Snapshots of life

Sleepless in Singapore

2009-09-24T07:40:00.000+08:00

It's 7:25am and I'm listening to James snoring as I write this. I've been awake since 2am this morning. I never realised how much of an effect the time difference would have on me. My body clock seems a bit messed up.
It probably didn't help that I slept most of yesterday morning after only getting a couple of hours sleep the night before. That probably rates as my worst night ever in terms of lack of sleep. The garbage truck came around at 2:30am, someones TV was on quite loud and to top it off there was a truck parked on the street with its diesel engine idling from 2am until at least 4am after which I finally managed to fall asleep. James said he kept dreaming he was on a bus that he couldn't get off. Every time he would ring the bell, the driver just revved the engine and drove on. I on the other hand was imagining throwing rocks through the truck window and letting down the guy's tyres. I know I get grumpy when I haven't had enough sleep, but this was ridiculous. We must have been a real sight at breakfast... don't think I've seen James that grumpy before.

Lol... and the bell at the Hindu temple up the road has just started ringing... James will be pleased.

Thoughts on Singapore

2009-09-22T20:58:00.000+08:00

We've done it! We have finally started off on our great adventure... moving to Australia. We arrived in Singapore sometime after 2pm local time. I'm feeling quite worn out, so am glad for a couple of days to recover before we carry on to Melbourne. As far as long haul flights go, the flight was not bad. Food was great on Singapore airlines ... only problem I had was a bit of a nose bleed, possibly a result of the air being so dry.

First impressions of Singapore...
An efficient and clean city. Everything seems to run like clockwork. I love the trains being up in the sky and am enjoying the warm humidity. The food has been pretty good so far. There are some strange dishes available on the street. I don't think I'd ever be brave enough to try 'chilli frog', 'chilli pig liver' or 'Thai chicken feet'.

Tomorrow we're going to take it easy and wander around the city. I'm looking forward to just chilling.

Greenwich

2008-11-19T01:13:00.001+08:00

On Friday Pa, Lisa and I met up in London for a day out together to celebrate Lisa's birthday (21 plus experience!). We had a wonderful day out and the weather was pretty good too.
We took a ferry from Westminster pier down to Greenwich where we wandered around the market before finding a cafe for lunch.

After refueling, we headed up the hill to the Royal Observatory to have a look around...

We had a look around the National Maritime Museum. I didn't realise navigation and time keeping was such a complicated affair. All in all... an interesting and enjoyable day out.

Guy Fawkes night

2008-11-19T01:02:00.000+08:00

We had a great time with friends at Adrian's house for Guy Fawkes night. Good food, good conversation and a good show of fireworks...

Pa arrives in the UK

2008-11-19T00:49:00.000+08:00

Pa arrived in the UK near the beginning of October. James and I left at some unearthly hour to fetch him and then popped round to visit Lisa in South Wimbledon.

We went out for a fry up for breakfast ( a much better option than what they could come up with on the plane).

Then it was back to Cheshunt and recovering for the rest of the afternoon.

Lisa's new place

2008-09-18T03:43:00.000+08:00

Lisa has moved into her new home down in South Wimbledon. James and I drove my car down with most of her stuff in it and sent her with a suitcase and rucsack by train.

It looks very nice. Its been redecorated, so everything is nice and new and clean. The neighbourhood looks good and her housemates seem very friendly.

We hope she'll be happy there...

... next episode... Pa arrives

Red Tomatoes!!

2008-09-06T20:50:00.001+08:00

Finally! My tomatoes are beginning to ripen... I can feel a song coming on...

An evening visitor

2008-08-26T03:57:00.000+08:00

We found this friendly little guy wandering around our garden this evening. Hopefully he was after a meal of juicy slugs from my vegetable garden!

Our vegetable patch

2008-08-13T02:54:00.000+08:00

I'm really chuffed with our little vegetable garden. We've got 'free-range' spinach and tomatoes. We've been enjoying the spinach which is quite prolific... just as well I like spinach. The tomatoes are looking great! Shouldn't be too long until we have tomatoes galore...

