Merry Christmas - Froche Weinachton!

Just wanted to say a quick Merry Christmas from Germany!

God bless to everyone during this wonderful time. It´s Jesus´ birthday!!! How exciting!!!!

All my love,
and lots of hugs too!
Love Steph xxxxx

Spain

So...Rosie and I had an interesting day. It included getting up at 5.15am (with about 4 hours of sleep!) and then catching a 7am train to Valencia.

DEATH BY TRAIN.

The train was for 9 hours long and it constantly stopped. We didn´t have much food and I didn´t have a book to read. Good times!

So now we are in Valencia and out of Andalucia. Andalucia all-in-all was amazing. I really enjoyed seeing the Old Cathedral (especially the one in Seville which is the 3rd largest in the World) and the Alcazar (Muslim Catsle/fortress). There is so much history! It rained constantly, though. Rosie invested in a pair of wellies. They came in handy whilst we were on the walking tour...half way through it decided to bucket down with rain. Not just drizzle but full on pour. We got completely soaked even with our raincoats on and my shoes were soaked through also. It was then that I decided to buy some too.

Unfortunately for me it hasn´t rained too much since then. So now I have to carry around wellies until I leave England to come home. Ha. My bad!

The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly on the Plane

Well it rains a heck of a lot here!

At the moment I am in the land of Spain. First I was in Madrid, then Cordoba and now Seville. Each city has chucked it down with rain but it´s all part of the travel experience, I guess!

Madrid was just incredible. Nothing like I expected it to be - the same goes for Rosie (whom I met up with again for the time in Spain). There was an great culture and to find it all one needed to do was to walk down the back streets! Tapas in small bars or cafes was something I enjoyed - for every drink one has the bar must give a small portion of food - tapas. The back streets are also lined with little shops full of random things - bag shops, jewellery, etc, etc. It is fun just to wander and find things as you walk.

Yesterday we came from Cordoba. What an incredible place! It felt a little like we had come to the Middle East because of the different architecture everywhere. Cordoba has an amazing history - first discovered in 900 BCish and went through Roman, Christian, Muslim and Jewish eras. The main Mosque/Catherdral was an amazing mix of Islamic and Christian architecture. Rosie and I spent about an hour in here just looking an marvelling at the different details in the roof, walls and floors. It was just incredible. It was in Cordoba that Maimonides was born - who was one of my favourite people to study in Religion last year. It was so interesting to learn more about him and his influence on the Jewish way of life. He was a philosopher, a doctor and a Rabbi and wrote many controversial works for Judaism - many of which are used by Jewish people today. Very interesting!

The other interesting thing we have found is that many of the trees lining the roads are orange trees. Everywhere we go there are trees with oranges or mandarins on them. Some of the coutyards which are part of the Cathedrals are named ´The Orange Tree Courtyard´...very creative!

Now we are in Seville, which is bigger than Cordoba and more like a city. It is another nice place - apart from the rain! We are currently on an endeavour to find gumboots (or as the English call them: wellies). There are puddles everywhere and cars tend to splash pedestrians occasionally so the gumboots are kinda needed!

xx

Europe Trip in Short

I know this blog is a little out of date at the moment - sorry! I will try to add some more photos from my travels and share a few funny stories before I start the next part of the journey...

It was a hectic month full of 3 girls with 3 big bags and moving about every 3 days. And it was great!

BELGIUM
THE NETHERLANDS
GERMANY
I think I briefly wrote about these 3 in my last post. Amsterdam was definitely one of my favourite places!

CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague. Was definitely interesting. The Castle was very spectacular and we walked along the river at night to see the castle lit up, which was fantastic! We went on the free 3 hour walking tour and had an Irish tour guide. Whilst on this tour we saw the Clock Tower's hourly show a few times. There were so many people crowded around the here. We were told in the tour that it is the third most disppointing tourist attraction in Europe after the Mona Lisa in Paris and The Glockenspiel in Munich.





AUSTRIA
Vienna. It was definitely a city full of much culture. We experienced two of the main attractions: the opera and apple strudel.




