031/365:2010

The Baptism of Elizabeth Kee, our wee niece, in St Peter's Free Church, Dundee - the Church of Robert Murray M'Cheyne.

030/365:2010 Poppy

Poppy Toller the rabbit, residing in Dundee.

029/365:2010 Passing the Port

Jetting off for a weekend in Dundee, it was time to get the passport out.

028/365:2010 Rainbow Toes

Leaving it late today for a photo, this a spectrum of coloured socks straight out of the washing machine!

027/365:2010 Home Sweet Home!

Having been away for several days at the Proclamation Trust NIMA Preaching Conference it's nice to dump the bags in the hall and be back home again!

026/365:2010 Dry Stone Wall

A free afternoon in which to explore the Mournes. This was above Annalong, and I liked the contrast between the 'wee' stones and the big mountains. The left peak is Bignian / Binnian depending on spelling.

025/365:2010 To The Mournes

En route to Newcastle, I spotted this view between Ballykinlar and Clough looking towards the Mourne Mountains. This was taken on the iPhone for quick upload, but a full 15megapixel version will come shortly to replace it!

024/365:2010 Uncollared

Sunday afternoon and the clerical collar can come off. We wear civvies at the evening service. Abstract view of the white collar!

023/365:2010 East to West

The view from the very top of the Belmont Road, looking over East Belfast and beyond. A hazy day, after quite heavy fog last night. Took this on my way to Tesco!

This is one of the few photos on my Flickr account that have been edited. Normally they come straight from the camera, so in this case, what do you think of it? Is it too artificial? Colours and exposure were tweaked a wee bit.

022/365:2010 Commissioning

The Commissioning of Trevor Johnston as Ireland Team Leader of Crosslinks, the Evangelical Anglican mission agency. The service was held in St Saviours Church, Dollingstown, and I was asked to take some photos, so I planted myself in the gallery from which to get a good vantage point. This was during the prayer of commissioning itself, when all the ministers present were invited to join in the laying on of hands. A powerful moment, and a great service with the word faithfully proclaimed by Bishop Wallace Benn of Lewes.

021/365:2010 Raindrops

Three full weeks completed on the 365 photo a day challenge. It's raining. Again. Spring and summer, please come soon!

020/365:2010 Ballyclare

Ballyclare is a small town in County Antrim. This is the town hall (I think) in the middle of the town Square, lit up by night.

019/365:2010 I'm a Little Teapot!

Contrary to the popular notion that all ministers drink endless rivers of tea and coffee, I don't ever drink coffee, and rarely drink tea. Very surprising for some parishioners who insist on making tea. I think some wonder if I'm secretly a Mormon or something!

The reason there are two handles visible is because this is an ingenious teapot with matching cup underneath.

018/365:2010 Thoughts for the Day

I love books. The house is coming down with them. When I'm reading a book, I like to engage with it - but I won't write inside a book. Instead, I use one of these quarter slices of A4 paper on which to take notes, interesting thoughts, good arguments, or bits I don't agree with, all of which help me when I come to review the book on my blog. It's also a helpful bookmark to find my place!

My current reading is 'Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture' by Graeme Goldsworthy. It has sat on my shelves for too long, so eventually I'm getting through it and benefiting immensely! Why didn't I read it a long time ago?

In this photo, you also get to see my scrawly, tiny handwriting! I'm sure a handwriting psychology expert would have a field day with my sample!

017/365:2010 Evening Church

Gathering for our evening meeting. Light isn't great, but it's the only photo I'm taking today!

016/365:2010 Belfast Stormtrooper Invasion

Belfast was invaded by Imperial Stormtroopers today. Perhaps they're here until Policing and Justice are devolved? Spotted at Cornmarket.

015/365:2010 Ready Steady Cook!

Tonight we had a fundraiser in church in the Ready Steady Cook format, hosted by The Pampered Chef agent, Shirley Kerr. Johnny (our Youth Worker) and myself (the Curate) were each given a bag of ingredients with which to make a meal... Johnny won the judges' vote, but I won the popular vote by the audience!

014/365:2010 A Big White Lump... and the Remains of a Snowman!

I was at a training morning, so this afternoon I took a quick walk at Stormont estate to clear my head and think through my Family Service talk for Sunday morning. While there, I spotted the last bit of snow, the remains of a snowman.

013/365:2010 College Colours

Another cold and wet day for some visiting this afternoon. My scarf was very necessary to keep me warm! It's my undergrad scarf from Trinity College Dublin. Several years ago, I was in London, and a man walking past on the street recognised the colours and instantly shouted out Trinity Dublin!

012/365:2010 Beanz!

Today's a horrible day, cold and windy, so when I got back from staff meeting I wanted a quick and easy lunch. Cue the baked beans on toast! Plenty of pepper gives some variation from the reddy orangey tomato sauce!