Summer holidays...

2008-07-14T02:17:00.000+08:00

James and I went on holiday to the Red Sea for a week towards the end of June. It was a much needed break and we really enjoyed it. We left home early on a Monday morning and arrived at Taba airport (Egypt) about five and a half hours later. After being shouted into queues and eventually making it through passport control, we travelled via coach to our hotel (the Hyatt) in Taba Heights.

The weather was fantastic. Sunny skies the whole week and hot!! The temperature got up to 43 deg C (Ok, we were in the middle of a dessert!).

We did a check dive and 2 other dives at Taba Heights which were really great. I was amazed by how many fish there were. We saw loads of moray eels (Grey, Yellowmouth and Giant) and Lionfish, an octopus, a turtle and various other interesting fish... no sharks unfortunately... sigh! We also did 2 day trips to Israel.

On the Saturday we left our hotel at the unearthly hour of 3:30am. We travelled by coach across the boarder into Israel (where we changed coach) and north to the Dead Sea. We did the floating thing (really strange sensation) and after breakfast headed west to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was not quite what I was expecting and yet I'm not really sure exactly what my expectations were. We had a fantastic tour guide (with a great sense of humour) who was very knowledgeable and informative. We did loads of walking around Jerusalem, passing by a lot of places, both historical and 'traditional' including the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Upper Room... I have loads of photos of I don't know what. We had lunch in Jerusalem and then left for the airport to fly to Eilat and back to the border by coach. We arrived at our hotel sometime after 10pm. A very long exhausting day!

The border crossings were quite an experience. The Israeli border was very efficient and organised... standard questions..."Do you have any guns... Do you have anything that looks like a gun... Do you have any ammunition..." and then there was the Egyptian border control where chaos appeared to rule.

On the Sunday we went by coach to Eilat (15min across the Israeli border) where we stopped at the Underwater Observatory Marine Park to look at sharks and rays and other exciting fishies and then on to Dolphin Reef where we had the opportunity to dive with Dolphins (Definitely the highlight of our holiday!) followed by lunch. We then headed into town to check out the mall before heading back to Egypt and our hotel.

Monday was spent relaxing before heading to the airport to fly back to London in the evening.

We were glad to have the following week off work to ease back into things.

Li'l sis comes to stay

2008-06-01T03:17:00.000+08:00

Lisa is staying with us at the moment. The place she was staying at was a bit of a nightmare and she had a landlord from hell... well nearly... so one evening I drove over and we piled all her stuff in my car never to return again. She's starting a new job on Monday. More regular hours and better pay. Hopefully it will be a big improvement on her previous job as a trainee vet. nurse. I hope happier days are ahead for her.

... and it's winter again...

2008-04-06T21:27:00.000+08:00

Just when we thought Spring had arrived....
It started snowing this morning...

Heathrow Terminal 5

2008-03-30T03:27:00.000+08:00

James and I went to fetch my aunt at Heathrow Airport this morning. She arrived at the newly opened Terminal 5 at the unearthly hour of 5:15am. With all the news coverage of the 'disaster' that is Terminal 5, I had visions of seeing road information signs saying 'Terminal 5 - Expect delays'. I could just imagine her luggage ending up in Hong Kong or somewhere like that. Fortunately this was not the case and she had a fairly uneventful arrival.

The terminal building itself is quite impressive, but finding your way around is not so easy. Nothing is well sign-posted from the roads outside to the building inside. But we survived the experience and now... I need to go and catch up on some sleep.

Easter weekend in the New Forest

2008-03-28T09:42:00.000+08:00

James and I headed down to the New Forest for the Easter Weekend and a much needed rest.

We left early on the Friday morning to avoid the heavy traffic. After driving through rain, wind, hail and sleet, we arrived at our B&B in Brockenhurst. I've come to the conclusion that most B&B's (in the UK at least) seem to be run by eccentric middle aged women. I soon got used to the heavy smell of Lavender and began to relax.

