The first Sunday in November was time for the annual fireworks display at Caldicot Castle. This year is the 50th anniversary of Caldicot becoming a town, so in celebration they really went all out on the fireworks. I think this was the best local fireworks display I’ve ever seen! Amy and Ben and the kids came up to watch them with us and it made for a perfect evening.
Monday the 4th was a busy day as we had to go to London to pick up our new (to us) Tesla in the afternoon, pick up my friend Annie from the airport in the evening, and there was a Magic Secret Lair drop with Marvel themed cards that we did not want to miss out on! We somehow managed to squeeze it all in, and I even got a little actual work done. Here is our new car, meet George Jetson, Retired Vice President. (Steve taught us about naming our cars using the registration plate - it helps you remember the number!)
The next two days were packed with work as I took Annie with me to show her what it is like to be a Methodist minister here. She is applying to move here through the MOCC program, the same program I came through on, so I’m acting as a bit of an unofficial mentor. Between Tuesday and Wednesday we packed in a coffee morning, a Rogiet WI meeting, a school assembly in Trellech, communion at a local care home, and a CLT meeting. Then on Thursday we took her out for some touristy things - checking out Tintern Abbey, Chepstow Castle, and getting the best Welsh cakes at our local cafe!
On Friday I took her to Bristol so we could go to the weekly communion service at the New Room. It was a lovely service, and I was surprised that the preacher mentioned the results of the US election in her sermon. Everyone was talking about it here! After the service, I hung out in the cafe while Annie walked through the Methodist museum. Whilst in the cafe I spent some time admiring this contemporary stained glass window.
On Saturday I desperately needed time in my office to catch up on email, worship planning, etc, so Joel took Annie to explore the Roman ruins in Caerleon while I got some work done. When they got home they surprised me with the newest set of Dominion! This was released back in August and I’ve been waiting for it every since. I had finally resigned myself to just getting it in the states when I went back in January, but suddenly it arrived! Joel kept it as a surprise which I loved. We immediately played a game that evening!
Sunday the 10th was Remembrance Sunday, and Annie, Joel and I attended the start of the service at Caldicot then left during the pause halfway through to go attend the town service at the cross. The weather was gray but thankfully not rainy like it was last year. In the afternoon we went to Earlswood Valley and I let Annie preach and we shared in serving communion together. She was delighted to get to preach at the oldest Methodist church in Wales! It was a good day, and I was especially impressed with this gorgeous display at Caldicot in the morning.
On Monday we were up bright and early so I could take Annie to her interviews in Milton Keynes. Once there, we met up with Meg who is another YCWI coming to interview. We went to lunch at a place near the train station and enjoyed getting to know one another. We were so absorbed in our conversation as we left the restaurant that we almost forgot to pay! Our waiter caught us and thankfully they were very gracious about it, realizing that we weren’t intentionally trying to skip out on the bill.
After dropping them off and wishing them luck, I went to a nearby hotel to spend the evening. But not before driving around a bit and realizing that Milton Keynes has a Tim Horton’s right next to a Costco! The hotel was lovely and I enjoyed alternating getting work done in my room with relaxing in the pool.
On Tuesday morning I had some time to kill before picking them up in the afternoon, so I went to Costco to hunt for pumpkin pie (no luck) and then went to a park to go for a walk. I found a lovely one with some sheep just chilling on the walking paths! Once I picked them up we had fun debriefing their interviews until I dropped them both off at Heathrow, then rushed home just in time to get to my evening tap class.
After that whirlwind week it was nice to have some down time at home and time to get caught up on work. On Friday Joel and I went to see the movie Red One which I was very excited for. It was everything I wanted it to be! It does’t have great reviews but I thought it was hilarious, loved the world building, and I enjoyed that the actors took it seriously - that’s partly what made it so funny. I also enjoyed this giant Grinch blow up that was chilling outside of the Home Bargains (Joel for scale.)
On Sunday the 17th, after leading worship at Caldicot I rushed off to the leisure centre to participate in the Tapathon! This is an annual fundraiser/attempt at beating the world record for most people doing one tap routine at a time. This was the first year I was able to participate and it was really fun.
The next week was another busy one as on the 19th I had to drive to Llandridnod Wells for the annual Superintendent’s meeting with the SLT. I was overjoyed to drive north this day because I got to drive into snow! Joel reported that we didn’t really get any back in Caldicot so I’m so glad I was travelling. I was in meetings most of the time but I did manage to sneak out for a quick walk during lunch so I could enjoy the snow.
The meeting ended on the 20th, but since I had to be in Milton Keynes on the 21st I ended up staying an extra night at the hotel in Llandridnod Wells. I had a Zoom meeting in the evening but after that I managed to spend some time in the hotel spa area - it had a great pool and the best actually hot hot tub I’ve come across in the UK!
On the 21st I was up bright and early for a Zoom meeting then off for a 3.5 hour drive through more snow to Milton Keynes. I was back to the place where I had dropped off Annie and Meg just over a week ago, this time for a training for a connexional committee I have joined. I applied to start on this committee next September, but when they emailed asking if I could start this year, I decided to go for it. I am very excited to serve in this capacity and actually enjoyed the training. I’m also starting to love Milton Keynes - I found pumpkin pie at Costco this time and ate at Tim Horton’s before going back home on Friday!
On Sunday the 24th we started having some major storms and I ended up having to cancel worship at one of the smaller chapels in the afternoon. Too many people coudn’t make it due to flooding and downed trees in their area. That evening we decided to brave the roads to go see Wicked and we drove through some major flooding. We ended up losing the front license plate on the car! (It was shockingly easy to replace, taking less than 20 minutes and costing less than £20 at the car shop place a 2 minute walk from our house.)
On Monday we went for a walk around the castle, curious to see what the storms had wrought. It was the most flooded we have ever seen it, with many of the walkways cut off and completely covered in water. The soccer pitches had straight up turned into a lake!
Finally, on Thursday the 28th it was time for Thanksgiving! It felt really late this year. Steve came for the day and Vince and Joan came for the weekend. I made a ton of food and it was delicious, if I do say so myself! (And yes, we are eating on the Christmas plates - I got those out the day after the election to help assuage my grief.)
On Black Friday we made the annual pilgrimage to Costco, which Vince and Joan were happy to join us for. Google told us the wrong opening time so we ended up arriving before they opened, which gave us time to play around with some of the features on the car. I was delighted to turn it to “Santa mode” which makes our car look like Santa’s sleigh, other cars look like reindeer, and pedestrians look like elves! I will get a kick out of this until Christmas.
That evening we took Vince and Joan to the cinema to see Wicked - I wanted to see it a second time and I knew they had enjoyed the musical in the theater. I forgot to warn them it was a part one! I have been waiting 20 years for this musical to become a movie and I was not disappointed. It is perfection. I love it so much I think we are going to go see it a 3rd time soon. I cannot wait until part 2 comes out next year, I’ve already got the date marked in my calendar!
On Saturday the Christmas lights were turned on in town and this year we opened the church to serve free hot drinks and minced pies all afternoon. We were packed with people most of the time which was really wonderful!
November was an absolutely jam-packed month and while I enjoyed it all, I am hoping December will be a bit slower!
XOXO, Bethany