GERMANY (Oktoberfest)
Oktoberfest was held in Munich in the south of Germany, Bavaria. This was seriously amazing. We had such a good time! Starting from the 3 hour parade we watched on the first full day of Oktoberfest. I'm talking horses and people of all ages dressed in their tradtional clothes of drindls (for girls) and laderhosen (for guys). It was great - except our feet hurt for the rest of the day! It was surprisingly hard to find the main beerfield! Eventually we stumbled across it to find it was actually like a massive fair. There were ferris wheels and rides everywhere. Families including the kids were all dressed up in their traditional clothes. It was such a great atmosphere!

We had to have the traditional litre of beer - which took Lily and I 2.5 - 3 hours to finish! Rosie also enjoyed buying half a chicken (yes JUST half a chicken on a plate!)! There were stalls everywhere with Lubkuchen (gingerbread-type-hearts with writing on them) and bratwurst. This was great fun!








ITALY
Venice. After a dodgy trip on a night train we finally arrived in Venice. Our accomodation was camping village with a pool - and after no sleep the night before (because of the train) we accidently got too much sun! Oops! Venice itself was incredible, though. So many tourists everywhere!



Toricella. Was a random little town near Asissi in Umbria.



Cinque Terre. Met Rosie here and we had a great time just chilling out in the 'Five Towns'. These small towns were incredible! Each night we would eat dinner on the rocks and watch the sun set over the water. The colours were just incredible and I felt really blessed to be there with one of my best friends, exploring the world and admiring God's creation!



Rome. Epic. There was so much history here! I was by myself at this stage but I ended up joining forces with 2 girls from Australia - good times!




Ready for the next part of the journey :)

When In Rome

Sorry for my lack of updates!

At the moment I am in Rome. So when in Rome....do as the Romans do. So far the only Italian thing I have done was have lemon gelato today. Oh and lots and lots of carbs. I'm talking breakfast, lunch and dinner. Carbs, carbs, carbs! While Rosie and I were in Cinque Terre, we had toast for breakfast, pizza for lunch and a whole loaf of bread for dinner. I feel justified in doing this whilst in Italy, though! Win!

Today I braved the Roman world with 2 Aussie girls from my hostel. We explored the:

- Trevi Fountain (surprising beautiful and very clean!)
- Spanish Steps (built originally in the 1700s - I think - apparently to join the Spanish Embassy and the Holy See)
- Colosseum
- Pantheon (built in around 70AD to honour all Gods)
- Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Michelangelo's last architectural work and he was 86!!)

It was a very touristy day! And also very hot!



Before Rome was the lovely Cinque Terre. Words can not describe how amazing this place was. Twice, Rosie and I sat on the rocks to watch the sun set over the water. The colours were amazing and it was simply spectaular to watch. Rosie also dragged me on a hike (at 7.30am) through the bush and coastline (and don't forget the rain) to see the Cinque Terre. It was pretty amazing though - the coast is simply breathtaking and the five towns situated along this stretch had a lot of character. I feel very blessed to have witnessed and experienced this place!

Previous to this trip I found myself in a random town called Toricella. Seriously! This place was by a Lake in Umbria about 30mins from Perugia. It was indeed random but a nice place to relax!



I'm back to England in a few days and looking forward to staying in one place for a whole month! It is very exciting!

Hope all is well!
Steph xx

Berlin Calling

So it has been a couple of days since we have been travelling and already I have seen so much!

- Belgium: Brussels and Antwerp
- The Netherlands: Amsterdam
- Germany: Hamburg and Berlin

The two lovely ladies I am travelling around with are Rosie and Lily. It is so great to have them here and we are having a lot of fun giggling our way around the globe.

Our favourite city so far is Amsterdam. Amsterdam is wonderful! The canals and old buildings are amazing! Especially at night! We also loved the Anne Frank Museum - which was so moving. Her father was such a strong man to continue after he had lost his wife and daughters and his passion is to work towards a world without prejudice or war. This museum was fantastic! Top tip: buy tickets online to avoid queues!

Van Gogh's Museum was inspiring! It was really well done and all three of us thoroughly enjoyed it.

Some parts of Amsterdam are quite shocking like the Red Light District. We were staying in an awesome Christian Hostel very close to it. The hostel was fantastic! The Red Light District just made me very sad.

