September is always a big month for me here because it is the start of the Methodist New Year. After a low-key August, September tends to hit like a freight train! This year I appreciate that the 1st fell on a Sunday, which feels like an especially good start to the new year.
On the 1st I led a service at Caldicot, went out to lunch with one of the Chairs of District, led a service at Gwehelog, and then went to the Welcome Service at St. Julian’s where we welcomed 2 new staff members and myself officially as Superintendent. Yes, it was an extremely full day. Here’s a photo of the packed house at St. Julian’s.
Somehow in the midst of all that (after lunch, before Gwehelog) we had some time to kill so we swung by Raglan Castle. We grabbed dessert in the cafe, then I wanted to visit some earrings I have long admired in the gift shop. They are Welsh dragon earrings, made from Welsh gold, and I adore them. I just wanted to look…but then another pair of earrings caught our eyes. I love dangly earrings and Joel usually doesn’t so when we agree on a pair, we pretty much have to buy them! They were a splurge but we decided they were a gift for my becoming Superintendent. I’ve worn them almost daily since!
On Monday the 2nd, Steve came to spend the night while some work was getting done at his place. We had missed hanging out with him for his birthday so we surprised him with a balloon and a sparkler candle stuck in some cherry pie.
On Friday the 6th I attended my first ever Friday Night Magic! Joel has been slowly getting me into Magic the Gathering, so we took our Bloomburrow commander decks to Firestorm Games in Cardiff and played with two random people. They turned out to be awesome and it was a ton of fun - and not just because I won, haha.
On Saturday I attended a lovely coffee morning held in a church member’s beautiful garden, and then in the evening we settled in to watch the Iowa v Iowa State game. It was very exciting this year, coming down to the very last minute! Iowa State ended up winning which means we have to watch 31 scary movies in October.
In the midst of all this I’ve been leading and going to tons of start of the year meeting - the Circuit Leadership Team, the Local Preacher’s Meeting, the Circuit Meeting…and in the midst of all that Joel started to feel bad and then I did, too. I wore a mask to the Circuit Meeting on the 11th, and then finally on Friday the 13th we scrounged up some Covid tests and it turned out we were positive. Whomp, whomp.
Thankfully, I had cancelled some communion services I was supposed to do that week - in a care home and a hospital, and the positive test meant I also missed Synod on Saturday the 14th and the two services I was supposed to lead on the 15th. Thankfully my churches could handle a last minute change - turning them into local arrangements - and I was able to rest without too much worry. I basically spent the next week just sleeping and reading. After church on Sunday a church member dropped off some flowers for me!
By Wednesday the 18th we were feeling slightly better and could finally break our quarantine. We decided to go visit Dewstow Gardens, a nearby place that we’ve been meaning to go to for a long time. The weather was perfect and it was a nice easy going way for us to get back in the real world, for just a bit. We were still very low energy so we just took a nice easy stroll around the beautiful grounds. I think we look happier here than we actually were, haha.
On Saturday the 21st we went to play in a pre-release event for the new Magic set called Duskmourn: House of Horrors. This set is Halloween and Horror movie themed and it is right up my alley. There turned out to be only 4 people at this event (which should have had at least 8) so we ended up getting tons of extra prize packs!
On the 22nd it was the Harvest Festival at Rogiet, and thankfully I could just use all the materials from All We Can for this service - including the sermon. My brain was not back to full function yet after this bout with Covid.
My birthday was a low-key affair this year, in part because I had to work. I almost always take it off, but this year there was a Superintendent’s Training Zoom meeting that I couldn’t skip. My day was brightened up when a knock at the door delivered a large mysterious package and it turned out to be this fabulous balloon sent by Steve!
The next day we had to drive to somewhere past Cardiff for a meeting I had, so we combined it with a trip to a new restaurant, and a shopping trip to IKEA, Costco, and the game store we love in Cardiff. The restaurant was called Foodology and was delicious - luckily I wil have these meeting every other month so we will be back!
On Friday the 27th we went to see Jurassic Park in the cinema in 3D4DX and I got to wear a fabulous dinosaur dress. Then that night we went to Amy and Ben’s for a game night and they celebrated my birthday which was so fun! Amy made a delicious mac and cheese (my favorite food) and we brought the half a chocolate cake from Costco we still had on hand - it had defeated us. They also surprised me with some presents the girls had picked out - all pumpkin themed - and my favorite bit was the handmade cards from the girls. Oh, and Amy asked me to be Hebe’s godmother which is just such a huge honor and I am so excited!!
On Sunday the 29th it was Harvest at Caldicot and Earlswood Valley. This year at Caldicot we had the Scouts joining us so we set up the church with tables and did a more interactive style of worship to really include the kids. I wish I had taken a picture of the set up before everyone got there, but I was so busy prepping things I forgot! Overall it went really well and we still had our usual fabulous displays of fruit and veg as well.
Despite being knocked out with Covid for about a week in the middle, we still managed to pack a lot into September. We are still recovering I think - dealing with a lot of exhaustion, mostly - but hopefully it will clear up soon and we can go into the rest of the year feeling stronger and healthier.
XOXO, Bethany