Daily Notes and News
The Month of August 2001
Wednesday, 1st
Another early morning and everything looked good because the booklets were done for all three funerals and the Big Book for today were finished early. That is until we started to fold the leaflets immediately after Mass. Mass has been moved to 9am because I also had a dentists appointment this morning which I had forgotten (that's at 10am) so rather than having to come back from Glenorchy for Mass at midday and then turn around and go back for the funeral we moved Mass to the earlier time. At least that was the plan.
Back to the folding - Ruby looked and saw that I hadn't done a perfect find and replace and the funeral included a 'Michael' as well as 'Stephen' for whom the booklets had been done so I had to do the whole lot again. I started them off but decided that I would have to come back after the Dentist to finish them off.
The Dentist went all right - it was just a check and clean so that was good. When I got home the leaflets were printed off (except for the few coloured ones for the family) so we started folding and then Ruby noticed that there was was an 'Alfred', a third name included in the very first prayer so I had to start again and do them all for the third time. Now, instead of having everything done early and having time to do a few things in town I had to rush to get back to Glenorchy for the funeral.
I did have a little bit of time so I managed to call in to the place which will supply our protective clothing for the pudding making - lucky I did because the girl I had to see reminded me that she had a marriage appointment this evening which I had completely missed in all the running around. I also collected a few other things from another distributor including the extra bins for the fruit to soak in.
The funeral itself went off all right and there was a good crowd there as well as at the Crematorium. I managed to catch up with a few friends at both and chatted with them for a time. Whilst in town I went to see Peter Cusick and arranged for a loan for Oatlands to deal with the repairs that need to be done to the Parish House, including some rewiring and repairing of the roofing and guttering.
I then called to see the people at Kerry Pinnacle regarding the delivery time for the ingredients tomorrow so that is now all completed. I also got the cost for all the ingredients - just under $3,800. When I though about it all it is not that much more that last year and we are making a whole more puddings so that isn't too bad.
Bernadette and Rodney have just left and everything has been double checked for tomorrow - the Big Book is done and now I'm ready for bed - I really need a good nights sleep.
Thursday, 2nd
The leaflets for today and tomorrow were so thoroughly checked after yesterday's debacle that there is almost no print left on either of them. The Big Book for today was done early and so, after the 9am Mass I was able to head off to St Matthew's Anglican Church for the funeral to commence at 10am.
The funeral went well with lots of people from various aspects of life and society and from many previous funerals I had done for the extended family being part of the congregation. Some people thought that the reason we were there was because of the damage down to the Church on the weekend so I explained that Terry had asked for his funeral to be from St Matthew's but he requested that I celebrate it. After the funeral we headed down to the Crematorium and completed his funeral rites with the service there.
Then it was back home to start on the Newsletter for the weekend. On the way home, however, I got a call to say that the new Principal for 2002 had been decided and a process for informing people was being emailed to me I didn't get too much chance to do a great deal to the newsletter at that time. I've managed to get in contact with all the Board and they have been informed. I will speak to the staff at Morning Tea tomorrow and then a letter will go out through the School at the end of the day.
Jackson Security came this afternoon and have suggested a security system for the Church and a quote for almost $1,400 was received late this afternoon - I will now need to chat to the finance people to see whether this is the way to go.
Almost as soon as he left the mobile went to say that the ingredients had arrived at the RSL in Tank Street so I headed around there and managed to get some help from a few patrons (basically the guys who had been at the funeral earlier) to help with the unloading. That completed I took the frozen egg pulp to the Davis' to be stored in their freezer until we need it.
I then came back home and finally managed to do some work on the Newsletter and have almost completed it - just a few extra details to get out of the way.
Now bed - I'll leave the Big Book for tomorrow until morning.
Friday, 3rd
Today has been a day of some sadness for the Church of Tasmania as well as the a sadness in the local community.
Fr John Wallis, the oldest priest in Tasmania died this morning aged 91. He has been an incredible man with an amazing influence on generations of priests, religious and laity throughout Tasmania and Australia. A great reader who, even just a few weeks ago, sent out a series of articles on Ministry to the members of the Religious Congregation he founded (the Missionary Sisters of Service) and to the priests together with some reflections about his journey and his priesthood.His funeral will be celebrated on Wednesday.
Back to the start of the day. I printed the Big Book for the funeral as well as some extra leaflets (just in case). There were the two Masses this morning - the (am here and the First Friday Mass at Corumbene. I then headed towards the other side of the river to take Holy Communion to Doris Hastie and came across the second sadness - this time the tragic accident involving a bus driver who had been killed by the bus rolling forward as he crossed in front of it and was crushed. I knew several of the Police involved in the investigation and because the bus company is a client of ITIM I stopped and spent time with the people gathered there before saying some prayers for the deceased. The ITIM Team will have spent the day working with the Metro drivers and the family of the deceased so there will be some follow up that I will do over the weekend on that.
After then visiting Doris I headed back to school to inform the gathered Staff of the appointment of Peter McBain as the new Principal for 2002. Peter has been Principal at Rosebery for the past two years and the previous five years Principal at Smithton. He will be a different leader to Sean Gill and will bring a new dimension to the School Community and will also be, hopefully, a part of the local community by living in the area.
Then I headed off to see Eileen at the District Hospital before returning home to find out that I was being asked to celebrate a funeral on Monday so made arrangements to see the family of the deceased, the late June Bannister, tomorrow afternoon.
After a bite to eat (and some of the newsletter done) I headed off to Moonah for the funeral of the late Davor Dukic. It was a simple funeral but with a strong Croatian feel about it with the music being Adriatic and the language of the people being Croatian. Sadly some members of his family were unable to be there so a video was made and will be sent back to Croatia for them to view.
(Sr) Lorraine called in on her way home and we chatted about Fr John and his dying and what it meant to her and some of the implications for her Congregation.As she drove away I felt sorry for her because she will be by herself this evening before other members of the Congregation arrive in Tassie over the next few days.
