I'm Way Too Excited About My Books!!

TODAY, I went to my favourite used book store. It was fantastic. They had a sale on.
It was bliss.
This store is called The Book Farm, and they have beautiful books. Outside, there's this building called The Book Barn, where everything is 50p. The sale was that, but twice as big. There were hundreds and hundreds of  alluring books. Oh so fantastic!
I went, of course planning to buy 4 or 5 books... which didn't happen. I left the premises with 13 charming books, and I want to show them to you! 




 This gorgeous copy of Macbeth was printed in 1896. There are notes on most of the pages, from the original owner, in beautiful cursive that speaks of a time more than a few decades ago.

This adorable French school book was printed in 1915. 

 This copy of Huckleberry Finn once belonged to Cowplain County Secondary Boys' School.

 This copy of The Works of Tennyson (who happens to be my favourite poet) was printed in 1884, and has pressed flowers in it, from who knows how long ago.

 This fantastic copy of Shakespeare's Commentaries was printed in 1877. Oh my, it is too beautiful for words.

 Guy Mannering, by Sir Walter Scott, and
  The Prisoner of Zenda, by Anthony Hope.

 This adorable "Sewing in Colour", printed in 1969.

 

The Apocrypha, with an inscription in the front from 1941.

 And finally, A Century of Sea Stories, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,
which was printed in 1972. 

Overall, I am very happy with today's finds. Very. 

Sometime soon I would like to post about my favourite books on my shelves, but we'll see about that another day.

Have you found any exciting books recently? I would love to hear about them! 

xx

Romania!

At last, a post about the Romania trip. 


        So the first question everyone asks when I return from a trip is always "How was______?" How broad of a question is that?? My answer is always the same. "Romania was great!" "China was great!" "Egypt was great!" but really, how can you seriously answer a question that broad in three sentences or less?  Most of the time it's just a polite question anyways, what would they do, I wonder, if my reply to their question was "Romania was horrible, I never want to go back." Well there's a conversation killer right there.

              Thankfully, Romania was not horrible, and I do want to go back.
Romania was great. There! I said it! And I do actually mean it. It was a fantastic trip - of course it had it's ups and downs, but overall, it was wonderful.
We had the most amazing team ever! We all got along really well, and by the end of the two weeks we felt like a big family.
I miss them.
A lot.

                                Anyhow.
          The first few days were fairly laid back; we got to sleep a bit and explore the macigal forest behind the base (eeh!), and then we started into ministry.

         Most of our ministry during the trip was in various gypsy communities, where we got to play with the kids and show them God's love. The children were one of my biggest highlights. They were just so beautiful! They shone with the most stunning joy through their intensely difficult circumstances. The smiles on their faces were at the same time beautiful and painfully convicting.
How often do we complain about our already frivolous lives, while they in the little that they have are beaming with genuine joy? It just made all of us realise how incredibly selfish we are in our daily lives.

          One night we got to make dinner for a big group of gypsies that lived down the road from us, and it was so wonderful. We were able to serve them and spend time with them, but more than that we all got to learn from the families themselves. Their hospitality and openness was really inspirational for all of us cold climate people. The gypsy culture is so rich and colourful, it is a really beautiful culture to observe, and I think there is a lot to be learned from them.

          Aside from the ministry, we also had some awesome times just exploring the country and meeting crazy people. Everyday in Romania was an adventure, and a worthwhile one.

          So many things happened on this outreach, I could never put it all into a blog post. If you want to hear more, tell me and we can find a time to have a cup of tea and a chat! I would love to tell you all about it sometime.

P.S. I feel the need to add this photo, since this is one of the cutest things I have ever seen. We found this adorable box of ducklings in the market on the first day in  Medias. Awww.










 
All photos taken by Elisa Leage ( http://elisaleage.blogspot.com/ )Thank you so much for being our wonderful team photographer!

You Know What? I'm Excited.

There are three things in particular that I am very excited for in the near future.

The first one is coming up; on the 5th of September, my family and I are going to Stratford to see The Merchant of Venice, by the RSC starring Patrick Stewart. Seriously freaking out with glee :-D 






Next, on the 8th of November, my brother and I are going to see my favourite symphonic metal band, Within Temptation! I've been wanting to see these guys for SO long, I am SOO excited!!! (Thanks again Alex!!) 









 and THEN,






to make my life even more blissful than I ever thought musically possible, on the Twelfth of October (yes, I know that October is before November), my mother and I get the sublime pleasure of seeing the sensational Josh Groban in concert. (EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!)

 

I am seriously looking forward to the next few months :-) Oh the exciting times. 

I know that I also still need to post a more in depth blog about Romania, but I keep forgetting. SOON, I promise :-) 

                                                                                                      But for now, Adieu!

What I'm Feeling Right Now

These are some songs that have been running through my head for the past few weeks. <3

Transylvania Baby!

It is SO surreal to be in Transylvania.

I've been biting my friends like crazy.

This country is a hundred thousand times more beautiful than I had ever imagined. The landscape is too fantastic for words, and the houses look like they came out of a fairytale. The people are very sweet, and the culture is phenomenal. It is a very inspiring country in general!
Everything I see makes me wish I could paint it, and I can't stop collecting pieces of nature to create with when I get home. I love it so very much. Just behind our house there is a fantastically magical forest, that just sings of Gods beauty. It is one of the most gorgeous forests I've found in a very, very long time. In the late afternoon it feels a little bit like Lothlorien, when the sun is filtering through the trees, and the trees are waving in breeze, timidly welcoming you into their home.

Everytime I go in there, my soul is enriched just a little bit more.

I will post again soon, about the ministry that we've been doing, but for now, It's time to go gaze at the stars for a few minutes before bed :-) Adieu ;Abigail