Good manners?

Mrs D overheard this snippet of conversation in the cafe after work this afternoon (what she was doing in the cafe is a different question!)...

Little girl: Can I have it? (asking for some of granny's cake)
Mum: Is that what you really mean, I think you have missed something...
Little Girl: Can I have it.... ALL?

Good to see manners aren't dead!

Countries I've visited

Thanks, Lynne, for the link to this natty website - which allows you to create a map showing all the countries in the world you have visited...



As you can see, I've been about a bit - but there are large gaps - even more than the map suggests, as I've never been west of Memphis, and have only dipped my toe into Canada by walking across the rainbow bridge at Niagara...

You can create your own visited country map if you feel suitably inspired!

More screening

We had a phone call from DFW adoption on Friday to arrange a date for a chat and initial screening - it is to be on Tuesday 29 May at 3pm.

We're not sure whether we should go with them, or stay with Newcastle City Council - hopefully this meeting in a couple of weeks will help us to decide. We keep praying!

Grand Day Out

Take 15 three to seven year olds, 7 adults, 2 cars, a minibus, plenty of chocolate spread, cheese & ham and tuna sandwiches, add the constant threat of a downpour, and you have the makings of a Kidz Klub outing to Jesmond Dene...

The children all had a brilliant time, with highlights being

• the pot bellied pig (would he ever stop eating?)
• the goat with the long grey beard (from now on to be know as 'Jim')
• the beautiful display from the peacock (we're sure he was after Shelagh!)
• the Newfoundland dogs spotted by one of the girls (just how much drool can one dog produce?)
• duck duck goose (Mrs D has the bruises to prove it!)
• playing at the park in the rain (just why did the girls decide to sit down in the puddle?)

We'll have to do it all again soon!

How clean is your house?

With the house cleaner and tidier than it has ever been, the social workers arrived, talked, listened, wrote notes, and went. Three quarters of an hour late in arriving, but they had phoned to say they'd be late - so time for a spot of lunch first - to stop our tummies rumbling!

The two ladies who visited were lovely - and made us feel very relaxed. They asked us all kinds of questions about where we met and what we did and why we wanted to adopt. They even asked us if doglet was ferocious!

It all went really well, and we got very positive feedback from them.

Then I asked whether living where we did in the city would limit who we would be able to adopt - they said it would, as they wouldn't be able to place children with us who had lived anywhere near where we live, or who had birth family who lived anywhere near us. So we would be limited to children from the other side of the city really.

The upshot of this is that if we choose to adopt through Newcastle City Council, we may have to wait much longer than others before a match is found - although we might not - it all depends on where the children and their birth families live...

The social workers suggested we phone some of the other adoption agencies in the north east to find out what the situation is with them and whether they currently have too many or too few adopters - and then decide what to do.

So we made some phone calls this afternoon - South Tyneside have lots of approved people waiting to adopt and not enough children; North Tyneside didn't answer the phone. We also phoned Durham Family Welfare (DWF) - they are a voluntary adoption agency linked to the Church of England, but also deal with all of Darlington's adoption services. The lady we spoke to was very helpful, and is going to contact us in the next couple of days to arrange a visit.

So - all in all - a mixed day.
On the one hand, we are encouraged that the initial feedback from the social workers was very positive. On the other hand, we are disappointed that where we live may mean lots more waiting. But hopeful that DWF may be a better way forward.

We keep praying, and waiting on the Lord - for he knows!
As one of our friends shared with us on Sunday from Acts 27 v25:
'So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.'

We hold on to that.

First visit confirmed

We found out today that two social workers will be visiting us on Tuesday next week, to carry out an initial screening. From what I can gather, they will ask us lots of questions about why we want to adopt, and what we think makes us suitable. I think we'll be able to ask questions too.

Then they will write a short report, which will state whether or not we are suitable to be considered as possible adoptive parents. If they think we are, we can then make a formal application, and the 8 month assessment process will begin...

Exciting and scary at the same time!

Starting to get excited

We're planning an epic adventure to western Canada this summer...
...the B&Bs are booked, the flights are booked, the hire car is booked
It's starting to get exciting!

You can see where we are planning to go on Google Maps
how cool is that?!

Suffer the little children...

Dawn raids are a fact of life for asylum seekers across the country. Here in the north-east. Around the corner from you and me. It happens. Families torn from their homes. Little children frightened and confused. It's happened to families I know. It's a constant threat to more.

So what is it like being taken from your home and sent to a detention centre?
Here is an account by a 10 year old boy...

This can't be allowed to continue.

