I don't think I mentioned to you all the great need there is at stag for workers to help with the international outreaches. The chch just got a new international staff person, who has a wife and 2 very young kids. They were in Kenya before and had to come back due to some health issues with their son. In fact they came in mid August, so we're just about equally new to stag. :)
Anyway I remember telling you that we were having dinner with them, and talking about the international work here, and the lack of people to help with it. JC said "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the ld of the harvest therefore to send workers into his harvest field." It's an interesting perspective to be the workers that were sent here to help with this harvest field, in preparation for harvest fields abroad where the need is much greater.
Stag has a good policy about accepting people into positions of leadership. First, the staff sort of talks about who in the chch they feel could fill some of the needs, who is willing, etc. Then, a staff person approaches those people, and if they are interested sets up a time to have a one on one (or 2 on one if it's a married couple) interview with them. The interview is very important I think- they want to know about the status of your sprtual life, if you've seen fruit in the work that you came from, what's your understanding of why JC came, etc. After all that, the staff meets once a month to discuss the outcomes of these interviews, and decides if it's appropriate to ask said people to fill a role or not.
We had our interview with a staff person while G's mom was here in fact- her second day here. We have been super proactive about getting involved here at stag- I think there's really no other way to go when you move to a new area. I'm not one to wait around- once I have my feet reasonably under me I'm ready to go. In fact I can hardly believe we've only been here 3 months- it feels like a year at least with all the things we've been getting involved with and the development of new relationships.
So anyway our interview went well. The international outreach particularly needs a woman to help them with a bbl study and with the various outreaches they want to do. So tonight I'm co-leading with our new friend J (the new international staff person) at a thing they call Arena. It's a sort of course for folks who are interested in exploring the claims of JC. They have one every term, it's 5 weeks long, and meets every Monday evening. They have free dinner at 7, then we go over a section from Mark's book, and there's a short talk, and time for discussion. It's very low key and no pressure- just a chance for people to see for themselves and talk about it. There are 5 different tables, and ours is the international table.
Also this week we are starting a new women's group for internationals. Sadly this means that I have to sacrifice attending my current women's group. I will be keeping in touch with them though, but I'm really going to miss my time with them. This Thursday is the first day of our new group- I'm co-leading with J's wife C, and an international sister, SK. We'll be meeting in the morning, 9:45-11:45, as all the women's groups do.
I would welcome your joining in this new work that Gd has lead me to do- if you have time, you could do the following things:
1. Set a reminder on your calendars for 2pm Mondays (that's 7pm here) to pr for our Arena course. It doesn't have to be a long pr- just ask that people would come consistently and be interested and curious about JC and his life.
2. Thursday am is while you are all asleep, but you could pr Wednesday evening (say 9pm your time) asking for women to come to our study that we could form friendships with, and for us as we teach that we would be sensitive to the HS leading.
As things get going I'll keep you all posted with more specific pr requests.
In other news, Citrix's purchase of Xen Source is now complete. G's week this week is filled with meeting after meeting as IT systems get migrated over, new email accounts are made, and general organization is clarified. This Thursday evening is a special posh dinner for all the employees. No spouses allowed, so I'm going to the Swavesey Camera Club meeting instead. :) People at G's work seem interested in sprtual conversations, which has been really cool.
For those of you who would like to pr for us, here's a short list:
1. That we would use our time here wisely in preparation for the harvest field Gd has for us next.
2. That we would continue to make time for Gd everyday and read his book.
3. That fruitful conversations would happen with the people we come into contact with
4. That we could sort out this issue with all sorts of cats wanting to invade Nelly's territory, which is starting to have a negative impact on her.
I hope you are all enjoying your extra week of normal time. :)
Monday, 29 October 2007
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
October 24, 2007
I think I mentioned this before (and I may say this every month) but we celebrate the 23rd of every month as GK Holiday, reminding us of our engagement March 23, 2004. Yesterday was the 23rd, and we decided to go see a movie. I'm not much of a theater goer- I am very selective about the movies I watch on DVD, and even more selective about going to the theater. Basically, it had better be really good for me to want to see it in the theater. Besides that, I come from a family of people who half watch a movie and half chat about the movie or whatever else while we watch it- it's more about hanging out than the movie. We mostly watch movies we've already seen, of which most of them are classics. Not quite silent era, but many black and white Silver Screen era movies, which I just love.
I do like some modern movies, just not many. I particularly like a lot of Pixar movies- I loved Cars, and if you have the Cars DVD you've probably seen the preview for Ratatooie. Which I think came out in the US about 3 months ago. Or 4.:) We're slow getting stuff here. Anyway it just hit the theaters here October 12th or something like that. So we decided for GK Holiday this month we'd go see it. It was barely $8 to see a movie here, which is way better than the theaters in the US which are up past $12 mostly.
