Palm Sunday, 1 April

Today it is Palm Sunday and a beautiful sunny day.  Blessings of the crucified and risen Lord to you for the celebration of Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum (The "three days" of Holy Thursday night, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday).

Work on the priory has continued since my last post.  As well the Carmelite community has met and discussed how we will furnish the oratory.  The library and other effects from our Box Hill house will arrive from storage on 16 April.  That will help us make more decisions in regard to the priory and provide lots of work in sorting books and assembling shelving etc.

Parts of the building look almost finished.  In other parts it is slower.  We have had delays in the delivery of some products.  We wished Maurie well on Wednesday as he left on Friday with his wife and kids for a holiday in the USA.  Big hearted Maurie had thrown a BBQ the previous Friday for all the workers including me. 

Walkway beside the chapel takes shape

Some of our rooms have now sprouted adjustable sun shades over the veranda spaces outside.  These are very necessary in the north facing rooms in summer.  However the photo I have below is of the south facing rooms- the dining room, two bedrooms and in the distance the common room.  Here the sunshades are simpler.

The sunshades in white

The corridor now has a ceiling as do some of the rooms. The ceiling in the corridor has been painted. 

Corridor with ceilings painted

The area around the courtyard has been tidied up as well. 

Looking through to the courtyard with the view beyond

Some of the bedrooms have also had their ceilings put in, though they have not been painted as yet.  We now have a sense of the final look and shape of the bedrooms.  As the workers will have a break for Easter I will take photos next week.

Bedroom looking to the entrance with clerestory above

Sunday, 25 March

It has been catch up time all week for me and the community.  Some of us spent a fair bit of time boxing our library and dismantling the shelving.  Thursday with the help of Paul Maunder's nephew Paul Betros we moved the books and shelving into the new library.

Meanwhile the workers on the site have been busy as usual.  The car park has had lemon scented ti trees planted between it and St Teresa's hermitage.  It now has wheel stoppers on the side near St Teresa's as it is quite a drop.

Car Park with signage and wheel stoppers

Wes and Troy have been working cutting and laying sandstone at the entrance to the priory.  The colour of the stone is typical of Sydney stone.

Entrance with sandstone paving

The landscapers have also put in lawn which makes the path from the chapel to the priory very pleasant.  It give a sense of arrival to the front of the priory

Path to the priory entrance

When we look up from the north side of the chapel all the fencing has gone and we can see an almost complete exterior of the new building. 

Look no fence- the view from the cemetery

The view from the novitiate to the oratory is also impressive. 

The oratory from the novitiate

The bedrooms now have windows and door and insulation in the ceiling.  The insulation has an R rating of R3.5.  This is impressive in itself but it is now the standard for all buildings in Australia.

Bedroom with doors and windows

The oratory now has a floor.  The wood is Sydney Blue Gum.  When it is sealed it will look beautiful.

Oratory with Sydney Blue Gum floor

Here is a picture of the library with all our books and shelving transferred.  At some point we will have to begin assembling the shelving and unpacking the book.  We will also soon bring the books and shelving from the Box Hill priory to the site.  Then we will have our library.

Books in boxes and shelving awaiting assembly

The walkway on the south side of the chapel took another step last week.  The columns are now at their right height.  Maurie Cohen, our foreman, is pushing for a lot of work to be completed this coming week as he and his family are going on holidays from Friday.  I will make sure I am organised to update soon.

Columns for the walkway to the priory

Saturday, 10 March

OCDS Congress participants

For most of this week I have been away with the Carmelite Secular Order at their Congress at the St Joseph Centre in Baulkham Hills.  It was an excellent week.  We were privileged to have with us Fr Aloysius Deeney, OCD, the Carmelite General Delegate for the Secular Carmelites.  We were pleased to welcome Fr Jim De Laurier, OCarm, and three Lay OCarm members with us on Tuesday and Wednesday.  If you click on the photo it becomes larger and so you might see who was there.  It was a very worthwhile time together.  We met OCDS members from around Australia and reflected on what St Teresa had to say to us today.  For all the excellent facilities at St Joseph's it was good to be back in my own bed on Friday. 

Car park after the rain

It rained on Thursday.  While we were absorbed in our meetings there was flash flooding back home.  Roads were covered with water and it was quite dramatic.  In the above photo from the car park you can see the traces of mud washed down by the rain. 

From the priory entrance looking to the chapel

The worker pushed on through the week and it was good on my return to walk around the site.  You can see how the landscaping has begun to give a sense of the finished building and how it will relate to the other buildings on site.

Entry foyer

The windows are in the entry and the ceiling has been painted.

Library

The library just needs lighting and floor covering to be complete.

Oratory

The oratory has now taken shape.

Courtyard

The courtyard is enclosed and now needs to be landscaped and planted.  The first block of buildings along the corridor is now almost complete.  To the right are four bedroom and to the left are the kitchen and storerooms, the dining room and a guest room.

Corridor- bedrooms on the right, kitchen and refectory on left

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.  

