Looking back on 2011…

It being 31st Dec, it’s of course time to look back on the year.  It’s been a whirlwind to say the least…

Even though we got engaged in July 2010, it wasn’t until the end of Feb 2011 that we could actually agree how we were going to do it!  That left 5 months until we whisked ourselves off for a magical wedding in Mauritius and 6 months until we celebrated with our amazing family and friends in the Cotswolds.

We didn’t make it easy for ourselves having 2 and we didn’t make it easy by planning it ourselves rather than hand it over to a hotel or similar.  It was absolutely worth it though.  We’re still buzzing!  Yesterday an older man at the animal shelter was asking my surname to find my page in the sign in book.  I said it was ‘Crawford’ but I’d not had the name for long.  He just smiled at me with a knowing look and asked “Do you still feel like you’re on your honeymoon?!”  I do!  Very happy.

And of course in the background we were making plans to move out of London, probably to the north west, until some random ‘Googling’ found a job in Bermuda that seemed to suit Toby to the ground.  It was a long old process but after a few months, all was confirmed.  We were going to be emigrating to Bermuda!  So, 2 months to the day after our ‘UK wedding’ we’d completed all the paperwork (lots!), split our possessions into those that needed selling, storing, shipping or loaning, sold a car, rented out a flat, bought some plane tickets and were on our way!

We’re now happily settled into our apartment, with some good friends, incredible beaches and the opportunity for an great outdoor life.  What a year!  I’d have to say it’s been my favorite!

It’s been busy for our friends and family too.  We’ve seen marriages, births, houses bought, companies bought, new jobs, stressful times and fun times.  Life seems to be going VERY quickly at the moment.  There’s lots going on in everyone’s life and we know we’ve made a big compromise being out here because we’ll be missing out on everything going on back home so we really appreciate all the emails, calls and Facebook cheek!  You’re all missed and much thought about. xxxx

Now, I wonder what 2012 will bring?!

Learnt a thing or two about scooters…practically a mechanic!

As previously mentioned, my scooter is a little noisy.  In an unhealthy way!  My friend John from badminton had warned that because my scooter is ‘4 stroke’ it has ‘valves’ which can ‘seize’.  The case was made, I wouldn’t be riding it again till it was looked at by a pro!  John and his mechanic friend Richard were having a ‘beer and bikes’ afternoon yesterday and I was invited!  I turned up with the appropriate brand of beer and was relieved to hear my scooter was making a ‘good noise’ – it was the exhaust, not the engine.  Closer examination showed the exhaust pipe was heavily rusted (happens quickly in this rainy/humid/salty climate!) and it had broken away.  New exhaust needed, or muffler as we like to call them out here!

As the scooter hadn’t started too well (the previous problem which was meant to have been fixed) I asked for a second opinion on that too.  Unfortunately, I’m the type of person who likes to know how stuff works so I was full of questions as the wonder of my simple little engine was unfolded.  Poor Richard obliged me and before we knew it, the engine was in bits!  A little more work than he planned but I was fascinated!  If I don’t watch it, I can see I’ll progress to being a ‘garage stray’, hanging round trying to learn a bit more!

I’ll share the main bit of advice I learnt with you all – WD40 solves most things!! 😉

 

This morning I was with the cats at the SPCA.  Some kittens who’d previously been in ‘intake’ before coming over to my side had joined the gang.  How cute!  How am I not going to leave with one soon!  The cats were also uber-playful, chasing each other, their tails…anything that moves.  Not a bad way to spend a morning, especially as I get a free work out scrubbing down the floors – I work up quite a sweat!

This evening Toby’s playing ‘pong’ for a change and then we’re going to watch Sherlock Holmes at the cinema.  It’s quite a different process here with the films.  We get them a little late and also the cinema in town only has one small screen.  It will show one film for a fortnight, and then switch to the next.  A few weeks ago the ‘reel’ (or whatever it is!) got damaged and replacing it would take too long…so we had the same film for a month!!!  In a similar vein, when we went to watch the ‘Rugby Classics’ a month back we got the update why it was postponed so much.  We’d had bad weather, which would explain cancelling for one day.  However, the gale force winds had broken some of the marquees where the hospitality would be…we had to wait for new ones to be FedEx’d in!!  So cute.  We have one of everything out here! 🙂

Christmas in Paradise isn’t too bad!