We did a fair amount of walking and chilling out at coffee shops (cold wet weather is good for business it seems). We took a trip to Beaulieu and spent most of the day looking at vintage cars at the National Car Museum, checking out what's left of the Abbey and wondering through the palace house.
We also took a trip down to Lymington and walked down along the quay. On the way back we got drenched in a hail storm. Rather amusing.
One of the guys at work mentioned that when he thinks of the New Forest, the first thing that comes to mind is ponies and poo. The peace and quiet, beautiful countryside and the distinct lack of any MacDonalds or KFC was wonderful, but I too will always associate the New Forest with ponies and poo.

Tired of the hamster wheel.

2008-02-08T00:37:00.001+08:00

What is it with companies these days expecting people to cope with more and more responsibilities and an ever increasing workload with no thought given to recognition or reward for their efforts? Any prospect of promotion is all too often like the carrot dangled in front of the donkey: always just out of reach.

What is wrong with a person wanting a job where they can go to work, they know what is expected of them, they get on and do their job and at the end of the day they go home? No working late to try and meet unrealistic deadlines. No pressure to climb the proverbial ‘corporate ladder’. Just happy to get on with it and forget about the stress of ‘career development’.

Every now and then I think I should pack it up and maybe open a coffee shop... hmm...

Life flies when you're having fun...

2008-02-03T03:55:00.000+08:00

It's a cold and grey day today, just north of London, but fortunately the predicted snow has not reached this far south.

A lot has happened since I last wrote, so here goes...

Sandra (my aunt) has moved to a very nice house share in Bush Hill Park (near Enfield Town) and has a job temping for the council in Enfield Town. She seems to have settled in really well.

My Dad flew over to join us for a couple of weeks over Christmas. It was really great to have him stay with us and our little house was quite full on Christmas and New Years Day with Lisa and Sandra joining us.

James' 45^th birthday (21^st Dec)

James finally finished his diving course in November and we put it to good use in January while we were over in South Africa for a 'fly-by' visit/holiday.

We spent a couple of nights in New Germany at Lyn & Clive's (my aunt & uncle). We did some shopping for cool summer clothes (as we don't really have those, living here in the UK!), had breakfast with some friends and met up with my Dad on his return from the UK before heading up to the 'Metropolis' of Richards Bay.

We spent some time visiting old friends and went to Denise's 40^th birthday celebrations (We're glad you decided to go ahead with the party, my friend!).

Lunch with friends in Richards Bay.

The following morning after church we headed off to Sodwana Bay.

Sodwana Bay was great. Overcast, but warm and we enjoyed the diving... although James 'fed the fish' a couple of times and we didn't get to see any sharks. We did see a couple of Moray eels ('Honeycomb' and 'Salt and Pepper'), a Loggerhead turtle, a large potatoe bass, a Lionfish and some exciting smaller creatures like a paper fish and a nudibranch (sea slug). It was a good oportunity to try out my new birthday pressie... an underwater camera. You can check out some of our photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesandjules

We still need to do a bit of work on the photo's and upload the rest, so please bear with us.

Some of the fishies at 2mile - Sodwana

After a few days up at Sodwana Bay, we drove through to Brett and Chantal's in New Germany for one night, where we had a braai by candlelight.... well sort of... thanks Eskom!! And then it was up to my Dad's place in Pietermaritzburg for one night before heading back to the UK.

Well, we're back into the swing of things here after recovering from a week or two of a combination of bad airline food and 'post holiday blues'. One of the things that's very noticeable on coming back to the UK is just how much faster the pace of life is here, especially in the greater London area. I could quite easily get used to a slower pace of life.

Holidays are coming...

2007-12-06T04:39:00.000+08:00

Well, it's been a very busy few months since I last updated my blog.

James has started a new job, closer to home and nicer hours, which means no more having to wake up at 5:30am. He seems to be enjoying it. I certainly am (sleeping in later, that is).

