Daily Notes and News
The Month of September 2000
Friday, 1st
This page marks the start of the third year of this Daily Notes and News on the Web. It started as a bit of a lark but has become part of my daily routine. Details of how to find out about the rest of the story can be found below.
After Mass this morning I headed off to Corumbene and it was as I was about to leave that I recalled I was supposed to be celebrating Mass and not simply taking Holy Communion to them. From there it was off to see Eileen and Gordon before calling into the bank to check to see if I had sufficient money for the rest of the accounts that needed to be paid today for the Christmas Puddings. I have another ingredient to purchase tomorrow but will have to wait until Monday to collect the eggs which are the last things we need.
Actually I waited for awhile for the eggs to arrive but they didn't make it so it meant that I was late leaving for town to go to the hospitals. I collected some clothing for the mixers to wear together with some string and the plastic bags to cook the puddings in. Then off to the wholesaler to get the brown sugar which wasn't delivered yesterday. I have another ingredient to purchase tomorrow but will have to wait until Monday to collect the eggs which are the last things we need. Still not exactly certain where they will be mixed but will check tomorrow.
Tonight I have had a quiet night watching TV - I still have the newsletter for this weekend to finish but I decided that I would cut some string for the puddings and watch some of the programs from earlier in the week as well as some of the pre AFL Grand Final Football entertainment. It is now almost midnight and I really should have gone to bed earlier.
Saturday, 2nd (AFL Grand Final Day)
The AFL Grand Final weekend is always a time for watching a lot of TV - a mistake I made last night and early this morning (from my bed).
The newsletter was ready early (both editions) but I couldn't print it off because I needed to get the result of the Football to print so I printed the outside cover this morning before going to town and I've just finished the inside tonight. The Internet edition has been posted too.
I collected the alcohol for the puddings so there is only the eggs to collect on Monday morning and the Kitchen to finalise as we are off and running.
Lunch was at Sandy Bay so it meant I was able to take the cards I had printed for the twins birthday (last Wednesday) as well as Dad's Father's Day Card and deliver them on the way home - I still have to deliver Karen's which I will do during the week but two out of three isn't bad.
I watched the end of the football and saw Essendon win easily (as expected) and now I'm going to hit the sack early for a good night's sleep.
Sunday, 3rd
After Mass at New Norfolk (light on because it was really cold this morning) I headed off for the country Mass at Ouse which also was light on. After Mass I drove back to New Norfolk and waited until Sr Lorraine and Selina Shepherd (Ellendale parishioner) arrived and then we headed off to Ross to attend the ceremony of the lighting of the Jubilee Flame at the Uniting Church at Ross. There was a good attendance there - considering that there are very few people who actually attend services for any of the denominations in the town. The reason we went was because we (the New Norfolk end) wanted to be part of the bigger Rural Pastoral Unit and let the top end know that we were interested in what was happening.
When I got back I was tired but ready for the evening Mass - our first back to the Summer time of 6.00pm - still very cold so not that many people there. In fact on the way home from Ross we were driving through sleet for a reasonable part of the way.
I decided to watch Sea Change and now I'm heading for bed - I didn't do anything about the puddings - that can wait until tomorrow.
Monday, 4th
Today has been an ordinary sort of day although lot's of things have happened.
After the morning Mass I headed off to Sacred Heart College, New Town to celebrate a Mass with the Grade 8 students. I thought that my nephew Sam was in that class but he wasn't there so I'm not certain what happened. It was a good celebration - I always enjoy going there to help.
After the Mass I headed for the Office to collect 75 dozen eggs that were to have been delivered there - unfortunately there was on 15 doz. which meant a quick phone call to the producers and they were delivered late this afternoon to New Norfolk.
On the way home I called to see the staff at Graham Family and found that they were looking for me to celebrate a funeral here on Thursday. I had visited Royden Howard in hospital on Friday afternoon and had expected to see him next Wednesday but sadly that is not to be. I will visit his wife and family tomorrow afternoon to make the arrangements for the funeral.
When I got home there were some of the mixing team waiting for their starting instructions so we set too and sterilised all the equipment and one of them came back later and we have just completed the soaking of the fruit for the first mixing tomorrow. It didn't take long - the longest part of the process was the working out the quantity that will have to be removed from the big containers to make each mixture. This year we will be making 10 mixtures a morning rather than the four of the past two years.
