It’s been a long time, getting from there to here. It’s been a long time, but my time is finally near … I will see my dreams come alive at last, I will touch the sky! No they’re not gonna hold me down no more, no they’re not gonna change my mind …

OK, I’ll stop there. I was really just trying to point out what you all already know – that I haven’t blogged for ages… but I got a bit waylaid by the “Enterprise” theme tune.

Actually, to say I haven’t blogged is technically untrue. I did blog – I wrote half of ‘The Coastal Odyssey Part 2′ – but I’ve just gone in to complete it and WordPress has eaten it all! Almost 2 months on from ROOTS (the odyssey in question), I can hardly bear the thought of reaching so very far back in my brain to find the details. Suffice to say there was a tent, there was a lot of rain (inside the tent too), there was the loveliest team you could ever wish to work with, and there was, of course, a lot of prayer… and there were some very fine T-shirts bearing our hallowed brand. I feel I have made it, now that I have been involved in something which has made its way on to a T-shirt.

And since then? Well, here are the highlights:

Crewe: 2 days with lovely friends and lovely Goddaughter. Also encountered friend’s new guide dog, and Hugo took great exception. It’s not looking good for his forthcoming retirement if he can’t cope with youngster dogs

Work: has taken me to Nottingham and Birmingham since last I wrote.

Birthdays: Well, one in particular (not mine), which took me to York for the weekend. We investigated Vikings, walked around the Minster, bought tourist-price fudge and ate Yorkshire puddings… all the things you really should do in York.
(For the more mathematically aware amongst you: The fudge-selling man was heard to utter the words: “It’s between £3.75 and £4.50 per slab, so if you buy 7 slabs that would normally come out at £43, but I’ll let you have it at a special rate of £20 just for today!” !!! By my reckonning that’s a rather less spectacular discount than he purported it to be!)

Theatre: I have bridged the spectrum of artistic ingenuity, with a trip to see ‘Titanic the Musical’ (nothing to do with Jack and Rose but yes the ship still sinks), ‘Never Forget’ (the Take That! musical which had me crying with a mixture of laughter and despair… the cheese! the cheese!), Rodgers with an H (a show about the Rodgers of Hart and Hammerstein fame, acted in by my two beloved fellow house-dwellers, who were awesome), and Lord of the Rings stage show (which was breathtaking and amazing and well worth seeing if you can get there before it closes on 19th July).

House: The ever-present building work is … err … ever-present. We are currently in the deeply frustrating position of having some building work ready to go, but of being able to find no-one who wants to do it. How does that work???!!!
However – one must celebrate the small victories, so I am celebrating the new pew in the hallway (new to us, less new to the church we acquired it from), the many sections of newly-plastered wall, the new step into the kitchen, the new wood paneling in the front room, the new damp-proof bricks in the lounge, and the new shower room which has tiles and an almost-shower-cubical… oh, and the new shower in the main bathroom, which we have had for months but which we have only just worked out how to work

And so there you have it. No doubt I have missed highlights a-plenty, but that should at least convince you that I haven’t won the lottery or moved to China without telling you!

…

Cos I’ve got faith of the heart,
Knowing where my heart will take me,
I’ve got faith to believe
That I can do anything,
I’ve got strength of the soul
No-one’s gonna bend or break me,
I can reach any star,
Cos I’ve got (I’ve got I’ve got I’ve got) I’ve got faiiiiiiith,
Faith of the heart.

…

Got it on the brain now, haven’t I. Just had to sing it out of my system!