Snowmageddon

We've had a "bit" more snow - the press are calling it Snowmageddon, we got off quite lightly with about 8 inches :-O

Me digging out the house

The back garden

At last we have snow!!

Some of you are probably thinking why on earth would anyone want snow. But trust me, coming from our neck of the woods back in the UK, we rarely had snow and so now in Canada as winter was approaching we would wake every morning and look out our window in the hope of seeing whiteness, but each time our faces would show the disappointment.

Until this morning that is of course because at last WE HAVE SNOW!!!.

Once Isaac our son was geared up and ready to go out, we let him take his first venture into his first real snow, and as you can guess from the pictures below. He loved it.

I am only hoping it sticks around for us to have our first White Christmas.

Point Pelee National Park

Who would of thought that the 1st November would bring such a gorgeous day of sunshine. We decided to get up early and head on our way to Point Pelee today, which is just over an hours drive from Windsor, Ontario.

I have to say it was definitely worth it, what a beautiful place, lots to see and it was day well spent. We headed straight for the visitor centre and headed off on an hour long hike down the Nature Woodlands Trail. Didn't see much wildlife, as Isaac made too much of a racket, so if there were any about they were well and truly gone by the time we got near them. We did see the odd squirrel, woodpecker and other birds, as well as some Vultures flying in the sky above us being pestered by some crows.

Once we got back to the Visitor centre after our hour long walk, we sat down and had an icecream, the weather was glorious by this stage (must of been close to 18 degrees) and it was hard for it to sink in that we were actually less than 2 months away from Christmas.

We then headed down the Shuster Trail which took us to the beach on Lake Erie and omg what a sight. It really is an amazing sight and you really would think you were looking out at sea, there was no seeing the other side no matter how hard you looked and there were even various gulls and waterbirds flying about. We were hoping to spot some eagles, but I think it was the wrong time of day for those.

After we got back from the beach we then jumped in the car and headed 2.5km to the tip of Point Pelee. Again the view was astounding, and it is right in the flight path of many birds who migrate yearly. We was absolutely shattered by this stage and had been in the park for a good 5 hours, so headed home. Isaac pretty much conked out as soon as the car hit the straight road home. I almost nodded off, but thankfully didnt, as I was lucky enough to spot a lonesome deer emerging from a wooded area at the side of the road.

We will definately do it again next year, I would like to go to the park when there is snow, but not sure what the roads would be like to get there. We will see soon I suppose.

I will finish for today with some pictures from our trip.

Happy Halloween!!

and what a great day..........

Isaac was eager to get into his costume once the afternoon had arrived, so we gave in and put it on him. He loved it, although refused to wear the hood of his little devil costume - until of course later on when he went outside.

Come evening once the kids started knocking he was getting very excited. So off he went with daddy and his pumpkin bucket - trick or treating. To say he became a pro in seconds is an understatement. He loved it and couldn't get up to the doors quick enough to press their door bell. He loved joining in with all the other kids on the street.

I found it amazing how much more polite the children were, the kids knocking were more than happy to just receive one little packet of sweets. Back home, they would of been disgusted and would not of been happy with anything other than money and would of quite happily of covered the outside of your house with flour and eggs if they didn't get it.

Our neighbour's were really pleasant too, they were all adoring over Isaac, saying how cute he was and introducing themselves. I was really taken back by their friendliness. It definitely makes a lovely change. One neighbour across the road even handed me a piece of paper with her number on and said to pop over or call her anytime.

I was shocked by the amount of stuff Isaac had when we eventually persuaded him to come indoors, his bucket was full to the brim, as were mine and daddy's pockets. He has so much stuff, he could probably open a sweet shop tomorrow lol. Needless to say it is all hidden in the cupboard and he can work his way through them very slowly and not all in one day (obviously).

We are off to Point Pelee tomorrow - weather permitting of course. Although it is forecasted as 18 degrees, which is not bad for November. Most other parts of Canada have had snow by now, but we havent seen any yet. Hopefully by christmas.

Anyway I will finish with a few pics from today.

Bought a book

I bought a book, not unusual you might think, but I don't do books normally, don't buy them, don't read them (unless it's a computer book occasionally). So, the book had to be special for me to buy it....

What was it? It was The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. What is it about? Well - Randy was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer a year ago and he gave a "last lecture" at his university - this was his last words to the world. I say was, because Randy died on the 25th July 2008. I thought the lecture was great and when I found out there was a book, I had to see if it was equally as good - I'm only a few pages in, but so far so good....

