Surrey Life

Welcome to Haslemere! Home of wellie boots, North face jackets, scrumptious cakes, country walks, AGA's and the sweetest little sweetie shop in the whole of England, quite possibly the world.

Having stopped for a coffee during our 'where to next?' mission, we promptly decided that the great 'Mere was to be our new destination of choice. A little impulsive some might say, but having dug a little deeper we realised that it had quite a few attractive attributes - great schools, lots of green places, cute oldy worldy houses and friendly people that smile a lot.

It's fair to say that Surrey is quite the beauty spot. Since moving in a few weeks ago we've spent many a minute admiring the countryside and all of its tremendous greenery. Our garden alone has installed a love of nature in the kids who have their own view of the back yard and can quite often be found at 6am, gazing outside, pens at the ready, to tick off any birds that flock on to our bird feeder. A mere glimpse of a magpie can send my 7 year old into the same excitable state he expresses on championing an Xbox game or getting a goal past dad. Since we're usually banning xbox usage (due to the odd spat of bad behaviour) or using it as a tool in our parenting armour, this, I consider as positive progress. 

One big adjustment of course has been the weather. I'd forgotten just how changeable it is here with sun one minute and gloom and rain the next. Having rocked up to school recently in autumnal attire, a quick burst of sunshine had us peeling of the layers en route to the school gates before the heavens opened up and we were promptly rained on - all in the space of ten minutes.

Umbrella's are now safely stored in the car, bags, behind doors and in cupboards in our effort to be as weather-ready as possible. In fact the umbrella has become a bit of a must have accessory these days, along with Hunter wellies and cagoules. Am thinking it's probably time to trade the Veolia/IKEA numbers in for something polka dot or vaguely trend-worthy. There's nothing more soul destroying that being housed under a gigantic advertisement...

One thing that still amazes me is the quiet determination of the Brits to get outside when it's pouring with rain. According to the Met office, June was the wettest since records again. Yet you'll still see people picnicking under brollies in sodden fields, soaked-to-the-bone kids relaying with competitive vigour and little old ladies sporting plastic headscarves on the walk to collect their weekly pension. Nutters. 

Thankfully the arrival of the Olympics brought the arrival of summer and those marvellous athletes have been able to showcase their prowess on dry ground. 

The Olympic fever has been addictive and we have been glued to our screens since day 1. Sadly we missed out on tickets but will be taking an early punt at getting our mitts on some paralympic events. Only a few weeks to go!! Let's just hope it doesn't rain...