Brief Hiatus & Rustat

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Apologies to my faithful readers for the brief hiatus. There was enough arsenal for blogging but I just didn’t have the physical energy. I sincerely hope that this disappearing act will not become a habit!

As I lay in my bed of affliction, I had an idea. Eagle eyed readers would already have noticed it. I have made a slight change to my blog name. I have added the word “secret” for after all , it is a secret blog but I am terribly sorry to disappoint that there will be no change to the blog itself.

Now to Rustat, regular readers will remember me writing about the court case concerning his memorial in Jesus College Cambridge. The good news is that the consistary court of the Diocese of Ely has refused to grant permission for the removal of the memorial.

The embarrassing news is that the judge needed to remind all who were against it including the ABC that Jesus Christ forgave Tobias Rustat and that Jesus College should do the same! Looks like the judge knows his bible better than the ABC!

From Nuisance to Devil

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Warning: If you are a retired clergy, please look away NOW!

There has been a lot of hoo-ha over the last ten days over the imminent retirement of the Dean of Canterbury. Several letters in the Telegraph. He will turn 75 on the day of his retirement.

His “fan club” is upset because this means an end to the morning prayer he conducts online. I have never watched them and didn’t know they existed.

As the Mhinisteir and I were discussing this over dinner, we moved to a slightly contentious subject of retired clergy. Some clergy go into complete retirement while others obtain something called the PTO (permission to officiate) from their respective Bishops. In my observation, these retired clergy with PTOs can become a real nuisance. I know of many instances where they have been very very naughty causing the incumbent grieve! One of the ways they try to do this is by undermining the incumbent.

Awful Sunday

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For the first time in many years, I missed church. In my book, missing church is an unpardonable sin (only applicable to me) but on Sunday past I was beyond caring🤣. I have never felt this way before but I was very very cold and every single bone in my body was aching. I didn’t have a fever, cough or a cold. No Covid.

The Mhinisteir had to rush to his services so I was left on my own; not even an offer of a cup of tea! After a few minutes of self pity, I decided to drag myself out of bed and had a hot bath followed by a nice hot bowl of porridge.

I spent most of Sunday and the next few days in bed; going to sleep just after 9pm and waking up only at 8am the next morning! Very unusual for me as I rarely have a good night’s sleep.

I wasn’t even up to blogging but thankfully I had two blog posts scheduled!

I am feeling much better now but the 9pm bedtime is staying.

Convalescence

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I recently came across the word “convalescence” and an article relating to it. I know what the word means and used to be part of my vocabulary in my younger days but these days I rarely use this word.

The article was written by a GP in Edinburgh who was bemoaning the loss of convalescent hospitals in general. He was really trying to educate his readers about the importance of convalescence.

I am big on convalescence only because my mother and grandmothers were great advocates.

Sadly, in this modern world, human beings have become too busy to convalescence. I know of a young mother who went back to work a few days after giving birth! I am reliably informed that in some parts of Asia, they have something called the confinement period where the new mother is treated like royalty and is pampered with her favourite food and body massages!

Free Range Eggs No More…

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Did you know that free range eggs are no longer available in the UK ? I didn’t. According to an article on the BBC website, the UK is experiencing its largest ever outbreak of avian flu and so hens are no longer able to roam around freely and have to be kept in doors. They will instead be labelled as barn eggs.

Am I the only one to have just read about the severity of the avian flu? I have been diligently listening to the news and reading the papers but I don’t seem to have seen/heard this anywhere.

Fragile | Handle with Care

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Early morning phone calls to the vicarage rarely bring good news. This one that came a few weeks ago was no different; there was an unnatural death in one of the parishes. Out of respect for the deceased and their family, I will refrain from saying anymore.

However, I was irked by something I heard on my way out of church that Sunday. Those living in rural areas will know that even the tiniest piece of information spreads like wildfire so it would come as no surprise that by the time that Sunday came, almost all the parishes knew about it.

I wasn’t part of the conversation but this is how it went ” I don’t understand people these days. Life is tough. You just got to deal with it”!

I was incensed for a few reasons. This came out of the mouth of someone whom I am fond off. Someone who has known grief and pain. More importantly, this was immediately after the service when we should all have a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

I was greatly saddened and still am.

Light humour in the midst of uncertainty

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The latest Private Eye has arrived and below are two of the extremely ridiculous answers that appeared in the Dumb Britain column.

Tipping Point, ITV

Ben Shephard: Which English city is the word “Rodfox” an anagram of?

Contestant: London.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

The Chase, ITV

Bradley Walsh: Which British prime minister’s wife gave birth in 2010?

Contestant: Winston Churchill

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Source: Private Eye Issue 1569, Dumb Britain, Page 18

Heating Oil Blues

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The heating oil for the vicarage that was due on Monday failed to arrive as scheduled. The reason given was that the driver was struggling to drive up the little lane that leads up to the vicarage. I was baffled because they have never had any trouble before. Unfortunately, it sounded like a lame excuse.

The heating oil company has decided to take its own sweet time and rearranged delivery sometime today. The Mhinisteir did phone them but they wouldn’t budge. In the meantime, the oil tank has almost run out of oil; forcing us to turn off our heating! As you can imagine, I am not a happy bunny; I don’t like to be cold.

This is no fault of our own because the Mhinisteir had ordered the oil well in advance and had even paid a little bit more to ensure that the oil will be delivered on time.

With the way the price of oil is, it appears that we the consumers have become a pawn to suppliers.

I am not someone who crosses my fingers instead I have put in a slip in my prayer jar.😁

In it for the long run

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For the last few days, the big story in the UK is the government’s “homes for Ukraine” scheme where individuals are given the opportunity to offer a room (or more) to those fleeing the war. The government is offering anyone willing to help a small grant of £350 per month.

It is wonderful to know that many people have signed up. However, we must also be true to ourselves to admit that there will be a tiny minority who will see this as an excellent instagram worthy opportunity; where there is freedom, there will be abuse.

I sincerely hope that the people who have come forward to help know what is involved.

Firstly, these folk are no ordinary lodgers. They have only recently escaped war and will be traumatised. Some more so than others. Just from reading different newspaper articles, I gather that some of them are well educated and have lived comfortable lives so life as a new refugee might be very difficult for them to accept and adapt. Lastly and most importantly, this is a long term commitment.

Double Shock

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Since the pandemic, I have started asking my hairdresser to book me and the Mhinisteir in for appointments six months at a time. I find that it makes managing diaries so much easier especially the Mhinisteir’s; it is almost impossible to find an empty slot whereas mine is very empty!

I was really looking forward to my haircut at the end of February as I was wanting a slightly different cut but was extremely shocked when the hairdresser turned up. She had no mask on!

Unlike the Mhinisteir, I was totally unprepared for the situation. She is a very good hairdresser and a lovely person but I was disappointed that she didn’t bother checking if it was acceptable with us for her to be unmasked.

I had another shock when I went to a mid week holy communion service and non of them had masks on! They were all female OAPs.

After the service, they were all saying how horrible it is to witness the war and how much they want to help. The irony is that the war against Covid19 is still on. All that is asked of us is to be considerate. I would like to think that keeping our masks on is a lot easier than taking up arms. As it says in the bible “Love thy neighbour”.