Blogadoon of the 9th month

Hello everyone.

Now, I know it has been a significant amount of time since my last blog, but I didn't want to blog just for bloggings sake. So I'm going to put a summary of all that happened in September here and that'll make it even more awesome than ever!!

HOLIDAY obviously!! Sarah, Tom and I spent a completely wonderful week in Croatia, taking in the delights of the ancient city of Dubrovnik and visiting some other places too - the most notable of these was Mostar in Bosnia. I find it so amazing that I can now say I've been to Croatia and Bosnia (though I've never been to Germany or Spain!!)

Every day of our Croatian adventure was packed full of new experiences and all sorts of fun. We walked the Walls of the Old City (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), visited the Cathedral, went to see the War Photography Exhibition (very poiniant considering the recent nature of the conflict in that part of the world), took a trip to the island of Lokrum: with its botanical gardens, crumbling citadel and gorgeous views. One day Sarah and I took a minibus tour to the city of Mostar in Bosnia. Not only was Mostar great to see and spend time in, but the experience of driving through Croatia and up in to Bosnia was wonderful.
The city of Dubrovnik is beautiful; steeped in history, with beautiful sea shore and coast, majestic buildings and fountains dating back to the 17th C and a wonderful blend of old and new as the bustling city spreads out from the walls and presents constant reminders of the all-too-recent war. We took a cable car (the cable car had only been reopened a month beforehand, having been destroyed in the war) up to the mountain that was a fortress in the war and has a museum up there.

When we got back, there was only a couple of days before Mum and I travelled to London for the Under London Blitz Experience organised by the London Transport Museum. Alydwich Tube Station (closed since 1995) was reopened for one weekend only and we went down to platform level for an hour or so.
There, they'd bought a 30s tube train for us to go on, decorated with all of the War posters they could muster, and many actors (dressed as a Spiv, a WVS woman, an ARP warden and a sheltering housewife) to give us a real taste of the war years. We took lots of pictures and they simulated an air raid overhead. Also there was a chance to buy lots of war related stuff and they made the whole thing even more authentic by parking an old style London bus (complete with old posters etc) outside the tube to add to the experience.

The following day was my great aunt and uncle's diamond wedding anniversary party. I feel that being married for 60 years is a blog worthy feat for sure! We had a pleasent afternoon where we nearly burnt a hole in my cousin's dining room table and got to hear all about the family travels to NYC and DC and had a great family photo taken (which I must see if I can get a copy of!).

All in all September was a great month for me. I hadn't been on holiday sinc we went to Morocco in 2007 and the memory of that holiday will forever be marred by the fact that my Mum didn't really enjoy it, even though I did!! So I can't really reminisce over that one in public, but with Croatia I can. I'll also always be able to look back through my passport and see the Croatian and Bosnian stamps there!

Now on to October and (brrrrr) November, for more awesomeness related to my life.

Hooray, hooray, its a holi holi day!

HEY! Well I'm up early to finish all my stuff for the big off. Holiday kind of begins today, as I travel to Sarah's, but kind of begins tomorrow when we fly out of Gatwick. Awesome.

So the last few days have been fun and hectic too. Here's a mini run-down:

FRIDAY:
Sarah's Bday. Train to New Malden. Hang out with Sarah and dogs, go to lunch at Prezzo with Sarah, Tom and Georgie. Back to Sarah's for cake and round one of presents. See Tom off to see Muse at Wembley, back to Sarah's for parental presents (including shoe boxes and bic biro), bit of holiday chat, home at 8pm!

SATURDAY:
Day of packing and holiday-related chaos. Day was split between doing all of the random stuff Mum wanted me to do before I clear off for a week and packing. The latter involving me turning my room upside down and emptying half of it into a small suitcase. Making lists, sorting handbags, putting toiletaries into tiny bottles etc

SUNDAY:
Work! Not much to say here. I sell people stuff and occasionally they have a go at me cos I won't give them a refund. Lots of people bought suitcases(!) and I have to bring back a magnet for the fridge in the Staff Room.

