Monday 16th February 2009

Spring is definitely trying to arrive and today the temps actually topped out at around 14 degree allowing Phil, Nick and I to walk down to the village wearing only jerseys and without the 3 layers of clothing that we have become so accustomed to. The days are also getting longer and the sun is up by the time Si leaves for work at 7.30am only sinking again towards 5.30pm which is more like a normal South African winter day to us and is therefore much easier to cope with.

I have no doubt that we will probably experience another couple of cold snaps before the true change of seasons, but remember the little yellow flower which I photographed in the snow? Well they are now literally everywhere and their beautiful little faces together with our first sighting of a squirrel since the beginning of winter has the whole family's spirits high and even Phil finds himself drawn to looking at all the specimens of crocus growing wild on the estate.

Of course I couldn't resist a couple of photographs, I haven't seen a flower for months so these are definitely something to celebrate.

Saturday 14th February 2009

After a delish roast chicken for dinner last night Si and I decided that chicken mayo rolls were just what the doctor ordered for lunch......but problem, English mayonnaise tastes like......well nothing really, it is totally devoid of any flavour and we HATE it - it is literally the only thing we hate about here, but fortunately the problem is easily solved by a visit to the closest South African shop for Cross and Blackwell Tangy mayonnaise.

Having made a couple of phone calls however I quickly discovered that our two closest shops were out of stock which necessitated a 40 minute drive to New Haven to the SA shop there (couldn't just give up on the mayo, that was simply not an option lol). Stocked with 3 jars of mayo, 2 large packets of niknaks, some dry wors, 10 fizzpop suckers and all the ingredients for a peppermint fridge tart we we thought we may as well make the drive really worthwhile and explore the area a little bit.

Ended up taking a stroll down to the beach where the big two couldn't resist dipping their toes into the icy ocean and I got to enjoy taking some photographs of the sunset.....there were some really dramatic cloud formations which made things a little more interesting, and of course a day out wouldn't be a day out without the obligatory family shots again made a little more interesting by the sunset.

Thursday 12th February 2009

Omg what a wonderful, happy and exciting day.......I have made contact with one of my oldest and dearest friends again and all through the wonderful medium of this blog. Now you have to understand, Nita and I have been in each others lives for like forever and we had lost contact since I have been here, (thanks to the hateful horribleness of BT e-mail....but don't even get me started on that one) but today thanks to a comment she posted on yesterdays blog we are reunited and I am literally skipping around the room grinning like a mad woman.

A second piece of wonderful happy news is that we have found a minister who will dedicate Nicholas for us in our garden at home and my wonderful cousin Andrew and two closest friends Tanya and Linda have agreed to stand as his godparents. We will be having him dedicated when my parents visit later in the year, but feels good to know that it is at last actually being planned and we are not just living in limbo.

I have to confess however to a small bit of sadness around this event as my wonderful brother-in-law Brett is godfather to both Megan and Phillip and had we remained in South Africa he and his wife Charl would definitely have been Nicholas's godparents as well, but in the absence of family I am so grateful for true and wonderful friends who I know will love and cherish little Nick as much as we do.

Wednesday 11th February 2009

The remainder of the weekend passed in a blur of ironing with both Meg and Phil being out on Sunday afternoon....Megan swimming with her friend Sophie at the Triangle and Phillip at a birthday party at the Lazerhub up in Crawley. The first two days of this week have also seemed to just sweep by and poof before I know it it is midday on Wednesday and it has been 3 days since I last did a post.

Nicholas and I walked to Kindermusiek again this morning as the sky was blue (for a change) and although it is freezing cold I enjoy getting out and getting some fresh air....there is something a bit stale about warm centrally heated air and I think both Nick and I benefit from the 10km round trip.

It was on this walk that I started thinking about how lucky I feel to be alive today (I know I know a bit corny, but it is true), it was not so much about counting my blessings (of which I have many) it was more about the fact that life can be so short and we just don't know what is around the next corner.......hundreds of families are being destroyed in Australia at the moment by fire and people left home on Monday morning not knowing that by that evening they would have no home to return to and that members of their family may have perished in the blaze.

A story which has stuck with me constantly over the last few days is of the reporter who left to go and do a story on the fire only to receive a phone call from his wife to say that their home had been overrun, shortly after that he lost contact with her and had no way of knowing if she was alive or dead.

It is just something we don't think about I guess, but it is something we should think about.....live life to the full and like it is your last on earth are sayings we are all familiar with, but a friend of mine's mom has just been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour and given 6 months to live....what would I do with those 6 months if I knew they were my last and if I would do something differently to what I am doing now, then I am doing something wrong.

Fortunately I don't think there is much I would change, yes I may go into debt to travel more, but other than that I believe that I give my family everything that I can every day and I never let them leave my sight without telling them I love them.....it may be as many as 5 times in a day, but I want to know that the last words they ever hear from me will be "I love you".

Saturday 6th February 2009

Not entirely sure what has happened to the snow, they certainly keep forecasting it, but as of yet we have only had wet cold weather and none of the lovely soft white stuff that we have so been looking forward to.