The diving course is finally over which means we have our Sunday afternoons back. James had to go and do his 4 qualifying dives on 2 separate days up at Stoney Cove in rather cold weather. We're now looking forward to doing some diving at Sodwana while we're on holiday in South Africa in January.

My aunt, Sandra was staying with us for a few weeks. She has moved out to the UK from South Africa and we have been helping her out until she finds her feet, so to speak. She moved into a nice place, sharing with 2 other ladies, last weekend. It's quite near where she's working in Enfield which is convenient. Hopefully she'll be happy there.

My Dad arrives in a couple of weeks time. He's coming over to join us for Christmas. It'll be great to have him here.

Well I guess it's time I started some Christmas shopping!

Scuba diving course

2007-09-07T20:45:00.000+08:00

James and I started a scuba diving course last Sunday… James is doing his PADI Open Water One and I’m doing a refresher because it’s been over 2 years since I last went diving.
The course is down at our local Leisure Centre (gym) every Sunday afternoon for approximately 5 weeks. The guy who runs it is South African and was apparently one of the founders of Coral Divers in Sodwana Bay (where I did my course). It’s a small world…

Career changes

2007-09-02T01:44:00.000+08:00

It seems quite a few people I know are changing careers, or looking into it. Lisa (my sister) is starting a new job on 10th September as a trainee Veterinery Nurse.

James is looking into doing a Web Design course (part time) at the moment, with the aim of changing career down the line. He’s tired of the service industry and wants to do something that he enjoys and will allow him to be creative.

A friend is on maternity leave at the moment and is thinking of starting her own business from home instead of going back to work...

... it's all got me thinking...

The bank holiday weekend...

2007-08-30T15:37:00.000+08:00

Last weekend was a bank holiday weekend, so James and I (along with half of the UK) headed for the beach. Well sort of… We went down to Newton Abbot (in Devon) to visit James’ younger brother, Matt, and family and to just chill out.

We left home on Saturday morning just after 4:30am (madness!) to avoid the traffic on the way down. We met up with Matt & family at their place and they took us into Torquay for lunch. After wandering around the ‘English Riviera’ for a few hours, James and I went and ‘crashed’ at the B&B where we were staying. Later in the evening we met up with Matt and family and headed back into Torquay for fish & chips.

On Sunday James and I headed off armed with maps and brochures and did some site-seeing.

We stopped off at Canonteign Falls , Britain’s highest waterfall.

After climbing to the top of the falls, we headed back down to the café at the bottom for some cream tea to the tunes of ‘hogwash’, a local ‘folk’ band (for want of a better description).

We spent most of the afternoon driving around and ended up back in Torquay where we stopped off and walked
down to Babbacombe beach.

Monday morning we headed for home, stopping off at Stonehenge on the way back. Maybe I’m just stingy, but I refused to pay nearly £7 each to go a few meters closer (it’s all been fenced off, so no-one can get really close) and look at a bunch of rocks, so we took photos from outside.

Eleanor Ann Milford-Jones (8 November 1950 to 18 April 2007)

2007-07-31T19:07:00.000+08:00

It's been 3 months since my mom passed away. In the midst of dealing with the emotional upheaval and coming to terms with our loss, there is also a sense of needing to do or say something significant in remembrance of her.

Here is a short speech my sister, Lisa, gave on behalf of herself, my brother and I at my mother's memorial service.

I think it sums up our feeling very well...

Mom...

One of the hardest things for us 3 children, Julia, Brett and I has been to find the words that will do justice to our mom and what she has meant to us. Even now, words don't seem to be enough.

A while ago I saw a sign outside a restaurant that said, "God placed angels on earth to walk amongst us, and he called them mothers", I thought of mom and felt how true this was of her. Mom always put others before herself; she was kind, compassionate, caring and never sought the limelight or attention for all the good she did. Mom spoke of how proud she was of her family, and how proud she was to be a part of it. She was the peacemaker, the strong bond that held us all together and she continuously put so much time and unconditional love into those close to her.