It is easy to forget how much our culture forms our perceptions, and also how our culture as Americans in exported everywhere else. The very first thing I noticed was during the previews. The previews were probably at least 30 minutes. But, there were only 3 or 4 movie previews. The rest were TV show previews for cartoons, and ads for various cars, various products, etc. Even an ad for Cartoon Network.
The rating system is different here- I don't know what all the rankings are, but Ratatooie is ranked U for Universal, meaning anyone over 4 can see it. And yes, they do say over 4, and to exercise caution with under 4s. Does anyone take a 2 or 3 year old to a theater? I don't know. :) Apparently here they have U, PG (meaning all ages but parents should be sensible about it), 12, 15, 18, R18. No one under the required age can go into a movie that isn't their rating, but they also can't rent one or buy one. The R18 movies are designated for sale in porn shops basically- that's what Wikipedia says.
Ratatooie is a funny movie- the animation is absolutely incredible, and the story is funny. There's no shadyness, although there is a weird scene where 2 animated characters kiss. Not a fan of that. We'll probably buy the movie when it comes out on DVD. We had a good time in the theater here, and since it's so comparatively cheap we might actually go again. :)
G's mom has been in Germany these past 2 days visiting her sister there, and she's coming back late tomorrow night, and flying back to Detroit early Saturday morning. We've enjoyed having her here, and it will be weird to be back to just ourselves.
Oh, and I want to clarify something about the hiding cat treats around the house for Nelly. :) I think I gave everyone the wrong impression- I don't spend any huge amount of my day wandering around shoving treats into small crevices. :) Once a day, or every other day, I just grab a handful of treats when I'm going upstairs, and as I walk by I toss them in random places behind stuff, etc. It takes less than 2 minutes overall and doesn't require much thought. So no, I have not lost my mind, and no, I don't need more things to do to occupy my day. :)
In fact, I am swamped with the number of things I need to do as it is. I've always had a huge number of interests, and besides doing the laundry, cleaning, washing dishes, straightening things up, vacuuming, buying food, and wiping off counters and stuff, which I do just about everyday, I also currently have the front garden which needs to be entirely re-done, I have a cross stitch project I'm in the middle of, I need to cut mats for several prints to hang up (then find frames and hang them), as well as making our home more comfortable by scouring thrift stores for big pillows to use on the couch which has a sinking in back. Whew. That is all in addition to our home group, my women's group, the Arena course at the chch which I'm helping with, the TEAM course on Wednesdays, and starting a new international women's group.
For any of you who are interested in visiting, there are some fare sales on for $450 RT to Heathrow including taxes (they would say inclusive of tax here) for late fall and early winter. There will likely be some sales closer to the $350 range coming up in January as well.
I do like some modern movies, just not many. I particularly like a lot of Pixar movies- I loved Cars, and if you have the Cars DVD you've probably seen the preview for Ratatooie. Which I think came out in the US about 3 months ago. Or 4.:) We're slow getting stuff here. Anyway it just hit the theaters here October 12th or something like that. So we decided for GK Holiday this month we'd go see it. It was barely $8 to see a movie here, which is way better than the theaters in the US which are up past $12 mostly.
It is easy to forget how much our culture forms our perceptions, and also how our culture as Americans in exported everywhere else. The very first thing I noticed was during the previews. The previews were probably at least 30 minutes. But, there were only 3 or 4 movie previews. The rest were TV show previews for cartoons, and ads for various cars, various products, etc. Even an ad for Cartoon Network.
The rating system is different here- I don't know what all the rankings are, but Ratatooie is ranked U for Universal, meaning anyone over 4 can see it. And yes, they do say over 4, and to exercise caution with under 4s. Does anyone take a 2 or 3 year old to a theater? I don't know. :) Apparently here they have U, PG (meaning all ages but parents should be sensible about it), 12, 15, 18, R18. No one under the required age can go into a movie that isn't their rating, but they also can't rent one or buy one. The R18 movies are designated for sale in porn shops basically- that's what Wikipedia says.
Ratatooie is a funny movie- the animation is absolutely incredible, and the story is funny. There's no shadyness, although there is a weird scene where 2 animated characters kiss. Not a fan of that. We'll probably buy the movie when it comes out on DVD. We had a good time in the theater here, and since it's so comparatively cheap we might actually go again. :)
G's mom has been in Germany these past 2 days visiting her sister there, and she's coming back late tomorrow night, and flying back to Detroit early Saturday morning. We've enjoyed having her here, and it will be weird to be back to just ourselves.
