Flippin' bugs

They should be banned. Can't this coalition government do something useful and pass a law making it illegal for bugs to enter homes without permission? I mean, I can't just happily wander into anyone's bathroom...

There are many different types of bugs. I can cope with spiders (as long as they aren't too big) and a 'just ignore them' attitude works quite well as they soon trundle off. The sad news however is that the friendly spider who shared my living room (with permission) was found dead last week. Obviously I need more flies.

Then there are bugs with large families. One on its own is ok, but when they bring the whole clan it's just a bit overwhelming. I'm a little sensitive on this topic since we lost the war with the ants. They were most definitely not invited.

Type of bug no. 3 is what I term '3D bugs'. These are presumptive little fellows who are not content with sticking to the walls/floor and think it's their right to own the airspace too. Things like moths and daddy longlegs. Yet they're not too hard to deal with as they're gullible little suckers and can easily be tempted out of the room I want to be in by making it dark and leaving a nice bright light on elsewhere. (Ok, perhaps that's not 'dealing' with them so much as shifting the problem...).

Now obviously this post was prompted by something. I don't just go on ranting about bugs for no reason. I recently encountered a creepy trickster of a bug, who I have to confess ended up the worse for wear. I saw one or two of these in Cambridge. Horrible slippery things with great long feathery whiskers. And last night as I went to brush my teeth one slithered across the bathroom floor at full speed. Yuk yuk yuk. Any bug that is able to squeeze out from in between the glass and the card underneath it doesn't deserve to live. I was not impressed at the suggestion from my husband-to-be that if it was a Yorkshire bug it might be friendly and I should offer it some tea. It's alright for him, it's not his bathroom that he wants to turn into a bugs' tea room. May the fate of this pioneering bug be a reminder to all bugs who so presume to be able to stride into my house uninvited that they are most definitely not welcome.

Event 43: 479 miles

I've arrived. I left behind the work restructures and redundancies, the freezing living room and the building site I called home and have gained a whole house to myself, full of boxes waiting to be unpacked. After a week of packing, painstakingly packaging up all my treasured belongings (of which, I have decided, I have far too many) and carefully stacking boxes, the last thing I feel like doing is emptying them all again. I might as well make the packing worth it and leave things boxed up for a while...

I have 7 new friends. There's Naomi, who popped round to see me on Monday with baby George, and her husband Richard. There's Nigel the vicar and his wife Amanda. Then there's Katy, Mitch and Mitch's girlfriend Emily who doesn't live in Hull but comes to visit quite a bit. They are all very lovely and I have been invited to dinner 3 times in the last week so I'm doing very well! 8 days in and I think it's going to be ok. Despite what the south says, the north is actually very nice :-)

A massive thank you to my wonderful parents for travelling half way round the country in a van to get me up here. 479 miles of love and devotion to their daughter (repaid with a plate of pasta, a cup of tea and a biscuit).

Event 42: For the sake of the gospel...

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."


Well, 2010 ended and 2011 has begun. It's always exciting at the beginning of a new year as you anticipate what it will have in store.

I think I would summarise the last 2 years as:

2009 - FAITH - A year where I thought things couldn't get any worse, until they did. But God kept me safe.

2010 - HOPE - It had to be better than 2009, and God makes the impossible possible

and

2011 - LOVE - I'm getting married :)


So, in two weeks time I'm moving North. People keep asking me, why would anyone choose to move from Cambridge to Hull? Well, I'm going because there are people up there who need to hear the gospel and surprisingly few willing and able Christians to teach it. As I follow God into marriage and into his service in the North, I know that I will be more than rewarded for any costs I bear now, as I leave dear friends behind.