Author’s Note: I stopped blogging regularly in 2020, but now in 2024, I am using Google Photos, Google Maps timeline, and my old planners to recreate a post about what we were up to each month!
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The first weekend in October this year was our Harvest Festival at Monmouth. Covid restrictions had finally lifted enough that we were able to host a traditional Harvest Dinner on Saturday the 2nd. We served jacket potatoes (baked potatoes) with chili and other toppings, then people brought various homemade desserts. For entertainment this year I volunteered to create (with Joel’s help) a US vs. UK quiz! (Inspired by the one Rachel did at her wedding last month.) Joel and I scrounged up some American goodies to put together in a prize basket.
On Sunday, the altar was decorated for Harvest and, instead of the traditional gathering of fresh fruit and veg, we collected donations for the local foodbank. According to my diary (that’s British for planner) that afternoon I helped officiate at a town parade and service as the Mayor’s Chaplain - it was the 100th anniversary of the town’s war memorial. Sadly I didn’t take any pictures of this event!
On Wednedsay October 6th I got to be on TV! The local ITV station was doing a story on the “Cycling for All Ages” project that I volunteered with in Monmouth. They came out and took some footage of us giving a ride to a local gentleman - I was on the accompanying bicycle that day.
On Thursday the 7th we took a trip to Cardiff with Steve that was park work research and part fun. We started off with the fun part - exploring Cardiff Castle! Joel took this excellent photo of the Welsh dragon statue inside the castle.
We also took our customary selfie with said dragon…
And then I spent half a dozen attempts taking this photo of the Welsh flag flying above the castle, trying to catch it at just the right moment! We didn’t pay to enter the castle in full but we had fun wandering around the free parts.
Then it was off to do the “work” portion of our trip. I say “work” because we were doing research on board game cafes which was of course a lot of fun! We were researching this because for a long while Monmouth Methodist Church was considering trying to open a board game cafe on the high street in town as a form of outreach and ministry. So we visited board game cafes in neighboring towns and cities to see how they worked! This one was cleverly named “Chance & Counters.” (I love a good pun business name!)
The inside was cozy and cute and they had a huge selection of games to choose from. We ordered some food and played a game of Tsuro while we waited.
The food there was very good - especially the dirty fries! We ordered all three options they had at the time. If I remember correctly it was, from left to right, Korean BBQ, Bacon & Cheese, and then the third one was vaguely Thai flavoured with a peanut sauce and other toppings. They were all delicious! The owner happened to be there and was incredibly generous with his time - he sat down with us for about half an hour and shared some of the ins and outs of making the business work!
After that, we wandered around the city for a while just to see what we could see. I was excited for this American sweet/snack shop at first, until I saw the prices - £10 for a bag of flaming hot Cheetos! (That’s almost $13!!) I do have a photo of this without Steve’s face in it but since he stuck his face in front of the camera this is the one going on the blog!
On the 12th we celebrated our wedding anniversary by going back to Estero Lounge (the restaurant we discovered last month when some friends visited!) Since it was a Tuesday they had a tapas special going on so we got to try lots of different things on the menu. It was delicious!
On the 16th I documented the sad demise of a pair of shoes I have had since high school. I wore them to the grocery store and only when I got home did I realize the heels were literally crumbling beneath my fit! RIP favourite shoes.
I’ve decided that every year I am going to give myself £20 to spend on holiday decor for both Halloween and Christmas - this way I can slowly add to my collection without going overboard. This year I spent £5 of this budget on this Jack O’Lantern balloon - ridiculous, I know, but it made me happy!
Thursday the 21st was my favourite kind of fall day - bright and sunny with a nice cool crisp in the air and blue skies. So we set out to find somewhere to go on an epic walk! We ended up in the woods somewhere near-ish Trellech, overlooking the River Wye. We had a lovely chat with this older gentleman who told us all about the area, including why it’s called the River Wye rather than the Wye River (though I no longer remember his explanation!)
Near where we parked our car before the walk there was a park with picnic tables and play equipment for children, as well as these cool carved wooden statues.
On the 29th we hosted a Halloween party! It was a small affair - just Steve and our friends Tom and Rachel. Tom and Rachel aren’t big on Halloween so I was very appreciative of their effort at costumes - can you guess what they are?
That’s, right! Pigs in blankets! So cute and clever! Steve also went all out on his costume…He was prepared for the pandemic with a full Hazmat suit, gas mask, rubber gloves, and a gallon size sprayer of hand sanitizer. Oh, and you can’t forget the extra loo roll!
I served chili for dinner but where things really got fun was the desserts! The spiderweb cheesecake and chocolate skull we purchased from Iceland. Rachel made the incredible graveyard dessert that was delicious and fantastically spooky looking!
We also had s’more out by the fire and Steve’s gas mask ended up coming in handy when the smoke kept heading his way.
Steve spent the night on Friday so on Saturday we headed out on a hike to try and find Cleddon Shoot Falls. The hike down to where you can get the best view was closed for repairs, but we had fun exploring the area anyway, and made a note to ourselves to come back another time.
Halloween fell on a Sunday this year and I was preaching at Chepstow Methodist Church, a different church on the circuit to my usual. I hope they weren’t too surprised by my Halloween leggings!
Tom and Rachel live in Chepstow so after church we went out for a Sunday Roast with them at a local pub. I appreciated the open fire and the nod to Halloween decorations with the fake spiderwebs on the mantel.
And that’s a wrap for October 2021!
XOXO, Bethany