The First Time Mum

Wow. I have been procrastinating over this for some time now. It’s been a while since I last wrote and I’m struggling to know where to start. But it seems, looking back, that I was off to Christchurch with a truck and float load of animals and humans. Well I can confirm I survived that trip and we had a lovely weekend at Christchurch show. Larry was great as always. Hayden squeezed some fishing in and picked up some sunburn on the way!

And now we’re back in NZ after six weeks in the UK. Our three dogs also had a holiday with Hayden’s parents, which I think they thoroughly enjoyed. Their waistlines seem to have expanded just like ours!

We left for the UK on the 27th November. I have done this trip many times but never with a young baby so I was a little apprehensive about how it would go. At this time Peggy wasn’t quite crawling and I do think that helped as it was easier to contain her to a small space for long periods of time. We flew with Emirates and they were amazing. We were given a pack of baby goodies on each flight which included a change mat, blanket, bib and wipes. They also provided as much baby food, milk and nappies as you wanted. We had booked a bassinet with our seats which I would highly recommend to all mums travelling with young children. Peggy was already slightly too big for it, but it allowed us more space and somewhere to put toys etc. We flew via Sydney and Dubai and eventually landed in Birmingham Friday lunchtime (UK time). 

Mum and Dad picked us up and we ventured to the farm near Berkeley. I haven’t been home for three years, but nothing had changed and it felt like I had never left. The first week consisted of lots of food, as did most of the trip. We met up with friends and family throughout the week and Hayden had his first taste of pheasant shooting. On Friday a bunch of us went to the Westonbirt Christmas lights. Well, the UK weather certainly put it on for us. The heavens opened all afternoon and I did wonder if we were completely mad still going, but it did eventually stop raining and we had a lovely wander around the amazing light display. 

After the Christmas lights we got home, put Peggy to bed and thought it would be a great idea to go to a drum and base gig in Bristol. Shy FX was playing and he was amazing, but it wasn’t quite the same being sober! But what an experience that was. The next day I hopped on Stan for a days hunting. Again, the British weather decided to give us a show but of course the Camm’s put on an amazing meet as always. The best sloe gin, mulled wine and sausage rolls. Yum!

The following week we started our trip to Ledbury and Shropshire. We visited Gloucester cathedral on the way to get our Harry Potter fix! We spent a couple of days with good friends Jess and Harry and took Hayden for his first Beefy Boys and TK Maxx experience! After a lovely couple of days we headed north towards Shrewsbury. We had the most amazing lunch with the Gough’s and even managed to get my parents out of Gloucestershire for a few hours.

My parents had helped organise a party for all my friends and family that Saturday. It was such a good night! Last count up of numbers was around 180 and we had amazing music from Black Stag. Thanks to everyone who came. I know I only got to say a quick hello to a few people!

So that was two weeks already gone. The following week we went to The Farmers Dog for lunch with mum and dad and Suki. Food was great. Service was amazing. Definitely recommend to anyone who’s thinking of visiting. We then had a day trip to Bath and saw the Roman baths, Gifford’s Circus in the rain and then off to Portugal we went!

Unfortunately our accomodation was not quite as we’d hoped. We arrived with no heating or hot water. They eventually came to fix it, but their fixing skills were not great! However, we had a lovely few days with my godparents Gill and Bruce. They have been a little under the weather and it was fab to spend some time with them and of course drink a few gins and eat some fish! They live in Pera and we also travelled along the coast to Carvoeiro, Lagos and Sagres.

On returning from Portugal, Christmas was now upon us! It was filled with hunting, drinking, food, friends and family. Just great. But I will leave that until next time….

I think that is enough reading and writing for today. I know there is a lot of words and some of you will have already given up reading! Until next time xx