Ian & Lucy Ling Wall & Family

Cold Weekend

2012-02-05T19:39:00.003Z

The last few nights have been below freezing and there has been snow in other parts of England, but not in Poole. But on Saturday morning the sea near us was partially frozen - there is an article on the BBC News website about it.

Abigail was meant to be meeting her friends in town to do some busking but she stayed in bed instead. I think they decided to cancel because of the cold.

Saturday afternoon, Ashling went into town with her friends. They went for a walk in Poole Park and found everything frozen. Here Ashling is with one of her friends with a large piece of ice from the fountain in the park.

Ashling Badminton

2012-01-31T18:54:00.002Z

This evening, after everyone was home from school and work, Ashling told us that she had been given a certificate for getting to the county finals for a schools badminton competition.

We didn't even know she was playing badminton today - her school team went off the other side of Bournemouth to play about 5 or 6 other schools from around the county. Apparently, they had played some earlier rounds last year and this was the final.

Flowers in January

2012-01-28T19:11:00.003Z

So far the weather has been bright and mild, although it has turned cold for the past 2 days and is meant to stay cold and wet for the next few days. But lots of plants and flowers have started to grow earlier than normal.

This is Lucy's hyacinth from last year. She kept the bulb and planted it the end of last year. Last weekend it had a green leaf about 2 inches loong coming up. Over the past week it has grown 5 inches and the flowers have come out giving a nice smell to the room.

This amarylis was has also grown a lot and flowered over the past few weeks. And there are also lots of small Spring flowers coming up in the garden already about a month earlier than normal.

Last week

2012-01-28T18:40:00.005Z

Ashling finished the first modules of her GCSE exams during the week - she had History on Wednesday afternoon. Now the next exams for both girls will be around May or June, I think. Ashling has also applied to do the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, which means she has to do some sports activity, help in the community and do some outdoor camping activity. The school doesn't let everyone apply, only those they think have a chance of getting accepted. Don't know when Ashling will find out.

Abigail hasn't been very well for the past few weeks now. She has been coughing and feeling unwell all week. She is in bed now (it's only 6pm) but she has been out most of the day in Wimborne busking with her friends in the cold air. Last night she was out all evening at the Youth Parliment at our local Council / Town Hall. One of her friends is involved and was taking part in the activities. Hope Abigail gets better soon.

It has been a mild winter so far but the past few days have been cold. Tonight it will be around zero degrees C.

Andrew called us up at work on Thursday and told us to come outside - he was driving a 5 series BMW!!! He had been lent it to do some errands for his company. On Wednesday he had to drive to Gloucester and was given another company car for the day.

Gong Xi Fa Chai

2012-01-28T18:28:00.004Z

Last weekend was Chinese New Year.

This is the time of year we really miss the CNY atmosphere and being with friends and family in Malaysia and Brunei.

This year we didn't really do anything much - just a few dishes from a local Chinese takeaway -the one that Andrew does deliveries for every weekend.

But we did also join a group of Filipino friends for their son's 10th birthday party so had some nice food there.

Exam time for girls

2012-01-14T13:35:00.002Z

Abigail had 3 exams this past week - the first modules for her A-levels. She did psychology, biology and chemistry. She had been studying quite hard and wasn't feeling very well, probably too manmy late nights. After the exam on Friday we had a phone call from the school to ask us to bring her home!! She is fine now and is out playing guitar with her 2 friends busking in Poole High Street today.

Ashling has just started her first GCSE exams, again they are all in modules. She had biology last Thursday and has chemistry, physics and history over the next 10 days.

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T21:58:00.001Z

Leaking Roof

2011-12-30T23:12:00.002Z

The weather has been quite warm and mild so far this Winter. There has been no snow in our area and very little frost. But we have had one severe rain storm which caused a leak in our roof with water coming through our bedroom ceiling.

I have had someone add some extra lead flashing to the roof so hope it fixes the problem. Now I just need to fix up the ceiling inside.

Hallway Redecorating

2011-12-30T23:03:00.003Z

Since both Lucy and I have one week of holiday from work between Christmas and New Year, we decided to redecorate the hallway.

It had old green and white striped wallpaper on the walls that didn't look very nice at all so we went out to find some new wallpaper.

The first thing was to take off all the old wallpaper and clean up the walls. That took about a day to do.

Then we started puting the new wallpaper up yesterday afternoon and finished it today. Actually, it is not totally finished - there is just one small strip to do but we ran out of wallpaper glue!!

Our 'new' looking hallway.

Christmas Day

2011-12-30T22:47:00.005Z

Merry Christmas.

It was a nice mild, bright morning with a cool breeze - no snow this year! We were up by about 8am on Christmas Day to eat freshly made sticky buns and open gifts under the Christmas Tree.

Later on we went off to church for the Christmas morning service and then back home for Christmas lunch with turkey, ham, lots of veggies etc. We had my sister and her two children who live round the corner from us, and my mother, and Han Ying, a friend from Brunei who is studying at Bournemouth University, not far away.

Afterwards we watched TV and played some games. A very nice time was had by all.

Ashling's Cake Decorating Skill

2011-12-22T20:09:00.003Z

This is our Christmas cake. Ashling didn't make the cake but just decorated it and made the little snowman at the side with the left over marzipan and icing. Not sure if those small silver balls can be eaten - I suppose so!

She did a good job.

Happy Birthday Ashling

2011-12-17T21:31:00.004Z

Ashling is 15 today!!!

We took her to TGI Friday's at West Quay in Southampton for lunch and then we spent the afternoon walking around the big shopping centre there. The weather was very good for this time of year - it was a nice bright sunny day but the wind was cold.

Abigail was with us but Andrew stayed at home because we wouldn't be back in time for him to go to work later in the afternoon

Bought a few Christmas presents and then drove back home - only takes an hour to get from home to West Quay. A very nice afternoon - although there were lots of people out shopping and getting ready for Christmas. Might go back again in 2 weeks for the after Christmas sales!

School Holidays

2011-12-17T21:24:00.003Z

Abigail and Ashling both finished school for the year yesterday. They now have 2 weeks holiday over the Christmas and New Year period. I think they start again on the 3rd or 4th of January. They both have exams to do the first week or two of the New Year so they will be spending time studying during the holiday.

Abigail took part in an end of term school play last week. Can't remember who she said she was though!

24 Hour Netball

2011-12-17T21:04:00.003Z

Last Friday & Saturday Abigail took part in a sponsored 24 hour netball game at school. They started at 4pm on Friday afternoon and finished at 4pm on Saturday afternoon. I think Abi had about 3 hours sleep. She came home, showered changed and then went straight out again to join friends carol singing in one of her friend's neighbourhood. On Sunday she slept most of the day!!

Kher Wee was here!

2011-12-12T20:42:00.002Z

Good to see Kher Wee but he could only stay 1 night. Have a good trip back to Brunei. We plan to visit next year.

Christmas Tree

2011-12-05T17:21:00.003Z

Ashling got us organised to put up the Christmas tree and decorations on Saturday. She had it all planned out - put up tree and decorations while drinking hot choclate and eating sticky buns!!

Sunday

2011-12-04T18:18:00.003Z

Can't believe it is Ashling's birthday in 2 weeks. We were in Wimborne for church service this morning so decided to stay in town for a pre-birthday lunch. So we drove from church to a car park by the town centre and started walking around town - acutally, it isn't that big - just one main street really with a small town square but it is a quaint place - typical old English market town.