I missed the Journey program this morning so I had to do some extra work this afternoon to prepare for the session tonight. It went well so that wasn't too bad. The only problem was that I remembered that there was still a couple of things that hadn't been completed for the mixing tomorrow so I am going to bed later than I had hoped.
Tuesday, 5th
Today was another long day when I ran from morning to night.
I got up early to turn on the water to boil the puddings - we needed to cook 5 batches of 15 puddings at a time but ran into a hitch with one boiler continually blowing fuses so we managed to only get 120 puddings cooked instead of the 150 I had hoped would be done. The start of the pudding making went slowly as people got back into the swing of things and we got used to each other's ways of doing things so it took a lot longer today than I had hoped but was basically all finished and preparations for tomorrow basically done by 1.30pm - 5.5 hours of effort.
The reason that 1.30pm became important was that I had an appointment with the Rev Dr Jim Young, one of the Chaplains to Jane Franklin College. We prepared the Service for the 50th Anniversary of the Hall at which I will be giving the address on Sunday morning.
Then it was off to see the family of the late Roydon Howard whose funeral is to be celebrated on Thursday. I arrived home from there in time for my 4pm appointment to make final arrangements for a wedding that is to be celebrated at the end of the month.
I did some work then on the leaflet for the funeral before taking the second lot of puddings out and leaving those which had suffered from the blown fuses while I went to celebrate a Home Mass at the Cowling's on the first anniversary of Harry's death. It was a very peace filled celebration and a worthy gesture for Sandy and the family.
Then it was home to take out the final 30 puddings before heading for bed because tomorrow is going to be an early start with the number of puddings still to be made.
Wednesday, 6th
5am came around too quickly this morning. I had to clean and sterilise the boilers before adding the water for the puddings to be cooked. We managed to cook 120 yesterday and hope to put through 180 (in three batches) today. That will still leave 200 + after the puddings we made today are added in.
I prepared the butter and sugar into the required amounts and made sure that everything was ready for the cooks. The process went much more smoothly today - there was one extra person and that made all the difference.
At 11am I headed off to prepare to go to town for a Jubilee 2000 Debt Reduction event in the City Mall - unfortunately it had been cancelled and no-one had told me - it meant that I had left everyone to do all the cleaning up after we had finished making the puddings. They were quick because I got back at 12.40pm and they had all left and we have made 514 puddings on the first two cooking days - I think we have done all right.
This afternoon I visited the Howard family and dropped off a copy of the leaflet to see what they thought before heading for town to attend a meeting of the TCC Executive. Thankfully it wasn't a late meeting because I need to get some sleep.
I was lucky today because John was here this morning to help change the first lot of puddings; some ladies came and helped John this afternoon at 4pm when the second lot needed changing and I'm just about to go and do the final taking out of the puddings for today.
Then it will be bed - because it is another early start in the morning for the next lot of puddings.
Thursday, 7th
Today started with over 200 puddings still to be cooked so I cleaned the boilers early and had the first lot in by a little after 8am - by the time that the coppers were boiling.
I finished the work on the Big Book for the funeral of the late Roydon Howard before the Christian Leaders meeting at 10am. I almost got caught as I downloaded the Congregation of Faith Document 'Dominus Iesus' which took a little bit of time to edit for my own files because I thought that there might be some comment about it at the meeting.
After the meeting I celebrated Mass and the Church was really cold so I set up the heating for the funeral this afternoon - at least when we got into the Church later the place was warm. There was a big crowd who turned up - Roydon had been a New Norfolk Councillor for several years, as publican in the town as well as being involved in the Football Club and various other local activities. There was also a good number of former Police Officers as well as a number of serving officers. Roydon had been a Police Officer and one of his sons and a nephew are current Officers.
I was a little frazzled by the time I got to the funeral because I had arranged for anyone to help unpack the first lot of puddings and load the second lot. This was compounded a little later in the day when the team I had arranged for the second lot also failed to show - it was a tiring effort getting them out and in and out again, basically by myself.
I've just finished the PPC meeting so I am ready for bed and, hopefully a good night's sleep.
