and in general.....

well, first of all apologies to anyone that I've not been in touch with properly........ we have really had a very hectic time since we arrived and our main priority has obviously been to spend as much time as possible with our precious babies as they 'do their time' until we can all be together as a family again.......... at least we can report that they are all doing really well and we have wonderful visits with them which totally lift our spirits right up there! every time!
then there's been the whole 'organising our new home' issue which is hopefully nearing completion now....... we're on the last bits and pieces of it all now so hope that soon we'll have the keys to our new home!
so time has been in short supply often and interspersed with massive 'worry moments' and 'panic attacks', etc... but obviously we've had some good, relaxing bits here and there too!!! which have helped us get through what is definitely one of the hardest things to do in life.... a complete and utter new start in every way..........
so each step we take draws us a little closer and we feel a little better and bit more relaxed!!!
time now for a glass of wine..... where would one be without that I wonder...............?
xxx 

a pot of tea for two at minnis bay!

yet again my lovely best friend jules came down for a visit and this time we 'went for tea at the minnis'........ about three hours later we finally pitched back at the dog and duck with justin's beers.........!! it was lovely to spend some precious time just yacking with jules about anything and everything over tea, more tea and even more tea as the sun lowered in the sky over the sea.......

cheers!

time is rushing by.......!

oh, oh, oh..... so much time has gone by and I haven't been posting pics, etc on the blog....... so.... where were we........................?
a few weeks ago we shot off camping to a site in Bodiam right near Bodiam castle. kirst, nick and the kids went first and we joined them as did gaz, kathryn and charlie. such a cool campsite with fire pits........ had lovely weather, enjoyed being able to test out our new tent replete with the 'linzi loo' in it's own compartment!!!

we enjoyed braais, beers, brimming glasses of wine, bodiam castle and barrles of laughs! what more can i say?!!
a nice reprieve from the worries and angst of putting together our whole new life here!

latest happenings

we had a great afternoon last sunday, with my cousin kirsty, her hubby nick and their kids solly and tals (solomon and taliyah). they were staying at a lovely park round the corner from us in the next village so we went round and had a good chat and a laugh for a few hours! it was great to catch up after so long...

linz, tals, kirst

nick, solly, justin

we also took kirst and the kids through to see our 'kids' on monday for a short visit and our kids behaved very well! ziggy was very good about being swooped up by tals and let her hold him but the look on his face said 'why, oh why do i have to suffer this indignity......' overall it was a good visit and did our babies good to spend time with some 'little people'! afer that we went into deal and had a wander along the beach for a while, all very pleasant!
below are a few pics of our last visit to the babies on friday, just for up to date pics!

i think plenty of you will notice a new 'slimline satchel' bless..........
anyway, another trilly round deal followed that visit and as we were feeling thirsty we decided to have a drink at the king's head circa 1764 i believe...... and so pretty.......................

so there we go, not much else to update for now, came through to mum & dad's last night and stayed over, had a delicious pizza delivered for dinner, very naughty.........
went to lakeside the other day to research beds! it will be the very first priority item needed when the house goes through...... but how to choose amid so much choice and so many offers, etc......
we might go through to bluewater park this morning and have a look in john lewis......................
anyway, time to go for now!

long overdue update!