Anyway, Abigail is regulalry in the town playing her guitar and singing with her friends on the street and seems to be known. We get out of the car and walk down a side street and a man comes round the corner and gives Abi a nod. A bit later, Abi disappears round a corner and comes back again carrying an chocolate bar - some other people she knows passed by on the street and just gave it to her! On top of that, one of the ladies at church told us that there was a picture of Abi playing her guitar on the street in the local small town newspaper.

Last weekend when she came home on the bus, a couple of girls had seen her playing in Wimborne and did a little dance on the street for her. Seems like Abi is a mini-celebrity! Back to lunch - Ashling guided us to a small indian restaurant which was quite nice.

We are now back home. Ashling is learning French for a test this coming week. Abigail has just come home from playing gutiar at church and will probably want to be taken out again for her Youth Group.

Dorset Business Awards

2011-11-27T18:52:00.002Z

Andrew was in the top three for the Engineering and Electrical Apprenticeship Award - his company had entered him into the competition earlier in the year. On Thursday night he had to dress up to go to the awards dinner in Poole. Unfortunately he didn't win and was runner up but he still did very well.

It was reported in the local newspaper - click here to have a look.

Isle of Wight

2011-11-27T17:09:00.003Z

The last week of October, the girls had one week half-term break from school so when Lucy came back from Malaysia, we decided to go off for a short trip to the Isle of Wight and spend one night there. Andrew didn't come but I took a day off work.

The Isle of Wight is a small island about 3 miles off the south coast of England. The island is about 14 miles wide and 27 miles long. To drive all the way round the island is about 60 miles. It is very popular with tourists in the summer and is always packed with people when the weather is good. There are sailing competitions and various music festivals held on the island every year.

The island isn't very far from us - we can see it from the beach at Bournemouth. Since it is an island, the main way of getting there is by boat - there are 3 or 4 different car ferries that go across every day almost every half hour. We drove to a town called Lymington a few miles the other side of Bournemouth to get the ferry. The journey across to the Isle of Wight is only about 35 minutes, so just enough time to have a cup of tea or coffee on board the boat.

We went over Thursday about 1pm and drove along the far side of the island starting at Freshwater and going along to Ventnor stopping here and there at different places that looked interesting, having tea and scones - taking our time and enjoying things. We were heading for the town of Shanklin, where we stayed one night at a guest house near the top of a cliff over looking the beach.

It was still daylight when we got to Shanklin so we left all our things in the guest house and walked down the cliff steps to the beach and wandered along trying to find mussels in the sand (Ashling had seen someone doing it on the TV and wanted to try but we didn't find anything - wrong kind of beach, I think).

It started to get dark and we decided to go into one of the restaurants along the beach and had a very nice meal. The place wasn't very crowded and overlooked the ocean and the food was good. Afterwards, we had to somehow climb back up the cliff steps to get back to our guest house!

The next day we continued driving along the coast road towards Ryde and Cowes stopping off to play on the beach and a few other places. The weather was bright and sunny but not too warm. We made our way back to the ferry a bit later in the afternoon and got home about 6pm.

Lucy in Malaysia

2011-11-19T17:33:00.005Z

Lucy took 3 weeks off work and went back to Malaysia last month to see her family. Unfortunately she had to go alone - girls had to go to school and someone had to go to work! But Lucy had a good time. Both her mother and father have had health problems but are doing fine now considering - her dad had a stroke just over 10 years ago now and is beginning to struggle more with moving around. Lucy's mum was diagnosed with bone cancer nearly 2 years ago and went through chemo last year. It seems to have stopped it and we are hopeful that it will stay that way.

Lucy went back home to Kapit and the first thing she did was get a hair cut!! It looks nice. Lucy only spent a few days at home but got to spend time with her two younger brothers and their families. This is Lucy and her mum with Grace and Aaron, her youngest brother's children.

This is Matthew and Joy with their mother.

She then took her parents over to Penang to see the her first brother and his family for a few days. It has been several years since we have seen them - the 3 boys have all grown up now. Penang is a nice island off the west coast of peninsular Malaysia, so have to fly there from Lucy's home in Sarawak. The best thing is all the food!

The main thing we miss is kolo mee and teh-C!!!

Apprentice Award

2011-10-29T20:16:00.003+01:00

Andrew's company have nominated him for an Engineering & Electrical Apprenticeship Award as part of a competition run by the local Chamber of Commerce. Andrew has been told he is in the final three and has been invited to attend the awards ceremony on 24th November.

Click on 2011 Dorset Business Awards

Andrew was mentioned in the local newspaper Shortlist Revealed for Business Awards - go down the page to the Apprenticeship section.

Wimborne Food Fair

2011-10-29T20:12:00.002+01:00

Last weekend there was a Food Fair in Wimborne, a small town just a few miles away from Poole. The town centre was closed off and there were stalls all along the road mainly selling different kinds of food such as cakes, cheeses, sandwiches, burgers, sausages (all the meat was from local farms). It was really crowded and everything looked and smelled good. The weather was bright and warm all weekend so lots of people were there.

Apart from the stalls, there were also a few entertainers walking round. The most obvious were two guys dressed as chefs on stilts!

Abigail has been playing guitar and singing in Wimborne with some of her friends over the Summer and they went for the weekend to play and sing along the street on Saturday and Sunday. They are quite good.

On Sunday, while Abigail was singing, I took Ashling around the stalls to look at everything. Of course, she wanted to try lots of things. A lot of the stalls had small samples for people to try, so Ashling had a few different things. In the end, she decided to get a giant round sandwich.

Andrew didn't come, and Lucy was still in Malaysia but Ashling and I had a good time wandering around while Abigail and her friends made a bit of money!

Back to School

2011-09-09T10:31:00.002+01:00

Abigail and Ashling started school this week. Abigail is now in 6 Form starting her A-levels and is school prefect and a games captain. She is doing Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Psychology.

Ashling is starting her GCSEs and doing more or less the same subjects Abigail did. She has been asked to come in early for netball training one morning each week.

Andrew will be starting his second year of university again in 2 weeks. He will be going every Tuesday to Southampton. One of his managers at work is from Kuching!

GCSE Results

2011-08-25T09:14:00.002+01:00

Well done Abigail.

9 A's and 2A*'s.

Actually, she has 10 A's because she did her Chinese GCSE two years ago.

Back to school in 2 weeks to start A-Levels.

!!!

2011-08-22T19:05:00.000+01:00

Bournemouth Air Festival

2011-08-20T19:35:00.005+01:00

The Bournemouth Air Festival is on this weekend. It is an air show that is usually held in Bournemouth every year sometime near the end of August. During the Air Show, the town is usually packed with people going to the beach to watch all the air displays that fly along the coast.

We are in a great position to see some of the aircraft. They take off from Bournemouth Airport and fly to the coast over our house and then turn left to fly along the coast to Bournemouth. It's only a few miles.

Yesterday, Lucy and I were going back to work after lunch, drove out of our drive way and saw the Battle of Britain flight (three aircraft from the Second World War) flying low overhead in formation. It was great.

Abigail went in to town with her friends yesterday afternoon - just after she arrived back from her church camp - no wonder she is not feeling very well today! Ashling went into Bournemouth today with her friends. Both of them managed to see the Red Arrows display.

