Daffodil Spring

It's the time of year when our churchyards look sublime ....

Stepping out

A work in progress ....


... and completed.


Now you can step out of the new doors without breaking your neck!

I'm glad I called in someone with bricklaying skills.

Roll on the Summer barbecue!

Taking steps

Spring is sprung, and the sun is shining. Must be time to start building the step from the new doors out onto the patio.

The bricks came from the demolished wall. Paving slabs and ready-mix cement are bought. Now it's just a question of construction, for which I have summoned assistance from the south coast!

Easter Day

Easter Day was, well, different. At the 9.45 a.m. Eucharist in Ilketshall St Margaret there was a congregation of about 35 adults and 5 children. A good turn-out and the service was enjoyable, with an Easter Egg hunt for those young in years and young in spirit in the churchyard afterwards. I left them enjoying coffee and chat and headed off to St Peter South Elmham for the 11.15 a.m. BCP Holy Communion.

I wasn't expecting a great attendance here, and as the church has been out of use for about 8 months due to building works, I had pushed to get us back in there for this morning. The glaziers managed to re-install the East window last Tuesday, and the builders put the choir pews back and cleaned the chancel area on Holy Wednesday. The nave was still a building site and so there was a plastic screen across the rood screen to cut off that pert of the church. However, there was seating for about 14 people, so I thought that would be adequate.


The small chancel of St Peter's

But they kept coming! Before we started we were already full, people squeezed into the stalls and the clergy kneeling stools being used to sit on. Then, just before the Gospel reading, another two adults and four children arrived. Eventually we numbered about 24 adults and 7 children, and they were everywhere, some sitting on the the altar step, and 1 adult and 3 children standing inside the altar rail in the sanctuary. One person commented afterwards that the "Dunkirk Spirit" had prevailed - we just carried on and coped.

Communion itself was not as orderly as usual, but everyone got to the rail, eventually. Just as well that I took some extra communion wafers as the the single slice of bread provided would not have been enough.

The evening "Stations of the Resurrection" was small by comparison, just 8 of us walking the "Via Lucis". I shall have to consider whether I put this service onto the rota again next year, though I have had appreciative comments from some who were there.

Phew!

Easter Ceremonies

A small congregation gathered for the Easter Vigil and Ceremonies at Rumburgh. Readings, psalm and hymns, with Lighting of the New Fire, the Paschal Candle and renewal of baptismal vows. Now we know why the bowl of the church font has not been used in recent times. Lots of lovely water in it, and lots of lovely water flooding out of its base and across the floor!

Just as well that we had the reading about Noah's Fludde!

Late on Easter Eve

... and they said nothing to anybody, for they were afraid.

Good Friday 2010

Stations of the Cross (12 of them - and no Holy Hankie of Saint Veronica either!), at Homersfield this year, at 10.00 a.m. Fifteen people, which compares favourably with last year, and is an increase over the years before. A service of scripture readings, responsorial psalms and scriptures, and hymnody. I followed my usual layout of the Stations posters - starting with Pilate attached to the pulpit with the "Roman Eagle" of the lectern below, the procession to Golgotha around the nave, crucifixion at the altar, the "Dies on the Cross" poster taking the place of the altar cross, and the "Laying in the tomb" one affixed to the priest's door, the door acting as an entrance stone.

Open House/At Home for Hot X buns at 4.00 p.m.

Maundy Thursday 2010

A dark, cold and wet night for the Eucharist at 8.00 p.m. at St James South Elmham. A small congregation, some of whom stayed for the first 10-15 minutes of the "Watch" that lasted from the end of the service until 10.00 p.m. A minor triumph with this year's music - a CD of Abinoni's Adagios, which I put on as the Vigil began, and the disc ended exactly at 10.00 p.m. There was one other person besides myself at the close. But then I invite people to stay for as little or as much of the Vigil as they want, so I can't complain over their choice.

It now feels as if the Easter cycle is really beginning. Stations of the Cross tomorrow, and Hot X buns for those who want them later in the afternoon. The story has been set in motion. All we can do now is follow.

The image shows one of the many hand-carved panels that line the walls of the chancel in St. James.

