Jun 2009 a

Mon 01 Jun 2009
Jen has very sore thigh muscles, from varnishing diagonal timbers yesterday (having previously sanded them free of their pigeon-poo coating). Crouching and bending around obstacles to paint these beams for 3 hours = great low impact exercise!

Above left: freshly varnished timbers. Above right: part way done "stabilising" the powdery mortar and bricks with a watered-down PVA solution. It's like brushing teeth - having to scrub at the wall to get in between the bricks.

Wed 03 Jun 2009
Jen has been working through her "to do" list, mainly doing 'laurel secretary' paperwork stuff. Other things on the list are: finish Steve's new purpoint (padded fighting jacket for under armour); and get the loft dust-free and presentable, so as to be able to use the space for portrait painting (oils).

Thu 04 Jun 2009
This morning on the way to work, Jen voted in the EU elections.
After work, we had Elizabeth and Dan around for dinner. Steve cooked up at tasty dinner of Duck in cherry sauce with some help from Soph. Dessert was choc pudd and icecream - all quite tasty!

Sat 06 Jun 2009
Nick visited for what was planned as an afternoon of boys-own-adventure pre-wedding relaxation. However he let loose a bombshell - that he and Jenny have split up, over whether to have children. So after chatting with him about it, we continued on with our visit to the cinemas and watched Terminator salvation, lots of stuff blowing up, and a reasonable amount of plot to keep it interesting.

Sun 07 Jun 2009
A rainy day. Jen spent the day indoors, costuming - making an experimental "viking" style dress somewhat along the lines of this one:


It's a 'new' idea on how viking lasses wore their dresses, published by researcher Annika Larsson, Uppsala University late last year.

Mon 8 Jun 2009
Over the next few nights we watch some "classic" Star Trek (the original series) from several DVD collections Steve bought. Lots of fun! Like reliving our childhoods.

Thu 11 Jun 2009
Ordered a s3xy new camera today for about £200, should arrive in a week.

Review on the new camera: click here
The rear garden has been flowering nicely....



Fri 12 Jun 2009
Last night Edith (Jenny) came and stayed overnight. Lots of wine was drunk and two classic Star Trek episodes enjoyed!

Sat 13 Jun 2009
Jenny stayed overnight and did some cooking for this evening's SCA revel (she and Steve planned a chicken dish together). Meanwhile Steve and Jen got the Tube into town and started a 2 hour walking tour "City Gardens". The vast majority of walkers were over 60s, so the walk was far from taxing.


Above: The garden and London wall ruins alongside the Museum of London. In the background there's the Barbers & Surgeons' herb garden at the rear of their Guildhall.
Below: The Salters guild have this lovely formal garden with several fountains - what a civilised retreat in the heart of the city.



Above: behind the Brewers' guildhall are these vines. :-)
Below: Not part of the tour exactly, but - this is how the square mile of London used to have over 500 city churches - this is one surviving example! They disappeared as the city became more and more industrial and less residential. (fewer churchgoers)


Above: the pretty sunken garden in front of Lloyds Bank head office. They have about a dozen blue tit (birds) nesting in the birdhouses built into the garden walls.
Below: On the site of Greyfriars church, these pillars of climbing roses and vines mark where the church columns once were.




After the tour we got back home, packed, and headed north to Archway for the Revel. Peregrine ran a great workshop on leatherworking, Jen did some hemming, Steve chatted and socialised. At about 6pm everyone set up the tables for dining, put out the food and got changed into various historically inspired ensembles. Generally had a pleasant evening. Jen played the lap harp as background noise during dinner, then offered to all present, to have a play at their leisure. There was plenty of dancing, and actually the dinner spread was very tasty and varied.
On the downside, Jen came down with a headache which showed signs of turning into a migraine, and we left a little earlier than we'd have liked.

Sun 14 Jun 2009
Enjoying the weather - it actually feels like Brisvegas on a nice spring day!
Loads of laundry, dish washing and such-like today. An easy, relaxing Sunday.
Next weekend we'll be heading off to separate events. Jen will be at Summer Coronation in Sweden, and Steve will be helping Kiriel run a gourmet wedding feast in Geneva!