It's Been A While

We have been in our new place, oh, some two and a half months now and we are finally BACK ONLINE!!! Very exciting to be able to check out again all my favourite blogs and things and I am looking forward to actually emailing people again now!

I have been musing on what to do with my blog, whether to rename it or have a fresh start and I haven't quite decided yet. Any suggestions for a more appropriate name for this new season of life would be most appreciated! I was trying to redesign it in more autumnal colours but the choice on blogger of templates is not very exciting I'm afraid.

As I reflect on all these major issues (!) here is a quick summary of what our life consists of right now...

House - is a nice if somewhat chilly place! We have settled in now and covered the walls with our pictures and children's stuff so it looks very homely and lived in. We got our new three seater sofa last week to everyone's delight - the first time we have had a sofa the entire family fits onto!

Garden - is lovely but with the changing season we are not seeing as much of it as we were! I love hanging my washing out though and listening to the trees rustle and birds singing.

Homeschool - did I mention we are homeschooling this year? It is proving great fun - freedom and flexibility are two advantages not to mention more time together as a family. Before Bertie started work we were able to make numerous trips out together, now we are staying more local with regular trips over to north London.

The area - we are getting to know and appreciate it, though I did have a pang of regret when we visited Hampstead Heath recently. Oh I miss being next door to the Heath! We have several pleasant parks around, good transport links, a lovely forest or two...that'll do us nicely!

Church - we are attending our friends' very local church - 5 minutes walk away! There are lots of little girls there which the girls are of course thrilled about and we are enjoying making friends there and getting involved in various activities.

Work - this one has been a bit frustrating, as Bertie first had to wait ages for his CRB then was just getting a bit of supply work every now and then. However, great news! This very week he was offered a permanent post starting the next day! We are thrilled about this, though less so about the location (one hour's commute) however, just think of all that reading time!

Plenty more to say but that can wait for another day.

Update To Come....

Well we have been here there and everywhere since our return from Guadeloupe. Two weeks in France followed by a week with the parents followed by a fortnight in the million pound four storey house of some church friends followed by 10 days in Plaistow (which we discovered is pronounced Plaaaarrrrstow rather than logically rhyming with wait and bait and cait...lyn!) in a two up two down terraced house and now..... we have finally arrived in our new house! We have left the beautiful north London for the pleasant borough of Redbridge in the north east of London. A cute two bedroom bungalow with a yellow door and a HUGE front garden and an even HUGER back garden! Apple trees, pear trees, plum trees, poplars, fir trees, spruces, summer house, sheds galore, greenhouse....we have it all! We are slowly making order out of chaos and setting up home so hopefully I will be back on line in the not too distant future with more news and photos!

Berry Picking

Thanks for your guesses folks! It is actually blackberry season here in the 77th department, and there is a huge bramble patch at the end of our road which was untouched by human hand.... until I arrived! This village seems to be full of people who spend their time driving to and fro everywhere (usually Paris) or in their beautiful house/garden so there are very few people wandering the streets and doing such mundane things as picking berries. No problem, all the more for us!
I picked nearly a kilo last week but somehow we managed to eat them all before they got into a pie....oops! So this time I enrolled Bertie to help as we streeeetched for all the higher ones.

Look at those delicious berries, who could resist them?Well, we exerted all our self'-discipline (helped by Tatie's stern eye!) and here is the result that she threw together. I am off to enjoy it now!

Guess What I Was Up To Today....?

Popping Into Paris

Talk about a shock to the system! From the quiet of Guadeloupe to the peace and tranquility of the Marne Valley to....the hustle and bustle of Paris - ouch! Cars, roads everywhere, people dashing and rushing all over the place. It was all very overwhelming to us small towners!

Still, it was nice to wander around Paris on a summer's evening, with the realms of people sitting on the pavement (well not literally!) outside of cafés and bistros enjoying the beautiful hot weather that we have been blessed with ever since our return. I'm always glad I don't live in Paris but it does have its charms and beauty, especially at this time of year.

Something that caught our eyes was the relatively new bicycle scheme here. You get a card, take a bike for half an hour (free) or longer (a euro or two) and putter around to wherever you happen to be going, then park the bike at the nearest bike point. Simple! And according to the number of empty spaces and all the people we saw on their bike, very popular. Helmets appear not to be so in favour though.

Our actual purpose in town was an evening bowling with the family. Unfortunately an earlier puncture meant the spare wheel was in operation as was an 80 kph speed limit even on the motorway, so a very lengthy journey in. Probably the longest car journey the kids have had in over a year!

Next we struggled with the intricacies of the Parisian parking system. Pay at the machine? Oh no, far too simple! Go and visit all the neighbouring tabacs to try and purchase a ticket only to find they are either closed down or no longer selling any. We gave up in the end - it would seem that the Parisian ticket attendants are not quite as fervent as their Londonian counterparts!

Bowling was great fun. Bertie smashed us all, with a stunning 145 and several strikes. I, ehem, came gloriously last with about the same score as my age and the humilation of several gutter balls (nul points!). The girls had a great time running around, tidying the balls for us and taking the occasional shot. Thier joy was complete with a late-night trip to McDo afterwards and the lengthy journey home saw them all blissfully fast asleep!

Behind Our House

We went for an evening stroll up the hill behind Bertie's sister's house (Evs might remember having taken much of the same walk with us a few years ago). Not a bad view really!

It was a much longer walk than we had thought so quite a lot of complaining from one LissaLou on the way up, but a bread and nutella stop improved things vastly! JoJo was particularly excited by the cows below - animals are definitely his thing right now.We decided to take a short cut over the above field, only to be met by a wire fence between us and the path. Uh oh! Nothing for it but to squeeeeeeeeze on through! Then we met another one! This time we caught Bertie in the act of squeezing!

Two hours later we made it back - 8pm and the sun still high in the sky. Can't get used to this northern hemisphere! (Nor can the girls, they are convinced they shouldn't be going to bed until it is dark....)

Photo Time!

Cousins Siblings

Siblings amongst the corn Helping Daddy

Looking beautiful in her new dress from Tatie

More Cousins