I've just arrived home after having a lovely meal with Maura and Karen at Bellerive. It was a good night but I'm tired, even though it is not late. I'm heading for bed because the weekend is now much busier and next week is looking rather hectic.
Saturday, 4th
I managed to finish off both editions of the newsletter early and so was ready for the Baptism at 11am ahead of schedule. The service went well and the four young people responded well to the parts they were asked to play in the celebration . I will need to talk to (Sr) Lorraine about the next stage in the process for their faith education.
From here I headed for Lindisfarne for lunch with the local clergy. There was a lot of talk about John Wallis and his story and it will be good to gather on Tuesday night to remember those things before we celebrate his funeral on Wednesday afternoon.
From there I headed to New Town for the Sacred Heart Old Scholars Association Mass at 2pm. It also was a good celebration although the numbers there were down - I'm not sure how to boost numbers but will ask some of the people who were at School in my time about their participation in future gatherings.
The next part of today was spent with the family of the late June Bannister - working with them as we prepare for her funeral to be celebrated on Monday afternoon. It is only going to be a small gathering (her wishes) so it will be interesting to see how it all comes together.
I then headed off towards Kempton for the Vigil Mass and arrived in plenty of time sad because I had listened to the last few minutes of the Geelong v Melbourne game and heard Geelong lose by three points. The Mass tonight, however, was well attended with a number of young people (and their families) who are part of the Sacramental program present as part of their faith education. It was also good for the regulars to see a few extra at Mass to support them.
I'm not even waiting to see the Bill tonight before heading for bed - I need some sleep because I'm really tired and if I don't have a break soon I'm going to be cactus.
Sunday, 5th
I delivered the Newsletters to the local Churches early this morning because Netscape 6 crashed for the 900th time so I went out while the newer version was being downloaded - hopefully things will work better from now on.
There was a good crowd at Mass this morning so that was good - it means that we are able to start to build again as the numbers over these past few weeks have been very encouraging.
Then it was off to the country for Mass at Ouse. During the Mass we had the baptism of Lucinda Smith - the second child of Melissa and Adrian whose wedding I had witnessed in Launceston some years ago and it was good to catch up with them today. Melissa's parents live at Glenorchy (where I knew the whole family) but her grandmother lives at Ouse so the family come back there for their major celebrations.
I came home after the lunch at Enid's and crashed - I'm been really tired and stopping for a few minutes in the afternoon is deadly. I knew that I had to do the booklet for the funeral of the late June Bannister but I've decided that I'll do that first thing tomorrow morning.
There was a good number at Mass tonight but I've decided that I'll watch the end of last night's episode of the Bill and then I'm heading for bed - it'll probably be something like 7.30pm or just a little later but I think I'm going to need the sleep.
Monday, 6th
I finished the work on the booklets for the funeral of the late June Bannister early but still made a mistake in the Big Book - I called her Rose (in the Big Book) instead of June (Rose was her second name).
The morning went quickly although I'm not quite sure what happened to the time. I spent some time getting things ready for the pudding making, entered the details of the Planned Giving Program and saw a fellow who had made an appointment last week at a funeral.
Headed off to the funeral at 1pm - it was a small funeral as the deceased had requested that only children be in attendance - the lady's brother and family who came were asked to move away!
I then came home to collect all the things for the pudding mix and discovered that there were several shortcomings in my planning which I have subsequently spent a great deal of time refining. We need some more scales and large bowls for weighing and perhaps half an hour chatting with people prior to commencing the mixing to ensure that they understand the process and do not just jump in to do things - we had some minor disasters, which hopefully will not effect the final product.
I've just spent time cutting and knotting the string we need for tieing the bags as I watched the programs I have taped over the past few days and which I have not had time to watch. I worked out a way to cut the string easily to a uniform length (I've also made a measure for the curling ribbon) but the string still needs to be tied.
Now it is time for bed and I'm tired but happy that things are underway.
Tuesday, 7th
Things were really hectic today (and it wasn't even a pudding day).
After Mass at 9am I headed off to Sandy Bay, to Mt St Canice, for the first meeting of the newly elected Council of Priests. It is a subtly different group from previous Councils but there is also a depth of wisdom and understanding amongst the group. Phil Green and Brian Nichols were missing due to funerals but the meeting was a good meeting. Quite a deal of time was spent reflecting on what had happened over the past few days - the death of John Wallis and the pleading guilty by Paul Connolly to a series of charges relating back almost 30 years. It isn't easy to put all of our emotions into a few minutes at a meeting but the discussion on what was happening to us at this time and to our parishioners provided a opportunity for reflection and comment.
After the meeting I headed off to town and purchased a new set of electronic scales (capable of weighing almost 5kg - some weight lost for the container) as well as some larger mixing /weighing bowls. I then went on a 'sales run' and contacted Principal's Real Estate re their decision to look at giving Christmas Puddings as Client gifts. They have decided that that is what they would like to do so I have arranged to send them a draft of the label as soon as I get the 'gif' from their printers. I also managed to contact the lady at the Friends School and have organised to send her the same number of puddings ordered last year (plus a few extra) in the middle of November and she seemed happy with that.
From there I continued on to get some Office Supplies before arriving at Scots Uniting Church for a Liturgy of Farewell and Supper for the Rev Bob Faser, who is shortly to conclude his term as General Secretary of the Tasmanian Council of Churches and continue his ministry at the Uniting Church at Mt Martha in Victoria. It was a good celebration and an opportunity to catch up with some friends from other denominations whom I haven't seen in some time. Unfortunately neither +Adrian or myself were able to stay too long at the supper as we needed to head off to the Cathedral for the Vigil, including the reception of the body, for the late Fr John Wallis at 7.30pm.
The Service for John was a beautiful celebration and an opportunity to hear some of the stories and memories from his neice Bernadette Wallis( also a member of the Missionary Sisters of Service), Mons. Phil Green (from the diocese), Sr Agnes Ryan (for the Missionary Sisters of Service) and Peter Nichols (a long time friend and coworker with Fr John in the 50's & 60's) which was helpful. The funeral booklet for tomorrow suggests that it will be a similar opportunity for the power of the love of God to touch through the liturgy.
