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Be like Andy

Posted in around the UK, gratitude, Health, Inspiration, news from around the world, places to eat, plastic pollution, tagged #plasticpollution, ban single use plastic, be the change, beaplanethero, BeLikeAndy, no more plastic, no more single use plastic, save our oceans, save our planet, save our wildlife on October 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Our local coffee machine at the station; Andy of the Red Bean Machine has gone ‘green’ 👏👏👏👏💚💚♻️♻️♻️♻️♻️ He’s now using fully biodegradable cups and lids made from starch, making them compostable. I’m well impressed at these small independent coffee shops/vans making a difference NOW and not PHASING it out by whatever date the large corporations and our governments come up with as a pathetic excuse to try impress us. THIS is impressive, time ⌚ for the big coffee chains to step up and BE THE CHANGE we want to see. There is no longer any excuse, alternatives to PLASTIC are available @starbucks @costacoffee @caffenero @pretamangeruk etc etc #bansingleuseplastic #nomoresingleuseplastic #nomoreplastic #bethechange #saveourplanet 🌏🌎🌍 #saveouroceans🌊 #saveourwildlife #stepup #BeLikeAndy #beaplanethero

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17th anniversary of a new life

Posted in around the UK, Domesday Villages of England, family and relationships, gratitude, It's my life, me and Peanut, memories of days gone by, my Canterbury Tales, tagged its my life, relocating to the uk, solo travel for women, travel writing on October 9, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Leaving on a jet plane and I don’t know when I’ll be back again……as it turns out…I never did return – not permanently anyway.

relocating to the uk, travel over 40, arriving in the uk, solo travel for women

taken on the day I landed after my Spitfire flight on 26 April this year – seems apt for my journey

Today marks the 17th anniversary of my arrival in the Northern Hemisphere and the UK then Ireland for the first time.

All three happened on the same day in the space of a few hours.

I left South Africa on the 8th October 2001 bouncing with excitement and joy. At age 46, although I had travelled extensively throughout RSA and lived in any number of places, I had never left the borders of South Africa except for a brief weekend sojourn to Swaziland in my misspent youth.

I flew from South Africa on the evening of the 8th October landing in Zurich on the 9th. After an hour or so at Zurich airport where I had my first European pastry and hot chocolate and searched for the ‘red’ post box which turned out to be green LOL (a learning curve for sure), from there it was an emotional flight across Europe and the skies in which WW2 was fought. I am fascinated by the history of the 2nd WW and it gave me both the chills and a thrill that I was flying through the same airspace that our pilots flew all those decades ago…as a result I spent nearly the whole flight just crying….I couldn’t believe I was actually in the same airspace.

Soon, as we came in to land at London Airport I had my first view of the city I was to come to love so much; suddenly I was on UK soil. I could hardly believe it.

Lovely London – my soul city

A short nerve-wracking bus-ride later I took my first ever tube ride – first on the Jubilee line and then the Piccadilly line to Heathrow. I remember how terrified I was of getting lost, of not finding my way to the airport, and a total wreck with all the stories I had heard of how big Heathrow airport was….wasn’t. It was easy to navigate.

I remember as if it happened yesterday; as we exited the underground near Hounslow I looked out the window and fell in love…..with the chimney pots on the houses around the green. I am a huge fan of the film Mary Poppins and it looked to me just like a scene from the film….the trees and the green surrounded by 3-storey brick houses, their roofs adorned with chimney pots.

“I could live here!” I thought…..

And now I am….I first spent 6 months in Ireland with my darling sister and her husband (her 30th birthday was the reason for my visit),

and then after my visa expired 6 months later I came over to the UK to collate the paperwork I would need in order to apply for and obtain my ancestral visa (my grandfather had the good sense to be born in London (Battersea). After securing letters from agencies to say they could employ me, I flew back to South Africa in March 2002 and by 22nd April 2002 I was back in Ireland; ancestral visa in hand. After a few months of gallivanting in Ireland, I once again flew back to the UK and started working and living first as a resident and then a citizen of the country.

