Saturday 29th August 2009

Determined to spend some time on the beach....we came all this way for a beach holiday after all :0) we defied the windy weather and set off nice and early for a local spot where Cayne, Linda and the girls spend lots of their time - I must say Weston-Super-Mare is a very pretty town and the beach front is a bustling cosmopolitan mix without losing the charm of a small English village.




Sadly the wind got the better of us eventually and we had to get off the beach or freeze to death - all was not lost however as after a lovely cup of hot chocolate in a gorgeous coffee shop overlooking the beach Lin and I head off for some good old retail therapy while the men stayed home and took the children playing in the park across the road from Lin's stunning home.

The afternoon saw us at a charming olde worlde steam fun fair which was in town for the week and the kids had lots of fun on the good old fashioned rides, all of which were still steam powered - Nick was able to experience his first ever fun fair ride and Lin and I even had a ride on the Carousal....such a laugh.




A quiet evening in enjoying boerewors rolls from the local South African shop and good company, another good day all round.

Friday 28th August 2009

This morning dawned overcast and windy but as Cayne was keen to try out his new kite board it was all systems go and we were off to the beach dressed in raincoats and jeans....oh what we will do for a bit of sand lol. Unfortunately 60 knot winds are a bit strong for kiting so much to the disappointment of both Cayne and the children we had to pack up early, but not before having lots of fun trying to get the kite set up in gale conditions.


Fortunately however all was not lost and we all head down to Puxton Park a local attraction for a day of indoor play. This soft play center is one of the best I have ever seen and Phillip was in his element shooting down extreme slides and playing on the gladiator course while Nick hung happily in the under 3's area and Megs pottered around on the many climbing frames.

Lunch in the stunning gardens - I love that in England no matter where you go you can take your own picnic lunch

After a full and fun day it was a very tired group who settled down to pizza for supper and a round of Playstation Sing Star (the best evening EVER) - a very happy day filled with happy memories.

Thursday 27th August 2009

As always it was sad for me to say goodbye to Tanya and her family today....we have been like sisters for over 20 years and time with her is as close to being with family as I can get. Even our kiddies seem to be growing up like cousins - the age gap is a bit big for them to be friends and yet still a bond is growing between them. At least we have a girls trip to London planned in October and knowing I will see her again soon makes it so much easier.


An added bonus was that Aunty Gail (Tanya's mom) is also visiting from South Africa and as for years and years Gail was like a second mom to me having her in the house was comforting in the wake of my own mom's return home.

I am pleased to say we had a very uneventful trip down to Cayne and Linda with both Nicholas's and Phillip's temps under control so things are looking good for the second half of our trip.

Wednesday 26th August 2009

Shew, we have had a real run of sick kiddies just recently which has left me feeling emotionally and physically drained. After finally getting away on holiday with Nick still running mild temps on Sunday which had all cleared up by Monday, Phillip started running temps last night which then delayed our leaving for Linda's by a day.....talk about a comedy of errors, let me tell you I have quite simply been ready to run away.

Fortunately, it seems Phil's temps are as a result of the tooth abscess which has been troubling him for a while (as opposed to anything more sinister) and now that we finally have him on a second dose of stronger, more potent antibiotics I am hoping that they will settle down quite quickly and we can salvage what is left of out time away.

Staying with Tanya has been wonderful (despite copious amounts of Calpol and Neurofen kiddies being required) and the weather has been good enough that we have spent some lovely days playing on the beach and rockpooling along the coast within walking distance of the Card home - the fact that I forgot my camera on BOTH occasions is testament to just how little sleep I have been getting :0)

Tomorrow we head South to Cayne and Linda and hopefully will put all illness behind us for a little while.

Sunday 23rd August 2009

Nicholas has been running a nasty temperature since Friday so we decided to postpone our trip North by a day and instead of leaving yesterday we head off at 4am this morning. Unfortunately Nick wasn't the happiest camper for the first hour or so and I think both Si and I had some fairly serious doubts about the 6 hour trip to Whitley Bay, but finally around 5am he settled down and we made good time to York - the first stop on our holiday.

