So that was Christmas

Happy December 29th everybody. I write this from the dining table of the home of my parents-in-law, with a half-eaten tub of Quality Street looming in my peripheral vision. I am staying strong. I've opted for a honey and lemon instead, to soothe the stomach and the soul after too much of everything else.

I hope you all had a merry and enjoyable Christmas, and that you were able to be near to your loved ones. Ours has been spent in a kind of suspended animation in Norfolk, and very enjoyable it's been, too.

There has been a lovely trip to Center Parcs (of which more later), presents aplenty, Christmas day paddles in the sea, board games, and much food, wine and merriment.

We will be heading back up to Chester (probably) tomorrow morning. No doubt there will be a few Sorry We Missed You cards from Royal Mail on our doorstep, but other than that we step into slightly unknown territory. (But only slightly.) Sarah will be returning to a mad week of mega-shifts at work and I will be returning to... no work at all.

For better or worse, we've not spent too much time worrying (read thinking) about our less-than-ideal job situation. After all, it will be waiting for us in Chester, right? When we get back there will be a few things to consider: What kind of job do I want? Which (if either) of us should be looking at a full time job? Is this the year for a 'sensible career move' or to be bold and daring? Or perhaps both? 

Answers in 2015, I think.

Thanks to all who let us know your Christmas traditions. Opening one gift on Christmas Eve seems to be a classic. On a culinary note, cheesy leeks to accompany Christmas Dinner is tr aditional for some. Sleeping in front of the Christmas tree and staging a family play were two of the more avant-garde suggestions.

We're still working on ours. We all got new pyjamas, as anticipated, in the run-up to Christmas. I'm wearing mine now, in fact.

Adam

Don't worry. It can't be as bad as last year.

So it's December, and in the lead up to Christmas we find ourselves at a point which causes us to think about the year gone by - particularly what we were doing this exact time last year. I had to pause last weekend as I saw the a jumper for my twenty-something brother. He is cool. I must be even cooler as he permits me to choose clothes for him. I saw this jumper, bought it and then thought, "Oh no, did I get him the exact same one last year? The same colour and vibe?" Hmm. Only time will tell.

Other things are also similar yet different in our lives this year. Come January, Adam will once again be without a job. He handed in his notice this week. The company he worked for changed to a shift pattern system which included weekends and evenings. As much as we looked a various combinations for how to work it, it just didn't fit with our family life and commitments.

The management were actually very kind and are sorry to see him go and will be writing a good reference. So this isn't exactly the best of Christmas gift but we have a strange peace about it. And as the title suggests 'it isn't as bad as last year'.

Last year in December we left Nottingham for Chester. Neither of us had jobs, we didn't have house, our furniture was in storage and we lived with friends in a small three bed house for a month with our five month old son and four year old daughter. This was a real low. However, once you have this as your bed-rock 'times are difficult' place, the only way is up. This year, okay, Adam doesn't have a job, but I do and we have a house. We also have increased faith that God has got our back in the good and bad times. This is an entry from diary last year:

Saturday 14th December 2013

We are on the move, packing as I write this and soon putting boxes on the van.

God's provision has already been immense. Sums of money in the last 8 weeks have featured an unmarked envelope of cash on by desk (£100), an anonymous letter full of notes through the front door (£500), a £1000 transfer to our bank account from a couple we barely know and now in last ten mins another £500 in cash through the door. I'm hope people are aware that we're not drug barons. 

The current total in the last three weeks, given to us: £2250. 

As it turned out, we were given around double that amount during our move to Chester.

As we enter the festive season we are of course a little nervous about next month but it could also be a great opportunity. Who knows, Adam may actually get a job is passionate about (this would be a copywriter, editor, designer, just in case you know of anything going). And even though things aren't exactly rosy, there is one family who had an even rougher Christmas 2,000 years ago. I can't get over the fact that May travelled so far on a donkey. At 38 weeks pregnant the bus used to make me feel queasy. They were also kind of homeless and ended up having a 'stable/shack birth', when still the idea of a home-birth freaks me out a little. 

