Going Kamping - Life on the Open Road

It's been a while ........

2015-09-15T00:25:00.001+01:00

I can’t believe it’s been over 2 years since I last wrote my blog!!!! We wanted adventure and we’ve certainly had it. We have traveled across the entire of Canada from east coast to west. We have visited 12 of the 13 Canadian Provinces/Territories. The only place we haven’t been is Nunavut and you can’t get there by road. We have visited the Arctic twice and have crossed the Arctic Circle four times – we even put our bare feet in the Arctic Ocean which was unsurprisingly FREEZING!!!

We have been to Canada’s most easterly point at Cape Spear, Newfoundland and it’s most westerly community at Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory. We drove the iconic Dempster Highway across the Arctic Circle to Inuvik, Northwest Territories – what a road! We have also explored Alaska extensively from north to south to east to west – if there was a road then we went there! The famed Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay was an amazing adventure – we got to see muskoxen, mountain goats, caribou, a grizzly bear and lots of water birds.
So this post will be a quick catch up on where we’ve been, the things we've seen and some of the adventures we’ve had.

After leaving Nova Scotia we spent just over 4 months on the beautiful Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. Sauble Beach was our favourite place to swim in Lake Huron – one of the Great Lakes. Soft sand and warm water plus big waves made for lots of fun! We went to Tobermory and took a glass bottom boat tour for Flynn’s birthday. It was a little choppy but we saw shipwrecks under the clear blue water which was very cool. It was boiling hot at over 35C for a lot of the time and incredibly humid which was a new experience for us all.
When we left the Bruce Peninsula we headed north around the Great Lakes and into Northern Ontario. This was in the autumn of 2013 and we got to see the amazing colours that happen at this time of year. We saw the famous locks at Sault St Marie and hooked up with some lovely fellow homeschoolers in Thunder Bay.

We spent 2 weeks just outside Winnipeg, Manitoba and Flynn experienced his first North American Halloween – we were massively unprepared for the amount of goodies he would get and ended up stuffing things in every available pocket when his bag was full.

We hit a snowstorm in Alberta so hung out in a little campground till it had passed. We had winterised the caravan so had no running water and it was pretty cold, but we coped. Once the storm had passed we finally made it to the Canadian Rockies which were simply breath taking! We stopped for a night in Golden, British Columbia, at a truck stop and then ended up staying for our first winter. Tony got a job working for highways plowing the roads and we rented a little place just outside town.

Our first winter was white and bright. Tony was on call so it made planning things a bit tricky and we were also having major problems with our house in the UK which was rented. It was a difficult time, but we got through it together. We visited Lake Louise and Banff, walked Johnston Canyon and watched the ice climbers and had a lovely time at Radium Hotsprings.

We continued our journey west in April 2014 and finally made it to the Pacific Ocean. We spent a month exploring in and around the Vancouver area. The Lyn Canyon Suspension Bridge was amazing as was Hells Gate. We strolled on beaches, fished for trout at the campground where we were staying, met up with an old school friend and made some amazing new friends in the local homeschool community. We packed in A LOT in that month!

We had made it from east to west so it was time to head north. We had arranged some work in a campground in the Yukon and we were pretty excited as we would cross the 60th parallel and enter the Great White North.

We drove the famous Cassiar Highway and finally saw some bears! 10 black bears in one day after never seeing one before! We stopped in Smithers for a few days so Tony could do some repairs to the truck and then continued to push north. We entered the Yukon around 8th May 2014 and our first stop was Watson Lake and the famous Signpost Forest. Tony had made us a sign with Culworth on it, where we lived in the UK and the distance to it. There are over 70,000 signs and it was all started by a homesick soldier in WW2 when they were building the Alaska Highway. He put up a sign to his hometown and it snowballed from there. We also watched a very cool movie at the Northern Lights Centre on their 360 degree screen.

Whitehorse was the next stop to stock up before heading to the campground where we would be working. We knew it would be a 10 hour round trip back to shop if we ran out of anything so we tried to make sure we had everything we needed. On the way to the campground we stopped at beautiful Kluane Lake – wow what a place! We explored the remains of Silver City and soaked up the sunshine and views for a couple of days before carrying on with our journey. We finally made it to Discovery Yukon Lodgings on May 17th 2014 – our home for the next couple of months.

This was our first experience of living remotely and off-grid and we loved it! The campground is known as “An Oasis on the Alaska Highway” and it really was. Beaver Creek was our nearest community – about 52kms with a population of 112. We could buy very expensive fuel and some basics if we needed them, but we managed pretty well. We really fell in love with the place and the people we were working with so it was a real wrench when we left. We headed into Alaska on 18th July – just before Flynn’s 10th birthday.

Alaska was a bit rough sadly. We had our first puncture and were plagued by breakdowns resulting in needing a new engine for the truck! This was very unexpected, but we still had a good time. We took Flynn to Chena Hotsprings for his birthday and visited the Ice Museum there too. We saw Mount McKinley – the tallest mountain in North America and we got to visit the Kilcher Homestead, just outside Homer and famous due to the hit show Alaska:The Last Frontier.

Once our mechanical difficulties were solved we drove to Chicken and then on to the Top of the World Highway back into the Yukon Territory to Dawson City. We LOVED Dawson! So much history, so many tales, so much GOLD! We did lock the keys in the truck but luckily we managed to break back in!

From Dawson we drove the Dempster Highway, across the Arctic Circle to Inuvik. We got our second puncture on that bumpy road! Now when I say puncture, what I should really say is that the tyre was shredded and there was no rubber left! Then it was back south to Whitehorse where we found ourselves a lovely off-grid cabin to rent for the winter.

Once we had our winter accommodation sorted we headed back to the campground where we worked earlier in the season to help get it all shutdown for winter. Autumn in the Yukon is beautiful. The trees turn shades of gold, the sun shines and it’s just gorgeous. We went off into the bush exploring on the ATV and visited the ghost town of Snag.

On October 2nd we moved into our little cabin and got ready to experience a winter in the Great White North. We loved our cabin even with no running water and only an outhouse. We had a couple of solar panels for electricity and a back up generator and it was a fantastic adventure. To start with we hauled water from the river but then it froze so we used to get water from the community centre. We lived on Annie Lake Road which is a beautiful area surrounded by mountains. We were lovely and cosy with the woodstove going and Tony and I both enjoyed chopping, splitting and stacking the wood. Our landlord had 5 dogs which we could take for walks and play with – I was in heaven!

We hit –40C a couple of times and had spells of –35C which stuck around for a couple of weeks at a time. I’m told we had a pretty mild winter, but your eyelashes and hair still froze! There was an active community so we got involved in lots of things. Flynn loved ice skating and had some cross country ski lessons. Tony joined the Volunteer Fire Fighters and qualified as a Fire Man and we both got new tattoos! I had the best birthday present ever – a ride with a dogsled team! We also attended the start of the Yukon Quest dogsled race – now that was a very cold morning! We made some great friends and had a really amazing winter.

May 2015 saw us heading back to Discovery Yukon Lodgings to work again. My Mum and Dad had arranged to come and visit so we were very much looking forward to that – we also had a big surprise in store for them, but that will have to wait for the next blog.

So this is just a short update of our adventures to date. We have all been on a massive journey of self discovery and have grown even closer as a family. We’ve had some ups and downs, but things have always worked out in the end. Personally I now trust this process and have let go of a lot of stuff. I don’t worry and stress anymore because I know it will all work out for the best – it has been proven to me over and again.

I promise it won’t take me 2 years to write the next blog!

Lets get going!

2013-06-18T22:30:00.000+01:00

Our time in Nova Scotia is nearly done. It's going to be strange leaving here. Through all the difficulties we had before we still always kept our love for this beautiful little province. At one point we thought this was going to be "home" so it will be sad to leave. I love always being so close to the ocean - I always feel peaceful sitting listening to the waves, so it is going to be hard to leave knowing we won't see the ocean again for a really long time!

Still, I know we have exciting adventures ahead of us and I know at some point we will come back to Nova Scotia - Canada's Ocean Playground.

The teething problems we've had with the caravan are now all fixed - yippee!!! We have a new convertor, some new wiring for the lights in the slide and Tony fixed the problem with the toilet! He was right all along in his diagnosis that the stench/stack pipe was pushed too far into the black tank where the toilet empties. This meant that the tank couldn't vent through the pipe and instead blew back through the toilet! The dealer we bought it from was going to have the caravan back in on Thursday for the day, but Tony took matters into his own hands and fixed it in about 20 minutes - brilliant! Saved us the hassle of having to move the caravan and having to amuse Mr Puss in the truck for a whole day - something I was not looking forward to!

So we are pretty much ready to go. We will need to move things around bit before we head off - anything that might shift in transit needs to be put away or secured. Towing a caravan is a whole new experience for me. I'm used to traveling in a campervan where you know about it straight away if something shifts or a drawer or cupboard door pops open, and you deal with it. With a caravan we won't know until we stop if something has moved so we need to be extra careful when we pack up.

It's exciting to know that in less than a week we will be back on the road. Tony has really enjoyed his work at the campsite here and the owner is so pleased with his efforts he has told him there will always be a job waiting for him should we come back - it's so nice that he has been appreciated for all his hard work.

We have a job lined up for July and August in Ontario near to Owen Sound on the Bruce Peninsula. It looks an amazing place with 400 acres of wilderness, 14kms of trails, a lake and even caves - which Flynn can't wait to explore. There will be lots to keep us busy, plus lovely facilities we can use and lots to see and do. Tony has a second cousin not far away so it will be great to catch up with him and his family too - they really made us very welcome on our first Canadian trip back in 2009.

We will be setting off on 24th June and aim to be at our new site by around the 30th so we can enjoy Canada Day on 1st July in our new location. Our first stop is planned to be Saint John, New Brunswick, where we hope to catch up with a friend and then we will make our way to Quebec and then into Ontario.

I will leave you with a short video of the famous Bay of Fundy Tidal Bore which we saw yesterday. The Bay of Fundy experiences the highest tides in the world with a peak tidal range of 15 metres, (50ft), and the Tidal Bore is "a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a standing wave of water that travels upstream, against the current of a river or narrow bay", (bayoffundy.com). We watched the tidal wave coming in yesterday and although it wasn't a huge wave at this time it was still pretty cool.

A New Adventure

2013-06-10T17:16:00.001+01:00

So this post has been a long time coming! Big changes have been afoot and we are finally embarking on a new adventure!

After what happened when we attempted to emigrate to Canada in 2011, I said I didn't want to "try again" - I wasn't even sure if I ever wanted to return to Canada at all! Once we got our residency and after a short trip in 2012 I did feel better about the place though - after all it wasn't Canada's fault everything went so badly wrong! We were just unlucky to fall into a place with such terrible people - but still, I digress!

Summer of 2012 saw us undertaking a road trip around Europe. 3 weeks, the open road - pure bliss! We visited my lovely godmother in France, walked on a glacier in Switzerland, crossed some amazing mountain passes and generally had a brilliant time. After this trip I came to the conclusion that I really didn't want to return to Canada to "settle" - however, I did want to make the most of all the time and money we had spent gaining residency and wondered about just having a big adventure. I suggested to Tony that we could return to undertake a huge road trip - 12 months to explore Canada and just see what happened. He thought it was a brilliant idea so we set about making plans.

Seven short months later and here we are - back in Nova Scotia. We still had our truck in storage and the old girl started first time, so then our first mission was to find a caravan, (travel trailer). We had a month in a motel in Boutilier's Point and we took that time to get ourselves ready to roll. We also enjoyed the amazing views!!!!

Finding our caravan was fairly painless. We visited several dealers and searched on Kijiji, (online free ads), and then there she was! Once we'd seen her nothing else came close as she has a pretty unusual layout - we'd certainly never seen one before. She is a 2008 Timberlodge and she has an upstairs! 32.5 feet from bumper to hitch and we just fell in love! Single slide, plenty of storage and a loft for Flynn. It does make her a bit taller than your average caravan though - 12.6ft, but nothing Tony and our big truck can't handle.

We've been back in Nova Scotia just over 5 weeks now and in our new home for a week. So far, so good, and everything is going smoothly. We're staying local whilst we make sure everything works properly as we have a 30 day warranty but then we will hit the road!

Tony got work on the second day we were in the campsite - if it carries on as easy as that then we will be fine! Currently he is clearing a path through the woods from the tent sites to the toilets. He has a chain saw, a digger and a tractor - what more could any man want lol! The job basically means we can stay for free and he earns some money too which is brilliant!

We have also just secured a 2 month job in Ontario for July and August! Again it was pretty easy and is a similar sort of thing just not on a campsite. We will be mowing, gardening and lots of other bits and pieces. They have 400 acres of woods and 14km of trails so we will have lots to explore. Flynn is particularly keen on exploring the caves!

So we have probably another 2 weeks here and then we will take a week to get to The Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. We don't want to rush so will just take our time.

I don't know where we will be heading come September, but that is half of the fun. We aim to go wherever the road takes us and just live life to the fullest. I plan to keep you all updated on our travels as regularly as possible and as long as we have wifi.

Let the Canadian adventures begin!

The Immigration Trap - A year on

2012-04-28T08:17:00.000+01:00

Exactly one year ago today we were boarding a plane ready to set off for our new life in Nova Scotia. Our hopes and dreams were intact and we were full of excitement about our new adventure. All of our belongings had gone into storage, our house was empty and ready to be rented and the three of us and the cat were setting sail for pastures new.

How things can change in twelve short months. We certainly had an adventure, not quite what we were expecting, but an adventure none the less and a valuable learning experience. Looking back now I can see the signs of where things started to go wrong - isn't hindsight a marvelous thing?!

May of 2010 saw us embarking on a six week tour of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland looking for a job for Tony. Of course it couldn't be just any job, it had to be one that fulfilled the criteria for Provincial Nomination and that also meant that the employer needed to be willing to go through the process with us. It might seem like that was a pretty tall order but we were optimistic that things would work out. We had a list of companies we were going to approach and a folder full of resumes to hand out plus we got to explore more of the provinces we had so fallen in love with.

Imagine our surprise when on the second day of our trip Tony was offered a job! We hadn't even started to travel around or approach any of the companies we had short listed. Tony had simply been doing what he does best - talking to people and explaining what we were doing. It almost seemed too easy. The people who offered him the job had just bought a new business and needed to replace existing staff for the following year, so even the time frame worked perfectly for us! We would have time to get our UK house finished and ready for renting and to get our belongings sorted out and sell what we didn't want to keep - perfect! They were looking for an Operations Manager to run the business for them as they didn't have any experience in their new venture and wanted someone who could solve problems with the minimum of disruption. Now that job had Tony's name written all over it! I have never met a better problem solver than Tony. He truly can "think outside the box" and his associates in the UK have a phrase they frequently use - "If anyone can Tony can - he's The Can Man"!