Taking the proverbial

Now here's a great way to deal with those scamming phone calls ....

if you have the time and patience .....

The one to beat

Annual Meeting No.2 held this afternoon, after the final Lent Lunch ........ 17 minutes, start to finish! Following PCC, 10 minutes.

Rhetorical question of the Day

Is there any integrity left amongst Members of Parliament?

Answer: Was there any to begin with?

Hidden Treasures

I have just completed the first of my 11 AGM's, and had the opportunity to take a look in the deep dark recesses of that particular church's safe. I thought that I had gone through all our church safes and sorted them out, but this was clearly one I'd missed.

Inside, and going slightly mouldy, were four small painted linen shields that had fallen from the roof bosses at some time in the past. They need storing and conserving. There was a very nice silver-plated paten - bigger than the one usually used for the communion services, so that will now be put out on a Sunday. There was also a small Charles Farris cream-coloured tin, and inside it a single mouldering communion wafer. There was a pew copy of Common Worship - something I knew this church had but could never find. And there was also a rather superb wooden collection plate. Now I've sen a lot of these, but never one with a detachable cover to stop people taking coins out as it was passed around. That also is going to come back into use - purely for aesthetic reasons, rather than not trusting the congregation!

All in all, a rather good end to the evening.

Papering over the cracks

For the last couple of months I've been delving into the state of property in rural France. There is lots available simply because the aim of the common man and woman in France is to move out of the country and into a new-build unit in a town.

Amongst the wide variety of size and shape, one aspect of style remains constant, and that is the compulsion to wallpaper everything in sight. Not just the walls, but ceilings, fireplaces, cupboards, and, I suspect, the occasional sleeping cat!



These two images are of the same house!

Of course, the practical reason may be that it is only the wallpaper that is stopping the plaster from falling off ... but it is hardly the epitome of French chic. In fact, it makes me want to throw up.

And after all that soup ....

... there's really only one thing that satisfies ....

If it's Wednesday, it must be soup

Another Lent Lunch looms. The tables are set, the soup keeping hot in the kettles, cheese out on the boards, oven warming the bowls and ready for the rolls to go in, and the large flask is full of hot water for drinks. Today it's a choice of Chicken & Leek or Spring Vegetable. The Chicken was popular last week, so we'll see what happens today.

And I should still have time to get to the regular Village Coffee Morning before the customers strat to arrive.

Waiting ....

... for a heating oil delivery ..... and for the arrival of a small package from a Catering Supplies company of a 79p thermostat so I can try and repair my large coffee percolator (used at monthly Coffee Mornings and sometimes at Lent Lunches), along with a dozen soup spoons (for Lent Lunches as I don't have enough), and a dozen napkins that I want to use in the churches as corporals on the altars. The last is because most of the Benefice churches are desperately ill-equipped in the altar linen department. Unfortunately these are only cheap linen, and I was unable to order "one double dozen double-damask dinner napkins" - and if you don't recognise that reference, it is the title of an old comedy sketch written for Cicely Courtneidge, in which a lady gets increasingly flustered as she tries to place an order for the said items in a department store. It was made famous by Beatrice Lillie in Frank Tuttles 1938 movie, "Dr. Rhythm" which starred Bing Crosby and Mary Carlisle.

I'm sticking my neck out here ....

The mother of James Bulger has said she has a right to know why his killer is back in prison, but is getting "no answers" from the government.
(BBC News)

Whilst I fully recognise the emotive nature of this particular case, and the depth of feeling it arouses, I don't think that Denise Fergus does have the right to know why Jon Venables has been sent back to prison.

No matter the reasons behind the action, it would set a very worrying precedent if this information was passed on to her. Then every other victim of crime, or relative of a victim of crime, would be able to make the same request if and when the person convicted of the crime is re-arrested. Where would the line be drawn? Would someone who has been mugged be given the information if and when their convited mugger is re-arrested? Would a householder be given the information if and when the convicted burglar is re-arrested?

The emotional intensity of this particular crime should not be a deciding factor. A veritable "Pandora's Box" will be opened if her demand is met.

