Public In-Conveniences

At last, I am back!!! So, after speaking to not one, not two, but three separate Vodafone employees who tried to 'activate my sim' online to enable me to get on to the Internet (some of them tried to encourage me to activate my sim online myself, I tried to explain to them that I was unable to go online to activate my aim because I could not get online as my 'sim' had not been 'activated'!!!) I finally got hold of an employee (possibly the only employee) in Vodafone who sounded like he had a clue. By this time I was nearly crying with frustration. He helped me to change my settings on the iPad, no Internet involved at all, and aha, I could have hugged him, I was online. I told him that I could not express my emotions, I was so ecstatic. He said did I think he deserved a pay rise? I said forget pay rise, he should be be promoted to head of training at Vodafone UK! Oh well, hopefully he is feeling good about himself now, I have made someone's day;)

Ahhh, but I am happy again now, I am back in my happy place. With you, my dear friends.

So, on with the story. Today we had a family outing for Naomi's 5th Birthday. I cannot believe that my little baby angel is 5!!! She had a lovely day with Ben and her three little girl cousins in Hull.

It was a Hello Kitty day, which was not intentional. Naomi got a new Hello Kitty top as a present, then chose a Hello Kitty cake from Tesco (£12, so convenient, so cheap, so, 'why would you bake it?') and then Ellie and Ciara turned up in Hello Kitty clothes too. When England does a craze, it does it well.

Went for a pub meal and whilst using the facilities (I don't mean to always talk about toilets, please excuse me) I realised that there was no loo roll, and not only was there no loo roll, but there was no loo roll holder as the loo roll holder had obviously been pulled out of the wall and someone had vaguely plastered over the holes in the wall. So, I thought idly, surely the staff must know about this no loo roll situation!?!

Anyway, this put me in mind of the worst public toilet I have ever been to in England, based on the usual toilets requirements/'nice to haves'.

Yes, there are the frustrations, the annoyances, no loo roll, dirty, blocked.

The toilet I went to had all of these problems and lo and behold, someone had also managed to walk away with the toilet seat!!!!

...As I was contemplating just how desperate I really was, I turned around in the cubical and saw there was no door.

It was then I realised I could probably wait.

Thank you to my Christchurch correspondant for keeping the blog alive whilst I was otherwise 'engaged', but it is nice to be back!

Love
Est xxx

Still no Esther....

Dont worry Esther blog fans.  She is alive and kicking but unfortunately continues to have internet issues.  A rush into the vodaphone store on Sunday afternoon should have fixed matters.  But alas no.  She was sold a 3g card, even had it inserted in the ipad.  but then was told to go home and log onto the net and......yes did you spot the problem here!  log onto the net in a household with no internet.  mmmmm. So the obvious request was for the vodaphone shop to log on for her, but alas, no, the vodaphone shop did not have access to the net themselves.

So this evening the obvious next step was to find all the hotspots in Hull for free wifi.  A quick google search gave me five hits - unfortunately they were all in York - 55 km away.  Hull seems to be a netless place!

So Im afraid that I can not guarantee when our queen of blogs will return, but in the meantime I will continue to share her ordeals and keep you up to date.

It is all exciting in the Edwards (Esther's maiden name) household today as it is Naomi's birthday.  She is five and has been totally spoilt.  Lots of presents to open and new toys to play with.  She should be at school tomorrow - so technically she is wagging - what a way to start her education - not turning up for the first 8 months!!  Esther hasn't talked about her home schooling yet - Im sure we will get a blog on that one.  Here are a few photos of Naomi - she hasn't quite got the knack of make up yet.  The last photo is her angelic side...

So until next time, maybe Est, maybe not.

Alex (keeping the blog alive) Skinner

NZ Correspondent apologises.....

Im sorry to Esther's blog watchers for any inconvenience and distress caused by me taking over the blog.  I did not intend any of it.  And Im sorry to my dear wife - I was told that Esther may not see the funny side of the previous photo posted, so I will wait and see, but Im sure that as soon as she gets access to the internet the blog will be down for immediate maintenance and the photo will disappear. And fair enough.