Friday, 8th
Lack of sleep has made today a long day.
Just before Mass this morning I rang Calvary Hospital to learn the condition of Bob Wickham whom I had seen late last night and learnt that he had passed away just a short time before so Mass was celebrated for him. Later this afternoon I visited his wife and family and will call to see them again tomorrow morning to make arrangements for the funeral.
I had the next load of puddings into the boilers by 8am and managed to get them out with Ruby's help at about 12.45pm which meant that the second lot (and last lot) came out a little after 5pm. The double bagging meant that we didn't lose any to water damage as we have done in the past. Early next week we will be wrapping them into their calico bags for delivery.
After the Parish Mass I went to take Communion to Gordon before going over to Corumbene to celebrate the Mass I forgot last Friday. From there I headed off to take Communion to Eileen in the District Hospital before heading home to sign off some papers for a young lad who commences work with the Defence Department in Canberra early next year and needed all his paperwork cleared up.
Then it was down to school for a few minutes before getting back to see a fellow from Ouse about some paperwork for a marriage that he hopes will be arranged into the future with a girl from Russia.
I then headed off to Glenorchy to drop off to my brother Sean the two bottles of rum that I had brought back from the Philippines - I forgot to take them down with me the last few times I've been to town and he needed to take them to George Town when they visit Rowena's relations there tomorrow.
I then stopped off for a meal with some friends but I am so tired that I left there early so that I wouldn't fall asleep on the way home. I'm now heading for bed with the newsletter barely started and heaps more to do tomorrow.
Saturday, 9th
It was good to get the newsletter out of the way this morning before I headed out to Moogara to see Mrs Scholz - when I arrived I could recall that I knew from Glenorchy days and also from a visit to one of the Aged Care Facilities about six years ago. She is unable to speak and her niece cares for her so I will call and see her again later in the week.
I then called on the family of the late Bob Wickham to finalise arrangements for the funeral to be celebrated on Tuesday. The funeral director was there so we were able to complete the main part of the process without too much difficulty - I will print the leaflet sometime tomorrow.
Then it was off to lunch at Sandy Bay with some details for the new few weeks for the Saturday lunch now more organised - there are still some gaps but we'll see how we go.
Called to see Mum and Dad on the way home to say hello and also caught up with my sister Karen and her children who were also visiting. Some extra info regarding my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration also were finalised so that was good.
I've done some work on the address for the Jane Franklin College 50th Anniversary Celebration for tomorrow so now I am ready for bed - I'm so tired that I think I will tape the Bill and watch it tomorrow.
Sunday, 10th
Today was a long day with the trip to Jane Franklin Hall for the 50th Anniversary Service at the start. Fr Bob Curmi SDB celebrated Mass here at New Norfolk - I always feel strange about asking someone else to do my work. There was a good crowd at Jane but I wasn't travelling too well because I had left all the paperwork for the baptisms at Richmond on the desk here so after the service I headed back home. As it turned out I was able to some other work which was good.
I arrived at Richmond a little early and was doing some reading when my mobile rang with a request to do the funeral of the late Michael Tomlinson at Richmond on Wednesday. I had previously been involved with the family when his son had died whilst a student at Dominic College, as well as doing his brothers wedding and sister in law's funeral. His daughter Naomi is also one of my friend Anna's best friends so I have had lot's of connections.
Whilst Paul Graham was giving me details of the funeral he mentioned that a young lad at New Norfolk had committed suicide and that I would be asked to be involved in that funeral as well. So I started making phone calls and managed to contact both families. I'll see the Tomlinson's tomorrow but managed to see the Clayton's when I got back to New Norfolk this afternoon.
The Baptisms for the Adam's girls went well. I had celebrated Joanne's and John's wedding some time ago and baptised Amelia at Richmond previously so it was a return celebration. Donna's and Glen's wedding is more recent so it was good to meet up with them all again and to celebrate their children. Unfortunately I had to come back to New Norfolk and was not able to spend any time with them after the ceremony but will catch up some time soon.
The Clayton family, as might be expected, where devastated by the death of their son but were surrounded by a large gathering of family and friends. I stayed a short time and will call back tomorrow afternoon to work out some details with them for the funeral when we can be a little more certain of times etc.