Oh, and I want to clarify something about the hiding cat treats around the house for Nelly. :) I think I gave everyone the wrong impression- I don't spend any huge amount of my day wandering around shoving treats into small crevices. :) Once a day, or every other day, I just grab a handful of treats when I'm going upstairs, and as I walk by I toss them in random places behind stuff, etc. It takes less than 2 minutes overall and doesn't require much thought. So no, I have not lost my mind, and no, I don't need more things to do to occupy my day. :)
In fact, I am swamped with the number of things I need to do as it is. I've always had a huge number of interests, and besides doing the laundry, cleaning, washing dishes, straightening things up, vacuuming, buying food, and wiping off counters and stuff, which I do just about everyday, I also currently have the front garden which needs to be entirely re-done, I have a cross stitch project I'm in the middle of, I need to cut mats for several prints to hang up (then find frames and hang them), as well as making our home more comfortable by scouring thrift stores for big pillows to use on the couch which has a sinking in back. Whew. That is all in addition to our home group, my women's group, the Arena course at the chch which I'm helping with, the TEAM course on Wednesdays, and starting a new international women's group.
For any of you who are interested in visiting, there are some fare sales on for $450 RT to Heathrow including taxes (they would say inclusive of tax here) for late fall and early winter. There will likely be some sales closer to the $350 range coming up in January as well.
Saturday, 20 October 2007
www.stopthetraffik.org
Stop the Traffik is an organization which raises awareness about the enormous problem of people trafficking. They have a petition which you can sign requesting the UN take action to stop the trafficking of people. Many people who are trafficked are women, and girls. If you're interested check it out.
October 20, 2007
2007 is a banner year in the UK. I'd be surprised if any of you could guess exactly why. It could be so many things- it's a country with a long history. In fact their history is our history, and that's precisely why this anniversary is so very important. In fact, 2007 is the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain. Although that act was passed in 1807, a lot of things had been leading up to it. If you want a good short history you can check Wikipedia :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism.
When I was in 2nd grade I had a teacher whose name was Miss L'Esperance. One day I came to school (on the army base in Germany) and she told us that that week we'd be studying about Africa and slavery. She started out by telling us that a few hundred years ago people who lived in Africa were sometimes purchase at markets, sometimes kidnapped, to be sold as slaves in the Americas. I just couldn't believe her- after all, what kind of story is that to make up? It sounded like nonsense- even I could see that. Why would anyone want to do something like that? It just didn't make sense to me, and I remember going home that day after we'd made our 2nd grade versions of African masks and things and telling my mom what Miss L'Esperance had said. I remember saying something like, "Mom, you won't believe what our teacher tried to tell us today. She said that black people from Africa were kidnapped and sold as slaves in America!" And my mom told me that it was true....I just couldn't wrap my 7 year old brain around the idea that people would kidnap other people and sell them as slaves. Why? Why would anyone do that? I've never forgotten that day that we learned about slavery- when you are a child things just make sense or they don't, and it seems so clear and so simple that stealing people from their homes and selling them isn't right, and that no one would do that. But unfortunately it was the truth, a horrible truth that affects our country, and others, even though it seems like so long ago.
I was reminded of all of this yesterday when we took G's mom to see Ely Cathedral. It was a school day event, so there were 300 children in the cathedral learning not only about slavery in the past, but about slavery now. Slavery exists in many forms, and in the UK and the US still. It looks different, and may be under the surface, but it's there. Not to mention the world wide capture, abduction, and selling of women and girls for the sex trade, even here in the UK. It's absolutely horrible.
We took the Octogon Tower tour as we usually do when we bring visitors, and they start you out with a short tour of the cathedral. But as our tour started the British African woman was teaching a beautiful slave song called "Freedom" to the children who were assembled there. It was so beautiful that I stopped listening to the tour guy, and listened to her singing and the children singing with her and I have to say that I was deeply moved by it. There in front of mostly white little faces was the descendant of slaves, sharing her song with them, and engaging their concern for slavery which is still going on all over the world. I thought back to my experience as a child and wondered what those little children would tell their parents when they got home. Would they tell them about how many people are still slaves all over the world? Would they remember the facts that they learned in the hide and seek games around the cathedral? Would the evil and yet the reality of slavery stick in their minds as it did in mine? I hope that it does.
