I am currently sat in the study, wondering where Sunday afternoon and today have gone to. Way way way too fast for my liking. Work again tomorrow. Hasn't been too bad a day today though, quite enjoyable really. Decided to be quite ruthless with myself, and have started going through a load of my old things, have found bags of things that I wont mind getting rid of, which is quite an accomplishment when I don't have an awful lot, but obviously quite a bit more than I first thought. Books, magazines, old computer games and things, clothes, lotions and potions that I have never started or opened, films I no longer want and music that I have got fed up with, not sure whether to do a car boot, or just take it to a couple of charity shops in Hereford. I think the charity shop idea sounds better.    

I made a blackberry, apple and raspberry crumble for pudding tonight, it started out life as a blackberry and apple crumble, but I remembered some polish raspberry syrup I had bought and so added a couple of tablespoons of that to it, very nice , with hot custard. MLO said he enjoyed it, so did his mum, which was quite surprising. 

Yesterday when I was getting ready for church, I was listening to Radio 3, when the most beautiful piece of music came on, I cant remember the exact title unfortunately, but I think it was called  "When the winds have stopped", and was a man called Gasparyan, on an Armenian instrument called a duduk, with the Bulgarian Orchestra. The most hauntingly beautiful piece of music I have heard for a long time. I tried googling it, but no luck, but did find plenty different music of his, including two albums on Spotify.

Ah, after doing a bit more searching around on youtube, I don't think that it was in fact Gasparyan playing, I think he must just have been mentioned in passing. The title, is "The winds have dropped" and is played here by Lévon Minassian

Other than cooking and sorting, I haven't really done much today. Yesterday, I had work in the morning, and yet again, as on all other recent Sundays,  it was incredibly quiet. I would say, I don't know why we open on a Sunday, but if we didn't, then that would mean me and the other girl, each  taking home over £1000 less per year, an amount that neither of us could really afford to not be paid. So while I wish we didn't have to, I am also rather glad that we do.

It was utterly tipping it down with rain yesterday afternoon, and had to dress up to the nines in wet weather clothing to go to church.  The car park is a little too far away to be able to make a dash for it, and the path also goes through the churchyard, so not only would it feel weird running there, but it is also rather muddy and puddly. When we got into the porch, the benches were covered in an assortment of jackets and umbrellas, even a bicycle, although I don't think anyone was relying on that to keep themselves dry. C arrived while we were shaking ourselves off, with his usual cigarette in hand. Anyway we all went in, there were quite a few more people in there than usual, and where we usually sit, had been reserved by someone by placing a collection bowl and two hymn books on the seat. This left us with a dilemma, having to decide where to sit. Only having had to do this on two previous occasions, once when we first went there, and again at Easter when nearly every seat was taken, we really didn't know where to sit for the best, but opted for the back, behind everyone else. It was another enjoyable service, with great hymns again. I have no idea who picks them, but they are great for a good old sing. We had one that I love, "Come Holy Spirit, our souls inspire" we had one last week sung to the same tune but different. This is the Third time we have had that one since we have been going, so someone else obviously likes it too. When it came to Communion, I wasn't the only one not to go up for a change, so I didn't feel so much of a sore thumb. Thing is though, as each week goes by it gets more difficult somehow, I feel like shouting let me up there for heavens sake, and while I know I can be blessed, it doesn't seem right, not that being blessed feels wrong, but that going up, and kneeling in the line and not receiving, like I am interloping in something so special, between everyone else, and Jesus, not that anyone makes me feel that way, it is just how I feel myself. I just wish I could take Communion. I feel quite sad that I cant yet, and have to wait on the Bishop to have a space in his diary to enable me to  do so. Not that I am having a go at him for being busy, just that it at times seems to me that if a person wants with all their heart and soul to take Communion, then surely that should be enough to enable them to do so, and if done without thought or reason then that is something they will have to sort out between themselves and God.  

Sorry about that, it is just how I am feeling right now, well, also how I feel every time I go to church to be honest, I realise that a great many people will disagree with me, but I wonder how many who do, do so from the privileged position of having been confirmed when they were young, and never having to have sat though Communion and not take part, despite it being their dearest wish to do so and wanting to with all their heart.

I didn't manage to say much to the vicar, as I expected, but that was more due to the fact that there were a lot of people for him to get through saying goodbye to. He did ask us if we were going on Holiday anywhere though, just as I was thinking of mentioning something an old boy who goes there sometimes popped up, impatient to leave as his wife was waiting for him out in the car park, so we left to let him say his good byes. 

