One of the projects I’ve started at the vicarage this summer is the creation of a fenced in patio with a prayer gazebo. The fence was finished two weeks ago and my son and I got the tent up this week that is serving as our prayer gazebo.
I have to work on our bug repellent, but the space is shaping up nicely.
Here is the outdoor prayer chapel during the day
And here’s the view at night
Over the years, I’ve tried to plant a perennial garden that would fill the grounds of the Vicarage. This is the first year that it looks like I succeeded, so what’s blooming at the vicarage this week?

What is blooming in your yard?
My yard has been completely neglected for the last seven years. Every year I keep meaning to “get back to it”, only to be sidelined by other projects. This year I am actually making some headway with the grounds of the Vicarage.
The garden boxes have been moved and all but one are filled with dirt and planted.
We have weeded the front gardens twice. I have to say they are filling in nicely this year. The irises are giving way to the day lilies and it is time to weed the gardens again. It just about time to bring in the first harvest of mint for tea.
It is also time to mow the lawn for the fourth time.
As you can see we have done a good job at encouraging the ferns to grow.
I have asked myself what is different this year from the last seven years.
WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU DO TO GET BIG JOBS DONE OVER TIME?
THIS POST IS WRITTEN IN RESPONSE TO DAWN’S SPRING FESTIVAL CHALLENGE.
Well it is early Spring in New England. The temperature today is 30. With the wind it feels like 15.
The Vicarage is soooo ready for some warmth and some color.
Still there is hope.
Soon the world will be green again.
In the meantime it’s time to clean up from the winter
This week I am participating in Linda’s STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS SATURDAY CHALLENGE.
Here are the rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a particular subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!
THE WRITING PROMPT FOR THIS WEEK IS THE WORD….CLUMP
“CLUMP”. It is such an unattractive word. I am almost afraid to write about it for fear of what ugliness will come out. Mostly… I hate clumps. They are unattractive lumps of nothing usually having no purpose other than to be taken over by some outside force and having to be dealt with severely in order to restore…well…order.
Case in point my yard. It is full of clumpy things.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a certain beauty to my clumps, a certain wildness. The woods and the brush pile have attracted loads of song birds and the rock pile is home to a cute little family of chipmunks, but all the clumps make me feel a little out of control, if I am honest.
Here’s a confession, I am afraid of what I will lose if I get rid of my clumps. Wait! that sounds like hoarding talk! Am I hoarding my outdoor clumps? Maybe a little….Maybe it is something I have a mental block about, as bit of an avoidance disorder in the making. It does make me wonder why I keep from fixing the mess outdoors. I keep saying I have been busy, but I think it might be more than that. Maybe I stay busy so I don’t need to deal with the “clumps”…. is it for comfort?…is it for control? I am going to have to consider this.
DO YOU LIKE CLUMPS?
Today was Memorial Day here in the States. That means it was a big weekend. Pastor Amanda and I had a going away party for a service man being deployed and then a pastor/ staff/ board celebration dinner on Saturday. Sunday of course was Memorial Day and Pentecost Sunday and then the church celebration for Pastor Amanda’s ordination. We were EXHAUSTED by Sunday afternoon.
I find I need most of a day to recuperate from a busy weekend and most of a week to gear up for another one.
So today I spent resting in prayer and moving very slowly as Worked around the Vicarage property.
Today I was working on a stand of sumac that has gotten out of control and become infested with bittersweet vine. It went from this:
To this.
More to do tomorrow.
Those who have followed “Notes From The Vicarage” will remember that last year at this time our family was living away from the Vicarage as it got much needed surgery for survival into the future.
We had the pipes torn out and replaced; The shingles torn off, new insulation put up and siding put on; The bathrooms were gutted to the studs and remodeled; The floors downstairs were refinished; Eight windows were replaced; The sills were replaced and the trim painted; And the stone porch which was falling down was removed.
As an afterthought we ended up having to replace all the pipes from the house to the street, and then the town had to come in and replace the pipes from the edge of my property to the center of the street..
As it was all happening I kept reminding myself, it had to get worse before and got better. And it did get better. We love the Vicarage and the work that was done inside.
