Mom's views on England

I decided to sit down and ask my mom what she thinks and feels about our new home, she isn't able to comment on England as a whole as we have been so busy with Nicholas that she hasn't seen an awful lot of it this time, but I was intensely interested to hear her impressions of our little piece of it.

I was pleased to hear that her first impression of our house is that it is not nearly as small as she expected and is in fact not that much smaller then what we had at Stoney Hill Lane. The kitchen is definitely bigger, and she has loved cooking on gas while looking out over our neighbours rose bushes and using it as a good excuse to see what the local community are up to. The arrival of the milk truck on local delivery always entances her. Can't say she thinks much of the ironing and is definitely not returning to SA to retrench Rose and buy herself a steam press, but she has admitted that the houses here seem easier to keep clean and we have been working really well together over the last couple of weeks.

Walking on her own to the village has been a highlight for her as she hates driving in South Africa and the freedom offered by public transport or simply walking has been a delight for her. Although she is by no means a neurotic in SA, and certainly doesn't spend her life looking over her shoulder, she hasn't told me once to wind up my window or not go out at night and I think that has been quite a pleasant novelty for her. If driving in SA is a nightmare, she has adamantly declared that she would never drive on these ridiculous country lanes, so I guess it is a good thing that Nicky was born early and she never has to do the school run.

Shopping has also presented many differences to South Africa, the shops are more frenetic and her and Nicholas would rather sit in the car then fight with the snooty Sainsbury housewives...according to mom, the meat here is excellent, especially the pork, and not at all what she had expected and the general cost of living is not bad as long as you don't convert it to rands.

When I do get her into the shops, she is still not ready to leave her bag in the shopping barrow when she turns to reach for an item and spends her time lifting it out and clutching it under her arm everytime she turns around much to the amusement of the local shoppers....guess once a South African always a South African. Her anxiety levels were also a little raised the other night when Simon attended a football match in London and only returned on the 23h00 train, she insisted that we wait up for him in case his bicycle had been stolen from the station and we needed to go and fetch him....she hasn't stopped commenting on the fact that the bike was still there and that Si could cycle home at nearly midnight with absolutely no worry.

As a gardener, she has been in raptures over the countryside and lovely English gardens, and her and Meggie spend many happy times wondering around enjoying the sights. All in all, I think this has been a great experience for her and she can go home knowing that we have made the right decision and are living in the best possible place for us.