The evening Mass and time spent chatting afterwards was good although everyone was upset about the suicide and it's effect on people will be profound as both sides of his family are well known in the town.
I've gone slowly since Mass and now I'm heading for bed because I am really exhausted.
Monday, 11th
A slow start to the day after yesterday.
Mass this morning and then finishing off some of the things from the weekend before the first our two Journey Sessions for the day.
After a quick bite to eat I headed for Midway Point to see the family of the late Michael Tomlinson to prepare for his funeral for Wednesday. All the family was home and it was good to sit down with them and work through some of the material for the celebration. I was going to try and get the leaflet done today so that I could email it to them but will send it off tomorrow morning first thing. While I was there (Fr) Terry Rush (PP) arrived and helped with the preparations.
On the way home I collected some card for the labels for the Christmas Puddings which we will need tomorrow for the wrapping and finishing off of the first 500 puddings. As well I called into Graham's to see if the photo for the funeral booklet was available but it looks as if I will have to collect it tomorrow.
I arrived at the Clayton's just before Greg Hudson got there so I was able to work with him in making the arrangements for Wesley's funeral - unfortunately his body will not be released by the Coroner until Wednesday morning so the funeral is unlikely to be celebrated before Friday morning at the earliest.
I came home and printed the labels for the puddings tomorrow and now I'm ready for bed after leading the second session of Journey tonight and doing a little bit on the computer clearing up some work from two faxes that arrived during the day as well as printing off the Big Booklet for the funeral of the late Bob Wickham which will be celebrated tomorrow.
Tuesday, 12th
The booklet for the funeral of the late Michael Tomlinson went off to his family via email this morning and I managed to catch up with them at Graham's later in the day when they were there for a viewing. When I got home the booklet had returned and I've been able to get it all printed today so that will make life easier tomorrow.
The ladies arrived this morning to wrap the puddings in calico - unfortunately we ran out of material for the whole of the 1 kg puddings so we will need to purchase a whole lot more. Actually we hadn't purchased this years quantity so that's not too bad. It means that we won't be working on them tomorrow so that gives a bit of free time.
By then it was time for the funeral of the late Bob Wickham which was a big event and after the service at the Crematorium we went back to the RSL for refreshment and that all worked out well but I will be calling to say hello to Mavis during the next week or so.
That was followed by two contacts for Baptisms that are forthcoming so it was good that I has time to speak to them. I've just finished two appointments for marriages that are also forthcoming so I has been a very long day and I need to hit the sack.
Wednesday, 13th
There was no work for the pudding wrapping team as we had run out of calico so it was quiet in the house this morning. There was more than enough work to do as I headed off to see the Clayton family to further the preparations for their son's funeral on Friday.
I also took the lapel mike back to my friend the tech - this time we will have the complete wiring changed to make sure that it works properly.
Mass today was at midday and immediately following Mass I headed for Richmond for the funeral of the late Michael Tomlinson. I was joined by two of the priests from Dominic College and there was a good crowd, including a choir from St John's School and quite a number of past, as well as present, students from Dominic.
I also collected the material to prepare the booklet for the marriage on Saturday from Beryl Royle at Sorell. There was a note on the door to say that she was off getting milk and would return in 5 minutes - I waited 45 minutes before writing a note to say I would be back on Friday and went to leave it on the back door and found that she had been there the whole time and had forgotten to remove the note..
I got home with a few minutes to spare before the School Board meeting which was a good meeting with some interesting developments possible within the next few months together with information regarding the 75th Anniversary Celebrations next month.
Back to the Parish House in time for my meeting with the couple who are completing preparations for their Marriage early next year. It is good to be able to work with people who have already completed much of their work through Centacare - they have offered to be promoters of the program for other couples who have asked me to be involved in their marriage preparations.
Now it is time for bed.
Thursday, 14th
I was able to get some things done before I headed off down to School for Mass at 10am including calling to see the Clayton family. They had rung late last night asking if I could look at another photo for the leaflet but the copy that I was able to show them later this afternoon allayed all their fears about the leaflet. I also managed to collect the mike from the techo and this time it works well so that makes me feel like tomorrow might not be too difficult - at least as far as the PA is concerned. I have had some trouble with the music but will look at that again in the morning.
