HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY

Winter Sports!

Fed up with playing snowballs and making snow people? Part of the family menagerie is Halima the horse. To keep the field tidy and to provide for the roses it is necessary to clean up after the horse - a particularly interesting pass time in the snow is poo picking. I don't expect it is very likely to catch on as an Olympic Sport though!

Happy Anniversary to me

Friday 3rd December, the Feast of Francis Xavier, was the 16th Anniversary of my priesting. Not only was I invited out to a delicious dinner but the Bishop's Confectioner, Douglas Campbell, made me a delicious Anniversary Cake modelled in the shape of a motorcycle crash helmet. Yum!

End of Season Run Moray Coast Motorcycle Club

The picture is taken from the Kinlochbervie Hotel, my bike is the second from the left.

Fantastic day today with the Moray Coast Motorcycle Club end of season run. The day started with celebrating Mass at the 8.00 am Service at St John's then waiting on the Forres bypass for the Club who left Elgin at 9.00 am. First stop was Skiach Services at Evanton for a coffee and bacon roll, refuelled the bikes and then off to the West Coast arriving at the Kinlochbervie Hotel for Lunch. A cold but bright and clear blue sky day in some of the best biking country in the world, just unbeatable! After lunch we headed down the coast, over the Kylesku Bridge to Ullapool, refuelled the bikes and then a fast run on clear open roads down to Garve for a coffee stop. From Garve back to Inverness and on home to Moray with a welcome beef stew in front of the fire. It just doesn't get any better.

Inaugural Run

Out for my first run on the new bike today, from Forres through to Nairn then up over the Dava Moor and back to Forres via Snab of Moy. Awesome performance and such an enjoyable experience. I like the camaraderie of other bikers waving to you and the new perspective of being on a bike rather than in a car. Some people have said to me why? What is the attraction of riding a bike? Well in a sense it is a form of meditation, because riding a fast bike requires 100% concentration you need to clear your mind of all other thoughts and distractions and focus totally on you, the bike, and the environment and that is why it is so relaxing and enjoyable.

Midlife Crisis

Life has been quite hectic of late hence little or no blogging. So what have I been so busy at? Well basically I have been thoroughly enjoying a mid-life crisis by fulfilling a long term ambition. Back in June I started to learn to ride a motorcycle. As a teenager I used to ride small motorbikes and always promised myself that one day I would learn to ride a big bike.

Had I really known just how challenging the process would be I probably would not have started. Learning to ride a big bike has been really rewarding and given me great respect for everyone who completes the journey. The first step is to sit the Theory Test and then to complete a CBT - Compulsory Basic Training Course, which is an intensive course of theory and a practical introduction to a 125 cc motor bike.You then progress to a 500 cc machine and train for Module 1, which is a practical driving test conducted at a test centre involving slaloms, U turns, emergency stops and slow and high speed manoeuvres. Then more training for the Module 2 which is a practical on road driving test. I successfully completed this final stage today and am now a fully qualified biker!

The picture above is my motorcycle a Honda 800 VFR VTEC which will give a whole new look (and Pace) to Deans visits in Moray!

West Coast Extravaganza

The above picture is of Loch Carron and was taken as I was enroute to the Scottish Episcopal Church of St Donnan's Nostie last Friday the 16 April. At St Donnan's Father Tim Daplyn was installed by the Bishop of Moray, the Right Reverend Mark Strange, as Mission Rector.  The Church was full and there was so much noise and excitement that we attracted the neighbouring pig down off the hill to come see what we were up to!

From Nostie it was off to the Caron Hotel for a delicious late Supper and then off over the Pass of the Cattle to Applecross for an overnight stay in one of the most comfortable B & Bs I have ever stayed in. After a hearty breakfast it was off to St Maelrubha's Church Poolewe,where after a fine buffet lunch it was time to install Father Tim into his second charge.

Father Tim Daplyn is pictured left with Bishop Mark.

From Poolewe it was on to the Church at Courthill Chapel, Kishorn, where Father Tim was installed into his third charge. The service here was followed of course by more food in the Community Centre. The West Coast is renowned for its legendary hospitality so, tired and well fed I headed home to Forres to prepare for Sundays Services in my own Church at St John's Forres. All in all a very satisfying weekend, with a bit of history making as well as this is the first time for around 200 years that this group of charges has had its own Rector. With prayers and blessings on Tim as he begins his exciting ministry in that place.