Now, however, it is time for bed. I have tied a few more strings and there are now enough for tomorrow and Thursday's puddings. There is so much that still needs to be done in the morning - most of the problem, however, will be in the transporting of things up to the RSL Kitchen and ensuring that I don't forget anything because the coming back will be the pain. I've decided that if anything is missing I'll ask Ruby to come back with someone and they can bring what is needed.
Wednesday, 8th
It is hard to work out what has the most draining of today's experiences or which was the most uplifting!
This morning I was up early and am going to bed late with the Christmas Puddings beginning to dominate my life. We had some minor problems with the mixtures trying to get the right consistency, difficulty trying to finish within the time span allotted (a self imposed timetable to allow people to get home at a reasonable time) and a major difficulty with two of the boilers, one of which run dry which meant we lost about eight puddings and another boiler which refused to continue at the boil. Otherwise things are up and running and hopefully tomorrow will see things working better. We had a couple of new faces which helped and have trained them up to take a major role with two of us missing from the team for part of tomorrow.
The major event for today, however, was the funeral of the late John Wallis who recently celebrated his 91st Birthday and would soon have completed 68 years of priesthood. John was a truly remarkable man whose life story is the story of a saint and who had an incredible influence on more than 50 years of the Church in Tasmania through his prayerfulness, his continual reading and updating and his sharing of his vision and understanding of the Church with others. His absence from our midst is going to be sorely felt but his funeral was well celebrated and the Cathedral was packed.
I was anxious about getting a park so I rang Graham's on the way to town and Jenny was able to drop me off at the Cathedral and then continue on to drop off some photo's at Photolith for some bromides. It was lucky because there was a crowd and the timing would have made it difficult for me to find a parking space close by.
Right now I am really tired having just pulled the last of the puddings for tonight and I'm going to bed - not certain when I will wake but it will be time to turn the boilers on soon enough.
Thursday, 9th
Rather than try to tell the story in conversational prose I will give you the timetable for today - and in italics what actually happened:
4.15am - turn power on for boilers; worked out OK although 1 boiler was not working.;
5.00am - check boilers, make savoury scones for morning tea & iron vestments for funeral; scones took longer to get started but worked out OK
6.00am - first lot of puddings go in to cook; a few minutes late but within a time frame
7.30am - arrive at RSL Kitchens to prepare the fruit for this morning; again almost on time and going good, some members of the team arrived early to help
8.00am - the team arrive and everything gets underway; things went very smoothly and people were well into rhythm with only 9 today - 14 yesterday
9.00am - return home to shower and then head for town to act as MC for the 10.30am funeral of the late Sr Barbara Duggan SSJ; the team was working so well that we had completed 2 mixtures (out of 15) by the time I left so I was
confident everything would work out.
10.30am - the funeral went well and I didn't make too many mistakes as MC although there were a few moments when I was a little distracted and it took a moment to sink in that I was supposed to organise the next step;
11.00am - first load of puddings removed from boilers, second lot loaded including some of the puddings made this morning; on schedule and extra puddings brought down to the house;
approx 1pm - return to New Norfolk and help with completing the pudding making today; got back by 1.30pm after receiving a phone call to get some chips and potato cakes on the way home as they were almost finished and everyone was starving. Tidied up and was clear of the RSL by 3pm and headed back to the house for a coffee with Beryl who had helped bring the moulded puddings back to the house;
4.00pm - second lot of puddings removed from boilers and third lot loaded; hopefully all finished at the RSL and everything tidied up and put away; as mentioned above everything well and truly finished at the RSL and everything going smoothly. John brought back the fifth boiler (repaired) and it went on at about 3pm so that meant we were able to put 50 puddings on to boil - everything going smoothly;
6.15pm - on the road to town to visit Mrs Morgan, a friend of many years, at the Whittle Ward; hit the road at 5.30pm to see a family with a 'child' related problem before heading into town to see Frances Morgan - she is dying of leukaemia but is in fine spirits so will see her again on Sunday night;
7.30pm - meeting of the Jane Franklin Hall Council; I was so tired after the past few days that I apologised and missed the meeting to come home after being with Frances at the Whittle Ward for almost an hour;
9.30pm - final load of puddings taken out and the boilers closed down for the night. the puddings came out just after 9pm so that meant we were ahead of time although it still took until almost 9.30pm before everything was closed down and prepared for an early start tomorrow.
As it all turned out it really was a very busy day and I'm 'ruined'. The team worked really well and finished within the time frame I thought we would need for the 15 mixtures and they were without three people who have been significant in the whole operation - a job really well done.
I'm going to sit quietly before I go to bed tonight because there has been no time for prayer and I need some space after the past few days - bed is then looking very inviting.
Friday, 10th
I thought that today might be quieter but it was just as hectic.
It started early (4.00am) when I woke to turn the boilers on - we boiled the last of the 2 kg puddings today and they are all now hanging to dry and air. The next problem will be where we will store them until we have to put them into calico. We lost a few with broken bags - but over all we have managed well and if someone is silly enough to get up early and turn the boilers on we can do three boilings a day. We might also need to look at getting all of them rewired with 15 amp cords (I'll check with an electrician to make sure all of that works.
After the 9am Mass I headed down to school for a Reconciliation Service with the Gr. 4 Class - it was a good celebration and they are beginning to understand some of the real consequences of their actions and asking for forgiveness.
Then it was back home to take out the first load of puddings and fix up batch number 2 before returning to school for Morning Tea.
From School I headed off to see Eileen at the District Hospital and Doris at Fairview. After I had seen Doris I got a call from across the road and a Vietnamese lady whom I had met many years ago at the Cathedral (early 80's) who was visiting a relation of mine and who had invited the lady and her mother for lunch.
Then it was back to start on the newsletter - but very subdued as we had heard that Paul Connolly had been sentenced to 8 months gaol with 4 months suspended. It will have a big impact on the people of New Norfolk so we will be working with that especially over the next few weeks.
