Back to normal

We have wind and rain today. Slightly early April showers in fact! I have been asking around about the deer I saw last week. Apparently it is old news. The local farmers say they are increasing in population every year round here!

The garden is coming on on on leaps and bounds now Abit like the deer in fact. Sorry. I tried hard to suppress that pun! The children break up on Thursday and I have ordered my shopping from sainsburies who now deliver on the Roseland! We are half way through Holy week!

Choir

The new choir sang at our Evensong last night. It was not without its problems. I left my music at home and David got it to me just in time but there anxious moments before it arrived. The church was well filled so it clearly meets some needs but there is still this confusion that it seems impossible to overcome. Singing during a service in church is different from giving a performance. An act of worship shouldn't really be like a concert but that is what often tends to happen. Yesterday the choir mistress stood in front of the choir and conducted it. This is Ok for the anthems but is incongruous for the psalms, the responses and the Magnunc. Worse yet the man who thinks he's in charge rehearsed us in standing up and sitting down! We did I think make a good sound but at the cost of anything even remotely religious.

Daffodils

It's a beautiful day and the garden is stirring there ate lots of different daffodils some now in their second year.



Some like these small ones have survived against all odds. I took this pic before David got the mower out. I dare not go out now!

Brides and babies

I had a visit from a couple who wanted to get married this afternoon. As soon as I saw them I knew them though their names meant nothing to me. The girl carried a baby. She had told me she was pregnant on Christmas day two years ago! I am now going to marry them both and then christen the baby on the same day. Sheer joy and definately one of the perks of the job.


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Rain

Having spent some time transferring the original blog to my mac I can now see that I am clearly obsessed with weather! There are so many titles that say. Rain. Or sun. Or wind. Well you get the picture! Anyway it is raining here now. I ordered some more fruit trees and shrubs and have unpacked them in the rain and it's easier to deal with all that brown cardboard when it's damp! John the gardener is here tomorrow and he still can't strim because of the spring bulbs everywhere so planting new trees will give him a purpose in life just now!


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Cats!

I got up to the fragrance of cat pee! Tosh will not go out in rainy weather and I cant say I blame him! He has a tray of cat litter in David's office! Any visitors sit at a desk under which is the offending tray! It was so bad this morning that I put on my storm gear ready to face the elements. Off I marched up to the top of the field carrying the tray at arms length. Once I'd washed it and refilled it with clean litter I could look at the day and despite the rain it is a lovely gentle soft Cornish morning! Everything is shooting out at top speed so I am now praying that we get the six new fruit trees in before the wind starts. The equinoctial gales last year knocked all the blossom off everything!

I got bare rooted trees again this year so they have to be protected until they are on the ground but it does mean I can unpack them without the weight of huge pots of soil. A lovely day to spend in the garden!

Old Blog

I have this morning dismantled my old blog. I was posting on it less and less, mostly because it tended to be a little unreliable. I would type for ten minutes only to find it gone next time I looked! I have no doubt that much of this was my fault but this one is easier to deal with on the whole so my apologies for any who have been looking for it... its is gone, a deceased blog. Before I canceled it though I actually transferred the whole thing to Word. Almost 150 pages of it! My ramblings took up far more room than I imagined but it covers the time when during the interegnum David and I ran the parish, rushing from one disaster to another! Happy Days!

And other animals

Crispin is now without his hood. He has naturally gone straight back to chewing the original spot! Tosh has got a new friend.



So crispin can wander around without knocking everything over whilst Tosh gazes out of the window in communion with Sean the sheep. We are easy to please here.

Rainy

We do need a bit of rain...last week I was watering all the new plants not able to believe how dry it was for March. No doubt we shall get more than we want soon! Everything outside is now burgeoning. Some plants went during the snow and frost but most are springing back into life! All the bulbs we put in last back end are now up and glorious. I had a weekend of talking to wedding couples which is always fun and many of them turned up in church yesterday . Tonight we have a choir practice! Oh dear! I got roared at last week and took the rap for the whole of the clergy.....we shall see what happens tonight. Probably not much as I have already been apologised to ad nauseum!

Little deer

Sitting looking out at Falmouth as it was getting darker I suddenly saw a small deer springing and bouncing along the grass. We see rabbits, birds and lately pheasants regularly and occasionally a fox but never before a deer. I have never heard that there were wild deer in Cornwall before but I did see it. It's worth noting that I had only had one very small glass of wine.


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Visitors

We are having alot of people coming today and over the weekend. Several are people I have married or are going to marry. The wedding list is not bad at all but I laughed when I saw one for me pencilled in for 2012. Now that's thinking ahead! It's always lovely to see these couples back again , often with their babies. One of the perks of the job!