So we are thankful and joyful. We have an incredible community around us here, who are part of Vineyard 53 (our church) and we have amazing loving families. We also have so many generous, supportive friends, both old and new. 

Grandma K on damage control in a very festive garden centre.

Esther is appearing as Mary in her first nativity and we are expecting it to be full-on hilarious. She has asked if she is required to the 'pop the baby out' but we said no need to bother, we think you will find him under your chair or something.

We have also been falling slowly more in love Chester this year. Vineyard 53 had the opportunity last Saturday to run an activity tent in the middle of the highly acclaimed Chester Christmas market. We offered a range of three different crafts, all of which could be done of free. We had 108 children in and out of the tent from the hours of 11am - 3pm and we had great chats with the grown-ups too. 

This Saturday Adam and folk from the church are singing carols in Ellesmere Port, with a giveaway of festive treats and warms drinks for the shoppers. On Sunday morning we are holding a Christmas Party for some children who are part of a Sunday kids' church we help run in a community centre. Lots of fun to be had.

Hopefully next time I write I will be reporting a flood of interviews for Adam, beautiful pics of our short (already paid for) trip to Center Parcs, and more answers to prayer. 

Much love,

Sarah K

Autumn

Autumn has happened. It's been fairly mild here and many parts of the country experienced the mildest Halloween since records began.

Esther has only asked to wear her gloves three times thus far, and she has cold hands.

Things have been busy this term. The biggest difference to our family life is that I have a part-time job. It's going well, and has really helped pay for Christmas treats, and kind of let us live again.  I am a deli assistant in an Italian restaurant. I get to eat lots of yummy traditional, regional, high quality Italian food. I like this. The major blow of a part-time hospitality job is the mandatory weekend work. Even though most regularly I only work Saturday evenings, it can make weekend trips up North, to the Midlands or to the South tricky. I do feel very lucky though as the staff are great and the management do accommodate where they can.

Autumnal adventures at Erddig, featuring over 130 varieties of apple!

Eliot has started in nursery for two days a week. This has helped him no end and he doesn't even cry when we drop him off now, nor is he particularly bothered when I go to pick him up. The flow of my week, now that I only have the kids three days, seems rapidly fast. I am hoping it will force me to plan better, as if not friendships, time with Adam and for myself could get squeezed out.

We did plan enough to do Halloween hot dogs for our street. Even though Halloween isn't really on our radar in terms of celebrations, it is and now will always be an annual excuse for hot-dogs. There have been a number of people moving in and out of the street, and we hoped this would be a good way to meet those who we had not yet seen. Now there are some slight complication to meeting new people on halloween. Some costumes are very convincing, especially zombies. So unless people look like the walking dead on a Monday morning, identifying them is interesting. We were really touched that a new couple on the street who we only met the week before came out and helped us do the hotdogs and bought half the food. Eliot and I posted little invitations a few days before. He was hoping to see some dogs. He loves dogs. We were chuffed that over five families came and said 'hi' and complimented us on our efforts. I even cooked the onions well.

He also likes donkeys. And giraffes. And turtles.

I have just asked Adam how he is; his answer was 'that's a big question'. On the whole he's feeling positive. He has started hanging out weekly with some friends to make some music, which has been great fun. November/December means lots to do in terms of planning and scheduling. We have Esther's party in a couple of weeks (previously we have gone big with her birthdays - we may have set a difficult president for ourselves). Our church have a few things coming up in the next couple of weeks and Adam will be on carol-playing overload come December. It's a challenge, having busy lives, but helped by reflection, communication and forward planning.

We are really enjoying running the kids' church twice monthly in a community centre. Seeing the kids having fun, making new friendships, building in confidence and learning about Jesus is a privilege to be part of. Our church recently put on a fireworks evening which was cold, yummy and colourful. We had over 100 people in our friends' house, filtering through the kitchen, utility room and garden. Spectacles included homemade toffee apples, firework-shaped biscuits, bead crafts for the kids, eating doughnuts from a washing line, toasting marshmallows, sparklers and of course the fireworks themselves.