I've just arrived back from the Mass and Dinner celebrating the 40th Birthday celebrations for Holy Rosary School at Claremont. My father was one of the members of the 1st Board of Management and most of the rest of the family attended the school after we moved to Claremont in 1965. It was a good night but I'm really tired and I'm heading for bed. The puddings are finished and everything has been turned off so today is an end.
Saturday, 11th
I thankfully started late this morning - I woke just after 7am so that was a good start after the last few days.
I washed out the boilers and cleaned up some of the mess in the kitchen after repairing broken bags - it makes the place look just a bit neater although there is still some things that have been left incomplete.
There was a Baptism of two members of the Rice Family at 11am and that went well with a number of people whom I hadn't connected with the name being present. At the conclusion of the ceremony I loaded the car and headed for Glenorchy to attend the 70th Birthday celebrations for Veronica Ygosse, a lady who I have known for some 35 years - personally and through various members of her family. It was a real surprise for her and I think she enjoyed the day and it was good to catch up with people from Dominic Primary whom I hadn't seen for some time.
From there I headed off to see the family of the late Virginia Capasso and started to prepare for her funeral which is to be celebrated on Tuesday before calling and see my parents on the way to Bothwell. I just missed some of the family who had left just before I arrived so it means that another opportunity to see people was lost - I'll just have to try again.
I hit a real tired time on the way to Bothwell for Mass tonight - I had to stop I was so drowsy that I got out for a walk around for 10 minutes. There were the usual people for Mass and that was good - there is only one more Saturday Evening Mass before we move to Sunday Nights at the start of September.
I came home immediately after Mass and will be hitting the sack as soon as I finish this page - hopefully, I'll get another reasonable nights sleep.
Sunday, 12th
I finally had a good night's sleep but it was mainly because I went to bed so early - it was still only 5am when I woke. I spent time finishing of the Newsletter for the web and posted it - a day later than usual.
After the 9am Mass I headed for the country Mass at Maydena - Sandy offered (and I accepted) to drive me up and back as I was so tired so today's country run was much easier than usual and much less of a drain.
I had a bite to eat before the Baptism at 1.30pm and then sat down for a rest until the evening Mass. Lorraine rang during the afternoon to say that Frank Williams from Pelham had died this morning so I rang the family and have arranged to see them tomorrow morning to prepare for the funeral on Wednesday.
I then headed over to the Church and celebrated the 4.30pm Mass, informing them that the Mass time would be changing on the 1st weekend of September to only one Mass at New Norfolk per weekend. I'm not certain how it will go over in the long term but we will see what happens.
I then headed to town to celebrate Mass at the Whittle Ward for Frances Morgan, a patient in late stage leukaemia, and her family whom I have known for many years. It was a good celebration but I really should have contacted the Passionists to let them know that that was what I was doing - I will do it in the morning.
I've just arrived home and now I'm heading for bed - there is nothing worth watching so I'm going to bed to read.
Monday, 13th
Slept well - woke early - how unusual!!
I had a number of things that needed to get done today and as usual most of them have not been done. I still haven't rung Jannette Readman about the finance program so will try and do that tomorrow - we need to do some work on the BAS and other financial processes for when I am away - today four weeks is not long. I didn't get to see the Vout's nor did I make contact with another family I haven't seen for some time.
The normal Monday morning posting of Planned Giving details happened and then I headed off to Pelham to spend time with the family of the late Frank Williams to prepare the funeral liturgy for his funeral on Wednesday. All that went well so that was good and I've been able to send off some readings for the grandchildren to read during the ceremony. I completed the booklet for the Capasso funeral for tomorrow and emailed it to Graham's for them to print if off - save me some time and effort.
There were a few phone messages I had to follow up when I got back to New Norfolk and then it was off to the RSL for the mixing of fruit and preparing the ingredients for the pudding mix tomorrow. I think that everything is set up so that the process works a little better than last Wednesday when we made our first batches but we'll see what happens.
I've managed to print off quite a number of the little labels that we will be putting on the puddings so that we have enough (in the vicinity of 1,500 for the individual serves and 1,500 for the 1 & 2 kg puddings) for the finishing off later when it comes time to wrap them in the calico. I will need to get some more card to complete the labels for the larger puddings - I suspect I will also need more for the mini-puds as well.
I've not done too much tonight except print off the Big Book for the funeral tomorrow so I'm heading for bed and an early night.
Tuesday, 14th
Woke early again, this time because I had been too clever last night and had deleted some data from my diary just before I went to sleep - I needed to restore things from memory and that was on my mind all night.
I printed off the labels for the mini puddings while typing up Daily Notes & News and then moved all the 2 kg Christmas puddings from their hanging spot into the lounge room so that we had space to store the 1 kg puddings we made & cooked today.
It was a good day at the 'coal face' with us making almost 400 x 1 kg puddings - I will know the exact number tomorrow morning as we start cooking the next 100 - we managed to cook 200 today so that was good. The spirits of the team are holding up with two and half making days to go - unfortunately the early morning cooking efforts will continue a little longer.
I headed off to town to celebrate the funeral of the late Virginia Capasso - try saying 'our sister Virginia' quickly!! The funeral itself went off well although I tried to be too smart and called into the CEO to collect some material for Sandy and the 1st Eucharist Program as well as leave my laptop at Computers + More and they can do what needs to be done to it. The only difficulty was that I then caught every red light and the hearse had a clear run to Pontville and arrived 5 minutes before me! Not good.
I then went back to the RSL and helped with the finishing off and preparations for tomorrow - everything is ready to go but it is becoming increasingly obvious that the final day is going to be more about cleaning the floor and surrounds than it is about making puddings - everything is so sticky at the end of each day that our cleaning up really is only a start.
I came home and had a bath because I was aching al over. I needed a lift because we celebrated the Mass for the Vigil of the Assumption tonight. We included in our prayers the late Barry Foster during the Mass - Barry died in Queensland two weeks ago after a short illness.
A couple of people stayed behind for a coffee after Mass and then helped with the unloading of the second 100 x 1 kg puddings so today has been a good day.