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Busy

Its suddenly got very busy again! I have now spoken to all the couples I am marrying this year and will meet some of them this weekend at the wedding preparation course we are running. As well as happy couples there are also the bereaved and the seriously ill to try to help. As Passiontide approaches I remember Bill Vanstone my first Vicar who got exhausted every Lent and always had a huge goiter on his neck to contend with at Eastertide. Although I do try to be like Bill to some degree.....he was definately my roll model to begin with I do draw the line at goiters.

Mothers day

Just finished writing the sermon for tomorrow. Flowers have arrived...an envelope which says do not open till Sunday but I still find Mothering Sunday hard. I usually manage not to cry whilst I'm preaching but it is often a massive effort. My daughter Roz is still with me and I suppose always will be. Rest in peace my love.

Last verse of a poem by Judith Wright about giving birth.

I wither and you break from me

Yet though you dance in living light

I am the earth, I am the root

I am the stem that fed the fruit

The link that joins you to the night.

Funerals

Yesterday I did the funeral of a much loved wife and mother. Against all the odds the church was full mostly of elderly ladies all of whom were members of the golden age group in the village. This morning I attend the funeral of a man who was my spiritual advisor for years and who gave me away on my wedding to David. He had been the rector of this parish 20 years ago and we are expecting an overflow in church. This means we all have to be there very early indeed and those pews are not the best to sit on for hours! I am tempted to take a cushion. Peter would appreciate that but others may not so I probably won't. What I will do though is take my iphone which has a notebook on it and I will start to write my Mother's Day sermon!

Spring!

It really does look like Spring today at last! All the bulbs we put in last year are out in great profusion and although there was a frost last night yet again, now the sun is out it is quite warm.

I have a funeral this afternoon, a burial of someone who used to be a neighbour. She talked to Crispin every time we walked past so I did know her before she got sick. She and her husband used to caretake for one of the huge old houses right on the water's edge. They had the lodge belonging to the house and although neither she nor her husband have been able to work for some years they have been allowed to stay in their home for ever rent free. The man granting them this is coming to the funeral to do the eulogy and I have been heartened by his gentleness and generosity to these two. In a world of money grubbing and economic gloom its wonderful to find this nugget of goodness.

Crispins helmet pic

Helmets as weapons

Crispin is using his lampshade well. In the eternal battle between dog and cat it has proved extremely useful as body armour. Until yesterday this was a defence mechanism. If Tosh wanted to dive in and wallop Crispin on the nose as is his wont at times he found he couldn't do it. But yesterday the battle turned in Crispins favour at last. Tosh was spitting at him heartily for some reason best known to himself and all the dog did was to turn his head. The plastic helmet went with him and knocked the cat over! Both animals were clearly surprised by this and today we are in a whole new ball game. Tosh scoots hastily out of the way when ever Crispin appears! Shame he can't wear the lampshade for a long time. Though now I think of it!

Blue mouse 2

Ok No its not the gospel you thought it might be. Its nothing to do with resurrection either. It was about God's goodness in giving us this beautiful earth to live on. Blue mouse is a latter day parable about stewardship. The old parable is the story of the vine which was threatened with being cut down but given one more chance to bring forth fruit! Short of posting the sermon this is about as far as we go on this one....far be it from me to start to preach in a blog!

Blue mouse

The story of blue mouse went down very well this morning as part of the sermon. It was about our daft Springer spaniel who buried blue mouse on Christmas morning because it squeaked. My daughter who had spent precious money on blue mouse was not amused and kept bringing it back into the house. She got tired before he did and finally it was allowed to rest in peace. Blue mouse was resurrected in the end though when the next dog a placid golden retriever dug it up, brought it back into the house and found that it still squeaked! No prizes for guessing the gospel it was meant to illuminate!

Spring almost

It has been Spring like in the last few days but I have been extremely busy. We got our new Headmistress appointed at last but it took a whole day to do it. People are now dying. I have a funeral next week on the day before a very large funeral is due to take place. I fixed it all up with all the family and funeral director to then find that the coffin of one will be arriving just as the other is leaving. This is not wonderful timing but both funeral directors will work together to solve the problem. The first one is going ten minutes early. The next one is going to hold back! This one thing has kept me on the phone most of the morning! I just hope that the deceased are having a laugh about it in heaven!

School

Having spent a entire day in school it is good to be able to say that we now have a headmistress! We have waited and worked hard for this. It's good news all round.


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Forgetful

It has slowly dawned on me that I missed at least two birthdays during my trip! I hope that's all! Much humble pie has been eaten today and notes posted! If you are one of them you know who you are. And I am sorry!


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Crispin

My dog is now an old boy. He gets me up early fairly frequently but this morning just couldn't settle. He had spent alot of time worrying an itchy spot and this morning it looked sore and was weeping. So.


The poor boy has worn the lampshade at various points of his life but now in his old age it is a hinderence! Every time he goes out he knocks plants flying! The good news is that he still emptied the dog bowl in record time