JK Rowling's inspiration

Absolutely loving this adventure...so much to write about. I can so see where JK Rowling got her inspiration for the Harry Potter series. Everywhere you look there is something interesting, quaint, fascinating or just down right strange. Like the phone box behind an ancient hedge tucked under about 20 years of plant growth in Exmoor ... and it still worked! The older, rotund woman shopping in Waitrose in a lovely long summer skirt and white blouse with a very long, nasty looking dread lock hanging below her bottom and a beard to rival my brothers! Or the man who works in our local hardware store. He looks exactly like this guy and it has become my favourite shop to explore.

There is so much to see and do my list of 'must dos' gets longer each day. Did a nice hike along the beach in Branscombe today, Wednesday we plan to walk from Seaton to Beer and stop for a ... well, a beer and then walk back along the SWC Path. The National Trust membership has been amazing and we have used it so much already. Yesterday we managed to take in the Axe Festival in Axminister (home of River Cottage fame). Fantastic booths of traditional and modern crafts, market place items for sale, falconry and dog displays and an amazing food tent highlighting local fare. Tried my first scrumpy (cider). Had a half a pint and after 3 sips J turned to me and said "better get some food... these are STRONG!" Tonight I am watching the Kaiser Chiefs on BBC3 from Glastonbury.... could only get better if I could actually be there.... that will have to be for next year :)

One thing I am having major issues with is the showers in our house.... the main bathroom has the most intense pressure ... like hang onto the shower for dear life as you get blown back pressure. And our ensuite...well, picture this, it's a corner unit, convex shaped, so narrow if you bend down your bum hits the glass door. I turned it on tonight not realising it was angled towards the door. In my panic I slammed the door shut while it was still on. There I was standing outside thinking "Sh%*!! now what do I do?? How am I gonna turn that off without getting soaked?" The only way to turn it off was to open the door and turn it off as fast as possible while being sprayed in the face and the wall and carpet behind me getting soaked (yes, I said carpet... who puts carpet in a bathroom!??). Funny yes, not so much fun sopping up the mess.

Tomorrow the moving truck arrives with our goods from Canada and I am excited to see what I actually packed... seems so long ago I can't really remember. We are about half way through setting up the house and have bought a few pieces of furniture I am really pleased about. This week J concentrates on securing some work and I motivate myself to seriously find some UK clients.

Devon Life

Life has been exciting, busy and really fun :) We have been doing lots of traveling around England in the last month (it has been exactly a month since we left Canada...we have done so much since then it feels like ages ago). See our Flickr site for lots of photos!

We looked around the north of Devon at first and it is really beautiful. Gorgeous beaches and cute villages but zero rental properties (of anything good and on the coast) and lack of work opportunities. So we decided it made more sense to head south and see what was on offer there and I am really glad we did!

We secured a rental property on the south coast of Devon in a beautiful seaside town called Seaton. It is about an half hr drive from the city of Exeter which is a really vibrant university city. Beautiful Cathedral, unbelievable shopping, quaint quay area with cobbled roads and fantastic restaurants. Just an all around cool place. We are not too far away from Dartmoor National park which is full of cross country mtn biking and hiking and the South West Coast Path runs along the cliffs of our town. It is a 630 mile coastal path which runs from Minehead, Somerset to Poole Harbour Dorset. There is also an airport on the outskirts of Exeter so easy access to those Europe trips we want to take!

The house is about 3 blocks from the seafront and 2 blocks from the centre of town on a quiet lane. It is a detached home with fenced garden which we feel really lucky to have gotten. Email me for contact details...we move in on June 15th.

We have arrived in North Devon!!! We are staying at a friend of a friends place for a couple weeks while they are visiting Canada. It is in a small village about 7 minutes drive from Barnstaple. The Tarka path goes right down the back of the lane and we can walk all the way to Barnstaple on it (it would take about 45 minutes). En route apparently is a great park called Rock park which we will check out in the next few days. The house is an end of terrace, 3 level, 3 bed with loft, 2 bathroom home, and the kids are very happy with all the toys that are here. Tyko has his own 'fort' upstairs that he has claimed as his room. I thought he would want to sleep in with us as the 3rd bedroom has a crib in it but he wants to sleep in the loft in the double bed. He said he loved having his own room.... I think Lucie's snoring was getting to him ;) There are also guinea pigs, chickens (penned), tadpoles and fish in the back garden which they love feeding and playing with. There is a playing field and park with a zip line RIGHT next to the house, I can see it from the kitchen and dining room.

Before arriving here we were up in Lincolnshire visiting family. We went to a birds of prey conservation centre and watched some amazing displays on falconry. The peregrine falcon was ridiculous! She flew so fast around us in a field while the handler described how she hunts. There was also a vulture there that flies up to 37,000 feet!!!! Amazing. We also did a little bit of pig racing while there..... while in Rome... Tyko's pig came first and he spent his winnings on an ice cream. You gotta get your priorities right!

There was also a butterfly area where you could learn about the life cycle as well as walk through their habitat. They land right on you! Can you imagine my Mom going in there??? Nope, she wouldn't go near it.

Taking advantage of our National Trust membership we toured Tattershall castle (rebuilt in the mid 1400s) in Tattershall, Lincs. The kids had their own kids version of the audio tour and learned a lot about this place. There were members of staff dressed up in period style costumes showing/teaching the kids how to do traditional crafts and skills. The woman who showed Tyko & Miss Lu the carding and wool spinning said children as young as 3 would have done this! Tyko was not too impressed with the thought of that! She also taught us all the difference between the Union Flag and the Union Jack. A good history lesson for all.