The last day is tomorrow (Sunday) and hopefully the weather will stay good. This afternoon was warm with clear skies. I will probably stay outside and watch the aircraft from our garden. The one I really want to see is this one - the Sea Vixen.

Soul Survivor

2011-08-20T19:30:00.004+01:00

Abigail has been away for the week (again!!). This time she went off with her church Youth Group to a Christian camp called Soul Survivor. Abi said there were several thousand people there, they all stayed in tents and she only showered once! But she had a good time and is now worn out. She arrived home yesterday and now needs a few days to recover. She took the camera but didn't take any pictures.

Rebbeca came to visit

2011-08-20T19:21:00.005+01:00

Two weeks ago we had a visit from a friend from Brunei - someone who had grown up in the church with Andrew. It was Rebecca.

She has been studying music in the US but had spent her Summer in Austria and was taking the opportunity to travel round Europe. It was great that she could come by and spend a few days with us.

Fortunately both Abi and Ashling were around as it is the school holidays here (and Abigail hadn't arranged to go off anywhere or do anything). Lucy and I are both working so we could take Rebecca around during the day but the girls took her in to Poole and Bournemouth and showed her around.

Anybody else coming to the UK? Would love to see you.

Abi in Wales

2011-08-20T19:12:00.002+01:00

Abigail spent a week in Wales with her aunties and cousins and had a good time. The two cousins are younger than Abi and they all squashed in to my youngest sister's house on the coast of Wales. It is about 6 hours drive from Poole. Abi went along with my other sister who lives around the corner from us in Poole and her two children.

The weather was OK - some sun, some rain, some wind. They all enjoyed themselves and Abi is working out how she can go back!!

They went mountain bike riding along some hills and came back with mud splattered all over their clothes. They did some fishing, went out in a boat, went body boarding and generally had a good time.

The Further Adventures of Abigail

2011-08-02T10:00:00.003+01:00

Abigail is off again. This week she is in Wales staying with auntie Rachel - my youngest sister who lives near the coast in west Wales, about 6 hours drive from Poole. My other sister, Sarah has taken her two children for the week and invited Abigail to go along. They went off last Sunday and will be back on Saturday.

The only problem was that Abigail didn't have any money to take with her, so she spent a couple of days busking in the nearby small town of Wimborne. Busking is basically standing on the street playing music and / or singing and hoping that people give you money.

Some towns you need to get permission but one of Abi's friends from school lives in Wimborne and has done it before and says there is no need to get permission. So last Wednesday the two of them spent the day playing their guitars on the street, and on Friday Abi went off by herself.

Abigail is back

2011-07-04T09:10:00.003+01:00

Abigail got back from Romania yesterday. Their plane landed at Luton airport about 7am so we had an early morning wake up call from Abigail to say that she was back in the country. The bus trip back to Wimborne took about 2.5 hours so Abigail was back at the church by about 10:30am. The group had been up since Saturday morning and had been awake most of the trip back.

Their flight out of Romania was in the middle of the night and they had a long bus journey before that to get to the airport. So we were that expecting Abigail would want to go home and sleep. Instead she we stayed for the church service and it wasn't until after lunch that Abi fell asleep.

Abi had a great time in Romania, learnt a bit of the language, and made friends with the children at the care home including their dog, who apparently will be sitting by the front door waiting for Abi and wondering where she is as she took him out walking all the time.

When she got home, the first thing Abi said was that she would like to go back again. This is a picture of the church group at the house in Romania - and the dog!

We were told that Abigail got up early in the mornings to help make breakfast, help with all the activities, sang to the children and tried all types of food - including pig's brain!!

Abigail in Romania

2011-06-28T08:58:00.004+01:00

Abigail went off to Romania last Sunday with her church youth group to help at a children's home for a week. There are 8 of them in the group, including two leaders.

They flew out from Luton airport, which is the other side of London, about 2 or 3 hours drive from Poole. The group had an early morning flight so they left here at 2am Sunday morning. Andrew drove Abi to the church at 1:30am where everyone was meeting up.

The journey took all day - bus from here to the airport, flight to Romania, then bus to Little John's House. They are due back home next Sunday morning but I expect Abigail will sleep for a few days after getting back home!

The group have Internet access in Romania so they are posting updates and pictures. Check it out at http://stjohnsyouth.co.uk/latest-news/romania/

Family picture

2011-06-07T00:32:00.000+01:00

Day trip to Plymouth

2011-06-07T00:18:00.004+01:00

Last week the girls were on holiday for half-term. Abigail spent most of the time studying while Ashling went out with her friends. The weather was really nice and sunny although it has become cooler and cloudy over the past two days with a bit of rain.

Over the weekend we went to Plymouth to visit some friends who used to live in Poole. Plymouth is about 2 hours drive away along the coast further west. It was a nice drive up and down through the hills.

Our friends are a Chinese family from Malaysia. They used to own a take-away restaurant nearby in Poole where Andrew used to work in the evenings.

3 A's

2011-06-06T23:57:00.003+01:00

Abigail's Exams

2011-06-06T23:21:00.004+01:00

Abigail is doing her GCSE exams. She should be finished in a week or so. I think her last exam is on 15th June and then no more school until the end of August. So far so good. She seems happy enough with how her exams are going.

Her class have already had their end of term party - no more uniforms!! Next term Abi will be in 6th Form so doesn't have to wear school uniform anymore. She has been chosen as a prefect and sports captain for next year already.

Andrew has Landed

2011-05-08T19:42:00.002+01:00

Andrew is back from Malaysia. He has just got off the plane at Heathrow airport and phoned home. He is waiting for his bags to come off the plane and then get a bus back to Poole, so he should be back home sometime later tonight.

Abigail's bike

2011-04-29T20:01:00.003+01:00

On Wednesday evening, Abigail wanted to cycle to school to see some friends who were playing basketball. So she got on her bike and cycled off. A little while later, around 9pm, we had a phone call - the front wheel had come off her bike!!!

She had been cycling on the pavement and bounced down onto the road and then tried to bounce back on to the next bit of pavement. When she tried to jump her bike onto the second pavement, her front wheel came off and she was left there standing holding on to her bike. Luckily she didn't fall over.

We don't know how she did it, but she has broken part of the spindle that the nut is attached to. So there no way of reattaching the wheel since we can't put the nut back on to tighten it. Fortunately she wasn't far from home and the road wasn't very busy.

I have fixed her bike by taking the front wheel from Andrew's bike. He hasn't used his bike since he got his driving licence and it needed fixing up as well, so I don't think he will mind. This is what Andrew's bike looks like now after the wheel transplant and Abigail's broken wheel is beside it.

Back to school / Not back to school

2011-04-29T19:53:00.003+01:00

Abigail was back at school this week. She had her GCSE art exam, which was 10 hours long! 5 hours on Wednesday and 5 hours on Thursday. She will be doing the rest of her GCSE exams in a few more weeks.

Ashling was meant to go back to school too but her school sent messages to everyone on Tuesday to say that the school would stay shut. Somebody had killed themselves in one of the school buildings over night. Very upsetting. It wasn't a student but don't know anything else. Ashling should be going back to school next Tuesday.

Good Friday

2011-04-23T11:09:00.004+01:00

Yesterday was Good Friday. All the churches from the town centre had a small service on the street outside the Methodist Church - something they do every year. Most years the weather is cool and often rains, but this year the weather is so warm and sunny. It is the warmest Easter weekend on record.

