Our time in England has been a time of reminiscing, firstly back in MK and now in Lincoln. These two places where I lived for 38 years in total, so familiar. As well as visiting old friends it has been a chance to revisit places – familiar haunts.
Grand Union Canal
A place of many runs in combination with Caldecotte Lake. Narrow boats and wildlife. This pictures from recent and past visits.
Our time in England has been a time of reminiscing, firstly back in MK and now in Lincoln. These two places where I lived for 38 years in total, so familiar. As well as visiting old friends it has been a chance to revisit places – familiar haunts.
Caldecotte Lake
Probably the place I visited most often in my time in MK – place of countless runs and walks over the years. We walked it On one of the hottest days of the U.K. this year. A large lake on our old doorstep when we lived there.
I am not sure what I expected upon our return visit to the UK this summer but I’m pleasantly surprised that for me at least it is very much a case of picking up where I left off in 2014. I imagined that there might be a greater discontinuity or even culture shock but it hasn’t as yet been manifest.
Perhaps the effects of Social Media, FaceTime, the BBC News App on my phone and a 4G has meant that a tenuous link to the UK remained even though I was well off the beaten track in Mwanza.
We are in the midst of a week long return to MK and yesterday had a great time catching up with old friends at St Mary’s Bletchley. Whilst much had changed in the Church Yard, it seemed to us that it was very much the same SMB we left in 2014. It was good to be part of that community again. 
MK itself seems little different – a few new buildings in this ever changing new city but familiar nonetheless.
We have all got older of course and the changes are most apparent in the friends of our children and in the older folk we have met. Even so most people are as they were. Here lies the most obvious difference.
I suppose the past two years for us have opened us to a very different way of life and a plethora of experiences. Yet perhaps outwardly we have changed little too other than a slight tan and the use of a few expat colloquialisms. Yet sitting here in MK, we are visitors, curious onlookers no longer residents.
I wonder whether the longer we are away from Britain, the bigger the differences will become.
Today we welcomed our first visitors from the UK since our arrival in Tanzania. Although we did not know Steve and Judy well, they were members of our old church in Milton Keynes.
They are in Mwanza for a month visiting various NGO’s whom they support in their charity Wabia Network. These organisations within Mwanza and the surrounding areas are Tanzanian run but supported through their organisation.
We spent about three hours chatting over tea. It was great to hear news from the UK as well as to share some of our experiences here and to hear about their work too. All too soon it was over but it was a good time. For those at St Mary’s, we have given to them a gift for you, which they will bring back when they return, we hope if will find some use and remind you of us. 
For now we have welcomed our first guests and though I appreciate we are off the beaten track here, hopefully we will have other visitors from home over the years.
Posted in Africa, MK, Mwanza, Tanzania
Tagged Milton Keynes, St Mary's Bletchley, Tanzania, UK, visitors
T Minus 1
Fittingly we are back in Milton Keynes for our last full day. It is familiar as if we haven’t left, but yet strange to think that we won’t see this place again for a few years. We’re here to collect Matt’s GCSE Results. However we are using the opportunity to catch up with friends one last time, visit my daughter’s old guinea pigs at other friends. We also have a last round of injections and some last minute purchases. However, just at the moment I ‘m enjoying a (last?) coffee at Costa.
Leaving here today will be bitter – sweet, but we will leave with fond memories. Goodbye MK.
T minus 20
So here we are at last. Our last morning in MK. Our last day in the house. Two days and a lot of clearing / packing later we are ready to leave. There’s still a lot to sort and to cull (in the end we had to pack without sorting – there was just too much to do in too short a time) but that must wait. All the “stuff” is in Abingdon barring one last car load. We will return there in two weeks after a break in Cornwall, Somerset and Lincoln and a day in Bicester.
Waking up to a near empty house is weird – less so because our bed is staying – but still weird. There was no food in the house and so off to Dobbies for breakfast (MK garden centre – known for it’s cheap and filling breakfasts). We had forgotten that this was the venue of St Mary’s monthly drop in / breakfast – so it was great to catch up one more time with some SMB folk especially as many of those there were in our Home Groups over the years.
