The Archdeacon visited, so all 6 parishes in our group joined for a service in one village church. It is in a village bisected by the Norwich to Yagnub road and, having parked at the village hall (where I’d dropped off my contribution towards lunch) I walked the half-mile to the church, glad that I had changed out of the frivolous shoes I’d worn earlier in the morning. Even so, I wished I was tall enough to be able to get away without high heels. It gave me the opportunity to notice how beautifully looked after all the houses and gardens are – I’d certainly let the side down if I lived there, as I don’t notice weeds until they actually trip me up or until I can’t hack my way through the undergrowth.

The church is really pretty too. It is usually kept locked, which is a pity as churches should be available to anyone who wants to visit them; understandable however, as it is set well back and not visible from the road. Either side of the archway between the nave and the chancel* are some really pretty wall paintings – frescos I suppose – with flowers, and angels above. In the chancel there are more lovely flower frescos on the window returns (I’m showing my ignorance of architectural terms here) and the wooden chancel ceiling is painted too. The church is beautifully cared for, with polished brass which you can see is always looked after; newly and occasionally cleaned items have a fleetingly different look to them, which you can recognise but not necessarily describe. Maybe I was in a particulary relaxedly mood-to-be-pleased, but I noticed that the altar cloth, too, was beautifully embroidered. The only things in the church I didn’t particularly care for were some of the Victorian (I think) stained glass windows, which I found rather too heavily colourful for the delicacy of the rest of the decoration, though some of them were attractive in themselves.
I don’t know anything much about stained glass in churches, by the way, having simply three recognisable categories ‘old’ ‘Victorian’ and ‘modern’.

*Parts of a church – the nave is the body of the church, where the congregation sits, the chancel is the section where the choir and the minister sit and the sanctuary is the area around the altar. Churches always are built facing west to east, with the altar at the eastern end.

That’s about it really, except that the Sage has bought his birthday present and cheerily announced how much I will have paid for it. Oh good, now he has what he wants, or will come Saturday, as I have confiscated it until then. Unfortunately, it’s a metal detector, using which is, in my opinion but not his (obviously), one of the deadliest boring things in the world, so there is no danger of more togetherness in the Sage/Z household. I wanted to buy him some really nice tables and chairs for the garden, but I acknowledge that ‘giving’ something you really want yourself is not much of a gift. Maybe I’ll buy them for myself as an advance birthday present instead.