A Few Weeks in Collingwood

Well, I have left Grandma and Grandpa at home to look after the kids as Laura is now off her feet. I am down at HMS Collingwood on a Divisional Officer's course - it is a two week course that goes into all of the admin details I need to know about managing Royal Navy folks. The course is interesting because it is very interactive; they have actors come in to practice interview techniques, etc. Much better than death by PowerPoint. The Wardroom is very nice, and very, very cheap. A two week stay plus all meals (which are excellent BTW) cost a total of £19.21. I can't get fish and chips takeaway for the family for that much! It is a training base here though, so they are very picky on all of the little stuff. Putting your hands in your pockets is a criminal offence, and using your mobile phone outside would likely lead to some form of incarceration or worse. I brought the camera down here to take some picks, but didn't bring the USB cord, so picks will have to wait until my return. Hopefully Grandma and Grandpa aren't too exhausted by the time I get back. Take care. M

Grandma and Grandpa Arrive

Grandma and Grandpa arrived safe and sound yesterday afternoon. A very long trip, and a 7 hour time shift, but they survived quite handily. Today we went out to Falmouth for a quick trip, then a quick tour of Helston. We stopped in at the Blue Anchor, a 300 year old Pub that used to be a monastary. The beer there is the original recipe from the monks who once inhabited the place, called "Spingot". There are 4 types of Spingot: Jubile, Medium, Braget, and Strong. The Medium is OK, but the others are so bad that they made one of my eyes blink involuntarily for some time.

Our Little Merlin

Lochlan started pre-school this week (the name of the school is "Little Merlins"). He goes three mornings a week, and really enjoys it so far. The facility is just down the road and the staff are great with the kids so we think it should work out quite well. Another bonus from living in the UK is that pre-school is completely free!
Coincidentally, the aircraft that I work with here is also called a Merlin. We all went down to the maintenance facility so I could show Lochlan a real helicopter. This is one big airplane... I think I could drive a Sea King right in the back.

quick vid of the kids at suppertime...

Starting a Coal Fire is Hard

Hi all. Tried to have a nice relaxing fire tonight. Our house has a coal fireplace instead of a woodburning one, so I wanted to try it out. I purchased some alleged "easy lite" coal from the Texaco, and went to work. I put 3 zip stick in the fireplace, then through the coal on top. The zip stick burned well... I tried again with two more zip sticks, same result. Finally, I put a bed of coal down, then put some more zip sticks, then little pieces of coal on top of that. Bingo. It seems what I was doing before was not unlike putting a piece of newspaper under a 8 inch round log and hoping it would take off... should be OK from now on!

Reunited!

Maggie arrived safe and sound, although a little dazed and confused, tonight thanks to big efforts on behalf of my sister! Maggie has spent the last few months in Nova Scotia, first with my parents and then at my sisters. She has been well cared for, enjoying such luxuries as wet dog food, new toys, the lazy boy, the sofa and the beds (you get the point). I'm not sure that all were intended but she has been well taken care of and it has been much appreciated.

We are so happy to have her home and we feel now that our family is complete and together. Fewf, it's finally over. Lochlan was especially happy to see Maggie and I have put a picture below of their reunion, he truly missed his "Maggiedoos".

Curly

A photo and a video ... the video is an experiment so it may not work

A Beautiful Week

Well, this week has been beautiful weather-wise. Kind of a bad thing when you have to look at it out your office window at work, but I still have been enjoying it. I have been at work now to start to get really dangerous, and I intend to see how much I can stir up in the next few weeks.
I went to Tesco (local grocery store) today and the cashier was also a Canadian from Pembrooke. He retired from the military 10 years ago and retired here with his wife. It was pretty funny because he kept on visiting with me as the line to his till got longer and longer... I guess he missed some good old fashioned Canadian conversation. It was worth it though... he pointed out that they actually do sell proper ginger ale here, you just have to buy it in 5 oz cans... better than nothing!
We talked to Grampa and Grandma Kotzer tonight and are getting excited to have them down here. They will be down for quite a spell to look after the kids when Laura goes on rest. These days the kids can be quite a handful... hopefully they will have some time to enjoy the area! They get down on the 17th after a very, very long trip here. All told, more than 24 hrs of travel. Add the jet lag and they may not know which week, let alone day it is when they arrive. Should be an adventure though. I suspect Dad is a bit upset that I went with the Peugeot instead of the MG convertible but they should have a lot of fun on the Cornwall roads anyways.
Laura is doing OK, but the usual signs of a baby that wants to meet us a bit earlier than we would like are starting to show. She is having to take it pretty easy, and complete rest is soon to come. Please feel free to give her a call (011 44 1326 560 423) to chat so she doesn't go crazy with boredom (the rest thing may sound good, but only for a few days, then it is more like prison). Just ask us to call you back, as it is free for us to call Canada 24/7
The house is coming together slowly. A few more pictures on the wall and a few more things arranged and we should have more or less settled in. Hope this finds you all well, M.