest home communions (3) I’ve done on Christmas Day since the beginning of my ministry. However, it is a welcome early finish as my cellulitis has flared up again and I am extremely tired. So after a spot of light lunch I’m allowed a Christmas afternoon snooze.

The two patients had recovered enough to have a roast beef supper about 7pm and then the three of us opened some of our presents. My best present was my wedding ring which I haven’t been able to wear for a few months because of a problem with my left hand; Jan had had it made bigger so that it more comfortable to wear, I was well pleased with that.

When Jan and Drew were looking for presents to open around the tree she couldn’t find the ring and two other small presents; so they looked high and lo for them checking all the present bags to see if they’d fallen in them, behind the cupboard the tree was standing on and were getting quite perturbed about not finding them when I suggested that perhaps she hadn’t put them out; there was then a sheepish look and Jan retrieved them from their hiding places-perhaps another sign of advancing age?

Later we had a rather surreal conversation with Chris in Harrogate on the speaker phone so that five of us were talking and listening all at once; he has also recovered from his bug and he and Neha had spent the evening outside on the porch of their log cabin in their hot tub drinking some fine wines; I wouldn’t mind having a go at that, although I’m not too bothered about the wines.

As we were all tired we retired to bed at 11pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Wednesday 24^th-Two Hours and cold

Bed at 4.45am and up again at 7.30am. I’m hoping for a better day than yesterday.

After yesterday’s excitement on the internet everything seems to have settled down again. The person who hi-jacked everything yesterday is obviously still trying as I’ve been getting emails informing me of Password requests all through the day but hopefully the steps I’ve now taken will prevent him from getting my passwords again.

News from the patients both are recovering well but both are not eating as well as they should be.

I again rang the Funeral Directors about the missing fee that was supposed to be hand delivered yesterday and the person I spoke to swore on their life that I would get the cheque today; I presume they are now dead because I didn’t get the cheque!

A funeral at Fersfield this morning at 11am followed by a burial in the churchyard. It is very messy over at Fersfield around the church there are literally rivers of mud everywhere.

Back to the Rectory for a little bit of a shock; a lady I would have been taking communion to on Christmas Day died overnight. Her daughter rang me to ask me if I would take the funeral on January 9^th; as much as I try to be hard about the decision, I promised E that I would take her funeral. It will mean a bit of rescheduling to the Sabbatical but I can’t go back on a promise; we will do some visiting at the beginning of the Sabbatical rather than the end of it.

A light lunch and a doze before going to Roydon for the Crib Service at 4pm; this is some production with lights and sound effects. There were about 80 in church to enjoy the children’s performance and the carols; they did a brilliant job considering the short time I had to prepare them. I wonder if anyone noticed that for the second year running that the children actually led the whole service; my input was minimal.

After getting some cash so that I could play at being Father Christmas later on; it might have made a good picture-a priest in cassock at a cash machine-I don’t do this very often so I have to look at my pin number (which I have written down-I know it’s not good security-but I’d never remember it otherwise) several times just to make sure I do it properly. Jan did offer to do it for me but then I’d have got told off for how much cash I took out. I must admit I get a great deal of pleasure in giving presents, especially the more useful type like cash; if I was ever a millionaire I’d probably give most of it away and thoroughly enjoy doing so.

I then set about writing T H E Christmas sermon; you’re on a loser really, however brilliant the sermon may be unless it is short no one will listen to it-so I take the following advice: “So how long should a good sermon be? It should be like a woman's skirt, long enough to cover the essentials and short enough to keep you interested!” I know that might sound sexist but as I have no interest in men whatsoever I find it a good maxim. It might sound daft but it is more difficult to write a good short sermon than it is to write a long one of any description.

Now to my least favourite job wrapping presents; I used to enjoy it when I could do it with a bottle of scotch but now it’s not the same with a cup of tea; A vicar’s wife I know quite well offered me some present bags and I must admit to taking the biggest one and taking what should have been six individual presents and just putting (squishing might be a better word) them into the bag. I then spent the next couple of hours wrapping the remainder up; I belong to the school of wrap that is probably called tear, scrunch and tape and however hard I try to make the finished product neat and tidy it looks like I’ve just scrunched it up! For me there is no logic in taking the present out of its postal container and then re-wrapping it in something else; why can’t Amazon dispatch things in coloured card boxes and then I wouldn’t have to do anything.

Eventually sat down for a light supper about 9pm and as almost a ritual fell asleep immediately afterwards, well I hadn’t had that much sleep the night before.

Arrived at Fersfield for the midnight service about 10.45pm; there is a minor panic because the safe can’t be opened; I don’t have a safe key so R has to go back home all the way to N. Lopham to get his set of keys and I have to lead the community carols rather than sit and contemplate. R did get back in time to give me 10 minutes to sit and think and watch.

My aim for the Midnight Service is to make it a special service that is different from what we normally do but still relevant to everyone; I try to make it punchy and not too long because if it goes to an hour and half it means that most who come for the community carols as well will have sat in a cold church for two hours and I suspect that is what they’ll remember the most that it was TWO HOURS AND COLD. A vicar’s wife I know quite well (who happens to be my biggest critic) tells me I did quite well-sermon was five minutes, prayers were short and to the point and the whole service with the extras including five carols was within the hour; so if that is the criterion for a good service, I succeeded.

I did struggle in the administration of communion my back was giving me such pain that I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish but I did but it took a lot of effort. If only people would hold their hands up rather than me bending down!

There was a lot of interest in my new Christmas Chasuble and as I wished people a Happy Christmas as they were going it was called many things; a cape, a poncho, robes etc. etc. no one said good sermon (so perhaps it wasn’t) or nice matins responsory or even my least favourite of all nice service!

We were out of the church by about 12.50am we then had to play Father Christmas which meant going to Roydon; I couldn’t help noticing that there were still some people in the church at Roydon so it must have been a long one! No doubt I’ll be told all the ins and outs of the service later on.

Anyway Christmas goodies delivered back to the Rectory and straight to bed with sleep hot on its tails at about 1.20am; boy was I tired but it was a good tired of a day reasonably well done. In the past we’ve stayed up and had a drink and opened a few presents but tonight we were both just glad to get to bed.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Tuesday 23^rd December-Rollercoaster Ride

Up at 1.05am; I went back to bed just after 5am and was up again just before 7am.

It has been a strange surrealistic day today. Drew is a lot better, it looks as if he’s had the 48 hour Winter Vomiting Bug; I was very worried about him last night and the other patient continues to improve but is still not eating well and is still having headaches. I spoke to Number 1 Son, Chris, today and although they are now in the Pine Lodge he is still not 100% better either; it looks as if he has had the same as Drew.

Had a funeral preparation visit in the Rectory in the morning, not the best preparation, the day before, but the arrangements have all been accelerated so the family can have the service by Christmas.

I then spoke to a Funeral Director in Thetford who for some reason unknown to me, because no explanation has been offered, hasn’t paid the fees for a funeral service I undertook for him at the end of October. This is now the fourth request I made of them to pay the fees; today I was told that the fees would be dropped off by a member of their staff on their way home; which of course it wasn’t. I am left with no alternative but to make an official complaint with the Archdeacon. I’ve never experienced this in my ministry before.

Jan & I had some lunch and then in preparation for the next couple of busy days had a few hours rest. When I came down I felt as if I was in a living nightmare. First my bank rang to query whether I had made any big purchases on my card which I hadn’t then I found my email account had been hi-jacked along with my eBay and PayPal accounts and over a £1000 of purchases had been made. Hopefully the bank has stopped the payments and after what seemed ages I managed to regain control of my accounts and change passwords etc. but my email account proved to be somewhat more difficult. Try changing a password on an email account without having access to an email account and you will find it is nearly impossible; eventually I spoke to someone on the phone from MSN in Canada (thankfully on a free line) and it was changed for me. When I got access to my email account most of my emails had been deleted; so if you’re expecting a reply from me and you haven’t had it yet, that’s why. This all took several hours and all the things I’d planned to do this afternoon went by the wayside. These things are such a nuisance. Unfortunately the time is now 12.30am and I’ve lost control of my email account again!

I then saw the couple I’m marrying on Saturday along with their newly acquired licence; so everything is now in order for the wedding to go ahead. I’ve just got to find some time to fit in a rehearsal.

We then had a go at fitting the new monitor but without much joy there seems to be a clash with the hardware somewhere; that will now have to wait until next week.

Eventually we had supper just after 9pm and went to bed about 11pm; today has been such a rollercoaster ride with all the various things happening that I was up again at 11.30pm. I was hoping to get up and getting on with the things I wanted to do this afternoon but I suspect this email business is going to keep me occupied for a few hours.

It is now 4.20am and thanks to the people in MSN I've finally got my email back again. This chap is very cheeky he even changed my details to his, presumably; Ras Kenningham, Flat 5 Frenden 123 Slough Lane Kingsbury London NW9 8YE.

As yet I haven't gone to bed yet; I think I'll go now (4.25am).

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am, just-Rob.

Monday 22^nd December-Excelled herself

Up at 2.05am; I did manage to get back to bed just after 6am and was up again just before 8am.

Poor old Drew is really suffering; it is not like him to be ill. All we can do at the moment is to make sure that he keeps the fluid going in and that he doesn’t dehydrate which is bad for most people but for those who have kidney problems it is really serious. The other patient seems to be getting better day by day but even she is not eating properly and is still complaining about the rawness in her stomach.

Jan took Dobby to the vets as she had to be examined so we could have some more pills to help her relax when she travels. Dobby is quite a nervous dog and I know from when I’ve taken her to the vets before she is just like a quivering plate of jelly. She excelled herself today by doing her business in the waiting room; Dobby that is, not Jan. The vet examined her and found an enlarged liver (I told her to cut down on the alcohol-oh no sorry it was Dobby again, not Jan) but otherwise fairly good shape for her 14 years; so we got the pills for the journeys on the Sabbatical, we find that normally we only have to give her half a tablet and that is sufficient to zonk her out; if we don’t she sits up the whole journey anxiously watching the lorries and other traffic through the back window and working herself into a bit of a state; by the time we get to journeys end she is a nervous wreck.

I cancelled the staff meeting due to take place in the Rectory this morning because I didn’t want Ben or Reg to take the risk of catching anything that Drew may have. It was a blessing in disguise really because it gave me the opportunity to get K’s Nativity Play into a more accessible shape and format; I’m not sure I would have had the time to do it otherwise.

To Roydon Church for the BFG dress rehearsal; I and a few Mums thought that perhaps we weren’t going to be ready in time. I put K in charge of stage management and took the reins myself; we had one run through in the Parish Room and then we let the children dress up and we had a dress rehearsal in the church. I must say it was very impressive with the lighting that K had set up but I was a bit worried about the thunder effect; I can see most of the church bursting into tears when that is done! The children were real stars and by 4.30pm everything was going well; I had some really good helpers in J, C and Jan. I was a bit concerned about my flexible keyboard as some of the children mistook it for a splat the rat game and were splatting it to their heart’s content in my absence!

Back to the Rectory feeling absolutely exhausted but more relaxed about the thought of the Nativity Play on Wednesday; it’s going to be great so don’t miss it!

There had been a minor miracle in the Rectory today; a vicar I know quite well had been wearing down a vicar’s wife I know quite well into letting him have a new monitor for the computer (a 28” one-no less-to replace the 22” one he already had); and lo and behold one turned up today! The vicar’s wife was not amused!

We spent about an hour or so connecting up the monitor but failed to get it going and then had a panic attack when we couldn’t get the old one working again either; eventually we got the old one going again and after some research and buying a cable on eBay I’m fairly confident that the new one will be up and running tomorrow. The vicar I know quite well has a secret dream that one day he will have three such monitors connected to the computer; a vicar’s wife I know quite well also has a dream that isn’t secret at all that says “Oh no you won’t!”

We had supper about 8pm after which I did my usual and fell asleep; we went to bed just after 10pm.

We are really concerned about Drew and if there is no improvement tomorrow we will have to call the Doctor in as he can deteriorate quite rapidly. No news from Number 1 Son & Neha so we are hoping that they are now safely enhanced in their Pine Cabin in Harrogate.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Sunday 21^st December-Orgasmic

I went to bed just after 4am and was up again just after 6am; at least I did go to bed eventually last night but not for long.

Well, today is the longest day of the year so I suppose the evenings will be drawing out now!

Today is traditionally one of the busiest Sundays of the Church year; it is not too bad for me I have just four services today, two in the morning and two in the afternoon.

The first service is my favourite the 8am at Roydon, I feel it is just the perfect way to start a Sunday; the numbers are not bad this morning there were 15. I’m taking the 10am service at Roydon as well which means I don’t have to go trekking all over the place; it gives me an opportunity to just sit, think and pray before the first person normally turns up at about 9.30am.

The second service is a Christingle service and I was in a bit of a quandary as to whether I would use one of my puppet friends or talk about the Children’s Society; I decide on the latter because it is the 40^th anniversary of them using this service. I don’t know how many are there but there are a good number; we gave out 54 Christingles so I suppose that’s how many there was. There were a good number of children including some representatives from the Brownies and Rainbows.

There was one lovely part of the service when J one of our Toddler Church children came up to me in the prayers and sat on my knee for the Lord’s Prayer; it was all perfectly natural and not staged at all and it made the service for me. We normally have this service in January but because of the Sabbatical we brought it forward.

We got back to the Rectory about 11.30am; it had been Jan’s first service for a while so she was a bit washed out but she is continuing to get a bit better each day although she still isn’t eating properly.

We had a phone call from Number 1 Son, Chris who still hasn’t left for Harrogate yet; he has been ill overnight but is hoping to go later today. As I write this at 3.30am on Monday morning; Number 2 Son, Drew is now also ill, which because of his transplant can sometimes be a bit more serious. During the day I have heard of so many people being ill, it’s a bit ironic really because Drew has been taking all sorts of vitamins lately to help him stop catching anything; I’ve no doubt it will catch up with me eventually, probably about January 1^st knowing my luck.

I had a brief rest and lunch in the interval between morning and afternoon services. Off to South Lopham for the second Christingle of the day. When I first came here in 1997 we used to get about 120 to this particular service but over the years that has gradually dropped; we gave out just 38 Christingles this afternoon. I used the same talks in both Christingle services hopefully promoting the work of the Children’s Society.

Back to the Rectory about 5.20pm before picking up G and going to the 6.30pm Carol service in Bressingham; again, this is another service where the congregation has dropped over the years but I’m glad to say that it was up on recent years. The service had a bit of a surrealistic start as R one of the churchwardens got up and wished Jan and I the best on our Sabbatical; I must admit it caught me a bit unaware. Once the service was underway properly it took me a little while to get back into my stride. I knew that I was going to read Jan’s reading but I also ended up reading two other readings as well as mine as two of the readers seemed unaware that they were reading; it must have seemed strange to the congregation that I did so many readings. There was one further little twist to the service as the collection was taken during the penultimate carol which happened to be one of the shortest which left an embarrassing couple of minutes of silence to allow the collection to be finished; mind you, if that is the worst thing we ever do in a service that’s not too bad. I didn’t exactly cover myself in glory last night as I pulled one of our congregations legs about the carol sheet we were using as she had asked for a particular one (which it was); unfortunately she didn’t find it very funny and she was still muttering about it when she left; I guess that will be another apology I’ll have to give, I sometimes can empathise very much with St. Peter who always seemed to be putting his foot in it!

After the service I learnt from some of our neighbours that our cat Islay who we brought with us in 1997 had passed away in her sleep on Wednesday, she would have been about 17 years old. She migrated from us to our neighbours about 6 years ago, although she regularly came back to visit us, I guess their food was better than ours, they knew her as Harriet. I always thought of her as an orgasmic cat because you would only have to stroke her and she would go into complete rapture and a state of ecstasy and would purr so much you thought she was going to explode!

I got back to the Rectory about 8.15pm very grateful that the services were over. We had supper whilst catching up on the last two episodes of Merlin during which there was a bit of a dispute between me and a vicar’s wife I know quite well. Jan had already seen the penultimate episode which I had fallen asleep at the beginning of; which I, of course denied, she then retaliated by saying that she had never heard of anyone watching television whilst snoring. Well I was cut to the quick; in any case if I had fallen asleep the bit where I did and the bit where I woke up again seemed to fit and make perfect sense, so if by chance I had fallen asleep, which I very much doubt (it was probably Dobby our dog who was snoring) it seemed as if I’d seen the whole episode anyway!

Anyway, eventually I did fall asleep so Jan woke me about 11.15pm to go to bed.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Saturday 20^th December-Holy Bingo Money

Up at 2.05am. Continued ploughing my way through the things that have to be done for Christmas, various services and things; I wish I could do all the registers for the wedding on Saturday but I won’t know for sure if it can go ahead until Tuesday when they get the licence, everything should be okay.

To the Parish Room at Roydon to make the Christingles for tomorrow; we had S, D (who very kindly came in on her break), C and her two daughters E & F plus Jan and myself, we made 70 all in all which should be enough for tomorrow morning and afternoon. We were expecting to do the crib but someone had already kindly done that. It was Jan’s first proper time out and although she feels a lot better she’s still not eating properly yet.

Back to the Rectory about midday; there is definitely a funeral at Fersfield on the morning of Christmas Eve, it is Robyn Parks RIP from Fersfield, I buried her husband Lawrie in 2002.

Sorted all the bits out for the delivery run; this one aspect of our work that both Jan and myself WILL NOT miss on our Sabbatical! I thought I’d been so efficient in sorting all the fees out but I’ve just realised I completely forgot about the Holy Bingo money for the two Lophams’ churches; they will have to wait for it now until in the week.

I had a spot of lunch; I don’t enjoy eating by myself, I prefer it to be a social occasion rather just eating for the sake of it and then we set off just before 2.30pm.

We had to go to every church and to make three extra visits as well to see S the S. Lopham Treasurer, to return a Lasagne dish and a saucepan plus just a small bit of shopping in Morrison’s before calling into Roydon our last port of call before returning home; J & A had kindly set the church up for Jan, people have been really kind during her illness.

I had to spend some time on the telephone arranging a funeral preparation visit; unfortunately it can’t be until Tuesday morning but that is the earliest any of the family could see me.

Eventually sat down and had supper, I think I stayed awake for the whole of it but I’m not totally sure; it has been a long day. Eventually went to bed about 10pm but not surprisingly could not get to sleep so I got up at 11pm to do some work. I need to re-write the script of the Nativity Play and put it into a more accessible format for the children to read off a computer screen. I don’t know if I shall go back to bed.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Friday 19^th December-Theological aids

Up at 3.05am.

It’s Friday so it’s admin and telephone calls all day; at least I got my tax return done and posted, I think it’s a record. I’m almost expecting some problems with my tax return because it includes some big items such as replacement computers and a large number of books and theological aids (these have absolutely no connection to other personal aids or the like). I’ve always had problems with the books and Theological aids section of the Tax Return; you can claim about £120 with no hassle which amounts nowadays to about 6 or 7 decent theology books but anything more than that is always questioned; since my return was picked out of the hat for investigation some years ago I have been meticulous in keeping receipts but I always worry about this section.

Jan actually went out shopping this afternoon and she says she’s feeling a lot better but not quite there yet.

I just completely conked out in the afternoon; I just couldn’t keep my eyes open but I did keep working until about 8.45pm and I still haven’t finished yet. It looks as if we may have a funeral on Christmas Eve but as yet I don’t have any details which is going to make things a bit of a rush on Monday. I was hoping to do some Home Communions on Monday and Tuesday but that is looking highly unlikely so unless people want me to come on Christmas Day which I quite often do anyway it is looking as if they will have to wait until the last week in December because there is a wedding to prepare for as well next week.

People are not always keen for you to bring them communion on Christmas or Easter Day; they may have family with them or be away with their families but it always gives me great joy to take people communion on these special days, it’s always a great privilege as well.

Like my two Sons and I guess many men I’m not that great at wrapping presents up so I couldn’t help laughing at a service that Firebox. Com provide if you buy Christmas presents from them; for a fee of £3.99 they will wrap your presents in a way that makes it look as if you’ve wrapped them e.g. as badly as I do. I’m not sure I would ever use it but you’ve got to give them 10/10 for originality.

I had a package with an eBay item arrive yesterday and it contained a complimentary pack of lovehearts in them (which I’m eating as I’m writing apart from a select few I’ve saved for a vicar’s wife I know quite well) do you remember them? They’re a lot smaller than I remember them but so was I when I last ate some but the messages on them have been modernised such as “Text me,” I don’t think mobile phones had been invented when I last had some lovehearts.

Number 1 Son called into see us in the evening, it was a bit disappointing that Neha wasn’t with him; they are off to Harrogate tomorrow to spend Christmas in a Pine Lodge. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to spend Christmas on holiday. I hope they have safe journeys and a lovely Christmas.

I had to correct a lot of the blog yesterday; I must have been sleep writing as there were some awful mistakes in it-sorry about that.

We had a snack supper about 9.30pm and bed at about 11pm to my favourite radio programme Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden on 6Radio; not that I heard a lot of it.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Thursday 18^th December-Sleep for England

Up at 1.10am but I did go back to bed just after 5am and was up again just after 7am.

Today was a bit sad in that this will be the last Thursday Communion until I come back after my Sabbatical; it has always been a special service for me in that quite often it has given me a spiritual boost in the middle of the week and our select little bunch (we would like it be bigger) is lovely.

Made a quick visit to Roydon School and Reg before returning to the Rectory about 12.30pm. I had lunch with the patient although she didn’t have any but she continues to improve a little bit each day; it appears to be a feeling of rawness and nausea which is bothering her most. Jan tells me it is like the early days of pregnancy and morning sickness; she doesn’t seem that enthusiastic when I suggest she may be pregnant!

Took a little break this afternoon; I learnt my lesson about pacing myself last year with the cellulitis, I’m desperately trying to avoid the same thing happening this year.

Down to the Bressingham School Carol Service at Bressingham Church; as usual the church is chock-a-bloc. I had some lovely conversations with some of the teachers, old and new, and some of the children before the service; I can’t believe how blessed I am to have such a good relationship with Bressingham School.

Simon, our Head Teacher gave a very warm welcome to the service; he’s beginning to settle into his job very nicely. He began his welcome by giving a very warm appreciation of my work in the school and the community, no one has ever done this before and it caught me unawares and brings a big lump to my throat, I actually felt quite embarrassed but strangely warm. One doesn’t do this work for any reason of self and I don’t often get any affirmation of what I do but when it comes so unexpectedly it gives a very warm feeling and makes one feel that I must be doing something right at least.

As always the School Service is an absolute delight and I just love watching the children’s, parent’s and teacher’s faces as they do their bit. Unfortunately I have to go before the end so I can get to the next event this evening; this is a great shame because one of the joys of this service is saying goodbye to them all individually and wishing them and receiving many Happy Christmases.

Quite a dash to get home get changed, pick G up and beat the rush hour of traffic departing the church; just about do it and got to the White Hart in Roydon with about a minute to spare! As I parked the car I felt a bit of disappointment that there weren’t that many cars there and that perhaps this was going to be a flop but when we walked into the bar it was the best part full and kept filling during the evening; most people had sensibly walked. Then a strange thing; I put £50 behind the bar for people to have a Christmas drink on me and Jan and I’ll tell you what happened with that later.

We were blessed again to have Rona and her little group of musicians and the whole thing chugged along at a pace; it was good to have a fair number of children there as well. I hope everything went well; I always find it hard to judge because I’m trying so hard to keep it going that I don’t have an awful lot of time to take it all in, I had a lot of good comments made to me about the evening anyway. Again I had some lovely conversations with some of the people there. What really pleased me though more than anything else this week was that without any prompting from me it was decided that the proceeds from the raffle would go to The Air Ambulance rather than the church; perhaps our other churches might make a note of that, because certainly a lot of people there commented on how good that was; about £80 was raised.

Nigel and Hilary treated us all to mince pies and mulled wine which was a nice gesture on their part.

So back to my £50; I went to the bar at the end of the evening to make sure I didn’t have to pay any extra and was flabbergasted (it’s not often that my flabber gets gasted) but was given £45 change so obviously no-one wanted a drink from me because the only drinks were mine and Gs; I can tell you it made a vicar’s wife I know quite happy (not that I’d told her I was going to do it anyway).

I’d just like to share a little story with you that I heard this week. A couple were telling me that they went shopping to Morrison’s; they’d never done their shopping late before but they got there just after 9pm. They were delighted there wasn’t many people about, in fact there was no one about and they thought they would probably do their shopping in the evening again because they weren’t that keen on a lot of people. When they got to the checkout there were no queues, in fact there was no one on the tills at all either. The husband set off to find someone so they could pay for their full trolley of shopping. Eventually he found someone at the back of the shop loading the shelves who got them the manager. I’m not sure who was more embarrassed the manager or the couple when he explained to them that the shop had actually closed at 8pm! However, he took their money as they paid for their shopping. So now you know if you want some free shopping go to Morrison’s after 9pm.

Had a snack supper with the patient (possibly pregnant) and of course promptly fell asleep after it before going to bed at 12.30am. I could sleep for England but only in the sprints; I’d be no good in the marathons.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Wednesday 17^th December-More smack vicar?

Up at 3.25am.

The first port of call this morning was to Roydon School to take an assembly; I used the story of “Arfur” again so it has done me well this year, to be quite honest I’ve used that story since I was at Theological College in 1990 so it has done me extremely well. I don’t use it every year but about every four years. Once again I am overwhelmed by the way I am received by the children and the school and they all wished me a Happy Christmas and All Good Wishes for my Sabbatical; it’s very difficult not to be touched by this.

I then had a frustrating couple of hours on the phone to my Building Society as they had not yet answered my Email about this phantom Direct Debit. I was passed from General Enquiries to the Special Investigations Branch to the Direct Debit Department with lengthy waits in between which tested my patience. The outcome was that the money will be replaced into my account “probably in the next 48 hours” and that that was the end of the matter; no one seemed particularly bothered to find out why it had happened and when I kept pressing them to explain whether it was their mistake or whether someone was trying to defraud my account all they would say is that “they don’t have anything to do with Direct Debits and so it wasn’t their fault!” In the end I just gave up, hoping that at least the money would be back in my account. I’m afraid someone will be in for a shock when they get a bill for their mortgage.

Then to the event that I’d been dreading for the last week; a visit to the Dentist to have a filling. Actually the filling wasn’t too bad it was the de-scale and polish I didn’t like but Mahmoud was very gentle with me and I think I left the Dentist with dignity albeit from sore wrists where I’d been hanging on to my arms for dear life. Hopefully that is over for another 12 months.

Then came one of those imponderable mystery’s of the universe; a visit to the Dentist with treatment-25 minutes, a visit to Morrison’s to fill up car-40 minutes. You would think judging by the queues that they were giving it away or perhaps the end of the world had been announced while I was in the Dentists!

I got back to the Rectory about 1.30pm now feeling the full effects of the two injections and not daring to have a cup of tea in case I repeated the incident when I rinsed my mouth at the Dentists; I did try very hard not to dribble it all out of the side of my mouth and down my jumper, perhaps that was the reason that there was such a long wait at the pumps because at least by the time I got back my jumper had dried out!

I felt it was my duty to sit with the infirm for a while and until I could at least partly control my mouth; the patient is getting a bit better each day but is still not eating properly. Of course in my attempts to relax the patient I also relaxed and fell asleep. I presume that the cocaine that drug users buy on the streets and inject themselves with gives the same effect as the Dentist’s injections; why would anyone pay good money to feel as if someone had punched them in the mouth and dribble out of the side of it? If you are a user and you could tell me what kicks you get out of it; I’ll ask the Dentist to inject me somewhere more suitable next time. Strange as it may seem I’ve just listened to a track on my ITunes by The Fatima Mansions called “More smack, vicar?”

Off to the St. Andrew’s School Carol Service at South Lopham; I got there at 5.30pm and already the car park was nearly full; thank heavens for the churchwardens the only two to reserve me a place. The church was full and the children performed delightfully (there is always a slight tension in that is it an act of worship or a performance-the answer is it doesn’t really matter, it is just good to see the abundant talents of the children); however, I was a bit miffed personally about a few things: There was no consultation about the service, I didn’t even have a copy of the running order, and that one of the most important aspects of Christingle was never even mentioned until I did-the work of The Children’s Society. Apart from the biggest miff of all that the school was having a Christingle Service just four days before our Flagship Christingle Service at South Lopham. The Head Teacher did try to rescue the situation but if we only have a handful on Sunday there are going to be some angry voices but I hope actually that it may encourage more to come on Sunday, we’ll see.

I suppose we should be grateful that there were about 200 people in church although the collection which was for the Children’s Society was a mere £21.

I was very grateful that a parent brought me a non-alcoholic mulled wine and a mince pie that was very kind of him. I went down to the vestry to fill in the service book when I was surrounded by a whole flock of children they all came into the vestry with me along with a couple of parents and they all wanted to know what everything was; surprisingly the thing they were most interested in was the service book and wanted to know every detail of what I was filling in. It is amazing how much education you can get out of a simple thing like a service book; we talked about literacy-how important it was to write clearly, numeracy-we had great fun in trying to work out the size of the congregation, religious education-in talking about some of the events recorded in the book and history-the importance of keeping records for the future. I felt quite worn out after just filling out the service book.

As I was coming out of the church I had one of those moments when you just wish you had a camera. One of the trees in the churchyard was caught in the reflected light from the church and against a clear and starry sky looked absolutely stunning.

Eventually got home just after 8pm with only Dobby (our dog) to greet me; Jan and Drew were at the N&N Hospital for Jan to see an ENT Consultant which she has been waiting to see for some time. Apparently they had such a backlog that they were having evening clinics to try and reduce the lists. They got back about 8.30pm only to find me on the phone with a long call. When I was finished I was pleased to be presented with a cooked supper; it was much appreciated.

Jan is getting a bit better every day now which I’m glad to see, I’ve missed having her with me this week. We watched a film called “Sunshine” which is a good Sc-Fi film before going to bed just after 11pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Tuesday 16^th December-Cream Crackered

Up at 2.55am; I almost feel as if I’m back to normality this morning. The weekend has been a bit upside down with my sleep but at least for today it seems as if I have my routine back.

A busy day ahead with lots of set time appointments, which starts with the St. Andrew’s School Service at North Lopham; we had a minor panic because I’d misinterpreted something J had said so R was dispatched over to the Rectory to collect some candles and service sheets.

Back to the Rectory to pick up a few bits and pieces before returning to The Mess in North Lopham and popping into the Buggy Club; it seems incredible but this is the first time this term that I’ve been to the Buggy Club. I watched the children making glitter cards, some of the children had more glitter on them than on their cards but they were having a great time.

Stayed in the Mess to have lunch with the school which as usual was a jolly affair; each guest has a child host and mine had the most enormous packed lunch which was totally devoured except for the crusts of her sandwich. I had a real problem with conversation with my host which was not her fault but mine in that I couldn’t hear her properly amidst the general noise of the lunch. My hearing in my left ear is not that good and as hard as I concentrate I cannot hear people that well when they talk to me from that side. I find it quite embarrassing at times because I don’t like to keep asking people to repeat themselves so I often guess at what they’re saying and give what I think are the appropriate answers which judging by people’s looks are not often right!

I had to leave the lunch early to go over to Bressingham School to take the assembly there; I am always amazed at my reception at Bressingham School, as soon as I walk in the playground the children flock to me as if I’m some sort of superstar and want to exchange news with me as if I’m some long lost relative, I find it a deeply humbling and an uplifting experience at the same time.

I always enjoy taking assemblies at Bressingham and I think that I and the children enjoyed the story of Arfur the wayward lamb who was actually the first creature to meet Baby Jesus. Whenever I retire from ministry I think this is the aspect of it that I shall miss the most.

Over to Roydon for the Toddler Church at 1.50pm; I thought I’d be the first there but I only managed 7^th (it starts at 2pm). Somehow S managed to persuade me to tell the story; so I gave them the cut down version of Arfur again which they seemed to appreciate. We then all trooped into the church to decorate the Christmas Tree. We all had our hearts in our mouths as first J then S (mk2) climbed to the top of some step ladders to try and put the star on the top of the tree; especially when S (mk2) announced when she was as high as she could go that she didn’t like heights! Both failed miserably which left S in her in her unique style and with no nonsense climbed to the top of the ladders and grabbed the top of the tree bent it over (no self respecting tree could have refused her approach) and successfully placed the star at the top. There were 8 toddlers and 10 adults. A & J kindly set up the Room for Communion; which Jan and I were most grateful for. I heard one bit of news that The Rev’d. Canon William Bestelink the former Priest in Charge of Roydon is set to retire in early January.