I have never looked back, never had even one second of home-sickness and never longed for the country or yearned to ‘go back’ with all that that signifies. If I have missed anything it would be certain foods like OUMA rusks, or peppermint crisp chocloate LOL

I have grown to love the UK so much, albeit not the politics (or some of the parties), and I have had so many amazing adventures, learned so much, written a couple of books and immersed myself into the very fabric of this country. The history is phenomenal and it’s like peeling back an onion…one layer reveals another.

I used my ancestral visa/SA passport to good effect and and travelled to a number of European countries and a few states in the USA over the next 15 years (and back to Ireland 9 times).

Sphere Within Sphere is a bronze sculpture by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, located at Trinity College, Dublin

I also travelled far and wide throughout the UK and have probably visited more places than many British-born people….certainly I’m sure more Domesday Book places.

I then applied for and obtained my British Citizenship.

it’s my 17th anniversary!!! this is from the day I got my new passport as a UK citizen 2 years ago

My daughter followed me in 2003 and she too is now a British citizen and married to an amazing man with a baby on the way…..the first baby in our family to be born in the UK since my Grandfather was born in Battersea in 1890. Our little Peanut aka my first grandchild. I’m so in love with this baby already…my heart swells when I see this. 🙂

peanut is on the way, first grandchild, 3d scan of baby in the womb, granny in waiting

my beautiful grandchild. a 3D scan taken yesterday…

It seems perfectly apt, albeit coincidentally, that we got this scan photo on the same date 08/10, as what I left SA 17 years ago. Never did I think on that day back in 2001 that I would be a granny-in-waiting at this time 17 years later.

The UK has always felt like ‘home’ to me and I have felt more at ‘home’ here than I ever did anywhere in RSA….except possibly Cape Town which I’ve always said was my heart city. Well London is my soul city, and my heart has followed me to the UK.

I’ve had an extraordinary journey since arriving here in 2001 and although it hasn’t always been easy, that’s mostly been due to my own bad decisions on various life aspects. But I have never regretted my decision to return and to stay…..

So today is my 17th anniversary and I am still ‘home’.

And Ireland is still my 2nd favourite country in the world.

If you are interested here is a link to some of the place I have visited since my arrival. My goal is to still travel even more extensively and visit as many places as I possibly can – Project 101

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Let’s Talk about Dying

Posted in family and relationships, Health, Interesting articles, tagged death and dying, having a death plan, lets talk about dying on October 4, 2018| Leave a Comment »

As part of the End of Life Doula training I’m currently participating in, I’ve been researching information about various aspects of dying. One of the most important aspects is to be able to talk about it openly with family, friends, relatives, care givers, guardians and medical staff.

So often people push it away when an elderly relative raises the issue and an opportunity is missed to know their wishes; both the yes / no aspects.

We often had conversations with my Mother over the years, but even so, her death happened so young and so quickly with nothing in writing about what she wanted, that we were totally unprepared and were left floundering. The only thing we were certain of is that she wanted to be cremated and buried in the same burial plot as my paternal Grandmother. The rest was up to us.

One of the most important things that I’ve learned so far is to have a ‘death plan’. death and dying, having a death plan, lets talk about dying

Mostly people push death discussions away with “oh, you’re still young, you’ll be around for years yet”. That would be realistic if nobody died young ever. People are also very superstitious and suggest that if you talk about death, you’ll bring it on early. Its important to try move beyond those self-limiting beliefs and try to initiate a conversation with your family. It doesn’t have to be heavy or intense, but rather a light discussion to start with. Its inevitable, its the one thing in life that is absolutely guaranteed without doubt.

So many people have an unsatisfactory death because they’ve never conveyed their wishes to anyone. Often we associate discussions about death with just a will, but after all I’ve learnt recently, there is so much more to dying than meets the eye, and so oftentimes family are left struggling to know ‘the right thing to do’, which not only negates the possible wishes of the person who has died, but also causes a lot of unnecessary conflict and anxiety in those left behind.

Here’s a link to a useful little booklet you can download to get yourself prepared and perhaps initiate that all important conversation

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/health-wellbeing/relationships-family/end-of-life-issues/talking-death-dying/#

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23 weeks & 5 days – the miracle of life

Posted in family and relationships, gratitude, It's my life, me and Peanut, tagged family and relationships, first baby, first grandchild, first pregnancy, ovia pregnancy app on September 15, 2018| Leave a Comment »

18 weeks ago today I was still reeling with the stunning, joyful and extraordinary news that my darling girl, my beloved daughter was expecting her first baby!!!

