After that I headed off to Ouse for Mass at 11am where there was only two of the locals because of sickness and after Mass I joined Enid Gossage for lunch - Sandy had come up with me from New Norfolk for the trip.
After lunch I came back to New Norfolk for a Baptism at 2pm and afterwards I worked with Sandy on dates for School activities for Term III.
Then it was back into the car and off to Kempton for the evening Mass where there was a good crowd - the best there has been there for some weeks.
Then I headed for town and caught up with Karen and Michelle and wished them both a belated Happy Birthday before continuing on to see Mum for a short time.
I have now arrived home and thought I might watch last night's episode of the Bill but it doesn't seem to have taped which means that I'm really miffed. Anyway, no point in worrying so I'm off to bed.
This afternoon I headed for town to see if I could get a copy of the Diocesan Report on our Buildings - hoping that I might be able to save it as a HTML file using Sausage. I don't think that it will be that hard - just take a little time this weekend.
Then I headed off to get a few stationary items before going to the start of the St John Ambulance Senior First Aiders Course. It runs on Mondays & Wednesdays for three weeks so will keep me on my toes, especially since I will have to miss at least one session.
Anyway tonight is over and I'm heading for bed and, hopefully, a good nights sleep.
Whilst in town today I also called to see the people in the new TCC Offices and had a good look round. Slightly smaller premises than before but should be able to make it all work.
Time for bed - I'm really tired and feeling a little bit of pressure at the moment - probably all self created.
Woke at 3.30am and couldn't get back to sleep so got up and worked on the material for the CD. I'm happy with how it is going but it will probably take longer than I thought.
Prayer at 6.30am was a good break but I headed back to work as soon as I'd finished.
Left for a Team Meeting at Oatlands just after 9am with the food I had prepared for the lunch time meal. It was a good meeting and I think we are starting to address some of the thorny issues that need to be faced - including, how we will be able to determine the time we are able to continue working within the Team and the parish - or will we simply leave it up to our superiors to make the decision for us. I hope that we might be able to start making some suggestions.
Then it was back home for a short time before heading to town for the Exec. meeting of the TCC. That also was a good meeting which we managed to finish just after 6 pm which enabled me to head off to the St John Ambulance First Aid course that I started on Monday night.
I've just come home from that and I'm really tired and I want to go to bed ...
Mass at 9am and a brief chat with a parishioner as well as a few phone calls although there are still one or two that I need to deal with but trying to find the time when I might be able to see couples is really difficult at present and will get more difficult in the weeks ahead as the Christmas Pudding come on line.
Called to see the guy at the RSLA and followed up a parishioner who is not well at the moment so I've actually managed to see a few people this week which has been a good start.
Now it is time for bed - corrections made to the HTML document and a couple of additions still to be made but waiting on the info to make that all happen.
Came home after the Communion Round and spent some time getting the Book Tokens ready to take down to school - today being the last day of Term II. Spent some time chatting with the people in the staff room and wishing them all the best for the holidays and then spent a little bit of time with the children.
Back home I finished off the newsletter and emailed it to Lorraine as she needs it first thing on Sunday for the Liturgy of the Word at Ellendale. Unfortunately the email didn't get through by the time she had to leave to head off to Oatlands so she called in here on the way.
I had a teleconference for the Foundation 2010 this afternoon and that was an interesting experience. When Lorraine arrived I had to leave the conference because I had locked the front door after a called and she had no way of getting in. In the process I disconnected the teleconference call and then it took some time to get reconnected. The call then dropped out twice more during the session so I was welcomed to the Conference 4 times during the afternoon.
After having a bite to eat I caught up with the Bill from Tuesday and now I'm heading for bed and will probably watch a little bit of the football - Collingwood is beating Port Power so that will be interesting for the rest of the finals series.
After reading and watching some recorded programs I headed for town and none of the first few things I looked for were available - the memory card is not back yet although I did get a new bed side lamp. The place which is putting the logos on the jumpers is closed on Saturdays so I kept going to the Royal Hobart Hospital and caught up with Ted Grainger who is there after a stomach cancer operation which didn't go as well as it should have but he seems to be better.