MONDAY (today):
Everything supposedly comes together. Ummmm.... Right. The plan is that everything is used, then packed, then I do all the other stuff I need to, then I get the train to Sarah's. Step 1: Get a shower and put some clothes on! Step 2: Get my Mum up! Step 3: Try and cram the rest of it in as quick as poss so I don't miss the train. :-)

TUESDAY (beginning Monday night):
Sarah's house. I arrive mid-afternoon Monday, Tom at tea time. We go to bed really early, to get up at 2am or thereabouts. Leave Sarah's, driven - exceedingly kindly - by her Dad both ways, for Gatwick at around 3.15am. Arrive around 4am. Our flight leaves at 5.55am and we get to Dubrovnik at 9.40am (GMT+1). Whoop!

We've yet to actually decide what we're going to do each day, but we reckon due to the early start, Tuesday would be a good beach day/chill out day/maybe suss out the local area. We're staying in Hotel Petka which is in the Port of Gruz (where all the cruise ships come in) so we may see some pretty cool ships (and lots of tourists?)

Basically its gonna be epic, so as its 9.30am now (we'll be coming in to land this time tomorrow!!!), I'd better get on! See you when I get back! That's Tues 21st btw and I'm over-nighting at Sarah's that night, so I come back to Hastings on the 22nd.
Then we go back up to London on the 24th for the Blitz Experience at Aldwych Tube Station (disused).

That's it for now. Bon voyage!

Holiday plans, outings and activities!

Well good morning everyone! I hope that where you are is reasonably dry, cos here on the not-so-sunny South coast, its well raining! Today I did have plans to continue with my DIY activities but had a lie in, read my Bible and am going curtain shopping later instead!

DIY? I hear you ask! Yep. Currently, my room is stripped of all wallpaper (including the fiddly lil bits round the edges) and half the skirting has been sanded down. Last night I put this special glue stuff on the big holes in the wall that appeared when the wallpaper came off. Now all we need to do is sand the other half of the skirting - as well as the door frame and the inside of the door - fill in the holes properly, and we'll be ready to paint!
The paint is called Jasmine White (variation on cream). The redecoration project has cost me lots of money and benefitted Home Retail Group considerably with all of the visits to Argos and Homebase! It'll definately be worth it though! When the painting is all done, it'll just be the flat packs to put together: bed, wardrobe, bedside cabinet, desk, radiator cabinet and 3 bookcases. Plus there's floating shelves to put up and then everything to organise. But its going well and everything is in place.
The latest visit to Homebase means I have a new curtain pole, some special crack-filling paint for the ceiling, undercoat and gloss for the skirting/door/frame, masking tape so we don't paint on't carpet and some random bits of wood that cost me £2 that I may make in to extra shelves! Next time we need to buy the radiator cabinet - I'm really excited about that. :-)

In other news, Tom, Sarah and I are attempting to arrange a meet up for before we actually get on a plane together for a weeks holiday. Its not going well. Let's hope we make some progress there over the next few days. On the holiday front, I ordered and then collected, my 2000 kuna from the Post Office last week. It cost me £246.91. I do still need to actually buy my travel insurance, but I'll be doing it as ever with Insure and Go, so all I need to do is click a few buttons and it'll be done. Cool. Then before I know it, it'll be time to print our boarding passes off, find and put in a safe place the PMTs (passport, money, tickets) and then pack and travel to Sarah's.

Between then and now I have the "Tunes of Glory" Military Tatoo at the Ardingly Showground on September 4th. It features Hayley Westenra and Blake, as well as a fly over by a Battle of Britain spitfire, five major bands: HM Royal Marines, Gurkha Pipes, RBL Youth Band etc. So it starts at 1pm and takes about 2hrs each way, so we should get home around midnight! Gonna be an awesome day!!

So I will also get around to doing my Keswick blog sometime soon... Oh dear!
Anyway, enjoy the last days of August lovely people, and roll on September!

K*E*S*W*I*C*K* 2010

Blog to follow soon, when I have a spare few moments to get my thoughts and memories in order!

Kez Wick Prep

I know its spelt Keswick but you know...

So tomorrow I get on a train and head back up North, in the direction of Stoke on Trent to overnight with Ruth before we head off to the wonder that is Keswick Wk1, and have lots of great fun and Jesus time etc!

