Letter In The Telegraph Today.
News1 min ago
A Christmas Message from the Village Vicarage
32 Answers
Dear Family
It's still early enough for me to be able to gather my thoughts before we begin our Christmas Day activities. My daughter has beautifully decorated meal trays with menus and prayer cards along with small sprigs of holly. She has made small burgundy napkin rings, which a friend helped her make at a clay class. And we have food for kings. Yesterday we roast two giant turkeys. I've made American cornbread stuffing, a fresh cranberry compote, sweet potato souffl�, both green beans and sprouts (only because I detest sprouts!) and a double cream mashed potato. And we have small pots (with thanks to British Airways) for fresh gravy. We've made rich chocolate brownies, dusted with icing sugar and a small side of cr�me anglese.
We'll begin delivering meals just before noon. The polished silver cutlery and dishes have been accumulated throughout the year from charity shops and the base of the menu card invites the recipient to either keep or dispose of them as they wish. And there's a Christmas cracker for each, compliments of Fortnum & Mason's.
The past eight weeks have been extremely challenging and have severely restricted my ability to visit AB. Please accept my apologies for appearing to have simply drifted into the ether-world of technology.
Continued
It's still early enough for me to be able to gather my thoughts before we begin our Christmas Day activities. My daughter has beautifully decorated meal trays with menus and prayer cards along with small sprigs of holly. She has made small burgundy napkin rings, which a friend helped her make at a clay class. And we have food for kings. Yesterday we roast two giant turkeys. I've made American cornbread stuffing, a fresh cranberry compote, sweet potato souffl�, both green beans and sprouts (only because I detest sprouts!) and a double cream mashed potato. And we have small pots (with thanks to British Airways) for fresh gravy. We've made rich chocolate brownies, dusted with icing sugar and a small side of cr�me anglese.
We'll begin delivering meals just before noon. The polished silver cutlery and dishes have been accumulated throughout the year from charity shops and the base of the menu card invites the recipient to either keep or dispose of them as they wish. And there's a Christmas cracker for each, compliments of Fortnum & Mason's.
The past eight weeks have been extremely challenging and have severely restricted my ability to visit AB. Please accept my apologies for appearing to have simply drifted into the ether-world of technology.
Continued
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Part 2
For those of you who recall �OldGrape.� I�m delighted to say that she is doing well. Her little grape has an abundance of Christmas gifts and Mrs Grape has a hamper of goodies as well. According to Mrs Grape, the vineyard is doing well and she is happy. I�m delighted that she has received quality legal support as well as moral support. As I understand it, Mrs Grape should be back in the AB house in January. Rumour has it that someone suggested that I may have become mesmerised by the bouquet of the grape and run off to start my own vineyard. All I can say to that is �nope.�
And for those who read my sites, I must offer my never-failing thanks to my beautiful daughter who helped to do some postings for me and correct a few items. We�ve discovered, much to our surprise, that when we make certain corrections to a page, it has a tendency to automatically move to the top of the blog, as if it were a new posting. According to the blog-brains, this is an anomaly they�re aware of and are working on. But they�ve provided us with a manual way to fix this�so any old post that becomes regurgitated, we now know how to send it back from whence it came.
For those of you who notice I�ve again used the word �family� in addressing all of you. I feel this is a most appropriate form of address. A number of you have deeply touched me, not always in things you may have written, but in the clarity of image that emerges through continual dialogue.
Continued
For those of you who recall �OldGrape.� I�m delighted to say that she is doing well. Her little grape has an abundance of Christmas gifts and Mrs Grape has a hamper of goodies as well. According to Mrs Grape, the vineyard is doing well and she is happy. I�m delighted that she has received quality legal support as well as moral support. As I understand it, Mrs Grape should be back in the AB house in January. Rumour has it that someone suggested that I may have become mesmerised by the bouquet of the grape and run off to start my own vineyard. All I can say to that is �nope.�
And for those who read my sites, I must offer my never-failing thanks to my beautiful daughter who helped to do some postings for me and correct a few items. We�ve discovered, much to our surprise, that when we make certain corrections to a page, it has a tendency to automatically move to the top of the blog, as if it were a new posting. According to the blog-brains, this is an anomaly they�re aware of and are working on. But they�ve provided us with a manual way to fix this�so any old post that becomes regurgitated, we now know how to send it back from whence it came.
For those of you who notice I�ve again used the word �family� in addressing all of you. I feel this is a most appropriate form of address. A number of you have deeply touched me, not always in things you may have written, but in the clarity of image that emerges through continual dialogue.
Continued
There are some who cling to this family as it is the closest to any family they�ve ever had. There are some who have lost loved ones and come here to find solace and connection. There are those who have disabilities or illnesses that prevent you from going anywhere else and there are those of you who are here simply because you care and like the other personalities. And of course, as I�ve shared before, there is always the occasional petulant child and cantankerous old auntie to add flavour to AB. All of these are elements of a family.
