In our transition from Battambang to Blighty we had four six day stays on the way.
We had six days in Phnom Penh to recover from packing and saying goodbye to our friends and house in Battambang. It was also a chance to see some of our friends in Phnom Penh and say goodbyes there too.
Next was six days in Thailand at the Servants to Asias Urban Poor Forum. It was set at a hotel air-conditioned rooms with a pool by the beach in Pattaya. It was agreat chance to flop and we had some very helpful conversations with some old hands about our year.
We were met at Heathrow by Tim's parents who delivered a borrowed car to us. It was lovely to met by them and to have a car for the next few months. We then drove straight to stay with Catherine's parents in Yate, near Bristol. It was an important few days connecting with the Burfoot clan. We were also able to meet up with George and Hazel Baxter (George married us) who offered for us to stay at their house for may and june. With this arranged we headed north north east to visit Tim's parents in their rented house in Lincolnshire.
We got a chance to see the house they are buidling in Horncastle and to day trips exploring the surrounding area - lovely part of the world. On route we stayed for a couple of days with Tim's brother and family and visit some other friends in Peterborough (Tim's old boss). It was lovely to be able to connect with all our immediate family so quickly and still being in transition-holiday mode helped re-entry from being too overwhelming.
We have settled into our host family's home. We all really like it, including Forrest which was our main concern. It is a deceptively large house with many communal spaces, so it doesn't feel like we are living on top of each other. We have a double room for sleeping and storage and the boys share the conservatory with the cats for a play room and place to store their toys. they have shelves very much like in Cambodia and the proximity to garden and kitchen make it very easy for us all. It has worked out so well so far. We have all warmed to the Baxters, especially their youngest son Joshua. He is the only one still at home, studying at six form college.
We take turns looking after the boys, Catherine in the morning and Tim in the afternoon. This gives us time to get on with chores, communications, praying and reflecting. Tim has also just started helping out with renovating a community shop that George is involved with.
The calendar is filling up with long weekend visits to see various people and places but we don't want to travel too much and over stretch the boys, so we won't get to see people as fasted as we might like to.
