I know us British go on about the weather but this is too much!
The only way to get cool is jump into a lake/ cold bath or sit in the cellar.
So today David chooses to leaflet drop in Prince William area, we had a production line going with Harriet folding and handing them to us to post into a variety of weird and wonderful post boxes all hanging at the side of the road. Hopefully this will be fruitful and get David loads of work in the coming weeks.
We are moving next Monday so if you would like the address we're in for the winter please email me and I'll email it back to you.
suz@thelavers.com
Monday 30 August 2010
Saturday 28 August 2010
Wildlife & words
We haven't been attacked by the bears or mown down by a moose but here are some of the wildlife we have seen so far...
Lots of foxes on PEI as there are no preditors over there.
Frogs galore, we are always close to some source of water which are teaming with frogs, the biggest we've seen is one we call 'Granpa bullfrog' that lives at Yoho and is the size of 2 fists together!
Beaver who builds a dam everyday on Kevins pond which we destroy everyday so the pond doesn't flood and kill the surrounding trees. Also a heron which patiently sits at the side of the same pond daily.
Red and grey squirrels. There's a cheeky red squirrel in Rich & Jens garden when we were painting the cupboard doors outside it ran across them and stole a biscuit from a box! It also came into their kitchen today.
Woodpeckers, beautiful little birds in the trees at Rich & Jens.
Deer walking through the surrounding fields with its albino baby following.
Chipmunks tiny little things that just sit and watch you when you're sat outside.
We've seen lots of skunks and porkipines but thankfully only as roadkill so far, boy do they stink even when dead!
The difference in the English and Canadian language is a source of great entertainment, it's the blank look you sometimes get that tells you your not being understood. Here are some of the obvious differences which we'll easily pick up!
boot=trunk
rubbish=garbage
trousers=pants
crisps=chips
office=den
biscuit=cookie
see if you can find out what this is?
A teeter-totter
Language is so funny
Lots of foxes on PEI as there are no preditors over there.
Frogs galore, we are always close to some source of water which are teaming with frogs, the biggest we've seen is one we call 'Granpa bullfrog' that lives at Yoho and is the size of 2 fists together!
Beaver who builds a dam everyday on Kevins pond which we destroy everyday so the pond doesn't flood and kill the surrounding trees. Also a heron which patiently sits at the side of the same pond daily.
Red and grey squirrels. There's a cheeky red squirrel in Rich & Jens garden when we were painting the cupboard doors outside it ran across them and stole a biscuit from a box! It also came into their kitchen today.
Woodpeckers, beautiful little birds in the trees at Rich & Jens.
Deer walking through the surrounding fields with its albino baby following.
Chipmunks tiny little things that just sit and watch you when you're sat outside.
We've seen lots of skunks and porkipines but thankfully only as roadkill so far, boy do they stink even when dead!
The difference in the English and Canadian language is a source of great entertainment, it's the blank look you sometimes get that tells you your not being understood. Here are some of the obvious differences which we'll easily pick up!
boot=trunk
rubbish=garbage
trousers=pants
crisps=chips
office=den
biscuit=cookie
see if you can find out what this is?
A teeter-totter
Language is so funny
Friday 27 August 2010
The weeks are ticking by.....
Rich & Jen's coach house, it's as big as a house and has a sofa and bed upstairs!!! Maeve and Harriet use it as their playhouse.
Rich & Jen's new house, 'Jen of Green Gables'
Josy wouldn't go to sleep so Jen devised a way to do the mowing while babysitting, with 2 acres to mow the baby soon falls asleep.
Waterskiing at Yoho
Harriet's fish
This has been a funny sort of week. Rich & Jen officially moved out so the house here at Tracy seems very empty with just us 5 rambling around in it. Actually when we thought about it it's nearly 3 months since we've been by ourselves, we'll have to learn to talk to each other again!!!
Although they've moved we've seen them every day as we're still finishing the last of the DIY on their new house. David's finished 2/3 banister, I've wallpapered the bedroom and just got one coat of paint left to put on the kitchen cupboards.
