O Lord, the clouds are gathering

This shot was taken the night before we arrived at Shepton Mallet for New Wine 09. We always camp at Wincanton Racecourse, in order to make an earlier start on the Saturday, without havign to get up too early.
New Wine was great in terms of content, but muddy and wet in terms of weather. I will post on the things that impacted me most when I return from France in a few days, but for now just let me say it was good to connect with a few bloggers, including Jody and (briefly) Fibrefairy.

Children playing, having fun, and adults going to church!

Like most in the Essex 'sphere I'm snowed in - literally though, not sure you'd get out of the village without 4WD.

Strange isn't it, how kids can't wait to get out there, then do nothing but whine about how cold they are, even after you've risked excommunication in getting them to wear the right amount of clothing.

So snow goes from fun to not fun very fast, usually at the point when we are the at furthest possible point from home.

This is Stebbing St Mary the Virgin, across the road from our house. (posted direct from Picasa)Someone waled around it during the night, judging by the prints in the snow this morning.
H/T Peter Kirk for this from Andy Griffiths - churchgoing no longer in decline, yeehaa!

Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you

Incredible day today weatherwise. Sunshine and frost, then snowstorm, (while driving over the yorkshire moors) then storm at sea at Sands End near Whitby. all accentuated by large number of in laws and cousins and wet dogs.
This is why I love half term!
When I get home for all souls I will think about Jody's post about new wine.

Through the Rain like an English summer ...

The last couple of days have seen some serious downpours here - real modem-busting thunderstorms - we are over cautious when it comes to unplugging stuff, in a case of once bitten (or rather struck) twice shy.

The church roof seems to be holding up, but our neighbour's garage was flooded. So this weekend I've been walking the dogs in the gaps between showers which are always quite muggy, and because the grass is wet they (being flat-coated retrievers) get soaked.

Still, they love it.

I'm supposed to pray when I walk, and it is easy to launch off into praise in this beautiful place, but my time with God is frequently interrupted because I have to stop the oldest dog from rolling in horse muck - yuck!