So, the job was offered, they were willing to go through the immigration process with us and everyone was very excited! Plus it also meant that we now had six weeks to use as a holiday - what a bonus! Admittedly, it was a bit cold and as we were so early in the tourist season practically nothing was open, but that didn't stop us having a great time.

The job came with accommodation in a caravan onsite which seemed perfect as it would give us time after landing to find somewhere more permanent to live and would take some pressure off the move. We could live in the caravan for up to 6 months and after all the touring we had done in campervans I knew we would be fine. We had already spent 16 weeks in a much smaller campervan so a large caravan would seem like luxury! We were required to return in October so that Tony could have some training with the guy he was replacing, but that seemed perfectly reasonable.

However, the warning bells started when we had to completely fund that trip ourselves. Surely an employer who was bringing over someone they wanted to fill a vacancy would offer some assistance with the costs? Flights to Canada are incredibly expensive, but at the time all we could see was that the job was there and it was a ticket to our new life in Nova Scotia. The two weeks training went fine and Tony was in his element. He had everything under control within the first week, but the atmosphere was different. The employers weren't as friendly and there seemed to be something going on under the surface. It turned out that the business had made a massive loss that year so understandably they were worried about their venture. However, we were confident Tony could turn things round and with careful planning and a kerb on spending we knew it would all be OK. We submitted our application for the Nova Scotia Provincial Nomination Programme whilst we were there and we were excited that things were moving along.

Once we got home we continued in earnest with our preparations and kept in regular touch with the employers to make sure everything would be in place for our arrival in April 2011. By January 2011 we had been approved for Nomination by the government of Nova Scotia so now we had to apply to the CIC for federal government approval. The costs to apply for residency in Canada are high. It's a very expensive process what with application fees, medicals, x-rays, photos and also the fees for the Temporary Work Permits and Study Permits we would need. We knew our residency application wouldn't be approved before we had to start work, so we had to apply for work permits. This was something I had never wanted to do. I had always wanted to wait until we had residency as otherwise we were tied to one employer and if things were to go wrong we would be stuck. However, the earliest our residency would come would be August - all being well, which was simply too late. It was risky, but we decided to go with the work permits - after all, what could possibly go wrong?

Around this time a second warning bell started to chime. As most of you probably know we have a beloved, if slightly mad, family cat. We had talked at length about what to do, but I just couldn't face leaving him behind. He was a rescue cat and had already been through some terrible things and I wanted him to stay with us where I knew he would be safe and cared for. He is a very mellow cat so I thought he would manage the flight OK - otherwise I would never have considered taking him. We got him a Pet Passport - not cheap, but I wanted to make sure we could bring him back to the UK easily if we needed to and we were all set. Just when we thought everything was going smoothly the new employer in Nova Scotia suddenly decided she didn't want our cat in her caravan as he would spray and make it stink. OK, so he has NEVER sprayed and is neutered so unlikely to start. First of all she said her father had rented out his basement to someone with a cat who had stunk the place out. Then she said she wanted her father to stay in the caravan after we left but he was incredibly allergic to cats and wouldn't be able to enter it if our cat had been in it. Hmmm - this is the same father who had rented out his basement to someone with a cat who had sprayed - yet he was so allergic if he entered a room where a cat had been he would instantly have breathing difficulties? Something simply wasn't adding up. Still, in an effort to keep things going and to offer some reassurance we offered to replace the caravan - like for like - if our cat did any damage to it. You can't say fairer than that surely? There were still some objections, but in the end they grudgingly agreed and we thought everything was fine.

Obviously I was now slightly nervous about how we would be received when we arrived, but I didn't see what else we could do. I knew Mr Puss would be fine - which he was - and we had done everything we could to reassure them. Other than finding somewhere else to live, which they didn't want as they wanted Tony onsite, we would just have to hope everything would be OK.

So, on 28th April 2011, with small alarm bells still softly chiming in my head, we landed at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. My first priority was finding my cat but it took quite a while to get our work permits issued. He was fine though, chatting away to anyone who went near his cage. We went through customs as we needed to show them our goods to follow list and also the paperwork for Mr Puss. That all went pretty smoothly too - although interestingly no one actually looked at any of the cats paperwork which I was surprised about.

Anyway, I've covered most of what happened in previous posts and the point of this piece is to look at where things went wrong so that others in our situation don't get taken advantage of like we did. As I mentioned earlier, when we went over in October 2010 there was a definite under tone of something going on. This was even stronger when we arrived in 2011. The money problems were pretty severe and everyone was understandably worried. It seems the new owners really hadn't done much research about what they were taking on or how much work it would need to make the business profitable. Tony tried so hard to explain things to them and get them to see sense, but they were so blinkered in what they wanted that they literally threw away thousands and thousands of dollars on unnecessary and pointless expenditures.

It didn't take long to realise that they really were taking advantage of Tony and our position. We knew the salary they offered was low, but didn't realise that it simply wasn't enough for us to survive on. They worked him like a dog, over 70 hours a week in 6 days, with no overtime paid, even though it was in his contract and I believe is actually a legal requirement for anyone working over 48 hours a week in Nova Scotia! I mean who were these people - life draining zombies? Quite possibly! He never got any peace and was called on for the most ridiculous reasons. The employer actually said that she was glad we were on work permits as it meant she had Tony for 2 solid years as he couldn't work for anyone else - that was a rather large alarm bell. It was pretty obvious that she thought she had us over a barrel and as we desperately wanted things to work she pretty much did.

Around the middle of May yet another warning bell started to clang in my head. The employers and all their kids went down with a nasty sickness virus. It went through the whole family over a period of a few days, but they kept bringing their kids to play with Flynn! We had been in the country for less than 2 weeks and everything in me was screaming not to let Flynn play with these children, but how do you say to your new employer that you don't want your child playing with their sick kids? The atmosphere was already strained and the children were brought over specifically to play with Flynn - it was a very difficult situation. I can honestly say that I made a big mistake here. I should have stuck to my guns and refused to let Flynn play, but what sort of parent brings sick children to play? The kids had literally spent the previous couple of hours throwing up and then as soon as they felt slightly better they arrived to play. In the UK if a child is sick then they are not allowed in school for 48 hours following the last occurrence and I'm sure there are similar rules in Canada. After all who wants to spread germs around and make other peoples kids sick - surely that is common sense and part of being a responsible parent? Apparently not and I am still amazed at the sheer selfishness of these people. Subsequently Flynn caught the virus and was terribly ill and ended up in hospital. It was the most frightening experience of my life as Flynn simply is not a sickly child and is very rarely ill. I hold my hands up to that mistake and maybe if I had stood my ground then things wouldn't have deteriorated so much later. It just goes to show how completely self absorbed these people were and how they really didn't care for anyone apart from themselves, not even children.

Early on Tony was sent to Toronto for training. A pretty pointless exercise as he didn't learn anything other than how to clean - not necessarily an important thing for an Operations Manager. Now this was supposed to be an all expenses paid trip but that was not the case. The flights were paid, but we had to fight tooth and nail to get an allowance for food. He was put up in the most basic of accommodations and the trip actually ended up costing us money. They didn't even pay him for all the hours he worked whilst he was away. Having spoken to a lot of local people in Nova Scotia I am now certain that it is normal for employers to pay for the hours worked whilst on training, including travel time. This wasn't training Tony wanted to do, it was compulsory and he should have been compensated adequately. When I queried this I was pretty much shot down - yet another warning bell that we were being taken advantage of.

One final note which I think really shows the character of these people. In July it was Flynn's seventh birthday. We had invited several of his friends for a little party and of course we were obliged to invite the employers kids. I wanted nothing to do with them by this point, but it was Flynn's party and they were his friends so we invited them. The day of the party, Tony's day off, he was obviously called away to yet another disaster and missed nearly the whole thing. However, the party was going really well and all the kids were having a great time. Nearly an hour late the employers turned up for the party, dumped all their kids and left without so much as a happy birthday. Honestly, who turns up at a child's birthday party, just when they are opening the presents, without even bringing a card? Regardless of the fact that we had bought a card and present for their kids birthday, what sort of person would do that? The answer - a selfish, arrogant and rude one. I have to say I was amazed. These people who loved to show of how rich they were with expensive gifts for their kids and throwing money around willy nilly turn up to a birthday party with not so much as a card, dump their kids and leave. Speaks volumes in my opinion.

I think I've pretty much covered the other terrible ways we were treated in previous posts. Being ignored and ostracised seemed to be the way they dealt with their invaluable staff who were trying to save THEIR business. The complete arrogance was astonishing when they had someone on hand literally working themselves into the ground to make the business successful. They preferred to start rumours, talk behind our backs and cast us out of their little "click". Now we really weren't worried about being out of the "click" - leave them to it we said. If they chose to employ other staff who were incompetent and too lazy to carry out their duties then that was up to them. Tony would carry on doing his best with what was available, and if that meant losing those useless individuals as friends when he pulled them up on the quality of their work, then so be it.

Tony and I are both intelligent, highly skilled individuals. We both have university degrees and many years of experience in various fields of work - we are not stupid and yet we still managed to get caught in the "Immigration Trap". You hear of people all the time who are brought to a country to work by employers and then treated terribly, but you never think it will happen to you. Surely you are too intelligent to get caught out like that? The trouble is that all you can see is a way into a country that you desperately want to call home, so you ignore the little warning bells in the hope that it will all be OK. In hindsight we should have negotiated rather than just accepted what was offered. We should have agreed on a decent salary, working hours, an on-call rate, powers over staffing and generally what was expected - but all we saw was a way in. I would strongly urge anyone reading this who is contemplating a move abroad to really take stock from our mistakes. If this post stops just one person being taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers then my work here is done. If people learn from our mistakes then I feel what we went through was maybe worth something. All the pain, heartache and financial losses we experienced must have been for some reason. Maybe it was so I could stop other people falling into the same traps we did. We also would NEVER fall for any of those tricks ever again. We are worth too much and will not be taken advantage of ever again. If any employer wants us then they will be willing to pay appropriately and treat us with the respect we are due.

Of course the employers thought they had us by the proverbial short and curly's. They had us for 2 years and we were so desperate for residency that there was no way we would quit. WRONG!! It might have taken us a while, but in the end we knew what they were doing was very wrong and we had no reason to put up with it. It did mean that we had to return to the UK - not something we wanted to do and yet more costs, but we had a beautiful home to return to and a successful business which Tony could re-start easily. So that is what we did. We returned and waited for our residency papers to come. Tony already had several job offers on the table from people who could see just what a valuable asset he would be to any company, so we could wait, bide our time and with luck things would all work out for the best.

In November 2011 we were awarded Permanent Resident status and in February 2012 we landed back in Nova Scotia to activate our visas. That was our first experience of a Canadian winter and I have to say, the place is just as beautiful. My initial fears about moving with only work permits were right, but in the end it all worked out. If I've learnt nothing else from this experience then at least I have learnt to listen to my intuition because time after time it has been proved right. I will never ignore it again, if I had listened in the first place it would have saved us all a lot of heartache but at least now I know I can trust it. Having doubts is one thing but when my intuition shouts "warning" I will now always listen.

We have so many new adventures ahead of us and we never lost our love for Nova Scotia or the people of that beautiful province. I would like to add that none of the people who treated us badly were actually from Nova Scotia - they were all "from away" and not all of them were even Canadian. The people of Nova Scotia who we met and made friends with were always warm and welcoming and helped us keep the faith that we had chosen the right place to move to. I hope what we experienced is not the norm for people moving to another country. There will always be difficulties settling in to a new country and culture but I'm hoping our experience was an extreme that most will not have to go through.

The future is bright and exciting for us and I hope it is for all my readers too :) Below is a picture of some ice covered rocks we saw by the beach back in February - how cool are they?!

The Next Chapter

2012-02-21T11:19:00.000+00:00

I know, I know - it's been far too long between posts. Life has been pretty chaotic to say the least what with moving, Christmas and everything else life has thrown at us! Still, enough with the excuses and time to get back with the programme. The problem now is where to begin. So much has happened in the last 4 months it's hard to know where to start, but as one of my readers pointed out to me, it's best to begin at the beginning and carry on from there.

So, I wrote my last post from beautiful Hubbards. We badly needed that time in such a beautiful and peaceful place. Time to relax and recover before moving on with our journey. We toured around the area visiting Chester and walking the old railway lines and had some amazing weather to go with it. Lots of our friends came to visit us in our sanctuary by the sea and we also had some fab meals with fellow British expats Sam and Darren and Judith and Mike.

The house we stayed in was AMAZING!!!! It was advertised as a cottage, but in my opinion it was a house - a massive house! A cosy fire in the living room and collecting sea glass on our very own private beach - even one time in the dark! The owner was a really lovely guy and made our stay very comfortable and nothing was too much trouble. Anyone looking for a vacation rental could really do no better than here and I would thoroughly recommend it.

http://www.flipkey.com/hubbards-vacation-rentals/p229053/

We had some tough decisions to make about our next step, but I still think that everything happens for a reason so deciding to head back to the UK really felt like the right thing to do. Until our residency papers came Tony couldn't work for anyone else and we had been advised that the Canadian High Commission in London had a massive back log and we would be waiting at least another 6 months. That would be 6 months with no income so the decision was really pretty easy. We had a beautiful home to come back to - one that we had never actually been able to enjoy as we only finished it just before we flew out to Nova Scotia. I contacted all of Tony's clients to see if they had work for him and to say they were pleased he was coming home would be a major understatement! So we had a home and a business to return to, making us feel really very lucky.

Still, we were very sad to be leaving the beautiful shores of Nova Scotia and all the great friends we had made, but we knew it wouldn't be forever. Things hadn't worked out as planned, but plans can change and we are adaptable people which makes for a much easier life. So on 4th October 2011 at 11.45pm we took off from Halifax Stanfield International Airport heading for London Heathrow.

I expected to be a complete emotional wreck by the time we landed back at Heathrow. My parents were waiting for us but I was actually very calm. The night flights from Halifax to Heathrow always wipe me out as I can never sleep on a plane, but with so much to get on with I didn't really have time to be tired. My parents took most of our luggage and Flynn with them whilst we waited for Mr Puss to be cleared. Now the whole saga with Mr Puss and the way things work on returning to the UK with a pet really deserve a post all to themselves, so all I will say is that it is a very frustrating and long winded process - even with all the correct paperwork!

