Removers are here

The removal firm's staff have arrived this morning and are busily packing. Tommorrow the first load is delivered and unpacked and wednesday the second (and final) load.
Driving up to Hanley Broadheath this morning (taking some mucky stuff the removers would rather not have in their van) the mist was hanging in the valley bottoms with beautiful views.

Gardening

One of the issues that one of the neighbours have had is that there used to be a row of tall cupressus trees that screened them from the rectory. That meant people could visit the rectory without the neighbours knowing and gave a degree of privacy to people who wanted to consult  the vicar. The bottom branches of the trees have largely been taken out and now the neighbours can see who is coming and going. In a small village they feel that's information they don't need.

So on Sunday (after an 8.00 communion service) we were planting shrubs between the cupressus and the neighbours (it's a big garden with plenty of room) that will grow into a bit of a screen. In the photo lined up and ready to plant they look quite impressive, but planted they're going to need to grow a bit!  There's an interesting lot of fungi growing. Anyone recognise this?

Inside the house work is till racing ahead. Today the builder said that the work inside should be about finished by the end of this week, other than fitting a kitchen and bathroom. 

Foxy Lady

That's the name of one of the beers brewed and sold at The Fox, one of the two pubs within walking distance of Hanley Rectory (actually the only two pubs in the whole of the six villages that make up the Teme Valley South group!). And very pleasant the beer is too.
We went there to eat yesterday evening after spending the latter part of the afternoon & early part of the evening gardening. We managed to liberate an acer which had become almost entirely overgrown. The work on the inside of the house is gathering pace. After a slow start the builders are now cracking on and have promised to pull the stops out to have it done by the date they originally promised.
Thursday morning I had a useful meeting with churchwardens sorting out details of the licensing service and what's happening in November and December.


        

Anyone know what this is?

It's growing in the Rectory garden in a mass of different plants. It looks as though it's been cultivated (?edible?) and I don't want chop it out if it's something interesting.
 

What goes round comes round

The service to licence me as Priest in Charge is Sunday 7th November. I thought that as it's bonfire weekend we could follow the service with a bonfire celebration. I imagined that I was coming up with an innovative idea - something new and different.
However I've recently got hold of some old copies of the Parish Magazine and to my suprise I see that when, after restoration work, Hanley Childe Church was reopened in November 2000 the service was accompanied by a bonfire party!

I should have remembered the words of Ecclesiastes
Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.

And perhaps that's a good way of understanding church ministry - looking to see what has already been done, what has worked in the past and what can be tweaked to work in the future. I think there's somethjing about rediscovering what has served the church in its 2000 year history and looking to see what will work in the future.

They've made a start

Not a very big start, but at least they've started work on the rectory. Hopefully they'll now crack on with the  work.

First of our possesions makes the move.

Yesterday we moved the first of our possesions up the hill to Hanley Broadheath.  And it was  - a compost container!   We spent the afternoon in the garden. The diocese have got someone to do some of the gardening work, but we reckoned it needed a bit extra. So here's the composter, full of grass cuttings. I know that grass on its own doesn't make good compost, but it seemed as good a thing to do with the clippings as anything.


The builders are supposed to be starting on the repair work any day now. We're getting carpets ordered and removal firms are coming today and tomorrow to give us some prices for the move. There's one less composter for them to take!