[Yogi]

When we over there a couple of years back only food type things I couldn't live without we didn't find were Vimto Cordial (sugar free) and pork pie (Melton Mowbury prefered).

Anyone illuminate me as to their availability?

Cheers,

Yogi.

[GeorgeM]

Anyone illuminate me as to their availability?


Still no decent pork pies, unfortunately. As a Leicester lad originally it's the one single thing I really miss.

When we go back for a holiday at Christmas I'll be off the M4 at the first exit after LHR and into a petrol station for one, even if it is only a Pork Farms!

[Diny]

Couldn't comment on the Vimto but I'm pretty sure you'll have a heck of a job finding a pork pie in NZ.

I remember when my Kiwi hubby had his first pork pie over here, he nearly threw up !!!!! I think he got it into his head that it would be like one of the meat pies that are sold in every dairy and corner shop in NZ and got quite a shock at the difference :laugh

I'm not keen on the meat in the pie but I could make a complete meal out of the pastry :nice1

Good luck.

Diny

[Gran]

There are Pork Pies in NZ but I havent found a decent one yet. They are made of pickled pork, I would make one if I knew what flavourings to add.

[Hannah-NL]

Being dutch, I had to check this out, of course:
http://www.pbase.com/orac/great_british_food Yummm :P

[dave k]

Yeah, Pork pies are sadly missed. Not had Vimto since I was a kid in Manchester though.
I've been thinking about all the stuff (food) that we can't get over here and wondered if it would be a viable concern to set up a small deli in Wellington.
There's the Cool Brittania shop, but they just sell sweets & crap.
I guess it must be too far to import UK produce to, or someone would've already tried.


BTW...Hannah, those pics on the Great British Food site made me feel ill, rather than a surging pride in our cuisine :laugh

[GeorgeM]

I've been thinking about all the stuff (food) that we can't get over here and wondered if it would be a viable concern to set up a small deli in Wellington.

We were discussing this with some friends recently. The consensus was that the cost of shipping out small quantities of stuff would make things expensive, so even everyday items would be in the luxury price bracket.

If you particularly miss something you might be willing to pay over the odds occasionally, but I don't think that enough people would want to pay the necessary prices enough of the time to make such a venture a goer.

Tastes change over time, and memories play tricks, so you can end up finding that something you (thought you) adored from your childhood makes you want to vomit now. (Ever been forced fed a sugar-rich sweet that you once used to love yourself by a generous child?) If you pay lots of dosh for something which at best tastes very ordinary you'll probably not be making many trips back to the supplier!

Case in point is the introduction about a year ago of Heinz 'English Recipe' Baked Beans. When we first arrived in 2002 our kids (ok, and us as well) missed these - Watties just weren't the same. We bought a couple of tins of the Heinz product in Woolies at some extortionate price and after the first tin decided that they weren't worth the extra. By the time that we had finished the second tin everyone said that in fact they preferred the Watties ones!

Our initial revulsion to NZ sausages is also on the wane.

[dave k]

Yeah..I agree George. But I was thinking of more "quality" produce like some of our great English cheeses, York hams, chutneys, black pudding, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, etc. etc. (the list goes on) rather than the stuff you can get at shops like Cool Brittania. (Heinz beans, WeetAbix, kit-kats, etc.)
It may well still be that the cost of importing this stuff would make it ridiculously expensive..I haven't seriously looked into that side of things...but
at least it would be high quality stuff that you couldn't get anywhere else.

And the Italians seem to manage it with their cured meats, buffalo mozarella, various jars of anti-pasti & so on. ;)

[GeorgeM]

I was thinking of more "quality" produce like some of our great English cheeses

We have a great cheese shop (no comments from Monty Python fans pleeeeze) in Christchurch, run by someone from oop North, which sells great UK cheese - various cheaddars, stiltons etc. He has a special chilled room in which the cheeses are kept - stinks to high heaven!

The cheeses are quite expensive (presumably the cost of getting them here coupled with the fact that they are the top of the range) but well worth treating yourself to every now and again.

I think that he also has a stall in the Arts Centre marketplace at weekends, but I may be wrong.

