3rd Jan day 80 church, lunch out and a nasty slip

Spot the difference - this picture probably looks very similar to the last one yesterday but just to prove we hadn't sat up all night playing monopoly here are the guys showered, shaved (well Simon) and back playing our knife-edge game. In fairness it was only nail-biting for Simon and I as with every shake of the dice we paid more and more .... yes and more money to Nicholas, who managed to bankrupt us both before it was time for church! 

Philippa collected Nicholas and we went to pick up Carol as we were going to St Matthews together. It has a lovely rose garden and very sensible lychgate (can be seen in the background) that leads right into the front door. Not like in the UK where you can shelter for a moment, then do a mad dash down a long path if you are to avoid getting soaked before you enter the building.

This Sunday is Epiphany, which is when we celebrate the arrivial of the wise men, we don't know how many there were, only that they brought 3 gifts. Of course most nativities make it look as if they arrived just after the shepherds to see the newborn Jesus in the manger. But the Bible clearly says they visited a house and Jesus was a young child. We are told they are warned in a dream not to go back to Herod so they went east by another route and they were right to do so. King Herod ordered the massacre of all boys under the age of 2 in Bethlehem when he discovered they had tricked him. So we assume Jesus was a toddler when He received the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. As soon as the wise men left an angel told Joseph to take his family into Egypt, where they lived as refugees until after Herod was dead.

It was a very traditional Anglican service with the set liturgy, followed by communion. Helen the Vicar had been away and we felt she hadn't had much time to prepare, so she read from a book called 'Mr God versus Anna' by someone called Finn. It was basically a conversation between Anna and Finn about what this child of about 6 or 7 thought of God. As Helen only read extracts it was hard to get the sense of the book but it was enough to wet my appetite to want to read it when I get home. There was one true, memorable and profound quote when the little girl says "the whole purpose of living was to be like Mr God"!

The church building is magnificent with some beautiful stain glass windows but this one is my favourite, I just love the blue glass and that appearance of radiance around Christ.

After church the 3 of us went to lunch at a lovely place called Sutto, where Carol and Simon had a filo pastry roll stuffed with chicken and cranberry and I had a gluten free egg and bacon pie, we all had salad with out meals and they were scrummy. 

Carol had work to do so went home and we collected Nicholas. I am delighted Philippa is in the process of buying a house and she kindly gave me the address in order for me to be able to see it on the outside at least, before I leave. She is hoping to be in on the 18th Jan. Here is Nicholas outside the new place.

Th weather had improved a lot from being wet first thing so we decided to go to Ocean Spa, here is Nicholas in his new rash shirt and swimming shorts he had for Christmas.

We swam lengths and I loved watching the two of them larking about in the water, just doing typical Dad and son stuff. They are really close and enjoy each other's company enormously. We then went into the hotter pools playing hide and seek in there before we went into the superbly heated jacuzzi. Unfortunately it started to rain really hard whilst we were in there and Simon had left his towel outside  so he went to retrieve it and slipped, falling heavily onto his right elbow on the wet poolside. I didn't see what happened but as he came down the jacuzzi steps I could see something was wrong, he was ashen. After a few minutes of hoping the hot water would help his damaged arm we got dressed and drove home. 

I have been wanting a picture of these magnificent Hollyhox, i don't think I have ever seen any that stay upright without support in the UK. 

All the way home I was trying to persuade Simon to let me take him to the hospital but he was having none of it. Thankfully Carol's friend Jillian was a nurse so Carol managed to talk him into calling at her house, so that Jillian could have a look. She recommended he went to get it checked out and thankfully he took her advice, Carol drove him.

Nicholas and I came back to 904, he was so sweet. As we were driving he said "this is a very sad day Nan" so I asked him why and he said "because Dad has really hurt himself". To take his mind off what had happened he and I worked together to finish Ghost.

Later I cooked bolognese using a jar of homemade sauce that Carol's 19yr old son had put together. He is part Italian and his Dad is a chef - it was something else. Thankfully Simon got back just before dinner was ready. He had his arm in a sling and painkillers but they hadn't been able to X-ray it as today is a public holiday, which meant the radiographers were not available - outrageous. The Dr had been very apologetic giving him an appointment for tomorrow. He was in a lot of pain when he went to bed.