Anyway, it is now rather late, and I have work in the morning, so really I should get to bed. So night night. 

Today, I have the rarest of commodities - a Saturday all to myself.  Lucky me eh? My mum, who would usually have the pleasure of my company every other Saturday (the week I am not working), has decided that she wanted to go off for a bit of a mooch round Huddersfield and the local area. MLO is at the football and has been since just after 11 this morning, MLOs mother was also out, first at a coffee morning in Tarrington, then also at the football, helping with the teas, before the match and at half time. I should at this moment mention the team that they support- Hereford United. Rather to MLOs disdain I do not support them myself, much preferring other sports like the Moto GP, and especially Valentino Rossi. Can that man ever ride. 

Back to today, the weather here has been completely and utterly perfect, bright blue sky, lovely and warm, a few fluffy white clouds, and a gorgeous breeze, all of which also made it a perfect day for doing washing. The weather has been quite awful for the last week or so, except Monday when I was out all day, so washing has mounted up, and needed doing desperately. It is  almost all dry and crisp and smelling gorgeous now, with only one lot left to hang out. All I need to worry about now is the ironing, and I really do not like doing that, not one bit!  I may leave that till tomorrow, when I get back from work.

Someone close has just got a barbecue on the go, oooh it smells wonderful, not sure what the smoky smell will add to my washing  outside but never-mind. I wonder if we should have one, last chance for quite a while according to the weather forecast earlier on, tomorrow is going to be atrocious weather wise by all accounts.

All my washing is now dry and lovely, but as yet remains un-ironed. MLO and his mother have now returned from the football, and are busy tucking in to grilled gammon and mash.  Must go and have my shower soon, so my hair is dry ready for work (it takes hours and hours to dry), then to bed.

Will only be going to the evening service at the country church tomorrow, due to working, but it is much better than not being able to go at all. I would get all jittery if I couldn't go. Will try to pluck up the courage to talk to the vicar tomorrow, and see if we can have another chat or not, as I now seem to have far more questions than I did before, although I can't believe that it was four weeks ago, time has flown by.  Problem is, I am not sure how exactly I should phrase what I want to say, without appearing either ungrateful, impatient, or pushy, perhaps I shouldn't say anything at all, and leave it a while longer? I don't know. 

Anyway, must go for now, will probably be back tomorrow after work and church, so TTFN all. 

Right. Here goes my second attempt at last nights disappearing post.

On Monday, MLO and I went to the Royal Welsh Show, near Builth Wells. We started out nice and early, and arrived up there at about quarter to eight, and caught the shuttle bus to the show ground from our car park. Each year several fields are rented from local farmers to act as car parks. This year the view from the park was glorious, although you cant actually see the show-ground from here. Where we were was up on quite a bank, which was great going down but one heck of a slog going back up, and when we went back to our car in the evening there were a few people struggling to get up the hill to the top and their cars, which I thought lacked planning somewhat.

When we arrived at the show, we first stopped to have our breakfast, and went to our usual place, right by the bandstand, and had a coffee, whilst listening to a Welshman singing rousing Welsh tunes. At that point the day seemed to be warming up a little, so we decided to visit the food hall while it was still cool, and most importantly fairly quiet.  There was nothing particularly interesting or different to see in there though, although I did notice that our local vodka distillery had failed to show up. Literally five minutes away from us, in the middle of the Herefordshire countryside, but we have never visited them, or drunk their vodka for that matter, but it is supposedly really rather nice.

Back to the show, we next decided to visit the stock sheds, here, are thousands of animals (sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs) all on show and entered into various competitions for their various individual breeds and across all sheep, cattle etc. The sight of all these animals there on display is amazing, with people having brought them from all across Wales, the borders and farther afield in the hope of a win. Each of the animals there is in its prime, and represent all the best of British breeding and farming, some individual animals there , could be worth in excess of 100,000 guineas, mainly because of their breeding, and the traits and family that they will pass on, most of these animals are used purely for breeding and don't mix with commercial herds or flocks, with the exception of the dairy animals, which are milked two or three times daily along with all the rest of the herd. 

We must have spent about three hours looking round all the stock, MLO saw his cousin who was showing British blue cattle (until a couple of years ago they were called Belgian blues). From there we decided it was time for a nice cup of tea, so visited the National Trust cabin there, with a bit of a tearoom round the side, where a cup of tea or coffee and a piece of various home made cakes only costs £2.50, with all the money going back into the National Trust, so money well spent. Delicious carrot cake too. :-) 

After all that, we decided that a spot of retail therapy was in order and we wandered over to the shopping village, where you can buy anything from mugs, to Barbours, and plants to a brand new tractor. If we had had the money and the inclination to do so, we could have come home with a myriad of utterly useless things. On show in the machinery village, was the debut of the worlds most powerful 4wd tractor, an absolute behemoth of a Massey Ferguson, it was huuuge, but rather nice looking for a tractor.