If you want to see the lecture, it's here on youtube - it's quite long, so prepare yourself!



So,you're probably asking, what the hell does this have to do with Canada? Well, in a way, I guess I achieved in a close enough way one of my childhood dreams like Randy, as I always wanted to live in America, Canada being in North America and us living 5 mins from the border, I'll let myself have that one... Watch the lecture above and you'll see how this makes sense....

Flatpacked out!!

Who would of thought a few boxes of flatpacked furniture from Ikea would stress someone out so much. Despite following instructions (which at first seemed straightforward enough). I ended up having to unassemble several times due to attaching some the wrong way round or missing a bit altogether.

Several hours later I am now sat on our sofa, absolutely shattered, with a bad back and aching limbs and we still have a few more boxes to go. They can wait till another day now. As no way am I attempting anymore tonight. I am seriously flatpacked out.

On a good note, my dad arrives in a couple of hours time. It will be his first visit to Canada. I have already been telling Isaac that Grandad (or "Da Da" as Isaac calls him) is coming to see him and I think he understands. He lets out a shriek of delight each time I tell him. Not sure what things we will do while my dad is here, but we have a full 10 days with him, so I am sure we can fit plenty in.

The boxes are here and so is a little visitor!!

Well our boxes finally arrived today of the few personal belongings that we did decide to ship. I was quite surprised actually, as I didnt think they would get here so quickly. We haven't yet unpacked any of them, apart from Isaac's box which is full of his toys. It was hilarious to see his little face when we opened it. I have never seened a child so excited. He already has lots of new toys which we bought him when we got here, but I think it was the familiarity of his ones from home. He was squealing with joy. It was so cute.






The boxes will have to go into the basement for now, as most of the stuff has nowhere to go. However our Ikea bedroom stuff arives tomorrow, it will be great to finally sleep on a proper bed and not an inflatable uncomfortable one.

Also, I had a pleasant surprise when we got back from the mall today, I was quite excited. Just as we pulled up onto the drive, I saw a little bird on the side of the house, and once my eyes adjusted to what it was. I realised it was a little Downy Woodpecker. He or she wasn't scared of us at all, and stayed there for quite a while, before flying onto my bird feeder in the garden. So I quickly rushed indoors and grabbed my camera, just managing to catch a couple of shots of it before it flew off.






Oh and I forgot to add, we went back to try and get my OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) card yesterday, with the correct documentation because of all the hassle last time and can you believe the woman we saw the second time round said she had no idea why this other woman wouldn't do mine, as the documentation we had was fine and she even apologised for the inconvenience caused. Not that it was her fault. I was so annoyed that this first woman had been so unhelpful and picky. Oh well at least I have it now.

Bump in the night!!

We keep hearing a bump and scratching coming from the loft/attic - I am glad I am not here on my own otherwise I would be freaking out by now.

However I think we now know what the culprit might be, a tail less black squirrel. I think he or she has taken up residency in our roof. Will have to mention it to the landlord when he pops round.

My dad is coming to visit on Thursday for 10 days. Will be his first time in Canada. I wonder what he will make of it? He loves fishing and birdwatching, so there will be plenty of that for him to do round here. Hopefully it won't be too cold when he gets here and we can take him to the Ojibway Nature Reserve Park and Point Pelee near Leamington.

Is a tv fest night tonight, Heroes, CSI Miami, Prison Break and The Hills, so you can all guess what I will be doing. Alot of people complain about the tv when they move here, but I love it. It beats Eastenders and all that rubbish any day. Definately not missing UK television that's for sure. Infact all I probably miss at the moment is family and friends, but it is made a lot easier by regular contact with phonecalls and webchats and hopefully some will visit. ;)

It is our wedding anniversary on the 21st, 3 years we will be married. As they say the time definately fly's when you are having fun. Think we are going to go out for a meal, if the little fella will behave himself and sit still for more than 2 mins.

Speaking of little fella's, time to wake him up from his nap.

Back in business…

I had to sell my Xbox 360 before we came over here and have been waiting for a deal to come up…. That time came, a bargain $199+tax, which is nearly a 1/3 of what I paid for my original one in the UK (they're now cheaper there too of course)!

Better late than never!!

I know I know, it has been a while till we updated. Been so busy settling in that it has been hard to find the time.

Anyway we have been here a month and a bit now, we are slowly furnishing the house. It is only when you are buying the furniture that your realise just how much bigger the houses are here. Where we would on have one family/living type room back home. Here we have several. The house is still looking a bit bare, but we are getting there slowly. Although I did realise today that we are STILL sleeping on an inflatable bed. Luckily that will all change soon, as our KING SIZE bed is now ordered. I can't wait.