For each of you, I wish�I pray that your Christmas is full of warmth and that your New Year is one of peace.
Fr. Bill
http://www.BigWorldSmallBoat.Blogspot.com
For each of you, I wish�I pray that your Christmas is full of warmth and that your New Year is one of peace.
Fr. Bill
http://www.BigWorldSmallBoat.Blogspot.com
Well I for one thank you for your update VV. I'm so pleased to hear that Oldgrape is doing fine and all is well in the vineyard. Please pass on my regards to her when you next speak.
I hope you have lots of fun delivering the meals. They sound rather sumptous, next year you can cook our Christmas dinner, lol!
I wish you and your children a very Happy Christmas and hope that the New Year brings peace and joy to the Village Vicarage.
Fond regards,
x Aprilis x
I hope you have lots of fun delivering the meals. They sound rather sumptous, next year you can cook our Christmas dinner, lol!
I wish you and your children a very Happy Christmas and hope that the New Year brings peace and joy to the Village Vicarage.
Fond regards,
x Aprilis x
Village Vicar A very merry Christmas to you and your family.
You have disappointed many on here including myself. Many have come to rely on your kind words and wisdom. Regardless of how busy you were, just once you could have taken two minutes to let us know you are busy and we will not see you around. And if that was difficult to do, you could have asked your daughter to leave a message on your behalf. Oldgrape disappeared at the same time also. None have heard from her. I don't know ...
Have a safe and festive holiday.
You have disappointed many on here including myself. Many have come to rely on your kind words and wisdom. Regardless of how busy you were, just once you could have taken two minutes to let us know you are busy and we will not see you around. And if that was difficult to do, you could have asked your daughter to leave a message on your behalf. Oldgrape disappeared at the same time also. None have heard from her. I don't know ...
Have a safe and festive holiday.
I just ate the parsons nose apes.
To be honest I think the V V is a scammer and I am not alone in that opinion and I just hope that he is not leading our poor little grape and her young little grape into a false sence of security.
I may be wrong and I will stand corrected if I am but was there not a bit of contreversy about him on here a while ago but I missed all that as I have never got involved with him as I have always been warry of him.
To be honest I think the V V is a scammer and I am not alone in that opinion and I just hope that he is not leading our poor little grape and her young little grape into a false sence of security.
I may be wrong and I will stand corrected if I am but was there not a bit of contreversy about him on here a while ago but I missed all that as I have never got involved with him as I have always been warry of him.
Thank you Aprilis. It has been a lovely day. Whickerman, it�s very kind of you to write. I respect that you have different views than I on some matters and collectively, we have demonstrated that we can share thoughts and ideas constructively and respectfully. Topogigo: That�s very kind of you. It did make me smile as the VL was heading off to church just after her post!
Legend758: Whilst I�ve never met OldGrape, she has spoken with me several times recently, particularly to describe her progress and the hamper and gifts she received. She seems to be doing well and I�m pleased to hear this. I�m grateful to those who provided such kind and prompt assistance.
Figure: I apologise unreservedly. It was never my intent to cause any disappointment. I assure you that I did not simply walk away from AB, choosing not to write. During the time I�ve not written, both my son and daughter have provided the greatest support, taking on tasks for me that I would not normally have asked them to do. One of my priorities was to ensure OldGrape�s needs had been met. I�m pleased that she�s making such excellent progress. You may recall both of them, at one point, became interested in AB. Sadly, they were both put off by some of the things they saw posted and quickly lost interest.
Theonlyone: Could you please detail who �they� are? And had you read the site blogs, you would find the international charity number, along with virtually all of the contact details. In any event, I am grateful for the items provided that were used in today�s meal deliveries. In any event, a joyous Christmas! Fr. b
Legend758: Whilst I�ve never met OldGrape, she has spoken with me several times recently, particularly to describe her progress and the hamper and gifts she received. She seems to be doing well and I�m pleased to hear this. I�m grateful to those who provided such kind and prompt assistance.
Figure: I apologise unreservedly. It was never my intent to cause any disappointment. I assure you that I did not simply walk away from AB, choosing not to write. During the time I�ve not written, both my son and daughter have provided the greatest support, taking on tasks for me that I would not normally have asked them to do. One of my priorities was to ensure OldGrape�s needs had been met. I�m pleased that she�s making such excellent progress. You may recall both of them, at one point, became interested in AB. Sadly, they were both put off by some of the things they saw posted and quickly lost interest.
Theonlyone: Could you please detail who �they� are? And had you read the site blogs, you would find the international charity number, along with virtually all of the contact details. In any event, I am grateful for the items provided that were used in today�s meal deliveries. In any event, a joyous Christmas! Fr. b
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