Barney Life No. 15 (posted 22/08/2010)

On Saturday afternoon I helped a young couple to renew their marriage vows.  Nothing unusual in that, you say!  Except that they were married only a few weeks ago, in Italy.  The groom, Filippo Pellizzon, is Italian, and the bride, Marie Ball, is (perhaps I should now say, was) one of my parishioners.  Their marriage took place in Italy according to the laws of the Italian Church and of the Italian State.  Marie's parents, Tom and Mary, with other members of the family, went out to Italy for the wedding.  But to keep all Marie's friends who could not go to Italy happy, it was the turn of Filippo's parents to come over here to England so that the English could celebrate Marie's marriage.  I understand that Mr and Mrs Pellizzon had never flown before or been out of Italy, so this was quite an adventure for them. 

The renewal of vows was in the main a reading through of the normal wedding service; I gave my usual sermon about how Our Lord and His apostles were to blame for the wine running out at Cana, and with the nudging of His mother how he over-compensated with new wine (as he does when anyone turns to Him); we sang a couple of hymns; and a very enjoyable service was had by all.  The organ was played by a young lady playing for the very first time for a public service (well done, Juliet O'Brien! - I doubt if it will be the last public service you will play at!)  I have added a few photos which I took at the end of the service.

Barney Life No. 13 (posted 19/08/2010)

Mr Heron!  Mr No-Show!

Since my last post about the invading heron, there has been no sign of him.  He usually arrives at breakfast-time for an early snack after his flight from the heronry.  I have had other smaller visitors - a beautiful dragon fly (I was so fascinated watching it flitting around the dog and me, apparently curious about us, that I forgot to photograph it) and a wagtail.  But not a sight of the heron. 

I wonder if this could be the reason.

Yes, I know - to you and me it looks like a folded sun-umbrella (and that is what it is). But to the heron, flying up there or perhaps perched on the church roof, it may look like danger.   I know that he is anxious about any movement in the house and flies off at once if he sees anything, but, with the wind fluttering the fabric and the brolly being moved every couple of days, I think that it makes quite a good scarecrow.

Anyway, here is a bonus photograph.  Can you see three ghosts?

   Ghost Koi, of course.

Angie Taylor (1965 - 2010) - Storm's Saviour (posted 17/08/2010)

Today Angie Taylor was laid to rest - she was 45.  She had spent some years in the Army, worked for a while after that in Northern Ireland for the Ministry of Defence.  She and her husband Roy moved to Spennymoor, Co. Durham, where she became a care worker.  But her passion in life was for the welfare of dogs, especially lurcher types.

I first met her like this:

In October 2006, after many anxious delays, I had to have my trusty red setter Rusty put to sleep (his back legs had gone).  Instead of using my new found freedom to relax and do a few tours of the countryside, I set about finding a replacement.  First I went to Deerness Kennels near Durham City: the staff let me walk through the kennels sponsored by the RSPCA, and then through the kennels housing all the other strays.  I returned to the office and mentioned that the only dog I was very taken with was the dog with the intelligent look who stayed at the back of the kennel when I passed, even though he simply did not want to know me; the manager said, "That's Storm. We'll have to see Angie".  I said, "I will phone to make arrangements."

Then I went to Sadberge Dogs Trust, near Darlington; again I took a liking to a lively black but small lurcher; they said they would keep the dog for me for a week (I think).  However, when I returned home, I telephoned Deerness and arranged to meet Angie to discuss this Storm which she was apparently responsible for. 

The next day I went back to the Deerness Kennels, arriving before Angie did. One of the kennel assistants brought Storm out and we walked him slowly around a grass lawn.  Angie arrived, and, after a short discussion with the assistant, decided that I would be a suitable new owner.  Storm was chipped, I received his papers, he was put into the LandRover and away we went.