Went to a place called Holiday Beach Conservation Area near Amherstburg at the weekend. Mainly wanted to check out the Hawk Tower, as my dad is coming over soon and he likes to do a bit of bird watching (thats the feathered kind, before anyone thinks he is some kind of pervert). The tower is situated in the migratory path of many hawks, eagles and gulls etc. We didnt actually see many as I was a bit nervous with Isaac up at that height, as he could easily of fit through the gaps and fallen off. They had a great camp site there and a beach that is linked to Lake Erie. I would like to perhaps go camping there sometime in the future. Although Gav (hubby) had a look of shock on his face when I mentioned it. Anyway I have put up an album of some pics of the place for anyone who wants to have a nosy ;)

We also went to the childrens playground down at the Odette Sculpture Park (great stuff for the kiddies), but didnt stay long, as the damn wasps were bothering me, that is one good reason to look forward to the winter I suppose, as they will all be gone.

Had a nightmare today both me and hubby ended up coming home very stressed. Basically we went to get our OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) cards. But the nice woman we got (NOT) decided as it was near the end of her shift, she was going to be pedantic and picky. Despite hubby having his work permit/visa with both me and my son named on it, she argued that it wasn't good enough for me and I needed my own visitors permit. Which is bloody stupid, as if the visa we had was a problem then on our several visit in and out of the US, they would not of let me back in. We even read the legislation that she was adamant she was going by and was sticking to and going by what it said (which wasn't very clear to say to the least) she was most definitely being picky. I could even see a slight smirk on her face, I knew she was going to find some reason for one of us to not get our OHIP, I just knew it. So now we have to go to immigration to try and get my own visitors permit, which they may well say no to, as what my hubby has stamped to his passport is valid in their eyes, if they do say no, then we will have to go down the route of either appealing which could take months or paying for a working visa for me (which is pointless as I am not going to be working). All I can say is GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

We've landed!!!!

Well we flew out to Toronto from Manchester on the 1st September. The flight seemed really quick. Just under 7 hours. Isaac was pretty good too. Slept for the first 2 hours and then was awake for the rest and apart from the turbulence when he had to put his belt on, his was pretty happy on the flight and well behaved.

Stayed in Toronto for the first night, then we had a train to catch the next day - 2nd september to Windsor, but had a few hours to spare, so went to Shopsys for a huge breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, potato, toast and pancakes with syrup. Then we took a walk up to the Eaton centre.

The train journey to Windsor was a little more hard work. Isaac wouldn't sit still and spent the majority of it, driving the other passengers insane by shouting at the top of his voice. Managed to get him to nod off for the last hour or so of the journey.

We didn't get to Windsor till late so was booked into the Comfort Inn for that night. Popped into the Golden Griddle for a quick bite to eat and then went to bed as we were shattered.

The next morning we met up with the realtor, who drove us over to the house we are renting where we met our landlord and his father in law. House is lovely, so spacious and although it is an old house, it has all been renovated, so nice and new. Gorgeous swimming pool out the back a well.

It is now nearly 2 weeks since we have been here and we are slowly furnishing the house. So far have a cooker, dishwasher, washer and dryer, huge sectional leather sofa, two tv's, a dining set and a inflatable bed (which is starting to become uncomfortable). We did order a huge ice maker refridgerator, but when it was delivered we was shocked to find it didnt fit in the space, we measure from the back of the wall to the unit and as the wall wasnt completely straight it meant the fridge was too big. Luckily Gav spotted a dent in the front, so they took it back and we are getting a slightly smaller one (but more expensive grrrrrrrr) tomorrow.

Our landlord visited the other night with his wife, brought a few gifts (toys) for Isaac and a wall clock and Tim Hortons coffee and donuts for us. I thought that was rather sweet. Certainly wouldnt get anything like that back in the UK.

Gav has gone off to look at cars today as the lease on our rental car is nearly at an end, so need to sort out something quick. We also need to sort out my Visa as they spelt my surname name wrong. Once we have that sorted we will pop across the border into the US to get our bedroom stuff and other bits from Ikea.

Will leave you for today with some pics of the house etc.

Pics here

Time flying!

Well time is really flying by now, less than three weeks to go and we have so much to sort out! Good news is that we think we have someone to rent out our house here in the UK and we also have somewhere sorted out to rent in Canada!

Omg less than 6 weeks to go!!!

