Christmas in the Sun!

It is Christmas Eve.  We have now been in New Zealand for 6 months.  6 whole months!

I cant quite get my head around it.  We live in New Zealand.  And it's Christmas.  And its Summer. And it's the end of the school year.  And we live in New Zealand.  I wonder how long its going to take for me to get used to it?!?

Christmas has taken me by surprise a little this year.  I don't think I'd realised how much of the 'Christmas feeling' was associated with the cold and the dark.  I'm usually ready for Christmas by the beginning of November.  As soon as it starts to get cold and the first lights go up in the shops (September!) I usually start my shopping.  In NZ Christmas doesn't start until December 1st. There is no sign that Christmas is coming until then, and even then it's nothing like the UK.  There are very few lights as it gets dark so late it hardly seems worth it.  There is a lot less Christmas music playing and only a handful of brass bands and carols.  So much of what I think of as 'Christmas' is missing.  For the last 2 weeks I've been reminding myself that it's Christmas.  I have felt so totally unprepared for it!

At home, the Sunday before Christmas was always our Santa Party.  The day when the village Father Christmas would come to the houses with presents for the kids.  We would have a little party with another family and wait for him to come.  The kids would get louder and more excited as the time went on and the adults would have mulled wine and mince pies and try to cope with the noise and energy levels of the 5 kids.  Then we'd all get our coats and boots on and stand outside in the freezing cold as he came down the street and then eventually he was there.  Presents delivered. Happy Children. Exhausted adults.  This year we thought we'd carry on at least one of our traditions and have our usually santa party, but with a different family, obviously! As we now don't have a village santa to drop round, we just had the sleigh bells.  It was amazing to see the children's faces when they heard the bells.  It was such a surprise to them.  Magical! It was so nice to be able to do something that we would normally have done.  I was doing it for the children, but actually they don't seem to mind that everything is upside down and back to front.  I think we needed it more than the kids.  I honestly don't think they are finding it any different to normal.  They just take everything in their stride and carry on regardless!  I on the other hand have had mulled wine every night this week, made a hundred mince pies and had the Christmas candle burning, just to remind myself that it's Christmas.  Kids are so adaptable, but it would seem that you CANT teach on old dog new tricks!

We were planning to have a BBQ for lunch tomorrow, but this morning I changed my mind.  I need my roast. I need to set the table with the crackers and do something traditional.  Hubby has just been sent out to get the red wine for the gravy. I'm not doing a turkey, they are just so ridiculously over priced, beef it is! With Yorkshires! That's good enough for me. 

And thanks to Mary Berry the roast will be followed by Tunis Cake. 

It is going to be a totally different kind of Christmas this year.  I'm looking forward to having a family day with lots of fun and games and laughing. It doesn't really matter what happens on Christmas day, or what the weather is like, or how many fairy lights there are.  At the end of the day the aim of the day is to celebrate the birth of Jesus and we can do that anywhere in the world, no matter what our traditions.  The ladybug likes to sing happy birthday to Jesus, so we'll do that with the Tunis cake!

Lego Nativity

Well, we are coming up to Christmas. We are very nearly in December now and if I'm honest I'm not feeling very Christmassy at all. In the UK this was my favourite time of year. The days are getting shorter, it's getting cold and crisp outside and all the fairy lights start appearing. I love the whole atmosphere of everyone getting ready for Christmas. I don't like the shops trying to make everyone spend and spend and spend, but I love that everyone gets together.  Families and friends all try and meet up and make the effort to find out how each other is doing. And the fact that it usually involves food is always a bonus!

But this year the days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, there are no fairy lights to be seen and we have no family around. So... We are making new traditions!

To try and get in to the Christmas mood I have created our own lego nativity as a surprise for the kids.
Here it is...

It was pretty easy to do actually. First just find some bog standard lego people. You'll need one lady for Mary, then about six men; Joseph, 2 shepherds and 3 wise men. Then an extra head and round white block for baby Jesus!

