Hi Em,
Hope you are fine. I sent you some things for Easter last Saturday - they will be late arriving but hope you like them!

The book by Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book) is really good. Even though it looks a bit spooky it is actually really nice. A boy is orphaned as a baby and is saved by a graveyard of ghosts. It is hard to explain without it sounding creepy but it is actually quite touching and lovely when you read it. Hope you give it a go!
I had a good Easter last weekend. It was the first Easter services taken by our new minister, Rev Keith Ellisdon. He has a different style to Graeme but I think I'm getting used to him. It was a good service on the Easter Friday especially. Everyone lit a candle for special people in their lives. It was quite touching. It is the quiet, reflective moments like this that I find particularly special.
I am off to do some library study now. The course I'm doing (Imformation management) is really good but quite tough! Hope your studies are going well and that everything is fine.
Take care. I'll try to update this blog a bit more regularly too!
Love, Aaron
xxx ooo

Hi Emma,
Hope you are fine! I did the prayers of the people at church for the first time last Sunday. I really don't like public speaking and I was pretty nervous but I was glad that I managed to do it. Below is the prayer that I wrote. Not sure what you'll think of it - I found that it is actually quite hard to do. It makes me appreciate what the ministers have to do each Sunday more.

St Andrew's Prayers of the People (22/2/09)

Let us pray.
God, hear our prayers for those affected by the Victorian bushfires. We grieve for the loss of life , for the trauma of the survivors and for the damage to the environment. Let us act with compassion and understanding as the slow process of healing begins.
We pray for all in the world afflicted by war, poverty or environmenal disaster
- for those who face uncertainty in the current economic times
- for those suffering from physical or mental illness
- for the unemployed and the dispossessed.
Lord, do not let us be blind to the needs of others and ourselves. Let us find wisdom by listening to your still small voice in our hearts. Let us be guided the words and deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we seek to live a life of love in action.
This we pray in your name.
Amen.

Hope all is going well for you Miss Em and all the very best .
Lots of love,
Aaron xxxooo

Hi Em,
Hope you are fine. I finally got you some presents for Chinese New Year - sorry for the delay! I'll insert a photo below and post them off to you. I hope you like them!

We had some terrible fires in Victoria last Saturday. A lot of people died in country areas like Marysville and Kinglake. It was really sad. The weather conditions last Saturday were really awful - 46 deg C and with hot gusty winds. The fires are not out yet but hopefully they are coming under some sort of control. There is a lot of smoke over the whole of Melbourne and the sun looks very red - it is quite scary really! I hope things are fine where you are .
I'm at the Melbourne Athenaeum library again - one of my favourite spots though I think you will have guessed that!I'm upgrading my computer using the wireless Internet here. After this I think I need to go to work for a bit - hopefully not too long - and then home. Lulu is fine now and it is nice to relax at home with her. Wishing you all the very best.
Lot of love,
Aaron xxxooo

Hi again Em,
Not sure you will be interested () but here are the books that I have read recently. These are all from the Athenaeum library (that very beautiful library in Melbourne city).

This is the first volume of the “Book of the Long Sun” trilogy. I realise now that this trilogy came before the “Book of the Short Sun” trilogy but it doesn't matter too much that I read it out of order. It is a beautiful book, written back in 1993. Silk, a patera (a type of priest) on a futurist world is the hero. He finds his monastery (called a manteion) and school have been sold off and he tries to get it back. I can't wait to read the next one!

These are two more books by NZ crime writer Ngaio Marsh. They are both great fun to read and really kept me guessing (my guesses were wrong too!). These two were both set in the Second World War. Death and the Dancing Footman was about a dinner party in an English country house that goes horribly wrong when an unknown person starts trying to murder people! Died in the Wool is set on an NZ sheep station in the South Island. A female MP has been murdered and a German undercover agent is suspected! She writes really well and her characters seem so real.

Take care Em and all the best.
Lots of love,
Aaron xxxooo

Hi Em,
Happy Chinese New Year!!! Chun Jie Kuai Le!!! I hope you have a very happy new year ahead. I have to admit that I still need to send you some presents for this - very sorry about that - they should be coming soon!
It is actually Australia Day holiday today as well, so happy Australia day too! It has been pretty hot and dry in Melbourne recently and unfortunately with more hot weather to come. I was watering from the water tank today to give the plants some relief. So far everything in the garden is coping but it is pretty tough conditions, especially for the newer ones. Some rain would be lovely!
Thinking of you Em and wishing you all the very best. Take care
Lots of love,
Aaron xxxooo