BST and Pudding party!

Well, spring has sprung in Bath. It's lovely. We went into British summer time a couple of weeks and it makes such a big difference! All of a sudden the darkness of winter has lifted and there's the hope of long summer evenings, and it's light now from about 6-7.30 I think, which is fantastic! Gives you such a boost!

Along with that, the trees are starting to get some leaves back, and there are magnolias and blossom all around. Also tulips and daffodils are out.

I've been thinking a lot about sustainability again, and we had a great talk 2 weeks ago at church on how it's an essential part of Christianity - VERY exciting! Cool to discover that other people are passionate about this and think about it like I do! The guy who spoke was from A Rocha www.arocha.org - have a look.

Last weekend saw the launch of 'Fi's Pudding Parties UK'... after considerable success in NZ with the 3 that I had there, I decided to delve back into the kitchen and make some fun and yummy things... so much more fun than a dinner party! :) The slight British twist was to include games - like twister and jenga - which I wasn't so sure about but went down well. Hehe...

Yup, so, things are going ok. Have been really un-pro-active as far as planning trips goes recently, so not up to much over Easter - might be a spur of the moment thing. But May looks set to be choca-block with busy weekends, yay.

Not much

Well, there's not much of super-importance to report... have been having a few quiet weekends in Bath recently. Last weekend we went for a nice walk near Bath, which was supposed to be 2hrs round, but took us 2.5 to get to the pub at halfway! We took a short-cut home :).
Then were babysitting in the evening for some friends, and they made it a really lovely evening for us - cooked us a very nice meal for two and set the table especially etc, very nice. Then Sunday was church and lunch with the Elviras - good times all round.

Not sure what's on this weekend but the one after should be good - there's the women's breakfast spa at church and I may be going to a salsa ball with some friends!

I seem to have recently become addicted to facebook - so if you're on there, look for me!
Here are some other of those time-wasting things that I'm enrolled in:
bebo
oldfriends
Haven't become a myspacer yet thank goodness!

Hope you're all well and having fun
Fi

Prague Birthday

Hi all,
Thanks for my birthday wishes :)
Though my birthday was on Tuesday, I decided to spread it over the weekend. They have a great policy at work here where you get your birthday day off as authorised leave! So I took Monday off too and had a 4 day weekend (which also makes for a 3 day week - very nice). So on the weekend we went to Prague for two nights. It was fantastic! Great fun, all very easy: perfect for a 3 day trip - public transport very good and everyone spoke English. Prague is beautiful - has amazing architecture, lots of very grandiose buildings - with a mixture of styles of Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau. Lots of little cobbled winding streets - quite magical. We were really lucky with the weather - had two beautiful blue sky sunny days on Sat and Sunday, and it only started to pack up a bit when we were on our way to the airport on Monday. It was really nice as well to go for a trip and not have to have everything super-organised. We just did what we felt like without stressing about things - had enough time to just wander about and get the feel of the place. We especially enjoyed the markets and the cheap food places! We also managed to fit in a trip to the theatre (black light theatre, apparently it's a special Prague thing), a city sightseeing tour, dinner in a gypsy restaurant, and seeing the astrological clock (bit of a let down!).

So we got back on Monday evening, and then I went to watch gladiator with Mim Liz and Pete.
Yesterday (Tuesday) was really chilled - I just wandered round town not being at work, did some baking, then had some pancakes and watched a film with Nathan.

A lovely birthday/birthweekend.
25. Still seems quite old.

Snow!

It was snowing this morning. Very exciting. Except that I found out my shoes leak and had wet socks by the time I got to work :(

Last weekend was a really good one! Went up to London to visit the cousins. But first, randomly, got a call from a mate from back home who was coming to Bath for the weekend! (Kieran O'Leary), so I caught up with him on the Friday night and again on the Sunday afternoon.

In London I had a string of social engagements - my cousins entertaining and organising me made for a very relaxed and enjoyable weekend. Had brunch with Cowan cousins Becca and Emma, then went for a walk in Richmond park while B went for a 2 hour run! (crazy). It's lovely - a massive great park in the middle of London. And it was a lovely day for it.

Then chilled for a bit and watched the rugby before heading out to Efstratiou cousin Mel's for dinner - which was delish. Cousin Marcus, and 2 of Mels friends from Italy joined us (Richard and Ju). Really fun evening, lots of laughter and wine :)

Stayed the night at Mel's and then went off to other Cowan cousin Oli and girlfriend Laura for Sunday lunch, which was again lovely.

After I got back on Sunday afternoon caught up with Kieran again. Went to church, which was a great Holy Spirit time, and am feeling really excited about God now.

Has been another busy week with things on after work though, and I think tonight's just going to be a bit of a chill-out time.

This weekend am staying in Bath, and then next weekend off to Prague for my birthday!!! How exciting!

Back in UK

Well, have arrived back in the UK safely... Had a wonderful holiday - lots of family, friends, sunshine, some sailing, swimming, tramping, relaxing. It couldn't have been better - only longer! Is a bit hard to be back at work, but I'll have to start organising some more trips and things to look forward to now! The weather here is actually pretty nice, which is some consolation :) .

Here are some sailing and tramping photos (isn't NZ great!):