[KerryS]

Yuk - pork pies are one thing I don't miss. Those pics looked like really nasty cheap and processed food. Really horrid. :wah

[GeorgeM]

Yuk - pork pies are one thing I don't miss. Those pics looked like really nasty cheap and processed food. Really horrid. :wah

As with everything there are pork pies and there are pork pies. You might have seen a picture of a pork pie, but I dream of sinking my teeth into a pork pie.

[Diny]

I was thinking of more "quality" produce like some of our great English cheeses, York hams, chutneys, black pudding, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, etc. etc.

From a purely selfish point of view I say 'GO FOR IT' ..... I'd certainly be a customer.

Diny

[paulwardle]

i do like english food, but quite why anyone would really hanker after english food when they've travelled 12000 miles is beyond me. Isn't that part of the whole experience, trying different things......i'm a bit baffled to be honest, some of the nicest food i've ever had was in nz, the produce can be great.
Someone mentioned nz sausages, go in pak n save & find the little breakfast sausages, they're ace, best in nz i think.....i think they do 2 kinds, one are a bit plain, but one are bit spicy, the spicy ones are the good ones, all the others are pretty bad, we started off on those italian ones from woolworths, but they smell odd when you're cooking them, like cling film (or glad wrap if anyone's language is starting to change....og i hate those glad wrap adverts).

[dave k]

i do like english food, but quite why anyone would really hanker after english food when they've travelled 12000 miles is beyond me.

I agree...for the most part. And there's very little I miss. The produce here is amazing & I love it!!
But that's not always the whole story.
It's only natural to miss your home & countrymen/ladies (which I think, if we're honest, is why this forum has become a great place for us English to crack on together)...and along with that comes the whole food thing.

And cuisine defines a nation as much as the flag or their sporting prowess or any other facet you care to mention...and after a while here I would defy anyone not to hanker after a taste of home.

Just my 2c.


I gotta say though...the sausages suck big time. You're not gonna convert anyone there :)
I really didn't appreciate the splendour that is a premium quality Butcher's sossy until I left England. Seems such an easy thing to get right too..but the French, The Germans (who should know better), the Italians AND the Kiwis , etc, etc. ALL get it sooo wrong! They do great sausages in their own right, don't get me wrong...but when they try to do a Banger.. :wah

:exit

[Moorf]

Oh, the good old sausage debate - we've been here before (and didn't one couple leave partly because they couldn't find british food that they liked here in nz?!! :? )

Anyway - there are good, bad and darnright awful sausages to be had in the UK too... here we've found several brands that are really nice - just gotta get used to them, trial and error, you ain't in Kansas anymore :laugh

[Diny]

The great NZ sausage nightmare.

I'm sure if one had the inclination, a good NZ sausage 'may' be found. But sadly - due to an horrific experience (mother in laws cooking) I've been put off the NZ sausage for life.

She once served up these massive (and I mean REALLY thick) sausages that were all kind of grey and stank to high heaven. They were full of twangy bits of tube and lumps of rubber gristle. Jeeze ... even typing this my stomach is churninghttp://www.websmileys.com/sm/obscene/eck15.gif

Sadly this damaging experience has totally robbed me of the will to ever think about looking for a decent banger in NZ. Even my dear hubby - born and bred Kiwi - says that NZ sausages are '******* disgusting'.



but quite why anyone would really hanker after english food when they've travelled 12000 miles is beyond me. Isn't that part of the whole experience, trying different things......i'm a bit baffled to be honest, some of the nicest food i've ever had was in nz, the produce can be great.

What on earth is wrong with hankering after a favourite food. It doesn't mean that we don't like the NZ grub, it just means that there's certain things which we love/loved to eat at home which aren't available in NZ.

'Nowt wrong wi' that laddy'

Diny

[paulwardle]

I just personally dont see the point thats all, my partner goes nuts for walkers cheese & onion crisps, but i dont care for anything from the uk......except maybe gravy in the fish & chip shops !!!!!!
i prefer a lot of nz stuff to uk stuff to be honest, even the chocolate !!!!