Wednesday, 15th
Last night was a bad night - I had been asleep for almost 2 hours when the phone rang with someone from the funeral today ringing to say that the children were going to do different readings from the Scripture readings - the time they rang - 11.45pm!!
I needed the alarm to wake this morning to get me started but in the end it all worked out. I used hot water to refill the boilers so by 5.00am all the boilers were go, filled with their first 20 x 1 kg puddings for the day. By the end of the day we had cooked another 300 puddings making a total of 500 cooked and another 300 (approx) to cook tomorrow. Yesterday's total puddings made was 392, I'm not certain exactly how many we made today but it looks likely to be about the 400 mark again - not bad really.
The funeral of the late Frank Williams went well and I was able to celebrate it without any real dramas, although I mustn't have printed off the last few pages of the Big Book which meant I had to use pages from another service left in the folder - by the time I was finished he was a 'Rose'. I managed to get to Mornington in plenty of time even being able to stop off at Moonah to drop off the external floppy drive to Computers + More without too much difficulty.
I came home and started working on a letter to go out to all the Clergy regarding Christmas Puddings - I'll print it off tomorrow morning so that I can post it off over the next day or so.
Then it was off to the School Board Meeting but I was only able to be there for a short time before coming back for the Mass of the Assumption at 7pm. After Mass I asked for help from parishioners to unload the last of today's puddings and managed to get some new faces involved which all makes for better information and understanding of what we are doing.
Now bed - I'm really appreciating hitting the sack at the moment - sad that I have to get up so early at the other end.
Thursday, 16th
Today has been an interesting day but long and frustrating as well.
I started the boilers off at 4am (again) and everything started well - unfortunately after that things started to go a little wrong.
I headed for Bridgewater to travel to Launceston and took with me some names of people I wanted to contact - and left my mobile in my car and drove off with Denis Allen and Chris Hope. One of the things I wanted to ring to remind Ruby about was the need to check the boilers - when I got home I saw that two boilers were off and there was a load of very burnt puddings in the shed. It seems that last night someone had turned off the switches on the boiler near the Church and I had turned two back on this morning and may have done major damage to the boiler - loosing 20 puddings is fairly major anyway.
The meeting went well and I managed to get a number of extra email addresses from people so I have added these to my list and will send a copy to Michelle Boucher at the Archbishops Office when they have al been checked out - i.e. if they don't come back as undeliverable.
I've just returned from the Parents Meeting for 1st Eucharist which went well although there were a few people missing so they will have to be followed up. We have taken the last of the puddings out - with the burnt out boiler there are still 30 to cook tomorrow so I will see what happens about starting time and whatever. Now bed - I am really tired.
Friday 17th
There was snow on the mountains close to New Norfolk this morning for the first time in a long time and there was a good dusting of snow on Mt Wellington. HMAS Sydney arrived in port today and it was different seeing them all rugged up as they worked on the clean ship in port activities when I called down about lunch time. There were only two officers in the Wardroom whom were on board this time last year but it was good to catch up with them and say hello. I will try and catch up with some of the others now that I know where they have gone.
After the failure of the boilers yesterday I needed to go to another boil (for 30 only ) this morning so I got the boilers started about 6am so they were ready to come out by about midday. That worked out alright and they are now all finished - for this week any way.
We had Mass at school at 9am and that went well with the children getting better at participating and being part of the celebration - it has been an exciting activity for the School since we started having the celebrations regularly.
As I wandered off to take Communion to the Housebound my mobile rang asking if I might be able to celebrate a funeral (for someone outside the Parish) on Monday but I asked if they might see if a priest closer to where they live might be available - the priest in their Parish is away on holidays at present. It is amazing - it is twice in one week when I've actually said 'no' to someone. As it worked out the priest in the Parish where the funeral is to take place was available so that was good.
I called to see Mum and Dad on the way home and talked with them about a few things and then rang Martin to say that I'd been to see them so that worked out well. Home for the newsletter (which still isn't quite finished) so I will need to make a phone call in the morning to get some details about one of the events taking place next weekend that I needed to include this week.
Now bed - I don't even think I will worry about the football as I need to rest and there is the Prayer Breakfast in the morning which will mean I can't even have any extra timne in bed tomorrow.
Saturday, 18th
I woke normally this morning but still early but that's OK.
The Prayer Breakfast at 7.30am meant that I was running to get there but it was good - the snow on the mountain is making it colder and the predictions are that it will be around for the next few days as well.
I came home and finished the newsletter and printed everything off - sadly I noticed later in the day that I had forgotten to include a name in the Prayer of the Faithful and had also failed to remove the name of a parishioner from the Prayers for the Sick list. Both are now fixed but the hard copy still is incorrect.
I headed for town and checked out the possibility of getting a digital camera but I will think about it for a few days. I got a couple of other things for the trip before heading down to Sandy Bay for the Baptism. It was a bit interesting because there was no power for the Church and we needed to move everyone over into an alcove to have some light to Baptise Cody Richard Lane.
I then headed up to Fern Tree, into the hills, to see Dean and Alison. The house was covered in snow and there were a couple of heavy falls while I was there but very little was settling on the road or elsewhere except on the hills above the cover was increasing.
I then headed off to Kempton. (Sr) Lorraine rang as I was heading back into town to say that it was snowing at Ellendale and she wasn't worried about driving out but was concerned that if the snow increased she might not be able to get back - we'll see what happens tomorrow morning. There was a little crowd at Mass tonight but we are setting up for the change to Sunday evening Mass the next time we gather there.
I've come straight home, I'm heating some food for tea and then I'm going to hit the sack without spending too much time doing anything else. I'm tired and I'm gonna go to bed.
Sunday, 19th
Today Ruby turned 85. We sang Happy Birthday at the end of Mass and then a few people came over for a cuppa after Mass and we cut a cake. Later I joined her family for lunch down at her daughter Therese's - there was a great gathering of all the various ages of children, grandchildren and great children present.
