Church sitting

Ed and I were church sitting yesterday. This week is Open Churches Week in Norwich diocese, when almost all Anglican churches are open for visitors to wander in when they wish. Many churches organise special events to attract the masses.

Our church has a display of Victorian (and older) christening gowns. They’re all in glass cases, but the church needs to be manned to welcome visitors, provide them with tea or coffee and chat.

I was at a meeting in Norwich all morning (I’m still doing a mentoring job for the diocese) so Ed started off at one o’clock, I caught the bus back from Norwich and walked the mile from the bus stop to the church, and Ed drove home in the car leaving me to church sit.

All went well until I felt a prick under my third toe. Thinking I’d inadvertently picked up a burr from the flower arrangement, I bent down to scoop it out of my sandal, only to find that I’d been stung by a wasp which had crawled into my sandal without me noticing.

Since I’ve been allergic to wasp stings in the past, I felt slightly anxious. So I rang Ed, who raced up with the first aid treatment – a device to remove any sting left in, and Piriton tablets.

Then he stayed with me for the rest of the afternoon, ‘cos it was quite painful and I didn’t fancy walking home on it.

Anyway, all’s more or less well today bar a little discomfort and quite a lot of itching, so I think I’ll live. And just as a post-script, we had no visitors at all to the little church!