The Botha's in Scotland

New blog!

2008-03-01T16:19:00.001-08:00

We have had to create a new blog, due to a very blonde moment by myself! Please use the link on the left to check it out.

Happy New Year and 9 years together!

2008-01-03T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today we began our tenth year with glorious snow fall that lasted the whole day. We really enjoyed it, it creates such a magical feeling. (A sign of the beginning of a good year?) It really does not feel like 9 years have passed by.

Views from our big windows...this was only the beginning...it really packed by late afternoon, we were able to enjoy a snow fight.

Brugge and Gent, Belgium

2007-12-26T17:30:00.000-08:00

Brugge has an annual ice sculpture event. This year they had a fantasy theme. We stood in line for probably an hour and a half to get in. The actual 'freezer' where the sculptures are is -6 degrees! Our toes where like ice blocks even with 2 pairs of socks!

To warm our bodies up after being in sub temperatures for about half an hour, we set off to Gent . The sun was setting and Jimmy caught this beautiful sunset.
One of the Catherdrals in Gent, there are 3 or 4 next to each other.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

To all our family and friends all over the world, Merry Christmas! This may be late but we wish you all a blessed year ahead. We spent our Christmas in Belgium with Pa and Ma De Troch and family. We enjoyed a christams dinner on Christmas Eve and then spend Christmas Day in Brugge, Belgium.

Brugge is a flemish town which has similarities to Venice in the sense that it has many canals and bridges. In the Catherdral as seen below is the original marble carving by Michelangelo of the 'Madonna and child', the only marble carving outside of Italy.

That evening we went to the Atonium for a movie, Jimmy took this spectacular photograph.

Venice

2007-12-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

Monday 16th, we left Charleroi Airport (Begium) at 6am. Our excitement grew when we flew over the Alpes - what a magnificant view! One just marvels at the Lord's creation and imagination! Arrived at Treviso Airport , Italy at around 8am. We bought our return bus tickets to Venice as well as our bus-boat tickets.

We arrived in Venice and took the bus-boat to San Marco, where we found our way to our hotel. Having checked in at 10h30 am (16th), we had the whole day to start exploring. We were provided with a map, showing our hotel's position and all the major attractions that they suggested we try and see. With that we set off...

For those who have never been to Venice, it is devided into 6 ancient districts: Cannaregio, Santa Croce, San Polo, Dorsoduro, San Marco and Castello. These make up central Venice. There are 2 other islands, Burano and Murano. On central Venice, the alley ways are the side access ways for deliveries to the hotels and houses. There are numerous small bridges connecting all the blocks. So one can begina t one point and if you are fit enough you can walk to right around the whole of central Venice.

Canal Grande runs through central Venice and is the main 'highway'.
With us, Tannie Annetjie and Doc (taking the picture), Karen and Charl.
This is the Rialto bridge, the major bridge that connects the districts over the canal grande. It is also the market area, where fresh fruits and vegetables are sold every morning. Just over the bridge on the left are all small shops with curios, masks, glass ornaments etc at very reasonable prices (one must just shop around).

Look out from Rialto bridge.
Let me just say that we had beautiful weather the full 3 days we were there, however, the temperature was between -2 and 0 degrees (with real feel of around -4), so whenever it got just a bit too chilly walking around, we would pop into a coffee shop for a cuppa or hot chocolate (which is melted chocolate!).

Considering Venice is an old city, one can appreciate the beauty of the old buildings and architecture that distinguishes the different eras that it has been influenced by.

The famous Gondals, are very expensive (80 euros), so we took a 50 cent one way crossing over the canal grande!

17th, our hotel arranged a water taxi to the Island of Murano. This island is where the glass factories are. It was great fun, cold but at least we had indoor seating as well.

When we arrived at the factory, they were busy making a vase. We were shown the process from start to finish. Truely amazing and talented. This pic shows the almost finished product...which would be sold for quite a price too.