It's been ages since I posted an update on the blog as we're either rushing around or have no signal!
So, since getting back to Kent we spent lots of time visiting the Kent coastal towns and found that there were many areas which we would be happy to live in.
Our main concern has always been our 'babies' so a quiet road and a garden have been the most important things............................. then a view would be lovely.................
Anyway, as things stand we have found a lovely little cottage about three or four minutes drive inland from Deal, a lovely 'old-fashioned' coastal town........ it's on a tiny quiet and narrow lane, has front and back gardens and looks straight over wheat fields............... with distant sea views............... so we are in the process of going through the legalities currently and will see what transpires! The babies would love it and so would we!
We've been on the road a lot lately due to all the research we've been doing but have still been enjoying ourselves, having the odd meal out, etc.
Things we've enjoyed particularly about the UK so far: (in no particular order)
self-service checkouts at supermarkets (even if we do get it all wrong!!!)
'pay at pump' option at fuel stations - fill it up yourself and stick your card in and take your receipt! sooo clever!
sunday morning boot fairs! we came away with some dvds, a cd, a book and a punnet of resh strawbs - all for under a tenner! not bad!
Loving the hot weather, it's perfect for smoked salmon salads with french bread.........
Anyway, onto other things, we saw our kids yesterday and all is well with them so they continue on their countdown as they've passed their halfway mark now!
We've been doing lots of gardening at the van, Justin's an expert grass cutter and strimmer now!! I've been doing all the cutting back! We've been weeding, trimming, cleaning fences, you name it! Think I forgot what hard work it all was!!!
Anyway, all very satisfying and good practice for when we move into our own home.........
I had to do some ironing the other day..... SHOCK HORROR!!! Now that's hard work!!!!! I've been able to get away with most of it due to the highly efficient tumble dryers at the dog and duck's launderette!!!
Anyway, not a big deal in the scheme of things!
That's all for now, will try to do another update soon!

camping in cornwall........ not quite glamping!

We went we saw but we didn’t conquer! We spent a week in Cornwall and it started out fine although the nights were cold in the tent!!

Drove past Stonehenge on the way down and snapped a quick pic out of the car window!

beautiful stonehenge

 We spent the time visiting all different parts of Cornwall from St Just to Penzance, St Ives to Liskeard, Padstowe to Bude……… you get the general idea…. Lots of pretty villages both by the sea and inland slightly but yes, pricey to say the least….. plus as the weather got worse………… and worse………….. and, yes, even worse……………….. it dawned on us that we were spending more time coping with camping in the cold wind and rain that we were with househunting!! Nonetheless, we were happy enough with our research on the West Country and did view some fantastic cottages……….. one even had it’s own bridge over the stream further down the garden…. We were sorely tempted as you can guess………………. So we’ll see what transpires as all options are open……………..

We visited Mevagissey on our journey into Cornwall and had our first Cornish pasty!!!! Such a pretty place again…………….

post pasty linzi!

pastied out justin!

at higher chellew

We loved our campsite at Higher Chellew nr Penzance, quiet and rural and had some delicious bacon and egg brekkies, yum!

Padstow (where we also camped for a few nights) is really lovely and, of course, famous for Rick Stein’s chippy! It was so busy that we had our fish’n’chips at another chippy down by the harbour and they were good enough for us!!

walking back to camp in padstow

So, anyway…………. When the weather did it’s worst we had moved on to Devon,Somerset and Dorset, criss-crossing back and forth over the borders and checked out some areas as we drove….. Nevertheless, we felt that the need arose for a night in a ‘real bed’ in a ‘real bedroom’ in a ‘real pub’!!! (she says, gleefully!!!) So we found ourselves booking into Waterloo Cross in Devon, a Marston’s Inn and had a wonderful night there, great food and a lovely room plus great brekkie, we felt fantastic after that!!!

We then decided to take a break and get back to the Dog and Duck, see the babies and spend a few days researching the Kentish Coast so here we are back in ‘the gutter’!!

Saw our beautiful ‘children’ yesterday and they are all fine and spent today visiting possible areas where we could also settle…………………….

testing the tent before going to cornwall!



justin hard at work!



plenty of room!




with mum & dad

We are now in cornwall but before we left we tested our new tent by putting it up at the dog and duck.
It's quite easy so that's a relief as we will be putting it down and setting it up plenty of times over the next few weeks!
Mum & Dad came and visited us before we left as we hadn't really had any time with them since our arrival!We got treated to dinner out at the dog and duck and set off to cornwall the next morning just after 5am.........
so far we've camped for three nights and have one more night left at our current site, then we move on to a new site up near padstow.
We've had lovely weather but it gets really cold at night........ brrrrrr! 
Re. the house hunt..... it's early days and we've registered with lots of agents already plus driven around and checked out areas of various houses and had a peek of the outside of a few but so far nothing suitable for our animals...... we'll keep at it!
must go for now as time is tight..... back soon!