some news!

I don’t know where to start telling you about our new life here at All Nations! I was a bit afraid that after all those months as a Stay-At-Home-Mum I was going to find it hard to get back into the swing of things … but I’m realising that actually I was very busy as a SAHM … so it’s just a case of adjusting to doing different things. I need to find the balance between my study, my “wife-and-motherly duties” ;o) and getting a bit of rest in there too. But I’m not too worried about that, and I love being here. The people are great, the classes are very interesting, and the library is full of books I want to read!

Our flat here is lovely, just the right size for us and looking very homey now. It’s on the edge of the woods, which is something I appreciate – great for afternoon walks!

Simon is getting on well with his mornings in crèche. He’s fine about being left and has taken a shine to Victoria, his key worker (about the only person besides us who he will stretch his arms out to!). He’s only just starting to get the hang of sleeping there though, so has a looong sleep in the afternoon – perfect for parents who have reading to do and assignments to write!

Tomorrow we’ll be visiting our Church Placement church for the first time. We met the vicar on Thursday and got on very well with him.

the promised photos

still here...

... and apparently this is my 100th post! But it is just a quick one to say that we have arrived at college (All Nations Christian College) safely, our flat is lovely, we've been very well welcomed, and we are very busy!! I will be back soon with photos and more news!

down on the farm...

... it be onion harvestin' time! Or rather it been, come and gone. But for a couple of days the male members of the household were fascinated by the to-ing and fro-ing of all the different farm vehicles going through all the various stages of harvesting the big field behind Mum and Dad's house. Tractors pulling great loads of red onions went up and down the lane in front of the house, and we decided not to hang any washing out for the duration!

Mum says I was shocked when she said she was going to glean after they'd finished. I just wasn't aware that we were living in ancient Israel ... but then even if we had been, and they'd deliberately left extra for widows, orphans and the poor, I'm not quite sure which category Mum could pretend she fitted into ;o) Anyway, we did manage to pick a few onions off the track, and a few that were left at the side of the field. There's a limit to how many red onions you can realistically use before they go off!

Ah, country life!

Simon's social life!

We think it’s a good thing that Simon had the picnic with the other boys at the end of August, that he went to crèche at church yesterday, and that he had another playdate today with another baby from my forum. He hasn’t spent much time with other children, and seems quite surprised/intrigued/freaked-out by them! Imogen is quite active and was very curious about Simon, and he got a bit upset but eventually enjoyed “chatting” with her!

A few photos:

importing our car...

… or “Perseverance, Patience and lots of time on the Internet and telephone”

We knew we’d need a car for the year at Bible college, and thought that the simplest solution was to keep our French car and import it into the UK. I made a quick phonecall and was told “oh yes, you won’t have to pay import tax on your car” … so I thought it would all be easy. Hah!!

To import a Peugeot 206 – more than two years old and over 60,000km – into the UK, you have to go through the following process. First the car has to pass the Mutual Recognition Scheme. Oh, but before you can apply, you have to have a European Certificate of Conformity – you can write off to Peugeot for this – and your car has to be altered to comply with UK regulations. Which means it has to have headlights dipping the right way … which means changing the whole headlight blocks … and a speedometer indicating not only km/h but mph. Our local garage changed the headlights today … but found that where they had thought they could replace the dashboard with a right hand drive dashboard, it’s actually the wrong shape. So they told me “sorry, we can’t help you”.

I had found a “dashboard specialist” on the internet, so phoned him. He said “oh yes, I used to do that but I don’t any more” (aargh!) but he did give me the number of someone else based in Southampton who might be able to do it. So I phoned that company and they said that they can do it! And will come to the house!! And have another job in MK44 the same day (“clin d’oeil de Dieu” – a wink from God, as the French might say!).

Then when the modifications have been done, you pay to put in an application to the Mutual Recognition Scheme, who will (hopefully) send you a certificate saying your car meets British regulations. And you must get your insurance sorted out at the same time … because you have to have insurance to be able to apply to the DVLA for British registration … but once you have insurance you only have two weeks to get registered (sigh!).

Of course it also costs to apply to the DVLA. They register the car and sort out your road tax for you.

Oh, and I forgot to say that there is the MOT to pass before applying to the DVLA, which the garage is doing for us tomorrow morning.

So yeah, really simple.

Still, Marc says that we wouldn’t have been able to sell the car in France, as it’s very hard to sell second hand if you aren’t part exchanging for a new car. So we wouldn’t have been able to afford to buy an equivalent car here. And we are really blessed that a friend of the family gave my parents a little Micra last year, so I’ve been added to the insurance and we have wheels until our car is registered, taxed and insured!

getting ready

When we arrived back in England, there was an information pack from ANCC (our Bible college) waiting for us. Reading through the different pages, I felt both excited and a little daunted. On one hand, I can’t wait to get there, meet people and start learning … on the other hand, even when we’re on holiday and being cooked for, looking after Simon seems to take up most of my day. That said, we received a reading list to prepare for college – Ruth and Rob or Dad had several on the books on it, which is a blessing – and I did manage to read a book in a week. It was “Knowing Jesus Through The Old Testament”, by Christopher J. H. Wright, which I found extremely interesting. Marc is now reading it and I’ve got started on “Clash of Worlds” by David Burnett.

Simon is well and happy, and still impressing people with his charm and good behaviour! His backwards crawling is coming on wonderfully ;o)