There is quite a lot of snow around and it has been a cold day and it doesn't look like improving in the near future. The good thing about it all is the rain that has fallen in the past few days - most of the dams on the Lyell Highway have water in them, some are even looking reasonably full - a definite change from the past few years.
The Country Mass today was at Hamilton - is was the last time I will be there this year. There are quite a number of significant events like that happening over these next few weeks but it is hard to stop and contemplate on what is happening because it is all go here at the moment.
I got back from the country (and the Stewart's) for two Baptisms and a Baptismal preparation session which only left a short time for a coffee before the evening Mass. There was a reasonable number at Mass although most seem comfortable with the fact that it will end in two weeks time.
Sandy, the School REC, came over to the house after Mass to work on some final things to check for the First Eucharist Mass next Sunday so things are now almost in order for their big day.
I've just had a bite to eat and now I'm hitting the sack for an early night.
Monday, 20th
This day last year my the 25th Anniversary of my ordination ot the Priesthood and there was a Mass for the Clergy and the School followed by a great meal with fine wines. Today, I was joined by only one priest, Denis Allen, (who came to discuss matters relating to the times that he will be celebrating Mass in the Parish whilst I am away) and the lunch we enjoyed at the Bush Inn was a much more subdued event. None the less it was still a good day.
Going back to the start. I celebrated Mass at 9am and then did the normal Monday morning things of entering the Planned Giving Details and completing some of the work left after the weekend. I then headed down to school for the Grade 3 children to do some preparation for their First Eucharist on Sunday before coming home and filling the boilers for tomorrow's pudding cooking.
Just as I was finishing Denis arrived and we worked through for the next hour or so before having lunch. After lunch we chatted for a while before he headed off and I collected all the things to take with me to the RSL for the fruit mixing and the preparation of the dry ingredients for tomorrow.
After all that was finished I headed home and had a shower before going out for a meal with friends to celebrate my anniversary. It was a very pleasant night, thankfully, not too late but it did contain a surprise. As we were driving to the Restaurant I saw the silhouette of HMAS Sydney still at the wharf.
I drove around and chatted with some of the crew and found that the trip into Hobart on Friday had done some more damage than they had expected and they were working away at repairing some underwater equipment that would be lost if they tried to head off with it un repaired.
Now, for me it is time for bed.
Tuesday, 21st
I woke really early this morning with a fire alarm sounding from a building on the other side of the highway - it was a false alarm as the owner lives on site but it still ruined a good nights sleep.
Everything about the pudding making went well this morning except for the fact that one of the boilers boiled dry this evening. I had been out for a meal and as I came back I could tell that the 'steam' coming out of the cooking area was a different texture to normal steam. We managed to save a few of the puddings but I will need to check tomorrow to see if they can be made into 150 gram puddings or whether the smoke smell stay with them. Otherwise it was great day with lot's of fun while we were working and a good spirit.
After school I went down to spend some time with the two children attending other schools in their preparation for First Eucharist and the Reconciliation Service tomorrow night - unfortunately only one of the families arrived so that was a let down for the teacher who had done the work for both children.
I had a pasta meal and did some work on a friends computer - they fed me to pay for the computer advice (cheap in all senses of the word!!). After pulling the final puddings tonight I am now going upstairs to watch the Bill and do some tieing of string for tomorrow and then bed - I'm really tired after the early start.
Wednesday, 22nd
If yesterday mornings alarm bells ringing was a rude awakening - todays was even worse. The alarm went off just before 2am and continued until well after 3am - with both the Police and Fire Services in attendance. Not long after they had left the alarm started again so the Fire Brigade returned. Later in the day as we returned from having lunch the Police and Fires Services were there again as it was going off so I hope that something is done about it before tonight.
By the time 'normal people' were getting up I had done more than half a days work. I had printed off the Reconciliation Service for tonight; I had rebagged all the 1 kg puddings which had any outer bag water damage from yesterday as well as rebagged the puddings that were in the boiler which boiled dry last night and marked them so that they could be checked later to see if there had been any smoke damage (there was a 'smoke' smell whilst they were boiling tonight so I suspect we might loose them); I had printed off a hard copy of the Marriage Booklet for Allison and Hayden for 1st September as well as moved well over 250 puddings so that there is space to hang the ones we cooked and made today. As well as all of that I had put the next 88 puddings (the last of the 1 kg puddings for sale) in to cook and then added a double string to the remaining puddings so that they can be recognised as puddings cooked for 6 hours and become the basis for our 150 gram puddings. These need to be completely cooked so that they are only reheated to be enjoyed.
I then headed off to the RSL at 7.30am to start the work on the final 5 mixtures for 2001. We worked well and were finished making and cleaning up well before 11am which gave me plenty of time to return for a shower and Mass at noon. We then headed down to lunch at the Bush Inn as a thanks to all the 'pudding club' girls for their wonderful support of this really valuable fundraising effort.
At 3pm Jannette (with Stacey in tow) arrived to do some work on the finances - I think that everything worked out well; she is coming in again next week as well as just before I go to look at the GST any anything else that needs looking at.
There was very little time when all that was finished before the Reconciliation Service in preparation for First Communion. It was bitterly cold and it was good to see the families and the children come out for this final session before the big day on Sunday.
Whilst Jannette was here Beryl, Zelda and Jan were here to take out the cooked puddings but there were a couple of problems so there was still two loads to come out after the Reconciliation Service - one at 7pm which Sandy helped me do and another at 8pm which I did myself.
Now, however, it is time for bed after a very long and tiring day.
Thursday, 23rd
I laughed when I read what I had written this morning when I said that I slept in and missed my 4am alarm and woke at 5am! It meant that the first load of puddings didn't get in until late because it was so cold (0 degrees) that the boilers were slow coming to the boil and instead of the first load coming out at 11am it was well after 1pm when they were hung. I arrived back from Oatlands at about 5.30pm hoping that the boilers hadn't boiled dry on the next batch and everything had been turned off and they were still sitting inside so I will need to do them tomorrow morning - another early rise.
There were actually four meetings today. I didn't get to the first at 10.00am for the Police and Community Consultative Committee. Just before I was about to leave I got a call to go to the hospital to see a patient but when I got there she was about to have a bath so I will see her tomorrow morning.