There was quite a crowd on the street. The local Salvation Army band provided the music and we all sang hymns on the street. There was a local group of actors who dressed up and put on a small Passion play.

We then walked along the street to a large area in front of the local Sainsburys. Afterwards there was tea and coffee and hot cross buns.

School Holidays

2011-04-23T09:58:00.002+01:00

It is the Easter weekend and the girls are nearly at the end of their 2 week school break. Ashling goes back to school next Wednesday and Abigail is back on Tuesday. But then we have another long weekend for the Royal wedding next Friday and the following Monday is another bank holiday!

Also Abigail is starting her GCSE exams next week and will officially start study leave. She has a 2 day art exam on Wednesday and Thursday, and has to hand in all her art work, which she hasn't finished yet!!!! We were out in town yesterday looking for various art supplies that she needs to finish her work.

Andrew has been in KL for 2 weeks now. Haven't heard much from him but guess he is fine and enjoying himself. Last Wednesday was his birthday - he is now 20.

Family

2011-04-09T14:52:00.004+01:00

Andrew is starting his holidays. He is leaving early tomorrow morning to get the bus going to Heathrow Airport. He is flying off to KL for nearly 4 weeks.

Since he is leaving tomorrow and his birthday is in 10 days, we decided to go out for breakfast this morning. I can't remember that last time we all went out together like this - usually Andrew doesn't come because he is working or Abigail is off with friends or doing something.

Now Ashling is starting to go out more. The girls have two weeks holiday and Ashling has just told us she is going out with friends during next week to walk around town, go swimming and other stuff. Ashling has been busy doing some of her holiday homework already.

Abigail will be finishing classes very soon and then will be on study leave so she can prepare for her GCSE exams.

The weather has been nice the past few days. Today is the first day this year I have worn a short sleeve shirt. It is warm in the sun but the wind still feels a bit cold.

Loft Conversion - Girls' Bedrooms

2011-04-09T14:04:00.003+01:00

Our house still looks like a building site.

Although the conservatory looks done from the outside, it isn't quite finished yet. There are still a few things to do inside but the company who was meant to be doing it has gone bankrupt, so we are going to finish it ourselves. Thankfully it is just skirting boards and window sills to put in.

We were hoping that the conservatory would be finished and could be used before we started work on the girls' bedrooms. The previous owners had converted the loft into two bedrooms and a bathroom. They had put a proper 'box' on the side of the room for the bathroom to make it into a proper room. But the two bedrooms were left with the original sloping ceiling so there isn't much head room and we keep bumping our heads!!

Last week we had a builder in to start converting the two bedrooms by making them the same as the bathroom. This will make the ceilings higher and give more room. Should look nice when it is done and make the rooms feel bigger. Should be finished in a few more weeks.

Sports Girls

2011-04-09T13:48:00.004+01:00

Last week Tuesday, Ashling came home with her first gold medal for sports. She played in a netball tournament and her school won. The same night, Abigail was asked to play in a volleyball tournament for her school and they won, so she came home with a gold medal too. What a coincidence - both winning something on the same days playing different sports at different schools.

Abigail 's school has finished playing football for the year. They had done well earlier to reach the quarter finals of the national competition but were then knocked out.

But Abigail's school team were still in the local county football competition. They played the final last week and Abigail's school won. Abigail is in the back row.

Here are the stories that appeared in Abigail's school magazine.

New Shower

2011-04-09T13:40:00.003+01:00

We finally have our new shower. It was finished last week although there were a few problems with leaks around the tray. But hopefully that has all been fixed.

It is difficult to be without a proper shower. We have a bath upstairs but the shower mixer tap doesn't work very well - it doesn't let enough cold water through so showering is a 'cool' experience. Need to fix it sometime.

I'm thinking of putting in an electric shower upstairs - useful as a back up in case anything happens to the gas boiler, at least we would still have one place with hot water. And also the children would use it more - wouldn't have to keep waiting for Andrew or Abigail or whoever to finish in the downstairs shower!!

Ashling's Latest School Art Project

2011-03-15T09:32:00.001Z

A Busy Weekend

2011-03-13T22:31:00.004Z

On Saturday, Andrew helped me put the first coat of paint on the conservatory walls - we need to put a few layers of paint on first before the top coat. The walls were plastered earlier this week and electric sockets put in. We are still waiting for the window boards, which should be done some time this week.

Tomorrow we are having the downstairs shower replaced. The tiles have are leaking and the shower unit is really old and mouldy so we decided we had better fix. We bought some new tiles and a new shower unit. I spent this evening (Sunday) taking the old shower and tiles out. Hopefully the guy who is coming tomorrow will do a good job.

Conservatory

2011-03-05T20:48:00.017Z

Since the foundations of our conservatory were put in on 11 February, there has been some more progress.

The bricks for the lower wall started to go up on the 15th February, 2011.

On the 18th February, 2011, the wall was still going up slowly.

On 25th February, 2011, our conservatory finally had the roof up and looks quite complete from outside. No outside steps until the plaster and electric wiring is in according to the builder.

On Thursday, 3rd March, 2011, the electrician showed up and fixed three electric outlets. Now, we have to wait for the plasterer - don't know when.

Only when the plasterer put the plaster on, then the steps will be put in. Then we can put in the carpet and blinds etc.

We would not be able to use the conservatory until the carpet is in. Let's see, when the steps will be in. GUESS!! Another few weeks.

Contract was signed in November, now in March we are still waiting. Amazing!!

Ian has been filling in the hole where the fish pond used to be. It is nearly level now.

Back to School

2011-03-01T15:41:00.004Z

Last week was half term break for all the schools so Abigail and Ashling had a good time going out to Poole and Bournemouth with their friends. They are both back to school this week and Abi has a football match today - under-16 county semi-final. Abi's school won 6-0!! Final in April.

Andrew has moved to a different section at work and is away for the week to help his new section install some equipment at Cambridge airport. Next week he is off somewhere else doing another installation. This department is based at the local international airport where his company have their own hangers and operate their own aircraft. Later this year or maybe next year, Andrew will be moved to a section that do aircraft maintenance at the airport. But for now, he is learning how to install radar equipment.

Abigail's School Football Team

2011-02-27T14:21:00.002Z

Well done to Abigail's school football teams. Abigail is part of the Under-16 and Under-18 football teams in her school. Both teams reached the last 16 in the national competition but were narrowly defeated in their last matches. Both were away at other schools so Abi's team had to drive 5 hours to get to one of the matches. I'm sure if it was a home match, the result might have been different.

But they are still in the county competition and could even win it this year.

Ashling has also been doing some sport for her school. Last week she took part in an inter-school badminton competition and her school won.

Trip to Romania

2011-02-27T13:50:00.004Z

Abigail is hopping to spend a week in Romania as a volunteer at summer camp for children at the end of June. She will be going as part of the Youth Group from St John's Church in Wimborne, where she goes on Sunday evenings. The church will pay for part of the cost but each person going has to raise the rest of the money, so Abigail has to raise £200 for her contribution. The group also have to plan what activities they will do with the children and need to bring art, craft and any other supplies they want to use as there isn't much available in the part of Romania where they are going.