The days are getting shorter

From Sky News
The powerful earthquake that killed hundreds of people in Chile on Saturday probably shifted the Earth's axis and made days slightly shorter, a NASA scientist has said. Richard Gross, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, calculated how much the axis may have changed in position following the disaster. The quake, the most powerful to hit the nation in 50 years, sent shockwaves out from the epicentre 70 miles from Chile's second city, Concepcion. If the planet's axis did shift by 8cm during the quake, days would have shortened by 1.26 microseconds, Mr Gross calculated. A microsecond is one-millionth of a second.

The quake shifted the Earth's axis by even more than the 9.1-magnitude tremor off Indonesia that started the deadly tsunami in Asia in 2004, according to Mr Gross. This was partly because the fault line responsible for the quake in Chile "dips into Earth at a slightly steeper angle than does the fault responsible for the 2004 Sumatran earthquake", he said. The different angle made Saturday's tremor more effective at moving Earth's mass vertically and shifting the planet's axis, Mr Gross continued.

The 2004 quake in Asia, which killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused the Earth to move by around 7cm. It chopped an estimated 6.8 microseconds off the length of a day, NASA said.

Lent Lunch Wednesday No.2

8 pints of soup made and hot in the Soup Kettles. Cheeseboards filled. Hot water flasks filled. Biscuits, sweet pickle, condiments, teaspoons, sugar and milk all set out on the tables with plates, spoons, knives and napkins. Bread rolls ready to go into the oven to be warmed. Soup bowls in oven as well. Seating extended to host 19 people. Now all I need are the customers.


When I trained I was never told that I would end up running a Lent cafe!

Getting the full picture

Over the Winter, on days that were particularly wet and windy, I found my evening television viewing interrupted by a break-up of the digital signal. Roundly cursing the quality of digital broadcasting, I would turn off the box and listen to a CD and read a book instead.

This last Sunday it happened again, and every channel I tried to watch was jumping, spitting and breaking up into static coloured blocks. Moving over to the TV I leant over the top of the set, as I usually do to access the On/Off button, and noticed some drops of water behind the unit on the shelf. They appeared to be underneath where the aerial cable entered the set, so I pulled out the aerial plug and found that there was rain water running down the inner core of the cable. Water is certainly not conducive to a good picture, and not safe either, so the set got turned off and the cable left lying in the fireplace.

Today an engineer called and fitted a new aerial on the roof - the old one was falling off the chimney anyway, and was very rusty - and a new cable right the way through, branching off to give two new points in two of the upstairs bedrooms. Guests will now be happy, and so am I, for although it wasn't particularly inexpensive to have done, the signal is now at full strength instead of the quarter strength is was before, and I have been able to put away the small indoor aerials that were up in the bedrooms, and which were not particularly effective anyway.

And I shall now be able to relax in the sitting room and view in safety when it's raining!

In which I went to London ...

Tuesday 23rd February, and a trip to London to go to a Reception at Portcullis House, Westminster, at the invitation of The Office of Tibet, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Enthronement of the 14th Dalai Lama.

As you may recall, in May 2008 I attended a Group Audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Oxford. That was a gathering of families and friends of those who had been involved in Tibet and with His Holiness over the years.

This time, a smaller group was called together specifically to mark the time, 70 years ago to the day, when the Dalai Lama was enthroned. My uncle David was then stationed at Gyantse as part of the British military presence, and he was one of a very small group who made up the official British representation at the enthronement at the Potola Palace in Lhasa.

London was wet and bustling, and the physical act of entering Portcullis House lived up to the building's name. Since it is part of Parliament, we were scanned and searched, all the time surrounded by policeman armed with automatic weapons. I then had difficulty in finding a glass door that would open in order to ascend the stairs to the Boothroyd Room where the meeting was to take place.

With His Holiness presently in Florida, his greeting to us was conveyed by his official representative, especially to families of those who had been present at the Potola in February 1940. We then had a slide show of images of the event, as well as a short piece of silent film that had been found in the archives of the British Film Institute. The Lama's representative then gave ceremonial scarves to a member of each family, and my late uncle's daughter went forward to receive it. I have the one given to me by the Dalai Lama at our Oxford meeting.

It was good to be part of this gathering. Something to put down in the family archives.