When I was in 2nd grade I had a teacher whose name was Miss L'Esperance. One day I came to school (on the army base in Germany) and she told us that that week we'd be studying about Africa and slavery. She started out by telling us that a few hundred years ago people who lived in Africa were sometimes purchase at markets, sometimes kidnapped, to be sold as slaves in the Americas. I just couldn't believe her- after all, what kind of story is that to make up? It sounded like nonsense- even I could see that. Why would anyone want to do something like that? It just didn't make sense to me, and I remember going home that day after we'd made our 2nd grade versions of African masks and things and telling my mom what Miss L'Esperance had said. I remember saying something like, "Mom, you won't believe what our teacher tried to tell us today. She said that black people from Africa were kidnapped and sold as slaves in America!" And my mom told me that it was true....I just couldn't wrap my 7 year old brain around the idea that people would kidnap other people and sell them as slaves. Why? Why would anyone do that? I've never forgotten that day that we learned about slavery- when you are a child things just make sense or they don't, and it seems so clear and so simple that stealing people from their homes and selling them isn't right, and that no one would do that. But unfortunately it was the truth, a horrible truth that affects our country, and others, even though it seems like so long ago.
I was reminded of all of this yesterday when we took G's mom to see Ely Cathedral. It was a school day event, so there were 300 children in the cathedral learning not only about slavery in the past, but about slavery now. Slavery exists in many forms, and in the UK and the US still. It looks different, and may be under the surface, but it's there. Not to mention the world wide capture, abduction, and selling of women and girls for the sex trade, even here in the UK. It's absolutely horrible.
We took the Octogon Tower tour as we usually do when we bring visitors, and they start you out with a short tour of the cathedral. But as our tour started the British African woman was teaching a beautiful slave song called "Freedom" to the children who were assembled there. It was so beautiful that I stopped listening to the tour guy, and listened to her singing and the children singing with her and I have to say that I was deeply moved by it. There in front of mostly white little faces was the descendant of slaves, sharing her song with them, and engaging their concern for slavery which is still going on all over the world. I thought back to my experience as a child and wondered what those little children would tell their parents when they got home. Would they tell them about how many people are still slaves all over the world? Would they remember the facts that they learned in the hide and seek games around the cathedral? Would the evil and yet the reality of slavery stick in their minds as it did in mine? I hope that it does.
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
October 16, 2007
This will be a short update- we had a great time in the Peak District, although we did get lost looking for the B & B that we stayed at each night. :) I have some good pictures of us too which I hope to get up soon. We went down into Speedwell Cavern, which is something like 600 feet below ground, where they mined lead. And then we climbed up Mam Tor, which is 2000 ft above sea level. :) So we had a good trip.
G's mom made it here safe and sound- he just picked her up, and she's getting settled in while G does a bit of work. My parents sent along a bunch of taco seasoning packets, chili packets, and veggie boullion so we're set for awhile. Just opening the bag I could smell the taco seasoning, and it made me really hungry for tacos! There's nothing like a smell of home. :)
G's mom made it here safe and sound- he just picked her up, and she's getting settled in while G does a bit of work. My parents sent along a bunch of taco seasoning packets, chili packets, and veggie boullion so we're set for awhile. Just opening the bag I could smell the taco seasoning, and it made me really hungry for tacos! There's nothing like a smell of home. :)
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
October 9, 2007 The center of it all
Did you guys know that Swavesey is located smack on the Prime Meridian? I just found that out! So come visit and you can stand on the Prime Meridian and we'll take your picture! :) They're very casual about it around here- I guess it just isn't that exciting to them. :) I found online that there's a path of trees which were planted straight up from Greenwich marking the Prime Meridian- they were planted in 2000 and were meant to allow airplanes to see the meridian from the air. Way cool.
I think I can finally say with confidence that we are well plugged in at STAG. And I have a little story to tell which I hope will encourage you all to take a risk on newcomers. :)
We attended STAG on our various visits to Cambridge in the past. But our first Sunday after we officially moved here, a girl named Hannah came and sat next to us in chch. She's about our age, and she just started chatting with us. We had a great conversation, and at the end of it we swapped info. The next week she asked us if we'd like to come over for dinner- that she would like to introduce us to some other people in the chch and she liked to give dinners to do that. We were surprised (the English are notoriously unhospitable, and will tell you so themselves) but excited. So at that dinner we met several staff people- we didn't know they were staff, but they work with the college students (what they call just "students" here) one of whom was a guy named Dave. We also heard about TEAM there for the first time, since most of them had done it. We've sort of gotten to know Dave better over the past few weeks, after the services and things, and since we decided to do the TEAM course people recognize us as serious about serving Gd, which is cool. But Sunday Dave asked if we'd be willing to help with a Sports Dinner, which was last night. In fact since he knew I was free during the day he asked if I'd come in at like 4 and help with the cooking. This sort of thing is right up my alley, so I was like "Yeah! That would be great!" I love serving, and I especially love the opportunity to get to know people better through serving in that way.
