September is always a busy month as it is the start of the Methodist New Year, thus packed with meetings, and it’s my birthday! The first couple days this year were all about work, but then I took my delayed quarter days from August and went up to Leeds! My friends Annie and Meg just moved here to work as Methodist ministers, and I wanted to visit them. It helps that Annie is living 20 minutes from our friends Vince and Joan, and Meg only another hour and a half towards the coast, so we have more people to see in one area!
I went by myself this time so Joel could focus on selling magic cards, and it was a close call getting there in the car. This was the battery after parking in Vince and Joan’s driveway!
We had lunch at The Cheesy Living Co, then I took a nap before we went out for the evening. We went to Haworth and had dinner at the Treehouse Pub before going to the Fleece Inn for a weekly storytelling evening. I brought my knitting and enjoyed getting some done while listening to the stories.
The next day was meant to be picking up Annie and then going to see Meg, but plans fell through last minute so just Annie and I spent the day together. I got to see her new manse and then I took Annie to Costco to get her membership! We had lunch with Vince and Joan at an adorable cafe, I figured they should all be friends since Annie is living only 20 minutes from them!
After that we walked to pick up Annie’s son from school, then visited one of her churches. Her five year old did a great job getting a picture of us outside of the church!
Annie wanted to take me up to see one of the moors that Yorkshire is so famous for, but I didn’t want to drive because my car needed every moment of charging (on a slow charger) so I could get home the next day. So Annie got really brave and drove her car! She did a great job and the view at the top was totally worth it!
After brunch with Vince and Joan on Saturday morning, I drove home in time to watch the annual Iowa vs. Iowa State game with Joel. This year I was excited to wear a special t-shirt I bought when I was in Iowa in January. Sadly, it didn’t bring my Hawkeyes good luck and we lost.
On Sunday the 7th we had a cafe church that focused on care for creation. The craft for the day was making creation collages and they turned our beautiful! (Although you can tell which ones the adults worked on versus the ones by the kids, lol.)
The next week was pretty much just focused on work. The only photos I have are of dresses I was posting for sale on Vinted. Come Saturday the 13th it was time for Synod, which was held in Aberystwyth this year! That meant a 3 hour drive to attend a 6 hour meeting and then another 3 hour drive home. Thankfully, Joel went with me as my chauffeur. The day was alternately rainy and sunny which led to us seeing at least a dozen rainbows throughout the day! That definitely made the drive more fun.
During the lunch break Joel and I popped down to the seaside for a walk which was windy but lovely. The boardwalk meant we could walk right by the water without having to get on the sand. Towards the end of our walk we bumped into Andy Walker, who was the minister at the first church we attended in Wales and is a huge part of the reason we live here now! It was so lovely to have a catch up with him, even though it was all too short.
On Tuesday the 16th, I went to coffee morning at church to find a huge collection of hand knit cardigans on display. One of our members visited her sister-in-law, who apparently spends all of her time knitting and had 4 huge wardrobes full of cardigans! They were giving them away in exchange for a donation to the church. I was excited to get 4 gorgeous handmade pieces, including this one that matched the dress I was wearing perfectly!
On Friday the 19th, we went to Amy & Ben’s for a game night. I was able to break in my new magic deck that Joel created for my birthday! The commander is “Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant” which is just perfect. It’s a life gain deck and it won both games this night!
On Sunday I led worship at Crosskeys and Broad Oak, the two furthers apart churches on our circuit. Broad Oak was having their Harvest service and I was impressed by this display of wheat, barley, and rye from local farms.
It all worked out nicely because Broad Oak is about 10 minutes from Amy & Ben. So Joel and Ben headed off to the Spiderman pre-release in Newport while after worship I hung out with Amy, the kids, and the puppy. Rollo was being extra sweet and he even snuggled with me when I was reading on the couch.
On the 23rd we went out for an early birthday celebration and got a full English breakfast and then tried a new Welsh cake flavour - chocolate and pistachio! This is hands down my new favourite and I need to keep an eye on their Facebook page so I know when to go get it.
On my actual birthday, the 24th, we had an epic day in Birmingham! We did the mystery guide which took us all over the city centre.
The city library was absolutely gorgeous from the outside. I think it kind of looks like a fancy wedding cake!
The inside was fantastic as well, with elevators and fairy lights, and a secret garden on the roof! This wasn’t on the mystery guide but I’m so glad we went in to explore.
Funnily enough, there were at least 4 other groups doing the mystery guide on a random Wednesday, so when we were too close to people we stopped for a snack. A nearby restaurant was advertising their “famous Brummie bacon cake” so we had to give that a go. It was absolutely delicious. Warm bread filled with bacon and cheese and topped with tons of butter? What’s not to love!
We finished the Mystery Guide at pub and celebrate with a pint of raspberry pineapple cider (yum!) and a hot chocolate.
Then we went to see Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. It was a very enjoyable way to pass the time until the main event, the reason we went to Birmingham, which was to see the ballet! We had tickets to Black Sabbath: The Ballet. It wasn’t quite as good as I wanted it to be - they never played a full song and the second act was filled with a lot of talking, almost like they were dancing to a documentary playing in the background. But still, I love the ballet and it was enjoyable! All in all it was fantastic 39th birthday!
On Friday the 26th it was back to Amy and Ben’s, and this time we finally played the Cluedo Magic game! This was an epic twist on normal Magic, where you play a game but are also trying to solve the murder mystery. It gave me a hit of nostalgia as Clue was my favourite game growing up, and combining it with my favourite game as an adult was fantastic! We hope to play this version again soon.
On Sunday the 28th it was time for two Harvest Festivals! One at Caldicot, where they had this adorable display on the altar…
And one at Penycaemawr, where they had a gorgeous display that mixed fresh produce with donations for the local food bank.
That evening, Amy and I went to see Hamilton in the cinema and it was so good! I’ve seen this version like half a dozen times, but it was so great to see it on the big screen. Amy said she preferred it to the live version she saw in Cardiff earlier this year. It was fun to have the cast reflections before the showing as well!
On Monday the 29th, I rounded out the Harvest trilogy with the annual Harvest supper at Rogiet.
Overall September was a fantastic birthday month!
XOXO, Bethany