[Moorf]

all kind of grey and stank to high heaven. They were full of twangy bits of tube and lumps of rubber gristle

Uh oh, up comes my dinner... :exit that sounds gross....

[Simon & Emily]

There are Pork Pies in NZ but I havent found a decent one yet. They are made of pickled pork, I would make one if I knew what flavourings to add.

It's not much to go on I know, but Gary Rhodes does a wicked one. If I ever find the recipe again I'll let you know. They taste wonderfull, but are sooooo unhealthy it may put you off them for ever (assuming you could buy them, that is :( )

Emily

[GeorgeM]

Anyway - there are good, bad and darnright awful sausages to be had in the UK too... here we've found several brands that are really nice

I was talking to a butcher from Chch who had spent several years plying his trade in the UK. He thought that many UK sausages were much better than the kiwi ones, and tried to introduce them to his shop in Chch - with little success. It seemed that most of his trade for them was limited to brits and other expats. He's since toned them down to a hybrid but they're still amongst the best we've found (although youngest daughter pronounces them 'too meaty' - a real sign she's settling in, if you ask me!).

BTW - be thankful that people do retain some of their native hankerings - it's precicesly for this reason that we now have such a spread of restaurants and ingredients available to us regardless of where we originate.

[Simon & Emily]

Going off topic again (sorry :oops: ), but does anyone know if you can buy the skins to make your own sausages here? As meat seems so cheap compared to the UK (although I know local salaries are lower) do many people make their own?

Emily

[jubjub]

funny I was thinking about the Gary Rhodes one too, could not find the recipe for that, but here is a Rick Stein one, they take a lot of work, but hey, if you want one that much, its worth it! :laugh

Ingredients

For the fillings:
1.2kg/2 frac12; lb boned pork shoulder
225g/8oz lean bacon
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
2.5ml/½ tsp each ground mace, freshly grated nutmeg and ground allspice
2 tsp anchovy essence
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the jelly:
900g/2lb pork bones
1 pig's trotter
1 carrot
1 onion
1 bouquet garni (celery, bay leaf, thyme and parsley)
12 black peppercorns
4 cloves

For the pastry:
450g/1lb plain flour
1 tsp salt
275g/10oz chilled butter, cut into
pieces
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2-3 tbsp cold water



Method
1. For the jelly: put all the ingredients into a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer gently for 3 hours.
2.Strain through a very fine sieve into a clean pan and boil vigorously until reduced to 600ml/1 pint. Season to taste and leave to cool.
3. To make the filling: cut the pork and bacon into 1cm/½ in pieces. Put half of the pork and 55g/2oz of the bacon into a food processor and process using the pulse button until coarsely chopped.
4. Scrape into a bowl and stir in the rest of the diced pork, bacon herbs, spices, anchovy essence, 1 tsp salt and some pepper.
5. Fry a little piece of the mixture in sunflower oil, taste and adjust the flavourings if necessary.
6. To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a food processor or mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
7. Beat the whole egg with the egg yolk and water and gradually stir into the dry ingredients to make a soft dough. Knead briefly until smooth then cut off one third of the mixture and set it aside for the lid.
8. Roll out the larger piece and use to line the base and sides of a 20cm/8in clip-sided cake tin, leaving the excess pastry overhanging the edges.
9. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
10. To assemble the pie:spoon the pork filling into the tin and slightly round the top of the mixture to give the finished pie a nice shape.
11. Brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg. Roll out the remaining pastry and use to cover the top of the pie.
12. Cut a small hole into the centre of the lid with a small pastry cutter, remove the plug of pastry and leave the cutter in place to retain the hole during baking.
13. Brush with more beaten egg and decorate with a twisted rope of pastry and pastry leaves. Brush the top with beaten egg.
14. Bake the pie for 30 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and continue to cook for a further 1½ hours, loosely covering the pie with a triple-thickness sheet of greaseproof paper once it is nicely browned.
15. Finally, remove the pie from the oven and leave to cool for 2 hours. Then warm through the jelly and pour into the pie through the hole in the top. Remove cutter used to make the hole in the top. Leave to go cold overnight.