I returned home for the Christian Leaders Association meeting at 10.30am and it was good because one of the Leaders is a trained mediator and was able to assist us in addressing some unresolved issues - unfortunately I had to leave before the meeting concluded so I'm uncertain what the final outcome was and will have to wait for a few days before I can learn what happened.
Then it was off to Oatlands with Sr Lorraine for the third meeting - this one was with the Pastoral Team Meeting. It was a good meeting covering many of the aspects of PArish Life for the next three months while I am away and ensuring that as many bases are covered and details finalised to assist in the Pastoral Care of the Parish during that time. At the end of the meeting I tried to assist Sr Maria in setting up her computer with a new printer but there is insufficient RAM in her machine for things to happen so Tom Young is going to look at it for her and see what can be done.
Then we headed back to New Norfolk for a quick meal before the local area Pastoral Council Meeting started at 7.30pm. There were a few things I needed to do before the meeting so that kept me busy for some time. The meeting was a good meeting but I was worried when I looked at my watch and it showed 10.25pm when we were finishing - luckily (somehow) I must have bumped one of the buttons and the time had advanced one hour and it was only 9.30pm when we finished. Everyone left fairly quickly which has given me a chance to do this page and get to bed and it is still early!
Friday, 24th
Woke this morning without the alarm and got the boilers started for the final 32 x 1 kg puddings to cook. Unfortunately when I went out to drop them in the water (once the water was boiling) the roller door on the shed dropped off it's runners and is hanging quite askew at the moment. Pat Murray arrived later in the day and it took about 5 minutes to get it fixed - with two of us, with one it really didn't work.
After Mass this morning I headed off to take Communion to Doris and Marie over at Fairview before going to the Hospital to see Eileen Taylor and the lady I have missed on the past two days. Both were well and in not any great need at the moment.
Then I headed for the Derwent Entertainment Centre for the Annual Edmund Rice Mass involving all the Schools that were either previously staffed by Christian Brothers or which have had a link with the Brothers. It is always a big celebration but loses something in the actual event as so many people gather.
Then I came home to work on the newsletter - jobs that I needed to do in Hobart,such as checking out an international drivers licence, Youth Hostels Application form as well as looking at web cams - will now have to wait until Monday. I really was quite tired and trying to do anything else was a waste of time.
I've had an early tea and now I'm heading for bed for an early night.
Saturday, 25th
Forgot to turn my alarm off this morning so woke at 4am when I didn't need to - I really was tired last night and forgot.
I finished the newsletter (both editions) early and then loaded the pages to the web, as well as the Prayer of the Faithful for this weekend and the winners page for the Football Competition to the week.
Then I moved all of the Christmas puddings - over 500 x 1 kg - from the lounge room in the hanging room, rebagged some of the 2 kg puddings so that there was space for us to have lunch. It also means that there is now space for the Gathering after the First Communion Mass tomorrow. Sandy and Mary came in the early afternoon to finish setting up the Church for the celebration and then we spent some time getting things ready in the house - it is now all done so that is good.
The lunch went well and there is enough food left over for me to have a couple of decent meals during this coming week - even a spare roast dinner.
I've just returned from Bothwell where we celebrated the final Vigil Mass in the Southern Part of the Parish - from next week we will be celebrating Sunday evening Masses in the Country area.
Now bed - I've put the tape on for the Bill and I'll look at it tomorrow (or sometime).
Sunday, 26th
Woke early again - I really am going to need to do something about a couple of good night's sleep before I go - I'm just not sure how that is going to happen.
I managed to do some work on some Marriage papers before completing preparations of the day. Therese Stewart rang to say that Ruby is not well (I spoke to her just a little while ago and she is definitely struggling, even after having some anti-biotics.
The 9am & 4.30pm Masses were reasonably well attended (according to normal numbers) and there was a good participation in the First Communion Mass and Celebration at 10.30am. The children were wonderful and almost everything went off well - I made a couple of little mistakes as I wasn't ready for a couple of the extra bits that the children were to do but it still went off alright. The celebration afterwards was a good celebration and after everything was tidied up I was exhausted and sat down and basically didn't do anything else for the afternoon. I was lucky that Patsy Duggan came at about 3.45pm to drop something off or I might have dozed through until it was time for Mass at 4.30pm.
I'm now ready for bed - I didn't watch last night's episode of the Bill and I don't think that I will have time for it tomorrow either but I'll wait and see.
Monday, 27th
I am now into the last fortnight before I leave for Ireland - in fact as I write this I will probably be somewhere between Darwin and Singapore on the second part of the journey, the first part being getting from Tasmania to Sydney.
I caught up with Ruby during the morning - she still isn't well but will probably be here tomorrow. John and I worked on the banking this morning before I headed off down to school to catch up with the staff and some of the young students. There is a building program starting today which will see two new classrooms built for next year and some restructuring of a present classroom to make it a larger room for Grade 6 next year.
I then visited a couple whose wedding I will witness next weekend. Allison wasn't there (she had a message on the machine when I got home tonight) so I will catch up with her tomorrow.
After lunch I headed into Hobart to do some of the things that I didn't do last week. I forgot to take my photo for the international licence so I will have to take that with me on Wednesday afternoon when I go to the TCC Executive Working Group meeting.
I did get a digital camera and have managed to work out how to use it - I'm not sure though about the size of the files so I will need to work on that for a while to get it all going in the right direction. I also managed to visit several places where I got quotes for some of the things that I had stolen in recent times and will send that off in the next few days - I did omit to get a quote for a good sleeping bag.
I also managed to visit Mum and Dad and had a chat with them - they had been out to the doctor's and so I needed to wait for them for a short time but that gave me time to work out how to use the digital camera so that was good.
I then headed back to town and visited Frances Morgan in the Whittle Ward - she is bright and happy although slowly deteriorating as leukaemia gets worse. I don't think that I will be celebrating her funeral before I go so that will be something the family will need to work through. On the way home tonight I got a call asking me to visit a fellow in the Royal Hobart Hospital so I will see him (and Frances) when I am in there on Wednesday afternoon.
