Tuesday 28 February

I missed my usual weekend posting due to a seminar on grief I did in Port Kembla which took up Saturday and left me tired.   The seminar itself went very well.  On Sunday I had mass in the parish and then three baptisms before I headed off to Bowral straight after lunch.  Be that as it may, apologies for my neglect of the blog.

It has been a sunny week, if humid.  It was interesting to watch the car park take shape over the week.  First of all a 'blanket' was fixed to the ground.  Then very large trucks with trailers called 'dogs' came from Cronulla full of recycled concrete in balls which were poured over the surface and then energetically pushed and rolled into place. 

Truck going one way his dog going another

There were only a couple of trucks at a time but we had a traffic jam and cars had to be moved so they could turn.  The curbing was put in after the recycled cement was laid down.  Then another blanket was put on top of that and then the asphalt on top of that.  The point of all this is to make the car park greener.  It is a semi-permeable membrane and water can flow through the concrete 'rocks'.

Nowhere to move- our traffic jam

One day when we were working out cattle fences, gates and swales around the building I walked up the hill with Peter Coad, Alex's associate architect.  It had been a while and was impressed by the view of the site.

The new priory as seen from the hill

A little closer I took another shot which shows the building more clearly.  One thing is clear is that this has been a great year for grass.  Our property is cow heaven and grazier heaven too.  Even Marist Br Luke can't remember a better year for growth.  And he has been the farmer at St Greg's except for a few, short breaks, to before the Second World War. 

The priory

The car park now will now cure for a week.  No one is allowed to park on it.  The the 32 car spaces will be painted and and it will be complete.

Carp Park almost complete

There is now the new walkway beside the chapel up to the new priory.  You can see the brick pillars rising from the concrete.  The walkway will match the walkway between the retreat house and the chapel.  The garden will now feel more like a courtyard with the two walkways.  We will place park benches there with pleasant views over the water (of the dams).

Walkway to the new priory with brick pillars

The photo below shows how the walkway comes up to the entrance to the priory.  The pebbles are over the old path next to the chapel.

New path to the new priory

 The building is progressing.  The corridor is now beginning to look and feel like a corridor. 

Corridor with bedrroms to the right and kitchen and dining room on the left

The photo below looks past the first four bedrooms to the oratory with the cross tower behind.  The small brick piers are to hold the rain water tanks between the rooms. 

Accommodation block with oratory and cross tower beyond

The photo below is looking through the shell of the dining room to the kitchen. 

Dining room

This last photo is over the planting outside the entrance to the priory with the chapel beyond.

Looking to the chapel

Protect the Scenic Hills 

Every now and then we mobilise ourselves to protect our environmentally protected area.   Recently the local paper, the Macarthur Advetiser call me and I got Paul Maunder and Darren Mackie to come as volunteers to demontrate our convictions.  In the report below you, if you look at the photo you will see Paul on the left and me on the right in the white hat, Darren is to my left in the brown shirt.  Here is the link to the article and photo.

http://www.macarthuradvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/general/mps-urged-to-protect-the-scenic-hills/2448211.aspx

The weather forecast is heavy rain.  It has certainly been a wet summer.