After that we ended up by the main ring, just in time to see tham judging the shire horses, which were followed by the sheepdog handling, with a champion from England,  Ireland ,Scotland and Wales competing in it, they had to get the dog to take the sheep around a set course with various things that they had to complete, such as getting them through a set of hurdles set in the design of a cross, through a gate, into a holding pen and having to separate, two sheep out of the five, and then one from out of the five, not as easy as it may sound.  After all their efforts, Wales came first, and rather unsurprisingly a huge cheer went up from the grandstand.

The day went quite quickly, but then it always does when you are having fun, and it was soon time to get back home. We left just after six thirty, and called in at a pub just outside Hereford (The Bell at Tillington) for Dinner.They do a mean steak, it was delicious.

On to Tuesday, and most of it was spent at work, so nothing to report there, except for the fact that it was mind numbingly dull and quiet again. Nothing happened, and no-one came in.

Back to Sunday, we went to both the morning and the evening services, the morning one was enjoyable and busy, but the evening on was quieter, being evening worship. We arrived a little late which was quite awkward, and led to a bit of a kerfuffle as everyone budged up to fit us in. The vicar did things a little differently this time, and in addition to the piece of music we listen to , and the hymns, we also sang the psalm. Which was nice. The hymns we sang were quite chanty as well. Very enjoyable all the same though.

Onto today, and my mum came down for the day instead of last Saturday when I was working. I had intended for the three of us to go to Cardiff by train for the day, but it would have cost in excess of £50, a completely unjustifiable amount to me, for an hour by train. So instead we spent the morning in Hereford, we had scrambled egg on toast for breakfast from Cafe at All Saints, then went for a wander round the cathedral. Next stop was White Castle in Monmouthshire, a surprisingly large castle, with  the most amazing moat, incredibly deep and steep sided, and most impressively, it was filled with water. Inside was huge, and despite really not liking heights, I braved the climb to the top of the tower, and was glad I did, as the views were spectacularly beautiful in all directions.  We finished looking round and drove into Abergavveny for a late lunch.

On the way back, we tried to find the church at Garway, but yet again failed miserably. It's there somewhere, I just don't know where. Will try to find again. 

Anyway thats me up to date, may post picture of today, tomorrow as I dont have MLOs phone with me, and I took the pictures on that. My phone is poorly and has been sent to the phone doctor for a diagnosis.

SO, ttfn etc. Bye

After accidentally posting my post too soon (IE before I had finished it), I began to edit. Just when I thought I had finished I went to post, but it didn't, and promptly reverted to the original I had mistakenly posted. Right now I am too tired to bother to re write it all, so I will do it tomorrow. Buggering annoying though.

What can I
  Say about
   The light
Filtering through lime trees
  Sat
   Shelling peas
Till my fingers turned greener than grass.
What can I say
  Of my life
Of cares yet unknown
  Or
 Cared for in one
    Yet ungrown
Into knowing or strife.
How could I know
That the flowers
  Would grow and
   Petals would fall
    In the wind that blew through my soul.
What could I do
If.
If I knew what would come
Would I stop
  Before I'd begun
   Or
    Stare at those trees
    As they blew in the wind
In degrees
  Turning seasons
   Forgiving
   And reasons
Begging for answers
  As ransoms
  For wrongs.
Silent music, as songs
 That were sung
As cheerful as one
  With the knowledge
  That life
  That this life
Was all there was
    And for fun
Would I still sit there
And stare at the light
  That filtered through those trees.
A dappling breeze
 And a scent of a promise
  Through speckles of gold on the ground
    And found
   That it wasn't enough
Would i pick up my axe
And cut down those trees
  Trunk branch limb and leaf
   A blessed relief
  The light must be free
Then
To have cut down those trees
  And discover
  A cloud
  I cant reach
  Beyond my control
  A breach
Of what I understood
Now if I could
I'd put back the trees
Re grow the wood
But I cant.

Hi again :-)
Today has been an enjoyable kind of a day, got quite a bit done at work, and you can actually see where I have been. Have been in an unexpectedly chill kind of a mood today, which has actually been quite nice. What will be will be, etc etc. Still am to be truthful.
Have found a song on spotify that I absolutely adored about 14 years ago, and haven't really heard since, so happy to hear it again, This Summer by Squeeze. This is a song from a long hot and beautiful summer, when I was 19 and life was brilliant and full of everything. I sang and sang this song till I was singing it in my sleep. It was the year I met MLO. It Said everything really. I cant help but feel completely and utterly contented overjoyed and happy when I hear it.

