The Adventures of David, Breanna and Blue

Long time no speak!

2010-11-29T13:49:00.000Z

Hi everyone - we're really sorry that we've not updated the blog in MONTHS, but there is a totally legitimate reason....David's laptop gave up the ghost a while ago, and hence we have no way of downloading the many, many photographs we've captured over the summer!

We'll try and do an one-size-fits-all blog post covering the summer very soon, and there's word of snow here again soon, so no doubt we'll stick up some pictures for that too (if it arrives!).

Hi to everyone in Canada and elsewhere and we'll see you guys in February! More on that later..

Bye for now
D&B

Devon - Day 4: Exmoor & Dunster

2010-05-16T16:35:00.001+01:00

Before we knew it, along came Day 4, and the last day of our time in Devon. Due to the distance we had to travel to get home, we decided to make a day of it and stop off at a few places along the way. After a few hours of driving along a slow road in the middle of Exmoor, we found perhaps the best-placed tearoom ever!

Mmm, yes please

Breanna's first-ever Devon Cream Tea!

After our pit-stop we carried on towards home, and ended up going through a stunning place called Dunster. We both absolutely fell in love with the place, and will definitely go back there again one day..

What a place to live!

Thatched roof cottage

Beautiful!

A river runs through it...

...and out the other side.

I'm sure we could walk for hours out here

Picture-post card!

After strolling around we came across Dunster Castle!!

Looking towards the rear of the castle

Follow the steps..

The view from the rear of the castle!

This place was absolutely breathtaking and it was the perfect end to a fantastic trip away in the West Country.

Until next time,
D&B

Devon - Day 3: Dartmoor, Becky Falls & Hay Tor

2010-05-16T16:15:00.001+01:00

On the Tuesday came the third day of our holiday. We had arranged to meet David's friend Ed (HI ED!) and we decided to head to a place called Becky Falls in Dartmoor, another National Park towards the south of Devon. The falls were located in the middle of woodland and had waterfalls cascading all the way through it, and it was a fantastic experience.

We saw some fantastic scenery on the way to Dartmoor

The rolling hills of England

We'll talk about those later..

We were so rural at times that we needed a combination of GPS and an atlas!

Ed and David at the entrance to Becky Falls

Breanna Bridge :)

David and the main waterfall

Doesn't look much on camera, but it was quite exhilarating with the water rushing past

Tread carefully!

Wow!

Happy times :)

David is 6ft2, so this was a pretty big rock!

The sign does warn that animals will bite...

The legend of the money tree!

See...money does grow on trees!

Ed, getting stuck in to lunch

What a place to have lunch!

While we were having lunch we were talking with Ed about where to go in the afternoon, and being local to the area, he said that he'd take us up to the top of Hay Tor, which is one of the highest parts of Dartmoor. We had no idea of what we were about to experience next!

We parked up at a car park at the bottom of Hay Tor, and looked up!

About half-way up the very steep slope, we looked back to where we'd parked and it seemed miles away!

Only David could tumble UP a mountain...

When we neared the summit we saw the Army doing some mountain rescue training on this wind-eroded rock!

Really puts it into perspective!

David and Ed at the very top of the summit

The view from the top

Another view :)

We found a very sheltered spot behind the rock at the summit, out of the strong wind. Very warm!

After hiking down we were gasping for a pint, and we found an Inn nearby. Breanna was happy, as were David & Ed!

It was an amazing day, and thanks so much to Ed for joining us.

Day 4 to follow!

D&B

Devon - Day 2: Clovelly

2010-05-16T15:38:00.000+01:00

On our second day there, David's parents had planned to take us out to a place called Clovelly, which is a historic fishing village nestled on the cliffs of North Devon. The main street running through the village is so steep, that no cars can get up or down, and supplies have to be delivered to the people who live there by wicker sledges on wooden runners. The weather that day was dry and sunny, and we had a great time there...

The view from the Master Bedroom

Standing on the balcony outside the front door, looking left

Upon arrival at Clovelly you have to pass through a visitor centre (and pay) to access the village.

Once through the visitor centre, you head down the steep cobbled streets.

Delivery service with a difference..!

This was the view from the top of the main street.

Looking back towards the top of the main street

Half-way down is a very strategically-placed shop...!

Breanna and I scurried off up some steps and found this area.

Looking down towards the harbour

Looking over the sea-wall

We just walked from all the way up there!