So, to save the day, I have found another photo that clearly captures the essence of Esther - no shopping involved here...

We are all missing you and look forward to your next update....

Alex (the NZ correspondent who will be in big trouble) Skinner

NZ Correspondent sabotages the blog

I just couldn't help myself.....

Just got off the phone and Esther was explaining how full on her last few days were - to the extent she hasn't even had a chance to go shopping yet.  Im pretty sure when she does get the chance to shop, her bags will be weighing her down (not that this blog entry is full and unfettered permission to go out and spend up large!).

I am sitting here, in ChCh still feeling those shakes 3.5 was the last one, thinking Est is definitely in the right place at the moment - even if it is Hull.  I am looking forward to a busy weekend, unsure whether Im going to add any value to the quiz team tonight (OK pretty sure I will not), unsure whether my tee off at Terrace Downs tomorrow morning is going to be a complete flop (dont put money on that one) but totally sure that I am missing my wife and kids.

I quite enjoy this blog lark, perhaps I should start a competing/complimentary blog.

Home alone
Alex (Esther's official NZ correspondent) Skinner

Tired!

Arrived in Hull at 5.30pm.  Later than even I expected.  Now at my mum's house.  Unfortunately my mum has never heard of the internet.  I am posting this blog remotely via my trusted Christchurch correspondent Alex Skinner (otherwise known as the best husband in the world - poetic license by the correspondent!).  Will try and be back online tomorrow.

Love
Est xxx

Vanity?

Went to use the facilities in the castle yesterday and couldn't resist snapping this rather inspirational sink. Could be an idea for my bathroom/boudoir/walk in dressing room in my dream home one day?

Love
Est xxx

A bit of culture

We have had a lovely week in Norwich. Went to the dinosaur park on Sunday with Auntie Marie (Alex's sis) and Uncle Billy which the kids loved. Basically it is a forest with a heap of large plastic (- yes, they aren't even real) dinosaurs and an adventure playground and they charge you a whopping £15 per person to get in!!!! We have flown kites, ridden bikes, swung on swings, splashed in pools (well, you have heard about that) been out for lots of lunches and even had a night out - Marie and I went to the movies to watch the eagerly anticipated 'One Day'. Review: romantic comedy for the thinking woman (that would be me). Anne Hathaway is beautiful to watch and Jim Sturgess isn't bad either:)

Went to Norwich castle yesterday with some friends and had a great time. It is such an amazing castle built in 1090ish. Incredible, it never ceases to astound me. It is in the centre of Norwich and it sits up high on a huge man-made mound which I was told yesterday took 12 years to prepare before they even started building - wow, people must have had much longer attention spans back then.

Here is a photo of us in the castle, with our little friend Emily.

Going to Hull tomorrow to see my family for 3 weeks. Aiming to leave about 10am. It is a three and a half hour drive so with my track record I told my mum to expect me by tea time;)

Love
Est xxx

A soggy story

There was a slight blip in the great British summertime yesterday so we decided it would be a good day to go to the pool. The kids and I had a splashing time in the wave pool, spa pool (not long enough for me) and on the water slides (I was very brave).

Alex's mum took this photo before being told by the pool attendant that photography was not allowed in the pool (yet another classic case of UK political correctness gone mad). Alex's mum laughed afterwards and said, 'Esther, at least I got one photo for your blog.'

Yes, my dear friends. What can I say? We will go to any lengths for you. It is all about the blog.

Actually, that does put me in mind of another little story the first time my sister and I took our new babies to the pool about seven years ago. We took some photos of each other holding the babies in their armbands before we went into the pool.

We went home afterwards and showed the whole family the photos, but Collette and I had spotted something whilst everyone else was oooing and ahhhing over the children.

And they didn't even spot it when we told them to look again at the photo...

Nobody spotted the poor innocent unsuspecting totally full frontal naked lady getting changed in the background!!!

Ok, maybe there is a good reason for no cameras at the pool.

Love
Est xxx

PS. Yes, we did delete it;)

New hair

Left Naomi alone with Nanny for five minutes and look what happened!!!