Still, we finally got him back after around 5 hours of waiting and as ever he was chilled but ready to go home. We stayed with my parents for a couple of days until our belongings were returned from storage and it was lovely to be looked after and to be with people who love and care about us.

The return of our goods from storage also deserves a post all to itself and I'm sure many would be expats will be keen to hear of our experience. All I will say is that we were very unimpressed with how our belongings had been packed and shocked at the complete lack of care and professionalism. I am just glad nothing was ever shipped across the Atlantic as I fear everything would have been smashed to smithereens. It was bad enough as it was and it only went 30 miles and then back again!

I have to say it was lovely to be home. The house was just as beautiful as we left it and I was finally going to get my one Christmas in my finished house - something I always said I wanted.

Flynn settled straight back into school with all his old friends and Tony was incredibly busy with his business lighting up 2 brand new Christmas Coca-Cola trucks - he's such a clever boy!

Christmas was great. My Mum, Dad and big sister Lizzie all came to stay and I think I can safely say that fun was had by all. As expected, Flynn was super excited when we put out the beer, mince pie and carrot for Father Christmas and his reindeer and even more so scattering the sparkly reindeer food in the garden so they knew where to land the sleigh. We all ate, drank and were very merry and although in some ways it was bittersweet, as we had been looking forward to our first Canadian Christmas, it was wonderful to be surrounded by family at such a special time of the year. I also made my very first Christmas Cake, Christmas Pudding and sausagemeat stuffing - all of which were fab, even if I do say so myself!

So 2012 has dawned and I wonder what this year will hold for us. I'm sure new adventures and challenges are waiting just round the corner, but so are new beginnings and I'm looking forward to the new ventures I have planned. We've already been back to Nova Scotia and it was a great trip which I will fill you in on later, but I will leave you with a picture which I think will explain to most just why we love the place in every season - it really is quite breathtaking.

Peace at last

2011-10-21T13:09:00.001+01:00

After 5 long and very difficult months we are finally free. Tony quit his job and we are now settled in an amazing house by the sea with our own private beach. We have been in such desperate need of this and it is simply wonderful to be able to stretch out, have complete privacy and to just have some peace. Time to be together in such a beautiful place, time to heal our wounds and allow us to regain some perspective.
It is a real shame things have turned out like this. Tony loved his job and the work he was doing, but there were only so many times he could bang his head against a brick wall. He was employed as a Manager, but was never allowed to “manage”. He was ever the professional and was the best at what he did – there cannot be any argument about that. He could solve any problem thrown at him as he is one of those rare breeds who truly can “think outside the box” – a lateral thinker in every way. The issue was that he was forced to deal with people day in and day out, who simply refused to listen and constantly made stupid and costly mistakes - what other choice did he have but to leave? After all, why should he jeopardise his reputation when problems weren’t his fault or his making?

I lost count of the number if times I heard the phrase “Oh well, we’ll just throw some money at it”, after yet another needless error. What is the point of simply “throwing money” at problems? Surely it is better not to make these senseless mistakes in the first place? Especially when you’ve been told the solution over and over and over again. I honestly believe that these people simply do not have any common sense – not even the tiniest bit and that made dealing with them on a daily basis a terrible struggle.

So, after 5 long months of trying his very hardest to make things work it came to the point where Tony realised they weren’t going to change and he didn’t want his work or reputation compromised any longer. For example, there is simply no excuse for a lack of cleanliness – other than laziness. If you have a member of staff who is not competent in their work, either pull them up and train them or sack them and get someone else. Simple really. If you were paying over $200 a night for a hotel room, would you expect it to be clean? Of course you would and there really is no difference here. Complaint after complaint seemed to fall on deaf ears and they refused to do anything about the problems. Tony would inspect areas that should have been cleaned and would then send the cleaner back 3, 4, 5 times and still there would be dirt and grime everywhere. Quite frankly it was embarrassing, especially when showing potential customers around a unit and discovering a fridge full of rotting food because no one had bothered to empty it from the previous customer and since then it had been switched off.

For 5 months Tony asked for help. He was expected to run an entire fleet of 35 units single handed as well as keep the site functioning. The standard answer was “we can’t afford any more staff”. Time and again he explained he would happily give up 20 or 30 hours a week from his 70 for a second pair of hands. Someone to cover when he had his 1 day off a week, someone so that he could work 40 or 50 hours a week like any other employed person. Someone so he could spend some time with his family – the answer? Always “No”, even though it wouldn’t cost them a penny extra. You can imagine he was more than a little angry to hear, near the end of the season, how they were bragging about saving $35,000 on wages! The question is at what cost? Most certainly at the cleanliness and efficiency of their business.

On our final morning all we wanted was to pack up and leave quietly. Of course that wasn’t going to happen. There had to be one last vicious attack on me and how I’ve been writing “hurtful things” and how it “has to stop” – yet in the very same breath the onwer admitted that he had never read any of my blogs!! There were also lies about how the “Wicked Witch of the West”, as she has been nicknamed, came to see me to sort things out. How she came and knocked on my door and I refused to let her in. Well I’m sorry, and I don’t swear, but that is complete and utter bollocks. There is no other word for it. Another lie, told to put me in a bad light.

Lets look at it logically. The glass on the caravan door was heavily frosted so there was no way you could see who was outside the door. The only people that ever came to knock on the door were Flynn’s friends or occasionally the security guy. I would have no reason to expect a visit from anyone else so why would I refuse to open the door? You couldn’t see who was approaching and couldn’t see who was outside so logically either she never came or she came when I was out. I am a very logical person, I am not rude, unkind or bitter and I don’t tell lies – I leave all that behaviour to them. I was raised well and would never ignore a person who came to my door or an acquaintance I passed in the street, just a shame those values weren’t shared by the people I was forced to live in close proximity to for the last 5 months.

So, yet more lies and I’m sorry, but I won’t stop writing because some person who has never read my work tells me to. What I write about will change as my life journey changes, but I will continue to write and tell the truth. Sometimes the truth does hurt and sooner or later the truth will always come out. In this instance I don’t doubt that will happen and the truth will come and bite them firmly in the bum. All I have ever done is write with honesty and I have a clear conscience about that.

The trouble is they don’t know, what I know, and that frightens them. You see I do know, I know exactly what they’ve been doing and I know that they have already been found out about certain things by the powers that be. What will I do with my knowledge? Absolutely nothing – I don’t need to do a thing as sooner or later it will all come out. When you tell enough lies and try to manipulate figures eventually Karma will come around and you will get what is due to you. If you are honest, truthful and try your best to make things work then the universe will reward you for that. If you lie and cheat then I firmly believe in the saying “what goes around, comes around”.

At the end of the day I have a clear conscience, I’ve done nothing wrong and Tony has done nothing but be professional and worked hard to keep the business going. This is why we now have multiple opportunities available to us. Tony has made some amazing contacts, as have I, and he now has so many job offers it’s simply a case of sitting back and choosing the right one.

I truly believe that things happen for a reason. Maybe the reason we had to endure such a difficult time was so that we could make contacts, could discover the areas we like and those we don’t and so we could learn to never allow ourselves to be taken advantage of again. I guess it has helped us to fine tune our dream and realise what things are really important and also that money doesn’t buy happiness. Throwing money willy nilly at problems doesn’t solve the root cause – although to be honest we had enough common sense to know that one already.

So now we have some time to chill out by the sea and think about what the next stage in our dream will be. These people have no power over us and we are still the rock solid unit we always were. I was angry for a while about the way we were treated, but I’ve let that go and moved on. Staying angry gives my power away and I’m too strong a person to let that happen. In the 14 years Tony and I have been together I had never seen him angry. In the last 5 months I saw him angry on many occasions and it is a testament to his strength of character that he never unleashed that anger – I certainly would not have wanted to be in the firing line! We’ve been tested almost to breaking point, but we’ve come through the darkness and back into the light. We are a strong family unit and nothing they could have thrown at us would change that. I’ve shed some tears – a lot of tears – and I’m not ashamed to admit that, but again I’ve now let all that go. I even wish them well in their business. With any luck they will also have learnt some valuable lessons, most importantly that if a job’s worth doing it’s worth doing well – something Tony learnt from his Grandfather when he was very small and has stood him in good stead throughout his life. So good luck to them.

We have weathered the storm and it’s time to regain our “peace”. After only 2 nights in our haven by the sea we finally felt clean again and like a huge weight had been lifted from us. I will tell you more about this wonderful place in my next post, but for now I will leave you with the view from my bedroom window and you know what? You can’t put a price on falling asleep listening to the waves gently lapping at the shore.

It's here!!!!!

2011-09-21T14:16:00.000+01:00

Finally, my long awaited article is here - IN PRINT!!!!! It's so exciting to see my name and picture in a proper, glossy magazine. I even have a whole page to myself - how cool is that? To see my name on the Contributors page is the most amazing thing ever and I am so proud to have achieved this.

The fantastic editor of the magazine kindly sent me a few copies so you can all start bidding on them now! You never know, my very first piece in print might be worth a fortune one day! For anyone who might want to subscribe to the magazine or find out more about the area, The Halifax Magazine website is packed with great articles:

http://halifaxmag.com/

So, the question is - what next? Well, I will continue with my writing. Now I have found how much I love it, and that other people actually want to read it, there will be no stopping me. I have another piece in the pipeline for The Telegraph and also for a couple of other travel and expat sites. I'm also going to be involved in the launch of a new site for those with the travel bug, which is pretty exciting. Plus don't forget my contributions for the fabulous Paris a la mode - all thanks to Perry Paris who gave me my first chance to write for someone other than myself. My blog of course will always be my first love, even if I neglect it from time to time. It is "my place" to get things of my chest, to say how I feel and to tell it like it is. The fact that so many people read it now is just amazing and I thank my lucky stars for that fact every day.

However, big changes are afoot here at the moment and my next blog will reveal all - and I mean ALL!! I will try not to keep you in suspense for too long I promise. On to bigger and better places - away from the small minded and bitter folk we somehow managed to get stuck with, and yes we all know who you are.

The season is changing, autumn appears to have most definitely arrived. The temperatures are cooling, the leaves are turning to their autumnal beauty - I love the leaves here at this time of year, we just don't get the amazing reds and golds back in the UK, although it is still a beautiful time of year there too. The change in season marks a time of change for us in our journey. A time to take stock and re-evaluate, to see just how far we've come and what fantastic achievements we've made.

Personally, I love this time of year. It's a time of bounty as harvests are bought in, a time of colour as nature gets ready to rest and re-cooperate. I love the fresh mornings and the cooler evenings when you just want to snuggle up together around a blazing fire. But then I guess I am one of those people who can find beauty and happiness in any season. I love them all and each one has something different and amazing to offer. I am also one of those strange people who actually like winter! Frosts and snow? Bring them on! I worked for the last two winters outside in all the freezing temperatures and snow - was I cold? Yes - most definitely from time to time, but I still loved it anyway. Weather is just weather and bad weather simply means you have the wrong clothes on.

So, my next post will come as soon as possible and our exciting new adventures will be revealed.

Back to routine

2011-09-08T15:17:00.000+01:00

Before I start this new post I would like to state for the record, one final time, that every word I write here is true. I don't make stuff up and I don't lie. I'm not "vicious" or mean, I just tell it like it is. Everything I have written is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Honestly, why would I lie? I have nothing to gain by making things up and after our experiences here I have enough content to keep me going for the next 10 years. The stories I could tell you about corruption, cheating and plain old incompetence - but that's for another day.

So, onto happier things. The school term has finally started so I can get back to routine and writing. I know I have been neglecting my blog a little, but with so much chaos going on around me and writing for other people it's been hard to keep up with it all. Still, no more excuses, I'm back with the programme and regular updates will recommence.

Firstly some links to my latest offerings for other people. We went on a fantastic Ghost Walk around the beautiful city of Halifax a few weeks ago. We all loved it so much I decided to write it up for the Nova Scotia Tourist Board and here is the link for you folks to have a read:

http://www.novascotiablogs.com/2011/08/ghost-walk.html

I was also quoted recently in an article written for The Telegraph in the UK, which was very cool. It's a story about immigration - a subject I seem to be learning more and more about everyday, so if you fancy taking a peek this is the link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/8737586/Canada-seeks-public-opinion-on-immigration.html

Lastly, my long awaited piece is now on The Telegraph website and the response I've had from it has been astounding! People really seem to like it and I'm so pleased. I love to get feedback about my writing, so anyone who wants to leave comments, then please feel free. The link for that one is here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/8737143/Social-media-saved-my-life.html

I am now also in print! That is probably the most exciting thing of all and I can't wait to see it when my copy arrives. I have a piece in the latest edition of The Halifax Magazine and I am so excited to see my writing in print on a glossy magazine page. Next time we get into the city I will be buying up some copies, so don't worry Family I will get one for all of you :)

In the last few weeks we've had some lovely times - also some not so lovely times, but I'm not going to waste any more energy on those! I mentioned the Ghost Walk we did which was a really great evening and Flynn absolutely loved it! The guy, Andy, who took us round was a brilliant story teller and he had us hanging off his every word! The following day we headed off to the beautiful Peggy's Cove - one of the most photographed areas in Canada so I'm told. With it's historic lighthouse and rugged outcrops it really is a place that simply takes your breath away. Even though there were quite a lot of people visiting that day it was easy to find a quiet spot to just sit and listen to the waves. The raw power of Mother Nature is so evident in this spot that it really is awe inspiring.

Still, with a 7 year old there is only so long you can just sit! We walked around the picture postcard village, looking for fish and sea creatures in the harbour and looking in all the little shops. We stopped at Espresso on the Deck and tried their famed Cornish pasties and they even made me a decaf latte which was scrummy! I know I'm odd wanting decaf and I certainly get some odd looks here when I ask for it - but it's just what I like. Now, I have eaten proper Cornish pasties in Cornwall and I have to say that these were absolutely delicious and probably the best you will get outside of Cornwall. Here they call a swede a turnip - another of those language differences, so when it said it had turnip in it I had to bite into it to see what they actually meant and sure enough it was swede. Anyway, we spent a lovely 20 minutes in the shade on their deck sipping coffee and eating pasties - who could ask for anything more?

http://www.beales.ns.ca/5.html

We then headed into Halifax. Now I am a country girl - through and through. If I could live half way up a mountain with no neighbours that would suit me just fine, but I am in love with the city of Halifax to the point where I even think I could live there. Me, contemplating life in a city!!!! I love the waterfront and strolling along the boardwalk. I love the old buildings and the leafy streets and I love the Seaport Farmers Market with all the exotic and local goodies. I love the ocean - of that there is no doubt and I love the feel of the city, it has an open, welcoming feel to it and sort of spreads it's arms around you and makes you feel right at home. We spent a couple of hours wandering around and felt thoroughly relaxed and at peace with the world. Maybe one day we will live nearer the city and the waterfront - who knows.