I went from the Toddler Church over to Diss to see M, one of our organists about one of our services on Sunday.

I managed to get back to the Rectory about 4.30pm and was glad to have a sit down with a vicar’s wife I know quite well. The latest update on her is that she is continuing to improve a little each day although she is still not eating very much. Of course the sit down turned to a doze but fortunately after my tea was still relatively warm to drink; it is not unusual for me to wake up and drink the cold tea that is beside me. Miraculously I was woken at 6.55pm. I had a telephone message from JS that our English Heritage grant for Fersfield had been approved, I always knew it would be despite the protestations of the Architect. JS was excited on the phone and was probably taken aback by my matter of fact response, there were two reasons for that; 1. I was always confident that we were going to get it and 2. I’d just woken up so I was still in a state of doziness. Now the hard work begins!

Down to the Chequers for the Carols; there was a good turnout but not so good as in previous years but even so it was a jolly affair. I don’t really look forward to these things but once it all gets going I find myself totally immersed in it all. Once again like yesterday if it wasn’t for the carol singing the pub would be empty or perhaps it is because we’re carol singing that the pub is empty. The Licensee D was very generous with the food and I think it was the best spread we’ve enjoyed in our many sessions over the years the only problem was that by the time I got to the table it was all gone apart from some mince pies and of course the one I picked up immediately disintegrated in my hand! We finished a lot later than I anticipated but I hope that everyone had had a good time.

After dropping G off I got back to the Rectory about 10.45pm completely “cream crackered” (Cockney rhyming slang-work it out for yourself). I found that Drew & Dawn had decorated the Rectory in my absence; even my monitor had tinsel on it, I was little surprised that Dobby (our dog Holly) and Jan had not been decorated as well. Left to our own devices we would probably think about putting up some minimal decorations about December 28^th. Thank you Drew & Dawn.

Supper at 11pm of sandwich and Leek and Onion soup, which I know was given for Jan. It was delicious thank you R & J (I only had a cupful so most of it is still there for Jan). As usual I chilled out watching some trashy film on TV; it was obviously so trashy I can’t even remember what it was and bed at 12.15am and sleep at 12.15 ½ am. A good but long day.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Monday 15^th December-So it starts

I finally went to bed at 5am and was up again about 8.30am. I’m beginning to feel the tiredness in that my body is aching and hurting far more than it normally does.

I spent the morning finishing off the fees ready for paying out. When I came to transfer the money out of the account I keep them in I had a bit of a shock in finding there wasn’t as much in the account as I expected; when I checked the full statement I found a Direct Debit that I have no knowledge of which is paying £740 a month from my account into Birmingham M’shires which sounds like a Building Society Account so it looks as if I’m paying someone’s mortgage for them. I of course got on to my Building Society straight away but as yet I haven’t had any response from them. I hope it is just a mistake on their part but we’ll see.

It seems to take me an extraordinarily long time to do anything with anything financial; it seems that every time I add a column of figures up I get a different answer; it doesn’t matter whether I do it in my head or using a calculator. I need to get my financial adviser (a vicar’s wife I know quite well) to have a look at it when she gets better.

The current news on the patient is that she is a bit better again and she has had a bit to eat but still a long way off from being back to normal. I’m afraid this job takes no prisoners when you’re ill it goes on relentlessly; it doesn’t matter whether you’re a vicar or a vicar’s partner everything just carries on regardless.

It felt strange going to the BFG alone yesterday; I feel strangely vulnerable when Jan isn’t with me. We had 10 children and 6 parents and I have to say that I felt the session was an unmitigated disaster. We were preparing for our Christmas Play; we may need to have a radical and urgent re-think about the whole thing, we appear to have an ever increasing complex and wordy play that is not clicking with the children or the parents. When I said that we’d have a dress rehearsal next Monday one of the parents said we’d better start early when I asked how early she said how about Saturday! We settled for a compromise of 2.30pm!  Who was it who said; “Never work with animals or children!” I know yesterday I said that the church always settles for the ”benign” but it feels like the best option to take at the moment. I’m a great believer that it will be alright on the night and eventually God works it all out but at the moment that confidence is sadly lacking-still trust God and forward in the Lord.

Back to the Rectory about 5.45pm, everything seems to be taking me so long to do at the moment, locking the church up took me about 15 minutes and I had to have a sit down while I was doing it-someone please take me around the back and shoot me!

So it starts, the whole Christmas thing; over to The White Horse South Lopham at 7.30pm for the first of our “Carols at the bar.” I was greatly encouraged that there was a greater number than normal and the whole place had a good feeling about it. I was just a little bit hurt when someone said that I hadn’t done this before and it was a shame that Mary or Philip wasn’t here to lead it and had I thought of asking one of them back to do so! Who did they think did it before I allowed them to share in my ministry?

I find it quite amazing really that when you do allow people to share in your ministry how quickly they forget who’s ministry it actually is and how quick they are to claim it as theirs. I think it may help us to understand why some clergy are afraid to allow anyone to share their ministry. No-one is more pro for collaborative ministry than me but the collaboration has to be both ways.

Anyway, I think the evening was successful; we had just the right blend of jokes, poetry, preaching (some may not have felt comfortable with that part but we are the church and we do have a Gospel to proclaim, as the song says) and singing. There was plenty of laughter and it was just so refreshing to have no organ music; we had the Deneside Ramblers, R and her little band with accordion, bass guitar and violin, I felt it gave the whole evening a more traditional and joyful feeling; I don’t suppose organists would agree but then everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I wound the evening up about 9.30pm because I’ve found that it is good to quit while ahead rather than trying to flog a dead horse and that it is good to leave people wanting more rather than having had more than enough (the last few years I’ve had to sit on the other side and squirmed and listened to people saying about the Master or Mistress of Ceremonies “Why don’t they shut up”). I also have to look after myself; I find these evenings very wearing on the tonsils and as this was the first of five such events this week it would be nice to be able to still talk at the end of the week. A vicar without a voice is a fairly useless object as many teachers would understand and in case I wouldn’t like to deprive the people of my preaching; I wonder how many people pray for their vicar to lose their voice? There was one blessing last night at least there was no cigarette smoke which makes the whole voice thing far more difficult and so one none-smoker is very glad of the no public smoking ban.

I am not a natural up front man, I find it hard work and would rather just be sitting in the corner.

I arrived back at the Rectory just after 10pm and had a sandwich supper whilst watching one of the nonsensical trashy films on the TV (I love ‘em) “The Loch Ness Terror” which was about the Loch Ness Monster who had somehow made its way to the U.S. and was busily devouring them all. Unfortunately I was unable to complete my viewing of this delightful film as my body had given up the ghost and I retired to my boudoir about 30 minutes before it ended; what bliss it was to go to bed at the reasonably normal time of 11.20pm but then I had so much trouble going to sleep, I thought it was because I was overtired, it took a whole 7 seconds (approximately-as I lost count after five) to enter the land of nod!      

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Sunday 14^th December-Death warmed up

This weekend certainly has been topsy turvey for me; my sleep patterns are erratic at the best of times but today took the biscuit because I haven’t been to bed since getting up at 4.55am on Saturday morning. How do I feel? How do you think you would feel? Like death warmed up is probably the nearest way to describe it!

My Dad, who died at 49-God rest his soul, used to have a couple of favourite sayings when I was younger; one of them was “Like death warmed up,” when he was asked how he was feeling and “You’ll wake up dead if you keep doing that,” as a warning when I was doing something I shouldn’t. I used to be completely in awe of that and normally stopped me doing anything I shouldn’t have been doing pretty quickly; it took me some years to realise that you couldn’t actually wake up dead.

When I was in my teens my Dad and I had a serious falling out (which was all my fault) but I’m glad to say we made it up and became the best of friends but unfortunately only a few years before he died.

I took the 8am service at Roydon, there were 15 of us; I felt pretty grotty all through the service and was rather glad to get home about 9.20am.

I went to bed at 10am about 29 hours after I got up yesterday; I was up again at 11.30am.

Jan was a little better but not much; a kind person had left some soup for us, I know who you are. I sat with Jan for a few hours before getting on with some work.

I picked G up to go to the Advent Carol Service at North Lopham. Advent is my favourite of the Church’s seasons and I think the Advent hymns and carols are particularly good; it is just a shame that we only have a couple of weeks of it before the Christmas Carols completely take over. The Advent Services have great potential to engage with people’s senses; especially the sense of sight if you are using the lights to highlight the difference between the dark and the light; there is also the potential for movement as many of the big Cathedrals demonstrate in their Advent Carol Services. The service tonight was okay but it could have been so much better with a bit of both of the above included. Sometimes I think we’re not very adventurous in church and sometimes settle for the benign rather than trying anything different. In the defence of that though, we must be careful that we’re not forever chasing the new or different things just for the sake of it.

Returned to the Rectory just after 8pm; I’ve no doubt that Number 2 Son has been given instructions to look after me as once again I had supper cooked for me, I would have probably done myself a sandwich but I wasn’t going to be allowed to do that, thank you Drew.

I sat with Jan; she is a little better but a long way from being her normal self. I know it is difficult when you don’t feel like it but she needs to eat a bit more and drink more but then she hasn’t listened to me for 36 years so I don’t suppose she’ll start now.

I am totally lost without Jan and when she’s not functioning properly the chaos that I live in completely takes over. I am sitting writing this at 1am and I know if I’m not careful I’m going to sit up all night again, which is not good for me or the parishes.

January 1^st seems a long way away at the moment. I was having a conversation with someone after the service this evening about insomnia. I have no control over it; of course I could just lie in bed but then I would be tossing and turning but still not sleeping. It’s like Jan and her eating and drinking, I know it’s no good for me to go without sleep but I can’t just switch it on and off. My sleep patterns are completely off the scale at the moment. All I seem to do is cat nap for an hour or so, here and there.

Jan has just come into the study and completely scared the wits out of me, she did this to me yesterday; as I was typing away and listening to my ITunes, my favourite pastime, she walks in un-noticed and touches me on my shoulder, I very nearly wake up dead! Incidentally I don’t know if you use ITunes but I’ve been learning a lot about its hidden secrets which has nothing to do with what I was going to say (sleep deprivation is finally taking over); but my ITunes tells me I have 9,600 items on it and to listen to them all would take 159.2 days! Because some of you like to hear about the minutiae of my life; I’m listening to Normal for Norfolk, a song called “I bought the Holy Grail in a car boot sale at Stalham for 30p!”

Bed at who knows?

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Saturday 13^th December-Promptly fell asleep

Up at 4.55am after a night of troubled sleep and bad dreams. I managed to get everything ready for delivery by 1pm and I got back from the run just before 4pm.

I set Roydon up; it took me about 50 minutes whereas it takes Jan about 10. Then off to Fersfield for the first Church Carol Service; the main body of the church was full. The service lasted about an hour and I warmed to it as it went on; I hope everybody enjoyed it?

The Carol Service was followed by a Village Social in the old Hall; I didn’t go as there was a sick vicar’s wife at home. Number 2 Son cooked my supper after which I promptly fell asleep for an hour or so.

Jan and I watched the TV until about 1.30pm when Jan decided to go back to bed. It wasn’t worth me going to bed so I stayed up!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Friday 12^th December-It’s back

Up at 1.20am although to be fair I never really went to bed. I didn’t really go to bed until 5.30am; everything is a bit upside down in the Rectory at the moment.

A vicar’s wife I know quite well has full blown flu and is in a bit of a sorry state at the moment; number 2 Son is looking after both of us. I think it will be some time before we see Jan in circulation again; my only hope is that I don’t get it. I’ve not had a good track record over the last couple of Christmases.

Nothing really exciting to write about today; after three glorious weeks without it, I’m afraid it’s back to the usual Parish Admin. It could be an interesting week as I’ve lost my proof reader and however hard I try to do it myself I seem almost incapable of finding my own mistakes.

I’ll have to do it all myself this weekend; the folding and the delivering which means it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.

Bed at 1.45am around about the time I’m normally getting up.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Thursday 11^th December-Quivering Wreck

Up at 2.12am; however I did go back to bed at 5.30pm and was up again at 7.30pm.

A vicar’s wife I know quite well is coming down with something; I hope it is just a cold.

We celebrated Communion in the Rectory this morning; there were six of us and we talked about patience. I mulled over the thought that as I get older I get more patient in some areas and less patient in other areas; the problem is where I am getting less patient are the areas where they are not so important, where it doesn’t really matter. As I now have a contractual obligation to mention my forthcoming Sabbatical every day, I’ll get it over and done with early; I’ll shall miss the Thursday Communion during my Sabbatical.

As it wasn’t too busy today we had a family outing; Jan, Drew and myself went out for Christmas lunch. On my recommendation we went to the Black Swan at Homersfield, where we had the Chapter lunch on Tuesday. Unfortunately it wasn’t as nice as on Tuesday but it was good to have a couple of hours of quality family time.

Stopped off in Diss on the way home for some shopping; it is perhaps indicative of the present economic climate that we find ourselves in that EDP (Eastern Daily Press) has a Thursday jobs section in which is normally about 15 pages carried only 2 yesterday and most of the jobs on offer were in the care sector.

Did a few bits and pieces in the afternoon before going off to one of the many charities that I sit on as a Trustee; The Bressingham Fuel Allotment Charity is a charity that provides for the poor and destitute in the Parish of Bressingham. We only have limited funds and normally pay out an annual heating grant of around £20 depending on the number of beneficiaries we pay out to; the problem we have in common with many of the other charities that I sit on is: “Who actually is poor and destitute today and where do we mark the criterion for somebody falling into this category?” It is quite often a tough decision that swings between an emotional and perhaps sentimental response of who is old and who has lived in the village long enough and the more practical response of who needs it the most. Our business is normally over very quickly and then we’re treated to some fine home baking and pleasant chat around a roaring log fire. I couldn’t stay this time as a vicar’s wife I know quite well has more than a cold and needs a bit of looking after.

I returned to the Rectory about 8.30pm and spent about half an hour making various phone calls before joining Jan upstairs; I found a quivering wreck under a duvet on the sofa. I sat with her and of course eventually fell asleep as is my usual practice in the evening and then I didn’t really go to bed. As I write this at 3am in the morning I am sitting here in the clothes that I was working in yesterday and it all feels very strange.

I have signed our website up with another charity shopping organisation-easyfundraising.org.uk which provides a shopping portal of over 600 retailers who gives us a percentage of what people spend if they shop through our website. I did this after a recommendation of a son of one of our former members of Roydon Church. The portal will be up and running on the website in the next day or so.

If you have any ministry with children or enjoying telling stories to children whether they be your own or someone else’s; I would like to recommend a book to you; it is by our acting Rural Dean-The Rev’d. Canon Janice Scott and it is called Children’s Stories from the Village Shepherd-ISBN-10: 0-7880-2618-6. It costs £9.99 plus £1.50 P&P and can be obtained at the Rocking Rector’s Sale Page here. It is an excellent book and it is laid out in a very accessible way for following either the Church lectionary or any themes.

Bed at-I don’t know yet; you’ll have to read tomorrow’s entry to find out.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Wednesday 10^th December-Drill into my cheek

Up at 3.25am

I didn’t go back to bed yesterday and I did go to Morning Prayer and although I struggled at times I did manage to stay awake all through it.

Spent the morning doing some admin and making various telephone calls.

2pm my least favourite thing; a visit to the Dentist. I am much better than I used to be but a visit to a school Dentist when I was in Junior School has left me terrified of Dentists. During the visit to the Dentist he managed to drill into my cheek; I probably didn’t help because he was so rough and I’ve no doubt I wasn’t very co-operative. I just leapt up and ran out of the surgery with my Dad in hot pursuit and when he caught me I got a clip around the ear to boot (it was well deserved because I said something to the Dentist as well). I was then frogmarched back to the surgery for the work to continue. I did manage to overcome my fear to some extent until I was about 17 or 18 when through very painful toothache I visited the Dentist and had some fillings done which actually made the pain considerably worse for several weeks afterwards. Now I have a very kind and considerate Dentist, Mahmoud, who puts me at my ease and on my last visit even persuaded me to have a filling without an injection!

It wasn’t too bad, just one filling and a scrape and polish which will be done next week.

Then a visit to the Doctors to have my two warts cryo’d again; I’ve lost about 75% of them since the first visit and hopefully this will be the end of them. It is a very strange experience; it’s not really painful but it does sting and no doubt like last time will get sore.

We did some shopping in Diss and a quick visit to arrange for the music in one of our pub carolling sessions before returning to the Rectory for a cup of tea and a little rest. I then spent quite a bit of time on the telephone to the Diocesan Registrar about a wedding that we have at the end of the month and then even more time unravelling some of the arrangements that had been made in my absence. Everything was fine in the end and the couple understood why they have to have a license to get married. Any marriage with a foreign national involved has to be dealt with in a slightly different way to one with two British citizens involved. I then spent even longer with dealing with a pastoral problem over the phone; far longer than I wanted to but very necessary for the person concerned.

Then off to the Marriage Preparation Evening at Roydon; we were a bit later getting there than I wanted to be so it was a bit messy at the start. Last year’s event was very good and some people considered it to be one of the best things we did as a benefice. I wasn’t quite sure how this one was going to turn out because we don’t have so many booked weddings so far and a few of the couples live a way off so I knew they wouldn’t be coming. I think in the end it was as good as last year and I know the six couples who came got a lot from it and after all it is for them. I think some of our people got slightly the wrong idea what the evening was about but I think even without that it was well worth doing.

I don’t think I would have had the evening until January if it hadn’t been for the Sabbatical (you must be fed up with hearing that word) and I was rather hoping that we would increase the Marriage Preparation to two nights but that will have to wait until next time.

Jan and I got back to the Rectory about 10pm and so it was a late light supper before going to bed at 11.55pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Tuesday 9^th December-Thriving and adventurous

Up at 1.55am; I managed to go back to bed at 5.30am and was up again at 8am, but I was very slow in getting ready today.

10am and my first port of call is the assembly at St. Andrew’s School; as soon as I walked into the hall I realised that I’d got the wrong theme, that will teach me for not checking. I thought it was “light” but it was “peace” but with a quick piece of thinking (doesn’t happen often with me) I managed to fit the assembly I was going to give into the theme. The school Orchestra was playing and I must say they were very good; I’m looking forward to them playing at the School Carol Service next week. Had a chat with the teachers in the staffroom at break time and everyone seemed to be in good spirits, which is not always the case at this time of the year, the first term is always a long term.

Briefly called in at home before driving out to the Black Swan at Homersfield for the Clergy Chapter Christmas lunch (The Clergy Chapter is all the serving clergy of Redenhall Deanery-there are 7 stipendiary (full time paid), 1 non stipendiary (non-paid) and 6 OLMs (ordained local ministers also non-paid)); we were somewhat depleted being only 5 in number (Janice, David J., Barry, Sue & myself). It was a good lunch with good food, good company and there were plenty of laughs and really the only work shared was some anecdotes about weddings. Although the lunch was £20 it was an excellent four course meal with good choices in three of the courses. I don’t normally enjoy socialising with clergy (I’m not very competitive and there always seems to be an air of competition amongst clergy) but this was a really enjoyable lunch. The only thing that was a bit sad was that Tony is still off sick and we can’t contact him or really find out how he is and I think we really would just like to pass on our best wishes and support for him.

One thing that did please me at the lunch was that our benefice was described as “thriving and adventurous;” I’m not sure I totally agree with that but it is very different to how this benefice was described to me by other clergy when I arrived here nearly twelve years ago. Some of my colleagues are having some difficult problems to deal with.

I know we’re not supposed to covet but David’s plans for his Sabbatical (we’re both taking one at the same time) seem far more interesting than mine; with a trip to Hong Kong and serving for a while in the Cathedral there before going on to tour New Zealand. I can’t even get a vicar’s wife I know quite well to even talk about ours yet; mind you, perhaps the thought of spending three months with me 24/7 might not be that appealing, I’m not sure I’d like to do it!

Back to the Rectory about 3.30pm feeling very guilty that a vicar’s wife I know quite well was just finishing her cheese & pickle sandwich lunch. Out again at 4pm to the Doctor’s making sure I’ve got enough medication for my Sabbatical and to follow up my hand x-ray which showed nothing conclusive but there is nothing more I can do about that until after my Sabbatical other than pain killing gels; I don’t really want to come back here for a hospital visit during the Sabbatical, although that looks quite likely to happen when Jan finally gets her appointment to see an EN&T consultant! I made another appointment for cryo treatment to my two warts which are both 75% gone but I might as well try to get rid of them completely if I can.

We were back at the Rectory by 5pm so I had a rest before going to the Roydon Fete Committee at the Parish Room at 7.30pm. I was encouraged that the committee is 100% bigger this year and there were some good ideas pushed around; the main one being a major change of venue which needs to be firmed up by the end of the week but it looks likely that the fete will be on Saturday 13^th June 2009 but hopefully that will be confirmed by the end of the week as well.

It wasn’t a long meeting and we were over and done by 8.20pm. Jan came & set up the church and picked me up and we were back home by 9pm. We had a light supper and partially watched a powerful movie on the TV “8MM” but we were both tired and as usual I fell asleep.

Bed at 11pm

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Monday 8^th December-Trepidation

Up at 2.28am but I managed to get back to bed at 6.20am and was up again at 9.15am.

Still feeling a bit shell shocked/jet lagged after the holiday so I didn’t do very much in the morning; after all it is meant to be my day off.

At 1.45pm went to the Lophams’ Village Hall for The Holy Bingo; a special Christmas edition. It is amazing that since March we’ve raised £400 for the two Lopham churches plus we’ve had a good bit of fun along the way. I’m very grateful that R will keep this going during the Sabbatical.

A bit of a dash from the Lophams Village Hall to Roydon Church for the BFG (Big Friendly God Club) at 4pm; I had a bit of trepidation about today’s meeting because one of the schools have their Christmas production this week and we are out of sync because of our holiday; but we had seven children and five adults. We sorted our Christmas play out for the Crib Service on Christmas Eve; all we’ve got to do now is to make it happen. As some of the children had to go early for their school production we finished earlier than normal.

Returned home for what for us was an exceptionally early supper, just after 6pm; after which I promptly fell asleep. Jan had some trouble in waking me so consequently we were a bit late getting to Fenners for their carols. I needn’t have worried though as they were still turning up after we got there. I think there was the most I’d ever seen there and it was rather full to say the least but as always it was a truly joyful affair with R leading us with his usual silly jokes but keeping it all jogging along. It was good to see that some of the Rotary members were there and they presented Fenners with £500-good on them. There was a lovely touching moment when we were joined by Dolly one of the former residents whose medical needs outgrew Fenners. Dolly was in one of the most intricate wheelchairs I’d ever seen; unfortunately she didn’t recognise any of us but still seemed to enjoy the occasion. We finished there about 9.45pm and dropped off G at home.

The evening reminded me that I have three Pub carolling sessions next week; recently I’ve been spared from leading them but this year I will have to do all three. I would rather sit in the corner and just join in. When I started them I was a lot younger, fitter and enthusiastic (and sillier) but even so they are great fun just hard work on the tonsils (if I had any) and also a great means of outreach.

I forgot to mention that yesterday (Sunday) we had our first carols in church and also our first Christmas tree; anyone would think we are getting near to Christmas. Although I’m not someone who demands that carols are not sung until Christmas Day (I once worked with a Dean at Brecon Cathedral who would not allow a carol to be sung until Christmas Day and a tree put up until Christmas Eve) I am sad that we are losing Advent more and more and especially the hymns and carols that are normally only sung at this time of year. We do have to be careful though because we need to be where people are and they are already celebrating Christmas!

Bed at 10.55pm

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Sunday 7^th December-Soporific

Up at 1.52am

We were a bit thin on the ground for the 8am service but it was very cold, -1°C, and there was plenty of ice about on the roads. A beautiful but chilly start to the day.

The 10am service looked at one point at about 9.55am as if it wasn’t going to take place at all but we had a sudden influx of congregation at the last minute and for once nobody sat at the back of the church; it was good to have everybody together at the front of the church.

I introduced the children to some puppets; Michael the McCaw and Peter the Punk Dog. They were fascinated by Michael but not so taken with Peter who spits ala “Spit the Dog.” It is absolutely fascinating to watch the children’s faces (and some of the adults) as they interact with the puppets. A vicar’s wife I know quite well assisted with the talk-“The gift that keeps on giving” and I was really impressed that J the one boy in the congregation who’d heard my assembly a couple of weeks ago in Roydon School remembered most of it.

Today was really the church at her best as along with North Lopham we had a Toy Service where we ask the congregation to bring along a new toy suitably wrapped in Christmas Wrapping Paper with a gift tag indicating whether it is for a boy or girl or Mum with an approximate age on. Just before Christmas the presents are gathered up and taken to the NCH in Thetford where they are distributed among the people who are supported by this project. The children in particular seem to be able to grasp how important this sort of giving is.

I was pleased to get home at lunchtime because my knees do not like this cold weather.

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who came to the evening service at Fersfield; which is not our warmest church. It was our monthly service of Healing and Reconciliation which has a special atmosphere of its own and although we set it in the context of Evensong it is much loved by those who attend it.

I think a vicar’s wife I know quite well was glad to get home about 8pm because she feels the cold and was absolutely frozen. As we both thawed out eating a curry the warmth of the house had its usual Sunday evening soporific affect on us both.

Bed at 11pm

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Saturday 6th December-Normal for Norfolk

Up at 8.45am

Spent most of the day clearing up the great pile of snail-mail and the emails (just 121 messages- not bad considering my inbox was last cleared at 1pm on Thursday 4^th December).

Had a haircut in the evening followed by a shower and then supper whilst catching up on last week’s Merlin.

It must be one of the great unwritten laws of the universe that not only before you go away on holiday there is a lot to be done but also when you come back there is an enormous pile of mail and emails to wade through. Fortunately most of the emails are rubbish but they still have to be gone through.

I think my body hasn’t quite readjusted itself back to Norfolk time yet; it’s not sure whether it’s in the Welsh, Cornish or Norfolk time zone yet, it will probably be about Wednesday before I make contact with the ground. The Christmas rush starts gently this week; so hopefully there will be time to readjust to “Normal for Norfolk.”

Incidentally, I don’t know if you’ve come across “Normal for Norfolk” it’s a Norwich guy Andy Palmer who does skits on life in Norfolk; S introduced me to them earlier this year (or it may have been last year) but they have a total of three CDs; Normal for Norfolk, Norfolk 12 London 0 and Norfolk Democracy. They are all very funny but beware there is some swearing!

Bed at 9.45pm

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

It has been a bit confusing in the past because although I’ve headed the blog with the day’s date I’ve recorded the events of the day before so I’m taking this opportunity to correct that so that each day records that day’s events only. I hope that is clear (it sounds as clear as mud to me).

What will make it even more confusing is that this entry covers the events of Thursday and Friday 4^th & 5^th December. Rob.

Up at 2.30am and went back to bed just after 6am and was up again at 8.50am.

As usual the last day at Clydach is one of packing things up ready to leave; we can’t leave today until after the post has arrived which normally comes about 1pm as I have a book I’d ordered being delivered.

We left just before 2pm but not to return home but to go to St. Austell, Cornwall for Doreen’s funeral on Friday. We had an uneventful journey briefly stopping at the services at Exeter.

This brought back some memories because the Exeter services are built at a place called Middlemoor where the Devon and Cornwall Police Headquarters stand; it was here I began my police service with The Devon and Cornwall Police Constabulary in September 1973, then it was all green fields.

We arrived in St. Austell about 6.30pm and booked into the Travelodge. We went to the bus station to pick up Number 1 Son, Chris who had left Diss about 7am by coach. His coach was due in about 8pm but was about half an hour late. We took him to the Travelodge before having a lovely supper before going to bed about 11.30pm.

Travelodges are real gems; if you book them early enough you can get them for as low as £12 per room and although the rooms are very basic they are fairly consistent in their level of comfort. They allow dogs for an extra £10 and if you book a family room three of you can stay in it. Although we didn’t get the Travelodge at a cheap rate it was still good value and it was one of the few that had its own bar/cafe which was ideal for us.

Friday 5^th December

Being an insomniac at home is bad enough but in an hotel it is a nightmare; you can’t go to another room and with three of us in the room anyway, I couldn’t even sit on the sofa (because Chris was sleeping on it). So being up at 3.30am is no fun. I walked around the room a few times; I sat on the loo (not to do anything) for a change of scenery, sat down on the bed and laid down again and then 10 minutes later repeated the cycle. Chris woke with a start at one time looking straight at me looking at him while I was sitting on the edge of the bed. It obviously didn’t bother him that much as he just turned over and went back to sleep

Eventually everyone was awake at about 8am and then I was doubly attacked about my snoring! What a cheek, I was told by both son and wife that I snored like a wild animal (whatever that is supposed to sound like-I doubt whether either of them have ever heard a wild animal snoring). I defended myself by saying that I never snore- I can’t do because I’ve never heard myself snore! And in any case even if I do snore they only had to listen to me for part of the night; I had to listen to them both snoring for getting on for ¾ of the night (well I would have done if they both snored but they didn’t).

We went for breakfast about 9am and it was an all you could eat breakfast for £7 per person; my favourite meal, breakfast, not the eat all you can bit, although that bit made it all the better to enjoy. Dobby certainly did well out of it being brought back several sausages and rashers of bacon!

After breakfast Chris & I got ready (Jan had already done this at 8am) with Chris only just managing to beat the departure time of 12 Noon by a matter of seconds.

I’d put Chris on my car insurance this morning and come across one of the anomalies of car insurance; I’d put Drew on a few months earlier. Result Drew aged 24, driving experience on a full licence 7 years-cost £112; Chris aged 27, driving experience on a full licence-18 months only-cost £6.97.

We had a recce trip to the Crematorium and a trip through Truro before getting back to the Crematorium about 1.40pm. We were a bit confused as there was a party of elderly people at the entrance with standards; but eventually they moved away before the next party of mourners moved in. We were expecting just to be in the back but was told by a family friend that we were expected to sit with the family. I think I must have looked completely out of place because I was in my many pocketed trousers a fawn jumper and a shirt with no tie but I had just come straight from holiday!

Rather perversely I enjoy going to funerals because at a professional level it gives me something to mark my own funeral presentations against. It was a pleasant Crematorium and the service was led by one of the Cathedral Canons. He did a good job, my only criticisms would be that he didn’t welcome people into the Crematorium, a reading of a poem was a bit patronising. What was a revelation was Philip’s (Doreen’s son) tribute it was really refreshing to hear the way he spoke about his Mum but also put in many opportunities for Thanking God as well. At the end of the service when Michael put me on the spot by asking me what marks out of ten I would give the Canon I had to say 11 but it was more like 9 but I said that Philip deserved 12 out of 10 for his tribute.

Philip is a young GP in the Totnes Valley where I served as a Police Officer. The last time we saw Philip he was a Junior Doctor at the Abergavenney Hospital when he called to visit us at Pontypool Vicarage just before leaving to come here.

We went back to the family home at Coombe where I had a chance to talk to Michelle and Rich and meet their two children aged 8 or 9 they were completely underwhelmed that I was introduced to them as the vicar who had married their Mum & Dad some 12 years ago in Cornwall. Also had the chance to talk to John, Doreen’s brother, and his son Chris who live in Wymondham.

We made our apologies to leave and made a promise to call and see Michael during our Sabbatical and he told us he would be pleased to show us around the Eden Project.

We left about 4pm and had the most horrendous journey back; torrential showers travelling from West to East followed us all the way home. There was one particular time as we travelling around Dartmoor coming down the steep hills into Exeter; the traffic was fairly heavy but moving at quite a speed and the rain was just bucketing down.

Our first stop was at the Taunton Services which is probably the worst Service Station on all the motorway networks of England; the seats are uncomfortable most of it was closed and then a vicar’s wife I know quite well and her son ganged up on me to abuse me; they covered me from chin to tummy with serviettes to prevent me from dropping something down myself. I felt like a nursing home patient on day release; unfortunately it didn’t work because I still managed to drop some curry between plate and mouth which somehow managed to bypass the serviette version of the Berlin Wall! Why do I take such abuse; it’s probably because I love ‘em.

I took over the driving until the Leigh Delaware Services where Chris took over. Some people are really thick; I was sitting in the car while Chris & Jan were in the services when a family in the next car came out from the services all with coffees, they lit up and then all went to the loo behind a shed in front of our car-why didn’t they go in the services?

