Happy And Helpful

Twenty four hours looking after Rosie is both delightful and exhausting! She is a cheerful little bundle of fun, but boy, does she keep us on our toes! 
We collected her from Liz and Jon at 1.45 and went into Costessey for the Bank Holiday  "Fete and Fayre." It was very well organised- parking was £2 per car for the whole day, and entrance was free. There was plenty to see and do. Older children and adults could go on the rides, or watch the show. Rosie wan't too sure about those things - but she loved meeting the owl. 
South Norfolk Council had good stall, with a huge deckchair, where you could be photographed for a donation to charity. She liked being up there with Grandad Bob.
The Norfolk Star Wars Group were all in costume, and again, for a small donation, you could be pictured with an Ewok or two.
Grandma was very pleased to find the church tent, run by the good folk of "Our Lady & St Wulstan's Roman Catholic Church" in Costessey. St W was bishop of Worcester in 1062, and is the patron saint of vegetarians and dieters. 
More relevant to us was the provision of lots of free craft activities. These paper plates could be decorated, and then you could flip up the frog/star/unicorn etc, to make a sort of hat/tiara. Rosie enjoyed that.
Inside the community centre were teams serving cups of tea and coffee for 50p, also icecream sundaes and mega sized cookies. I liked the fact it was clearly a community event. Plenty of local groups and charities on display - and not too much stress on making money.
We had our teas, and Rosie munched on treats from the snack box her Mum had given us. The Under 5s play Area at the edge of the field was open and we did lots of climbing and sliding and cheering. At one point, my little cherub went over to a small boy who was standing by himself "Hello little boy, how are you today? Are you feeling happy?" she asked him, and patted his arm. His mother and I were totally gobsmacked by this unexpected chat up line! He smiled and the spun the wheel on the pirate ship together.
Off to The Range to buy weedkiller for the garden path...and a special treat because it was so hot.

These two both take their ices very seriously!
Rosie had Nursery Teddy with her all weekend. Jon instructed us to take plenty of pictures. I confess to being a little paranoid about these 'have the class toy for the weekend' experiences. As a teacher I understand the benefits in terms of language development, being responsible, etc etc - as the temporary guardian of the child and the bear I am terrified! What if we lose the thing? what if it falls into some terrible staining puddle? what if a passing dog savages it to pieces? [and yes, I have known Barnaby Bear and his extended family to suffer all these perils and more].
I have done Supply in schools, where a child has brought in the bear and announced "We flew Barnaby to Disneyland for the weekend" or "I took Mr Bear to Lapland to meet Santa". We did our best, but Costessey Fete isn't quite in the same league!
Rosie slept beautifully in her cot, and on Tuesday morning, we took her to Cornerstones.
Then, whilst Bob dealt with weeds, I indulged in teaching Rosie about sewing. We measured the bear, made a paper pattern, cut out the pieces, and sewed a little teeshirt, decorated with a pink star...

This was fantastic fun, and I was pleased with the result, as was Rosie. We also learned to sing "One, two, three, four, five, once I caught a fish alive"

Next time Rosie comes, perhaps I should initiate her in the mysteries of using an overlocker, and wrestle with some Pythagorean Triples...

But she is so happy, and ever eager to be helpful. 

On Tuesday evening, we left Norfolk and drove back down the A11. We diverted into Newmarket to get an evening meal. It had been sunny all day and we were both in shorts. By 6pm it was decidedly chilly. We both decided to change for dinner.

We parked outside the famous Jockey Club. There is a lovely statue of the racehorse Hyperion in the forecourt.  I know very little about the JC, but Dick Francis Novels lead me to believe that it is full of snooty upper class gentlemen. Bob was rather surprised when I stood on the pavement beside the car and stepped out of my shorts and slipped into my trousers. I pointed out that my tee shirt was long, my pants were respectable, and it took less than half a minute [as compared to his ungainly wriggling as he changed in the driver's seat]

Our meal in the White Hart was well cooked, with good sized portions, and a reasonable price. We were home to Dorset by 10.30. Two lovely days - but exhausting!

To Be A Pilgrim

Who would true valour see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather
There’s no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim.

Oh the bizarre life of the Pastor's Wife! On Wednesday a boz was delivered to UCF - containing Paddington Bear, who is on a pilgrimage around the churches of the Wessex Synod [our church is joint Baptist/URC so we get included]
He brought his diary and itinerary with him. I tell you, this visitation was worse than the weekend with Rosie's Nursery Bear! If there's an ecclesiastical equivalent of oneupmanship [oneupchurchship?] this is it!** In the previous two dozen stops, the bear was pictured at a funeral, a christening, Christmas specials, a choir event...His duffle coat was festooned with badges. We decided he could just tag along to things and we'd snap a picture or two.
He attended- Tiddlers' Group, HomeGroup [Bible Study - Book of Judges] OAP Lunch Club, Friday Youth Clubs, and Sunday Worship. He investigated the Ferndown Big Questions, stood on a pile of shoeboxes destined for Romania, and inspected cake,trifle and tuckshop. It was a good thing he had wellies, Suinday was exceptionally wet!

I dutifully wrote up his daily diary. I did wonder about making him some pyjamas - some hosts have pictured him sat in bed, fully dressed! But as his hat and suitcase are firmly stitched in place, I decided against it.
Pilgrims in the old days used to sew a scallop shell to their hats. Instead I opted for stitching one of the Walking The Way footprints to the Bear's headgear.
And now he has gone to Three Legged Cross*** - and supposedly to forty other churches before Easter. 

The aim of the exercise is to encourage churches to think about Missional Discipleship - I'm happy to report that UCF already has mission and discipleship high on the agenda - so I hope the bear was happy with what he observed!
**I don't think anyone else has blogged about him yet
*** yes, that really is a place in Dorset