Italian ice-cream... the great British passion... When I was growing up in Northampton it was Gallone's, who ran a fleet of ice-cream vans to whcih we childrne were drawn like moths to part with our pocket money in exchange for a 3p cone or a 5p 99 or, for those who were rich or rash, a tub, on oyster or a double-nugget wafer...  I was the 3p cone kind!

Fast forward four decades and a new ice-cream parlour has opened up round the corner from the Gathering Place.  I went with a friend a week or two back and we could not get in, it was packed out.  I had a hunch that this morning it'd be quiet - it was.  So I bought the biggest, most expensive ice-cream I've ever bought (one of the cheaper ones they sell!) at £6.75...

I had to smile to myself, as when I ordered it the girl behind the counter had to get the menu to find out what was in it and what it was meant to look like!

It was VERY yummy but at that price not a treat I'll be repeating in a hurry!

Today I wound up both leading worship and singing alto for a couple of choir items ... not sure it was such a good idea as I kept moving from place to place.

Chilli chocolate fish went down well though!

I had a good morning.  Hope other people found it helpful/useful/enjoyable.

Not been much to write about the last few days - nothing has tickled my funny bone; nothing has provoked my ire; nothing has made me go 'hmmm'; nothing has leaped out as something I wanted to share.  So no much blogging happening.

Kind of fitting as we reach Low Sunday, the valley after last week's mountain top. 

It's been a quieter week, for which I've been grateful, and now it's just a few weeks til the May/June madness begins, so I'm happy to take the pace down a bit.

Chillie chocolate is making an appearance in today's service... don't suppose that's the case in too many churches!

Last night I suddenly found myself thinking about certain people I haven't seen for a long time, and actually don't know all that well.  This morning I had an email to let me know one of them was seriously ill, and indeed, a message had been sent out just around the time I thought of them.  It amazes me how often (relatively speaking) this happens, but it does.  And I assume it is God at work, the Spirit giving me a nudge deep in my subconscious.  I just wish I was better at recognising these prompts when they arise rather than identifying them retrospectively!

Back in the day (odd expression isn't it?) when I had a real job, I was really good at taking a proper lunch break, and was a bit of a dragon making sure my staff did too!  When I worked from home in Dibley, I used to make lunch and watch Bargain Hunt or whatever was on just to ensure I had a proper break.  Moving north, I used to take a daily stroll round the Botanics, even. weather permitting, having a picnic there.  Then life took its turn from BC to AD (my very bad joke - from Before Cancer to After Diagnosis) and somewhere along the line I lost my lunch breaks, developing the very bad habit of nipping out, buying a sandwich and returning to my computer.

So... today I reclaim my routine!  Lunch Breaks are back!!  And as if to confirm that God is happy about this, the sun is shining in Glasgow...