After Mass I headed to Glenorchy to drop off some clothes at the dry cleaners and intended to return to collect them on the way home and promptly forgot them. I then called into see Shelley and (Fr) Elio Proietto at the Glenorchy Presbytery. I hadn't seen Shelley for some time so I called and had lunch with them - I will need to call and see them later to check out some of the work she is doing using QuickBooks for the Parish Finances.
Then it was off to Hobart for main purpose for going to town today - to chair a meeting of the ITIM Foundation Committee (Tas). It is quite some time since we have had a meeting so there was some catching up to do. We have booked a date for a 5 Questions Breakfast for November 15th - I now need to contact one of two suggested names to arrange a speaker for the day. We also made some plans for the Launch of the "Living Faith" Book but I'll need to speak to Fr Terry Southerwood re the arrangements he made for his recent Book Launch.
I got home and finished off the leaflet for the funeral tomorrow (and saw the Clayton Family) and have spent the past hour folding the leaflets. Now I am heading for bed.
Friday, 15th
Today has been a very long and difficult day.
After Mass this morning we finished off the preparations for the funeral of the late Wes Clayton. I printed 350 leaflets and then needed to print more but ran out by a large number. From guestimations it looks as if well over 500 people gathered here at New Norfolk and another 100 joined the group who moved from here to the Crematorium for the completion of the service. The gathering back here in New Norfolk after the ceremony was also a large crowd - I only hope that the hundred's of young people think long and hard about what happened to Wes and think seriously about how important their own lives are.
The rest of today has been simply busy doing little things for the weekend and reaching out to people around the place.
Because I woke so early I'm heading for bed - it is likely that I will watch as much of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics as I can but I will have the video primed to take over as soon as I start to drop off to tape the completion of the ceremony.
Saturday, 16th
Today started with the Prayer Breakfast at the Uniting Church - transferred from the Anglican Hall because the work on the Hall is not yet completed. There was a good crowd and all the local church communities were represented.
I only had a short time at home before I headed off to Sorell for the wedding of Beryl Royle and Lionel Potter - it was a great celebration with a whole range of people gathering to wish them well as they begin their married life - both of them are over 70.
Then it was off to see the family of the late Michael Tomlinson but no-one was home so I left some material for them and continued off down to Sandy Bay for lunch with the Clergy. I needed to chat with a couple of the guys about how I felt after the funeral yesterday and didn't feel like having to work to hard at the wedding reception.
From there I called to see some of my Glenorchy friends and returned things that had been provided for the Silver Jubilee Celebrations so it was good to catch up with people at that time.
Now, however, it is time for bed because I am really tired and need to get a good night's sleep because it might be a couple of days before I really get another chance.
Sunday, 17th
Today has been busy. I woke this morning for the normal Sunday routine but with a bit of a difference - today marks the 5th anniversary of my arrival in New Norfolk and I went to Hamilton to celebrate Mass as I did on that first weekend so many years ago.
After the Mass I headed back home to do some preparatory work for the pudding cookup tomorrow - we needed some extra lemons mashed so I spent time doing those before heading over to the Church for a Baptism at 2pm. After that I came back home because I knew that a family were coming to see me at 3pm so I kept working on the lemons until they arrived.
When they had left I fixed the fruit mixture and sat down for a few minutes before the Evening Mass. There was another small crowd but people really do join in well when it comes to singing in a small group.
I've just put out some tarpaulins to make sure that the floor is kept as clean as possible and now I'm heading for bed - I've missed Sea Change but I managed to tape it.
Monday, 18th
The alarm went off at 5am so that I could get the water on to boil. I hadn't done as much as I thought last night and there was still several lots of ingredients I needed to work on before the whole process could get under way this morning.
Starting early meant that I was also under pressure because I made a couple of mistakes during the day - I didn't mix things too well so that meant that I was under more pressure that I needed to be when it came to making decisions during the day. We managed to make 132 x 2 kg puddings which wasn't too bad. We've cooked 64 with a couple splitting the outside bag but none damaged at all. John and I had to move many of the ones from a fortnight ago because we didn't have enough room to hang them all. I'm not sure how we are going to cope when they are all cooked.
