So that's it then read no further, it's all said in the title. (or not ...)
Tuesday we travelled to Eastbourne to see an ex-member of our church, who is now settling in nicely there. What is really amazing is that her new house downstairs is the same layout as the equivalent rooms in the old house! It was good to see her, and to catch up with her, and most importantly, to hear that she is settling into a church which is relatively easy to get to, and not so different from the one she left. We drove over the foggy downs to East Dean, and had lunch in the Tiger Inn. Lovely setting, even when dark and rainy outside. This is what English pubs are supposed to be like, indeed this is what English villages are supposed to be like. Then across town to see other friends, who we hadn't seen for ages. All that way to hear news of people who live in our own town! They have settled into quite a different style of church, and there was some discussion about the relative merits of the styles, but the most important thing is that people feel 'at home' where they are. Then it was off to Sovereign Harbour, on their recommendation, for something to eat. As Pablo's was closed we ended up here, for a nice meal, and then off to the B&B for some well deserved sleep. Very comfortable, if slightly small, and a very nice breakfast. At breakfast we asked "What are we going to do today?" No idea, and its still raining, and it's going to for the rest of today, well at least the rain will give way to showers late. We decided to go and look for a vineyard to buy English wine for Christmas, but were pointed at a farm shop at Middle Farm by our host. It was a good decision, a reasonable choice, and we have our wine (and one or two other things!).
Then off to see Karen. Driving on the M25, there was a loud pop, and then the sound I first thought was large lorry with problems. It wasn't a lorry, it was us. The off-side rear tyre had deflated. I pulled up on the hard shoulder, and started the process of changing the wheel. Large articulated lorries passing inches from where I would work. The I couldn't find the jack. It wasn't where the book said it should be. So we called recovery. 30-60 minutes to wait, as the sun went back behind the clouds. We were stood behind a chest height crash barrier watching our car sway as the traffic went passed, and looking into the distance for some sign of a recovery lorry. We talked for a bit, I counted cars for a minute - 96 vehicles passed us in that minute.
It started to rain again, not very heavily, but the clouds were still getting darker. I changed to a waterproof coat, and Jo added my hooded coat over hers (I should have taken a picture, but somehow it didn't cross my mind). She had forgotten her hat.
The man arrived after less than 35 minutes (or was that weeks?). He decided that it was too dangerous for him to change the wheel there because the hard shoulder was too narrow. He put our Previa on the back of his recovery vehicle and moved us to somewhere safer.
Karen was on a tight schedule, having just a 4 hours between work and her evening meetings. Jo had kept in touch with her by SMS messages, so that she knew what to expect, we arrived only 20 minutes early. We went for dinner at the Halfway House in Dunstable. We have a lovely time chatting with Karen, and agreed that already we don't see her often enough. The halfway house is nice enough, but a few little quibbles took the edge off the food. Dry cheese with the fajitas, cheese cake still frozen in the middle, and the items on the bill we didn't have. Never mind, the company is what counts, so we left happy enough. I picked up a few books on prayer, and it was back home.
A good couple of days.
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