The Week That 'Fishing Over the Door' Went Wireless

Last Sunday evening we got together with the whole Randall family at my Aunt's house... unfortunately our century old tradition of 'fishing over the door' didn't feature, but keep reading...

I had an essay to write for Moorlands so I spent most of Monday, Thursday and Friday doing that, but I had a break to bake some brownies on Monday and I made another trip up to Oxford to stay with Clare for New Year's eve.

We had a lovely evening with some other families from Eynsham and the next day we decided to go for a New Year's day walk in the rain, which almost turned into a swim. It was a good thing that we all had wellies on! We were invited to a gathering in the afternoon to play some games with lots of other families from the village which was good fun.

Unfortunately, Clare and I both had essays to write, so reluctantly I left on Wednesday evening so that we both stood some chance of getting it done. I stopped in Reading on the way home to have dinner with my Grandparents which was really lovely.

Finally, on Friday evening I finished my essay and went to dinner at my brother's house in the evening - chicken pie - my absolute favorite! It was here where we made sure to do the traditional 'Fishing Over the Door' - a century old Randall family Christmas tradition in which you 'fish' for a small present over a door with a fishing rod. Unfortunately this year we couldn't find said 'fishing rod' and so we decided that as it is now 2014, it's about time that 'Fishing Over the Door' went wireless, and hence, it became 'Throwing Over the Door'!

On Saturday we had some old family friends round for lunch which was great. It was good to catch up and to play some games (even though I didn't win!)

I don't get many chances to bake and cook when I'm on the Isle of Wight, so Mum and I made up for the lost time this weekend. We cooked crumpets on Saturday, and then on Sunday afternoon we dusted off the pasta roller and made ravioli from scratch. We made an attempt at pesto too but we didn't have enough basil so I don't think it would really be right to honour our 'concoction' with the title 'pesto'! Still, we invited John and Cat round to taste it and they seemed to approve! Dad even managed a brownie packet mix for 
pudding.

Home made crumpets

Ravioli

I'm due back on the Island this week so I'm heading back after a day at Moorlands on Tuesday. It's been so lovely being home for Christmas and spending lots of time with the family. It's been great going to my home church for a couple of weeks too. 
I'm hoping that God will do some great things in my youth work this year and that I'll have plenty of exciting experiences to keep you all entertained with!

Pray for me:
- Travelling to Sopley, and then on to the Island on Tuesday - pray for safety and good weather.
- Getting back into a routine this week
- Settling back into life on the Island. Pray that I'll remember how blessed I am and that I'll enjoy everything I get up to.

Thanks! :)