Holiday Company goes bust

Is it going to turn into a holiday nightmare - or another Sinclair / Dickenson adventure?This is us in Turkey last year - going for a repeat this year - we thought.

I love my holiday being planned way ahead. This years trip to Turkey was planned last summer. All going great until Aegean Flights went bust on Wednesday. We tried to book another and found some a little more expensive on the Internet but when it came to actually booking them they were 4 times the normal price. Someone taking advantage of peoples holiday misery and desperation. Well we were not falling for that. We have a cunning plan. We are now flying to the Greek Island Cos - staying there overnight and then taking the ferry to Turkey the next day. We cant book the ferry in advance so it's still all very exciting!

This is our seat

We want to be in our usual hotel, in fact our usual seats by the pool and now it looks like we will make it. Not sure how we will get home yet, but, hey! let's worry about that after a few days in the baking sunshine...

This is our table - Not that we are in any kind of rut you understand!

Wedding Day

I have escaped into my office to stay calm and focus on the "Father of the Bride" speech. Today is the day our only daughter ties the knot. Roz is marrying Andrew later today and we are all excited. I thought you might like to see my wedding shoes - they will go great with the formal suit! I love em!

You couldn't make it up

Farewell to Aunt Connie

I have just spent a great few days with my family from America. Cousin Barbara and her daughter Susan stayed with us in the vicarage. Barbara, never stopped talking which was most impressive! Cousin Tony, his wife Monica and children Aaron and Noel stayed in a nearby hotel and we saw them quite a bit. My children really loved getting to know their relatives and would love to visit them. It was fantastic for us to be together, there really is something special about families getting together, especially after a long time. The sad part was that Aunt Connie had died in the USA just a week before the planned visit. We flew her over and had a fitting funeral in Saltwell Cemetery, a place she loved. The casket was very impressive as you can see.

RIP Aunt Connie.

John & Leanne's new home

John & Leanne have got the keys to their new home. Its all very exciting. I have been trying to fit in snippets of time to help with some of the decorating. I have done a little bit, but more than Gill who is in full flow in the photo below. The interesting things so far are:

I have replaced two light fittings and managed to disconnect three other lights in the process. I was then praised when I fixed them!

I was able to lift two planters in the garden that John could not manage - who's the daddy!!

I found a frog in the garden - see photo. It's the first photo!

Tonight I plan to relay an existing carpet and fit a new one.

Apple are number 1 in my 5 a day

On Sunday I was at a conference and could not resist the chocolate eggs scattered on the buffet table. I carefully put several in my pocket for later and forgot all about them. I was shocked later to find my iphone covered in melted chocolate - what had i done. I wiped it and liked it as clean as I could but alas some of the chocolate was inside the charging slot. The phone kept telling me that the appliance I was plugging into the phone was not compatible with the iphone.

It was not clever enough to work out it was chocolate!

The mike no longer worked - very sad news. I was making calls and no one could hear me. I rang apple and confessed all. I said I thought heating up the phone might help.

They said no - don't do that - poke it with a pin instead. Much poking later and still no joy. Back on the phone to apple. They made me an appointment in the Newcastle Apple store that same day. I was then presented with a new phone - even though the old one was out of warranty. How good is that for service? So I love apple - a great product and a great service.

Just don't mix it with melted chocolate!

Family Update

I know that I have been rubbish at keeping the blog and the tweets up to date, but, hey who reads them anyway. Anyway, the official photos of John & Leanne's wedding have come through. Also Roz and Andrew are engaged. Roz is pictured here as bridesmaid. Andrew is our church organist. Wedding planned for April 2011 - We are all really looking forward to it. Back soon. XX

I used to be thin

I have been sorting through some old photos and realizing the benifit of turning them digital. Look how young I used to be. The top photo is my cousin Doris and her mam, auntie Ella in the middle and Ella's sister, Auntie Dot on the right. Ella and Dot are no longer with us. Its me and Roz in the centre photo and the bottom one is Gill's Mam and Dad with Roz and me. I'll scan some more and put any interesting ones on the blog. Time to go and cook breakfast now, I have some of the clergy chapter coming round.

Oh! it rained

Gill and I had a few friends around for BBQ at the weekend. It rained a lot and the garden was muddy but we had a good time. It was 3.00am when I got to bed after playing articulate with the young people. I did some hot dogs over an open fire on the homemade BBQ which was impressive to look at as you can see, and all the dogs were eaten, so success was claimed.

The bit with all the flames was the BBQ bit being lit, the more subdued section was the wood fire for the hot dogs. I built the whole thing myself, so I hope you are impressed.

