Saturday 2nd January 2010

After all the grey rainy weather we had before Christmas the perfect blue skies of 2010 are a welcome change and a wonderful excuse for a long walk up at Devil's Dyke. Unfortunately it turned out to be too cold for most of the party and only Lin, Meg and I managed the full 2km round trip while the others snuggled by the fire in the pub drinking hot chocolate and coffee.

It was about -4 in the wind on top of the hill

It didn't dampen our spirits though and it was stunning to wander along and chat amongst ourselves and as no walk with Linda and I would be without it's nonsense it wasn't long before we were having a laugh out loud photoshoot at the bottom of the hill while the British quietly made their way down the track....South African's are very noisy ;0)

Britian's Next Top Models lol

A warming and very much needed hot chocolate with the others was followed by a very quick picnic lunch in the fort before scurrying home to marvelous central heating and defrosting. Philly had a birthday party in the evening so the girls got themselves dressed out and went off to movies in Burgess Hill whilst the grownups enjoyed a visit with Kerry and Rob - it was lovely to see two of my dearest families in the world all merged together and it is such a source of joy to me that we all get along so well. A very very late evening chatting before bed, but such therapy for the soul that it was worth the groggy body the following morning.

All that coffee drinking was clearly to energetic for them ;0)

New Years Day 2010

Our lovely start to the new year continued through New Years day when old friends from Hillcrest, Dave and Sarah Van Heerde and their 3 children came down from their home in Ascot (+-1.5 hours North of us) to join us for lunch.

I think there are a lot of people back in SA who would have had a giggle to see Lin with the vacume cleaner and me with the dusters as we shot round the house getting it perfect for the Van Heerde's visit, but to Linnie and I it has become such old hat that within 30 mins the house was sparkling and the Mexican themed lunch was gently simmering on the stove....we really are becomming domestic godesses lol.


Stunning is not a descriptive enough word to describe our day together and the house was filled with good old South Africaniss (if there is such a word) as we shared our joys and frustrations, and spent a great time being together - all 8 children got along so well and Nick was often off playing upstairs with the big kids where they all took their responsibility to watch over him so seriously and he was loved and adored much to his delight.




Again such a lovely way to see in the new decade and I can only pray that the rest of the year is as happy as the start.

New Years Eve 2009

Such a very very special day and evening, the Andrew family arrived lovely and early in the day giving us time to chill and chat and catch up before Lin and I head out to stock up on supplies for their visit. It was such fun to be out sharing my "daily life and routine" with Lin and having her oooh and aaaah over scatter cushions with me and plan our meals together.

A wonderful roast dinner with all the trimmings followed by singstar shared with our children made for a relaxed and happy New Year celebration, it was lovely to be able to see in the new decade with friends who have become family and to discuss our blessings (and frustrations) from 2009 and our hope and dreams for 2010....one I will always remember and cherish.

Blessings in 2009

I firmly believe in taking stock at the close of each year, giving thanks for the highs and trying to learn from the lows - for me personally I think 2009, while not nearly as eventful as 2008 was a very good year and I find myself counting my blessings far more than I am having to coming to terms with hardship.

So with that said, these are some of the things I am most grateful for.....

• For our continued health of our precious family both here and in South Africa and while I sadly lost my grandfather during 2009, I still feel that we have generally speaking all been well and are entering 2010 strong and healthy
• For the fact that my husband is coming round to England and while still incredibly frustrated in some areas he is starting to love the life that we lead and appreciate the advantages this move has given us. He even surprised me on New Years Eve when I asked him if knowing all he knows now would he have moved here and his answer was ABSOLUTELY NOT followed by the statement that as a result he was glad he didn't know coz he would have missed out on an adventure and opportunity for growth....to say you could have knocked me over with a feather is the understatement of the decade ;0)
• For my beautiful courageous older children....they have come so so so so far in 2009 and I am the proudest mother when I look at what they have overcome and how they have continued to be cheerful, kind, friendly, responsible, compassionate, non judgemental, hard working, independent, low maintenance (and the list just goes on and on)
• For my perfect little Nick Nick who has to be the easiest most content baby alive and who brings us joy every minute of the day.
  