Beautiful place!

We had a pretty amazing workout getting all the way back up to the top; suffice to say we eared our drinks that night! It was a superb day though and will remain in our memories for a long time.

Day 3 coming up!
D&B

Devon - Day 1: The Journey, Exmoor & Lynmouth

2010-05-16T15:14:00.002+01:00

In the first week in May we were invited to join David's parents at a little holiday cottage they had rented out for the week, and we decided to head down and join them from Sunday to Wednesday. We had some email information through and found out that the cottage was located on a river bank in a place called Bideford, in Northwest Devon. On the Sunday morning, we loaded up the car with all our stuff as well as Blue and all his stuff for his stay in the local kennel, and off we went.

We arrived at 9:40am and they made us wait until 10:00am on the dot before opening the gate!

Once we dropped Blue off, we hit the road, fully equipped.

And they're off!

After a stop off along the M4 we got to the M5, which takes you to the West Country

The view, along with the weather, was improving...

Very different to Berkshire!

Our first stop about half-way there was a beach resort called Minehead. We parked up, had lunch and a little explore around the town.

There was a botanical garden in the centre of town

David loves Monkey Puzzle Trees!

After an hour or so having a good break at Minehead, we got back on the road and followed a road leading all around the coast, which also takes you over Exmoor, and very hilly National Park. We saw so much wildlife just roaming around all over the place, it was a world away from what we know and love in our home town.

A wild pony

The view from high-up on Exmoor

Kodak moment!

Look at the little lamb! All we need now is some Roast Potatoes..(!)

Coming down from Exmoor we headed towards a place nestled in a cove, called Lynmouth.

View from the bottom: we stopped here for a bit and looked around.

For such a small place, it was full of people!

Don't think they're going anywhere for about 6 hours

A 14th CENTURY pub!

We didn't go up here, but it looked interesting

This was very cool...

This was even cooler! I wonder if we can have one outside our house...

We were both gasping for a cup of tea, so we had one in a tea room and then left Lynmouth at about 3:30. After some extreme hills coming out across Exmoor, we finally arrived in Bideford, at about 5pm.

Our new home for three nights!

As you go through the front door you're greeted by lots of wood, with the main bedroom upstairs.

The Kitchen area was directly below the mezzanine level containing the master bedroom. Time for a rest for the driver!

David's parents prepared a real feast that night, and it was very welcome!

They also had a few little surprises lined-up for Breanna...there's that camper van again!

Breanna's early birthday present...

...and another...

...and a cake came too!!

The journey down was fantastic, as was the welcome when we arrived. Thanks so much to David's Mum and Dad for making it a special evening for us both.

Devon - Day 2 to follow...!
D&B

Breanna's Visit to Bath

2010-05-16T14:23:00.000+01:00

After her trip to London, Breanna's work then decided to send her to another training day down in Bath. This is one of the oldest places in England, and is famous for it's Roman Baths which date back to the days of the Roman Empire. They used geothermal energy to heat the water in lead pipes, making a naturally hot bathing complex for the locals. The history really does speak for itself in the photo's here.

Entrance to the Roman Baths

Church

Fantastic architecture

"Water is everything"

I don't think this can be traced back to Roman times, but it's pretty cool...

Alkmaar Garden

This is a symbol of the town

View from the top...

...and on to some work!

D&B

Breanna's Visit to London

2010-05-16T13:40:00.003+01:00

Breanna's work decided to send her and a colleague to London for a training day, and she managed to take quite a few photo's of their time there, including a visit to a rainforest-themed restaurant. Check out some of the photo's below:

Breanna & Lana

London buses!

Strange clock...

One of the most photographed places in London

Outside the Rainforest Cafe

It really does...

Boo!

An elephant never forgets...

Dinner time :)

Leopards

I doubt these were on the menu...

Take a seat at the snakeskin bar!

Under the night sky-ceiling

D&B

Trip to the beach

2010-05-16T13:17:00.002+01:00

Towards the end of April we had some very warm weather and the temperature hit about 17c, so we started off one Sunday morning with having breakfast in the back garden, but getting towards noon we decided to dump as much stuff in the car as we could and headed to the beach, which is about an hour and an a half away. We made good time, took the BBQ with us and set-up camp! It was a fantastic day in the sun, and we both got quite brown too!

After our mad dash down the motorway, this is what we saw.

