Saturday 7th June 2008

Another glorious day - and yes you guessed it Simon is up and about and chomping on the bit to get out there and enjoy the sunshine...we are even going looking for a swimming pool shortly, so will post pics tomorrow if we actually manage to find one, especially one warm enough to actually swim in (lol).

Found a school for the kids yesterday, and funnily enough not the one I had originally thought would be my first choice...went to look at both schools that have space for us and simply fell in love with the smaller of the two school, only 75 children in the school with the feel of Hillcrest Pre-primary, in fact the head teacher was so like Rachel Dobson even Megan noticed - anyway about half way through the interview both kids were begging to be there and although they still rated the second school in Haywards Heath with a 8/10, Megs gave the smaller one a 10/10 and Phil a 9/10, so county permitting we should be starting there towards the middle of next week or next Monday at the latest.

Schools here are very very different to what we are used to in South Africa, and are all laid out with a more Pre-Primary School feel (or the ones I have seen are like that at least) then the big outdoor corridor driven feel that we are used to in our primary schools - the small ones here also have combined year classes with about 18 kids in the class and are very focused on the holistic approach as opposed to the purely academic - speak to me in a year and it will be interesting to see if I have changed my view.

I am quite pleased with the combined classes at this stage as county is insisting that Megan start year 6 next year, but because of the way the class is set up she will be able to get the support and fill in of the year 5 at the same time, and although Phil will be in year 3, if he moves ahead and extends into year 4 work that is also fine - they very much teach at the children's pace at both schools I looked at and I believe that their philosophy combined with the loving, nurturing atmosphere will help settle the kids, especially with the baby coming in August.

Have another first...

First time I have left my kids alone at home...Si was running extremely late for the train a couple of mornings ago, so left the kids at home in order to take him to the station. It was a strange feeling and not one I will repeat for extended periods of time, but with no real threat of intrusion, and a lovely 83 year old neighbour just 1 door down, the 15 minute round trip to the station presented no real problem.

Having our neighbours Mark and Stephanie for a ploughmans lunch this afternoon, so looking forward to a bit of adult company and at least with the weather today we can sit outside in our lovely little garden and enjoy a bottle of South African wine and some good food...we have a lovely garden service gentleman paid for by the landlord and he keeps the law mowed and the edges trimmed (all be it in about 12 minutes) - thank heavens coz if it was up to my dh we would be living in a jungle by now (lol).

Friday 6th June 2008

Can't believe another week is finished and the children and I have been here for nearly 1/2 a month - we have settled amazingly well, and just last night Si commented on the fact that the children seem like they have been here forever...having cheap SA calls and skype has helped tremendously and talking to my mom for nearly an hour every night has made it a lot easier, just like SA in many ways, I just image that she is round the corner and go from there.

It is another glorious day - okay, I am also becoming a Brit (obsessed with the weather), but it is just soooooo perfect here when the sun is shining (and so unusual) that you can't help commenting (lol)

Oh yes, before I forget, I think I may have a school for the children - we have been allocated space at two schools and I had a look at them online last night and am off to view my fav this afternoon (after home school) - very like a Waldorf funnily enough, their whole education system here is more in tune with Waldorf philosophy which is great for Megan and they also have a gifted program to extend the children should the need be. I had a good laugh when I chatted to the woman from the council as she was a bit concerned about the size of the school - 300 children from reception to year 6 (11 years) ...wasn't sure how to tell her that Phillip had over 1000 children in his last school all under the age of 12 - just didn't think she would understand

Thought I would include a few more pics of our closest park which is about 200m from the house...just for interest, the main park is in the village about a km or so from home, but we make a point of going down to this little one at least once a day.

Thursday 5th June 2008

Another gorgeous day - who knows, maybe this weather has actually finally turned!! Started home schooling this morning as not sure how long it will take to get the kids into school, and so far the council is pretty adamant that they want Megs to go into year 5 which I feel is just too big a jump for her. Tanya's husband Steve always says "if anyone can bring them round to her way of thinking it is Andrea Robertson", so I am going to give it my best shot next week and see what happens.

that said, they loved the classroom at home today and got a kick out of calling me Mrs. Robertson (Phillip's idea) and I even got the greeting "Good Afternoon and Thank you Mrs. Robertson" when I called the end of the day, so all in all great fun and I really enjoyed having something structured to do.

Wednesday 4th June 2008

Another sunny day, and not the iffy kind today, true blue skies and warm weather - finally a true summers day!!!!! Not wanting to miss any of the good weather the kids and I were off to the park very early, and happened to meet up with some lovely ladies who shared their coffee with me and spent a very pleasant hour discussing home schooling options and the local churches in the area.