Then it was off to Taroona for lunch and an enjoyable gathering before driving out to Glenorchy for some practice with slings and bandaging for the First Aid Course. While I was there I got a phone call to say that Mum wasn't well - again - and that she would probably need to be admitted to calvary to see if they could treat her pneumonia with IV antibiotics and get it cleared up.
after spending some time with her at Rosary Gardens Sean arrived and he was going to be with her when the ambulance arrived so I headed home to complete my work and get ready for tomorrow.
I've spent some time with my homily - taking longer this weekend than usual as I seem to be distracted - but I've finished now and am heading for bed and an early night!!!! Will need to do the newsletter for the web tomorrow.
Then it was off to Maydena and the full complement of people were there. I thought that there might have been a really heavy covering of snow on Mt Field - it wasn't bad not not as much as I had thought there might be.
Back to New Norfolk for a Baptism of twins at 2pm and then a little bit of work on the computer before heading off to Bothwell for the evening Mass. There was the full complement there as well so that was grand.
Back into the car and heading for town to see Mum who went to Calvary Hospital last night with her pneumonia. She sounds a bit better but we hope that she actually gets better after this visit - her third in three months.
Home and it is time for bed - this has been a hectic week and I'm more than a little bit ...
After Mass I headed off to Ellendale with some files to put onto Lorraine's computer and a simplified way for her to get files off. It was a little wet on the way up but the snow was down and there is still more to come - the forecast suggests that it might be as low as 150 metres overnight which means that Lorraine will have to come out of Ellendale tonight otherwise she will not be able to get out tomorrow.
I went to town after lunch and got the jumpers with our Parish Logo on them and will wear it tomorrow for the Pastoral Conference. After grabbing them I headed for the Church Office and collected the Lite Pro for the Conference so that I can show the Insurance document - both versions.
Then it was off to the Cathedral for the Mas of Thanksgiving for the 7 guys celebrating 40 years of Priesthood and for the Silver Jubilarian. Unfortunately John Reilly, the silver man, was not well enough to come but the other seven were there and it was a great night. There was a good crowd at the Mass and the dinner was enjoyable so everything went well.
Bit cold now and likely to get colder overnight so will finish and head for my (electric blanket) warm bed.
Headed off to town with three new polar fleeces to get the Parish Logo on them - wearing my own jacket - and looking good. Then to the Pastoral Conference and setting up of the Lite Pro - unfortunately I had then disassemble it because the person using it wasn't going to be using it until after lunch and we needed an overhead projector and another Lite Pro before then. Then after lunch we used the Lite Pro, video with the Lite Pro and then the Lite Pro again. Modern technology running riot.
Part of the afternoon was spent with two young Sudanese men who are refugees telling their story so that was good and two of the young people who went to Toronto on the World Youth Day Pilgrimage telling what it had all meant to them - full of hope and confidence.
After the Conference I headed down to Cygnet to get a couple of photos of the Alonnah Church from John Reilly and to say hello - it is a long time since I've seen him so that was good. I also called to see Peter Nicholls who has been unwell for these past few days and see him in his new home at Cygnet.
Then home - by now it was close to 8pm, a bite to eat and then here at the computer adding the (almost) final touches to the Insurance documents - I still need to get a photo of the Church on King Island so will have to wait to do that before I finish everything off.
Bed!!!
Started with Prayer at 6.30am with Ann - and it was a good session with lots to give thanks for.
After breakfast and it was off to the supermarket for some groceries for lunch and tomorrows breakfast before returning here for a couple of quick jobs.
Then I headed off to Mornington to see the family of the late Vonnie McCauley whose funeral will be celebrated here tomorrow afternoon. The family are former New Norfolk parishioners who wanted to come back here for the funeral so that is ok. The daughter in law is a girl I knew from my time at the Cathedral so that helped.
