The Pettifers Down Under UK 2008 - Birthdays

There were a lot of birthdays whilst we were in the UK. Some of them were celebrated rather in advance, but we took advantage of the opportunity to be with family and friends and did it anyway!




Bob was seventy! And he doesn't look a day over 69!



I blew out the candles on a boob cake for an early celebration of my 40th with all the Jeynes peeps

We had a birthday cake when I was up at Mum and Dad's in the early part of the visit, to mark the fact that this September I will be forty. I'm planning to have the most drawn out birthday ever, because a few weeks after that, my best friend Nugs allowed me to have a fortieth birthday party at her house. This was particularly kind of her because the day of the party was actually her daughter Phoebe's birthday, so we were careful to make sure she got some of the limelight on her special day. I received a number of very generous gifts (many of which were shoe themed! Seems people have noticed about my shoe obsession!), amongst which was a ticket to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb. Caralyn, Mark, Nicky and Matt were responsible for this, and I have made it my project for this year to work up enough courage to actually do it (or alternatively directing all that energy into learning how to use photo shop so that I can transpose my head onto someone elses in order to dupe everyone into thinking that I've done it....hehehehehehe). The party was tremendous fun - I didn't get too drunk, but it did go on to the wee hours and there may have been some swimming in the pool....but hey - to be honest - I think people would have been disappointed if I hadn't!



Me and Nugs - before all the fun begins!



Pettifer representation at my 40th - Madeleine, Tony, Grace, Bob, Karen, Andrew, the birthday girl, and Abs and Anna at the front. Doesn't everyone look gorgeous?



Me with good friends Mark, Caralyn, Nicky and Matt



Amanda and Mike at my UK (lol) 40th party



Nicky and Matt



Sarah and Roy busting some moves on the dance floor



A toast to being fab and forty!



Tim and Syd



Johnny and sister Trace - peas in a pod!



Caralyn and Mark



Very much later in the evening (in the early morning in fact), when Andrew and I are no longer looking the slightest bit glamorous!

Then our niece Beth was 18! Unfortunately Andrew missed it, but Karen and Tony treated us all to a lovely meal at Sway Manor with lots to drink and plenty to eat. It was great to spend some more time with everyone.



The crowd for Beth's 18th birthday dinner - Grace, Matt, Tony, Karen, Beth, Adrian, Mads and me, then George, Sophie, Anna, Abigail and Bob kneeling down at the front



A great picture of Beth, Karen and Tony



The birthday girl herself!

It was also niece Emily's birthday, and we were lucky enough to be able to get to her purple party in the park. Unfortunately it was absolutely pouring with rain and I left the camera in the car by mistake, so didn't get any pictures. However, if Lucy sends me some, I'll add them to this page!

The Pettifers Down Under UK 2008 - Family

Anna and the baby we left behind - Charlie. He is very happy with Sarah and Roy, and it was lovely to see him again.

Many apologies for the delay in updating the blog. Since we got back we have been entertaining niece Bethany, getting the children back into the old routine and Beth and I have been up to a Barrier Reef Island for a few days for some sun (more on that later).

I've given some thought about how to cover our month home, and I've decided to do it pictorially - starting with some pics of the family. So here we go!



Lucy and her girls, Katy and Emily



George, Katy, Emily, Olly, Abs and Anna all striking a pose



Grace and Bob



George, Abigail and Anna



A really wonderful picture of Lewis and Lucy



Me and Lewis having a lovely cuddle.



Katy, Me and Lew, Anna, Samuel and Abs. We are all playing a quiz game and Lew is helping me roll the dice. He loved being able to join in!



James and his gorgeous son



Me and brother James - he wouldn't be sensible...



George and Anna at Beaulieu Motor Museum. Grace and I were in stitches taking this picture....they look so funny!



Lucy and Mike - isn't Lucy looking wonderful!



Samuel and George



My mum and dad!



The lovely Lewis and his very lovely ladies - Emily, Anna and Katy



Andrew chatting to his Aunty Diana



Tracey and Madeleine



Anna, Abigail and Laura



Psrtners in crime - Anna and Abigail



Andrew and his mum

Saying Goodbye Again

So here we are, on our last morning in the UK. It's been lovely, but I'm relieved to find that I'm feeling ready to go back home....Andrew left a week ago, going to meetings in Paris and Hong Kong on the way back, and we follow at 10pm tonight accompanied by Bethany, our niece.

I was worried about coming back on 2 counts - I was afraid that I would feel like an outsider in a place where we belonged for so long, and I was also afraid that I would not want to return to our home in Sydney. In the event, neither of these things have happened. We slipped straight back into life here as if we had never left, and I feel blessed to have two places on opposite sides of the world which I can call home. At the same time, I feel like it's time to go - to get back into the routine of life, and to sleep in my own bed.