At long last we even managed 2 nights away. After 4 very long, very hard months we saw a window of opportunity and we grabbed it with both hands. We had a fantastic and peaceful time in Cape Breton on the famous Cabot Trail, but I think that deserves a post all if it's own so will just leave you with a taster of the beautiful place.

Can you see the cottage we stayed in? No? Follow the smoke signals! Such a peaceful place :)

New piece!

2011-08-18T22:34:00.000+01:00

Just a quickie! My latest piece for the fabulous online magazine Paris a la mode is live!

http://parisalamode.com/2011/08/life-after-tv/

Hope you enjoy it :)

New post coming soon I promise. Lots of decisions to be made and updates as to where we've been and what we've been doing.

Limbo

2011-08-10T18:35:00.000+01:00

When I look at this picture of myself and my family I think of happier times and it hits me like an express train just how much I miss them.

Still, I feel I've been neglecting my blog, but to be honest I'm finding it very difficult to write. I don't want to keep on with tales of doom and gloom - who wants to read a lot of that after all? So, what to write? Well, life is carrying on pretty much as before. I am keeping myself to myself. I'm not a confrontational person, not aggressive or mean so I avoid the causes of my problems at all costs. Some people are telling me I should try to make peace with them - but why should I? I've done nothing wrong and there is nothing I need to make amends for. Would it make my life here easier? I doubt it as it would all be false and I don't need that on top of everything else. Others say I should just ignore them - I don't need them, they have the problem. Would this make my life easier? Probably not as I'm not a rude person and have been brought up to always be polite, plus Tony would get it in the neck I'm sure.

So, I choose to keep out of the way. This means being stuck on my own a lot, but it's the only way I can deal with all this madness. Some say that "they" are winning as I'm shutting myself away, but it's the only way I know how to cope. If they did choose to speak to me then I would be forced to either ignore them or try very hard to bite my tongue and as I said I'm not rude and I'm not confrontational. At least Tony has now been paid the money he was owed so if it comes to the stage where we need to cut our losses at least we won't be out of pocket.

Anyway, enough of that - if I dwell on it much longer I will gladly go when the men in white coats come for me.

Recently we have been looking at houses. Until our house in the UK sells we will have to get a mortgage - a very small mortgage because of Tony's low salary. We are limited as we need to stay reasonably close to Tony's work, but houses in this area are not cheap, so we have been looking further afield - within a 30 minute radius as that should be doable. We've seen one property which we like. It's got 5 bedrooms and 46 acres - well, we did say we wanted space! It's been partially renovated, but there is still quite a lot to do. The plumbing is mostly new, but has never been tested, the pipework for radiators is mostly there, but they need fitting, the downstairs bathroom is basically complete, but again has never been tested. The roof, wiring and most windows have been replaced, but the basement needs some drainage, the kitchen needs completely ripping out as does the upstairs bathroom. In fact there is a section of the upstairs that hasn't been touched which to me is quite scary! It is a bedroom and the bathroom and it needs floors, walls, ceiling, wiring - the lot. So, it's a big project. We are going to get quotes to see how much and how long it would take to be habitable - after all we need somewhere to live in the winter so it needs to have a working bathroom, running water and most importantly heat!

Tony is keen on it, Flynn likes it - I'm a bit scared by it! If we were going into it in spring, then that would be one thing, but approaching winter? The other issue is that either Flynn would need to change schools - again - or we would have to take him the thirty minutes each way, twice a day. So, there is a lot to think about.

We went for a drive to see 6 other houses I had short listed but they were all too far away. Whilst Tony has to work here we need to stay reasonably close, plus I quite like being close to Halifax and all it's amenities. I love the harbour in Halifax - it's such a wonderful place. You can stroll along the boardwalk, watching the fishing boats and cruise ships - even though it can be busy I always find it a peaceful place, it has a good vibe.

There is one other house we are waiting to view. It's near the one with the 46 acres, but it's ready to move into. It's very pretty and has lovely gardens, but less than an acre of land. It also has a massive 2 story 2 car garage - perfect for all Tony's stuff!! I'm hoping we can view it soon so we can compare the size of the house and the location. Then we will be able to make a more informed decision.

When looking at these houses I think we are clouding our wants with our needs. We moved here for more space, but at the moment we need somewhere warm for the winter - nothing more. Once our house sells we can then start to look for our "dream home", but until then we simply need somewhere we can live happily for now. Although I'm not really sure I even want to sell our house any more. We always planned to keep it for a couple of years until we were sure, but due to the incredibly high rental prices we've been forced to put it on the market. However, if we can get a mortgage and somewhere to live based on Tony's salary then maybe we can keep the house. So many decisions to make and they are all such big decisions - is there any wonder I'm struggling?

So what next? I don't know the answer to that. Part of me still wants to go home - that would certainly be the easy option. We could go back to how things were without any great effort. Would we be happy? Who knows. I think deep down I know we need to give this a go for at least a year - any less and we're not giving it a fair chance. We need to experience all the seasons and we need the chance to live, in a house, like normal people, with normal working hours. Deep down I know this, yet if I was given the chance, I would still go home at the drop of the hat.

We have also managed to plan some time away. At the end of August we will be off for 2 nights and I can't wait! It would be great if it was longer, but we will make the most of our time together. They didn't want us to go - "what if something goes wrong, you'll have to come back", but Tony has managed to convince them they need an extra pair of hands to cover him and at long last they have found someone. He starts Saturday and I'm just praying that he has some common sense and is useful - unlike the rest of the muppets they've hired to date. (Interestingly the new guy never turned up so Tony never did get any help).

There is also an interesting prospect in the pipeline. I can't say too much about it at the moment, but there is the possibility that it could solve all our problems, so watch this space!

What I would like to do at this stage is buy a caravan and head off into the sunset for the next 3 months. I would have to home school Flynn, but it would be worth it and as my big sister is an accomplished teacher I'm sure she could give me some lesson plans to follow. At the end of this month I can contact the High Commission in London about our residency application, they will then have to talk to me as their time frame will have been exceeded. I hope that will also help us make some decisions and who knows, maybe we will set off on a new adventure.

So there is a teeny tiny glimmer of light at the end of the very long tunnel.

In demand!!

2011-08-04T20:10:00.000+01:00

It suddenly dawned on me that a lot of people who read my blog don't actually know me personally - yes I know, I can be a bit slow sometimes. For all those people who don't know me I thought they might like to read some of the items I've been writing for various other people.

My very first guest post was for Expat Explorer who I found through twitter. It's a great site that has associations with HSBC International and is filled with useful information. The link to my post is below and it had some great feedback, even if they did spell my surname wrong!

http://expatexplorer.blogspot.com/2011/07/accidental-expat-alexandra-laurence.html

Since then I have become a contributor for the Nova Scotia Tourist Board! I will be writing for them regularly and will be sharing our explorations of this beautiful province to would be visitors and locals alike - how cool is that?

http://www.novascotiablogs.com/2011/07/a-travellers-tale.html

I am also a contributor for an online fashion and lifestyle magazine called Paris a la Mode. This is a fantastic publication and one I'm proud to be a part of. So many great articles are published on the site that I was completely gobsmacked when I approached them and they said I could join! Thanks to Colin James Morrison, (aka @CaperBoi), for pointing me in that direction. My first post has just recently gone live and I hope the readers like it.

http://parisalamode.com/2011/07/id-like-decaf-please/

I have a piece currently being edited by a local glossy magazine - that will actually be in print and will be out in the autumn!! I'm also doing a piece for The Telegraph!!! They liked it and it will go onto the Expat section of their website later this month. I have 2 other posts to do for other people as well, so to say writing is keeping me busy would be somewhat of an understatement!

I hope you all like the pieces I've written elsewhere and would love for feedback if you'd like to leave any. Feel free to comment on this blog or on the actual sites themselves.

Thank you all for continuing to read, without your support I would never have been confident enough to put myself out there and get things onto other sites :)

Time to set the record straight

2011-07-27T18:19:00.000+01:00

I’ve been having a tough time of late and I think it is time to set the record straight. I’ve been accused of saying things I’ve never said and when challenged the accusers can’t come up with one single example. I’ve been biting my tongue for a very long time about a number of things – well no more will I do this! I don’t need rude, arrogant folk in my life, people who enjoy making another human being suffer when they know they are so far from friends and family. So lets go back to the beginning which, in hindsight, is where I think the problems first started.

When Tony was first offered his job in Nova Scotia we were told we could live on site in a travel caravan. The problems started when I mentioned that we would be bringing our family pet, Puss the cat. Although Puss was a stray and I had never planned on having another pet as I knew we wanted to move abroad, he soon wormed his way into all our affections and I would never want to be without him.

I was told several different stories as to why we couldn’t have him in the caravan. First I was told he would spray everywhere and make it unusable. There was a story about a relatives basement being rented out to someone with a cat and it stunk the place out and could no longer be rented. Next I was told that the same said relative had a severe allergy to cats so wouldn’t be able to use the caravan after us – hmmm, if that was the case then why on earth would they rent out their own basement to someone with a cat as they would presumably never be able to enter it ever again? Something wasn’t adding up. My cat obviously wasn’t welcome and excuses were being randomly thrown around as to why we couldn’t bring him. We were offered a smaller caravan where a cat had previously lived, but it was simply too small for the three of us and just wouldn’t work. It was also completely rotten and full of fungus - nice! So, my cat wasn't welcome - I get it, but why not just come straight out and say it rather than making up conflicting stories?

After much back and forth - assurances that he had NEVER sprayed, that most neutered males in fact don’t spray plus offering to replace the caravan if he did wreck it we were grudgingly given the OK.

Looking back I think this was the beginning of the downhill journey. So, we arrived. I was nervous about even being in the caravan with Puss and yet it was to be our home for up to 6 months. The very first thing I did was buy throws for all the seating areas and our own bedding instead of borrowing some from site as I didn’t want to risk getting any hair on anything at all. I didn’t want to be put in the position of having to replace the caravan so I did as much as is humanly possible to protect ourselves. I wasn’t worried about him spraying – like I said, he never has.

In the beginning I was working on site but a number of things happened that made me stop. One of the old staff members was desperate to return to work at the beginning of the season. She needed the money – so much in fact that she had to sell her car, but I was getting all the work. I spoke to her about it and she said she understood that I was there and she didn’t hold it against me. After all, it wasn’t me who decided who got work and who didn’t.

What I never told her was that they didn’t want her getting the units ready for the season as her work wasn’t up to it. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings as she had been nothing but kind to us, however it did put me in a very awkward position. When she did do some hours I was asked to double check her work – not something I wanted to do. If they weren’t happy with her work that is for them to deal with – not me. Tony was also asked to keep an eye on what she was doing, because they felt too awkward to say they weren’t happy with her work! This was ridiculous! They had made it perfectly clear that is was not up to myself or Tony to deal with staffing issues so at this point I bowed out.

I didn’t want to get involved in that situation and I certainly didn’t want to be taking work away from a single parent with three children, so although we could have done with the money I said that I didn’t want the work. As soon as I did that she was here pretty much full time. That was because of me. Because of me she got work so she could pay her bills – but of course she never knew that and it wasn’t my place to tell her. Unfortunately this did lead to literally hundreds of complaints about units as they were never again properly cleaned, but that’s not my problem or my concern.

I stepped back and was actually quite relieved to be out of that awkward position – so I breathed a sigh of relief and looked forward to the rest of the summer. I had started to write for various people so I had things to keep me busy. However it wasn’t long before I was dragged back in!

I was asked to have a look over the company website to see what I thought and also to write a new introduction. I didn’t want to do it as I really didn’t want to be involved in any aspect of the business, but of course I dutifully did it. I pointed out all the sections that looked unprofessional from a customers view point – things like broken links and links to events that were five years out of date. I made a list and wrote an intro. I was professional in what I said and was simply dealing with it in a business like way and yet I was accused of being aggressive! I was completely bemused by this and looked back on what I had written. There was nothing aggressive at all and I even got Tony to read it through and he agreed with me. We were puzzled to say the least and put it down to a cultural misunderstanding. Poor Tony took the brunt of this as he had to deal with a very aggressive owner shouting at him about the various problems and about what I had said in my email. Not once did either of the owners ever actually try to speak to me about it though. Instead they decided to shout at their most valued staff member about something that was nothing to do with him.

This was at the beginning of the season and I would like to point out that even now these problems are still on the website. Broken links and events five years out of date – not very professional in my opinion, but not my business so once again I bit my tongue and kept out of it. After all it wasn't me that would be losing money and looking shoddy!

A couple of weeks later I was once again drawn into the cauldron. Everyday Tony starts work at 7am – a good 2 hours before anyone else arrived. He always had his lunch at 12.30pm and everyone knew that so I had cooked for him just like I did everyday. By 1pm I went to look for him, but he said he was so busy he couldn’t stop. The reason he was so busy was that they were so short of staff the work that should have been done the previous day hadn’t been done. They were so concerned with saving money that they cut right back on wages which meant that Tony was effectively doing 6 peoples job. There is no question that he does significantly more than the guy he replaced and he was racing around trying to catch up.

I was a bit cross as I had cooked for him, but I knew it wasn’t his fault. By 2pm I was fuming. He’d been working since 7am and legally he is supposed to have a break after 5 hours. I knew he would be hungry so I went to ask if he could have a break. Now I had been accused of being aggressive in an email, but the response I got by simply asking for Tony to have a break was amazing. I can honestly say that this lady is probably the most aggressive person I have ever met and how she can accuse me of being aggressive I have no idea. She snapped at me that no one had been able to have a break, so I calmly pointed out that no on else had been working since 7am and that the reason everyone was having to rush about was because the work should have been done the day before. She even had the cheek to suggest that I should jump in to help! I did not point out that they were severely understaffed, that they were breaking the law by not allowing breaks and that they few staff they did have were basically incompetent and lazy. I kept all that to myself and walked calmly away.

Tony finally got to have his lunch at 3.30pm – 8 1/2 hours without a single break. Illegal if nothing else.

