Categories: uncategorized
Date: 24 July 2004 18:41:04
You know, being a warden in the Church of Fools is much harder work than being a church steward. I can honestly say that in all my years on church rotas, I have never found myself still being up at midnight, when I know I am leading morning prayers at 7.30 next morning. But last night I was thrown in at the deep end when I found myself in the church shortly before evening prayers and discovered that nobody was timetabled to do them. Hmmmm..guess what....!
This afternoon I find myself bleary eyed and ready to snuggle down under the duvet and never emerge. It's been a busy but enjoyable morning. I dropped the boys off at the respite carer at the crack of dawn, or thereabouts, and off I went to the County Show. This two-day extravaganza is one of the highlights of the year for us. The Island Churches Together run a refreshment tent with stalls and a religious tableau (this year a life-size display of Jesus calling the disciples from their fishing boat) and I generally spend the whole weekend working there (or nipping off during the quiet moments to peruse the show). We were disappointed to find that the tent this year was in its usual position which has always brought us a lot of custom, being right next to the main gate...disappointed because we discovered that the main gate had been moved to the other end of the showground! Typical! Mind you, by lunchtime we were glad we weren't getting more custom as we were inundated with people who remembered how we serve a good cup of tea and our prices are amazingly low. We run the tent as a service to the community and a gentle mission and so we plan to make no profit from our food and drinks, which are all homemade. Need I say more?
Thank goodness for my poorly foot (which is getting better, by the way) which meant that I was designated chief cashbox operator rather than standing behind the stall making coffees as I usually do. My mental arithmetic came into play rather effectively as I calculated every permutation and combination of sandwiches, drinks, cakes and fruit. And of course, being devoted to duty, I just had to test each type of cake before we sold it, just so I could comment on its quality, texture and taste!
Now I am home for a snatched forty winks and a quick packing of the picnic bag ready for tonight. The Fireworks and open air orchestra concert and picnic at Osborne House. It'll be midnight before we get home, so goodness knows how I'll be up in time for communion at the Showground at 8am (having picked the Smudgelets up en route!) - hope I don't snore during the concert tonight!