Gifts and the raft.

I suspect it will be diffcult writing a blog entry while a needy labrador is sitting on me, and I'm waiting for a cake to bake but I'm willing to give it a go.

 

I've been living in Witham for about a week and a half now and its all going well. It's very different to Kendal but it seems like a nice place. D came to visit last weekend and we had a good explore of the area.

There's a town nearby on the Blackwater estuary called Maldon which is one of my favourite places in the world. I have lots of memories of sunny summer days spent there with Grandma and Grandad, playing in the tidal swimming pool and at the fairground next to the Hythe and when I was a bit older, going for walks with Grandma and her dog Lucy. D and I went for a visit last weekend and it was a bit different to how I remembered - the swimming pool is now a pond; the fair is now a play area (no trampolines!) but its still a lovely place to go for a walk.

We also found a really nice walk along the river in Witham with lots of little fields and wooded areas. I'm hoping the weather improves sometime soon so that I can have a proper explore of the fields and footpaths around my house.

 

Today I went on a bit of a nostalgia trip and visited a lot the places in Chelmsford that we used to go to when we'd visit Grandma. I started with Hylands Park which is just brilliant and there's so much more to it than I remember. It's an 18th century country house with landscaped gardens. The parkland is lovely. Especially on a muddy, rainy day when your walking boots decide not to be waterproof anymore.

 

 

Work's going well. I've got three weeks of induction to start off with which is great in terms of meeting staff and things but it still feels slightly like being chucked in at the deep end. I think this is mostly because I'm a bit daunted by the amount of money I'm expected to bring in. But it seems good and I think the change from youth work to fundraising will keep me motivated for a while.