Oh look .... white fluffy stuff falling from the sky

Two days ago it looked as if Spring was finally arriving in my garden ...


... but this morning ....

40 days of personal satisfaction?

I have a problem with Lent, and it's because every year I feel it can be a bit of a self-satisfying guilt trip. The traditional disciplines of "giving up" something, or the decision to do something extra, can only lead to two things: a sense of achievement or failure. If the target is achieved there's a warm glow of satisfaction .... "I tell you, they have their reward already". If it's failure, then it's an increased sense of guilt at not having the personal strength of character to triumph. Out with the hair shirt and the whip.

Maybe it's just because I loathe this season. It somehow seems false - a superficial attempt to increase our sense of holiness, when what we should really be doing, and not just for the duration of Lent, is challenging the hypocrisy and prejudice that is plainly evident in the church.

This Sunday the Epistle reading from Romans will again be proclaimed: For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

A real challenge for this Lent would be to work to bring this scripture into reality. And our prayer should be: "Let it begin with me."

Put a tiger in your tank

And if you remember THAT advertising slogan from ESSO then you're older than you think!

Chinese New Year decorations put up in the house and celebrated with a meal of Char Sui pork dumplings, roast potato balls, vegetable spring rolls, crispy roast duck & pancakes, sweet & sour chicken on egg fried rice .... wonderful!

I'm stuffed!

*burp*

But the sun did come out on Wednesday last....

and so, at high tide, I wandered down onto the rocks and did a pen and watercolour picture of Lindisfarne castle - quite different from the brooding one the day before.

Wind-swept

Now back home after a couple of days away on the isle of Lindisfarne. Chilly north wind with sleety showers, but also sunshine and glorious views. For the first time in a couple of years I managed to dabble with my watercolours and did three small paintings. The virtues of the island were extolled as peace and quiet, though I felt that it was just as quiet down here in rural north Suffolk. More seagulls though, and salt spray, and a view of a castle instead of a round-tower church. All in all, a quite refreshing short break.

Therapy

Been parochial by visiting the village school and hearing 5 young lads read with varying degrees of competancy, and am now making bread for the morrow ...

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

It's the minor character Marcellus, and not Hamlet, who coins the phrase. There's a reason he says "state of Denmark" rather than just Denmark: the fish is rotting from the head down—all is not well at the top of the political hierarchy.

The Church of England is "Established" and thereby the State Church.

It's not just Denmark that has its problems. Prayers needed here.

Norman Rockwell's birthday anniversary

In celebration of this great illustrator I delved into an upstairs cupboard for some old copies of the Saturday Evening Post, and found this front cover ...


This Week's Cover:
Norman Rockwell's painting of the obstreperous dog holding up the onrush of civilization depicts an alley near Seventh Street and Rampart Boulevard in Los Angeles. The Bekins Storage organization had a van which would cozily fit the alley, but it was a white one and the artist wanted red. So the owners had it painted red, which shows how convenient it is to be Norman Rockwell. The models, denizens of the Los Angeles County Art Institute, include a violin teacher, upper right, waiting to give the hapless boy, lower left, an inoculation of music. Actually the boy could doubtless give the teacher a lesson, for the latter is Rockwell, who took two violin lessons when he was young and was advised to turn to painting or something.

THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION

And it started off so well

An "away-day" today, and a drive up to Stoke-on-Trent to say goodbye to two friends who are moving to France on Sunday. Bag packed, car windows wiped clear of anti-freeze, and off we go. First stop in Bungay three miles down the road for some petrol. Put in £30 worth and reach for my wallet ..... but it's not there, and neither is my mobile phone. Then I remember putting them on the roof of the car as I sorted out my jacket on the back seat. Bummocks!

Leaving personal details with the petrol station, and getting a chit giving me 24 hours in which to pay, I drive at high speed back to the house. No sign of wallet or phone in driveway or on the road outside. Visions of whole day going to pot!

Back into the house with the idea of phoning my mobile to see if anyone has picked it up to find a message on my answerphone from a neighbour saying that he found them in the road, and that they are with my next-door neighbour. Go out to go round there to meet the lady coming across her garden with a note to put through my letterbox. Wallet and phone are retrieved, albeit with a small piece of plastic missing from the phone case. These are the advantages of living in a small community.