The big question is, how many men does it take to light a BBQ..?

We saw this '67 VW Camper Van - and loved it!

Looking towards Lee-on-the-Solent

Fire in the hole!

Now we're cookin'

Well worth the wait!

We saw this really cool kite, and the tail was spinning like crazy

We headed home via the cliff-top. Beautiful!

D&B

England in Springtime

2010-05-16T13:00:00.001+01:00

Hi guys, well as promised here is an update of what we've been up to over the last few months! The weather over here has been pretty good all in all, and we've managed to squeeze in some barbecues, trips around the local area as well as farther afield. Easter was fantastic, and made very special after Breanna sent David around the house on Easter Sunday on an Easter-egg hunt:

Check out the prize...

...and look what Breanna got from Canada! Thanks Judith!

In the following few days and weeks we set about doing the usual spring-time things, like sorting out the garden and painting up the garden furniture. Plus we have a very old Apple Blossom tree in the front garden so we were watching it very carefully for it to come out in full bloom!

Our favourite tree

A fully restored garden table - took ages!

Then it was time to make use of it - our first BBQ of the season :)

Mmmmmmm...and yes, it was good.

On another day during April we decided to make the most of the beautiful weather and went out to a place just around the corner from our house, called Sonning Common, which has to be one of the most quintessentially English place in the whole of England. So we got a picnic ready, and Blue too, and off we went.

Saddle up, partner

This is called the French Horn Hotel, and is very exclusive, but also very beautiful.

Following the Thames Path

Spring has sprung

After the walk, naturally we needed some liquid nourishment :)

View from our table, with a handy hatch leading to the bar :)

This was on the wall inside, absolutely priceless!

On the way back to the car we stopped at The Mill, which is now a dinner theatre.

The Mill, inside

We had a great time throughout April, more posts to follow covering May... :)
D&B

Trip to Bristol

2010-03-31T10:49:00.001+01:00

As we hadn't been to the West Country much we decided to do a scouting trip to Bristol to see what the place was like. It was such a friendly city, especially when compared to Reading, where people do as they do in London and walk past you without so much as an acknowledgement that you exist.

We parked somewhere west of the town centre and the first store we walked into was a sci-fi / comic book store just crammed with all sorts of cool stuff. We spent some time in there just browsing and had a very useful chat with a friendly guy running the shop. As we were both new to the city, he pointed us in the general direction of the city centre and off we went. Then a miracle happened..! We were stopped in the street outside a clothing store by a lady handing out giant dog-biscuits, and she said "go into the shop and give it to the cashier for a chance to win a cash prize up to £50!" David is always suspicious of these things but we went in.

At the till there was a large paper bag full of small bits of paper, and Breanna had the first go and stuck her hand into the bag. Out came a voucher for 10% off any item in the shop! Sweet! Then it was David's turn. Hand into the bag, out came a £50 voucher to spend in the store immediately with no minimum purchase or anything!! Suffice to say we were very happy. He ended up getting a brand new pair of trousers worth £47 for zero pounds and zero pence. What a city!

After all that excitement we stopped by a bar for a drink and then had a wander around the town. Here's a few snaps we took on our journey.

On our way

Some of the scenery on the way down

Good old England

Driving through Bath

At the top of a hill in Bristol city centre

More work from the mysterious Banksy

More Bristol

I ate the lettuce with some fava beans and a nice chianti

This was on the side of a building, really cool!

Colourful

Clifton Suspension Bridge

More of Clifton area on the way home

It was an awesome day, hope to have some more trips coming up soon!

D&B

A little piece of history

2010-02-25T15:18:00.000Z

As some of you are aware I work for Thames Water, and I was digging around at work and found some amazing pictures in our archives. They date back to the Victorian era and show the installation of the sewer system which has done an incredible job, considering the pipes were made of cast iron and have lasted nearly 150 years! The historic photographs are first, and then I've included one of the modern MDPE style pipe that we use today, which arrives on the back of a lorry and is just fed into the trench in the ground. Amazing how times change! Enjoy.

David

Gone but not forgotten

2010-02-09T13:41:00.000Z

Hi guys, it sure has been a while so sorry about that, but we've had nothing of note happening lately, just working and living! Over the weekend just gone we had David's friends Ed & Jim come to stay with us which was absolutely fantastic (thanks guys!) and we've got Valentine's Day coming up so who knows what the next post will be...we'll post something newsworthy soon ok!

