Feb 2009 a

Sun 01 Feb 2009
More snow overnight!!!

Now that the paint's dried, here's our before and after
setup for the projector. It's also upside-down now.



Mon 02 Feb 2009
This morning Steve phoned his work to confirm that it's open. They said yes turn up. About 15 minutes after he got there they said, actually we're closing the school now, go home.

Above: Steve waves bye-bye before digging out the car!
Sophia made it on foot to the train station before discovering her school was closed for two days, so back home she trudged.

It took Jen 45 minutes to walk to work - there were no trains and no busses today. She did manage to find a Cab firm operating (at 1.5 normal rates) so got driven home. Here are some photos from her morning walk:







Above and below: Views over Stratford (London) from Jen's office building.



Fri 06 Feb 2009
Jen joined the online Genes Reunited UK website. Fascinating stuff. Spent a large chunk of the weekend putting up her family tree.

Sat 07 Feb 2009
We are waiting for London's footpaths to stop being these randomly lumpy ice-skating areas! Very treacherous.
Most of the snow has melted by now, but loads of ice still around. Here's a pic of the back yard.



Sun 08 Feb 2009
We're horrified at the carnage going on in Australia. Four storey tall fires sweeping through the southern parts of Australia at the speed of a freight train - how do you stand a chance against that? Last tally 180 dead. Entire villages wiped out! Thankfully no-one we know personally is hurt or killed.

Wed 11 Feb 2009
Jen has the rest of the week off work. Today two workmen turn up to put holes in the roof. Hooray! While shivering in a cold house, Jen does some eyeletting (handsewing) for Edith.

Thu 12 Feb 2009
Today while Soph and Steve are at work, Jen does some more handsewing (since the power is being turned on and off ocassionally) while the loft works are happening. Here's the cloth-covered bead buttons Jen's been attaching for going down the front of Steve's new Medieval purpoint (padded fighting jacket).


The works we had done are installation of two roof windows, flooring, loft hole enlargement, loft ladder, light, and double power point. Here are some before and after shots:

Above: the new extended loft hatch open showing the excellent telescopic loft ladder.


Above: before. Below: after.


Above: before. Below: after.

This evening the workmen finished and left, and the marvellous Kiriel arrived to stay with us for the next few days.

Fri 13 Feb 2009
Jen goes to the dentist. Turns out that no there's no wisdom tooth coming through, and no need for any new fillings, yay! Thankfully today Steve has the day off work and is ably assisted by Kiriel and Edith in cooking and shopping for tomorrow's local SCA feast called St Ethelburga's - named after the city church it's held in.

Sat 14 Feb 2009
We loaded up the car full of food, wine and spare costumes (for newcomers), and off to site we drove. The event got into full swing around 3pm, with loads of dancing and the first round of nibblies on the tables. Overall it was a fairly relaxed and pleasant event, with about 60 people booked, it seemed almost half of them were newcomers!
Later in the evening there was more live music for the dancing, as well as the debut of the newly formed Thamesreach choir (with a couple of extra willing recruits roped in to round out the sound). It was a good first performance, although we did have a false start on one of the songs.

Above: Steve in his apron.
Below: A quick pic taken just after the last dance was finished.


Deb and Clancy stayed at ours overnight, as Cambridge is a good hour and half drive away - so its a bit too far, so late at night.

Sun 15 Feb 2009
The morning after the event. Sitting about and chatting, taking it easy with our house guests. It's not until Tuesday that the house is finally tamed back into a semblance of order and tidiness!