Snapshots....

Weds
-Kara went to Henry VIII exhibition with her mother in law
-Martin went to gym with his dad
- this sets the scene for our year out together...
- we both saw Martin's very cute nephews (photo of cute baby to come)

Thursday
- dental checkup (Photos to come!!!)
- Chilling at the Putticks and playing with very cute but spotty (chicken pox) god daughter (more photos!)
- awesome meal cooked by Ben (home made brandy snaps for dessert!)

Friday
- diving
- hair cuts (last in the UK!!!)
- heading out for dinner

Tomorrow....
Farewell party.

Photos of what we have done...

Martin and his mum on our walk.

Time with Parents

Who says you need to go abroad to have fun?

On Saturday us and both sets of parents went to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to watch the matinee of Romeo and Juliet. Really good, fun atmosphere. It felt more like a summer party in a garden than a trip to the theatre. The play was great, the acting superb, and the audience really up for enjoying the words of the great bard and watching a play that's essentially about hormonal teenagers.

Sunday was the great car boot sale. Great weather, great atmosphere, and we even made some money!

Today, we went for a walk in the Chilterns. If you want quintessential English countryside with beautiful hills, hay bales in the background, and just peace and quiet, head to Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire.

Tomorrow continues my obsession with all things Tudor, when my mother-in-law and I head to the British Library to see the Henry VIII exhibition. If only there was time for a visit to Hatfield House, my tudor lust would be quenched...

(no need to tell you who wrote this blog).

Stuff we've done...

Nicky and the talking cat - our current landladies.

Martin and I are now qualified first aiders - mothers yet another reason for you to sleep soundly at night.

We also spend a pleasant afternoon in Plymouth playing in Maria's new paddling pool, trying to explain to a 4 year old the concept of "back packing". She's very, very concerned about where we are going to sleep... "Will it be outside?".

Diving - Day 2

Kara and Kit are now qualified open water divers, and have a whole new range of near death experiences at their disposal. Unfortunately our camera doesn't work underwater, but here are some before and after shots. You'll have to take our word for it that we actually got wet!



The photo below shows the three of us, diving gurus Dave, Julia, Mel and Mark, plus fellow newbie Robin. It seems that diving is another one of those activities where the pub trip afterwards is almost as important as the dive itself.

Diving Day 1

Great weather - Martin even got sun burnt, which doesn't bode well for his delicate white skin in the Southern Hemisphere...it's okay concerned mothers, I've bought him factor 45 sun cream which looks like white emulsion paint when on.

True to form, I managed to spot not one but 2 endangered great crested newts on the bottom of the quarry. I should have been a hunter.

Dives 3 and 4 tomorrow... after that the next time we dive should be in South America... fingers crossed Dave (Dive instructor), Julia, Mel and Mark do come back tomorrow to teach us and weren't put off by our efforts today...!! They are inhumanly patient!

The year out begins today....

Today Martin finishes work! To celebrate this, I'm going to the pub with two friends who are visiting from Yorkshire while he goes on his leaving do!

It does feel very weird to think that neither of us now has a job or will do for the next few months. I've been working full time for 12 years now, and, frankly, am ready for a break. I've been earning money since I was 12 (6 if you count the exploitation of folding and delivering leaflets for a penny a leaflet... still scarred, still scarred) so to have NO income is a little disconcerting.

So, what are we up to before we leave on 1 Sept? A lot actually. I'm finishing my Open Water Diving course this weekend, then doing a First Aid Course on Monday, then going to Plymouth to spend time with my lovely god-daughter, then back to Bristol before on Thursday using the removal van of dad to cart the rest of our stuff back to storage or my parents' house... then a long weekend at my parents. It's okay, we'll chill out there once we've helped mum clear out the garage, strim the hedges, go to the car boot sale...!!!

The following week is equally full, seeing family, friends, dentist (oh okay, she is a friend too), then our leaving do...

Big thanks to Kit and Nicky for letting us live with them and their comedy animals...