The place they are going is home for children with special needs called Little John's House, in a small town called Sibiu in the centre of Romania in the state of Transylvania!!!!! It is run by a charity organisation and was set up by an English lady nearly 20 years ago. Every summer they invite volunteer groups to help with activities for children in the area to attend as there isn't much else for children to do there. Most of the children have physical, mental or emotional problems, so Abigail might find it a challenging experience.

Here are a few pictures of the home.

Conservatory

2011-02-12T14:37:00.008Z

Hurray! Finally the builder showed up on the Wednesday (3 February) evening about 8pm to look at the place. He promised to come either Tuesday or Wednesday the following week.

Great, it's exciting. He called on Wednesday evening and said to be here on Thursday. It's drizzling the whole day on Thursday, so materials to lay the foundation and the wall arrived and sit in front of the house. Cement mixer and few small tools were placed at the back of the house.

On Friday, it's still drizzling but no problem, something was done. I think, it's the foundation of the wall. See picture.

I think it's our mistake that we never confirmed when the work will be done. Or at least get some kind of time line and take into consideration the weather situation. Since the first contact with the builder to look at the site, 10 days to get this foundation. Amazing work in progress - No body's fault, be patient.

Chinese New Year in Poole, 2011

2011-01-29T22:00:00.006Z

Happy Rabbit Year to our friends and Family.

We are still debating what to do for the "new year eve". I was thinking about steamboat. We will see.

Too much preparation, I will settle for Chinese Take Away either from Ming Hong or Ken Hon from Tesco.

On the New Year Eve, these are what we have, simple and sumptious.

Barbeque Spare Ribs

Sweet & Sour Pork

King Prawns with Spicy kung Po Sauce

Beef with Ginger & Onions

Two Plain Noodles

Lemon Chicken and Chinese Roast Pork.

If I have to prepare all these foods, it would be "whole day" preparation and cooking. Less than £30, everything is on the table, more than enough for the whole family.

A bit salty but it's GOOD GGGGGGG.

Conservatory!

2011-01-29T21:38:00.003Z

Our future new conservatories will look something like this picture taken from www.conservatoriesonline.com . Our conservatory will be a bit bigger, I am really looking forward to it.

This is our very first experience dealing with a company to do some work in our home. So far, we are very disappointed with the communication , we are still waiting for the builders to at least contact us to brief us to what happen.

We paid 30% deposit since the 19 of November last year, so far, nothing happen due to the freezing weather as we will told. (Please pray of us that everything will go smoothly). The brochure of the K2conservatory will given to us but the company that contact us later was Canterbury Conservatories. I supposed they are the same. I hope everything will be alright, and the builder will contact us soon.

New Year Gathering in Brunei.

2011-01-04T19:55:00.009Z

Happy New Year to All our Friends and Family.

Pleasing to the eyes. These are what we missed from Brunei. Of course, friends are still number One on our list.

Off to Sibu

2010-12-23T17:50:00.002Z

We are flying to Sibu tomorrow morning - just the two of us. The three children will stay at home with their grandmother.

It is only a short trip to see Lucy's family, celebrate her parents' birthdays and also to see how her mother is doing after the chemotherapy.

There has been lots of snow the past week but thankfully Heathrow airport has opened again and the flights seem to be almost back to normal. The northern part of the country still has a lot of snow but I think the roads are clear now in the south. Last time I checked, the airport buses are still running. If we don't arrive in KL on time then you will know that there was more heavy snow!

Am looking forward to hot weather, teh tarik, kolo mee, red bean pau ........

Saturday Snow and Noodles

2010-12-18T21:37:00.003Z

We found a Chinese restaurant in Bournemouth that does good laksa, kueh teow, fried noodles so we took Ashling and Abigail there for lunch today. It was very good. The chicken laksa was one of the best I've had!

It has been snowing again so we were slipping and sliding a bit walking along the pavement. It snowed early this morning as Andrew was going off to work at 5:30am and when the rest of us got up, there was about 3 inches of snow laying around. But it only snowed for a short time this morning and the day has been bright and clear and the main roads are clear already. Our small road is still covered though and is very slippery now. I hope everything clears up for next Friday so we can get to the airport.

Ashling's 14th Birthday

2010-12-18T12:29:00.002Z

It was Ashling's birthday on Friday and also her last day of term. Both girls have now started their Christmas holidays. They go back to school 4th January.

We took Ashling to the movies last night to watch The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Abigail was out with her friends in Bournemouth and tried ice skating for the first time!

A Crisp Winter's Day

2010-12-15T09:00:00.004Z

It is a nice bright cold morning again and I need to go off to work soon - it is about 20 minutes walk away and is quite pleasant when the weather is like this, although I need to wrap up as the wind is freezing. There was frost on the ground earlier but it has almost disappeared and a group of seagulls just came swooping down into the back garden making lots of noise but they have flown off again just as quickly. They wouldn't stay still for me to take a picture!

A Day Out in Bournemouth

2010-12-15T08:41:00.004Z

Last week the snow was only around for 2 or 3 days, after that it disappeared quite quickly and we have been having some nice bright, cold days. Last weekend the sky was clear and the sun was shining although the temperature was only a few degrees above freezing, so we decided to drive into Bournemouth to walk around the town centre, visit the Christmas fair and do some shopping for the girls, especially since Ashling's birthday is coming up.

Andrew couldn't come as he is working every day - even weekends. His company have a lot of items that need to be assembled and tested at the moment so Andrew has been asked to go in on Saturdays and Sundays from 6am to about 12:30pm. He gets paid overtime so he doesn't mind too much.

Bournemouth town centre has two main shopping streets that have been pedestrianised so no cars can go through. In the town centre is an area where stalls and huts have been set up just for Christmas selling gifts, food and with a few fair games and activities. Lucy bought some roasted chestnuts that she and the girls ate - I don't like them very much. In the background, you can see what looks like a person climbing up a pole - that was a life-sized mechanical Santa that climbed up and down a pole. There was also a couple of merry-go-rounds but we didn't go on them!

2010-12-15T08:37:00.001Z

It's Snowing

2010-12-02T18:57:00.006Z

The snow has finally come to Poole. The rest of the country has been experiencing cold snowy weather for the past 4 or 5 days, which has closed down a few airports, blocked roads and caused lots of problems, but until last night, none had fallen in our area.

We woke up this morning to a snow white world - it was like a white carpet covering everything - very pretty. Abigail was up at 6am along with Andrew and turned the radio on to find out if the schools were going to be open or not. Every 15 minutes or so, the local radio station read out a list of schools that were closed because of the snow. Most of the schools in the area were closed, including Abigail's and Ashling's schools, so they had a holiday today.

Abigail went walking off to meet her friends and spent the day with them playing in the snow. Ashling stayed at home and had a couple of friends come by. I think they spent most of the time playing in the snow in the back garden. When I came home this afternoon, they were all covered in snow.

Ashling's school will be closed again Friday although we don't know about Abigail's school yet. But according to the local weather forecast, it is meant to be sunny tomorrow. No more snow for now but probably some more in January.

Ashling's Bread

2010-11-25T16:26:00.003Z

Ashling has to do cooking and baking as part of her Food Technology class in school. This week they made bread. Ashling brought home some of the bread she had made. Unfortunately, she only had a few pieces left to bring home as they were eaten by her friends.

Ashling is really good at baking - her bread looks as if it came from a shop (but she says she made it all by herself!!).

Last week she made a type of chocolate mousse cake for Abigail's birthday, which was really good. Abi took some to school and all her friends liked it.