Chris drove to Reading then Jan took over and drove the rest of the way. We had an hour long stop in Birchanger which I think we all enjoyed because we were just talking; not something we have a lot of chance to do as a family. I am really proud of our two sons and their lovely partners and I really enjoy talking to them as friends although I am beginning to feel like the doddery old granddad who no one takes any notice of anymore! I sometimes wonder if that is how our parishioners feel about me as well.

After dropping Chris off we finally arrived home about 2.30am; it had been a long journey, Dobby flew out of the car and went straight to the front door-she’d had enough!

Finally got to bed about 3.30am; I was really glad that I’d had offers to help with the weekly and daily bulletins.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.44am

I went back to bed yesterday at 7am and was up again just before 9am.

Our last full day here but it is quite amazing to think that in four weeks time we will be back but for three months.

All the weekly admin done and emailed to relevant people; it is very kind of people to rally around and it will provide a good tester, a dry run for the Sabbatical.

The Tax Return is all but finished; it just needs one little bit of information that we didn’t have with us.

Didn’t do very much else today; I didn’t get around to installing the new router and BT Vision that will have to wait until January 1^st.

Had a lazy supper in front of the TV before going to bed at 12.10am. It has been a lovely bright day here although it did start to rain in the evening.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.38am

I did go back to bed yesterday but not until after 8am; because I thought I might do Dobby our dog before she disturbed Jan, I needn’t have worried because as we came back in Jan was up. I got up again just before 10am. It was a bit wet yesterday but brightened up during the day until the rain returned in the evening.

Big day yesterday my birthday; 28yrs old (well plus V.A.T. and an ever increasingly generous tip-especially after the recent reduction in V.A.T.). It’s funny how in your mind you stay a certain age, I guess it is a time that we are particularly happy in our life. At 28 it would have been 1980 and we would have been living in Highbury New Park a year before Number 1 Son made his appearance. Although I’m 56 but feel 28 my body feels about 78!

Managed to do some more work today; I’ve done the weekly bulletins ready for printing (it will be a trial run for the Sabbatical) although I’m not sure if they’re really up to much, Tuesday is very early in doing them, even when they’re done on a Friday things get missed. It is a case of needs must this week.

Thankfully all the BT equipment turned up today; I'll have a go at installing it all today (Wednesday).

Had a break from work in the evening; Jan had done a lovely meal, Beef Wellington. First we had to open the presents before sitting down to the meal. I think we were both a bit disappointed in the Beef Wellington; neither of us had had it before and Jan managed to find a couple of them in Morrison’s in Swansea. We both thought they were like a flash meat pie, is that sacrilege? However, it was a lovely meal and a nice way to celebrate a birthday.

Wednesday will be our last full day here as on Thursday we will be making our way down to St. Austell for Doreen’s funeral.

Bed at 12.10am.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Tuesday 2^nd December-Empty and void

Up at 1.56am

I went back to bed about 7am; it was absolutely freezing and there was a thick frost everywhere but it was a beautiful morning. I was up again about 9am; I seem to be getting back into my usual routine.

I finally managed to get down to doing some work; the worship rota is now done up until the end of April, all I need to do is now fill the services! The fees have all been done; all I need to do now is break it down into the individual churches and pay the money out. The fees are one those jobs I hate doing, I always start off with good intentions which normally lasts until the end of January and then it all seems to go awry. There really must be a better way of collecting the fees; either centrally via the diocese (at least they have the clerical staff to deal with it) or by the parishes themselves say through a central Benefice account; either way would take a lot off my shoulders but of course it would then add it to someone else’s responsibility. It really is a hangover from a parish system that is long gone. No one would be happier than me if I had no contact with money at all.

After all I said about BT the promised delivery of the updated equipment didn’t happen either here or in Norfolk; we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

I received the first of my Celtic Prayer Books today, this one is by David Adam the former Rector of Lindisfarne; my hope during the Sabbatical is that Jan will join me in morning and evening prayer and rather than using the office (the prayer book-Common Worship) we’ll use Celtic Offices. Hopefully the whole of the Sabbatical will have a Celtic feel; it is a spirituality that I have always had an interest in and I know that Jan enjoys it.

We had a really civilised supper at 7.30pm (I could get used to that) and guess what, we watched another film; “Hancock” it is a “Super Hero” film with a twist. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it; I take my science fiction films seriously and the reviews and clips that I’d seen made me think it wasn’t going to do that, so I was more than pleasantly surprised that this film is a little gem with various stories running through it; redemption, justice and love are the main themes. It is a good film and I must admit, because I’m a big softie, the tears were running down my cheeks several times during the movie.

One thing that did come up in a conversation yesterday was that without the church our life (Jan and myself) is completely empty and void. It is nice to be on holiday and to chill out but I am already getting withdrawal symptoms and I even found myself thinking about having cold feet about the Sabbatical and actually missing people. I’m looking at Ecclesiastes in my Bible Study at the moment which sort of echoes this; whatever you do in life, without God it is all empty and worthless. I’d like to do a much deeper study on Ecclesiastes in the Sabbatical.

Although there has been some work on this holiday it has just been so nice to be able to listen to my ITunes while I’m doing it and not be worried about missing the telephone ringing or the doorbell going. No timetables or routines. I’m glad no one can see me on my webcam while I’m doing this with my headphones on and the volume maxxed up and me boppin’ about-not a pretty sight, especially in my dressing gown!

Had my first birthday card today an electronic one from J & R-they’re so cute-the cards-not J & R. I even had an early birthday present West Ham drawing at Liverpool; sorry, Son, you may be top but you can’t beat us!

I have no idea what the plans are for today, work, I guess. I was really looking forward to going to the Dr. Who exhibition at Cardiff but I think that will have to wait until the New Year; I haven’t even been out since last Monday-how sad am I (answers on a postcard to…)?

It has been a really good opportunity to have a rest; I even caught a vicar’s wife I know quite well laughing yesterday. Apart from being ill it has been a good break, still a few things to do though yet. Can I break all records and get my Tax Return in by 29th January-watch this space?

We’re going to be joined at Doreen’s funeral on Friday by Number 1 Son who is coaching down to St. Austell on Thursday and staying with us in the Travelodge and sharing the driving back on Friday.

Even had a reasonably early night going to bed at 10.50pm and doing some reading before falling asleep.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.50am

It is minus one here at the moment; yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and today promises to be the same.

I did a couple of things I haven’t done for years on a Sunday; I had a Sunday Newspaper, I never get time to read one at home. Mind you after reading the one I had yesterday I don’t think I’m missing that much.

The other thing was to have a roast dinner at lunchtime; I can’t even remember the last time we had a Sunday roast. It was delicious; we remembered the times before ministry when it was always a very big part of our Sundays.

Otherwise we had a very lazy day; at least I’m beginning to feel okay again now.

It is really good to have a Sunday off and I must admit we didn’t go to church; it felt quite strange not to go but at least I got to watch Songs of Praise.

Bed at 12.10am

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.40am

I went back to bed just after 7.30am and didn’t get up until after 11am. Again I spent more time asleep today than I did awake and although I am feeling a lot better I’m still very drowsy.

At least I started on the work I should be doing; it seemed quite strange to put the Worship Rota together right up to the end of April 2009. I remember when I first came here in 1997 I used to do the whole year but then it was a lot easier with four parishes, a very rigid worship pattern and just me to have to worry about.

Jan did some shopping in Swansea; we have been here since Sunday and I’ve only been out once.

We watched a very thought provoking film in the evening “The Happening” although it is not meant to be a horror film as such; it is frightening to think if only that were to happen?

We went to bed at Midnight.

It seemed very strange not to have the normal Saturday distribution run.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 5.40am

I am still very drowsy after this bug; I went back to bed yesterday just after 7.30pm after nearly falling over letting Dobby out to do her morning ablutions (anyone watching would have thought I was drunk-I didn’t take my stick and as I walked across the sloping drive lost my balance, my slipper came off and I sort of pirouetted across the drive until I came to a wall to support me-not a pretty sight), and I didn’t get up again until after 11am.

I did have a few things to eat yesterday but nothing of any substance. I had a shower in the afternoon which left me thoroughly washed out and then spent a few hours asleep again. In some ways I’m glad that has all happened while we’re on holiday because there is no pressure on me to get back to work.

I did try to speak to BT yesterday about our order to upgrade (they call it regrade) our internet package here; I began on the internet and ended up going round and round in circles, I couldn’t find any telephone contact numbers. Eventually I found the telephone number of the BT Vision department who said they would help me only to get to the last hurdle when the computer told them they weren’t authorised; they kindly put me through to the BT Sales Team who did the same only to come to the same conclusion. They kindly put me through to the BT Internet Team who tried to do the same but ended up in the same place; they were about to put me through to another department but when I told them they were the third department that I’d already spoken to, they obviously had pity on me and sorted it all out. All through the conversations the BT staff were most helpful. The upshot of it all was that we should get the upgraded equipment here (hopefully) on Monday. I guess the whole thing took about 45 minutes and left me quite exhausted.

As yet I still haven’t started any of the work that needs to be completed during this break but I am hoping to start on it today. Before we came away I was dreaming of a weekend with no admin but it looks as if that is what I’ll be doing all weekend.

We’ve definitely decided to go down to Doreen’s funeral on Friday and have booked a Travelodge for Thursday night in St. Austell the nearest we could get to Truro (12.5 miles). Ironically seeing them was to be part of our Sabbatical plans along with a trip to The Eden Project and The National Aquarium at Plymouth. It will be an interesting journey back home to Norfolk on Friday evening/Saturday Morning. I did check to see if there were any flights from Cardiff to Newquay but found that the Airfield at Newquay has been closed down until the 19^th December because Cornwall County Council failed to apply for a licence from the CAA!

Spent the evening watching a couple of films all nicely tucked up on the sofa; I am beginning to feel better but I feel so washed out at the moment; I guess when I get eating again, hopefully I feel a lot better.

Went to bed just after 1am.

As I'm posting this at 7am we've reached 5,000 hits.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 4.10am

It was a strange day for me yesterday; I’ve come down with some sort of bug so I don’t feel very well at all. I spent all of yesterday cat napping between dashes to the toilet; I probably slept more yesterday in one day than I’ve slept for the whole of the last week put together.

I wasn’t able to do anything at all; so as yet I haven’t started on any of the work that I need to do.

I can’t understand why I’ve got this and not Jan (not that I hope she does) we’ve eaten all the same things? Perhaps my body is trying to tell me something.

I felt so weird almost like some sort of drug induced state of drowsiness. It must be bad because the only thing, apart from one cup of tea that I’ve had to eat or drink over the last 24 hours is water; still I don’t think there is much danger of me suffering malnutrition. I don’t often go without food.

I upgraded our internet connection, here in Clydach, with BT on Monday and I must say they’ve been most efficient in getting the new hub and telephones to me; the only problem was that they sent it all The Rectory in Norfolk. Number 2 Son has posted them on. So if for any reason the website isn’t updated or my blog doesn’t appear over the weekend; it’s because I’ve had problems setting it all up. We have BT Vision being delivered on Tuesday but I wonder where that will end up. I shouldn’t blame BT really because we ask them to send all correspondence regarding Clydach to Norfolk; so I guess they’ve just assumed that is where they’ve got to send the hardware.

I think we’ve more or less decided that we really must go the funeral next Friday.

The website is coming up to 5,000 hits since we started it on April 22^nd but it seems to be getting there at an agonisingly slow pace. I’ve put some advent calendars and resources on the front page.

We went to bed at 12.30am and even after all the sleep I’ve had during the day I still had trouble keeping awake.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.40am

I went back to bed yesterday just after 6.30am and slept until 9.50am.

A typical Welsh day; misty with rain in the air.

I didn’t do any work at all today; I was feeling so tired and weary. In the afternoon I felt so tired that I went back to bed.

Watched “A Journey to the Centre of the Earth” not once but twice. The first time we watched it as an ordinary film; the second time we watched it in 3D, well not quite all of it but bits of it, trying to pick the bits we thought that might look best in 3D. It was quite strange, we had to wear special glasses provided with the DVD; some of it was incredible, the 3D effects were amazing but a lot of it was quite poor; the foreground was in 3D and clear but the background was a bit fuzzy. Watching the 3D version without the glasses was quite weird; there were three images of different colours that seemed blurred until you put the 3D glasses on. We only watched the 3D version for about 20 minutes but we both found it put a strain on our eyes. Although the film was okay neither of us were overly impressed by the 3D version.

Jan finally spoke to Michael about Doreen; her death wasn’t as sudden as we were led to believe. Doreen had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in the New Year and been having treatment for it but her death was unexpected as she was due to have another operation on the tumour.

Doreen’s funeral has been arranged for the worst possible time for us, Friday week, December 5^th; the day we were due to come home. I think we both think that we ought to go but we were due to see Jan’s Uncle on the way home; it will cause us some logistical headaches in getting the bulletins etc. dispatched but this is more important. We’ve not committed ourselves to anything at the moment. I was also wrong about marrying her son Philip, it was her daughter Michelle; my excuse was that it was about 13 years ago and as I normally can’t remember what I did yesterday, it wasn’t too bad.

Bed at 10.30pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.35am

Went back to bed at 6.30pm and surprisingly got up again at 9.20am.

Had a conversation with Number 1 Son on MSN Messenger just after I got up-he thought that I hadn’t gone to bed yet; I normally set it show as “offline” but I wasn’t quick enough. It’s not that I didn’t want to talk to him or my sister who sometimes catches me before I can switch it to “Offline” it’s because I’m not that quick at typing and it takes ages to have a conversation with the messages switching to and fro.

We had some bad news yesterday; Jan’s cousin Doreen 68, who lives near Truro in Cornwall died suddenly (May she rest in peace) from a brain tumour. It might mean a funeral trip for us which would be infinitely easier from here than Norfolk. I married her son in a Cornish Parish some years ago; she was a lovely lady who was genuinely interested in what Jan & I do; she will be greatly missed by her family and us.

It was a lovely day here yesterday; blue sky and brilliant sunshine which enabled us to get all our solar lights charged up.

We didn’t do very much again yesterday; I think we’ve got to begin to work today. I’m not sure what it will be first; the Tax Return or the Worship Rota for January-April 2009!

Jan cooked a lovely casserole (one of my favourites) for supper which we had at the early time (for us) of 6.30pm.We watched a film; The Mist which was recommended by Number 1 Son (who is a real film buff-but doesn’t have much taste-I mean Demonicus-the worst film ever made). It was surprisingly good, a combination of a drama/horror. It was a making of a Stephen King short story which appeared in a book called Skeleton Crew which I read many years ago. If you like this genre of film it is worth watching but be warned it does have a sad ending.

I’ve been doing my bit to try to stimulate the economy but a vicar’s wife I know is not very keen; she keeps on saying: “But what about our economy?”

A reasonably early night; bed at 10.35pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.15am

I went back to bed yesterday at 6.30pm and was up at 8.25am.

We didn’t do very much today as we’ve decided just to have a lazy couple of days. It didn’t actually rain yesterday but the promised sun didn’t materialise.

We did some shopping in Asda but I had to go and sit down in the car because I’m still suffering with my knees at the moment.

Watched the new Indiana Jones movie in the evening; it was just typically Indiana Jones but was good all the same.

Bed at 12.15am; it normally takes us a couple of days to get over the journey here but it is good to be back. It still feels a bit unreal that we’ll be here for the best part of three months in the New Year.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.55am

I didn’t go back to bed yesterday but then again I don’t usually on a Sunday, except for last week.

The weather certainly affected the 8am service with just 9 of us braving the elements; I don’t blame people for not coming the conditions were quite treacherous underfoot and the back roads were very slippery.

Jan was ferrying me between services; it took us fifteen minutes to drive between Roydon and Fersfield. I was surprised at the attendance at Fersfield which is not the warmest of our churches; there were thirteen of us. I did suggest that brevity was the order of the day and that there was a special dispensation because of the weather for hip flasks to be passed around; if they were, none came my way! We finished the service at 10.15am; you see what a caring priest I am, it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I was off on holiday straight after the service. It did backfire on me though. I must admit I fully expected to do all four morning services because I thought that perhaps both Ben and Reg wouldn’t turn out; it is a level of their professionalism and duty to serve that both did.

I’d arranged for Jan to pick me up at Fersfield at 10.20am and after making my way down the rather slippery slope found she wasn’t there. I stood there for 20 minutes get increasingly wet and cold. I turned down a couple of lifts but when R came out he wouldn’t take no for an answer; I was very glad to accept but then very quickly regretted it because unfortunately sporty BMW’s are not made for people with my sleek and sporty size! After forcing myself in the rather sporty car (I think by this time hypothermia was beginning to set in because I was a bit incoherent) we passed Jan on Hall Road, at first I thought she wasn’t going to stop but thankfully she did so we began the transfer; if I thought getting into a BMW was a bit tricky getting out of one caused me even more problems. Another motorist D stopped because he thought something had happened; I thought to myself no it’s nothing more than a fat old priest being transferred from one car to another; all I wanted to do was get home. You know what is like when you perhaps fall over or trip over in public; all you want to do is get up and get as far away as possible as quickly as possible so as to avoid any embarrassment, that was exactly how I felt. I think it is one of the unwritten laws of the universe: “When thou are in the most embarrassing situation time will stop and even if you think you are alone as many people as possible wilt turn up to increase the embarrassment factor and the harder thou wilt try to get away from the situation the slower thou wilt achieve it!”

I got into the car and Jan said; “It wasn’t my fault!” To be quite honest I didn’t really care whose fault it was I just wanted to get away as quickly as possible; R kindly tucked me into the car which was very thoughtful but it didn’t help (I was beginning to feel like a dysfunctional geriatric-who said you are from the back). What seemed like ages but was probably less than a minute we left the scene of the dastardly transference and Jan was considering turning round –I just kept saying go! There was an exchange of how can I say, words! I thought Jan was getting hysterical she kept saying it wasn’t my fault I kept saying I don’t care and I didn’t because I could no longer feel my legs below knee level; it just got worse I turned the heater full on onto my feet which very quickly warmed up so much I thought they were on fire! Anybody who has any sense knows that if you are very cold you should warm up the areas particularly affected slowly or chilblains are the likely result but anyone who has been really cold will know that common sense is the first thing to go (that is if I had any in the first place)!

Eventually after what seemed like a two hour ride home (probably five minutes-after all we were only at Fersfield) during which various exchanges were made ( I am sorry dear-I was very cold)!

Was I glad to get in and have a hot cup of tea; I was still in a bit of a daze, I don’t normally feel the cold but the combination of standing in snow and getting wet in sub zero temperatures probably did mean that hypothermia had probably began to set in; and after being so thoughtful to the congregation at Fersfield!

I don’t really know what happened then up until Jan said we were ready to go; I’d already ditched my watch (it’s a sort of ritual that I have when I have any time off that I no longer wear a watch-it’s a symbol that I’m no longer bound by the usual rules of time and space and the usual hecticity (I just made that up-I think that’s rather a good word) of Parish life).

We finally left the Rectory about 1.45pm; I was still in a daze and didn’t even say goodbye properly to number 2 Son. As usual I slept on and off until we had our first stop at Birchanger services; we had something to eat then continued on our way, the next thing I remember was we were arriving at the Reading Services, fortunately Jan was driving!

I then had something I’d never had before an espresso or is it expresso coffee? It was a small cup of concentrated caffeine but I thought I had to do my bit. We then did one of my favourite bits of going away-shopping in the Marks and Spencer’s food shop in the services. We didn’t get much but I bet it cost a fortune; thankfully priests are like Royalty we don’t carry money or pay for anything (well this one doesn’t) so I didn’t feel in any way guilty of spending so much, in fact If I had my way we’d have probably spent more. I have a dream of only ever doing my food shopping in Marks and Spencer and Waitrose it is very likely idolatry but it isn’t going to happen so I don’t care. That is my one disappointment about having a bungalow in Swansea; the nearest Waitrose is nearly 50 odd miles away a bit too far to get them to deliver!

I drove from Reading to Clydach having a Dobby (our dog Holly) stop in the Magor Services which very thoughtfully has a dog exercising area. We arrived in Clydach about 9.30pm thankfully to no more excitement. After unloading the car (Jan not me) and setting the laptop up (me not Jan) we sat down to our sandwiches we bought in M&S; mine was probably the best sandwich I’ve ever had (it should’ve been it cost well over £3) the only thing was I couldn’t remember what is was-I think it was steak and black something (not pepper) and blue cheese-it might have been called “A Heart Attack Special” but it was very tasty all the same.

We went to bed at 11.55pm, my cellulitis had flared up again, I was hoping it had gone. It’s always funny when we’re in Clydach, Dobby our dog sometimes sleeps on the bed with us (if you ever read that a vicar and his wife divorce because of a dog it will probably be us); she gets terribly confused here she always wants to get up the side she does at home but it has to be the reverse here because the vicar insists on having the window seat and when she is helped up (she’s an old lady now and can no longer get up by herself) she is confused as to which way she should lay. In Bressingham you can’t get her to lay anyway other than facing the bottom of the bed in Clydach it’s the other way round, which is not good if she is facing you; she has chronic dog breath!

When I got up she hadn’t moved an inch and was snoring contentedly; Dobby that is, not the vicar’s wife I sleep with.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.35am

I did go back to bed yesterday at 7.30am and was up again at 8.25am.

Spent the morning getting the last few pieces ready for the distribution run later. At 4pm we set off to do the distribution run; when we have the worship rota there are lots more individual deliveries to be made. One of my hopes for the Sabbatical is that the benefice will somehow find a better way of doing this.

As we were driving around, I think it was about 5pm when it started to snow; I said to Jan it will never settle and within half an hour not only had it settled but the roads were now quite treacherous and slippery. We eventually returned to the Rectory having completed the round at 6.41pm; not bad only 2 hours and 41 minutes, at least we won’t have to do it next Saturday. It may well cause problems in the morning; congregations will be down and Reg and Ben may well be reluctant to travel (and so they should be-there is no need for them to take risks); I could well be doing the 8am, 9.30am, 10am and 11.30am which will be interesting to say the least. I hope not because I would like to think that we’ll be on our way to Swansea by Midday.

Only a few more things left to be done to clear my desk; arrange a Marriage preparation Evening (Wednesday 10^th December at 8pm in the Parish Room), send out four wedding packs and the invitations to the evening. It is not a good time to have the evening but with the Sabbatical it’s either then or late April.

Finally finished everything by 9.30pm; sat down and had supper and catching up on the latest Merlin and something Jan wanted recorded. We finally got to bed about 11.45pm. In the last 48 hours I’ve had all of 6 hours sleep and yet I don’t feel too bad at all; however, it will be good to catch up on a bit of sleep in the next two weeks.

Although the next two weeks are holiday, there is quite a bit of work to be done to get ready for the Sabbatical; four months of Worship Rota (Jan-April), which means ringing around the various clergy to get cover, this won’t be easy as The Rev’d. David Jackson is also on Sabbatical at the same time and our Rural Dean The Rev’d. Tony Billett will be taking some time off on Sick Leave (get better soon, Tony); so out of the seven full time Stipendiary (paid) clergy that will leave four but there are Non Stipendiary clergy, Ordained Local Ministers and retired clergy as well as my colleagues Reg and Ben. My hope is that I can cover my absence as much as possible without putting any extra pressure on Reg or Ben; I somehow think my phone in Swansea is going to be red hot over the next couple of weeks with about upwards of sixty services to cover over the three month period of the Sabbatical. There are also the small matters of the parish and diocesan fees to sort out and to complete my tax return for the 2007-8 year (if I do this before January 29^th it will be a personal record); if it all can be done, which I hope it will be, then it will completely clear the decks for the Sabbatical, so it will be worth it.

It is always good to take time out of the routine of parish work; it is not that I dislike it in any way it is more because you’re never a master of your own time in the rush of parish life. It is always a good time to take some time off at this time of year because when we get back there will be no time off or evenings off until the 27^th December; my hope this year is that I can remain well over the Christmas period, the last two years have not been good; two years ago with the death of Jan’s Dad, Sid and last year with me coming down with cellulitis and the daily trips over 10 days for intravenous antibiotics to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. I must admit that last Christmas was just a blur for me with Jan making sure that I was in the right place at the right time and collapsing in pain in between but we got through thanks to God and to Jan (what would I do without her-she is an absolute diamond-a far better vicar’s wife than I am a vicar).

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 

Up at 3.30am (Sorry I forgot to put this in earlier)

I didn’t manage to get back to bed yesterday and I went to Morning Prayer; I did quite well apart from the prayers in which I struggled to stay awake. I was up for the best part of 23 hours yesterday without a rest; I was sure I would sleep a lot longer last night but managed only just over three hours!

We left for Earlham Crematorium at 10am; I was very grateful that Jan drove as I was already feeling very tired, this was to be the first of two trips to Norwich today. The service went well and was well received by the family who apart from two friends were the only people there. Although it was the family’s request that the service should be as plain and simple as possible I found it to be a cold service but my job is always to give people what they want rather than what I would like them to have.

We returned home via East Harling so we could call into Swallow Aquatics to buy some frozen fish food. As we drove through East Harling I couldn’t help but think about R & J and the ordeal they have had to bear; the only consolation is that R is now at peace and free from the terrible disease that he and J had to live with.

Only time for a quick lunch before going off to Roydon for the Thanksgiving part of the funeral service. On our arrival the car park was nearly full; there one space reserved which Jan thought was very thoughtful until I said it wasn’t for us it will have been reserved for the family, which it was. A vicar’s wife I know quite well sometimes gets quite annoyed (never angry) that no one ever considers me except for one church who always very kindly reserve a place for me; she even has a sign that she has made, which I try to discourage her from using, reserving a place for the clergy. I guess one could get quite upset about it but what would it achieve; I don’t want any special treatment and I’d rather it was done because people actually cared enough to want to do it rather than I’d told them to do it. What did make me smile was that this was a Probus funeral and all sorts of things were being done to make it go smoothly but they were totally oblivious to me. I don’t really have a lot of time for these things; what I am concerned about is how we minister to the family and the service we give. I am quite realistic in understanding that if I didn’t do what I do (sort of being a vicar occasionally) most of these people wouldn’t acknowledge me at all and why should they? I’m only an ordinary person doing a very privileged job.

This part of the service was much better with hymns and a very warm tribute to a Father from a Son; I was very pleased that this was a fitting service to celebrate a life.

At the end of the service rather than go to the Parish Room other than leading the family there, I stood outside in the cold. I’m sure some people think I’m a bit of a loony and standoffish but I have a real fetish that I think that no one should leave a church without someone saying goodbye to them; it would be so much easier to have stood in the warm with a nice cup of tea mixing with the guests. I couldn’t bear to think that someone would leave without me speaking to them. Not many people did leave without going to the refreshments but enough to make me satisfied standing there in ever increasingly cold wind.

I know lots of people are critical of me for not going to receptions after funerals but why? I’ve done the important bit and will continue to see the family but I really don’t need to be seen mixing with the right people; in all likelihood no one has probably noticed that I’m not there anyway. I really do love talking to people on a one to one basis but I’m not much good in those sorts of circumstances, I feel clumsy and out of place.

We waited a reasonable time before leaving but we had to get the collection to Rosedale’s and the thought of going through and then back through Diss during the busiest time on a Friday afternoon meant that we did go before the bulk of the people were still in the Parish Room (so much for my fetish).

Back at the Rectory about 4.30pm and I was now beginning to feel very weary but there was still a lot of work to be done and even though a vicar’s wife I know quite well ordered me to have a rest there was no time. Most of the work is now done; there are just some hand written bits to be done for two baptisms on the 30^th and some marriage packs to be sent out. I still don’t know if I can hold a marriage preparation evening on the 10^th December, I’m still waiting for a concert date to be confirmed. We finished about 7.15pm and then left for our second trip to Norwich.

This time it was a personal family pastoral visit; Number 1 Son, Chris had had an operation on his nose so we were going to visit him in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. I don’t know how Jan felt but it brought a lot of memories back from two years ago when we were visiting her Dad virtually every night at around this time.

We arrived at the hospital just ten minutes after he’d come back from surgery and Neha was with him and taking good care of him. We knew everything was okay because the first thing he asked us for was food! He’d not eaten or drunk anything since 10.30pm the night before. Neha said that he’d already booked his MacDonald’s breakfast for tomorrow morning.

We stayed until about 9.30pm before returning home. It had now been a very long day having been up for some 18 hours with no rest. We took a fish and chip supper in about 10.30pm and I think I stayed awake until I’d finished it but I’m not totally sure about that or about what we watching. I do remember that there was thankful Dobby (our dog Holly) sitting between us who was delighted that she’d not missed supper again. I just remember catching site of the clock as we went to bed at 12.15am nearly 23 hours since I got up. How do I do it-I don’t know but all I know is there is one more sleep to go before we have a break; as one of my favourite TV characters Homer Simpson would say “Wa-hoooo!”

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.18am

I went back to bed about 3.30am yesterday and was up again at 6.45am.

I was feeling a bit sorry for myself yesterday as I felt I’d let some people down in the parishes and I found it quite difficult to get going. It is amazing how people can lift you up; we celebrated Holy Communion at B’s yesterday, I think it was the first time since T’s death. We were a bit late getting there because I just seem to be so slow in doing anything at the moment. We had a good discussion in the service about children and families. By the time the service had finished I felt a lot better; there is much to be said for good worship and fellowship.

Did a visit on the way home; signed some faculty forms and got back to the Rectory at about 12.40pm. There wasn’t much time to do anything before going in to Bressingham School for an assembly.

If I hadn’t already been lifted up by some of our parishioners I certainly was as I entered the school; the children were on their lunchtime break and as I came into the playground they all flocked around me asking me all sorts of questions. I felt as if I was some sort of celebrity. How can anyone not like children and their enthusiasm?

I was blessed by listening to the school orchestra practising before their performance for the Grandparents later in the afternoon. I did hear later that their performance was well received by the Grandparents.

Chatting to Head-teacher before the assembly and hearing that he had an attempted mugging of himself in Thetford earlier in the week; fortunately he suffered no injuries or losses.

The assembly was the same as I gave in Roydon the day before and was similarly well received. At the end of the assembly one of the teachers brought one of the children up to me and asked if he could ask me a question: “How did I know so much about God?”  I said that he probably knew more about God than I did. The teacher then said ask him the other question: “Are you God’s son?” Again I was a bit taken aback and said; well, I am a son of God but no more than he was; which seemed to please the boy.

Returned to the Rectory and spoke to J who was very gracious and kind to me in her sadness as she explained the circumstances of her husband’s death.

There was a message on the answer-phone from the Diss Express asking me to make a comment about R’s death; fortunately I was to ring them before Midday as it was now about 2.15pm I was glad that I didn’t have to as I think it might have been hypocritical of me to do so after failing in their pastoral care.

Finally had lunch and a rest; I seem to be so tired at the moment and am looking forward to a break next week as the children often say to me only two sleeps to go (that is now as I write this about 2am on Friday morning).

Did some preparation for the evening’s PCC meeting; received an email from Bishop David telling me that our Rural Dean, Tony is very poorly at the moment and that the Rev’d. Canon Janice Scott has stepped in as acting Rural Dean in Tony’s absence. Tony we wish you a very speedy recovery and you are very much in our prayers and thoughts at the moment.

I then went to the PCC and I must admit I felt very silly because a vicar’s wife I know quite well gave me a lift to the venue which is all of three houses down the road from us; I was glad though because my joints are quite painful at the moment and I did have some things to carry.

It was a very good meeting and was over by 9pm but then we sat around talking for about half an hour about all sorts of things. I did walk back to the Rectory which wasn’t very far but at the moment it seemed like a marathon to me!

We had supper about 10pm while watching an old film Predator 2; needless to say I fell asleep a long time before the end. Bed at 11.45pm.

I do find this job incredible at times; you can be on your knees, feeling a total failure and it is just so amazing how God uses other people to lift you up and encourage you. I feel totally humbled by the experience of the last few days; I can only offer thanks to God for the people around me and for his goodness and love to me.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.18am

I didn’t get the chance to go back to bed yesterday.

I was in Roydon School to take the assembly at 9am; I used one that was suggested by the Diocese to go with the Christmas Campaign on giving, it can be found here. The children found it great fun with my increasing confusion about how you could keep taking away (or giving away) but still have more. The teachers who were present thought it was a clever assembly (no credit to me it was devised by other people-). The only problem was that I was having trouble standing as all my joints are playing havoc at the moment and I had to sit down at the end of the assembly; I don’t think anyone really noticed but I felt deeply embarrassed about it. I don’t really feel fit for purpose (as the media might describe it) at the moment.

