Thursday 8 December 2016

Smiles


Last week...

We were listening to 'Friend or Foe' by Michael Morpurgo on audio book. Lj would like a 'normal' story next as she is tired of MJ and his war obsession!

Construction began in our courtyard.



Kindness Elf made a reappearance.




We had a lot of IKEA furniture to build for our walk in wardrobe.


Lj discovered M's old version of Mastermind. Her and MJ love playing it together.



We spent Saturday at Millennium Courts Arts Centre.
Lj loved reading in their Christmas dome. The movie this week was Star Wars so MJ was very happy. The craft was junk modelling rocket night lights with a glow stick inside.



Wednesday 23 November 2016

Last week I...

Last week I was...
- Breaking down on the highway and needing to be towed by breakdown recovery back home.
- Living in the cold when our boiler ran out of oil and then had to have its filter replaced.
- Trying to stay friendly with our neighbour who is cutting down our trees.
- Herding a cow back into its field after it escaped through an open gate!
- Driving at 15 mph along a main road to take our poorly car to the garage.
- Visiting our new doctor with a poorly Ezra.
- Medicating Ezra with his first ever antibiotic to treat his sore ear.


- Chasing a mouse around our kitchen.
- Purchasing 10 mouse traps, mouse poison and throwing our plug in scarer in the bin.

Thankfully this week is turning out a little calmer although I wasn't sure how long the calm would last when I found my mobile phone bobbing in a puddle of tea yesterday!

Tuesday 25 October 2016

A new school




New School, new school year begins. MJ in P5 and Lj in P3.

New places to explore

Some oldie photos from August...

NT, The Argory. Co.Armagh


 Blackberry picking in the country lanes.


NT, Mountstewart House when Nana and Grandad came to visit.


 Our new forest at Gosford Park.


The seaside.

An Ezra update












He is one happy boy, who sleeps when he can, normally in the car, eats all he can and hates to be left on his own!

Beautiful Orchard County

Never before have I appreciated the beauty of the orchards near to where I spent my childhood and which are even closer, in fact just on our door step now.

A few weekends ago we spent the day celebrating the apple harvest at Ardress House, our local NT property.


This is MJ turning the apples into delicious apple juice.

This week...

Each week as I form my weekly 'to do' list, I add 'blog post' to the bottom of the 10-15 items. And as with anything in life that we don't prioritise it sits quietly at the bottom of the list, never getting completed but just added again, in the same position to the next weeks 'to do' list.

This morning as I was driving the short 3miles to the kids school we were listening to 'The BFG' on audio and I thought again that soon these moments will have passed...we will have moved on to another story and the BFG mornings will be forgotten, we will be laughing about something new and the 'snozcumbers' joke will be forgotten. I don't want to forget the highlights in life...I will happily forget the tired and more difficult days but I don't want to forgetting the 'snozcumbers'.

So I had a thought...every now and then, (I wish I could say, every week and stick to that, but that is probably unrealistic just now) I will document what we are: reading, writing, learning, listening too, playing, crafting or simply enjoying.

Here goes...

This week we are:

Listening to The BFG by Roald Dahl on our daily car journeys to school, EGR, EBR, Nana's house and the likes.

MJ and I have just finished reading, The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier and have now started Escape from the Usborne series.

Lj and I continue to enjoy a variety of bedtime stories. Last night it was Hairy McLary and the night before Katie and the Spanish Princess.

Following Lj and I's visit to Sew Saturday and learning English paper piecing (EPP) patchwork, we are on a mission to make a patchwork quilt from our scraps for the playroom. It is a great tv watching, evening activity!




Playing- Lj loves playing schools and has decided that she no longer wishes to be a Mid wife when she is older but a teacher instead. Yesterday her topic was 'Dogs'.

'Dog's need poo bags to poo in and food, a ball and a drink, a lead, a kennel and his kind owner.'

MJ still loves 'Old Republic' on M's laptop, writing stories about battles, drawing pictures of battles and making up his own battles with Lego.



Working- Anita and I are hoping to get our 2017 calendar off to print today...if I can get this blog posted finished and get the final edits completed :( Then I really want to pull together the kids version I have been working on and maybe get it to the printers next week.


A brief weekly round up!

Saturday 8 October 2016

A new way of life

As I look back over the past few blog posts, where we were preparing to leave Bishop's Stortford, I'm struggling to process and define my thoughts and feelings. Life here, two months in, seems so normal, like it has always been this way and yet there is this other part of our lives (previous life) which is not closed off. The friendships are still there, the memories are still there and life there is going on without us. Is this a little snippet of what mourning feels like? I've noticed that M and I both feel the need to tell new people that we meet that 'we have just moved here', even if it is not really necessary for them to know it. How long will we do this? How long will we feel 'new'? This is the place where I grew up and spent 18 years. So much of the towns, people and church life is familiar, but I'm not that teenager, desperate to blaze my own trail and establish my own self. I'm married, with 3 children and yet am I really that different? I'm still wondering who I am, what makes me tick and what it is I want to do with my future!

Phew, I think I need to grab my notebook and have a bath to try and process these thoughts before I embark on sharing the happenings of the past two months!

I'm back...

Where do I start and how do I start again?
It has been over two months since I posted and I really don't want those, rather important months to slip into the past with out a little blogging memory trail.

So I think I will start with today and work backwards as it was today that made me think that we are beginning to find our swing in this new life in this new place.



A few weeks ago the kids received a leaflet from school advertising the Millennium Court Arts Centre and the activities they have planned for Autumn. Today we went along to their 'Open Art Day'. A free event for families to attend, which consisted of watching a movie, today's was 'Honey, I shrunk the kids' followed by Art meets Science activities. We all enjoyed making paint explosions using vinegar, paint and baking powder and bubble pictures using water, paint and washing up liquid. It was a great event and with the Arts centre being in our nearest town I am so excited about spending more time there.

P.S. I also discovered a new wool shop just a few doors down which has me itching to get crocheting again.

Monday 25 July 2016

Last day of school



Camping indoors




It really feels like we are camping indoors! What I have found interesting is that with little to no toys the kids are playing better together, creating their own games from nothing. With no cooker, fridge or microwave, M had to make do with a bought chocolate muffin for his birthday cake!

Goodbye to our worldly goods!

The day has arrived for us to say goodbye to most of our worldly goods as they head off across the Irish sea.

We spent the day in the garden as the men worked hard in the 27oC heat emptying our house and loading their lorry.




And off it goes, fully loaded, not an inch of space to spare.

Sunday 17 July 2016

Three muskateers


Anyone for tennis?









M and I managed to get tickets for Court 1 on the middle Saturday at Wimbledon and although it was a day of rain delays we did get to see perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament, Djokovic knocked out by Querry. It was my first time away from Ezra which felt strange but my sister stepped up to the mark taking all three kids, along with her two for the day, her birthday no less.


Mj has been enjoying playing tennis on Saturday's with M while Lj is at ballet. So the other evening after school and before swimming lessons I took the kids into town for a picnic tea and a game of tennis. I was really pleased to see how he has improved since last summer. He will be beating me in no time :(


Lj's cousins got her a new tennis racket for her birthday, so now it is her turn to learn. More patience required but as I can see with MJ, the patience pays off and soon I will be able to enjoy playing with her also.