Our Easter Weekend – 25 April 2011

As the last of the chocolate eggs are tidied away, I look back over our Easter weekend. And weren’t we all lucky with the weather?

HOT CROSS BUNS_There were plenty of hot cross buns at Good Friday's activity morning at church.

 

Friday, 22 April 2011

Good Friday started with breakfast on the lawn (our first this year), and then an hour of revision for me (and my patient mother).

BREAKFASTING_Enjoying breakfast on the lawn.

After that, it was off to church, for the annual Good Friday activity morning. There was a noticeable lack of children, but that’s partly because two large families from our congregation had gone on holiday together – nice for them, but it meant we had a shortfall of young people. We also lacked in Richard Holroyd, former vicar and artistic genius, who led previous activity mornings. From that, it sounds like the event was sure to be a flop, but in fact it was one of the most successful yet.

CROSS-LOOKING_A stern Richard Burdett makes the Easter garden, complete with slate from the church roof!

THE ART OF CHRISTIANITY_Harriet Burdett, 19, assists in the making of the Easter Sunday cross.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON_Will Mohr and son Johan make a chocolate crispy cake.

It was a really good morning, finished off by an excellent little service by Associate Priest Terrie Robinson. In it, she took attendees on a ‘multi-sensory’ tour of the church; starting with the last supper (including the consumption of grapes and breadsticks), then to the courtroom, then over the crosses and nails, out to the Easter garden in the porch.

Friday afternoon and evening brought yet more revision for me and Mum, though we had peace as Dad took Harriet and Matthew to Cliveden.


Saturday, 23 April 2011

I spent Saturday morning revising, and then we all went on a walk in Oxfordshire. This included a delightful train ride on the preserved Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway. It’s a seven-mile track, but with no platform at Princes Risborough, each journey is a return trip.

THE TRAIN IS THIS WAY_Chinnor station.

ON BOARD_Dad pokes his head out, despite signs advising not.

LID OF THE TRAIN_The soot-stained roof of the carriage.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKpLZijfrek]
ALL ABOARD_A rough film I made of our train ride.

The day was rounded off by stopping off for a flask of tea, overlooking the Stokenchurch Gap!

SHEEPISH_Sheep on the Oxfordshire hillside of the M40.


Sunday, 24 April 2011

All of us went to church on Sunday, where the fruits of Good Friday’s activity morning were revealed to all.

FOOTPRINTS DOWN THE AISLE_The path of footprints produced at Friday's activity morning.

EASTER FLOWERS_A floral display at St Luke's.

When we got home, Mum had organised an Easter egg hunt for us three ‘children’.

FOUND THEM!_Mum organised an Easter egg hunt on the lawn.

SMILES FOR THE WINNER_Harriet was the first to find an egg.

UNLUCKY_I was less successful.

Then, it was time to pop across and see our 95-year-old neighbour, Dorothy, and give her her Easter gifts from us.

PLEASURE_Dorothy with one of her gifts from us, a Lindt Easter bunny.

I spent Sunday afternoon cutting a piece together for the StLukesMaid YouTube channel about the Easter activities at church.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_odE6yd2DM]
EASTER AT ST LUKES_A StLukesMaid/ABSstudios co-production.

Monday, 25 April 2011

As the Easter holidays drew to a close, today saw us breakfasting on the lawn again.

BREAKFAST ON THE LAWN_Mum and Dad enjoying breakfast on the lawn.

This afternoon, Harriet returned to university for her hardest term so far, with challenging exams in a few weeks. Mum and I (of course!) returned to the revision, finishing the Biology and Chemistry notes, and leaving only Physics to go.


In conclusion, despite heavy revision sessions, I really enjoyed my Easter weekend this year.

Andrew Burdett

Andrew Burdett is a twenty-something from Maidenhead in Berkshire, working for ITV News.