Who are these 2 senorita's?
There was a distinct difference to the buildings on Murano, mostly 2 storey buildings/houses.

Back to school????
We took the bus-boat out to Burano . A small beautiful island , the oldest of the Venician Islands. This is where lace is hand-made. Unfortuately there were no factories to see how they actually make it, but the small little shops were full of all the varieties of lace one can think of.

The sun set very evening around 16h30, and what beautiful sunsets we experienced every night. Truely romantic.

Our last day was spent at the Bassilica and Lido. Pictures do not justice to the height of the tower.

The famous Bridge of Sighs, a replica of which is found in Oxford, England. This is where the court house is on the left and the prison is n the right. Both are now part of the museum. 'last walk of freedom' so to speak.

Lido is also one of the Venician islands, where one can actually get to a sandy beach. Enjoying the sunshine and slightly warmer temperature of 2 degrees (real free probably 0 or -1).

Tannie Annetjie actually took off her tekkies (trainers) and socks, rolled up her trousers and put her feet in the sea. (typical Transvaaler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Sights from Belgium and Germany

2007-12-16T12:34:00.000-08:00

We flew out of Edinburgh Friday morning 7am arrived at heathrow at 8am. Whilst waiting for ou rconecig flight to Brussels we walked around and enjoyed a lovely breakfast. We then flew out to Brussels at 13hoo and arrived at 15h00 Brussels time (i.e and hour behind SA). We went to the Flemish church Sabbath morning as the children had a special christmas program. Below are some photos of the children and the church. The church is in the conference building which also consists of Adra, a French congregation, a Flemish congregation and an International (English) congregation. We attended the Flemish congregation and what an interesting day! See if you can make out what the sermon was about........

Our afternoon walk to the park, Brussels.

My Nieces!

2007-11-10T08:54:00.000-08:00

In our family we have 3 nieces and 2 nephews...we are still in the process of getting updated pictures of Jimmy's niece and nephews. In the meantime, we have these recent pics of my two beautiful nieces Matthea- left (5) and Michaella - right (3). This was taken on Michaella's third birthday along with very proud Granny Sylvia Erasmus.

Of course on Matthea's birthday just the month before, she also had a fancy dress made by her dad as did Michaella.

This is my favourite photo of them both...

And the family of four: Wayne, Karliese, Matthea and Michaella.

As soon as we have photo's of Liane, Dylan and Rynard we will add them to our blog.

London Trip

2007-11-09T08:24:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to London to go and say hello to our SA friends, new in England. So we got on the airie and went to London for a day.We visited a decent golf course in London where we took these pics, but it was a typical dark autumn day.
Then we met Laykin (hope the spelling is right), for the first time, and I must say, it was good to see Jacques and Lara again after quite some time.
We went for a meal in an expensive restaurant, and enjoyed the afternoon together, before returning to Luton, so we could catch our plane back to Edinburgh. What a nice day.

Beautiful Scotland

2007-11-02T04:31:00.000-07:00

They say that this is a good time of the year to be out in nature. One morning, we had this mist and the sun struggled to get through.Outside of our one window, two big trees are busy loosing their leaves, wonderful colours.
And as always, quite good views of the city.
The Forth Road Bridge and the train bridge is always a good place to take pics.

One Fine Day

2007-10-22T10:05:00.001-07:00

We got a nice surprise when we woke this morning. A beautiful sky, lit like this for only 10 minutes. I took the opportunity. So, I worked all day, picked Cedrene up after work, and thought, why not go somewhere nice for a few pics.
Nice cherry, hey!!!!
No coffee, just me, with the sun in my eyes.
Perfect pics for puzzles in my opinion.

A view of the moon from the Northern hemisphere.

RWC Final: South Africa vs England

2007-10-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

This is Meghan at4 months. She is adorable.

We invited our South African friends over to watch the game on the big screen and I think the next photos explain the whole game rather well...... first the warm up and then the tension starts...and.....