Some time later, Angie told me what she knew of his history.  The dog had been wandering around Bishop Auckland for several weeks, being chivvied, harassed and starving.   In the middle of a huge thunderstorm (hence his name) one August afternoon, he hid in someone's garden shed; the door was closed on him, the dog-wardens captured him with a noose on a pole, and he was brought into Deerness Kennels.  He was so emaciated and traumatised, with a running wound on his front leg, that the owners of the Kennels were almost convinced that the best thing would be to put him to sleep, but Angie intervened and persuaded them that she could bring him back to health.  She washed him, gave him antibiotics for his wound, and that began to heal.  But the most difficult part of the rehabilitation was getting him to trust her.  Many days she entered his little cell and sat for ages doing nothing but being there, sometimes she talked out loud to him, without looking at him, and for long enough she got no response, until gradually he came to her and let her touch him.  All the while, she said, she was praying to God that she would be able to find the right person to become his new owner.  Then, when I turned up, she took it that my appearing was God's answer to her prayer - which was the reason why she quickly agreed that I should take charge of him.  The rest of the story I know only too well!

This is the boyo last night.  After 20 minutes racing up and down in the back garden and furiously digging a hole trying to get to Australia, he runs into the sitting-room, flings himself on the floor and pants madly for several minutes.  He is no longer the frightened dog he once was!

Last night I celebrated a traditional Requiem Mass for Angie.

Barney Life No. 13 (posted 13/08/2010)

This evening, at the unusual time of 5 pm, we celebrated Mass and thanked God on the occasion of the Silver Wedding of Andrew and Christina Beards.  The Mass was in the Novus Ordo ad orientem.  The chief celebrant was Father Gerald Anders and his co-celebrant and preacher was Father Philip Egan.  Father Egan spoke about memories, how sometimes they become selective as time goes by, and yet our faith and traditions are based on the memories we have of events gone by, in particular, the memory of God's sacrifice which we celebrate in the Mass by which we join ourselves to Him.  The singing was lively and led whole-heartedly by Andrew.  The company after Mass drove back to the Beards' house for a small celebration of a more informal kind.

Congratulations to Andrew and Tina; may the Good Lord bless them and their family!

Barney Life No. 11 (posted 10/08/2010)

As the Lord almost said, "If the householder had known at what hour the heron would come, he would not have let him break into his pond."   But since this householder does not know when the great fish-eating bird would come, he has to be vigilant and prepare his defences and hope that they are enough!

 

You may see that around the edges of the pond, there are strings, fishing line, posts, and I hope that they cover all the easy approaches to the water.  I know that Mr Heron will not give up and that he will be back; he has been here each morning recently, and I know that he has taken at least one fish out of the pond because he dropped it before he could swallow it.  I have been trying to catch him on camera, but he is too quick for me and flies off if sees a glimpse of movement in the house through the windows.  If I ever take a photo of the Flying Thief, I will post it on the blog!

Barney Life No. 10 (posted 05/08/2010)

August 5th

Hedge Cutting Day

It is just as well that I checked my hedge-cutting machinery on Tuesday, because that evening John O decided that Thursday would be a good day for cutting the hedge. So, straight after morning Mass, (today, Thursday), John B and I began to trim the sides of the hedge.  John O arrived half an hour later with his truck and a horse-box type trailer.  He immediately attacked the hedge at the five foot mark with his chain-saw, and immediately extra daylight began to flood into the garden.  One-armed Anthony turned up to help with clearing up; John B and I agreed that he was better with his one arm than we were with two arms each!  The cuttings from the hedge were all loaded into John O's trailer, and by late afternoon we had two trailer loads.  We worked all morning, until a short break for lunch (and a walk for my dog Storm) and gathered again in the afternoon to complete most of the work.  There is still a small amount of cutting to do; we hope to get that done tomorrow.  I have placed here two photos - before and after, and below that an album of the work in progress.  We are all shattered!

Before

After

Barney Life No. 9 (posted 03/08/2010)

Getting Ready ......

 The trouble with this hedge, as you can see, is that it is enormous, about ten or eleven feet 

high, and from the road-side it looks even taller because of the wall; and it is beginning to 

block the pavement (sidewalk).  When it was cut last year, the Calvary was higher than the 

hedge.  Now it is dwarfed by it.  The plan is to cut the hedge down to about five feet.  This 

will happen within a couple of weeks, now that all the nesting birds have raised their chicks 

and flown the nests.  I will be supervising, directing, deciding, whilst the two Johns will do 

the hard graft.  John will do most of the cutting and the other John and I will do the clearing

up.

Today I have been checking the machines which will be used to do the damage to the 

hedge - they have not been used since this time last year.  Fortunately, I think, all is well.