Well, it’s a bit different, but lovely!  While there’s still mince pies and Bailey’s left, we’re pretty much through Christmas in Bermuda and it was surprisingly Christmasey despite the sun, sea and sand!

On Christmas Eve Toby was out in the morning playing golf.  There’s a whole comical story about actually getting everyone there but I don’t think it will work with my writing skills alone – just think drama, exasperated face, torential rain and lost keys found in shoes…. 🙂  Anyway, I’m pleased to say despite starting late, the 5 of them arrived safely, the weather cleared up and fun was had by all!

I left them to it until it got interesting….

Toby and Steve stuck to a typical Christmas drink and enjoyed a few Guinesses…I on the other hand adapted to my surroundings and had a few cheeky cocktails! 🙂

Christmas Day was a little strange waking up on our own and with family miles away.  We tried to stick to traditions as much as possible but you were missed Cravens, Crawfords, Dixons and Nana Betty!!!  It was still good and a Skype call back home kept us in touch with family.  We then headed off down the beach and missing home got a little harder!!!

We got down to the beach before Karen and Jamie who we were meeting so we went for a walk along the shore to soak up the atmosphere.  These guys know what they’re doing!  There was definitely over a thousand people there, complete with a DJ!  Families were set up with towels, cool boxes, games and there were a fair few people in the sea.  Walking along we met a few people we knew and entertained ourselves taking pictures of the fun…

Chelle is an elf…

Chelle is a Christmas Tree…

Toby is smug…

Chelle get’s down with the ‘west side’ crew…

Thankfully Karen and Jamie joined us so we stopped embarrassing ourselves…  Yet more champagne was drunk and then we headed off to the hotel on the beach for lunch.  This was a brilliant idea from Karen – $55 and as it was a buffet Toby managed 5 full plates for that!!!  The food was delicious, staff charming and atmosphere great.  Really happy and very full!  I think I personally got 7 mini deserts on my plate!

We headed back full and a little sunburnt to watch Home Alone 2 – is that not the perfect day?!

All that smugness is well and truely countered with our Boxing Day rain-a-thon!  All day…!  Thankfully we had the Crawford-games-via-Skype to look forward to and then we hit the TV box sets! 🙂

It’s now the 27th, and although Toby’s colleagues (at the place he’s contracting at) are back at work, he’s not.  The suns out and we’re off for a walk to start burning of the Bermudian Christmas excesses!

Merry Christmas to you all back home.  We miss you lots. xxxx

 

Fighting ants with coffee – strange but true!!

This is a great time of year for insects…as in, there aren’t many!  Even so after we’d noticed a reduction in ant numbers between October when we arrived and now, every now and then we’d have a little surge and we were keen to stop everyone one in their tracks so they make a home elsewhere.  Probably fighting a loosing battle, but still….we’ll continue!

Now, the can of Raid is half finished already with Toby’s ‘shot across the bows’ techniques.  I’m not a fan of chemicals anyway (apart from hair dye…) but my minor bout of the flu left me quite ‘chesty’ so it spurned me on to find an alternative quickly.  A search on the internet suggested coffee grounds work well; the nitrogen burns the ants legs so they don’t cross it – perfect for marking out our territory, Chelle-style!  I’d just bought some coffee and filter papers for our coffee maker…this could work well!

Looking for further info, it turns out coffee is good for a whole lot more besides…

– Enriching soil with nitrogen (we prob don’t drink enough for this – maybe a job for Starbucks!)

– Mix with orange peel and sprinkle on your soil to keep the kittys away (I’m a cat lover, so again, not one for us!)

– Add shine and condition your hair with a coffee grounds massage (Who’d have thought?!  Apparently not one for blonds as it can stain…)

– Use in fridges and freezers to absorb smells or tie some up in the foot of an old pair of tights to hang in the wardrobe.  Can also be rubbed onto hands after cutting garlic/onions/smelly stuff (A natural deodoriser – brilliant!)

I’m not sure we drink enough coffee for all these uses…now I have a new problem!  I’ll let you know how we get on and whether we get out methods sorted for the summer onslaught!

 

We’re otherwise doing well, Toby claiming ‘Pong Champion 2011’ status last night (as in table tennis…ping pong…pong)!  A big reason to celebrate, I can see Jamie will be coming back hard next year…

We have our Christmas plans all set, with Boxing Day golf, and drinks and nibbles at a friends house tonight added to the schedule.  Lovely.

