So after a long and complicated couple of days, which I won't go into the details of here, we finally exchanged contracts on the house and will complete on Friday! Wow. We will own 5% of a house (and be borrowing the rest from the bank).
After weeks of not very much happening this is quite a sudden thing, but we're very excited.
Time to pack some boxes, book a van, phone BT, arrange broadband, move utilities, set up redirection, pack some more boxes, hand in notice on the rented house, and a thousand and one other things...none of which involve writing this blog!
Yay!
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Conquering the Glyders
I have now climbed three mountains!
What a weekend. We've had this trip to Snowdonia planned for ages. My sister and her boyfriend invited us to climb Snowdon the hard way (via Crib Goch) months ago and this weekend, it finally came about.
Despite the forward planning, for Sally and I it was all a bit last minute. My "post-viral fatigue" had raised questions about whether or not we would go away, let alone climb a mountain, but we decided that we would at least get out of town and spend a few nights in the company of good friends in a beautiful place.
In the event, we DID attempt to climb Snowdon. We set out on Friday morning with the aim of following the Crib-Goch-scrambling party to the start of the difficult bit, and then following an easier track (the Pyg Track) from there on our own steam.
I quite quickly gave up and didn't make it far past the point at which we split up. My legs got really tired and I just didn't feel like I'd make it very far.
However, on Saturday I tried again - the party headed out to climb Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr - the other side of the valley from Snowdon, and I went with them with the intention of going as far as I felt comfortable. With a bit of encouragement from the others I kept on going and did a whole 7 hours walk, climbing a total of 800m over a distance of about 10km. Not bad for an invalid - climbing something higher than Scafell.
It was a good scramble. We headed up into mist at first and the unclear footpath we were trying to follow lead to some difficult, if unexposed, scrambling. However, the mist cleared once we got to the second peak and we were rewarded with some awesome views of Snowdon and
I WAS shattered today though and the drive back was very hard work.
My health is an odd thing. It feels like Friday's aborted attempt at Snowdon kickstarted my body a bit - made it realise that, at some point, it would have to stop moping around and get on and do some physical work. I'm also not sure how much of what I'm going through is psychological and how much is really physical.
Anyway, health issues aside, I've had a cracking weekend. Snowdonia is beautiful, the hostel was comfortable and the food good, we had lots of fun, and there was a bit of me that looked up at Crib Goch and REALLY wanted to climb it.
There's something in us that wants to explore, to experience danger, to go to the difficult place. We'll definitely be back at some point!
What a weekend. We've had this trip to Snowdonia planned for ages. My sister and her boyfriend invited us to climb Snowdon the hard way (via Crib Goch) months ago and this weekend, it finally came about.
Despite the forward planning, for Sally and I it was all a bit last minute. My "post-viral fatigue" had raised questions about whether or not we would go away, let alone climb a mountain, but we decided that we would at least get out of town and spend a few nights in the company of good friends in a beautiful place.
In the event, we DID attempt to climb Snowdon. We set out on Friday morning with the aim of following the Crib-Goch-scrambling party to the start of the difficult bit, and then following an easier track (the Pyg Track) from there on our own steam.
I quite quickly gave up and didn't make it far past the point at which we split up. My legs got really tired and I just didn't feel like I'd make it very far.
However, on Saturday I tried again - the party headed out to climb Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr - the other side of the valley from Snowdon, and I went with them with the intention of going as far as I felt comfortable. With a bit of encouragement from the others I kept on going and did a whole 7 hours walk, climbing a total of 800m over a distance of about 10km. Not bad for an invalid - climbing something higher than Scafell.
It was a good scramble. We headed up into mist at first and the unclear footpath we were trying to follow lead to some difficult, if unexposed, scrambling. However, the mist cleared once we got to the second peak and we were rewarded with some awesome views of Snowdon and
I WAS shattered today though and the drive back was very hard work.
My health is an odd thing. It feels like Friday's aborted attempt at Snowdon kickstarted my body a bit - made it realise that, at some point, it would have to stop moping around and get on and do some physical work. I'm also not sure how much of what I'm going through is psychological and how much is really physical.
Anyway, health issues aside, I've had a cracking weekend. Snowdonia is beautiful, the hostel was comfortable and the food good, we had lots of fun, and there was a bit of me that looked up at Crib Goch and REALLY wanted to climb it.
There's something in us that wants to explore, to experience danger, to go to the difficult place. We'll definitely be back at some point!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Still not right!!!
It's been nearly a month now since I was up all night being sick...the "flu-like virus" has mostly gone away but, as anyone who's been watching my Facebook status will tell you, I still have the odd bad day. Tonight has been a particularly bad evening with me collapsing in bed and feeling like I'm right back at square one.
The doctor doesn't seem surprised and a little bit of web research (dangerous as you could probably self-diagnose pretty much anything) shows that "post viral fatigue" is not uncommon and can last a long time.
But it's very frustrating. I've been surprised at how much my life is defined by physical activity. I miss my cycling and I'm unable to do much that's strenuous at all. I tried cycling yesterday, about 4 miles worth at a very slow pace. Perhaps that what's killed me off this evening?
It's stressing me out a bit as we're buying the house...probably real soon now...and I won't be up to much packing and cleaning and shifting big boxes around. Plus, I don't know what the future holds - I guess I'll slowly recover but if there is something more long-term wrong with me, is taking on a mortgage such a good thing?
