Tag Archives: vicar

Strange week

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Just a quick one. This has been an odd week, in suspense waiting to go on holiday. I have spent most of my time catching up with computer and paper work and hoping that the council might empty our brown bin – to no avail. We are leaving it out as we go on holiday, just in case. Mary is looking out for it and may water some flowers.

I have been in the city a couple of times to pay in cheques and to visit the Guildhall in the company of the vicar, plus Carrie Sant and Andrea Cope, from St Luke’s. An invitation went out to all and sundry with an upper limit of nine, but only the three of us made it. I took the opportunity to have a brief chat with the vicar about Ian, which he took well. He seems very anxious about Sunday, because we’re away and Howard will probably be in London, as Anandi has just had her baby – a girl.

The Guildhall tour yesterday was not bad: I learnt one or two things I didn’t know, but the guide was kind of irritating, especially when he gatecrashed our tea with the Sheriff (a woman) and monopolised the conversation. Probably being a bit unfair there: Carrie also had quite a lot to say trying to get money for her work (which is fair enough) and I was feeling extremely hot and tired. Good tea, though.

Today we finished packing, and I paid £20 (for the year) to get Adobe’s pdf conversion gizmo, so that I could put a complicated document with images into the Paston magazine, which I’m putting together in Pages. I had tried a free version off the Internet after much research, but it was useless. I could get the words, but not the images. I will charge Paston, of course.

It will be an odd day tomorrow, because there is a CNS reunion, during which I have to give an hour’s talk on the EDP and my part in its downfall (sorry, that was Spike Milligan and Hitler, which is quite different). Thence we will come home before setting out for Gatwick and a night in a hotel before flying out to Canada.

Birthday meal hits spot

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Rather poor picture of our table at the Wensum View Hotel. Mary is on the left, Rachel is to the left of my vacant chair and Barbara to the right.
Rather poor picture of our table at the Wensum View Hotel. Mary is on the left, Rachel is to the left of my vacant chair and Barbara to the right. Dot is sitting next to a pilot whose name I forget.

Mary Thrower’s 70th birthday meal last Saturday turned out to be a delightful event, despite our not knowing anybody but Mary and Neville – plus, amazingly, Bernadette from Archant, who turned out to be their next-door neighbour.

The setting, despite rainy weather, was beautiful, with the room at the Wensum View Hotel looking way out over the golf course and the Wensum valley generally. The food was really delicious, despite the party being over 60 in number (quantity often reduces quality). And the six people who sat at out table were all very easy to get on with – in fact when nearly everyone had gone, our table was still all present and correct.

The number included Mary’s son Jamie (really nice guy) and his equally nice wife Rachel. I think the others were friends rather than relations: one couple came from Carleton Rode and the other from further away.

That was on Saturday. The following day I roused myself to lead the service at St Augustine’s in the presence of the new vicar, who was attending for the first time, as an observer. He stayed a long time afterwards and spoke to everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of his aims is to get the two churches to do things together. That should be interesting.

The rest of the day was dull and rather oppressive: we couldn’t rouse ourselves to do anything much. But on Monday Colin came and fixed the garage door handle – which has unfortunately gone wrong since. He is coming again on Saturday. In the evening we had a PCC meeting at which for the first time in living memory St Augustine members almost made up 50% of the attendance. Howard didn’t make it, of course, but Eleanor and Judy did. I think we were a little less formal than the new vicar would have liked (what? no votes?), but no doubt there will be  conversion process, one way or the other. Simon gave a presentation on our registering as an individual charity, which you have to do when your turnover exceeds £100,000.

On Tuesday Barbara and her dog came to sort out some video for their p4c DVD and commandeered my computer to do so. I went to pay some cheques into the bank and wondered over to the Forum, where a young guy asked if I’d like to play chess (there’s a board game section in the library there). We had a good game, but he beat me after I hung a rook. I suggested he joined a local club. Enjoyed the game, but it sort of showed me I wasn’t up to what used to be my standard.

Yesterday was dull again, though warm. I got some work donned then went to Morrison’s with Dot for a fairly large bout of shopping before she disappeared to orchestra. An odd day.

Lunching with the Bishop

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Our Christmas present from Oliver – a rose – has produced two lovely new blooms.
Our Christmas present from Oliver – a rose – has produced two lovely new blooms.

Rather a lot of paperwork to bring the month to a close this week, and so a regrettable reduction in physical activity. Not much to record there, other than a trip into the city to pay a cheque and a walk round the Rosary yesterday. And here I am at the computer again while Dot ventures into the city. On her return we head to the church hall to rehearse a few songs with Phil.

The paperwork included researching and writing three article for Parish Pump – on the Armenian Genocide, Einstein and the Mt Tambora eruption in 1815 – writing a sermon, and compiling a financial report for the year for the DCC. I am also trying to write a tanka a day for Lent. In addition I have spent about half an hour on the phone renewing my car insurance, and a further quarter of an hour (most of it waiting) to sort out our lost Gift Aid repayment. I have also booked some tickets to see Adrian Plass in June, which is more complicated than it sounds because I had to do it in batches of three. The e-mail replies are the ticket, and the five of us may not go together, partly because Dot and I are due to return from Scarborough that day, with hold-ups always a possibility.

The highlight of the week was probably the lunch at St Luke’s on Monday with a select company including the Bishop, the Dean, the Archdeacon and two prospective vicars. We gave one of the vicars (and his wife) a tour of the parish in our (borrowed) car afterwards and discovered parts of it that we didn’t know existed. Well, not as part of the parish, anyway. “Our” vicar seemed very nice, and we rather hope he will be selected, though that is hardly fair on the other one, who we didn’t really get a chance to chat to. We believe the name of the “lucky” man will be announced tomorrow, if he has said yes. The Bishop and Dean were very pleasant, and the Bishop remembered Dot’s name; so that’s all good 🙂

After the lunch and tour we picked up Dot’s MX5 from the coachwork off Hall Road (just far enough off to make it hard to find). It looked immaculate. I then returned the Corsa to Enterprise Car Rentals and was given a lift home. Normally I would have walked from Heigham Street, but the wind was icy and I was carrying a file of documents that I didn’t want to lose.

Because the MX5 was finished early, Dot had to take our Mazda 2 to Kent (the P4C whiteboard won’t get in the MX5), which was a pity because of the additional mileage. Nevertheless, she had a good journey both ways, paying the Dartford Crossing toll online for the first time.

While she was away, Rob came round to discuss his forthcoming tour of Paston Norwich for the Cromer group he is giving a series of talks to. As the group is quite large, he wants me to help. One or two small bits of new stuff to me, but the next day I was coming back from the city when I noticed St George’s Tombland was open; so I popped in to see the dragon. This is the model dragon that’s used for the Lord Mayor’s procession each year, symbolising the Guild of St George, which is linked to Dragon Hall. While at the church (and being given a thorough tour by a kind elderly gentleman) I noticed that it also had a monument to Thomas Anguish by Nicholas Stone, who is well know for various Paston links.

On the same day we had our hair cut – a week after the scheduled date, so not before time. On Friday I had a routine blood test, and it was after that that I walked for a while in the Rosary, which I always find moving. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and thousands of crocuses were blooming, together with a few snowdrops. Did I mention that I had also dropped in my accounts file to Susannah (the St Luke’s treasurer), and later the cheque books and paying-in books? I hope the accountants can make some sense of them.