The children, in particular, have had a wonderful time. It has been a month of sleepovers, special occasions and lovely memories. For Anna, this has unsettled her a little - we've had some tears and some heartrending requests to stay back in Milford on Sea forever. I'm pretty certain that once we get back, she will be fine, but my heart breaks for her. It's a difficult thing we have done. George, on the other hand, has had a great time, but is more stoic. He says he is starting to miss his Australian friends, and wants to get back to normal.

I don't know when we will be back all together. It's an expensive trip and not one we will be repeating on a regular basis. Andrew's parents will be with us for Christmas, and my parents will be back out for a visit in February. I may come back for a couple of weeks next year, and may bring one of the children, but nothing is concrete as yet. We didn't get to see everyone we planned to while we were here, so if we missed you, please accept my apologies. You will see from the photos when I start putting them up that we have been absolutely manic. Having spent time with my parents and siblings, and Andrew's parents and sister, I've tried to make the priority facilitating the children's wishes to spend time with their friends. I think they needed that.

When we get home, I'll start putting pictures on, but until then, au revoir!

The sun has got his hat on....

So...

In Australia we are very conscientious about sun sense. We are covered from top to bottom in factor 30, wearing hats and seeking out shade.

This does not explain, in any way, why we would have sat out in the back garden of Andrew's parents house in the New Forest on Sunday and allowed ourselves to get burnt to buggery. Attractively, I have a perfect imprint of the necklace I was wearing on my decolletage, and am therefore going to have to wear said necklace for the remainder of our holiday.

However, you will gather from this that currently, the English summer is defying all our worst fears and providing us with beautiful sunshine. It's a strange thing to be back in the place of your birth and seeing it through the eyes of a visitor. I actually think everyone should have this experience in order to really appreciate where they live. There are so many things you forget about a place when you live there all the time. England really is very, very green. It is absurdly lush in its greenery. And the flowers - the gardens really are a riot of colour. I don't want to start sounding like a romantic poet, but I have to go on to say that the heady scent of those flowers is almost more than can be borne. What a beautiful country this is. Course, next week it will be winter and we will be congratulating ourselves on our foresight in emigrating.

However, there are a number of other things I had forgotten....like the number of cars. And the worrying number of old people. And the wasps (which unlike Ozzie wasps do give a nasty sting).

We can at least, get a good curry, and spend time with really good friends. It is so wonderful to walk through the village and bump into so many people we know. Everything is reassuringly unchanged so far, and the children are thrilled to be able to spend some time with their friends. I am thrilled to have been able to spend some time with Nugs, who I have missed immensely.

Somehow, it is as if we had never been away...

Home....

This time tomorrow, we will be well on our way back to the UK. Assuming that the present strike action by Qantas engineers does not delay us....

The children and I will be in the country until the 22nd July. Andrew is leaving on the 15th for Paris and then Hong Kong. How glamorous he is these days. I will make do with Sway and the odd trip into Lymington.

If we don't make it to see you, please don't be offended. I've got an itinerary printed up and we are pretty much run off our feet visiting for the duration of the trip. It's really hard getting the balance right, and I've a feeling that I am going to be plagued with guilt about people I didn't visit. We love you all! It's just that there is a limit to what can be achieved even in the time we are over!

We are all starting to be excited, but it's hard when the flight is looming over us. Well - it looms over me and the children, but not Andrew. I'm trying to see it as an opportunity to catch up on some sleep, but it's difficult to sleep when my concentration is required to help keep the aircraft in the sky. Of course, it isn't helped that the children are nervous too - I have to pretend that I have absolutely no problem with it, in order to reassure them. I think it's possible they've seen through it.

So what are we looking forward to? I've done a list!

- taking Charlie for a walk
- going to Waitrose
- buying clothes in TK Maxx
- having some really good sausages
- walking along the cliff top at Milford and the lanes at Keyhaven
- seeing Lewis!
- going to Emily's birthday party
- buying books at a reasonable price
- having a decent curry
- getting to inspect our house with the tenant

Obviously we are looking forward to seeing family and friends, but you already know that!

So - we'll see you all at the end of the week!

Words

I've been having a think about how the use of English differs in Australia. Winston Churchill once commented that England and America were 'two nations divided by a common language' and it's not much different here. First there are the nouns - those I can think of are listed here

red and green peppers - capsicum
courgettes - zuchinni
aubergine - egg plant
crisps - chips
clingfilm - gladwrap
ill - crook
chicken - chook
playtime - recess
trainers - runners
flipflops - thongs
trousers - pants
polo neck jumper - skivvy
sun proof tops - rashies
vest - chesty
duvet - doona
off licence - bottle shop
red head - bluey
spring onion - shallot (I need to check and see what they call shallots...)
Sky TV - Foxtel (exactly the same product with all the same equipment)

Then there are the different uses of other words. Australians like to start a sentence with 'look'. They also like to say 'how are you?, as a sort of multi purpose greeting.
Everyone is familiar with the Australian tendency to end every sentence on a high pitched questioning note, regardless of whether their comment is a question or not. I've read that as a result of Australian tv, young people in the UK are starting to develop the habit.

