New blog in the blogroll

I've found a beautiful new blog to read, and this is also a more local one to me - Fenland Lottie. It has some beautiful photography, scrumptious looking recipes and lots of gardening. You might want to take a peek!

What are you looking at?

Something weird is going on here - I've had some funny old spikes in the stats in the past, and I know that some of the other bloggers have as well, and it was all explained with something which I think was called a spambot, but there is something different going on here now.  I've stopped posting on a daily basis as life has got busy, as I have explained, and yet the "pageviews" are going through the roof - and not just on odd days but on a daily basis.........ever since the 15th May.  If anyone has a simple explanation, I'd love to read all about it.  Most of the traffic seems to be coming from Google, too, which is another strange part of the story.

Made it through

Just about got to the end of the month - boss lady has had her week's holiday on the North Norfolk coast and the administrator and I didn't let it all fall apart in her absence!  We had a fantastic "Songs of Praise" at one of our churches during the week, and I had to give a talk to a group of older ladies at their Sisterhood meeting - the male minister who is off sick was supposed to be doing that, but I got landed with it!  Inspiration did not strike at all, so they got "ten things you didn't know about me" which enabled me to waffle on about chickens, living in Scotland, lodgers, studying multiple languages, gymnastics, etc and they seemed amused, so it did the job!

Candidating for the church has hit a snag or three. The portfolio that I have to produce requires me to write reflections on a course of study in which I have participated for over 15 hours. If at HE/FE level, it can be within the last 5 years, but at any other level, it must be within the last three years. Mmmm - that means I have to go on a course PDQ in order to be able to write about one! Trouble is, the average "course" that I go on is for the day or a couple of hours, so I haven't been on a course of the required length for years, let alone in the last three years, with all that we have had going on here.  It is also a bit late to start an evening course now, as they all started for this term after Easter, and there is also a limited number of that sort of course available around here. This one is going to be a challenge!

And then I have to shadow a minister for 20 hours, which seems OK. BUT it has to be in a circuit much different from ours here - which pretty much means it will have to be a city circuit. Heading into Cambridge or Peterborough is going to be the only option there, I think. I had been offered rural north Lincolnshire, but I think that setting will be too similar to our own, unfortunately.

Boss lady has suggested that we start the process this year, but don't have it all ready for December this year, but aim for December 2017 which would take me for training from September 2018. True, it would give me more time, and perhaps that is the right approach. Got to think and pray about that one!

We are now on the two week countdown to the EF girls leaving.  Can't believe that ten months have passed this quickly but the calendar assures me that June is almost here!

Mid May already!?

I can't believe how quickly time is passing but summer is beginning to peep around the corner, and the sun has been shining on the Fens today.

Thank you for your messages. Stuff's happening, and things are changing......the EFG will be home for the summer in only two sleeps [yes, still count sleeps!] and the poor YFG has 4 AS level exams this week, so stress and tension levels in the house are running high.

The Austrian leaves on Wednesday for two weeks at home, then she'll be back for ten days before she actually leaves for good. The Dane is here till the 12th June but her exams will be over this week so she is planning some down time and excursions, as well as a spot of shopping as she has found UK prices to be more favourable than Danish ones!

Work is exciting, and I am working with an amazing team of folk whom I love to bits, and we are having a great time together, as well as facing up to some incredible challenges in the circuit......but God is good, as the boss keeps saying, and we had a fantastic circuit service yesterday with over 90 people coming together from most of the chapels to worship together - and the roof was loosened a little, even if it didn't come off altogether!

I spent Saturday at a conference about bereavement support, which was so interesting and informative, but I have to read all the course notes again and get it all into my head. There was so much to take in but I met some lovely people, and I will be able to keep in touch with some of them in the future.  I didn't have to travel too far to the conference, either, which was a bonus, as it was held at a church in Peterborough - the church is disguised as a conference centre and used for that as well, as it is modern and purpose built, and the conferences during the week must be a valuable income stream for the church too.

The raspberries are rampaging across the garden, the lawns have all been cut today, and there are seedlings coming through the veg beds now, as well as tomatoes in the greenhouse - UJ has been a bit busy and I keep it going from week to week, but couldn't do it without him!

The information and forms about candidating for ministry come out on the Methodist website in about two weeks and I am simultaneously scared and excited about the whole process and what I have to do.......I know I have some wonderful support here though so I am sure I will get through it if it is God's plan for me. If it isn't, the plan will become clearer as I go through the process.  Prayers and positive thoughts would be appreciated, though.

Thanks for all your kind words - I'll try to pop back again soon!

Not quite drowning

but waving!

Still here, but with crises in several areas, some bigger than others, life is a bit of a struggle just now, and there isn't a great deal of spare time for blogging or even money saving these days..... BUT there will be an improvement when the EF girls leave, which I am now looking forward to in a bittersweet kind of way - I will miss them, but I am keen to regain a higher level of privacy in our lives again - we are feeling like we live in a fishbowl some days, and the YFG has resorted to coming to my room late at night to share things with me that she doesn't want overheard.  

I have had a gallop around some blogs at the weekend, so I have an idea of some of what is going on, but hopefully I will catch up properly in the summer - I shall be back, as I am too fond of this space to abandon it. The story's not over yet!  Love to you all x

Caught myself

I did it last week - I saw a man on a bike, struggling against the wind and lugging two bags of shopping on his handlebars, and I thought to myself, "Poor bloke, can't afford a car, and in this weather, he's having a hard time....." but then I wondered whether actually, he can afford a car, and just prefers to bike, or preferred to bike on that particular day.  And I have been subject to comments myself a couple of times lately about my ability to afford things, albeit in a very subtle way today.

We have been borrowing our neighbour's dog over the past couple of weekends to go for walks around the village, and I mentioned to him today that we might consider a dog ourselves by the time that the YFG is off to uni, so that I have some company....and his response was that it is cheaper to borrow his dog a couple of times a week than to have one of our own.  Yes, that IS strictly true, of course, because we get the pleasure of the walks without the costs of keeping the lovely dog.  On the other hand, I can't see me going round and asking if I can borrow the dog for a hour or two "to keep me company" as that sounds weird compared to asking if I can take him out for a walk!!

And then there have been the comments about my capability to do things, like buy a car, and rod our drains.  Some folk thought that I couldn't do either on my own - I won't go there!!  I've done both in the last month, and survived.

The moral of the tale - you know!  Don't prejudge.......heck - don't judge at all, and just let's all get on with what we are doing and do it the best way we know how - we can all ask for help if we need it!

Popping back

Sunday nights are good again - except that "The Durrells" is on ITV so I do have to put up with adverts.  Having read the book when I was at primary school, I had a vague recollection of the storyline and some of the characters, and the first episode last night was good.

(image from radiotimes.com)

Lots of things are going well at the moment - the EFG is home for three weeks, work is going well and the weather is perking up.

Unfortunately, I still don't have my new car but we won't worry too much about that or life will get depressing.

Grandad has booked another cruise in August for the girls to go along with him and his partner; the YFG is stressing about exams already; the EF girls leave in 10 weeks, and we are beginning to be ready for that - I shall miss them but I will also be glad to regain some privacy in the house, and some freedoms.

Hope you are all well, and thank you for reading xx