As a mother, she has led by example as a truly good person, and given us the strength, wisdom, understanding and maturity to live our lives to the best of our ability being the best we can be. Mom never hesitated to help those in need, she always thought about what was right, and lived by that. In a world where so many marriages seem to fail, we have been so blessed to see our mom and dad stay together through the good times and bad times, showing us true commitment, love and partnership.

Mom hasn't just been a mother, a wife, a sister; she was a friend, a confidant, counsellor, companion and so much more. She had a way of lifting us up, encouraging us, finding the positive in all things and spurring us on towards a future that would make us happy. We are so proud to be able to call her our mom.

In this time of great sorrow, it has been the words and thoughts that mom has shared with us before, her special way of comforting and reassuring us, that has come to our minds. Knowing that mom would want us to find the joy and happiness from the time we had with her, has given us some strength. And it's our love for mom that allows us to find some peace in the knowledge that she is in a better place, being rewarded for everything she has so selflessly given for us.

We will dearly miss mom, and cherish every special moment and memory we have of her. She is in our hearts, a part of her will forever be in us and we are thankful for this gift she has blessed us with.

No more working shift!!

2007-06-08T07:11:00.000+08:00

Woo hoo! My days of working shift are nearly at an end! :D
As of Monday I will be moving to a different section/lab within the respiratory laboratory and I will be working days.

It has all come about so quickly. I only went and spoke to the lab manager on Thursday last week about not wanting to work shift any more.

It's an answer to prayer!

Weekend away.

2007-06-01T11:59:00.000+08:00

James and I went on a church ‘weekend away’ at Ashburnham Place this last weekend. It felt like the first time in a long while that we’ve been able to just stop and relax. I think it was a much needed break.

We went down on the Friday morning, making a bit of an outing of the trip there.

We stopped off at Leeds Castle (in Kent) for a picnic lunch and then on to the town of Battle in the afternoon. We did the tourist thing and went and checked out Battle Abbey and walked around the site of the Battle of Hastings.

The weather was fabulous on the Friday ... a bit of a 'heatwave' by UK standards and by Sunday we were back to normal again with the rain moving in.

There was a strong emphasis on socializing over the weekend and we had quite a bit of free time to park off and relax... so that's just what I did... a bit of reading and a fair amount of walking around the wonderful surroundings.

Carrying on...

2007-06-01T11:43:00.000+08:00

It’s been quite a while since I last wrote on my blog. I haven’t felt motivated to do much of anything the last month or so. It’s been an emotional roller-coaster, but things are starting to reach some semblance of ‘normality’. We’re finally at a place where James & I can start enjoying our life together, looking forward and planning for the future.

I’m so thankful to have James in my life. Things have been a bit of a nightmare since we got back from honeymoon, but he has been such a support to me - a veritable pillar of strength. When my Mom passed away, just over a month ago, it felt as though the world stopped. Everybody else carries on with ‘life’, but for the family, time stands still.

It’s strange how we seem to think that things like this happen to other people and other families and never to us or ours. There are all the unanswered 'why?'s and emotional upheaval ... and then, eventually, we pick up the pieces and carry on ... left with the memories. Good or bad, we decide.

The most wonderful Mom in the world...

2007-04-25T03:58:00.000+08:00

I have been trying to update my blog over the last couple of days, but it all feels pretty pointless at the moment.

The most important woman in my life is no longer with us.

My Mom passed away just before midnight on Wednesday last week.

I'm really going to miss you Mom!

Our Wedding

2007-04-23T10:55:00.000+08:00

James & I got married on the 10th March 2007.

It was a lovely day and we will have many happy memories of it for years to come.

We wanted our wedding to be a 'community' wedding, involving the church and we felt incredibly blessed by the many friends who helped to make it such a special occasion. There was a wonderful atmosphere and a good time was had by all.

We were so pleased that my parents were able to make it over to the UK for our wedding and that we were able to spend some time with them while they were out here.

It's snowing!!

