EASTER SUNDAY

It wasn't a good day last Sunday. It was snowing and cold. But people turned up to see the church flowers at Easter and to have home-made cream teas. Church notelets were sold and there was a popular book stall. £500 was made for church funds.
It was hard work for the organisers, but an enjoyable afternoon for all of us.

The Tower in the Snow

Easter at St Andrews

Here are some pictures of the Easter Flowers at Church on Easter Sunday, some outside pictures and some of the weather on Easter Sunday morning.

SAD NEWS FOR THE CHURCH COMMUNITY

Our dear friend and important member of our Church community,
Ed Rule, died on Good Friday after a short illness.
He was a highly involved and active member of our Church
and had recently retired as Churchwarden. He was a very well-known
and greatly loved person in the community and the world
is a sadder place without him.

R I P

Memorial service for Ivy Pamphilon

Recently one of the church members died. A memorial service was
held in the church recently to give thanks for her life. It was an
unforgettable service. Her family and friends read extracts from notes
she had made about her life - a truly amazing life. The music played
was beautiful and her daughter in law played the harp during the service - so lovely.

THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING INTERESTING TO SEE IN THE CHURCHYARD

Every time I look in the churchyard I see something interesting. Particularly the flowers are beautiful there most of the year round. I see people sitting in various areas, enjoying the weather when it is good and relishing the peace and quiet surroundings. At the moment the Spring flowers are out. Here is a view for you to relish.

23 March - Flower Festival at St Andrews

It's an early EASTER this year, but we can look forward to seeing the flowers in
St Andrews on 23 March, EASTER SUNDAY at 2-5pm
Come and see the beautiful flower arrangements
and have a home made cream tea.
IT IS NOT TO BE MISSED.
Put in in your diary now!

THE TOWER IS FINISHED BUT THE QUEST FOR FUNDS GOES ON

Have you looked at the Tower of St Andrews recently? It is finished!! Everyone concerned has
raised £250,000 and the £40,000 needed to complete the project has had to be borrowed and
money will need to continue to be raised to pay this money back.
Here are some before and after pics.

Dreaming of Summer

A picture of part of my garden last Summer. Roll on!!

It's a cat's life!

This is just one of my six cats -Alabama - relaxing at home!!!

Flowers in the church

We have group of ladies who
do floral arrangements. This is
just one decorated window.
I like it because it is simple but
effective.

Conversation in the churchyard

I think this looks like two old ladies having a chat - what do think?
Send me your appropriate captions for the photo!!!

Your comments would be welcome!!!

Do you remember Cyril Fletcher and his odd odes? Well I sometimes feel like him when I write my snatches about St Andrews. Cyril had the advantage of a live audience for most of the time, while I feel that my audience, if any, are largely silent! Perhaps my comments are boring - what I have to say is uninteresting. That may well be true, but it would be nice if you commented from time to time - even to disagree - so that I know someone out there reads my blogs! St Andrews is the oldest building in the village and even if it is taken for granted by some of Cherry Hinton's residents
and ignored by others, it stands prominent at the corner of the High Street - an every present reminder of our need for stability and spiritual sustenance - in good times and bad.

Here are a few photos to sustain you in dreary January.

CHRISTMAS PAST

Advent and Christmas have whizzed past - lots of work for the vicar and church members getting ready for all the services on at this time of the year. Suddenly it is all behind us and we are moving forward in the New Year.
May you all find peace and contentment in 2008.

Autumn in St Andrews

Autumn has come and gone and I still have photos in my camera of the church at that time.
Some of the churchyard and some of the Harvest Festival. I hope you enjoy looking at them

Over the last few months

Things have happened very fast, starting with my computer dying and all the work involved getting a new tower etc. You don't realise how much you rely on your computer until it is not there!! However, I have now got a new tower and things are running comparatively smoothly. Luckily St Andrews is still there and the Tower is still under repair which means that the bells could not be rung at Christmas and New Year. While most of the money has been raised, we still need another £40,000 to pay back loans that have had to be taken out to pay for work to be done. So we are carrying on trying to raise money where we can.
Our notelets will be on sale throughout the year - if you need notelets to send as cards or for messages, then contact me on panwrites@ntlworld.com. They cost £2.50 for 6 with envelopes - original views of the church painted by local artists. Shown is one of the six different pictures on the notelets.

NOTELETS OF ST ANDREWS CHURCH FOR SALE

Six drawings were printed after the Big Art Day in St. Andrews in July this year.
They were made into notelets and six mixed notelets with envelopes are for sale in the church for £2.50 a pack. Contact Marian Martin-Emery on 240181 or panwrites@ntlworld.com if you want to purchase these original notelets of the
OLDEST BUILDING IN CHERRY HINTON. FUNDS TO THE TOWER APPEAL.

TOWER APPEAL STALL AT THE CHERRY HINTON FESTIVAL

The weather stayed fine for the Festival Day. On the Tower Appeal stall we had photographs of the inside of the tower while it is being repaired. We were also raffling a handbuilt racing bike and playing our bagatelle game. One of our helpers, Heather was fascinated by the bicycle brought along by another helper, Dave. She rode around the grounds on the chopper bicycle in the afternoon having a great time.
Here are some pics on the day.

THE TOWER BEING REPAIRED

The tower is shrouded in sheeting and scaffolding. At last the work is being done.
Although most of the money has been raised through grants and events, we have still had to borrow £40,000 to carry out the work and this has to be paid back. We are still appealing for donations to raise this money. If you havent seen the tower recently, here is a pic!

The churchyard is interesting all year round - just a few pictures for your interest

LONG TIME NO SEE

My computer has been playing up and has had to be sent off for repairs so I havent been
on my blog for a long time. Hope that some people are reading this somewhere and missing me! Dream on!

Things have been going on regarding the Tower Appeal. The scaffolding is up now and the work has started to repair the Tower. Hopefully by the end of the year, most of the money to pay the bills will have been found. However, we have had to borrow some money to make up the total and this will need to be paid back. So even though the overall Tower Appeal will finish in December 2007, we will have to continue fundraising to pay back the monies borrowed. Such is life.

Hope that you will continue to support our fundraising efforts as and when they happen. In the future the church will have to continue fundraising to build up a fund for fabric repair. The upkeep of the building is very expensive and we hope that as well as our own efforts, people in the community will come forward to help us look at ways of raising the regular money to keep the building going!!!

In the New Year we will be holding a Thanksgiving Service for all those who contributed to our fundraising.

I will be back shortly to let you know what other things are happening at St Andrews.