This week I started my volunteering at the SPCA animal shelter.  At the moment I’m responsible for cleaning the cat playroom and then of course socialising the cats!  I do this constantly though, I’m definately the crazy lady I thought I was.  The conversations I have with them all are surprising!  I had a friend ‘Boots’ who followed me round the whole time on Weds so I was looking forward to hanging out with him today.  The good/bad news I arrived to this morning is that he’s got a new home to go to!  Great news really but I’ll miss him!  Luckily little ‘Roxy’ who’d been feeling under the weather having been recently spayed when I met her the first time was much happier and took to being my side-kick instead.  What do I sound like?!  Another example of how freakishly small this island is…my friend Emma from badminton also volunteers at the SPCA.  Neither of us had mentioned it to each other, but she spied me in the sign in book so now we know!

Scooter update.  Toby got home from work the day I bought it and gave it a run around our car park.  All is good.  The next day I jump on and it wouldn’t start!  Unbelievable.  My new friend Howard picked it up, gave it a clean out with the carburettor needing particular attention and the reason for it not starting.  I picked it up, started perfectly, went for run out and it ran like a dream…for a while…  With no warning it’s suddenly got very noisy!  No idea why, but it doesn’t sound healthy.  It will definitely be needing a check up in the New Year.  Shame, I thought I’d done a ‘buy-a-scooter-boy-job’ well on my own!  Ah well, it’s still pink!

The new ride!!

Having got used to the scooter Karen had lent me, finding my own was a priority job this morning!  I’m pleased to say it was a complete success with a 100cc Yamaha Jog purchased just a few hours ago….

Was I influenced by the fact it was pink?…..Quite possibly!!

Karen’s scooter was an absolute joy to have this weekend as it allowed us to get out and explore and make the most of a gorgeous Saturday.  We headed off down to the south shore and the explored the various beaches and coves.

Toby got very excited and was difficult to keep up with!!!

 

And then I found him…

 

But he was soon off again exploring!!!

The tide was quite far in so we had to time our runs between the coves to save our feet getting wet.  After a while this stopped being as much fun for Toby so he had a new tactic….that was, until a chunk of ‘stone’ came off in his hands!  Beach stone is no granite!

We settled and enjoyed the view for a while.  It’s mid-December, we’ve been larking around on the beach and getting a little hot (I later found I’d caught the sun and got lines from the top I was wearing!).  The turquiose sea is gently lapping onto the fine pink sands.  We’re both feeling very content and Toby comes out with a classic line…”I don’t think we’re smug enough about living here!”  As I said, classic!

Smug moment over we set off to the lighthouse to check out the view.  And it was quite impressive.  You can almost see the whole of the island and you really get a feel for how many little islands there are and just how thin the island is!

Toby’s no fan of heights, but he was very brave! 😉

Back down the steps for more larking around while Toby get’s his legs back!!!

All this fresh air and it was time to find a pub to watch the Chelsea game (no mention of the score…).  What a little find – the Henry VIII was just the ticket and made us feel like we were still in England!

Onto Somerset and the smallest drawbridge in the world…

Yup, that tiny wooden section actually raises to let masts though when tall boats want to pass!  Seems a little crazy, but it works for them!  Toby got friendly with the Christmas bridge guards!

It was then home for a couple of episodes of the wire (Dickos – your best tip ever, we’re hooked!  Currently on series 3 but nearly finished!)

 

Don’t worry though everyone, Bermuda lives up to it’s British Overseas Territory status and on Sunday made us feel very at home.  Rain.  All day!  Literally, all day!

Scooter test day

After our first day or so on a scooter Toby and I got a feel for how to ride them and our initial concerns about making it all the way around a roundabout were calmed!

I was feeling ‘OK’ about my test, but a little concerned about the stories of people needing to sit it 2/3 times before passing.  As much as anything that’s inconvenient!  Never mind the cost…

As we live opposite a college, they’ve marked out the test routes on their car park so I was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to have a practice.  Unfortunately, the gates have been locked all week!  Yesterday I practiced some slow maneuvers in a car park and then last night went down to the test centre after it shut but there were a few kids and their parents with the same idea.  I have to admit, comparing my slow maneuvers with the scale of the test course got me worried.  Round those cones AND stay between the lines?!  Do a figure of eight how exactly…the wall’s surely too close with my turning circle (it came back to haunt me!).  After packing Toby off to football training I headed out again at 8:30pm hoping the course would be clear.  It was, and it was tough.