Then back for Mass and lunch and a meeting with Eva Dunn for Pastoral Planning before heading off to do some refresher work for the First Aid Course - caught up with what they did on Monday night and had a bite to eat.
The course went well tonight although there were a couple of things I got wrong in the prac part of the session but nothing major.
Now it is time for bed and, hopefully, sleep.
Back to the start.
This morning started early with the preparation and printing of the leaflet for the funeral of the late Vonnie McCauley. It took some time because I hadn't been able to do too much work on it yesterday.
Then Mass at 9am which was immediately followed by a meeting of the Committee looking at organising the Summer Festival or at least being part of the activities surrounding the Great Bike Trip around Tassie's final weekend here in New Norfolk. There are lots of issues still to be addressed but we'll see what happens when the Community Committee gets started.
Then I had a parishioner come and see me just before lunch and then it was off to celebrate the funeral. There was a good crowd and it was interesting to learn of all the people who were related to Vonnie, people I've met in the district and been involved with for some time.
Then I collected some things that needed to go to the Catholic Book Centre and followed that up with a visit to see Mum - she is still in Calvary and there is still some infection in her lower left lung so she still has the rattle.
Then it was off to the meeting of the Jane Franklin Hall Council to look at the process for the selection of a new Principal - there were a number of motions that needed to be addressed and there were 8 of us, including the 2 student reps & 7 was the quorum so I had earlier postponed the PPC Meeting (again) so that I could be there in case someone else was not able to be present.
Lot's of running round but, thankfully, that is now all finished and I'm ready for bed.
After Mass this morning I headed off on my normal Friday Communion Round before collecting a couple of things and driving to Oatlands. On the way there Maria rang to say that she managed to get the printer fixed but I still called in to see what is happening about the Pugin Mass to be celebrated there on Sunday.
Then it was on to Campbell Town to set up the final email account and everything is now up and running.
Back home, late in the afternoon to find that I needed to make a few phone calls to people as follow up from stuff that had happened during the day. I've just arrived home after joining with some friends at a meal to welcome home Alan and Patsy Duggan after their trip to Ireland and other parts of England & Europe.
Bed is definitely looking good.
On the way I thought that I might check out one of the Super Stores to see if they some clothing I've been looking for. Not there so will need to look elsewhere.
Lunch was good with a good crowd and some extra visitors - +Geoffrey Jarrett came back to his old home and another priest from Melbourne was also there. Both are in town for the Pugin Exhibition which is being opened even as I type. They will also be in Oatlands for the Mass tomorrow.
After lunch I called to see my mum and she is much better but still not well enough to go home.
Home now and still have to finish the newsletter - there is still some things that need to be done after the football tonight so will print the outside page and print the inside in the morning.
Time for a snack and then bed - tape the Bill and worry about watching it sometime tomorrow or Monday.
When the Baptism did take place it wasn't too bad although it was large crowd and there were heaps of little tackers who hadn't been to Church (too) often and they did tend to make a deal of noise. Thankfully it didn't worry me but I was tired at the end.
Back to New Norfolk expecting to see a couple about their marriage preparation but they didn't arrive so will need to contact them tomorrow to find out what happened.
Just arrived home from having a meal with my family. Steve and Maree are down in Hobart for the weekend so we gathered at Michele and John's for a bite to eat. Everyone seems well and happy so that is good. Marti & Shayanne are heading for Melbourne tomorrow but otherwise people seem settled. While we were there I rang Brendan in Wollongong to say hello so we were all in contact - an unusual experience.
Home, and ready for bed although there have been one or two things that have caught up with me since arriving home and it is much later than I would have thought I might have been able to hit the sack.
Ths morning started well with people calling in for Mass and staying so I didn't get as many things done as I would have liked but that's OK. The morning seemed to disappear as I worked on the Parish Financial Statements and managed to get the GST Statement off early this afternoon.
Now I am home and ready to hit the sack - I am so tired - I hope that I can get some sleep.
I still have the details that need to be posted out to the various Parishes but will do that early next week.
