Retirement day 0 (Bank holiday): breakfast out with the Beloved. Rest of morning beribboning hats with a friend. Afternoon dancing out for the first time as a new Morris Side.

My last (half) day of salaried employment today! It would be scary only my lovely colleagues have already booked me for plenty of Associate work.

Ok #cofepeeps surely there is somewhere on the CofE website where you can just click and get Sunday's readings in the translation that will be in the lectionary book in church (NRSVA presumably)?! *Without* downloading an app - I don't have to do this that often.

The weather app says 0% chance of precipitation, but there's lots of wet stuff coming out of the sky! Yay!!

You get what you pay for. @sagaholidays.bsky.social may be expensive but their care and attention to detail is fantastic. Our waiter spotted the Beloved's difficulties with coordination & offered the rack of lamb without the rack. So good to see him eating so well.

25 years!

The Beloved is polishing off 3 course meals daily & walked 60 yards today. I am overwhelmed with joy that we've got to this point after everything he's been through.

Pedants will enjoy this pencil case etc which is going nowhere.

First view of Norway. Cruise ship is great, we're being really spoiled. Yesterday was rough at sea: nearly felt tempted to borrow the Beloved's Zimmer to move round the cabin!

More or less packed so can relax tomorrow. Nervous but excited about first proper holiday in 5 years. But the Beloved is doing well with new walking sticks & with the super light wheelchair we can tackle anything together. Hooray for SAGA who collect us from home so no struggling with luggage.

When it comes up as a suggestion I always choose the (rather obscure) hymn 'Author of life divine' to the (not especially exciting) tune 'Rhosymedre' as it gives me an excuse to play this exquisite Prelude by Vaughan Williams. I'm not a massive VW fan but there are some gems, of which this is one.

Thank you Toby, @abibown.bsky.social & the delegates for making my last salaried event day so enjoyable. Looking forward to flexibility & slower pace of semiretirement but I love my job so joining the illustrious ranks of the Associate team @meimaths.bsky.social alongside voluntary work & more music

This is for Sunday morning. Utterly frivolous but the congregation will love it. Can you identify it?

Pieces. They're called Pieces. They're not Songs unless you sing them. (It's always nice when people wander into church when I'm practising, and she said lovely things. 🙂 But they're Pieces. And no, of course I didn't correct her.)

HUGE thank you to my wonderful colleagues @meimaths.bsky.social for 18 amazing years (including the AMSP years). Not quite finished, but today was my last team meeting. MEI is the best place I've worked. Looking forward to continuing with some Associate work though.

www.facebook.com/share/p/1BdL... Excited about our recital on 9th June, including Mendelssohn's effervescent 2nd Cello Sonata. This is really worth hearing if you can get to Thame for 12.30pm.

Ah! Church! The best place to be on a hot afternoon. An hour in the coolth practising. Not so sure about the cycle up the hill after, but at least that will give me an idea of whether or not cycling into Oxford tomorrow for Evensong is a good idea.

Lovely out in the garden at 7am. Front steps nicely shaded. All weeds removed ready for creating gravel traps and putting some plants in. Already too hot now though.

We're recruiting! My amazing, mad assistant is stepping back so I need someone new to help me take our Praise! project forwards. Looking for someone with a heart for introducing children to choral church music old & new, and sharing our faith. Great opportunity to share your skills & learn new ones.

St Mary's Church, Wheatley, Oxfordshire - Music

Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord! At St Mary’s, singing praises to God is central to our worship. Our music is live and unamplified, but we embrace all musical styles from plainsong t...

stmaryswheatley.org

I'm trying to encourage the Beloved to practise writing every day as part of trying to regain some skills. He is resistant. I suggested writing out a Bible verse might be a nice way to do it. He said John 11.35 (AV of course). 🙄

People are so kind! I asked a friend if he would help me get to a Prom with the Beloved, thinking we'd go by train, and he's offered to get the concert tickets for us and *drive* us into London.

Am I the only person who thought that 'Royal Mail tracked 48' meant it would be delivered within 48 hours (ie 2 days)? I mean, I expect to make allowances for weekends and bank holidays, but what exactly does the 48 mean if it doesn't mean delivery within 2 days?

Connections Puzzle #1060 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟦 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 This was fun today.

Today the Beloved actively helped me cook the dinner, successfully trimming & cutting a pile of green beans. Hallelujah.

Church Choir for busy children! Wheatley, Oxford: Family Choral Evensong term-time Sundays, no weekday rehearsal. From 3.30pm: rehearsal, RSCM Voice for Life training, games & refreshments, service 5.30, end 6.15 Taster Day Sun 3rd May. Book a place for your child now! www.stmaryswheatley.org/music

St Mary's Church, Wheatley, Oxfordshire - Music

Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord! At St Mary’s, singing praises to God is central to our worship. Our music is live and unamplified, but we embrace all musical styles from plainsong t...

stmaryswheatley.org

Very excited that our cello & piano recital is less than a month away. Fantastic programme, brilliant cellist, cake. What more could you want? Mendelssohn's 2nd cello sonata is worth travelling some distance for (rarely performed). 9th May, 4pm, Wheatley, Oxford.

Finally went to look at wheelchairs: ordered one which is about *half* the weight of the current (already lighter than the standard NHS issue). Quite expensive, but nothing like running a 2nd car, which of course we no longer do. Looking forward to not risking putting my back out when we go out. 1/2

The Beloved poured his own tea and paid using his own card. 'I'm all grown up'! Seriously though, this is all progress. And he walked all the way from the car to the restaurant.

OK #cofepeeps. The vicar is ill. We probably won't have clergy for the 6am Vigil Service. How do I, as LLM, manage this? What do I do after the 4 OT readings and psalms? Can I as a lay person do all the Paschal Candle stuff? It appears that we are doing 'pattern A' Vigil... Help!

squareword.org 1522: 5 guesses 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 <6:🟩 <11:🟨 <16:🟧 16+:🟥 #squareword #squareword1522 Only the second time I've done this.

Squareword - Daily Word Puzzle Game

Play Squareword, the free daily word puzzle! Guess 5-letter words to uncover a 5x5 grid where every row and column forms a valid word. New puzzle every day!

squareword.org