Amsterdam also had amaying cafe's all over the place - really funky! So good!

At the moment we are in Berlin. Such an cool city! We will do the Free Walking Tour today and hopefully learn a lot about the history of the city.

Looking forward to a good day!

Less than one week

My time at Rydal is coming to a close. Seven whole months have flown by. My oh my how they have just gone! I've met so many new people from all over the world. Beautiful and wonderful people from:
- Germany
- Hungary
- South Korea
- South Africa
- Czech Republic
- Ghana
- New Zealand
- France
These people have made my time here so great. From times in the Teashop when making Cheese and Chutney on white bread & not brown, conversations with guests and community activities such as games nights and star gazing, I have come to love them all. We have become a family and I am very grateful.

I have fallen in love with England. The people, the places and the food.

The English have awesome sayings which I am totally going to bring back to Australia. Some of my favourites are:
"oh he's having a strop [tantrum/bad mood]"
"it's well good" or "its proper good"
"beautiful" (in a Southern accent)

The food...ahhh the food. I can't wait to start cooking when I am living in London. Scones are definitely coming back to Australia - so get ready for lots of afternoon tea times with fresh scones and, of course, TEA! Ribena in tea is also a new favourite. Gosh, it is so good! Things like 'Toad in a Hole' (or 'sausage in a hole' as my German friend once called it), parsnips and random soup flavours (like Pea and Mint) have made it on my list.

The Lake District is an amazing place. It has rained a fair bit in the last couple of weeks. As a result, everything is bright green. The hills, sheep and stone walls all make this place something so special. It will always hold a special place in my heart.





Looking forward to the next stage of the jounrey. Europe here we come!

Soul Survivor

I had the amazing opportunity to go with my church to Soul Survivor this year. It was something very special. It took place in Stafford (just south of Manchester) and altogether about 4 500 attended (about a third of the size of the south Soul) - but it was quite perfect. We stayed for 6 nights and it only rained on the first and last nights. Wellies were the thing to wear - everything went with them. It was fab!



I was blessed to make some awesome friends too!



Good old Mike Pilavachi was there - making his usual jokes. I think it was a good thing that I knew about what it would be like in terms of worship times and his random jokes. The talks and seminars were interesting - but mostly I loved hanging out with people and spending time with new friends.




He loves us. Oh how he loves us. He loves us. Oh how he loves us.
Indeed he does!

3 weeks

After just over six months of being here, it is almost time to leave. It is almost time to get up and move on to the next stage - it is a little bit scary but also very exciting!

I Love Em

Being reunited with Em is seriously the best thing ever. I realise how much I have truly missed her and all of our times together. We go way back and have some amazing memories together. Friendship is such a blessing - especially with Em.

I am so grateful that she is here with me for the next six nights.

Em - you are truly amazing. Thank you for being here! I love each moment!!
xxx

Living beyond status

Something I have realised since coming to England, is that this adventure isn't something I want to gloat about or boast about (if I am please tell me straight away!).

I love sharing what is happening in my life but I read an interesting article about 'Status Travel' where one only travels to talk about it to people (http://www.smh.com.au/travel/confessions-of-a-status-junkie-20100521-w0d0.html) and it made me think about my mindframe. I don't want to live to just tell for the sake of it - I want to live to live, to love and to be real.

I think each one of us has the potential to live as God's child in the place we are - right here, right now. One verse which reminds me of this is "Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right here" (1 Corinthians 7:17). No matter where we are in the world and what we are doing, our lives have value. We have a purpose. Hooray!


For me, this time is about experiencing God's world and learning more each day. I love it! So at the moment I'm just working. This week I am having to work six days - which is something I totally don't mind doing but it's the fact that this is my normal life and part of my everyday living that I treasure it, in a way. Don't get me wrong, England is the best and I am so lucky and blessed to be here!

My mind is currently focused a little on the rest of my Europe trip. Planning where to go, how to get there and who to visit is tricky and I'm having trouble sitting down and making decisions. I actually find it harder to do than I did to sit down and study! So wish me luck with planning! ha! And if you could, please pray that God will lead me to the right places and to the right people.

