A little closing of the eyes ....

... and next thing you know you've had almost all of your "eight hours" before even going to bed!

It's my sister's fault really ... she made such a huge Sunday dinner that, in the early evening, I slipped gently into the arms of Morpheus .... 

Morphine was isolated by Sertürner in 1805. 

He named the compound after Morpheus, the Greek god 

of dreams

This, of course, means that technically I've missed Sunday's blog and now, rather than go off to bed to lie awake for a while (already having had a good night's sleep) I'll post yesterday's pictures and ramble on about this and that and likely nothing much in particular!

After the usual nice gentle HC of the early service we moved to All Age Worship ... a service that trots along (can you say that about church) at a fair old pace.  It was great today to have the Bible readings done by a couple of young lads from the youth club!  I was well impressed at the quality of their reading and their enthusiasm to be involved in the worship.  They can come back any day!  

The photograph shows them having a practice reading with the youth worker.
The flowers beside the pulpit were so bright and cheery that I had to take a picture of them today!  I love the intense colours of the gerberas.

It was good to have my niece and Australian cousin and her husband worshipping with us ... Betty and Peter (the Australians) are on an extended holiday to the northern hemisphere and spending some of their time looking up relatives and family roots here in Ireland, in the US and in Latvia.

So, we all gathered for lunch then at my sister's place!

Betty and Peter in Saint Nicholas' ... thanks to the Rector's Churchwarden who took the photograph!

 So, after a post-church coffee we all headed over to Ellen and Ian's ... here she is ... her "good side" plating up some succulent chicken on a bed of home made stuffing!

 Conversation at the table had many laughs and the family are reasonably tolerant of the camera following them around.

 It must be a bit of a pain at times ... but they put up with it!    

 The spoon collection really should have had a few close up pictures ... some of them are very interesting and from all over the world.  

 Then the meal!  By the time the huge selection of vegetables was added the plates were positively groaning under the weight!  A wonderful combination of flavours and colours. 

 Somehow the apple pie and ice cream were eaten before the camera came back out ... and then the cheese knife caught my attention!  This is the picture for 365Project ... there were too many to choose from today!   There was a bit of processing here to leave the blade sitting on a white background.

 Finally, the garden!  It is now a mature and well ordered space with lots of corners for sitting ... trouble is just over one of the back fences is a man with a VERY LOUD VOICE!  He was out playing with his small children and the poor infants will be deafened.  He'd do very well on a rugby field and could be heard from one end to the other ... but in a suburban garden on a Sunday afternoon "he'd do your head in" - if you understand that colloquialism!  It was uncomfortably loud and I'm not sure you'd want to listen to him for very long!

 The vegetables are growing fast and the beautifully tended straight rows are delightful!  No weeds here!  

 The main commission I had was to take pictures of the tadpoles!  Ian had no idea how challenging that was going to be!  Reflections on the pond made it almost impossible to see the wee things against the dark background of the pond ... and the fish just went under the leaves!  With imagination and magnification you can (just about) spot a few tadpoles towards the edge .... there were an awful lot more darting about.

 Most of the pictures ended up looking like this!  A good reflection of the sky and the garden plants, but little of the pond life ... I think there's a tadpole to the middle left ... but it could just be a leaf!

 Between the very heavy showers it was a lovely day!

And a beautiful garden is just the place to be (without the loud neighbour, of course)!  

So that was Sunday!

A mixture of church, family and relaxation ... the kind of day that sets you up for the week ahead ... a week that looks as if it will have more than a fair share of busy moments!   Hopefully it will also have time to watch the clouds and pause for thought!  There may even be a chance to wander in the 21 Acre Wood ... this week without a microphone following me around!  

For those who haven't seen the link on Facebook ... Eliot and I were one of the items on today's Sunday Service on Radio Ulster.  This is the link where the recording will be available until next weekend.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0117jjc#synopsis

Blessèd are you, Sovereign God, Creator of all;
to you be glory and praise for ever!
You founded the earth in the beginning
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us,
let the light of your love always shine in our hearts
and your praises ever be on our lips,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
Blessèd  be God for ever!

Celebrating Common Prayer

Monday morning.