NOM! and YOM!

Well! Happy Easter blog readers ! We’ve been enjoying a lovely sunny (26 -29 degree) Easter weekend here and are loving it! April/ March seems a lovely time of year here as the weather matches that of a lovely, hot summers day in England.  You know one of those rare days where you get sun burnt in the garden because you can’t quite believe this is happening in the UK? It’s been like that all week and looks to continue to stay that way too So… next time you’re thinking of a visit somewhere at this time of year hop on over on a plane (it would be very easterly of you to do so wearing Easter bunny ears).

Chocolate eggs have been purchased and are currently in the process of being eaten (YOM) but this weekend has almost been more like Christmas than Easter. We’ve been able to to buy so many of the things that we still needed to get as a result of our choice to leave some things in the UK. It’s been ace!  We’ve got a lovely new LCD TV, a NOM NOM (or TOM TOM as most call it) so I dont’ continue to locate the schools i visit through the use of IPhone on knee (not very safe), a petrol lawn mower and a cat….  Yes another cat who, for the moment is being called Wilfred.  We have no idea whether this cat is a he or a she.  It’s hard to tell… I know what to look for but the poor little fur ball is in a bit of a state. He found us last night when we were heading to the beach for a coffee at about 9pm.  He was heading out of the bushes by the creek and started to meow as he walked to towards us. What’s really funny is he is almost exactly the same in colour and markings as Henny. He is bigger though and has a different face structure.  When Matt bent down to stroke him, thinking he was just a friendly neighbourhood cat, he realised just how emaciated he was and gasped.  He literally looks like he hasn’t eaten in months.  He has no meat on his bones at all.  You can see his spine at the back of his neck, put your hands behind his ribs and he has no muscles to feel behind his ears.  You know the spot cat lovers – it’s good for strokes and makes their ears wiggle… Not on Wilf.

Looking for my mum and dad. Have you seen them?

I promptly scuttled off to get some moggy bix and my phone so we could call the RSPCA.  The trouble is he/ she has chosen to arrive along with the Easter Holidays.  The RSPCA advised us to keep him over night if we could and then named a shelter we could take him to in the morning.  So we did that. Well… wme brought him home and he stayed the night with litter tray, food, water and comfy blanky in the utility room.  In the morning we thought we’d better call the shelter to check they were open.  They were but told me that if he was in that state they would probably just put him down.  “Let’s put it this way we have 30 cats coming in today and 2 pens left” I was told.  Right… Not bringing him to you then. Tried the other shelter.  Same thing. *sigh* but this cat needs medical attention and we don’t even know if he has a microchip and an anxious owner.  There’s no way we’re putting him in a car for 30 mins drive so they can put him down.  No way at all. So… he’s still in the laundry room and there are now posters in the local church, chippie, shop and outside the primary school and on the road where we found him.  I’ll take him to the vets myself on Tuesday and getting him checked over.  He’s sleeping at the moment but he’s eating and drinking and he’s safe.  That’s all I can do for him for now but, it seems, it was more than the RSPCA or Animal Welfare League could do for him.  God knows what will happen there!  Hopefully his owners will come forward… If not and he’s healthy enough… maybe there we will be a 3 cat household (gulp) but he’s not being put down just because the pens are full! Oh no!

So Wilfred has remained in the laundry room ( or utility room as I used to call it pre-emigration) whilst we have mowed the lawn with our new mower, prepared dinner, watched and played computer games on our new TV and relaxed.  Hen and Stan know he’s there.  They’ve been sniffing at the doors but they don’t seem stressed out about it at the moment.  lol. Hendrix is currently curled up in a ball on his radiator hammock (there are no radiators of course.. it’s on a camping chair to give the same effect)

Other exciting news has involved the discovery of, and subsequent delivery of, the meat offer at Matt’s work. We now have an entire draw full of pieces of lamb for him to eat.  I guess that’s the advantage or working for a bank that deals majoritively with the Rural Community. There’s a massive hunk if it defrosting now for dinner later.  All for him…  lol.

