"Are you settled in?" This has been a question often asked of me over the last few months, since my family and I first moved into Barnard Castle, yet it is one that I never tire of, as it allows me to affirm once more how much I am enjoying living in this beautiful town.

One personal highlight of living in such a place is how much nature I now find sitting on my doorstep, an especially pleasing change from the last couple of years living in the centre of a city. Unlike then, blackberries now grow in my back garden and birds and bees regularly visit for food and flowers. Furthermore, I am now often escorted to the shops by the gentle sound of lowing cattle and bleating sheep and regularly enjoy the sight of golden fields full of huge bales of wheat and hay as I journey out of town. In fact, thanks to living here in Barney, I feel I can really relate to the description in Chapter 8 of Deuteronomy for example, of the good land that God has given to his people; one with flowing streams, valleys and hills, wheat and barley, vines, fruit trees and honey, and where the people of God may eat their fill Yet, as the many farmers around Teesdale can vouch for, this bountiful supply of God's gifts do need a good deal of work before they can actually be appreciated - cows need milking, crops need reaping and fruit need picking, amongst other things.

In the passage from Deuteronomy the gifts that God provides are similarly described as needing to be worked for - but not in such a physical way. Instead what is necessary is that God, the provider of the feast, is not ignored. October of course, is the time that the Church traditionally gives thanks to God for what He provides in its Harvest celebrations. For those of us living in Teesdale it is easy to see at first hand why this is entirely appropriate.

Andy