D&B

Welcome to 2010...

2010-01-06T15:05:00.000Z

Happy New Year everyone! You'll see on our previous posts that the UK had a massive amount of snow before Christmas, and here we are six days into 2010 and we've just had the biggest country-wide snowfall in over 30 years! Snow started to fall in Reading at about 6pm last night and kept going heavily all night long, and this morning this is what we woke up to.

Looking out over the back garden

Front

We measured about 6 inches on the ground!

Blue absolutely loved it

Happy Husky

Out in the street

Naturally we had to build a snow man!

A snowman with a six-pack...

...and a butt..!

The Met Office is saying that we're going to be getting even more for the rest of the week especially on Saturday night and all day Sunday, so we might end up with a snow family out in the front garden before long!

D&B

Christmas Day

2009-12-28T09:39:00.002Z

After all the snow of the previous week we were all so glad when Christmas Day arrived. David's Mum & Dad came to visit and we had a fantastic day opening presents and having a superb meal (thank you so much Judith!!) When they arrived we all had some mulled wine and opened some presents...starting with Blue!

"What's in here?"

The crazed look in his eye says it all.

Then on to Mum & Dad's stockings...

Now it's a free-for-all!

Warm & fluffy!

They fit!!

Not quite sure what happened here...!

Then it was time to cook the almighty Christmas dinner, and this year we chose a huge sirloin of beef. Add some winter vegetables of parsnips, carrots, leeks and roast potatoes and Yorkshire Puddings, and everybody's happy!

Caught in the act...

Meanwhile someone played a trick on poor Blue...

He wasn't pleased.

Here it comes...

Bon Apetit!

After the meal we went out for a walk with Blue to walk off some of that dinner, and to make room for our Christmas pudding. Having decided that Blue had not had enough for the day, we threw snowballs at him.

Eye on the ball...

He wasn't pleased.

Pouring brandy on the Christmas pudding and setting alight!

And we rounded the day off with a game of pool!!

It was a fantastic and very memorable day, thank you to all for making it that way. Merry Christmas to everyone and have a great New Year.

D&B

"You want... MORE?"

2009-12-22T10:00:00.001Z

Following last week's dumping of snow we all thought we were in the clear. Although snow was still on the ground it had been a lovely clear and sunny weekend and everyone was out and about, blissfully unaware of what was to come! Yesterday, Reading had another 4 inches or so after it started to fall at lunch time, and it didn't stop snowing until about 9pm, and many people were forced to abandon their cars, ourselves included.

We made the best of a bad situation though, and went for a few drinks and an Italian meal in town before venturing home on foot, which took well over an hour. According to the news, some 2000 people in Basingstoke (about 30 minutes drive south) were forced to sleep in their offices or emergency shelter overnight, so we felt very lucky to get home. Anyway, as always, we took some pictures yesterday evening and on the walk to work this morning.

Reading town centre

David's car, not going anywhere.

Our house this morning

Blue, loving the snow once again!

Back garden

Our road

Breanna, on our road again

Snow!

A house we passed on the walk to work

Can't get more English than that!

Icy roads...

A park near the town centre

Near the canal lock

Looks like we'll have a white Christmas after all!

Until next time,

D&B

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....

2009-12-18T08:46:00.003Z

Overnight we had a pretty big dumping of snow in the UK, and in Reading we were lucky enough to get a decent covering of about 3-4 inches! David was very excited about the snow as always, and was awake at about 4:30am and was out walking Blue at 6:30am, who absolutely loved it (well he is a husky!). Breanna was also over the moon as it was her first proper taste of winter since leaving Canada, and so we took a few snaps before work! Take a look below:

Outside the front door

At the end of the driveway, looking left

Blue, in his element

Checking out the road for drive-ability

Happy Breezy :)

St Mary's Church, Reading

In the churchyard

All smiles :)

St. Mary's Butts

Merry Christmas!

D&B

Santa Came Early!

2009-12-15T19:17:00.002Z

On Tuesday evening after a great big winter dinner, all of a sudden there was an almighty noise coming from the street outside the house. Quite a rare thing in our otherwise very quiet neighbourhood! As Breanna opened the front door it turned out to be Santa himself on his sleigh with Christmas music being played over a P.A. system! It turns out that he was collecting donations for local charities, and although we missed his first drive past the house, we managed to capture his speedy getaway... see for yourself!