After getting the first lot out this afternoon I headed for town to go to Graham's Funeral Home to see the niece of the late Jadwiga Scholz, whom I had visited last weekend up behind Moogara. Mrs Scholz died early this morning and her funeral is to be celebrated on Thursday at Moonah. I heard this evening that the Polish Chaplain is unable to be there so I will do it myself.
I stopped off for a meal with some friends on the way home - lot less energy than having to come home and cook for myself. I was only home a few minutes when the team arrived to help me remove the second batch of puddings and now I'm ready for bed - it is another early rise in the morning because I hope to get three batches of puddings cooked tomorrow.
Tuesday, 19th
I woke early this morning so that I could get the water on in order to get the first batch of three loads of puddings into the boilers early - in fact by the time people arrived to start today's batch (the final batch at this time) the first load was well under way.
The team worked brilliantly this morning. We made the 130+ puddings, completely cleaned up and were on our way by 11.30am - how different from the first session two weeks ago when we were still working at 2.00pm. There is one more batch to make but we will wait until we know what particular orders we need to fill before making the next batch. This is especially important as we will need to make a number of 100 m and 150 gm puddings but these are made by boiling larger puddings for a longer time and then breaking them down into the smaller sizes - it ensures the right shapes and allows the puddings to simply be reheated.
I've just brought the last of the puddings in - the rest of today has been some work for the Parish and a 90 minute teleconference for the ITIM Foundation 2000 Board.
As a consequence I am really tired and need to go to bed before I simply fall over where I am.
Wednesday, 20th
I forgot to turn my alarm off so woke early. Rather than getting mad with myself I decided that we would try and cook another three batches of puddings today which has meant another long day.
Just before Mass I got a phone call to say that Jack Walters, an elderly resident of Corumbene Nursing Home had developed pneumonia overnight and had deteriorated. I went over and anointed him before Mass.
I had a visit from a family who were tracing their family links so that took some time this morning but in between answering their questions and helping them find information I managed to get a couple of accounts paid as well as sending off some tax invoices for various rental places that belong to the Parish.
After lunch I headed up the hill to Moogara to prepare the funeral liturgy for the late Jadwiga Scholz, an Polish lady with a remarkable story. It wasn't too difficult to complete the leaflet I'm not certain how many will be at the Mass tomorrow but I will do enough leaflets to be safe.
I came home for a meeting with Sr Lorraine about the gathering at Oatlands tomorrow night and she was there to help bring in the second lot of puddings in mid afternoon. The last lot went in and are not due to be removed until about 9.30pm at the earliest. The meeting looked at several issues that we will need to address tomorrow and into the future.
I haven't long been home from a rather different evening. I went to see the family of the late Elaine Crosswell to arrange her funeral liturgy for Friday. There was a little bit of mucking round with a picture that they wanted for the front cover so I have been home and scanned the picture and taken it back. Everything seems to have worked out all right but there will be some work tomorrow to get all the copies they want done - using the colour printer to complete them all.
Whilst there my mobile vibrated and when I later checked the message bank it said that Jack Walters had deteriorated and was now in Calvary Hospital and the family were asking if I could come down. I went but I was more of a hindrance because as soon as I suggested a blessing he got really agitated and thought that we wanted to stop him having breakfast and it took quite some time to get him calmed down. I said that I would return in the morning so I'll see what happens then.
I've unloaded the final 32 puddings and they are now drying and there are only 8 more to cook and we have finished the first round. Now it is time for bed and there will be no alarm ringing in the morning (or anything else, I hope).
Thursday, 21st
The past few days have taken their toll so today started slowly. I only had one batch of puddings to cook so it was easier to have them finish by 1.30pm after I arrived home from the funeral so that worked out all right.
The funeral worked out all right with a good number of people there which made a difference. I had thought that because the late Jadwiga Scholz had been sick for so long that many of her contemporaries would have either predeceased her or would no longer remember her. It was also good for her niece Ella to have a good deal of support.
I called to see Jack Walters but he was resting a little more comfortably - I had been to see him late last evening after he had been transferred from Corumbene - I will try and see him tomorrow morning.