2007-02-11T10:10:00.000+08:00

I woke up on Thursday morning to the sound of children shrieking. One look outside and the reason for all the excitement became obvious... everything was covered in snow. It's all very nice and beautiful for the first 5 minutes... until you need to go out...

New house... new car...

2007-02-11T09:53:00.000+08:00

Well, I've moved into James and my future home... :-)

We've rented a 2 bedroom fully furnished house in Cheshunt. Really pleased with it. I only discovered how disorganised I am at the moment after moving in and suddenly realising I had no pots or pans and no plates... so we're juggling between James' place and the house until James moves in after the wedding.

James has also got a new car: a really cute Pepper white Mini Cooper.

4 weeks to go...

2007-02-11T08:53:00.000+08:00

4 Weeks to go 'til the Big Day!!! We have been so busy, the time has flown by.

Towards the end of January, James, Lisa and I went to Paris for the weekend. It was the easiest way to organise a multiple entry visa that would cover me for our honeymoon... it leaves us free to drive around Europe without having to specify where we're staying.

Paris was great, but exhausting. We went over early on the Saturday morning on the Eurostar ...did the run around tourist thing, walking most of the time - next time I'll wear better shoes and use more public transport. We went to the Sacré-Coeur (a few minutes walk from where we were staying), walked up the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triumph and then to the Eiffel Tower.

We also managed to fit in visits to the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral on the Sunday before heading back in the evening (sleeping/dozing most of the way).

The year so far...

2007-01-26T10:53:00.000+08:00

It's been a hectic start to the new year... what with James starting a new job, house hunting, car hunting (for James), helping Lisa move... and next on the agenda is my move on 1 Feb into James and my future home :-)

We're renting a 2 bedroom house in Chesthunt... watch this space for photos down the line...

It's apparently been a fairly warm winter here in the UK this year. That ended a couple of days ago with some really cold weather and snow.

I walked out of my front door at 5:30am to head off to work.

I was astounded to see snow covering everything. I didn't quite know what to do... so I took out my camera and took photos :-)

Christmas 2006

2006-12-31T08:22:00.000+08:00

Well, 2006 is nearly over!!

James, Lisa and I had a quiet Christmas at home. We did the usual... eat lots, stayed inside where it was nice and warm and watched TV.

Lisa is going to a Kylie Minogue concert tomorrow night to see in the new year. I think she's quite excited about that. Apparently Kylie puts on a really good show, so I'm sure she'll be snapping away taking pics on her cell phone.

James and I are going out to an Aussie restuarant for dinner tomorrow and then will probably park off at my place and watch DVD's the rest of the evening.

Christmas Dinners...

2006-12-15T09:54:00.000+08:00

James and I went to a church Christmas dinner last night.
It was an enjoyable evening, with everyone making an effort to look
really smart. The food was pretty good. I spent some time at the
gym this afternoon working it off. We have another Christmas dinner tomorrow night. I guess I'll be heading back down to the gym...

The night life...

2006-12-05T07:14:00.000+08:00

The other night we spotted this little chap outside James' place. A 'real live' hedgehog (as opposed to 'roadkill' )...

I did a bit of reading up about them on the net...

The European Hedgehog is about 20 cm in length, nocturnal and eats slugs, earthworms, beetles and other insects, and sometimes frogs, small rodents, young birds and birds' eggs. Urghh!

Talk about pest control! Apparently a single hedgehog can keep an average garden free of pests by eating up to 200 grams of insects each night. Therefore, it is common throughout the United Kingdom to see people attempting to lure hedgehogs into their gardens with treats and hedgehog-sized holes in their fences. Some people even keep them as pets.

... consider yourself now educated about hedgehogs.

Working Shift

2006-11-12T09:33:00.000+08:00

What a way to spend a Saturday!

Sitting at work for 12 hours with next to nothing to do...

Weeks seem to fly by and I'm left feeling that I haven't accomplished much. Hence why I find sitting at work with nothing to do so frustrating.