As always,
With my love,
Steph
xx

Holiday Bliss

It almost seems like exciting things all wait to happen within one week so by the time I think about putting them up here there are like 600 big/different things to say!

Holidays were now a week and a half ago. It was so much fun to explore the Lake District. My closest friend at Rydal and I had four days off to travel around. We bought an Explorer Ticket (a bit pricey as the Lakes is the most expensive area of England for things like public transport), made a packed lunches, and saw a different part every day, returning at night. I almost felt like Dora the Explorer haha.

Within these four days we went to Carlisle, Ullswater, Kendal and Coniston:

Carlisle



- Carlisle Castle totally made up for the whole this-castle-used-to-be-and-still-is-a-prison experience in Lancaster. It was actually really picturesque and cute! From the outside walls, you could see much of Carlisle - it is quite a nice city. It is very close to the Scottish border and exciting to think that Scotland is so close!



- The Love Carlisle initiative was something that we stumbled across in the centre of town. Loud music combined with carboard boxes in a contained area. It was so random! Eventually we found out that it was an exhibition-type-thing called We Built This City. It was awesome! Carboard boxes, marked out streets, kids and adults alike building houses, towers and hide-and-seek-worthy spots. I know I've only just turned 18 but it reminded me of how fun it is to do random stuff like that. Build a tall tower and create a whole city using boxes and your imagination. Ahhh. haha.





Ullswater
Ullswater is one of the most beautiful lakes in the Lake District. There wasn't all that much to do there - just lie in the sun (oh did I mention that it was quite sunny on my holiday apart from one day? Yep - we even got a little sunburnt hehe) and relax. A good day!



Conistion
Coniston was an interesting experience. Ending with the fact that we missed the last ferry across the Lake and hence the last bus back to Ambleside. Was not too happy at this stage but finally got home eventually.

Something that made my day in Coniston was seeing 'Wild Cat Island' - the supposed island from my one of my favourite childhood novels Swallows and Amazons. I can't explain how excited I was to actually see this island and see if it was similar to what I had imagined when I was little. Best.





Bye for now
xx

Waterfalls at Rydal

Creation is so amazing. Exhibit A.

Feeling hot, hot, HOT!

Today was my first day off in 10 days. It was so nice not to go to work. The only problem was that it was sooo hot!

Seriously! I got told that I wasn't allowed to leave Rydal because I brought the good weather!! At 12pm it was 26 degrees (quite hot for England) and only got hotter throughout the day - I even had to get out the sunscreen and STILL got tanned. This is kind of crazy!

ha!

The Lakes is so gorgeous at the moment. The Bluebells are out and the birds are singing. The light is incredible! It is still light outside at 9.30pm! Crazy stuff. It is good for night/evening walks, though! I have holidays soon and I am excited to explore more of the Lake District by hopping on a bus and seeing the different areas it has to offer.

Rydal Community

Just a quick reflection about the place I have called call home for the last 3.5 months and will continue to for the next 3.5 months...

There is something so special about Rydal. The people, the place and the role that God plays here. Guests often remark about how special it really is and how it is so different to other locations.

I can think of one of the reasons for this: our community is amazing.

Last week, the dishwasher broke in the kitchen, just after main meals went out for guests. Dishes started to be sent over to the Tea Shop to be washed (about 50m away). But the kitchen team that night weren't on their own. Most community members were there, while off duty, helping out. It was such a joy to witness this service. Even though they all worked during the day, there they were, still helping out.

This is something I am so thankful for. A community willing to serve above and beyond. To serve and to love. Thanks, God!

Paris etc

Wow a lot has happened since my last blog.

a. turning 18

Had such an awesome birthday weekend. It almost felt like i had two birthdays - as I was totally spoiled by my Rydal family and real family.


Celebrations started on the Friday when I got a fab cake as well as going out to Karaoke in Ambleside with the community. Karaoke was fun. Well...fun for me.

Apparently for everyone else it was quite painful when we sung our favourite song Dancing Queen. It was a song chosen because it is regularly on in the Kitchen and results in us sometimes dancing around (much to the chef´s dismay at times) singing the lyrics "you are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen". So my friend Melissa and I braved the stage and had decided to sing what had been named Steph´s Song.

