Take your pick

I had my new class in to visit for the morning today, a chance for me to meet them before they head off on summer holidays.  Sticking with our kiwi theme, this year the boys are taking a New Zealand bird away on holiday and have to keep a record of what they get up to.  These pictures were all hand drawn by one of the amazing art teachers at UCS, who considering she has never been to New Zealand let alone seen any of these birds herself, the detail is just incredible.

Just Because

Slowly but Surely

I'm half way through my course of ten riding lessons and am gradually making progress.  The riding instructor is very strict and I'd initially had a hard time adapting to her teaching style, although I guess being in education myself has made me more critical.  Anyway I am enjoying it and feel more confident as each week goes by.  Today I rode Kelly, a big sturdy piebald horse, who coped very well despite the intense heat.

Blondie

Saturday night we made a last minute decision to grab tickets to see Blondie at Kenwood House, which is just on the other side of Hampstead Heath from Belsize Park.

Enjoying a picnic in the sun before the concert began.

The band played all the old favourites, including Maria, One Way or Another, Call Me and The Tide is High, before ending with a cover of Michael Jackson's Don't Stop Till You Get Enough, which had everyone up and dancing!

Afterwards it was still light enough to wander back through the Heath, where we were rewarded with the most beautiful view of London by night, below an illuminated full moon.

Friday Night on Primrose Hill

Friday afternoon was too warm for our usual staff drinks in the pub, so we decided to pack a picnic and head for Primrose Hill.  Estelle, San Fran and I outlasted everyone else, with Tim joining us later in the evening to top up our supplies of cider and crisps!

I Love Legoland!

Not usually a huge theme park fan, our annual Year 3 trip to Legoland is right up my alley.  56 boys and 17 adults had a brilliant day in the beautiful sunshine.  The displays never cease to intrigue me, with scenes from various world cities being recreated in Lego.  Funnily the boys are usually more interested in the rides that are available in the park!

Lee and I on the 'Extreme Challenge' ride - we got absolutely soaked but had so much fun we had to have a second go!

It's become Year 3 tradition that every year at Legoland we have a team photo on the Log Flume ride and buy the picture as a fridge magnet each.  Pictured is Tim (our Aussie gap), me, Gemma (who got such a fright she is hiding behind me in the pic!) and Dane.  Fun times!

Come on England!

On Wednesday the whole country went World Cup crazy.  The game between England and Slovenia was at 3pm, so school closed early especially so that the boys could either go home or stay at school and watch it on the big screen.  Our hall became a sauna with 200-odd boys screaming their support as the game was played live.  I opted to watch the match from the comfort of the treadmill at the gym!  Thank goodness England made it through to the final, I don't think life would be worth living in this country if they'd lost!

View of a Loo

The outside of our apartment block is being redecorated over the next few weeks, so we now have this lovely view from our living room.  The altered view is probably preferable to the scaffolding and painters peering in the windows that are yet to come though.

A Taste of Summer

Monday was the beginning of a week of hot weather, with temperatures in the mid to high twenties. I couldn't resist these half price British strawberries, yum!

Go the All Whites!

This afternoon saw us glued to the screen in our local pub, surrounded by a crowd of annoyed Italians as we watched New Zealand draw with Italy.  Almost as good as a win!

Happy Birthday Mum

I

It was so great be able to share Mum's birthday with her on Saturday, a day full of suprises beginning with a visit to the Tower of London.

Dinner was at Gordon Ramsay's York and Albany Restaurant.

The day ended back at our flat with a cupcake surprise.  Happy birthday Mum!

Kiwi Power

Dane and I won the teachers three-legged race at our school sports day!  We credit our success to the country we were both bought up in and the fact that we raced in bare feet!  This mock magazine cover was a lovely gift from one of the children in my class!

The Crucible

Tim and I were lucky enough to be given free tickets to a performance of The Crucible, which took place at the open air theatre in Regents Park.  The rain and outdoor setting somehow made the very sombre tone of the play even more moving.  Pictured are the stage crew trying to dry the stage before the performance began.

Homesickness Inducing

We were spoilt with lots of gifts from home, but this one has to be our absolute favourite.  How talented is my little brother?  And how beautiful is the place we call home?  Thanks so much Shaun, we love it!

Two Years On

After two long years living on opposite sides of the globe, we finally got to catch up on lost time.  It's been great having Mum and Dad over to visit and lots of fun being tour guides.  We're looking forward to more quality time together in Spain and back here in the UK in July.

Freddie the Fox

Meet Freddie, the newest addition to our neighbourhood.  He has just moved into the space under the substation at the bottom of our garden.  We only see him in the early mornings or evenings as it is getting dark, but he is quite the handsome young thing.  I've been leaving scraps out for him, but don't tell the neighbours!

Locked Out

On Saturday I did something really silly - I locked myself out of our flat!  I had just got home from riding and went to put my boots away in our shed.  Just as I pulled shut the front door of our flat I realised I had left the keys inside, had no phone, money or anything on me basically!  And of course Tim had just left for his night shift and as he has recently got a new phone, I had not memorised his new number!  Nor did I know the number of any friend or workmate whatsoever!  After a brief panic, I finally managed to find a kindly neighbour who let me use her phone to ring a locksmith.  £100 later I was back in the flat.  Can think of far better things to spend that sort of money on, especially on a Saturday night!

A Delicious Week

The great thing about Tim working shifts is that when he is off during the week, I arrive home from work to the most amazing food.  What a fabulous husband!

Spinach & Asparagus Tart

Pumpkin & Chickpea Salad with Spanish Ham

Freshly Baked Ciabatta

Home Made Burgers and Chips

Banana Splits

One of Life's Luxuries

Tim earned himself some pocket money the other night, participating in a two hour market research group on mobile phones.  He spent his cash on a fancy coffee grinder, something he's had his heart set on for ages.  Now all we need is the espresso machine to go with it!

Not so bad after all...

After our dramas getting home from Morocco, the blow was softened slightly with the arrival of a letter from our bank saying that they will make a 'goodwill' payment as compensation, even though the Iceland eruption is considered 'an act of God' and thereby not covered by normal travel insurance.  Good on ya HSBC!

And because our train from Madrid to Paris was more than an hour late getting in, RENFE (Spanish Rail) have given us some vouchers usable on Spanish and French networks.  Should come in useful on our next trip.

Procrastination

It's half term at the moment and I'm supposed to be writing 150-odd reports.  But while the sun is shining and Tim is off work it's very hard to find the motivation.  We walked into the city today via the Regents Park where the ducks enjoyed our stale bread.

Almost as good

It's near on impossible to get creamed corn over here, and every now and then we get a craving for that classic kiwi speciality - sweetcorn fritters.  This was Tim's attempt for brunch this morning, pretty good actually.