Today was Keswick prep day and so I finally managed to fit all the stuff I need, and some stuff I maybe won't need, into the bags I'm taking. I'm going to look worse than ever with 2 suitcases and a backpack and my handbag all struggling up the Victoria Line from Victoria to Euston.

Ummmm that's really it, I've made the crosses I needed, got the colouring books, packed waterproof & wellies, sunglasses & shorts - all avenues covered! Rain is forecast for at least Sat-Wed (major grrrrr). Rain I can deal with though, its the wind and cold we've been having with it that I'm not too fond of funnily enough!

Right, must top up my Oyster and check for planned engineering works! See you sometime after the 21st!

Sun is Shining, Weather is HOT!

Hello people,

So its very hot here at the moment and I'm taking refuge inside. Also we're worried I may have actually broken my toe, cos a 6pack of cans fell out of the cupboard on to it today. Today is meant to be (or was it yesterday?) the hottest day of the year and we were doing a boot sale. There was no shade. I made a measly little £14, it all adds up in the end. Due to busy schedulage, we can't do another one til 31st July, so maybe I'll get a bit more £££ then?

Well recently I was in London a lot, the most significant of which was for Keswick Planning Day. Keswick is now a mere 6 days away (well I travel up to Ruth's on 16th!) so I need to get my skates on which planning what to take. Its always a fine balencing act for Keswick, cos it may well rain on one day, may well be sweltering the next and you may well sit in a wet patch in the tent neccessitating a change of shorts the third day, and so on... Pretty much if you take wellies, waterproof, vest tops and sandals you'll be fine!
I also need to take a wee trip to Mr Tesco's little emporium to get colouring books and make 7 cardboard crosses. Cool beans. Ruth and I will make cake to take with us to Keswick also, so that'll be yumtastic.

Last week also saw the last of the invigilation that I've done at Helenswood this summer. I had 31 Yr6 girls for a morning of CATs tests while there were at Helenswood for their taster days. I loved them, they were so cool (apart from the crying ones eeek!) and I had really good dealings with the teaching staff. One of them asked me if I *was* a teacher cos she reckoned I had a really nice manner and good way of explaining things! Cool!!! I was sad to leave them > I am sad.

What else? Oh yar... My room is almost all packed up in preparation for the redecoration spree to occur! There are a lot of boxes. Most of which are now living under my bed or causing a tripping hazard on the landing! I couldn't believe that I could a rather large box up with stuff, look around the room and not see any difference :-( Oh well, I'll press on.

Whilst all of this has been occuring, we have, of couse been watching the World Cup! Spain beat Germany, Holland beat Uruguay and now they'll play each other in the final tomorrow night. Should be exciting times.

Ummmm that's it I think, I may blog before Keswick, otherwise it'll be a post-Keswick blog when I next touch base! Have fun and stay safe in the sun! Adios.

Three Good Things In A Row

Hmmm, so I'm blogging again so soon, what could have happened that is so good and so blog-worthy?

- Footie
Well for a start, England are through to the last 16 in the World Cup!!! Hooray for Defoe our saviour! France and Italy are out and can you believe both finished last in their groups. Ooopsie.

-Guide Bookage!
My cool Dubrovnik Guide Book arrived today from Waterstone's! So, it being a nice day, I sat out in the garden and read it. The one excellent thing about it is that it is laid out in terms of itineraries, so you know how long it'll take and exactly where you need to go to get to somewhere and al of the POI along the way: good views/swimming holes/recommended places to eat/shops/bus stops etc. It also included a really good sized map that is separate and has all of the itineraries plotted out on it. Should be very useful!

-Holiday (and other) Shopping...
"That's a bit premature!" I hear you say! Well, yes it is, but when you have very limited funds to begin with, you have to buy things when they are cheapest and when you can get the best deal on them. So when I go to work over the weekend, I'll be buying my new camera, a new case (cos I've never really had one to go on my belt)and 3 floating shelves for my room when we finally get around to sorting it all out. We work at a different speed to the rest of the world, here in Hastings, you see. It's equal to one eighth of a snail's pace (lol)!

So that's my news. Oh, also, if we're talking about my room, the floorplan has been finalised!!!! Oooh I'm happy! The only potential cloud on the horizon is that England face Germany in their next World Cup match. Hmmmm.

As ever, I'll report back when there's news. Bye bye.