'Driving Home For Christmas' or, from 30 degrees to 3 degrees in 24 hours!!

And for those of you who work in Fahrenheit that is from about 86 degrees to 37 degrees within a 24 hour period!!

So, have you guessed where I am ? Yup, back again in England!!! And to be precise I didn't drive, we flew courtesy of Qantas (but Chris Rea did not sing "Flying Home for Christmas !!)

Sorry I have been a little quiet on the blog posting and visiting but all has been rather a blur.




Yes, I know I have (it seems) only just got back to Melbourne but this Christmas and New Year is rather special as on New Year's Day my dearest Daddy reaches the grand age of 80 and there is going to be a family party. How could I miss that?!! Mr SE has flown back with me and darling daughter has returned from University in the North of England. We are all at our cottage in Wiltshire. Last night DD and I decorated the Christmas Tree (after bringing it in from the cold outside, my friend S had bought it for us a week ago just in case we would not be able to get one on our return - would have been awful if all the best shaped ones had gone!!)... We thought it looked rather magical when we had finished - it may be little but it packs a Christmas punch!







So, here I am for the next couple of weeks! Hopefully another post before Christmas from England.







Hope your preparations and plans etc. all shaping up well for the day.....

The Semi-Expat has returned...

I stepped off the plane early this morning and was out of the airport by 7.15am - the temperature, even for Australian standards at this time of the year, is unseasonably Hot, Hot, Hot! 31 degrees at that time of the morning...! Please, at least give a girl a chance to adjust from a cool and rainy UK to the tropics....

Anyway it was wonderful to see Mr SE (looking very svelte - he has been on a health-kick over the last few weeks!) tanned and handsome waiting for me and to be on the receiving end of a warm, embracing hug and being enveloped in 'his' Cravache fragrance - yes, its good to be back too.

Sorry, I realise that the photograph I have shown is nothing really to do with being back in Oz but I did not get a chance to post it before I left and I really love (and wanted to share!) my new blind that was made just before I left UK... It is made from an original piece of old French mattress ticking that I have had for YEARS.... (I told you I was a hoarder and cannot resist textiles especially) - it even had a little tag on it with the price I paid in FF's - 300.... (think that was quite a bargain at the time ... not really sure now - around 30 pounds?) I was delighted with how it turned out even though I did not have long to appreciate it this time (it only went up last weekend!).....

A 'Semi-Expat'

I said earlier that I would write a bit about the title of the Blog and why I term myself as a 'semi-expat...... I am English and live part of the time in UK (in the West(ish) part of England about 40 mins from Stonehenge and 45 mins from the beautiful city of Bath) in a very tiny village between the market towns of Devizes and Marlborough - both great places each with a weekly market and each with their own special charms.

For the rest of my time I am very lucky to live in the vibrant and wonderful City of Melbourne in Australia. My husband was offered the opportunity of a job in Melbourne back in September 2006 and he "ummed and aaahed" about taking it for a while as I said that at that time I could not join him full time as my daughter (my DDD - dearest darling daughter, actually!) (his step daughter) had not finished her education in England.

Eventually in January 2007, Mr SE decided that the opportunity to work in Australia was too good to ignore and I also wanted him to follow his dreams too and he came out to Melbourne. It has not been easy I have to admit and the first few months were horrendous - he thought he had made an awful mistake but we have persevered and we have managed to see each other regularly since then - me coming over to Australia for a few months at a time and he with regular travel for work back to Europe too. We truly do have a long-distance marriage but it does work for us - when we are apart we speak twice a day on the telephone and we also email each other once a day too.

This July my DDD finished her education and is now taking a 'gap year' before University in September 2010 - at the moment she is back in our cottage in UK and hopes to earn some money before coming out here to Melbourne in January 2010 with VHB (very handsome boyfriend!) for a few months to live with us, work locally and then take the opportunity to do some travelling around Australia.

So there we are - the background to the title of the Blog... and sorry, have not yet this weekend mastered the art of uploading photographs - promise I will next time :-)