family time and france

balloons above the roofline

its been so special to be able to share some much needed family time with those we love here in England, as we've previously posted some of our nearest and dearest are going through some tough times at the moment. Maz' mum has successfully completed a course of chemotherapy and undergone a major operation to over come some cancer cells, my (Tim's) mum has endured the invasive surgery to remove her right hip and replace with a brand new titanium model and Maz' dad is going into hospital at the end of this week to find out whats causing him so much discomfort as well.

eli looking for the balloons!

that said we have had chance to spend time with two of our sons and their wives or girlfriends as well as our three wonderful grandchildren. this time started with a trip down to Bristol to visit Chris and Claire who were house sitting for some friends who were away on holiday and what a house it was too. we enjoyed

noni and claire filling up the pool

playing football in the large garden, fully equipped with 'real goals' which was a hit for me and Alfie (our eldest grandson) who is completely crazy about football, the weather was warm enough to fill up the paddling pools (for the children of course) and we even had a braai on a throw away BBQ which was a feat in itself.

and it's all over!

on our journey down we listened transfixed to test match special where we heard the clatter of Australian wickets on the first morning of the fourth test. incredibly it was all over in 18.3 overs with the tourists making a paltry 60 all out which led to an england win by an innings and 78 runs.

more balloons

what with all the fun time the best part of the weekend must have been the fact that we timed the visit perfectly with the Bristol international balloon fiesta which was held in the grounds the Ashton Court estate just down the road. each morning Maz made sure that we were all up early (like 6.45am which is early for us these days!) to see the multitudes of hot air balloons literally sail (do balloons sail?) over the rooftop of the house. the mornings were all still and clear and it was a sight to behold as balloons of various shapes, sizes and colours made their regal way over our heads. the boys found the minion (was it called Stuart or Brian i can't remember) shaped balloon their favourite, mine was the more traditional ones flown by the french in the 1800's.

BBQ at cosh's

after leaving Bristol we wound our merry way up the M4 motorway towards the notorious M25 (the 117 mile ring road that circumnavigates London) where we sat with hundreds of other holiday makers on a sunny Sunday afternoon as we made our way to meet josh (our middle son) and his girlfriend who we were going on holiday with to her family home in south west France.

haddy and josh in france

our flight from Gatwick to Toulouse was uneventful however as we landed we were greeted by some hot sunny weather, something that we haven't experienced on many occasions during our English summer (although my sister seems to think that it's been the most barmy summer ever but since she's too young to remember the fantastic English summer of 1976 I'll have to forgive her).

Josh's girlfriend, Haddy, has a beautiful home set in rural France which her family has owned for around 20 years, most of the property is thirteenth century (and yes for all our friends from the USA, South Africa and Australia there are buildings and history in the thirteenth century) and built from local stone, some walls are over 1000mm thick and it's been restored to it's former glory by Haddy's mum who certainly has an eye for detail.

haddy's home!

we'd never visited south west France before but we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the area, sunflowers and maize filled the fields, unfortunately their heads bowed after a full summer of sunshine, the tiny roads linked small villages which invited one in to explore their medieval streets lined with family owned shops selling their wares to the locals who make their visit to the butchers or bakers each and everyday.

fresh fish at the market

the feel of the place is something that we seem to have lost in England, our high streets are littered with chain stores with bland or even boarded up shopfronts with superstores enticing people to part with their hard earned cash in their out of town warehouses packed with every item required by the modern English family. in France we enjoyed walking round the local market with our senses overwhelmed by the plethora of brightly coloured and locally produced fruits and the smells of fresh meats and fish all displayed on unstable rickety tables.

we enjoyed a couple of meals out, sharing fantastic french cuisine in town squares and tiny restaurants perched on hill top towns, but we mostly cooked at home, enjoying a BBQ with some family friends sitting under shooting star filled skies and supping locally produced wine.

local produce for lunch

in fact i celebrated my 48th birthday on the Thursday and since France has been producing wine since the sixth century we were eager to visit a couple of local boutique vineyards who were offering wine tasting. the Cahors appellation is famous for the use of the Malbec grape (which is one of the six grapes used in the Bordeaux blends) and is my favourite grape varietal, recently it has become a grape synonymous with Argentina due to it's love of hot sunshine but any red wine produced in the Cahors appellation has to have a minimum of 70% Malbec and is often blended with Merlot which suits my pallet beautifully.

wine tasting on tim's birthday

it was great to chat to the winemaker, hear about their methods and talk about the recent vintages and the best ones to look out for, it certainly was an eye opener and has led us to discuss planting some vines on haddy's land!

after an incredible thunderstorm Dan (Trefor and Mandy's son) and his girlfriend Lucy joined us on Friday and on the Sunday morning we woke early to venture further afield to enjoy an afternoon kayaking down the river L'aveyron, the 12km trip took us around 4 hours to complete, setting off from St-Antonin-Noble-Val we meandered between high cliffs gently down the river, over man made weirs and natural rapids which kept us alert.

beautiful france

as always time flies too fast and unfortunately our week long holiday was over too quickly but as josh dropped us at the airport for our return flight to England we were already planning our next visit to this wonderful part of the world.