I then came home to prepare for the meeting at Oatlands for the Rural pastoral Unit. It was a good meeting with members of all the regions involved present as well as a couple of members of the Diocesan Staff. There was a little bit of confusion about some details of the proposal that we had sent to + Adrian a month ago which I will need to check on sometime in the next day or so before we send this next report to him.
It isn't that late, but after the past few days I am now really ready for bed.
Friday, 22nd
I was on the road early today as I headed off to Hamilton for a Workshop on Small Rural Communities and how they might survive into the future. The presenter, Peter Kenyon, provided a broad range of ideas and possibilities for us to consider. Unfortunately I had to leave early so will need to contact Lorraine tomorrow to learn what further developments might follow on from his work.
The funeral of the late Elaine Crosswell was well attended. The family were pleased with the ceremony and the efforts that had been made to ensure that her farewell was a suitable and fitting celebration of her life. There were quite a number of persons who have been at a number of recent funerals here at New Norfolk so it was easy to catch up with people.
This afternoon I finally got the printer and the laptop to talk to each other. The USB to parallel printer cable didn't work because it was drawing too much power, the LPT1: port doesn't work so it was down to the Infrared Port to work but we needed to download the latest drivers from Canon before we could get it all to happen.
Then it was off to Glenorchy to see my young brother Brendan and his wife Lisa and little Grace who are down for my parents 50th wedding anniversary celebrations which are on this weekend - the big day is actually next Wednesday. We worked on a letter that we will be sending out to some other friends of these after the event but more about that later.
I wasn't home long when I got a call asking me to visit a sick friend so I packed up my car again and headed out and have not long been home and I am now heading for bed as I am a very tired little person and I need to get some rest soon.
Saturday, 23rd
Today has been a great day. The family gathered this afternoon to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. Several of the Bridal Party were able to be with them as well as all the family except for Steve stuck in Sydney with the Olympics. Maree and two of the girls were able to come down so that was good but sad that Steve wasn't there. There will be a small gathering on Wednesday (the actual day) back at Derwent Waters so that will be good.
This morning I had dashed off to town to help one of my friends who had broken down part way to work so that meant an early start to the day. When I got home I managed to finish the newsletter - twice. The first time I had finished completely when I noticed that all the Mass times for the week were last weeks and they were now completely incorrect. Started again and threw the others away.
Lunch for the clergy today was at Lindisfarne so this morning I managed to complete the roster for the Saturday Lunches for the next couple of months so I was able to take with me before heading out to the family gathering.
This evening I have spent time stapling the calendar for October with the newsletter as I watched some TV and now I'm heading for bed.
Sunday, 24th
Mass today in the country was at Ellendale which is always a good place to go to celebrate Mass - there is an air of expectancy at the moment as they make final preparations for their Combined Churches Fair later in the month.
After Mass I returned home for a short time before heading down to Old Beach to see the family of the late Jack Walters to complete the preparations for his funeral Mass to be celebrated tomorrow. It was good to catch up with all the family as I have had a bit to do with some of them over the years - but sad that we are gathering to farewell Jack. I have a little do to finish the Big Book for tomorrow but that can wait until morning.
The evening Mass was a small gathering - the Olympics and school holidays have really hit the numbers these past two weeks. There is very little on TV tonight after the 400 m Women's Semi's so I'll watch that and head off to bed.
Monday, 25th
It was a slow start this morning as I had Mass at 9am and then the funeral Mass for the late Jack Walters after lunch at Glenorchy. It meant that I had time this morning to do some work on letters to various people after the meeting in Oatlands last Thursday night as well as start the Monthly Newsletter for the Pastoral Unit - although there are some details I don't have that I will need to chase up later in the week.
The funeral was a great celebration - Fr Chris Hope, another former PP of Glenorchy was able to join me so that was good. The gathering after the funeral was also another good time to celebrate Jack's life.
This evening was a quiet night with some more work following up on faxes etc. that had arrived during the day and watching Cathy Freeman and Michael Johnson showing their class as they both won their 400m events at the Olympics. The feeling of excitement as they ran was wonderful - not even diminished by the fact that I was here by myself.
Now for bed and hopefully a good night's sleep.
Tuesday, 26th
Went up town and found a suitable anniversary present for my parents - Ruby had arrived this morning with the news that she had been searching for something suitable and suggested I go and have a look and I agreed so we will do a double act tomorrow.