We had 2 responses to all the adverts I put out about needing a house, unfortunately both were in McAdam which is too far away. We met with Dale about the farm house but he wasn't offering us rent or rent to buy options just giving us time really. This property still hinges on a one of us getting employed (not self employed) and then using our UK credit score, it could take time. Thankfully before then Jen's parents, Kevin & Dianne have very kindly said they'll swap houses with us so the kids can start school on 7th Sept. So next weekend sometime we move to Yoho Lake.
We enrolled the kids in the Harvey schools on Wednesday, the staff we met were very nice and we got guided tours round both schools (this didn't take long as they are very small!) The school bus will pick the kids up at 7.34AM!!!!!!!!Ha Ha Ha
We went to 'The Meeting Place' church last Sunday and really felt at home, there were loads of families and young people and everyone was very friendly.
I've been waiting for bits from UK so I can complete my application forms to be a supply teacher. It looks like I could have them in by Monday so I may be able to attend a course for supply teachers on Weds next week.
Our shipment arrived in Montreal a couple of weeks ago and then was being moved to Moncton (about 1 1/2 hours from here) as yet it's not arrived!!!! watch this space.
Tomorrow we'll probably go to the market and watch Rich in a 20/20 cricket tournament held this weekend. We've long lists of supplies to get for the kids starting school and $40 each to hand in on day 1!!!!! I suppose at least there's no uniform to buy.
Saturday 21 August 2010
moving, DIY and new cars
Sorry to all of you who are following our blog that we haven't kept it regularly updated we must try harder!
Last Sunday we went with Jen to Hanwell Community Church, we met lots of lovely people and got a number of invites to go for coffee which we haven't had time to accept yet.
We then went to Yoho again for an afternoon of parties! David & the boys were invited to a diaper party, this is for the dad -to-be Shawn where all the blokes turn up with diapers then they BBQ and go water skiing or tubing on the lake. I was invited to the baby shower party for Kara the mum-to-be. All the girlies play silly games, give useful prezzies and eat loads of yummy food. Both parties were good fun and ended with rides in the speed boat.
We went to pick up our new car on Monday, what a palava! The bloke who advised us on insurance told us to transfer to a Canadian license, so we did on the Friday but they took our British ones away as a matter of public security!!!!! Well when we went to get insurance they needed to see the back of the UK paper license for our driving history- we went back to the other office and found a nice man who still had Friday's papers in a pile and kindly photocopied them for us...phew. When we got the car home we noticed the motor vehicle inspection had run out...hmmm....illegal to drive. After lots of calls the garage agreed to pay for the inspection at a local garage....must add we still haven't seen the money yet.
David has been shadowing Shane the guy he's taking over from for a couple of days this week....all I can say is he's learn't alot!
Rich & Jen got the keys for their new farmhouse on Monday so most of the week has been spent moving and doing DIY. They plan to move in when it's finished. David is fitting a banister (alot of houses in Canada just have open stairs) and I'm wallpapering. Jen's parents call it 'Jen of Green Gables' !
Isaac & Josh started work this week, they are getting minimum wage $8.50 for working on a local farm weeding between strawberries and cranberries. It's hot so they've bought big rimmed hats and take lots of water to drink. Isaac actually enjoys the work and Josh spends his time calculating how much he's earn't!
David is starting work officially next week after all this training so needed a vehicle and kit. We went to Nackawic (looks 5mins away on a map) a 45 min drive away and bought a Mazda Tribute, this involved driving twice to Nackawic in one afternoon to sort out bankers cheque, transfering log book and insurance. He now looks the part with ladders attached to the top.
Jon, Miranda & Julia (Jen's brother & Family) have been here on holiday this week so we've attended 2 family do's in their honour. It took 2 parties because Jon missed his flight and arrived after we'd finished the first party!