I started to wonder how there are so many scooters and bikes on the road…how can all these people do these circus tricks and pass?!  Those annoying 16 year olds who do wheelies up and down the road obviously have a skill I haven’t appreciated on first glance!  I searched the internet for tips and videos and resigned myself to the fact, today might not have a successful outcome.

I realise now I’ve been a little neurotic about passing.  I’ve driven by the test centre several times today trying to catch a glimpse of the test to see how it goes.  Unfortunately they were always car tests (I guess my fellow test-ees are all 16 and at school!), but once it was empty so I asked to have a practice.  Against the rules one lady let me but I’d only done 2 ‘Serpentine Rides’ before someone else evicted me!  I was really hoping he wouldn’t end up being my examiner.

I did feel more confident for it though and I’m pleased say that while I can’t claim to have shown amazing proficiency on the scooter I did have a ‘cautious control’ as I like to call it and thankfully my examiner Troy approved of it!  I’m officially a Bermudian Sccoter Rider!

Toby was kind enough to call me ‘the most legal driver in the house’…his pride wouldn’t allow ‘the best driver in the house’!

So this weekend we’re planning to get out exploring as we have Karen’s scooter until Weds.  Toby is now officially my back seat driver/pillion rider…we should have some good stories for you there!

My new challenge will also be to buy a scooter.  I’ve test ridden a couple today and will plan some more with Toby on Sunday.

I’ve finally sorted my volunteering at the animal shelter.  I’m starting out two mornings a week with the cats and once I’m up to speed I’m going to start putting some of my marketing skills to use.  Hurray!  I’ve also been accepted into the world of the International Women’s Group of Bermuda so I can start exploring it’s ranks!  My main job is still finding a paid one though!  I’d say there are a few ‘irons in the fire’ but that implies ‘hot’ and I’d not necessarily describe them as that!  Still, there’s more out that than I was lead to believe, just unfortunately too many Bermudians going for them too!  I’ve got a feeling I’m going to end up doing something weird and wonderful!

I need to start getting ready as we’re out to dinner tonight.  We could only go if I passed because otherwise the money would next to go towards my re-test! 😉

Christmas tree up!

We’re getting more Christmasey by the second over here on our tropical island!

On Saturday we headed to the local house/garden/DIY type place to get our Christmas tree and some decorations.  As I mentioned, no car for us, but I’d planned different transport…

Toby was rewarded by being able to watch the football and at half time we set to the decorating…

As this is our first Christmas as a married couple I wanted to start a few traditions.  Unfortunately it’s most likely that we’ll donate our decorations to a worthy cause when we leave as it doesn’t make sense to fly than home.  I suggested we pick one bauble that is special and will come home with us as a reminder of our first Christmas as Mr and Mrs and also our first Christmas in Bermuda.  I chose a little Robin, but because it doesn’t have legs Toby insists on calling it the ‘Christmas Seal’…take a look and see what you think!

Toby on the other hand, chose ‘Sniper Bear’.  Not quite the tradition I was expecting!

In the evening we headed down to the Christmas Boat Parade.  Locals dress their boats up with lights of their choice and slowly tour round Hamilton Harbour.  There were lots of Santas and sea creatures along with palm trees, moving parts and even a fully working jet engine!  We saw at least two sets of brave rowers doing the rather long route round with just a strip of lights along the top of their boat – I hope the others could see them!!  I didn’t take any pictures myself so stole this one from their website!

It was then onto Toby’s work Christmas Do.  Drinks, a meal, some more drinks!  We did a secret Santa complete with games to see who got what which was great fun.  Finding a gift was initially challenging though – the budget was $30-40 which I though was a lot considering anyone could get the gift so we couldn’t plan ‘the perfect personal gift’….which must surely be possible at that price!  The Quality Street display brought me back to reality!

Budget blown on a tin of Quality Street?!  We shopped round and I’m pleased with what we got.  Everyone had done well they were all lovely gifts.  Toby works with some great people.

We were almost double booked with the Christmas Party for the company Toby’s contracting at having a party on the same day, thankfully that’s been postponed and something for us still to look forward to!