So my busy couple of months continued through April and May...
I went to visit my Aunt up in Cambridgeshire (March) for their St George's Day fair. Was nice to have a wander through the village and may have accidentally bought myself (and our new house to be) some presents, including some very yummy flavoured fudge- Mint choc and a refreshing and different mango. After a pleasant wander round that, we hopped into my cousins rocket (well it felt like it the way we tore through the country lanes!) and went to an incredible pub for their Sunday Carvery. Now, being a veggie, I generally avoid going to places that offer carvery lunches as they often don't bother to think of offering a veggie alternative, but my aunt had specifically told (warned?) them that there were 3 in our party and we were assured there would be options for us. We got there to find a superbly stocked carvery- 4 or 5 different meats, 3 different types of potato, yorkie puds, stuffing, cauliflower cheese, 2 different gravies, 5 or so different sauces and about 8 different veggies! This was buffet style eat as much as you want, then followed by the choice of about 8 different desserts! Boy did I eat well!! We enjoyed it so much, we vowed to make the trip back up there to go again.... and we did coincidentally yesterday and it was just as yummy the 2nd time around!
Having visited my Aunt (and seeing my cousin too) within a couple of weeks, I also got to see my uncle and other aunt as they were visiting from Cyprus. Seemed odd to not see any family for such a long time, then do both of my mums siblings in a matter of weeks! We had a nice couple of days though (despite my Unc coming down with a rotten cold while here!) We had a trip up to Maldon, walked round the town, the church (pics of mum playing, and being brave and going up the staircase to quite a height!) and along the waterfront, with a nice lunch on the water's edge. On the way home (our walk got cut short by dodgy weather) we stopped at the Tiptree Jam Factory museum. Had a look around and then stopped for tea & cake (although I had afternoon tea and got a HUGE scone with jam & cream!) While they were in the area we also went to Frinton. We took the dog and had a nice stroll along the beach- Judy even enjoyed playing in the surf, then walked up to get some traditional sea front (although it was about 15 minute walk from the front) fish & chips!
I started back at the gym (with permission from the Doctors, I was a good girl and asked first!) I started with the intention of building up the strength in mostly my leg muscles, but to start giving my shineys a reason to properly work. Things started off with a bit on the treadmill and bike, but then got some arm and stomach exercises thrown in too. I had to be careful to not do too much with my upper body too soon as obviously, still healing! After a couple of weeks back at the gym, I started at the Ball Blast class. I used to go to this several years ago, but it got to the point that the 5 minute start warm-up was too tiring and left me feeling too puffed to do that actual class, so I had to stop. I really enjoy this class as it works the core muscles, but also helps to tone pretty much all the other muscle groups too as the teacher does different muscle groups each week. The first week I ached for a full 3 days after, and was walking worse than an arthritic 100 year old, I could barely get up the stairs into the flat!! Now several months on, my gym workout has increased to include more cardio stuff and the upper body exercises are also being widened as I generally become stronger. My next request in terms of exercise is swimming.. but as I'm badgering to get my button out, I can only pester them about 1 thing at a time!!
From reading friend's statuses on Facebook, I found out (well, re-found out) that We Will Rock You (the musical) was finishing in the West End at the end of May for good. Both Glen and I love this musical (I had intended on getting tickets when I first read this at the start of the year, but with everything else that was going on, it slipped my mind) with only a couple of weeks left of it showing I asked Glen his thoughts on getting tickets... several minutes later I'd booked up for that weekend. We had a lovely day up there. We did our now traditional lunch in Leicester Square TGIs before heading up to the Dominion Theatre (via the Rainforest Cafe shop and Oxford Street) It was a good show (obviously) AND I was given a free glow stick by a member of staff! I'm easily pleased, but I waved it with might at all the good songs!! It was absolutely brilliant to have this day out and be able to enjoy it so much. The last time Glen and I went to see a show (January) I was on o2, so we had to have several canisters with us, and moving around was such a hassle, and I was incredibly tired pretty much by the time we'd got to the train station on the way up there... this time around I was full in 'London Mode' for walking and several times Glen had to grab hold of me as I was weaving in and out of the pedestrian traffic!
