Anna Rashbrook's Blog, page 10

Easter; Good Friday Walk of witness

This Easter is amazing! Those of you who follow this blog, know about my frustration and dryness with the church in Austria and my happiness on returning to a living fellowship here in the UK. Today, many of the churches in Mountain Ash got together for the first time in two years for a walk of witness. We walked about 1.5 miles, and ended up with a service at Providence Baptist church, our new home. We had a service afterwards and then Hot Cross Buns.

What a complete and utter joy! Dave and I chatted with folks, made new friends and contacts, and came home utterly convinced we are in the place God wants us for one of his cunning plans and the result will be an revival and outpouring in this town. I’m so excited, I bounced all the way home!

April Weather

I’m really busy doing an update on my books, and making new covers. But this was the fab weather today!

Graupel Schauer

After about ten days of almost summery weather, the cold came to Cfenpennar. Showers of snow and those tiny little pellets.

I spent all afternoon trying to remember the Austrian name. Had to ask on FB in the end. But isn’t that a name that really sums up this sort of April weather? Back to cold for the next few days, my poor sweet peas are shivering under a fleece and all the other plants can’t wait to get out.

A new spiritual home!

One of the main reasons we decided to return to the UK was that we were running dry spiritually. The Protestant church we were in had its head firmly buried in concrete and was battered by constant feuds and personality conflicts. We had a Bible group with some friends of ours, but they neither wanted to move on nor try yet again to build a new fellowship with the Christians in the area. All the things we discussed were treated with wariness until they heard it from an Austrian source! The Lungau might have been a natural paradise, but spiritually it was a desert.

So, when we started looking at parts of the UK, we always searched the churches and fellowships in the area, and Wales in comparison to the UK seemed full of ones to explore. When we looked at Mountain ash, there seemed to be churches all over the place. It wasn’t until we got here, that we found google was listing empty buildings and many that had been demolished, even two in Cfenpennar. But lockdown had us searching online services and we soon picked up that in Rhonda Cynon Taff, our area, there were many free churches and we would surely find an alive fellowship.

We didn’t have a car to start, and so decided to go to those in walking distance, and so ended up at the Baptist church in the town. We walked into the warmth of a living fellowship, small in numbers, and an older congregation, but so full of the spirit, we knew that we didn’t need to go any further, we had found our new home!

There was a new pastor, and we met him and his wife and found fellow hearts for the area and bringing people to the Lord. It’s been such an utter relief to be home! Over the past months things are moving on and we’re so thrilled to be part of this, it was something we came home for. They started by blessing the fellowship that was already there, with love and Christmas celebrations, what a beautiful thing to do. We started a children’s club, which had a slow start, and last week we had a prayer breakfast with other churches which rocked my spiritual socks. All the other fellowships are of the same heart for the area, and out of this are coming a walk of witness on Good Friday, evening services, Mothers’ day teas, all sorts of wonderful things. I’m just leaping about with excitement! Only downside, was that while it was brilliant to sing songs we sang in Lymington Baptist church all those years ago, there are some great new ones…

Spring springs

For the first time ever, I can’t think of anything to blog about, there’s a first… except that spring is here. Up on the golf course there is a huge tree of pussy willows, and they are flowering, filled with the buzz of bees. And around are many bumble bees, in fact I’ve never seen so many of them in one place.

What season is it with you?

Back to the ponies!

I’m so thrilled! When we moved here, I hoped to find a way back to being with horses. When we were in the Dare Valley country park, I popped into the stables. I knew they did Riding for the Disabled, and to my joy, found they were looking for volunteers. So I went for a trial morning and it was all so wonderful to be back with horses, people with disabilities, and friendly horsey folk. So once forms are handed it, I can help, I’m sooo looking forward to it. I might even go for a ride at the stables too…

Picture above is me (hand on hip) on Rodi, who was my partner in crime when I worked with horses in Austria, we were in a play about Vikings at the Moosham riding festival!

Ghost Golf Course!

A few days ago we had heavy, misty cloud, and as I took Swingle for her afternoon stroll, it was quite eerie. We had the whole course to ourselves, apart from a couple of crows.

Birdsong

One of the great joys here is the birdsong. When I walk Swingle in the mornings around the playing field at Cfenpennar and then in the woods back home, the birds are singing their heads off,even though it’s only February. The thrush has been warbling since Christmas and I think it is the best birdsong, touching the soul. Second is the blackbird in early summer, but that is to come.

In the garden, the birds have been pigging themselves out on my feeders, and I have a pair of nuthatches, plus all the families of tits and robins. I even spied a pair of Bullfinches too. There are buzzards here, plenty of magpies and Jays,who are almost as shy as the Austrian ones. I even don’t mind the pigeons and doves cooing, it’s their place, but in Lungau they were new arrivals and a sign of change, I felt they didn’t belong.

Across the road, in Mike’s garage, the ever noisy sparrows are nesting in the eves. I can only gloat, because it’s February. Back in Austria, snow is still on the ground, and the birds haven’t come back to the valleys from wherever they are over wintering. The song thrushes will pass through in March on their way to warmer climes. My only regret about Austria, is the one morning when it was snowing, a thrush was singing its heart out. And I didn’t have a phone to video it.

Even more joy! The daffodils are opening, alongside the hosts of snowdrops. These sometimes wouldn’t arrive till May in Lungau.

I wonder if we will have any swallows or martins here?

Storm Dudley

I gleefully walked on the Mountain Ash golf course on Wednesday morning, just as the storm reached us.

It was much brighter than this shot, but I quite like the effect.

The course had been shut most of the week due to heavy rain and there were no golfers in sight, yippee!

Swingle and I walked on all the fairways and areas where we usually have to avoid them.

The light was fantastic and I got loads of great piccies. I haven’t been able to colour up the rainbow over Aberdare though.

Tonight, Thursday, we are bracing ourselves for another storm, Eunice.

All the transport in Wales is shutting down and the schools are closing, I guess to cheers as it extends the half term.

I’ve even looked for the candles.

Free this weekend!

These frank memoirs follow what should have been a privileged childhood, pony mania, a badly behaved teenage, a year out on a farm in Switzerland, working as a zookeeper, running a smallholding, marriage, and family. Yet, it wasn’t until a traumatic eviction that I found faith, my way back to horses and a new beginning.