A subject I thought I'd not mention!

Last week was busy, but got increasingly pleasurable. You can perhaps deduce the tipping point.
Monday - car had its MOT. Needs new tyre.
Wednesday - visit to doctor. Blood pressure needs "keeping an eye on". Kwikfit came and fitted two new tyres. Dog goes to vet with back/neck trouble.
Thursday - blood test, followed by dentist. Tooth refilled. Need to watch plaque upper left. My teeth are a catalogue of decay!
Friday - wheelchair serviced first thing. Afternoon visited my best man in Oxford, a brave man. Evening had three friends round for meal and to pray.
Saturday - Jane out morning, brother and wife call in for coffee. Out for meal in evening with two of the BEST friends.
And I forgot to mention three other visits from friends interspersed through the week.
Life's not dull.

Meanwhile the news broke on Wednesday, or was it Thursday, that William Windsor had proposed some time ago to Catherine Middleton. At last, you might think, after nine years of friendship and four years of 'living together'. The arcane reason given for its being announced now was, I heard, that otherwise she couldn't have spent Christmas at Sandringham with the royal family. The protocol that approves of cohabitation before marriage but not of entertaining your girl-friend at your parents' home seems to me a trifle bizarre, if not topsy-turvy.

However I must beware of sounding like the Bishop of Willesden, who's incurred the establishment's wrath with his republican remarks expressed in lively Facebook language. Pete Broadbent obviously wasn't brought up with the principle my mother taught us about making remarks. "Before you speak, ask: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? If it doesn't pass all three tests, don't say it." I guess the bishop's remarks fail on 2 out of 3 counts. That is a huge temptation with blogging and social networking - to be funny and trenchant without asking those questions or exercising personal imagination. That leads to vitriolic extremes, which are downright ugly.

Personally, I wish them a long and happy marriage. I don't envy royalty in any way. Their lot is not an easy one, mainly because of the obsessional interest which we appear to have in them and which the media profitably feeds. There's an excellent marriage preparation course which I hope the celebrant of their wedding will insist William and Kate do together.

 http://relationshipcentral.org/marriage-preparation-course. We used to use it with prospective couples in our church. Very good it was too. Hopefully the bishop's ill-judged remarks won't have put them off.