The parents at their first scan…the tears are still in their eyes

I’m going to be a Grandma

To say that the news came out of the blue like a bolt of lightening would be an understatement. I was hysterical with joy unbounded. They were over the moon, and very emotional. We cried and we rejoiced and cried some more. They’re going to be parents, and I’m going to be a Granny

the miracle of life The baby was just on 4 weeks and 2 days from conception, and according to the chart, just the size of a poppy seed!!

At this stage Peanut was developing what would become his/her brain; the neural tube is forming and the spinal cord.

4 weeks and 2 days 🙂

20180512 the miracle of life

We shared the news with some VIP people and I started knitting.

Books on pregnancy littered the house and where at first there was none, suddenly there was a lot…..of baby clothes!!! LOL All the baby clothes that I had kept from when my daughter was a baby, as well as the gorgeous little items I had bought over the years (just because I loved them), made an appearance. I’m delighted that Peanut (baby’s nickname) will be wearing some of the same clothes that Mummy wore when she was a baby.

baby will be wearing some of Mummy’s baby clothes….

The next scan came on 29 June 2018 and yes!!!! it’s a real baby 🙂

its a real baby 🙂 extraordinarily tiny

Since then the weeks have flown by, and on 9th July, when baby was just 14 weeks, we went for a private scan and saw this precious little soul on an ultrasound scan

and heard baby’s heartbeat for the first time. It is truly the most extraordinary experience….to hear the heartbeat of a baby from the womb. Look how tiny those little feet and hands were!! ❤

I got so excited (and impatient) I immediately set about sorting the nursery. Simon set up the crib and I unpacked whatever I had to hand 🙂 Soon we had the basics set up and I started the long process of washing all the baby clothes we had bought, the South African baby clothes and the clothes they had been gifted from friends and colleagues.

Mummy & Daddy and the first stages of the nursery

Over these 18 weeks, all baby’s internal organs have developed (healthy and normal), fully formed arms and legs, fingers and toes. Baby has developed ear buds and eyes, can yawn & swallow and has started giving Mummy a few ooofffs in the belly…as this still tiny little creature, weighing just over 500grams, bounces around and flexes legs and arms….a right little gymnast, Peanut is very active LOL

Just 10 days ago I had the most stunning experience of feeling baby kicking…albeit not yet very strong, it was very distinct. I was singing “you are my sunshine” to Peanut at the time and perhaps it was an objection to, or an appreciation of my singing talents!! LOL Not sure yet which.

feeling my grandchild’s movement for the first time

Baby is now 23 weeks and 5 days from conception and the changes have been phenomenal.

Not only is Peanut now a fully formed little human being, but over the last 18 weeks has been a bit of a shape-shifter; changing from (the size of) a poppy seed to a sweetpea, a raspberry, a blackberry, a hamster, a peach, a lemon, a clownfish, a custard slice, a beet and an avocado pear!!! LOL Peanut is now the size of a juicy bunch of grapes, or a grapefruit…depending on which app you’re reading 🙂

Baby has now formed the air sacs in h/h lungs that will soon be used to breathe!!

With only 16 weeks to go till birth, there are now less weeks till B-Day than there are weeks since I heard the news OMG ❤ ❤ ❤ Truly, if I say I am excited…..that would be the understatement of 2018!!!!

As mentioned in one of my previous blogs, once I returned to earth off cloud 9, I downloaded the Ovia app (a pregnancy app) and started monitoring baby’s progress.

It’s been absolutely amazing to watch how many changes there are each week; body, feet and hands. I’ve read how baby has developed during each & every stage in the last 18 weeks, its truly a miracle of life. Baby didn’t have legs and feet or arms and hands till 8 weeks, but since then they’ve gone from the tiniest little hands and feet you could imagine to now – almost full size……

I wish they would share the type of information that I’ve read on the various pregnancy app in schools alongside of the basic bland practical biological information. Each week has revealed a new level of amazing information.