GO BOKKE GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ons is nogsteeds Suid Afrikaaners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scottish Mission Youth Retreat

2007-10-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we joined the youth of Scotland at a Retreat in Killin. This is a small village up in the middle of Scotland, not far from Fort William. It is a very small village, with a lovely river running through. A good opportunity for Jimmy to play with his new gadget....check out the fotos.
Worship Team

Incy-wincy spider.....

The river that flows throught the village

Carl and Yvonne playing a duet

Some of the youth

The theme of the weekend was Genesis. Pastor Turner who lectures at Newbold University came as the speaker. On Sabbath morning we were asked to create something. These were 2 of the creations made.

Now this is one of God's amazing creations!

The love of my life!

Another unspoiled creation of God!

Lately in Edinburgh

2007-10-10T13:31:00.001-07:00

We went for a night out with Anne-Marie and Stephen the other day, and I took this photo with Cedrene et al walking into the sun... I took it with our new EOS400d.
The Castle always makes for nice pics, and this evening, the sun was just right. Have to go in there some day...
My new ZOOM lens helps me see further than I ever have from our flat. This is the small steaple that we always see from our house, and you can see how it is busy getting autumn now.
Sunrise is getting better now, because it happens when we are actually awake. I didn't zoom for this one.
Cedrene always looks good, so I had to

The good, the bad and the disappointing...

2007-09-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

You are probably wondering why the unusual title? As you would have seen in previous posts, we were going to buy a house. This is now not to be and will be something we will look into again in a year's time when our visa is renewed. We have found out that it is now law in Scotland that no bank will give you a mortgage if you have not lived here for 2 years. This has been a very stressful and disappointing time for us, but we take courage in the help and advise that we have received from many sources.

As to what is good....check out these beautiful pictures Jimmy took on his trip to Netherlands for the Trans European Division workers meetings. He said that it was great fun talking in Afrikaans and being able to understand them and them understand him. Jimmy spoilt me by bringing back a pair of my very own clogs and an ornamental pair. It feels really weird walking in clogs, they are not heavy, but different.....(make sense??)

Edinburgh Fireworks

2007-09-06T10:48:00.001-07:00

As a lover of pyrotechniques I made sure we did not miss the annual fireworks concert at the end of the Edinburgh festival. This year they only blasted away more than 3 tonnes of the good stuff. We got a very good place to stand in Princess street, and it wss very good. Only a few more weeks to Guy Fawks. These photos don't really do justice to what we saw. I also took a bit of video, just to see how the N95 takes video. Check it out at the bottom of this post.

A Little ride north, to Inverness and Loch Ness

2007-08-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

On our off day, and to forget a bit of our dissapointment of having to wait a while to buy the house, we headed off north. We have never been to Loch Ness, and we wanted to see it.

Check out this pretty chick!!!!

Nice catapult....

Edinburgh Festival

2007-08-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a reason to post this picture I took in town the other day. What was interresting, is the amount of people in town during the festival time. It felt like in the strets of London. Here is the pic, not really with lots of people....

Last Week

2007-08-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

We have finally arrived to our last week in the flat. We are sorry in a way to have to leave this flat, because it is such a nice flat, with good neighbors, and a beautiful view.
By the end of this week, we must be out. It feels kind of final...
So, today we are going to finalise the bank stuff, and hopefully by the end of today, we will have a good idea of how the weekend is going to turn out.
Actually we cannot wait to get into the house, then I can actually pack out my office for the first time, and start living!!!! We'll keep you posted.

Edinburgh Military Tattoo

2007-08-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

What is nicer than getting something from someone out of the blue? Getting 2 tickets for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo!!!

So, on Wednesday night, we got the best weather so far in the year, and we made our way to the Edinburgh Castle, stood in a queue for a while until the gates opened, and in we went.

Here is what we saw:

What a load of fun. We saw military bands and war music from all over the globe, and some fun acts too. The Edinburgh festival ends on 26 August, 2 days before we have been here for 1 year.