So, onward to the start of the festive season. We are adding to our family tradtions in the run up to this period. One firmly set in place in the giving of new pyjamas on the week leading up to Christmas. We often visit family over the Christmas period and appropriate nightwear is a must. Adam and I went to see a local festive theatre production called The Flint Street Nativity. It was very funny. Although for me, I cannot fully engage with Christmas until Esther's birthday is over. Adam can engage with festive merriment anytime from September.

What are your family traditions? Suggestions in the comments below!

Our first Chester summer - in (lots of) pictures.

A favourite pastime for Esther and Daddy, baking and making a mess. This particular session lead to yummy thin cheese straws.

Getting out around Chester, we ventured to Hawarden pick-you- own farm. There were strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries when we visited. The cafe was incredible, filled with locally sourced, handmade goodies.

Delamere Forest has become a firm favourite for a family outing. This summer it has also been home to the Gruffalo trail.  The trees are big and the sky is wide; it's a delight to see the kids in wellies building dens. There is another lovely cafe here too, essential on an autumn day for a cuppa after a ramble among the ferns. You pay for parking as the woods is maintained by the Forestry Commission. There are workshops and special events running all year round.

The World Cup came and went, quickly. Our church was screening all the England games (of which there were fewer than hoped). There was a great atmosphere, the weather was fair and the sausages good.

Eliot turned one. He is a wild man. We love him. (Daddy made a slightly lopsided cake.)

Esther started full-time school in early September. She loves it - she is a real extrovert and also a little wild.

Adam made some great decorating efforts in our little rented house. Washi tape is a must to achieve this wall. He is a creative crafty guy.

I also turned a certain age this summer and to celebrate I had a royalty themed party, fact or fictional royalty that is. People made a good effort. There were two Queens of Hearts, both with hand-made costumes. Two queen bees, Freddie Mercury, Hamlet, Marie Antoinette and can you guess how the picture above links to the theme? Yes thats's right - this crazy pair came as a king sized bed.

The aptly themed card based game, Emperor/Pauper. (Guess which is which.)

So there you have (some of) our first summer in Chester. There was a lot more fun stuff, but you'll have to take our word for it. Now Autumn is seems to be here in earnest, we'll try to be better at keeping you updated. 

It's a Journey

Sorry it's been such a long time since we posted. Life happened.

At the end of May we set out in this blog our idea for a community cafe. We had some sort of plan and had started seeking professional advice on how to take it forward. However, it all kind of sizzled out when we couldn't see any hope of ever securing a venue where we wanted it. We enlisted the help of a social enterprise expert who also deals with all the property and assets where we live. They have run into this problem time and time again with people wanting to start businesses but realising there is nowhere actually to do it.

Upstairs At The Grill

We had the privilege of reviewing another fantastic Chester restaurant. The full review is available on the Independent Chester site. In the meantime, here are some photos from Upstairs At The Grill to whet your appetite.

DIY Dal Recipe

It was National Healthy Eating week last week. If I were a more organised blogger I would have had some great post to tie in with it. Well, here it is.

Dal (or dahl*) is fantastic because it's cheap, tasty, adaptable and full of protein. It's also great because both our children will eat it (well, providing that Eliot is in the mood to eat anything apart from biscuits.)

The DIY in this recipe stands for 'Do It Yesterday'. Having a second child means that our dinner time has gone forward to about 5:45. Because we value eating together as a family it means we either need to eat something that can be cooked quickly (like spaghetti in tomato sauce, our eternal standby) or something that's already been prepared. So we're working on a repertoire of 'Do It Yesterday' dishes. I tend to cook something up on a Sunday evening to eat later on in the week - tonight I will be cooking Jack Monroe's Pork Kokkinisto to eat together tomorrow.

Recipe after the jump...