Things have been busy and I have missed a few days. I finally got my British passport back from the Home Office today. It has been 13 weeks, unbelievable!
My wife and children are still to get theirs back and they have been told to call in 4 weeks for an update, this place is crazy. Even in a communist state, how can processing a residency application take so long?
My theory is that the average applicant will give up in disgust and go home.
The house and garden renovation continues unabated, the gardens are all being weeded today and we installed a new side gate that attaches to our 2 larger gates for vehicular access. We are quite proud of our gate invention, originally we intended to extend or replace the 2 swinging gates to accommodate the larger opening but instead, we hinged the 2 large gates together and supported them with a gate wheel on one end. They now fold over each other and open and close effortlessly. We then added a pedestrian gate to close off the opening. All in all a good result.
I think I mentioned that we sell eggs on the side of the road. In another commonplace British occurrence, the Royal Mail has gone on strike so the egg cartons we ordered 2 weeks ago for next day delivery have yet to arrive. We are now completely out of cartons so egg sales will now have to pause until the unions wake up to themselves or the Government gives in.
On the up side, the weather is awesome, every day this week has been bright blue skys and early 20's temperatures, some of the best weather all year. In a few weeks, the first breaths of winter will be upon us and by December/January snow I expect.
The weather funnily enough is another thing I like about England, we actually have seasons, not just wet and dry. Autumn in this part of the world is spectacular. Having said that, in the dead of winter when it is cold and dark by 4pm, some Queensland sunshine is definitely coveted.
Tomorrow is Friday which means my youngest daughter spends the day with us as she only attends Nursery 4 days. She will be excited as I collected her repaired bike tire today and no doubt she will spend much of tomorrow riding around the garden, she loves it.
Enough for today
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Monday, 21 September 2009
Blog Day 2
We live in a small village on about an acre of land and although there is land, access for the cars is limited by hedges, small gates and out buildings that are too close to the entrance.
We recently purchased a Chrysler Voyager which is huge by English standards and does not fit through the gates so today we decided to cut into the hedge and enlarge the entrance. We also demolished a couple of out buildings to make room for the 2 cars.
Whilst this is good, it also means we lost quite a bit of storage space so the garage is now full to the door.
Another task is to get the whole area sealed and paved in pea shingle. We had a man around today to quote us. He said he would call with the quote rather than let us know on the spot. This is usually code for expensive, we will see.
We have spent the last 10 months dragging the house from the 1920's to the present. When we purchased the house, it had 5 layers of wallpaper on every surface including the ceilings. It was a nightmare to renovate, upon removing the wallpaper on the ceiling upstairs, the whole ceiling collapsed and had to be replaced.
We also replaced the kitchen and 2 bathrooms, added a laundry, rebuilt a boot room and painted the entire exterior of the home. The place is unrecognizable to that which we purchased.
One thing that was fascinating to learn was why the English wallpapered their ceilings, it was to cover up cracks that formed during the anti-aircraft fire during the war. It turns out our village was on a flightpath to Biggin Hill air base, a favorite target of the Luftwaffe so the Anti-Aircraft batteries were located here.
I have become quite chummy with a mid 70's chap up the street and he fascinates me with stories of the battle of Britain and how he used to watch the American bombers leave in the morning and return in the afternoon.
This is one of the things I love about England, the sense of history the place has. There are reminders everywhere of momentous events from the Roman occupation through to present day. Australia just does not have this sense of history.
As a people and to generalize, the British don't travel in the same numbers as Australians and it is a shame because without seeing other parts of the world, they cannot and do not appreciate what they have. It irritates me immensely that the British have a superiority complex when it comes to Europe but few of them have bothered to see Europe for themselves.
My children will be home from school soon, today is Spanish class after school which they love. All 3 of them are learning Spanish and I hope they stick with it, a second language is a great asset .
That's enough for today.
We recently purchased a Chrysler Voyager which is huge by English standards and does not fit through the gates so today we decided to cut into the hedge and enlarge the entrance. We also demolished a couple of out buildings to make room for the 2 cars.
Whilst this is good, it also means we lost quite a bit of storage space so the garage is now full to the door.
Another task is to get the whole area sealed and paved in pea shingle. We had a man around today to quote us. He said he would call with the quote rather than let us know on the spot. This is usually code for expensive, we will see.
We have spent the last 10 months dragging the house from the 1920's to the present. When we purchased the house, it had 5 layers of wallpaper on every surface including the ceilings. It was a nightmare to renovate, upon removing the wallpaper on the ceiling upstairs, the whole ceiling collapsed and had to be replaced.
We also replaced the kitchen and 2 bathrooms, added a laundry, rebuilt a boot room and painted the entire exterior of the home. The place is unrecognizable to that which we purchased.
One thing that was fascinating to learn was why the English wallpapered their ceilings, it was to cover up cracks that formed during the anti-aircraft fire during the war. It turns out our village was on a flightpath to Biggin Hill air base, a favorite target of the Luftwaffe so the Anti-Aircraft batteries were located here.
