@Rivikah I’ve never really understood Tumblr 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣

@Rivikah Thanks - that’s kind! I got one this week so am trying it out. First impression is that it might suit me better than here.

@Rivikah which do you like best? Im veering to Bluesky…

Not been here for a few months… So Hi! And is this where you’ve now landed instead of Xitter, or are you mostly somewhere else, and if so where? Bluesky? Threads? Something else?

@joeblwrites lovely glass! 🤩 Slàinte!

@karanslade @abirdinchurch Dying trees were a thing of my childhood, but I never buy a tree that drops now. I get a Nordmann Firs, and they don’t drop. Works better than a living tree, which doesn’t seem to thrive in a pot from one year to another.

@karanslade That’s sad. I usually manage to find time to put a tree up about 23rd Dec. I failed this year, but on Christmas Eve I did some emergency food shopping (single clergy Christmas issues) and bought a tiny tree to go with my little wooden angel. Quite pleasing, and so far, still alive!

It’s been a busy week at St Anne’s! Dunbar Primary School p5-7 assemblies; Belhaven Hill Form 1 brass cleaning in church; Community Carols (& a wonderful gift of mince pies to share!); an Advent Quiet Morning; and Gaudete Sunday celebrations topped off by decorating the church Christmas tree, fuelled by lashings of mulled apple and orange juice. ⭐️🎶❄️🎄❤️ #ChristmasIsComing!

‘Into My Arms’ by Nick Cave - fabulous reflections on one of my favourite songs. Quite an Advent-y one I think, with honest reflections on love and loss, faith and doubt, longing and hoping. Worth a listen. 👍🏻 #Advent #Longing #Love

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/soul-music/id558995745?i=1000588606874

A Waterfall in Oregon, Multnomah Falls

Time to recognise we can’t appropriately heat the building, and to seek to heat the people instead. #church #CostOfLiving

@philipblackledge That all makes good sense. I have a tiny flat that I am trying to keep to give me somewhere to retire to, but it’s far away wouldn’t be big enough to work from, and I can’t afford to let it. Its costs also contribute to difficulty meeting utilities for rectory. If I owned where I work I’d have to plan for costs of sale/purchase of property say 10-yearly, which is also £££, as is fixing mortgage rates for shorter terms when you know you may need to move.

@philipblackledge I’m glad your move has worked for you tho - quality of housing and a place to feel at home is so important.

@philipblackledge Yes, it’s complicated. I was mulling over a set-up like yours, but one of the issues is that when you move on you’re expected not to maintain a presence in the place you’ve been. That’s £££ if it means selling the house you bought to live in alongside your job, and in any event a clergy stipend wouldn’t secure a mortgage on anything sensible.

@PetraPhoenix @3goodthings Great day! LOVE a good chippy tea!!

Today was the annual inspection of the #Church #rectory… aka my place of residence.
I’m fortunate to have kind, considerate Trustees who care for me & are respectful - of my privacy & of their duty to offer suitable housing for their #priest. But it’s a weird and uncomfortable thing to have the house I live in inspected by people with whose care I am charged: to tread a fine line between gratitude; expressing needs / preferences for myself; and saying what I think is best for the charge. 1/2

Paying for and maintaining clergy housing is a huge job for a small church, so there is pressure simply to accept and be grateful for what’s offered. At the same time the houses I have required to inhabit as part of my role have never been what I would choose, are not ‘home’, are expensive to run, and are run down. I wish there was an easier way to negotiate where and how I make home in this vocation. 2/2

@Peternimmo See, THIS is what happens when people start putting Christmas trees up in November! 🎄🤣

An annual reminder about Anglican Advent vibes: Death, Judgment, Hell & Heaven! 😬 #Advent #Anglican #Episcopalian

Early gym today. Sat is always the hardest #CrossFit WOD of the week & this was no exception:
In 6 mins: 50 burpees; 30 jumping squats; then 1 min rest, then:
In 6 mins: 1000m row; 30 slam balls; then 1 min rest, then:
In 6 mins: 40 cal bike; 30 alt DB snatch (10kg); then 1 min rest.
Repeat.
But then a #quiet morning withdrawing from the busyness that #Advent will bring, to ground myself in something deeper than the commercialism & busyness we use to deflect from deeper #spiritual work.