Last night we asked Ashling to make something for the home group that meets in our house every Wednesday, so she made some cheese scones. They were nice. I don't think there are any left though.

Abi's Surprise Party

2010-11-25T16:20:00.004Z

Abigail' school friends gave her a surprise birthday party at a coffee shop in town last Saturday.

Then they took her off to watch the new Harry Potter film in Bournemouth.

Wasn't that nice!

Abigail is 16 Years Old!!!!!!!

2010-11-15T11:30:00.004Z

Abigail is 16 years old today - can you believe it?!?! That means Ashling will be 14 next month!!!!

Lucy made a special chocolate cheesecake for Abi last night (Sunday) and we took her out to Bournemouth to go shopping on Saturday afternoon - just the 3 of us - Andrew and Ashling stayed home.

Her birthday is today (Monday) and she started getting 'happy birthday' texts and message since late last night. I think her friends are planning something at school for her today.

Visit to Bournemouth International Church

2010-11-15T11:11:00.004Z

Last Sunday we decided to visit the International church in Bournemouth, which is just across the road from he main train / bus station. We had heard about it before but had never gone. It is run by a Korean pastor and I think it was originally set up as a Korean church but now they have lots of other nationalities there although the two main groups seem to be Korean and Chinese.

The service is in the afternoons on Sunday and they have a lunch beforehand. We didn't go for the lunch though. We were made to feel very welcome and would like to go again but it is a bit too far away to go on a regular basis.

One of the church members, a guy from the Middle East, took some photos and sent them to us.

Autumn Flowers

2010-10-11T23:24:00.002+01:00

Feeding Ducks last Sunday

2010-10-11T23:14:00.003+01:00

Last Sunday afternoon Lucy wanted to go out somewhere to walk around so we went down to Poole Park with some stale bits of bread to feed the ducks. It was nice to walk around the lake - the afternoon was cool but it was pleasant to walk without a jacket.

Only Abigail came with us. Andrew was working at the Chinese Take-away and Ashling didn't want to come out.

Blonde baby

2010-10-03T13:13:00.002+01:00

This is a recent addition to the church here in Poole - a typical English baby with blonde hair and blue eyes. Lucy says she wants one!!!!!!!!!!!

Nadrew's New Car

2010-10-03T13:01:00.002+01:00

Andrew had to replace his old Nissan Micra last week as it was beginning to fall apart and needed repairing but the cost of repairs would be more than the car was worth. So last weekend we went round all the nearby car dealers and used car showrooms, and Andrew checked some cars out on the Internet.

There are quiet a lot of good deals at the moment, so the timing was right. Andrew found a very nice 2005 Honda Civic Sport - a younger, 3-door version of our family car. He was pleased as he had wanted something like that from the start. It should keep him on the road for at least the next 5 years without any major problems.

Since Andrew has started his study 2 weeks ago, he now needs to get to Southampton every Monday so he can either drive or take the train. Last Monday he had to take the train but this week he is planning to drive his new car! His classes last all day from 10am to 7pm.

Back to school, work etc

2010-09-16T11:09:00.002+01:00

Abigail and Ashling have been back at school for nearly 2 weeks now and have slipped back into the regular routine quite easily. Abigail is now in Year 11 (Form 5) and will be finishing her GCSE exams next June and will have to choose her A-level subjects soon. Ashling is now Year 9 and is no longer a 'junior' in the school. She can now look down on all the new Year 8 pupils who have just joined the school as they are all shorter then her!!!

Abigail was off at the British Museum in London yesterday on an art trip. She had a nice time and did some good sketches of some of the exhibits. Ashling is playing netball this afternoon after school, I think.

Andrew has been at work all this time and seems to be doing well. He has been entered into the South West region Apprentice of the Year competition along with 3 others from his company. So today they are all going to Bristol for some type of interview. Next week Monday, he should also be going for registration and starting his study at Solent University in Southampton. It is a part time course paid for by his company and he will probably be going to Southampton every Monday for classes.

Sorry there aren't any pictures here but the camera has been damaged and doesn't work - the lens is stuck. I think it might have been knocked around too much in someone's bag or dropped too many times. So we'll just have to rely on mobile phone cameras for now!

Abi's Camping Trip

2010-09-16T10:57:00.007+01:00

The first thing Abigail did when we got back from Brunei was to go off camping with her school friends for 4 days.

There was a nice sized group of friends and the weather was good - warm days and cool nights. Someone had planned out the whole trip and arranged where to stay each night - I think they had a really good time.

There is a nice area along the coast, about 20 or 30 minutes drive from Poole called The Purbecks which is mainly countryside. There are several campsites around the area with toilet and shower facilities and places to cook where people can put up tents and park caravans. So the girls walked from one campsite to another each day. I think they spent about 4 hours walking every day.

They didn't carry everything with them though. Some of the parents were good enough to transport the tents and sleeping equipment from one site to another each day. The girls only needed to carry their food, drinks and whatever else they needed for the day.

They walked along nice sandy beaches, some rocky shores and cliffs and also had some small hills to walk over. And saw intersting places with strange names!

After all that, Abigail had just two days to recover and get ready to start school again.

Flying back to UK

2010-09-16T10:24:00.003+01:00

It's hard to believe that only 3 weeks ago we were in Brunei. Our journey back to Poole was long and tiring - we needed a few days rest to recover, but unfortunately, we had to go back to work.

The main problem was the Air Asia flight from KL to London was delayed. We were nearly 3 hours late leaving KL all because Air Asia had overbooked the flight and had to ask some of the passengers to leave the aircraft! It took them 30 or 40 minutes to sort that out and because the plane had been sitting there with the engines on all that time, they needed to refuel. They then had a problem with the refuelling and by the time the refuelling had been done, the plane had missed its flight window and had to wait another 2 hours before being allowed to depart. So we were all taken off the plane and left to wander around the airport. By then it was after midnight and a lot of passengers were worried about missing their connecting flights - and we were worried about missing our coach to get back to Poole.

We eventually took off and the flight took about 13 hours to get to Stansted Airport, just north of London. We arrived about 8:30am and our bus was due to leave at 9am but we had to wait to get through immigration and to get our baggage so it was 9:15am when we got out at Arrivals - too late.

The Air Asia staff in KL promised that someone in London would help people who had missed their connecting flights but when went looking for the Air Asia manager in Stansted, he wasn't even at the airport. There was no Air Aisa staff there at all to help. The airline didn't care at all about the delay it had caused and refused to take any responsibility. Some of the other passengers were flying on to other European cities and had to buy new tickets. We had to pay and "amendment fee" to get on the next coach - it was about half of the original ticket price. But we didn't have to wait very long and 5 hours later we were back in Poole.

After all that, I don't think I want to fly Air Asia again.

Dim Sum - Guess what are these?

2010-09-03T16:37:00.005+01:00

First evening in Brunei

2010-09-03T15:59:00.005+01:00

Many thanks to Steven and Pauline for letting us stay in their house. We had a really blessed time. Our first evening back in Brunei we arrived at the house about 6pm from Miri with Ann.

For our first meal in Brunei, we went to an old favourite - Hua Hua restaurant in Kuilap. We used to go their regularly, especially on Friday mornings for dim sum. The waitress remembered us and was really surprised to see how the girls had grown - I think everyone was surprised to see how tall they are.