 

I found an all blue body for Mary, then cut out a rectangle of material for the headdress.  I needed to use a little bit of blue tac to keep it in place because the material kept slipping on the hair.

 

For the shepherds you can use the cloaks and hoods from Star Wars figures if you have them (I used  the emperors for one of my shepherds) or you can cut out a rectangle for the headdress and a separate piece for the cloak...

The Wise men also have cloaks.  I was able to get some turbans from the Lego shop (in Cardiff) but if you don't have a local Lego shop you can try www.bricklink.com or you may have a crown or two in one of your own Lego sets. I then found some interesting and colourful shaped pieces for the gifts.

And of course there are then the animals. We already had horses for the wise men to ride, so I just needed to make a sheep for the shepherds.  After a quick search on Pinterest I created this sheep.  Lets just ignore the fact its twice as big as the shepherds!

 

Embracing the Kiwi life

Yesterday I felt very kiwi.

I went to a Turkish spice shop for my curry spices, an Asian store for my sushi ingredients, the bakery for my bread, the butcher for my meat, the post office for my stamps and the supermarket for everything else! In the UK I could have just gone to Asda for everything so it's a totally new way of life now!

Last night I tried out some of my new curry spices. Mmmmm curry!
And I made our own roti to go with it. So simple and such a great alternative to shop-bought naan bread.

Ingredients:

200g plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp oil
180ml warm water

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together into a dough. Separate out the dough into 8 balls, then roll out into 14cm (ish) discs. Fry in an oiled pan for a few minutes each side until they go golden. Yummy!

I tried sushi for the very first time just a few days ago and I absolutely loved it! As with most things I then thought "I could make this" so today I gave it a go...

Doesn't look too bad for a first attempt does it?!? And what's better, it was delicious. Even the ladybug ate it! I'm so pleased :) I just need to get the munchkin to eat it and we'll have another lunch box option!

And here's how to do it...

You will need:

A sushi mat (it was $2 in the Asian store)
Nori (the seaweed sheet)
Rice (2.5 fluid oz per nori sheet)
Sushi vinegar, 1tsp sugar and pinch of salt to flavour the rice
Whatever you want to put inside!
Woy sauce

Method:

Rinse the rice before you cook it to get rid of some of the starch.  Cook the rice in a non-stick saucepan with double the amount of  boiling water to rice (if 5 fl oz rice then 10 fl oz water).  Cover and cook on low heat for approximately 10 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed.

Next flavour the rice. I'm not sure how much vinegar you should put in as you can get powdered stuff (which I have) or liquid. I just sprinkled a little in.

Then place some cling film (plastic wrap) over the sushi mat and put your nori sheet on top.  Spread the cooked rice over the sheet leaving a little gap at the end furthest from you.

About a third of the way down place your filling in a line across the sheet.  I used cucumber and carrot strips because that's all I had in the fridge.  I then drizzled a small amount of sesame and ginger sauce over the strips.

Roll your nori using the mat.  You will need to peel back the cling film and mat as you roll.  Then wrap it in the cling film and place in the fridge for a few minutes before slicing (with a very sharp knife).

Enjoy your homemade sushi! :)

Anzac meets Wales

Being in New Zealand, I thought I'd give a NZ recipe a go. I have a Kids in the kitchen cook book (which I think is actually from Australia, but I'll pretend it's Kiwi!) so I flicked through for a suitable recipe. Anzac Slice looked pretty good so I got the ingredients ready. Now we hit two problems. Firstly, it has coconut in it and I really don't like coconut so I just left that out, and secondly, it needs golden syrup, which I don't have, so I swapped for maple syrup. I also adjusted the quantities a little as I'm not very good at following recipes!

So really it's not a Anzac slice anymore its more of a Welsh/Canadian slice, but it's really yummy so I don't mind what it is, I'm going to eat it!!!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 ½ cups rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar

125g butter (I always use diary free spread in baking as I have a milk allergy)

2 tbsp. syrup (I think any will do, maple was very good!)