I also attended the CEGSA AGM this week which was very insightful. Heard a very interesting man speak about the current 7 trends in ICT and education.  That’s not for this blog (I’ll do a teachertech one soon) but it definitely got me all fired up again and interested in what’s out there. I also made a few more contacts – the main purpose of these events being networking – and discovered a .2 English job in a High School I really admire. I’ve handed them my CV and all the paperwork required so hopefully I’ll be doing a regular stint there on a contract to cover someone doing a sabbatical on another project one  day a week.  They only have one IWB at the school though. (ARGHHH!) so I’ll need to sort that out for them   Should be fun though

I seem to be carrying a camera (either posh on or I phone ) everywhere at the mo.  Helps me to write my weekly blog post. So… here are some of this weeks shots

OOh Green! See! ohh and wellies, short shorts, green top, headphones around your neck (?) I KNOW it's not a good look. I KNOW!

Playing WOW on the big screen with Meowral support from Hendrix

The Super TV with DNLA, Flash, Internet connection, HD tuner and super powers...

It had to be done really didn’t it? Bonfire night 2009; possibly the last time I’ll be around ol’ blighty at this time in a while. I had to make sure I celebrated the prevention of a cruel terrorist attack by the Catholics for one last time.

Last time I was in Adelaide I did enquire as to whether there would be a bonfire night celebration on November the 5th. Well, we imported most of our other customs over there (at the expense of the natives) so why not this? I was told that “No” there wouldn’t be any fireworks on November the 5th, they didn’t do that. When I pressed further (perhaps hoping to change his answer) my friend pointed out that November is Spring. Spring is sunny. The ground is dry. Lighting things up and letting the sparks explode over fields of dry grass and trees wouldn’t be the smartest thing we could do… Good point, well made I thought!

So, instead of fireworks on Novemer the 5th 2007 I probably went for a walk along the beach. The flashy buoys out at sea are a poor substitute for this though:

I love standing there, in the cold, with sparklers and happy children all going “OOOOh”; great fun!

There’s only 7 weeks to go until I fly away. Times running very quickly now and it gets harder every time I see a friend who asks “Will I see you again before you go?”. I don’t know… but I hope so….

After leaving the spa we decided we’d drive down to the South West. I didn’t really think that through though did I! Lets drive for an hour north and then for four hours south the next day… MMM.. Ah well! It’s all fun!

We Stayed at the Kitley House Hotel which I am sure is a beautiful location for weddings. In fact there was going to be a wedding there the day with left – with a dove release. I think the guy behind reception was relieved when I responded to this info byte with a look of digust and an “Oh god really?” He cheerfully replied by pointing out that there were sparrow hawk es near by. Poor doves! Anyway… i digress.

Kitley House Hotel is a beautiful old Manor house which was built by the Bastards. No, I’m not swearing or being mean, that really was their family name. Believe me LOF found this hilarious and took every opportunity to discuss what the Bastards had done or had been doing. Those Bastards did that!” etc… The Bastards built the house and then it has been passed down through many families (including a relation to the woman who wrote “Old Mother Hubbard” which was apparently based on the basement dwelling housekeeper at this very house) and eventually turned into a wedding money making machine.

Downstairs is lovely with large ballroom style lounges and restaurant areas. The bedrooms though have seen better days. Grafton did the whole antique furniture and gaudy bathrooms and it amused me but it did, kind of, work. At least they didn’t leave you with a room with a broken towel rail and dusty radiators. (Lof took pictures of these… I have no idea why!) It was comfortable but the rooms did not match the loveliness of downstairs. It was a beautiful house though with lovely grounds and I enjoyed the fact that it was dog friendly so there were often little hounds about to coo over.

We didn’t spend all that much time at the hotel anyway. We had far too much to see. The first place we went to was the Eden Project which I have decided is actually the Moch project! It was so exciting to see how a bunch of lovely people had taken an area of land that we had ruined with digging and mining and turned it into some thing so beautiful. Those people deserve a lot of praise and if you haven’t been then I really thin you ought to!

I loved the symbolism of the whole place. It’s like a beacon for the rest of us to work towards. I have also decided that we need a giant, symbolic seed at the entrance to the new academy. (no rude jokes please). lol

Ater we’d eaten local produce, watched a beer making demo, sampled some pasties, wandered around the bio mes and watched kids (and their very competitive Dads) make Dens in the Summer Survival section of the quarry we drove off to Torquay.

Newquay seems to be like a mini broad street with a beach behind it! Definitely schoolies heaven! It rained the whole time we were there but i did insist on sticking my toes in the sand!(The last sand I stepped on was in Adelaide!). A nice beach there with plenty of crazy people actually in the sea!!!

