We walked out of the F.T. To a blast of 0 degrees, very welcome after the 30 in KLA and the stale wheezings of the hundreds of passengers on board.
First sights of England
As we left the car park in our hired Skoda, daffodils greeted us on the verges. Sun and clear skies made the frost sparkle and our hopes that the last of the snow in spring may have passed. The trees and paddocks look just like a NZ-Canterbury winter - deep frost, steaming beasts, skeletal trees and long scraggly grass.
David and Lady Lulu greeted us at the door of the Vicarage showed us to our room and made a steaming cup of tea.
MUST NOT go to sleep!
Messy Church at St Johns
After the little ones had marbled eggs, sculpted chalices, made choc shredded wheat nests for tiny easier eggs and competed in egg and spoon races down the centre aisle of the church through obstacles set up, Father D gave out prizes at little talk for the mums and dads. He then took the kids on a 4 min tour of the beautifully carved stations of the cross around the walls of the church. His Bishop was so impressed with this efficiency that he tweeted his congratulations.
Messy church reminded me strongly of the VBS and Stormco programmes - having local community come in every week to build connections with young families is a great idea. They also put a meal on for everyone who comes. Tables were set around the perimeter and chicken korma with a veggie sweet n sour, rice and pampadoms were served. Families sat down together, mums and dads with kids by themselves chatted with others while they ate and the next day quite a few turned up for Mass. Father Dave is dreaming of a full Sunday school and a full Church in the near future.
The Grand National
Back at the vicarage R announced that it was time to pick our horse for the longest steeple chase in the racing calendar. M looked up the 40 names and we picked according to how we liked the sound of the name, R was a little more knowledgeable and placed out 10 pound bets when we were ready. M's horse started but we never saw its leery green and orange striped colours with the blue hat - so it must have unseated the jockey. D's two horses were in the leading pack but didn't get placed and one of R's horses came fifth.
Now I can't say that I never win anything because darling 11yr old Australis Encore ran first after patiently sitting around 6th for most of the race and running side by side with a couple of horses free of their riders who cunningly went around the obstacles without the reins pulling towards the jumps. Nothing distracted the blue and yellow striped jockey as we all cheered for him to win - which he did with a convincing lead from anything with a human on its back. Wow - at 1 to 66, I had just won 432 pounds! Just shows that a win at the races is just dumb luck for the punters.
We went out for tea to an Italian place where R predicted that M and D would both have chicken Kiev - which they did. Not very Italian. R's pizza was great as were the deep fried zucchini we had for starters.
Sunday Mass
Father D was happy to receive the tithe in the offering plate the next day and R whispered loudly about its origins as he passed the plate! F.D lead a beautiful Mass with his baritone filling the arched stone. Thankfully M had been before and guided me through the ups and downs of responses, hymns and readings so I didn't make a fool of myself upping and downing at the wrong moment. The organist was brilliant and I was lucky to have an excellent tenor sitting beside me who knew all the tunes and funny little timings of the heavily chant influenced songs. I knew the last tune but the words were to the Queen of heaven which threw me a little. The last hymn though was achingly beautiful with poetry for words, D said that it was a French tune. I will try and source the music - it wouldn't sound out of place in a service at Castle hill.
The Shops
I hadn't been to the Harlequin Centre(Watford's big mall now Into Watford?!) in 15 years and was struck by how rundown it was. M bought a few things at Marks and Spenser's, I looked at raincoats but the ones they had increased my matronly leanings and that must be avoided at all costs so presently I will be wet rather than dumpy. Hopefully the clear weather will continue until I find a solution. No doubt the coffee and almond croissant I had a Neros cafe rules out the weight loss option!
Sainsburys supermarket was set out just like Coles so we felt quite at home as we picked up some things for lunch. Even with the exchange rate taken into consideration the prices are significantly cheaper here at the moment.
We left Watford around 2:30 to let R and D pack in peace. They are off to the antipodes now but have offered their house as a half way stop between Cambridge and London. Lady Lulu was delivered to the care of a parishioner, D's eyes were quite sparkly on his return. We headed out to Cambridge through a maze of A and M roads hoping to see a little of the town before nightfall.
No comments:
Post a Comment