Soon to be our new home!

2007-08-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

We went to see our soon to be new house to measure up and see where everything is to fit. These are some of the foto's we took.

As you can see the kitchen will need a bit of redecorating...moving the stove and the boiler. There are more cupboards to the back of me.

Through the sliding doors to the lounge...

Wayne giving me tips on how to add a bit of color...

Looking down from the landing...

Hmmm...a pink bedroom, maybe when I was still 10 years old...this will have to be painted!!!!

There are 2 bedrooms, and a bathroom upstairs. The second bedroom is purple...haha, another room to be painted first up. So, we just await a couple of last phonecalls and then we hope to move in on the 20th August.

The Last 2 days in London

2007-07-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

Wayne's first trip to London, so we started with the good stuff...

Wayne the train virgin...

Tower Bridge

Tower of London - traitors gate 0 originally known as trader's gate.

Our Beefeater tourguide
Armoury

We met up with Anne-Marie (collegue friend from Helderberg)

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben and Parliment
our braai.....
Madame Tussades

Wayne and Julia

Captain Jack Sparrow

Excuse me sir!

Now, Tiger, the hole is over there....

Had a bit of an accident in the Chamber of Horrors

Gonna have to get stitches...

Treating Wayne to sights on the way to London....

2007-07-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

Check these 2 sexy guys ...are they Englishman or Scotts?

Holy Island: less variety of shells than SA, yet still beautiful.

I think we'd better get a move on...the tide is fast appraoching
Quick!

Bamburgh Castle - extremely big but amazingly beautiful

Last Sunday, Wayne and I went into Edinburgh while Jimmy prepared for a Funeral. Just some of the sights that I showed him...

Edinburgh Castle

Scotts Monument...this building is extremely old

My good friend Mariette celebrated her 20 -something birthday (a women never reveales her age). It was a braai (barbeque) at the Scottish Mission President's house in Crieff as she and their son Jonathan share a birthday.

the thorn amoungst the roses - left, Linda and right, Mariette...and in the middle.....well

A visit from my ou boet Wayne

2007-07-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

My highlight of the year...Wayne flew in from South Africa on the 5th July. Shame..there was a delay of 2 hours in Jhb which caused him to miss his connecting flight to Edinburgh, then had to buy another ticket to Edinburgh for a later flight. He eventually arrived in Edinburgh at 4pm. A longggggggg time to not had sleep! Since then we have not sat still for a day! We left for the Scottish Mission Pathfinder camp in typical Scottish weather just outside Dunfermline. We pitched tents in the rain and got all muddy. Not quite the welcome Wayne was expecting I think....lol. Jimmy and Marcel had the privilege of baptizing 7 teens in a make shift pool as you will see from the photos below:

Its great having a fellow South African, an great friend...Mariette Kruger from George.

We then left on Sunday for a week holiday at Doniford Holiday Haven, in the county of Somerset, South England.

Some of our sight seeing excursions:
Quaint little historic town of Dunster

Dunster Cathedral
Low tide at Doniford

waterslide at Doniford

Minehead Station - real feel of what it was like in the old days...

seaside, with lovely each to play on..not Eastern Cape though!

Family photo..have we changed?

The Hermans, Bothas and Erasmus (all South African)

Cleve Abbey - entrance

In front of the entrace to the ruins

The sun was very bright!!!

Quaint town of Cheddar, the only place where they made real Cheddar Cheese the old fashioned way. Not sure if I want to eat Cheese any more!

Matt and his sister Meghan. She is now 5 weeks old.