From that day forward I was systematically ignored. I knew they must have been talking amongst themselves as even the woman I had helped get her hours back would no longer speak to me. I knew she would be loyal to her employer, but I hadn’t done anything wrong so I was confused as to why I was getting the cold shoulder. It went on and on for weeks. I asked Tony to find out what was going on, but he didn’t do it. I tried to avoid them as much as possible and ended up stuck in the caravan day after day on my own.

One day I was out walking with Flynn looking for Tony and we bumped into them all sat outside the store. They completely ignored me to my face. Not a smile, not even an acknowledgement of my existence. I could never do that to a person. If nothing else it’s downright rude and I was brought up to be polite and courteous. They knew I was looking for Tony as they heard me speaking to Flynn. They also knew that he was off site, but not one of them told me.

At this point I realised that something serious was going on. I racked my brain for anything that I might have done to warrant such cruel behaviour, but there was nothing other than the things I mentioned above. Hardly things for which I should be persecuted.

Things finally came to a head last weekend. Flynn came off his bike – pretty badly – right by the store. He was frightened, bleeding and couldn’t walk. He always cycles round the site with his friends as it’s a safe place for kids, but he misjudged things and took a tumble. Kids do that, it happens. A kind lady pulled his bike off him and helped him to a seat in front of the store. She then went into the store to tell the staff that there had been an accident and ask for some ice for his knee which he had ripped open. The young lad who cleans the pool heard Flynn crying and came to get me – I’m so glad he did. The kind lady came out of the store with a freezie wrapped in a tissue for his knee as that’s all they had. I comforted Flynn, waited for the bleeding to slow down and then took him home. I asked him if anyone from the store had been out to see what had happened – “No” he said. “No”?! Not one member of staff had been outside to see how bad the accident was – really? I was amazed that they would take the word of a member of the public that everything was OK. Surely if someone has an accident on your business premises you have a duty of care to see that they are OK?

I was pretty angry and when Tony got back I told him what had happened and he was also amazed at their lack of attention. I would like to point out here that I had no idea who was in the store – I found out later that it was the 2 women who had been ignoring me and whispering behind my back like a pair of nasty school children. I asked Tony if I was wrong in thinking they should have gone to see and his answer was “no, they should have gone out”. He also went over to find out why no one had gone to investigate and all he got was “Oh, was that Flynn, the woman said he was OK”. When challenged that she should have seen for herself as she was relying on third hand information she had nothing to say.

Tony and I between us have over thirty years of hospitality and customer service experience in the UK. I was trained that you should always attend the scene of an accident to assess the situation and in the UK the incident would be entered into the accident book. It’s the law and it’s just common sense. It protects the business from false accident claims and it makes sure that the hurt person is properly checked over. Is it really that different in Canada? I have no idea, so please if there are any Canadians reading this, tell me if I’m wrong. Is it really OK to let a member of the public deal with an accident which occurred on your business premises or should you go and see for yourself? I would love some feedback on this as I can’t believe it’s really so different.

I was pretty angry. They didn’t even know it was Flynn who’d been hurt so it could have been a paying customer – what impression does that give? That staff can’t get off their backsides to go and see what has happened I personally find unacceptable. The excuse given was that they were busy in the store – that they had a queue of customers waiting. When I arrived a few minutes after it happened there was one customer, the kind lady who helped Flynn.

Anyway, I posted on facebook that I was angry. Facebook – a private forum for only my friends and family. When asked why I was angry I explained and everyone agreed with me that it was bad that no one had gone to help.

I then received a really nasty message from a friend of the staff member. We had always known this woman liked to stir, but she was cruel and way over the top in her message and it had absolutely nothing to do with her. In her message she accused me of saying “a lot of offensive stuff about us in canada” – look she doesn’t even give her country a capital letter. I challenge anyone to find anything offensive I have ever said about anyone in Canada. Why would I as up until very recently I’d never met a single Canadian who wasn’t friendly and welcoming – this was one of the reasons we wanted to move here! I have never said anything bad about Canadians or Canada. I love the people here and the country and I’m thankful that it seems to be a tiny minority who are cruel and small minded, but you get that in any country I guess. This woman also misquoted Tony as having said Flynn had only “skinned his knees a bit”, when what he actually said was that he had “ripped the flesh from his knee”. People really should get their facts straight before getting involved in a situation they know nothing about.

I racked my brain for anything I've ever written that could be taken as offensive by Canadians. The only thing I can think of is that I said Canadians can't do Chinese food as all they do is deep fry everything. If I offended anyone by this then I sincerely apologise, it was just an observation and a light hearted comment. Still, if that is the extent of my crimes then I think I can relax and it is certainly not something for which a person should be persecuted.

Needless to say these three woman are now blocked on facebook. I was very upset by the whole thing on top of being ignored to my face on a daily basis for the last 6 weeks. You don’t have to like everyone you meet, but is there any need to be rude and basically bully them because they don’t want to suck up like everyone else?

I was ready to go home and if I could have I would have packed up and gone home the next day. Our dream was slipping away because of the cruelty of 3 women.

Next day poor Tony had it out with them. When challenged one accused me of saying things that “irked” her – yet could not come up with one single example. Really? I “irked” her so she ignored me for weeks and allowed her friend to attack me via email? How pathetic is that and I really hope she is feeling guilty for what she has done to me. So much for the "if I have a problem with someone I speak to them about it" attitude she professed to have. He went back and forth with the other woman who seemed to think it was perfectly OK not to investigate an accident on her business premises. Apparently it’s not done here in Canada, but I would like to hear that from other Canadians too before I’m ready to believe it. When he mentioned we were thinking of leaving her attitude miraculously changed. Now it was “what can I do to make things better, I don’t want Alex to feel she has to shut herself away, I have no problem with her”? Again, really? You think we can’t see straight through that? We know and they know that Tony is too valuable to them. If he were to leave they would have serious problems as no one else knows how everything works and where everything is. Every pipe and wire is buried – there are no maps. All the information is stored in the brains of two people – Tony’s and the guy he replaced.

Tony has been my rock as ever. He has stood up for me and has also blocked them all on facebook. The funny thing is that before this last incident I had already asked Tony if I could take them off my friends list as they weren’t exactly being friendly and he’d said yes. Now they are gone and I don’t have to worry about being diplomatic any more. He has challenged them and they have no answers. Between them all they can’t come up with one bad thing I’m supposed to have said or done.

The question is where do we go from here? I was so upset and hurt that I just wanted to leave, but I’ve been overwhelmed by the support I’ve received by friends, family and even strangers. I’ve been assured that this isn’t normal behaviour for Canadians and all my experience backs this up. So, what do I do now? Do I allow these few to snatch away our dreams? No, I do not. I’m not an aggressive person and just like most people I don’t like to be dis-liked, but I don’t need people like this in my life. If I am backed into a corner or my family is threatened then I will come out fighting – I won’t take it lying down and run away with my tail between my legs. Especially when I’ve done nothing wrong. Interestingly the men that work here have been nothing but nice. Always a friendly smile and some pleasant chit chat – I wonder what the difference is? The other point that I find somewhat amusing is that they think they can treat me in this appalling manor and expect Tony to still treat them as friends! Do they really think that it will be business as usual and that he will carry on as before? He is just as angry as I am. Of course he has to work with them and will be civil, but that is as far as it goes. No more favours, no more fixing things they break, no more going that extra mile to help out people we thought were friends - he will do his job, which he is fantastic at, and nothing more. I am amazed that they think all this would make no difference to him. We have been together for nearly 14 years - through thick and thin we have stood together and united we still stand. In those 14 years I have never once seen him angry - until now, because of how these women have treated his family.

So I will stick it out. Only 3 more months of living here, maybe less if we can find a house sooner. As far as I’m concerned these people no longer exist. I will go about my own business, I will keep myself to myself, but I won’t shut myself away. I won’t go looking for a fight – that’s not my style, but if one is brought to me that is a different story.

I am a strong believer that there are valuable lessons to be learnt from all tough experiences. It’s not always clear what these lessons are, but I’ve no doubt tough times make us stronger. I’ve dealt with worse than this and become a much stronger person because of it. I will not allow myself to be bullied any longer – I owe it to myself and my family to make a happy home.

So this is the start of a new chapter. We will soon have our own home and will be making new plans for the future. I am still so lucky to be in this beautiful country surrounded by warm and friendly people, (on the whole). I have a great support system and thank my lucky stars that we have been able to set out on this fantastic adventure. Changes are on the horizon, the dream is still close to being a reality - we will weather this storm and come out the other side into the sunshine.

Sadness

2011-07-21T20:48:00.002+01:00

At the moment life is hard. Not physically hard, but emotionally hard and I’m not ashamed to admit it. We’ve been here nearly 3 months now and I always knew it would be tough, but I guess I never figured on it getting so tough so soon.

Before we came I was very worried about how I would settle. Tony would be busy with work and Flynn would quickly make friends at school, but where would that leave me? I knew I might struggle to find my feet – I’m not the outgoing sort – but it never crossed my mind that I would end up feeling quite like I do now.

I feel isolated. I spend my days locked away in the caravan, mostly on my own, with the laptop. Flynn has friends to play with - he is enjoying his long summer break and for that I’m thankful, but it means that I am always alone. Tony works such very long hours and at times I crave some adult conversation, or even just some company. I have nowhere to go and no one to see. I enjoy my writing, but I can only do that for so many hours a day and I find that it’s not enough.

At first I put my low feelings down to the dreaded female hormones, but they haven’t gone away as they should if that were the case. I feel sad a lot of the time. I’m in this beautiful country, a country that I wanted to come to and yet I’m unhappy. I’ve thought a lot about simply packing up and going home. Put it all down to experience and pick up where we left off in the UK, but that wouldn’t solve our original problems. We would still be stuck in a little house surrounded by people with no means of changing anything. Plus we can’t return within 6 months of leaving as poor Puss would have to go into quarantine due to some weird clause of the pet passport.

So, I am stuck here for at least another 3 months. We have put our house on the market and if it sells then that will be it. We will be staying as we would have no home to return to. Part of me almost wishes that it won’t sell so that I have my security blanket to hold on to. The other part of me thinks that the quicker it sells the sooner we can escape the constant chaos and that things would then be better.

It is so noisy here and I find that hard. There is no peace and never any quiet. The constant drone of traffic and the hustle and bustle of people I find draining. I’ve come to realise that I need peace and quiet to settle myself, to be able to hear myself think. To just have quiet – that is something that I find myself craving. Even late at night or early in the morning the noise is incessant. Traffic, traffic and more traffic. I really need to get away from this place - as far away from the highway as possible. Sometimes I just feel like screaming – anything to drown out the noise.

So what can I do to improve my current situation? To be honest, at the moment I really don’t know. I’ve been taking Flynn for swimming lessons, so at least I get away for a small time each day, but then I return and so does the loneliness. How can I be surrounded by people having fun on their holidays and still be lonely? That’s just it I suppose, they are spending time with their families and enjoying the company – something I am sadly missing. I do miss my family. I used to speak to my parents almost everyday and would see them all the time. I don’t want to dwell on missing them though as I know it will only upset my Mum, but the New year seems a very long time away before they visit.

The level, calm person that I fought so hard to become seems to be disappearing at an alarming rate. I have no patience and I am becoming a terrible parent. I shout at Flynn for the slightest of things and then instantly well up and feel terrible. I even threatened to cancel his birthday as he was winding me up so much – that is just how awful I have become. I don’t like this angry, bitter, yet sad person I’m becoming – but I don’t know how to get back to being me.

I worked hard to become a positive, balanced person. Level in body and mind and yet that is slipping away frighteningly quickly and I am returning to the scared, uncertain and fragile soul that I was convinced I had banished forever.

So again I ask, “What can I do to get myself back on track”? I know people will say I should go out more, join clubs, make friends – but I don’t know where to start. Wages here are so very low that I am conscious of not spending Tony’s money unnecessarily which means not going too far afield. I think having nothing to do is eating away at my sanity. I have gone from being a busy person with a very physically demanding job to just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Lack of exercise probably isn’t helping things but I don’t feel comfortable walking round the site and there is nowhere else to go.

Will it be better when we get our own house? I really sincerely hope so. At least then we will have our own space, we won’t be on display and we will be able to separate work and home. At the moment we have no privacy and no time to ourselves, so surely having a house and making a home will make a difference? I don’t think I really miss my belongings as such – everything important I brought with me. I think I miss the space a house gives you. Somewhere to shut yourself away for a few minutes to calm yourself down, a little sanctuary to call your own, somewhere peaceful to sit and think away from prying eyes – even somewhere to just have a damn good cry.

I hope we have made the right decision moving here, I hope this is just a blip and that I will soon be feeling better. I think we need a few days away from it all. We worked so hard getting ready to come here that maybe we just all need a break and some time to be a family again. One day a week really isn’t enough – not when you’re working over 70 hours in the other 6. Tony looks tired and Flynn hardly sees him. Not exactly the dream life I had imagined.

However, I must remember that, with any luck, this won’t be forever. The dream is still possible and once we have a home and are mortgage free we will be that much closer. Maybe Tony will go back to being self-employed one day and choosing his own hours – that would be nice. Somehow I will drag myself out of this deep dark abyss that I seem to have slipped into. I will drag myself out and head back toward the light – I know I can do it as I’ve done it before. I just need to find the strength and the focus as I don’t like being unhappy when all around me are having fun.

I will get back to being me again – it might take some time and effort, but I will do it. I owe it to myself and my family. I deserve to be happy and so do they and that happiness is completely within my power – I just have to find that strength again and also my inner peace which seems to have been temporarily misplaced.
So watch this space. With any luck my next post will be back to my happy go lucky self – we all have down times and I feel better for just getting it all off my chest. Maybe I will start planning our time away and start house hunting again. It’s Flynn’s 7th birthday on Sunday so that will be a good day. We are going to have some fun in the pool and then will be off on a trail ride – far away from all the noise and traffic here. Maybe that is just what I need. It’s not Canada that is getting me down – how could it? It’s a beautiful country and I will always love it. It’s the situation I find us in and that can always be changed.

Musings and Ponderations

2011-07-13T14:57:00.000+01:00

Thursday 14th July will mark our eleventh week in Canada. To this point our longest stay had been a 10 week road trip in 2009, so not only is it our longest stay but it is also the longest time we've stayed in one place in Canada. So how is life in treating us?

I've been pondering this question and wondering how I feel after nearly 3 months in Nova Scotia and it is a difficult question to answer. Am I happy to be in this most breath taking of countries? Whole heartedly yes! Have there been times when I've wondered what on earth I'm doing here? Again, whole heartedly yes!

