Happy thoughts...things that make me feel at home

 

I started this post months and months ago...when we were still in the early days and seeking comfort in familiar objects around us.

These items, amongst so many, in our China home helped me feel connected with home and gave me a safety line during my Shanglows:

My Minety Pre-school mug...(complete, obviously, with a good strong brew of Yorkshire Tea!)

 

Random I know, but this always reminds me of a particular pupil at Minety School. It is the brand of the mixer tap in our kitchen and every time I use it I think of him and remember him holding a group of pupils in his thrall and singing 'I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier', 'We will rock you' and 'We built this city' in the outdoor classroom one summer a couple of years ago

 



 

Comfort in the familiar...this has hung in every kitchen I have cooked in since I 'acquired' it in the late 90's

 

All our 'bon voyage'/'good luck' cards on the mantelpiece

An album of photos given to us by a close friend that we regularly leaf through and smile/get watery-eyed at!

Another gift from a friend (a coaster) that is by my bed on the bedside table, as it was in the UK

 

A gorgeous piece of jewellery from my bestie incorporating some Clogau Welsh gold to ensure I don't forget her (as if!)

 

Another favourite piece of jewellery, a leaving gift from a Minety bestie

 

 

Another leaving gift, a lovely charm, a character meaning 'friend' or 'friendship'.

 

Another favourite item shipped from my Minety kitchen. A birthday gift a few years back from a friend who has also since left Minety. This worktop protector travelled several thousand miles to help me feel at home

 

 

There are many, many more items such as my 'Whatever...I'm late anyways' clock which was another leaving gift from my Minety friends, but I could have taken endless pictures!

 

I am so very grateful for these seemingly trivial items that kept me grounded in the early days...

 

Thank you so much to all our wonderful friends!

Back in the UK

Hmm, well it's only been about 4 months since the last post.
I apologise for that, it is down to a number of reasons; one is that it is quite a faff dealing with blogging via VPN with a horribly slow internet connection and partly because we were just so busy!

Anyway, the long awaited day finally dawned, the big trip back to the UK...

 

We had a great journey back although Adrian was the only one to sleep; James, Laura and  chose to OD on films!

 

We stayed the first night at a Swindon hotel and Adrian collected our 'wheels' for the month.

 



The following morning (thanks jetlag, everyone awake at 4am!), we dropped Adrian off at work and James, Laura and I went to pick up some food and other essentials. We started in Aldi of course, then Asda. Having picked up all the critical items; wine, Yorkshire tea, milk, Tunnocks caramel wafers, Heinz tomato soup, hummus, sliced cold meats and cheese and English bread amongst others, we went to the holiday cottage in Hook, just by Lydiard Park. It is just what we need for the next four weeks.

As luck would have it, that Friday was an Inset Day so we were able to get straight over to Upper Minety and visit Laura's best friend Lola at another friend's house and start dishing out the many gifts we carried back.
On the way back to Hook we drove past our house...

We reinstated Friday Pizza Night and managed to get James and Laura to eat some before they fell asleep in it. They were in bed by 8pm and we made it to 10pm, just!

The next day was the first day of the Cotswold Show so we spent nearly the whole day there having a lot of fun and bumping into many friends. We then popped into another friend's house before coming home and again just about managed to feed the children before they fell asleep!

Interesting product...

 

On Sunday we had another shopping day, mostly for Adrian. He picked up a bike so he can cycle to work to allow us to have the car as much as possible and then when I could feel the children and I were flagging and just wanted to go to bed, we went bowling to try to keep us awake. It worked well and we managed to last the afternoon. A quick bowl of soup for James and Laura and then I went to fetch kebabs for Adrian and I from our old takeaway. Imagine my delight when the Turkish owner greeted me joyfully and almost got our (slightly unusual) order right after a year of not seeing us. She was so delighted I had travelled past another takeaway to hers that she insisted on making a gift of our order and refused any payment. Slightly embarrassing, but such a lovely gesture. (Sammy's Cricklade for local readers...highly recommended and totally deserving of some free advertising!!)

 

On Monday James and Laura went into school to reconnect with their friends. They asked to bring their BISS uniform to wear and had a great day handing out keepsakes and being the centre of attention!

James, Laura, Lola and Isaac at the Minety school gate.

It is strange to be back. Initially I felt like we didn't belong here and it was odd that every sign around us was in English and I had no trouble communicating. Now it is strange because it very quickly feels like we never went away and I have dreamt the past year in China and everything that has happened was just a figment of my imagination...it is like we live in parallel worlds which, I suppose to some extent, we do...

 

I hope, while we are here, to finish off the many drafted posts I had started but not finished. I am going to investigate blog providers that will be more easily accessible from China and may move the blog in due course.