Be like Jesus

I found this on the blogosphere today...
Challenging stuff.

Congratulations, Mr & Mrs O'Dwyer

Congratulations to my biggest cous, Hilary, and Martin who were married on Friday in Dumfries. A lovely service, stunning setting and fabulous party - and the sun shone too! It was great to catch up with distant (and not-so-distant) relatives again - some of whom I hadn't seen for many years...

Not sure we'll easily forget the day... Highlights include:

...Hilary looking absolutely stunning in her dress
...the enormous displays of lillies
...the HE and LP painted with Tipex on the soles of Martin's shoes
...my little bro having to don a pinny and chef's hat to carve the meat at his table
...my ma and pa dancing to 'Grease' - there are some things a son shouldn't have to see!

Much appreciation must go to David and Frances for making it all happen - thank you!

We have skoosh

An hour and a half's wait at our local friendly Skoda repairer, and I'm glad to report that skoosh has been restored to the windscreen. Unfortunately, this is at the expense of the rear screen, which will have to stay dirty for a few days.

Evidently, something called a 'relay' was broken. They've swapped the front wash relay for the rear wash relay, so the front one now works and the back one doesn't. The new relay is now on order and should arrive on Friday - at which point skoosh should hopefully be restored to the rear...

At least we can now drive forwards again!

Free Alan Johnston

As a fellow former pupil of Dollar Academy, and fellow alumini of Dundee University, I thought it only proper that I should support efforts to release Alan... I hope and pray that our collective efforts will help to bring about his safe release.

If you would like to, please click on the picture above to lend your support and sign the BBC's online petition.

Along with over 50,000 others, I demand the immediate release of BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston. I ask that everyone with influence on this situation increase their efforts to ensure that Alan is freed quickly and unharmed.

A worldwide phenomenon!

Thanks to thathideousman for alerting me to Google Analytics - a natty bit of software which allows you to see who has been visiting your website, and where in the world they are...

A little 'big brother-esque' perhaps, but very interesting none-the-less.



And so it would appear that not only do people read this in the UK (surprising enough in itself!) but also in USA, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Dubai, China and Singapore...

Dirty windscreen

Our shiny new car has developed a fault.
The windscreen skoosher has stopped skooshing.
But the back one still works.

So the windscreen is covered in dead flies...
looks like we'll have to drive backwards until it's fixed :-)

It's booked in to the garage on Wednesday to get a diagnosis...

Shiny new car

We got our new car on Saturday. It's lovely.

The start of a long road

This week has been both exciting and scary...
and full of anticipation for what lies ahead

After much prayer, seeking God's will, and the wise counsel and prayer of many good friends (thank you all - you know who you are), we have decided to apply to be adoptive parents...

We attended an open evening last week, where we heard what adoption is all about - first hand from parents who have adopted, and also from the social workers' point of view... we heard about the ups and downs, the forms and meetings, and how long it all takes! And we were excited...

That meeting confirmed what we'd been feeling for a while - that this was the right thing to do.

So we filled in the initial enquiry (the pink form!) and sent it off.
Today we received the acknowledgement - and somebody will phone us within the next couple of weeks to arrange to come and see us here at home...
Better get the hoover out and do some dusting at the same time!!

It seems that 2 social workers will come and visit us - ask us lots of questions about ourselves and our motives - what we have to offer, what we hope for...
then they will write a report and determine whether they think we would be suitable adoptive parents for the kind of children they are looking after.

If they think we are, then we complete a full application, which kicks off the official process:
training days
police checks
references
weekly meetings at home with the social worker, thinking through issues, discussing our approach to everything and anything...
At the end of it all, they'll know more about us than we do!
Then there is the adoption panel - they make the recommendationas to whether we are suitable or not...

All of this takes about 8 months...

So the start of a long road - but full of anticipation for what God has in store for us...
We just keep imagining - God knows who will be in our family already - that's an awesome thought!

Happy Birthday Mrs D

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Mrs D
Happy Birthday to you!

Rockcliffe

We had a lovely few days after Easter on the Colvend coast in south-west Scotland - a favourite family place for holidays for many generations - the place where my grandparents lived, my uncle and aunt live, and other relations too...

The beach is lovely, and doglet loves it too - especially running and running and running on the sand and mud!

Blue sky in Edinburgh

A bit late, but this was Edinburgh on 3rd April....
Beautiful!

Google TiSP

A friend sent me this link today (thanks Stuart!)...

http://www.google.com/tisp/install.html
It's basically a new cheap way to connect to the internet from your home - I can't think why somebody didn't think of this before!

Happy 1st April!