Our situation here isn't ideal. I've decided that living and working in the same place is not a good idea. Even though I'm not the one doing the working anymore, as we are "here" Tony gets called on at all times of the day and night and even on his days off. It's tricky as he can't exactly say "no", but other staff that live off site are not expected to come back to sort problems out. Once they drive away, that's it, they are off the clock until their next shift.

In the UK, running his own business, Tony could pick and choose his hours and if he didn't want to do something he just wouldn't do it. He also paid himself a good wage and kept us very comfortably. He has taken a massive pay cut to come here and is having to work really hard for those few dollars, (65 plus hours a week). I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't forever and to keep my eye on the big picture. Once we have a house Tony will be able to clock off and leave just like everyone else and I won't feel like I'm living in a goldfish bowl.

It is a very strange thing to be living in a place where everyone else is on holiday. All the people here are having a lovely time, chilling out and having fun - but we live here. It's not so bad now Flynn has finished school for the summer holidays - at least he doesn't have to get up at 6am! Even so it is an unusual situation to be in. We are right up front and I really don't like that. Everyone stares into the caravan as they drive in and out and we are very close to the highway which is extremely noisy. It has certainly helped me to discount any houses that I've seen for sale or rent on this road as I just couldn't bear to live with such a constant racket. If we were somewhere down in the wooded section of the site it would be so much easier and more pleasant, but that would mean the loss of a paying pitch so that will never happen. We are also directly underneath some power lines, which again I very much dislike. From reading I've done it is not good for your health to be so close to power lines and I've certainly had a lot of headaches since living here. But again, it's not forever and I must remind myself of that.

On a Sunday, Tony's only day off, we go out - as far away as possible. We have to try to get out early, which isn't always easy - otherwise he will get called on to do something or other. Just this last weekend he was called on because a customer couldn't work out how to turn his sofa into a bed!! It wasn't even one of our units and it meant we were late leaving. However, I do love our Sundays. No matter where we go we have a perfect day - rain or shine we find somewhere new to go and explore. There are so many beautiful places to have adventures here and it's easy to disappear away from the rest of the world for a bit of breathing space. These once a week outings restore my sanity and soothe my soul ready for the next week of chaos.

We've had to make a lot of compromises to come here to make a better life for ourselves, something I think not everyone appreciates. I'm certainly not used to Tony working so many hours and I miss him not being around as much. We are a strong team and function best when working together, I guess I feel a little like I've lost a link in my chain so it's got just a tiny bit weaker. I get cross with him when he finishes late and then feel bad as I know it's not his fault. Even when he says he has to finish at a certain time as we need to be somewhere, every single time "something" happens that no one else can possibly deal with. The trouble with Tony is that he is too good at what he does and is far too useful to have around! But again, it won't be forever. He won't always have to work such very long hours and we can regain our strength.

One major decision we've had to make very recently is to put our UK property on the market. We had planned to keep it for a couple of years until we were sure we'd made the right decision, but the universe it seems has other plans. The rental agency we used to find us tenants was useless! The guy promised me it would be sorted within 6 weeks. 3 1/2 months later and still nothing. We also discovered that we simply cannot afford to rent here on Tony's salary. We didn't look into rental prices much before we came, somehow in all my planning and research that little detail slipped through. We knew that to buy a house here, in comparison with the UK, was really very cheap. Our modest 3 bed semi would buy us a large detached house with some land and we would be mortgage free - always a huge factor in our master plan. To be mortgage free in a big house with some land, that is the dream and I know we will get it. Everything we've done in our journey to get here has happened fairly easily, I'm sure it is meant to be and it will all work itself out.

So we're having to sell up much earlier than planned. Slightly worrying as we don't yet have our residency papers, but there doesn't seem to be another way. You have to sign up for a 12 month rental contract here and for even a small property we would be looking at over £800 per month, ($1250 CAD). We would have to add to Tony's salary from our savings and we don't want to do that - that money is our safety net. So the decision is made and our house is on the market. With any luck, and if the universe doesn't have different plans for us, then it will sell fairly quickly - after all it is in pristine, condition. We only finished the renovations just before we left and never even got to spend 1 night in it completed.

I am a little sad that I never got to take a shower in my brand new bathroom which I waited 8 years for, but hey ho, on to bigger and better things.

Flynn has settled completely, as I knew he would. He has made friends with some local kids who come here to play pretty much everyday. The favourite activity is "frog catching" and he is constantly filthy dirty but happy! He got on amazingly at school for the brief time he was there before the summer holidays. I really think the education system here will suit him as it seems to be far more "fun" based. He even said one day "I don't think I've learnt anything at school as I'm having too much fun"! Just goes to show how good his teacher is as he didn't even realise he had been learning - as far as he was concerned learning had to be hard and boring. It also helps that he is pretty much a year ahead of the kids here as they start school so early in the UK. He had a bad year in a school at home so we had to move him and he then spent a year playing "catch up", so now to be at the top is great for his self esteem and it really shows.

Tony too has taken to life here like a duck to water, so much so that people often think he is a local! He has a big shed filled with tools and gets to fix things and problem solve all day long - he is in his element. He is definitely a born "fixer" and can think "outside the box" to solve even the worst problem. If he can't fix it then it is a lost cause and it's best to just throw it away rather than waste time on it. The saying amongst his colleagues in the UK was "Tony, the man that can" and that is a fact. He gets frustrated from time to time, but that is to be expected in any job and doing so many hours I think it is inevitable.

So it seems it is really me that has had the most difficulty settling here. Not having a job may be a factor as for the first time in my life I don't feel like I have a purpose and I'm not contributing to the household income. I have never been unemployed and even went back to work when Flynn was only 6 months old, (not by choice I hasten to add), so it is strange to have no money of my own. I could look for work, but having only one vehicle at the moment would be problematic as if I took the truck you could guarantee Tony would need it. Plus, the summer holidays are very long and I can't work while Flynn is off school. There are summer camps I could put him into, but I would need a very well paid job to cover the costs and we came here to spend more time together, not to ship Flynn off to camp so we would hardly see him. It's the first time I've ever been able to spend so much time with him and I plan to enjoy it. We've been on some hikes and have signed up to various events at the local library. I'm still finding my feet with regard to the whole driving on the other side of the road thing, so haven't ventured too far yet, but we will find our own adventures whether they be near or far.

One thing that having time on my hands has allowed is to develop my writing. Thanks to all the positive feedback I've had from this blog it has given me the courage to put myself out there and I am amazed at the response. I am writing guest posts for a variety of publications and am now a contributor for 2 amazing online sites here in Nova Scotia. Without all the encouragement from the readers of this blog I would never have even thought to try, plus without this life changing move I wouldn't have had the time to do it if I'd even ever thought about it. My writing and various social media sites have also helped me to make new friends. There are some great Expat sites out there and through those I have made friends and connections. Twitter has been a life saver and has helped me to connect with so many local people, find out about things going on and make contacts for my writing.

I would like to thank Jo Parfitt an amazing writer and publisher who really got me started on the writing path. She gave me some great advice and pointed me in the right direction, without her I would probably have floundered.

I would also like to mention a lovely guy I met just yesterday. He is a British expat too and has been in Canada for 30 years so has lots of good advice and funny stories. I found him through Facebook and discovered he is fairly close by. He has been so helpful and has said we can go to visit him at his stables any time we need to get away and chill out. So James Wootton, I say a really big THANK YOU! He runs an amazing stables here and has acres upon acres where you can go trail riding, something I hope to do soon. Check out his site and if you're ever close by I know he would love you to drop in and say "hi".

http://www.boulderwood.com/

One other thing I am thankful for is being so close to the sea. I find being near the sea so soothing and calming. The lapping of the waves seem to wash my troubles away and I love the fact that we can just pop off and be at the coast within about 30 minutes. You are never far from the ocean when you're in Nova Scotia and I love that so much - they do call it "Canada's Ocean Playground" after all.

So, I feel I have pondered and mused enough for one post! I know in my heart that we made the right decision coming here. I strongly believe that things happen for a reason and any bumps in the road along the way are just lessons we need to learn. The Canadians are a lovely people, warm, friendly and welcoming. The Expats here are also lovely and great for when you want a bit of British humour and wit, plus they are a great resource for things like opening bank accounts and buying cars or houses. The landscape is awe inspiring, clean, beautiful and there is wilderness a plenty, which is one of my personal favourite things about Canada. We WILL make our dreams happen, it might take a little while, but we will get there in the end. That is the big picture and as long as I remember to focus on that I know I will be fine.

Damn you shower curtain!

2011-07-12T14:06:00.001+01:00

When we first moved into the caravan I asked for a replacement shower curtain as the one we had was NASTY!!! Covered in black mould, smelly and evil!!!!!!!!!! Now being a caravan it's nothing so simple as just going out to buy a shower curtain. Oh no. The curtain is attached to a glide rail which means you need glide tape on the curtain to attach to the glide rail - got it?

After 10 weeks of asking and getting nowhere I finally took matters into my own hands - I was not putting up with this evil smelling monstrosity any longer! I even contacted the local caravan sales company, 3 times, to try to get my hands on a curtain, but they never even replied. Tony managed to get some glide tape and we bought a shower curtain - great, at last a clean curtain. I was even careful to find one that would match the colour scheme in the bathroom and I have to say it was perfect. However I had to sew the tape onto the curtain.

Now I can sew, I don't take any pleasure from it, but I can sew, so I settled myself down to the task in hand whilst dreaming of how lovely my next shower was going to be. Two and a half hours later - yes I did say two and half hours - and it was finally finished! It took forever and I was thoroughly fed up with it, plus I knew if I had access to a sewing machine it would have been done in no time.

Still, it was done! Hurray! Tony put it up for me and it looked lovely. I spent the rest of that evening dreaming about my next shower which I was going to thoroughly enjoy.

Next morning I bounced out of bed, full of excitement and had a most refreshing and sweet smelling shower. Again, being a caravan you can't stay in there too long as you run out of hot water, but regardless it was delicious!

I opened the curtain and reached for a towel and just happened to look down. Why was there water all over the floor? What on earth could have happened? Did I leave a gap in the curtain?

It appears we have bought a shower curtain that is in no way waterproof! Seriously, who makes a shower curtain that doesn't keep the water in the shower? I mean it, please if anyone has an answer I need to know.

All I do know is that I am absolutely NOT unpicking all that stitching, buying another curtain and doing it all again. It was a Walmart curtain and it wasn't even in the cheap range. We could take it back, but I AM NOT DOING THAT HORRIBLE SEWING JOB EVER AGAIN! We will just have to put up with a leaky curtain and mop up the water after.

It does still look pretty though. Going to just call it a curtain and leave it at that.

Rescue!

2011-07-02T20:00:00.002+01:00

For all those people who keep on about us having a big truck - this is why we need one!

Sunday 26th June started much like any other. We had decided to visit Kennetcook as they were having a fair and also the 84th Regiment of Foot historical group would be there. We figured Flynn would like to see the canons and muskets and see the people living as they would have in the 1700's.

It was a small fair, but Flynn was happy as he won a blow up squeaky hammer and we watched the blacksmith starting his forge up for the day. He was a very interesting guy and certainly knew how to talk to the crowd and keep them listening - even Flynn was enthralled! I quite fancy joining a group like that. I could see us all dressed up in costume living as they did in the past, Flynn would definitely love it!

Tony had a good look around the antique tractors and machinery whilst Flynn and I had an ice cream then we moved on to Burncoat Head on the Bay of Fundy.

http://www.burncoathead.com/

The Bay of Fundy has the world's highest recorded tides in the world with Burncoat Head recording an average of 47.5 feet twice a day! Needless to say, you have to be careful on the beaches and try to time your visit when the tide is out. The landscape is incredible where it has been carved out by the massive tides - caves, sea stacks, rock pools and thick red mud!

We found hundreds of teeny tiny hermit crabs which were all racing around in little pools. Flynn loved watching them and if you picked one up they would peep out of their shells and then pop back in again.

We also found some very strange footprints. Now, I would welcome suggestions as to what animal they could be from so please comment if you think you know. My guess would be perhaps a sea otter, but really I have no idea! They look just like little hands and I promise we didn't make them.

Personally I find sitting on a beach listening to the waves lapping very therapeutic. All my troubles and worries simply wash away with the waves and I could happily sit and switch off for hours. I don't know what it is about a beach, but whatever it is I'm glad we are now so close to the sea - whenever things get to me I can pop off to the closest beach and let everything drift away. This is why Tony always manages to get a photo of me sitting on a rock looking out to sea!

After climbing to the top of the light house and spending a very pleasant hour or so on the beach it was time to head back home. We decided to go home along the coast to Windsor and then back down highway 101. We hadn't been driving long when I spotted a rental RV parked oddly. I joked to Tony that we should report it as you can get a $100 reward if you find an RV somewhere it shouldn't really be. As we got closer we could see that it wasn't actually parked, but was off the road with it's front wheels in the air!

Even when we were in England Tony could never drive past someone in distress. I've lost count of the number of people we have towed out of fields, ditches and snow drifts, so of course we stopped. There was no one around, but we realised that it was the entrance to a camp site where we stayed last year so we knew where the owner lived. We drove down the lane and came across a man running up towards us. We stopped and he said in very stilted English "I av accident"! A-ha, we had found the driver! We told him to head back to the RV and we would try to find a rope - having only had the truck for 3 days we hadn't bought a tow rope yet! We found 2 guys who said they thought they might have a strap we could use and then they followed us back up. We have discovered that there is a lot of rivalry between the owners of trucks by different makers so we got the usual "Well, if the Ford can't do it we'll go get the Dodge"! I thought it a slightly odd comment as they were driving a GMC, but it was all in good humour and they stayed to help.

They got the strap on and Tony explained to the German RV driver that he needed to put it into "Drive", but then do nothing else. So, 3 days after buying our new truck, she was now strapped to a 5 1/2 tonne monster and was going to try to drag it back on to the road! I had my fingers crossed she would be alright as we were a long way from home! She took the strain, the RV started to tip down to the road and then "BANG"! The 2 tonne strap snapped and pinged back like a missile towards the truck. Luckily the metal clip didn't come with the strap or my new baby would have been damaged!

Tony and the 2 local guys decided that if they re-tied the strap, but wound it around itself it would make it stronger as it would be double the thickness. Tony went back to the German driver and it then dawned that he hadn't actually turned the engine of the RV on! Doh!!!! This time he made sure the engine was on, it was in "drive" and that he understood he was to just sit and do nothing until it was back on the road.

