Author’s Note: I stopped blogging regularly in 2020, but now in 2024, I am using Google Photos, Google Maps timeline, and my old planners to recreate a post about what we were up to each month!
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The start of March coincided with the start of Lent this year. On the 1st, we had pancakes, and on the 2nd it was Ash Wednesday! I attend worship at the local Church in Wales in Monmouth as the Methodists here in the UK aren’t very big on Ash Wednesday worship.
On Sunday I was driving to Trellech for 6:00 worship when I had to pull over to admire and take a photo of the most gorgeous sunset! Usually, photos don’t do this justice but this one did a pretty good job of capturing the magic.
On Tuesday the 8th we viewed properties again for our potential project called “Across the Board.” This time we saw an old bank property that still had the huge safe at the back! I thought that would be so cool to turn into a gaming space that could be rented out for parties or special events. Sadly, this project never came to fruition, but it was fun to dream for a while.
On Saturday we watched the movie Turning Red and we got so inspired by the homemade dumplings one of the characters makes that we literally paused the movie to go make our own! They were delicious, but that was the first and last time we ever did that because boy were they a lot of work.
I volunteered a few times this month with the Trishaw project at Bridges. It is so nice when the weather starts to turn and we can get out on the bikes again!
Friday the 18th dawned gorgeous and sunny so we went into town to shop at the outdoor market. We ended up getting this absolutely delicious breakfast sandwich - it was basically a Full English (minus the beans) on a bun. Then we went back home and worked on cleaning out the garage, fun stuff.
Saturday was another gorgeous day so we went out looking for a nice walk. We decided to return to Cleddon Shoot Falls, and this time the walkway was open so we got a better view!
The next weekend we decided quite randomly that we were going to splurge on a hot tub (a cheap version!) Ever since we went on our short February break that had one, I had been desperately missing having one at home (like we used to all the way back in Fort Dodge.) We knew we couldn’t afford a fancy one but B&Q had an inflatable one for just a couple hundred bucks! Here are Steve and I modeling it at the store.
It claims to fit 4 adults but you can see by the above photo that claim is quite the stretch - you would have to be very cosy! We got it home and set it all up on the back patio. It turned out to be not quite what we wanted - it doesn’t quite get hot enough, topping out at only 39C. But we did enjoy it for a while in Monmouth and a while after moving to Caldicot, before selling it in the fall of 2023.
On Sunday the 27th we did a cafe-style worship at Trellech, which meant we had cake and tea during the service! That was fabulous.
I very rarely buy books, but when I do it’s usually because I am very interested in the topic, I know the author, or in this case, both! (I use “know” loosely, we are connected online.) I love minimalism so I was delighted to purchase and read this book about minimalism from a Christian perspective.
On Tuesday the 29th we had a staff retreat day in Newport. We went to lunch at a restaurant with excellent food and some fun decor, but my eye was mostly caught by the post box that was decorated just outside! People like to knit these post box toppers and I was especially charmed by this Welsh one featuring a dragon, daffodils, and leeks (all symbols of Wales.)
Wednesday found me spending the day in Abergavenny for Presbyteral Synod - our first time having it back in person! I hid up in the balcony for this one for a reason I no longer recall.
The last day of the month was a bit wild weather-wise - I had a meeting in the morning in Monmouth and when I was leaving there was a little bit of snow!
By the late afternoon I was up in Trellech and it was perfectly sunny and clear. And the lambs were super close to the gate! Look how cute they are! I love lamb season.
And that’s about it for March of 2022!
XOXO, Bethany