Scones are ordered… soup is ready… coffee and tea are re-stocked… traybakes are in the oven…
Dock Cafe is ready to open again!

I’ve been taking a few days to get back in touch with my inner hunter-gatherer.  Me make wood shed.  Me chop logs.  Me put logs in wood shed.  Result!

But the 21st Century is re-asserting itself, and I’m really looking forward to being back to the rhythm of Dock Cafe life this week.  So I thought I’d catch you up with a few pretty pictures of Dock Life over the past few weeks.  The big event was of course the Land of Giants spectacular spectacular on the slipways – beautiful, awe-inspiring stuff (even if I’m not entirely sure what was going on most of the time…)

And as well as the treat of the show itself, there’s the thrill after it’s all over of walking down the Queens Road in a throng of thousands of people, echoing the old Titanic yardmen photos…

That same weekend I made my now-annual visit to ‘Mass Rock’ in the company of the friendly parishioners of St Oliver Plunkett’s parish in West Belfast.  Hidden deep in the woods above the Glen Rd, Mass Rock is a place where Catholics would have gathered during penal times for secret services, in the dead of night, constantly on the lookout for redcoats.  In the 2012 equivalent, when we emerged from the woods after the service, we found the PSNI directing traffic so that we could get back to our cars safely… changed times!
I always find these services incredibly moving – a reminder of how once we were deeply divided, yet full of the faith we share.  How can believers who recite the same creed have become so bitterly separated?

Back in the Titanic Quarter, there has (as always) been plenty going on.  Still recovering from royal visits and handshakes, there was more and more good news over the past few weeks – look out for updates soon about Prayer Rooms in the TQ, pilgrimage walks on the old Titanic slipways, and big, big plans for the future of Dock Cafe.

In the meantime, Dock Cafe life was as full of variety, colour and laughter as ever – whether enjoying more impromptu acoustic sessions, hosting a visit of a local cycling club (go Jackie!), or watching a family while away a rainy afternoon plaining the Titanic Board Game (I knew if we left it out someone would play it some day!)…

And no need to go to see the new Spiderman movie – we got our own live show, watching the TQ window-cleaning crew in action:

And finally, on the subject of pictures, a while back I published a very daft picture of me at Diocesan Synod (where I do not have a good track record of always behaving with due dignity) and invited your best caption-writing efforts.  Huge thanks to all those who replied – but I think the prize has to go to Chris Matchett’s suggestion:

…because at The Dock we believe that it’s a good and Godly thing to find space in our lives to chill out!

Hope you all get the chance to find some space over these sunny (?!) Summer days – look forward to catching up again when we re-open next week!

It’s exactly 15 years today since this photo was taken – since Susan had the supreme courage and fortitude to say “I do” and become Mrs Bennett.  And while we don’t exactly feel like an ould married couple just yet, it’s amazing to think how much has changed since the confetti flew that day back in ’97.

The story behind our happy wedding snaps is that all the guests were there that day by the skin of their teeth: the previous day the storm of the Drumcree conflict had suddenly broken, and roads everywhere were blocked with burning cars.  Lots of our guests who had travelled from outside Belfast had to leave before nightfall to be sure of getting home safely (at least, they said that was their excuse…)  And our departure the following morning, in our beloved self-converted big red campervan, had to be suddenly switched to the crack-of-dawn ferry, as police were advising drivers of larger vehicles to stay off the roads as they presented more enticing targets for roadblocks… The thought of all our months of hard work on that van ending up burning in the middle of the road kept us awake all night!

Do you remember when this kind of thing was our daily reality?  Fifteen years ago – not exactly ancient history.  Today I’m profoundly grateful for fifteen amazing years of marriage – and also for the undreamt-of transformation of our daily lives here in NI.

The Dock has made it to the front page at last – but after all my publicity-grabbing antics, it’s Tegan who made it to the cover – grrrr…