[Simon & Emily]

funny I was thinking about the Gary Rhodes one too, could not find the recipe for that, but here is a Rick Stein one, they take a lot of work, but hey, if you want one that much, its worth it! :laugh


Yep, a heck of a lot of work, but it will taste wooooonderfull :P :P

What's more, you know it will be completely free of all the c**p that is pumped into food nowadays.

All I need now is a decent Sheperds Pie recipe that doesn't need decent gravy granuals and I'll be home and dry :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh

Emily

[jubjub]

ah thats easy, use beef stock and flour to thicken it, for seasoning the gravy, use worcester sauce and pepper, and maybe a bit of paprika and a dash of tomato puree..... :clap

[Yogi]

Don't they have gravy granules in NZ either? :no

Cheers,

Yogi.

[Simon & Emily]

Gravy granuals in NZ - it's a very long (and some would say boring) story :nice1

You should be able to find it under a search - they seemed to crop up in most threads!!

Emily

(It seems that the local ones do not quite come up to scratch in the taste test with good old Bisto or Tescos / Sainsburys. The MAF don't seem to mind a few lorry loads in containers though :laugh :laugh :laugh )

[Diny]

Don't they have gravy granules in NZ either?

Good God Yogi ...... which planet have you been holidaying on? :laugh

Diny

[Lil]

I despise Pork Pie, but hubby is your definitive Pork Pie man. He'll get up in the middle of the night to eat Pork Pie and leave the crumbs on the worktop. Anyways, he had quite resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to live the rest of his life without his beloved pies and find something else to fill the gap.....

Until that is.... he spies Goulds English Recipe Pork Pies in the fridge at Pak'N Save (now I just had to go and look in the fridge to check that name on the packet, but it's gone). Now I have to take his word for it and the fact that they get scoffed so quickly, that they are pretty acceptable.

[GeorgeM]

I despise Pork Pie

How could you? I bet you don't even like tripe either...

hubby is your definitive Pork Pie man.

Good on him

He'll get up in the middle of the night to eat Pork Pie and leave the crumbs on the worktop.

So?? Anyone see anything strange in this behaviour? Seems perfectly reasonable to me...

Anyways, he had quite resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to live the rest of his life without his beloved pies and find something else to fill the gap.....

I know exactly how he feels. Must be just like a rugby fan living in Auckland...

Until that is.... he spies Goulds English Recipe Pork Pies in the fridge at Pak'N Save... ...they get scoffed so quickly... ...they are pretty acceptable.

Thanks for the tip - I'll be looking out for them tomorrow!

[Diny]

OMG George ....Tripe !!!!!!!!! http://www.websmileys.com/sm/obscene/eck15.gif

That has to be put in the same category as my mother in laws sausages.

Diny

[Yogi]

Tripe, nice white honeycomb, haven't had that since I was a kid! Is that popular in NZ?

Incidently is sushi still cheap and widely available? That was one of the plus sides of NZ when I visited, could buy enough to stuff myself to bursting point (and I have a big appetite) and all for about NZ $10.

Cheers,

Yogi.

[Moorf]

Lots of sushi and v. popular... usually a Sushi Express in most malls too.

This was discussed on a previous thread:

http://www.emigratenz.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=738&highlight=sushi

:nice1

[Jennie & Rob]

What is it about the idea of NOT having something? I had to buy some pork pies today and I don't even like them - all because I think I will never have one again. Next thing I will be after the Bisto granules and Vimto, neither of which I have ever bought!
I also found myself buying a huge bottle of Pantene Shampoo because I read it was hugely expensive in NZ. I usually use shampoo from Lush and quickly worked out there is one in Welly.
Silly lady shoppers...... :?

[Diny]

Oh gawd .... I feel a confession coming on.

The other day I went into Poundland and bought some platic bags.

Not just a couple ..... but 1000 of them on a roll. But what makes it even more pathetic .......... I bought 3 rolls.

I now have 3000 9" x 11" plastic bags on a roll (perforated of course) to take with me.

Don't ask me why ......... I have no logical answer to give.