The rest of the day has been spent on the phone working with people and following up marriage preparation - still more to do but that's OK.
Now bed.
The other major event today was the Baptism of four of Ruby's great grand children. It has been some time since they were born but the two families are close and have never really been in the same place at the same time so today was good.
Now bed - I'm tired because I was up for our prayer time this morning but Ann wasn't well and didn't arrive.
Just finished a meeting of the NN PPC which was a good meeting although there were a few people missing because of the school holidays. I'll need to do up the minutes in the next few days to get things into line.
Now bed.
Then I collected some ingredients from the supermarket so that I had enough for the Prayer Breakfast in the morning.
This afternoon I have taken the CD to the Catholic Education Office so that it can be copied and sent out to the various parishes.
Got home in time to welcome (Fr) Peter Kenny, a Columban Priest, who is going to be here this weekend in the Parish speaking at Mass about the work of the Columban Missionaries and how we might be able to support their work.
Had a meal together and chatted and now heading for bed.
Spent a bit of time finishing off the newsletter before heading out to Moonah for lunch with Peter Kenny and enjoying a good time there. We seemed to stay a little later than usual which was good and there was some good conversation.
Got home to receive a message from Gay Morgan to say that the new Congregational Leadership Team had been elected with no real surprises - Marjorie has been elected so that is good.
Quiet night at home and, although it is just after 7.30pm, I'm heading for bed - I'm really tired.
Mass at New Norfolk followed by the trip to Ellendale. I had spoken to Lorraine at about 8am and she had told me that she had downloaded and printed the newsletter but I reminded her she didn't need to print it off as I would be bringing it with me - and then left it behind. Luckily Peter was celebrating the Mas so I grabbed Lorraine's keys and headed up to the house and printed off some copies for the congregation - I remembered to take copies with me this afternoon for the people at Bothwell.
After lunching with Lorraine we (Peter & I) headed back to New Norfolk for the baptism of little Daniel Yates, postponed from a few weeks ago when they got stuck in a airline strike/dispute. Then a couple for marriage preparation - the young couple who'd missed last weekend.
Then into the car to head for Bothwell and after Mass a cuppa with Mary Bales before coming home. I must be getting older because I am still tired and I'm heading for bed. I think this week is going to be busy because I've had calls regarding two funerals for this week so will need to be on my toes to get it all done.
I then saw the family of the late Joyce Williams to prepare the booklet for her funeral tomorrow and worked on that until lunch time. (Fr) Peter Kenny took Ruby and I off to lunch so that was good.
After lunch I came back and worked for a while before heading off to see the family of the late Nora O'Brien in preparation for her funeral on Wednesday.
Back home via the supermarket - to purchase the ingredients for the catering tomorrow - before heading to town for the TASDEC Meeting. That went OK but a little longer than I had thought so it was latish when I got home. I've just watched an interesting program on TV and now I'm heading for bed.
Then I finished the leaflet for the late Joyce Williams for her funeral today and did some work on the leaflet for tomorrow's funeral - all before breakfast -I really think that there is something wrong with me.
After Mass we delivered the food and I came back and re did the Williams leaflets because in my haste this morning I had forgotten to change one of the names and there was an N instead of her name.
After lunch I took the material for the funeral as well as the leaflets I'd done for the funeral tomorrow and visited the O'Brien family on the way home to show them what the leaflet would look like.
This evening I've worked on printing off the rest of those leaflets and now I'm heading for bed - I have the feeling that I need another good night's sleep and it may not be coming.
Funeral preparations took up the rest of the morning although I did manage to contact the wholesalers re the provision of the ingredients for the Christmas Puddings - it should all arrive tomorrow so that means that it will all hit home as the bills start coming in.
The funeral went well although we were a little late getting to the Crematorium. I thought that we might have been in some trouble but the next funeral was even later so we were OK. The wake afterwards was interesting because I managed to chat to Ann Graham for a few minutes but that's another story.