I had the best time singing this song at the top of my lungs (due to the fact that i didn´t actually want to hear what we sounded like) as well as dancing around while we sung. Oh dear.



For days we had people telling us how bad we were at singing and that noone in the pub could talk because it was so loud and horrible. We had the best time, though.


b. paris and london

what a weekend. it sounds crazy but i only spent two days in Paris. By the end everything was aching and I think it was an indication that I had seen a lot in those two days.

There is something very magical about Paris. The small pastry shops as well as the flower shops found on many streets are amazing and assult your sense of smell as you walk past.

One of my favourite parts of Paris was the area around Sacre Coer. The small cafes with chairs facing outward (hence creating the perfect opportunity for people watching) and the many artists asking if you want your picture drawn. Exploring is one of the best things to do. Although getting lost can be stressful, one also discovers hidden parts of city and little places which aren´t known to the normal traveller. Getting lost in Paris was quite fun at times. Seeing and experiencing more of this city.

Ofcourse, the Eiffel Tower is one of those attractions which just blows one away. I decided to walk up the stairs for a fair €3.50 to see the views again. I even attempted to be up there to see the sunset. However, summer is coming and hence it is getting later and later that the sun decides to go down.



It was awesome to be together with my family again. We went to some of the places we were six years ago. Even the same crepe place!



There are lots of random stories I could tell but other places I visited included:
- Montmarte (outside the Moulin Rouge and the outside of te cemetery)
- Bastille (walked along a 4.5km old railway line which had been turned into a plantation/garden walkway)

London

- Outer London:

Got to explore a bit of where my faily lived. What a blessing it is to know that God has provided for them the best place to live, work, go to school and to church. It is the cutest area and their little house is just right! It was really amazing to see all that God had done!!

- Central London:

I had a few hours to kill in London while I waited for my train back to Rydal. I wandered down to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge (after ending up on London Bridge and remembering that it wasn´t actually the Tower Bridge - oops!) and sat in the sun for a while. Yes - the sun. It was quite warm in London. There is so much history in London and it was nice to just sit on a bench by the Tower Bridge and just relax and reflect. So many people have walked along the cobbled paths to this bridge, their feet taking from one country to another, another experience to another.

It was a huge weekend but by the time I got back to Rydal I was feeling very relaxed and ready to go!

Love
x
P.S. sorry for being all over the place! Just typed as things came to mind! There were a lot of memories which would pop up when i started to think about last weekend´s adventure.

Wordsworth's Daffodils

Thought it was appropriate to share some Wordsworth at this point...

Daffodils (1804)
I wander'd lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine


And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they


Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie


In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

There is something about daffodils in the Lake District that captures your heart and attention. These flowers spring up everywhere (from the side of the road to fields around the lake) and look quite spectacular. No wonder poets have created verses about their beauty and in particularly inspried Wordsworth. They are simply wonderful.

Blessed

Melanie: "Hurry up and put more pictures up and update your blog!"

Yes, it is about time that I update my blog. Sorry about that.

So! Gabi came to visit. That was pretty darn exciting. We had one awesome weekend full of experiencing Cumbria. Typically, if you come to the Lake District the following things are a MUST:

- Kendal Mint Cake


NB: The brown label means that the Mint Cake is brown and the white label means the Mint Cake is white. I don't think we figured out which colour label chocolate covered Mint Cake was...but nonetheless had an interesting time figuring this out.

- Sarah Nelson's Celebrated Grasmere Gingerbread




NB: Don't end up with two whole bags of gingerbread if one person of the pair ends up not being partial to it!

The Verdict:

Gabi - Kendal Mint Cake
Steph - Grasmere Gingerbread

- Fish and Chips



NB: Australia definately has the best fish and chips around!

Other Cumbrian Specialties include:
- Lakeland Special Tea (which consequently we sell at the Tea Shop!)
- Toasted Tea Cake (which we also sell)
- Damson Jam (usually combined with freshly made scones)

At the moment I can't remember the others things they have. Oh well.
Had an amazing day with Gabi and it made me realise how blessed I am to call her both friend and sister. Thanks Gab! You're incredible!