Anyway G came after work and helped serve tables, and we all had a great time. I loved it- it reminded me of years of Valentine's Banquets, where the best part was the cleanup and the camaraderie after it was all done, when we were all exhausted and snapping each other with wet towels and listening to U2 or Newsboys on CD....ah the good old days. :) But we felt very honored to be asked to help in this way, and the dinner was fabulous- there were seriously 3 courses. It's funny how things are different here- most events, even at people's houses (if it's dinner) have a starter course, a main course, a dessert course, and then coffee and tea after that, and sometimes cheese after that!
So we got home very late, exhausted, and I couldn't help but think of all of my Challenge friends back home and miss you all desperately! I enjoyed getting to know my new friends but I really do miss you all. And of course the moral of my story: don't be afraid to invite newcomers to help with something, or to invite them to dinner to get to know other people. Hannah was a critical link in the chain for us to get plugged in at Stag- you can be that person too, just invite people over for dinner. :)
Maybe you're wondering (like I did) what a sports dinner even is. :) There's a group of believers here who are in sports, and they bring a big screen, some props, and they make up some quizzes. There's a cultural thing here called a "Quiz Night" where they have some sort of trivia questions that you have to answer in teams. I don't think we have anything equivalent- people come to pubs, chchs, all sorts of places where they are having a Quiz. I guess it's just good fun. :) Anyway there are like 6 rounds, and while they were answering the questions we were serving the food etc. There is a very short talk about JC in the middle, just an introduction. And there's a trophy for the winning team! It was crazy- so these questions were all sports questions, and the aim is to invite teams (or if you are part of a team of some sport to bring them along) and then you all have fun and hear a short talk as well. It's a great outreach aimed at the sports community. I of course know basically nothing about British sports, so I couldn't even answer one question. :)
Today I'm spending the day at home- I am in fact an introvert (meaning that I recharge by being alone, not by spending time with people which is what extroverts do) and I was pretty wiped out after last night. Maybe you didn't know this, but after events like that I just about spend the whole next day by myself to recharge. It's a good day for that here today- it's cool and rainy, perfect for reading in a comfy chair with a blanket. :) If we have a lot of events going on we plan it so we have time to recharge- G is an introvert too, but maybe not so much as I am. Tomorrow all day we'll be at TEAM and I have some homework for it that I need to do today.
I think I can finally say with confidence that we are well plugged in at STAG. And I have a little story to tell which I hope will encourage you all to take a risk on newcomers. :)
We attended STAG on our various visits to Cambridge in the past. But our first Sunday after we officially moved here, a girl named Hannah came and sat next to us in chch. She's about our age, and she just started chatting with us. We had a great conversation, and at the end of it we swapped info. The next week she asked us if we'd like to come over for dinner- that she would like to introduce us to some other people in the chch and she liked to give dinners to do that. We were surprised (the English are notoriously unhospitable, and will tell you so themselves) but excited. So at that dinner we met several staff people- we didn't know they were staff, but they work with the college students (what they call just "students" here) one of whom was a guy named Dave. We also heard about TEAM there for the first time, since most of them had done it. We've sort of gotten to know Dave better over the past few weeks, after the services and things, and since we decided to do the TEAM course people recognize us as serious about serving Gd, which is cool. But Sunday Dave asked if we'd be willing to help with a Sports Dinner, which was last night. In fact since he knew I was free during the day he asked if I'd come in at like 4 and help with the cooking. This sort of thing is right up my alley, so I was like "Yeah! That would be great!" I love serving, and I especially love the opportunity to get to know people better through serving in that way.
Anyway G came after work and helped serve tables, and we all had a great time. I loved it- it reminded me of years of Valentine's Banquets, where the best part was the cleanup and the camaraderie after it was all done, when we were all exhausted and snapping each other with wet towels and listening to U2 or Newsboys on CD....ah the good old days. :) But we felt very honored to be asked to help in this way, and the dinner was fabulous- there were seriously 3 courses. It's funny how things are different here- most events, even at people's houses (if it's dinner) have a starter course, a main course, a dessert course, and then coffee and tea after that, and sometimes cheese after that!
