Barbecue Season has begun!

Wednesday 27 May was a day at the Ember. Since the guys were off work for the Easter week, we had a lot more time in the Ember than normal (instead of working in the office). Micah headed to Root Soup in the morning as usual. Lucy hung out with Larry and Thomas after helping the guys get up and around. In the afternoon, Micah went up to Forestside with the boys for sodas, and Lucy stayed in the Ember because an electrician was checking all the electrical stuff in the house. The evening was a mixture of chatting, TV and hanging about.

Thursday was a rest day. We went on our last run before the team marathon. Afterwards, we rode bikes to meet Joy and Bobby along the toe path. In the afternoon we hung out in the Orf's back garden, played ladder golf and enjoyed the sun. For dinner, we all headed to Pizza Express! By the time we got home we were quite knackered (aka tired).

Friday was a day at the Ember again. Instead of watching the Royal Wedding, we celebrated the April birthdays at the allotment!! Micah and Larry headed up to the allotment in the morning with Scott and Paul to actually work. The rest of us prepared food for a barbecue and then headed up to join the others at the allotment. The weather was great for a lovely barbecue! Larry hid in Rosie (our van) for most of the afternoon because he was scared that Micah would make him work more! Micah is so mean! After we got back to the Ember, Jillian and Lucy went down to the Ark to do the weekly cleaning. The rest of the day was spent relaxing!

Saturday was yet another day in the Ember! In the morning, Micah and Thomas headed to Common Grounds to volunteer. Lucy and Jillian walked to Michel's Veg shop and then walked on to Common Grounds so that Micah and Thomas would take good care of us! After their shift, we all went to get some chicken food before heading back for lunch. After lunch, Micah and Larry cleaned Rosie and then a bunch of us walked up to Forestside to do some grocery shopping. In the evening, we had a wee goodbye party for Makiko. We listened to music that reminded us of high school and really enjoyed each others company!

On Sunday we went to church in the morning. In the afternoon we prepared some food because Peter and Jenna (the MMN couple) came over for dinner (veggie burgers) and games (yatzee!!)! It was really fun to connect with them again.

Monday was a rest day kind of. It was yet another bank holiday and MARATHON day!! After an early start, Lucy met Joy at her house to walk down to city centre where the marathon began. Micah headed to his spot a bit later. After Lucy's 6 miles and Micah's 7 miles (5 uphill and 2 down) we were pretty tired. We relaxed a bit before the post-marathon barbecue and ladder golf! The evening was pretty low-key!

Tuesday began with a team meeting followed by a day at the office. We both answered emails before working on a proposal for Root Soup's summer activities programme. That took most of our afternoon! In the evening, we went out to eat with Frans, Julia and Makiko to an Indian restaurant. It was the real goodbye to Makiko this time!

Yesterday, Micah worked in the office all day. He usually goes to Root Soup in the morning, but as he has more and more paperwork to do, he has decided to only go when he is able. Lucy went to women's cell in the morning and then worked a bit in the office before taking a nap. We went to the Ember for dinner! After dinner we went to our cell group and talked about social justice.

Today has been an amazing rest day! We have been to Ian's bakery, gone grocery shopping, booked our flights to Bonn, Germany/Brussels, Belgium, scrapbooked, and relaxed! It has been a nice change of pace!

After a few weeks of being out of routine around Easter, it is nice to be back in the swing of things. It is hard to believe we have already been back for a month and that Lucy's parents and little bro will be here in 3 weeks! God is good!