Flynn and I took a deep breath and waited to see what would happen. By this time we had quite a crowd watching so I was hoping it would work. Tony put the truck into reverse, took the strain, the RV tipped down towards the road, our wheels started to spin, but she dug in and hauled the monster back onto the road. Everyone cheered - it was very exciting! The German guy was very embarrassed and I've no idea what he had done with the rest of his group. Tony checked that he hadn't ruptured any of his tanks and we made sure we got the number of the unit as it is bound to come to us at some point. Even on his day off Tony manages to end up doing some work, only he won't get paid for that one, but I guess it is all good Karma

So this is one of many reasons why we need a big truck. She definitely proved herself and our next purchase will be a good tow rope.

Please have a look at the video - not the best quality, but it shows my beauty doing what she does best :)

New wheels!!!!!!!

2011-06-28T16:11:00.001+01:00

It took us 8 weeks, but we finally have new wheels - yippee!!!! Such a long saga of trying to move money from the UK to Nova Scotia, and then once it made it here I couldn't get Tony away from work as he was so busy. Scot at The Autostore was lovely and very understanding of our difficulties. He didn't hassle us and was quite happy to wait for our money to clear even though we had only put down $100. We felt so bad about it that we paid $1000, as soon as we could just so he knew we were serious, but I really don't think he minded.

We woke up early Thursday 23rd June and once Flynn was on the school bus we headed into town. We had a long list of jobs to do - but first things first we needed breakfast! We had spotted that Hellas Restaurant did a breakfast special, so by 7.40am we were sat at a sunny table and browsing the menu. The waitress was lovely and gave us a very warm welcome and we had soon placed our orders. Tony went for the mixed grill - the biggest dish on the menu - and I went for a Western omlette, which was eggs, cheese, ham and onions. Both meals came with tea or coffee, toast and home fries, or sauteed potatoes as we know them in the UK. When the meals came - in a very short time - the tea was in the strangest thing I've ever seen. It was in a small glass vase with cord wrapped around the top so you could lift it without burning your fingers and an upside down cup on top to keep it warm whilst it was brewing. There was a Greek theme to the restaurant so whether this a traditional method of tea brewing I have no idea, but it was certainly unique. We will have to go back at some point as I wish we had taken a photo, plus the food was lovely.

Once we were re-fuelled we got our jobs done as quick as we could and then headed to The Autostore. Money paid, paperwork filled in, just waiting for the fax to come through for the insurance and we would be off! Whilst Tony was waiting for the fax I decided it was time to be brave and take my first solo flight as I needed to take the shuttle van back to work to unload our groceries before going to Flynn's school for Field Day, (Sports Day in the UK). Now this trip was fairly easy as it was just one road and it was heading out of town so there wouldn't be too much traffic. It did involve crossing the traffic to turn left out of the car lot though, but I took a deep breath and I was off! Thankfully, there wasn't much traffic and pretty much all cars are automatic so they are easy to drive.

So I was cruising down the road thinking "this is OK", when it hit me that I didn't have keys to the caravan - DOH!!! I had to find somewhere to turn round and then head back to the Autostore. OK, so far so good. Got the keys from Tony and then to cross the traffic again. This time I had to wait for a while, but it was OK. I had the music pumping, windows open and just cruised on back to work in the sunshine. Interestingly I actually had to keep checking my speed as I found it quite hard to stick to 70kms an hour as I was just driving and enjoying myself.

I made it back in one piece and was quite proud of myself. Next step would be to take the truck out and negotiate traffic and parking as Flynn and I have big plans for the summer holidays.

By the time I had unloaded and put everything away Tony was back, so we headed to school. We weren't sure what Field Day would be like, but after the assembly I had a feeling it would be based on fun and I wasn't wrong. In the morning they kids had been split into teams with children from all the grades working together on challenges. In the afternoon they stayed in their classes and had 5 minutes at each activity and they were all having a great time. They played on the outside equipment, skipped, followed a rope blindfold and then had to stand in a big circle and throw balloons filled with water to each other. Surprisingly the balloons didn't pop, but Mrs Duffy made sure she got one to explode at the end and the kids loved it!

We had a lovely day all round and can now plan our adventures in our new truck. For all you petrol heads I should really tell you what we're bought! It's a Ford F250 Super Duty, 5.4l V8 with plough attachments, tow package and rough terrain kit. She needs some cosmetic attention before the winter, but otherwise she is solid as a rock and Tony couldn't wait to test her out.

Fun, Fair rides and Fireworks

2011-06-24T16:54:00.001+01:00

Friday 17th June saw the start of the Mount Uniacke Volunteer Firefighters' Parade and Fair. Aside from the school Spring Fling we hadn't been to any community events so we were really looking forward to the fair. We didn't know what to expect but I had read that there would be fair rides, games and fireworks on the Friday evening followed by a parade, food challenge, bingo and dinner on the Saturday.

We weren't exactly sure where we were going but we figured it couldn't be that hard to find and we were definitely right. You just had to follow the massive stream of cars heading to the fire station and then try to find somewhere to park. I was quite amazed just how many people were there and it just goes to show how much the local community supports it's Volunteer Fire Department - which was lovely to see.

Flynn had a great time bouncing, swinging and riding on tanks and trains. He even won a blow up Spiderman which he was very impressed with. We enjoyed cheeseburgers, fries, spicy nachos and cotton candy - not exactly healthy, but never mind, it was only for 1 night. The fireworks weren't due to start until 10pm, by which time I was FREEZING!!!!! Once again I had listened to Tony who said I wouldn't need a coat as it was lovely when we left, but come 9pm there was a definite chill in the air. I sent him off to Robins to get me a hot drink and then we lost him! I didn't have my phone and although I kept watching for him we somehow missed each other! It was getting closer and closer to 10pm and Flynn was getting more and more excited and thankfully we eventually found him and just in the nick of time.

Now Flynn had never been to a fireworks display before as he really doesn't like loud noises. In the UK I used to have to put ear defenders on him just to vacuum the house and in public toilets I have to cover his ears before using the hand driers! He had watched our local village display from the safety of his bedroom window, but he was very excited about the Fire Department display. I wasn't sure whether he would manage to stay for it, but I needn't have worried as he absolutely loved it.

It was an amazing display. I wasn't expecting a huge amount of big fireworks, but I was very wrong. The colours and sounds were fantastic and you could feel the "boom" vibrating through your body. The people around us were very appreciative and there was a steady stream of "ooh's" and "ahhs". Only right at the very end, when the really big rockets went off did Flynn take a tiny step back, but I think it's fair to say that he is now a firework convert.

At the end of the display everyone filed out and then it struck me just how many people were actually there. We had to queue for maybe 30 minutes before traffic started to flow and I think that goes to show just how much the local people are really behind their Volunteer Firefighters and I hope they made a lot of money. We couldn't make it to the second day of the Fair as Tony was working, but I'm so glad we went when we could. Definitely a date for the diary for next year for more Fun, Fair rides and Fireworks.

A new driving licence

2011-06-16T16:43:00.001+01:00

After being here nearly seven weeks we decided it was time to change over our driving licences. The place to do this is Access Nova Scotia where they deal with all things motor related.

Thankfully, just before we came over here the Nova Scotia government set up a reciprocal agreement with the UK which meant we could simply swap our licences over without a test - phew! Not that the test would have been a problem, I just hate tests of any kind and am still a little nervous about driving on the other side of the road..

So, it should have been nice and simple. Turn up, wait our turn, swap the licences over, pay the fee and hey presto a new licence and Canadian ID. Should have been - hmmmmmm. Well, for me it was easy. I did all of the above, plus an eye test, (I mentioned I hate tests), which thankfully I passed and I am now the proud owner of a Nova Scotian driving licence. Please don't ask to see the photo as it is an absolute shocker!

So, it's Tony that poses the problem. He casually saunters up to the desk and says he would like to swap over his licence. "No problem", the lady replies. Tony - "I will keep my big rig,(HGV), entitlement right"? Lady behind the desk, "Ummmmmmm"? Luckily there was a supervisor called Pauline right next to the desk we were at so she stepped in, made some phone calls, but unfortunately did not manage to resolve the issue.

In the UK Tony drove HGV's or Big Rigs as they're known here. To get an HGV licence is very expensive so not something Tony would be keen to repeat and if we do ever go home he would need that licence to start earning money. It seems that when he changes his licence over - which he has 90 days from landing to do - he would only get the entitlement to drive a car and would lose his HGV and motorbike qualifications. Now he can take the Big Rig test here, which isn't expensive, but he needs use of a truck and trailer - anyone got one for loan? The big question is whether by exchanging his licence here in Nova Scotia, does his UK one get cancelled or can he just get a new one with the same entitlements if we were to go back?

Tricky! The supervisor lady suggested keeping his UK licence and just doing a test here to get a brand new licence. He could get a temporary licence straight away that would have the proviso that he only drive in the company of an experienced driver - namely me!! How funny. He went over to another desk to arrange all that while I was getting my licence, but the lady said "No". "You can't do that", she said. "You already have a licence so I can't put you down as a new driver".

So the desk lady says "No", the supervisor lady says "Yes"! Lots of confusion and lots of back and forth ensues. In the end it was decided that it was probably best for Tony to contact the DVLA, (who deal with licences), in the UK to ask what he should do. We like to have a fall back plan and Tony driving the big trucks is just that, so we are loathe for him to lose that ability just in case something goes wrong and we need to go home. Driving has always been his bread and butter work, always there when the technical work dries up, plus he loves it.

So I am now a legal Nova Scotian driver, who hasn't quite overcome my nerves about driving on the other side of the road and Tony is still a visitor who is happy to jump in absolutely anything and drive absolutely anywhere. Go figure.

Truck anyone?

Point Pleasant Park

2011-06-15T15:26:00.001+01:00

On Sunday 12th June 2011 we set off for Point Pleasant Park. We drove into Halifax passed the market we visited last week and then entered the strangest area I've ever been in. I kept saying we must be going the wrong way, there was simply no way we could be heading towards a 185 acre park when we were going through the industrial docks. There were huge cranes, hundreds of containers stacked one upon the other and general signs of a busy harbour. Tony assured me he was indeed going the right way though and we soon arrived at a little car park by Blackrock beach.

http://www.pointpleasantpark.ca/en/home/default.aspx

Now I had ummed and ahhhed for ages as to whether to take my coat with us as well as my jumper and in the end I listened to Tony who said I wouldn't need it. MISTAKE!!! We got out of the car and the wind was whistling around the bay - it was freezing! Flynn headed straight for the sand and we soon both had our shoes and socks off, while Tony stomped along in his huge work boots.

The sand was lovely and warm, I just wanted to bury myself in it and lay there listening to the waves, but I made do with just burying my feet. We found a spot that was a little sheltered near to The Big Black Rock and Flynn started his excavation works. We sat there for a while with Flynn digging away, watching the fishing boats going out to sea and looking at the strangest beach view I've ever seen.

Time to move on and explore the rest of the park. It was still pretty chilly, but once we had gone around the point it was more sheltered from the wind and as long as we kept moving it was OK. It was obviously a busy park as there were lots of people around, some running, some walking their dogs and others playing with their kids. We had a look at the ruins left over from the park's military days and Flynn particularly liked the big canons. The paths were good for walking and even the ones that were more wooded and mulched instead of gravelled were nice to walk on. We met some friendly dogs who came to sniff "hello" before moving on and Flynn was running practically the whole time we were in the park. He had a tennis ball and would throw the ball and then run to retrieve it - needless to say, he slept well that night.

We really enjoyed strolling through the trees, looking at the spring plants pushing their way up and listening to the cheeky squirrels chattering away. Flynn spotted a little track through the bushes and was desperate to explore it even though it wasn't a proper part of the trail. I sent him down it and we walked along to the next proper trail and found they both met up at a beautiful natural spring. The water was bubbling up from the ground and was incredibly clear. Flynn spotted a penny in the water and was determined to get it out, but the water was so very cold that he just couldn't keep his feet in the water long enough to get it. I said it was probably somebodies "wish", so it was best to leave it where it was anyway or it wouldn't come true. The picture below shows Flynn and I sat above the spring - the perfect place for a rest and a snack.

We had a lovely time at the park and will definitely be visiting again. I would love to learn to run, so one day maybe I will be running through the beautiful park on a Sunday morning - hmmmmm, maybe one day!

Oh what a beautiful morning

2011-06-11T15:16:00.000+01:00

Much as I was cursing the cat when he got me up at 5am this morning, once I was outside I was glad he woke me. What a beautiful sunrise! The mist was curling delicately across the lake making sensuous patterns with frond like fingers reaching out to me. The air was crisp and fresh and the sky was tinged with pink as the sun began it's lazy journey up into the sky. Not a sound interrupted the peace and tranquillity, even the birds seemed to be waiting for the sun to peep above the horizon.

It was promising to be a beautiful day in Nova Scotia, so Mr Puss although I didn't want to get up I do thank you for waking me - just please can you make it nearer 7am next time?

The language barrier

2011-06-08T19:34:00.012+01:00

One thing I did not foresee being a problem was language - after all they speak English in Canada right? Yes, they do speak English in Nova Scotia, but it seems to be a slightly different version and some people simply don't understand me! Although we had travelled extensively across Atlantic Canada, Tony had tended to do most of the talking and he picks up the lilt of the local accent very quickly. In fact at times it drives me mad and I feel like screaming "Why are you speaking in that weird accent, just talk normally for goodness sake"!!! In certain places Tony's accent would change into a whole new species, especially on Newfoundland where he ended up with a weird Welsh, English, Irish twang that was the strangest thing I've ever heard!

Anyway, it never crossed my mind that people wouldn't be able to understand me. I just speak plain old English with an Oxfordshire accent which is no accent at all really. Why then would I have to start slowing my speech down so that every word was distinct and I sounded like I was being played in slow motion?! It's absolutely exhausting and that's without the array of words that mean completely different things here.

I have started to compile a list for which us Brits and the Canadians have different words for the same thing. It is by no means exhaustive so feel free to let me know of any I've missed. I have listed the British word first and then the Canadian version.

Rubbish - garbage
Crisps - chips
Chips - fries
Petrol - gas
Gas - propane
Rucksack - backpack
Trainers - sneakers
Trousers - pants
Pants - underwear
Lead - leash
People carrier - mini van
Biscuits - cookies
Mobile phone - cell phone
Road - pavement/asphalt/concrete
Pavement - sidewalk
Jelly - jello
Sirloin steak - striploin, (plus so many cuts of beef that I've simply never heard of)
Wasps - yellowjackets
Coat - jacket
Playtime - recess
Sports day - Field day
Macaroni cheese - mac and cheese
Primary school - elementary school
Secondary school - high school
Bathroom - washroom
Turf - sod
Tyre - tire (just a different spelling I know)
Jumper - now a jumper in Canada is something like an all in one suit for a girl, so gets very confusing!
Estate agent - realtor

You might now be able to see why I'm having some difficulty!

