Quiet Time

I've just finished a long weekend with my friends Graham and Christine. It was a great weekend. I got of lot of rest in. Friday night, I spent just relaxing and catching up on correspondence. Saturday was lovely. After a nice leisurely morning , Christine and I headed to her mum's house to drop some things off, then ended up being joined by her as we headed to Oswaldtwistle Mills. It is an old cotton mill that has been converted into a shopping center... I guess, as I'm in England I should call it a centre. :) The mill is just outside Blackburn. It was great! We had a nice girlie day, wandering up an down aisles, browsing through racks and shelves. Lovely. We had lunch there as well.

Sunday after a great church service, I spent a lot of time just relaxing in my room, watching TV online. In the evening, I went with Graham to pick up his son-in-law, then to get Dr. Bob. We went to a little church in a place called Kearsley. Dr. Bob is a pastor I know from the US and was speaking at this church. It was a great meeting. Afterward, we dropped Dr. Bob off at his hotel, then went out for a Curry. Oh. My. Gosh! So good! It was blissful... Incidentally, I have had the best food on this trip...

Monday was a day of rest. Bobby the dog and I bonded. I sat on the floor and he sat with his adorable, fluffy head in my lap. It was great! :)

Tuesday morning I spent getting all of my things together, packing, and hauling my suitcases down the stairs. At quarter to 2, we headed to the station. Graham and I had a lively chat about raccoons and dolphins on the way. hahaha. It was a fun ride. :)

On the train again... The sweetest little old lady sat across from me. She told me all about her trips to China and the US. The first person to talk to me on a train trip, and a good one to talk to on top of it! When I arrived in Chesterfield, I found that I "got" to haul my suitcase down a flight of stairs, only to get to haul it up anther flight. Sigh... Fortunately, half way up, I spotted my friend Ben and his dad smiling and waving at me. Ben ran down and helped me drag it up the rest of the way.

We had a lovely ride to their house. Ben's dad, Steve, played tour guide. He pointed out all the unique things about the area, such as, speed bumps, puddles, schools, and the like. It was amusing! :) When we arrived at the house, I was greeted by Ben's mum, Mairi. She and I have spoken on skype on several occasions, and we facebook a lot, so we were quite pleased to finally meet face to face. we both agreed that the other looked just like their pictures, only less flat. I was informed that I was a lot taller than she thought... It was fun! A while later, I met Ben's brother, Keir... We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the living room talking and catching up. At 6:30, the guys and I headed to their weekly youth meeting. All the kids were really friendly. One girl in particular, was rather excited to meet me. She said she loves America, but she has never been there. Apparently she loves it because, "It's just so big and everything." :) She was a sweetheart... When we returned home, we ate an amazing dinner. We had Haggis with mashed potatoes and turnips... I had never had haggis before. It was so delicious! I cleaned my plate... Then we had Bread & Butter Pudding... There are no words. The only thing I can say is that it was so good, I nearly cried... After dinner, and before and during I suppose, we watched TV and we all had our laptops out... The rest of the evening was spent in pleasant conversation.

All in all, a quiet, restful, GREAT weekend, and a very pleasant first afternoon/evening in Derbyshire. :)