In an attempt to (a) break the trip and (b) allow the children to experience some of this wonderful country we are living in I had booked tickets for us to visit the Jorvik Viking Centre and archaeological dig in York, a well know and very historical town about 380 kms from home. I had visited this Viking attraction in 1995 when Mom and I toured England together and have some very fond memories of the experience and I am delighted to say that if anything it has improved and the children particularly enjoyed the digging for real artifacts under the instruction of an archaeologist.



A couple of hours spent out of the car did everyone the world of good and the second 2.5 hour leg to Whitley Bay passed uneventfully (so my plan had worked). We arrived at Tanya's around 4ish and enjoyed watching the smaller children riding bikes out on the pedestrianised area in front of Tanya's house while she cooked us a beautiful roast pork dinner complete with home made yorkshire pud...yummy is an understatement.

Early to bed tonight for all I am sure and looking forward to a lovely day tomorrow....oh the bliss of holidays :0)

Wednesday 19 August 2009

When the weather clears and warms in England it is truly glorious and we have had two such perfect days this week - yesterday we hit the beach (again) and once more it was a stunning experience.....I was saying to Simon, the trip down and back gives the children and I such a good forum for discussion that for that reason alone it is almost worth going once a week.

We chatted about absolutely everything from Megan's maturing body, to sex to life lessons and making friends and the children really opened up. I think the fact that I had nothing to concentrate on but them and the road with no stress or interruptions really helped open up those channels of communication....def one of those days when I came away feeling good about my job as a mother so far.

Today started with housework....yes always the dull thud of reality....and then Megs and a friend went off to a movies while Phil, Nick and I spent some time with Kerry and her kids. Kerry and I have been toying with an idea for a business together so it was fun to sit and chat and thrash around ideas - feels a bit like the early days of scrapkits.

Other then that not much, still trying to settle in to the house without mom, and find our feet in this our second year of immigration - it has already been so different from our first year and I think this is going to be the harder of the two.....we are no longer new in England and the time has come to really start living our English lives, the honeymoon is over and South Africa is becoming a lovely but slightly fuzzy memory.

While there is something settling about the routines that we are starting to form and the life we are starting to establish, any push factors are long forgotten and it is in this year I believe that Si and I are going to really have to hold on to our pull factors here in order to remain positive about our decision. I am not surprised that this is the year when so many otherwise successful immigrations fail - 15 months without seeing loved ones is a very long time and it is only getting longer. I am just grateful my mom has been to see us twice already or a very difficult situation would have become almost impossible.

That all said, I am certainly not dwelling on the difficulties and in my way am finding the positive and continuing to strive for and find happiness...think it is just important to document when things are hard to help keep the story real for future generations.....can't only write the happy stuff :-)

Sunday 16th August 2009

What a different day I had today...just before Mom left (in another attempt to ensure we would be staying busy) I organised for all my friends in Nick's "mom's group" to join us for a BBQ today - we had 11 adults and 6 babies out in the garden, wonderful food, gorgeous weather and an altogether fantastic day.

Si gets on really well with a couple of the dad's so it was def therapy for both our souls and it was just so nice to look at this group of lovely people and realise that we have become more then acquaintances, we have become friends, and they are friendships which I believe will continue to grow and deepen.

So all in all am feeling better today, specially knowing that by this time next week I will be in Tanya's home spending time with her lovely family and then on to Cayne, Linnie and the girls in the middle of the week.

Saturday 15th August 2009

Today has been a very very hard one for me, the first without my mom and without the distraction of almost constant worry about Pedal Studio.....the website has launched incredibly successfully and every time I look at it I can't actually believe Si and I did it all - it has been an extremely steep learning curve and at times I think both of us thought the light at the end of the tunnel was an oncoming train, but we survived and the end result is DEFINITELY worth it.

Not having mom in the house has made the day long and at times lonely. The weather has been overcast and cold and the children have been ensconced with their dad enjoying PlayStation time together which has left me a little out on a limb...I know this sounds crazy, but I have had a 45 minute bubble bath, watched two movies, had tea with a friend, caught up on all the blogs and now I just want my mom - guess it will just take time to get used to her not being her again.

One highlight of the day was tea with my friend Cathrine and her mom...Catherine is one of those people you can just be yourself with, snuggle up on the couch and chat - she is also in the process of clearing her loft and very generously gave Nick a HUGE box of toys left over from her boys...STUNNING STUNNING stuff and as I type he is in 7th heaven crawling around exploring all his new possessions.

