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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As June started I was still recovering from the come down of show week for The Sound of Music. I was able to give myself two days to try and recover before I put myself back to work.
On Wednesday the 1st we had our twice monthly lunch at Monmouth and this time it was Jubliee themed! This weekend was the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee - celebrating the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth on the throne. I went to church for the lunch then got promptly sent home when the ladies realized I was still not feeling well. I managed to snap a few photos of the decorations before heading back to home to rest.
But there was truly no rest for the weary as on Saturday the 2nd I was off to my first ever festival! Festivals are a huge part of UK summer culture - you’ve heard of Glastonbury I’m sure, but there are hundreds of others! There are themed festivals, some put on by small towns, and the one I was headed to called the Big Church Festival is all about Christian music. I didn’t think a festival would be my thing - camping and concerts aren’t really high on my list of fun things, but some church members at Monmouth wanted me to go so badly they purchased me and Joel tickets! Joel really didn’t want to go but Steve was eager to take his place, so that’s how we found ourselves waiting hours in traffic to get into the Wiston Estate where the festival is held.
Once we made it in and parked we met up with church members who had saved a spot for camping. They also brought me a tent and most of what I needed as I didn’t have any camping gear back in the States, let alone any here! We set up camp and enjoyed some delicious cupcakes Liz had baked. Then Steve and I set off to explore which was so fun. The manor house and grounds are still privately owned and they rent it out for events like this, the old house is gorgeous!
That night also kicked off the Jubilee celebrations that were happening around the country, including the lighting of fires all around the UK. We could see one from out campsite. See that tiny flame up on the hill? That’s it!
The next two days were full of tons of music, lots of sun, also lots of rain, and lots of fun with friends. I have to admit I did not really enjoy the experience of camping (I need to remember this about myself) and especially that even in British summer it gets very cold at night - I was not prepared for that! But the music and fellowship was amazing and made it so worth it. (Also, I was definitely still sick, I went through the entire box of tissues I had brought with me!)
The festival ended on Saturday night and I had stupidly scheduled myself to work on Sunday (what was I thinking?!?) Steve and I ended up driving home late Saturday night instead of spending one last night camping. I led an afternoon and evening service on Sunday then promptly took Monday and Tuesday off, again, trying to recover.
By Wednesday I was feeling better and by Friday the 10th we were off on another adventure! We spent the weekend dog sitting for Tom and Rachel at their manse in Chepstow. It worked out well as I was preaching in Caldicot on that Sunday which is much closer to Chepstow than Monmouth. It was sometime around here that I took on more responsibility in the circuit. I can’t tell you the exact date but suffice to say by this time I had 5 more churches added to my work responsibilities - Caldicot, Rogiet, Earlswood Valley, Earlswood Hope, and Penycaemawr.
Being in Chepstow for the weekend was kind of a full circle moment as we had stayed with Tom and Rachel when we first returned to Wales back in 2019. Here we were now working on the same circuit and staying in their manse again! The first time we were here I explored Chepstow Castle with Rachel, this time Joel and I went together.
Then, while driving around town I saw signs for an art exhibit that was taking place in the Clearwell Caves. I had been wanting to check out the caves for a while and what better time than when they were exhibiting over 60 sculptures?! There were so many cool ones I wish I could share them all but I’ll try to just pick a couple favourites.
The way they played with lighting in the caves really enhanced the experience!
When I got to Caldicot on Sunday morning I was delighted to find they had already put my name on the sign! They work quickly!
As summer was getting warmer and warmer I was desperately hoping to find a place to go swimming. I put Joel to work researching “wild swimming” and he found a place about a 30-minute drive from us called Keeper’s Pond. It’s up in the mountains around Abergavenny and is a freshwater man-made pond. People swim in it year-round - even when they have to break through the ice in winter! I am a fair-weather swimmer and even when it was hot outside the water was always cold and refreshing. This was soon to become a favourite place of mine.
On Monday the 20th we made a random last-minute decision to visit Bristol for the day. Joel had seen online that they were filming Doctor Who in the city and we had hopes of running into David Tenant. Unfortunately they were done filming when we arrived, but we did chat to someone in a nearby church who said they had filmed in the area. I took a picture of this unique looking tree hoping it might appear in an episode. (Spoiler alert from the future: it did!)
On Sunday the 26th, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of Gwehelog Chapel. For a chapel that normally sees about 5-8 people in worship on a Sunday, it was glorious to see the chapel full to bursting with people celebrating!
Other than all that I was kept quite busy this month with more churches and with that came more funerals, particularly in the Caldicot area. Work was definitely ramping up!
XOXO, Bethany