Then back home (for the last time) to tidy up. It actually takes a lot longer than we imagined, the remaining contents fills our car to the brim and then it is a vacuum through and a final trip to the dump.
In addition a mountain of pink sacks deposited with rubbish that will have to wait for collection.
So we leave our home (already it’s someone else’s house) and head off to Abingdon. We’re on route to Newquay, but it’s taken so long we’ve decided to stop over for the night and travel down a day late for 10 days under canvas. So concludes the first phase of our move to Mwanza!
T Minus 20
We had a good day yesterday but in the end we were just not able to get everything into our car (and our in-laws). After three car loads we decided to call it a day – stay one more night and head off in the morning. So it’s now 1am we are returning from my in laws (Abingdon) back to MK for the very last time. The kids have gone with their Aunt and we shall all rendezvous for a well earned holiday in Cornwall tomorrow evening. The house is virtually bare but we have another car load / dump trip / charity shop visit to do before we go. We have barely had time to contemplate the end of our time in MK. I think the time of reflection will come in the next week. So many memories, so much of my life in this one town. More of this In posts to come I am sure.
T Minus 33
I think our home becoming house. Continue reading
T Minus 33
Today we will get ready as usual to go to church. We are members of St Mary’s Church Bletchley (SMB) a lively Anglican Church in South West Milton Keynes. It’s a routine which I have followed for almost 26 years. To quote from an earlier post
I came through the door of St Mary’s at about 11am in early November of 1988. I had chosen the wrong service!
I was looking for a lively and engaging service – but found something old fashioned and a little dull. I might never have returned but for a friendly man in a red sweater by the name of Tony. He suggested that I might prefer the 9:45am service as it was more modern than the 11:15 I’d just attended. He gave me a service book so I could see what it was like as long a I brought it back next week.
Of course I did and so started a relationship with the church that has spanned more than a quarter of a century.
St Mary’s is not stuffy, it is not old fashioned, it has a wide range of people of all ages, from a range of backgrounds and cultures. It is not a stereotypical Anglican Church. Having said that it doesn’t completely espouse tradition, thus throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water.
Anita and I were married there, we have brought up family there. We have shared in the ups and downs of church life (no church is perfect!), but we have been happy there. I have taken my share of responsibilities and roles; youth leader, drama team member/leader, sides person, deputy Churchwarden, webmaster, PC operator, volunteer present wrapper for Christmas Food Cupboard, member of the Christmas Choir and above all member of the PCC. Anita has played in the music group and served in the crèche and on the “Sunday School” rota. Matt has helped out with the same.
As we bid farewell to so many friends and familiar faces it is going to be strange and sad. More than any other last we have so far this is the biggest.
We will share a lunch with some of our friends at St Mary’s at the end of the 11am service – it will be a great send off but a “bitter sweet” experience I am sure.
God will still be there wherever we go but we will miss our St Mary’s family very much. It is highly unlikely we will ever be part of another church for so long (as a couple for 20+ years).
Whenever we return (and we will when we come back to the UK) it will be as visitors. Nonetheless the wonders of modern technology will allow us to be visitors from afar throughout our time in Tanzania. In that sense we will always be part of SMB.
Update: It was great to chat to so many SMB folk today and say our goodbyes. It was lovely to share a meal with some of them and to read their comments in cards.
We were presented with a lovely photo of SMB which we will place in our new home – a reminder of the place I have called home for a quarter of a century.
Posted in Getting out, MK, UK Living
T Minus 35
As we enter the last 5 weeks in the UK the lasts come thick and fast.
After what has seemed ages – suddenly we are approaching the end. Life is unravelling before us – as it must before we leave but it is a little disconcerting! 
the garden outside Anita’s office at the Open University.
T Minus 35
I love a good thunderstorm me! A real humdinger with all the sky ablaze with lightning and full of the sounds of thunder. We don’t seem to get them much in MK. Indeed as far as I knew the storms were due over Friday night into Saturday, but here they are at 3am on Friday morning and I’m wide awake and blogging it 🙂
I imagine we will get some fantastic storms over Lake Victoria and Mwanza. Looking forward to it.