Back into Bungay to pay for the petrol and then start my journey, an hour later than anticipated.

Straightforward drive until near Diss when a lorry threw up a large stone that chipped my windscreen right in front of my eyes. Nearing Uttoxeter, another stone, making a small chip right near to the first one.

But the hotel was found easily, the room is comfortable, and a good evening was had with the two friends and another couple that used to drink in the same pub we all frequented - The Globe.

(View from my hotel bedroom window)

Perhaps the return journey tomorrow will be less eventful. And apparently there's a large Chinese supermarket somewhere nearby on this estate, which could make for an interesting start to the day, especially with Chinese New Year (Tiger) looming.

Here we go again!

In my mail today

I have a note from Mrs Cynthia .J. Ruud regarding her "Last Wish".
I hope she's left me something valuable!

Zaid Ibrahim wishes to consult me over a "Serious Issue"
Wait a moment - I'll fetch my purple stole.

Dr Ruth Hilton" also has a "Serious Issue..!"
Maybe it's contagious! Perhaps I'd better wash my hands.

Consuelo Terrell in Pakistan has a "New vacancy"
For what, I wonder?

Trevor Simms is offering me "new information about your current position."
Listen, matey, you can't tell me anything I don't already know!

But then again, maybe he can, for in the very next mail he tells me to "have a new one."

In the words of the late lamented Kenneth Williams, "Oo-er, Matron!"

More financial matters

This morning an e-mail from the INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENT DEPARTMENT of the OCEANIC BANK INFORMS ME THAT my loan was approved two days ago.
Another loan approved? I AM popular!

The Hon. Ndudi Elumelu says "Thanks again".
My pleasure. What?

Awah Damaru tells me to read my "URGENT NOTIFICATION"
Naff off.

and my Online Bank Account with ABBEY NATIONAL PLC is about to expire.
Oh dear - I'll contact the Funeral Director.


I don't open these mails, but they do start the morning with a smile.

I'm saying nothing .....

From ITN News

The floor of a weight watchers clinic in Sweden collapsed beneath a group of people taking part in a weight loss programme. According to a report in Swedish English-language newspaper, The Local, the dieters were queueing up to see how many pounds they had lost in the past week. One person reportedly told another newspaper that "there was a huge thud, before the floor collapsed along the walls in one corner of the room." A Weight Watchers consultant told The Smalandsposten newspaper: "We're going to have to find replacement premises." The cause of the collapse is still being investigated by local authorities, and none of the people involved were injured.

(I'm going to the gym today ....)

High Finance

This morning in my e-mails I received:

1) an INTERNET BANKING ALERT from hsbc.co.uk.
Must be a mistake though, as I don’t have an account with them.

2) a mail from Ocean Bank telling me that my FUND was approved two days ago.
Oh good, I can go and spend some money!

3) a communication from the INTERCONTINENTAL BANK OF NIGERIA saying that they had received my ATTORNEY.
Which is odd as I don’t recall sending him.

4) and a note from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs regarding a tax refund that simply says that “The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential a=nd as applicable.” (sic)
Fine. Thanks for telling me.

And by the way ... I was born yesterday as well.

Never mind the Conversion of St Paul ...

.... falling off his horse on the road to Damascus .... (Where was the man from the Personal Accident Claims Company there?) .....

Tonight is

And I've had my haggis and a wee dram ....



Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit' hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect sconner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit:
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!

Be Prepared

The British NHS comes in for a lot of criticism over waiting times not only for operations but also for appointments. However, things appear to be improving. In the post today was a letter from the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital telling me that an appointment has been booked for me to have an eye check-up at the Glaucoma Clinic on Tuesday 22nd February ...... 2011.

At least I don't have to wait to make the appointment - I just have to remember to keep it - it only gives me 13 months to get ready.

I know, I know ...

... it's time I posted something else on his Blog. But it's all been quiet and there's not much to write about.