Anybody remember years ago that case where Lady Isabel Barnett was caught shop lifting. In the end I think they put it down to some kind of dementia. Maybe that's what those of us who find ourselves doing this weird impulse buying have got ....... some kind of immigration induced dementia.

I'm still determined to slip my impressive collection of margarine tubs into the shipment but I face strong opposition at each attempt.

Diny

[Jennie & Rob]

Diny - bin those margarine tubs.
The sense of satisfaction when I binned my 300 muller light tubs was enormous. :clap

When my parents moved from Epsom to Sussex, my father took an entire trailer of empty plastic containers. There was nothing else in the trailer - just these tubs!

I shall miss the ability to turn muller light tubs into gold bells for the Christmas tree but hey - life is just too short to carry around these possessions. I have tried to exercise the "ultimate life laundry" experience for my pre-packing but - as you know - it is so hard when things are just so useful.....

[Simon & Emily]

I'm still determined to slip my impressive collection of margarine tubs into the shipment but I face strong opposition at each attempt.
Diny

Diny, I know how you feel. My children could win prizes at pre-school with the creations made from the containers I hoard ;)

I'm just starting the process of trying to prepare for the minor matter of moving, and think I'll be OK if I can have the combined help of a few select people. These are (in no particular order) the Life Laundry team, the House Doctor, Kim and Aggie and the Ready Steady Cook team (thanks Dan!).

Do you think I could fit them all in on the same day? :nice1

Emily

[Simon & Emily]

Jennie - I just knew I liked you from the start :yes :yes :yes :yes

I just can't bring myself to chuck anything out though. I blame it on my father who is the ultimate make do and mend - mind you they had it tough during the war :( .

Emily

[kiwidebs]

I have a huge box of old birthday and Xmas cards of no particular significance. (The important ones - first birthdays, important anniversaries, first Mothers Day as a mummy.... - are kept in another huge box). I keep threatening to take them into Gemma's preschool for cutting and pasting - but they are sooooo hard to let go of! I also have an impressive collection of tiny little petit filous containers which are of no use to anyone (including the kids nursery who already have shedloads!). Do you think someone in NZ might want them......hmmmmm?

'My name is Deborah, I'm a compulsive hoarder'

Debs

[Simon & Emily]

Debs - I like your style :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap

Emily

[Jennie & Rob]

Emily, Diny, Debs & I should start hoarders anonymous - I love the phrase Debs!

Reminds me that when we moved here the removal men were telling me I should have had the car boot sale before we moved!

My worst things are definately craft bits. I had an entire 10 x 8 summerhouse devoted to them. I could not walk past a craft, fabric or haberdashery dept. without purchasing. I even left a garden centre once with 20 huge hessian coffee bags that they used to wrap garden statues with. Sold them on Ebay......!
http://www.imagestorepro.com/ebay_song.html

Maybe we should all get together in NZ and start scrap stores like we have here? I would so love to have a warehouse to keep stuff in....


Stop it Jennie. You are losing control again ;)

[Simon & Emily]

ebay - now I'm frightened to even look there, just in case I try to buy the lot :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh

Whilst my father was clearing the kitchen after my mother passed away, he found loads of food (the tinned and dried stuff only though) that was up to 20 odd years out of date. Do you know what he did?

yes, he kept it all . . . . I kid you not.

He still offers us bottled fruits etc for pudding when we go to eat that are 'only' five or so years old. If it was good enough during the war, it's good enough for you now.

Emily

[Jennie & Rob]

Talking of out of date food Emily - did you know that marmite NEVER goes out of date (according to a marmite manufacturing executive). Must be the high sodium content. Mine never lasts long enough to get anywhere near the sell by date.
I think your Dad has a point about bottled fruit. On my clear out of food, I discovered an 8 year old bottle of blackcurrants and I would not think twice about eating them!

[Carol]

:laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh


this thread has absolutely made my day.


There ARE in fact others like me out there..........in fact even better...are on their way HERE!
:nice1 :nice1 :nice1 :nice1 :nice1 :nice1 :nice1 :nice1 :laugh

[Simon & Emily]

Yep Carol, we're on our way ....

