We're off to England

Our Family June 2006










Cool dude



















Joe with his friend Haya - she is one of the local tots we will miss when we are away







Lift off is on Friday, and we have the doctor and airline's approval that I am fit to travel at 34 weeks' pregnant. We had a great send off party - an English Tea Party - on Sunday. We will miss people and 9 weeks seems like a very long time to be away. Mike is only joining us for 5-6 of those weeks.





We enjoy our evening strolls around the ramparts of the Fort where we live (this is at the end of our street!)











Joe on the ramparts at sunset
















I am fit and well and the baby is doing fine. Joe's eczema is hard to keep in control, but we are just about managing it. We may have just got good natural remedy tip-offs from an Australian pharmacist who was here on her honeymoon (we have a very nice hotel up the road from us)! Despite seeing a top dermatologist in Colombo, the advice received for Joe was still probably over-interventionist, as Joe has been on a lot of quite strong creams by Australian standards.










How the monsoon rains look from our front door








The rains seem to bring a lot of wildlife into homes, which is one thing we will not miss in the UK. We started to have friendly visits from local rats - I found one in a cupboard munching on biscuits while I was baking a cake for the tea party. Mike has been out the back hammering wire mesh over all the lattice work, and we haven't heard a squeak since. Yuck. It is a common problem here so we are not social outcasts.

We are very excited to be coming to England, and are looking forward to our new son's arrival. We are also looking forward to seeing you all sooooon!