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A suitably ornate wrought iron flower pedestal can do the job, and is more likely to be lurking unused in a vestry, in case that helps at all...

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My Daphne thanks your Daphne for her kindness.

Whereas my Daphne is, if anything, overwhelmed by my efforts today. Especially the unfortunate saga when I accidentally let her out into the midst of youth group playing dodgeball, and then dragged her out of the hedge where she had taken cover, to return her to the house. No wonder she's exhausted!

Ruth Harley @ruthh.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

One of the many respects in which liturgy is poetry. I trained with a wonderful group of women who pledged to tell each other if we heard each other slip into "vicar voice" (which is not unlike poetry voice).

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It was lovely. I was thoroughly upstaged by Cuthbert the bear, as usual 🤣

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Ruth Harley @ruthh.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Cuthbert and I have done our Harvest Festival school assembly three times today! We will be singing Cauliflowers Fluffy in our sleep 🤣 Cuthbert is an excellent colleague, and rapidly becoming something of a local celebrity. 🥰

A priest with a large smiley teddy bear hand puppet.

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Ruth Harley @ruthh.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I was almost certainly on my way to or from one of today's three school harvest festival assemblies!

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A number of my collars have bite marks. Having numerous clergy friends with small children, it's not uncommon for any of us to hand the baby a collar to play with/teeth on. A handy built-in toy for clergy kids! My rosary has also been used for teething by several babies over the years.

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And so interesting! He and some of his dogs were involved in pioneering new forms of medical detection, including Covid detection. Although he also trained drug sniffer dogs, who had a slightly too exciting time in our churchyard... 😬

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I've had snakes, stick insects and giant African land snails before. And a very noisy goat. But my favourite was when we had a guy at church who was involved in training various types of detection dogs, and he would bring them and give a demonstration after the service! Very interesting, very cute.

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Excellent thank you. We did our pet blessings yesterday, and in a "to go" format rather than a service (to avoid inter-species conflict). But today I was accosted by a local Bedlington terrier and her owner in the carpark, who were sad to have missed yesterday, so I had the joy of a bonus blessing!

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An even more eclectic selection of refreshments than usual after mass today: Church 1: chicken drumstick, mini pizza, chocolate cupcake. Church 2: Werther's Originals.

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Added bonus of the 'to go' approach to pet blessings: when someone with a dog accosts you on Sunday morning in the carpark to say how sad the were to miss the pet blessing... they haven't missed out! I even had a spare prayer card in my bag for them to take home.

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Snowball: I'M SORRY... WHAT!?!

The problem with being in local FB groups for the purpose of advertising church events etc, is that I accidentally read some of the absolutely batshit opinions expressed therein. Today, in response to an Orange March in town: "it's so lovely to see something positive that brings everyone together"

static.klipy.com

Alt: Snowball: I'M SORRY... WHAT!?!

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That sounds great. We had prayer cards for people to take home, with space to write the pet's name into the prayer, which were much appreciated.

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That is awful. Do advise him to watch out for a similar scam doing the rounds purporting to be from a book club. I know a number of author friends who have been targeted by both.

That makes sense. But having made that decision, that is an odd hymn to choose.

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I think I'd be more inclined towards "the chances we have missed, the graces we resist, Lord in this eucharist take and redeem". Or even "make thou our sad divisions soon to cease", which at least acknowledges they exist.

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Um... yeah, that is an *interesting* choice of hymn for that occasion.

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Full disclosure: not my original idea, I pinched it from a friend. But I would certainly recommend it.

There have been a number of "I can't believe I get to do this and call it work" moments this week. This was one of them 😍 #TinyJoys #PetBlessing

A priest wearing a cassock is crouching down to bless a tiny dog, along with its human.

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Not on such a scale... but we blessed 17 pets at our first ever 'pet blessings to go', most of them accompanied by humans with little or no prior connection to church, which I was pretty happy with.

It was so much fun! I found it much easier to manage than a pet service (which I have done before in a previous parish) and there was more of a chance to chat with people.

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Ruth Harley @ruthh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Our first ever 'pet blessings to go': we blessed 13 dogs, 2 cats and 2 guinea pigs, the majority of them accompanied by people with little or no prior connection with church. A very fun way to spend a sunny afternoon! #TinyJoys

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My advice would be to casually drop your hatred of booklet printing into conversation whenever possible. Ideally, someone will eventually say they love printing booklets, and bingo, you have a new volunteer. But if not, you have at least lowered expectations about the standard of your booklets.

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Him: The thing about the Mission Action Plan... well, the two things about the Mission Action Plan... actually the three things... Me: Ooh, it's like the Spanish Inquisition! Him, very serious and a bit perplexed: Um... not really, Ruth, no.

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I try very hard to resist spurious Monty Python references in work contexts, ever since the unfortunate incident in which a colleague thought I was comparing the Deanery Mission Action Plan to the *actual* Spanish Inquisition.

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What an absolutely brilliant retirement project!

Ruth Harley @ruthh.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Some years ago, I was at a diocesan conference at which one of the Bishops was late for a session *which he was leading* because he had gone for a walk and got stuck the wrong side of a herd of cows who were blocking his route back to the conference centre.

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Oh yes. 18 degrees with thick fog and drizzle here.

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Ruth Harley @ruthh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Me: What brings you here today? Newcomer: I tried St Xs because they looked really cool so I assumed they'd be progressive and... Me, internally: Oh no. I know where this is going... Newcomer: So I thought maybe this church would be... the opposite? Yes, that's us: very uncool, very progressive.

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Ruth Harley @ruthh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Today's episode of unexpected moments in parish ministry: Someone has brought in a huge fruit platter for Harvest. How kind! On closer inspection, one of the 'fruits' is... sausages 🤔

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Ruth Harley @ruthh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

At one point yeaterday I opened a box of what I initially thought were amices, and was gearing up to explain those, but on closer inspection it turned out to be confirmation veils! Last used here circa 1960, we think.

When, in the course of The Great Vestry Clearout, someone announces from the depths of a cupboard "oh, there's a massive pooh here", it is quite a relief to see this chap emerge! 😂

A large Winnie-the-Pooh soft toy, sitting on a chair.

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Highly entertaining. My mum, who is British so has no excuse, told me she liked the view of the park from her kitchen window "because you can watch people jogging and dogging." Turns out they were jogging and walking their dogs. (She does know the word, just momentarily forgot I guess.)

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I mean, they're not wrong...

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Had a surprising amount of fun doing a thorough sort and tidy of the vestry this morning. "Does anyone know what this is?" was a frequent phrase 😂 (all liturgical items eventually identified by the combined efforts of the group, one small box of miscellaneous cables etc remains)

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Wonderful to see! Very 'welldun' indeed. ❤️

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And there was me thinking "of course, implementation of the Marriage Act, a very memorable date". A surprising proportion of the dates I know are related to marriage registration. For reasons.

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Thrilled to see this write-up of our summer holiday activities in the diocesan magazine! One of the many joys of ministering in the Diocese of Newcastle is that the ministry of small churches is valued, supported and celebrated, and not just the big, shiny stuff. #TinyJoys #CofEpeeps ✝️⚓️🕯

The cover of Link, the magazine for the Diocese of Newcastle.

An article in Link about Launchpad youth ministry training for clergy, including a case study about summer holiday activities at St Peter Cowgate and St Wilfrid Newbiggin Hall.

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Beautiful! In Cowgate this morning we prayed for Kathleen Parbury at her year's mind. She lived and worked on Lindisfarne, and her Christus Rex which we have at St Peter's incorporates stones from the beach there. Thankful for connections between very different parts of our diocese.

I know! Feels like she's always been here.