1 tbsp. water

½ tsp. bicarbonate of soda

 

(if you want to add the coconut its was ½ cup coconut and just do 1 cup of oats)

 

Method:

Pre heat oven to 170°C and line a brownie or flapjack tin with baking paper so that the paper sticks out on 2 sides for easy removal from the tin.

Put the butter, syrup and water in a bowl and melt in the microwave (or in a saucepan and heat on the hob). 

When all the butter is melted add the bicarb (it may fizz and bubble a little- which is normal, don't panic)

Then add the dry ingredients and mix well. 

Pop the mixture in the tin and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

It should be brown on the top and firm to touch.

Cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes before you try to take it out, you don't want it to crumble when its removed.

Then slice while it's still warm, and eat! :)

 

 

Quiet moments

The last 2 weeks have been the spring holidays here.  Half of the days have felt very 'spring' like; its been sunny, warm and we've enjoyed the outdoor life style.  The other half of the hols have been like a welsh winter! Cold, wet and grey!

Although I love my children dearly and we've had a lot of fun, there are times where I have just needed a quiet cuppa and to retreat into a grown up world... enter Mr Darcy :)

I very rarely sit down and read during the day, but I have made the children have a 'quiet' time during the afternoons so that I can recharge with a cuppa and my book.   On the afternoons that the lady bug has been asleep, the munchkin has had to learn patience and to occupy himself.  The afternoons where they've been together they have had to learn to play together without fighting, to resolve their problems themselves and that when mummy says 'stop fighting over it or I'll take it away' mummy really means it!

We done a few craft projects over the holiday as well.  But the biggest success by far was the blackboard...

 

Its a really easy craft.  I picked up an old frame from the eco shop for $5 (just £2.50) and then painted it in blackboard paint.  You can use any colour paint and mix it with grout and job done! (1 cup acrylic or matt paint mixed with 1 tablespoon of grout - simples!) 

 



 

They have had so  much fun taking it in turns to make pictures of all sorts.  These 3 are super duper machines. So much fun in fact that I'll be making another trip down to the eco shop (like a charity shop, but without the charity!) to see what else I can pick up to paint.  The possibilities are endless!

Birthday Boy

The world is full of different types of people. There are those who are good and kind. Those who are encouragers and build people up. Those who are selfish or thoughtless. Some are manipulative and others are down right nasty.

We all know someone who fits into each category. But who do we choose to surround ourselves with?

I am happy to say that I have married one of the best of men. And today I wish him a very happy birthday. He is a true gentleman. And he's mine! My own Mr Darcy. I am so thankfully for you Mr H. You bring out the best in me and love me for who I am. Thank you! :)

Everyone needs to be loved and feel loved. To be valued and know that their opinion counts.  I'm so blessed to have a husband who does both.  This is something he wrote me a few weeks ago:

Bless her Lord, abundantly bless!

Grant perfect joy in you, and rest

As she fulfills her role as mother and wife

Sustain her every day of this life.

Highs, lows, whatever she’ll face,

May she know as a solid truth your grace

To comfort, calm, protect and provide.

Be her faithful friend at her side,

Her Father when she needs to feel love,

The One who meets all of her needs from above

By the endless strength of your almighty power;

Hear even her smallest request every hour.

And when all in this world has been said and done,

Lead her Lord, blinking, into the sun;

Dancing with freedom at the sight

Of your eternal glory and magnificent light!

I ask because she is so precious to me;

Oh how much more Lord, she is to Thee!

I truly pray that all of you have a person in your life who will bless you with kindness and build you up the way that hubby does for me! 

Many nations, one voice

Please watch and listen to this song...



There are a few songs that really move me.  Some stir up passion, some provoke memories (sometimes happy, sometimes painful) and others inspire me.

This song give me hope!