So we got home very late, exhausted, and I couldn't help but think of all of my Challenge friends back home and miss you all desperately! I enjoyed getting to know my new friends but I really do miss you all. And of course the moral of my story: don't be afraid to invite newcomers to help with something, or to invite them to dinner to get to know other people. Hannah was a critical link in the chain for us to get plugged in at Stag- you can be that person too, just invite people over for dinner. :)
Maybe you're wondering (like I did) what a sports dinner even is. :) There's a group of believers here who are in sports, and they bring a big screen, some props, and they make up some quizzes. There's a cultural thing here called a "Quiz Night" where they have some sort of trivia questions that you have to answer in teams. I don't think we have anything equivalent- people come to pubs, chchs, all sorts of places where they are having a Quiz. I guess it's just good fun. :) Anyway there are like 6 rounds, and while they were answering the questions we were serving the food etc. There is a very short talk about JC in the middle, just an introduction. And there's a trophy for the winning team! It was crazy- so these questions were all sports questions, and the aim is to invite teams (or if you are part of a team of some sport to bring them along) and then you all have fun and hear a short talk as well. It's a great outreach aimed at the sports community. I of course know basically nothing about British sports, so I couldn't even answer one question. :)
Today I'm spending the day at home- I am in fact an introvert (meaning that I recharge by being alone, not by spending time with people which is what extroverts do) and I was pretty wiped out after last night. Maybe you didn't know this, but after events like that I just about spend the whole next day by myself to recharge. It's a good day for that here today- it's cool and rainy, perfect for reading in a comfy chair with a blanket. :) If we have a lot of events going on we plan it so we have time to recharge- G is an introvert too, but maybe not so much as I am. Tomorrow all day we'll be at TEAM and I have some homework for it that I need to do today.
Saturday, 6 October 2007
October 6, 2007
I am not in fact blogging from Germany. Unfortunately for me (and for my friends who are visiting Germany this weekend) I had originally planned on leaving Thursday, which would have cost 20 pounds round trip. Plans got shifted, so then I was going to leave Sunday- however that would cost more like 150 pounds. So here I am still in Cambridge. :)
Our house is looking quite a bit different than it was when I first posted pictures so I'm putting some new ones up. Bit by bit we're getting furniture, and things are filled out nicely now. Also the bathroom is looking great- previous to this there was nothing to prevent one from seeing straight under the bathtub, but now we've got something up there. Also the paint did wonders.
Here's part of the bathroom:
(sorry it's sideways- our connection is slow today so just turn your head :D )
This is what our living room looks like now:
Here's the dining room, which George has taken to calling the Green Room:
Our bedroom:
The spare room, complete with guest bed now:
So today I went to my second ever auction. But this time I figured a few things out- instead of having to wait forever for some lots to be auctioned I used their online bid service, where they bid on commission for you. It's free, which is cool. There were tons of people there today- more even than last time. I ended up getting a nice little chair to use as a computer chair, and an awesome hand made William Morris style needlework "carpet." I wish I had time to make something like this, but I don't. :) I even have a book on how to do it and tons of interesting patterns. Maybe someday. :)
This past week I've been getting around to painting the trim in the house- I'm not anywhere near done, since it takes just about all day to scrape the flaking paint off a window and then paint it, since the windows have 6 teeny little panes. But I'm trying to work faster since it's getting colder here and soon I won't be able to leave the windows open to air things out without freezing to death.
Hey if any of you happen to spot this type of veggie boulion in your local stores, buy a bunch for us- they don't carry it here and we use it for borscht, chinese noodle soup, and other things. We're hoping to stock up when we come back at Christmas. :)
Monday, 1 October 2007
October 1, 2007
Wow- it's hard to believe that it's October already! Here in Cambridge it's just becoming fall- more and more leaves are just beginning to turn brownish/yellowish, but tons of trees are still green and normal looking. It's been cooler of late, in the mid 60s during the day and down to almost 40 at night. It won't get much colder than 40 all winter. In fact they barely get 1 day of frost per month all winter long. There's been an outbreak of Blue Tongue disease among the cattle here, which came here from northern Europe, and it's carried by midges, which are teeny flying bugs that bite. In fact I half wonder if they don't mean mosquitoes. :) Anyway on the radio they said the only hope to control the outbreak was a cold winter- as in colder than normal temps for at least 60 days. Perhaps Michigan could share some of it's 6 months of winter with Cambridge, since I think a 4 month winter in Michigan would be long enough. :)
Our friends Helen and Robin have been here this weekend visiting family and taking their yearly trip around England. It has been wonderful having US friends visiting here! We really miss everyone a lot, and just having a teeny connection to home has been great. We've had a wonderful time- we got to meet some of their friends here in town, and we also spent yesterday doing a bit of travelling around. We went to Lavenham, which is a famous attraction for it's unusually high number of Tudor style buildings. You know, the ones with the plaster and the wood logs which are often painted black? This village is crazy- most of the buildings lean in some funny direction or other, and there's a cool National Trust place there, the Corpus Christi Guildhall, which was used for wool and cloth from like 1450 or something. Lavenham was one of the wealthiest cities in Britain at that time due to it's cloth production. It's amazing- it really made me think about what Solomon said in his Eccl wisdom book, about how he strove his whole life and at the end of it, what was all that striving for? Everything he had gathered would go to another, and who knows what they'll do with it. It's good to remember that we shouldn't be too proud of our personal status or of our city or country's status, because in the future we will all die, and the status and wealth may become nothing. Anyway I think history is fascinating and I enjoyed the guildhall and the village.