I remember my Mother always used to say that loved her daughters dearly, and yet the love she felt for her grandchildren was on a different level altogether….I now understand what she meant

I love my Granny – and Granny loves you little Peanut. Can’t wait to meet you ❤

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A little heartbeat

Posted in family and relationships, gratitude, It's my life, me and Peanut, tagged blogging, family, first baby, first grandchild, granny in waiting, knitting for babies, listening to babys heartbeat, ovia app, relationships, second trimester, ultrasound on July 9, 2018| 1 Comment »

What a joyous occasion. Today my daughter and son-in-law surprised me with a visit for an ultrasound of baby Peanut and as a treat the nurse let us listen to baby’s heartbeat. oh my gosh, I can tell you the tears flowed…..all 3 of us were sobbing.

Ultrasound ❤

Listening to the heartbeat of a baby from the womb is a miraculous experience.

It was awesome seeing baby’s little body appearing on the screen, just the size of either a lemon or a beet apparently, or perhaps a delicious custard pastry, if you prefer LOL according to the Ovia pregnancy app.

first baby, second trimester, ultrasound, listening to babys heartbeat, granny in waiting, first grandchild, ovia app

so a choice between a lemon, a custard pastry and a beet….hmmmm, which do we prefer 🙂

first baby, second trimester, ultrasound, listening to babys heartbeat, granny in waiting, first grandchild, ovia app, pregnancy app

14 weeks and the size of a lemon…how extraordinary. Just 14 weeks ago baby was the size of a seed

a delicious custard pastry 2018.07.09

My daughter suggested the pregnancy apps which you can download (for free) and they are absolutely phenomenal. They contain so much information in small bite size (no pun intended) articles, from the size of the baby, to the Mother’s body changes, advice on nutrition and all the changes that are happening to the baby. I’ve loved reading up on baby’s progress. They even show you how big (or incredibly tiny) baby’s hands and feet are each week.

just look at that tiny little hand….

at this stage baby’s feet are ever so tiny

I’ve found it so fascinating reading up on all the changes and progress of the pregnancy and the images on some of the apps of what the baby looks like at each stage are just incredible.

So we’re at 14 weeks now and incredibly it’s already 10 weeks since I first learned that after a very long wait, I am to be a Granny 🙂 Bring it on!!! I can’t wait. Of course besides reading the apps, and now the sheer joy of having listened to baby’s heartbeat and seeing that tiny little body on the screen, we’ve been shopping like nobody’s business (keeping the economy afloat)

and of course I have been knitting like mad.

my daughter loves rainbows, so one of the first items I knitted was of course a rainbow

I love knitting bootees

This is such an exciting and amazing and awesome time. We are all so over the moon and holding our breaths …….keep this baby safe. We can hardly wait to meet this little baby. Peanut is on the way and I’m going to be a Granny 🙂

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About Peanut

Posted in family and relationships, gratitude, It's my life, me and Peanut, tagged babies, my daughter is pregnant, my first grandchild, nature, pregnancy, The miracle of life on June 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Our little Peanut nearly has the muscle control to make a fist by now, but look how tiny the hands are!!!! 👶🏻❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️ It’s simply breathtaking to realise that a human being can be so incredibly tiny. Oh my gosh. It’s extraordinary, the miracle of nature

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Camino connections

Posted in Camino 2017, gratitude, memories of days gone by, tagged blogging about my life, blogging about my travels, Camino 2017, camino connections, Camino de Santiago, Camino de Santiago Porto to Santiago, camino portuguese coastal route, following the way of st james, walking the camino on June 12, 2018| Leave a Comment »

I had such a wonderful afternoon. Met up with a young woman who I connected with on instagram via her Camino posts and mine, about 2 years ago.

Since then we’ve enjoyed each others posts, both Camino and other life stories. She’s been to Broadstairs a few times but I’m usually away so we never managed to meet up. But finally, my dates at home were conducive for her to visit the area and so we planned to meet today.

It was so gratifying to be able to talk to someone who has also walked the Camino, someone who understands the impact it has on your life, and ‘gets’ more than just the basics.

Although her journey was 6 weeks and mine only 11 days, we found so much in common with our experiences; mentally, emotionally and physical. We spoke solidly for over 3 hours.

We agreed that on the whole, unless you’re sharing Camino experiences with someone who has actually walked a Camino, most people’s eyes glaze over after 10 minutes or so. Which is not a criticism, but rather an acknowledgement that they don’t ‘get’ what you’re talking about.