D&B

Blue the Contortionist

2009-12-02T16:16:00.001Z

As you may have gathered by this point we have a Husky, and there are so many times where we find him in the strangest positions lying around the house. Here are some of many pics we've managed to take of Blue, sometimes without him noticing!

D&B

Deck the halls...

2009-12-02T13:12:00.002Z

And so we're finally caught up to December, and with December comes only one thing...Christmas! Breanna simply couldn't wait any longer to put the decorations up so up they went! Luckily David's parents had donated a new tree and Breanna had an assortment of decorations in her second consignment of boxes so already the place feels very much like Christmas!

Here are a few pictures of the day we decorated:

Trying to figure out how to put it together!

Heeeeelp!

Looking good....

Merry Christmas!

D&B

Halloween

2009-12-02T12:56:00.000Z

Well as with Thanksgiving, Halloween is a HUGE thing in Canada; we've all seen the movies - lanterns all over the street, houses decorated until they're unrecognisable, that sort of thing. With not too much encouragement needed, we decorated our house and front garden with lots of ghosts, cobwebs and characters from various horror movies, and it went down a storm! We had about seven different groups of kids come to the house, and some even took pictures of our efforts which made it all the more worthwhile. We had bought loads of sweets and stuff as we didn't know any tricks so I think the local kids went away happy!

Here's some spooky pictures :)

Victim's cabin......

Scary

Horror-ble

How much is that ghost in the window?

Uh-oh

The view you got when the front door was open...creepy!

Not quite as good as they do it in Canada, but we were there in.........spirit.................ha ha ha!

D&B

David's Birthday

2009-12-02T12:34:00.004Z

Next on October's agenda was David's birthday, the 27th year of walking the Earth. Both David and Breanna had to work on the day itself as it fell on a Friday this year, but David was only at work for the morning and had the afternoon on annual leave to be home for the arrival of his two great friends Ed & Jim, both of whom David had met in Autumn 2001 when they all started University together in Reading.

After their arrival early in the afternoon, we all had some celebratory beers and some genuine "guy time" as Breanna calls it, which usually involves Ed's Playstation 3 and a copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare. Great fun, especially on the recently acquired flatscreen tv!

Breanna got up nice and early to make David a birthday treat for breakfast:

Scrambled eggs and croissants! mmmm

Jim & Blue getting on very well (I hope that's the rope he's biting!)

Ed taking his shot on Wii Bowling

Blue decided to force his way onto the couch...!!

Many thanks to Ed & Jim and of course Breanna for making it a day to remember. Until next year..... :)

D&B

Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T12:18:00.002Z

As October approached we had quite a bit to look forward to, and what better way to see in a new month than to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving Day! This is something that Breanna was particularly looking forward to as it is a huge event on the calendar in North America, and we also managed to arrange for her cousin Becky and Grandmother Joan to come and stay with us for a night over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Breanna and David spent absolutely AGES looking for a pumpkin so that Breanna could make pumpkin pie, a tradition for Thanksgiving. After hunting high and low, we finally found one at the garden centre just down the road (I wish we had found that place before hunting all over town!) and just in time too as we only had about a day left to find one. So the night before Bre's relatives arrived she was busy preparing the pumpkin which takes a while to skin and boil down to an edible state! We had a lovely dinner of cheese-stuffed chicken wrapped in parma ham and roast vegetables, and of course the pumpkin pie which was David's first...who is happy to report that it was very nice indeed!

Here's a few photo's of the day. Remember you can click on each picture to view it full-size if you wish.

Breanna, Becky & Joan

Three Stooges!

Thanksgiving Feast

Pumpkin Pie!

It was a great day all in all and was great to have a good catch-up with (some of!) Breanna's family. We'll have to do it even better next year!

D&B

Windsor

2009-11-26T12:08:00.002Z

By this point, we were well into July and Breanna and Blue had settled in to English life very nicely. We were making constant trips to the town centre to look for her new job, but despite handing out a ton of CV’s we didn’t really have much luck.

Then as we got towards the middle of July, Breanna landed an interview with a jeweller in the centre of town, and following two further interviews she got the job! We were absolutely ecstatic and helped us out a great deal timing-wise in terms of the rent..! So before she started in the beginning of August, we went on a trip to Windsor so that she could see the Queen’s “other” house!

