Hello from the drizzly Lakes!

This week we have been on holiday with our friends Josh and Ash and their little girl, Abbie. Despite the weather, it has been a really nice half term break, and this week is getting 9/10.

The week began with a Valentines meal on Friday and a big lazy day off on Saturday. I enjoyed sitting in my new chair and reading, and Nathan cooking lots of tasty food.

Sunday was amazing. There was a joint United Benefice Service during which the Bishop blessed our new communion table. It was a great service with a singing group of over 25 made up of people from all the congregations. Once blessed, we used the table for communion and I actually cannot describe how much I enjoyed it. I got to lay the table and do the ablutions at the end. Seeing all those people come together around the new table, which is to go out into our community and bless others, was just so special. I was absolutely buzzing, and it was so worth the wait! See smushy, poetic blog about it here.

Afterwards, I went out for lunch with two people from church, Emily and Vicky. It was great to catch up. I am so blessed by the support and friendship I have from people in the parishes. In the evening, we had a meal at Mark and Sam’s to celebrate the completion of the table. As it was dreamed up over 4 years ago, it feels like such a big moment now that the table is actually here, and it is absolutely worth celebrating!

On Monday morning Nathan and I drove over to the Lake District and we have been here since then, visiting various castles, National Trust Houses and cute little towns. Nathan and I have loved spending so much time with our goddaughter this week (see the picture at the top for one of her toys, called Mochi) and she somehow seems to get more amazing as each day passes! I am also grateful that Josh and Ash are such easy and good company. We holiday-ed together in 2018 and although the weather has been worse this time, I have enjoyed it much more because this cottage is warm, comfy and there is no farmer shouting at us about the way we park our cars! A huge thank you to Martin & Polly for letting us stay in their lovely cottage.

The weekly star is definitely Ashleigh. She is a hard working Mum who is training for ministry and still has the time to be a really wonderful friend. It was also her birthday last week, so all the more reason to celebrate how great she is!

This afternoon, the others went out but I woke up not feeling so great, so I stayed behind to nap, read, do the dishes and blog. So now I’m sat in Nathan’s Mum and Dad’s cottage, fairly well rested and waiting for the others to come back with fish and chips. I think that another week off would be most welcome, but when don’t I feel like that?! Tomorrow we’re packing up and going home, and next week I am particularly looking forward to Ashes To Go on Wednesday, where people can come and be ‘ashed’ to mark the beginning of Lent.

More about that next time! 🙂