• For my AMAZING husband who has died to self so often in 2009 so that the children and I can live a dream and it is not a sacrifice all men would make and I acknowledge that and so appreciate it.
• For my parents support and the fact that my mother has been out to visit us...without these trips our reality here would be so different and I am counting the sleeps till I hear their next trip is booked.
• For my cousin and Pedal Studio without whom financially 2009 would have been a far more difficult year and for the fact that through working together our relationship has grown even closer.
• For my beautiful, wonderful sisterhood....friends both old and new, near and far....without this group of woman my world would be a much quieter, lonelier and sadder place and I give thanks daily for their involvement in my life.
• For the sale of our house in South Africa and the financial relief it has given us including the ability to bring Simon's mom over to visit for a month
• That Simon was able to remain employed when literally million's of others have been made redundant. Redundancy means immediate return to South Africa for us and it is not something we want to even contemplate at this stage.
  
• and I am sure there are a million more that have escaped me in this moment.
  

2009 according to Megan.....Good enough year

Highs: Passing SATS; Going to Oathall which is the best school in the world; Spending time with my family at wonderful parks and museums; Both my grannies came to visit.
Lows: Not many lows at all, can't think of any really important ones.

2009 according to Phillip......Good and happy year

Highs: Lots of highs like going to Thorpe park; Meeting my best friend Kelby at Lindfield; Moving into our new house; Spending time with both my grans
Lows: Only being able to go on two of the really big rides at Thorpe Park; That Boompa died and I couldn't go to his funeral.

2009 according to Si.....A Good year for family
Highs: My mom's, sister's and Jill's visits; a lovely warm summer and 18cms of snow in the winter....good for a snow fight at least :0)
Lows: Recession and all it's impacts

Wednesday 30th December 2009

Today I officially became British (dance). My passport was delivered to the door and considering it is a little over 3 weeks since I applied for it and it has been the silly season and the application process included an identity interview in Brighton I am very very impressed!!!!!

Over and above the added lift said delivery gave me I have had a lovely past two day. Yesterday Kerry and I hit Brighton for her birthday "day without children" and after getting completely drenched in the rain we decided a long lunch at Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Jamie's Italian, was a much better idea then trudging around shopping. The atmosphere was wonderful, the wine perfectly chilled and the food delish and of course the company fantastic - after around 3 hours we finally made our way back to the station having only seen the inside of about 3 shops -such fun that we have decided to make it our birthday tradition.

This morning Catherine collected Nicholas and I nice and early and it was off to the Garden Center in Ditchling to take advantage of the fab new year sales. England goes sale mad from 27th December until the first week after New Year and items are often reduced by as much as 75%. I had a wonderful time choosing my new Christmas tree and considering before Christmas it was £100 and I ended up paying the princely sum of £34 after all the discounts I was a very very happy little shopper and now can't wait for next year to use my new "baby"

Tomorrow Linda and family arrive for 3 days so such a lovely time to look forward together, and hopefully it bodes well for a fantastic 2010.

Monday 28th December 2009

After another lazy morning we made our way down to Wakehurst Place to join friends for a walk followed by coffee, cake and a long catch up chat. It was good to see this group again as we haven't been together since before schools broke up and I am very used to having the girls in my life on a far more regular basis....we exchanged Secret Santa for the babies and it was so sweet to watch them opening up their pressies - hasn't taken this group of 18 month olds long to realise that inside wrapping paper is invariably something lovely.


Once the group broke up Si decided that as he hadn't visited Wakehurst before it would be nice to let the kids have a good run around and play on the grass followed by a wonder through the Millenium Seedbank.





This seedbank is the most comprehensive in the world and is run by the Kew Gardens Trust, apparently it has an example of every seed in the world in it's archives and although I must admit it leaves me bored stiff, the rest of the family enjoyed the exhibitions and even Nick Nick seemed to really get into things.

Friday 25th December 2009

As I sit typing this post Christmas 2009 is all but over....the presents have all been unwrapped, the wonderful meal finished and all three children are tucked up in bed fast asleep, a wonderful peace has settled over our home and I admit to feeling a deep sense of well being.

I have to be honest and say I really had no idea what to expect from our second Christmas in England, I found myself praying that it would be easier then last year but at the same time not daring to hope that the dreadful longing for family far away would be lessened in the last 12 months. The only thing I knew for sure is that I owed my children the wonderful memories I myself had of Christmas growing up and I think that this driving force has held me together this year and enabled us to have a truly special holiday season despite the fact that we miss our family so much.