Here's a picture of one half of the guildhall itself- we're used to seeing these buildings with black beams, not grey, but in fact the Victorians painted the wood black because they thought it looked nicer. In reality they were grey because they would put lime on the building to preserve it- the lime soaks into the wood, and then over time flakes off on the outside leaving a grey wood with white plaster in between.
One of the houses in Lavenham had this Chinese Junk model in the window:
The guildhall has a cool little dye garden in back- representing the plants which were used to dye the cloth that was made there in Lavenham.
Who knew that woad, famous for it's use in Scotland for painting faces was also used to dye fabric blue. And this teeny little plant is what makes the blue dye! You have to mash it up and let it sort of ferment I think they said. Or at least let it sit for a few days.
Lavenham was actually a stop on the way to Aldeborough, a quaint sea side town on the North Sea. It's beautiful there- I took a picture of G on the beach. It was definitely cold and windy though.
All along the beach are these black huts where the fisherman bring their catch and sell it to the public each day. They write what they have available on the board, and you can just buy it right there.
Helen and Robin are going to their next stop tomorrow morning, and then things will be as usual here until this weekend when I'm flying over to Germany to visit some friends who are in from Michigan. I'm leaving Saturday evening and coming back Tuesday during the day I think. You know, it's cheaper to fly to Germany from London Stansted than it is to take the train from Cambridge to London! Times really have changed.
Did I mention that I found 3 spiders in the bathtub last night? I yanked the curtain back and there were 3 of them- a biggish one, a medium one, and a baby one. :) G caught the 2 big ones, and the baby ran away. I think maybe they get thirsty- after all, what's a spider supposed to do to get water in a big dry house? Just when I start to think that there are fewer spiders I see more. :) Oh well. The day Helen and Robin arrived my dresser was delivered, so now my clothes are even safer than they were in the trunk. :) Emmaus house had a 50% off sale, which rocked because we'd been holding off on buying some furniture because of the cost. So we were able to get a mattress for the spare room, the dresser, a table for my big photo printer, a rocking chair, and another chair to use in the living room. We have quite the quaint little snug cottage now, and it really feels like home. The garden is still looking good, and I've been able to put a few houseplants inside as well. Well, they're basically more cyclamen, but I just can't get enough of those things and by the time I'm done I think I'll have 2 or 3 in every window! They are so beautiful here with different pinks and white and red, and I've been picking the ones which are fragrant- not all of them are, but I sniff each one before I buy it to be sure that I'll have the added benefit of a good smelling house.
This is going to be a busy month- Helen and Robin leave tomorrow, I'm off to Germany next weekend, the weekend after that we've decided to take a tour of the Peak District while the weather is still decent enough to hike and travel, and then that Tuesday G's mom comes for 2 weeks. Scottish dancing starts up this month, as does the class for internationals that I'm helping with at STAG.
I went to the first women's group meeting last week- we meet on Thursday, and it's like a women's small group basically. I was a little bit uncertain what to expect, but to my surprise the group has 3 older ladies (I think they're all around 80) and when I saw them I felt so relieved- I feel so comfortable with that age group, and I have so many wonderful friends in Ann Arbor who are that age that I just knew I would fit in from the start. :) It ended up being me and these 3 ladies as some of the women are on holiday, and I had such a wonderful time with them. Their wisdom and knowledge of the bbl, and a lifetime of fth, make their insights very interesting. And I felt I had something to add as well, since I have a lot of experience serving Gd overseas, which is something they don't have personal experience with. We all had a great time. I really am thankful to Gd for providing me with a group like this, and for all of our Living Proof friends in A2 who were so accepting of us and love us so well.