The following week we finally got confirmation that our house move was going ahead. We exchanged contracts with 7 days notice of completion, so all the packing panic could commence! I covered most of it during the week while Glen was at work (with help from Mama) but for the bulkier and heavier items he was in charge of that. We had his brother help us actually move on the day... this started bright and early with the living room window being removed (remember I was in a 1st floor flat!) so that our sofa could go out of it, and down a ladder to the truck! The window came out, and went back in successfully and all other furniture got sorted. We got told about 11ish that the money transfers were starting, and around midday (I'd just made a cuppa tea and heated a bit of pizza to eat) I got the call to say everything had gone through and I could come and get our new keys! I gave mum my tea (she'd just arrived so was quite happy to be presented with a mug of hot tea) wolfed down my pizza slice n jumped in the car to go to the estate agents. Glen and his brother were leaving a few minutes later and went direct to the new house. I met them there having got the keys, I unloaded my car and nipped back to home (a) to help mum with the clean up of the rooms that were clear. By the time the boys were back from home (b) pretty much everything was boxed and ready to be loaded again. The new owners turned up just as we were putting the last bits (including the dog) into the cars. We had a nice chat, introduced them to the neighbours (who coincidentally just so happened to all come out about then!) and then headed off on convoy to our new home. Overall, despite my stressing, it went pretty damn smoothly and we got things live-able pretty quickly. Although, most rooms seemed pretty sparse for the first week or two until we were able to start getting new furniture and unpacking the stuff we did have. Now, almost 2 months on, we're pretty much settled and are now mid bedroom decorating/furniture building. It will be nice to actually have bedroom cabinets when it's done!!
I went to visit my Aunt up in Cambridgeshire (March) for their St George's Day fair. Was nice to have a wander through the village and may have accidentally bought myself (and our new house to be) some presents, including some very yummy flavoured fudge- Mint choc and a refreshing and different mango. After a pleasant wander round that, we hopped into my cousins rocket (well it felt like it the way we tore through the country lanes!) and went to an incredible pub for their Sunday Carvery. Now, being a veggie, I generally avoid going to places that offer carvery lunches as they often don't bother to think of offering a veggie alternative, but my aunt had specifically told (warned?) them that there were 3 in our party and we were assured there would be options for us. We got there to find a superbly stocked carvery- 4 or 5 different meats, 3 different types of potato, yorkie puds, stuffing, cauliflower cheese, 2 different gravies, 5 or so different sauces and about 8 different veggies! This was buffet style eat as much as you want, then followed by the choice of about 8 different desserts! Boy did I eat well!! We enjoyed it so much, we vowed to make the trip back up there to go again.... and we did coincidentally yesterday and it was just as yummy the 2nd time around!
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| My dinner- Very yummy welllington with all the side trimmings :) |
Having visited my Aunt (and seeing my cousin too) within a couple of weeks, I also got to see my uncle and other aunt as they were visiting from Cyprus. Seemed odd to not see any family for such a long time, then do both of my mums siblings in a matter of weeks! We had a nice couple of days though (despite my Unc coming down with a rotten cold while here!) We had a trip up to Maldon, walked round the town, the church (pics of mum playing, and being brave and going up the staircase to quite a height!) and along the waterfront, with a nice lunch on the water's edge. On the way home (our walk got cut short by dodgy weather) we stopped at the Tiptree Jam Factory museum. Had a look around and then stopped for tea & cake (although I had afternoon tea and got a HUGE scone with jam & cream!) While they were in the area we also went to Frinton. We took the dog and had a nice stroll along the beach- Judy even enjoyed playing in the surf, then walked up to get some traditional sea front (although it was about 15 minute walk from the front) fish & chips!I started back at the gym (with permission from the Doctors, I was a good girl and asked first!) I started with the intention of building up the strength in mostly my leg muscles, but to start giving my shineys a reason to properly work. Things started off with a bit on the treadmill and bike, but then got some arm and stomach exercises thrown in too. I had to be careful to not do too much with my upper body too soon as obviously, still healing! After a couple of weeks back at the gym, I started at the Ball Blast class. I used to go to this several years ago, but it got to the point that the 5 minute start warm-up was too tiring and left me feeling too puffed to do that actual class, so I had to stop. I really enjoy this class as it works the core muscles, but also helps to tone pretty much all the other muscle groups too as the teacher does different muscle groups each week. The first week I ached for a full 3 days after, and was walking worse than an arthritic 100 year old, I could barely get up the stairs into the flat!! Now several months on, my gym workout has increased to include more cardio stuff and the upper body exercises are also being widened as I generally become stronger. My next request in terms of exercise is swimming.. but as I'm badgering to get my button out, I can only pester them about 1 thing at a time!!
From reading friend's statuses on Facebook, I found out (well, re-found out) that We Will Rock You (the musical) was finishing in the West End at the end of May for good. Both Glen and I love this musical (I had intended on getting tickets when I first read this at the start of the year, but with everything else that was going on, it slipped my mind) with only a couple of weeks left of it showing I asked Glen his thoughts on getting tickets... several minutes later I'd booked up for that weekend. We had a lovely day up there. We did our now traditional lunch in Leicester Square TGIs before heading up to the Dominion Theatre (via the Rainforest Cafe shop and Oxford Street) It was a good show (obviously) AND I was given a free glow stick by a member of staff! I'm easily pleased, but I waved it with might at all the good songs!! It was absolutely brilliant to have this day out and be able to enjoy it so much. The last time Glen and I went to see a show (January) I was on o2, so we had to have several canisters with us, and moving around was such a hassle, and I was incredibly tired pretty much by the time we'd got to the train station on the way up there... this time around I was full in 'London Mode' for walking and several times Glen had to grab hold of me as I was weaving in and out of the pedestrian traffic!
