Where have I been?

Well, I guess things kind of got on top of me starting a new job, moving back in to our house, having a 20 foot container full of boxes turn up and having to get out for some golf, it's all a lot to deal with!

I am currently sitting in a lounge at Paddington Station in London waiting for a train to Swansea to go and join my girls for the weekend. It has been nearly 2 weeks since I have seen them and I cannot wait until I do.

Things are chugging along nicely at the moment, work going well with lots of productive stuff to be getting on with, just about too much at times and none of it made up to look busy, I think! I have been issued with a 12 handicap at the golf club which will probably mean I win nothing for about a year the way I am hitting balls at the moment. But it is about being out there, having fun and meeting people so what can I say.

We have hit the start of the birthday season in our family as well, part of the reason I love the end of the year so much, so many parties to shell out for...!

Looking forward to a result for the All Blacks tomorrow, surely we are good enough to take Aussie down, they have nothing and we have our Diamond back! Fingers crossed and it would rub salt in the wound if England won the Cricket as well so for once, I will cheer for England, but only once! Hurah!

One Life, Live It

Today I picked up my new station car, I could not resist the temptation and got a 1996 Land Rover Discovery. Exactly the same colour as the one we had previously only this time I went for the Diesel and not the V8. 

I have bought this as a bit of an ongoing project. It runs perfectly well as it is but I will be looking to set it up to be out green laning on the weekends which the girls are looking forward to doing again. From the chat I had with our friends form the club they have been all over the UK on all kinds of holidays seeing parts of the UK very few people get to.

A Busy Week

Last week was busy but some good results came out of it. I all but have work secured (just have contracts to sign yet), the garden is coming along, the BBQ is in the garden, the girls have a school and I should be picking up my station car today after sorting it last week. 

I'll write more on this soon but wanted to post a quick update...

Life in the Garden

We got back to a very overgrown and tired looking garden but there was definite signs of life there. After clearing an awful lot of thistles and a few still to go it is already looking a bit fresher and we found some pretty clear signs of life. The Kiwifruit vine that we planted about a year before we left for Hong Kong has kept growing well and we actually have the first signs of it bearing fruit, this is actually very exciting...(sad but true)

I also notice a nest in our Honeysuckle that is growing on the Trellis. I expected that this was an old nest but several times I saw an adult bird fly to the fence with worms in it's mouth and then on to climb into the honey suckle. I lifted the girls up on my shoulders and they both said that they could see small birds in the nest. I got one of our patio chairs and stood on it to get a view. There were indeed some birds in there. This caused a lot of excitement amongst our younger family members.

Back from Wales

The video below was taken from inside the house at 4:30am this morning. Why am I up? Who knows..but I could not get back to sleep so decided to go mad.

We got back from Wales on Wednesday. We had planned around me coming back first and Catherine and the girls following but Catherine managed to chase up a few schools and it all made sense for us to come back together. I was happy with that as it meant I did not have to fight my way home on public transport from dropping off the rental car.

I played a round of golf on Wednesday at Machynys which ended up being a much to real UK Links golf experience. The forecast had been bad and getting to the club there was a definite darkening cloud cover but no rain. 

It started on the first tee, a few drops but it was not going to stop us. I had my waterproofs out after they had enjoyed a much earned rest over the last 2 years so a bit of rain was not going to bother me. It got worse and worse and never really go any better. I was reminded how cold it can be in the summer when it rains here. 

The golf was really enjoyable though and although we came off after 15 holes when the wind and rain all just got a bit much I had my 30 points in the bag and had just missed 2 birdie opportunities, one of which include 2 unbelievably fantastic shots playing across and into the gale. I manage to reach the green side bunker in 2 and the shot out of the bunker was just about perfect. Unfortunately the 4 foot putt for Birdie proved a little too much!

I am out on the course again today at my old club playing in the guest day. If I can play anywhere near as well as I have the last few rounds I should be able to put together a decent score but this is golf and we will have to wait and see.

Next week the holiday is over and the Job Search starts in earnest. I have a couple of appointments set up in London and will be trawling the net for anything that looks suitable. I am still confident I will find something even in the short term and that things will just work out. They always have for the last 15 years so why should it change now.