So many nations coming together with one voice. All singing the same, in many languages, with totally different experiences of the world.  But one song, one voice, one God.
There are far too many prejudices in this world but all things can be overcome with love. 
Love is a force for unity.  It brings people together from all walks of life.  We do not need to be at war. If we find love, we can work towards peace.

The bible teaches that we should 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength' and 'love your neighbour as yourself'.  If we all took the time to love others not judge others, this would be a totally different world. Let all the earth rejoice for Great is our God.

Whisky Galore!

The hubby had the day off today and the kids were in school and kindy so we ventured out on a date day.  So where else would we go but Whisky Galore.  We'd not made it there yet as we didn't really want to take the children into a shop full of very expensive glass bottles!

 

Wow, what a shop! It's comforting to know that we'll still be able to get good whisky even though we're the other side of the world from most of the great whisky makers.  Mmmmmm... what a shop!

 

We also made a very interesting discovery... Last November the hubby, myself and a friend went to a Wales v New Zealand whisky tasting that was held the night before the autumn international match (Rugby, of course!). It was a fun evening, although it hadn't been advertised very well so we were the only 3 at the official tasting match.  There was a Welsh male voice choir rehearsing in the next room so they came through to taste the whiskies at 'half time' but really, it was just the 3 of us.  The Welsh team, Penderyn v The New Zealand Whisky Company.  Three different whiskies for each team going head to head in a blind tasting. Although, I'm Welsh I show no favouritism in my whisky drinking , I save that for the Rugby pitch, and marked truthfully, even though I know the taste of Penderyn.  So I wasn't too surprised that NZ won. Their signature bottle won hands down.  It was a good, strong, slightly earthy Whisky from what I remember, with a good kick to it! And this is what we found in the shop today....

 

The NZ Whisky Co has put stickers on all it's Double wood bottles saying that it won the UK whisky tasting matches in London, Cardiff & Edinburgh! Hee hee! What a giggle :) I'm on a whisky bottle (sort of)!  Such fun!



Pretty and practical

I have had a fantastically crafty week. Thanks to a lovely new crafting buddy I have been totally inspired to make new things and improve and hopefully one day I will be able to sew in straight lines!

I cant believe that I still cant do straight lines on the sewing machine.  I had no idea that it would be so difficult to do something that sounds so easy.

After the success of the first two skirts I have made 2 more.  I have found a few different patterns that I really like and I have the material ready to try those out too.  I have also found some amazing 'boy' material to make the munchkin some Christmas PJ's (thanks to the Make café again!). I have also ventured out into a few things for around the house.  Our kitchen towel was in need of a hook so I thought I'd pretty it up a bit too!

I'm very pleased with my efforts :)
I have needed a card wallet for a while, but not found one that I liked, so I've made one!  (This is the pattern I used.) I used some left over material and one of the ladybugs hair bobbles and hey presto, in true Blue Peter style, here's one I made earlier!

 

And of course my week would not be complete without a spot of baking.  This week I thought I'd try something new.  At home we'd go to St. Fagan's museum of Wlesh life and go to the old fashioned bakery and pick up a loaf of Bara Brith (Welsh bread made with tea).  It is so delicious, especially when fresh and still warm.  So as it was raining and I was reminded very much of home, I looked up the recipe online and thought I'd give it a go.  If you have never had Bara Brith, please try this recipe, it's really good.  Even the hubby, who hates tea, loves it! (If you do use this recipe, I didn't bother with the wholemeal flour, just used all Self-raising or extra baking powder and it came out perfectly!)

 

Reuse, recycle, remake!

There is something so satisfying about sewing.  One minute you have a pile of material and an hour later you have something with shape and purpose!

Yesterday I spent the morning making two of the ladybugs old dresses into skirts.  These were my favourite summer dresses (thank you H&M).  She wore them as dresses at 18 months, then tunic tops with leggings at 2 and a half and now we'll get another year, probably 2 or 3 years out of them as skirts as there is plenty of room left in the waist and I can keep adding to the hem if the length gets too short.  There is a fantastic skirt design on Pinterest so I copied the hem and waistband design from it, chopped the top off the dresses and voila! Two new skirts! And all it cost was 2 FQ from The Make Café as I already had the elastic.

