Sunday, April 20, 2008

The Village...


First thoughts might be..a horror movie..?But no,its just the sleepy little English village in which I now find myself waiting continously for the arrival of my princess/better half..

The photo is of the house we are moving into.Its actually quite nice,with a stunning view of the rolling hills from the bedroom window..even the odd fox can be spotted!!The interior has a modern but at the same time Historic feel to it,which is GREAT.There are also two fire places in the lounge alone so im looking forward to some red wine and romantic evenings;).Who knows what miracles might happen there..?

I found out today one of my neighbours is a policeman,so I guess ill have to tread carefully!The other one I think is an artist who runs her business from home,and who is also deafer than I am(hard to imagine).Apart from those two the rest of the houses are big by British standards and so there occupants seldom seen.The whole village is surrounded by farms with plenty of interesting foot paths which im hoping to discover together with Lisa.Futher down the main road(if you can call it that)is a large dam(8miles to walk round it)which is stocked with trout.Ive enquired about the hire of a boat and kit,although I have yet to even attempt the art of fly fishing,all in all it works out to about £30 for the day,not bad for a day out and you keep your catch!(im a seafood fan).Even further down the road is the nearest village,Brixworth.Not much there either..basically our village is just a couple of stone houses and a pub,as ive mentioned.

Its been another cold day in which ive been holed up indoors,something which is proving rather frustrating!!I think its time for a glass of red,even though the enjoyment ive had sipping glasses a couple of weeks ago is missing,simply because the reality is theres nothing like sharing a glass of red wine with your loved one and enjoying the conversation that accompanies it.

So ill say Poka for now,
Craig

Saturday, April 19, 2008

My first attempt...from a thousand miles away..

How to start this im not quite sure,but here goes..basically im Lisa"s fiancee/other half.She is my dream come true and EVERYTHING I could ever want and now she has invited me to be a part of her online journal,something im a bit nervous about.

Unfortunately due to an unforseen passport issue we are now a couple of thousand km apart from each other,and this is driving me insane!!As most people will know the SA Home Office is not exactly,shall we say fast/friendly/efficient..

So far the better part of my 1st week in good old freezing England has been spent in a bit of a daze.Probably still from the shock of leaving Lees behind and being uncertain as to the exact date of her arrival.Although hard this seperation has had its benifits,hey Lees?;).I have been keeping busy,started a new job at an Independant school near Northampton called Spratton Hall in the little village of Spratton.Ive also managed to find accomadation in the form of a 2Bed teerraced house in the village of Walgrave which is everything id hoped for,which is a house in the middle of nowhere,surrounded by farms,all we have is one pub and a couple of stone houses,oh and a stunning stone chapel..Slowly ive been setting the house up,getting the neccesary utensils,furniture etc(which has proved challenging)so that when my fiancee does arrive she can simply add her touch and settle in easily.

One of my hobies is people watching and after todays shopping trip which included,a dvd,books,a printer/scanner/copier and medicine I decided to spend an hour on one of the benches in the shopping centre and simply just watch the world goodbye..needless to say this lasted about 15min before I got sick of it,the culture here is just so different,your average shopper never seems to have a lift going to the top floor and the amount of 15yr olds pushing prams is MINDBLOWING!!So I packed my stuff and headed back to Walgrave!

Now im sitting here in freezing conditions(British spring)drinking a double rum,poured by my friend,better known as King Barny,wondering what this week holds and hoping it brings good news.Its also probably time to get supper ready and move on to a slightly smoother drink,a glass of red wine and relax and enjoy the rest of this evening.So this brings my first attempt at adding to contemplating my navel to an end.

Poka C..

Thursday, April 17, 2008

A long, long time... An eternity, in fact!

17 iv 2008, Thursday
Day # 8 of waiting, waiting, waiting…
In an hour the electricity’s going to disappear for 2 hours so thought I better respond to my urge to write before that disappeared too! Sitting in my parents’ study (really just one of our bedrooms but only now with the bed replaced by a computer!), an empty cup of coffee near the keyboard I wish could somehow be magically refilled and still smiling from the sms Craig sent me from England a few minutes ago where he mentioned the cost of a rabbit cage is 38 pounds! This may not sound deeply romantic to the bulk of you, but to me this is the most tender thoughtfulness I’ve yet experienced… (A little bit of history to furnish this pretty arb comment: my last two months in England saw me being ‘found’ by the most gorgeous little lop-eared rabbit I called Jack – and Jack, perfectly house-trained, kept me, literally, alive during the worst few months of my life… It is as if her were somehow sent… Since then, and actually even before then, rabbits have featured often in my art and visual journals, having a kind of kindly talismanic power over my heart. And Craig, knowing this, and only having been in England a week, has already sought out a nearby farmer who sells the lop-eared variety I especially adore, selling for 6 quid each… Special, huh?)
[***wanted to insert photos of jack and past bummy-containing art work, but alas this connection is too slow...***]
Though there are two contacts I’ve been blessed with – one in the Pretoria Home Office who apparently only needs a bottle of brandy for his efforts, the other a kindly member of my fiancĂ©’s extended family – none has as yet been able to furnish us with any news of where my passport is in the system. But, seeing as I only applied in Malmesbury early on Thursday morning, it’s no wonder or surprise, I guess! Theoretically, the passport should be ready in 6 to 8 weeks and this will literally leave me with only about a week or so’s breathing space inside my Indefinite Leave To Remain – expiring very DEFINITELY on June 21st. YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Minus a car and minus any sort of cash flow, I’ve embarked on a special (portable!) project to keep me out of mischief/sane/amused/from crying – though it’s a secret surprise for Craig: it is something for our little house in the tiny village of Walgrave near Kettering in Northamptonshire! Other than that, I have made my bed with my own duvet, pillows and white cotton bed linen so I at least feel somewhat ‘installed in residence’ – i.e. feel at home. Every time I need to get dressed, I rummage about in my packed suitcase on the floor – all my toiletries laid out on the floor too… A strange, disquieting place to be, this limbo, this twilight… I don’t sleep much – and when I do, they’re dreams of packing and packing and packing and never having enough space in my suitcase, of Emirates airlines and checking in and weighing my luggage…
And so, I now have plenty of time to write again! (big smile)
I’ve always wished for a very interactive blog (I STILL utterly dislike that word!!) but it seems as if those of my friends who DO read it, are too shy or too pressed for time to add their own words to this story… So PLEASE, oh pretty pretty please, DO add yourself to my story because – a selfish reason really: I want to look back one day and read all the other stories and selves intertwined with mine!
With LOTS of love,
Lisa