Good day, eh?

Hello All,

I sit here in our little apartment sweltering in 25 degree heat at 10pm comfortably full with tacos and Niagara Peninsula chardonnay – hmmm, can recommend the tacos as they were homemade but the chard leaves a bit to be desired........... sigh, best not finish the bottle then.

So, what's it really like here in the heart of St Catharines? A bit rocky to start with, but let me share the delights of international travel with you before we get into St C's...........

Firstly, a big thankyou to all who helped me and the girls' get away, fed us. babysat (me and the girls'), gave company and generally made me feel on top of the world. For those of you who have an interest in the vagaries of my travel adventures, I did get some sleep before the 4am call – about 3 hours in fact. All passports, tickets and children were accounted for (Shona, I can do it!!!). Air NZ is a treat to fly with – I walked on board, said the coffee smelt great to the steward and he promptly gave me a flat white after he had finished with first class – in heaven. Was drifting off to sleep and stewardess gives me a pillow........ heaven again. Switch onto United at Sydney for the long haul to LA and went straight to hell. Anyone with any United shares, change quickly as morally they are bloody worthless........grumpy buggers the lot of them with the chicks looking like they were chewing their cud all the time. No tv screens for the kids and when i asked for colouring in books, they looked incredulous and said they hadn't had those for 10 years (well, a long time anyway). Food delicious as usual but wine so volatile I couldn't drink it (ok, ok, I did drink it but only as an experiment). Anyway after zilch sleep, countless loo trips with the girls' (horror stories of being stuck in airplane loos putting them off going by themselves – ever tried to fit two people in there? On seconds thoughts, don't answer that) we landed in LA, sped off the plane to make our connection only to be caught in a huge bottleneck with people ambling along with all the time in the world. Well, we only had 10 minutes to collect luggage, clear customs and get to our gate – all United staff could do was shake their heads and say they couldn't help me – thank god the plane didn't go down, they would be the first off i reckon......... realising that the plane would leave without us if i didn't do something, I slung the kids on the trolley, used my best winery telling off voice and told everyone to bugger off as we had a plane to catch. Amazing what people will do when you use utmost confidence, a trolley as a battering ram and two days-on-a-plane aroma to get ahead in the queue. Got on the plane only to be seated next to a homeless person (or maybe a millionaire, who knows) who smelt like he had been travelling on United for at least a month and had all his possessions in bags around him – certainly not letting them go for the stewardess to stow. this combined with a fluorescent orange hat, mumbling and snorting made for a imaginative flight (I had just watched the Soloist).............. another couple of flights later, we arrived in Syracuse and I hauled all the hand luggage while the girls ran out into the lounge to see Daddy – longed for, wise, all knowing, Daddy. Who wasn't there. Bugger. Anyway, all sorted and we cruised to Glen's parents farm.

Had a great time at the farm – treated to fresh sweetcorn, baby tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs not to mention new taties and fresh grapes. Saw some great nature: squirrels (the little cuties), egrets, snakes, deer, woodchucks, turkeys, frogs........... on the last evening we made a bbq up by the pond, roasted steak, hot dogs and marshmellows........ the girls' learned how to drive a golf cart up and down the farm and i learned that it is okay for them to drive a golf cart as it's top speed is 15 km/h...........

Drive to Canada was a blur, as I was asleep but I am sure Glen did a great job. Crossing over the border was a real letdown as we passed through without a hitch and didn't even have to lie about all the fruit and vege we had from the US. Ah well, getting back into the States will be a prob i am sure as I am still a wanted criminal menacing the populous.

The wee apartment is getting homely after a couple of days worth of shopping. We piled out of the Creasy mobile and shot up the elevator to our 7th floor abode. We gambolled around and checked out the 4 rooms when Bella discovered a fear of heights. It was obviously a contagious condition as Maddy caught it as well. consequently, Bell was with Glen that night and I slept in a single bed with Maddy. Anyone who has slept with kids knows damn well that ¾ of the bed is the child's right and I woke up with my face squashed into the wall. Second night St Catharines welcomed us with a best thunder storm I have ever witnessed – which would have been awesome except for the two crying children who were absolutely terrified the building would fall down (they are never watching tv again, ever) and we found ourselves once again squashed into the wall. Third night – will keep you posted...........

So, this is turning into a blow by blow account and quite frankly if you are still awake, bloody good on you, but I am sick of typing now. My next installments will include The Interrogation, the Cat's Caboose, and Are you English? stories........

Heard there have been a few dramas there – Drew have you found the forklift yet? - glad i wasn't there for that as I would need to have my hair dyed all over again.......... will catch up re the bins shortly......

Miss you all, sink a savvie for me,

Cheers,
K