This was Sunday morning in church. As you can see one parishioner thinks my sermon will be one mint long while the second thinks it will be two mints long. The third parishioner has put the whole bag on the pew, they must be expecting a marathon! Can you tell who it is by the skirt and sandal?

Dear Deer

Back from a few days in the Highlands. Great to be back and drying off a bit. This photo is on the edge of Rannock Moor very remote and isolated. Just the way we like it.

When we weren't out exploring we were drying off in our lovely room. Once we dried out we got wet again in the 4 poster bath. Yes, a 4 poster bath. What will they think of next to keep the English wet in Scotland?

Big enough for all the family - and a jacuzzi

Come and play the chopping game

I have been lucky enough to have some logs delivered to the vicarage following some tree felling the the churchyard. It's good because come the cold autumn and winter nights it will provide free fuel and smell good as it burns. The bad news is that it requires splitting into burnable size bits and it's hard work. I have been setting it up as a bit of a game among the family. The boys are keen to show who can split the logs with the least number of blows, but even my wife and daughter are getting in on the act. The trouble is they have cottoned on to the fact that I am using them to chop the wood and so I now need more volunteers to come and join the fun. Let me know when you would like to try your arm! Daughter Roz showing a natural ability to split a log in one go.

Wife Gill, showing a natural ability not to split a log in one go!!

This is a tattoo Roz is sporting on the small of her back. I think it looks very good, if somewhat resembling a dapper French gentleman!

This is one of the dinosaurs Grace and me saw at the new Handcock last week. Gggrrrrr!

Dinosaur Bones

The eight chickens who share our life at the vicarage are a real friendly bunch. They love it when Grace lets them roam free in the garden. They have never come face to face with Archie, the bull terrier, which gives them a very relaxed and laid back outlook on life. They are happy to be stroked and chased by Grace and will readily eat from her hand. They lay eggs on a regular basis and all in all have a good life.

Gill feeds them and gives them clean water every morning before she leaves for school just after 7.30am. I am thinking of taking on this duty as her school is due to be inspected next week and she is working even more than usual. (Which is a lot!) On Friday me and John took ourselves off to Grasemere and spent a few days walking in the lakes which was very relaxing, if somewhat exhausting with the heat and heavy rucksacks. I have decided that carrying big packs and walking long distances or climbing steep hills should not be done simultaneously, so lets see how long I manage to stick to my new resolution.
I think I need to spend more time with Gill and Grace and the chickens once OFSTEAD is over and I have returned from working in Lincoln (on mission) which I am doing a few days next week.

Today Gill has heard she has finished paying back her student loan! which is good news, if a bit disturbing as she has been teaching for over 10 years! I think we are planning to go out and celebrate but we can't discuss it until after the inspection. Tomorrow I am planning to take Grace to the new Hancock museum, as she tells me she wants to see dinosaur bones! I hope they have got some.

Newcastle didn't win as I predicted, so I hope I have better luck with my plan to spend a little less time working and a little more with the family. I have certainly managed it this week.

Neglected Blog

I have been diverted with far too much work recently to sit and let my mind wander into the reality of blog land but here I am. Since the last blog we have had Holy Week and Easter. The Sunrise service took me by surprise with 20 people turning up to worship before 6.00am. As promised the sun came up and made the service live up to it's name. Then we had more Easter Services and a wedding. Gill and I had a few days in London visiting the zoo and seeing Les miserables for the umpteenth time. It never lets you down. Then last weekend was Gill's 50th Birthday, and my big mistake was planning to go on a Cursillo weekend which overlapped with the special birthday. If you want to read more about my repentance then read the clergy comment in the parish magazine - also on the Newburn Parish Website. Below are some of my fellow Cursillo'ists. It was staffed by 18 people and six of us were participants, so as you can imagine there was plenty of leaders to go around. The idea is to be on a journey or pilgrimage, discovering more of who you are for yourself and for God and becoming more effective in loving others. The 18 leaders loved us a lot over the weekend which was fascinating. At a ratio of three to one you will begin to realise how much love we had coming our way.

The man in the front right of the photo is Father Allan from a neighbouring parish who I asked to go with me for company (and protection!). As you can see he is delighted to have his photo taken. The weekend features butterflies and rainbows and on the last day cockerels, oh and lots and lots of letters, called palanka, which fills your suitcase with love to take home with you. I think it will take me a while to open all mine as I have so much and there certainly was not time at the event to open it all. The photo below is Tracy. Tracy was great, she spoke in a real and honest way about her life and her Christian journey. The course would have been a lot worse without her. And she looked and talked just like Victoria Wood and she had a great sense of humour.

This last photo is the Birthday Cake. I think giving Gill a cake with a photo of me on it saved the day. It's great to be back to normality, and my wife as we get on with being old together.