Simon and I have decided that we would like to get involved in a church here, some of the influences on children are not that great and it is more difficult to control who your children play with without the big gates and electric fences, so we have decided that some wholesome church going families may be just what we need. Fortunately the two little ones from our estate are very nice kids, so the main influence is generally good, but after a couple of hours in the park at Burgess Hill and I am ready to enroll them in military school.

Shopping this afternoon and the house really is nearly finished now. That said, have just realised that haven't really included any photos on the blog of our immediate area, only the main village, so here are a couple of views from directly surrounding our house.

Broadband finally installed so have had lots of fun skyping everyone I can think of, so if you aren't on skype hurry up and join the party - even my folks are getting the hang of it.

Tuesday 3rd June 2008

Very lazy day today and the first that we have had absolutely nothing to do – sounds dismal, and I must admit it has been a very long day, but I am doing okay, and certainly no really bad homesickness yet…a phone call from mom at just the right moment helped to stave that off and it was great to have a chat and talk about her trip in August – I think the trip is getting us both through the tough bits as at least we have something to look forward to and we know that we will be able to see each other in 78 more sleeps, give or take a bit – still a bit long for a termy worm, but am sure the kids and I will have set one up by the beginning of August.

Phil out again with Murray, survived their first fight and all is reconciled so I am sure this is a friendship that has a chance – Tash not home from school yet, but I am sure as soon as her homework is finished she will be round and that will be the last I see of Megs for the day, not a minute too soon either as the TV has been on all day, but with the dismal rain (putting paid to any plans for the park) and a very scant selection of toys really not a hell of a lot to do.

Off to take my double chocolate chip muffins out of the oven for tea – really am turning into a domestic goddess (lol)!!!!! Dinner tonight is home made chicken and mushroom pie – haven’t quite stretched to making my own pastry just yet. Ironing all done, and dishwasher packed, house spotless and beds ALL made.

Monday 2nd June 2008

We have officially started our second week in England, and to tell the truth it feels like we have been here forever, I think just adapting to the whole way of life has made South Africa seem so far away – absolutely nothing in the same, from the bread and milk to the neighborhood, to the way people react when they pass you on the pavement (always with a wave and a bright “Good morning”).

So far we are loving our time here and I said to Si on the beach yesterday “please, please don’t tell me you regret this move, as I don’t know if I could ever go back” and I really mean it – I miss my parents, friends and extended family terribly, and there are moments of real sadness when I think of what they are all doing back home, but I just know that this has been the right thing for our family, and I can feel the stresses of the hectic rat race dissolving every day as I sit in the park and watch my children play and not have anywhere else I HAVE to be or anything else I SHOULD be doing – even Phillip commented the other day that it is so nice not to have to rush anywhere.

On that thought a few more firsts for England

First time I have EVER been visited in my home for a check up by a health professional – my midwife actually came to call on me on Friday afternoon to see how I was doing and check all okay with the baby – Megs and Phil were delighted to be included and actually be able to hear the babies heartbeat.
First time I have had to let the government choose my children’s schools rather than have the control myself
First time I have seen a doctor and not had to pay a cent

Have decided that it is probably a good idea to try and get the kids into school now rather than later, as the term still has 7 weeks to go, and meeting Tash and Murray has made such a difference to the kids that I think getting to know some more children will probably go along way towards helping them settle – and if the truth be told, I am also desperate to meet some mums and start creating a little bit of a circle around me…it is great being able to talk to Linda and Tanya on the phone, but it is not the same as having them just up the street and I am really missing that girl chat. I know it will take a while to develop any real friendships, and I can NEVER replace the ones back home, but just to have someone to visit the park with or share a cup of tea with at this stage would be really great.

Anyway, with this in mind, contacted our local primary school this morning, only to be told that I need to contact the council for my admission forms and then the children will be allocated a school where there is space available to accommodate them – as I said before, a first for me – let a bureaucracy actually choose my children’s school, the only conciliation is that most of the schools around here seem to be of a very high standard, and we can always put names down at the schools we really like if there is no space available now. Looks like it can take up to two weeks for the wheels to turn, so it is going to be a long, but hopefully not too painful process.

Just back from my weekly shopping trip – not necessary to do monthly shopping here as have loads of time on my hands and Sainsburys is just around the corner. Thought you might be interested to see what you can get for about £55 - the average salary for people living in the Haywards Heath area is about 500 pounds net per week, so when you look at it as a percentage it isn’t actually too bad.