I can't believe how quick the time has gone. We have less than six weeks to go until we head to the big Maple Leaf on September the 1st.

Doing another bootfair this weekend, see what we can get rid of there, have listed a few items on ebay and slowly sorting through cupboards etc. Shelves are already starting to look bare (which I add is a good thing)

Flights and hotels are booked, just need to sort out train tickets and obviously various other things when we arrive at our destination.

We have decided to ship nothing but a few personal belongings, so everything in this house has to go. We are thinking about posting a flyer through peoples doors with what furniture we are selling and then having an open day for people to come and have a look. We figured we might get rid of a few items that way.

We have also pretty much accepted we are not going to sell this house at the moment, so we are renting it out for the time being. Hopefully it gets rented out pretty quick and then we will try and sell it again in a years time.

Fingers crossed anyway!!!

Got it!

The final piece of the jigsaw has slotted into place - the temporary work permit visa has been granted..... we ARE going to Canada!

Watch this space!

2004 a car Odyssey

Not really something one aspires to.... minivan (people carrier) ownership, but thinking of getting one once we get to Canada - practical for buying the inevitable items that we'll need for a new home and handy for visitors....

My favourite option so far is a 2004 Honda Odyssey - Japanese reliability (hopefully), built in Canada - so not to upset the locals.... Only worry is the 3.5L V6 is likely to have a bit of a drink problem!

Viewings!

Had a rash of viewings on the house yesterday - a woman came initially with her mum, then came back later with her husband, in between had another viewing!

Fingers crossed things are picking up....

Meanwhile, still waiting for the visa, will be four weeks on Tuesday since it was sent off..... Difficult to plan things without knowing 100% that it is going to come through in time for September when we plan to head over.

Time for an update...

Well, it's been just over a month since the last update.... truth is, there's not much to say. House is still for sale, we've had one viewing, which didn't turn into an offer. We're now thinking that we'll rent it out until the market picks up.

Application for the work permit went off three weeks ago, so fingers crossed that will come through okay soon and we can start to book flights etc. Watch this space!

Still Nothing....

Nearly a month on and still no house viewings..... So, we're taking on a new estate agent and reducing the price from next week, fingers crossed this results in some viewings.....

Car Boot

Did a car boot sale today - £80 for selling stuff that we'd have probably thrown away anyway....

Offer Received!!

We've now received the job offer we was expecting! All systems are go....

D-Day

Had word today that we'll be expected to be in Canada by Sept 30th....

Best start thinking about plan B!

One week later and not a sausage!!!

House has been on the market for a week now and not a single viewing. It appears not many people are buying, what with the recent price crashes.

May have to move onto Plan B if we don't get any interest soon. Only one problem though, we don't really have a Plan B yet. lol

But on the plus side at least someone likes our house, we have a Great tit, that has decided to take up recidency in our bird box in the garden. I haven't been looking out for her today (I am assuming it is a her) but she was in and out of the box continously the other day, building her nest I presume. Will try and get a picture if I can snap her with my camera.

We also had a few bats flying around in the garden tonight, they came quite close to the window. Not sure what type they are. But the bengals like watching them from the window.

LaSalle

This is video made by the police of one of the areas we're looking at....

Grrrrr

Got the details through from the estate agent today that they are handing out - they're wrong of course, says the lounge is at the front when it's at the rear, amongst other things. Likewise on their website and rightmove it's also wrong! On rightmove they have a picture of the downstairs toilet and not even the kitchen or main bedroom :-S

Saw the advert in the local paper today too, that looks good at least.....

Mmmmm Denny's

P7220042, originally uploaded by Meli+Rafi&Co.

Now I know it's not really Canadian, but I have regular fantasies about Denny's breakfasts since we went on honeymoon to the US a couple of years ago....

Probably fortunate that there is no Denny's near Windsor and we'll have to head across the border to visit - it's fortunate because otherwise we'd end up as fat as fools!

Video....

I know we're not heading for Toronto, but I found this video and quite liked it.....


canada: toronto - impressions from roop77 on Vimeo.

Here we go....

Here's the start of our blog documenting our adventure in moving to Canada from the UK. We're a family of three..... So why Red Five? Well, I was thinking about red being associated with Canada and "Red five standing by" popped into my head - for those that have been under a rock for the past 30 years, that's a quote from Star Wars.... one of my favourite films.

How far we've got so far :-

• House is on the market
• Waiting for job offer to be approved

We're heading for the Windsor, Ontario area - hopefully as soon as we can sell our house, which is going to be a challenge considering the housing market in the UK at the moment....