Chewy Time!!

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Our two week trip to Canada was worth every penny.   It may seem strange to spend half of my year’s vacation to return back home but after 9 months it’s a fantastic break to see friends and family.  We lucked out some nice warm weather which helped make up for our very short British summer.   Our two weeks were packed with plans bouncing around visiting as many people as possible, however we also made sure to spend some quality time with Chewy including a nice canoe trip down the Thames.  It’ll probably be a while before we have plans to go back but September really is one of Ontario’s best months.  

My first proper Team Jolly!

Where we went...

Facebook Album

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   It really couldn't have gone any better, everything went just as planned and we somehow managed to get fantastic weather.   We came via coach bus on Friday morning, had a lunch buffet and played 7 events throughout the afternoon.  Our company got split up into 6 different teams each at one of 6 different events where we cycled after 30-45 min and they kept track of each teams score.   In the end, much to our teams surprise we managed to get first and got to enjoy a classic champagne celebration!  Afterwards we went back to our rooms to shower and change before dinner and a looong evening at the open bar.  The next morning with everyone properly hung over we crawled back into the coach and headed back home.  You'll notice it was a double decker coach which I've never been in before and eventually was very thankful to be getting out of as it ended up being known as the vomit bus. haha 

It was great fun, memories I'll never forget. :)

Our new home!

Where we live now... 

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Well we're finally settling into our new flat, just got the Internet hooked up again last Friday and were pretty much finished moving everything over now from our old flat via bus.  (we have until the 19th)   With our newly acquired bikes from our returned Canadian friends from King's Lynn I can ride to Blackhorse station in about 9 min.   The perks with the new place is the back yard, quiet streets and peaceful marsh trails just behind us.  Because it's a bit of a trip to the nearest station we managed to get it for roughly the same cost as our old place.  You'll notice in the first couple pictures all the wild blackberries,  there's so many growing everywhere on the trails that there's more than enough to eat even with people out picking them regularly.   Hopefully we can get a few more weeks of summer weather and get some more BBQ'ing in!

Durdle Door Car Ride

Link to Facebook Album

Where we went...

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Since it was the last weekend we could spend with our friends in King's Lynn before they head back to live in Canada again we decided to make the best of it.  After renting a car we drove out to see Durdle Door on the south coast of England.  Along the way we stopped at the small town of Bibury to enjoy a little of what the Cotswolds area offers.  We stayed over night at a place called the grove arms just outside of Shaftsbury so we could get up early and see Durdle Door before making the long journey back to King's Lynn.  The weather was great and the south coast is really beautiful!

Jon & Kim Weekend

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Friends from back home stopped by to see the sights of London before heading on north to Scotland.  It happened to be the hottest weekend that we'll likely see all year which was pushing temperatures of 31 degrees!...(we actually had to wear shorts!)  So Suz and I were able to go do some more touristy things like see Kensington Gardens and do the tour of the Tower Bridge.(and engine room)   On Sunday we all went out to Leicester Square to enjoy the atmosphere on World Cup night.   You can see in the last picture anyone who could find an angle where you could watch the game would hang around on the streets.  You would see strange patterns of people clustered around store fronts and pubs.    We did go and see a comedy show later in the evening while the game was still going which turned out to be the most personal show I ever hope to attend. We were the only ones who showed up which meant that of the 4 of us there were 3 comedians. It started out with just a stand up performance which alone was pretty strange as he had to morph his skit from English jokes to things that we would actually laugh at.   Then in the second part all three came out and we did interactive skits where ad-libing was the focus.   For a private comedy show it is stressful at first where obviously your the only ones they keep picking on but I have to admit there was no shortage of laughter.