And the best part is, the ladybug absolutely loves her new skirts.  When we got home from Kindy she tried them both on, tried them out for twirliness, as you do, then chose one to wear and one to put at the end of her bed to wear this morning.  She also then chose which t-shirt, knickers and socks would go best with todays skirt! :) Happy mummy! There's something so comforting and satisfying about having your work appreciated.

It has encouraged me to make more! Somewhere I have a pattern to downsize old adults sweater into a kids one and I have two waiting to be transformed. I must make something for the munchkin.  It's so much easier to make pretty girly things, but I must make something for the little man too.  Although we're coming into the warm weather now so maybe I should try shorts?! or linen trousers? But that seems a little more daunting.  I may have to work up to that one.

3 months

Three months ago today we left Wales. 

We got up at a ridiculous time in the morning, put the kids in the car and drove to Heathrow.  We left behind our family, our friends and our home and stepped out into our great adventure.  And what an adventure it's been so far. And this is really only the beginning.

I couldn't help feeling that someone didn't want us to get here.  At Heathrow our flight was delayed because the air conditioning broke on the plane. Then at Changi we were delayed again because one of the trucks broke down in the way of the plane and we had to wait for it to be towed away and then again while we waited for a slot to take off.

Singapore was a lovely holiday on the way.  The kids made friends everywhere we went and had their photos taken by most of the airline and hotel staff.  We spent the first 2 days trying to avoid the haze, but after it lifted we got to see some beautiful sights! We even got to spend time with family who live there.  It was so wonderful to see the cousins playing together and having a great time!

 

And then we finally landed in New Zealand.  There are still a lot things we need to get used to and things from home that we're missing (marmite is top of that list) and it does feel weird being an immigrant! When I'm in the supermarket I stand in the UK section and just stare at the things they have imported.  Most of the things in the section I wouldn't ever buy at home, they really do choose some odd things to import! But those things that I would, I cannot bring myself to pay the prices they are charging.  In one store the other day I saw a packet of jammie dodgers.  The packet had them priced at 79p ($1.60) but they were bring soled for $4.90. There was no way I was going to pay that, so we just made our own :)

 I'm finding that I'm doing an awful lot more baking now.  The diet has gone completely out of the window! Partly because its so much more difficult to get dairy free stuff here and partly because I just enjoy baking... and the eating that follows!  Maybe I'll set up as a dairy free baker and sell to all the local cafés?

I wonder what the next 3 months will bring?

 

Biscuit recipe...

Ingredients:

250g/9oz plain flour

200g/7oz butter/marg

100g/3½oz caster sugar

pinch of salt

2 egg yolks

Any flavour jam you like!

 

Method:

 

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Place the flour, butter, sugar and salt into a bowl. Rub together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the egg yolks and mix into a dough.

Roll out onto a floured surface. About 0.5cm depth and cut out shapes. Round or hearts are my favourite shapes. 

Then on half of the shapes cut a smaller shape hole in the middle.

Place all the biscuits on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until light golden-brown and crisp.

Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Using a teaspoon, put a spoonful of jam on a whole biscuit and put on with a hole on the top to make your dodger! :)

The oddest things...

It's been lovely and sunny this week, and warm! Which has made me feel like I'm on holiday.  I only associate being warm with being on holiday.  So this week has felt very holiday like!  There is something about the smell of sun cream that is just so comforting.  It makes me relax.  I do like the sun, it makes the world a much better place!

