School Easter Service

I haven't got any photos of this, but we had the school Easter Service on Thursday afternoon. Anna did some narrating but at the end there was the surprise of the children being presented with Bibles as a leaving gift from the headmaster.

The children have been so very happy here, with fabulous friends, a safe and beautiful environment and a really excellent school. I know that although Sydney will be great, we could not have wanted for a better start in George and Anna's lives. It's been idyllic really - the beach, the forest, a small village where everyone knows them and great friends they've had virtually from birth.

However, there comes a time when moving on seems like the right thing to do - although of course I'm anxious that we might be taking them from this idyll to something that turns out to be less than we are hoping. We know the grass isn't greener - but different grass every now and again in life is a good challenge and one we are all looking forward to.

I've taken the children off to Milford Primary School for the last time today. That really and truly is the end of an era...however, I will be back there this afternoon for their Talent Show - more photos later then!

The Last Supper Part 2

Sarah and I

Sarah and Andrew

Caralyn trying to keep my eyes open for a photo!

The whole gang - all our favourite people

Warren - lets hope his girlfriend never finds this blog!

Caralyn and Mark

Me and my absolute bestest friend Nugs

Hazel and I and our large mouths

Andrew and Caralyn - Caralyn looks thrilled!

Thursday saw us at The Royal Oak with a bunch of our most treasured friends. Warren came from Cambridge, and Hazel and Dave travelled down from Nantwich in Cheshire, along with all the gang from the village. It was wonderful to have the chance to spend time with everyone, and to reminisce (sp!?) about fun times we have had together. Most of everyone's stories seemed to have involved us either naked, drunk or both, which was a little concerning but we have certainly had some laughs! I feel sure we are going to be much better behaved in Australia..

A few tears were shed, but I think we are still having a bit of trouble really knowing we are going!


Highlight of the evening was some silliness on the way home, when we discovered that the car Andrew had borrowed from work had flashing lights stored in the boot for when it is used for motorway surveillance. Of course, we had to get them out and plug them - and then drive back to Sway with them on whilst killing ourselves laughing.

We will really miss this sort of idiocy with our friends!

Dancing Queen

Graham and I dancing - I think you can tell we are having a good time!

Me, Graham and Amanda - eyes closed as usual!

More dancing - we love to dance

Amanda and Graham dancing

Wednesday night was my last night at Mojive with Graham and Amanda. Can't recommend modern jiving enough, and I know I am going to miss having my dancing buddies - however, I have been kind enough to provide Graham with a new dancing partner, Amanda, and I have already found out where the classes are in Sydney.



After dancing we went off for a curry, and as usual ordered far too much!



I apologise for the pictures - it seems it is not really possible for me to have a photo taken with my eyes open!

The Longest Goodbye...

How beautiful is Charlie?

Piers - he is going to break a few hearts..

George and Piers

Garry

Anna and Gigi

The non stop socialising is still going on apace. Monday night saw us having a lovely supper with our friends Virginia and Bill - Bill's grandfather (or was it great grandfather?) was Chief Engineer on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is very interesting. Small world eh? Yesterday evening there was a goodbye do at Andrew's office for colleagues and clients, and some very kind words were said about Andrew. I think Andrew felt quite moved and it was good to catch up with some people I haven't seen for a while and to meet others I've heard about but never met. Afterwards we picked up a Chinese takeaway and ate it with Nugs and Johnny whilst all being terribly silly.





I'm getting quite concerned that by the time we get to Sydney I am going to be the size of an elephant and they will send me straight to Taronga Zoo as the latest exhibit. The amount of eating and drinking that has been going on lately is pretty unprecedented, and the amount of training I usually do has been cut back. However. This didn't stop me from having a lovely walk with Charlie and then going for lunch with Nugs and Sarah (even knowing that I am out for supper tonight!).





