Country 32: Ireland

The last week is a blur.  A few days of Martha's visit, we took off to Ireland.  It may sound extravagant, but it actually is a 55 minute flight to Dublin.  It was gorgeous.  Unfortunately, it was also very rainy.  In the month of October 2011, Dublin has gotten more rain than in all of 2010, or so we were told.  Fortunately, most of it came when we had rented a car and driven to the west, to Galway.

Kylemore Abbey

As you can see, it was lovely.  I'll write more of our travel stories later, but for now, I need to catch up on some work!

Arrivals

This morning I headed to Heathrow to meet Martha, arriving from the USA to spend a week with me!  We were roommates in our college days and now we will be roommates for one week of European vacation for her!  I love having visitors.  

I also love airport.  Arrivals is a happy place.  Departures can be also, but tears are much more common in departures.  Arrivals is a place of expectation and anticipation.  Everyone waits for someone to walk through those automatic doors.  I love watching people as they walk through from customs and immigration, scanning the crowd for a familiar face.  Everyone relaxes just a little bit once they connect with the one/s they are expecting.  

Martha and I made the long journey home to my little corner of London. She's now laying down for a kip.  I'm looking forward to the coming week!  

Moroccan for dinner!

Well, this seems to be turning into a food blog lately!  I'll have to change that, so you don't think all I do is eat!  However, yesterday deserves a post, and so it shall be. 

A sweet South African girl from church came over to make us dinner last night!  She's come to ours for dinner a few times, and wanted to reciprocate.  However, her house doesn't have a lot of extra hosting space.  She did the shopping and preparation, then came over to our house to cook!  And it was fantastic!  She made this lovely Moroccan veggie stew and a traditional salad as well.  

Absolutely fantastic.  It had butternut squash, sweet potato, green beans, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes, chick peas, green peppers, and I'm not even sure what other yummy goodness, all cooked with cumin and served over basmati rice.  It was amazing.  I have to make this!  The salad was a very simple salad, romaine lettuce with oranges, with an orange and lemon dressing.  It was really good!

our lovely cook!

It was so special of Laura (yes, another Laura in my life) to do this for us.  It truly was an honor to have someone so wanting to give to us that she did the shopping, prepped the food at her house, and then brought it all over to our house to make it and serve it to us.  I truly felt blessed.

New Space!

Here's a sneak peak at our new space!

I am not looking forward to moving things up those stairs!  But oh well, that's going to be part of the memory making.  As you can imagine, we will be putting down carpet before we move furniture into the room.  I think it will be a good space for us to study and work together!

Dinner Party

Last night was one of those special nights that warms the heart.  Laura and I both invited a friend over for dinner and we had a lovely little all girls dinner party.  I cooked, choosing to make it a Tex Mex night, bringing a little of North American culture to London.  I cleaned our newly rearranged lounge, did some tidying in the garden, grocery shopped, baked, cooked, and before long, we had a feast.

We had hard and soft shell tacos, veggie mince and real mince for the carnivores, baby spinach leaves and lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, cornbread muffins, black beans, onions...the only thing I couldn't find were tortilla chips for dipping in the salsa.  To finish the evening, I made brownies.  Rather than the American ice cream, we topped it off with single cream.

O surprised me by bringing a dessert as well.  She tends to do that.  She went to Paul.  

Paul is a very clever man.

O said in her delightful French accent, "It is Forêt Noire."    Oh, well, looks fantastic even if we don't know what it is!  After dinner, I asked O what it was called once more.  "Forêt Noire."  "And that means...."  "Well noire is black and forêt...it means...lots of trees..."  Suddenly, lightbulbs went on.  "Oh, black forest cake!"  Oh, it was good!

All in all, it was a great night.  A dinner which turned out a well, two great desserts, and a nice movie with friends.  As I walked O to the station, I was really touched that she kept repeating, "Your home is so welcoming." That is an answer to my prayers.  I always want my home to be a place where people feel welcome to come in, share a meal, and unwind from a stressful week.  

English Cottage

Tuesday nights are house group nights.  I am finally getting into the routine of calling it quits at the office by 6:30, so I can take the tube back across London, get home at 7:30, and then walk to house group.  It seems busy, but this lovely group of people from church make it worthwhile.  We meet at A's house.  She's a history teacher, and a very sweet woman.  She has a proper little English cottage interior.  Last night, I asked if she would mind if I took a few photos.  

Isn't it just lovely?  It is a fabulous place to have a house group, with it's homey feel and A's wonderful hospitality.  

The Epping Forest

Sunday was a much needed day of rest.  I went for lunch to the Royal Forest, a lovely place to grab a bite and then go for a walk in the Epping Forest.  It's a nice little escape from the city.  Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge is right next door and able to walk through, I believe.  