The next day we set of for Tintagel Castle. When we got there it was so windy they’d closed it and you couldn’t go up. You could however walk on the hills on the right hand side of it. English Heritage are apparently more cautious about health and safety than the National Trust (who owned the bit on the right) we had a wander around Barras Nose and took loads of beautiful pictures of the waves crashing on the rocks.

We decided that a spa was in order and after much deliberation chose Modershall Oaks Spa in Stone (Nr. Stoke on Trent). We’d been to Whitlebury Hall a couple of times and although it is beautiful we decided we’d go for a smaller place; Whitlebury can be a bit busy at times.

We weren’t disappointed by Modershall at all. It’s gorgeous. The bedrooms are a million times nicer than those at Whitlebury. Full of luscious fabrics and eastern style lamps, we stayed in a ‘ tent room’ No. It isn’t a tent outside with no bed but a room styled like something from Laurence of Arabia – only much more stylishly done! Each of the rooms have their own covered decking area and access to an outdoor hot tub. The view was of a field with horses in. Lovely.

When we arrived we had a cup of very well made coffee in the bar as well as a lovely lunch and then went to explore the grounds a little. We meandered through the woodland walk (which is just over a mile). That was lovely and we really were the only ones in that wood. It was peaceful and quiet and beautiful. The walk leads you back , in a circle, towards the hotel and it’s tennis courts. and there’s another, shorter walk, which leads you to the other side of the large fish pond and lawns at the back of the bar. Lovely.

The spa itself was small but so quiet that it felt very relaxing. The hydrotherapy pool was lovely and relaxation was very easy to achieve! Dinner that evening was served in an intimate surrounding and was delicious! I ate vegetable Jenga – which made me laugh but was yummy!

The staff at the place make it very special as they are all very friendly and accommodating. More importantly they can all make a kick ass cup of coffee!

Everything about this place is lovely! I would heartily recommend it to anyone. It’s different to Modershall because it’s smaller but that just meant it was even more luxurious and relaxing!

PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Studley residents already look confused when we open the door and look scarier than their dressed up children!! (MOAH HA HA!) Party here we go!!!

The stop over was an excellent idea. It always makes the enormous flight from one hemisphere to another go so much smoother if you get the opportunity to stop and rest along the way. Obviously you also get the opportunity to explore somewhere interesting and for me this was my introduction to Asia.

Bangkok is a very busy, husseling, busseling city with a huge population who live in what seems to be relative poverty. It felt very strange to go on the river barge cruise to see where the locals of the city lived to be told that the metal shaks on the water were owned by the educated middle classes.

Shopping is obviously one of the things that Bangkok is most famous for and the boys made for the tailors straight away. We all ended up having something made and it was good fun to choose the fabrics and be measured for suits, tuxes, dresses and shirts.
LOF walked away with 2 suits and four shirts, LOM with a suit, a tux and 4 shirts, Span a beautiful dress and a lovely Cashmere coat and I came away a pretty blouse Conscious of the price of an impending wedding dress I tried to keep my share of the cost down. Having said that I have been assured that the £2000 dress that I really like (I haven’t tried it on yet – it’s too expensive!!) can be made for £200 by Harry and the gang at Thai Square so that’s exciting and will lead to a very interesting trip to a bridal shop

The hotel we stayed in was absolutely stunning. It was a resort and spa and of course we had to have a Thai massage. When you realise that the woman is holding you feet up in the air and then you feel pressure from 2 more limbs it is amusing to discover that you are in fact being walked upon. A Thai massage HURTS but it’s all worth it. I know that LOM may feel differently having walked away with some rather large red marks on his back and having experience more pain than one man can muster. Both Span and I enjoyed our Thai experience very much and were amused at LOF who took the easy option of a Swedish massage.

We also enjoyed a tour around the Grand Palace and Temple (where the Jade Buddha lives. He’s tiny (30cm!))Everything really is paved with gold! Amazing. There were also some brilliant tapestry style paintings. A story in art of a giant monkey who helps battle the underground demons to rescue the first king’s queen. Anyone in the painting who is wearing gold armour is actually painted in 18 carat gold!! Opulence at it’s best – whilst the locals live in shacks along the river. :S

Needless to say that Bangkok was a lovely stop over and although it’s a little smoggy and very humid it was a valuable experience that was well worth adding to the list of things LOF and I have discovered on our year long adventure.

Unless you’re in Australia where it’s just another day Can’t even buy fireworks!! Too dangerous what with bushfires and all… Can you call make my name with a sparkler on my behalf please??