It was soooo great to walk with Charlie, and to see how happy and healthy he is with Sarah and Roy. Although it breaks my heart to leave him behind, I know it is the best thing for him. The pictures above were taken today at Shirley Holms in the New Forest, which you can out onto directly from Nugs' garden. It's probably the last time I will walk with him, so I wanted to record it.





I still haven't been able to work out how to disperse the pictures amongst the text, so on this post there are a couple of pictures we took at the Eveleighs on Sunday, along with some from the work do, then Charlie.





This evening I've got my last dancing, then out for supper with Amanda and my friend Graham. Hopefully I'll burn off some of the lunchtime calories before we get to the Indian! Dancing photos tomorrow!

A Busy Weekend

Katy and Jim's chest

Jim, Julian, Glenn and Katy

Jennifer and Kim

Roy telling Adrian a dirty joke

Kodl and Min trying to avoid the camera

David, Gaile and Andrew

Gary, me (don't know what I'm doing!), Kodl and Roy

Another attempt at getting a decent picture of me and Nugs!

Henry and Jo

Johnny looking very dapper

Tammy and Alex

Graham

Nicky, Sarah, me, Carolyn, Lynne

It's been pretty much non stop socialising since my last entry. Andrew was out with his work colleagues on Friday night, whilst Nugs, Johnny and I had a lovely supper and made short work of a nice bottle of Moet. On Saturday morning, it was an early start to get Anna to riding, leaving Andrew in bed with some paracetamol waiting for the purchaser of my car to arrive. I'm very sad about my car - I had finally managed to eke a decent car out of Andrew, and now I've got to get rid of it. I think it is years before I'm going to be the proud owner of a convertible again. Might put a picture of my car on sometime!




On Saturday eening we met up with lots of friends at The Smugglers in Milford and it was great to see so many people turned out to see us off. I'll put the photos on tomorrow, as I'm doing this entry on Andrew's computer, but we had a great time. I still don't feel sad, as I don't think my head really knows that I'm going....I'm not sure when it is going to hit me properly, but it felt like a great night out with our friends, rather than the last time we will see some of them for ages. And I'm sure it's better like that.


Sunday was a very lazy day - we pottered about, sorted out the children, then at 4pm went over to Caroline and Garry's for a late lunch. Anna was already there with Gigi having had a sleep over, and George went off to play with Piers. George and Anna have known Piers and Gigi since they were born, and there is only a month between their ages, so it was sad to say goodbye. However, Garry as usual cooked an excellent meal, and I am hopeful that Caroline will pop in to see me every now and again, as she works for BA and comes to Sydney about once a year.

So, in exactly one week, we will be sitting on an aeroplane waiting to take off to a new life in Australia. How weird is that? The children still seem to be very together about it - Anna said yesterday that she couldn't really imagine living in Australia so she didn't know what she felt about it. I can relate to that. George said he was 'middling' between sad and excited - that he knew he would miss things about here, but 'it's going to be sooooo cool living in Australia'. That worried me a little bit...it's not going to be a non stop holiday - it will be real life, with all the same shit there is here - but with some sun. Lol. I wonder how he is going to feel when reality kicks in, and there is a bed time, and he has to go to school, and he's still not allowed to take food in his room etc etc....

What I know is that the thing I am going to miss is people. We've been really fortunate to have made some fabulous friends here, who have supported us through some very difficult times over the last few years. I know I am good at meeting people, but making the sort of deeper friendships we have here is different. But I am also a great believer in the fact that that sort of enduring friendship will survive the distance. Everyone is only a phone call, or web call away - or even a text. I can still shout at Nugs over the web whilst playing solitaire showdown, and I can still argue with my mum over the phone...somethings never change....







PS Does anyone know how I can put captions in for the pictures - or even have them dispersed amongst the text instead of in a big pile at the beginning?

