… or has actually arrived – we had our Advent Carol service tonight. I've failed again to put together an Advent calendar but I'll try to post most days in December. I'll probably have to miss the first few days as we're away with no wifi access.
It's been a busy weekend. The Abbeyfield House in Missenden (a home for older people) held it's Christmas Opera Festival on Saturday. A week or so ago we realised that the High Street – and therefore the main access to the Church – was to be closed for the annual Dickensian Evening supported by the local council. I managed to negotiate with the School that we could offer additional access through the playground – provided we patrolled it. So Don and I met at 6:30 well padded against the cold (at least it was dry) and waited to help the audience through. However, the extra signage that the Abbeyfield people had provided seemed to work well and we had no takers! So once we saw that the road was reopened, we packed up and went to our warm homes.
The day had started with opening the Church and helping (watching!) Adey replace some bulbs in the Church. We're gradually changing over to energy saver bulbs although we have a stock of tungsten filament bulbs – I'm not sure what to do with these. Keeping them till they are no longer available and ebaying them at a profit for funds doesn't seem right! We took advantage of the scaffolding to replace some PAR bulbs with long-life ones. They claim 15,000 hours! We'll see (or maybe not)
This morning, I set up the projector and screen in Church only to be told 10 minutes before the service that it wasn't needed! We also had no-shows or late shows from a number of volunteers this morning. I think it's a symptom or the unstructured life everyone seems to lead these days. I'm not sure how to fix this: text reminders, asking people who swap to tell us are possibilities but it's all more work. I have before now identified the replacement lesson reader at Evensong by spotting someone who was poring over the bible before the start of the service.
The Little Hampden matins went well although was quieter than usual. Graeme played the new organ – including a lovely piece of Bach after the service. This evening's Advent Carol service was lovely, too, with Tricia and Carolyn leading quietly giving us time to contemplate. We had a slight disconnection at the end when the clergy left in one direction and the choir the other. But I don't think anyone minded. The mulled wine and mince pies – rather 11th hour – went down very well although I did manage to break a glass when helping Helen in the kitchen. Not enough damage, I think, to be banned in future!
So a busy but not particularly eventful weekend.
It's been a busy weekend. The Abbeyfield House in Missenden (a home for older people) held it's Christmas Opera Festival on Saturday. A week or so ago we realised that the High Street – and therefore the main access to the Church – was to be closed for the annual Dickensian Evening supported by the local council. I managed to negotiate with the School that we could offer additional access through the playground – provided we patrolled it. So Don and I met at 6:30 well padded against the cold (at least it was dry) and waited to help the audience through. However, the extra signage that the Abbeyfield people had provided seemed to work well and we had no takers! So once we saw that the road was reopened, we packed up and went to our warm homes.
The day had started with opening the Church and helping (watching!) Adey replace some bulbs in the Church. We're gradually changing over to energy saver bulbs although we have a stock of tungsten filament bulbs – I'm not sure what to do with these. Keeping them till they are no longer available and ebaying them at a profit for funds doesn't seem right! We took advantage of the scaffolding to replace some PAR bulbs with long-life ones. They claim 15,000 hours! We'll see (or maybe not)
This morning, I set up the projector and screen in Church only to be told 10 minutes before the service that it wasn't needed! We also had no-shows or late shows from a number of volunteers this morning. I think it's a symptom or the unstructured life everyone seems to lead these days. I'm not sure how to fix this: text reminders, asking people who swap to tell us are possibilities but it's all more work. I have before now identified the replacement lesson reader at Evensong by spotting someone who was poring over the bible before the start of the service.
The Little Hampden matins went well although was quieter than usual. Graeme played the new organ – including a lovely piece of Bach after the service. This evening's Advent Carol service was lovely, too, with Tricia and Carolyn leading quietly giving us time to contemplate. We had a slight disconnection at the end when the clergy left in one direction and the choir the other. But I don't think anyone minded. The mulled wine and mince pies – rather 11th hour – went down very well although I did manage to break a glass when helping Helen in the kitchen. Not enough damage, I think, to be banned in future!
So a busy but not particularly eventful weekend.
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