I can remember walking in the fields with the smell of freshly harvested corn on the air, hearing the insects buzz, and climbing up onto stacks of bales and watching the sun go down, running just for the fun of it. Eating lunch out in the fields on a scorching hot afternoon sitting on the bales and drinking cider, you could almost hear the heat bearing down. When we moved the stacks of bales there would always be rats underneath which used to run into the middle until there was only one or two bales left,and when it was moved they would scatter in every direction, the dogs used to love that. Going to the pub riding bikes along country lanes that were deserted (before people "discovered" Herefordshire. James the mad artist, who used to go round with his mate in a n old fiat 500 standing up through the roof with a massive water pistol soaking anyone who he saw, and shouting "I am Mr Seagull, then squawking just like one. He used to come up into the field to paint us, then went off to paint for the Sultan of Brunei. He took the paintings of us with him, so as far as I know, we are gracing the palace walls somewhere. Going for horse rides wherever I felt like, then tearing up the lane at full gallop whooping like a mad thing. MLO coming over the top lane from his farm to me no matter what time of night it was, just so we could see each other.

That was the year that the "Beast of Herefordshire" appeared. It was identified from the witness accounts as a black panther. Lots of the local people and farmers saw it. MLO and I saw it twice, once, one the Ledbury - Hereford road, by a farm called Court y parc and once on the top lane, each time it turned to look at us, so there was never any doubt as to what it was. The police reported it to the Hereford times, when they saw it at the end of MLOs farm drive. It had made some sort of a den in our top field, it had scratched all up the one tree up to higher than we could reach, and there was one heck of a stink. Earlier that year when it first appeared, and I was still working on the neighbouring farm to MLO, I used to walk round the sheep in the morning to check on them and make sure the water troughs were filling up, I did and everything was OK. Less than four hours later and we took some grain over to the sheep, and there right in the center of the field in between the wood and the bank, was a freshly killed carcase, all that was left was the skeleton the head, part of the throat and two back legs. when we looked at it, you would swear it had been stripped clean with a razor, and the throat had obviously been ripped out. Not a very comforting thing to find in the middle of rural England. I am sure I saw it in one of the cornfields ahead of of me one day about June I could see the corn swaying, and I thought one of the dogs had followed me up, so I called and it stopped. Something made me quite scared at that moment so cut across a couple of tramlines to the side and up to the top, and the lane. As I reached the top, I looked back, and saw a glossy black back disappearing down the field. As soon as it was out of sight, I shot out into the lane, and ran the fastest I ever have back to the safety of the farm. Heck I was scared, shaking all over. The beast was seen on and off after that year, and then not heard from again, but the rumour was that a local old boy had knocked it flying when he was driving home one night, and it had staggered off into an orchard, funnily enough, just by where we had seen it the once.
Anyhoo, I have work again tomorrow, despite it being my weekend off, but hey, never mind. As such, it is time I was off to bed, so night night everyone. Sleep tight, mind the bugs don't bite.

As the weathermen promised, it has started to rain. They said it would arrive at about four this afternoon, and, at four this afternoon, just as we were promised, it started to rain. Not a gentle warming up either, it really went for it and started tipping it down almost immediately. For the next two hours it was almost like a monsoon outside, but then as suddenly as it started, it stopped again. It is still dry as I write this (20 past 10), but we have been warned to expect dreadful weather tomorrow. Thunder lightning, high winds and more torrential rain. So long as nowhere gets flooded out, I shall be loving every moment of it.  Although as we have been more or less promised this weather, I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up coming to nothing, it is suspiciously calm and dry outside right now. 

Today at work was as usual, quiet, so no surprises there. Managed to get quite a bit more reading done with all the peace and quiet  -Sometimes my job can be wonderful. 

I watched the new X files movie the other night after I had gone to bed, MLO had bought it in one of the sales in town.  Not a patch on the old series, no depth, and the characters didn't act like themselves, and the plot -what on earth was that all about? Sorry, you can probably tell I was less than impressed. After loving the X files from when I was in school, and the first movie carrying on where the series left off, to be presented with the pile of drivel that is the second movie, I was not impressed. Rant over, but it could have been so very much better. 

Oh well, am off to bed now, and I think I will watch Waking Ned, or Father Ted, not sure which yet. But both side splittingly funny.  Off to bed now, so night night. 