For clarification

Now - I need to make something very clear. It seems that my friend Warren has misinterpreted my previous post and has become over excited at the thought that we have an S & M dungeon in our house. It certainly wasn't the impression I meant to create and had I known the effect it would have on poor Warren (who sadly doesn't get out often...and I know would run many, many miles if he ever encountered an S & M dungeon) I would have been far more careful with my words. So, for ease of understanding - no we don't have a dungeon, and no - we are not into S & M. Hehehehehehehe. Love you lots Warren!

Playing house

So the house is pretty much no more. The removers are in there packing and everything is shrouded in layers of cardboard. In a way though, I feel more settled now that things are actually happening. And I like living in a one bed cottage - it's kind of like playing house.....and it takes moments to tidy up and clean! And of course there is the added advantage of having my best friend next door.

I'm feeling much better about it all now - I've even had twinges of excitement. What a relief! And the removal guys are very nice and it's been fun chatting to them about the weird stuff they have packed in people's houses (I was very careful to conceal all the weird stuff we have!). How about packing up someone's S&M dungeon? Lol. Or being unexpectedly attacked by a blow up doll which fell off the top of a wardrobe? Hehehehehehe. Tomorrow the container will arrive and all our stuff will go off to be shipped, and all that will remain for us to do is to clean the house and enjoy various farewells with friends and family.

Of course, the bizarre weather we've had the last couple of days had made moving to the sun seem very attractive. After having a couple of weeks of lovely spring weather, during which I gave away most of my winter clothes, it has therefore been distressing to have had to deal with hail, wind and snow in togs that really are not up to it at all. This afternoon the children are doing a Bollywood dancing display in the playground at school, and I don't have anything to wear! Well I do - but I'm going to be bloody freezing....

We're leaving home....

So...yesterday we left our lovely house and moved into Nugs' cottage. It's very comfortable but I feel displaced - like a refugee.....we spent most of today at the house, clearing things up, washing all the bedlinen and making final preparations for the removal people on Monday.

It's actually happening. We are really and truly moving to the other side of the world where we don't know anyone. Hmmmm.....and.......it was largely my idea, so I don't feel I am entitled to be feeling a bit funny about it all. I think the thing is, that when you move house normally, you have kind of reached a point where you don't really want the house you've got and you are moving on to one you like more. But we don't know what our house will be...

Nevertheless, I am still very positive about the whole thing, but being in limbo is stressful.

And we've had good news - Andrew is now going to take some time off when we get there and we are going to have a little holiday. We are planning to spend 4 days on a motor cruiser going along the Hawkesbury River, which goes into Sydney Harbour. Should be fun, and will give us some relaxation for a while.

We also think we have identified a school for the children - St Luke's Grammar - so we have been making arrangements to take a tour the day after we arrive (before they break up for Easter). Hopefully everything will fall into place and I will soon be wondering what I was worrying about!

Last Supper....

So here we are - the last day in our house.....unfortunately I have the world's worst hangover as a result of a 'last supper' with our friends Ann Marie and Andrew, who forced me to quaff large quantities of white wine and have rendered me utterly useless on the day I should be at my busiest! Lol. No need to add that we had a great time and we are looking forward to spending some time with them and their three children when they are in Australia in early August.

So - this morning I managed to take the children to school (felt decidedly dodgy at the parking area and had to take a few deep breaths before I felt able to drive home) and I have spent the morning very carefully not moving at all on the sofa. As I explained to my best friend Nugs, there is a distinct possibility that I might die before the end of today, so there is not much point in finishing the packing. Hehehehehe.

And before you all think I am a terrible wino, I haven't been drunk for ages (not even at the ball last weekend where everyone else was three sheets to the wind, and frankly very badly behaved) - and if you can't get drunk with your friends just before you are going to live on the other side of the world, then I don't know when you can! I will admit that my timing is not good, and that it would have been far, far more convenient to feel this ill once the furniture had safely set off for Sydney, but there you go.....