So it finally seems like we're getting sorted except for a house. We love the farm we looked round last Saturday so we've been looking into mortgages this week and hit a problem. Newcomers need a 25-35% mortgage! David is self employed so his wage won't count until he's got 2 year accounts! We were very despondant when Larry came to see us and told us of a new entrant farm scheme to promote farming in New Brunswick. We've looked into it and found that we are eligible to apply but need to submit a business plan. This is a government scheme so will take some time to process. In the meanwhile we can't live here for much longer as the kids start school soon and Kevin & Dianne are moving back in mid Sept. So I've been frantically trying to find a rental property in the school catchment area. this has involved me putting up posters in local stores, advertising on kijiji, word of mouth and emailing our realtor to see if any of the properties which are for sale are vacant and could be let! The mayor, Winston, has a house which he's doing up but says it won't be ready for a month, so that could be a possibility. As a last resort I emailed the couple whos farm we'd like to buy to let them know our situation and ask if renting was an option. I got an email back today to say even though they'd had lots of interest in the farm they felt we had the intentions to return it to a working farm and so they we willing to meet to discuss options over coffee next week!!!!!!! yippeeeee please pray this would be positive. Rent to own is very popular in Canada where you can put a down payment and rent each month until you own it or until you are eligible for a mortgage for the remainder.
We are going to try another church tomorrow called 'The Meeting Place' which meets in town, we've met some people who go so we're looking forward to it.
Will post pictures next time.
Last Sunday we went with Jen to Hanwell Community Church, we met lots of lovely people and got a number of invites to go for coffee which we haven't had time to accept yet.
We then went to Yoho again for an afternoon of parties! David & the boys were invited to a diaper party, this is for the dad -to-be Shawn where all the blokes turn up with diapers then they BBQ and go water skiing or tubing on the lake. I was invited to the baby shower party for Kara the mum-to-be. All the girlies play silly games, give useful prezzies and eat loads of yummy food. Both parties were good fun and ended with rides in the speed boat.
We went to pick up our new car on Monday, what a palava! The bloke who advised us on insurance told us to transfer to a Canadian license, so we did on the Friday but they took our British ones away as a matter of public security!!!!! Well when we went to get insurance they needed to see the back of the UK paper license for our driving history- we went back to the other office and found a nice man who still had Friday's papers in a pile and kindly photocopied them for us...phew. When we got the car home we noticed the motor vehicle inspection had run out...hmmm....illegal to drive. After lots of calls the garage agreed to pay for the inspection at a local garage....must add we still haven't seen the money yet.
David has been shadowing Shane the guy he's taking over from for a couple of days this week....all I can say is he's learn't alot!
Rich & Jen got the keys for their new farmhouse on Monday so most of the week has been spent moving and doing DIY. They plan to move in when it's finished. David is fitting a banister (alot of houses in Canada just have open stairs) and I'm wallpapering. Jen's parents call it 'Jen of Green Gables' !
Isaac & Josh started work this week, they are getting minimum wage $8.50 for working on a local farm weeding between strawberries and cranberries. It's hot so they've bought big rimmed hats and take lots of water to drink. Isaac actually enjoys the work and Josh spends his time calculating how much he's earn't!
David is starting work officially next week after all this training so needed a vehicle and kit. We went to Nackawic (looks 5mins away on a map) a 45 min drive away and bought a Mazda Tribute, this involved driving twice to Nackawic in one afternoon to sort out bankers cheque, transfering log book and insurance. He now looks the part with ladders attached to the top.
Jon, Miranda & Julia (Jen's brother & Family) have been here on holiday this week so we've attended 2 family do's in their honour. It took 2 parties because Jon missed his flight and arrived after we'd finished the first party!
So it finally seems like we're getting sorted except for a house. We love the farm we looked round last Saturday so we've been looking into mortgages this week and hit a problem. Newcomers need a 25-35% mortgage! David is self employed so his wage won't count until he's got 2 year accounts! We were very despondant when Larry came to see us and told us of a new entrant farm scheme to promote farming in New Brunswick. We've looked into it and found that we are eligible to apply but need to submit a business plan. This is a government scheme so will take some time to process. In the meanwhile we can't live here for much longer as the kids start school soon and Kevin & Dianne are moving back in mid Sept. So I've been frantically trying to find a rental property in the school catchment area. this has involved me putting up posters in local stores, advertising on kijiji, word of mouth and emailing our realtor to see if any of the properties which are for sale are vacant and could be let! The mayor, Winston, has a house which he's doing up but says it won't be ready for a month, so that could be a possibility. As a last resort I emailed the couple whos farm we'd like to buy to let them know our situation and ask if renting was an option. I got an email back today to say even though they'd had lots of interest in the farm they felt we had the intentions to return it to a working farm and so they we willing to meet to discuss options over coffee next week!!!!!!! yippeeeee please pray this would be positive. Rent to own is very popular in Canada where you can put a down payment and rent each month until you own it or until you are eligible for a mortgage for the remainder.