Two Lauras and a Hope

Picking Blackberries (the fruit ones)

There is something so therapeutic about a quiet walk through nature.  

Afterwards, we drove to Laura's sister's house.  When her niece Ellie (4) saw us, she ran to her mom and said, "There are two Lauras and a Hope here!"  Haha...that might be more than anyone should need to deal with on a Sunday afternoon!

Old Fashioned Courtesy on the Tube

My commute across London to our office takes an hour on the train.  It does allow me plenty of time to read, but some days, I just don't want to do it.  Thankfully, we will soon be moving into a new office space, which is a 25 minute WALK from my house!  I can't wait to no longer need these long journeys on my office days.

This morning, as my train arrived at the first stop after I got on, I sighed.  The platform was full of children.  A school trip.  Wonderful.  I was really hoping that they weren't going to be on the train for very long.  I did feel for the teachers and parents.  I can't imagine being responsible for ten children and getting on and off of the tube, trying to make sure no one was left behind.  As soon as each little group of ten got on and the doors closed, you could see the adults looking around and counting heads.  Going on the tube is such a treat for these children.  It's really sweet, unless I'm still tired, haven't had coffee, and would really rather be in bed still.  :)

The kids all dashed for the few remaining seats.  The one teacher, an English man probably about 40, walked over to the section near me, and spoke to one of the boys.  "Sammy, it may be old fashioned of me, but I believe you shouldn't sit when a lady is standing, and your mum is standing.  Could you please stand and offer her your seat?"  Dutifully, Sammy stood up and when his mom declined, he offered it to one of the other girls in his class.  After she also said no, he looked to his teacher.  "Ok, thank you, Sammy.  You can go ahead and sit down if they don't want to."

I couldn't help but wonder how the adult men in my section of the train felt.

The general guideline of the London tubes is: "No one else exists in my little bubble."  Because of that, I'm always really appreciative when a man stands to offer an older lady his seat.  But I'm also saddened by how infrequent that can be!  I try to make it a point of courtesy, rather than gender, and offer my seat if there is a small child or a person significantly older than me.  I love that it creates a chain reaction.  Inevitably, when I've done that, if a seat opens up and there is a man standing near me, he generally offers me the chance to sit rather than taking it himself.

One night, I was going home on the train and it was a long day.  I was succumbing to the (again, London learned) habit of studiously ignoring the crowd around me and appreciating the fact that I had a seat.  However, I happened to glance down at my bag, resting at my feet.  To my chagrin, the woman standing next to my seat had a walking cast on her foot!  I looked up at her and asked, "Would you like my seat?"  She looked thrilled (well, as much as the English express delight!...I'm being cheeky today!)  and responded, "If you don't mind."  I hopped up and maneuvered through the crush of people so that she could then sit in my seat.

The interaction, though it was a few weeks ago now, has been a good reminder me for me to be eager to do good.  Not just to do good, but to be eager to do good!  I went back to 1 Peter 3 to do a refresh of that lesson.  It is so easy to sit back and wait first to see if someone else will offer a seat before I do.  After all, they might not be as tired as I am, or they might not be carrying a laptop, handbag and lunch bag.  But in waiting to do good, I'm missing the spirit of what the Bible teaches!

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,

“Whoever would love life

and see good days

must keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from deceitful speech.

He must turn from evil and do good;

he must seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their prayer,

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fearb; do not be frightened.”  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."

1 Peter 3:8-17

Another Gorgeous day

The heat wave continues.  I'm not complaining at all, merely rethinking my future residences.  I think I need to live in the tropics.  I'm definitely not moving to Moscow!

I had some reading to do this morning, so I took my book and chair out to the back garden to enjoy the sun.  I'm afraid my legs have become "English" (read: paler than pale!).  

I was not the only one who wanted to enjoy the day.  My neighbors do a much better job of feeding the wildlife, and this little guy was munching away on breakfast while I read.  

I suppose we all realize that despite the glorious weather, winter is just around the corner for the UK.  

Saturday in the Park

London is having a heat wave.  Saturday was to be as warm as 30 (86 F) which is highly unusual for October 1.  Friends and I decided to celebrate by spending our day off in Hyde Park.  We went to a nearby grocery store and bought food to share for lunch and dinner, and settled down onto a sheet under a nice shade tree.  

It was the perfect day to do so.  We played Dutch Blitz, lazed around, and talked and caught up on life.  It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.  It was also truly incredible to see the mix of cultures, from the English girls wearing next to nothing to sunbathe to the clusters of Middle Eastern women in head to toe black.  Everyone wanted to enjoy the day, just in different ways!