Brussels

We spent Easter weekend with friends who live in the outskirts of Brussels. They are friends I've known for years who we were very much hoping to see this year, and having lived in Brussels 18 years ago I wanted to visit again with my family.

It was wonderful to see our friends again. And it was bittersweet to see places which held happy memories but which were now marked by recent tragedy.

Yet what a joy to celebrate Easter, the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Messiah.

The Easter egg hunt:

In the Brussels metro:

Place de la Bourse - fortunately we arrived after the extreme-right hooligans had been dispersed by police water cannons!

Le Parc du Palais Royal - I lived right next to this for four months in 1999:

Snow

One of my hopes for this year in France was that our kids would experience some "real" snow, and be able to have fun playing in it. I was disappointed by the amount we got here in Nancy, but we always said that we had the option of going to find some in the Vosges mountains, about an hour and a half from here.

So last Saturday we decided the time had come to find ourselves some snow. We drove to Gérardmer, and up into the mountains to a free sledging slope, right next to the (paying) ski slopes. Some friends had lent us a sturdy sledge (with brakes! I don't remember any of those when I was a child!) and we did have fun once we'd got the hang of it! The kids also enjoyed a soft play area which had been set up, complete with a foam igloo.

We ate early at a café which served us cheerfully and speedily, and then had a wander up into the mountain behind the slopes. And then we did some more sledging before driving home again. The weather was perfect - sunny with clear blue skies - and there had been a good snowfall during the week so conditions were just right for sledging.

I am so thankful for such a lovely family day out!

Carnaval

It was "Carnaval" at Eve's school last week. Which for 3 year olds apparently just means that they go to school dressed as whatever or whoever they want, have some party food and do some dancing. Eve enjoyed herself!

A friend lent us some dressing-up clothes for Eve. Eve had told me she wanted to be a butterfly, and fortunately this friend had wings (and a tutu-like skirt). So everyone else thought she was a fairy, but she was happy in the knowledge that she was really a butterfly! Parents were allowed to take photos at the beginning of school, so we did.

Eve the butterfly:



Eve with her teacher, Maîtresse Carole:



Eve with the teaching assistant, Catherine (and Papa in the background):

A nice cuppa?

I've been living in France on and off since the age of 20, so I feel pretty much at home here now. One thing I will always find sad is how hard it is to find a good cup of tea. Even the definition of tea is not necessarily the same.

In MacDonald's recently I ordered a cup of tea. Onto our tray arrived ... a Red Fruits Tea bag! I kind of went, "What?!" and the MacDonald's employee said pleasantly, "Oh, would you like a different kind?" "Yes, black tea, please!" I replied (having learned a very long time ago that "black tea" in France doesn't mean "without milk" but "as opposed to green"). So she found me an Earl Grey tea bag.

And then, talking of milk, I asked if I could have some for my tea. Now, I know the purists would never put milk in Earl Grey, but hey, I like what I like. She looked at me uncomprehendingly, and I repeated my request. "Yes, yes, of course you can," she replied, "I've just never heard of milk with tea before!"

"Oh, it must be because I'm English," I smiled, forgiving her (and France) for everything, now that I had the prospect of a good cup of tea before me.

Forget-me-not

It's the children's holidays, so we were down in Lyon last weekend to visit friends and to give a presentation about our work at one of our supporting churches. We were made very welcome, despite everyone (us and them!) feeling under-the-weather.

Marc preaching:

We found this sign in the Tête d'Or park in Lyon:

And as we drove home yesterday we drove through Villefranche-sur-Saône, which is twinned with Kandi (our nearest town in Benin), as you can see on this sign (unless you're reading this on your phone!!).

So we can't forget about Benin even if we were trying to (which we aren't).

Tomorrow we're off again, to Marc's parents' via a friend in Amiens. This coming Sunday Marc will be preaching in the morning in his parents' church in Poissy, and then we'll be giving a presentation about Benin in the afternoon.

Missing my team!

I'm glad to report that the internet connection in the translation office has been holding up lately, and I am able to be in contact with my translators and to exchange work with them.

We are at last even managing to work together. After they had worked through the text of 1 Rois, I worked through the text myself, and sent back my questions and comments. They are now going through it again looking at those questions and comments, and I'm then checking what their modifications have been. It is a long process, but at least feels like teamwork again!

I do miss them though - it is so much more fun working with people when you're all sitting in the same room together!

New (or very old) hobby

Way back when I was 15, I learnt to crochet, and crocheted over 70 squares for a blanket I was planning to make for my bed. GCSEs hit, and the squares ended up in a box in my parents' loft ... for nearly 15 years, when I searched them out to sew them together to make baby blankets for Simon, for my sister Ruth's first baby, and for a friend's baby.

During our last year or so in Benin, I got back into knitting, thanks to some knitting needles left to me by my predecessor, Grace. I could buy wool in the local market - fairly basic, but quite a choice of colours, and I completed some small projects like these "monsters" as Christmas presents for our kids.

I wanted to take up crocheting too, but decided that since I didn't remember anything about it, I would do better to wait until I was in Europe and had access to a faster internet connection and therefore the possibility to watch crochet tutorials. I also picked up a great magazine in the UK which gives you the wool to make different projects set out inside it. And here are my first attempts:

I am quite proud of myself and feel inspired to keep going ... and if once I'm back in Benin someone feels like sending me a copy of this magazine, that would be such a treat!!!