Ok. So we moved back mid September and just want to say we are really pleased so far.

Yes a lot of those initial wow things have worn off but there is still so much I enjoy here.

The best feeling of all is that I feel like I'm me again. I instinctively seem to know how to laugh at more things, I instinctively seem to know what I want to do, I no longer feel like I'm panicking because I might have to stay somewhere for the rest of my life if we set everything up to be successful. My kids are thriving on the education at the moment.

Of course it's not all positive. Right now it's freezing cold and I'm not going anywhere far with little ones but then again this isn't always the normal November and until now we've been getting out loads

Hubby just said you know what i think we have found our "rhythm" here which we didn't always in Australia.

Better go because we will be heading out. Snowing like mad so my purchase of 2 sledges last Sunday from Argos will come in handy

Good luck y'all.

Poppet

Sounds like you are in the right place for you................wouldn't do for everybody mind............it's what's right for you and your family.........not too long behind you now.....13 weeks to go.....

Glad to hear you are still happy and obviously settling in well.

We have just less than 7 weeks to go ....... and counting!

Sounds like you are settling in quickly

My kids are nagging me to buy sledges. They're 16,14 and 12. Who say's children grow up too quickly here?!

Enjoy being back. I love that life's different when the seasons change.

I hope you get used to the freezing cold and the snow....all the forecasters predict that the icy cold spell and snowfalls in many parts of the UK is going to last for weeks. Last winter 2009/10 was bad enough and now this again. Right now where I live it hasn't been above freezing all day and now the outside temperature is already -7.3C at 21:00hrs and the cars parked in the road outside look like they are covered in icing sugar.

The TV news today showed the scene right down in the very south west of Cornwall...in Truro.....normally the mildest part of the UK...a thick blanket of snow everywhere there.

To me right now Australia sounds like a sunny, warm paradise although rain has stopped play in the Ashes at Brisbane at some point it seems (how English seeming is that!) not that I, as a Scot, am particularly interested in the slow moving, boring English game that is cricket anyway.

I talked to Ds on the phone today, he's been back for nearly 5mths now. He seems quite impressed with the weather He was telling me how the car froze over in the car park at work, in the middle of the day.
He's still loving it, and settling in well, joined a gym, has work mates he commutes with, and the cold hasn't put him off one bit. He's now looking for a decent coat that fits over his work suit. The one he took from here is getting too tight. My mothers cooking seems to be fattening him up, good job too, he was a stick figure.

Totally relate to putting on the weight. The food just tastes soooooo good!!!!

Good to hear that things are falling into place for you Poppet! You do certainly sound a whole lot happier now you are in UK!

The smart money is on a slightly milder winter this year overall - compared with last year anyway (love Joe Bastardi and Piers Corbyn) but so what if Nov/Dec is cold, it still cant be as bad as Canada.

Great news poppet...and hope you enjoy the snow...we also had a lovely wake up yesterday to thick snow....popped down to the hight street on the way to my dads...it was his 82 birthday yesterday and the first one I have spent with him in 13 years....bliss....anyway called into the local chocolataire shop and bought a mocha to go....(really bliss) ....it was a lovely atmosphere...called in to Sainsbury's on the way back home (stopped and had their toasted t-cake...heaven.. with a pot of tea...my hips..lol)...and even though it was cold...everyone was "jolly".....walked our dog in the park later and it was COLD....but still had a nice time...reading this back it sounds like a fairytale....lol...not quite...I suppose where your happiest in life whatever comes along you take it in your stride a lot better...we just cold not really do that in Aus....

When it gets really cold in the UK the friendliness of neighbours really comes to the fore. My neighbour has gone to the DIY shop today and bought sand and salt for our Close, because it is icy and it doesn't get gritted. We offered to pay towards it but he said no- everyone chats to me whilst I am out and about with my dogs, I like the UK - as long as you choose the right place to live, there is no-where better, in my view.

Hi Poppet


So nice to hear you are happy to be back - wasn´t it a good decision to return eh?

We arrived home one week after you - and we are still loving it. I too have my personality back and can be me again. So I know exactly what you mean there!

Enjoy the winter and Christmas...then it´s a new year and then we have our wonderful British Springtime...so much to look forward too.

It's been the coldest November I can remember, and the forecasters are stating we've got at least another two weeks of this current cold spell. Apparently -17 last night in Wales was a record low for this time of year, and it's likely to be just as cold tonight. I'm lucky enough to live in a warm flat, but I fear there will be some people who get hit hard by such cold temperatures.

Apparently all pensioners in the UK (ie everyone in receipt of the State Pension) will receive what is officially known as a Cold Weather Payment for each week during which the average mean temperature* is below freezing level - ie 0C. We are now at the end of the first week where this has happened in many areas of the UK - the first time ever that this has happened in November. I have no idea how much these Cold Weather Payments will be for pensioners and my own grandparents here in Scotland (my other g/parents live in Herefordshire, England) don't have a clue how much money they will get from the UK Government in this regard. All this is in addition to the annual Winter Fuel Payments of £250 per household (£400 for pensioner households age 80 or over) which all State Pensioner households receive from the Government at this time of the year, every year, regardless of weather conditions. The CWPs are in addition to these WFPs.

In this area the average mean temperature* for the past seven days has been a chilly -2.9C the average of the average maximum measured against the average minimum.

Last night a place in Powys, Central Wales, recorded the lowest November temperature ever recorded there with a minimum of -18.6C and a day's maximum of -6.2C making it a sort of shivery day to say the least. Temperatures markedly colder than that have been recorded in other places across the UK but never in November.

All this comes in a week during which the UK media have featured an official report stating that 2010 has seen the highest global mean temperature on record so far across the planet generally during the year. Yeah right.....doesn't look like it from where I'm sitting right now. It's ******** fuhreezing....and it's been snowing much of the day, too.

PoppetUK so glad to hear things are working out. I've followed your posts for a while and I'm glad you checked in.

Exactly, I couldn't help smiling at Lothianland's post about this current cold spell possibly going on for a few weeks. When I lived in Toronto, the freezing cold weather often started in October and didn't let up until May. Then we had about 3 days of Spring and suddenly it was hot and too humid to go outside. Ahhh the joys of the Canadian climate!

It's a bit better here in NY and actually this November has been ridiculously mild until the last few days, but by December it will be minus-something almost every day with regular deluges of snow 6-12 inches deep. Time to get the shovels ready!

If I ever do get back to the UK, even the coldest days will seem normal for me, but all the mild winter days will be such a treat.