I stayed to watch and listen to the children having some singing practice for their Christmas presentation; it was really good, they’ve changed the words to Abba songs to fit Cinderella. What was really amazing was the enthusiasm of the children singing the songs, especially to Mamma Mia.

I got back to the Rectory just after 10am; I was extremely tired and my bones were really giving me jip.

It was then that I found I had made a terrible mistake due to an email from S; up until now I had assumed that the missing priest R had lived in Diss but when I was prompted to check my records, I found he lived in our parish. I felt awful as I’ve not offered any pastoral help at all, not just now but since I’ve been in charge of Roydon, because I’d assumed he’d lived in Diss. I spent the rest of the day trying to make contact with J with no success. What made it worse is that R had helped us out back in 2002-3 when I was away after an operation for which I was deeply grateful for. As I’m writing this I have now discovered that R has died (Missing clergyman dies after being found); may God rest his soul and forgive my mistake. Our prayers and sympathy go out to J.

I spent the morning working away at the admin that needs to be done. I normally do this on a Friday but I have a rather elongated funeral in two places on Friday and number 1 Son going into hospital for a minor operation; so there won’t be the usual time to do things on Friday.

I had to go and sit down just before Midday because I literally couldn’t keep my eyes open; Jan woke me up to have lunch about 1pm, afterwards it was back into the admin. There is so much more this week because it is a double bulletin and the Worship Rota has to be done; why does there always seem so much to do just before you’re due to go away. Carried on working up until 7.30pm by which time, thankfully with Jan’s help, most of it is now done; there is only a few small bits to be done and for it all to be printed out, it would be nice to get it all done and delivered by Saturday morning.

I was contacted by one of the Funeral Directors to do a funeral next week and although I don’t feel too bad about not doing it because it isn’t from one of our parishes I do feel sad that I’m not doing it because it is a family that I’ve been involved in with four past funerals and I knew the man quite well.

I realised I’d made a mistake with my Cockcrow services and for some reason and I still can’t work out how I did it, sent a request to number 1 Son for his entry into the Deanery Prayer leaflet; I don’t who was more surprised him or me!

I had the rare luxury of an evening off due to the postponement of a meeting so we had a relatively early Supper (for us anyway) about 8pm and although we tried to watch a film afterwards neither of us could keep awake.

Bed at 10.30pm.

I haven’t felt that great today my mobility is very shaky at the moment and although I’ve put it down to the rounders at the beginning of the month; I know in my own mind it isn’t that at all because it seems to be getting worse and it isn’t just the knee it is virtually every joint. I’ve had this before and normally it is sometime in the winter but I don’t think I’ve had it quite this early before. I’ve also been so tired today but a vicar’s wife I know quite well tells me she’s not surprised with the amount of sleep I get. All this coupled with the dreadful mistake I’ve made with R & J has left me a bit down and getting away on Sunday seems like a long way away let alone the Sabbatical. The fount of all wisdom-the vicar’s wife I know quite well tells me that is exactly why I need to take a Sabbatical.

All I can do is offer it all up in prayer trusting in God that whatever may happen that he will make all things well and that tomorrow is a new day with new challenges and a fresh start and all I can say to that is Thanks be to God!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.45am

I didn’t manage to get back to bed yesterday.

The working day began with the St. Andrew’s School Service at North Lopham Church; I changed the talk I was going to do at the last minute as the head teacher had a talk lined up. I unveiled one of my new friends Stevie Shark; the children thought he was brilliant especially when he tried to eat a few of them. I really enjoyed my first venture into “Puppet Ministry” but it does need some practice. My next venture will probably be at the Toy Service in Roydon on December 7^th. I did learn a new joke from one of the Granddads; “What is a shark’s favourite food? Beans-Human Beans (beings)!”

I was talking to R after the service and he was telling me about a helicopter that disturbed his night in the area and that it appeared to be looking for someone. Later that day I saw on the news that there was a search for The Rev’d. Raymond Powell, who has been a great help to our parishes in the past and who has been suffering with Alzheimer’s disease. He had gone missing from a Nursing Home in East Harling. We pray for him and his wife at this time.

I fully intended to go to the Buggy Club but as it was only 10am I decided to do a visit first which proved to be a very necessary one for the person concerned but was over two hours long; so I never actually got to the Buggy Club (sorry J).

Returned to the Rectory for some lunch with a vicar’s wife I know quite well before going to the Toddler Church at Roydon; I did think of taking one of my new friends but I thought I better not as I hadn’t told S and I wasn’t sure about the younger children  whether it would frighten them or not. S asked me to tell the Mums about my Sabbatical and I was quite surprised in the interest they had about it; if anyone needed a Sabbatical these Mums did but then they would probably take their families with them. It was good to see H, C & E there and to hear their news about living in Cornwall.

Back to the Rectory about 4pm but was caught by M selling raffle tickets which we were only to pleased to buy. I’m not quite sure what I’d do with a Wii but the third prize of a luxury food hamper looked quite good.

It reminded me of a wedding I did last year when during the address I said; “One of the things that the bride & groom love doing together is playing with their Wii! The younger people in the congregation knew what I was talking about but some of the older people gave me quite a strange look!

I did some preparation for the Alpha Course and had a rest for an hour or so; it had been a long time since I got up.

It seemed strange that tonight’s session was the last one of the Alpha Course; Jan and I were completely surprised when we were presented with a beautiful handmade wooden Cross, a homemade bottle of Red Berry Christmas Vodka and a lovely card. It nearly finished me off; I think we’ve all come a long way during this course and I have learnt so much from them and I hope that they’ve learned a little from Jan & I.

I combined two units of the course into one; “Why and how should I tell others and How can I make the most of the rest of my life?” It has been a really good course and I know Jan and I will miss the Tuesday evening sessions.

One of the real joys of Christian Ministry is seeing others begin to develop their full potential and see new adventures begin; there is no doubt in my mind that if you say yes to God then your whole life becomes an adventure with new avenues to explore. It has been so good for us to have completed this course and to share the blessings that God has bestowed on us just before our Sabbatical; it will, I’m sure make a lasting impression on us both.

Back to the Rectory just after 10pm, supper and then bed at 11.30pm for me anyway; a vicar’s wife I know quite well was treating number 2 Son who had a bad bout of Heartburn; but then if you eat cold pizza while lying down what do you expect?

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.15am

It was good yesterday to be able to go back to bed at 3.30am; I was up again at 7.45am.

I spent most of the morning doing admin, what a surprise; I finally put my Cockcrow copy to bed (only one week late) and then because I was on a roll I did my Roydon Herald copy as well (John will be surprised three days early no less-just don’t expect it all the time John). I finished off my preparation for the evening’s meeting; so all in all a good morning, even if it is my day off. There’s a lot to be done this week before going away on Sunday.

We had a good BFG (Big Friendly God Club-a group for youngsters 5-11) with 9 children and 6 adults although I was still feeling a bit rickety with my knee still causing me some problems; I took the whole thing sitting down but still managed to get the youngsters running all over the place. When I got to the church I found every possible light on; F who had been dropped off to set the BFG said she needed the light. Then F asked me if she could put a poster in the porch and told me about the Rainbows and Brownies Christmas Fair on the 25^th and that they’d all been asked to ask someone to come, which I usually do anyway; but I said I couldn’t this year because I’d be away to which she replied (now I would have expected this from some of our more mature churchgoers) “What, you’re on holiday again!” Wow, that stung, oh to be 9 years old again; no on second thoughts I don’t think I could cope with all that again, how about 28?

After the BFG we took P back to his childminder’s; it was good to have him back, we have been a little worried about him and his Mum; I guess we think of them all (and the Toddler Church families) as our special extended families.

We had a brief respite in the Rectory for a cup of tea and dealing with emails and telephone calls and then off to Roydon for the evening’s meeting. I must admit it was with some trepidation and uncertainty as to how many people would actually be there.

It was a meeting to sort out the main logistics of keeping the parishes running smoothly (I hope) during my Sabbatical. I was truly humbled that there were 22 at the meeting plus I’d had a lot of apologies of absence with promises of help if needed. I was a bit overwhelmed that so many had thought it was important to come, especially after some of our more recent disastrous Benefice Council Meetings. I thought it was a really positive meeting with everything covered plus there were some really good things that came out of it, generated by those there which was really encouraging.

I really do believe that this Sabbatical can be a good experience for the parishes as well as for Jan and myself. It could be a real time of growth and maturity if done in the right manner. As long as no one misbehaves and does their own thing I truly believe that this could a big step forward in our pilgrimage of unity and initial steps as a United Benefice. I must admit when some of the plans were muted for meetings during my absence, I felt quite excited and wished I would be there but then they wouldn’t happen, would they? I feel there is a real chance that when we come back in April there will not only be something to comeback to but it could well be better and healthier than when we leave, thanks be to God for that.

We had a few things to do in the church (checking the state of supplies etc) so we were a little late getting back to the Rectory; we had supper about 10.20pm catching up with the latest episode of Merlin (for what it matters I thought this one was the best so far).

We went to bed at Midnight; I’ve just been a little concerned just lately that I feel I’ve been rambling on a bit and I seem to make a lot of mistakes when I’m saying things (silly little things) and struggle to find words sometimes. I got a stern telling off from a vicar’s wife I know quite well who I was going to bed with; that it’s just that I’ve got so much going on and buzzing round my head at the moment that it’s not surprising and in any case that is exactly why I need a Sabbatical, I do hope so.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2am

I was so tired yesterday that I did something I’ve never done before and that was to go back to bed at 3.30am; I was up again at 5.45am.

There were 19 at the 8am service at Roydon which was encouraging after some lower attendances of late.

I had a chance of about 30 minutes break before going onto the 10am service at Fersfield; there were 13 at this service which on the face of it is quite good but only three of those were from Fersfield. I feel that this service is damaging the 9.30am service at South Lopham and it may have to go in the Sabbatical. It has to be curtailed to allow R & J to get back to North Lopham by 11am.

I took communion to E & D who have had such a rotten week; it was good to have a chat with them and spend some time with them. Their dogs always give me such a warm welcome, one of the joys of keeping dogs.

Arrived back at the Rectory about Midday; had our usual sandwich lunch and then a rest for a couple of hours before doing some work on various things that need to be done this week.  There is a lot more to be done this week in the form of admin as we are hoping to be away on from Sunday lunchtime; there is the worship rota for December, the notice for services, a double bulletin, Roydon Herald (once I’ve finished Cockcrow) plus all the normal bits and pieces and I am a day short this week as I have an extended funeral on Friday which will take up at least six hours of the day (a cremation in Norwich in the morning and a service of Thanksgiving in the afternoon).

Evensong at Bressingham; we were a bit down on our usual numbers but hopefully a good session of worship; I was very impressed by R & M for whom this was their second service of the day, no mean feat when M is in a wheelchair with her right arm and leg in plaster, a lesson in fortitude for us all. It is starting to get cold in Bressingham Church so it is time to migrate to the choir stalls so we can pack the heaters around the congregation and at least have some semblance of heat. One of the real problems in this day and age is how do we or can we possibly heat a church such as Bressingham?

Back to the Rectory just after 8pm; we had supper at 8.45pm whilst watching a film we haven’t seen for a while Deep Blue Sea. Amazingly, for once I stayed awake until we went to bed just after Midnight but at the moment I’m suffering a lot of pain from my left knee and hand; I don’t think they are connected (other than by my body) but they are both giving me some considerable pain at the moment making sleep even more difficult than usual, although I doubt if I could have counted to ten before falling asleep. I’m really looking forward to a break even though a lot of it will be work related.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.30am

I was really tired yesterday, I didn’t manage to get back to bed but I did eventually finish all the weekly admin apart from the Cockcrow Services and Article, sorry guys, I’ll try to do it today.

I had an interment at Diss Cemetery with a really lovely and close family; Jan drove me there and knew the wife and they had hugs, Jan is much better at those sort of things than I am.

I never have been a really touchy feely sort of person; I wasn’t really brought up that way. I have never been totally happy with the Peace in services; I understand its significance and place in the liturgy but all this walking all over the church to exchange the peace and have a natter does nothing for me other than disrupt the unity of the liturgy. I am perfectly happy with turning to those immediately around you and sharing the peace but unfortunately in some of our churches it goes much further than that; I can’t really see how it glorifies God by walking around with a checklist to make sure “you’ve done everybody” surely the time for that is after the service. It is one of many of my pet hates in church alongside; let us keep silence (½ a second) Lord in your mercy. We’ve said hello to God let us say hello to each other etc etc. I think that is the Anglo Catholic purist coming out in me (plus I’m getting older and more miserable and crotchety by the day)!

We then did our usual Saturday delivery run, oh, how shall I miss that when I’m on Sabbatical-not! Fortunately no hold ups so we were back in the Rectory about 12.30pm. The only positive thing I can say about it is that at least we got it over and done with quite early. Why do we do it-no-one is particularly bothered whether they get the bulletins or not? We do it purely and simply because we love them. I’m not sure I’m looking forward to next week; we’ve got to do a lot really by Thursday because Friday is being taken up by a rather extended funeral. There’s a lot to be done before we go away on Sunday lunchtime.

We had lunch and although I still had a pile of work to be done we decided to have a lazy afternoon and although I said I’m not a feely touchy sort of person, I did enjoy snuggling up to a vicar’s wife I know quite well. I sort of cat napped through the whole afternoon, I was just so tired but I’m having real trouble sleeping at the moment due to the pain in my wrist and a rather worrying increase of pain in my left knee. The pain in my knee is not constant but it flares up to a crescendo and is enough to bring a tear to my eyes; it reminds me of the pain I got in my left hip in the summer before it failed. It isn’t when you’re walking but after you’ve stopped walking and have sat down. I think I need putting down. The two warts that I had “cryo’d” on Thursday are still there; the left one is okay but the right one is still very sore and is oozing a pink liquid (the Doctor did say it would) so much so that I had to have a dressing on it before going to bed. I hope I don’t have to wear it today; it will get so tiresome with people asking what have I done?

I did go down to the study for a little while late afternoon but I was still so tired that it wasn’t long before I sat down again. We had supper, a pizza, about 6.30pm and watched a film-“Lake Placid 2” the first one was quite good but this was just a poor sequel; I very nearly watched it all but I guess it says something about the film when I say I fell asleep and missed the last five minutes of the film, what was more worrying than falling asleep was the fact that I didn’t really care how it ended.

Jan woke me up to go to bed about 10pm, I think, and as usual it took me a micro second to go to sleep.

It was a sort of catch up day really; I think my body needs them from time to time.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.30am

I didn’t get back to bed yesterday or go to Morning Prayer; I just had so much admin to do, I worked solidly on it from 3.40am until about 6.15pm with just an hour’s break for lunch but I’ve still got a fair amount to do. The thought of no admin for three months in the New Year is about the only thing keeping me going at the moment.

Hopefully I achieved an awful lot; there was no doubt the biggest part of it was the quiz; over the years I have built up a database of literally thousands of quiz questions but even so it still takes a lot of time to put an evening’s quiz together.

Went over to the Village Hall just after 7pm to set everything up; I must admit I have this dream of doing a quiz through a PowerPoint presentation on the laptop but I can’t seem to work the logistics out. I have no problem in putting it all together it is how you present it that causes me the problem; I can see the only way of doing it is to have your back to the audience which then makes it all a bit faceless and impersonal.

I think it was a good night although I think on reflection some of the questions were a bit on the difficult side with one particular section being a bit of a disaster; “Just Norfolk & Suffolk” proved far more difficult than I imagined-I think it will be the last time we use that one. Although the quiz was on the difficult side, even at the end there were only about 20 points separating top from bottom.

We had a new slant with the refreshments as well; we had a mobile Fish & Chip Van which meant that no one had to go and fetch it and it was very fresh and hot.

Although I enjoy these sorts of events; I’d rather be asking the questions than answering them, I couldn’t do it without Jan, and so we come as a sort of package.

I think it may be better in future to stick to more popular subject sections but it was a good turnout with 9 teams; anymore and it would have got a bit uncomfortable, I just hope we made a fair bit for the church.

Back home about 10.30pm both shattered again. Bed just after 11.15pm with a busy day to come.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.40am

I managed to go back to bed at 4.20am and was up again at 6.40am.

The Thursday Communion was held at the Rectory and is always a spiritual oasis in the week; we have to decide on Monday what will happen to this service during the Sabbatical, it may well have to be suspended for its duration.

There is just so much to do this week; I could do with about three extra days just to do the paperwork that needs to be done, let alone the pastoral work which has been non-existent other than funeral visits.

Went to the Doctors in the afternoon and had two rogue warts on the sides of my forehead treated with “Cryo” basically they were frozen by liquid nitrogen and hopefully after a few days will just fall off. It is a strange process, it did sting a little bit and later was quite painful but it wasn’t too bad. I have these warts for a long time and one of them in particular has now grown so large that I can’t comb my hair (what little I’ve got) without catching it. There were two Doctors one doing the process (not really an operation) and one observing who declined the offer to do one of the warts because it was on my face-I did suggest that if she made a mistake it might enhance my beauty. I also asked if I could milk any sympathy from the parishioners by bandaging my head up but it certainly didn’t get any sympathy from them; being a tryer, I asked if it would be a good enough excuse to miss a PCC meeting?

South Lopham PCC in The Hall at South Lopham in the evening (so you can see what the Doctors thought of that); it was good to see the Hall lit up and in use. It was a bit of a mixed meeting with three telling offs which are not normally my style but sometimes things have to be said and hopefully it was done in a positive way; For South Lopham it was a very efficient meeting and we finished at 9.10pm and although I didn’t stay for tea after the meeting (my head was feeling rather sore) I left them at 9.30pm with some rather delicious looking cake on the table (it was nearly enough to make me stay). I was very encouraged by the mostly positive remarks about my Sabbatical; there are still a few who think (not just at South Lopham I might add) that I’m going to do nothing for three months!

We had supper at about 10pm and went to bed about 11.30pm both feeling very cream crackered (Cockney rhyming slang-you can work it out for yourself) and sorry for myself with a painful hand, knee (it still hasn’t recovered from the rounders) and head but a vicar’s wife I know quite well just told me to stop complaining (I’m never a good patient) and go to sleep which I did almost instantaneously; I am still to write one question for the quiz and one word for Cockcrow, sorry T, I’ll get down to it right away, as soon as I’ve posted this in fact but bear in mind I’m suffering at the moment (surely that will go well in my defence); so much so I need some more pictures to cheer me up (T, keeps me smiling during the week by sending me some of the odder and funnier pictures he finds on the net-they are very much appreciated).

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.20am

I managed to get back to bed at 5.15am but was up again at 6.45am.

I did quite well at Morning Prayer managing to stay awake during it all.

Left the Rectory for W. Suffolk Crematorium about 10.15am; there was a large congregation for the funeral and hopefully the service was well received.

Back to the Rectory about 12.30pm for a spot of lunch before going to Burston for a funeral preparation interview. I was quite surprised as I entered Burston that some of the fields were flooded; I don’t normally go through this way and I’ve never noticed it before.

Just after 4pm I got back to the Rectory; there was a little time to catch up with myself and prepare for the evening’s PCC meeting at Roydon. I’m getting a bit worried, I really haven’t had much time to start any of the work I should be doing; there is a quiz on Friday and I haven’t even started working on it yet!

The PCC went fairly smoothly; we just missed our target finishing time (9pm) by two minutes. As usual a lot of our time was spent on financial matters and the need for fundraising; like most of the PCCs there is a reluctance to arrange events and the like (most of them are busy people involved with several different organisations) but if it is left to me then the things just can’t be done; it is extremely difficult to do the necessary pastoral work as it is, if it was one parish then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad but five. I wonder if other clerics find that they are becoming more like fund raisers? Even the diocese ring us to ask why X or Y’s parish share isn’t paid; I wonder if Archbishop Rowan or his office ring Bishop Graham to ask him why the diocese hasn’t fully paid it’s share?

Finally had supper about 10pm and watched the final two episodes of Autumn Watch mainly because the last one had only recorded the last five minutes; does anyone know what happened to the seal pup, Nemo?

Bed at 11.30pm with thoughts of Cockcrow, Quizzes, Sabbaticals and weekly parish admin buzzing around my head; well, for about 20 seconds anyway!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2am

I managed to get back to bed at 6.20am but was up again at 7.25am.

The first port of call today was at the North Lopham War Memorial for the village and school “Armistice Day” (now called Remembrance Day) silence; it was well attended, there was the Base Honour Guard from Lakenheath there to represent the Americans. I was speaking to J who is a US Veteran and still works at the base at Lakenheath that this Guard Unit is very busy making appearances frequently at various events.

A dash straight to Bressingham after the North Lopham Act of Remembrance to the War Memorial where the school and some villagers did the same thing but a bit later, unfortunately the taped Last Post and Reveille worked for a couple of seconds before the battery gave up the ghost but the children thought it was funny (so did I). The children were brilliant during the silence and sang well.

Back to the Rectory for a spot of lunch before the Fersfield PCC at 4pm; nothing contentious on the agenda and the meeting finished at 6pm but I was disappointed with one decision made but then that reflects the democratic nature of a PCC; there was a time (even in my ministry) that when a vicar suggested something it was done unquestioningly but things are different today, it was nothing serious but it would have been a nice gesture to a group who are doing such a lot for the church.

Only about an hour to prepare for the Alpha Course, it is going to leave a big hole when it finishes next week; I wish that more of our people could have experienced this Alpha Course and seen what potential the church has. It has been an extremely rewarding course as much for Jan and myself as those attending the course and it has been a real privilege to see and share the experiences of the course.

We sat down for supper at 10.10pm watching another recorded Autumn Watch (only two more to go).

I couldn’t help but reflect on the day; why is it when we are dealing with foreigners in this country that we are so patronising and condescending to them, is it our fear of them or are we just downright rude?

Eventually bed at Midnight after Jan woke me up; this week just seems to be getting away from me, there is so much to do but so little time to do it.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.02am

I went back to bed yesterday at about 6.20am and was up again at 8.30am.

There was lots of work to do today even if it was my day off; but all my plans went out the window because during breakfast I had a telephone call from the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital telling me that they had a couple of radiographers off sick and the appointment I had to have my hand x-rayed at 7.25pm was not possible but could I come in at 3.15pm instead? Fortunately because it was my day off so I could do the change and I must admit I didn’t really fancy the evening one anyway.

We got there about 3pm and the first person we saw was D, one of our Alpha Course; I had my hand x-rayed, then had a cup of coffee and a doughnut, which was ‘orrible and left for home about 4.15pm, stopping off at Waitrose, Wymondham for some shopping on the way-we bumped into HH there.

On the way home we had a real treat quite near the junction of Stone Lane and Dog Lane we saw a beautiful Barn Owl sitting on a footpath sign, we caught it right in our headlights and it just watched us drive past; oh, for a camera. I forgot to mention that on Saturday while we doing our usual delivery run we saw a Little Owl just sitting in Lopham Road Fersfield. I love owls they are my favourite bird; it was great to see two so close up in just three days.

We had to find a spare Remembrance Wreath for Bressingham School for Tuesday’s act of remembrance fortunately Reg had a spare one.

It wasn’t really planned because of the hospital visit but we had an impromptu four course meal; we had been anticipating a burger after the evening hospital appointment. It was a nice change to have such a good relaxed meal, sitting at a table with no TV, over several hours and we were joined by Drew towards the end who brought with him one of his malts. It was good to have chat with all three of us mulling over past times and possible plans for the Sabbatical. During our chat I suddenly remembered that there was a Speedway meeting on January 1^st at Poole-“The New Year Classic” which was normally held at Newport but they folded up earlier this year after the sudden death of their owner; it seemed like the perfect start to the Sabbatical.

After much talking I couldn’t believe the time when we went to bed; it was gone 1am. So all my plans for doing Cockcrow, Quiz and other things all went by the wayside but it was worth it to have a great chat together; sorry Tim, Paul & Lynda, I’ll work on it when I can!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.04am

I didn’t go to bed until 12.45am but I’ll explain why later.

It was a long day yesterday with much standing during acts of Remembrance which always plays havoc with my joints; for me the 8am service is a spiritual oasis and always a good way to start the whole week.

It was with some trepidation that I approached the 10am service; I had ditched the traditional service of Remembrance completely as I have long felt uneasy about it, I feel we can do much better than that service. I do think it has been an excellent service in its time but it is a tired service that really only reflects the two world wars; if Remembrance Sunday is going to mean anything then it must reflect our failure to learn from the past and also to remember that service men and women are still dying today in active service.

I was very pleased with the way the service was received as some told me it was a breath of fresh air. At one point in the service I was quite worried that we would be finished far too early and consequently be standing at the War Memorial for far too long but as usual I should have just trusted God because the timing was almost perfect.

I then went to the act of Remembrance at Bressingham War Memorial which has had an unhappy history in recent years; I must admit I like to give Reg the responsibility for this service but I did have to step in because we had four hymns one of which was seven verses, thankfully Reg saw sense and cut it down to two, I think if he hadn’t there wouldn’t have been many there next year. In the past there has been much wrangling and even bitterness about who should read the names out in the service. I probably upset many people yesterday by asking a 13 year old, R, to do it; I think it so important that if you want young people to carry on this fine tradition and for it to mean something to them that you must involve them and for me it made the service all the more powerful for the lad to do it; for me it gave meaning to the sacrifice that that those who gave their lives for our freedom today. It would be just so nice if it could happen at the two schools’ services tomorrow. I think R will remember that for a long time if not for the whole of his life.

I managed to get some rest in the afternoon before the evening service at North Lopham at which I was overjoyed at some news from our two Alpha Course members; I’m not a very touchy feely type of person, so it probably didn’t look as if I was particularly overjoyed but a vicar’s wife I know quite well more than compensated for me. What people didn’t see was what happened when I went into the vestry; I just spontaneously burst into a prayer of such great thanksgiving and love to a Father who is just so magnificent and I can feel it welling up again now.

I always enjoy Evensong but last night was special; the two readers A & T brought the scriptures to life, if only all our readers could read with such passion. I was lost in a sense of total worship and awe throughout the service until at the end someone pointed out to me, quite rightly of course, that I’d made a mistake in the bulletin; I think the noise and vibration of my fall to earth could have been heard and felt in Beijing!

Finally got home about 8pm; we had supper about 9pm and caught up with a couple of bits we’d recorded including Autumn Watch, only three more to see. Drew and Dawn had been doing their own Autumn Watch at Horsey where they’d been taking some pictures of seal pups, I know Jan has seen the pictures but I haven’t yet.

We had some good family news today, that D & S I married in Lincolnshire earlier this year are expecting their first child so congratulations to them which means my sister S will now be a grandmother twice (how I envy her, I’d love to be a granddad but that’s not a good enough reason for C & D to do so, I’m happy to wait).

Then as usual, I had the struggle to stay awake; Jan normally wakes me to go to bed and it takes me a little while to come round. I tend to get a bit obstinate when I’m tired, I don’t mean to, it just takes me a bit of time to wake up; well, I excelled at it last night, every time Jan woke me I just went back to sleep again (in my defence I had been up for the best part of 24 hours again) she even left me a duvet but eventually just gave up on me, I can’t say I blame her! I eventually woke up enough to slink off to bed at 12.45am; Jan was well away but was considerate enough to leave the light on for me.

I’ve got a whole day off today, except it is the Cockcrow deadline, a quiz to prepare for Friday, the usual parish admin, the Sabbatical preparations and a rather awkward Hospital appointment at 7.25pm for an X-Ray on my hand. So not much pressure then!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.30am

I did get back to bed yesterday at 6.20am but was up again at 8.15am.

Over to the Parish Room at 10.50am for The Alpha Day; because it is impracticable to have an Alpha Weekend away we try to have an Alpha Day where we look at several sessions and also finish with a service.

We had a lot to look at during the day; we did four sessions: How can I resist evil? What does the Holy Spirit do? How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit? Does God heal today?

Although there was lot to look at it all fitted very well together and hopefully everybody (including myself) got something from the sessions. We had a break for lunch at about 1pm which Jan had put together and there was some wicked chocolate muffins and tart that I had to work hard at resisting. It was good just to sit and talk those on the course and already they are asking what are we going to do when the course ends?

We finished with a short informal service of healing with the laying on of hands and anointing with the oil of the sick; my own personal feelings are that if you are going to talk about the ministry of healing there ought to be the opportunity for those there to experience it, if they want to.

We finished about 4pm (although I didn’t really notice the time so that might be wrong) and while a vicar’s wife I know was clearing away I had a delightful chat with a Dad and his son who was visiting a grave; they came into the church and I was able to give the boy a couple of balloons and our young person’s bulletin.

We had to dash back to see to Dobby (our dog), she doesn’t like being left on her own nowadays and needs to be let out far more frequently than she used to. We then began the usual Saturday distribution run (regular readers will know just how much I love that-not); I wonder what the parishes are going to do about this when we are away in the New Year?

After finishing the round Jan did some shopping in Tesco’s and saw to Roydon before returning to the Rectory about 6.45pm; it has been a very long day but a satisfying one and certainly one I’ve enjoyed.

There was a message from G on the phone and I realised, first I hadn’t rung him about Sunday and that, second I had double booked two organists for the service; thankfully A was very understanding and I left a message for G, all it needs now is for G not to get the message and consequently not turn up!

Sat down for supper about 7.30pm whilst watching Merlin and then catching up on Autumn Watch only another four to go.

We’ve both been suffering from headaches today, especially Jan and we were both extremely tired and so we went to bed about 10pm (I’ve not been very good at looking at the clock today, so that might not be quite right as well).

I normally wear a T-shirt for bed and amongst the post today was a T-shirt I’d bought on E-bay from the States; it has SLAVE printed on the front. I couldn’t resist it because there are two ladies in the parish who shall remain nameless-J & J, who jokingly (I hope it is jokingly anyway) call Jan my Slave; I’m now looking for an opportunity to wear it for them but I wore it in bed for Jan last night, not that either of us would have noticed because I certainly was asleep in nano-seconds!

I don’t know why it is but I always seem to get up earlier on Sundays?

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.24am

I didn’t manage to get back to bed yesterday so I wasn’t really with it at Morning Prayer but I did keep awake, just!

Not a very interesting day today just a hard slog getting the parish admin ready for the weekend; not even much time to think about the coming Sabbatical other than recurring panic attacks over how much has got to be put in place in such a short time.

During the Sabbatical should we maintain what is normal now or should it be a time for the parishes to take stock of what they have as well? I can see a few logistical problems looming, I think they can be easily overcome but it will need everyone to pull their weight.

I’ve tentatively called a meeting on Monday 17^th November at 7.30pm for all clergy, readers, churchwardens and interested parties to help plan the Sabbatical period; although, on recent responses to Benefice Councils etc. I’m not at all confident that there will be any interested parties, but I hope I’m wrong.

As usual there has been so much to get ready for this weekend that I still haven’t had much time to reflect on the Sabbatical at all; in actual fact I’m beginning to feel a little bit in awe of it, not really knowing what to do about it. I’ve got some time off in a couple of weeks (I’ve found in recent years that having a break just before the Christmas onslaught of events is quite helpful) so hopefully I will be able to spend some time on it then; but I’ll be much happier once I know that everything is put in place for the parishes. I don’t think I’m indispensable in any way but I seem to do an awful lot each week just to keep the mechanics of the benefice oiled; perhaps that isn’t needed. But we’ll see. I just hope that the parishes realise that it isn’t just me that is having a Sabbatical but also a vicar’s wife I know quite well, who does an awful lot as well, especially in one particular parish.

I’ve grasped the bullet over the Remembrance Day Service and have put together what I consider to be a well balanced new service but I’m already bracing myself, mentally, for criticisms and the like; I have to admit that I feel a deep sense of unease about some of the hymns we sing on this particular day but then it is not about me; the liturgy is “for the people” and must be relevant to them.

I don’t quite know what is going to happen to the website during the Sabbatical; perhaps I’m wrong but I can’t imagine anyone being interested enough in it to keep it updated. I will certainly keep the blog going because I’m committed to writing some sort of paper about the Sabbatical in any case but as to updating it every day as I do now, I’m not really sure about that, we’ll just have to see.

I finished all the putting together and printing everything about 7.45pm but that is only one side of it because a certain vicar’s wife I know spends quite a bit of time collating it and folding it all!

We had supper about 9pm and continued catching up with the Autumn Watch programme we recorded but I don’t think I made it to the end, I can only remember waking up on the sofa by myself with some odd TV programme on wondering what planet I was on!