We are going to try another church tomorrow called 'The Meeting Place' which meets in town, we've met some people who go so we're looking forward to it.
Will post pictures next time.
Saturday 14 August 2010
Cars, trucks and farms
The hire car was returned on Friday morning so we needed to find a vehicle rather quickly. The first place we called into was the insurance broker who informed us that we needed to get our New Brunswick drivers licences sorted before we could do anything else. The bad news was that for his insurance company they only take North American driving experience into account, so as we have none they would class us like 16 year old drivers and our insurance would be around the $2000 a year!! Hopefully he's passed us onto a company that goes by our UK licence date which is now on our New Brunswick licence and the insurance should cost us around $800.
Later on Friday afternoon we went car hunting. I would like a truck (a Pickup Truck in the UK) and Suz needs a run around as public transport and walking anywhere is not an option! We were introduced to a very nice man called Dennis who found us a Buick Century for $5500. As I had no idea if that was a good deal I said we'd think about it over the weekend! Rich thought it seemed a good price even if it was "an old persons car"! We'll return on Monday and buy it, the truck may have to wait a little longer!
A Buick Century (ours is green)
Saturday arrived and we all headed into Fredericton. Rich and the boys went to cricket training, the rest of us went to the Farmers Market which is always worth a visit! After a stop at the supermarket we all went to Yoho for a lunch and a swim.
At around 3pm we had arranged to visit a farm up for sale privately. 120 acres with a 3 bedroom house and a barn. 60 acres cleared 60 acres woodlot. We liked it a lot its very close to Magaguadivic Lake and 12 minutes from the town/village of Harvey and 30 minutes from Fredericton. We shall see what happens.
View Larger Map
We're back at Tracy having had supper at Yoho and the children having had another swim are now tucked up in bed!
Later on Friday afternoon we went car hunting. I would like a truck (a Pickup Truck in the UK) and Suz needs a run around as public transport and walking anywhere is not an option! We were introduced to a very nice man called Dennis who found us a Buick Century for $5500. As I had no idea if that was a good deal I said we'd think about it over the weekend! Rich thought it seemed a good price even if it was "an old persons car"! We'll return on Monday and buy it, the truck may have to wait a little longer!
A Buick Century (ours is green)
Saturday arrived and we all headed into Fredericton. Rich and the boys went to cricket training, the rest of us went to the Farmers Market which is always worth a visit! After a stop at the supermarket we all went to Yoho for a lunch and a swim.
At around 3pm we had arranged to visit a farm up for sale privately. 120 acres with a 3 bedroom house and a barn. 60 acres cleared 60 acres woodlot. We liked it a lot its very close to Magaguadivic Lake and 12 minutes from the town/village of Harvey and 30 minutes from Fredericton. We shall see what happens.
View Larger Map
We're back at Tracy having had supper at Yoho and the children having had another swim are now tucked up in bed!
Thursday 12 August 2010
Photo album of life so far...
'Greg' Harriet & Maeve's scarecrow!
61 Rankine Road our tempory home thanks to Kevin & Dianne.
Our current back yard!
Monday 9 August 2010
A start to our new life
Well we've landed and now the fun begins.
To work we need a SIN number which we obtain from Service Canada offices- this number is to be guarded with our lives according to all the stuff we received with it! I must say they were very through in the office taking much more notice of all our documents than immigration control ever did. But once again we passed so all of us except Harriet can now find employment. We had to apply for our Medicare card which is like our NHS but which isn't free to us until we've been here 3 months, so this meant sitting in the Service New Brunswick office and form filling. Lastly we had to activate our Canadian bank account too. All in all it was a profitable visit to the city!
After spending 4 years going through website after website looking for houses we had narrowed it down to 4 properties so we did a drive past and illiminated 2! Today we contacted Randy our realtor and he took us to view both properties..... well..... number 1 has a small 3 bedroomed house which is fine and 18acres of land including 2 ponds, 2 barns, 1 shed and a huge workshop, lovely position. Draw backs are not enough land (David says), small house.
number 2 has bigger 4 bedroomed house, 150 acres, 40 cows, numerous barns, all farm machinary, fantastic position. Draw backs are house needs lots of tlc & cost! Looks like we need to rent for a while till we can sort finances and write a business plan.
