We had a Rogation procession after the Eucharist today, staying close to the house rather than beating the bounds. It was almost a howling gale, with the thurible swinging every which way and the holy water blown back in our faces.
And here's the service sheet (pdf, 258kb) for any who are interested.
Between September 2010 and September 2011, I lived alongside an Anglican Benedictine community of monks and nuns. In November 2010, we moved from Broad Marston Manor near Evesham to Mucknell Abbey, a new eco-monastery near Worcester. This blog was about things that I observed and things that interested me. I have now stopped writing it. Thank you to all who were also interested.
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Friday, 20 May 2011
Estate map
Here's a map I just produced for the Guest Wing. The red and green pencil hasn't scanned terribly clearly, but hopefully you can make it out if you click to embiggen. One day perhaps I'll smarten it up.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
A time for...
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Eccles 3:1; NRSV):
- a time to go on holiday, and a time to return to the daily rhythm;
- a time for sunshine, and a time for rain, and hopefully a time for more rain;
- a time for sowing (onions and leaks), a time for planting out (beans and squashes) and a time for harvesting (lettuce);
- a time for building nests, and it seems, sadly, a time for throwing the eggs out of each other's nests;
- a time for being attentive to external things, and a time for being attentive to internal things;
- a time for writing a blog, and a time for refraining from writing a blog... at least writing daily.
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Mayday Mayday
Greetings for May Day, Beltane, the Feast of SS Philip and James (although this year it is transferred), Low Sunday and the 225th anniversary of the opening night of the Marriage of Figaro at the Vienna Burgtheater!!
It is the last day of the Easter Octave, so things will now be reverting to normal, whatever that is. I have been wondering how much our neighbours have got used to our bell, maybe even using it as an aide memoire. If so, they will have been very confused during the last two weeks, what with the different timetables of the Triduum and Easter Sunday and all the day-by-day variations since. I am looking forward to getting back into a rhythm. But first I am having some time away, so there will be a break of about a couple of weeks in the blog. In the meantime, I am hoping that there will be some proper rain, and that I will return to thriving fruit and veg.
It is the last day of the Easter Octave, so things will now be reverting to normal, whatever that is. I have been wondering how much our neighbours have got used to our bell, maybe even using it as an aide memoire. If so, they will have been very confused during the last two weeks, what with the different timetables of the Triduum and Easter Sunday and all the day-by-day variations since. I am looking forward to getting back into a rhythm. But first I am having some time away, so there will be a break of about a couple of weeks in the blog. In the meantime, I am hoping that there will be some proper rain, and that I will return to thriving fruit and veg.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Mangled
At 8am an anguished rusty mangle cried in the distance. Intrigued, I went to my window just in time to catch a couple of geese flying past, but not in time to work out which species.
Today's outing was to the Malverns, walking most of the length from Hollybush to Worcestershire Beacon, and down via St Ann's Well to Great Malvern. Worcestershire Beacon is the highest point, but at only 425m is no mountain. On the other hand, what with all the ups and downs, I reckon we probably climbed the equivalent of a mountain. So now I feel like an anguished rusty mangle! The weather was good: excellent for walking, but the visibility not quite good enough to see Mucknell. The bluebells were stunning above Hollybush, and there is also a good display above Wynds Point. And the broom is out, to rival the oil seed rape for sheer yellowosity.
Today's outing was to the Malverns, walking most of the length from Hollybush to Worcestershire Beacon, and down via St Ann's Well to Great Malvern. Worcestershire Beacon is the highest point, but at only 425m is no mountain. On the other hand, what with all the ups and downs, I reckon we probably climbed the equivalent of a mountain. So now I feel like an anguished rusty mangle! The weather was good: excellent for walking, but the visibility not quite good enough to see Mucknell. The bluebells were stunning above Hollybush, and there is also a good display above Wynds Point. And the broom is out, to rival the oil seed rape for sheer yellowosity.
Friday, 29 April 2011
Royalty
Any republican tendencies were largely buttoned up as we sat around the TV to watch the Royal Wedding. The trees in the aisle were six field maples and two hornbeams, and all the flowers were seasonal and English, a good example of sustainability! However, Landcare Research of New Zealand did some research on the carbon footprint of the wedding, as requested by the Daily Telegraph. Answer, a lot, but much much less than the horrifying figure for the World Cup 2010.
In the afternoon I potted out some Royalty dwarf french beans. I thought it ironic that there should be a Royalty dwarf french bean, but Thomas suggested that Napoleon I would have qualified.
In the afternoon I potted out some Royalty dwarf french beans. I thought it ironic that there should be a Royalty dwarf french bean, but Thomas suggested that Napoleon I would have qualified.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Journeys
Another outing, this time to Alison's parish near Bath. The church has a square labyrinth in floor tiles, laid in the southwest corner in 1985, and based on the original in the Abbey of St Bertin, Saint-Omer, France. This image is of the angel rolling away the stone, one of a series of Stations of the Resurrection around the edges of the church.
We sang Vespers of Easter with Alison's congregation, and they made us very welcome with tea and large quantities of cake. The hawthorns along the M5 are laden with flowers on their southwest branches and are bare on the northeast.
We sang Vespers of Easter with Alison's congregation, and they made us very welcome with tea and large quantities of cake. The hawthorns along the M5 are laden with flowers on their southwest branches and are bare on the northeast.
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