Sometimes I wonder about the British weather. For the past two weeks, it’s been unusually hot and sunny, and you’d expect it to be fairly constant. However, after two weeks of staring out at the glorious weather from my office window, it finally rains, on a bank holiday. Typical.

However, undeterred, a few of us braved the elements to meet up with some other brave souls from churches around London to meet up and chill and Battersea Park. Given the rather damp weather, the morning was spent wandering around the V&A museum, which was rather cool, especially looking at the modern design exhibits.

Eventually, the weather cleared and we met up in a warm, sunny, albeit rather pollen blanketed, Battersea Park. The sun even dried the ground and made it possible to sit and chill on the grass and play football and volleyball.

The day finished at Nandos in Elephant and Castle. It was good to be able to spend the afternoon catching up with old friends and meeting new friends.

Almost a usual game of football this afternoon, except that the team David H was on won! Was a good day for it though, with a slightly cloudy sky to start, not too hot and no wind to carry the ball away. I need to concentrate on remembering people’s name though as, in some cases, I forget their names before the game is over!

A quick bath and then I was out again – this time to the Arch One bar, near Waterloo station, for the evening to celebrate a work colleague’s engagement. The venue was very pleasant, and I ordered myself some food (Moroccan style lamb shank…mmm….) due to the rush and lack of time to eat properly. Only quibble was that the bar slowly got darker and darker, and the music got louder and louder through the evening until I could no longer hear myself speak, let alone anyone else!

I lay in bed last night, eyes shut, slowly drifting off after a busy weekend, and became slightly disturbed. There was a scratching noise coming from above me. What’s going on here? Then it dawned on me – I have invaders in my loft!

I heaved myself out of bed, sauntered over to the landing, opened the loft hatch, switched the light on and popped my head through. I glanced around a little, not a thing. I remained still for a few minutes, and then there was rustling coming from a box in the corner. I grabbed a length of wood and started prodding the box. Fortunately, I wasn’t confronted with a load of angry wasps, bats, birds or anything else airborne. It would seem my intruders are landbased, fast and small as I didn’t see or hear them make their escape. Rats, mice or squirrels. Given it’s the loft – I reckon squirrels. I figured there was nothing I could do about it at midnight – so I went back to bed.

A quick chat with various friends, as well as consulting the web has led me to learn a few things about squirrels – grey ones in particular. According to DEFRA, I’m legally allowed to lay down traps, but if I get a non-lethal trap, I then have to kill the squirrel anyway as it’s illegal to release a squirrel into the wild! Additionally, I’m not allowed to drown the squirrel, but the suggested method is that, “They can be run into a sack and killed by a sharp blow to the head.” The other suggested alternative is to shoot it. Apparently, drowning is inhumane. Alas, I don’t have a gun (crossbows and bows are not allowed), and I can see myself making a huge mess with a squirrel, a sack and a spade. Maybe a non-lethal trap isn’t such a good idea after all.

Another search on the net has unearthed an electromagnetic/ultrasonic electronic deterrent. A quick trip to B & Q, and the device is now operating in the loft. I can understand how the ultrasound part of the gadget works – squirrels have much better hearing than me. I’m a little puzzled about the effect of the electromagnetic part. Do rodents have a capability to sense electromagnetic waves in ways that humans cannot? Can squirrels detect more than light and infra-red? How do I know this won’t affect me? Will I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat (or worse) caused by an EM induced nightmare? We’ll see. All that remains to be seen is if this little gadget does the job and deters the squirrels from my loft. Otherwise, I may just buy some lethal spring loaded traps. I can see myself losing a finger to one of those! I’m hoping the gadget works!

I’m not sure if I should eat full English breakfasts before playing football! I did spend most of the afternoon burping and generally holding back on sudden movements! I think this afternoon was the first time I’d played with the young people associated with church and been on the side which got a good battering. Saying that, quite a few people who we’d never met before joined in and we got to know more people from around the community. A great way to spend a warm Saturday afternoon.

After the match, a couple of us made haste to Hayes for Beth’s baptism. In a way, her testimony was not of Damascus Road proportions, but at the same time it demonstrated the magnitude of what God had done for Beth. In the city of Thyatira, almost 2,000 years ago, the books of Acts tells us of a lady by the name of Lydia who believed in the one true God and lived an upright life. Yet, when the apostle Paul visited that city, God caused Lydia to realise she was a sinner and only the salvation available through faith in Jesus Christ would make her right with that one true God. It was encouraging to see that God had enabled Beth to realise this also, and for Beth to identify with her saviour through baptism.

The rest of the evening was spent round Sarah’s chilling, eating and playing games. The only thing I possibly lacked was a shower!

No football today as four people were otherwise engaged. Gave me plenty of opportunity to do chores around the house. I managed to do two loads of washing, clean the bathroom, vacuum and file lots of papers. I even managed to play the violin and piano for a bit. (Well, practise the violin for a bit, playing might be too strong a word!)

The evening was spent in Pizza Express in Uxbridge to celebrate Nigel’s coming of age – he passed his driving test! It was also a good opportunity to catch up with Nigel and Karen after their honeymoon, and try out the Siciliana pizza. Afterwards, we visited the couple’s new abode to play some games and chill. Time for bed I think!

Seeing as there was no youth club to run this week, I thought I’d take advantage of my free Friday evening to go and visit my parents and my sister. It was good to see everyone again, albeit briefly! I helped my nephew construct his new wardrobe, and fed my niece. I was surprised at how large she’s become in such a short time! She’d happily munched through the whole jar of baby food I was feeding her. The afternoon was spent chatting with my parents and then I was back in London by the evening.