Just me and Archie

There is something special about people when they can see you are going through a hard time. These past few weeks have taken their toll on life in our family, yet at the same time it has been heartwarming to experience the care and concern of many around us. All the work that didn't get done during David's illness is still waiting and would imagine it will wait a while yet. Today I have bought an inner tube for my pushbike and tomorrow I might find time to fit it and then even ride it. One of the great things about being the Vicar of Newburn is the easy bike riding up and down the river. Gill has gone back to work today so it has just been me and Archie in the vicarage (see above). He likes running alongside my bike so maybe we will both benefit from the bike being fixed and back on the road. This coming Sunday is Parish Communion with Archdeacon Geoff preaching so no sermon preparation for me this week. Yesterday was Mothering Sunday and Margaret stepped in for me which really was excellent. Yesterday was the first day I have not felt totally exhausted for ages.

Sad News

David Died in hospital on Friday morning. It was only 7 weeks since he went to see his GP because of his lingering 'cold'. David was 43 and brought a lot a happiness to a lot of people. His funeral is this coming Friday.

Getting ready for 2012

This last week saw David diagnosed with Lung Cancer. The exact type is not known but we are told whatever it is bad. David is in good spirits but is in a lot of pain and spends his time lying on his bed. Last night we were in Hexham General hospital with further distressing symptoms. We got home around 2.20am and David seemed to be less distressed. Even though David is gravely ill and struggles to speak because of his paralysed voice box (another symptom) he finds time to sing during the times when his painkiller is working at it's best. He is taking a cocktail of drugs which has me confused never mind him. What we need at this time is some stability and pattern of living which is not leaping from crisis to crisis. Prayers would be appreciated. On a happier note David's daughter is pregnant and having a good early pregnancy. Laura and Lee seem happy in their expectant state and are looking forward to the baby coming along. I even think they have picked names. I'll keep you posted. The photographs of roadworks are the early stages of London being transformed for the 2012 Olympics which I took on Thursday when I was visiting the capital. This bit is to be a cycle track to help people get around. I am sure it will all be ready on time. But I always was a bit of an optimist!

Hospital Visiting

This past week I have covered over 300 miles transferring my brother David from one hospital to another. We have been in Wansbeck General Hospital, Hexham General Hospital and North Tyneside Hospital. David is struggling with his breathing and has undergone procedures to remove large amounts of fluid from his chest cavity, he has had CT scans, X rays, bronchoscopy and yesterday a CT guided biopsy. One one of my visits I took along my mother who made him some nice soft egg sandwiches. As you can see from the photo she also thought she should check they were OK for consumption. By the time they were given the all clear, they were gone! David could see I was photographing the events with my phone and agreed to me putting them on the Internet. As did my Mother, but she does not really know what the Internet is! We do not have a diagnosis yet, but I can see he is in a bad way. Prayers would be appreciated (for David) as would egg sandwiches (for my Mother).

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Amazing that everything comes to a standstill with a little snow. Not a single bus running in London - unbelievable! It does make everything look nice. Photos from walking the dog earlier today, he did enjoy blending into the background. The visit from a group of engineers has been cancelled and schools are sending children home early. It would be a nice feeling being snowed in I think, as long as I had enough wood for the fire and food to eat. I can't imagine how much that would need to be but a lot more than we have at the moment. I was sliding about a bit getting up our drive, but made it eventually. I think tomorrow with the space from the absent engineers I will catch up on the admin stuff that gets neglected in the busyness. I'll let you know how I get on. Keep safe and keep warm!

138 / 80

Now that I am living life a bit quicker my blood pressure is getting back to normal. Taking sabbatical leave sent it soaring, anyway today is good news. I live to fight another day. I spent yesterday looking after Grace which was a delight. What was less delightful was taking my brother to hospital with more breathing difficulties. Grace and I managed to entertain ourselves by playing on the hospital floor. I hope is was clean!

Nice photo of Gill and Grace

It was snowing in the night so everywhere around has a sprinkling of white which makes the place look lovely. Archie was pleased to be back in the vicarage after his early morning walk in the snow while it was still dark. No one turned up for Morning Prayer this morning which means I was able to enjoy a few moments alone in St Mary's which I really enjoy. There is something special about being in a holy place alone with God. I like noise and hustle and bustle as well but quiet now and again is good. I am about to take Dan to hospital to see if his arm is mending as it should. If not he will need an operation to put pins and wires in place. Gill is back to school today so it will be good to get back into a normal routine of working undisturbed. I like it when she is around, but I also like it when she is out most of the day. It must be strange once a couple retire unless they find things to do. That is a long way off for me and Gill but I am sure the next 15 years will fly by. I can hear Daniel getting ready so it's off the hospital for another x-ray.