Just another quickie, as it is late, and I really ought to be in bed. Have had quite an enjoyable day today. It was a day off work you see, so that helped. Went to the library earlier on today, turns out the books hadn't even been issued to me, as they didn't show up against my account, I had wondered why they didn't appear on my online account page, but sort of assumed that there was a software glitch somewhere. The woman in the library couldn't thank us enough.
From there, we nipped across the road for a coffee at the cathedral, well, MLO had a coffee and I had a tea. Lovely pot of tea it was too, we treated ourselves at the same time, I had millionaires shortbread and MLO had a delicious toasted teacake. Both were lovely.
Only had an hour in town though so had to leave.
The weather today has been utterly lovely. Wall to wall sunshine and not too hot to enjoy it. Perfect. MLOs mum went to Powis castle today and apparently had a lovely time there. She also had a letter off the hospital saying everything was hunky dory. She had had anemia and got a bit depressed after she convinced herself she had cancer after reading a magazine article, but after the doctors reassuring her she had nothing of the sort and after several tests she finally got the idea out of her head. Now with the letter, they have officially finished with her, she is so relieved, and said seeing it in a letter was a more definitive "You are OK, we don't need to see you again, bye", than just hearing the doctors tell her while she was there.

Have been adding a few things here and there to my blog, including a forum of all things. Whether anyone visits it remains to be seen, but hey it didn't cost anything so will be fun seeing what happens there. 

Have been feeling a bit strange the last few days, almost like I know I should be doing something, but am buggered if I can remember or figure out what it is. I get the feeling that I need to talk to the vicar, but why I think that I don't quite know, will be in church on Sunday though so will try to talk then, if the service is quite quiet anyway, wont get a chance otherwise.

Work again in the morning, so now am off to bed. 

Well what do you think of my new look for the blog? I hoped it would make it look a bit more with it, as the previous design and colour sheme were a little bit brown shall we say, and anyway, I fancied a change. Have been messing around on it and have managed to add a table of contents and am busy setting up a links page. Will play around with it a bit more I think until I am entirely happy with it, but it is nearly there.

The next thing I would really like to add, is an image of some sort along the top, but as there was no provision made for an image in the templates header, other than a small logo, I will have to tinker around with it a bit.

Back to the day to day now. The weather has been very on and off today, one moment bright lovely sunshine, then a couple of seconds later a torrential downpor. We had one yesterday and the wind got up so quickly, and ferocious, I had never seen anything like it. Crazy weather. 

Work started off brilliantly this morning, then at around 11 the customers just stopped coming,could however have been something to do with the weather.

Anyway, just a quick one tonight, will hopefully post again tomorrow, so night night.

Sunday is all but over now.

Started the day at work, as usual it was exceptionally quiet, actually more so than usual, have just realised that a couple of the Sunday regulars failed to turn up. Wonder what happened to them?

The weather this morning was positively dreadful, the wettest kind of rain imaginable, horrible mizzly stuff. Yuk. But as the day wore on , the weather improved until this afternoon and it was doing a passable impression of a summers day.  Couldn't go to the town church's morning service due to work, but we did go to the evening service at the country church, got there a little earlier than we usually do, but oddly enough, so it seemed had everyone else. Must have been something in the air I think. Anyway the service started at the usual time, we were all stood up at the beginning, singing our hearts out to the first hymn, then  the door started rattling, thought at first it may have been the wind, but it did it again. Where we sit in church is right by the entrance, so that when anyone walks in they are literally greeted by us (MLO and I) smiling at them. A moment later and the door opens a few inches, then stops,   intriguing. A few more moments later and a head appears, shortly followed by the rest of a body. K who hands out the hymn books leapt to his feet to hand one out, along with the service booklet. The lady looked around and sat opposite us. Most people turned to see who had interrupted, then got on with singing and K went back to his seat. A minute or so later, and the door started rattling again. This time it opened up and revealed another person wanting to come in. Up K leapt again, to hand out the required bits. The gentleman looked a bit perplexed then went and sat down next to the woman who had previously come in late.

As the service went on, they appeared to be a little uncomfortable, and spent a lot of time discussing something between themselves. When ever we needed to stand, either for hymns or the reading,  this entailed a huge amount of face pulling and discussion. When we got to the peace, they did what we used to do and stayed put in their seats. Roll on towards the end of the service and just as we got to the last hymn, they abruptly stood up, but their books on the table and walked out. Smiled at them as they left, but just got frowned at. Not sure what we had done wrong, or what they had a problem with. Wonder if they will be back next week? Just cant work out why they felt it necessary to leave when it would have all been over  in ten minutes anyway. Never mind. Nowt so queer as folk. 