Only time will tell I guess. In the meantime we press on with our plans in faith that God will stop us if we're doing the wrong thing.
The doctor doesn't seem surprised and a little bit of web research (dangerous as you could probably self-diagnose pretty much anything) shows that "post viral fatigue" is not uncommon and can last a long time.
But it's very frustrating. I've been surprised at how much my life is defined by physical activity. I miss my cycling and I'm unable to do much that's strenuous at all. I tried cycling yesterday, about 4 miles worth at a very slow pace. Perhaps that what's killed me off this evening?
It's stressing me out a bit as we're buying the house...probably real soon now...and I won't be up to much packing and cleaning and shifting big boxes around. Plus, I don't know what the future holds - I guess I'll slowly recover but if there is something more long-term wrong with me, is taking on a mortgage such a good thing?
Only time will tell I guess. In the meantime we press on with our plans in faith that God will stop us if we're doing the wrong thing.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Naturewatch: Web Building!
Possibly not for the arachnophobic. Some action shots of the fat spider building a web. The sun was shining down and making the web glisten so I thought I'd try and catch it on, err, well not film exactly, but you know what I mean.
The reason I'm a bit fanatical about spiders is that...well...they're just amazing. They have these 8 legs and they build this super-strong web thing with stuff that they naturally produce to catch their food. The co-ordination required to spin a web is phenomenal, combined with their apparent ability to fly between high places to put up the initial outer structure of the web. Watching it happen is just incredible.
I am someone who believes in God and, though I don't believe the literal 7-day creation, I do believe that God created the natural world around us, and when I see something like a spider spinning a web I can only watch in awe at the detail and intricacy with which God made things.
The reason I'm a bit fanatical about spiders is that...well...they're just amazing. They have these 8 legs and they build this super-strong web thing with stuff that they naturally produce to catch their food. The co-ordination required to spin a web is phenomenal, combined with their apparent ability to fly between high places to put up the initial outer structure of the web. Watching it happen is just incredible.
I am someone who believes in God and, though I don't believe the literal 7-day creation, I do believe that God created the natural world around us, and when I see something like a spider spinning a web I can only watch in awe at the detail and intricacy with which God made things.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Book: Prayer by Phillip Yancey
This book was recommended as a good read on prayer but didn't live up to expectations.
Before I wrote these notes on it I did some searching and it's hard to find a bad review of the book. And I have to say that, despite the slow start to it, the book did grow on me as I read it, and it did inspire me to pray more and differently. But it was with relief that I finished it. It was just REALLY hard going.
This is probably more a reflection on me than on the book. Let me explain...
Much as my writing is very long and waffly, I like my reading to be concise and to the point. I like stories and illustrations, but they should help make the point rather than clog up the book and make it slow going and repetitive. Plus, I read non-fiction books like this slowly and carefully, taking everything in, underlining what's important, so I don't need the same point to be made several times.
You can probably work out that I thought that this book was too heavy on anecdotes, too light on simple, to-the-point theology, and too repetitive. The book IS a meandering journey rather than a write up of the destination. It's a discussion rather than a sermon.
In a book like this it is sometimes important to reinforce a point but, particularly in the early chapters, I found Yancey going round in circles without making much real progress. After reading about a third of it I wondered what I was going to get from it other than lots of questions and fairly stock answers.
I found later chapters were a bit more practical and inspiring and Yancey's honesty and openness about his struggles with prayer really make the book. By the end I has the feeling that he has somehow gained some mastery of the topic and he had managed to share it with me. I just wish it hadn't taken him so many words to do it.
I didn't find many points to disagree on, though Yancey's theology is obviously very open. He's not afraid to tackle the difficult questions, and not afraid to leave you without a firm answer either.
I'd like to see an edited version distilling his findings into a much shorter work. But worth reading if you have the time.
Before I wrote these notes on it I did some searching and it's hard to find a bad review of the book. And I have to say that, despite the slow start to it, the book did grow on me as I read it, and it did inspire me to pray more and differently. But it was with relief that I finished it. It was just REALLY hard going.
This is probably more a reflection on me than on the book. Let me explain...
Much as my writing is very long and waffly, I like my reading to be concise and to the point. I like stories and illustrations, but they should help make the point rather than clog up the book and make it slow going and repetitive. Plus, I read non-fiction books like this slowly and carefully, taking everything in, underlining what's important, so I don't need the same point to be made several times.
You can probably work out that I thought that this book was too heavy on anecdotes, too light on simple, to-the-point theology, and too repetitive. The book IS a meandering journey rather than a write up of the destination. It's a discussion rather than a sermon.
In a book like this it is sometimes important to reinforce a point but, particularly in the early chapters, I found Yancey going round in circles without making much real progress. After reading about a third of it I wondered what I was going to get from it other than lots of questions and fairly stock answers.
I found later chapters were a bit more practical and inspiring and Yancey's honesty and openness about his struggles with prayer really make the book. By the end I has the feeling that he has somehow gained some mastery of the topic and he had managed to share it with me. I just wish it hadn't taken him so many words to do it.
I didn't find many points to disagree on, though Yancey's theology is obviously very open. He's not afraid to tackle the difficult questions, and not afraid to leave you without a firm answer either.
I'd like to see an edited version distilling his findings into a much shorter work. But worth reading if you have the time.
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