Been away awhile.

Well, not 'away' in the physical sense, just not blogging. In fact, just not blogging here. Spun off a couple of book blogs.
It's half-term, and time to rest, recharge, regroup and prepare for the next few weeks. So here's the plan. We're actually staying put. For the first time since arriving here almost two years ago, we're not going anywhere for the holiday. Don't get me wrong, we'd love to go and visit people, but it seems to make much better sense to stay here. We've had a truly draining (half!)term and running around the country during the holiday doesn't allow us to rest.
Having said that, there are a few things we're doing/have done.
1) We went to Big Church Day Out on Saturday. There was a point at which I could happily have fallen asleep (which would tick the 'rest' box) if it weren't for the fact that Joshua was on top of me and being very wriggly indeed. But the day did help to tick the 'recharge' box. So good to have time to 'worship' in a relaxed way, with both a whole bunch of strangers and a few friends from church. Something we're really missing at the moment.
2) We went for a walk round the village yesterday. Nice to do something as a family. We don't get to do stuff like that enough during term time. It wasn't particularly exciting, but it was together, which was the important thing.
3) We're all hoping to have slept more this week than any other week since records began...
4) I'm aiming to have completely cleared my desk of detritus by the end of the week
5) Have planted corn and runner beans, and dug a new bed for squash and pumpkins (believe it or not, that comes under 'recharge', I think)
6) We've got friends visiting (some just for meals, others for stays!) which will contribute to the rest and recharge (because we like them!) (That's not to say we don't like anyone else ... just that when we have 'work' guests, it's not always exactly refreshing...)
7) I need to plan how to use my Wednesdays, when Joshua will now be at school for the next four weeks. The most obvious use of the time is book work, but that might not be the right one.
8) Plenty of time needs to be devoted to prayer, chillaxing and hanging out together