It will be interesting to see whether people back home perceive that our accents, or the way in which we construct our sentences has changed at all. Anna certainly does have an accent, but I wouldn't say the rest of us do. Of course, you can't avoid using their words - there is little point turning up at the greengrocers and asking for an aubergine as they will look at you as if you were talking a foreign language. Which you would be. There are other problems with pronunciation as well. Asking for a croissant at the bakers is a bit excruciating. The word has been made Australian to the extent that if you say it correctly, they have no idea what you are asking for. It feels very contrived to put on an Aussie accent and say 'quasont' through your nose, just so you can have one, but if you don't you will leave the shop empty handed. Don't even get me started on 'pain au chocolat'...

Having most of my life been a southerner living in the north, then a northerner living in the south, I am aware that when you change areas, even in the UK, you end up having an accent which is acceptable to no one. As I child at school in Doncaster, I was constantly accused of having a posh southern accent, but when we visited relatives in the south, they would comment on how northern we now sounded living 'Up North'. I'm sure a similar thing will happen now.

The scary thing is....what sort of an accent will a southerner/northerner/Australian end up with??

Sex and the City

Nicky, Maria and I with Sharon at the back

It's been a while eh?

As always though, we've been having fun, including a girl's day out in the city where we had champagne high tea at the Queen Victoria Buildings in honour of Sharon's birthday. We've also been out for cocktails in Manly, had people over for Sunday lunch 2 weekends in a row, and participated in the St Lukes Grammar Trivia Night (where I appalled everyone on our team by knowing not only how old Paris Hilton is but also the name of George Clooney's current girlfriend, who is inexplicably not me). There were prizes for the best themed table so we went as Sex in the City. The photos record us looking as New York New York as it is possible to be on the Northern Beaches! I was disappointed not to be wearing Manolo Blahniks, but I did wear my most outrageous shoes, which have only ever had one other outing - to Kate Palmers 70s themed 40th birthday party, which should give you some idea of what they are like!




The Sex and the City men - Richard, Kenton, Andrew, Graham and Ian. We weren't sure which one of them was Mr Big..


Speaking of which, today was George's birthday party - tomorrow he will be twelve. We've taken four of his friends to the cinema to see Prince Caspian, and then fed them Domino's pizza and birthday cake. Jack and Andrew are staying overnight. Interestingly, in a quieter moment, one of the boys pointed out that each of them had a different racial heritage - Jack has an English (although Ozzie now) mother and Slovenian paternal grandparents, Andrew had an Australian father and a Brazilian mother, Borja is Spanish and Lewis's parents are Scottish. This is a common feature of society here and it certainly goes a long way to making sure that you never feel that you are alone in your experience of changing countries. Amongst Anna's friends there are Korean's, Thai, French, Dutch, American....of course all of the children speak fluent English with Aussie accents, including Anna. Mum and Dad had a bit of trouble understanding what she was saying when they were here!



Borja, George, Jack, Andrew and Lewis at the back

I don't think I've mentioned on here that George has been signed up by a talent agency. It's not really my style to be involved in such a thing, but he is enjoying drama immensely, and the agency saw him when he visited their offices with another friend, and they asked me to get in touch. It seems that red headed young men are somewhat in demand for commercials, catalogues and even films, and they liked George's 'look'. We rather like George's look too, and especially when we saw the pictures they took for his webpage - one of which is here. Judge for yourself, but if you ask me, that is a very beautiful child indeed. And I am not at all biased.





Andrew and I are now waiting for all the money to start rolling in, so that we can retire...

So...it's now only 18 days until we fly back to the UK for a month. To be quite honest, I feel a little apprehensive about it. It's difficult to articulate what it is that concerns me about it (apart from being trapped for 24 hours, close to dying of boredom, in a metal tube thousands of metres above the ground...), but I think it will be a very important trip in terms of clarifying where exactly 'home' is these days. Having moved about a lot in my nearly 40 years, I have a slightly different concept of where home is to other people really. In the UK, I still referred to where my parents live as 'home' despite the fact that I never actually really lived in that house and have now been making a home with Andrew for 18 years. I've tried to avoid constantly calling the UK 'home' as I think it psychologically prevents you from making your home here - which you must do if you are going to emigrate successfully. I'm aware that lots of things will have changed when we go back - some of it will just be geographically disorientating - new shops, junctions, places gone for ever and new stuff in its place. But also relationships will have moved on - friends we had will have shared experiences about which we have no knowledge and other people will have migrated into our groups to replace us. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone, but I'm also afraid of feeling like an outsider.

Of course, the children do not share these concerns at all. They are just looking forward to spending time with their grandparents and with their friends. Life is so much simpler when you are a child, isn't it?

But then again....someone did once buy me that book called 'Women Who Think Too Much'...