Her experience of the Camino was vastly different to mine; she was 21 when she walked 6 years ago, and I was 62 when I walked last year. Her distance was 790 kms whereas mine was 240kms. Yet, despite the differences there was so much we could share about packing, what we actually needed by way of clothes vs what we thought we’d need, about injury and how we dealt with them, and how we related to other walkers.

After listening to her experiences it confirmed for me what I suspected….the French route is completely different to the Portuguese route. Not just in geography, but in the set up and the way in which pilgrims connect. There seems to be more opportunity to form deeper relationships.

It was a relief to be able to talk to someone who understood what I meant by the ‘essence’ of the Camino.

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Sunshine season

Posted in around the UK, gratitude, photography, Travel, tagged daffodils, nature, rapeseed fields, spring flowers, Travel, tulips on May 5, 2018| Leave a Comment »

The 2 seasons I love the most are spring and autumn. The vibrant colours at each end of the spectrum vibrate with their own special energy.

The colour of Spring is yellow;

Fabulous daffodils

Daffodils in Limpsfield

Gorgeous tulips

Tulips at Titsey Place

And beautiful rapeseed fields

Yellow rapeseed fields in Surrey

What a joy it is to see this fabulous sunshiney colour spread far and wide in wild abandon.

How can you not feel happy when you see these glorious flowers.

Hello spring

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A flight in a Spitfire

Posted in around the UK, Fun Stuff, gratitude, It's my life, Travel, tagged biggin hill heritage hangar, flight in a spitfire, flying in a spitfire, travel bloggers, travel writing, wordpress, ww2 spitfire on May 2, 2018| 2 Comments »

After a few months of excitement and anticipation, on the 26th April, just a few days after my birthday, I finally experienced a flight in a Spitfire.

flight in a spitfire, biggin hill heritage hangar, ww2 spitfire, flying in a spitfire

just before the victory roll, which was absolutely amazing

My wonderful daughter had booked me on a full-on Spitfire flight for my birthday. What an extraordinary experience.

coming back down to earth…my wonderful daughter

From the time we arrived till we left a few hours later, the on-site staff were welcoming, cheerful, helpful and informative…clearly love what they do.

Don, the pilot, was absolutely terrific and made my flight so special; from the time I climbed on board till I disembarked, totally exhilarated, he ensured that my flight was interesting and informed – talking me through the take off process, pointing out landmarks and executing that ‘freaking amazing’ Victory Roll. We saw so many amazing sights from the air; flying from Biggin Hill across Kent to Folkestone, then along the coast past Dover – a fantastic view of Dover Castle, Deal – another castle, Sandwich, Ramsgate, Broadstairs (I could see our house from the air 🙂 ), Margate and finally Whitstable, where we turned back inland.

The coastline is stunningly beautiful and I thrilled at the views. I could even see Calais in the distance!!!

We flew over Leeds Castle which looks as amazing from the air as on the ground, past Canterbury; the cathedral standing out like a beacon, and as we approached the Medway I could see Rochester Cathedral and Castle in the distance. One thing that did surprise me was how close the River Thames is to the River Medway!!! In the far distance I could distinctly see Canary Wharf and the City of London! amazing.

Don the pilot and me

The whole flight was absolutely thrilling and if there were a 100 star rating, I would give it 100 stars. Don, the pilot, made the flight so special by pointing out landmarks….I felt safe and comfortable throughout the whole flight. I loved the victory roll and wish I had asked if we could do it again!!! LOL I was so trepidatious beforehand but oh my word….it was so much fun.

safe landing

After I reluctantly landed, and came back down to earth again, we were treated to a tour of the hangars – it was absolutely thrilling to see so many of these beautiful craft at close quarters, as well as many others.

hello! we’ve landed

victory!!!!

having fun

signing my certificate

Me, Simon and Cémanthe on a tour of the hangars

This truly was a unique experience, something I will never forget. The in-flight videos that were provided as part of the package were a fantastic bonus and so far we’ve watched them a number of times LOL It certainly brought back all the thrill of the flight for me. I’ve made a short compilation of photos and videos. Needless to say…I did cry LOL… it was either that or scream from sheer exhilaration.