Shopping
· 1 x Kitkat
· 4 x Sweetcorn (sold individually here)
· 1 x 500g Kellogg’s Bran Flakes (basically the same as All Bran in SA)
· 6pts (3litres) Milk (the milk here is delicious and Phil loves a glass with dinner)
· 3 x Loaves White Bread (Makes Albany look like a beginner – divine)
· 1 x Flake
· 2 x small tins tomatoes (can’t get tomato and onion mix here sniff)
· 1 x tin Bisto
· 1 x Girls Mag for Megan
· 1 x punnet white mushrooms
· 1 x bag fresh broccoli (see mom, eating loads more fresh veg)
· 1 x bag onions
· 1 x punnet plums (and fresh fruit)
· 1kg mince
· 2 x 250g back bacon
· 1 x 250g streaky bacon
· 250g pork fillets
· 1 x bag pink lady apples
· 2kg potatoes
· Bananas
· Grapes
· Oranges
· 1 x box breadcrumbs
· 1 x jar peanut butter
· 1 x cauliflower
· 10 x fruit lollys (basically frozen fresh fruit juice)
· 1 x bag popcorn
· 1 x bottle oil
· 2 x bottles cordial
· 1 x crunchie
· 1 x huge bag of carrots
· 1 x bottle tomato sauce
· 1 x roll puff pastry
· 2 x packets biscuits

So as you can see not a bad list, and certainly not scrimping and saving – could probably get by on a lot less, but I recon at this stage on about 250 pounds per month for groceries, and considering we had budgeted on about 500 pounds, things are looking good.

Named my washing machine Mavis today and my dishwasher Milly, they are my number one girls (lol) simply couldn’t live in this country without them, especially Milly – mom I finally see what you mean about owing a dishwasher!!!!! Oh well must dash – Argos just delivered my bedside tables and as they are self assembly I need to get started.

Sunday 1 June 2008

A very late start for me this morning, only managed to open my eyes around 9.30am but after breakfast in bed consisting of pancakes and tea, courtesy of my dh, we decided to head south to Brighton for the day and have a look what the seaside town had to offer.


Having been to Brighton I had an idea of what to expect, but was once again enchanted by the quaint little alleys and interesting shops on offer – am definitely going to have to get the kids into school ASAP so that I can go off on a proper shopping spree, only so many shops they are prepared to tolerate before they start acting up (and that is just the kids, never mind Simon).


After a nice leisurely stroll down to the beach, the kids were entranced by the pebbles, especially Phillip who is a real stone collector and we spent at least an hour sitting on the shore having a look at all interesting stones they could find. Finally my bum started to get sore – sitting on pebbles for 60mins is quite something (next time we are going to hire deckchairs for 2 pounds, but we only discovered them on our way off the beach) and it was off again, this time for a ride on a traditional merry-go-round (a first for my kids) and then for a stroll along the pier.

Decided that we are definitely going to return sooner rather than later to let the kids experience the amusement park at the end of the pier, but at £24 per head, it is something you need to make a day of, and not something you do on a whim…fish and chips again down on the beach bought our lovely day to a close and we headed back to Lindfield with a happy contented feeling of a day well spent.

Saturday 31st May 2008

Today dawned with blue skies and my dh is becoming a real Brit already – as soon as he saw the sun it was shirt off and a very very early breakfast in the garden with his continual commentary about how the weather can change any minute so we better enjoy it. That said, it was nice to sit out in the garden and enjoy a bit of time together, he is working very hard and, after a disastrous week of train trips, back to leaving the house at 7.30am and only returning about 6.30pm – so a very long day for him indeed.

After breakfast we cleaned up the house (yes a ongoing, never ending job here) and then it was off into town for the kids and I to show Simon all that we have found and then head off for the Lindfield Village Day (an annual event held in the town green on the last Saturday in May). The fair was lots of fun, and included really traditional games like “Coconut Shies” and “Mr Strongman”, the only difference here is that the prizes are actually worthwhile, and the kids both came home with new fluffy toys, and I must say, their room is finally starting to look like a home...also the first time they have ever seen a real street procession, all be it a very small one, they were entranced.

At this point, I find it necessary to point out (just in case you see my mug on BBC prime for acts of insanity) that two children under the age of 10 is no easy feat in the smaller confines of an English home and although they are both trying really hard, stress levels are reaching boiling point, my little Phillip is a little bit like a caged lion and although he didn’t spend a hell of a lot of time out doors in South Africa, the option at least existed.

I am just eternally grateful for the two little friends that they have made, without these two children, I am sure that our first week here would have been very different and very lonely for the two kids, instead it has been loads of fun and they can generally be found down in the park from about 3pm till about 7pm or so…lovely for them to experience such freedom – Megs is positively blossoming.