Nelly is clamoring for some attention here- with guests in the house she's ready for some one on one time I think. :) Although she took rather well to Helen and Robin and liked them from day 1- sometimes I wonder if she misses other American voices too. :)
Our friends Helen and Robin have been here this weekend visiting family and taking their yearly trip around England. It has been wonderful having US friends visiting here! We really miss everyone a lot, and just having a teeny connection to home has been great. We've had a wonderful time- we got to meet some of their friends here in town, and we also spent yesterday doing a bit of travelling around. We went to Lavenham, which is a famous attraction for it's unusually high number of Tudor style buildings. You know, the ones with the plaster and the wood logs which are often painted black? This village is crazy- most of the buildings lean in some funny direction or other, and there's a cool National Trust place there, the Corpus Christi Guildhall, which was used for wool and cloth from like 1450 or something. Lavenham was one of the wealthiest cities in Britain at that time due to it's cloth production. It's amazing- it really made me think about what Solomon said in his Eccl wisdom book, about how he strove his whole life and at the end of it, what was all that striving for? Everything he had gathered would go to another, and who knows what they'll do with it. It's good to remember that we shouldn't be too proud of our personal status or of our city or country's status, because in the future we will all die, and the status and wealth may become nothing. Anyway I think history is fascinating and I enjoyed the guildhall and the village.
Here's a picture of one half of the guildhall itself- we're used to seeing these buildings with black beams, not grey, but in fact the Victorians painted the wood black because they thought it looked nicer. In reality they were grey because they would put lime on the building to preserve it- the lime soaks into the wood, and then over time flakes off on the outside leaving a grey wood with white plaster in between.
One of the houses in Lavenham had this Chinese Junk model in the window:
The guildhall has a cool little dye garden in back- representing the plants which were used to dye the cloth that was made there in Lavenham.
Who knew that woad, famous for it's use in Scotland for painting faces was also used to dye fabric blue. And this teeny little plant is what makes the blue dye! You have to mash it up and let it sort of ferment I think they said. Or at least let it sit for a few days.
Lavenham was actually a stop on the way to Aldeborough, a quaint sea side town on the North Sea. It's beautiful there- I took a picture of G on the beach. It was definitely cold and windy though.
All along the beach are these black huts where the fisherman bring their catch and sell it to the public each day. They write what they have available on the board, and you can just buy it right there.
Helen and Robin are going to their next stop tomorrow morning, and then things will be as usual here until this weekend when I'm flying over to Germany to visit some friends who are in from Michigan. I'm leaving Saturday evening and coming back Tuesday during the day I think. You know, it's cheaper to fly to Germany from London Stansted than it is to take the train from Cambridge to London! Times really have changed.
Did I mention that I found 3 spiders in the bathtub last night? I yanked the curtain back and there were 3 of them- a biggish one, a medium one, and a baby one. :) G caught the 2 big ones, and the baby ran away. I think maybe they get thirsty- after all, what's a spider supposed to do to get water in a big dry house? Just when I start to think that there are fewer spiders I see more. :) Oh well. The day Helen and Robin arrived my dresser was delivered, so now my clothes are even safer than they were in the trunk. :) Emmaus house had a 50% off sale, which rocked because we'd been holding off on buying some furniture because of the cost. So we were able to get a mattress for the spare room, the dresser, a table for my big photo printer, a rocking chair, and another chair to use in the living room. We have quite the quaint little snug cottage now, and it really feels like home. The garden is still looking good, and I've been able to put a few houseplants inside as well. Well, they're basically more cyclamen, but I just can't get enough of those things and by the time I'm done I think I'll have 2 or 3 in every window! They are so beautiful here with different pinks and white and red, and I've been picking the ones which are fragrant- not all of them are, but I sniff each one before I buy it to be sure that I'll have the added benefit of a good smelling house.
This is going to be a busy month- Helen and Robin leave tomorrow, I'm off to Germany next weekend, the weekend after that we've decided to take a tour of the Peak District while the weather is still decent enough to hike and travel, and then that Tuesday G's mom comes for 2 weeks. Scottish dancing starts up this month, as does the class for internationals that I'm helping with at STAG.
I went to the first women's group meeting last week- we meet on Thursday, and it's like a women's small group basically. I was a little bit uncertain what to expect, but to my surprise the group has 3 older ladies (I think they're all around 80) and when I saw them I felt so relieved- I feel so comfortable with that age group, and I have so many wonderful friends in Ann Arbor who are that age that I just knew I would fit in from the start. :) It ended up being me and these 3 ladies as some of the women are on holiday, and I had such a wonderful time with them. Their wisdom and knowledge of the bbl, and a lifetime of fth, make their insights very interesting. And I felt I had something to add as well, since I have a lot of experience serving Gd overseas, which is something they don't have personal experience with. We all had a great time. I really am thankful to Gd for providing me with a group like this, and for all of our Living Proof friends in A2 who were so accepting of us and love us so well.
Nelly is clamoring for some attention here- with guests in the house she's ready for some one on one time I think. :) Although she took rather well to Helen and Robin and liked them from day 1- sometimes I wonder if she misses other American voices too. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)