After we got to Windsor and parked the car, we went for a walk along the river towards town. On the way there we came across a huge Ferris wheel which gave spectacular views from the top as it was a sunny day. Here’s just a few of the photo’s we took:

Wheely Good

Long Way Down

Happy Couple

What a View

Cobbled Streets

It really was an amazing afternoon out and it was Breanna’s first time seeing a castle so that made it all the more worthwhile!

D&B

The First Few Weeks

2009-11-26T11:29:00.003Z

Following Breanna and Blue’s arrival into the UK, we spent the first few days of our time together just getting used to the “newness” of it all, and we mainly spent the time in and around our neighbourhood. But in the first few days, we ventured into the town centre to sort out all the essential stuff like setting up a bank account and getting Blue checked over at the vet. He had done very well given the amount of travelling he had done, and although he was a bit out of character for the first few days, he was getting back towards normal by the end of the first week just by sleeping most of the time.

David had booked two weeks off work so that he and Breanna could spend time together and to help Breanna settle into her new surroundings. David, knowing the area very well, suggested a trip up to a place called Henley-on-Thames, which is probably one of the most quintessentially English settings you could find, and Breanna absolutely loved it. The town is very old and has a lot of history there, and is also right next to the river which makes it very nice in the summer time. So after wandering around a few old shops, Breanna got busy with the camera:

Tudor buildings are very common in Henley...

...but at over 6'2" tall, David has trouble getting around them!

Towards the second week, we spent quite a lot of time at home as we were waiting for a consignment of Breanna’s belongings to arrive by Air Freight. After waiting for ages (although it wasn’t long at all when you actually think about it), Breanna’s first (yep, first!) six boxes arrived full of her essential stuff. It was like Christmas had come early, and kept us busy for quite some time:

Christmas or Boxing Day?!

The unpacking of the boxes was only the first thing, the next item on the agenda was to find a place for it all! So for the next day or so we were running around all over the house placing things, moving things, placing them again, moving them again, but then by the end of the second week it was like Breanna’s things had been there all the time. We’re not just talking clothes and keepsakes here (although there are a LOT of clothes), we’re talking about a full kitchen crockery set, electrical goods, glasses, ornaments, and pretty much anything else you can think of! But it was fun unpacking it all and properly settling into our new home and making it our own. And with kitchenware comes a thing that makes a Canadian girlfriend all the more special… baking cookies! I caught Breanna right in the act…

Caught red handed!

It was at this point, David thought: “We’re going to have to join a gym.” Did we really need to go through with it?

You bet we did.

D&B

The Big Day

2009-11-26T10:45:00.001Z

So, as mentioned in our first post, here's some more of the "back story" since Breanna arrived, starting with the big day itself - Breanna’s arrival in the UK. After over nine months of planning the move, coordinating Blue’s importation, and David finding a place to rent that accepts pets (very difficult in the UK!), we both felt as we got closer to June that this day would never come! But it sure will be etched into both of our memories for very long time!

By this point, David had moved out of his old house and into our new home and he had been there for about a month. David recalls talking to Breanna over the Internet just after he’d moved in that she said the placed looked like it “belonged to a boy”! David suspected though that she would soon put an end to that with her feminine touch around the place, and six months on, we can tell you David was right!

On the night before going to Heathrow Airport to collect Breanna, David spent some time decorating the house to make her feel welcome – we’re talking banners, balloons, the works. The place looked amazing! Early the next morning David went over to the van hire depot to collect a mini-van for the day; unfortunately his car wouldn’t have room for a bunch of suitcases as well as a crate containing a certain large dog..!

David got to the airport in good time, nearly 45 minutes early in fact, so that gave him time to find a parking spot closest to the arrivals area and find his way around. He spent the next 30 minutes wandering around the arrivals section, just people-watching. If you want to see non-stop drama, forget about the TV - go to an airport arrivals section!

It honestly seemed like one of the happiest places on Earth, what with so many people being reunited with loved ones and so many tears and hugs and flowers all over the place, it was great fun to watch! David kept eagerly watching the TV screens for updates on Breanna’s flight, and when it said “Landed” his heart started racing as he knew that after such a long time apart, they were finally both in the same country again!