(we've updated our reading list on the right hand side of the 'home page' and would inform you of the current Podcasts that we are listening to.

Rob Bells - Robcast
Richard Rohrs - Homilies 
Dr Gary Stevens - History in the Bible
and Pete Holmes - You made it weird)

six months and counting.....

family time with our parents plus josh and haddy

enjoying time with my sister and brother-in-law

we can hardly believe that we've been journeying for over six months since leaving the Village of Hope at the end of January, but before we answer the question that is on everyone's lips and look into the future (people really can't stop asking) we have written this post as an update of the last few weeks where among other things we have had chance to provide some support to Maz' Mum and Dad, chill out with Tim's parents, hang out with both our Sisters and Brother-in-law's, catch up with old friends from near and far, house and horse sit, garden and repaint the sables, as well as taking some time to enjoy the beauty of England in the summertime including trips to Silverstone to watch some motor racing (which was fantastic). 

more food with our adopted family (thanks Beth!)

so what follows is a quick snapshot of the last few weeks which we hope you'll enjoy reading.

England in the summer time (no our house or car by the way!)

firstly it has been an apt time for us to be home, it was sort of planned but we had no idea of the real need as Maz' Mum underwent some extensive chemotherapy and then a large operation, which seems to have been successful. much of the care and support that Maz' Mum has received had come from Maz' sister so it has been great from Maz to step in and help out with her Mum in the mornings, cleaning, ironing, gardening and being around to provide support as and when needed. we are blessed to have been given the use of a car during this time so we were also able to take Maz' mum to a follow up appointment at the hospital in Oxford. Trefor and Mandy continue to bless us with the use of their wonderful home which is only five minutes from where Maz' Mum and Dad live.

not sure who's more worried!

We enjoyed a quick trip up to London and back to meet up with Josh to celebrate his 26th birthday, it was really special to be there to enjoy the day with him and his lovely girlfriend, Haddy (we are so looking forward to spending more time with them next week as we travel with them to France for a week's holiday!)

busy boy....

Trefor and Mandy enjoyed a well earned rest time as they attended the New Wine conference with some friends from the Aylesbury Vale Vineyard church so we were left in charge of the house, horses and a few maintenance jobs which kept us busy whilst they were away. Cara (their youngest daughter) was at home, although she was working away during the days, so it was a new routine for us to be around for the horses to feed, water and let them out into the fields at the correct times. that all sounds a bit stressful but there was only one horse that needed our immediate attention and I think Maz quite enjoyed making friends with the huge beast.

summer fruit picking

We picked the ripe blackcurrants, redcurrants and raspberries which will all be used to top luscious summer deserts during the remainder of the year and although the sun hasn't shone too much we have really enjoyed being outside.

whilst Maz was busy at her Mum's I carried on with some maintenance on the stables, it was quite therapeutic sanding down, preparing and then painting the wood, in fact I spent so much time listening to podcasts and enjoying Test Match Special to hear England soundly beat Australia in the third test that time seemed to fly by.

more food with great people!

As I sit here writing this blog the picture of me taking time to restore the old stables is quite a poignant one for us at the moment, the wood needed to have the old paint stripped back to expose the solid base on which the new paint could be applied, I had to ensure that the paint was applied in large enough quantity so that it seeped into the wood, however not all the old paint or wood was rotten there were some decent patches which would provide a firm foundation to be built upon. looking at that analogy right now that seems to be what's happening to us in this time of sabbatical, we really are allowing

catching up with emma (again)

God time to strip us back to the firmer foundations of our lives and our faith so that we can once again be built upon, or receive a new coat on which we are confident to move into the new season in full protection. I just hope that I was ruthless enough with the stables to ensure that the new paint will last for some years to come!

Mel in England

We enjoyed meeting up with Emma Podmore (twice in a few weeks as she returned again to attend her beloved Granddad's funeral), Rob and Emily and also Mel Kidd who were all over enjoying some much needed down time from their time of giving at the Village of Hope/Thembalitsha Foundation. it was good to see all of them face to face, listen to their stories and bless them as they return to serve the least, last and the lost.

Dad at a wet Silverstone

and finally for now I spent a couple of days, one very wet and the other not so bad, at the Silverstone Classic25 motor racing event which was a celebration of classic racing with literally hundreds of classic single seater, touring car and Group C Le Mans cars being driven at break neck speeds around the full Grand Prix circuit on which Lewis Hamilton won the latest Formula One Grand Prix a week before. the cars worth millions of pounds provided two full days of quality racing and it was great to see some of the cars that shaped my childhood and it rekindled a love of a sport that is close to my heart.

full grid of 1970's and 1980's F1 Grand Prix cars (amazing)

so as we finish typing this post we are expectant on the next steps of our lives, living without support or current direction but trusting God to show us His path that we are eager to follow but in His timing and not mans!