Miri to BSB

2010-09-01T12:13:00.004+01:00

Many thanks to auntie Ann for collecting me, Abi and Ashling from Miri airport. We flew from Kuching to Miri last week, Tuesday, 24th Aug. Lucy stayed in Kuching for a few extra days to spend time with her mother. The back of the car was full of local fruit - pineapples, durians etc - what a nice smell - the girls said it reminded them of home in Brunei.

Tan ET and Jenny

2010-09-01T12:04:00.002+01:00

Our last night in Kuching we had dinner with some old friends who used to live in Brunei - Tan Ek Tee and his wife, Jenny. Tan used to work at the same technical college as Lucy in the Maths Dept but retired a little while before we left. They were also part of the same church we went to in Brunei and Tan taught a lot of the youngsters in the church to play guitar - including Andrew and Abigail.

The first thing he did was to look at Abigail's fingers to see if she was still playing!!

We went to a small restaurant near their house and afterwards went back to chat and of course, Abigail was asked to play so we had Tan and Abi playing with the rest of us singing. It was a really nice evening and good to see ET and Jenny again.

Pictures from Kuching

2010-09-01T11:56:00.005+01:00

Here are some photos Abigail and Ashling took around town. Kuching is the state capital of Sarawak and the town's name means "cat" in the Malay language.

Uncle Timothy's Restaurant

2010-08-28T10:07:00.005+01:00

We spent 6 days / 5 nights in Kuching with Lucy's mother. She is staying above uncle Timothy's restaurant along Jalan Ban Hock called 'Ting Noodle House' (opposite Grand Continental Hotel).

The photo on the right shows the front of uncle's restaurant with another of Lucy's anuties - her mother's second sister. Uncle Timothy is the youngest brother in Lucy's mother's family.

Lucy's eldest bother is staying with mother at the moment. We are really happy and thankful that she is responding well to the treatment although it does leave her feeling weak at times. Only 2 more injections left but we will have to wait for the review to see how well the treatment has worked.

Uncle Timothy is a really good chef and always feeds us well - too well - am sure we all put on weight!!

These are some of the dishes he made for us one evening.

Mother in Kuching

2010-08-25T09:14:00.000+01:00

In Kuching

2010-08-22T05:23:00.005+01:00

We have been in Kuching since Thursday but haven't been able to upload any photos. We are staying at Tune Hotel near the river in the town centre right next to the Hilton Hotel and Parkson shopping centre. Lucy's mother is less than 10 minutes walk away.

The hotel is quite new and clean but pretty basic. A cheap place to stay if you don't intend to spend too much time in the hotel room!! The rooms are small but bright and clean with a nice bathroom but no TV or telephone. There are 2 PCs in the lobby that guests are allowed to use to get on the Internet but the CPUs are locked away so we can't transfer any photos. Will probably do some uploading when we get to Brunei.

We have been spending time with Lucy's mother. She has been responding well to her treatment but still has one or two more injections to go and will have a review after that.

Have had some good food, especially at Lucy's uncle's restaurant (pictures later). Girls are enjoying themselves.

2010-08-17T06:28:00.006+01:00

After having dinner with Lucy's youngest brother and family, we went to see Lucy's second brother, Jeffrey, who has a shop just over the hill from Kapit.

The two children - Matthew and Joy who were both excited to see us as well.

Matthew is 10 years old and Joy is 5. Joy looks just like her mother.

Long Journey

2010-08-17T06:10:00.002+01:00

It took us 5 hours to get from our house in Poole to Stansted airport on Saturday morning. Normally we would fly SIA, MAS or RBA from Heathrow, which is only 2.5 hours drive away but this time we took Air Asia, which flies from Stansted Airport, north of London. After a 4 hour wait at the airport before getting on the plane we flew non-stop to KL for 13 hours. It is too long to be sitting on a plane - the seats were OK and enough leg room but still not possible to lay down or curl up to sleep and certain parts began to get numb from sitting down too long!!!

This is the first time we have used Air Asia because they only started doing fligths from UK to KL last year. Althought he tickets are cheaper than other airlines, you still have to pay extra for baggage, food, in-flight TV etc. And because the airport they use outside London is more difficult for us to get to, it is not so conveniet and the overall price difference is not so great.

When we arrived in KL it was 7:30am Malaysian time (just after midnight in the UK) and we had 7 hours to wait before the flight to Sibu so we took a bus and went into the city centre for something to eat and to look around for a few hours. It was fun because the girls were excited to see familiar things and get to eat mee goreng, roti canai and drink milo ping. The flight to Sibu fromKL took less than 2 hours so we arrived in Sibu about 6pm and went straight to the Li Hua hotel in town near the wharf and the express boats. The first thing the ladies at the counter asked was "where is Andrew?" Everyone remembers Andrew!

So from leaving our house in Poole and getting to the hotel in Sibu, it took use 30 hours!!

Dinner in Kapit

2010-08-16T15:31:00.007+01:00

We arrived in Kapit this afternoon around 4pm. The first thing we did was go to the coffee shop for a drink with Lucy's dad. After that we went round town seeing relatives and Lucy's old school friends. We have arranged to meet for breakfast tomorrow (if we can wake up in time!!).

Tonight Lucy's youngest brother, Steven, took us out for dinner. He has three children but the youngest is only 3 months and this is the first time we have seen her. The other two remember us and were very excited to see their cousins again.

Grace is now 6 years old, Aaron is 3 and the youngest is Gwyneth, but she didn't come out for dinner.

Andrew@work

2010-07-30T12:07:00.004+01:00

Andrew finished his one year apprentice course at the beginning of the month and received an award for excellence. We had some photos but someone deleted them from the camera!!

Since finishing his course, Andrew has been working full time in Cobham. He will be rotated around a few different departments of the next year or two. He has started in the Projects Dept helping to update various project details and helping the project managers keep track of things.

Today he has been sent to Swindon, about 2 hours drive away, to collect something from a supplier. He was given a company car to drive - a big Ford Mondeo Ghia 2.0!! He has only been in the office for less than 3 weeks and they are sending him off by himself with a company car!!

Abigail taking pictures

2010-07-14T01:01:00.000+01:00

The Fish Pond

2010-07-14T00:41:00.004+01:00

The previous owners of our house kept large Japanese carp in a fish pond 6 feet deep and about 10 feet long at the back of the house. They took the fish out and drained most of the water but left a lot of bits - lots of wiring and pipes, two big dirty filter tanks - it needs a big clean up.

Last weekend, Lucy borrowed a van from work again to help move some of the rubbish left behind including the bits from the fish pond. On Saturday morning Andrew helped me take out the pond lining and clean out the filter tanks so we could take them to the local dump.

In the afternoon, we knocked down part of the wall and started filling in the hole. We didn't manage to take down all of the wall but it is a lot tidier now.

Empty Rooms

2010-07-14T00:25:00.002+01:00

Andrew cleaning the living room.

Ashling in the kitchen.

Up the stairs.

Cleaning up Ashling's room

Abigail's bedroom

The Move

2010-07-13T23:31:00.007+01:00

Lucy borrowed a van from her work for the weekend so we could move all our things to our new house. Lucy was the only one allowed to drive it but she handled it very well. Andrew and I did most of the carrying while Lucy did the driving with the girls helping out as well. There were a few items left in the van from Lucy's work, which the girls found!

We started on Friday night and finished moving everything by Sunday night and spent our first night surrounded by boxes and suitcases.