The evening was spent at Feltham Evangelical church to listen to a talk on Heaven. As Christians we so easily forget we’re on a journey, that this world is merely a transitory stage as we head toward ultimate reality in eternity. The speaker likened it to a man sitting in a airport departure lounge, who forgets that he’s heading towards a destination and instead starts to wallpaper the lounge, get out his comfy slippers and set up home. How foolish of the man to replace the his original destination with the lounge. Of course, in order to be lined up for heaven, we need to be right with God, for eternal life is to know God. Since we are al sinners by nature, we cannot know God of our own attempts, but Christ offers us forgiveness and his righteousness, that we may know God. This can only be obtained through faith and not through anything we do ourselves. Much like stepping onto an aeroplane, trusting it will take us to our desired destination, we must trust in Jesus Christ to take us to heaven. This faith need only be as small, but it must only be in him, and not in anything else. An interesting and encouraging talk.

The evening finished off with some of us chilling and playing games. A good day. 🙂

A few of the usual suspects came round this evening for a game of Risk and a DVD. Tim/Deanna and I had all our troops massed in Australasia, and only one of us would be left standing. Alas, the dice came out against me this evening. I spent the rest of the evening trying to enable file sharing from one Windows PC to my other PCs and failing. Eventually conceding defeat on a second front and watching Clueless on DVD instead. I hadn’t seen this for a while and I’d forgotten how good it was, even if it was lifted from Austen’s Emma! Eventually the Risk players called time, and unsurprisingly, the winner was Ally…again!

Easter bank holiday Monday! No work, and no usual routine! Thorpe Park here we come! A small band of us (20 I think) descended on this theme park, to enjoy the sunshine, the rides and each other’s company. I’m not sure which of the rides I sampled was my favorite. My sample was reduced in size due to a bruised thigh, which meant I couldn’t bend my leg properly and so was unable to sit comfortably in any ride which involved a car. The only car ride I tried was Stealth, but decided the pain involved was more than the ride was worth afterwards.

Of more amusement (rather than direct adrenaline laced fear), was the various responses made by my companions to the rides. Ranging from the usual screams, to more rigid fear.

The day even gave us all the opportunity to catch up with each other and share the time together.

To top it all off, the weather was perfect, clear and sunny, but not too hot. A little sunburn was sustained by some, but it didn’t diminish the fun.

A nice lazy Saturday, after the craziness of last Saturday! After a short lie-in and a fat-loaded breakfast of bacon and eggs, it was off for a game of footie in the park with some of the lads from church and some of their friends. The sun was shining, and the weather was warm. After running around for ten minutes, I figured I might be better off in goal and letting some of the younger players do the hard work. The teams were fairly even, ending in 8-7.

A quick bath and freshen up later and we were out to celebrate Sarah’s birthday with a walk and then a meal at the Wetherspoon’s in Stockley Park. I was slightly surprised when I was told by a gatekeeper that I couldn’t take photos of the buildings, especially as I was taking photos of the wildlife, but we cleared things up and he was happy with my wildlife photos.

I must admit to being impressed with the food at the Wetherspoons as well, which was plentiful and tasty. (I suppose you’d have to try really hard to get a steak wrong, but I’ve seen some interesting attempts in my time!) The conversation was good, with an opportunity to meet some new people. We later convened for a game of Articulate, resulting in victory for the birthday girl’s team, due to some quick thinking from Sarah on a clue about the Maldives. Result! A couple of us even got to sing her Happy Birthday! Above all, the birthday girl enjoyed herself.

A very good day. 🙂

I think I ate too much wedding cake on Saturday! I really struggled to run around for more than twenty minutes this evening. Saying that, I scored a few goals and I think my leg is feeling a lot better than it did before the game. Kill or cure I guess!

I had the privilege of taking part in the wedding of two good friends today. Starting at around 7am(!) I attempted to carry out the duties of best man, stuff like ferrying the groom to the church on time, shunting people around for photos and making a speech (of sorts!). I must admit, I’m thoroughly exhausted, but had great joy in seeing my friends get married.

It’s been one of those weeks which just hasn’t stopped! The only prevailing memory from my violin lesson on Tuesday was learning to play Chanson de Matin, by Elgar. It starts in third position, which is bad enough, but later one of the notes is the fourth E above Middle-C! When I first saw it on the page, I had to stare for a while, count the ledger lines and then work out what I was going to do to play it. It’s so high that you’re really just relying on harmonics in order to ensure you’re in tune. Saying that, I’ve heard the piece played by competent violinists and it sounds beautiful, there’s something quintessentially English about it, very much cucumber sandwiches and afternoon tea. Hopefully, with a lot of practise, I’ll be able to do it justice.

Wednesday evening was spent at Vic and Barb’s to catch up on their latest travels and merely to share friendship and fellowship. A nice relaxing evening.

Attempted to play football this evening with the bruise the size of a foot size in situ. Any attempt to run was accompanied by slight pain and turn into a fairly quick hobble, rather than a graceful gazelle-like movement. Saying that, after pushing it for an hour, my leg actually felt better for it. We’ll see how I feel in the morning.

Finished the evening round Nige’s with some of the other lads to watch District 13 (Banlieue 13 for the more cultured amongst you). Pretty silly story, even compared with some other Luc Besson films, but some great feats of skill and athleticism.