Saturday, 18 February

The first part of the building is now nearing lock-up.  The kitchen, dining room and guest room section is ready for its roof.  The landscapers, the twins Wes and Beau, have been in preparing the ground and planting the bank between the library and the cemetery as well as out front.

The building takes shape- kitchen dining and guest room to the left

The ceiling in the chapel is now in place and we can begin to imagine the chapel space as it will be.

Chapel- with curved ceiling

There are three large windows which face north and which will have a lovely view over the property.

Chapel windows

The first of the bedrooms (number 4) of the brethren now almost has its walls complete.  It is now possible to get the feeling of the room.

Bedroom 4- looking north

The bank outside the library has now been landscaped.  Closer to the house a number of grevilleas have been planted. We asked for native plants that would attract birds.  As we already have many birds it could be said we asked for plants that will attract more and different native birds.  One of the new delights of the property is the sound of bell birds. 

Newly landscaped bank

The car park is now taking shape.  The heavy machinery is very noisy.  This is not that helpful to those on retreat.   This week we had the seminarians from Good Shepherd Seminary, Homebush on silent retreat.  They were admirably silent.  Unfortunately our site wasn't.  Well at least from 7.00am to 3.00pm.  St Teresa's hermitage is very close to the car park.  We will make sure it is private by the use of landscaping.

Car park

Saturday, 11 February

Now what was I saying about the weather?  Well this week we again had more than our share of rain but this afternoon we had the mother of all storms.  It was dark, the noise was intense, there were lightning strikes around us and a huge fall of rain along with some hail.  We had to rush around closing windows. 

Our creeks in the rain.

Paul and I watched from the top balcony and neither of us could remember seeing so much water on the property.  Given that I first came here as a postulant 43 years ago today this is quite something.  The water flowed in rivers.  When the storm passed it became a brilliantly clear afternoon full of light and peace.  Paul said it was like the Judgement Day.  This is using the storm as an allegory.

The first dam is full to overflowing

When the sun came out Aloysius also appeared and remarked there had not been much rain! 

Aloysius had written earlier today to the OCD friars, nuns and OCDS telling us of Fr Peter Dowd's decision to seek leave from the friars to join the diocesan clergy of Broken Bay diocese.  Aloysius wrote: "We will surely be surprised and saddened by Peter's decision, but we respect it and support Peter with our prayers."

After the storm- peace and beauty

After the storm- an allegory?

The driveway to the priory

We had rain during the week as well but a lot of work was completed.  Here you can see the driveway leading to the entry to the new priory.  If you click on the photo you can make out the timbercrete wall in front of the chapel.  It borders the new walkway to the chapel and retreat centre.

 

New roofs

The oratory- note the curved line of the ceiling

Looking to the entry to the oratory

The blockwork in the oratory is now more or less complete.  It is an impressive room.  The brickies have moved on to putting up the walls of the guest room and the kitchen. 

Looking to the oratory

Below is the view across the property from the common room which now has a roof as well.

View from the common room

Suunday, 5 February

The weather was not kind to us this week.  We had rain on Thursday when the verandahs were poured.  This explains the extraordinary means in the absence of downpipes to keep the water from the roof off the new concrete.  It rained heavily on Friday as well.  A complete washout of a day.

We now have verandahs

Now that we have the verandahs around the entry of the building, the meeting room and the library we can move ahead with the external works and landscaping which will include the driveway and walkway to the retreat centre.

The oratory this week

The oratory has been slowed for the brickies as the did not have the blocks they needed to finish the windows.  It is also detailed time consuming work.  However the special blocks arrived on Friday and it will be a busy week this week.  If, that is, it doesn't rain us out again.

The roof line takes shape

The Courtyard

The courtyard is now taking shape as well.  This week the brickies have start on the first accommodation block to the left of the picture above.  It should be easier going than the entry block.

During the week the Carmelites from around Australia gathered for our bi-annual assembly.  This was worthwhile in a number of ways.  We discussed the completion of the priory and the refurbishment of the retreat centre.  When these are complete it will be something of a new beginning for our life and ministry here in Varroville.  We also discussed our life together and how to improve it.  It was a full two days and we were glad to have finish by Wednesday evening.

During the meeting we also celebrated the silver jubilee of profession of Frs Greg Homeming and Shane Kelleher.  As well, Fr Gabriel will celebrate his 70th birthday in February and in March his 50th anniversary of profession while Fr Johny will celebrate his 40th anniversary of profession and 60th birthday (100 years of Johny) in March.  We celebrated the jubilarians with special Eucharists and at a festive meal.  At this meal we also asked God's blessing on Greg Chee as he takes time out from the community.  Here are some snaps from the festive meal.  There are no action shots of our discussion.

Around the table: Greg Chee, Sunny, Paul, Greg Homeming, Gabriel

Shane and Greg Burke

Aloysius, Tadgh and Bernard

Gerard, Des and Peter

Greg Homeming, Gabriel, Johny

Tadgh, Bernard, Darren, Greg Chee, Sunny

Bernard has an empty glass, Darren is amused