An enjoyable sermon this week, considerably more light hearted than last Sundays, which was pretty deep. All about us becoming reconciled in Christ, that by fully giving ourselves to Him.  By recognising all our faults and admitting them , and being fully aware of ourselves helps us on our way to achieving that. Quite interesting as I had previously done the little exercise the vicar had given me to do with that, but had also just started to read "The interior Castle" by St Teresa of Avila, and had read a fair bit at work this morning. The main gist of the book, from what I have so far gathered, is that in order to know God and Jesus fully, we must fully know and understand ourselves, to look right inside ourselves, and when we have done that, and in the process of doing so , we can know Him more fully, as she believed that God resides in our souls, and only through a thorough understanding of our soul can we ever hope to have a true knowledge of God. Obviously she went into a lot more detail than that, wrote a whole book on the subject, but I think that is the main gist of it. I thoroughly recommend reading it, as what I have read of it so far, is an engrossing and very enjoyable read indeed. The version I am reading was translated by Mirabai Starr, but as this is the only version I have read, I have no idea whether it is better or worse than any other.  

Quite a while ago, I joined facebook, just for the heck of it, and joined a Phil Rickman group on there, really just expecting it to be the kind of group where an occasional member pops up and posts a message, asking whether there are any other members out there. I was pleasantly surprised when I started to get occasional messages from the group. The most recent I was quite excited about. He is bringing out a new book, "Merrily's Border"  containing photographs of various locations that he writes about in his books, along with a bit of information about the places, he will be launching the book in August at Kinnersley Castle in Herefordshire, a place I have always wanted to visit as it looks so spooky from the road going by. There will be music, performed by Hazey Jane II perhaps even with Lol Robinson making an appearance, and a great excuse to eat drink and be merry. I will be going with MLO as it is only about 15 miles away from here. What amazed me was the number of fans he has from all around the world, although to be fair, I shouldn't be that surprised, as he does write ruddy good books. I still think of him as very much a local writer, being able to picture each place he mentions and knowing some of them extremely well. 

Heck, it is late again, I really must get to bed, have been listening to Aled Jones again, and his voice always makes me sleepy. So off to bed it is for me. So nighty night.

Well hello. (Said in a Leslie Phillips style accent). 

Not sure why I have chosen to blog today, but as I had interesting (by recent standards anyway) things occur today at work, I felt I would make the effort.

This afternoon a German registered Volvo pulled in, and out got a very tall man, who rather unsurprisingly then filled his car up.  A few minutes later he was all done and came in to pay. He had some of the most amazing eyebrows I have ever seen, they started at the inside corner of his eye, and then proceeded up his forehead at a perfectly straight 45 degree angle, made him look like a stern version of Mr Spock -minus the ears. He had a wonderful accent and spoke lovely English, when he paid he had to sign for it rather than use a pin number, he was very very particular about signing it too. When he presented it to me with rather a flourish, I said "Ooh..looks near enough to me" and grinned at him. My attempt at humour managed to completely pass him by, as he pointed at the receipt with his signature on and said " It is all in ze point, you see?" I didn't see and frowned at him a little, and he then went on to explain that in Germany someone had stolen his card and tried to forge his signature, which by all accounts was pretty good, except they forgot to dot the i, and his exceptionally efficient bank picked up on it. "It is all in ze point, you see". Well, now I did see. He laughed about it then and went off with a smile and a wave. I'll not forget him saying that for a while. 

Later on one of our account customers came in with their children who were allowed to choose an ice cream, anyway as they were leaving I said thank you very much to the dad, who said thank you  back, two children went out completely enraptured by the ice cream which they held in their hands, then the third, a boy, only about 5, said so seriously and sweetly "Thank you very much" I could have hugged him,  he was so, so sweet and polite.

Later still and P the old goat came up to visit. His back is still playing him up poor old bugger. However he seems more worried lately that he is going to be visited this next week by a couple of doctors from the local mental health hospital. I think one of his friends may have suggested that he is getting a bit senile, but from what I have seen -although I am certainly no expert, he seems almost all there, no different from MLOs mother who is the same age. But then again I only see him for a short time in the day. He really isn't happy about it, and I think he is quite scared that they will decide he cannot take care of himself, and move him away from the village which is where he is happy, and where all his friends are.  If he had to move, it would do far more damage than good right now, I know that.

Anyway, that is about it for now. Will see what tomorrow has to offer, but first, sleep. So night night.

Thursday again.