This year we will be working on the outside.
It turns out tearing down a three-quarter- of- a -century old stone porch and digging up your yard not once but twice is not good for the landscaping.
Parts of the Vicarage are barren moonscape and others are…. well….. Strangled.
So as we get ready for upcoming fencing and masonry work to get done. I am starting to destrangle the Vicarage.
This might not look like much yet, but at least now the mason will be able to get to the disintegrating pillar.
Spring has arrived. With it comes the possibility of outdoor work. The porch needs to be cleaned and set up for the summer.
The fence I bought last fall needs to be set up
The broken stonework needs to be fixed
The critters winter Burroughs need to be filled in with cement.
The old stone porch needs to be repurposed into stone walls and planters.
Two brush piles await the fire pit.
The sumac stands need to be cut back so the pathways are passable through the gardens.
And the old garden beds need to be done away with and resettled into their new locations.
So that’s my list for now. Let it begin.
WHAT DOES YOUR OUTDOOR SPRING CLEANING LIST LOOK LIKE?
Dear Family, It strikes me that I have not spoken much about the incredible blessing that God has given us during this season of The Vicarage’s rehab. In the midst of all this work God has given us a miraculous provision of a house that meets absolutely every one of our needs. The Annex is a Victorian duplex located directly next door to The Vicarage! The only thing separating us from our house is the field which we own. I can literally see The Vicarage from there sun porch in my room which most of you will recognize as the place I am using to do my daily video devotion, Digging Deeper. The location was important to Mom who insisted she wasn’t going to leave the neighborhood. And it keeps me close to the project.
The place has four bedrooms and more importantly a comfortable couch because Mom will not sleep in a bed having not slept in one since my father died in 1990. It came completely furnished. We didn’t;t even need to bring dishes or a coffee maker!
The place has plenty of places to meet. Which is important because with Mom’s dementia being in an unfamiliar place means we are sticking at home. So I am working remotely as much as possible and we are staffing any amount of time longer than hour. The room below I use for those meetings which are more sensitive in nature.
It is right at the top of the blue stairs.
But I am also doing fellowship meeting in the kitchen.
And I am doing staff meetings at the conference/ dining table which seats 10.
I praise God for His amazing provision!
Oz
Dear Family,
I am considering the two big building projects which are taking up my time for the next two months…the one at the Vicarage….and the sanctuary restructure at the church. What an incredible blessing it is that I get to do these two projects.
On the surface it would seem I am the wrong guy for this. If it were left to me to actually do the work it would be true. I possess none of the skills needed to replace plumbing or electrics, carpets or altars. But I am not called to any of that actual work. I am just having these things done on my watch. Aside from a little demolition, I am just the guy behind the curtain nodding my ahead to give approval or shaking it to say “I don’t think that works for me/us”.
I do suppose it is a little more complicated than that. I have a job to do while the construction goes on. While the builders build, my job is to figure out how to do ministry around the construction.
The adjustments I have made in order to keep the work of ministry going are indeed some of the biggest blessings I have yet encountered in the work of ministry. Figuring out how to care for Mom’s needs and still meet the congregation’s needs: having meetings from home, having intentional coffee dates at set times everyday with Mom, finding people to sit with Mom while I go into the church.
The conversations I have with my Mom at our coffee times can be very repetitious. Her anxiety about the house is still high. She is also not use to having people in her living space, but there have been some real blessings to it. Mom has not smoked a cigarette since we got here almost two weeks ago. It is nice to see her interact even if it is only a little with our church family. We have even had a few times where she has consented to listen to the Bible with me as I did my devotions.
Prayer time has been an interesting shift for me. My meeting load has actually increased during this season and I am really enjoying that, but I am finding that a lot more of my prayer time is spent in decompressing from the pastoral work. We are traveling in some deep pastoral waters now and that is very encouraging
I have always thought of myself as someone who does not like change. But I am discovering that while these changes brought on by these projects are uncomfortable they are not bad…they just are. If I take it slow and easy and I don’t let the changes effect my inner peace then the adjustments are actually all blessings.
Be Blessed and Be At Peace,
OZ
Notes From the Vicarage 