Bonjour mes amis.

This is probably only going to be a short one today, as I don't have much to say.  

What has happened since last time then?  Well, as I said I was going to go to either Worcester of Birmingham to meet my mum, in the end I decided Worcester was far more appealing than Birmingham, so we met up there (mum was more than happy to do so aswell). We went for a bit of a wander, then decided it was time for lunch. Had that then had some more of a wander. Managed to get MLOs present, and his mums too, so  was quite happy about that. Then it was time to go home (where did the day go?). The nice thing about going to Worcester was that I was home fairly early.

Next day as I had the day off from work, MLO and I went to the morning church, which was most enjoyable. Then confirmation class. This week it was all about what we thought Church was, and what we thought the communion was all about.  What exactly do I think about it?  At the class,  I tried to put into words how I felt, and what I thought (if they are two separate things that is). I'm pretty sure though that I ended up sounding like I was reading something out of a text book , as I wasn't very impassioned on the subject and altogether unconvincing.  Must try harder!! I feel such a tit when I do that, I have a million and one things in my head, want to say them all, and end up coming out with what I think someone wants to hear. Poo to it. I think I'll just keep my mouth shut as much as possible from now on.  Not sure what tomorrow will be about, will have to wait and see. It is the last until the new year. In the evening it was country church, which was a little empty, but, there were three new people, which was great, mum dad and their little girl.  Between them they increased the congregation by quite a significant percentage. 

Yesterday (Friday) I had an organic veg box delivered for the first time. (The local scheme were doing a first order half price offer, so decided to try them). It had arrived when I was at work, and as I had forgotten about it, it was a lovely surprise when I got home that evening. Had a great few minutes rooting round in the box to see what had been delivered. All sorts of lovely goodies, and most of them still coated in a covering of lovely Herefordshire earth. There were carrots, leeks, celeriac, russian kale, mushrooms, tomatoes, red onions, potatoes Jerusalem artichokes, and loads more. Only problem, I'm not sure how to pay them. Have asked twice via e-mail, but no reply as of yet. MLOs mum asked when they delivered, but she was told not to worry about it. Wish I could get on and pay for them.

Today I had another Saturday off, having swapped weekends with the other girl at work, who wanted the last weekend before Christmas off. So spent a couple of hours in Hereford in an attempt to get my mum something nice for Christmas. No luck, except for some chocolate gingers. Lame effort. Got home early, made dinner, then came to blog. So now I am completely up to date, literally up to the minute. Church in the morning, and it is going to be the children's nativity play which will be lovely I am sure.

Well thats me all done. Will be back soon no doubt.

Well, another week has almost gone, halfway through August already. Unbelievable. At least the weather seems to have made its mind up as to which season it should be, and has finally settled on summer. Very warm, and sunny. Lovely.

Spent most of today in Hereford with mum, wandering round the shops and stopping for an occasional coffee. This week it has been the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford, an annual classical music festival that rotates between Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester. Most things took place in the cathedral, and has brought so many people into the city it has been wonderful. Really lovely and busy, in fact I would go so far as to say the place was buzzing. 

As part of the festival, there was entertainment on the nearby Castle Green, a couple of minutes walk from the Cathedral , by the river. There were Morris men dancing when we arrived and all sorts of medieval re enactment things going on, from herbalists, to a weapons maker covered in fake blood busy telling children what his arrows could do to a Frenchman. There was also a pig roast too.  Later a group from Herefords twin city Vierzon, in France played medieval instruments and danced in period costume, which was fun to watch. 

This week has again been a a very quiet one at work, so nothing to tell there. 

MLO and I went into Hereford on a flying visit on Wednesday to get some books back to the library and pick one up that I had had reserved for me, we popped into the map shop quickly, and they had a guide on the Norfolk Coastal path, complete with what to watch out for along the way, so we bought that, and also the maps we will need when we go. One thing I would love is one of the GPS units for walkers that you can have the entire Ordnance Survey maps on, but they are far to expensive, so I can continue to dream. One thing I am chuffed about is though; today I was looking at a medium rucksack in the camping stores round Hereford, but they were quite dear, on an off-chance, we went to TK Maxx, and lo and behold, they had two rucksacks of exactly the right size, a very good make, and less than a quarter of the price of elsewhere, so I was pretty chuffed with that. 

Thats all for now, will blog tomorrow (probably) at some point, MLO and I will be going to church early, then back to help MLOs mum with the Agricultural Societies lunch. (Trumpet and District Agricultural Society). Will have to write something about them at some point. Anyway after we are going for a walk, then church in the evening again. Mister Vicar is back from his soggy week at New wine, so will be nice to see a familiar face again.

Right. Here goes my second attempt at last nights disappearing post.

