shotleyfieldsforever

Another blast from the past last night. Booker T. An amazing concert with cover material from Bob Dylan, Prince and Jimi Hendrix plus of course, Booker T and the MG's. Booker's band consisted of his son on lead guitar, a young and incredibly talented drummer who were accompanied by a Bass Guitarist from LA. The best word that I could come up with was 'Musicianly', speed checker hasn't flagged that in Red so maybe it is a word after all. Part of the show was a relaxed and senior riff on ageing. He told us that he was 74. But clearly he is, like Marvin Gaye, Alan Bennet, Eric Clapton and The Redskins  'Keeping on Keeping on'. Strange that every time I buy tickets for The Sage in Gateshead they are for an old timer who continues to perform with youthful energy. I have quoted St George, aka Georgie fame before, St Georgie promised that as long as he could remember the words and get up on stage he too would, 'Keep on Keeping on'. So at 74...

A friend of mine once turned up at Church for Evening Prayer having spent the afternoon laying Lino. As the procession left the Vestry his Vicar murmured, 'You have remembered that you're preaching?' He hadn't. Reflecting on the experience later, he commented, 'when I heard myself saying Jesus helps you iron our the bumps in the Lino of life', I knew the I should prepare my sermons more carefully. This week I have been tempted to reflect on the need for regular cleaning of the vacuum cleaner of life, especially when you have three dogs and a lot more outdoor to tread back in than in any previous life. Then we had to rehearse the necessary steps to install the smart meter of life so that your energy needs can be monitored and reviewed. There's certainly a bump in the energy costs of life every time you put the Kettle on! Then of course there is the drop in the interconnectivity of life every time the broadband speed drops and you're are tol...

Vincent van Cock is enjoying life in his new home. A Barnevelder surrounded by rescue chickens that he is organising into a pecking order, eggcouraged by his challenging crowing as he strides around the gardens. The favourite grazing ground, watering hole, for Vincent and the posse is under the bird table where there is a plentiful supply of corn, oats, peanuts and suet balls and if they scrabble hard enough the occasional unsuspecting worm. The hens are an eggcelent addition to the life of the garden alongside the pheasants, the collared Doves, the Owls and the Woodpecker. Today I left them to their foraging and went to a meeting in Newcastle. The meeting was to promote the work of a Bible Reading Fellowship project called the Gift of Years. Inspiring, equipping and enabling every church in the UK to meet the spiritual needs of older people. It seemed to me as I listened to what was being said about the recruitment and deployment of chaplaincies in residential homes known...

Today I took the long way home. I defied the Sat Nav because I was bored with the A69/A68. Halfway home I began to suspect that the Sat Nav knows best. I had been to a Chapter Meeting (the Diocese is divided into smaller groupings of parishes known as Deaneries and the Clergy in the Deaneries gather from time to time in Chapter). The conversation was interesting. I was particularly interested in the discussion about older clergy (those past retirement age with what is called Permission to Officiate) given that not only am I older, but I have a licence to officiate which makes me, if anything, younger? Not sure what the Sat Nav of life would have to say about my life journey and the choices I have made? But, following the meeting this morning and yesterdays meeting with the Archdeacon, it seems that the decision, encouraged by my Occupational Therapist, aka my wife Elizabeth, is that the best therapy I could have, is it seems, an occupation. I am constantly told that I br...

Snowdrops and Winter Aconites are spreading rumours of spring furiously around the faerie dells in the Vicarage Wood. In the dusk, if you listen carefully, it is possible to hear the faerie choir singing the coming spring. Of course last year the same thing happened hints of spring swept away by the 'Beast from the East'. Who knows what might occur in 2019? Donald Trump? Possibly, because he knows everything and what he doesn't know he is happy to make up. In the middle of last weeks storm with hundred mile an hour winds sweeping everything before them I stopped for fuel at a Tesco Extra store in Consett. As I got out of the car to unlock the fuel cap I was practically blown of my feet. Quite a feat! Whilst I am no longer sixteen and a half stone in weight I am still six feet tall and well constructed, definitely Yeoman stock! Nevertheless the wind almost swept me off my feet. Climate change the scoffers scoff. Global warming? The sceptics query. Th...

The River Derwent represents the boundary between this parish and its neighbouring parishes. The Derwent flows from the North Penninnes through the Reservoir it gives its name and on into the Tyne. The Derwent also marks the boundary between Northumberland and Durham 'The Land of the Prince Bishops' and also the boundary between the Diocese of Newcastle and Durham. So these are borderlands. Snods Edge carries in its name the strong implication of being on the edge, at the edge, a border place but it is not an edgy place it is in fact a quiet and relaxed place. I am looking forward to March 22nd when the fishing season in England opens and I can make my way down to the Derwent Reservoir and cast a fly on the water in the hope of landing that first trout of the season. J M W Turner the painter though of fishing as a must relaxing and enjoyable sport and painted a number of fly fishermen into his lake and river scenes. Fishing also comes up this Sunday in the Gospel set...

My father kept hens during the period of rationing after the war. We lived in a small house in Crossland Road, Droylsden in the shadow of the Medlock Mill. I was on one occasion attacked by the Cockerel. So I have, until now, avoided hens. But hens we have. And, as they are productive, Snods Eggs are a thriving fundraiser for the parish, sold usually over coffee after the morning service. Last week on a snowy day we drove through this area of outstanding natural beauty, which was even more beautiful under a light covering of snow, to buy a Cockerel. He is rather handsome, a Barnevelder, bred from Dutch and Chinese stock, and he has settled to the task of gathering and corralling and encouraging his flock. Better still he has not attacked me. Taking on a job at my age has its challenges. When I retired in 2007 I wrote a list of possible jobs if it was not possible to live on the pension. The Churches rules were very clear, retiring was compulsory at 70 so that option was ...