I had the day off yesterday and had to go and drop off our 'certificate for marriage' with the Minister at Trinity church in Enfield. James joined me and we stopped for brunch at a cafe in town on the way home. A woman with her little boy came and sat at the table next to us. She 'dumped' her child's bag on our table while she 'rearranged' herself and child. A couple of minutes later she realised the bag was missing and without a word removed it from our table. She then took our menu to look at while her child played with the one already on their table. It was quite an education... we soon wandered up the road to Starbucks for a decent coffee and a bit more 'space'.

A day in Cambridge.

2006-11-05T05:16:00.000+08:00

James and I went up to Cambridge yesterday. It was great to be able to get out for the day. We did the 'park and ride' (parked the car and caught the bus into town).

The first thing that struck me about Cambridge is the number of bicycles. Most people seem to cycle around town. It seemed a bit of a foreign concept.

Cambridge is really beautiful. We spent most of the time just wandering around. It would have been nice to do some punting on the river, but it was a little cold. Maybe in the Spring...

My little table

2006-10-29T03:31:00.000+08:00

I recently aquired my first item of furniture here in the UK.
I found a pine table outside someone's house with the following note attached.
"Please take me if you can give me a good home"
... so I took the little orphan in... :-)

I'm quite chuffed with my table, despite the 'junkie pine' comments I received...
I guess people leaving old furniture out for whoever wants to take it is still a novelty for me.

Out in the park...

2006-10-20T05:03:00.000+08:00

It seems every hour is rush hour here. There always seem to be traffic jams and people hurrying everywhere. The last week has been really exhausting work-wise with our supervisor being away and leaving me in charge... I found it quite stressful, especially not knowing what I was doing half the time. A couple of days off has come as a welcome respite.

I walked up into town and spent some time in the Town park yesterday, just to 'chill out' for a while. Getting out into nature helps me slow down. It makes me feel more relaxed and helps 'recharge my batteries'. I sat and watched the trees and listened to the birds. I took some bread with and fed the ducks too. They must be the most well fed ducks in Enfield!

My piano...

2006-10-20T03:02:00.000+08:00

I bought myself an electronic piano not so long ago.

It's been over a year since I stopped taking piano lessons and I've become quite 'rusty'. It's going to take a while to get back into it, especially with everything else going on in my life at the moment.

I'm looking forward to it.

Time flies when you're having fun...

2006-09-30T02:15:00.000+08:00

Well, it's been a while... I'm amazed by how time seems to fly by.

Our wedding plans are going well. We have booked a venue for the reception (a community centre not too far from the church) and feel we got quite a good deal on it. The price includes tables and chairs to seat up to 250 people.

We've been really blessed by how many people from church have offered their assistance... from alterations to my wedding dress to flowers, music, food... you name it! I've been for a dress fitting and have spoken with the lady who is helping with the flowers... so things are moving along.

It's definitely happening on the 10th March, people, so for a front row seat... book your tickets/flights now!

Winter is surely on its way... there's a chill in the air and I've started making soup!

I suddenly felt like gardening and growing flowers this morning... what a dumb time of year to start gardening! I'm so looking forward to having a garden of our own... somehow when you are renting a place, you just don't feel like putting in the effort to turn the weed infested jungle (so called garden) into an flowering paradise.

Well, the rain has stopped, so I'm off to do some shopping... guess who's coming for dinner tonight...

A day out in Kent

2006-09-09T09:05:00.000+08:00

James and I both had the day off on Wednesday, so we headed off to Kent for the day. We went to fetch James's 'new' Mac laptop from his friend, Paul, who stays near Maidstone and then headed to the coast and up to Folkestone.

The weather was great and we stopped off at the beach for a while. It's the first time I've been at a pebble beach. It felt quite strange as I'm so used to sand beaches like we have in South Africa. We even saw a dolphin quite close to shore, although from the photo it probably looks like trying to find the Loch Ness monster...

It's there... really it is!

In the beginning...

2006-09-09T06:36:00.000+08:00

I finally created a blog!

Now I've just got to think of something to write on it...