One thing about the Autumn Watch programme; Simon King waxed on about the Muntjac deer but most people around here consider them to be pests. If you want to see a herd of Muntjac one of the best places is the rubbish area of Tesco’s at Thetford! I did find the bit about the moths at sea quite amazing though (yes, I know that was on over two weeks ago but it takes us a long time to catch up on these things).

Bed about 11.15pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.44am

I managed to get back to bed yesterday at about 5.20am but was up again at 7.15am.

Just a small group for Communion in the Rectory; but as always it is a very special service, relaxed, friendly and informal. I often wonder if services were like this in the early church where Christians gathered together in each other’s homes before the formalisation of our faith began to take shape?

Straight after coffee we leave for Norwich; I wasn’t feeling too good at this point and I’m not sure why it is? Is it the meeting I have this afternoon or the meat pie I had for supper last night?

Arrived at the Norwich Christian Resource Centre (formerly SPCK) about 1pm after much driving around due to road closures; it is the first time we’ve been to Norwich for a long time, probably about a year. When my Mum lived in Hethersett and Chris in Norwich we seemed to be there every Saturday. We had a lovely light lunch in the Forget-me-Not Cafe. It was good to see it full and Steve & Lynton back in situ.

I wasn’t too well after lunch and I must admit was now not looking forward to my meeting in Emmaus House later in the afternoon. As usual spent far too much in the shop and then set off for the Cathedral. Thankfully not much hassle in getting into the Cathedral grounds to park. I’ve had some problems in the past with over officious Security Guards but today, he was very helpful.

I then had my meeting with the Rev’d. Cathy Nicholls in Emmaus House which lasted just under an hour; Jan went off to have a look around the Cathedral, it seems a long time ago when Jan used to manage the Cathedral Shop and Resource Centre in Brecon Cathedral, I’ve no doubt someone gets paid a lot of money for what Jan used to get peanuts for (mind you, it was very handy at the time).

It was a very positive and useful meeting with Cathy and I was very grateful for her considerate and wise guidance. The result is that Cathy has approved the Sabbatical and will recommend it to Bishop David and that I will be able to take it in January-March 2009 and that I will even get a grant for it.

When I came out of the meeting I’m not sure how I really felt? There was a bit of elation that it had been approved and a lot of trepidation that I’ve now got to make it happen. I guess one of my greatest fears is that I’ve got to go from being a workaholic (which I suspect most clergy are) to having some serious time off. The Sabbatical is already quite well planned and has several points to it which are; to get some rest, to clear up a bad case of cellulitis (which has persisted for about a year), to recharge my batteries, to take stock and to test my vocation (to try to discern whether my future is still in parish ministry or whether it lies elsewhere such as Hospital Chaplaincy, Education or some other more specialised ministry). The plan is as follows:

v A period of rest.

v To redecorate some of our retirement home (2 rooms).

v To catch up with some visiting of family and friends.

v A retreat on Iona with Jan to experience and use the worship of the Abbey which we often use in our benefice at a monthly Quiet Service.

v A holiday in Scotland.

v To do some drawing and writing (poetry and work on a proposed book-A beginner’s Guide to Church).

v To brush up on my drawing skills (especially people).

v To see if I can get out of my insomnia-I only sleep for 2-3 hours a night.

I’m not totally sure how Jan feels about it; she, as always is very supportive and encouraging about the venture but for both of us it is going to be a very strange way to spend three months. For both of us the church is an all consuming passion and I’m not really sure how long it is since we’ve had a two week break let alone anything any longer.

I think on the way home my mind changed from elation to panic that I’ve now got to get this all to happen; one of the things that always puts me off about having any break is all the things that have to be done by before I can actually go away; that is bad enough when it just the inside of the week let alone three months. My first inclination is to call a meeting between the team, churchwardens and everyone who can help in any way but when I look in the diary there is no free evenings for the next two weeks and then we’re away for two weeks; my feeling is to come back from that a day early and have a meeting in the first week of December but that will only give me three weeks to get everything in position, I’ll have to think about it over the weekend.

I feel very much like the boy who has been given all the jam in the cupboard but now doesn’t know what to do with it. My two greatest fears are; will there still be a benefice to come back to and will anyone notice that I’m gone (answers on a postcard to....)?

Back to the more mundane matters of life; shopping at Tesco’s in Thetford; although I start off with Jan I didn’t get very far before I have to go back to the car as I still didn’t feel very well at all (perhaps it was the meat pie after all). I quickly went off to sleep and the next thing I was aware of was pulling back into the Rectory about 5.30pm (sometimes when I’ve not had much sleep it can make me feel quite ill).

A number of telephone messages to be dealt with before going out to a funeral planning meeting with a family in North Lopham; I had to give my apologies to the Joint Governors’ Partnership Meeting but after the service on Sunday that might be a good thing, I don’t really want to say anything about the service because I still feel quite angry and embarrassed for Simon at the apathy of the attendance and the complete lack of response from the diocese.

Finally got back to the Rectory about 8.45pm for a reasonably early supper and bed just after 11pm.

It has been a very eventful day and I still know quite how I feel about it all; but that will all have to wait as there is still much to do for this weekend yet.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.41am

I was unable to get back to bed yesterday; I went to Morning Prayer at Roydon, feeling quite tired but I think I only had one lapse of concentration.

Day largely spent doing parish admin; I have two service books and a service sheet to get ready for the weekend plus the fact that we now have an Alpha Day on Saturday which means that I am going to have to get the usual weekly bits ready for delivery on Friday rather than Saturday and prepare three talks for the Alpha Day.

One of the most important things in Ministry, in my humble opinion, is preparation which unfortunately takes time. I often wonder whether the rank and file churchgoer ever considers how much time is spent in preparation for services, meetings etc or whether they suppose that we just turn up unprepared; I have always been a bit of a stickler for preparation, sometimes even bordering on the over preparation of things but in the last five years I have found that I do take more risks, which I guess is okay until something goes wrong.

One of the dilemmas I have this week is that I am preparing a Remembrance Service booklet for Roydon Church; do I stick with the old traditional Royal British Legion Service or do I prepare a more up to date service? I think some of the ideas in the RBL service now sound a bit out of date and are only really relevant to the World Wars, which is okay but if the Remembrance Service is to mean anything then surely it should take into account that the men and women of our armed services are actually seeing active service in the world today and also that we have a reasonable amount of young people (the Brownies & Rainbows) at our service; so the service needs to be relevant to them as well as the traditionalists. Whatever I do will be damned, so I am keeping my options open at the moment.

A rarity of late, an evening off; well not completely, I was still working on the admin until 8pm but even so it was nice to have a relatively early and relaxed supper.

Well, hopefully today is the day I should know a little bit more about my Sabbatical; I have a meeting with the Rev’d. Cathy Nicholls in the Cathedral this afternoon, so I should know whether the diocese is going to allow me to take a Sabbatical and if so when I’ll be able to take it. Personally I’m still hoping to take it early in 2009; even though it means I will have to get my skates on to make sure everything is all prepared and covered.

Thankfully, I think I’ve now get the December programme all booked in; it all gets a little complicated in December and as there is only one of me, everything has to be co-ordinated so I can get from one event to the other. In recent years I’ve been spoilt because I’ve had other people to lead the carols in the pubs but this year I’m on my own and although I enjoy it, it is hard work and whatever people think I’m not a natural extrovert, I’d rather be slinking in one of the corners just joining in.

Bed at 10.30pm and even a bit of a chance to do some reading.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.22am

I managed to go back to bed just after 5am and was up again just after 7am.

I’d been really looking forward to yesterday; rarely do I get enthusiastic about Deanery Chapter Meetings (a monthly meeting where the clergy from the deanery gather together) but I have been looking forward to this particular meeting for some time. So what was it all about? It was about Puppet ministry; the use of puppets of various kinds to engage with congregations, assemblies and various other opportunities.

We were first given a demonstration by The Rev’d. Barry Cramp (a former headteacher) which lasted about twenty minutes and also a smaller one by his wife The Rev’d. Sue Cramp; I just found it fascinating and I could see what a great tool this would be to use in ministry to young people.

Barry then elaborated on his demonstration by telling us how puppet ministry is used by social services and the police in dealing with cases of abuse in that children and even some adults find it easier to talk to a puppet rather than an adult. He gave us some instruction on lip syncing i.e. moving the puppet’s lips so they moved in time with what was being spoken or mimed; this I found more difficult than I imagined, the lips had to be opened with each syllable which was really effective when you got it right. I was really taken by Sue’s demonstration of a puppy in a basket and I found myself believing that this could be a real puppy even though I knew it was a puppet.

Then came the bit I hate with all clergy meetings when whoever is speaking asks us all to break into small groups and discuss the subject matter; I always hate this because you always get one member of the clergy who is so evangelical about the subject matter that they try to convert all the others to their way of thinking (whether it be positively or negatively about the subject), you also get the one who is so intent in telling you how brilliant they are! I’m afraid I’m so non-competitive that I just shy away from the whole thing!

However, this was different because Barry didn’t want us to break into small groups, he wanted us to pick a puppet (he brought along a selection of about 20 varying between different animals to puppets of small children about the size of a 2-3 year old and even a crusty old vicar) he gave us a small script to follow (each different-so a lot of work had gone into this), told us to practise for 10 minutes then give a demonstration to our fellow clergy. At first I had a complete panic attack thinking I wished I hadn’t come to this meeting after all then I rather warmed to the idea and selected a very exotic monkey. I knew I would be no good at the lip syncing but what I enjoyed about Sue’s little performance with the puppy was that the puppet was having a conversation with Sue that she was relaying to us.

Then came the funniest and most enjoyable 20-30 minutes I have ever had at a chapter meeting as we each performed our little skits to each other. We had Tony our beloved Rural Dean giving a more than adequate performance as a rabbi and each one was a little bit more confident than the last and it was very easy to see what an enormous potential there was for this ministry. I think all clergy have a little bit of an extrovert in them; I always claim to be introverted (which I am most of the time, I prefer to be shy and in the background) but when I get in front of a congregation, an assembly or any group of people my persona seems to change and any lack of confidence or shyness seems to be taken from me and it is replaced by something which quite often frightens me! That is why I like a certain vicar’s wife I know quite well to be there so afterwards I can get some sort of feedback. I’ve no doubt some of it is because I want to be told how good it was (we all like a bit of praise and recognition) but I really want to know if it has been effective or if I’ve missed the point and if I’ve gone too far. I’m afraid the usual “Nice service vicar,” you get after most services, doesn’t really fulfil any of those criterion.

I just wished the whole thing had been videoed because it was just so funny as each clergy developed their own puppet persona. I enjoyed my little turn with the monkey and I hope to have a go at this myself; perhaps it is something I can have a go at perfecting if I ever should get a Sabbatical. One interesting thing that these puppets especially of the young people are not cheap they retail at about £50-£70. Barry also gave us some instruction on how they are presented i.e. a Punch and Judy type booth.

All in all a very enjoyable morning at Earsham.

I got back to the Rectory just after 1pm, there was time to have a spot of lunch and then off to the Toddler Church at Roydon. We only had four toddlers there yesterday but we have had an outbreak of pregnancies and some were off having scans and the like. I did say how it important it was for the Mums to keep trying to provide new blood for the church at which one Mum who has four children said; “You’ve had more than enough blood from me, that’s all you’re having!”

I just love the Toddler Church; S is just brilliant with the children; it might all seem at first glance to be absolute chaos and confusion but because I’m just there as a support I can take a very different view of what is going on at various levels; there is the interaction between S and the children, and the Mums, there is the interaction between the children with each other and their Mums and there is the interaction between the Mums. Much like I said above it is easy for me to see all this going on in a way that I wouldn’t be able to see if I was leading it.

We had a long chat after the Toddler Church with S, J and a vicar’s wife I know quite well; I always value these chats not just with these but with all people who have anything to do with the church because it gives me some grounding as to what is happening or being perceived to be happening in the church.

Didn’t get back to the Rectory until about 4.30pm and there was the post to open, which I hadn’t done for a couple of days (always a bad sign), the evening’s Alpha session to be prepared, some phone calls to be made and some research into puppets (like buying some) so there was no time for a rest.

The evening’s Alpha session is potentially a difficult one: Who is the Holy Spirit? It is a session that needs to be handled delicately and although it is an exciting session if not handled properly can be disastrous both for those new Christians and for the more mature church members. Rather surprisingly I know of a lot of churches that when they run an Alpha Course leave out the sections on the Holy Spirit (or highly modify them) and healing altogether. I think it all went okay but I am not always the best person to judge because I do get quite wrapped up in it all; so I guess you would really have to ask someone who was there what they thought of it.

I had a lovely chat with A; who I always value talking to. We decided on having a longer session on Saturday to look at the other sessions on the Holy Spirit and also Healing. Normally it should be done on an Alpha weekend which is an ideal way to do it but highly impracticable when you’re basically running five parishes single handed (that is not meant to belittle what my colleagues Reg and Ben do because their input is invaluable).

Arrived back at the Rectory about 9.45pm to find Dobby (our dog) loose in the drive; the first reaction was that had she been out since we left about 7.15pm,  or had she got out when Dawn came around, there was a mixture of panic and anger about all the things that could’ve happened to her (she was quite oblivious to it all trotting around the drive). On opening the front door I found Drew & Dawn in the hall and thankfully the penny dropped quite quickly on this occasion (I’m not always the quickest off the mark) that they’d seen the lights of the car coming into the drive so they let her out to greet us.

We had supper about 10.30pm and Jan woke me up to go to bed about 11.30pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.55am

I went back to bed at 7.30am and was up again at 9.30am.

The first Monday of the month always catches us unawares; we always think we have so much time and yet we are always struggling to get to the Holy Bingo on time for its 2pm start at the Lophams’ Village Hall. We were a few down on number yesterday but as always had good fun; since its beginning in March we’ve raised £314 for the two Lopham churches but hopefully also provided a vehicle for people to gather together once a month to have some fun, have a chat and a cup of tea and biscuit. Someone said to me recently; “Didn’t I feel guilty about encouraging people to gamble?” Well I think the answer is evident when you see one of the winners returning to their seat clutching a small can of some goodies or a chocolate bar!

The usual rush to get back over to Roydon for the BFG (Big Friendly God Club, a club run for 5-11yr olds); we were surprised but pleased to see F there who had got everything ready for us. We had 10 young people and 6 adults and we had our usual fun and games. K taught us a song with actions based on the parable of the man who built his house upon the rock and a vicar’s wife I know quite well led a game where she tied everyone in knots and then someone had to untie them. I asked the adults (K, C, M & A) if they would care to keep the club going if and when I took a Sabbatical and they all agreed to, which was good news, I’ve just got to get them all CRB’d (checked with the Criminal Records Bureau). K is also going to sort out a sketch or play for the children to do at the Crib Service; they were given the choice whether to do it at the Carol Service on the Sunday afternoon before Christmas or at the Crib Service on Christmas Eve, they unanimously chose the Crib Service.

Just time to quickly return to the Rectory grab a cup of tea before the Quiet Service at 7.30pm at Roydon Church; we used a Service of Prayer for Healing from Iona. I think all of the seven of us who were there found it a very powerful and moving service where we all felt the very real presence of God with us and there was a temptation to keep the service going but I think all of us found it so intense that an hour was enough.

Returned to the Rectory just before 9pm and had supper while watching Autumn Watch (not the latest one but the first one last week that we recorded).

Bed at 11pm both very tired but after a very satisfying day off and after Sunday’s disappointment it was good to be part of the church.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 4.02am

It was a long day yesterday; I don’t really get the chance to go back to bed on a Sunday, so it was nearly 24 hours from getting up to going bed!

We were quite a few down for the 8am service; just 13, I thought perhaps that some might be coming to one of the “bigger” services during the day but that hope was groundless.

The 10am service at Roydon was reasonably attended; I don’t go so much on numbers at this particular service but more on families and there were four families there. I had a bit of an embarrassing but also nice bit of the service when I asked everybody if they’d ever met anyone who was special, a person, they might describe as “holy”; one of the older girls F said yes, you! I often think of myself as the most unholy person I know but it made my day anyway.

We then had the 11am service at Bressingham for the Commissioning of our new Partnership Headteacher, Simon East; to say that the attendance was disappointing was a bit kind, it was pathetic. I felt deeply embarrassed for Simon; I had sent out over 100 invitations to this service, between the two schools they have about 180 pupils so if everyone had turned up there was a potential congregation of about 500-600. We had no children from either of the schools, only 6 governors from both Boards of Governors, nobody from the Diocese, nobody from the County and very few teachers with the bigger of the two being represented by only 1 teacher. Only one of the MPs the Rt. Hon. Richard Bacon (The Partnership lies across two constituencies) gave their apologies and sent a letter of good wishes for Simon.

The Parish Councillors outnumbered the Church people. When we last had this particular service the church was full but I can only put it down to the fact that it was the end of the half term holiday but I think even that was a feeble excuse. Fortunately the service was well received by those attending it. What Simon’s family must have thought I don’t know?

I also felt for the Churchwardens of Bressingham because they had gone to a lot of trouble to provide refreshments for a large number of people. Like the Civic Service at Roydon last week I felt perplexed and I guess a bit angry by this apathetic response to these two services; it really did feel like a modern day living out of the wedding feast parable where the invited guests found all sorts of excuses not to come and the servants had to be sent out to the highways and bye-ways to gather enough guests up for the feast!

For the first time since the end of August I had no services or events in the afternoon so at least I was able to have a bit of a rest before the evening service.

At 6.30pm at Fersfield we had a service of Healing and Remembrance for All Souls’ Day. At least this service was reasonably well attended. A vicar’s wife I know quite well had warned me that the service was going to be a long service so consequently I removed a long reading from the service but even so it was about 1 hour and 40 minutes, however it is difficult to see how this particular service can be shortened; the reading of the Benefice’s Year Mind last takes the best part of an hour, there were some 19 pages of names to be read out. I think that the way we did it this year was better than we have done in the past; I split it into four sections that were read out at different parts of the service by about 15 readers. The only possible way to speed this part of the service up would be to just read the names that were put on the lists at the back of the churches but then in my mind it would be defeating the whole purpose of All Souls’ Day in remembering all the departed.

Those who attended had the opportunity to light a candle and also to receive a bulb at the end of the service to plant in memory of their loved one. I was told after the service that I had forgotten the Lord’s Prayer (by a vicar’s wife I know quite well) which was a bad omission on my part. The healing part of the service didn’t take up that much time and I guess that in future years that might be separated from this service but I was glad to be assisted by G in this particular part of the service; I feel that G has a particular gift in this ministry and although most people wouldn’t have even thought of it; there was a power in a person who has cancer in ministering to others and I certainly felt that.

We eventually got back to the Rectory about 8.30pm and we had to go straight back out again because we were picking Chris & Neha up from Norwich Airport; their flight was due in at 9.10pm. It all worked out rather well in the end because we were able to pick them up more or less straight away without any hanging about.

We were going round the inner ring road when I said to Jan (who was driving) that Chris will ring any minute now and lo and behold the phone rang within about 10 seconds of me saying it. Chris wasn’t too amused when I said I thought it was tomorrow we were picking them up but it took us about five minutes to get from there to the airport so as I said it all worked out okay.

It was really good to hear all they’d been up to over the weekend, even the embarrassing moment that Chris had when visiting one of (if not the) poshest restaurants in Edinburgh, needless to say it involved him splitting his trousers not down one side but down both sides by catching his pockets on the arm of a chair; but I won’t tell you about that because it will embarrass him!

It also made me sad hearing all that they’d done because it reminded me so much of us and the things we used to do but no longer can do; but it is good to see them both enjoying themselves and being such a good couple.

Neha is going to Prague in the New Year to teach and I’ve got in quite quickly and asked if we can stay with her so we can go to the Prague Speedway Grand Prix. It is one of the bigger Grand Prix (what’s the betting it won’t be there next year).

We finally got back to the Rectory about 10.40pm to a rather confused Dobby (our dog) who was wondering why supper was so late! We had supper at about 11pm and eventually went to bed at 12.10am; it seemed an awfully long time since I got up at 12.44am the day before! Did we really have a few days off last week?

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.44am

I managed to get back to bed at 5am but I was up again at 7.30am.

Over to Fersfield Church Meadow for the Rounders Match at 11am; not many Wrinklies turned up so the Young ‘Uns were awarded the series by default. We did have an exciting game of Rounders, though, which those who took part enjoyed, a certain vicar I know actually bowled in one of the innings. An appearance was even made by some of the mature members of Fersfield PCC and despite protests two of them actually took part in the game, well done M & B. We were treated to some marvellously hot soup and some rather delicious hotdogs-well done S & J. It was always going to be a struggle to get people to turn out in November but we’ll be back next year.

We then undertook the usual distribution run; thankfully there were no delays so we were able to finish that within a reasonable time.

In the afternoon we had a House Blessing celebrated along with Holy Communion; these sort of pastoral services are always special and as someone said it was the most moving experience they had in 30 years in the church. We were treated to some homemade chocolate cake which was absolutely delicious!

It always surprises me that more parishioners don’t make use of the various pastoral services of the church e.g. house/wedding/object blessings etc. they certainly make the presence of God really visible in our lives.

It was a really awful night last night and we were at Roydon Church as people were turning up for the firework display in the Rugby Club; one could only feel sorry for them but I hope they had a good night as I hoped they did at North Lopham as well.

I have never been really keen on fireworks; I guess from experiences I had in the Police Force and in the Scouts, I have to say that I am a little afraid of them.

Returned to the Rectory just after 7pm; it has been a long and tiring day and the Rounders had taken its toll on my knees. We had supper and an early night going to bed at 10pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.45am

Quite a strange day, today from the word go I wasn’t really with it; we picked up Chris & Neha at 5am to take them to Norwich Airport. We toyed with having breakfast at the airport but decided against it, so we returned home, getting back just after 7am.

Went back to bed with some bacon sandwiches and a mug of tea; Dobby thought that was a great idea, breakfast in bed. Up again at 8.30am and got stuck into the weekly parish admin which I managed to finish but now all it needs is to be printed and folded.

Chris rang to tell us they were in Edinburgh for the weekend and I thought it was going to be somewhere really exotic.

We left for W. Suffolk Crematorium at 1.15pm for a funeral at 2.15pm; everything went okay and we got back to the Rectory at about 3.30pm.

Jan sprayed my hair and beard white for the Halloween Party-why white? Basically because I was a little worried that I may not have got the colour out of my hair by Sunday; I didn’t really fancy taking any of the Sunday services with either a tinge of green or red in my hair, so white was the safest option. This coupled with my Captain Sparrow three cornered hat and dreadlocks was to be the sole effort for my Halloween costume.

There is always some trepidation when we have any of our children’s parties at Roydon; will anyone actually come? Thankfully they did but it was more like a dribble than a sudden gush at 5pm and we ended up with 32 children and about 15 adults which was a lot down on last year but far more manageable. Some of the costumes were amazing and we even had a gorilla thanks to S. I do find it quite strange having a conversation with a gorilla or skeleton.

I wasn’t really on top form at the party; I couldn’t get my brain into gear, whether it was just coming back off of a few days away or just the rush of the day, I don’t know but I just couldn’t think straight. Several people asked me if I was okay; more I think from the white hair spray that had got on my face which gave me a bit of an ashen look, well , I hope that is why they asked, anyway.

It just amazes me with these children; they treat me as if I am some well loved Uncle, I always find it a very humbling experience when they come and talk to me, especially about their problems. I feel really privileged to be involved in doing this sort of work.

S excelled herself; she goes from confidence to confidence and I know the children love her very much, she had some very good games this year which was just as well as I didn’t seem to be functioning that well.

I think Jan, J and C do so well as well because they are so good at keeping everything smooth running it gives me the confidence just to get on with doing other things.

What was really good was that every child without exception said thank you either to S or me or both and the parents seemed to appreciate it as well so I think all in all it was a reasonably effective night.

Everyone pulled together to clear the Parish Room; although it did smell a bit like a cinema thanks to a popcorn race we had right at the end.

We finished off in freezing church with a couple of songs and a prayer.

I would have liked to have gone with S, R, J & A for supper in the White Hart but I felt so tired and there was still some work to do with little prospect of being able to do it tomorrow.  In the event Jan had to wake me both for supper and to go to bed and that was after I had a shower.

Bed at 11pm feeling very disorientated and shattered; thankfully most of the white hair spray had come off in the shower, I was asleep in about 10 seconds or less.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.40am

We had a cooked breakfast and then spent the rest of the morning preparing to leave; this has not been the greatest of breaks but I did need it.

We left about 1pm which was the not the best time to leave; I think recently we’ve found the best time to leave is about 2-3pm but there we go, that’s what the boss said. We got to Reading about 4pm; some stupid woman (I can only assume she was stupid) parked next to us in the disabled spaces but she didn’t park in the space she parked diagonally across it but even allowing for the extra space between the bays, she parked so close that neither of us could open our doors-we just looked at each other. Then, I couldn’t believe what happened next, I was just about to open the window to ask her if she could move when Jan reversed out and re-parked; the other lady then just smiled and got out and ran into the services! Maybe it was just as well that I didn’t speak to her!

We went in and had something to eat; it was deserted inside, I don’t think I’d ever seen a service station so devoid of people even in the middle of the night. We left there at 5pm the worst possible time to hit the M25.

It was a long drag around the M25 and we got to Bury St. Edmunds just after 8pm; we did some shopping for the Halloween Party and left just after 9pm arriving home about 9.30pm. On both of our journeys this time we only really had one stop (apart from the shopping) whereas we normally have several; my joints found this a bit much time to be cooped up in the car.

Bed at 11pm with sleep following almost instantaneously.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.50am

I managed to go back to bed at 5.40am and was up again at 9.30am. We didn’t do very much again today; other than put two pictures up in the living room. I’ve put all four pictures we now have in our living room in the gallery .

We had a leisurely breakfast and did some work on my tax return; Jan doing most of it.

Had an early supper and I spent the evening beginning the weekly parish admin and writing up the funeral for Friday as there won’t be much time when we get back.

Although we haven’t done very much this time down here, it has been good just to get out the normal routine; it has been so busy over the last few months that it’s been so good just to get off the roundabout.

Today’s weather wasn’t brilliant; it started off with a very heavy frost but by the evening it had warmed up and rain once again has set in, I should think that there is snow further up the valley.

Went to bed at 12.10am.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.56am

I managed to get back to bed at 6.30am yesterday and was up again at 8.30am.

We didn’t do very much at all yesterday; I was still feeling the effects of Sunday coupled with the drive down here yesterday.

I finally got my ITunes back up and running in a very laborious process which took most of the afternoon and evening; although I was able to leave it in the evening copying from one directory to another. It might seem a long time but I do have nearly 10,000 items in my library which is a mixture of music, podcasts, audiobooks and videos.

We had a fairly early supper, for us anyway, at 7.30pm and we watched another DVD; this time it was Iron Man and once again I thought it was excellent if you like the Action/Sc-Fi genre. It certainly brought back memories to me of younger years when I was a great fan of American Comic Books.

Before supper I had another bout of acute indigestion; that is the second time in just five days, it was quite painful but at least this time I wasn’t in church so I found a natural remedy which did ease it.

It is just nice to be out of routine and to be the master of my own time and not to have to go out; we quite often spend a lot of our time down here shopping for various bits and pieces.

One thing I forgot to mention is that when Drew & Dawn were down here last time they put up a picture for me that I had bought; it is 6ft by 3ft and it is in seven pieces and I have to say it took my breath away when I saw it, but I’m not sure that a vicar’s wife I know likes it that much because all she said was that it makes the room feel smaller. I think it is absolutely great and I’ll see if I can get a picture of it to put in the blog tomorrow.

I think if anyone saw us yesterday they might have been a bit puzzled; I spent all day in shorts and T-shirt a vicar’s wife I know quite well was wrapped up in winter woollies with a body warmer on!

We went to bed just after Midnight and as usual sleep followed almost immediately; I put the radio on on sleep (so it turns itself after 30 minutes) and I can’t even remember the first song; it’s just a shame I can’t keep asleep. It is quite cold tonight; the outside temperature is 0° and it feels pretty chilly.

Yesterday was fine in the morning but the afternoon and evening was pretty wet.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.49am

We left home yesterday just before 5am and our first stop was at Reading at 8am; Jan did all the driving and I just cat napped the whole time. It was quite chilly after getting out of a nice warm car; had some breakfast, did some food shopping in our second favourite shop M&S and was on our way by 9am. We had a short stop at Magor; we were going to have a cup of coffee but there appeared to be several coaches unloading, so as it just a small service area we didn’t bother. Next stop was home at Clydach at 11.45am.

I was relieved to find everything was okay as a vicar’s wife I know quite well was fretting a bit about what we might find (the last time it was the roof, which in the end cost us just under £400).

Jan went shopping after unpacking the car but I stayed home; the laptop is normally only connected to the internet when we’re in Clydach so consequently there was a lot of updating of various programmes to be done.

When the vicar’s wife returned home we had a bun and a cup of tea and sat down just before 5pm to watch the Adventures of Sarah Jane (a spin off from Doctor Who); I didn’t even see the opening credits, the next time I was conscious was when Jan woke me at 7.30pm.

We had supper about 8pm (a prepared meal from Northern India) which was very tasty; we watched a DVD (we’re such couch potatoes when we have any time off) “Wanted” starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy and Terence Stamp. If you like this sort of film it is a really good film in the Action/Drama/Thriller genre; it is certainly full of action and special effects. (I forgot to watch out for Jan’s new impersonation from Angelina Jolie)

Bed just before Midnight; Dobby enjoyed it, she loves it down here-no flies, no dry food (Little Caesar) and the big bed (Super King-size); although she hates going in the car I think she thinks it’s worth it when we come here.

We had a few little moans about so much to do here and so little time to do it; but as I said this is only a few days off and we should use it just as normal people use a weekend just as a chance to recharge our batteries. I think it is due in no small part to the fact that our new neighbours (we met them last time we were here at the end of August) have really gone to town on their bungalow and done all the things we were hoping to do; all their double glazing has been changed from the estate’s uniform dark brown to white, they’ve had fencing put around their garden and have a new drive and it certainly has made a difference; I, tongue in cheek, suggested to a vicar’s wife I know quite well that she should climb on our back wall and see if they’ve got a conservatory (which I would dearly love to have-but I wanted one before they had one-so does it count as coveting my neighbours belongings) but she said, hopefully tongue in cheek as well, but I’m not totally sure, that she tried that but couldn’t see!

It has been a beautiful day with clear blue skies all the way; not that I would know because I spent most of the time in the car dozing in and out of sleep, If only I could sleep that long at night (perhaps I should get a vicar’s wife I know quite well to drive me around all night or perhaps the parishioners could do it on a rota basis-it would make a change from them sleeping through my sermons).

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.20am

The 8am service was down in numbers just 12 but I’m hoping that it is because some of them will be coming to the afternoon service; although I know that four are away together.

A bit of a gap between the 8am and the next service at 11am at North Lopham; there are 21 for this service and I really enjoy the informality of this family communion.

Back to the Rectory for a quick spot of lunch before the afternoon and evening services begin.

Roydon at 2pm for a baptism of a baby and her Mum; there was about 60 at the service but it was quite hard work with very few making any responses.

There was no point in going back home because the next service was at 4pm; we had, I think 46 for the Civic Service to give thanks for the businesses, organisations and clubs operating in and for the people of Roydon. I think the service was well received by those who attended it but of the 100 invitations sent out only about a third bothered to respond to the RSVP. Perhaps I should have changed the reading to the wedding banquet where people had various reasons for not coming and then having to send out invitations to those on the highways and byways; but that would have been unfair to those who did come.

A quick return to the Rectory about 5.40pm and it is now dark because the clocks went back last night. Just time to have a quick change of shirt etc. before going to South Lopham for Evensong. I enjoyed Evensong tonight; there was plenty of light banter and it was a relaxed affair but it was good to finish it because it had been a long day. I returned to the Rectory about 8.10pm feeling very tired but satisfied after a long day of various services.

If anyone had been to all five services (some were at three of them) they would have heard five very different sermons; so I hope they appreciate the value they had today. Only one disappointing thing though; there has been some niggling going on in the background which I’m afraid I neither have the energy or inclination to deal with; what is it that brings the worst out in church people. God has given us so much and so freely but we can’t have it in our hearts to give each other anything!

We had a relaxed supper while catching up with the latest Merlin; during which I’m afraid I fell asleep, but was woken up to go to bed about 10.30pm (I think) with a vicar’s wife I know quite well threatening to put the alarm on for 2.30am so we can get a flying start to Swansea (as I’m writing this it is 1.20am) for a few days away; how I need them at the moment!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.50am (After clocks went back-did you remember to put yours back?)

