Life at the moment consists of spending lots of money on things that I am not that interested in, ie, furniture and stuff for houses, in order that the vicarage can become ‘home’ for the next three or four years. It seems to be coming together relatively easily and gradually – so far so good – but I suspect that some of the bedrooms will never have very much in them. Most of my friends are OK about sleeping on floors anyway. My mother was very good at home making in the ‘House and Garden’ style and I have pondered for years why I am not. Or, rather, why I am not interested in it – I could do it if I was bothered enough. Is this a failing, a character flaw? Or perhaps just a question of priorities? I appreciate beautiful things in a beautiful house but when visiting a stately home or National Trust place I am much more interested in the building than what is inside it. And as for ornaments and nicknacks, I have fought all my life to avoid having any. But people give them to you… Fortunately, because I will have rather a lot of it, I like uncluttered space.
It is tempting to think that I am following the instructions given to the twelve disciples in Matthew 10 – ‘…take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals or staff…’ – or am being very Franciscan. And I do like to ‘travel lightly’. But the truth is that I would much rather spend my time doing other things than searching out that curtain material that would make the dining room just perfect – difficult when the carpet is a honey beige and the walls are light pink… (Yes, it really is.) Just paint everything white or neutral, have neutral coloured carpets, and keep everything minimalist, plain and unfussy, and that will suit me very well.
Just as long as I can have lots of books; the vice of the clergy it seems, given the high rate of theft from theological libraries, the state of most vicar’s studies that I’ve been in, and the amount of shelving already in my study…
It is tempting to think that I am following the instructions given to the twelve disciples in Matthew 10 – ‘…take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals or staff…’ – or am being very Franciscan. And I do like to ‘travel lightly’. But the truth is that I would much rather spend my time doing other things than searching out that curtain material that would make the dining room just perfect – difficult when the carpet is a honey beige and the walls are light pink… (Yes, it really is.) Just paint everything white or neutral, have neutral coloured carpets, and keep everything minimalist, plain and unfussy, and that will suit me very well.
Just as long as I can have lots of books; the vice of the clergy it seems, given the high rate of theft from theological libraries, the state of most vicar’s studies that I’ve been in, and the amount of shelving already in my study…
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