On Sunday got on the road – more exploring of possibilities. On arrival I promptly found a loo and a source of strong coffee! Then went to a lovely eucharistic service at St John the Evangelist Church. Got an appropriate level of welcome from those at the door, and the lady next to me thanked me for my singing voice at the end. It reminded me of my clandestine visit to a prospective first incumbency back in the day. At least this time I didn’t say ‘Be careful what you wish for!’.
I appreciated the preaching bravely on Romans (been there too – that very unwise decision to preach on Romans in my first few months of the previously mentioned first incumbency!) The stress on the importance of generosity, and the need for everything not to be perfect but to offer what we have was helpful. Likewise some thoughtful and holy intercessions including an interesting response – To ‘lead us to do your will’ was the response ‘make it plain for us to follow’.
After a bit of faffing I went on a local walk – which was longer and over a mile longer than the walk leaflet suggested (and I got a bit lost at the end which didn’t help). It featured woods and countryside and a pill box – reminding me of 15-20 club rambles around Ranmore common. If you can remember that you have been travelling with me for a very long time! A couple of heavy showers added to the mix! I had lunch on a picnic bench in the shade at a national trust garden – but under an apple tree which was shedding fruit! Nothing fell on my head but it wasn’t very wise.
Monday featured more jobs around the house, and some pastoral supervision stuff and the hedge was finished. Tuesday had a local walk, which wasn’t totally successful as the field path back had to be abandoned as it petered out into significant overgrowth of brambles, and I did about 2 miles on the local lanes instead. Wednesday and Thursday included more organising and getting ready for heading west, and the straggly bits on the lawns were mowed!
The cats were suspicious.
The Adventures of Alison 