Saturday 31 July 2021
by Wulf
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Given that we have already done this stretch (Belton Road West, near the canal bridge) a couple of times in the last 3-4 months it is rather disappointing to see what a large haul we returned with:
Mind you, Jane dove further into the undergrowth than before so, while my collection from the pavement and verge was a mixture of stuff revealed by recent verge trimming and a few new cans, the bulk of it was more long-term deposits that she retrieved.
Friday 30 July 2021
by Wulf
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The New Wine festival is online again this year but some of the content is available for free. Since there is now more freedom about gatherings (albeit caution still indicated), I’m hosting showing the evening meetings at church; big screen, decent sound system and a chance to have a bit of fellowship.
Last night didn’t go quite to plan, as the stream we’d planned to watch had technical difficulties, but I figured out what was going on and switched to the main one. I think I’ve got more of the hang of things ready for tonight (Thorpe Acre church – doors open at 6:45pm for the 7pm start and the session runs until 8:30pm, for any who want to join us).
Thursday 29 July 2021
by Wulf
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For my next Players Path track, I picked the 80’s heavy metal piece Black Leather and decided to break out my plectrum bass skills:
It turns out that took a fair amount of work and I’m still a bit sloppy but I’m pleased with the overall energy. Back to fingers for the next one though.
Wednesday 28 July 2021
by Wulf
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That’s another online service cued up for the following Sunday and, as I check back on the church YouTube channel, I realise we’ve now got 80 items under ‘Services and Messages’. That’s what happens if you post a weekly service for well over a year. Likewise, we’ve got over 120 bits of ‘Worship Fuel’ (mainly songs and a few other things like poems and art-based reflections) and more under additional categories.
That’s not bad, considering that when I arrived, the church had just one lonely video on its channel. Mind you, it might still have had just the one video had it not been for the global pandemic which made video production something we had to invest time into.
For now, at least, production continues and, in common with many other churches, we now provide a wealth of online video resources that continue to accumulate.
Tuesday 27 July 2021
by Wulf
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I have had a letter published in the RHS magazine, The Garden, before. In that case, it was singing the praise of some trees on the north Oxford bypass that one of its columnists had been a bit sniffy about. That was probably the best part of a decade or so ago so it is probably my turn to be gently sniffy. We’ll see if this one gets published in the magazine but, in case not, I’ll post it below. Unless expressed as a percentage (ie. small numbers distorting statistics), I don’t think my regular readership has significant crossover with subscribers to The Garden.
In the August book reviews (p96) I noted that Jane Cumberbatch has a “limitation” in the form of a garden that is only 22m x 11m. My garden has less than half the area and is still a generous suburban slice compared to the postage stamp patches of many modern builds. I don’t know what the RHS Small Garden Handbook (also reviewed) counts as small but more content in The Garden on truly tiny plots would be appreciated. Those ideas can always be used to create rooms in situations with larger boundaries.
Unpublished submission to the letters page of The Garden, July 2021
That isn’t to suggest that the magazine – or the organisation – do nothing for the owners of properly small gardens but they do spend a good proportion of time on gardens of the size I’d love to have rather than what I’ve actually got the privilege to possess.
Monday 26 July 2021
by Wulf
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I was going to pick up some bacon on Saturday and spotted this on offer at Morrisons. It looks like a bad painting of bacon but I was intrigued to see what it tastes like. I’d say it is quite palatable but only in the way that bacon flavoured crisps are. It would have to be a decent amount cheaper than real bacon to tempt me again. If I want tasty, plant-based things, I’ll stick with tasty plant-based things that come as they are.
Sunday 25 July 2021
by Wulf
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Those familiar with All Saints, Thorpe Acre (ASTAD) may recognise where I did this digital painting. This one was created over a couple of sessions – I began it at a memorial service on Wednesday and finished it off during the service this morning.
We didn’t have a visual manifestation of God’s shekinah glory but, creating art there is a liberty to paint impressions and prayers as well as what is directly perceived.