I don't feel that I speak especially fast, so having to slow myself down when speaking to certain people is very odd. There is a young lad who helps out here called Tommy and Flynn became good friends with him straight away. Tommy would be working and Flynn would follow along chatting and finding treasures. Now Tommy had a major problem with my accent. Every time I tried to speak to him to see if he was OK with Flynn tagging along he would get this look of complete terror in his eyes and just look at me blankly. I thought at first that he was maybe just a bit shy and then it dawned on me that he couldn't understand a word I said. It has taken around 4 weeks and he can finally, just about understand me and doesn't looked panic stricken if I approach him! How he managed with Flynn I will never know as even Tony can't understand him half the time!

Hopefully in time I will adapt to the unforeseen language barrier, although I will strive to retain my accent and my colloquialisms - after all they certainly make me unique! With any luck people will get used to me too and I won't have to keep slowing down what I'm saying - it makes conversations last a really long time.

(I just love this photo - taken from our doorway)

The Halifax Seaport Farmers Market

2011-06-06T15:58:00.001+01:00

I was not amused at 6.30am on Sunday morning when Puss decided he needed to go out! Nothing so simple as just opening the door. No I had to get up, get dressed and then put on his harness and lead. All pets must be leashed on site - it's the rules and Puss unfortunately doesn't get to be the exception! So, on the one morning we could all have a lie in I staggered out of bed and took him out. It was a little bit misty, but wasn't cold and I actually felt quite awake and invigorated by the time we headed back. Oh well, there will be other days to laze in bed.

As I was up I thought it only fair that everyone should be up, so made Tony a cup of tea and clattered about a bit to see how deeply asleep Flynn was. No point wasting what looked to be a lovely day, the sooner we were up and out the better.

By 9.55am we were on our way to the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market which Tony had found out about the previous evening. It sounded great from their website, so we were eager to see all the local wares and meet the traders.

http://halifaxfarmersmarket.com/

When we arrived we were greeted by pots of beautiful bedding plants and hanging baskets. They had some amazing, almost black, busy lizzie's which I've never seen before and the soft fragrance from the flowers tickled our nostrils. The rest of the market lived up to our first impressions with stalls selling a huge variety of wares including artwork, jewellery, fresh produce, clothing and not to mention the delicious foods from all around the world. A truly multi-cultural experience with spicy curries nestled close to Polish cakes, lebanese dishes, chinese, mexican - so much to choose from and the sights and smells were simply amazing.

We bought some beautiful rainbow carrots, a huge bag of local apples, some pork and leek sausages, some "damn hot" spicy sausage and some Welsh cheddar so Tony could feel at home. Flynn tried a teeny tiny red velvet and raspberry cupcake and got himself a balloon pirate sword - all any 6 year old boy could possibly want.

We will definitely be returning to the market to buy more local produce and I have my eye on some stunning artwork by local Hal Jones when I get my house and have some walls to hang art on.

We ate the sausages that evening and they were delicious, as were the carrots and apples. The carrots had the most "carroty" taste I've ever come across and the apples were tart and crunchy. For anyone who has the opportunity to visit the market, you should make the trip as it's well worth it and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Storms

2011-06-06T13:01:00.001+01:00

On Monday 30th May the skies darkened and it looked like trouble brewing. I decided the sensible thing to do was to stay nice and warm in the caravan and boy was I right. It started to rain, fairly heavily, but nothing too over the top. Tony had to go to the airport to collect some customers and just after he went all hell broke loose!

The sky got darker and darker, so much so I had to put the lights on. It looked more like dusk than mid-morning and there was a definite ominous note in the air. The temperature dropped and the icy chill, just reinforced the feeling that something was coming. The rain got heavier and heavier to the point where I was being deafened. It was like someone dropping several tonnes of rocks on the roof and had me cowering by the table. Puss was running around looking confused and obviously didn't like the noise any more than I did, but just wasn't quite sure what he should be doing.

Then the thunder started. The first crash had me leaping out of my seat in terror. It was so loud I thought the world was ending. All I could think of were the two huge trees above the caravan just waiting to come crashing down onto the roof and crush us! My over-active imagination was working hard and I can honestly say I was really frightened. I did consider grabbing the cat and dashing across to the store, but I was quite literally frozen to the spot.

Now, as I rule I don't mind storms and will happily watch one from inside a nice cosy house, but being in a flimsy caravan - not so much! It seemed to go on and on forever with the blinding flashes followed swiftly by the deafening crashes. After what seemed an eternity the rain started to slow and the storm started to move off to terrify some other poor unsuspecting souls. The locals told me they don't get many storms and hadn't had a big one like that for around 2 years, so I breathed a sigh of relief that it was over and that next time I would hopefully be in a solidly built house!

When Flynn came home from school I asked him if he'd been frightened by the storm and all he said was "What storm Mummy"?. "What storm"? I couldn't believe it!!! He hadn't heard any thunder and just said that he thought it must have rained as they weren't allowed out at playtime! That must be one noisy school to block out the racket from all that thunder, or must have great sound proofing in their brick walls!

Still, it was over and I survived. The dead tree branch above our roof didn't fall down on my head, I wasn't struck by lightening an there wouldn't be another one for a couple of years right? WRONG!!!!

Wednesday 1st June had been a day like most others, nothing out of the ordinary at all. School done, homework done, dinner eaten and Flynn sleeping peacefully in bed. Come 10pm I was thinking about going to bed myself, but kept catching glimpses of a flash of light through the door. I couldn't quite work out what it was and wondered if I was somehow seeing lights from trucks on the highway. I sent Tony outside to have a look and he exclaimed "It's lightening"!!! In the distance, over towards Windsor, we could see flashes of lighting which lit up the dark night skies. As long as it stays over there, I thought, no problem. Tony had a look at the forecast online and informed me that it was heading our way and would hit in around 45 minutes. Great!!!

An hour later, now snuggled up in bed and just starting to drift off to sleep the pitter patter of rain drops started. I do hate it when Tony's right! "OK", I thought, just a bit of rain, no problem. Well the pitter patter turned into what I have termed "The Mega Storm"!!!! The one on Monday was just the warm up, this one meant serious business.

The flashes of lightening lit up the whole caravan even with the curtains shut, it was like being in a nightclub with a strobe light constantly flashing in your face. The thunder was simply unbelievable. It was so loud and just rolled all around us constantly. Between the thunder and the pounding rain I imagine it was like being next to a constantly firing canon shooting rockets at the enemy, only I didn't have any ear defenders! The power kept coming on and off and I was just praying that the lightening wouldn't strike any of the nearby trees. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was frightened and I thought Tony would make me feel better, but he was soon snoring away beside me, whilst I was huddled under the blankets shaking with terror!

I have no idea how he did it, but Flynn slept through the whole thing. If I didn't know better, I would think he must have put earplugs in before he went to bed. The storm raged for several hours and Flynn didn't stir once. He's starting to think that I'm going a bit mad as I keep telling him about these loud storms and he's not heard any of it. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night!

School assembly and a test drive

2011-06-03T19:43:00.002+01:00

Our first school assembly and I have to say I was a little nervous. Flynn has never liked standing up in front of people, and even more so since one of the teachers at the school we moved him from told him this was because he's shy. I went straight to the school to have this out with her as Flynn is most definitely not shy and I was not having him labelled as such. The more times you tell a child they are "something" then that is what they become and he has never been shy and is always the first to make friends wherever we go. He simply doesn't like standing up in front of a group of adults and that is quite understandable in my opinion.

In any case, I had been having discussions with Flynn for the whole of the previous week about the fact that he didn't want to do "the song". It appears that all of the grade 1's were performing a song with sign language, so not only was he having to stand up, but he was having to do his least favourite thing in the world - sing and do movements as well! We have battled over this every year whether it's for school carol concerts, school plays or anything else that includes singing. In the end we made a deal that if he at least pretended to sing then no one would know. All he would need to do was mouth the words and everyone would think he was singing and at the Christmas 2010 nativity it worked a treat. I also told him that no one would be looking at him anyway as all the parents would just be looking at their own children, so the only people looking at him would be us.

Trying to get him to do hand signals as well, was simply a step too far so I just told him to do what he could and forewarned his teacher that he was quite worried about it all. She told me that he'd been very resistant to the whole thing, but that he was getting better and there were three grade 1 classes which totalled around 60 kids so he didn't have to worry about standing out.

So you can imagine it was with some trepidation that we entered the gym and took our seats. Harry R Hamilton is huge in comparison to the tiny village school we were used to. St Loys back in the UK totalled approx 80 students. Harry R Hamilton I would guesstimate at around 400 - 450!! A huge difference, but one that Flynn was taking in his stride. The assembly consisted of Primary to grade 2, so I was interested to see how many children this would be.

The gym was like any school gym. A large rectangular box with equipment folded up at the sides. There was music playing through a little PA system, which I have to admit was a little painful to the ears - too much mid and not enough bass so I'm told by Tony. Possibly not the best place to go with the start of a headache, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It was quite chilly when we first sat down, but soon warmed up once the children started trooping in. There was a long snake-like line of kids filing into the hall and being shown where to sit down. They kept coming and coming from the 2 rear corners of the hall and I sat there in amazement as they all trooped in. Finally the last child was seated and the hall was pretty much full to capacity. This was only half the school and some parents so I could see why they had split the year groups for gatherings.

Flynn was near the back of the hall with the rest of his classmates and I managed to catch his eye and give him an encouraging smile. He looked OK, a little resigned, but OK.

This turned out to be an assembly like no other I have ever experienced!!! It was all about celebrating the successes of the children and the teacher leading the proceedings even welcomed Flynn to the school and got him to stand up so they could all clap him. All I could think was that he must have hated having to stand up, but it turns out he actually quite enjoyed it. It was a loud and brash event, in your face and non-stop. No stuffy and pompous affair like the ones in the UK, where the teachers glare at any child that moves and even the parents feel like they can't talk! Here the children were free to pop over to see their parents which was lovely. It was very laid back and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After listening to the grade 2's reading theatre, clapping the kids who had competed in the Bluenose Marathon and listening to a little girl who wanted to sing a song it was time for Flynn's class to perform.

All the parents of these kids instantly got up to move to the front so that they could see - which was also a novelty because at home once you are in your seat, you stay in your seat. So, all the grade 1's stood up, the music started along with a slide show and they were off. Flynn looked like he was mumbling a few words and making the tiniest of attempts to do the movements, but it was great. I had to stifle a fit of laughter at one point though when he made a gun shape with his fingers and proceeded to blow his own head off! It was the funniest thing I've ever seen and just showed in those little actions exactly what he thought of the song.

After the song everyone sat back down for the "slideshow". This consisted of photos taken of the children working at school, doing gymnastics, holding the reptiles from "Little Ray's Reptile Zoo" and lots of other activities. It was lovely to see the pictures and all the children were smiling and happy. What a good way to end the assembly. We said goodbye to Flynn and he trotted off happily to his classroom. I am now eagerly awaiting the next one!

Next job on the agenda - looking at a truck Tony had seen on the internet.

We arrived at the car dealers and soon spotted the truck we were interested in. Ford F250 SuperDuty, 5.4l V8 with plough attachments, tow package and rough terrain kit, (which means it's been lifted). Only a short rear box - 6ft 6 as opposed to the common 8ft beds you see, but plenty big enough for us. It had done 255,000kms, which was why it was cheap, but we had decided it was probably better to get a cheap workhorse for now rather than spending a lot on a "pretty" truck. Those of you who know us will know we do like our trucks - and the bigger the better!

We had a good look around and Tony went to ask if we could take it for a test drive. "No problem" the guy said, "You can have it for 2 or 3 hours"!!!! No asking to see a driving licence, or taking of name and address - just handed over the keys. We'd already told him that the car we were in was borrowed, so he didn't even have that as security. What a breath of fresh air and very trusting.

We had arranged for a mechanic friend to give the truck the once over so we set off towards Mount Uniacke. It was a beautiful day for a drive. Clear blue skies with the odd soft fluffy cloud, a warm yet fresh breeze and gorgeous sunshine. The birds were singing, the squirrels were chattering and everything was right with the world. We were where we belonged cruising along in a lovely big truck, singing away to C100 on the radio - could life get any better?

We rolled on up to Lorne's garage where he was just finishing off an MVI, (MOT), inspection. We were soon chatting to the two guys who were waiting for their car and they admired the truck and all the extras. It seems she has some special hubs which you can lock into four wheel drive when necessary. Sounded good to me and they were very impressed - things were looking good. They were soon off with their new two year MVI and it was time to give the truck a good once over.

Now I had never met Lorne, the mechanic, before. Tony takes all the units to him for their oil changes so they where quite friendly, but the owner from work had said he wouldn't talk to her. Tony said he thought he was a bit shy, so I made sure I spoke to him straight away and asked him questions. He was soon chatting away with us both and cracking jokes and seemed yet another lovely genuine guy. He gave the truck a big thumbs up and we were getting very excited!

Now, a big part of the fun of buying a used car is the haggling over price - especially with a car dealer. When we bought my truck at home I got several thousand pounds off the price, 3 free services and a tank of fuel. I like a good deal and was prepared to work to get one.

We got back to the dealership and said we really liked the truck but were a bit concerned by the high mileage. The guy just looked at us expectantly. OK, "so we were looking to spend less than this, but we really like it". The guy just looked at us expectantly. Hmmmm! So, "is there any movement in the price"? "No". "Any possibility of meeting half way"? "No". This was no fun! The guy was a rock - quite literally as he was a very big guy - he wouldn't budge even a tiny inch! He explained that he runs a small garage and works to very small margins in order to keep prices low. We said we would think about and drove off very frustrated!

That evening Tony did some research and it seemed the guy was right. Similar trucks were selling for quite a bit more and they didn't have all the extras this one did. I chatted with my friend Phil who deals in cars in the US and he said he thought it should be less money, but then trucks in the US are quite a lot less than here anyway which is why so many people bring them across.

By this point we had pretty much decided that this was the one for us. She might not be pretty and she was white -a colour I would never choose -but she had won our hearts non the less. The guy said he would hold her for $100 until we could transfer some money from the UK, which will be a whole other story for another day.