I managed to go back to bed at about 6.30am and was up again just before 8.30am.

Back to the parish admin; it’s not normally as bad as this but there are three services to write which do take a little time. Had a break for a small cooked breakfast with Jan before getting back to the admin; eventually finished everything for distribution by about 3.15pm.

We began the distribution run (how I love that-not) about 3.55pm with a couple of extra stops to drop various bits off; I had to drop Jan off the Rectory about 4.45pm because of some visits I had to do, Jan completed the Roydon and Diss end of the run on her own.

I then had two bereavement visits and they couldn’t have been more different. The first was with the wife of the husband whose funeral is next Friday (31^st); this was a very enjoyable visit which was punctuated by much laughter as memories were shared and a life story told. Actually, it is quite surprising how often these funeral planning meetings are good hearted and very positive. Most people, I think, are quite surprised how much information I tease out of them about their loved ones; I would rather have far more information than I need and have a better mental picture of someone than to be scratching around for bits and pieces. These visits can vary from anything from an hour to literally all day.

The next visit is not easy or comfortable but a very necessary one to a man who has lost his wife of 38 just four years after losing a new born son and just to complicate matters the family are of a different faith. There were lots of people in the house and some were obviously trying to protect him from what they considered to be an inappropriate and bumbling visit from the vicar; but eventually we did connect and had a meaningful conversation, he is being very brave, especially for their two year old daughter. Unfortunately the meeting is cut short because I’m blocking up the drive and someone needs to leave. What can one possibly do in such circumstances except cry with them and even to ask why?

One can trot out all sorts of trite theological answers at a time like this but I am convinced that they are unhelpful and irrelevant, one can only share the pain and even that can’t be fully taken on board. The only thing I can offer is condolences, sympathy, prayer and being there if needed; one can only feel quite useless at a time like this.

Back to the Rectory about 7.30pm and just a bit more work to be done; a sermon for the Civic Service tomorrow, some reading for the address in the evening as it unlikely that I’ll get a chance to do it today and just do all the admin bits for the baptism.

Today looks like it’s going to be a day and a half; we have 8 services and I’m doing 5 of them throughout the day, so it looks like a rest and lunch are non-starters; boy, am I glad I only work one day a week!

Supper at about 9pm and we’ve been doing so well this week. Whilst eating supper we just happen to watch Lara Croft-Tomb Raider and although I hadn’t noticed it before, very quickly experienced Angelina Jolie doing Jan’s new impersonation; it’s not quite as good as Jan’s impersonation though!

I then fell asleep and was totally confused when Jan woke me up to go to bed as she’d put all the clocks back an hour.

I’m really looking forward to this few days off this week; even though I have some work to do-the dreaded Tax Return and to make a start on next week’s parish admin.

Went to bed at 10.25pm or was it 11.25pm; I don’t really know other than I went straight to sleep.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.55am

I managed to go back to bed at 4.20am but was up again at 6.25am. I went to Morning Prayer and although I stayed awake throughout the whole service I had for some reason an acute attack of indigestion during the prayers and although I completed them, it was most painful! You see the sort of things us vicars have to go through; it isn’t all sherry and cucumber sandwiches, you know.

Back to the Rectory about 9.30am and continued with the usual weekly parish admin which I continued to do all day until about 7pm; I did have a break for lunch but even so it took a long time, the biggest bit was the service for All Souls’ Day which took several hours to do just by itself but at least it leaves me with only one service to do, which hopefully I will do today.

We’re going to have a few days away down in Swansea next week; so all week with been dreading getting a funeral in. But of course one did come in but it is on Friday afternoon and as we will be coming back on Thursday I can manage that but it is going to make next weekend very interesting and I’ve got to fit in a visit before we go on Sunday/Monday night/morning.

We have a very tight agenda next weekend; we will back on Thursday evening but at 5am on the Friday we’ve got to take Number 1 Son and Neha to Norwich Airport, there is a funeral at W. Suffolk Crematorium at 2.15pm and then the Halloween Party at Roydon at 5pm. On Saturday we have the Rounders decider at Fersfield in the morning and a house blessing in the afternoon; so it is going to be a bit of a rush to get the weekly parish admin done and distributed, I can see it being done about 9pm! Then on the Sunday the usual gauntlet of services, which includes somehow getting from a 10am service in Roydon to an 11am service in Bressingham and just to cap it off picking up Number 1 Son and Neha from Norwich Airport in the evening-phew! I’ll need a week off after that lot!

It has been most strange this week; we’ve had three continuous evenings free and the latest we’ve had supper is 7.30pm on those three days. I’m beginning to feel withdrawal symptoms through having no church meetings; perhaps I’ll call an emergency one for tonight or tomorrow just so I can waste a few hours talking about nothing in particular!

We watched Starship Troopers 3 last night which was infinitely better than the second one and was okay if you like Sci-Fi, Space and monsters (and yes, I do).

A vicar’s wife I know quite well has added to her great repertoire of impressions she can do by adding Lara Croft from Tomb Raider to her Leprechaun impression; we’ll have to see if we can get the kit to go with it, perhaps she’ll wear it at the Halloween Party which is possibly not a good idea because if she doesn’t scare the children she’ll certainly scare me!

How did this great leap of talent take place; one of the actresses, Jolene Blalock (who has recently been in Enterprise and Stargate Atlantis SG1-I’ve added that for Jan’s benefit), in Starship Troopers 3 had big lips (which I thought looked particularly ugly) but Jan thought she was trying to be like Angelina Jolie; so came up with this impression, next time you see her ask her to do it for you, you won’t be disappointed!

Bed at 10.30pm both of us absolutely shattered; listening to our favourite 6Radio show-The Bruce Dickenson Show (the lead singer of Iron Maiden-only recommended for crusty headbangers-are vicars allowed to be a crusty headbanger-answers on a postcard to the Archbishop of Canterbury)

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.12am

Managed to get back to bed about 5am but was up again at 6.30am.

To D for our Home Communion Service and then onto Diss for some shopping before returning to the Rectory about 12.30pm for a quick cup of tea before going to Bressingham to take an assembly at 1.10pm. I don’t know why it is but I always get such a warm reception at Bressingham; it took me quite a while to get across the playground as it seemed that most of the children wanted to talk to me. I found it fascinating that some of them get so excited about my visit.

I was saying to a vicar’s wife I know quite well earlier this week that I don’t recognise myself in some of the comments made about me in various places and in cards I get from time to time; of course the vicar’s wife that I know, the fount of all wisdom, said of course you don’t, if you did then they probably wouldn’t be true. Profound or what?

Anyway back to the assembly; I hadn’t been quite sure what to but I gave them the story of Gideon as the theme this half term has been about courage. Although the story of Gideon is ultimately about courage it certainly doesn’t begin that way (read Judges 6 & 7). It’s about God seeing the potential in us and encouraging us to trust in him rather than our own strengths and talents. I’ve always found that God has always given me the right gifts at the right time to deal with situations; as a person who has many self doubts I’ve found that in this adventure that I’ve been on, that is called ministry, God has never let me down and I’ve learnt increasingly over the years to trust in him increasingly. The assembly goes okay and the children thought it was hilarious that the Midianites were rushing around killing themselves when Gideon’s 300 invaded their camp which was estimated to hold some 180,000 soldiers and routed the whole camp.

Had a long chat with the Head and J who is leaving and although we’ll miss her, I hope that things are much better for her having not so far to go to and from work. J has been quite a special friend to both Jan and myself and I’m sure we’ll both miss her.

Back to the Rectory for a very late lunch and some early work on the usual weekly Parish admin.

Tonight was a real rarity for us; a roast dinner shared with Drew, I really can’t remember the last time we had such a treat (I’m sure later I’ll be told when it was). It was the result of a gift of a duck given to me from one of the Toddler Church/BFG families. The fact that we had it at about 6.30pm was also unusual for us (if you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that our usual time for supper is around 10pm).

An early night as well; Jan was in bed about 10pm and I followed about 10.30pm and sleep followed very quickly as it has been a long day today; I have absolutely no trouble in getting to sleep, the problem I have is staying asleep for longer than about three or four hours. It came up in discussion again today of how do I survive on such little sleep and I don’t really know but I’ve found over the years the amount of time I’ve slept has diminished; which doesn’t mean I’m not tired (I can go to sleep at the drop of a hat-which I frequently do but just for not very long).

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at12.55am

Morning Prayer at Roydon; I managed to stay awake mainly because I went back to bed about 4.20am, it really does make all the difference, even though it is only for a couple of hours.

It was good to see Ben back after his break in Spain; fortunately, they missed the recent torrential rain in Spain. It was also good to see Reg a bit more like his usual self.

Back to the Rectory to start work on the three service books that need to be done for the next two Sundays; two of them are unique so they will take a little more time and one is just an update of an earlier one, so hopefully that one won’t take so long. I managed to finish the Civic Service booklet so that is one down two to go and although I don’t need the other two until Sunday Week I’m hoping to get them done before the weekend.

Had a baptism preparation visit in the evening in Diss; it was a really awkward place to park right on the roundabout at Vince’s Road. It was a lovely visit, it’s always nice to see the family in their home; they’re more relaxed and you get to know more about them as a family. It turned out the Dad will be one of the scaffolders who will be erecting scaffolding at South Lopham Church in the Spring. He was telling me that it is going to be one of the biggest jobs he’s ever worked on with the nave being encased in scaffolding inside and out with a false roof over the lot.

Fortunately I finished the visit just in time as the neighbours were getting home otherwise I would have had about 3” between the car in front and the van behind to manoeuvre to get out.

The second evening off in a week, I could get used to this; we had supper at 7.30pm and watched a few bits that we’d recorded on the sky+ box and we were in bed by 10.30pm; I even caught up with reading my monthly magazines, just lately I’ve been a month behind.

There was absolutely no guilt at all about this; we’ve had such a busy time since the end of August it was good just to being a couch potato for an evening. I don’t know how long I could cope with it being like that all the time; I wonder if you get withdrawal symptoms if you go to long without a PCC or Church Meeting? Is it like coming off drugs do you go through cold turkey? Nah, I shouldn’t think so but perhaps it’s all a dream and that I’m not really having an evening off at all; perhaps I’ve fallen asleep during a PCC Meeting?

It does make me wonder though; if I ever have this Sabbatical, how will I cope for three months without any church meetings, would I come back? Someone rather cheekily suggested to me that perhaps I could split the Sabbatical up and say take Easter, Christmas and the August Holiday Clubs off; I don’t think so. At the moment the idea of having a Sabbatical seems a long way off and I don’t suppose I’ll know for sure until I have my meeting with the Diocese on November the 6^th.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.50am

Sad news in North Lopham today; one of the Mums (38) from our Buggy Club died yesterday. It all so sad because the family lost a baby about four years ago and then were so happy when they had a daughter only then for the Mum to contract Breast Cancer. No time for clever words or theology only to do as St. Paul says; “To weep with those who weep.”

No Morning Prayer today because there is a school service at 9am; the school was a bit late in arriving but that didn’t matter. I just love taking assemblies and everything to do with the schools, it gives me an energy and confidence I just can’t explain.

Remained in the church after the service as we have a meeting with the architect who was also a bit late and didn’t really appear to have anything ready for the meeting but he did say there was a reason for both.

Then moved to Fersfield Church where we had a meeting both with the architect (the same as North Lopham) and a representative from English Heritage regarding our grant application (which the architect said would be a waste of time submitting). There was also a good representation of the PCC; we were given the same talk as we had in South Lopham Church this time last year and I have a feeling that this application is going to be successful; we should know by the end of November because if we haven’t survived the next sift we will have been informed by then, if we have the next stage will be receiving a formal offer on Christmas Eve. Even if our application isn’t successful this time we should continue to apply; it did take South Lopham three attempts to get their grant.

Returned to the Rectory for lunch with Jan about 12.30pm before going to the Toddler Church at Roydon; I just think that S & J do such a good job at this and they are the unsung heroes at Roydon. This one hour is so re-vitalising and as I always say a complete antidote to the church as we all get immersed in singing, lighting candles, ringing bells, praying, listening to stories, colouring and just enjoying each other’s company. We have so many different characters among the children from two little girls who are so shy that when you look at them, they can’t look at you to the real cheeky little boys who are so obviously are going to be real characters when they grow up. I just help but think how privileged I am to have seen them as babies (I christened them all bar one) and to see how they are developing as individuals. There were 8 children and 13 adults present; another good thing is how C & A have become part of the leadership team. All on all the Toddler Church is a real delight and will remain a highlight of my ministry in Roydon (not that it is anything that is due to me, it is just a real pleasure to be part of).

After dropping a few things off it is back to the Rectory and have a cup of tea and to do some preparation for the evening’s Alpha Course (oh, and of course to have a brief session of deep meditation; well it has been a long day).

Over to Roydon for the Alpha Course and the session; How does God guide us, there are 9 of us and so far I’m really enjoying this course it’s been by far the best we’ve run so far and we have a really interesting group of characters as well and just as it is a privilege to be with the youngsters so it is to be with this group. Watching people beginning their Christian pilgrimage is one of the real perks of my job and to feel their enthusiasm and vitality as they gain in confidence and the courage to explore the Christian faith; how I wish I could instil the same enthusiasm in some of our congregations and get them to see what an adventure Christianity is.

Back to the Rectory about 9.45pm after a long but satisfying day; We had supper just after 10pm and just to keep up with traditions (I’d been told at Alpha that I watched some rubbish films) unwound to a film called 7 Mummies and even we had to admit it was utter rubbish; I think we both felt guided by God as we watched the film and it was quite simply that we should turn it off and go to bed! It was one of those films that was so excruciatingly bad that it was compelling to watch because you felt it just had to get better but it didn’t.

Bed just before 11pm and sleep for me anyway, about 10 seconds later.

It is now 2.40am and I’m having some problems in updating the website so if you don’t see this until much later that is why.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.01am

Monday is my day off so I treated myself by going back to bed at 6.15am and then was up again at 7.55am; a lazy morning doing nothing particular except having a leisurely cooked breakfast with Jan.

The BFG (Big Friendly God Club-a club for 5-11 year olds) in the afternoon at 4pm; we had 9 youngsters and 4 adults; we played various games, shared our news and had some prayer time.

Back to the Rectory about 5.45pm; we don’t quite know what to do with ourselves on Monday evenings now there is no speedway on! We decided to have an early supper (for us anyway) at about 7.15pm and watch a DVD; we watched the Hulk which is a typical Comic Book Film. It is okay if you like that sort of thing but otherwise there is nothing special about it.

I think we were told off last night for having our TV on too loud; nothing was said but number 2 son came in and shut the door of the TV room. I can remember when it was the other way round when we used to tell the boys off for having their TVs on to loud. It was a combination of the cinema sound system and me being a bit deaf at the moment; but I am pleased to say that my ear is responding quite quickly to the antibiotics and eardrops. I remember when Jan’s Dad, Sid, was alive; we used to turn the TV down if he left the room because he was a bit deaf as it used to hurt our ears but then when he came back in he would turn it up again; have we now got to the same stage in our lives?

I’ve spent an awful lot of time doing nothing today; I don’t where the time has gone.

Bed at 10.30pm still extremely tired.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.20am

After last week’s dip in attendance the 8am service returned to normal; It was the turn of the 9.30am at South Lopham to be a bit down this week, although it was still a good attendance; I didn’t have anyone to assist me with communion so it meant I had to go up and down the communion rail four times and part way up the first time I had such deep pain in my back it literally took my breath away.

On to the Pet and Animal Service at North Lopham; this was the best attended of the five Pet Services and we had 7 dogs, 2 rabbits and 2 guinea pigs. It was a noisy service with Edward the two year old Springer Spaniel joining in the singing. I was a bit disappointed that in all the five services we had this year that there were no exotic pets; so it looks like I’ll have to wait for another year my first tarantula!

A Pet Service is good fun and there is a lot of opportunity to compare your pets love for their owner to God’s love for us. Everybody seems to think that Pet Services were started by the Vicar of Dibley but when you look at the episode transmission times, it shows that that particular episode was first transmitted in December 1994 and I was at a Pet Service at Brecon Cathedral in 1992 and I’d heard of them going on in the church before that.

Returned to the Rectory about 12.30pm; it had been a long morning but an enjoyable one. When I first came here in June 1997 I thought nothing of doing three services on a Sunday Morning; but now by the third one I am certainly feeling it. We had lunch but I didn’t quite finish it before going into a deep meditation; when I awoke a few hours later my tea was chilled to perfection (I really do enjoy cold tea and coffee come to that) with the tablets I was supposed to take still beside the cup!

Just enough time to get the laptop and other bits and pieces ready for the evening service; Jan had already taken some things down to the church but we got there about 5.15pm for the 6.30pm service. For the first time ever I got the PowerPoint presentation up and running first time; mind you it was also the first time that I actually followed the instructions properly.

It was the first of our Music, Praise & Worship Services of the 2008-9 season and I guess there is always a bit of trepidation about attendance when you re-commence something after a break, but it wasn’t bad with just under thirty there.

I tried a bit of experimentation with the presentation this time, with a bit of animation and with some of the song slides; some were just on a plain white background and some with a coloured background. If you were there I’d like to hear what you preferred. A vicar’s wife I know quite well did have some useful criticisms about the size of the type for some of the slides, especially the readings, that they needed to be uniform and consistent (two of the readings were a bit on the small side). As I don’t know what versions the readers are going to use I usually stick with the NIV (New Internal Version UK edition) and anyway I think it is probably good to have a different version read so it gives some comparison on the reading.

I gave the address and was a little bit surprised when Jan told me I’d preached for 23 minutes! I really didn’t realise it was so long, I just hope it was reasonably good because I don’t think I would like to sit in a cold church for 23 minutes listening to a mediocre address! (If it was and if you did, I’m sorry).

I thought the Benefice Band were good although I did hear a criticism about the electric organ; “Why, if we have an electric organ with presumably lots of different voices on it did we have to hear the church organ setting played. If you’re going to do that what is the point of having an electric organ there? Why couldn’t another voice have been used, say a piano or something to give it a bit of variety?” Well the answer is I don’t know and I have to be honest and say that I didn’t notice anyway but then I was concentrating on the presentation.

We didn’t get out of the church until about 8.40pm (that’ll be a lesson for preaching for so long) but we did stay and chatted with some of the people there.

We had supper about 9.30pm and watched the last 20 minutes of a film we’d taped last week (and fallen asleep watching) and the latest episode of Merlin which I haven’t quite made up my mind about yet.

Bed at about 11.30pm completely and utterly shattered; never mind it all starts again tomorrow but at least at the moment it doesn’t look quite so frantic as in recent weeks (like the last 6 weeks); and once again we are hoping that no funerals come in during the week as we hope to have a few days down in Swansea next week, otherwise we have to wait until the end of November.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.40am

I managed to get back to bed at 5.30am but was up again at 7.55am. Spent the morning and most of the afternoon finishing off the parish admin and the PowerPoint Presentation for the Music, Praise & Worship service; I really enjoy doing the PowerPoint but it can be a bit long winded and the temptation is to put too many animations in it, but we’ll see what it looks like. I just hope I can get it working okay; I don’t know what it is but every time we use it there seems to be some problem with getting it from laptop to screen, this time I’ve printed out the instructions so hopefully there will be no problems.

Had a nice relaxed breakfast late morning and then in the afternoon Jan did the distribution run; I can’t say I was too upset not to have finished the PowerPoint presentation so that I couldn’t go with her!

It is looking more unlikely that I will have to go to Rugby County Court on Tuesday with one of the parishioners; they have signed a consent form but I’m not sure I would have advised them to do that but the Citizen’s Advice Bureau have done so I guess they know what they’re doing. I don’t always answer the phone if it is withheld because it is quite often this person but they were a bit crafty because they rang me from someone else’s house, consequently I answered it and was on the phone for an hour! They also leave the phone off the hook as well so as our number remains engaged; I’ve actually been with them in their home when they’ve done it to other people.

Thankfully I finish most of the things I set out to do by five; what was left will have to be done on Monday. Things are not looking too bad this week for the first time there are a few evenings off but I do need to write and print off some orders of services, so they’ll probably be taken up by them.

The last televised Speedway event of the season is on tonight; so the decks are cleared so we can watch the last Grand Prix from Bydgoszcz, Poland, there is a lot at stake, the Grand Prix, The World Championship, various qualifying places and the Super Prix the richest motor race in the world, $200,000 for one minutes racing. The World Championship is decided quite quickly, Niki Pederson retains it for the second year running. The Brits miss out on the qualifying places so will have to rely on being selected; neither of them have been that convincing this year. Tomaz Gollob claims third place in the World Championship, and wins the Grand Prix and the Super Prix. There was some good racing tonight; we’ll have to wait until the 2009 season in April for the next televised speedway.

Bed at 11.30pm both feeling shattered.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.30am

Morning Prayer before going off to the doctor’s surgery; Jan normally comes in with me anyway when I see the doctor but it was quite strange today in that we had a double appointment. First the doctor examined Jan and at long last is sending her to see an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist; then he examined me, first my ear which he confirmed had an infection in, then my arm and wrist and is sending me for an X-Ray and finally my two warts I have on either side of my forehead which he decided to remove by freezing them. So all in all it was quite a positive visit.

Returned to the Rectory to get stuck into the usual weekly parish admin which is going quite well but there is a lot of it this week. We had lunch and then Jan let me have a rest for a couple of hours before getting stuck in again.

We were just preparing to go the evening function, “The Cottage Pie Party” when I had a telephone call from a distressed parishioner; I went straight away and spent the next three hours dealing with a pastoral emergency. It might seem a bit melodramatic to call it a pastoral emergency but it does happen from time to time and when they do they invariably require immediate attention and action; I was just glad that I was available and able to go straight away.  It was a good demonstration of how I am not always the master of my own time and schedule. When I left, hopefully the situation had been restored and the immediate problem was solved but I think there is some more work to be done on this.

We arrived at the “Cottage Pie Party” sometime after 9pm as most were just finishing their sweets but some were obviously waiting for Jan’s steamed pudding because as soon as it was put down a ravenous group of parishioners dived on it and decimated it; so much for my hopes that no one would touch it and then we could take it back so I could dive on it and devour it.

It’s quite strange when you’re late for a function like this because most had finished eating but as we began to eat people were talking to us and it was quite difficult to eat; I think I held my sweet for about 40 minutes before I could start to eat it. It was a jolly good evening with lots of chat and laughter; our hosts E & D had done a grand job and made over £600 for Bressingham Church to boot. Well done!

We left with most of the people just after 11.15pm; both of us were very tired it had been another long day but hopefully one in which we had done some good.

Bed at 12.05am

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.25am

Managed to get back to bed just after 6am but was up again about 7.55pm. First stop today was at Js for our weekly Thursday Communion Service; this is a very special service, for me the highlight of the week, it is informal and intimate.

Back to the Rectory just before Midday; I dropped Jan off before making a pastoral visit which I know has the potential to be a long one but I’m hoping isn’t going to be. I didn’t leave the visit until over four hours later plus it looks as if I may be in for a visit to Rugby County Court on Tuesday. This has been a long running problem but I am trying my best to help someone who is very difficult to help; it would be very easy to wash my hands of them but they are desperate for help and I see it as part of my Christian discipleship to offer as much support and help as possible.

Returned to the Rectory about 4.20pm to have lunch; not only is supper getting later and later now lunch is following suit! Pleased to see Number One Son who has just returned from a business trip in his swanky top of the range hire car (all part of the perks I’m told); he tells us some of their plans (him & Neha) and we can only offer our support, blessing and encouragement in whatever they hope to do. He is also busily going through my CDs (I have 3000+) to fuel his latest discovered passions Bob Dylan & Queen; It is good to see that Neha is educating him in experiencing new things (to him anyway). Finally have lunch about 4.45pm after which I practice some deep meditation until the news.

Today has not gone as I planned hoping to do a fair bit towards the weekly parish admin pile; in fact I haven’t really done anything other than start on Sunday’s Music, Praise & Worship PowerPoint presentation.

Number 2 Son returns from Computer Shop with re-vitalised and fully working computer with, fortunately, all his work restored but just over £100 lighter!

The evening session is a Cockcrow Management Committee Meeting which is not normally too long or onerous; we welcome our two new editors V & T and have quite a fruitful meeting. One thing I’m very glad about because it has been a bit of a personal crusade of mine since I’ve been here is that at last we’re going to reduce our reserves to a much more reasonable level and we’re going to do it by giving all nine parishes a free year which is a good way to begin our 30^th year and to give some support back to the parishes. When I first came here we were often struggling with advertising and so needed a large reserve but over the years I’ve seen that reserve grow whilst our advertising management has become really efficient and profitable.

If only all committee meetings could be like this one; life would be far more pleasant, for me at any rate. I have a theory that for a lot of people our committee meetings are quite akin to a social event as much as a business meeting. There are several meetings that I go to where the business is actually done in about 15 minutes but the chatting and socialising then go on for anything up to 2 hours; wonderful if it is the only committee that you sit on but when it one of the 18+ committees that I sit on, that is not so good.  

Supper at a reasonable time of 9.30pm and bed at 11.30pm; I must get to the doctors at some point tomorrow my ear and hand need some treatment, how I hate going to the doctors, I always have done but it is a real problem just finding the time and getting an appointment.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.25am

Morning Prayer at Roydon this morning; I was quite pleased with myself that I stayed awake throughout, mainly because I was able to get back to bed for an hour or so. We had an unexpected visitor who I was glad to see because I’d been meaning to call in and see them for some time.

After Morning Prayer I had a chat with Reg; I’m a bit concerned about him, he doesn’t look or sound at all well and later when Jan returned from clearing up she also said the same but I can’t get him to take any time off. Also had a chat with another parishioner who wanted to talk about where they should be buried (a cheerful start to the day) as they go to all five churches and another church; I suggest perhaps they all ought to be cut up into six pieces with a bit buried in each church. This not received with the humour I offered it in so I suspect there is a very real reason for the request; but what was more worrying was that they were quite insistent that it would be my choice!

Off to W. Suffolk Crematorium for a large funeral; standing room only in the Crematorium, everyone seems appreciative of the service although I was very conscious of two very minor slip ups. The three sons spoke very movingly about their father; who I am sure would have felt honoured by such a worthy tribute. The service actually overrun the allotted time allowance but it is very difficult to keep such a high emotion service with family input within the meagre allowance of 25 minutes. I happened to be in the vestry when the next minister turned up; she complained bitterly because my service was late she had had to park on the grass and not in the provided clergy space and that she was quite angry that my service had overrun. I felt it was wise to say nothing thereby provoking an argument but I did mentally note that she came into the vestry, unrobed (liturgically, you understand) at 12.50pm for a funeral that should have started at 12.45pm (ours had finished at 12.28pm).

Back to the Rectory just after 1.30pm; Number 2 Son having problems with his computer and looking likely to lose all his work stored on the computer, I know just how he feels; backing up is something you’re always going to do tomorrow! The real problem with having such a computer problem is not just losing your work (isn’t that bad enough) but after a clean re-formatting of your hard drive having to re-install all the programmes that you normally use; in my experience it can take anything up to a week to get your computer up and working as it was before. Had some lunch and then I just had to have a rest after less than four hours sleep in two days.

In the evening I started on the PowerPoint presentation for the Music, Praise and Worship Service on Sunday; I do enjoy this but it can be time consuming. The evening is a real rarity of recent times because it is free from any commitments; so at least we had a reasonably timed supper, about 8.30pm.

We watched a film called “Mr. Woodcock” which I think we both found a bit lacklustre, it was supposed to be a comedy about a man who finds his widowed Mum is going to marry the P.E. teacher who gave him so much grief when he was younger. Although it had some funny moments, on the whole it was a bit dull but infinitely better than most church meetings.

Bed about 11pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.15am

It was a long day yesterday; I did manage to go back to bed about 6.30am but was up again at about 8.40am.

Just in case anyone was interested in the phrase I used yesterday; “Gone for a burton,” you might be interested in seeing this.

Up to St. Andrew’s School for the assembly; I told them the story of Gideon which is one of the great stories of the Bible; you can find it in Judges 6 & 7. I always feel so privileged to be able to do things like this; the look on the faces of the children is worth a million pounds, if only I could get about 10% of our congregations to react in the same way.

Returned to the Rectory, a new alb had arrived, which I tried on it was very comfortable; I’m looking forward to using it for the first time. Just enough time to have some lunch and watch the news before going to South Lopham to take a funeral and burial; it was a good turnout. I went over to the hall for a glass of orange and a chat with most of the people who came to the service; I don’t normally do this, not because I’m unsociable but because I like to have a sit down after a funeral and unwind.

I got back to the Rectory about 4.15pm for my sit down and some preparation for the evening Alpha Course. We are now half way through the course and the session was entitled “Why and how should I read the Bible.” We were treated to a really great Apple Cake by D which everyone appreciated. We appear to have lost one of the original course members which is a great shame but obviously I wasn’t connecting with him or he wasn’t ready for it yet.

I am always full of self doubt about my abilities in these fields and I’m always glad that I get some feedback from Jan. We got back to the Rectory just before 10pm. There was an email from the diocese asking me to a meeting regarding my possible Sabbatical next year; the meeting is not for another three weeks and probably after that there needs to be time to make a decision; so I would guess that the opportunity to take a Sabbatical in January-March is looking highly unlikely which is a shame because 1. I feel I need it and 2. It is a relatively quiet time in the parishes but I’m sure what will be, will be and ultimately I have to trust God for the right decision to be made.

Another late supper, about 10.15pm but it is just so good to relax and unwind after such a long day.

Bed about 11.30pm; my sleep period appears to be getting shorter and shorter at the moment, I think this is probably due to the pain I’m having in my hand and arm at the moment which is a bit wearing.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.05am

As it was my day off I went back to bed about 6.20am and got up again at 8.30am; I’m just so reckless.

Had a late cooked breakfast with Jan and Drew; telephone rang at about 11am, I don’t normally answer it on my day off but it was Rosedale so I did answer it and was asked to take a funeral for Tony Billett who had hurt his knee (it turned out that he’d strained a ligament in his knee and will be out of action for two weeks). It also meant that my day off had gone for a burton (does that mean go for a burton ale-beer or a Burton suit because they used to be so cheap-I’m not really sure or is it something completely different-answers, please, in the comments box at the bottom of the blog) because I needed to see the family later that afternoon.

After hearing the news on the radio that the government was pouring more money into the banking system, I wondered if I could register as a bank, I wouldn’t necessarily want all the 37 billion pounds, only a little bit of it; it would make a change from answering all those emails I get every day (about 6-12 daily) telling me there is millions of pounds waiting for me in exchange for all my personal and bank details-PUBLIC HEALTH & WEALTH WARNING NEVER EVER CLICK ON ONE OF THOSE EMAILS OR OPEN IT BECAUSE HOWEVER GENUINE OR APPEALING IT MAY SEEM-IT WILL UNDOUBTEDLY PUT SOME NASTY VIRUS, TROJAN OR MALWARE ON YOUR COMPUTER-AND IF YOU ARE SO DAFT AS TO SEND THEM ALL YOUR DETAILS, YOUR IDENTITY WILL PROBABLY BE STOLEN AS WELL-THE ONLY THING YOU SHOULD DO IS DELETE IT!

The telephone went again about Midday and it showed that it was one of those pesky international calls that you always seem to get at lunchtime which either go dead as you answer it or it tells you that you’ve won some cruise in the Bahamas; I definitely would not answer it normally even if it wasn’t my day off but for some reason I did and found myself talking to L in Barbados. She was telling me it was in the 90°F and it was too hot for her; it was 7.30am in the morning and as she was speaking to me she was looking out over a blue sea and the sun was shining but it was still far too hot for her and that she couldn’t live there again! I spoke to A as well and they were having a lovely time but it was a bit hard talking about B (their daughter who passed away earlier this year-may she rest in peace and rise in glory) to their family and friends there. The incredible thing was that the line was so clear; better than when they ring me from Roydon.

Then got back down to work sending out the remaining invitations for the Civic Service on the 26^th at Roydon and the Commissioning Service on the 2^nd November; it may seem late but I really haven’t had any time to do it until now. I’ve sent out the best part of 100 invitations to the Civic Service and well over 100 for the commissioning service; so far we have 19 positive replies for the Civic Service. I just hope that the church congregations support the services as well. I have to keep wondering why did I have to send out the invitations; apart from the cost it has taken up a couple of days of my time, oh well, my reason is not to ask why but just to do and...., anyway they are all done now.

I ring Tony to ask if I could borrow his notes for the funeral on Friday but I am too late the son of the deceased has already collected them.