I have been blogging less frequently lately, I would say I don't know why, but in fact I do, I simply don't have much to say, tell or talk about. Sad really; but the day to day of everyday life, hardly seems worth the effort to blog.

I suppose I could make up a fantastical alter ego, who lives a particularly exciting and brave kind of life, but that would just be silly, so I wont.

All I seem to do lately, is get up, go to work, come home cook, eat clean and go to bed, I do of course manage to  keep myself spruced up, but it really is that boring. No one interesting comes in at work, and I cant even talk about the television being particularly enthralling, as I never seem to watch it much these days. I have been reading quite a bit, but on the history of Christianity, and there is nothing I could add that hasn't already been said. Not that I am complaining, because I am not, just there isn't much going on right now, thats all.

I could I suppose talk about where God is these days, but it isn't any different from where He was a couple of weeks ago. Ooh,  I did finally finish the little exercise that the vicar gave me last week, and by the time I had finished, somehow, and I really don't know how exactly, I had managed to get down over 12,500 words.     I am one messed up bunny. Either that or I am being overly honest about myself. Whatever it may be, after getting it all down, and reading and re reading through it all, I am sure that I do sort of know myself better, and have realized what a lot of my problems and faults are. So if that was the sole purpose of the whole thing, then I think I have succeeded to some extent. I am not sure whether Mr vicar is interested in whether I have done it or not. He didn't mention it on Sunday after church, or then again maybe he is waiting for me to mention it.  I don't know. Perhaps he gave it me to do, never really expecting me to do it at all, though I hope not, as that doesn't seem very decent.

Well blow me, I did have something to write about after all, but now I am afraid, it most definitely is all, thats your lot as they say. So farewell till next time. K .

Monday already. My day off :-)

Saturday, was my mums turn to come down to Hereford, and rather than wander round the shops in town and spending money, we yet again went on a wander of some of the local churches. Today we visited Much Marcle, Little Marcle and Putley churches. We also went to Woolhope church, but couldn't look around as it was closed.

 The first we visited was Little Marcle, which is a sweet little church on the side of the main Gloucester road. From the side there is a wonderful view across to the Malvern hills in the distance past Ledbury. It is very plain inside, but with a lovely air. I don't think that it is used very often though. Although from what I saw, parking would be something of a problem on the side of the main road. Not the best of places to stop.

Next we went on to go to Putley church. Years ago when I first came to Herefordshire, this was the local church, and was where we all went to the main services for the year, like Easter and Christmas etc. It was so long since I had been here, I had forgotten just how lovely and beautiful it really is inside. Outside is the village pond where witches were supposedly dunked, so I was told anyway. It is surrounded by orchards on 3 sides, and an old farm, and the pond on the other. Inside it is a riot of colour and beauty. It is so long since I had been there. When we arrived there we were sure that we heard someone else inside,  but when we went in there was no-one to be seen, but the floor was still wet on the tiles from being cleaned, and there were dust sheets on the floor. Whoever was doing the cleaning didn't show their face, and we had to creep around the edges trying not to leave footprints on the floor, as it refused to dry. Inside it was clean and spotless, usually when we visit churches the cleaner they seem to be usually reflects the fact that they are used more frequently, although not always. Putley church is used weekly, each Sunday, plus extra services and events too. One that we decided would be extremely interesting to go and see, in a couple of Sundays time, was a choral evensong "Culminating in the beheading of John the Baptist", put quite an interesting image in our heads as to who would be playing John the Baptist, and how realistic the beheading would be! Another service there soon is a blessing of animals, which is a lovely idea, and reminded me of the Vicar of Dibley and an episode where she held a service for animals.. 

The second and third parts are here and here. Very funny.

Back to our day out, the windows at Putley church are also very lovely, and as the interior of the church is quite dark, they seemed to glow. 

My mum spent absolutely ages taking pictures both inside and out, she must have taken at least 200 or more, thank goodness for digital cameras is all I can say, how did we ever manage without them?  I myself took a pile on my mobile phone, some of which I have put up on here, you will have to excuse the quality, but being from a mobile, the quality isn't all that great.

From Putley we travelled the few miles to Much Marcle, infamous as being the birthplace of a certain Mr West. The village however is lovely, with two large houses Hellens and  Homme House, almost opposite each other, with the church inbetween. The other thing that the village of Much Marcle is famous for, locally if not nationally, is its ancient yew tree which sits in the churchyard just outside the porch. (I have put an image of it with my mum sat inside, so you can guage just how big it is from her). An utterly enormous specimen that is believed to be over 1,500 years old. This magnificient tree predates the current church which dates from the 13th C, although there was a church here prior to that, a norman church dating from the 12th C. The only thing remaining is the font which itself dates from the 12th C, and is thought to be a stone copy of an earlier wooden font that was used at that time.