From the Whittle Ward I headed to Jane Franklin Hall for the Fellows Dinner to say thanks and farewell to Tim Anderson, one of the Resident Fellows, who leaves to assume a role in another University College on the Mainland - Tim has been a wonderful ambassador for Jane and a great supporter of Tasmania.
It was a good night, not a late night thank goodness, and now I'm heading off to bed with the hope of getting a good night's sleep.
Tuesday, 28th
Most of the things I had planned for today didn't happen. After Mass I had a coffee with Sr Monica & Sr Lorraine and Sandy before taking Holy Communion to Ruby who is still not well. Then I collected some clothes from Greg Hudson (they needed to be taken up) before getting the mail and heading back home.
I did manage to get most of the work done for the September edition of the BEACON (as well as the weekly newsletter) so hopefully I'll be able to send all of that out tomorrow. There are one or two things missing from the Calendar which I will need to check (I've sent a copy to Lorraine for comment) before that can be sent out.
I have managed to do some other little things around the place and made some phone calls to confirm things that need to be checked so that various things will happen while I am away so things are starting to come together. And I've made some 'business' cards to give to people with my address in Ireland so they can be handed out to people for when I am away.
Now it is time for bed and an early night - there is a book I am trying to finish and tonight might be the night.
Wednesday, 29th
I printed off some 'Business cards' that I can use to give people with the address for Marianella and around the place. I also managed to complete the printing of the Marriage Booklet for the weekend, all of the paperwork for the wedding rehearsal that has just finished as well as all of the BEACON with just a little more to be done on the local Newsletter.
After the 9am Mass I took Communion to Ruby who is still struggling - she feels that she is better but she has been saying that for the past few days. I visited School this morning and spent some time with the children in Grade 3 who were having a Class Celebration for everyone after last weekend First Communion Mass.
After lunch I headed for town to a meeting of the TCC Executive Working Group which looked at some of the questions facing the TCC as we work towards appointing a new General Secretary. On the way I organised my International Driver's licence and also managed to get a quote for the sleeping bag which was the the one thing I forgot to get a quote for on Monday. I caught up with Emily before she leaves for overseas next week - she and Cameron were due to be in Ireland after I got there but it seems that there tour will be there before but she said that she would email me (again) their tour details.
I headed for the Whittle Ward to see Frances but she was fast asleep so I called into the Church Office to see the girls and also caught up with Sr Frances in the Book Shop and collected a Calendar to take with me as well as an old calendar to send off to Maree McGhee in the US so she can use it to get some prints off for her collection.
I then headed to the TCC Office for the Meeting which went well and lasted a little longer that I had thought. I was being looked after because all three times I had got out of my car and fed the parking meters they had expired when I had returned but not one infringement notice so I was really lucky.
I headed around to the Royal Hobart Hospital and caught up with Ted Wickham who is not well but still in good spirits. From there I headed home and arrived a few minutes before the start of the wedding rehearsal which went well - I think that Allison is a little anxious about me as I am in Sydney on Saturday Morning and she is worried that I won't be home in time for her wedding. It seems that I was also away and heading back home when her sister Kareena was getting married so she has reason to be anxious - although I'm not.
I'm heading upstairs to check the pudding labels to make sure we have enough printed and then I'll start to cut them up. I think that there are enough so I'll watch some of the Goodwill Games swimming (Aust v US) and then hit the sack - hopefully not too late.
Thursday, 30th
Main thing on the agenda for today was the emailing of the BEACON and the inclusion of the extra pages (The Northern and Southern editions of Adult Formation Newsletters and the September Calendar) that needed to be sent out for this weekend. There seems to have been a little bit of a problem but I will check later to see what happened and where they went.
After the 9am Mass (with Ruby in attendance) I headed down to School for a Reconciliation Service with the Grade 5's. I then collected the mail as well as wandering up to the Optometrists to order another pair of glasses so that if anything goes wrong while I am away with my glasses I have a chance to survive.
Much of the rest of today was taken up at a lunch time meeting of Salamanca Rotary at the Function Centre in town, as a guest of Ann Graham, that was addressed by the 2001 Australian of the Year, Lt General Peter Cosgrove. Last year the group were addressed by Sir Gustav Nossal so they are doing well in attracting major speakers to their functions. It was a wonderful dinner and he is an excellent speaker.
Then it was back here to print off the local area copies of the BEACON with all the extra pages as well as sending letters to the Funeral Directors providing them with details regarding the arrangements for funerals whilst I am away.
I've just spent the last two hours assembling the BEACON as well as cutting the labels for the small puddings - the larger pudding labels will have to wait. Now it is time for bed as tomorrow is going to be a long day.
Tonight will be whatever I haven't finished today but I hope that it is not too late because tomorrow is going to be a long day.
Friday, 31st
I woke early this morning, before the 4am alarm, because I was heading to Sydney for (part of) the first meeting of the new Christian World Services Commission since the Forum of the National Council of Churches in Australia. It is a two day meeting but because of the wedding tomorrow afternoon I was only able to be there for the whole of the first day.
The trip up was uneventful and the meeting was good. There have been major changes at CWS since the last Commission meeting so it was interesting to see the very different feeling amongst the Commission members and the staff. Luckily the new members of the Commission have previously been involved in other aspects of the life of the NCCA so there was a much shorter startup and familiarisation process we needed to go through but it was good. There is still a long way to go and many things that will need to be worked on - it is sad that I'm not able to be at the meeting tomorrow to be part of the next step.
Back home Ruby is still not well so John needed to come to the house and arrange for Molly to take Holy Communion to the people at Corumbene. I'm becoming anxious about Ruby and what her state of health might be like while I am away - we have come to expect that she will be there/here - a little bit presumptuous when someone is 85 years old.
Now bed and, hopefully, a good night's sleep so that I'll be in good form for the trip home tomorrow to be ready for the wedding tomorrow afternoon at New Norfolk.
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