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

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

Heathrow Terminal 5

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

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.

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...

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...

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

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…