Steve n Jen's UK adventures

UK and European adventures. Read on my pretties, and discover what two stray Aussies can get up to on their travels.......

01 July 2007

Jun 2007 b

Sat 16 June 2007
Today we visited Vitus' place (which is very near Hampton Court Palace) with Dan and Elizabeth, for a BBQ.
He has a lovely place with a large garden chess set in the back yard. Jen played against Steve, who defeated her (no surprise there) then Dan and Vitus battled it out in two games, winning one game each. There was still plenty of light at 9:30pm!

Sun 17 June 2007
Today we did more "reign" paperwork... including writing our monthly column for the 'Dragon's Tale' newsletter.

Mon 18 June 2007
Back to work. Looking at our financial position, for whether we can afford to buy a house. Looking at prices, looking at mortgages, getting advice from work colleagues...

Fri 22 June 2007
At work, Jen got a 'tour' of the 2012 Olympic building site, from a spectacular vantage point (so, no walking about). The view here has us looking west toward the city.

A= Stratford tube station (just out of the picture)
B= The new international train station (to Paris)
C= Some more buildings to be knocked down

The new international station will be opening late 2008 apparently. We had previously thought it was opening this year. Oh well.
Jen learned its expected much of the Stratford area will be dusty for months, as one huge construction site, with up to 40 lorry trucks a day in and out of the area - so noisy too. There may be a large transitory population of mostly male construction workers; and with that, 'red-light' businesses are preparing to move in. So perhaps moving out of Stratford isn't such a bad idea! Cheaper too!

Sat 23 June 2007
We go to the 'War of the Roses' event outside of Cambridge. (which is just a cool name for an event rather than actually being on one of the known battle sites)

Above: Steve cuts an impressively royal figure in purple and ermine.
Below: Clancy was generous with his time and money and made (with the help of his sons) a pair of Kingdom thrones for our use. The rondel in the centre was made ages ago by Duke Sir Garrick, a past local member.


Above: Some of the the spectators prepare for an archery shoot
Below: the fighters. From left: Clancy in maroon, front row: Daffyd, Sigmundr, Thurstan, Poul. Back row from left: Alan, Lutr, Vitus, Alaric, and Dean.

One of the scenarios involved a maze with paths of mown grass. Hidden in the maze was a fleece (a sheepskin rug rolled and tied) hanging from a tree. If the fighters leave the path they are 'dead' and must make their way back through the maze to a 'resurrection' point, and continue to search. Clancy, (who had mown the paths) played the Minotaur and tried to get people off the path or otherwise defeat them. He didn't have to stay to the paths, so he leapt out and attacked the teams at different stages. All good fun!

Sun 24 June 2007
Had a leisurely time helping others with packing up camp (we had stayed overnight with Ross and Sarah in their nearby home) and headed back home, to spend some time shopping around for houses.

Mon 25 June 2007
Jen gets paid. Feeling more prepared for our house deposit. Jen arranges to view a house for tomorrow.

Tue 26 June 2007
After work Jen views a house....
Below: its the house with lady opening the front door for us.


Above: one of two bedrooms
Below: the other people viewing the house with us - showing how the top of the stairs (between the two rooms) finishes with a step between the rooms. Crazy!


Above: the other viewers in the back yard (from the second bedroom) note how the entire backyard is divided up.
Below: the kitchen


Above: the "bath"-room (with hand basin behind the door)

The advantages: - great location - 2 good sized bedrooms and kitchen good size - little storage shed out the back
The disadvantages - asking price of £225,000 - looks to be currently inhabited which could mean waiting a long time before the owner has bought a new place - the bath has one hot tap and a cold tap, and no shower!!! - we'd need to buy an oven+stove top as well as the usual other white goods - the boiler is in one of the bedrooms! - loads of cosmetic work needed, such as painting everything, replacing or dying all the carpets, major work clearing the amateur concrete job and brick fencing in the back yard - getting rid of the garden gnome mecca.

Suffice to say Jen didn't feel the need to put an offer on the place.


Wed 27 June 2007
We have a new prime minister here.

Jen visited Abbey bank to get a "mortgage agreed in principle". This turned out to be a good idea - since when she made an offer on a house (for the first time ever) they really took notice! Those without a house to sell are much more attractive clients.
So, here's the house we did put an offer on.


Above: (left) looking back at the front entrance (right) continuing through the lounge into the kitchen
Below: the kitchen, which has an oven and cooker (and a space for washer) the lime green is a bit stronger than we like but we could live with it.


Above: the kitchen leads on to the back yard. Here's the back of the house
Below: and here's the back yard


Above: Hurrah for built-ins! The main bedroom.

The advantages:
- £219,995 asking price, cheaper than the other place - vacant, less of a wait to move in - more storage space - is in great decorative order - there is nothing that needs to be done to the place, except fixing the damaged bit above the front porch - perfect location - spacious kitchen and rear garden - storage shed - the place is vacant already
The disadvantages: the lounge and second bedroom aren't as large as we would have liked.

Fri 29 June 2007
Steve gets paid - hurrah. Found out that the house we want was repossessed, so is being sold by a bank!

Sat 30 June 2007
We drove to Holmbury St Mary, south of London, for the 'Summer Tourney' event. It rained and rained (traditional for a summer event!) so it was fortunate the tourney could be held inside the hall. Ooops! We forgot to bring the camera.

We introduced Tierce (a "tag, you're it" running game) to everyone - great fun! Gave out the Kingdom service award to Dan (don't like to give awards to our friends, but we'd received a number of impressive recommendations for him) and also Raphe, the kingdom Chronicler (and the event cook) who was also well deserving. A bit astonished actually there was only one other recipient of the award at the event.

There were 8 fighters for the tourney, and although it was a small event, it was really excellent! The feast was very fine indeed.

Sun 01 July 2007
Hurrah!
Smoking is now banned in UK pubs and all public enclosed places!!!!!
It has been so disgusting to see people smoking in the local shopping centre and cafes, so we're relieved its banned now!

We expect to find out if our offer on the house is accepted, sometime midweek.
We don't recommend trying to buy a house while reigning either - the stress does add up.

Next weekend we'll be at an event north of Edinburgh!

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