I have become quite chummy with a mid 70's chap up the street and he fascinates me with stories of the battle of Britain and how he used to watch the American bombers leave in the morning and return in the afternoon.
This is one of the things I love about England, the sense of history the place has. There are reminders everywhere of momentous events from the Roman occupation through to present day. Australia just does not have this sense of history.
As a people and to generalize, the British don't travel in the same numbers as Australians and it is a shame because without seeing other parts of the world, they cannot and do not appreciate what they have. It irritates me immensely that the British have a superiority complex when it comes to Europe but few of them have bothered to see Europe for themselves.
My children will be home from school soon, today is Spanish class after school which they love. All 3 of them are learning Spanish and I hope they stick with it, a second language is a great asset .
That's enough for today.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
An Aussie Living Overseas Blog Day 1
Where to start?
In 2007, We decided to spend 6 months in the UK as a bit of an adventure, that was almost 3 years ago and I thought this blog would be a good way to convey our experiences along the way.
We are not your traditional young Aussies off on our 1st overseas jaunt, both my wife and I have traveled extensively over the years visiting over 60 countries between us.
A bit about us:
Six months flew by and we are still here, not entirely sure when we will return to Australia as our European adventure continues.
Since arriving we have managed to purchase 2 houses, 3 cars and enrolled all of our children in school. Whilst it may appear on the surface that Australia and the UK are very similar, there are huge differences which as you follow this blog you will be alerted to.
My first observation and one that we have to live with every day is that this country is as close to communist as you can get without having a hammer and sickle on the flag. People here are obsessed with welfare and expect the state to support them no matter what. In stark contrast to Australia, there is very little entrepreneurial spirit amongst the everyday people.
It strikes me that the UK Government is swimming against the tide and losing badly. The black economy is rife, everyone wants cash in hand and never pay tax. Without VAT to capture some of that lost income the country would literally sink under a mountain of debt trying to keep the welfare system going.
My opinion is that if the UK is to prosper, they need to learn lots of lessons from the Aussies when it comes to running social services, hospitals, welfare and lean Government. Having said that, Australia can also learn from the UK in many areas.
We are fortunate to live in South East England where the weather is actually OK and this weekend was lovely. 2 of my 3 Children attended birthday parties today, my eldest daughter went to a bowling and disco party and my son went to a farm party which when I collected him looked like a scene from Lord of the Flies. They were all running around with their shirts off shooting bows and arrows whilst a camp fire burned away near a tent.
Needless to say, the children are all exhausted and bed is nigh.
School tomorrow, 6 hours child free for 4 days. My youngest daughter stays home on Fridays where we get to spend some much loved one on one time with her.
That's it for the first post, I am off to have dinner and I hope to keep this up as our adventure continues.
In 2007, We decided to spend 6 months in the UK as a bit of an adventure, that was almost 3 years ago and I thought this blog would be a good way to convey our experiences along the way.
We are not your traditional young Aussies off on our 1st overseas jaunt, both my wife and I have traveled extensively over the years visiting over 60 countries between us.
A bit about us:
- Me - Late 40's in a bit of a mid life crisis
- Wife - Intelligent early 40's and ambitious
- 3 Great kids 4, 6 and 7
Six months flew by and we are still here, not entirely sure when we will return to Australia as our European adventure continues.
Since arriving we have managed to purchase 2 houses, 3 cars and enrolled all of our children in school. Whilst it may appear on the surface that Australia and the UK are very similar, there are huge differences which as you follow this blog you will be alerted to.
My first observation and one that we have to live with every day is that this country is as close to communist as you can get without having a hammer and sickle on the flag. People here are obsessed with welfare and expect the state to support them no matter what. In stark contrast to Australia, there is very little entrepreneurial spirit amongst the everyday people.
It strikes me that the UK Government is swimming against the tide and losing badly. The black economy is rife, everyone wants cash in hand and never pay tax. Without VAT to capture some of that lost income the country would literally sink under a mountain of debt trying to keep the welfare system going.
My opinion is that if the UK is to prosper, they need to learn lots of lessons from the Aussies when it comes to running social services, hospitals, welfare and lean Government. Having said that, Australia can also learn from the UK in many areas.
We are fortunate to live in South East England where the weather is actually OK and this weekend was lovely. 2 of my 3 Children attended birthday parties today, my eldest daughter went to a bowling and disco party and my son went to a farm party which when I collected him looked like a scene from Lord of the Flies. They were all running around with their shirts off shooting bows and arrows whilst a camp fire burned away near a tent.
Needless to say, the children are all exhausted and bed is nigh.
School tomorrow, 6 hours child free for 4 days. My youngest daughter stays home on Fridays where we get to spend some much loved one on one time with her.
That's it for the first post, I am off to have dinner and I hope to keep this up as our adventure continues.
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