Easter was a lot of fun here. On Easter Sunday we all had to get up at 5.30am for the dawn service. As tiring as it was, it was so worth it! It went from everything being pitch black to walking out of the church knowing it was Easter morning as well as it being light. There was something very peaceful about it and the tradition of a higher Anglican Church was different but very refreshing in a way. In the afternoon we had a community Easter Egg Hunt. Gosh it was fun and kinda hard too! The eggs were hidden in the formal gardens of the Hall:



We got a little competitive as we ran around in circles trying to find these Creme Eggs (which the English really love). It's funny though, because I feel like I have a little family (well it's not so little with 12 of us living on community) and so Easter was fun to be with them.

The weather is warming up! Yesterday was a gorgeous day and I even got to sit in the sun and read and later go for a walk to look over the Lake. It is really on these days when I am reminded of the absolute work of art that this place is. God must have had fun the day he made it! The Lake District (namely Rydal, Grasmere and Ambleside) is stunningly beautiful and I'm so blessed to be here experiencing it!

I'll keep you posted.
Steph
x

lovelovelove

LOVE: Weddings

A few weekends ago involved the first wedding at Rydal since I had arrived. Love was definately in the air and the Bulley Barn was incredibly beautiful and was a chance for me to float around and check everything out. Melissa and I had fun sneaking through the back door to look over the reception! It was great!











LOVE: Castles?

Something that was definately meant to be romantic was also something that turned out to be completely the opposite. I was very excited about making the journey to Lancaster (about a 2 hour bus trip from here) and especially excited about seeing the castle.



I had even budgeted paying for a tour, I was THAT excited. So I hopped on the bus and made my way down to Lancaster. First stop was Lancaster Castle.

AND...it just so happened that Lancaster Castle was a prison. Yep, a prison. And on the tour the guide mainly talked about deaths associated with the castle. Not really what I had in mind!

Hmmm mental note: CHECK before paying for a tour of a castle!!

LOVE: Keswick and small English towns

Got to go on an adventure to Keswick last week. It was such a lovely little country town. Despite the fact that I got off at the wrong stop and had no idea where I was, I loved walking through the city centre and just meeting people and experiencing the small town life there for a day.



LOVE: Community

The community here is so amazing and I love them all to bits! I am truly blessed to have such amazing people to work and live with.



I'll keep you posted!

Live it.Love it.

I've come to enjoy the sunshine in the last few days.

Shock. Horror. Yes, I know.

However, it has been rather nice and today I got to soak it up a fair bit. Yay!

For the Tea Shop it usually means lots of people coming through the doors - but it keeps to day busy and it goes really fast.

The Coffin Route is a really nice walk down to Grasmere (and also a really nice place to walk to catch the sun). Grasmere is the most gorgeous little town. On one of my days off last week I walked down to Grasmere to buy 'Original Gingerbread'. yum yum yum!

The walk was quite beauitful as it had snowed that morning. The Lake had also iced over and a lot of it was frozen. In a way it was eerie. It was fun to toss a rock onto the frozen parts of the Lake and watch it bounce across the ice.



After discovering a gorgeous little tea shop I decided that I was in love with Grasmere.



So I am back to work tomorrow. It shall be good, I've decided. Hooray!

- Rydal Hall: The Christian Centre at the Heart of the English Lake District

Thought I should probably put up a photo of the actual Hall, at Rydal. So this picture is taken from in front of the Hall. It is such a stunning building. (This photo shows the Hall on a bit of an angle but I asure you that it stands straight - it is just my photography.) It is fun being on houskepping or showing guests around the place as none of the rooms are the same - almost like being in The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. Just quietly, playing hide-and-seek or sardines in the Hall would be so much fun. Haha my inner eight-year-old is coming out!



It finally rained here (properly) about a week ago. Since then, there has been snow yesterday, and a lot of sunshine. Most days it is sunny:


- Evidence of the amount of sunshine we have been getting

The last week was half-term which means a week of holidays for kids. The weekends in Tea Shop were a little busy but I was in the office a bit so it didn't really affect me. I am usually put on reception so if you ever call Rydal office you may hear the phone answered with "Hello, Rydal Hall, Stephanie speaking" thanks to my many years of answering our home phone so formally. It is good to know it has come in handy!