I've also been thinking about home a lot this week. The munchkin and the ladybug both made videos for their friends at home.  It was a fun thing to do, but it got me thinking of all the people and places we left behind.  But we really are having a great time here.  We have finally persuaded the kids that it's a good idea to have separate rooms.  So we got the ladybug an IKEA (oh how I miss IKEA!) bed off Trademe (New Zealand's own eBay) and off we go! She was so excited about being a 'big girl' and choosing books and toys to go in her room it was so lovely to watch.  I was a little worried that there would be a big fuss at bedtime when she realised that she'd be on her own, but no she went straight to sleep! Success! For the first time in three and a half years the munchkin has a room to himself again and a new clock which made him super happy.  I think he's turning Kiwi already.... "it's awesome!"

UK people, enjoy your nearest IKEA! Go have a coffee (for free), pop the kids in playland (also free)and enjoy! Oh how I miss IKEA and their family friendly stores.

While shopping for the clock at the container mall (If you've not heard of the re:START mall google it, its amazing!) we stopped at a coffee shop.  I have no idea what the coffee tasted like, but the tea was good.  It was served in a cast iron teapot which oddly made me feel like I was at home even though I was sat in a container!  The teapot was very 'welsh'. I cant really describe it, but it was very homely.  All that was missing was a welsh cake or slice of bara brith and I could have been sat in St. Fagans.

It's the oddest things that remind me of home or make me feel right at home on the other side of the world.  There's also a make of coffee called Bach Espresso (bach in Welsh means little) which makes me smile every time I see it- little espresso, but I think its pronounced completely differently and has no connection with Wales at all, but it still makes me smile :)

And we have already started the Christmas countdown.  14 weeks and 2 days! It already feels odd, making Christmas things sat in the sunshine.  And I'm told the weather is only going to get better! :)

Only time will tell how I cope with a beach Christmas!

It is finished!

I have finally finished my quilt! After a few mistakes and a lots of unpicking, it is done!

I'm feeling very proud of my self today!

We made it to the slopes

Wow, what a day!

We had a fantastic morning learning to ski with some great instructors.  Two of which were English and one of them is in university in Cardiff.  How crazy is that!? We come to the other side of the world and get taught to ski by someone who lives in our home city! I do love how small this world really is.

Looking at the videos we took, we seem to be going very slowly down the slope, but I'm sure we were going much faster. It felt much faster anyway.

What was really wonderful was that we were all starting together. None of us have skied before so we were learning together.  My 3 and a half year old was the first of us to have both skis on and heading down the hill.  Amazing! It was so much fun watching her grown in confidence and learn a fab new skill.  We will definitely be going again.  Although next time I'll get a bigger pair of boots so it's a little less painful.

P.S. I only fell over once! :)

Welshcakes!

what more can I say! :)

Lemonade and bay leaves

Wow, what an emotional rollercoster this week has been.

This week I became a cyclist. The last time I was on a bike was centre parcs in march, before that it was centre parcs 6 years ago and before that I can't even remember!!! So I'm pretty sure I've never cycled on a road before. So I embraced our new outdoor lifestyle by cycling down to musical tots and back. And I actually quite enjoyed it :)

I have also learnt (or is it learned? I never know) how to make lemonade making use of the lemons we found growning in the garden. I can now also recognise an olive tree and a bay tree, thanks to the every helpful labels left on them. And it's been very nice being able to pop out into the garden and pick bay leaves to flavour our rice. Yummy! :)

Also this week I have broken down in tears in the play ground. Broken down in tears over Skype chatting to a very dear friend and cried watching little house on the prairie! I'd love to say that I'm all cried out but I doubt that very much. Although I love it here, I find that I am incredibly emotional most of the time and so spend a lot of conversations fighting back tears. Not that I'm unhappy, just that sometimes its all a bit too much and all I want is a hug and a cuppa with welsh cake and a natter with a friend.

Maybe I'll make some welsh cakes tomorrow!?!

1917

Well yesterday I learnt a valuable lesson. Two actually! Firstly my memory can be totally rubbish at times and secondly, google is amazing!

Having tested my sewing machine by starting in my quilt...