I've managed to eat a cheese roll now, and am considering venturing upstairs to survey the ruins of my house. I can't tell you how complicated it is to pack for 2 weeks in England (with all the stuff that entails - school uniform, cubs uniform, scouts uniform, stuff for scout camp inconveniently being held next weekend, riding gear and a forecast for snow next week) plus 6 weeks in Australia. I was being quite organised at the beginning of the week, because I had packed all mine and Andrew's stuff - until I realised that I had packed every single pair of pants that I own, and not just at the bottom of the case, but in the lining in the bottom of the case.

However, all I have left to do is inventorising and valuing everything we own for insurance purposes, going around with black sacks throwing everything extraneous away, clearing all the food out of the kitchen and just generally surviving the rest of today. Help!!

Perhaps I'll just go back to watching daytime tv....

Chaos....

Not sure whether this post will qualify in the 'only updating with things you might want to know about' category, but it may be cathartic for me, so I'm going ahead....

We are in the fullest swing of getting ready to go - moving out of the house on Friday, to live in the holiday cottage my best friend has on her property, and the house is destroyed. Black sacks everywhere, some for the bin, others for the charity shops and others for friends. It's very sad to see my house in this state, as when we bought it the intention was to make it our last house. We've worked hard at getting it how we wanted it and although we all want to go to Sydney, it's with a heavy heart that we leave. I know we'll have a great house out there, and I'll enjoy getting it straight, but all the same.....There is still so much to do before the removals company arrive on Monday, and at times I'm not at all sure we will be ready.

Naturally then, this is when Andrew has chosen to start jet washing the extensive patio in the garden.....it's not that I don't want it done, but it would have been nice if it had been done when we were living in the house, and not when we are both just about to move out and there are more than a million other more important things to do! Lol. So far it has taken up two evenings, but today I gently (and I thought, with some considerable reserve) suggested that this was something that he could spend evenings doing once the furniture has set off to Sydney....

Friends keep asking me if I am excited....and I have to say that I really don't know. Even with this amount of activity related to emigrating, it all seems a bit surreal to me. I've had a bit of a panic over the weekend about it all, but I seem to have recovered from that........I've decided that I would be virtually psychotic if I wasn't at all worried about it (but on that basis I am very concerned that neither Andrew nor the children seem the least concerned about it all!), but I know it will all be fine, and if it's not - we'll come back. Course, quite what we'll do if some of us are happy and the others aren't, I don't know (and this is what I was panicking about...).

I think that is enough rambling for one evening. I've had a lovely couple of days - a spring ball with lots of our best friends, a day at a wonderful spa with Nugs, and a day sorting through all my clothes and make up etc with Amanda and I just want to enjoy spending time with everyone now.

Hmmm...

Ah - I think I know what the problem is....a missing, but clearly crucial, 's' in the weblink. All religious conversions must now be cancelled....

Bizarre

Something weird has happened with the links on my blog. It seems that when you click on the links you end up at some religious site.....or at least you do on my computer! I can't explain this, unless it is a message from the Big Man himself....and I don't seem to be able to put it right. So - if you are not of a religious bent yourself, I apologise. And if you are - enjoy....

Anna's leaving party, March 9th 2007

Anna had her leaving party this evening - 12 children and ringo-ing (the gentle art of being propelled down a ski slope in a rubber ring). A fabulous time was had by all, and they were all suitably exhausted when they had finished - this was as a result of the climb back up the hill with their ringos rather than the (v quick) descent!





Anna was rightly proud of the lovely photo frames which she had decorated and written on "The journey to a friend's house is never far.....". They took ages to make and were given to each guest in their party bags.





It wasn't too easy to take pictures of the girls actually on the slopes - my photography skills are pretty stretched when things are moving! - but what I did get I have added here.





And it seems like the party is not over - 2 of the girls are still here and staying the night. Anna is thrilled to get a sleepover with Rosalind and Gigi!





And just for the record, the children who came were - Iona, Gigi, Rosalind, Jessica, Emma, Abigail, Izzy, Lauren, Ellie and Nancy. Of course, Anna and George were also there, and Grandma and Grandad came too.