Friday 30th May 2008

What a night, started with reading the local daily only to discover that there is a very real possibility that I will now not be having the baby at the Princess Royal hospital (the only reason we moved to Haywards Heath) as they are looking at discontinuing the Maternity services there…let me tell you, before you moan about medical aid, think very very seriously about “free” medical, it comes with a whole new set of problems. Should be speaking to the community midwife this morning, and hell a home birth is looking more and more likely at this stage of the game – and to think in South Africa I wouldn’t have even entertained the idea (lol).

Then we all went off to bed and to sleep, and let me tell you this is a new kind of sleep – you can’t even begin to imagine what it is like to sleep without always listening with one ear for dogs barking and alarms going off – you literally die, well we were all in a deep sleep when we heard the most almighty crash and a wail…my darling son had sleep walked right off the end of his bed and hit his head on the radiator…and again, with the joy of “free” medical, it isn’t just off to the emergency room to see if he is okay or a quick appointment with the doctor this morning – he is complaining of a bit of a headache so I have him lying down and am keeping an eye on him…and so with the birth of “Housewife Robertson” has also come the invention of “Nurse Robertson” (lol).

Well off to hang up my washing over the radiators – no sun yet – and make the beds etc. Looking forward to the weekend with the Village day on Saturday.

While doing the laundry I thought about starting a list of all the firsts which have come with the move, and I am sure when I look back in a year I will have a good laugh…so this is the beginning of the list.

First time flying alone on an international flight
First time working with a quirky central heating system
First time drying my washing on the above mentioned quirky central heating system
First time doing my own housework for such an extended period of time
First time I actually have time to sit down in the morning and have a cup of coffee and toast without getting indigestion from eating too fast as I dash out the door
First time walking in a wood with wellies and a raincoat
First time doing my shopping in a shop (Argos) which is totally catalogue based

On that note, I have to diaries our first visit to Argos in Burgess Hill yesterday…not having broadband yet (due to be installed on 4th June), I have not been able to do any more shopping for our larger furniture items, and with Simon having given me a not insubstantial shopping budget, I am itching to get going as it is literally burning a hole in my pocket (lol).

So off we went to find the Argos shop, thinking that I could pick up a few things and have an actual touch and feel of the products instead of just viewing them online…anyway in we walk and imagine my surprise (and the store if you can) to find a room about the size of a large sitting room in South Africa and rows and rows of tables with catalogues on them – yup that’s right, there is no space here for huge shops and as the Argos catalogue is 3000 pages long, the store would need to be enormous – so you walk up to a table, go through the catalogue, check the stock availability on a little computer at each counter and then once you are ready you proceed to the till, place your order, pay and then sit in a long line as you wait for a guy behind the counter to call your order number and you can pick up your purchase – all large items are delivered to your home. Quite an experience, but one we enjoyed and I will definitely return – am in love with the Argos range, have been told that Ikea is also very good, but as the closest store is 1hr20mins away it hasn’t been an option so far, and they don’t offer a 30 day money back guarantee so I am a bit nervous of buying from them sight unseen.

Thursday 29th May 2008

This morning dawned with moderately blue skies (for the first time since we have arrived) – nothing like the blue of a South African morning, but after nearly a week of bleak grey weather, any sign of a lift is welcome…that said however, we are not letting the weather get us down and rain or shine we are out an about exploring our environs.

Today we took a huge chance, and after breakfast jumped in Madge and headed off to Burgess Hill, the largest town (still not a city) near to us. They do have a large pedestrian area which is quite nice, and there is certainly a much bigger variety of shops…but even with that we were unable to find Phillip any decent shoes – it would seem that he has exceptionally large feet for a 7 year old (by English standards), so wide in fact they didn’t even measure on the English shoe size scale. Needless to say in absolute desperation, I have resorted to a pair of Crocs (yes the real deal) at the princely sum of 20 pounds (no don’t even do the maths, it will be enough to make you sick) but when being paid in pounds it isn’t that bad and as the price for mine and Phil sanity it was happily paid!

Must say the more I drive around and explore this part of England, the more I am enjoying it – it really is a very beautiful part of the world and it has a very peaceful feel to it. Traffic can be a bit crazy at times, but the speed limit is about 30 miles per hour (+- 75kms) in the towns and every one seems happy enough to cruise along at that speed and is perfectly patient with the zig zag driving as you move out of the way to let an oncoming car pass due to the exceptionally narrow streets

Registered with the NHS (National Health Insurance) today and am due to see the midwife on Tuesday afternoon, am sure that all is fine, but it will be nice to start getting myself a little more prepared for the birth.