Tyko went in a soccer camp on Tues while in Lincolnshire with some of the local boys (the kids are on half term break this week) and thoroughly enjoyed it. Made some new friends and learned some new moves. Pete G. we need to email you about it... you would have loved the skill building... it was very good.

We drove down to Devon on Wed (took about 6 hrs including stops). Yesterday we spent a couple hours in Braunton and the afternoon at Croyde. We registered with all the estate agents in town and will be going to Barnstaple tomorrow to register with 2 others we were recommended to. We all really liked the village of Braunton and several of the surrounding smaller villages. It has everything we need and a really nice feel to it. Cool little restaurants, community centre, library, pool, lots of surfing and outdoor shops and very nice people on first impressions. The church had a sign in the front saying it has been doing services there since 550AD! The whole area is connected by footpaths and the Tarka trail.

Recycling and conserving energy is huge here. We have seen lots of signs of alternative energy sources ie. wind and solar. In the next couple weeks we will be checking out the Eden project in Cornwall...have a look online, it looks fascinating!

Weather is gorgeous..... summer seems to have arrived!

The Peak District

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but it has been so much fun exploring this part of the world I have spent very little time blogging (and the not so smart me took on a brochure and annual report during these 2 weeks ;(

My cousin Richard's wedding was a fantastic day. The church in Spondon was beautiful and the vicar a real character. John and one of my cousins and I had a real giggle with flashbacks of the Bishop from Monty Python... he was fantastic! The reception was full of good food, drink and visiting with family we hadn't seen in years. The next day we went to the village were Tina & Richard live. It is called Shardlow and it was so quaint and beautiful. House boats along the canal, 6 pubs(!) and beautiful homes.

We headed over to the Peak District and are here until Friday. The hiking is phenomenal and the scenery is gorgeous. We explored Chatsworth House (fantastic Farm Shop) and rambled through some of the 1000 acre grounds doing our best to avoid sheep poo! They were in the process of restoration and it is so fascinating. We all loved checking out the painstaking process of restoring a house (and all its contents) of this size and age and dressing up in some period costumes.

Yesterday we became members of National Trust. I am so very excited!!! There are so many places to explore not only in the UK but they are affiliated with organizations all over the world. There are also volunteer and support groups which I plan to join once we are settled in Devon where you can work on anything from dry-stone walling to assisting at concerts to fundraising through to specialist work involving skilled crafts.

Our first property we explored was Little Moreton Hall. A 15th century half moated house in Congleton (near Manchester). It was insane! Michelle - you know how you said nothing in your house was level? Check out this place!!!!

Time to go on a hike. It is a misty, rainy day so better get the rain gear out!

We're here!

We are here! The internet connection where we are staying at is only available in the office during their office hours so this is the first chance I've had to upload a post. The flight was ....ok...the only really good thing I can say about flying Airtransat is that is over and we don't have to fly with them again! The kids had a stomach upset the day after we arrived but we all seem to be settling in now and are mostly over the jetlag.

Have had a fantastic last couple days exploring the local area; Farnham and the Farnham castle (some parts are over 900 years old!), Alice Holt Forest, checking out all the products in the grocery store and visiting with my cousin. John is loving the driving and the landscape and buildings are beautiful. We are feeling really good and very happy to be here. So many people have been really nice to us and very chatty and interesting. Asking us our story and us learning theirs.

We have only had one negative person who was really upset that we were moving here. She worked as a cashier in Sainsbury and asked if we were on holiday. I told her we were moving to Devon from Canada and she got all serious and looked me in the eye and said "get back on the plane, LEAVE; this country is terrible, do not let your kids grow up here" It was so sad and disappointing to see someone so against her own country. I can see being frustrated with politics and financial climate but to be so angry at her life was upsetting. She even said "and to top it all off we are so close to Europe!" I guess there is some descent in the ranks about being part of the EC. United we stand, divided we fall came to my mind.

We are going on a family mt bike ride in the Alice Holt Forest on Thursday, Paultons theme park for Tyko's 6th bday on Wed and to Lakeside shopping centre to check the ridiculous hugenousness of it all today.

Friday we leave for Derby....

for more photos of our adventures make sure you check out our Flickr page.

Going Away Party

Going Away Party, a photo by tykolulu on Flickr.

There is a great quote I came across a couple weeks ago and it just summed up perfectly how I feel about the community of friends I have made in the Valley.

Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. ~ Anais Nin

To all of you who came to my going away party last night (and the ones who couldn’t make it but left beautiful words in my memory book) I am so thankful to have the opportunity and honour to have you in my world. Your kind words and actions have made me feel very loved... and what could be better than that?!

Life is a journey and each decision we make will open doors to new experiences. This is a new door for me but the ones that have been opened by you will not close. I believe our paths will cross again and our lives will be richer for it.

Thank you.

The move and on our way!

Kitchen move, a photo by tykolulu on Flickr.

The move is done! It was a crazy week of painting, sorting, packing and moving. Not a positive experience in the last week or even the whole process for us with the realtors. I wonder if it ever is. Respect is a 2 way street and unfortunately the agents on both sides have lived up to their stereotypes.

BUT we are done and happy to be on the move. This week is a decompress, a time to reflect and say farewell to this amazing community of friends, colleagues and landscape. Our ties here are strong with my family still living here and the great people we have made friends with.

We still don't have a home for June yet. Anyone know any places to rent between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe (Braunton being our preference ;)?


Next posting will be once we hit the road!