Cooking!

Things have been cooking at church of late. Tuesday's night prayer meeting saw words of knowledge and healings, and Thursday night the Lord did some awesome stuff.. a previously broken, swollen finger returned to normal, a painful foot with torn ligaments came right, and intense backache disappeared. And a boldness to pray for and share the word with others is being stirred. Expectation is high... more, more, more!

On another note all together, we recently ventured out with Al and Chants on our first camping trip of the year, heading for the Peak District. Day 1 was spent at Chatsworth House, apparently where the movie Pride & Prejudice was set. The term "palace" would be more appropriate. Seriously impressive stuff.

An uncooperative wife refusing to be "swept off her feet" .

The "house" has its own art collection. This one in the sculpture hall impressed me. How brilliant is that veil? Make you want to touch it just to check if its really marble.

We camped in a little valley near a village called Hathersage. Beaut little campsite. No fires allowed... would go out of business in a week in RSA.

Day 2 was started with a stroll in to Hathersage for breakfast. The farmlands are like something out of a storybook.

Then a hike up onto the peaks. There aren''t really any proper peaks in the area... more like little kranses, but they were still an awesome change from the flat eastlands where we stay.

Never hiked with an umbrella in hand before.. but hey, no such thing as bad weather... only bad clothing/brollies.

Last day, on our way home, we popped into Bakewell. Big mistake!! It was a bank holiday (public holiday) and the town was gridlocked with traffic. We persevered and eventually got to have tea and the famous Bakewell tart/pudding.

A braai at the Fuzzeys spot. Check out those shorts.... surely summer must be here?

We spent a day with Andrea Rautenbach, a friend from East London, during her UK trip. Was brilliant to see her and Joy and to catch up on all the EL news over a cream tea. Once we were all "newsed out", we headed to Cambridge to do some touristy things. Unfortunately for Andrea an inconsiderate starling in an tree above the chose a rather inopportune moment to relieve himself!! Ruth Reinecke to the rescue. To be honest from the evidence, I would have bet Hadeda rather than Starling. Well handled Mrs Rautenbach!!

Spring is in the air

As always, when I check out our photos of the last 6 or 7 weeks I realise how much we've gotten up to recently...

We visited a Raptor Foundation where they rehabilitate birds of prey. Very well run facility and impressive number of different species. The flying display was good. Even had a good old Bateleur.

I had two weeks of leave to burn in March/April, and seeing the Gaylene had to work, I decided to spend them getting to know the local area better. I headed into Cambridge in the morning with G and while she went off to work, I did the touristy thing, and sought out the museums and built heritage.

The chapel at Kings College is mind blowing. The ornate ceiling is apparently the largest of its kind in the world, and the River Cam (below) just begs to be photographed.

Inside the grounds of Kings College. Only the high ranking staff of the college get to walk on the grass. All very posh!
River Cam with Kings College in the background.

The small streets ooze character.

This is Grapham Water, our local dam (they call them reservoirs here). G and I made use of one of the first nice spring weekends and spent and afternoon checking it out.

The biltong making has progressed, with the second batch being a distinct improvement on the first. We've yet to meet any English who A: aren't somewhat repulsed by the thought of raw meat in the garage, and B: enjoy the taste. More for us!

A braai with some of our church mates.

It's been a season of change for me as I finished up my job in London, and started this month working in Peterborough. My commute to the office is now only 25 min as opposed to 1:45hrs. You can't believe the difference it makes in one's life. It's great. Anyway, just before I left Waterman Environmental, we did a "Jack the Ripper Tour" in the Whitechappel area in London. Our tour guide was brilliant, and his enthusiasm was second only to his knowledge of all the intricacies of 19th century London and this infamous character.

G's work is going really well and she has settled in nicely at the dental practice.

Gaylene in action.

A stroll in the park after dinner with Mark and Lindy at Effe's Turkish Restaurant. We've really become fond of Cambridge, and have spent a fair bit of time here of late.

A few weeks ago PDR decided to grace us with his presence and pulled into Cambridge for a few days.

PDR practices his English stiff upper lip, while Gaylene.... well, we're not quite sure what she's getting up to here.

Its spring which means the Rapeseed fields are in bloom. Its a stunning site to see these massive fields yellower than yellow.