The woodpile

The local Council has been busy clearing the undergrowths and and trees and hedges along the roadsides.

A good opportunity for us to forage for left-over pieces of wood, which we can collect to build up our woodpile. After all, the next winter is not too far away! (Haha!!)

Armed with our bicycle trailer, a splitting axe and investing an hour of our time and labour, and the woodpile has grown again. And it has cost us nothing!

It will take the summer to dry out to turn into wood good for burning in the wood-burner.

Walking into spring

Today was a beautiful early spring day - still cold and blustery, but also sunny. The sun is now noticeably gathering strength!

I enjoyed a long walk along the river Great Ouse with my 13-year old son. It's a great opportunity for us to spend time together, relax and chat - and, best of all, end with a cup of tea and cake in the local cafe.

I am really, really, REALLY looking forward to spring now, to the emerging of the first green, to the birds nesting and us planning our garden.

Nature seems to be at the ready - just waiting for the right day to spring into life ...

I cannot wait!

A New Commandment

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

(John 13: 34-35)

My church family

I am grateful and feel privileged to be part of a wonderful church community, which aims to worship God and serve the local community at the same time (after all, when we serve our neighbours, do we not serve God too?) 

We provide breakfast on a Saturday morning, and everybody is welcome. A couple of homeless guys are amongst the regulars.

At the same time we are a collection point for Food Bank, a UK charity which works in conjunction with health and social services to provide food parcels to people in financial difficulties.

I feel very welcomed and accepted into my church family. Being part of the Body of Christ truly is like being part of a great family!

The more welcomed and accepted I feel, the more my desire grows to reach out and make others feel the same; be they friends or strangers.

Perhaps the love of God is best felt, when it comes from fellow human beings ...?

Just as God loves us, so we should love each other.

Just as God forgives us, so we should forgive each other.

Just as God protects us, so we should look out for and protect each other.

I thank God for having brought me this far on my faith journey! I thank him for having brought me to my church community. I pray that he will continue to nurture me and mature me in my faith, and that he will use me for the purpose he has intended for me ... and I pray that I will never lose sight of it!

Thank you, Lord.

Left-over Friday

Here is another go at using up the left-overs in the fridge before going out to buy food for the next week.

This time the recipe is Mixed Vegetable Curry.  Useful for almost any left-over vegetables.

Happy Birthday, Anna!

My daughter is 16 today ... and I feel old!

It doesn't seem like yesterday that I gave birth to our first-born.

Here she is, when she was 18 months old:

Car-free working and Walk to Work week

I work in a community team for adults with learning disabilities, and much of my work consists of visiting people in day centres and in their own homes across town.

At the moment that often means me using my car to do those home visits, but I am hoping and trying to decrease my car use and rely more and more on alternative transport, such as public transport, bicycle or my own two feet!

I am in the process of finding out whether my employer (the good old NHS) would support me in those endeavours. You might think that, being the national health service, they would encourage people to go car-free ... but the perception that the car is the only realistic and most efficient mode of transport is deeply ingrained in people's minds.

So I am slowly gathering evidence about car-free options and their benefits, and about projects and incentives in other areas. (Any suggestions and advice is welcome!!)

Walking Works is one website, which I have come across so far. Did you know that it is Walk to Work week from 26-30 April?

"Thoughts come clearly while one walks" - Thomas Mann