The following week we finally got confirmation that our house move was going ahead. We exchanged contracts with 7 days notice of completion, so all the packing panic could commence! I covered most of it during the week while Glen was at work (with help from Mama) but for the bulkier and heavier items he was in charge of that. We had his brother help us actually move on the day... this started bright and early with the living room window being removed (remember I was in a 1st floor flat!) so that our sofa could go out of it, and down a ladder to the truck! The window came out, and went back in successfully and all other furniture got sorted. We got told about 11ish that the money transfers were starting, and around midday (I'd just made a cuppa tea and heated a bit of pizza to eat) I got the call to say everything had gone through and I could come and get our new keys! I gave mum my tea (she'd just arrived so was quite happy to be presented with a mug of hot tea) wolfed down my pizza slice n jumped in the car to go to the estate agents. Glen and his brother were leaving a few minutes later and went direct to the new house. I met them there having got the keys, I unloaded my car and nipped back to home (a) to help mum with the clean up of the rooms that were clear. By the time the boys were back from home (b) pretty much everything was boxed and ready to be loaded again. The new owners turned up just as we were putting the last bits (including the dog) into the cars. We had a nice chat, introduced them to the neighbours (who coincidentally just so happened to all come out about then!) and then headed off on convoy to our new home. Overall, despite my stressing, it went pretty damn smoothly and we got things live-able pretty quickly. Although, most rooms seemed pretty sparse for the first week or two until we were able to start getting new furniture and unpacking the stuff we did have. Now, almost 2 months on, we're pretty much settled and are now mid bedroom decorating/furniture building. It will be nice to actually have bedroom cabinets when it's done!!
So we moved on the Friday, the Saturday was my Hen Day organised by my best mate (and bridesmaid). All I knew was the time and place of meeting everyone... I'd wanted it to be a surprise or I'd have wanted to plan that as well! So I knew we were heading into London, doing 'something' which would include some form of food, then heading back to Colchester (somewhere) for a proper dinner... weather dependent there were other plans for between the 2 things. As it happened, the weather was pretty shoddy, so the extra thing (hiring a boat in Hyde park and doing party games in the park) was put off. So Mum, Glen's Mum and I headed off by train from Colchester to meet Zoe, her mum and sister in Liverpool Street station. She'd warned me not to be worried by the amount of 'stuff' she would have with her... but turning up and seeing all three of them with cases and bags did make me wonder just what she'd got planned!! So we headed off to a quirky little cafe place that offered afternoon tea and a craft session. We made 'hen sashes' to wear for the rest of the day- but other groups made fascinaters or flower headbands... we so got the best option as we could all wear the sashes all day and them not get in the way! As you can see, we were all also wearing Mickey (or Minnie) Mouse ears that Zoe had got as a way of dressing up and incorporating Disney! She'd also made a little cardboard cut-out Glen so he was also with us... and might of been abused a bit with rude straws and made to 'drink' the cocktails etc! After making the sashes, we had a cocktail, followed by afternoon tea. It was all very sophisticated in a relaxed kind of way with proper teapots and cups/saucers and little sandwiches and cakes on a tea stand... Lovely!
After the time spent there, we had to decide whether to go to Hyde Park to play on the boats etc... but as we walked back to Kings Cross Station, it was windy and the sky was full of thick black, moody clouds. So it was decided we'd head back to Mum's house and play the games Zoe had prepared, then we'd already be in Colchester ready for dinner. On the train home Zoe has prepared a game which should have kept us entertained for a lot of the journey, but we were all too impatient and had pretty much done it all before the train had even left the station! It whiled away some time, and Lee was happy as she won it! (She won a big bar of Cadburys Choc- yes, Zoe provided prizes too!) Once back at mums out rolled the hen do games... T.P bridal dresses and cocktail making. We split into old vs young... The young team won the dress competition, we didn't just have a dress, we had a ring, a bouquet AND a headpiece... to match my much more practical and sturdier dress... However we sucked at the cocktail making and only managed to make some very disgusting concoctions... it just goes to show that many combined years of drinking alcohol has benefited the mums as they won hands down!
After our games, we lost Siobhan due to prior arrangements, but gained Anne for the meal. We went to a very lovely restaurant I'd never heard of in town where they had Medieval inspired dishes, and the building itself had a lot of the very old building works and archaeological 'stuff' on display. The food was lovely and overall couldn't complain about any of it! I had a fantastic send off to being a single girl with my very best peoples there (shame that a couple of other's couldn't make it but I had a super time anyway!)
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