Called to see a parishioner over in Fourth Ave. - Angus has been sick for some time and I have been meaning to get to see him and finally made it today.
The other big job has been doing a complete computer backup - as expected is has taken almost all day and I'm really glad that it is almost completed. It also gave me time to make a number of phone calls and send off some messages to complete the report of the Outlands meeting.
I also managed to complete the majority of the Rural Unit Newsletter - that has to be emailed by Thursday so that it can be printed for the weekend.
Now it is time for bed and hopefully a good sleep.
Wednesday, 27th
Mass this morning was another good moment as we celebrated the Feast of St Vincent de Paul - just about everyone there had had some connection with the St V de P Society over the years.
After Mass I spent some time chatting with a parishioner concerned about some of the issues facing them at this time - hopefully a holiday starting next week will resolve some of their fears.
After lunch (and completing the computer backup process) I did some work on a booklet for my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary Mass at Derwent Waters. There was a good crowd of people from their Rosary Group and from the Parish as well as a couple of the Sisters of St Joseph were Mum has stayed at various times when Dad had been hospitalised. After the Mass some other family and friends from around the area arrived to celebrate with them.
When I got home I printed off the Marriage booklet for Naomi and Stuart for this weekend so that is another job that is finished. Now, however, it is time for bed.
Thursday, 28th
This morning I completed most of the Rural Newsletter although I found that as I printed the copies for here there was a mistake in the first paragraph - obviously the first draft I had done hadn't saved as a copy and the para from the first edition went out as the email - I immediately sent out a correction so hopefully the corrected copy will be available this weekend.
After Mass I also did some work on the weekend's newsletter for the Parish which I have now printed so I am well ahead of time for this week. I managed to visit a couple of people because the appointment I had at Glenorchy to discuss some work on the Grapevine Program was cancelled as there had not been a response from Perth to make the meeting worthwhile - hopefully it can be rescheduled.
I've just finished an appointment with a young couple who are to be married later in the year. Maree is the first person whom I have baptised (as an infant) for whom I will witness her marriage - I always thought that I would be anxious about the first wedding of a person who was born after I was ordained and my next concern was when the first person I had baptised arrived but so far I have managed without falling apart. My real test (joking of course) will be when the first child of a couple whom I have married arrives asking me to officiate at their wedding - that will be different.
Now, however, it is time for bed.
Friday, 29th
After a slow start because of a poor night's sleep I've managed to get most things done.
After Mass I chatted a for a few minutes and so was late arriving at Corumbene Nursing Home to take Holy Communion to the residents. Several of the residents had moved off so will need to be on time next Friday for the First Friday Mass.
From there I headed off to the District Hospital to catch up with some patients there. Eileen Taylor, a long term resident, has been joined by Nancy Shepherd who is recovering from a chest infection and Gordon Batchelor who arrived back into town from Hobart after spending a few days at the Holman Cancer Clinic. Sadly his prognosis is not particularly good so it will be interesting to see how he gets on over the next few days.
After lunch I did some work in preparation for teleconference for the ITIM National Board which took some time. I attempted to find out if the disassociation process of ITIM - Tas had been finalised and everyone I needed to speak to was out so will need to try again on Monday.
I've just finished the wedding rehearsal and all the paperwork has been signed off for the celebration tomorrow - it will be a great day and I am looking forward to be able to celebrate this very special event.
Now it is time for bed.
Saturday, 30th
It was almost a day off today - I didn't go to lunch at Kingston (the furthest distance for me to travel) because I had a wedding at 3pm and it would have been too great a rush.
I did some work on the Parish Finances this morning to look at the amount of money we have raised from Fundraising so far this financial year. So far, before the inclusion of the Christmas Puddings, we have raised over $3,000 so that gives us some indication of where our finances are for the year.
After the wedding I headed towards town and then remembered that I was supposed to call into the District Hospital to see a young fellow who has been admitted for some rest - I will try and see him again tomorrow as he was very drowsy and I was difficult to have any kind of real conversation.
Both the wedding and the reception were very pleasant events - the congregation for the wedding was good and the whole of the reception went well and although I was really tired I managed to hang into until the majority of the reception had been completed.
Now it is time for bed.
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