U.K. Day 3 - Houston Day 105

I love England. I want to live here, not in Texas. The downside would be exchanging lovely big kitchen and plenty of parking and lots of sunshine for one-lane roads that pretend to be two-lane, and lots of rain, and everything being more expensive.

Looking out the chapel window

Anyway. I got to Auntie Maria's on Friday (after feeling nearly the whole train journey like I was going to chuck. Pleasant.)  She lives in "Outreach House", a sort of house church. For those of you who know Cornerstone in Australia, think Cornerstone team house. Think of the kind of Christians who love God with their whole lives and show it by investing as much as they can in their local community. Her daily rhythm is made up of study and discussion and silence with her two fellow housemates (a married couple), then working in the only shop in the village, then tutoring kids in Maths in the evenings. They hold slightly larger church gatherings in their house and astonishingly beautiful garden on Sundays. There's a chapel in the garden built by her son, my cousin Derek, which they use for special occasions or solitary meditation or really whenever they feel like it.

She's been taking me around the beautiful Lakes District. Yesterday was rubbish weather (hello England), but today was gorgeous so we took a nice long picnic and walk around Derwent Water. I couldn't believe something could make me so happy just by looking at it.

Our evenings have been spent cozying up with yummy food and hot water bottles (unfortunately, it is cold enough to need them - hello England!) in front of the telly.  We watched a scream of a program on Friday...I think it's just called Miranda...anyway, it was funny....

A lovely weekend with lots of lovely long chats, lots of green hills and water and tiny roads and little stone walls.  There are some people who are always your family, no matter how long and how much change between visits, and most of my English family are like that to me, especially Maria.

More photos by checking out my facebook album - click on this link.
Lakes District photos
Tomorrow I catch the train up to Scotland to see Dad and Jill! Hurrah!