The next twenty minutes or so seemed to drag on forever. Passengers from Breanna’s flight started coming out of the huge double-doors below the “No Entry” signs, but still no sight of her… but then out she comes, smiling, pushing a huge trolley and wearing a big Canadian Beer cooler as a backpack! Needless to say, we were very happy to see each other, and after our great big hug in Arrivals, we made our way back to the van – where a little surprise was waiting….

Once we got going, the next priority was to collect Blue. This was the most worrying thing and probably took the most planning – if you don’t stick EXACTLY to the importation regulations then Customs could have quarantined Blue there and then for six months. But we were both pretty confident that we had done all the ground work, after hours of research and discussion over the internet.

Blue had been on a different flight to Breanna because it turned out to be cheaper so send him from Edmonton to Heathrow via Vancouver (how?!) and he actually landed in England an hour or so before Breanna did. That was good for us though because it gave customs a chance to get cracking on checking his importation status and the documentation/immunisations which usually takes up to 4 hours! Here we were outside the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow…

The wait wasn’t too bad, and we were all loaded up and ready to go home with Blue within two hours. On the journey to our new home together we caught up with each other and David remembers how Breanna was staring out of the windows a lot and commenting on clouds, signs, traffic lights, as you do when you’re in a new country. The overriding opinion of England was: “It’s so GREEN!” After nearly an hour in the van, we finally reached our new home:

Our New Home - Front

The Back Garden - AKA Blue's Playground

We arrived late afternoon and David needed to return the van and collect his car, which we did and then it was back home to unpack and get Blue fed and settled in. By 9pm that evening, Breanna passed out on David in front of the TV after what must have been the longest day ever. But we knew that this was the real start of the adventure…..and what an adventure it has been!

Until next time,

D&B

Dad's birthday!

2009-11-25T12:45:00.002Z

Later on at the beginning of September, David and his Mum arranged a surprise birthday party for David's Dad at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, and we managed to get all the family over over from the Isle of Wight and had an amazing lunch at La Tasca, a Spanish Tapas place right on the quayside. The weather was fantastic and afterwards we made our way back to David's parents' house for a bit of an after-party in the sun!

Feast!

Birthday boy on the right...!

Breezy.... :)

Back to the garden for after-dinner drinks!

It really was a day to remember, and already seems so long ago!

More to come later!

D&B

Welcome to the adventure!

2009-11-25T11:37:00.004Z

Hello everyone! Well here we are - our very first blog! We hope it will be of interest to those of you who read it over the coming months and years! David has read through some wonderful stories on here, and he got the idea from a couple who documented their journey from England to Canada - thanks Eamonn & Jan! (I am following their blog which you should be able to access through "View My Complete Profile")

We will gradually add photographs to the blog when we have access to them, but we just wanted to get started with our story! So here goes...David was born out in Vancouver but moved back to the UK soon after and grew up there, but after 25 years of being out of Canada, David and his parents went out to Vancouver for the family trip of a lifetime (one of many, thanks guys!!) but this one was with a difference!

We flew out for two weeks in August 2008, the first of which was in Vancouver itself and was absolutely amazing (we'll post some photo's soon) and in the second week, David and family went on a cruise from Vancouver up through to the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska.

As David was boarding the ship on Sunday 31st August, Breanna was standing there, in the queue at the cruise terminal at Canada Place in Vancouver, waiting for her family to get themselves together. That moment was the start of our journey! After an amazing week together on the cruise, David & Breanna fell in love and spent the next nine months talking over the Internet and planning Breanna's move to England from Alberta, Canada, which is where she is now! It was a LOT of work for both of us, especially for Breanna as she also brought along her 4yr old Husky dog, Blue, who has settled in amazingly well by the way!

Breanna landed in the UK on 4th June this year, and since then life has been amazing. We spent the first month just sorting everything out that needed doing for Breanna, things like getting her banking sorted, getting settled and sorting out a job. After two months of job hunting, she was lucky enough to land a great job at Goldsmiths jewellers right in the town centre, which is only a short distance from where David works.

Since then, we have managed to squeeze in some great experiences, one of which was an impromptu road trip to the beach with Blue in the back of the car and we met up with David's parents and had a fantastic day in the sun:

Since then we've both been adjusting to a different life but we're very happy, and Blue is still woofing and smiling like normal so that's great too! That's it for this post, we'll create new posts for Breanna's arrival and lots of other interesting things that have happened since she got here!

Bye for now,

D&B