Usually we have the Harvest Festival and Supper on the first Friday in October, but this year the Village Hall was being decorated all week so we had the choice of having the fish and chip supper in the church or waiting until tomorrow when we will have to spend a good few hours cleaning before setting up. (Use of the village hall is free to the church so we don't argue about doing our own cleaning.)

Harvest Festival is the only service that you can guarantee country people will attend, while the supper and the auction of produce is our big money-spinner of the year. David, my predecessor as churchwarden, was a fish merchant who always gave the fish for the fish and chip supper (harvest of the sea) and his son has continued this practice even though he now lives in a neighbouring village.

So I've arranged flowers and dug up jerusalem artichokes today, while Joe cleaned all the silver and brass, polished the pews and hoovered the floor. In previous weeks I have designed, orgnised and printed the supper tickets, flyers and posters. Tomorrow I will pick fruit and make a harvest loaf (as well as join in cleaning the village hall), pacify the organist who wasn't expecting seven hymns, make something sweet to follow the fish and chips, and be at the church early to greet the retired priest who is taking the service. Meanwhile Christine, my fellow churchwarden, has distributed the flyers, sold most of the tickets, bought the drinks for the bar, made puddings, and will tomorrow arrange flowers and fruit in the church and help clean and set up the village hall.

I have a feeling that in town parishes the churchwardens have a slightly narrower spectrum of duties. The previous ones here did all cleaning and flower arranging throughout the year, but I have now instituted a rota - thank goodness!