On Monday, MLO and I went to the Royal Welsh Show, near Builth Wells. We started out nice and early, and arrived up there at about quarter to eight, and caught the shuttle bus to the show ground from our car park. Each year several fields are rented from local farmers to act as car parks. This year the view from the park was glorious, although you cant actually see the show-ground from here. Where we were was up on quite a bank, which was great going down but one heck of a slog going back up, and when we went back to our car in the evening there were a few people struggling to get up the hill to the top and their cars, which I thought lacked planning somewhat.

When we arrived at the show, we first stopped to have our breakfast, and went to our usual place, right by the bandstand, and had a coffee, whilst listening to a Welshman singing rousing Welsh tunes. At that point the day seemed to be warming up a little, so we decided to visit the food hall while it was still cool, and most importantly fairly quiet.  There was nothing particularly interesting or different to see in there though, although I did notice that our local vodka distillery had failed to show up. Literally five minutes away from us, in the middle of the Herefordshire countryside, but we have never visited them, or drunk their vodka for that matter, but it is supposedly really rather nice.

Back to the show, we next decided to visit the stock sheds, here, are thousands of animals (sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs) all on show and entered into various competitions for their various individual breeds and across all sheep, cattle etc. The sight of all these animals there on display is amazing, with people having brought them from all across Wales, the borders and farther afield in the hope of a win. Each of the animals there is in its prime, and represent all the best of British breeding and farming, some individual animals there , could be worth in excess of 100,000 guineas, mainly because of their breeding, and the traits and family that they will pass on, most of these animals are used purely for breeding and don't mix with commercial herds or flocks, with the exception of the dairy animals, which are milked two or three times daily along with all the rest of the herd. 

We must have spent about three hours looking round all the stock, MLO saw his cousin who was showing British blue cattle (until a couple of years ago they were called Belgian blues). From there we decided it was time for a nice cup of tea, so visited the National Trust cabin there, with a bit of a tearoom round the side, where a cup of tea or coffee and a piece of various home made cakes only costs £2.50, with all the money going back into the National Trust, so money well spent. Delicious carrot cake too. :-) 

After all that, we decided that a spot of retail therapy was in order and we wandered over to the shopping village, where you can buy anything from mugs, to Barbours, and plants to a brand new tractor. If we had had the money and the inclination to do so, we could have come home with a myriad of utterly useless things. On show in the machinery village, was the debut of the worlds most powerful 4wd tractor, an absolute behemoth of a Massey Ferguson, it was huuuge, but rather nice looking for a tractor.

After that we ended up by the main ring, just in time to see tham judging the shire horses, which were followed by the sheepdog handling, with a champion from England,  Ireland ,Scotland and Wales competing in it, they had to get the dog to take the sheep around a set course with various things that they had to complete, such as getting them through a set of hurdles set in the design of a cross, through a gate, into a holding pen and having to separate, two sheep out of the five, and then one from out of the five, not as easy as it may sound.  After all their efforts, Wales came first, and rather unsurprisingly a huge cheer went up from the grandstand.

The day went quite quickly, but then it always does when you are having fun, and it was soon time to get back home. We left just after six thirty, and called in at a pub just outside Hereford (The Bell at Tillington) for Dinner.They do a mean steak, it was delicious.

On to Tuesday, and most of it was spent at work, so nothing to report there, except for the fact that it was mind numbingly dull and quiet again. Nothing happened, and no-one came in.

Back to Sunday, we went to both the morning and the evening services, the morning one was enjoyable and busy, but the evening on was quieter, being evening worship. We arrived a little late which was quite awkward, and led to a bit of a kerfuffle as everyone budged up to fit us in. The vicar did things a little differently this time, and in addition to the piece of music we listen to , and the hymns, we also sang the psalm. Which was nice. The hymns we sang were quite chanty as well. Very enjoyable all the same though.

Onto today, and my mum came down for the day instead of last Saturday when I was working. I had intended for the three of us to go to Cardiff by train for the day, but it would have cost in excess of £50, a completely unjustifiable amount to me, for an hour by train. So instead we spent the morning in Hereford, we had scrambled egg on toast for breakfast from Cafe at All Saints, then went for a wander round the cathedral. Next stop was White Castle in Monmouthshire, a surprisingly large castle, with  the most amazing moat, incredibly deep and steep sided, and most impressively, it was filled with water. Inside was huge, and despite really not liking heights, I braved the climb to the top of the tower, and was glad I did, as the views were spectacularly beautiful in all directions.  We finished looking round and drove into Abergavveny for a late lunch.

On the way back, we tried to find the church at Garway, but yet again failed miserably. It's there somewhere, I just don't know where. Will try to find again. 

Anyway thats me up to date, may post picture of today, tomorrow as I dont have MLOs phone with me, and I took the pictures on that. My phone is poorly and has been sent to the phone doctor for a diagnosis.