Summer in the UK

2007-06-29T00:36:00.000-07:00

So, you ask me what I think of my first summer in the UK? Interresting, apparently this is not the way it is supposed to be. There should be rain, but not this much. So, there were some flooding in England, some hard rain here, but however it came, I enjoyed every minute of it. Before we left SA, some folks said that we will become depressed because of the rain and weather, but coming to think of it, apart from the fact that I like the rain and extreme weather, I remember so many people in SA being depressed about the drought. It is nice to hear though, that there was much snow in areas in SA, where you would never ecpect that.
What else, the other night, we headed home, after visiting folks close to Dundee. It was 12 at night, you would expect it to be dark and see lots of stars. Looking north, you could see that the sun wasn't too fr beyond that horison. It wasn't completely dark, more like it looks about 45 minutes before getting light. Not to mention the fact that the sun sets around 10 pm these days.
You can imagine how strange it is to go to bed when it is stil light outside. So maybe it is not necesary for me to mention that we seldom go to bed before 11 or 12 at night. What an interresting experience.

This week is the start of our family camp at Killberry, which goes until next Friday, i will take lots of pictures. C u then.

Welcome, Meghan Herman!

2007-06-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Clifford and Ophelia Herman were blessed with a healthy daughter on her mommy's birthday (4 June). Her brother Matt enjoys being BIG brother. Isn't she adorable!

Yesterday at the Scottish Mission Day of Fellowship, Meghan was dedicated to the Lord. We are very privileged to be Matt and Meghan's godparents. Clifford and Jimmy studied together at Helderberg College (both Theology) and Clifford and Cedrene graduated the same year. Cliff is the pastor of Glasgow and East Kilbride churches.

The Great Scottish Walk

2007-06-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

Ever decided to walk 12 miles with a bunch of nice people to raise money for charities? On Sunday, 10 June, we had such a walk. It is an annual thing, and since this was the first year that we had been here, we were novices. Some of the folk in our church have been doing it for quite a while, and so do we intend. Before you do it, 12 miles doesn't seem that far. Then again, it had been quite a few years since I had done road races.

What made the whole experience better, was the fact that Cedrene walked with me all the way, FAST. Well, we didn't have much choice, since we walked with Peter and Hannah and Jonathan. What a ball. Peter doesn't know about walking slow. Then again, if we walked slower, it would have taken us so much longer.

We got there early because we didn't know how to enter etc. So, we found that everybody from our church were sitting in the stand, making jokes, and having lots of fun.

Here are some of the pics of the before, during, and after.
Peter got balloons for him and Hanna
There was a fancy dress compitition...This guys doesn't seem to have his bike?!?Peter and Hanna Making an entrance!!!
Our group, full of energy.
And food!!
These bikes led the race, quite nice machines!!!
On our way to the start, almost, if not, a mile!!!
Yes, just before the start, lots of energy.
The chicken on the roof lead us through some exercise before the start.

Here you can get an idea of the amount of people walking... And how far back we were.
Those balloons can really give you an idea of the future, if you know what I mean.
11 Miles to go, still very fresh.
Only 10 left, getting tough!!

Cow Gate!!
Grassmarket.

Only 3 miles left, our legs can use a rest.
Yippppeeeeeeeeeee, we can see the stadium!!!

Almost done!!The Stadium entrance!!
There it is, the finish line!!!
Well done guys, next year, same time, same place!!

Edinburgh SDA Youth Ceilidh

2007-06-04T10:56:00.001-07:00

On Sunday night, we had our own ceilidh in our own church. What a party!!!
We had some entertainment by some clowns.
We were reminded where we are, and we just like it.
And of course, the reason why we were together, the Ceilidh. Ever tried it?
Believe it or not, some of our more senior members also showed us what they had in them.
MMMMMMMMMMM
In TRIPLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And up, and round, and under, hehehehe!
You'd better get around, were catching up!!!!
This way Joy!!!!
Morna, and Joy, fasterrrr!!
That's better.
This is the way we used to do it....
Who wears the trousers here?
Power!!!
We can still do this.
OFF...
Hip Hip, yipeeee............
We still know how, great!!

Offers over, under offer, sign here, and pay the bank for the rest of your life...