Then I called into the Catholic Book Centre to drop off some books and was heading to see my mum when my mobile went and it was Jenny from the TCC asking if I could come across and see her - she had seen me coming out of the Book Shop. There is a problem with the transfer of the database from an older program to the newer ones which will take some time to re-enter the data. I have tried a few ways but don't seem to be able to make the changes any other way.
Then off to see Mum and spent some time with her before calling to see Tom and getting a few suggestions about what I might do for Jenny and then back to the TCC to try them.
No great success but at least the material is more useable. Then back to New Norfolk to attend a School Board Meeting followed by a combined P&F/Board meeting. Both went well but now I am really tired so I'm heading for bed. Tomorrow is going to be another long day.
Mass at 9am followed by a meeting of the Planning Group looking at the Summer Festival followed immediately by the Christian Leaders Meeting which went for just a short time.
Then I got onto the guy who supplies the Calico for our puddings and faxed through an order as well as getting a call from the Liquor man who has donated the liquor for the puddings - a great savings.
Then it was off to town to get the card for the labels, to drop a book off at the Catholic Book Centre and say a quick hello to the people in the Church Office before going to tea with some friends.
All this went well and now I'm home and it is just after 9pm so I'm heading for bed and an early night.
After Mass I headed round to the RSL to oversee the delivery of the ingredients for the Christmas Puddings. One of the local hardware men came round with his fork lift and got the things out of the van and moved them quickly into the store room so that made life easier and then I took the frozen egg pulp to the school freezer for storage as well as bringing some here to be collected by Jan Davis for her to take home.
Then it was off to Oatlands for the team meeting which went well. There are still lots of things that need to be done but we are slowly addressing them and almost getting on top of what needs to happen.
Then back home for a Teleconference of the ITIM Board which went more smoothly than the last time - no disconnections and some easy decisions made in preparation for the AGM in November.
I've had a quiet night since and have been quietly watching a little bit of the news and tying off string for the puddings - there is heaps more to do but that can happen whilst watching a bit of the football tomorrow.
Now bed.
There was only one for Mass at Hayes this morning so that was a bit unusual but we had a good chat afterwards so that was good. Then it was back home to cook lunch which went very well although there were a few less than usual - some because the trip seems to be too far and others because they were away.
Cleaned up and put everything away so it is all back to normal and ready for tomorrow. I watched the football and stapled the BEACON so that saved time and now I'm ready for bed - tired and feeling happy with the way the day has gone.
After the 9am Mass here at New Norfolk I headed off to Bronte. Mass went a little longer than usual because the children who are preparing to receive the Eucharist for the First Time in November were enrolled into their Preparation Program this morning.
Had some interesting meetings with slow cars on the road to Bronte but managed to get past most of them before we got to the really slow parts. There were only 4 of the local community there but there were 6 in the two cars that went up there so that made a good number.
The conversation over lunch which follows the Mass was enjoyable and it was difficult to get up from the table to head home.
Not long after we left Bronte (around about Tarraleah) the little red - please fill me up with petrol - button started to shine as we tackled the hills. It hadn't come on as a constant light when we got to Hamilton so I kept going and managed to get back to New Norfolk but it took 65 litres when I stopped to fill it - there mustn't have been too much left in the bottom when I got there!
After a short break I headed off to the Lachlan Hall for the 5th Sunday of the month Ecumenical Service - organised this month by the newly formed New Norfolk Community Church. There was a good attendance with lots of song and a message and prayer so that went alright.
Now home and ready for bed - I'm really tired so will enjoy an early night.
The first thing I did however was to go to the Pugin Exhibition at the Tasmanian Museum and Art gallery. The work done by Brian Andrews and the TMAG is brilliant and the presentation is excellent. I purchased the book as a memento of the event and that will provide hours of reading on a dark and cold night - hopefully, there will not be too many of those in the near future.
Been home for awhile after visiting mum and doing a little job for her and now I'm heading for bed - there will be a big day getting the pudding process into order tomorrow so will need my wits about me.