The only problem is if MAF will let us in, regardless of our containers :laugh :laugh :laugh

Jennie, I know how you feel. Marmite in our house goes almost as quickly as toilet rolls. What's more, when I'm parent helper at pre-school, I'm known as 'the toast lady' and marmite is much, much more popular than the jam :clap :clap :clap

I have no worries with eating tinned / bottled foods either, but Simon always checks what's on offer to eat before he accepts any pudding!!

Emily

[Diny]

I could actually claim to be (sort of) on the road to hoarding recovery. I've thrown out a few things that gave me an attack of the vapours as I dropped them into the bin.

A bag of jam jar lids.
A bag of fluff from the tumble dryer filter (took me ages to save it up too).
A pile about 6" high of the backs of old Christmas cards (kept for note paper and shopping lists)
Several butter wrappers (saved in the fridge door - for putting over a chicken when roasting it)

Oh the list goes on. But even I had to stop and seriously question myself when I came across the long piece of surgical thread with a white bead on the end of it. It was the continuous stitch the doctor sewed me up with when I had Fergie by c.section 9 years ago. I threw it away ........ then when I was alone I retrieved it from the bin and secreted it away again in my jewelry box.

I don't know whether I'm being sentimental or downright perverse.

Diny

[Simon & Emily]

I don't know whether I'm being sentimental or downright perverse.

I don't know Diny, but wherever you are, I'm there with you :( .

Emily

[Jennie & Rob]

Diny - you don't keep umbilical cord stumps as well do you? I admit to keeping both pregnancy tests......

The tumble drier fluff made me laugh. I used to make handmade paper with leaves, seeds and shredded paper. I contemplated using fluff from the tumble drier until I examined it more closely :? :eek

[Diny]

you don't keep umbilical cord stumps as well do you

No ... but I do still have the plastic clips that they use to put on the cord.

Diny

[Jennie & Rob]

Not perverse then Diny - I have them and think that is quite normal! :mrgreen:

[Carol]

me too.

and the bands that went around their wrists.


and their first shoes and hats and I believe there is a box somewhere with "other" stuff.


Oh yes - and I do the tumble drier thing too!
:oops: :oops: :oops: :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh

[kiwidebs]

:laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh

What a great start to a Saturday morning. Absolute confirmation that I have company in my madness. I also have (in case anyone is interested) a large piece of surgical steel that once held my femur together for a year or so!! You never know, it might come in handy sometime!!

Debs

[dave k]

Ahem......

Pork pies & Vimto anyone? :P

[jubjub]

Actually I dont like Vimto, unless its the fizzy kind mixed with vodka..... :cheers :laugh

[miep]

OK Dave K:

I find this thread really amusing as I find both Kiwi and British sausages and pies equally disgusting!
The only pies I eat are homemade ones (and very rarely) because I just don't trust what's in them. Same goes for sausages. To me they just seem to consist of flour and gristle, and have absolutely no flavour. Yuck! :mrgreen:

Moore Wilson sell some reasonable ones (duck and venison sausages!) but I just can't bring myself to buy them more than once a year.

As to importing british foodstuffs though, it must be possible because there is a Dutch shop in Petone who sell everything Dutch you could possibly want. This includes low end cheap cr*p for not a whole lot more than in Holland.
Apparantly the shipping isn't that expensive if you know how to go about it.

So what do I buy in that shop??? Liquorice ofcourse, dutch liquorice is very different that the english kind and a bit of an acquired taste, mayonaise, much nicer than the very vinegary local kind, peanut butter (Calve and Albert Hein for those in the know) and "vleeswaren": thinly sliced blackforest beef and ham from the german butcher in Tauranga which gets couriered in weekly.

I would be very happy to buy York ham though if anybody is game to bring it in!

:cheers Miep

[Simon & Emily]

me too.

and the bands that went around their wrists.

Guess what - I've even kept the pink and blue cardboard name bits that went into the incubators as well ;)

Glad to know that I'm not alone :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh

Emily

[jo b]

Oh gawd .... I feel a confession coming on.

The other day I went into Poundland and bought some platic bags.