The front of the house has been paved for car parking so no front garden - maybe try to change that later. The house is a converted bungalow so two bedrooms on the ground floor (facing the road) and two bedrooms upstairs in the loft.

At the back the previous owners kept a large fish pond but didn't take much care of the garden. The grass isn't looking too good at the moment as the weather has been quite dry. So a bit of work to do there. We don't want the fish pond so will have to fill it in - will show some more pictures of that later. That's Abigail's bedroom window at the top at the back. Ashling has the top room at the front.

Moving House

2010-06-28T10:11:00.004+01:00

We are moving house this coming weekend. Should be getting the keys on Friday and then will move everything over the weekend. Lots of packing, cleaning etc to be done.

Will have a new phone number for the house but it won't be turned on until next Tuesday afternoon 6th July. Will let everyone know our new address and home phone number after we move in. Our mobile numbers are still the same.

Church Picnic

2010-06-20T21:53:00.005+01:00

We had a great afternoon at the church picnic today in Upton Park, just outside Poole. The afternoon was hot and sunny with a clear sky and not much wind. The last few days have been a bit cloudy with a cool breeze, so we were afraid it would be the same today.

Andrew was able to help drive people in his car - it is handy having him able to drive around now.

We all sat down together at the end of the long field in front of Upton House, which is open to the public. The field is about 300m long and there were quite a few groups of people playing, having picnics, or walking around but it wasn't too crowded.

Abigail and Ashling joined in playing rounders, I kicked a football around with Andrew and some others. Lucy decided it was too hot and sat in the shade under some trees.

Came back home about 5pm to rest, have showers and watch some World Cup football.

We took this picture as we were getting ready to leave the park and come home. Ashling is taller than Abigail now - hopefully she won't grow any more! Abigail has a short hair cut after Andrew did some experimenting and tries to 'style' her hair a couple of weeks ago.

The last couple of weeks

2010-06-17T10:48:00.004+01:00

We haven't written anything for the past few week although there have been a few things going on.

We are in the middle of buying a house at the moment and are hoping to complete all the paperwork by the end of this month so we can move in by the beginning of July. It is near where we are staying now - just 5 minutes walk away. We didn't want to move out of the area as Ashling likes walking to school with her friends. Abigail can still cycle (or walk or take the bus) to school and Lucy can still get to work easily. The house is a converted 1950's bungalow with 2 bedrooms downstairs and 2 upstairs. The girls can have the upstairs rooms (along with bathroom). There is a bit of work to be done, but we can take our time doing it. Click

Lucy mother is half-way through her chemo and responding well, so far. The side affects haven't been too bad although she does feel tired and uncomfortable for a day or two after each injection, which is every 3 weeks. We will be going to see her in August for about 10 days.

Abigail and Ashling have exams at the moment. Abigail has several GCSE exams in Physical Education, Religion & Philosophy and Chinese. She has done three already and has three more coming up the end of this Friday and Tuesday. For the first two exams, she sent me texts asking what her seat number and exam numbers was just before she was meant to go in to the exam!!!!

Ashling is also doing the Chinese GCSE exam with Abigail. They haven't had any classes but have just been doing their own study at home. They should be fine. The level is about the same as Chinese in Primary 5 in Chung Hwa school in Brunei.

Abigail has also been taking part in several athletics competition representing her school and the region usually throwing the shot putt and discus.

Andrew has been driving around in his car and having fun. He had to replace the clutch but was able to get help from one of his instructors from college, so that was handy as Andrew was able to bring his car into the college workshop and had his instructor show him what to do.

Girls' School

2010-05-27T12:14:00.002+01:00

Next week the two girls are on holiday for one week for school half-term. Abigail will probably be working for 4 days at two different places to help pay for a trip with her friends to the Larmer Tree Music Festival some time in July. Ashling will probably stay at home or go out with her friends.

Hopefully both will do some study for upcoming exams. Abigail has already done one exam for her GCSE modules and has a few more in the middle of June. Both Abi and Ashling are doing the Chinese GCSE exams in June. Shouldn't be too difficult for them. Andrew did the same exam and we have a copy of the syllabus and past papers.

Abigail had a bit of excitement at school this week. The school has built a new sports hall and had the official opening yesterday. They had Harry Redknapp (currently manager of Tottenham Hotspurs football team) to open it. He lives in Poole a few miles down the road from us.

Ashling has been invited to join her school's under-13 netball team to do some coaching sessions with national players and take part in a small tournament tomorrow. She is starting to play more sport now. She stays back after school to play tennis and rounders.

Andrew's First Car

2010-05-18T19:45:00.002+01:00

Lucy's mother

2010-05-18T11:54:00.003+01:00

It has been a difficult couple of weeks since hearing about Lucy's mother's diagnosis, especially since we are so far away and Lucy can't go home very easily. We are thankful for all the prayers and have been encouraged by the possibility of treatment.

The original scans in Kuching showed the bone cancer was quite advanced already and we were told that it was incurable. A second set of scans and tests were done in Singapore and the doctors there said treatment should be able to halt the spread (but not cure). Apparently, there have been advances in chemo treatment which are more targeted and with less severe side effects.

Lucy's mother has had one treatment already and has 5 more to go. So far she is feeling ok although she had some problems with her blood pressure the other day.

We are hoping to fly over the middle of August for about 10 days. Unfortunately, we can't go any earlier for various reasons. Hopefully by then, the flights won't be affected by any more volcanic ash - some airports in the UK were closed again over the past few days.

Abi's Work Experience

2010-05-18T11:44:00.005+01:00

Abigail enjoyed herself for the past two weeks while doing her work experience placement at a nearby primary school. She was helping to look after 9 year old children as a teaching assistant. They seemed to have liked Abigail as well judging by the fare-well cards she received on her last day.

Going back to school Monday (yesterday) must have been a shock to her system as we got a call in the afternoon to say she was in the medical centre feeling light headed. Probably from all her activities over the weekend and not getting enough rest. Anyway, I brought her home early and she slept all afternoon. Afterwards she was fine and even stayed up late AGAIN!!!

Abigail on school work placement

2010-05-05T08:38:00.004+01:00

Everyone in Abigail's class is doing a two week work experience placement this week and next week. The school helped them find places to work at around Poole. Abigail is doing her work placement at a primary school nearby.

Today is her first day - Monday was a holiday and the school had an extra day off yesterday, so Abigail had a free day yesterday too. The school is about 20 minutes by bicycle but Abigail didn't want to cycle this morning so I drove her there.

She is a classroom assistant helping to look after 9 / 10 year old children. Abi enjoyed her first day and now has lots of little friends who follow her around and hold her hands at break time.

New Driver

2010-05-04T13:58:00.002+01:00

Andrew passed his driving test today. Hooray!

Andrew Home

2010-04-29T12:17:00.002+01:00

Andrew is back home from Malaysia. He flew into Heathrow last night and got a coach to Poole which arrived after midnight. We collected him from the coach station, which is only 5 minutes away. I think it was probably 1am or so before he went to bed after unpacking and showering. He was up again at 7am getting ready to go off to college!

We're glad he is back home again and thankful to everyone who helped look after him in KL.

Andrew back next week - we hope

2010-04-22T08:10:00.002+01:00

Andrew has been told by SIA that the earliest they can get him on a flight is 28th April.

Update - Andrew is confirmed coming back on 28th. He should be home sometime around midnight.