Curate’s Chronicles

Our daughter Hannah has an operation on Friday at the John Radcliffe in Oxford.  For those who don’t know, she was born basically without fingers on her right hand, and about 18 months ago had an operation to transplant two toes onto her hand to give her digits.  This next operation should be much shorter (a few hours instead of 11!) and is to increase the functional use of these new fingers.  She is 3 1/2 years old.

We’d value your prayers on Friday and for recovery afterwards.

UPDATE:

Thanks for the prayers. She waited happily and patiently until 11.45am to go down to
theatre, and was a real star as she was given the anaesthetic.  Two and a half hours later we collected her from recovery room.  She was a little sad to begin with but after a 3 hour sleep she woke up full of smiles and a very big appetite!

We came home last night.  Since then she’s been happy and not at all bothered about the bandage.  The surgeon seemed pleased with the op and we go back on 9th September to have this bandage removed and see how the hand is progressing.

I arrived home yesterday after two weeks holiday.  First week we had a few days in Devon with my parents and seeing old friends who currently live in Tasmania.  Second week was spent in the village of Beeley, very close to Chatsworth House.  What a site!  The gardens are fantastic, and we had some very  happy times paddling in the Cascade and playing with Hannah in the farmyard playground.

Back home and only 80 new e-mails.  Not bad.  Quite a few blog posts to read though…

I’m normally at a loss about what I’d like for Christmas. A good mp3 player would be nice, as long as it works with Linux. Maybe some of the books on my Amazon Wish List. A new computer to replace my ageing laptop. More book shelves to create room for the books on my Amazon Wish List. A bicycle for touring (so I can get in training to do Land’s End to John O’Groats sometime in the next 10 years).

But now I’ve found my dream present. Not only lots of fun, it would be an excellent aid for men’s ministry and youth work. A combination of physics and history. I present to you…

The FAT3000.

That’s right. I would like a trebuchet. I want to throw things a long distance, and break other things in the process. Here’s a picture of the beauty:

This is a modern day version of the ultimate in medieval war machines. For a cheaper and more ‘authentic’ model visit here. And here’s some video, although not of these models (much bigger ones!).

P.S. Did I mention my Wish List?

Earlier this month I preached on Remembrance Day (which was a Sunday). My text was Amos 5:24 “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

It was part of a series on Amos, otherwise the passage isn’t the most obvious choice!

You can find it here courtesy of Google Docs.