(waiting for the wadding to arrive to finish it off)
...I sat down with my son to make a draw string bag out of his fat quarter from nanna. We hit problem no1 straight away when I couldn't remember how to thread our lovely singer handcrank machine. It's only been 3 months, why can't I remember something so simple?!? Frustrated and annoyed I make it up! Then we hit problem no2, which is much worse. The needle isn't winding the cotton round the bobbin, it won't sew! Panic stations!!!
After about 40 minutes I give up and call the man of the house for help. You can tell how desperate I was.  And being a man he immediately reached for the iPad and google.  It really is amazing what you can learn.  We have discovered that this beautiful machine was made in 1917, that there are loads of different models all varying slightly and about 20 other great facts about singer sewers. and eventually on web search no37 we find the problem and hey presto a working sewing machine!!!

A win for google and a win for iPads! :) And maybe next time I wont struggle for quite so long before calling for help?! Maybe.

Just keep swimming....

It has arrived! We have our things!

We can now start making our home, after we have battled the tons of paper wrapping that has been left behind.  Josh was actually swimming through a pile of paper trying to squish it back into one of the boxes, it was funny to watch.  I wish I'd had the camera handy at the time   The garage is now full of boxes and wrapping and we still haven't opened all the boxes.

It is so nice to have our own bed again.  It has been 13 weeks.  That feels like a very long time to be without a home, and especially my bed and sofa and very importantly, my sewing machine. :)

This is my little corner of the house and it makes me very happy! I have a long list of sewing projects to keep me going for a while.  It's just a shame I have to finish the unpacking and do all the boring household tasks too. 

Not all days are great, being on the other side of the world from all our friends and family, but today has been a very good day... the sun is shining, I sat outside having a lovely coffee with a very lovely lady, I have washing on the line and I'm wearing flip flops in the middle of winter.  All I need now is to unpack the camera and life will be complete!

Cheesecake and whisky!

Hooray, it is our last day in the motel!

I can't believe that we've been here almost 7 weeks already and spent this long in a motel.  We are finally moving again.  I really hope that it's a long time before we move again.  Although actually it's a real mix of emotions.  I'm so pleased to be finally moving out of the motel and into a home, but that means it's real, we are here to stay.  This is not a holiday.  This is where we live! Aaargh!

I'm also astonished at how much stuff we have fit into this tiny motel.  I know we didn't exactly travel light with 7 suitcases, but we're taking an awful lot of stuff over to the house! How much have be bought since we got here?!?

I've bought cheesecake for dessert tonight for our first meal in the new house.  Which is a bad idea as I have a dairy allergy so will regret it as soon as it's eaten, but hey, we (meaning I) deserve a nice treat after living in one room for last 7 weeks! And then once the kids are in bed we'll break open the Balvenie Portwood 21 that has been calling us since we picked it up in Singapore. :)

So this is it... Our new life is beginning... tomorrow morning I'll be getting ready the kids ready for school from our home and walking them to school.

Let the indoor camping begin...

We have keys!

Well this is the story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down....

If you know this quote you will be smiling :)

In a nut shell, a year ago I was living in Cardiff, Wales with a pretty good life, a great routine and everything just seemed to plod along.  I had no idea that I was destined for the other side of the world! Here I am sat pretty much the furthest you can be away from where I call home, homeless in a motel and everything just not quite right.  But, I have the feeling that this is exactly where I am meant to be.

I'm going to use this blog to track the journey and share the adventure.  I don't know if anyone will read this beside me, but I always find that writing things down helps clarify what I'm thinking and feeling so I'm going to give it a go.

Today we picked up the keys to our new home, in a few days we will move in (to an empty house) and a few days after that our container should arrive to fill the space (it's currently going through customs).  We have been in this motel for 6 weeks now, which is not the easiest with 2 children, but I'm glad we made the journey all together,  even if it has meant being squished into the motel.

The nicest thing about getting the house is that I finally have keys again!