Friday 6 January 2017

I'm baaaack!

Hello Everybody!

A long time ago (nearly two years in fact!) I used to keep a regular blog here. It all began when I was writing my MA Dissertation and all the fascinating thoughts and feelings wouldn't fit into the paragraphs. In this post I'll do my best to catch you up on all the developments; mainly geographical.

When you last saw me here I was living in London in a lovely little place near Hampstead Heath; it was so gorgeous that every year upwards of 250 visitors would come and look in one weekend. Loving worshipping with the St Lukes Community and I was halfway through a near year-long challenge not to leave the country. If you knew me during my previous blogging life you'll have known how difficult I found that. But I did save some money and go on several interesting UK holidays to Wiveliscombe, and Woodbridge.
The Wivey Washer!
Then I broke my 'abroad-ban' and went to Hamburg. That was a great adventure involving driving a hire car the wrong way down a dual-carriageway, a row-boat on the Alster, and nipping up to Hedeby re-enactment village. More here.

Messing about on the Alster

The next big change was I moved city; with one bag and two people's phone numbers I boarded the train to Manchester. This was a seismic shift for me at the time and very much a tale of God's goodness. More on that here.

Aware that Manchester was cold and wet, I booked a trip to perpetual Summer in Mallorca with one of my best friends. More on that here.

Tramutana

 Jan - June 2016 I enjoyed renting a house in Sale, owning a car, learning to play roller derby and hosting various people in Manchester. I was best woman at a wedding up the OXO Tower in London which was very special. I did take a brief trip to the Isle of Man in search of Vikings in February, and I was not disappointed - more here.

Maps and a guide published in 1917

In July I took a brief break to the West Lake District; it was a really restful time, I stayed in a castle and visited Furness Abbey on the way home. More here.

In August Dad and I went off on one of our adventures to Romania - we did a mixture of independent exploring and being well looked after by my old housemates. This one includes heritage steam railways and travelling 1st class sleeper across country. More here.

Romanian City Life, Iasi
Romanian Countryside












In September I bought my first house. Its a 2-bed Edwardian terrace and needs a lot of love and care. As I write some lovely gentlemen are installing a wood-burner to my 'adventure lounge'. I have this thing about a fire being the heart of a house. And looking forward to hearing the heart-beat soon. I have become a bit of a house-bore so I can't promise some of that won't over-spill here.

At the end of October I went back to Mallorca and enjoyed ice-cream in November - it wasn't incongruous at all. More here.

Then in December I was a bridesmaid at a wedding in Cambridge and it was a bit strange being back in central Cambridge after so long away but a lovely weekend surrounded by good friends.

And that just about gets us to now. I have been doing a lot of thinking and discussing of late with my many pen-pals, online friends and real-life-in-person friends and it just seemed like a good time to revive this blog. So if you're new - you are welcome, and if you're an old friend - welcome back!

2 comments:

  1. Yay, looking forward to reading about more adventures :)

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  2. This is a great start back!! Can't believe how many places you have been and things you have seen. Fire as the heart of a house is a lovely idea. There is the beginning of a good novel in that somewhere.

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