Not just a couple ..... but 1000 of them on a roll. But what makes it even more pathetic .......... I bought 3 rolls.

I now have 3000 9" x 11" plastic bags on a roll (perforated of course) to take with me.

Don't ask me why ......... I have no logical answer to give.

Anybody remember years ago that case where Lady Isabel Barnett was caught shop lifting. In the end I think they put it down to some kind of dementia. Maybe that's what those of us who find ourselves doing this weird impulse buying have got ....... some kind of immigration induced dementia.

I'm still determined to slip my impressive collection of margarine tubs into the shipment but I face strong opposition at each attempt.

Diny

Diny

that had me laughing my head off, I can see you now now 'Mark we'll leave the settee in the UK so I can fill the container with all the stuff I bought from poundland.

Oh BTW way everyone I've said this before:-

Sausages eeuughcchh 'Offal in a Condom'

Jo

[jo b]

me too.

and the bands that went around their wrists.


and their first shoes and hats and I believe there is a box somewhere with "other" stuff.


Oh yes - and I do the tumble drier thing too!
:oops: :oops: :oops: :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh

Oh Carol,

I think all mums must be the same, I have boxes and I boxes full of every creation they have ever done from drawings to all their school books, along with the wrist tabs and umbilical cords of course. And yes they will all be coming with me. :laugh

Jo

[Moorf]

For my 21st B'day my parents presented me with 2 big scrapbooks - one was filled with EVERYTHING from the day I was born - all my hospital tags/birth details, the shilling my dad put in my hand as soon as I was born (which is now on a chain!), EVERYTHING including a curl of hair etc etc ALL the letters I wrote them from boarding school and all my school reports, brownie/girl guide badges, mothers day/xmas/birthday cards etc etc .. a real treasure trove. :nice1

The 2nd was a diary that they filled in each New Year from the year I was born, which included a pic of me and told that years story of my life.. my naughty deeds, my achievements, my illnesses, my hobbies, and other "funnies" and events.

I treasure them both dearly.

The only think I didn't get was my milk teeth which mum still keeps in her jewellry box!! :eek

[jo b]

Moorf

that is so lovely, I have locks of hair, their milk teeth, unless they swallow them of course :roll:

I think I will do something like that.

Jo

[Moorf]

It was the best birthday pressie EVER :nice1

[Hannah-NL]

So cool to read, of course Miep's post caught my attention... I will miss the liquorice and cheese I think, but now I know there really is a not too expensive solution for that! :nice1 (Wonder if we could import a few kilo's of both ahead)

Totally smiled at Moorf's story and I have to agree, us mom's save so much stuff, I mean you just never know, and you can't just throw it all away, can you? :no

[Simon & Emily]

For my 21st B'day my parents presented me with 2 big scrapbooks - one was filled with EVERYTHING from the day I was born - all my hospital tags/birth details, the shilling my dad put in my hand as soon as I was born (which is now on a chain!), EVERYTHING including a curl of hair etc etc ALL the letters I wrote them from boarding school and all my school reports, brownie/girl guide badges, mothers day/xmas/birthday cards etc etc .. a real treasure trove. :nice1

The 2nd was a diary that they filled in each New Year from the year I was born, which included a pic of me and told that years story of my life.. my naughty deeds, my achievements, my illnesses, my hobbies, and other "funnies" and events.

I treasure them both dearly.

The only think I didn't get was my milk teeth which mum still keeps in her jewellry box!! :eek

Thats sounds wonderfull - what a great present to give to you.

Emily

[Carol]

I agree.

If i ever get time to put it all together would love to do something for the kids like that.
:yes

[Wooba]

My mum loves pork pies.. she used to get them in Marks & Spencers before they closed down in Canada.. if they have M&S in NZ, perhaps you can find them there?
I'm a big vimto fan myself.. I buy it locally at an Arabic supermarket.. it's imported from Saudi Arabia (regular though - not sugar free).. perhaps there's such a supermarket near you that stocks it..

[Carol]

if they have M&S in NZ, perhaps you can find them there?
.


who?
;) :laugh

[Moorf]

God I WISH :wah