About 5pm I go to see the family; I can understand their disappointment that they’ve got to go through all this again and I do sense a bit of resentment at my presence but that soon evaporates as hopefully I put them at ease and go through Tony’s notes with them. I guess every clergy person goes through these types of meetings in their own fashion and although I never find them easy, I do recognise that I have a God given gift in dealing with them and coupled with my experience as a police officer in teasing evidence out of people and dealing with people in these situations I find their fears and anxieties are quickly stilled and that once again it is a great privilege to be helping them at a time like this. It helped quite a bit that one of the sons was at a wedding I took earlier this year.

I got back to the Rectory just after 6pm to a telephone call from our Chapter Clerk telling me that the Deanery Clergy Chapter has been cancelled due to the Rural Dean being out of action for two weeks due to his strained knee ligaments-Questions: Is praying really that dangerous? Do we need to include this risk in our Health and Safety Policies? Should we issue Public Health Warnings before we say Let us pray? See you all thought that being a vicar was a bit of a doddle, but we take risks for you, you know. But seriously, get better soon Tony, there’s not many of us left. Anyway God moves in mysterious ways. Below is a cartoon of a Chapter meeting which appeared in this week’s Church Times-I’m not sure which one I am?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did hear one bit of disturbing news from Clive and that is David Jackson from Harleston is on Sabbatical from January to March next year. I wonder how likely it will be that the Diocese will let two clergy from the same Deanery take Sabbaticals at the same time?

Number 1 Son and Neha called round to see us, it would be nice to think that they wanted to spend some time with us (but not on the night of the last televised Speedway League match) but they only want to borrow my internet connection to do some research and to eat our food; but I am always pleased to see them both. At the end of the month Neha is taking Chris away for a surprise weekend and he doesn’t know where yet, I’m only taking them to the airport and picking them but even I’m getting excited about it, I can’t wait to know where they’re going. I would like a surprise one weekend but I’d like it to be more than will there be a congregation or not!

Settled down to watch the last Elite League Speedway televised meeting of the season without a twinge of guilt in giving my apologies of absence at two meetings (I will mention it in my next confession-yes I do go to confession but nowhere near as regular as I ought to). It was a bit of a lacklustre meeting with Poole running out easy victors to Lakeside; one last televised meeting to go-Saturday’s GP from Bydgoszcz; I might as well cancel the Sky subscription after that then.

Bed about 11.30pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

 Up at 4.10am

I finally put my application in for my Sabbatical; we’ll just have to wait now to see if it is approved or not.

It was a long day yesterday; the 8am service was the lowest attended since I took over at Roydon four years ago, just ten-possible reasons: Congregation hung over after England win at football, congregation watching Japanese GP, congregation put off by the heavy fog, congregation went on Andrew’s Autumn walk and couldn’t walk but most likely explanation they all had their flu jabs last week and are now suffering with flu!

I found myself becoming a bit like Jeremiah at the 9.30 at Bressingham sounding a bit like a prophet of doom.

The baptism at 11am at North Lopham; although I enjoyed it I didn’t feel I was my usual self, my body was beginning to ache and this headache I’ve had for a few days was a bit wearing and I was a bit upset by a remark from one of the congregation about the dish we have in the font being filthy and I’m afraid it was, it didn’t show us off in a very good light.

Back to the Rectory about 12.30pm for my usual Sunday lunch; a sandwich, a cup of tea and a snooze but not much of one as we left for South Lopham at 1.30pm for the Teddy Bears’ Picnic.

Not quite as many as last year but it is just so uplifting to see the look on the youngsters faces as their bear abseils down the church tower and there was one particular young boy who was an absolute star; he was just so proud of his bear and when Jan was taking his photograph he just made us all laugh with the contortions he was getting in to smile for the camera. It was a lovely couple of hours at the church; I don’t suppose we made much money but that wasn’t really the point of the exercise just a good fun event for families-worth its weight in gold (if indeed gold has any value in the present economic climate).

Back to the Rectory for a cup of tea and another brief period of concentrated meditation-but I’m sure that tea was hot before Jan woke me up; it’s a good job I like cold tea. Just before leaving for the songs of praise at North Lopham there’s a message on the answer-phone asking me to check my emails for the order of service for tonight’s service at 6.30pm, it is now 5.55pm. No time to read the email just download it and take it! Picked J up at 6.15pm so no time to read the email at all-it’s going to be all on the hoof this evening.

Not the best of starts because I didn’t have the first hymn on the email (when I checked later, in my rush to print it out, I’d missed the first couple of lines). It was an interesting service-12 hymns which I know everyone enjoyed except me; it is very difficult to enjoy a service or even sing the hymns when you’re trying to read what’s coming next, but hopefully it wasn’t too noticeable-everyone probably thought “miserable old (insert own word here) he’s not even singing!”

After dropping J off we got back to the Rectory about 8pm just a mere 19 hours after I got up this morning!

We had a lovely supper and then I surprised even myself by watching a whole DVD; “Shoot em up” (Tagline: I'm a British nanny and I'm dangerous Plot: A man named Mr. Smith delivers a woman's baby during a shootout, and is then called upon to protect the newborn from the army of gunmen) which was a really enjoyable film but not if you don’t like violence; it must have the highest body count of all films. I’m not sure if the film was meant to be serious or tongue in cheek but it succeeded on both counts. It is a film that has a story that is so compelling and the action so fast that I was afraid to go to sleep (even though my eyelids felt like ten ton weights) just in case you missed the punch line. Clive Owen is a much underrated actor.

Finally went to bed about Midnight just 23 ¼ hours after getting up-bed felt soooo good.

A whole day off to look forward to tomorrow because rather naughtily I’ve given my apologies to the evening meetings; well something had to give!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.45am

I managed to go back to bed just after 5.30am but was up again about 7.25am. I then pressed on with the weekly parish admin; it wasn’t too bad this week, just the weekly bulletin, the daily prayer bulletin for Morning Prayer, the admin for the baptism and a hymn sheet for the baptism at N. Lopham on Sunday. I did some in the morning and finished the rest off in the early afternoon.

A rare treat of Jan, Drew and myself sitting down to a cooked breakfast and then something I’ve been putting off for weeks; not for any particular reason other than there hasn’t been enough time on a Saturday morning to have it done-a haircut, it has got rather long especially my beard so I was glad to have it taken off. Jan has been the only person I’ve let touch my hair for about 38 years; I’ve just got a thing about barbers!

We did the delivery run in the afternoon; it took a bit longer because we had a chat with Reg. I am a little bit worried about him, he just won’t slow down. We did a bit of shopping before returning to the Rectory about 5.30pm eagerly in anticipation of the last Grand Prix of the season; unfortunately it had been cancelled due to adverse track conditions, it has been re-arranged for next Saturday in Bydgoszcz, Poland! We really felt for KP who had driven all the way over there; but he did say that the one he’d really like to go to is Bydgoszcz while Tomas Gollob is still riding, perhaps this your chance K.

I’ve been having trouble with my hand and arm again today, I guess I’ll just have to go to the doctor about that; my eyes have been stinging and I’ve had blurred vision all day but I put that down to the migraine that has been hovering about for the last couple of days, I’ve had enough of them in my lifetime to recognise the symptoms-it will either burst into a full blown migraine or just melt away but my tablets are not having any effect on it at the moment.

Bed at 10.10pm

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.30am

Finished writing up Friday’s funeral at about 5.30am and carried on trying to do other admin; I was also struggling with the website yesterday morning, I couldn’t upload any updates for the site.

When Jan got up I was ordered back to bed for an hour; of course she was perfectly right, I was struggling with a migraine, my eyes were stinging and my typing was erratic. So I missed Morning Prayer and did as I was told which was sensible really, with a big funeral taking place during the morning and afternoon.

We left to go the West Suffolk Crematorium about 10.15am; at this time I was still unable to upload updates to the website. The morning part of the funeral was fine and we returned to the Rectory around Midday.

I was able to get onto parts of the website to upload some updates but not all of it; I had an email from the website hosts saying they were making large security updates during the day. We had a telephone call from Number 1 Son asking if I was alright because the blog wasn’t updated, I didn’t know he cared.

Just time for a quick spot of lunch before being chauffeured up to North Lopham for the second part of the funeral service; everything went well, they had changed the CD music for coming in and out but that didn’t really matter. The son did the eulogy and for the second time in a couple of weeks was applauded; is this going to creep into all our funerals? I think since the death of Princess Diana a lot of the taboos and traditions concerning funerals have relaxed and now all sorts of things are permissible at these services; I think that this is a good thing as long as the family want it and appreciate it.

I couldn’t go to the refreshments after the service; my head was still floating and there was still some things (lots of things) to be done, so my chauffeur, who was a vicar’s wife I know quite well, took me home and suggested rather firmly that rather than carrying on with work I ought to have a rest before the next appointment at 5.30pm; again she was absolutely right and I did feel better for an hour’s snooze.

A funeral preparation visit in South Lopham which was very useful; after doing all the necessary arrangements we spent a lot of time talking about speedway and I was rather envious (are vicars allowed to be envious) that the son was off to Germany for Saturday’s Grand Prix; hopefully work will have been completed so we can watch the last of the season’s Grand Prix.

Back to the Rectory at 7.30pm and I should have continued with work but I didn’t really feel up to it so I called it a day; it has been a very busy week, as it has been for the last several weeks and to be quite honest Jan and I both needed to take a break, so we settled down to a relatively early supper for us while watching a DVD called “The Bank Job.” I wasn’t totally sure I was going to like it but it turned out to be a cracking film about a real event and what was even better was that it is a British Film with a good cast of British actors; it is worth watching if you like that sort of thing, although it has some strong adult content.

Jan and I had done some talking during the day about my proposed Sabbatical in 2009 and the pressure being put on me to delay it for a year; I’m really confused by it all and am struggling to make up my mind whether I should stick to my guns and have it in the early part of 2009 or wait until September or even later, there are pros and cons about them both but I am almost of the mind to say that it is just becoming too much hassle so I won’t bother at all. We have sort of worked out a programme of things we would do if I did take the Sabbatical but at the moment there is still a lot of work to be done just preparing for Sunday, so that any thoughts will have to wait until Monday.

Bed at about 11.30pm.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.10am

Lots of paperwork to be done; I finished writing up Thursday’s funeral about 5.30am so there was no time to go back to bed.

Left for the crematorium about 9.15am and got there in plenty of time for the service at 10.30am; I think the family were quite surprised how many turned up for the cremation. Hopefully the service went well (I can’t always judge how things went but there were plenty of nice comments after the service). I had a word with the family and decided to put an extra hymn in for the Thanksgiving Service in the afternoon. The crematorium staff kindly lent us The Methodist hymn book and along with the organist we went through a few possibilities; Rosedale’s kindly offered to do a sheet to slip into the service with the extra hymn on. I felt much happier about the afternoon service as I think the extra hymn balanced the service out.

Back to the Rectory for a spot of lunch and a sit down before Jan dropped me off for the afternoon part of the service. It was the first time I had taken a service at Diss Methodist Church and the Stewards were extremely helpful in explaining the logistics of the service; some of the members were helpful in putting a chair and a glass of water out for me, I felt rather spoilt as if I was some sort of V.I.P.

The church was full for the service; and the singing, as it was in the morning, was brilliant; it was a real pleasure and privilege to be there. The service was a lot longer than a “typical” Anglican service but it all flowed and felt right. It was certainly different from the service I normally take at such occasions. I split the address into three smaller sections rather than to give it as a whole which I think made it more accessible for the congregation. More or less straight after the service I was asked for my notes; there were lots of positive comments about the service and the family seemed very pleased at both services, so my anxiety and fears last night were groundless but thanks be to God that I was given the right gifts to undertake the services-I feel quite elated by the comments made to me.

Jan picked me up at the church and we returned to the Rectory about 4.30pm; I had to do a bit of printing for the evening meeting but then was able to sit down for a rest for an hour, my body was beginning to ache just a bit.

To the Parish Room at 7.30pm for the Benefice Council Meeting; once again I felt some trepidation about this meeting because the attendance has not been that great in the past. Unfortunately my fears weren’t groundless this time, there were just nine of us including Jan and myself; those who did attend were very positive but I was disappointed in the attendance, I thought I had done quite a bit to encourage a bigger attendance. We talked about the Pastoral Offices of the Church (Baptism, Marriage, Wedding Blessings and Funerals) and the potential there was in them for church growth; we also talked about what we do now and after the service and how I would like to develop that ministry.

I couldn’t help but come away from the meeting feeling disappointed that more church members seemed to be ambivalent to our practices; I really feel we could do so much better in what we do in our ministry for the pastoral offices and in our support of those getting baptised, married and for the bereaved but I can’t do it all alone. It appears that we are stuck in a mindset that the vicar does his job and we do ours sort of attitude. After a meeting like this it sets all my doubts and fears going about my own ministry; have I been here too long, are people still responding to my ministry, am I expecting too much from church members?

Eventually back to the Rectory about 9.50pm so another late supper; I’m also beginning to think that there is a migraine waiting to erupt, all the symptoms are there, light headedness, a feeling of well being, stinging eyes etc etc. There hasn’t been much sleep of late and the last month or so have been quite pressurised and I seem to be rapidly running out of time this week; work on Friday’s funeral hasn’t even been begun yet let alone the normal weekly parish admin and the Teddy Bears’ Picnic on Sunday, I’ve also come to a dead stop in sending out the invitations for the Civic Service and The Commissioning Service but I can only do one thing at a time.

I have had confirmation that I can take a Sabbatical in 2009 for up to three months but that our training officer is not keen for me to take it in early 2009 and would rather that I took it in 12-18 months time. I was a little confused by it all because I was asked to do what I’d already done and it appeared that my request hadn’t really been read as the reasons I clearly put in the request were not acknowledged in any way. At the moment I can’t really think too much about this but what does surprise me is that the churchwardens can actually veto any request I may have for a Sabbatical which seems to be pointless, not that I think they would (I hope not in any case) but it seems that I just have to jump through lots of hoops to be able to do something that I qualify for!

Bed just before Midnight with mixed feelings and confusion whizzing around my brain but not enough to stop me falling asleep instantly.

I am having real trouble in connecting with our website providers this morning, so I’m not sure when you will see this. It is 5am now and I still can’t connect; I’m sorry, I’m afraid it’s beyond my control. I’ve just got back from today’s funeral it’s 12.30pm and the site appears to be working now.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.20am

Everything just caught up with me yesterday; I was going to have my shower but Jan was already in there so I sat on the bed and just fell asleep so I went back to bed and missed both Morning Prayer and the Roydon Coffee Morning. It was just one of those times when I had to listen to my body telling me to stop.

One of the problems that not sleeping very well at night has brought is the fact that my low point of the day is now between about 8.30-10am; but throughout my life this has changed, when I was younger it was quite often late afternoon and then when I was a Policeman it was early in the morning, about 4am (I guess because of the night duties) and then when I was training for ordination it was normally early evening. In the same way when I was younger I used to be able to stay up late but quite easily sleep late; Now I prefer to go to bed early and of course get up early. What I also find that although I exist on very little sleep about every 7-10 days my body tells me that that is enough and I need to try to catch up on some sleep; but even then it is rare to sleep for more than 3 hours.

I spent the rest of the day trying to write up my funerals for Thursday and Friday; the Thursday one is quite complex, mainly because I’m doing it for another tradition in the church so I am quite anxious about getting it absolutely right.

The way I normally prepare for funeral services is when I see the family I normally take some (actually copious amounts) notes but these quite often come out in a random manner; then normally a day or two before the actual service I type the whole lot up as a complete service from the first word to the last, including readings, prayers and address. It may seem a strange thing to do but I’ve always felt that funerals should be absolutely right (especially names and precise details); often when I give an address I don’t always stick to the script but the very fact that I have it there before me gives the confidence to do so. I’ve been to far too many poorly researched and eventually poorly delivered funerals; I think of all the services I do funerals are the most important and over my time in ministry they have not become easier to do and in fact in some ways they’ve become harder to do; but hopefully I try to put the same effort into all the various types of services I lead. I quite often over prepare for a service but personally I would prefer that than the other way round.

I didn’t quite finish the Thursday Funeral off so I still need to do some more work on that one and I am a little concerned that it is very wordy for the afternoon Thanksgiving Service but then there is a lot to say about the man.

In the evening Jan came with me to The Deanery Synod at Shelfhanger Village Hall and we were given a very interesting talk on The Challenge of Islam in the 21^st Century by The Right Reverend David Gillett the former Bishop of Bolton. I did think some of the statistics were a bit dubious because they compared Muslim attitudes to the British public’s attitudes but without taking into account the seriousness of the British publics claim to be Christian (if 77% was accurate I think we would have to have a few more churches in the benefice) and also that all Muslims are devout; well we have several friends who describe themselves as Muslims but do not live as the bishop claimed plus also when I was a Police Officer I arrested more than a few Muslims who would appear to contradict some of those statistics. However, the bishop did point out that there were no statistics for those who took their Christian faith seriously.

My own personal feeling is that interfaith dialogue and understanding of each other’s faith is extremely important and if we are serious about living in peace and harmony with one another it is absolutely essential. I have studied the differences between all the faiths and I only found that it strengthened mine rather than diluted or destroyed it.

The meeting did go on too long but then I felt they were trying to do too much without really going into any detail and I did think some of the chairing was a bit dubious and unfair; but also to be fair to the chair, chairing a meeting like that is very difficult!

After dropping a couple of Parishioners off we returned to the Rectory just after 10pm, so another late supper which is probably not at all good for us; but it is just nice to relax after another long day. Our dog Dobby (real name Holly) always looks at us disapprovingly when we have a late supper.

Bed about midnight with some deep concerns about the Thursday Funeral.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.50am

Morning Prayer at Fersfield; not an exciting prospect but I did stay awake, I think, although when I got home I had lost 15 minutes, somewhere!

On to the school to take the assembly; if I did have an energy crisis then the children recharged me in double quick time. Spent some time in the staff room; I was supposed to be on a Premises Committee but I couldn’t find them anywhere so I sat in on one of the classes and took part in a literacy lesson, it was very good and I was impressed both by the teacher’s enthusiasm and the children’s eagerness to learn.

Arrived back at the Rectory about 11.35am; I needed to get details of a funeral for next week so I spoke to the Funeral Directors in Thetford. All the numbers they gave me to speak to the next of kin were duff, either non-existent or wrong, which doesn’t bode well for the funeral. Eventually found the telephone number of the son of the next of the next of kin and left a message with him.

Lunch about 12.30pm before dozing off and completely missing the news before going off to the Toddler Church at 2pm at Roydon; a good turnout and S led us in some inspiring and enthusiastic singing before telling a story about a harvest mouse. It was a good job we had A, a farmer with us, because S took us into the church and told us all about the various seeds and crops we had there. We had a birthday cake and celebrated three birthdays.

There were nine toddlers there and I’d seen all of them as little new born babies and it was quite awesome to see how much they’d all grown and were developing their own characters-it’s a real privilege to be allowed to see how they’re all developing.

Had time to have a chat with S & J which I value immensely; I wonder if they realise how important their work is to the mission of the church and how much it is appreciated by the “Mums” and by me.

Back to the Rectory to do a little work and some reading before the evening session which is the Alpha Course which I think is going well. We seem to have lost one of the original eleven and we were two others down last night but they had told us they wouldn’t be there.

They are beginning to develop their confidence and are beginning to talk a bit more and I didn’t have to do nearly as much talking as I had done before. They are a very interesting bunch and at the moment this course is shaping up to the best we’ve done so far. Others have not been so good in the past because people who should know better have not understood the nature of the course and in some ways have prevented people from growing and learning; why is it that we who claim to be Christians make it so difficult for people new to the faith to catch a glimpse of God’s glory?

After the course I met a Rumanian lorry driver in the church; it was a bit of a stifled conversation due to his lack of English and my total lack of any Rumanian but he seemed genuinely surprised that we had churches in England and that they were used. He had a look around and asked if he could park his Lorry overnight in our car park, which I agreed to; it had taken him two days to get here from Rumania and tomorrow he drops his load at Lodden before returning to Rumania. I gave him some postcards of the church as a memento of his visit, which he seemed to appreciate.

Jan and I got back to the Rectory about 9.45pm; as it was so late we had a snack supper whilst watching Men in Black II which was appropriate to chill out to after another busy day. I am rapidly running out of time this week as I have two quite complicated funerals to prepare for; in fact they are the equivalent of four normal funerals because they are both morning cremations followed by afternoon thanksgivings, four services, each will require about two hours of work; anyone got a spare day to give me?

Bed about Midnight suitably exhausted.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.20am

Monday is my day off and it started fine; although I was up early I was able to get back to bed just before 6am but then I was up again at 7.55am. Jan & I had a leisurely breakfast whilst the day was still ours.

We were a bit late getting to the Lophams’ Village Hall for the Holy Bingo but that was just as well because they were just putting the electricity back on after doing some work on the meters. We had thirteen ladies but they all enjoy it as I think we do; there is normally a bit of banter that goes on and we normally have a few laughs (some at my expense). Although it would be nice if there were more it is still worthwhile and we are making a bit of money for both the Lophams’ churches. We normally have six games; each one consisting of a line and a full house with prizes for each, a cup of tea and a biscuit and a raffle; not bad for £1.50. If we have time we normally give them some free games but today we have to get away a bit sharpish.

The reason we had to get away quickly was that we had to pick one of the BFG (Big Friendly God Club) boys up from his childminder in Diss. As we were a bit on the drag Jan dropped me off at the church while she went on to pick up the boy. It wasn’t a bad turn out considering it was the first one after the summer break; nine children and five adults, we had a couple of birthdays to celebrate and we mainly played games with balls and buckets. We did have some teaching on the harvest and compared the things that are required to make a seed grow and a child grow, for instance: Earth/home, family & school. Water/drink. Smelly cow’s pooh (manure)/Family, school, church (mosque & synagogue), Bible (Qur’an & Torah). Sun/Love, family & friends. They loved the smelly cow pooh bit! Then we had a prayer and the children normally suggest a few topics for us to pray for; one wanted us to pray for the man we had prayed for in church on Sunday who had just lost his Dad (AD) and one for an Auntie who had broken her leg. It was good also to hear all their news from the summer, their holidays and places they’d been and things they’d done.

We had to take our boy back to the childminders before getting back to the Rectory at about 6pm.

I was due to take the Quiet Service at 7.30pm but J had agreed to lead it for me so that I could see A and his family earlier (6.30pm instead of 8.30pm); thank heavens I did because it turned out to be a long visit with the family leaving the Rectory just after 10pm. Sometimes funeral planning visits can be quick but sometimes they can take a long time because it is important that you give the family time and that everything is done correctly and to everyone’s satisfaction. This visit was more complex than most because there were two services to be planned; the cremation service in the morning and the thanksgiving service in the afternoon and because I was taking the service in a different denomination’s church I had to be ultra sure that everything was absolutely correct. Hopefully everyone was satisfied with all the arrangements.

I had told Jan we would be finished about 8-8.30pm but of course it was a bit later than that; so we had our supper about 10.15pm whilst watching the first leg of the Elite league playoff-Lakeside vs Poole, it was quite an exciting match with some good racing with Poole unexpectedly getting the upper hand and winning by 6 points (41-47). I don’t know what I’m going to do next week, the last Speedway meeting of the season and I have two meetings; I did tell Jan I could tell each meeting that I was at the other but vicars wouldn’t do such a thing, would they?

Eventually went to bed absolutely shattered after a day off! I did say to Jan just before becoming unconscious “We’d made a lot of people happy today.”

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.30am

What a miserable morning; although it has warmed up from yesterday the rain was fairly heavy nearly all day.

The day began as usual with the 8am at Roydon; a serene start to the day. Unusually my whole morning was at Roydon; it is nice not to have to dash around, not that I can dash around anymore. Jan turned up between the services with a lovely flask of tea.

There was quite a crowd in for the 10am Harvest Thanksgiving and what was encouraging was that there were several families and lots of children; I had been getting concerned about the lack of children and families in recent months but it was really good to see them all back.

I thought the service was brilliant; but then I would wouldn’t I, Archie had picked the right traditional hymns (Harvest is not a time to be clever with hymns-traditional is what people like and want to sing), there was plenty of interaction with the congregation and the service wasn’t too long. I did feel that I had to say something about families and children in church because I could see that some of the congregation were clearly uncomfortable with their presence. When will congregations understand that they have a responsibility to encourage and nurture children and families; sitting there tut-tutting is not an option they should rejoice that children and families want to come to church. The family service is just one service of the eight they have each month surely they can it have it in their hearts to allow the families and children room to grow; it is not just about congregations of the future it is about the rights of families and children to be able to worship God now.

Then a very different service an intimate baptism with just 15 family members; I really enjoyed this service although I was beginning to feel it a bit; the old bones and back were beginning to tell me that was enough. Services don’t have to be big to be good there just has to be the right attitude.

Back to the Rectory about 1.30pm with just enough time to have a spot of lunch and a short period of deep meditation (if only I could perfect the art of not snoring in the meditation)!

It was still raining when we went to South Lopham for the Pet Service which didn’t bode too well for the attendance; but as we arrived a man was just about to take his dog for a walk in the churchyard, when he asked if we were just coming or just going, I told him that we were just about to have a pet service and he would be most welcome with George his black Labrador, at least it swelled the congregation.

We had this service at this time last year and it couldn’t have been more different; it was so hot we had the service outside, this year it was so cold that the heaters were on.

We had a mixed congregation four dogs, Poppy, George, Buttons and Jake, an 80 year old tortoise, Torty and a 24 year old horse Herby who was well behaved. Thankfully one family turned up with four of these. I only nearly lost my fingers twice this time; some dogs seem to have a real problem with differentiating between chicken and fingers and Jan was absolutely delighted when Herbie took a whole apple from her hand and delicately devoured it core and all, in fact Herbie was quite affectionate.

It was really good to share some good news with the family and hopefully for them this will be a new beginning, I was really pleased for them because they’ve had to go through so much.

Just enough time to get back to the Rectory for a cup of tea and some reading about tonight’s sermon.

One last service the 6.30pm service of Evensong with an act of healing and reconciliation; this is always a very special service and it beats me why more people in the Benefice don’t come to this service at least to experience it.

After the service there was that lovely Sunday evening feeling of completion, five very different services with five very different addresses and five very different ways of engaging with God; it just leaves me with a feeling of deep thankfulness and privilege of being allowed to partake in God’s ministry to his people.

Supper at about 9pm whilst catching up with the new BBC series Merlin; we watched two episodes, well Jan did, I managed the first one but not the second because there was a very serious need to practice some deep meditation! Jan woke me to go to bed about 11pm and was it good to lay down in bed; a super day, shame about the weather but the warmth and light of God’s love overflowing and at the moment my cup certainly overfloweth.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.30am

Day began with the prayer breakfast; there was plenty of breakfast and plenty of prayer the only problem was there was no people except for Jan and myself. Obviously we have missed the point of this venture; our people have no need to pray together, they don’t want to come to the Rectory, Saturday morning is the wrong time or and breakfast is not wanted? We will have to have a re-think on the prayer group.

Tried to recover my I-Tunes from a broken drive with my renewed laptop without any success!

Went back to sorting out the weekly admin ready for distribution.

I was really glad to see a fresh entry on our Benefice Forum even if it was a criticism of my editorials in the Roydon Herald; this was exactly what I’d hoped the Benefice Forum would become; an opportunity for people to voice their opinions and for me to listen to them. I’m not sure I totally agreed with the Roydon resident but they did express a valid point. I try to make the editorial a Christian comment on a topical subject and I always try to begin with a joke because I feel if I can retain the reader’s interest they may at least go on to read the rest of the article; I’m not sure that would be the case if I began with a statement about Jesus and I’m not totally sure that how many times I mention the name of Jesus or God has any relevance at all. However, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I do take the criticism on board.

Jan and I set out on our Saturday distribution run (regular readers will know just how much I love this); it wasn’t too bad it only took us about an hour and forty minutes.

We returned to the Rectory to find a message on the answer phone; nothing unusual about that except this was an unsolicited thank you for my editorial in the Roydon Herald from a Diss resident. You will think that I am making this up but it is absolutely true; the direct contrast between the criticism on the Forum and the praise in the message was like a scripted comparison but it does go to show how you can’t please everyone and what is one man’s poison is another’s meat and other pithy sayings. I was glad to receive the message and perhaps it shows that God does move in mysterious ways!

I had a short rest while Jan finished off her various bits for the Harvest Supper which was our next port of call in the evening. It wasn’t quite so well attended as in recent years because there are quite a few away but I think it was all the better for it; I have thought that in recent years it has been a bit squashed (but then I do need a bit more room than most). It was nice to see some different and new faces there as well.

We arrived back at the Rectory about 10.30pm at least we’d had the earliest supper this week; it seemed quite strange eating before 10pm!

Bed at 11.15pm after a day of contrasts.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.30am

No Morning Prayer yesterday so the day started at 9am at North Lopham with the St. Andrew’s School Harvest Service it was really good especially the skit on the church mice, there was even a vicar! It was well attended so I ended up parking quite a way from the church-no parking perks for the vicar.

Finally got away from the church about 10.30am; did a pastoral visit in North Lopham and one in Bressingham; I was quite shocked to see B who had had a bad fall although nothing broken it looked as if B had gone 10 rounds with a boxer.

Arrived back at the Rectory about 11.30am just in time to meet one of the Bressingham churchwardens who had good news and bad news about the church wiring; basically it is going to cost us over £5,000 to make the church safe but it seems like we have little choice because without certification the church’s insurance is probably invalidated; I wonder how many of our churches, not just our five but nationally, are in the same boat. The good news is that a generous offer to help with about a fifth of the cost has been received.

Back to the usual Friday job of the parish admin; had a break for lunch before getting back down to it. Jan retrieved the laptop but as yet I haven’t had time to test it.

Every week I think it can’t get any busier, but guess what, it is again next week; there has to be some major reshuffling of things next week to accommodate funerals and other events; unfortunately I have had to cancel the Thursday Communion. There does appear to be a bit of light in the tunnel towards the end of October.

The family of one of the funerals came to see me at the Rectory to arrange the funeral. It was a long visit but a satisfying one with all the arrangements made to everyone’s satisfaction. Both the funerals next week follow the same pattern, cremations in the morning followed by a Service of Thanksgiving in the afternoon; this is very much the Methodist model of a funeral but it is happening more and more often in the Anglican Church. It does tie me up much longer than a normal funeral and burial but it is what the family want that really matters. It will be the first time I’ve taken such a service in Diss Methodist Church (I’ve preached there before but not led a service there).

7.30pm and it’s back to the parish admin which is taking a long time this week; Jan helps by folding everything that needs folding but she is also busy preparing things for the last Harvest Supper; Waldorf Salad, Apple Pies and the Table Decorations. We eventually finish about 9.45pm; it’s been a bit of a marathon this week. We had a stop, briefly, to have the ceremonial switching on of the heating; this was brought on by me wearing a fleece, Jan wearing a body warmer and Drew wearing a fleece, scarf and hat!

Normally on a Friday we try to have an earlier supper and watch some DVD or other; but today seems to have fallen in with the pattern of the rest of the week-supper about 10.15pm whilst watching yet another cheesy horror film; I sense there is a pattern developing here!

Bed at 11.45pm cold and very tired.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.30am

Picked J & J up on way to Communion Service at North Lopham; it was nice to see B there who had walked from home. During the service, after reading the collect, B just blurted out; "That's the collect for the nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, I remember that from my confirmation lessons!" Took the two Js home after the service and picked B up to take home on the way back.

Jan & I discussed the possibility of having a communal Christmas Dinner and inviting those who were alone at Christmas; we are aware that this is already done by some of our parishioners but this will probably be the first Christmas we spend alone with no. 1 son and partner on holiday in Yorkshire and no. 2 son with partner’s family. We’re still not sure but we are thinking about it.

Went into Diss; picked up spade from Roydon and then Jan did a little shopping in Morrisons. We called in to pick the laptop up but it wasn’t ready and not even started on!

Returned to the Rectory just after 1pm and had lunch we then took the afternoon off; it has been a hectic week and we needed to catch up on ourselves. This last couple of months has been really hectic with little breathing space and most evenings filled with meetings of one sort or another; so no guilt feelings about giving ourselves a little time.

In the evening a meeting for the Music Praise and Worship leadership team at 7.45pm in the Methodist Chapel opposite the Rectory (why 7.45pm-I have no idea other than it makes our evening even later). It was a good meeting with two services planned. It was good to see G looking so well and sounding so positive.

