A Day For…

Do you remember the photo book One Day for Haileybury? It recorded 16th September 2003 in photographs taken by people associated with Haileybury all round the world. I remember that we had a skip for some reason and my wife took a picture of me jumping up and down on it to squash the stuff up so we could get more in. It was before we had a digital camera and we never got the film developed in time to send the picture in.

Anyway here - by way of excuse for not posting anything for days - is the day I have just had. Not untypical over the last fortnight or so which has been a pretty busy patch and illustrative of the wonderful variety of the Vicar's life.

One of our deanery churches is under the south stand. Huge impact

0700 Revallie
0720 Checked e-mails and sent a reply to someone in the archdeacon of London's office who had responded to a note to him I had sent the previous evening. All to do with the church's response to the development of the Spurs stadium which goes to the Planning Committee on Thursday.
0725 He rang to chat about it.
0800 Start sorting smallest son for school
0815 Breakfast and read a chapter of Biggles and the Rescue Flight to small son.

0840 Walk small son to school, check pigeon hole (I am Chair of Governors)
0855 Arrive back at church move pews back which were cleared to make a space for the Bishop on sunday when he unveiled our new stained glass window.
0905 Morning Prayer
0930 Mass (BCP on a Monday)
1015 Check answering machine and e-mails
1030 Go with curate to church hall to take tables chairs and crockery to the church plant we opened three weeks ago in the old Mission Building unused by us since 1939 for an event tomorrow.
1105 Show curate how new heating system works in Mission building and puzzle with him over storage heaters in his house.

Drains

1130 Home and change clear and rod rainwater gullies outside church and discover that Vicarage main drains are blocked.
1225 Wash and change phone diocese and then contractor to arrange for drains to be cleared
1240 Penitent arrives, hear confession and offer spiritual direction over lunch
1400 Back to school for "Stage Three" meeting about the new build class rooms we still hope will replace the stinking collapsing porta-cabins housing two of the three year two classes under the Primary Capital Programme. Write official response of Governing Body for this stage. Encourage Head Teacher that we are right not to go for a design and build but need a traditional contract.
1540 Meet with Head over school personnel matters
1600 Home and deal with phone messages and e-mails about hall bookings, Spurs and the Winter Night Shelter.
1640 Leave to visit in the hospital and then on to see someone at home.
1815 Home again, greet family back from school and after checking e-mails finish cooking tea which had been started off by my wife.
1840 Eat & wash up
1930 have a stab at some of the paper on the desk including getting a parson's Pocket Book and Diary bagged up to send to a priest in Ghana who asked for one.
2000 Read more Biggles to small son before bed.
2045 Back to desk to deal with post and bits
2200 Another Spurs e-mail: draft e-mails to Members of the Council ready to send tomorrow
2100 Start this post.