Two Days Off Week 26 2025

It's rare but I went for the two days off the beginning of this week and I think that was wise. I did have my regular meeting with my assistant and an hour with one of my deacons and looked over my sermons for next Sunday but it was mostly just reading. I finished the nice Wind in the Willows I had for my birthday and the book on encyclopedias I had for Father's Day plus one of my art books on Arcimboldo ) a re=read) and a little bit of another Hugh Martin book. We had a visitor here on Monday night and I watched some cricket with him (something I almost never do) on Tuesday night Eleri and I watched a bit of TV. I went out for a coffee at some point but didn't do the walking I should have.

Gloves C Cricket Gloves

Acabashi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Happy 40th Ian

Last Saturday we travelled down to Wiltshire to join my wife's brother-in-law*, Ian, marking his fortieth birthday. A number of family and a few close friends gathered in North Bradley to chat, to eat, etc.

The "etc" included watching rugby. Wales were playing Scotland, which after last week didn's seem so important though we kept a radio handy to know the score, which didn't sound too encouraging. Ian's friend Chris lives in North Bradley and so he invited us (about 10 or 11 of us I think) to watch the last 30 minutes in his front room. Well, as we all know now it was an incredibly nail biting close and Wales got it - just! Great jubilation from the Welsh men, an the English were happy enough too.

Ian is a cricket fanatic so it also included more or less the same bunch heading across to a nearby park to play a modified cricket game in which (mostly Ian) furiously hurled the ball at a basket ball post hoping for an edge off the batsman. Great fun. As light faded we lost the ball.

Great to be with all the family - ours and Ian's (all believers upwards of their teens). Every blessing for the future Ian. I chose the Emily Maguire song for the tune mainly but it's all about heaven I guess - no place we'd rather be.

(* excuse the pedantry)