Jan went back to Rectory about 8.30pm I stayed to the end of the meeting which I think was about 9.30pm but must admit that I didn’t really check the time; by the time I locked up and made the long back across the road it was about 9.45pm.

We sat down for supper about 10.15pm; Jan said it seems to be getting later and later, perhaps it will get so late, that it won’t be worth going to bed and instead of supper we could have breakfast. It is partly our fault, we could eat before the evening meetings but then it all becomes a bit of a rush and it just feels that we’re eating for the sake of eating; I think we both prefer to eat after our working day has ended so we can then relax with each other.

We chilled out watching the Sarah Jane Adventures which we had recorded from CBBC (Children’s BBC) and it was perhaps a bit sad when I could tell who the alien was before we were told in the programme (am I turning into a Sc-Fi anorak-answers on a postcard to the Bishop of Norwich). We then watched a new programme to us “Riches Fishing” which had nothing to do with fishing other than the two comedians held a fishing rod whilst having a conversation about God and religion; some of it was funny but most was just plain boring.

Bed at midnight feeling rather cold as we haven’t put the heating on yet.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 3.30am

Wow, what a day! Went to Morning Prayer at Roydon and actually managed to stay awake for the whole service; took the 9.30am Communion Service at Roydon which is a rare treat for me as normally Ben and Reg take this service between them. I spent quite a while after the service talking to A, J & E.

Back to the Rectory just after 11am; then a pastoral interview until after Midday, I then spent some time preparing for the school service. Back to Roydon Church at 12.50pm for Roydon School’s Harvest Service-167 children plus teachers and parent helpers. I’m always overwhelmed by the reception the children give me some of them treat me as if I was their best friend.

The service was brilliant; the first Harvest Service I’ve taken part in that didn’t have “We plough the fields and scatter.” (is that a heresy in the Anglican Church to have a service without this hymn) It was so good to have such refreshing modern songs and they were sung well as well. Only two more Harvest Services to go out of a total of ten.

Arrived back at the Rectory just after 3.30pm for lunch and quick rest before doing a Baptism Service preparation visit in Roydon, the boy in question was a lovely little boy who welcomed me with smiles and played with my shoes while I talked with his parents; I wonder if he’ll be such a happy chappy on Sunday when I do the dastardly deed?

A bit of respite back at the Rectory before beginning the evening schedule; first a Fersfield Church Management Committee meeting at Fersfield it was really exciting to see a plan of the proposed development of the field; J had worked hard on that and although there was some disagreement about some things it was really just nit picking over minor things which I’m sure can be resolved as we go along. These meetings should be the model for all meetings as there are copious amounts of wine and nibbles on offer (not that I had any of the wine but I must admit I did give in to the temptation to have some nibbles, I’m sure God gave me a sign that it was okay as the nibbles table was placed rather conveniently where I was sitting); it might even make PCC meetings more enjoyable. I had to leave early as I had an appointment to see a couple in Roydon about a pastoral matter; but I caused a bit of chaos and confusion (that seems to be my role in life at the moment) by asking for some of the last bits of the agenda being dealt with before I left which was just after 9pm.

It’s really exciting that in Fersfield there is a very real possibility that we’ll have two major projects going on at the same time; a new roof for the church and the development of the Church Meadow, I hope I’m still here to see the end of both projects.

I was only 20 minutes late with my appointment but it was a really positive meeting and it was a real joy to leave a couple in a much happier mood than when I arrived; hopefully we’ve put in place something that is going to make a real difference to them as a family.

Unusually I had taken my mobile phone with me so I reported in to a vicar’s wife I know quite well that I was on my way home when I was re-directed to another pastoral visit just around the corner from where I’d been. It’s not often that I do visits after 10pm but I arrived at this visit at 10.10pm; hopefully I was able to help A with his father’s funeral and once again I felt I had done some something positive.

I eventually got back to the Rectory at 11.10pm for a bit of supper and chill out time with this vicar’s wife I know quite well watching yet another cheesy horror film before bed at 12.30am; how good was it to go to bed; a long day but a good day, I am really glad that vicars only work one day a week!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Wednesday 1^st October-Hoisted with my own petard

Up at 2.30am

A busy day yesterday but a satisfying day; I didn’t get off to the best of starts, I went back to bed a bit late 5.40am with the intention of going to Morning Prayer but really couldn’t get going so I missed Morning Prayer.

Had a morning of pastoral interviews with various people that needed to have a chat about various things; I was glad that I had a couple of extra hours sleep, listening to people can be very draining and I was glad that I wasn’t feeling over tired.

Just in case you were interested in my attempt at hi-jacking the blog yesterday; I was hoisted with my own petard (an interesting definition, especially if you read it all), trying to completely ignore my own anniversary and surprise Jan into finding out by reading my blog that I hadn’t forgotten at all and to find the perfume I’d bought her and the card I’d made her that I’d hid. After several checks during the morning that they were both still where I hid them, I eventually couldn’t contain myself anymore and asked her if she’d read the blog; she said yes and then I asked her why she hadn’t taken my card and present she said she’d wait until I’d opened mine, which she had left on my desk for me to find when I got up. Anyway, we had a lovely evening out at the Alpha Course and a super celebratory meal of cheese on toast about 10pm; we vicars certainly know how to live!

A very hurried lunch before rushing out to an afternoon meeting of the Roydon Fellowship Committee; a pleasant and positive meeting in which C showed us a video that she had found of the Roydon Fete in 1981 and a Holiday week in Roydon Rectory under the then Rector Bill Blake. This brought about much reminiscing and even I recognised some of the faces; talking to S later I found that there were several videos shot by her Dad and we talked about the possibility of making them into a film show which local people might be interested in seeing, for a fee of course, certainly it might make an interesting fund raising evening.

Back to the Rectory about 4.40pm time for a cup of tea and some reading and serious meditation before the evening session, the Alpha Course; received some sad news that the father of one of our churchwardens has died and I also spoke to Reg who was still suffering a bit after his fall on Sunday, I managed to persuade him to take things easy for the rest of the week and that I would fill in for him at the morning service. It is not easy to get Reg to slow down but at least he agreed to for the rest of the week.

This was our third Alpha session and it was interesting that people are beginning to open up and talk, it does take a little while for the trust to build up. There is a lot of joy on the course and it is always refreshing to feel that people are there because they want to be.

Back to the Rectory about 9.45pm both shattered; Drew and Jan had spent most of the day putting together a new wardrobe and chest of drawers for our bedroom; Jan hates our bedroom and would dearly like to give it a complete makeover but there never seems to be time, anyway at least we have a really brilliant wardrobe and set of drawers in the bedroom which is infinitely better than the two large cardboard boxes we’ve had in our TV room for the last year; well done to both of you. The only problem is that a vicar I know quite well can no longer throw his discarded clothes on top of the small wardrobe we had and has been told in no uncertain terms that now is the time to learn to fold clothes and put them away in the wardrobe-mind you there is now plenty of floorspace!

Sometimes living in a Rectory or Vicarage can be very frustrating; the diocese are not keen that you have anything in other than magnolia and I was criticised in the last Rectory quinnquennial (five yearly inspection) that we’d dared to have some of our rooms in more contemporary colours. Although we now have a house in Swansea this has been our home since 1997 and although we feel very fortunate to be here, we do live here and we have changed some things to make it feel more like a home than an office. When we first came here we used to have meetings in our living room and poor Jan had to sit in the kitchen with no TV or anything other than cooking or ironing to occupy her. When number 1 son, Chris went to University we claimed his bedroom back and made for ourselves a cosy TV room where at least Jan could relax after a hard day’s work while the meetings carried on. It is a special room for us because when we’re in there it gives us the opportunity to kid ourselves that we’re just like everyone else, that is until the telephone rings which is usually just as you sit down to watch something or in my case to practise some deep meditation! (There is an unwritten mystery of the Universe that as soon as you sit down to eat or watch something in a Rectory or Vicarage-the phone must ring)

Bed about midnight after our celebratory meal and watching a real corny horror film called corpses-you know that a horror film is going to be rubbish when it is rated PG-but sometimes we just need a bit of mindless rubbish just to unwind after a hectic day. Jan coughed us both to sleep (she thinks she’s coming down with another cold-what she needs is a good rest) about 12.20am, well, that was the last time I remember seeing on the clock.

I must apologise if some of the pictures on the website are missing and the October dates are not on yet (I’ll try to put them on later today) but I was a bit over-zealous in a spring (autumn) clean of the site yesterday.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.45am

A day off yesterday but not much of one; we helped with the collating of the Herald and everyone (not me because I’ve seen it so many times) was amused at Jan’s cack handed way of doing things-she always uses the excuse that she’s left handed but that’s not the reason at all.

Excuse me while I hi-jack this blog for a personal message and experiment. Happy anniversary Flossy, yes, I still love you even after 36 years of doing things cack handed; your card and present are in the laptop bag where the laptop should be and I thought I’d take you out tonight; so I’m taking you to the Alpha Course at Roydon Church-thank you for 36 wonderful years.

Sentimental slushy bits over-back to business; I was so tired yesterday that when we got back to the Rectory about 11.30am I just went upstairs and fell asleep, I vaguely remember being woken for some lunch and watching a bit of Bargain Hunt and the next thing I remember was waking up about 3.30pm; I presume I ate my lunch but I wouldn’t know.

Did some admin, invites for the Civic Service in Roydon and began the December Diary sheet which already looks horrendous even before I arrange any Pub Carols etc; I really hope Father Christmas gives me something other than cellulitis this Christmas; did you know that there are now 86 days to Christmas? Did you also know that 200 million videos are watched on YouTube every day and that 10 hours of footage are posted every minute (and that I’m on two of them, at least as far as I know-search Roydon Wedding)? Not a lot of people know that you know.

To the Roydon Governors at 7pm which I was nearly late for because I made the mistake of answering the phone at 6.45pm thinking it would only be a two minute call! It was a fairly long meeting but you might be glad to know that I resisted the urge to volunteer to write a Governors Blog for the school website-I’ve already brought the Church into disrepute, I thought the school could well do without that.

Back to the Rectory about 9.40pm; settled down to supper and watch the Speedway Elite League Play offs. They televise two live matches, it is highly confusing to watch as they alternate between each race to the other venue (last night it was Lakeside vs Swindon and Poole vs Ipswich) as always the home teams won convincingly although there were a few good races but it is not the same watching recorded live sport especially when it as confusing as this. At least the next two Mondays the final is televised over the two legs, the only problem is that I’ve got commitments on both nights!

Bed at 11.45pm absolutely zonked out; not the best way to start a working week.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.45am

Yesterday seemed such a long day, which was strange because it was a very busy day; normally when you’re busy time seems to go quicker but not yesterday.

Normal Sunday Morning start with the 8am at Roydon followed by the 9.30am at Fersfield and the 11am at North Lopham which was a family communion; three very different services from the quietness of the 8am to the chaos and life of the 11am. I was feeling okay until the 11am but then I started to know that I had hips, knees and a back and all of them were screaming for relief.

I had a couple of interesting and promising chats after the 11am including a couple of requests for confirmation.

I didn’t get away from the 11am until about 12.45pm and then went to visit a parishioner who wasn’t very well. Arrived back at the Rectory about 1.30pm, absolutely shattered; had a spot of lunch, some soup and a sandwich before falling into a deep coma. Spoke to Reg who had a bit of a fall in the morning, I hope he is okay.

To Roydon for the Pet Service at 4pm but nobody came except Jan, J & myself; there were no posters done and although it had been in the Parish Magazine with the BFG and Toddler Church still on their Summer break, I guess nobody really knew about it. It just goes under the highs and lows of being a Parish Priest.

To North Lopham in the evening for a Festal Harvest Evensong which I enjoyed although I did sing the final responses in the wrong order; I’d obviously at some point taken the music out of my folder and put it back the wrong way so when I came to what I thought it was the first response, I couldn’t get the music right in my head but I sang it and I’ll give the choir their due they responded correctly, I quickly realised what I’d done and reverted to the proper order, I wonder how many in the congregation noticed? I love sung evensong but we don’t often get the chance to sing it all.

Back to the Rectory sometime after 8pm and we had supper whilst watching the Speedway Grand Prix from the night before; it’s never the same watching a recorded live event and a lot of it was just fast forwarded. There is one Grand Prix left but lots of speedway left in the form of the league run offs.

Bed at about 11.30pm, I think we both agreed that it had been a long and tiring day; we have had a run of four Sundays like that with another prospective eight in the pipeline, I seem to be averaging five services on a Sunday with a few sevens and sixes sprinkled in for good measure. Still a bit of a day off today but not much of one.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.40am

I didn’t do very much at all yesterday; had a nice breakfast with Jan & Drew (that’s a rarity the three of us sitting down together) otherwise I spent the rest of the day finishing off the Parish admin and getting it ready to be delivered. Thankfully very little of it had to be delivered as we’d planned to distribute most of it at the Harvest Supper.

In the evening picked R, P & K up and went to the Lophams’ Harvest Supper; there were quite a few new faces there but was is worrying is that a lot of the old timers no longer go, I wonder if it is just their age or if we’re beginning to price them out of our events. It does concern that me the prices we charge for our events are ever going up and we don’t appear to have any concessionary prices at all; for O.A.P.s and children. I don’t think the diocese are helping with their incessant pressure on parishes for the Parish Share.

I always enjoy the Lophams’ Harvest Supper; the food is always good and it is nice to chat with the people, it was interesting that of the 6 people on our table 5 were from Bressingham and 1 from N. Lopham. I met some old friends including a couple I married in 2004 P, M & M; I was really impressed with P’s son M who is blossoming into a fine young man who is studying for his A Levels and hopes to go into the Police. P now lives on the Isle of Man and I was quite amazed when he told me that they had Speedway there, I’d not heard that before so I will looking that up.

Of course we were missing a Speedway Grand Prix from Italy which although the penultimate one is likely to see Niki Pederson crowned World Champion for the second year running (third time overall); the problem is now trying not to see the result before we can watch it which will probably be tonight but it won’t be the same as watching it live.

The supper went on rather longer than normal mainly thanks to R giving a marathon performance of the raffle, I shall never feel guilty again for preaching for 10 minutes; when he asked me if there was anything I’d like to say, I could only reply; “Is there anything left to say!”

After taking R, P & K home I have no idea what time we got back but we went straight to bed and straight to sleep.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 4am

I went to Morning Prayer and I managed to stay awake for most of it; I’m sure I drifted off in the prayers but as I wasn’t leading them, so hopefully it wasn’t too noticeable.

I was a bit late getting back because D turned up with the electrician so we discussed the plans and problems of earthing the church; the regulations have changed so much in recent years that it is going to cost the church a small fortune to do the necessary work but there appears to be no choice as our insurance company is insisting that we have everything certified.

How I love Fridays-Parish admin day; it is just a slog to get everything done and ready for delivery tomorrow. The Worship Rota is the biggest job today it is quite a laborious job to do and I find that when I do it by myself that I make lots of mistakes and that the concentration required ensuring I make as few mistakes as possible makes my eyes heavy. Fortunately there is a vicar’s wife I know quite well who helps me and doing it together can reduce a four hour job to about two and I get the added bonus that if there are any mistakes I can blame her (only joking).

Thankfully everything finished off, printed and folded (thanks to Flossy my new assistant) by 8pm. Not a particularly interesting day but these things need to be done; I wonder what it must be like in parishes where the vicar doesn’t have to do these things-it must be either absolute chaos or an absolute dream; well we might all find out soon if I take a Sabbatical, who will update the website every day, do the weekly bulletin, worship rota etc etc.

We had our first pay check for monies earned by people shopping through the website £86 for doing nothing basically and we have some more due from Amazon. I am a little disappointed that no one has taken up the advertising role on the website as I’m sure that would bring us in about £2-5,000 pa; one thing I do know is that I can’t do it, I was tempted but if I did do it I would never get any work done.

Chilled out in the evening with a Chinese takeaway meal (I’m not very keen on Chinese but Jan loves it) whilst watching “Diaries of the Dead” a George Romero film the fifth in his zombies series (that makes me sound like some sort of film buff-I’m not but no.1 son is). It was okay but when you’ve seen one zombie you’ve seen ‘em all basically and in any case I feel strongly that this is the sort of film that vicars should NOT watch (I could be very clever here and say something like it’s just too much like being in church on Sundays but that would get me in trouble, so I won’t).

Jan or was it Flossy, I’m not sure, woke me up to go to bed at Midnight and when I complained saying that she should have woken me earlier she had the audacity to say that she had been trying too for the last hour!

To bed with the words of Priscilla the Gorilla ringing in my ears for some strange reason but not as worrying as the fact that I dreamt of George Bush-that’s it no more zombie films & Chinese for me!

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.50am

I’m very pleased that today we’ve hit the 4,000 mark for hits on our website that has been achieved in just a few days over 5 months.

I missed Morning Prayer today so my first port of call was the Morning Communion at J’s; it is sad that because of various things like people moving away, people dying and being ill that our Thursday Morning Communion has dwindled to about 5 but that is how things go in parish life, it is still a lovely informal service.

I took the Midday assembly at Bressingham School; I don’t know what it is but I have a special rapport with the children at Bressingham, they also make me feel so welcome and loved and they are always responsive. I always come away from Bressingham School energised and refreshed.

Another evening of meetings; as I said yesterday it is far from satisfactory to double up on meetings but I did feel it was really important to attend both Governors’ meetings to show support for our new head. I don’t think the potential resignation of the two chairs were the best signal to send out but I was pleased that we managed to persuade one chair to remain in position for another year and the other remained as vice chair so at least that was a positive move. At the Bressingham Governors’ meeting A and J also retired which leaves me as the longest serving governor and I was very pleased to nominate J as our vice chair, I know she is very capable and will be a great asset to the school. I stayed at the meeting rather longer than I planned because we had some deep discussion about our IT resources which I believed needed immediate attention. I sometimes think that governors forget that being a governor is about supporting the children and the teachers of the school and that we try to run the schools as businesses, which is okay up to a point but we are dealing with real people-children-not just profit and loss.

I was horrified to hear that the Governors’ meeting the night before hadn’t finished until 10.15pm, some two hours after I’d left which meant that Simon didn’t get home until 11.15pm. I think that really was totally unreasonable to expect our new Head to have such a long day and that perhaps if there was a lot to discuss then perhaps another meeting should’ve been called. I do think that we make unreasonable demands on our teachers most of them are in school about 8am!

Sometimes the expectations we place on people like teachers, and dare I say it, clergy, are far beyond what we would willingly put up with ourselves; I regularly do 14-16 hour days but at least I do have the opportunity to take some of that time out. The real problem is that we only see what we are involved in; I have always published my daily diary, sometimes warts and all, but all people see in the daily agenda is what they are involved in!

I got to the Bressingham PCC later than I anticipated and rather expected them to have finished or at least be drawing to a close; I was quite surprised to find they were still on the Treasurer’s report but saying that there were some weightier issues to be discussed. We managed to get through the rest of the meeting in just under an hour but it was still a long meeting.

Back to the Rectory just before 10pm just in time to say goodnight to Dawn and apologise to her for nearly running her off the road and blinding her with my full beam whilst charging between the Governors’ meeting and the PCC meeting; I did say I’d get her next time.

Another late supper and chilling out watching the new BBC series Merlin which promises to be quite good. I’ve re-named Jan-Flossy and am busily making her life a misery with flossing jokes, I expect to get hit with a frying pan any day now.

Bed at 11pm absolutely shattered.

I have just watched one of the most horrific videos ever; I saw lots of things as a policeman which made me wonder about us human beings but this one just had me confounded and saddened how two young people could value their lives so cheaply. You can watch it here: Women dice with death on M6

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 4.40am

Morning Prayer by the skin of my teeth at Roydon; I managed to stay awake during the whole of the service, it is amazing how going back to bed for a little while makes all the difference.

Spent most of the morning getting the computer back to normal and making sure the printers were all working okay; at the moment I’ve disconnected all the external hard drives until I can test them.

Drew decided not to take the job and we had a long positive family chat about the future ours and his; we’ve always seen our role as parents to be as supportive as possible to the two boys, we’re very proud of what they’ve achieved and are happy if they are happy. I think Drew’s decision is the right one and of course we think that he’s been absolutely right in re-considering the position but doing it in a mature way and feel no sadness in his decision because only he can decide what is right for him.

The afternoon spent wasting more time and working through the numerous emails that had built up while the computer was out of action.

7pm the first of two meetings at St. Andrew’s School where we had a Governors’ meeting; a new chair elected and various positions of responsibility allocated. I was very pleased with the outcome but very aware of how much the Governing Body has changed since I’ve been here, whereas it used to be male dominated now it is exactly the opposite with the only two men being Simon (the Head) and myself. I did feel a bit sorry for Simon as we went through all the necessary changes of personnel he really could only sit there and just take it in with having virtually no input at all. I had to leave this meeting at 8.15pm, much later than I anticipated to go to the second meeting of the evening.

Down to Maltings Farm for the South Lopham PCC meeting; P had begun the meeting and got a long way through it but I got there just in time to begin all the reports that I usually give; at this point I thought it was going to be an early finish but in the end the meeting closed at 10.15pm. Lots of positive ideas and thoughts for the future and it was the first time I’d publicly aired the possibility of taking a Sabbatical in 2009 and it was well received and supported; the South Lopham PCC have been very supportive of me and my ministry here and do normally see the bigger picture rather just their parish. I had a long chat with C & D which was good but it did mean that I didn’t get back to the Rectory until after 11pm.

It is not very satisfactory doing more than one meeting in an evening but I do find that being a Governor in three schools means that sometimes it has to be done whether I like it or not.

A quick light supper and bed about Midnight after I’d been told to floss my teeth more often; Nurse Jan had given my mouth the once over with her little pink torch as I had a toothache; there then followed a series of extremely silly flossing jokes before I slipped into unconsciousness.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 1.10am

Spent several hours trying various things to get the computer going; eventually set the laptop up but then I couldn’t get an internet connection so I was no better off. It was beginning to get very frustrating so I went back to bed for an hour.

Down to Bressingham Church for the School Harvest it was Simon’s first at Bressingham but he and the school did very well and it was an enjoyable service.

As I was leaving the church about 10.30am I was treated to a fly past; a big jet passenger plane flew over at very low altitude flanked by four fighter jets; it was very impressive and I wished I had my camera with me.

Back to the Rectory for the problem in hand-the computer! Technology is brilliant when it is working but a real nightmare when it isn’t. I tried various things but I could not get it to come to life-panic was beginning to set in; I began to realise just how much I actually do on the computer. In desperation I took it to pieces and gave it a good clean inside (it is amazing just how much dust was inside), managing to snap off one the vanes of the main fan; I checked over all the connections but could find nothing obviously wrong. The power was getting through but the computer wasn’t booting up, it was beginning to look like a hard disk failure which would have meant that I would have lost all the data on the machine.

Anyway the three of us Jan, Drew and I took the computer to Anglia Internet Services in Diss and fortunately he was able to look at it straight away. He attached the machine to one of his monitors and started it up; it booted up straight away, no problem, he did say he felt it was vibrating a bit out of sync but I explained that that was probably the fin of the propeller I’d broken off, to which he agreed. He fitted a new fan and tested the machine several times before declaring it was perfectly alright! The cost was £21.

After a few errands in Diss we returned to connect up all the spaghetti of wires that seem necessary to connect up a computer; I don’t look down behind my desk very often but it looks like an enormous pile of entwined snakes completely tangled up.

Eventually got it all plugged back in and powered it up and...nothing it was just the same! After unplugging everything and then trying with various bits plugged in and several restarts we got the thing going. It might have been a problem with the power control on the machine but that was unlikely as my computer has a 1000 watt power supplier which is capable of supplying more than three times the peripherals I have connected to the computer. Eventually we narrowed it down to one of the external hard disks or printers (I have 6 external hard disks and three printers) but we eventually got it working; but by this time I’d probably wasted about 10 hours trying to get it working and there is still some work to be done to find out which one of the peripherals is the cause of the problem.

I’d had enough by this time; I’d given out so much nervous energy I felt drained; so we had lunch and a short rest.

Later that afternoon we had the Autumn Treat for the BFG, Toddler Church and Buggy Club at Monsters in Diss. Had to pick one of our BFG children up from a childminder’s on the way, I was quite amused that Jan had to sign for him. We had about 20 there with extra parents and the youngsters had a great time as did some of the older leaders who shall remain nameless, Sarah. I did think S was going to get thrown out at one time for rowdy behaviour and being over 4’ 10” but she was given a reprieve, I wish I had her energy she gets stuck in and does exactly what the children do although she was warned about going on the slide by one of the children just in case she broke it! It was a bit of an expensive treat but worth every penny of it to see the youngsters and the older ones enjoying every minute of it.

A quick bit of shopping on the way home before having a cup of tea before the evening Alpha session in the Rectory; we’d grown from 8 to 12 and really had only just enough room in the living room for everyone. I think it was a good session on “Why did Jesus die?” but I’m always concerned that I don’t always make myself clear and don’t give enough time for discussion. I always want to go on to the deeper philosophical and theological issues but have to try and hold myself back in fear of losing everyone else and myself in contemplating the irrelevant and incontemplatable! Jan always reassures me afterwards but I am concerned because she might be doing it out of loyalty to me. It is a difficult subject, the atonement, and even the church doesn’t speak with a completely united voice on why Jesus died but hopefully we made a little progress; I enjoyed it if no one else did, I get so little opportunity to speak about theology, but then again, some might say it is just as well!

We sat down to have supper at about 9.30pm and bed about 11pm both shattered.

I’m sorry about the website and the blog yesterday but I was just unable to get on the web to do either but hopefully everything is up to date again now.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.50am

A whole day off; Jan Drew and myself went to see my Mum and Stepfather (My Dad died when he was 49) who live in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. We were a little bit late leaving because someone who shall remain nameless, Rob, was playing a silly game on the computer, but we eventually left the Rectory about 10.30am. Had a long stop for breakfast on the way and arrived at Sleaford about 2pm. There was quite a lot of heavy traffic on the road which slowed us considerably; not that that I would have known as I slept most of the way (fortunately I wasn’t driving-Drew was).

I haven’t seen my Mum & Stepfather since May and the last time we saw them my Stepfather was quite ill and we were all concerned about him; thankfully he is much better now, although it is a bit worrying that the doctors put it down to anaemia but after various and numerous tests they were unable to say what had caused it. 

We left my Mum’s at about 5.30pm and this time making much better time back arriving about 7.30pm; again not that I would have known because I slept all the way back-Drew was driving.

Monday is Speedway night so just before settling down to watch Speedway and have supper I thought I would check my emails but the computer was dead! I tried several times but without success, so I decided to leave it until the morning.

The Speedway was a long meeting with lots of crashes and incidents but my mind wasn’t really on it because of the computer; eventually went to bed at 10.30pm

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 2.50am

Yesterday was a bit lighter than it has been on recent Sundays; only four services, but then if you only work one day a week then that’s not bad!

As usual I did the 8am service at Roydon; I love the tranquillity of this service, no hymns, space to be still and a good way to start any Sunday but especially if it is a busy one.

On to the 11am service in N. Lopham; a baptism in a Family Service or a Family Service in a baptism. As usual the start is chaotic and some people ought to consider what they say; politeness comes at no cost and rudeness is not needed or necessary. The service I think went very well and this is the second Christening I have done with this family; it is always a privilege to do these types of services but when it is a second or third in a family that privilege deepens.

Back to the Rectory by 12.45pm for a quick spot of lunch (a sausage roll and a piece of quiche) before going to Roydon for a second baptism at 1.30pm; again this a second baptism I’ve done in this family and I have to say that both baptism families are very special families that are a credit both to themselves and the institution of family life. Although both baptism parties today are quite small in relative numbers they are very positive and willing to take pat; which I think always helps to give a good service.

Matthew Upson is one of the Godparents at the second baptism; Matthew now plays for West Ham United (arguably the best team in the world-well they are in my eyes as I’ve supported them since I was about 10-unfortunately it was Spurs before that but anyone can make mistakes), I had a few jokes with him before the service but Matthew is not the archetypal footballer, he is a fine young man who is a real ambassador to football (it’s good that he now plays for a decent team). G and R were the real stars of the show and R’s laugh is going to make her a lot of friends when she grows up but I think G, who I baptised today, has the potential to be far cheekier than her sister.

My blessings continue as Matthew’s Dad asks me if I am going to the party, reluctantly I say no because there is still another service to do. He surprises me by giving me an autographed programme of Saturday’s match against Newcastle United (which the Hammers won 3-1-Drew-and where exactly where were they lucky) and a book and DVD about the Hammers.

I still remember the first football match my Dad took me to; it was to White Hart Lane to see the Spurs play Manchester United, Dennis Law had just been transferred from Torino to United for the first ever £100,000 fee. It was an evening match under flood lights and it certainly was a good first game to go to as Spurs won 5-2. As I grew up I played more and more football but often used to go to White Hart Lane to watch Spurs both their first team and reserve matches but West Ham were always my team.

Just a short opportunity for a bit of a rest before the 6.30pm service at Bressingham; another place another Harvest Festival-4 down 6 to go. It was a good service with a much better congregation than normal; in fact this year it appears to me that the Harvest congregations have been better than in recent years. I still don’t know what the choir are up to, again I’m told that they are going to do one thing then they do something else-if they are playing games then they are very childish and they don’t appear to know how much they’re hurting Reg!

We were greeted as we went into church by two hens who obviously thought they were in heaven as they ate the ecologically friendly confetti from the last couple of weddings; it was a very apt welcome for a Harvest Festival and they didn’t seem in the slightest bit bothered about our presence as we walked through them on the path.

Then my blessings continue as we are taken out for supper by E & D and we are joined by R, M & B what turned out to be a super supper-good food-good friends and good conversation. I felt a couple of times during the supper how fortunate I was to be surrounded by such good friends. I think we were all a bit taken aback when B’s meal turned up; it was described in the menu as “A Seafood Bowl” to say that was an understatement was putting it mildly-it was a bowl of shellfish and seafood that was easily big enough for two if not three, in fact it was nearly as big as B. It really was a great occasion thanks to E & D’s generosity-we shared some embarrassing moments but due to priestly confidentiality you’ll have to wait for my memoirs to be published when I retire-what I can tell you is that knickers and trousers were largely featured! Eventually we left the Chequers well after 11pm (the last to leave).

It was a good day yesterday when I just felt so thankful for all that I am part of here-Jan & I’s extended family.

I don’t know what time we went to bed but there was certainly a feeling of satisfaction and fullness (not only from the excellent supper) but from a day devoted to God and friends-true religion.

God be with you-Keep the faith and keep smiling-I am-Rob.

Up at 12.50am

Finished off the parish admin; the wedding registers and the baptism bits and pieces for Sunday.

Down to the church at 1.50pm as a vicar’s wife I know had managed to book herself in for a haircut. There was a good number for the wedding and they were pretty responsive, which is always good, in fact the whole atmosphere felt good; you might think that it is always good but there is a funny thing with weddings and baptisms that sometimes the congregations don’t really want to join in as if they are there in sufferance.

I had lots of good comments after the service including someone who told me that I should be on the TV; well, I’m sure that will get everyone turning their TVs off.

When I’ve got to this stage with the weddings in the last two years, I’ve had a feeling that they would be the last weddings I would ever do; this year I’m actually looking forward to next years. At the moment the first is booked for February but there may be one in November.

All the couples this year have been great, no awkward ones so they’ve been a pleasure to work with and to marry; as usual with had some unusual (can they be unusual if they are as usual) bits and pieces-Chilli the dog with attitude, two best men, two sons giving Mum away, two sisters-but I would like to think they have all been special services for me as well as the couples and that the church has sold herself in a positive way to those who have attended the services; just in a rough count this year we’ve had 10 weddings and 3 blessings in which I would estimate that we have probably had about 1200 people in church all in all. I just hope they all went away with a positive attitude about the church.

As usual at the end of the service I felt absolutely drained; the one thing I don’t like with weddings and funerals and baptisms for that matter is that there is not much chance to sit down during the service, so there is long periods of standing which my hips, knee and back don’t like.

Back at the Rectory about 4.30pm; I do like to chill out after a wedding, baptism or funeral, just to unwind and cool off a bit.

Spent the evening watching the TV; that’s not quite true, it was spent in front of the TV with a mixture of watching it, dozing in front of it and eating supper in front of it before finally going to bed at 10.30pm.

John, if you’re reading this; I know I haven’t mentioned my Roydon Herald copy but if you check your inbox it should be there-I hope.

God be with you-Keep the faith & keep smiling-I am- Rob.