Christmas eve was spent with our "English" family (the Viljoen's) singing carols in their home and enjoying fellowship with their extended family and friends - I think that this stunning evening really set the tone for the rest of the holiday and left us all feeling spiritually uplifted and excited for Christmas morning.


Thanks to the wonders of skype my parents were able to join us in our lounge this morning for present opening and this helped tremendously with missing them - it really did feel as though they had popped in for morning tea and I think it was wonderful for them to see us so happy and settled and be able to join in and experience Christmas morning with the children - they could see the gifts as they were opened, hear the excitement (and occasional squabbles lol) and enjoy an hour in our company before we parted ways for the remainder of the day.


A huge Christmas lunch was served, again at the Viljoen's, and without them I really don't know what we would have done - Robert, Kerry and their 3 children have totally opened their home to us in the last 19 months and, as I have said so many times before, have truly been a blessing to us from God - I am sometimes astounded that we haven't known them all our lives so close has our friendship become.




Before bed we were able to catch up with almost all of Si's family in JHB and again the marvel of skype allowed us to spend time with loved ones which all goes such a long way in making this experience bearable.....so how would I rate Christmas 2009.....good, really really good!

Wednesday 23rd December 2009

19 months after arriving in England I finally went for my identity interview for my British passport today and hopefully by 1st January I will officially be a British Citizen. The best part was that due to the fact that both my parents were British at the time of my birth I didn't have to waste time obtaining permission from the South African government first - and trust me anything to do with the South African Embassy in London is a HUGE waste of time. Am feeling very positive tonight and hoping to finally have travel documents for Nick by the end of Jan.....then it will be watch out Europe here we come!!!!

Saturday 19th December 2009

Although we didn't have a fresh fall last night the snow was still thick on the ground all day today and temps hung around the -3 mark. Even though I woke up with no voice, after lunch we decided to get the kids out for a bit and took a walk down to a meadow near our home with the intention of building the world's biggest snowman - unfortunately the snow is still too dry and simply won't compact enough to build with but the children still got to have a bit of a run around and Nick actually seemed to enjoy the experience today.

A little bit of a laugh

It would seem that the snow has turned me a little bit mad and brought out some of my criminal element (she says blushing furiously), in the last 24 hours I have broken the "law" twice and am lovin it ;0)

Last night Katherine rang to say she has some cream cakes that needed sharing and could she pop in for tea......obviously Si and I eagerly agreed, and before long she was walking up our outside stairs commenting on how dangerous they were going to be in the snow....well that was enough to send me into 50 fits and I became convinced I was going to fall going down them the next time I was carrying Nicholas - in an attempt to settle my shattered nerves I begged Si to sneak down the road and get some grit from the council grit box so that we could grit the stairs before the impending snow.

Of course my husband would have nothing of it so Catherine and I grabbed our pink bucket (not at all conspicuous) and set off down the road at 9.30pm on a recce mission. We couldn't stop laughing as we half filled the bucket and then hot footed it home to sort out the stairs....my first foray into theft????? Well fortunately it would seem not as I have since found out you are able to help yourself to small quantities of grit free of charge to ensure that your home is safe.....shew a close call lol

And then.......

Earlier today my friend Kirsty (another photo nut) sent me a text suggesting a photo expedition to Wakehurst place....even though the roads can be dangerous it seemed sacrilege to miss such a fantastic opportunity so it didn't take much for us to make a plan and off we went.

Unfortunately Wakehurst was closed up pretty tight so we set off for Bordehill Gardens, which was also closed, but not as tightly.....before I knew it we had decided to scale the (very low) fence around the property and were inside happily snapping photos of the most amazing scenery. All was going swimmingly until I spotted an official looking person standing outside the manor house looking straight at the very big exposed area Kirst and I had to cross in order to get back out of the gardens....


Well on seeing him (and wondering how I was going to explain to Si I had been arrested for breaking and entering) I decided to jump down a 6 foot wall to make my escape while poor Kirsty (shorter then I am) hid behind a tree waiting for said jumper to disappear. He finally turned his back and while I kept watch ducked down behind the wall Kirsty made a mad 100m dash in a foot of snow towards our escape path.....I haven't laughed like that in ages - as she said later the worst he prob would have done is ask us to leave and explain that we couldn't be there, but the little tiny element of danger was such fun ;0)


Thanks for such a good laugh Kirsty, def an afternoon to remember and not just for the stunning photography!