SO, ttfn etc. Bye

How useless am I? somehow I once again failed to update my blog last night. One small consolation is the fact that I did at least post during the daytime. As indeed I am now.
It was mayfair in Hereford last night, and the smell of onions and hotdogs and fairrides was too much to resist. So we had a really good wander round. Unlike most fairs the mayfair in Hereford is held in the city center along the streets and in the middle. The was even a carousel spinning round just inches away from the cathedral. Got a lovely picture of it on MLO's phone. Will try to post it later.

Anyway we had done the shopping before we went round the fair, and after our wander we didnt get home until well after nine. So ate very late. Still it was worth the wait. I had the steak that I was wanting from the other night with a lovely tomato and onion salad. Delicious. MLO has faggots mash and peas. With gravy of course.
Back to this morning and it has been fairly busy so far, which is wonderful. Bit bloomin chilly though, but at least the sun is shining.
I have this weekend off now so will be meeting up with mum tomorrow. Will probably convince her to come down here as rather selfishly I dont want the hassle of going up there. Besides she prefers to come down here anyway. Might just catch a bus somewhere, or even the train to Leominster or Ludlow. Not sure yet which we will do.
If the vicar is present on Sunday will try to get to talk to him. Doubt it somehow though, as there is usually a bit of a conveyor belt of people saying goodbye to us so we cant usually hang around. We will see though.
For a while the pull seemed to quieten down but the last few days it has been getting stronger and stronger. It feels if I dont say something soon it will make me explode. I am full up. I have to tell people. I want people to know how wonderful it all is. I cant help it. It is like when if you are with someone, when you look at then and feel that burst of love for them in your heart, its like that but all the time. It is amazing wonderful and joyous, but too much to keep contained. I feel compelled to tell everyone and to share it. But I also know I need to tell the vicar.
I was originally worried silly what he and anyone else would think, but that seems to have faded away the past few days. It wasnt the right time to say anything any earlier, I think that was the problem and why I felt so uncertain about it all. Now feels like the right time.
Anyway. Had better get back and get some work done. Blogging from my mobile takes a bit longer than via computer, and I have been at it for several minutes.so ttfn etc etc etc.

Well as he promised MLO and I had almost an entire day to ourselves today. A bit of a rare event these days. We started off going into town for a bit of a mooch around. Popped into TKMaxx, nothing much in there. Then we went to Costa coffee for a cuppa (I had tea as usual, and surprisingly for a coffee palce they do lovely tea, Twinings I think). After that we went to look in the Works bookshop (loosely speaking it is), and yet again I managed to find quite a few good books nice and cheap. Bought a lovely book of prayers, the Watkins Dictionary Of Saints, a wonderful book on the life and times of Jesus full of illustrations, photos and maps etc, and finally a lovely big book all about the vatious sacred places around the world in hardback, and the total for all this booklike goodness, fourteen of your English pounds please. Bargain. We then went on to Waterstones for a quick look, but nothing much in there. They did have the SonyReader on display , and would relly rather love one, except for the cost, and having to buy all my books over again in electronic format, which seems a bit of a con if you ask me.

Next we drove up to Dinedor Camp, an Iron Age hill fort just outside of Hereford City . Neither of us had been there before, so were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was up there. The views in all directions are glorious too, right over into Wales and the Brecon Beacons, up to Shropshire and all across beautiful Herefordshire.
Spring had definitely arrived up there too, there were wild violets in flower across the ground like a sweetly scented purple carpet, ladies smock was in flower, there were bluebells in flower too. Lovely woodland. Said to MLO, we will have to come back in the summer and have a picnic up there.
We had a nice leisurely drive back through Dinedor village and Holme Lacy.
After that we both had steak for dinner, I had mine with salad, and he had wis with veggies.
Work again tomorrow, after my long weekend off, but never mind eh. Have said my prayers for this evening, now off to bed to say my night prayers, so night night all.

Today was incredibly wet and dull until about 6:00pm, when the sun came out. Just in time for me to go home and just in time for the weekend. Wonderful. Will be spending tomorrow in Hereford with my mum, so rather glad that the sun decided to come out.
Today was really quite uneventful, really nothing much happened at all.
Customers came and went, came and went, then came and went some more. Must have been the weather. Paddy the old bugger turned up again, moaned about his back, moaned about the weather, moaned about the people who live by him, and then moaned about how much everbody else moans....typical Paddy.
Got a few more followers on Twitter, followed a few more myself. I have found an amusing passtime in Twitter though, putting random words into the search and seeing what comes up, quite amusing at times.
Anyway, have to go and have a shower before I go to bed so should be getting on with that I suppose. So, night night. See you tomorrow.