Weather aside today was another diamond.......woke this morning to the sound of the doorbell ringing and there was the postman from Royal mail with a lovely fat envelope addressed to me from my mom....yes here the parcels are delivered to your door on a Saturday by a very friendly man on a bicycle all dressed in red at 7.30am.

Needless to say it didn't take long to rip open our pressie and discover it included a gorgeous new jersey and two beanies for Nic, a wonderful beanie for me, a moms and babes cd and a perfect little baby feeding spoon for Nicholas - felt like Christmas, receiving little treasures from South Africa always brings great excitement to the house and lifts the spirits for the whole day.

At 11.30am my friend Tanya came to collect Nick and I and we headed off to The Chequers in Slaugham (Sloth-ham) for lunch with the girls from my NCT group - it was lovely to see Josie again as she has returned to her teaching job and we have decided that a boozy lunch in the pub once a month is just what the doctor ordered......well not really boozy, we all had one drink - but hey ho who knows we can always hope lol.

Nick and I arrived home literally in the nick of time to catch Si and the big two heading out to Burgess Hill. We dropped Megan and Phillip off at the Odion to watch Bolt the new animated Disney movie and Si, Nick and I went to coffee with Kerry and Rob for a couple of hours. How lovely to feel comfortable enough to leave our children alone in the movie house.....yes armed with mobile phones and strict instructions that they were not to leave until Daddy got there to fetch them, but a wonderful feeling for both us and them and they have come home filled with confidence and feeling so proud of themselves.....another big FIRST for England.

Dinner was bacon and eggs cooked by my precious dh and the rest of the family is now settled watching Indiana Johns......another good weekend in Enland me thinks.

Wednesday 4th February 2009

The snow has melted in most places now and my word has it dropped the temperatures.....we are back into minus temps and the pond in Lindfield has again frozen over. There is more snow forecast for tomorrow so we will see what happens.

Most of the schools in the area remained closed yesterday so I had Megs and Phil home with me again. Unfortunately it did mean that we were unable to go and check out the new schools for Phillip but luckily I was able to reshedule the appointment at Lindfield today and it seems that we aren't even going to see the second school as Phil fell instantly in love and is very willing and eager to make the move at the end of half term (basically 3 weeks away). I must say, for me it is very quick and has left me reeling a bit as I was only expecting September, but it is now or never and even the head teacher at his existing school recommends that we take the place as they don't come up very often.

This school is much bigger then their current one and offers a whole host of clubs which Phil is very excited about, he is looking forward to taking up tennis and table tennis and possibly even trying his hand at tag rugby again. There are 60 children in his year (as opposed to 75 in the whole school) and there will be approximately 32 in his class, but I am not too stressed as there is a teacher and teacher's assistant which keeps the ratio at 15:1 which I have no problem with.

Monday 2nd Febuary 2009

The first thing we all did this morning when we opened our eyes was rush to the window to see if there had been any more snow overnight and we certainly weren't disappointed, outside was white and lovely and the snow was still falling. Five minutes in front of the news soon told us just how wide spread and serious the snow was and it quickly became apparent that Si would not be getting into work as the trains had all been suspended - fortunately I suppose he wasn't feeling that well (think he has Nick's cold) and had already decided to take a days sick and stay in bed.


Just before 8am we received word that the children's school had been closed due to the dangerous roads and it was all systems go for a Robertson Family Home day. Leaving Nic asleep upstairs with Si, the children and I went racing out to the common to see how deep the snow was and there we met Stuart one of our neighbours and the chairman of our governing body, and what a fortuitous meeting it turned out to be as not long after we had returned home for breakfast Stuart was knocking at the door holding a traditional Austrian wooden toboggan which he has lent us for the remainder of the winter as he was sure we hadn't bought one with us from SA....what a kind and generous thought and both Si and I were incredibly touched by this gesture. Needless to say it was a matter of minutes before we were out again trying it out......I even had a go, and screamed all the way down the hill like a girl I must admit, but what fun and even Si was convinced to come outside for a bit to try it out.

Snowman building was also in the order of the day and we built one in the morning before our walk into town for milk (unable to drive as the roads so bad) and one in the evening.....our second one was a real masterpiece and we were so proud of him - unfortunately some local louts took it upon themselves to knock him down the minute we had crossed the road to go home, but what can you do.......at least we had the joy of spending time as a family building him. Other then the three in the park who crushed Mr Frosty everyone was so friendly and chatty and there was a real holiday feel in the air, such a nice community spirit.

Sunday 1st February 2008

What a lovely slow lazy day....the snow has arrived and the children have been out in the garden making shelters and enjoying this new experience. It was lovely to sit round the table enjoying a beautiful roast pork with 4 veg and roast potatoes (I really pulled out all the stops) and watch the snow falling outside our window - such a surreal experience and I have been driving Andrew and Simon mad with my constant chatter about how awesome the snow is and how lucky we are.

I have been amazed by how much snow will actually have to fall in order to cover the ground completely and give us that lovely white landscape, but I am hoping it will fall again overnight and we will awake to a white wonderland in the morning.