I find I am settling into life here quite well. Laptop sitting when a friend goes on holidays is fun but I like being here and existing here each day. Each day is different from the last and friendships are growing as the weeks go on.

It was a whole month since I've left, on Wednesday. Kind of crazy to think that I have been away from home for a month. Going on an adventure tomorrow on my day off. Can't wait!

Life at Rydal

- Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens; snowflakes that fall on my nose and eyelashes; these are a few of of my favourite things

Life here has started to slow down to a manageable pace. Love working in Tea Shop and in Reception so praying that I’m mainly in those areas! Tea Shop is so much fun and after conquering the loud and scary milk froth-er it is definitely a favourite. My days vary and usually I’m working 9.30am – 5.30pm. It is awesome to be trained in so many areas!

Annnnnndddd….the sheep are definitely getting better. I have more courage to walk past them. Win!


- Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

On Wednesday it snowed and by golly gosh it was beautiful. It was my day off and two of us decided to walk up to see the waterfalls of which the water runs straight through Rydal. We reached a peak and sat on a rock to enjoy the surroundings. It then started to snow just lightly. Snow is so delicate and perfect. About an hour later it was snowing a lot more and this perfect whiteness covered Rydal. I was jumping up and down with excitement because I had never experienced the snow actually falling from the sky.


- The snow from my window

Had a day off today, which was so nice. After 6 days of working 8 hour shifts I was a little tired and ready for a day of relaxing. Went to Windermere, which was really nice and also had a little explore around the area of Rydal. Still can’t get over the amazing creation here. It's like being in a different world and although it is very different it is such a job to be in a place that I know I am meant to be!

Community is great!! Had a soccer (or as everyone else here refers to it, football) game last night. That was fun (I especially had fun watching my team kick the ball while I stood back).

Some of my new friends here laughed when I told them that I had a blog. They said after a few weeks I wouldn't have much to write. Oh well, I'll try to write when I can!

Welcome to Rydal Hall

- Out of the window on the train: The Lake District

SO! Arrived at Rydal Hall on Monday morning after a really quick train trip. And my oh my, it is one stunning place. I still can't believe I'm actually living here! Was walking down the path today actually thinking: oh my gosh, i REALLY do live here! The Lakes is stunning. There are snow capped mountains, stone walls and many green pastures. It is so very English and I love it to bits.


- The path up to Rydal Hall. Nice, right? Except for the sheep...

Oh boy, do I have a story. It is such an embarassing one and i'm sure whoever is reading this will literally laugh out loud.

MY POINTLESS SHEEP STORY:

I now fear and hate sheep. Hate hate hate hate hate.

I was on my second trip back from the small village of Ambleside the (the closest village to Rydal Hall - about a half hour walk) when the sheep started to look at me. Not being paranoid here, they literally started looking. Then they started bleating, then they started to sun towards the fence where i was. Great! *NB: there was a fence separating us*. I thought to myself, okay this is a bit weird, but carried on. I came to the dividing gate that one must climb over to get into Rydal, and there were more sheep. Then one decided to jump the gate and wander towards where I was standing. So I'm standing there near a sheep (which had curly horn things) with other bleating sheep around me. Started to freak out at this point. Called the office to ask if the sheep would ram me. Negative - just don't run towards it, I was told.

Eventually the sheep jumped back over the gate and the others started to wander off. So I started on my journey again. The sheep started to notice me again and I decided to go off the path in order to avoid them. Mistake. So now, sheep are running towards me. I'm totally freaking out....and there is a tree before me. I jump up so that I am away from their height.

Spotted: S. in a tree, calling the office to ask if someone can come and rescue me from sheep. Awkward.

That is my first exciting and very scary encounter with the sheep. I'm praying that I'll have the courage to walk down that path again in the future!


Anyway, the Lakes! Beautiful place! Bad sheep. Gorgeous streams, rock walls, bridges and ancient moss covered trees. God is so huge and such an amazing creator!!

Ambleside is a gorgeous town. Small but big enough to have a few little shops. I adore it!


- Coming into Ambleside

Starting work tomorrow and I am keen to get into it. The community is great here and tomorrow I begin with Tea Shop. Win!