Finally we have internet access in the comfort of our own home and I can write whenever I choose! So much has happened in the past two months. We’ve met all our neighbours and made friends with quite a few! I have started work and am really enjoying it although it is absolutely exhausting, particularly with the long commute, Dave has started college and has had his first week of lectures. We’ve had a holiday in France with Caroline and Tony and have seen another couple get married – wedding number 9 of 11 this year – french weddings are amazing – 7 course meal, 4 different wines and lots of singing But we’ve also been experiencing difficulties as we start this chapter - you might say spiritual attack – where we’re most vulnerable. We had a horrific ferry crossing back from France and a long journey home. Since then, Dave hasn’t been well with symptoms of glandular fever rearing their ugly heads and I have had several diificulties with the car; flat tyres, MOT problems – things that on the surface seem to be average problems to most but affect me greatly as I rely on the car to get to work and one of my greatest concerns has been struggling to maintain it. BUT all things considered, we are well, the community we are in cares for us greatly and we are very happy. We’re back to Leeds this weekend for Jo and Al’s wedding and look forward to catching up with friends. Please bear with us as we settle in – we will keep writing!

Compared to Leeds, Durham is an oasis of calm and tranquility. It is so quiet. We’re slowly unpacking boxes and assembling flat pack furniture. We’ve just joined the fantastic local library and now have sporadic access to internet, hence this post. We need to set up broadband access at home but are still awaiting a landline number from BT before we can do that. We had many vouchers left over from the wedding and these are coming in handy as we buy furniture and electrical equipment – with some B&Q vouchers, we have obtained a chiminea and are looking forward to nights in our tiny garden, burning all the cardboard from our packing and toasting marhmallows!

We have met some of our neighbours, a Dutch couple Jan and Myemke (we think that is how you spell them both!) – Jan is an ordinand and Myemke is a research student at Newcastle. They make great coffee! Ian and Mickey are another couple – Ian again the ordinand and Mickey works in customer services at the Halifax bank. They are originally from the Wakefield Diocese and its good to hear broad Yorkshire accents amidst all the North Easterns voices. Most people in the cul-de-sac are either away on holiday or haven’t yet moved in. This gives us a chance to settle in quietly and as term starts there will be plenty of occasions to meet all these new people. One thing we have noticed about the North East is the friendliness of all the locals; in shops, they don’t simply serve you, they ask you how you are and have a chat. We can’t get over it after being in a city where people keep their heads down and get on with it. It’s lovely.

We’re enjoying the glorious weather and the fact that we have time free to do as we choose, something that won’t last long, I’m sure!!

After months of thinking about moving and weeks of purging the clutter from our belongings, we have finally packed up all our worldly goods and made our weary way up to Durham. We arrived at our new house to find that the doors were unlocked (a novelty coming from Leeds, but I suppose is sort of normal in Durham) and the removal men were busy unloading all our stuff. Anyway, have nothing much to write cos we haven’t done anything yet (apart from put different boxes in different rooms!) but we will do once we have accomplished great things…

We have 6 more weeks left in Leeds before we relocate to Durham and start a new chapter in our life. After a break in August, Dave will commence ordination training at Cranmer Hall in September and I will be working at a Sixth Form College in Middlesbrough as a student mentor. We have set up this blog so those who support us in prayer or financially will be able to keep up with what is going on with us.