Been a while since i've written - busyness has taken over i think...

Last weekend Tom and i spent a lot of time thinking and hearing about money and how best to look after/be a trustee of what God has given us. It's resulted in a lot of changes in our finances and probably a good dose of confirmation of what i'd been thinking for a while. It's interesting what a non-topic it is for a lot of people though, one of those things you just don't really talk about. Maybe that's why we should talk about it all the more!

Otherwise, things have been pretty busy with sign language classes (animals, jobs, days, months and a bit of calendar time), the night van, running housegroup temporarily for a month, lovely americans coming to visit, helping friends dig gardens and the seeing other friends who were back for a short spell after both having moved abroad! Hopefully this week will be a bit quieter.

I have started reading through Isaiah. Interesting book - i think i need to read it all to get a better all round perspective on it. At the moment God's seeming pretty mean towards everyone with destruction, death and much misery everywhere!

If any of you fancy praying, my lovely 78 year old granny's a bit sick at the moment so shooting some thoughts upwards would be appreciated. Cheers!

On Saturday i had my 30th birthday party - a big BBQ with all my favourite people. What a treat! Turning 30 hasn't been the traumatic crisis-enducing event i thought it may be, which is a relief. I did psend most of last year getting my head round it and i also think being married to a man 4 and a bit years younger than me definitely helps!

There was also the city farm carnival/festival round my nieghbourhood over the weekend, which drew every single hippy person in the whole of bristol to it. It made me realise i'm such a wanna-be hippy person and not really at all the genuine article. But maybe that's ok. I can just create my own genre of hippyism i think : )

We just found the first flower on our lavender this morning. a good moment.

At the end of my road, in the hippy, new age section, there is a city farm. I had never been to one of these before moving to where i do now and i'm finding it such a wonder. each day i walk past the HUGE pig rolling about in mud, the goats trying to oust each other off the ramp that's in their pen, ducks eating grass, sheep baaing, other pigs snuffling round and the piglets eating out of their trough whist standing in it(very funny to hear their clicky little feet and toes on the metal).

Then, to get to work, i carry on past the farm to walk up through to alotments. It's been a joy to see the crops progress each day through the year, from simple dirt rectangles to heaps of potatoes, runner beans, strawberries, onions and even a flower garden grow up from nothing.

I love where i live.

I have just read this Turning Tap Water into Sea Water and am astounded that a country as rainy as ours can't get it right when it comes to water storage. I'm sure there must be an easier way than taking it out of the sea (Dubai are startiong to see the consequences of this where loads of their marine life is dying as a direct result)! Maybe one big drainpipe from scotland and wales should be built - there must be enough rainwater there to keep us going for years!!!

PS Sign language was brilliant last night. I cna now tell you how many aunts, uncles, sisters (the sign for which is my favourite. I looks like you're scratching your nose!), brothers, cousins, parents and grandparents i have. Fun fun fun.

what's new? not heaps - lots more exciting plants have arrived our garden courtesy of my mum and sister; the sunflowers are looking like sunflowers now and the roses have bloomed. it's so exciting being able to go out each day and see something new. tom and i stroll each morning and survey our land (even though it's not really ours) and get excited about it all.

we went to cambridge over the weekend in order to catch up with my family a bit. it was pretty cool to see them once i'd managed to de-speed. my head is so constantly full of a million things. i've tried to start spending 15 minutes every day or two in slince with God. our spare room is becoming my little space for hanging out with him, which i like lots. hopefully when people come and visit it will be like that for them too. i wonder if the Spirit dwells in places anymore? i guess he shouldn't do after the temple got destroyed (hence no more 'sacred ground' in reality, despite what people say). I guess he does what he likes though. It's weird how some places do seem to be way calmer and more peaceful though, sometimes God seems even more tanglible in them. what's that all about!

enough ramblings. i must away to go to our sign language class : )