That is, until this morning, when the BBC tells me that the Church of England bishops are lobbying the House of Lords to amend the Equality legislation that is presently making its way through the House, so that the Church of England continues to enjoy exemption. At present the Church if able to insist that homosexual candidates for its ministerial posts and its support posts are celibate. If the legislation goes through, all support posts will have to be open to people regardless of non-celibate sexual orientation. The cry is going up that this will mean that there may well be practising homosexuals appointed as teachers in CofE schools or as Youth Workers in Dioceses.

So what? Why does being a homosexual in an active relationship mean that they make a sub-standard teacher? Why are they thus unsuited to Youth Work? A real splinter and plank moment. For Christ's sake, Bishops, have some understanding of the Gospel. You seem to have lost the plot.

It's that time of the month ..

... when my time is taken up with compiling the next issue of the Benefice magazine - trying to fill column inches when no news has been passed on to me by the villages (with a few notable and regular exceptions!)

The 13th, and more light snow

I was told this morning, as the snow started, that country-lore says that if the snow's on the ground, there's more to come. In other words, if it's not been warm enough to create a thaw, then it's cold enough for more snow to fall. Logical when you consider it. And true today as I look out of the study window, taking a break from choosing the Sunday service hymns through to Palm Sunday. Light, and not really settling, but cold and murky as well. I must get the washing done - the thermals are in the laundry basket!

It's all on as planned

The forecast from the Met.Office at 5.00 p.m. Saturday was for heavy snow overnight. The forecast just one hour later said no snow overnight, but heavy showers Sunday afternoon. It would help to have some consistency here.

This morning there has been no overnight fall, and with only light showers this morning the Sunday rota is going ahead as planned.

Damn. No lie in.

It's a privilege and pleasure to serve .....

The village

Decisions, decisions ...

Another two inches of snow overnight, and the Met Office is warning of further heavy snowfall tonight. I'm starting to wonder about possibly cancelling tomorrow's services. The rota is for a 9.45 Eucharist at Ilketshall St Lawrence, (where everyone has to travel to get to the church as it sits a mile or more outside it's community), and an 11.15 Holy Communion at Homersfield where, whilst some of the regular congregation are from the village (3?) the rest also travel, as do I to both.

In this Benefice area it's not as if it's the local residents who make up our Sunday attendance. It is drawn from right across our 13 communities, meaning most drive to the churches. If what is predicted actually arrives, the roads tomorrow will not be good. Although the gritting lorry has made its way down our particular road, other small roads in "The Saints" have not been touched.

It's really a question of "wait and see", unlike my colleague in Long Island, NY, where he could look at the snow warnings and act with confidence some 24 hours in advance of the blizzards. This part of East Anglia often escapes the worst of the forecasts, but this stuff is slamming into us straight across the North Sea from the Russian Steppes!

Watch this space!

F... F.... F ...

Fog, Frost and Freezing. The harsh winter weather continues, but it really does look beautiful at times.

Hundreds join Global Warming protest

(sent to me by e-mail this morning from someone who should know better!)

Like wot I remember

At last, a proper winter such as I recall from my childhood. Snow on the ground for days on end, low temperatures with ice on the inside of the bedroom windows, warming oneself in front of a fire, hot drinks and food to heat the inner-self. Such a change from the mild, warm, and somewhat unhealthy miasma we've had for the last decade or so. Whilst it's a challenge to keep warm in a large 4-bedroomed vicarage, and I'm occasionally losing sight of the church opposite, I'm loving it!


I am of course well aware that for many, the cold is a real problem, especially for those on low incomes who cannot afford to heat their homes properly, and also for those without any homes to heat. But whilst I pray for them, I am not going to allow a feeling of guilt affect my appreciation of the natural cycle of seasons.

Time to move the shepherds ...

... and put in the Magi ...


A Happy Feast of the Epiphany to all!

More of the white stuff

Last night (January 2nd) it started snowing again at about 6.00 p.m., and went on right through the evening. Early morning (7.30 a.m.) it looked like this, (and that's not the sun in the sky but the moon), and there's more predicted for Wednesday through to Friday of this week.


And over at St Margaret South Elmham for the 11.15 a.m. Holy Communion (BCP let the congregation understand - with local variations!!) I took a shot that might well be their 2010 Christmas card!

New Year's Day 2010

and snow on the ground. Wonderful!