First Impressions

It sure does rain on the moor and in our garden!

Thank goodness for webcams - otherwise I would begin to believe we are in the wettest place in Devon. But with the push of a button I can see that it is raining just as hard at both the north and south coast. It is wonderful for the plants that moved home with us and have, until now, been struggling to settle in. I wonder about the grass as this is gradually turning blacker and blacker as a result of a lawn treatment two weeks ago. Perhaps there wasn't any lawn to feed and it was all weed! We will just have to wait and see.

We are recovering from a busy weekend which started with the licensing service for The Curate with the New Bishop on Friday night. I was fortunate to have the company of two old friends who now live close by and youngest son and his girlfriend because The Curate was rather occupied during the service. I haven't quite got to grips with the feeling of being a spare part now that The Curate is a curate and walking into this new church for the first time, nobody recognised me. We attempted to slide into a pew halfway down the church but The Curate caught us and ushered us to the front pew. This is the worst seat in the house because you are supposed to know what you are doing -like when to stand up and when to sit down. You have to pay attention and it is definitely not the place for making any observational comments about the proceedings as you are in full view of everyone. Even in the front pew no one came to say hello until the New Bishop recognised me and came over to have a light hearted chat. Perhaps that then identified me as 'The Curate's wife' and one or two others from our new church came to say hello.

Quite what the new church thought about the bus load of people from our old church filling a large part of the building, I can't say. But we thought it was brilliant - to be surrounded by so many familiar well wishers made for an excellent atmosphere and the singing was tremendous. They were impressed with the modern technology and the use of the space in this old moorland church and many commented on how they would like overhead screens in their church. Maybe this trip has sown a few seeds.

We shared refreshments afterwards where we were able to chat and say good bye again and issue lots of invitations to come and visit - after all we are only just over an hour down the road. The Curate eventually caught up with us at home where we had a very convivial evening round the kitchen table late into the night. It was a memorable start to living here. The New Bishop had given a wonderfully encouraging talk and said that The Curate must be looked after as he was 'a gift'. I am still pondering on this!

The Curate has been busy introducing himself to people around us and finding out about our neighbours. He is extremely pleased to find that one neighbour arranges the Steam Fair and has a keen interest in traction engines and another has a large motor bike and boat sitting on his drive. When talking to this latter chap, The Curate suggested that they should go out on a ride together as he also had an interest in bikes. The neighbour supposed that The Curate had something like a Honda 125 and was a little taken aback when The Curate said (just as he was leaving) that his bike was actually a 1340 Harley Davidson. 

Church on Sunday was another chance to meet people and they were very welcoming. It will take a while to find my feet and my role in all of this. I can't use the excuse of working away to avoid things now. So maybe I'll have to get rid of any reluctance and role up my sleeves! We still have a few things to sort out in the house. We have the best furnished garage in town. The garden is over shadowed by tall trees that have protected status because they are a 'public amenity' and must be kept at a height for the public to see! Somehow we have to manage the hedges. It does rain a lot.....but now The Curate and I can live together.  There is no leaving on Monday morning and that is worth a thousand sunny days.