Are you serious?

Spot's made a suggestion of how I could use some of my time before training. I suppose this is what I get for commenting on having no plans, no uni classes (by mid May) and no (as yet) pulpit supply lined up.

He thinks I should right a book. Yes, you did read that correctly. A book. Me, who failed her higher English (though I am quite proud of that). Me, who has dyslexic tendencies.

This is Spot's suggestion. Write about my experiences from actually acknowledging God's call, through placements, injury and selection conference up to beginning training this September. He thinks this could be useful for those in the future wondering how it all works, though I did point out all our experiences will be different.

He thinks I'd be good at it and some of the ground work has been done here. I read it, he does proof reading and arranges for it to be published in an ebook format. My details around this are vague, as he started using words from the English language in a combination I didn't understand.

Mmmh, I suppose they do say everyone has a book in them. I suppose, if it helped one person through there journey with God discerning their call, it would have done its job. I suppose I've nothing to loose.

I never said I would do it. Not yet!

Watching the sun rise

Each Easter Sunday, my home church has a sunrise service. Usually, it's timed so the service is almost ending as the sun is staring to come over the horizon. This year, as Easter was so late, the service started at sunrise.

Easter sunrise 2011

Wow - watching the sunrise as our act of worship remembered and celebrated Jesus resurrection.

We were mainly women - but then it's very biblical, isn't it.

There weren't many of us.

But we knew, we know, Jesus died and was raised.

Alleluia!

The bacon rolls after the service were pretty good too!

Seasonal Joke

If you do not appreciate Easter humour, especially when the joke is as old as the hills, look away now...


What do you get when you pour boiling water down a rabbit warren?
Hot cross bunnies!

Thank you, I'm here all week.

Finding beauty close to home

Since finishing paid employment (for now), I have taken to going for a walk up the hill near my house. It's not very high, especially as I am definitely not starting from sea level, but it's a pleasant walk and, on a clear day, the views are well worth the effort.

It's 8 years since I moved to the town I live in. I have been up the hill a only couple of times (quite literally) since then. I don't think I'd really appreciated the area around the hill until yesterday. At the bottom of the hill is a local nature reserve and site of special scientific interest (SSSI). It's a former quarry, which has flooded and nature has taken back.

Trees reflected in disused quarry

And hasn't mother nature done a great job? There's reeds, brambles, wild raspberries, birch, sycamore, swans, heron and coots that I have seen during my walks. I've also heard blue tits, robins, blackbird and the occasional buzzard. There must also be toads, too. Yesterday the heron had caught one - a big one at that. Apparently, early in the morning roe deer can sometimes be spotted. All in all, not bad for a disused quarry next to a former mining town.

I haven't noticed this before as I hadn't opened my eyes to what was there, right in front of them. I hadn't walked by there. I'm glad I do now. I could sit in this little oasis of calm for hours, just listening to the birdsong and watching the goings on of the various animals which inhabit the area.

It also makes me think how often do we not visit areas, as we do not expect to see beauty in them? Or, we go somewhere else to experience beauty, calm and peace, rather than finding it close to home. Finding it with and in God. God who in in nature and in each and every one of us. God, who sent Jesus to die for us, so we may have life in all its fullness. Just as life has burst forth in this disused quarry.

Indulging my passions

Over the weekend, Spot and I were away in the Abernethy Forest area for our anniversary. Okay, our anniversary was last month, but that's neither here nor there! I love visiting this area. There's so much to see and do - if you're patient and have an eye and ear open to nature.

The trigger for heading up this weekend was us wanting to go to the Caper-watch at the RSPB osprey centre at Loch Garten. It did involve a very early start (getting up at 5am!), but it was well worth it to see these beautiful, yet illusive birds. While there, we saw at least 3 male Capercailles and 4 females. The females are exceedingly well camouflaged, but once seen, they are absolutely beautiful birds.

While we were there, we also saw the male and female ospreys change over incubating the egg (only one had been lain while we were there).

Osprey change over Loch Garten

 The photo isn't amazing, but those are big birds, only far away! This creature, though, is small, nearby and very fast.

Vernon the vole

Vernon (or could it be Victoria) is a bank vole who nips out to take seed dropped by the small birds from the feeders next to the osprey hide. I couldn't believe (actually, I could!) how excited I was seeing him. I think it took me back to my 11 year old self, but that's a story for another time.

Being the Abernethy Forrest, there's one thing I have to point to.

Red Squirrel

SQUIRREL! (If you've seen Up!, you'll understand the significance. If you haven't, really, watch it. It's a beautiful film.).

There was also loads of other small birds about and I could have watched them all for hours. Actually, come to think about it, I did!

So, the title of this post was indulging my passions. So, we watched wildlife, particular birds, walked in the beautiful landscape which is Abernethy and the Cairngorms. We even saw a pair of male ptarmigans at the car park for the funicular railway on Cairngorm. They were too far away to even think about getting a photo. If fact, they were easier to hear than see, but in my experience, that's usually the was with wildlife.

Another of our passions indulged was steam trains. After walking from Boat of Garten to Aviemore, then bumping into Spot's Mum's next door neighbours (it's a small world), we took the Strathspey Railway back to Boat of Garten. It was a lovely trip through beautiful countryside, though we prefer to see the working end.

Strathspey steam train leaving Aviemore

Yesterday, we took a trip up to Aberlour, where we enjoyed worshiping with Rev Shuna's congregation. They are so welcoming and very good at recommending somewhere to see/do in the area. Yesterday, the suggestion was a walk to the Linn Falls, just up from the Aberlour distillery. It was a lovely walk and well worth seeing the falls.

Linn Falls Aberlour

I wonder what the falls are like when at their normal level? All the waterways in the area were quite low as there has been a dry spell. Even with quite low water levels, they were pretty falls. The smell walking past the distillery was lovely too!

Unfortunately, we had to head home. Spot has work and I have university classes. We will be back soon enough, though. These areas are definitely ones in which Spot and I could live. Just need to wait and see where God leads us, though.