We've hired a car for a week as David is on a course Tues-Thurs this week, we will purchase a truck at the weekend but this is quite a complicated process involving more visits to Service New Brunswick offices in town.
Over last weekend Rich was playing cricket for New Brunswick against Prince Edward Island so we all went to cheer them on for the weekend. The journey was eventful with stops for tea and toilet, getting lost in the dark and crying babies! it took over 6 hours instead of 4!!!! We stayed in Wild Goose Lodge which was nice.
Harriet chose to go to a local holiday Bible club tonight which she really enjoyed and came home buzzing eager to find a green t shirt for her team tomorrow. Hopefully she'll be as eager to start school in September!
Wednesday 4 August 2010
A little tired!
We've arrived in Tracy @ 1:00 am UK time 9:00 pm Atlantic Canada Time. We left Bulstrode at 5:00 am this morning and everything went better than we could have expected!
Got to Air Canada Cargo at Heathrow at 5:30 am dropped the dog off, drove to Europcar Rental drop off point and then got a free bus ride to Terminal 3. Checked the bags in waited a couple of hours boarded the flight at 9:30 am arrived in Halifax after a comfortable flight at 4:40 pm UK time 12:40 pm Canada Atlantic time.
We were expecting a bit of a grilling by Canadian Immigration and Suz had prepare a large folder with every bit of info they could possibly require. So she was rather disappointed that they didn't look at any of it! We didn't even have our bags searched we must just look honest!
Once through immigration we had to pick the dog up which took a couple of trips back and forth from Air Canada Cargo and Customs. She was rather pleased to see us.
Rich kindly picked us up and drove us the 4 hrs to Tracy! So here we are a great 28 hr day!
Got to Air Canada Cargo at Heathrow at 5:30 am dropped the dog off, drove to Europcar Rental drop off point and then got a free bus ride to Terminal 3. Checked the bags in waited a couple of hours boarded the flight at 9:30 am arrived in Halifax after a comfortable flight at 4:40 pm UK time 12:40 pm Canada Atlantic time.
We were expecting a bit of a grilling by Canadian Immigration and Suz had prepare a large folder with every bit of info they could possibly require. So she was rather disappointed that they didn't look at any of it! We didn't even have our bags searched we must just look honest!
Once through immigration we had to pick the dog up which took a couple of trips back and forth from Air Canada Cargo and Customs. She was rather pleased to see us.
Rich kindly picked us up and drove us the 4 hrs to Tracy! So here we are a great 28 hr day!
Sunday 1 August 2010
At the top of the rollercoaster
Well we're nearly there! Just 3 sleeps left, 2 in Whitby and 1 at Bulstrode.
Monday we pickup our hire car and take the dog to the vets for her export certificate.
Tuesday we pack the car and leave Whitby to travel to Bulstrode where we'll stay the night courtesy of Derryck and Tineke.
Wednesday we have to be at Air Canada Cargo Heathrow before 6am to drop off the dog 4 hours before our flight departs. Our flight departs at 10 am it should take 6hrs 40 minutes so we arrive in Halifax, Nova Scotia at 4:40 pm UK time (12:40 Atlantic Canada Time).
It will probably take a few hours to get through immigration and collect the dog before we are driven the 4hrs to Fredericton by Rich! By this time we will be Canadian Permanent Residents!
Monday we pickup our hire car and take the dog to the vets for her export certificate.
Tuesday we pack the car and leave Whitby to travel to Bulstrode where we'll stay the night courtesy of Derryck and Tineke.
Wednesday we have to be at Air Canada Cargo Heathrow before 6am to drop off the dog 4 hours before our flight departs. Our flight departs at 10 am it should take 6hrs 40 minutes so we arrive in Halifax, Nova Scotia at 4:40 pm UK time (12:40 Atlantic Canada Time).
It will probably take a few hours to get through immigration and collect the dog before we are driven the 4hrs to Fredericton by Rich! By this time we will be Canadian Permanent Residents!
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