Love
Est xxx

Beautiful Norfolk Cottages

I hope you enjoy these pictures.  Naomi and Benny have been very patient with me the last couple of days snapping these!

Love

Est xxx

Chimneys

They are everywhere I go! And to be honest, they are making me nervous!!!

Love
Est xxx

User Error?

Yesterday I left Justin and Nina's house in Redhill to drive to Alex's Mum and Dad's house in Norwich.

Started out nice and early (which is easy to do when you are awake at 5.15am) and switched on my trusty new iPad best friend Sat Nav and off we went.

1 hour into our '2 hour journey' to Norfolk I began to get suspicious that I had not yet reached a motorway (or 35 miles an hour for that matter) and the street names were sounding familiar from the last episode of Eastenders that I watched in 1996. The big red buses should have been the real giveaway though.

I checked with my little friend.

The little blighter was taking me the 'quickest route' to Norfolk. How was I to know that the quickest route was through the centre of the busiest craziest capital city in the blimmin' first world?

So embarrassed!!!

People do not drive through the centre of London - especially girl drivers like me!!!

4 and a half hours later I arrived in Norwich. Glad to be alive, nerves in tatters but with my character well and truly built.

And it only cost me £10 for the experience.
(Www.cclondon.com)

Love
Est xxx

PS. Took the photo through the windscreen whilst driving over Tower Bridge. Everyone else was taking photos. It seemed rude not to join in, I was in London after all;)

London town

Hello everyone

Arrived safely in London Heathrow yesterday. Naomi and Benjamin travelled so well (thanks in the most part to the wonders of modern technology rather than any particularly positive parenting from me) and Benjamin did well carrying a rather large heavy backpack all around, but I guess that's what you do when you are a seven year old backpacker;) And, I watched 4 films, which was bit of a bonus (film reviews at the end for buffs).

B & N went to bed last night at 8pm and I stayed up chatting to our lovely hosts Justin and Nina until after 12.30am. I did rather regret when my lovely children woke me up - at 3.15AM!!!!!

We spotted a fox in the garden this morning which was very exciting!!! Tried to get a photo but a cat (?!?) chased it away before I could get my camera.

Otherwise, we have had a nice quiet day having quality time with the cousins. I will post photos, when I work out how to do that from the iPad, mmmmm.

Love
Est xxx

Film reviews
West is West - good, but not as good as East is East
After the waterfall - melancholy poignant NZ drama, artistic, don't watch it for a laugh
Arthur - Loved it. Loved Russell Brand and Helen Mirren, perfectly cast. Made me happy
Driving Miss Daisy - I know, I must be the only person in the world not to have already seen it, but it was beautiful, the way a film should be.
Due Date - 10 mins so doesn't count. Seriously. Didn't anybody tell them about John Candy and Steve Martin?

O o o o o o o o

Sadly, two members of the family will not be able to join us on our adventures.


Fraser and Jacob (named after Benny's friends in Wellington, Sam and Frank) are going to a friend's house where they will endeavour to keep them alive for the next 8 months or find some very similar ones from the goldfish shop.

Byeee Fraser and Jacob, try to remember us!!

Love
Est xxx

Snur

It is the day before our big trip and there is a once in a lifetime snowstorm across NZ.  Non essential travel is not advised.  I wonder if this includes my spray tan which is booked for 10.30am?

Love
Est xxx

Otara Handbag

Folded and in the bottom of my case.  Check.

Love
Est xxx

Home schooling

May be a bit of an issue!  Oh dear.  Wish me luck.

Love
Est xxx

Nice

Thought you might like this photo I took in Christchurch city last week. Perfect.  Maybe we should kiss Christchurch better aswell;)

Stay strong Christchurch!

Love
Est xxx

Essential Travel preparations

It is one week to go til our big trip, and what have I been doing? Let me tell you what I did today!!! I took a photo of all my scarves and handbags. What a fab idea! This will help identify gaps in my wardrobe and avoid possible costly shopping duplications. Clever eh?

Love
Est xxx

PS. Was going to do the gloves and necklaces too, but Alex was coming home so I pretended to be doing something (more) important.

PPS. OK, I know I don't really need more scarves!!!