2007-05-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

So we have put in an offer for the house. We have seen the bank, they have money for us. Our offer was accepted, the date for moving in is confirmed. We went back to the bank, and they ran through the whole mortgage thing with us again. Wow, the bank robs you without blinking. But, who has so much money to buy a house. So tomorrow, we will go sign for the mortgage at the bank, and the deal will basically be done. Then, if all goes well, we will move into our own house on 26 August, 2 days before we celebrate 1 year in the UK.

Holy Island: the progress

2007-05-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

Holy Island

2007-05-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

We went to see Holy Island, off the coast of England on Monday, and we planned to see how the tide comes in, cutting the island off.

Relationship Seminars

2007-05-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

A while ago I hosted an emotional intelligence seminar in our church, and today Cedrene started our series on relationships for young people in our church. It was well attended by the couples, and we plan to spend the next few weeks on a series. Cedrene will help me conduct the series.

Scaring the Sunbathers

2007-05-27T14:03:00.001-07:00

How about taking nice close up pics of a 747 flying. I got this photo from JetPhotos.net. I thought I want to go and have at least 2 weeks on that beach. That may be the ultimate thrill for an aircraft enthusiast.
And, when you want to wash the glas for fresh cooldrink, wait for the aircraft to turn on the sandblaster. I think I need a holiday...

Emotional intelligence seminar

2007-05-25T01:24:00.001-07:00

Just had a nice seminar the other day.
It was good to have so many people attending such an important seminar. I enjoy very much spending some good quality time with my church members.
Apparently there have been difficult questions.

Aircraft

2007-05-24T10:56:00.001-07:00

I am a bit of an aircraft enthusiast, so sometimes, we go stand on the bridge, just next to the airport, look at the rabbits, and take pictures of the aircraft.I like especially to go when it gets dark. These days, you have to go after 10pm if you want these kind of pictures.
Edinburgh has a very busy airport, and there are planes taking off and landing almost every 2 minutes when it is busy.
I think this is one of my favorite pics.

Golf at the airport

2007-05-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

At the airport near Edinburgh, there is a driving range and a par 3 course. I love to go walk there a bit when I need to air my thoughts a bit. Cedrene seems to also want to go along these days. Luckily it is far enough from the airplanes, so you dont have to watch the news all the time, looking for aircraft near Edinbutgh, fell for no apparent reason.
Cedrene took a few pics, of me hitting a few balls toward her, one of which actually hit her on the leg.
Another one...
Then we started our game.... My ball went to the green....
Well, she tried again.

A night in Edinburgh at Christmas time

2007-05-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

Just next to the Scot Monument, you find this lovely wheel thingy, where you pay lots of money, and then ride a bit. Very nice to walk around here at night and see all the lights, and drink coffee, no ice cream, too cold.
Its very beautiful at night in Edinburgh during the Christmas season. So many lights and attractions.
The swings looked attractive, but I think there was a queue.
This ferris wheel goes slow, and I am sure you can see very far, definitely not the London eye.

The different views from our flat.

2007-05-20T03:29:00.001-07:00

Cedrene knows how to take good pictures.
A bright evening, in autumn.

This picture was taken shortly after we arrived in Scotland, when there were still lots of leafs in the trees, and it was still warm. The 3 steeples you see are from the same building, and what a beautiful church it is. It looks close, but is it more than a kilometer from us.
This was another day, just a normal autumn day, I guess, and everyday looks different from any other. You don't always know what to expect.
Sometimes, it looks like Edinburgh is cut off. Sometimes the is a lot of fog or mist, and sometimes there is just too much rain or precipitation and it cuts off the city.
In winter, the sun rises around where you see it now, rises slightly higher than what you see there, goes across to the westand sets again around 3:30pm.
The start of another beautiful day.

Our Recent trip to London, Sorry Anne-Maree

2007-05-18T03:17:00.001-07:00

We took Mornay and the family to London when they were here. We had little time, lots to see. They wanted to see the good stuff, was also good for us to see the Nice city again after almost a year.

