Exam relief

The days have passed and it's all getting better now, but the anxiety levels in the house were skyrocketing as the day approached on which the YFG would find out her A level results. She went off to school at 0645 Thursday morning to open the envelope - and it felt like the envelope held so much more than just a piece of paper with some letters on it!

Turns out she's one bright girl - A* in Religious Studies, A in Geography and B in Politics.  She's blown the predictions out of the water and done so much better than she had even dared to hope. The place she was holding at Norwich would have been settled with lower grades, and now that she has the grades in the bag, so to speak, decisions have been made: she's going to reapply for autumn next year, and she can apply to more challenging universities this time around... because she knows what she has to offer.  So here we go again with some open day visits etc, but it'll be fun.......[I'm trying hard to convince myself of this, as this will be the third time!]

The job she has already secured for the holidays is hers to continue after some discussion there yesterday, and she will look for more work to supplement that as it is only 15 hours a week.

The EFG is here for another two weeks and then heads back northwards, I've some more dates booked with the chap from the Lakes, and lots of work to keep me busy. Life continues and we're all looking forward with anticipation - we're all September-lovers who rejoice in fresh beginnings in the autumn. There's a little chunk of me which is secretly quite chuffed to keep my baby at home for another year, but I do appreciate that it is only postponing the inevitable - but she will be saving hard, working hard and I hope enjoying herself as well in this intervening time.

Much love to you all - and I hope that those of you with folk awaiting results or had results are doing OK too xx

And here we are again!

I'm grateful to FC for the gentle nudge - blogging today from a cosy little cottage in Armathwaite in the Lake District. We're halfway between Penrith and Carlisle, and the cottage is tucked away from the road in a wee courtyard.  The girls came up on Friday and I arrived on Sunday after the morning service had been delivered.

I had a full day out with them and J [the FH's cousin's widow, whom we have brought with us] yesterday but the girls have gone to a wildlife park today whilst J and I are having a quieter day at home, so far, anyway!

Yesterday we went to Wray Castle, but Hill Top was packed out so we gave that a miss. Huge scones were scoffed in Keswick, and we had a mooch in a few shops there too.  The weather was very pleasant and the driving, although very different from the Fens, was a lovely experience - everything from the M6 to one-track roads with passing places, where we had an incident with a Stagecoach bus! We survived though ;)

I spent the evening with the chap - what a co-incidence that he lives only 9 miles from the cottage ;) We watched some athletics on the tv as he had taken his son to London to the Olympic Park last weekend to see some of the IAAF World Championships so there were heats that he had seen there that he wanted to see the relevant finals for - and it was tense for a couple of the races. We really thought Laura Muir might pull off the 1500 metres but she came in fourth, which seems heartbreaking but she did take it well.  The girls and I met his son the previous weekend and really enjoyed spending time with him: he seems like a very well-adjusted and lovely lad, very keen on being active and sporty, which might be a challenge for us, but he was witty and wry with it, and very realistic about some of the challenges of ministry - he has no fear in telling it like it is!

Hoping to nip over the border into Scotland tomorrow, pottering around in Carlisle and perhaps the cinema on Thursday and then home again on Friday.  The Yeti's going well and I am very happy with it. It drinks slightly more diesel than the Fabia did but that is to be expected, so I am not complaining.

Some challenges continue at work - we tried to appoint a Children's Worker to the circuit team but the candidates were not suitable, the Super's not terribly well, and the rest is in God's hands, as it always is. His constant presence upholds us in all that we do, and I am encouraged by looking back to see all the blessings in our lives, which then enable us to be stronger in our certainty that He will continue to support and bless us into the future. Quite what that future holds isn't as clear at this point, but I continue to appreciate your prayers and support.  The YFG's exam results are the next hurdle and we will be jumping that one next Thursday........