This time last year

Do you remember what you were doing this time last year? As I sat down to write something for the blog this week, I realised this is Post no. 50 since we started EveryChusday. It’s been nearly a year since we arrived in Singapore, and Facebook nostalgically reminded me that this time last year… we were packing up our Edinburgh lives.

It feels like an age has passed since then; but I remember it like yesterday.

I remember desperately hoping for sunshine on our last few weekends so we could try to cram in visits to all our favourite places one last time…East Links, Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh, Jupiter Artland…

One last strawberry-pick at Cairnie Fruit Farm.

strawberry_picking

The best tasting strawberries are the ones you picked yourself!

One last picnic at Alnwick Castle (We really miss picnics! It’s too hot and humid and there are too many bugs here for a good picnic.)

picnic

The girls spent ages afterward making daisy chains. No daisies to be had in Singapore ?.

I remember our last trip up Arthur’s Seat; we had a lovely walk around but Little Miss had eaten too many berries earlier…and promptly threw up all over our car just before we were due to hand it over to its new owner.

arthurs_seat

Last twirl around Arthur’s Seat…backdrop to many great memories!

I remember photographing Edinburgh all over again. Princes St. The Castle. Carlton Hill. The Meadows. I photographed mundane everyday stuff, like our bathroom. I photographed the girls’ craft projects that had accumulated in every nook and cranny around the flat.

I remember clearing out our flat. Trying to decide on the value of Every. Single. Thing.

I remember taking half of our possessions to the charity store and selling the other half on Gumtree, and somehow still having a hundred boxes worth of stuff to pack for the shipping company.

cardboard_box_hut

The kids played in cardboard boxes for weeks. Daddy Chu sometimes slept in them after the sofa had been sold off.

no_furniture_left

Exhausted from packing and no furniture to rest on!

I remember the kids coming back from school one day and looking round forlornly and wordlessly at their packed up bedroom.

kidsroom_packed

So many good-lucks, good-byes, and farewells…usually rephrased as “we’ll back to visit before you know it!” (and hopefully we will!)

I remember lying awake in the night during our last week; wondering, worrying.

I remember that it rained the day we left.

leaving_edinburgh_luggage

Not sure how we got away with bringing 12 pieces of luggage on the plane?

It’s hard to believe nearly a year has passed; I wish I could reach back in time to myself a year ago just to say “It all turned out just fine, you know.”

And really, it has. Things have fallen into place for us here. It’s probably a testament to how smooth our transition into Singapore life has been that I’ve managed to keep blogging week in and week out throughout this time without being sidetracked by any major hiccups. We certainly don’t feel established here yet, but we’ve started to put down little roots through our everyday routines and weekly rhythms. I guess, it’s beginning to feel a little bit like home.

PS. Having said all that… this week, we are almost all down with our first major bout of flu here! So I’m going to take a little blogging break over the school holidays; we may post something now and again but I just checked my calendar and apparently there are no Chusdays in June! So see you in a few weeks ?. Thanks for reading!

8 Comments

  1. Sorry to hear your down with the flu! Glad to hear you’ll be taking it easy for a few weeks. Sending our love to you all! Xx

  2. Can hardly believe how quickly the year has passed – we’re going out for dinner at The Roamin Nose on Thursday so will have a glass for you! Hope you all shift the flu quickly and look forward to picking up the posts in July.
    El x

    • Ahhh…The Roamin’ Nose! Wish I could join you ladies. Don’t have a mum’s dinner group here…yet!

  3. What a beautiful entry, touched me to tears!

  4. I can’t believe a year has passed since you guys left Edinburgh . I really miss going up to edinburgh to visit all of you .
    Glad you have settled nicely in Singapore . Hope to visit the Chus again in October.
    God bless and you all get better soon xxxxxx

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