Travels in Scotland...

2007-05-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

We took my brother, Mornay and his family for a drive through Scotland, to see some very important places.

The Highlands

2007-05-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

Then there is the question of taking ZKZ on a trip through the highlands
What a pleasure. Imagine driving those curvy roads, up the mountains (hills) of Scotland, and the beautiful sights.

Our Car - ZKZ

2007-05-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

I enjoy our car very much, her name is ZKZ, yes, just like you read it. She is a Zafira, have loads of space for us to picnic, and you could say, a FEESBUS.

The next step...

2007-05-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

We are now sending a surveyor out to do a survey on the house we are wanting to buy. Once this comes back we will then put in our formal offer. If this is accepted we will then do all the legal stuff and the date we will move in is the 26 August 2007!

Offers Over, Fixed Price, For Sale, Headache

2007-05-16T14:16:00.000-07:00

I have never bought anything so expensive. That's right, we want to buy a house, in Scotland, near Dunfermline, in the Kingdom of Fife. You must see how many towns, or like they spell it, TOUNS, has a name that start with KILL. I think Braveheart had an impact here. So, to buy or not to buy. I have never seen such a circus. Some houses (most of them) are available for Offers Over. So you have to make an offer for an amount over what they put in the advert. Other people offer too. You worry and lie awake at night, hoping your offer is the one, and you obviously didn't want to offer too much. Not to mention that there are literally hundreds of houses available, and you have to be very choosy, remember, location, location, and yeah, location. Believe me, location is VERY important here in Scotland. So, we wait. When we know that the current owners will be out when we want to be in, and they are happy with our offer, a big process starts, and money exchanges hands, and the bank lend us a LOT of money, and we pay the bank back for the rest of our lives. Paying the bank back is the only thing that is the same as back in South Africa, only, in SA we couldn't afford to buy even one of those pink or green square houses (location, location, location). Hopefully I will be able to post a new message later at some point, also showing some pics of our new place. For now, we lie awake, pray, and drive around close to the new house.

Nice and COOOOLD

2007-05-13T18:00:00.001-07:00

Our adventures so far

2007-05-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

August the 29th, 2006. We arrived in Edinburgh to begin our new life in the Ministry of the Scottish Mission. Our fully furnished, rented, 2 bedroom, first floor flat has a spectacular view of Edinburgh Castle. We soon found our feet and bought a car.

Our first Sabbath in Edinburgh was on my birthday, we were formally introduced to the Edinburgh Church by the President of the Scottish Mission. We don't remember too much as we were still quite zoned out from the flight over.

We went about connecting internet and telephone and organizing a bank account. The first few weeks were tough as expected, being new to the country and all. On the 18th September, I went for an interview with a temping agency that I had sent my CV to the previous night via internet. This proved successful as I received a call offering me a position for 3 months at Scottish Life (one of the largest pension companies in UK). My contract was then extended in December for another 3 months. In January 2007, I applied for a permanent position in my department and was successful...started in April. As one can imagine, after studying child care and being involved with child care for the past 10 years, being a career in Pensions has been quite exciting and challenging. But I am loving it.

Jimmy settled in fast into the Ministry, both Edinburgh and Dunfermline have received him with open hearts. The youth in Edinburgh have connected well with Jimmy and they have fun at socials....especially the pool games!

8 months down the line and we have had Jimmy's brother over for a months visit. And are hoping that my family will be able to visit in the near future.

We are now in the process of buying a house. We have found a semi-detached house across the Forth River just on the outskirts of Dunfermline. It has 2 bedrooms, open plan lounge kitchen, bathroom, garage and back garden. We have put in an offer and now wait to hear what the surveyor says. If the offer is accepted, we'll post a picture for all to see.

Now that we have set up this blog, we hope to update it regularly with photo's and updates.