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.......

07 May 2012

May 2012a



Since it is a long weekend, we decided to get out and go touristing!

Sat 05 May 2012
What we learned about Leeds castle is that Eleanor of Castille was the first, of a great line up of Queens of England, to own it in her own right. And when you see the very lovely little Spanish style garden in the heart of the old keep, you understand why it's so well beloved of the Ladies.



  



  




Before it got too late, we arrived at our B and B - the next two nights' stay is in a 15th century pilgrim's rest, in Chilham named Bagham Farm House. Our room's floor has a disconcerting slant downward and poor Steve had to duck through almost all the doors and a couple of hallways! The bed was a little bit short, but otherwise comfy enough, and our hostess Paula was exuberantly welcoming.





Having worked up an appetite walking about Leeds Castle (which BTW is nowhere near the city of Leeds) we enjoyed a very filling dinner at The Artichoke - a 15th century pub. Here's Steve digging into the first banana split he's had in about 20 years!

  



Sun 07 May 2012
This morning after a hearty breakfast, we headed out to Dover Castle. Thankfully the nearer the coast we were, the sunnier it got. This is the first time in three visits we could actually see the coast of France from Dover.






There are four main large rooms, which have been decorated in as "period" a manner as possible (the 1180's) from what the experts are able to gather.



   





  






Mon 08 May 2012
Our final day of holiday saw us head in to Canterbury to visit the famous great Cathedral where Saint Thomas a Becket met his end whilst praying at the high altar - a great medieval pilgrimage site.


   




Above: a candle burns to mark the spot where Saint Thomas a Becket was slain

Above: the tomb of The Black Prince.

   




 Afterwards Steve enjoyed driving us about the Kentish countryside, down through Tenterden, and we stopped into a 15th century pub a little East of Rye, called the Woolpack Inn. The scallops were excellent. Once again another place with low ceilings!



On our way back home to east London, we stopped by what seemed to be a fanciful Victorian home with a "sold" sign out the front, perhaps converted from an older church (as it had an accompanying graveyard - spooky!). Jen just had to get a picture of it, it's so kooky.




And so, its back to work for us both tomorrow....

April 2012


02-09 Apr 2012

We've got the week off work and so we had a fellow come and prepare various surfaces about the house (inside) for us to then paint the rooms. Good ol' Kev was legendary and gave us about 12 hours of his time helping us out with the painting. Jen ran about edging everything before Steve got busy painting all the walls with the roller brush (and a few of the ceilings too!).



Sun 08 Apr 2012

We headed over to Sophie and Paul's for a family Easter get together. Yummy dinner cooked by Soph - thanks! Then back to work on Tuesday.

Sat 14 Apr 2012

...and so we got the carpet downstairs replaced as it was quite worn in places.

Sat 21 Apr 2012

Clancy came and stayed the night and the next day Steve headed off with him to the fighter practice in Basingstoke. Jen kept on painting walls, mainly in the bathroom.

Sun 29 Apr 2012

And so finally we've got the house all tidied up and beautifully presented. A month of hard labour indeed. With a sunny afternoon (the first sunshine after weeks of overcast and drizzling skies) Jen took the opportunity to run about the house taking photos. 





Fri 04 May 2012

The house is looking great and could be a nice little earner if we do rent it out during the Olympics. Jen has had it confirmed today that she will be able to take a redundancy package, and finish work in mid September this year. That's several months away, giving Jen time to get another job and/or see how her new greetings card business goes, etc....