Thursday 13th August 2009

I decided the Monday after Mom left that the only way to cope with the hole she left in our lives was to stay as busy as possible and to keep life fun and exciting for the children and myself. With this in mind I arranged for Phillip to go up to Crawley today with our neighbour and her son to watch the new animated movie G-Force and he has come home filled with the joys of spring and loving life.

While he was out Megs, Nicholas and I went to visit a friend of mine at her mom's house so that we could enjoy some time in their indoor swimming pool - what fun, Meg thought she had died and gone to heaven and her behaviour was so amazing that it was one of those very proud mommy afternoons for me.

Romy's parents also have the most stunning fruit trees growing in their garden and Megs was delighted when she was invited to head out and pick apples, plums and blackberries so that we can make some more jam. The weather was gorgeous, the company relaxed and the children happy....a diamond of a day.

Spent the early part of the evening making blackberry jam as you can't leave them overnight or they will go soft....am really getting in to this :-)

Tuesday 11th August 2009

Occasionally one is blessed enough to experience a day as close to heaven as you can come on earth and today was just such a day for the children and I. Some people find their slice of heaven in the mountains, others in the city but for me it is and forever will be on the beach.

Kerry and I had made arrangements over the weekend to take all our children down to West Wittering today but unfortunately due to other commitments Kerry wasn't able to join us. As I had already promised my three, Megs, Phil, Nick and I head off on our own filled with more then a little trepidation considering the ominous cloud cover....but having faith in the weather forecast paid off and the day was perfect, the water was like a bath and all three children spent hours and hours splashing around enjoying the space and freedom.

Even the long drive isn't enough to dampen the magic of this special beach and I have to say it is fast becoming my favourite place in England.

Monday 10th August

Gosh I think this has been the longest time I have gone without posting - Mom and I have been enjoying our last week together and she is now home safe and sound in South Africa. It was wonderful to have her in our home and there are lots and lots of little mementos around the house of our time together.

The house seems very quiet all of a sudden (well if that is possible with school holidays on the go) and Nick has spent time this afternoon wondering around shouting "Bap" on the top of his voice...whether or not this is calling my mom I will never really know but he definitely seems to be looking for something the later in the day it gets.

A big hole left behind, but a wonderful wonderful time together and some special memories made.

Monday 3rd August 2009

The weather really seems to be clearing up at the moment and the minute I woke up to see electric blue skies I decided housework be damned we were heading for the beach.


West Wittering is about 1hr 20 mins from home on the coast near Chichester and is one of the most STUNNING beaches I have ever been onto....mom says I just haven't been onto a good beach in a while lol, but to the children and I it was breathtaking. Huge stretches of powdery white sand, perfect swimming conditions, complete with water warm enough to enjoy, toilet facilities, and a restaurant.






We spent 3 delightful hours enjoying the perfect conditions before heading home - the children thrived on the hot sand and a couple of time Phil simply had to lie down just to feel the sand covering his body.

Sunday 2nd August

The summer has been terribly temperamental and to me hasn't really turned into anything....we do have glorious warm sunny days, but if this is the hottest summer in years that everyone has been predicting then yuk yuk yuk.


This morning however the weather was clear and as Gran has brought Phil an old fashioned bamboo fishing pole we decided to take the boys fishing while we sat on the banks enjoying the break in the weather. Bordehill Gardens has two lovely fishing dams set in beautiful gardens and was the obvious choice for the outing.




Megs had lots of fun running freely in the fields while the boys sat patiently on the dam waiting for a fish to bite - unfortunately their patience wasn't rewarded but the time out in the fresh warm air did us all good and it was nice to relax after all the work we have been doing getting the Pedal Studio website ready.

Saturday 1st August 2009

A couple of days ago Mom and I took the children plum picking at Tulley's farm and I decided to uses the fruit and try my hand a jam making....I LOVED it - miles away from the "me" in SA who didn't even know jam sugar existed (lol), I now even have plans for some raspberry jam when the fruit ripens in a couple of weeks. Simon, mom and the kids thought the jam was great and I confess to a sense of true satisfaction watching them enjoy it on toast for breakfast.