Wagga Wagga to Worcestershire & back again
Sometimes it feels like good news is hard to come by. Every time you switch on a television, log onto a computer, listen to the radio or open a newspaper there are tales of death, destruction and dire circumstances. Sometimes though, stories of celebration, of love and new life shine through the doom and gloom and it’s so nice celebrate them.
A few days after Adam and I announced our engagement, the newest member of our English family was born. A little girl, to Adam’s cousin and her husband…
Over the weekend Adam and I celebrated our one year anniversary of moving to England. I can’t believe how incredibly fast the last 12 months has gone. I can still vividly remember walking into the arrivals hall at Birmingham Airport on October 29, 2016, exhausted after almost 30 hours of travel, and meeting Adam’s family for the very first time…
When I was a child I can remember being mesmerised by certain streets in my home town. Generally these streets were on well used routes to various places, like the local shopping centre or a family friend’s home. To rate highly in my 10 year old mind, the street had to have lots of trees, pretty gardens and interesting houses, each different to its neighbour.
It’s a little ‘game’ that I’ve retained into adulthood and I’ll often drive to places a particular way, just so I can have a peek at my favourite houses. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this!)
In Malvern one of my favourite streets, is Holywell Road…
Yes. One tiny word, but it holds so much meaning. On Friday, Adam asked me to marry him. There was a ‘squeak’ and quite a few tears before I was able to vocalise my answer, but we got there in the end!
We’ve talked about marriage for a long time. It was never a scary subject to broach. Even in the very early days of our relationship, we both knew it worked and that together, we’d go the distance. Getting married was always going to be a natural progression in our relationship. I didn’t really know when it was going to happen, but I knew it would.
In saying that, I still can’t quite believe I’ve now got a fiancé! I don’t really feel any different, but when I look down at my left hand at my engagement ring I can’t help but grin rather stupidly and think about how it got there…
It feels like October has been filled with drizzly days which has seen my ‘nesting’ instinct kick into full gear. Pottering around home in cosy jumpers and fluffy socks is so much more appealing than being outside when the weather’s grey!
One morning the other week though I awoke to a brilliant blue sky and decided to get out and onto the Malvern Hills for a lovely, long ramble…
In my experience there are people who love rifling through second shops or markets and those who are completely nonplussed by the whole venture. I’ve always been interested in stories from the past, so for me looking at old bits and pieces also invokes questions about the object’s history – who owned it, was it special to them, how did it come into their ownership?
Over the weekend Malvern’s Three Counties Showground hosted a huge flea fair, so I decided to go for a look…
It’s been a hectic few months. Between my family’s visit from Australia and a few other trips Adam and I had organised earlier this year, it feels like we’ve barely had a weekend to ourselves for weeks and weeks.
After picking up my second cold in three months the other week, I decided some much needed quiet time was definitely on the agenda…
The other day I got text message from Adam: ‘We’re going out tonight’. It was all a bit mysterious, but after some questioning (I am a journalist after all!) Adam revealed that while waiting for a flight he’d read about a massive solar storm that was due to create optimal conditions for spotting the aurora borealis as far south as the English midlands.
He kept his eyes on the forecast and various scientific readings throughout the course of the day and that night we decided to go looking for the northern lights.
Living in the U.K. has definitely taught me about living more seasonally. That natural rhythm of change every few months is so evident, that you can’t help but adapt to it too.
In Wagga Wagga, where Adam and I lived before moved to England, there were four seasons, but autumn and spring often arrived in short bursts, breaking up the hot and cold weather. Here it’s more gradual and the seasons are given the opportunity to ‘breath’ a little more, so you get to learn the nuances of each quarter of the year…
Just like clockwork on the first of September the air had the slightest chill in it to welcome the arrival of autumn. It was hard to believe a few days prior England had recorded its warmest bank holiday weekend in decades. A joyful hurrah to summer.
I love autumn. It’s my favourite season and already a few trees around Malvern have started to turn yellow and red, readying themselves for the cooler months ahead. In those last hazy days of warmth though, Adam and I took my family and his sister Alex to a local fruit farm for a spot of picking…
Wattle and Ash 