The church itself is certainly imposing, and is one heck of a size for a village church. Outside is also, a large graveyard, and a weather eaten 15thC preaching cross. Inside, the space is enormous, and is filled with all sorts of interesting memorials and monuments. One for a Walter de Helyon dating from the 14th C is carved from oak, and quite rare. Another which is very lovely is for Blanche, the daughter of Roger Mortimer, the 1st Earl of March. The glass in this church is also very lovely with a very interesting window at the top end in a side chapel. I didn't take so many pictures here as at Putley, but to see some more pictures of the church, exterior and exterior click here. (Not ones I took)

Finally, we went to visit Woolhope church but unfortunately it was closed, so we couldn't go in. Mum went for a wander outside while MLO and I watched the cricketers on the green for a while. From there we went for a quick stop at a local pub which had just been renovated, and had a drink and a loo break.  I took a picture of MLO enjoying a pint, and doing a spot of shameless advertising for the local brewery, who make delicious beers. 

We didn't do very much after that, we went into Hereford for a bit of a mooch, but nothing in particular, and mum caught the eight o clock train back to Birmingham.
Onto Sunday, and MLO and I decided to brave it and go to the 10 am service at the town church. We had no idea what it would be like, well actually we thought we did, but our idea turned out quite wide of the mark. We thought it was going to be all arm waving and happy clappy, instead there was a great mix of old and young there, with two modern hymn and two older ones. There were two baptisms during the service, which was lovely. All the while there were children running everywhere, plus a few adults constantly on the wander, manic at times. but as we were sat right by the main entrance and exit that probably had something to do with it. We decided we would be going again in two weeks time when it is my next weekend off, but this time will be sat on the opposite side of the church, where it should be a little less manic. We also went to the evening service, simply because we enjoy going to that one at the country church. He asked us what we thought of the morning service, we said we thought it was a bit manic, and he thought that amusing. Had similar sermons at each service, but the evening one was a lot deeper -if thats the right word for it, and certainly made me think a lot more about what was said than did the morning one. Anyway, must go have a bed that needs to be slept in. So night night.

Here we are again. It is Thursday today. 

For the past few days it has been stinking hot here, so even just doing the simplest of things can make you feel weary. Today, the temperature inside where I work never fell below 27 degrees C , which isn't very comfortable over an 11 hour day I can tell you. I am utterly pooped and bone weary right now, parts of me feel like they don't belong anymore. As such, this will be a short blog, at least that is my intention, because I want to go to bed. So there.

I started the little exercise that the vicar gave me to do, only it has turned into something that is not so little, what appeared to be a short little exercise has turned into a writing project of mammoth proportions. Last night, I decided to get some of it onto computer that I had previously written, and that I would alter it as I went, thing was as I typed and read, more things came into my head, and what I had originally written had almost doubled. I never knew it was possible to have so much stuff stored away and not remember it for years, then suddenly , wham, there is is again, ten or twenty years earlier, all my feelings and thoughts, for a moment I really am back there. I found things that even though I had thought that I had forgotten about them, still had an effect on me, so obviously need to think over those, and why I still seem to be carrying them around. I have also found that mostly, the things which cause me the greatest upset, are things that I have done to other people, not what other people have done to me. Mostly but not all though. For a time last night I began to feel a little wretched with myself when I realised all the times I had hurt someone I was close to, or said something and have only now realised that I never apologised.  It seems at the time  I felt entirely justified in being spiteful, or hurtful,  -not something I wanted to find, but now I have, I need to see why I behaved like it,  if I still do to some extent -which is a very worrying thought, and what I could have done differently,  or can do differently. Also what may had led me to behave like that in the first place.  Had a long conversation with God over it all, then at three in the morning MLO woke up, and had a long talk with him about it, and how I felt. When he listens he is an enormous help. He knows when to talk or to answer or to ask me something, and he also knows when a big hug will do more than anything else. Eventually got to sleep about fourish and up again at half six. But after writing for a few hours, having a think, talking to God and then talking to MLO, I have got a lot out of my system, I know what is left, but I am not ready to think about some things yet, have a lot of wrangling with myself, and conversations with God to do over those

Hope he doesn't want to read it is all I can say (the vicar , that is)  . ( Oh dear that sounds terribly bad doesn't it, I'm not really all that awful, its just a lot to wade through is all I meant).

Anyhoo, am off to bed soon, so night night.