It's been good to have a non working day. We went out early to our favourite place - Glenelg. It had been a whole day since Graham had paddled and he was having withdrawal symptoms.  We had coffee,during which we had plenty of time to debate whether having to wait 30 minutes for a piece of toast is acceptable and then cheered ourselves with a 'convenient' piano recital (see previous blog) which today was 'What the world needs now love sweet love'. All very odd.

Then we got down to the serious matter of the morning - the paddling. We walked through the shallows towards Brighton then turned and waded all the way back.  We were stalked most of the way by a now familiar Willy Wagtail who gets more daring and comes closer each time we meet him. Our Liverpool friends will appreciate this photo of this famous bird in a familiar pose  - s/he seems to have wandered far from home.

It is the first day of winter today and noticeably cooler. The water was warm but there was rain in the air and a rather ghostly yellow smudge all along the horizon - the fishermen however didn't seem to be bothered by the approaching yellowness.

The long walk gave us time for an equally long conversation about things we have learnt from our time at St Oswalds.  We have much to ponder as we wander. 

After eating our butties (the Glenelg Liver Bird would approve of that term - we Crowders don't eat sandwiches) we headed home with our paddling mission accomplished for another day.  We got back in time to  chat with Rachel on facebook - it was very early in her morning but she was very excited because it was Jubilee day at school. She was going to school dressed in red white and blue and looking forward to the 'Prom in the Playground'.  It's strange missing all the Jubilee celebrations - its hardly been mentioned here except for a few news reports.  I've enjoyed seeing video clips of last Saturday's Jubilee concert at St Philips  - it looks like it was a great night out.

Later we had a walk through the Parklands to the Japanese Peace Garden and then a quick drink before coming home to cook some Butterfish for tea.  Lyn and Alan have now arrived from Melbourne ready to supervise our next lot of wanderings.  I can not believe that our time in the parish here is almost at an end. We have been warmly and generously welcomed,  made loads of new friends and learnt so much. This Sunday ( Trinity Sunday) I will preside at St Oswalds for the last time and Graham will preach (clever that eh? I'm not preaching on Trinity Sunday) The service will include some of the liturgy that will also be used at St Philips and St Cuthberts that same day. We will also be singing the  'Ashgrove' Gloria and ending with 'For yours is the Kingdom' -  so even though St O's will be eight hours ahead the three parishes will effectively be worshipping together. 

It's been a good day - cheers me dears!