Si and Cuz are sitting watching Black Adder (my gift to Si for his birthday), Nick is asleep upstairs in his cot (poor little thing has such a bad cold his nose is constantly running) and Meg and Phil are in the conservatory playing playstation as I type this and we are all about to stop and enjoy a lovely toffee pudding and tea before Cuz heads back on the train to London....a stunning way to spend a Sunday.

UPDATE: Well toffee pudding turned into hours of chat about Pedal Studio and some developments we think would work well on the website and guess what, when I opened the door to take Andrew back to the station it was white white white, so another FIRST for me.....actually driving in the snow, so beautiful that when I got home I simply HAD to grab my tripod and set off round the estate - unfortunately my freezing fingers eventually forced me back inside, but how lovely to be safe enough to walk around alone at night with my camera and tripod and to actually be photographing snow.....sigh.....a perfect day!

Saturday 31st January 2009

The weather here has cooled again and we are expecting snow tomorrow and Monday, the older two are wild with excitement at the idea and already have plans for the snowman they intend to build....so holding thumbs that they won't be disappointed. Andrew is joining us for lunch tomorrow to celebrate his birthday and I am looking forward to chilling with family and enjoying a nice big Sunday roast for lunch - one thing about the weather, it certainly lends itself to large hot lunches.

Off to look at two new schools for Phillip on Tuesday as I am desperate to get him into school in the village and both local schools have one space available currently, so he and I are going to visit them and then decide from there.....fortunately for me he is not ecstatically happy where he is and will move quite willingly so we will see what happens.

Wednesday 28th January 2009

Okay winter is now officially here and although the temps are on the increase and spend most of their time between 5 and 9 degrees it is very wet and grey and has been raining for at least a week now. Shopping in these conditions is an absolute nightmare and I was muttering much better as I scuttled across the Sainsbury's car park earlier today with little Nick scrunching his face up against the rain and all my shopping getting soaked.....the only conciliation is that my dad tells me it is also cold and miz in SA today so I felt a little less alone dealing with these nasty conditions, and at least it is not supposed to be warm here.

During my first month in England I remember detailing a shop that I had done for around £50 .....well prices have either gone up or we are eating more as an average week now costs me around £80.....although we have added Nick to the equation so that may also be it.

• 12 pints (+-6l) fresh milk (Philly is like a little calf and drinks huge amounts of milk)
• 1 x bag (32) disposal biodegradable nappies
• 1 x box (5) Caprisun orange juice sachets
• 1 x packet (80) wetwipes
• 1 x bag frozen corn on the cob
• 1 x bag frozen peas
• 1 x 750 g All Bran Flakes
• 2 x Juice concentrate
  
• 3 x small jars baby food (kept for emergencies....I make most of Nick's food myself)
• 1 x 5kg bag potatoes
• 3 x yogurt's
• 12 x small probiotic yogisips
• 1 x butter
• 6 x fromage frais (similar to yogurt but more calcium for Nick)
• 2 x small packets fruit and yogurt flakes (for Meg's lunch box)
• 1 x Twirl chocolate (my reward for shopping :-)
• 1 x cereal bars (for lunch boxes)
• 1 x packet of 8 sausages
• 1 x packet diced bacon
• 1 x packet beef casserole meat
• 2 x packets breaded chicken goujons (like crumbed chicken strips only done for you)
• 1 x box bread crumbs
• 2 x packets loin pork chops (3 in each packet)
• 1 x deboned chicken breasts
• 1 x box of 16 laughing cow cheeses (for Phil's lunch box)
• 4 x loaves white bread
• 2 x lurpak spreadable butter
  
• 1 x bag of 20 small packets of crisps (for lunch boxes and snacking)
• 6 x hot cross buns (another treat for doing the shopping:-)
• 2 x loose parsnips
• 1 x cauliflowers
• 1 x bag pink ladies apples (from SA I might add)
• 1 x punnet mushrooms
• 2 x bags clementines
  
• 1 x broccoli
• 1 x fresh garlic
  1 x packet fresh carrots
  1 x Swartz Beef Casserole sauce.
• 1 x swede (although what the hell I am supposed to do with it I am not sure...gonna try steaming)

And that is the family fed and kept perfectly happy for the week....List obviously varies from week to week depending on what we are running low on, but I would honestly say food shouldn't cost you more then £380 - £400 a month as we eat exceptionally well and I really don't price hunt too much I know what I like and I buy it - you can reduce this amount considerably if you buy "no name" or "shops own" brands and drive around between the discounted stores.

We have also found the food to be exceptionally good here and I am not sure where the stories about the shocking meat come from as we are in love with the pork and both the lamb and beef are of superior quality.....to be honest, we are buying "expensive" meat, but it is no more expensive then buying your meat from Spa or Pick n Pay....if I wanted to buy Checkers priced meat it is also available, but then I am sure I would be getting a slightly lower quality. As long as you eat in and avoid restaurants and take aways food in this country really isn't horrifically expensive.