T Minus 40
So here we are the morning after the night of Bex Unbirthday Bash /Sleepover. A great evening had by the girls who will not be able to celebrate the real birthday in November. Of course great fun brings with it the devastation of 15 people (us included) in a suburban semi!
There’s a bit of a clean up which will need to happen, but is was worth it and will give Bex some treasured memories to take to Africa.
T Minus 49
Today as usual on the way home I viewed the kites sweeping majestically through the sky. These kites are not
the man made sort; all fabric and cord, but the feathered variety; Red Kites. Continue reading
T Minus 51
Unfortunately one plant has not appeared which is a regular in our garden year on year :-(. So instead these are from Anita’s work place. Globe thistles!
T Minus 51
One month today we hope to leave the house! So today we need to put in place those 30 day cancellation periods.
So this evening it will be phone calls to Satellite and Broadband providers, dishwasher and washing machine providers (we hire them!) and other insurance policies which form part and parcel of home ownership in the UK.
Another sign of leaving MK on our road to Mwanza.
T Minus 55 (just!)
A busy afternoon after a lazy morning.
Anita played in her last concert for Woburn Sands Brass Band. This is something she, along with the kids, have really enjoyed over the past few years. It’s strange to think that this will soon be a thing of the past for them all.
Then home for a Birthday BBQ With the whole family. Great to have M, Stephen, Fiona, Anita’s parents, Grandma and Sister’s family over. A good time playing Matt’s FIFA game as well as the real World Cup and a suitable birthday cake.
T Minus 56
I work on two sites geographically separated by 2 miles. Lower School on one side of town has the first three year groups (Years 7-9) whereas Upper School has older students (Years 10 -13). Upper school is more spacious and green, whereas Lower school is much more compact and concrete.
By it’s nature therefore Lower School is more bustling and noisy. This is especially true in the ‘dog days’ of summer when the Year 11 and 13 students have left. I notice this particularly on Fridays, when I spend the morning at Lower and the afternoon at Upper. Most of the rooms are empty at this time of year- the place is quiet and the greenery provides some tranquility. Lower school remains unchanged, which sharpens the contrast.
My new school is single site but also many fewer than the 2000 plus students on both sites here (with 330 students in each year group). One of the big changes will be working in a much smaller community. The Isamilo Campus looks nice though.
It will be interesting to experience this different world after 11 years here!
T Minus 58
Following on from earlier posts a look at our garden in June as Knapweed, Verbena, Buddleia, Fuchsia and more. Yellows and purples predominate amongst the green leaves.
T minus 60
As we move within two months of departure we are both feeling thoroughly exhausted. Life goes on as normal (both of us still at work, today I’m dropping the car off for a service, hence a slightly later start) and yet at the same we are planning our escape from the UK ;-). The house and garage whilst gradually emptying are still remarkably full. 
A lot now is going to the dump.
. We have boxes of stuff for the charity shops.
Now we are factoring in goodbye events at work, church and locally. We’re looking forward to these but they are taking up time. We also have a birthday celebration for my son (this week) and an early birthday / goodbye for my daughter to organise. It’s all go! Luckily my mum is down for the week so it’s great to have some help. I could just do with a duvet day – I can’t remember the last time I had a “Do Nothing Day“.
Oh well better get off to the garage – time waits for no man.
Last night’s Barbecue – a short respite!
Posted in Getting out, Getting Prepared, MK
T Minus 68
So here we are again at the MK Bowl up bright and early at the Car Boot Sale. Our second visit following our success in March. This time with a little more kitchenware and some of those things we couldn’t fit in last time and those we didn’t sell before. We have sold already An item for £12 do we’re in profit. Let’s hope it stays dry and we can sell more.
In the end a moderately successful morning – still a lot left though – which will now be dumped or sent to charity.
Guess who we found at the end though.
Our Lucky Mascot
Graham has been to: Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Ethiopia, France, United Kingdom, Gibraltar, Gambia, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Kenya,Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Netherlands, Qatar, Rwanda, Slovenia, Slovakia, Senegal, Thailand, Turkey, Tanzania, Uganda, Vatican, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
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Tanza-Longs 
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