Archie in His Element

Most of us in the West of Scotland have had more than enough of rain recently, in fact two months of it almost non-stop. Archie loves it all! The wetter the better! He actually posed on the waterlogged pier at Balloch Park tonight, on the shore of Loch Lomond!

Nine Til Five

Just heard that the local Maternity Unit will now be open only from 9-5, so we are left at the stage that nearly newborns should be aware that they have to be mindful of NHS budgets and appear at an appropriate time of day. You just couldn't make this up!

Child Protection Issues

Would you let your child hold the hand of a man who has just soaked her?

The New Hall Has Been Blessed

I had returned from retreat on Friday hoping that the new Church Hall would be 99% complete, and would be all ready for the Bishop's blessing on Sunday. Eek! There were joiners and all sorts in at 8am on Sunday trying to finish stuff off for 11am and clear enough away into corners so that we could at least get access! The completion date now becomes a mystery as all sorts of little glitches rear their ugly head. Mid September? Maybe!! Anyway, now the holy water has been thrown around, it might all go a little more smoothly, if we can string together two or three days without rain!

Confirmation and Baptism Picture

The Rogues Gallery! Click to make big!

The Shame of It!

It had been a busy old weekend! I really thought it had all gone perfectly, until this morning when I suddenly realised that, whilst blessing a marriage on Saturday afternoon, I had missed Partick Thistle Nil thumping the Real Madrid of the First Division, aka Morton, by five goals to nil! Sometimes life is extremely cruel!

Bishop Idris and the Auggie Marathon

We welcomed Bishop Idris back to St Augustine's today for a confirmation, (seven candidates), the baptism of little Jackie Brown, and the blessing of our new, still to be completed, hall! It was 2.30pm by the time I got home!

Our retired Bishop was given a specially made bottle of the Famous Grouse, but as the RW is a packaging technologist, we managed to get a special bottle called "The Famous Idris". On the back was printed, "Remembered with gratitude as Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church"!

It was a day that few of us will ever forget, and the buffet  after the service disappeared as if a swarm of locusts had come out of the woodwork!

The icing on the cake today was an anonymous donation of £4,000 to pay for the church repairs when the gable end of the tenement next door came crashing through our roof. You may remember that our insurance company refused to pay out at the time. Well the Lord has provided anyway, it seems! We had much to be grateful for as we made our way home.

Coming Back

After a break in Blogging, it's almost time for a comeback! A short discussion at a Cursillo Servant Community meeting today hit the nail on the head for me, and I know I need to get back soon!!

Reading a good article on Richard Holloway today, too, gave me courage to begin again. "I'm just a gobby Scot," Holloway admits. "I engage my mouth before my mind." That is often my problem too, although Holloway, at 75, still has a sharper mind than I've ever had! So, in future, I'll post and save, and then go back to it before I publish. (Advice from GadgetVicar)

I'm off on retreat for a few days beginning on Monday, and hopefully will get back to daily postings, more-or-less, after that.

Can I thank so many of you for your supportive messages and emails of encouragement. I certainly didn't think so many people appreciated what I had to share. I was kind of "gobsmacked" by the reaction to my closing down. Special thanks to a special person, (you know who you are), who gave me the final push today to get "right back in there"!

See you all soon!