Sun, Jun 25

Today we had a ride down to West Wickham in Kent to visit Margaret and Mavis, both of whom used to work with Dawn at Schiller London. They retired shortly after we moved to Florida, but kept in touch by letter, usually making us green with envy describing their weekly trips and journeys together.

After a chat at Mavis' house, where we downed a nice cup of coffee and biscuit, we headed to a local pub (The Railway) for a typical Sunday roast beef dinner. We had to cut the visit short though, as Paul wanted to be home by 4pm to watch England's World Cup match against Ecuador. Needless to say, he was pleased to see them get the win they wanted, even if the performance left a lot to be desired.

Sat, Jun 24

Today we headed back to Hertford to have a second look at one of the houses we viewed last weekend, before riding over to Harlow to check out a fairly new house in Church Langley. However, the trip to Harlow was a complete waste as we had already decided that we wanted the house in Hertford (see living room above).

We stopped for lunch in a local pub in Palmers Green after calling our mortgage advisor and asking him to do what he could to fast-track our mortgage application, as we wanted to make an offer on the house this coming week.

We then had a ride up to see Dad and George for a while. We obviously chatted about the house we wanted to buy, and England's upcoming World Cup match against Ecuador the next day. However, more important was Paul's brother David's latest health scare. He had just finished his schedule of chemo treatments to find out that he now needs heart surgery because he has a leaky valve.

Fri, Jun 23

This week had a mixture of blessings. On Monday, Paul started a new helpdesk controller in his office and missed out on going to the gym. He did return on Tuesday, but gave it a miss the rest of the week, taking a few days off so he could spend some time at home in the morning before heading out to work.

On Tuesday, Paul met with our mortgage advisor in Hertford and was pleased to leave with a mortgage certificate that shows we should be able to guarantee getting a mortgage in our needed price range. However, due to Dawn's brief period of employment, it also means we would have to wait five weeks before making a mortgage application if we find somewhere we want.

Towards the end of the week we tried to arrange some property viewings in Harlow (Essex) and at a house we liked in Hertford.

On Friday, we a visit to our hairdresser's around the corner from us to get our hair chopped off again.

Sun, Jun 18

Today we had a ride up to St Pancras & Islington Cemetery to visit Paul's mum's grave. Thursday (June 15) was Paul's mum's birthday (she would have been 80), and since we weren't able to get to the cemetary that day, we were pleased to get there today to leave some carnations for her.

Afterwards, we picked up Paul's dad and George and took them down to Brown's in Islington to meet Paul's other brother Phillip and his wife Jean (see above) so we could celebrate Father's Day. The six of us enjoyed a nice meal together and enjoyed catching up with each other, seeing as it was the first we'd seen Phil and Jean since just after we arrived back in March.

Sat, Jun 17

Today we drove back to Hertford to view some properties on the market. The first was a nice three bedroom terraced house. However, the whole house would need to be decorated from top to bottom if we went for this. Then we looked a vacant, chain-free two bedroom house. This had a great kitchen. Unfortunately the rest of the house would need decorating from top to bottom. Besides, we weren't very keen on seeing a mattress on the floor in one of the bedrooms with sheets just thrown back, and two half completed glasses of drink on the windowsill. The third was a very quaint terraced house (one of the houses in the picture above). However, this two bedroom house was just too small for us. Not to mention it too would need major decorating inside. This was a real shame as it was smack in the middle of town and in a perfect location for all the amenities, not to mention Paul's office, the local gym, and Hertford North railway station.

The last place we looked at we could move into without doing any decorating whatsoever. However, this Grade 2 listed, two bedroom maisonette was not for us. Firstly it was right next to a red light and off the main high street. Also, the rooms were connected with a warren of stairwells that would have been great for Tiny as a play area. But not as a home. Even Dawn had to duck down low to get into the dining area. Although the realtor did say we could get planning permission to remove part of the ceiling to make access easier.

Fri, Jun 16

Well, it's been another hectic and frustrating week for the two of us again. Paul had five days where problems were constantly coming out of the woodwork. He was asked to manage two more systems where procedures had been falling apart. On a positive note, Paul completed another week at the gym and was able to increase the distance he is doing on the treadmill.

Dawn, on the other hand, is still frantically trying to juggle the diaries of the three directors she reports to, while at the same time trying to accommodate the constant schedule of meetings that she is responsible for organizing for everyone. Her bright spot of the week was walking to Chapel Street on Thursday and having some pie and mash for lunch.

Paul's highlight was being able to watch England beat Trinadad and Tobago in the World Cup on Thursday. It was just a shame the perfomance wasn't as good as the result.

Sun, Jun 11

Sunday we drove over to Holloway to pick up Paul's dad and brother George and take them with us for another ride up to Hertford. There we all had a roast beef dinner at the Woolpack pub before driving past some more houses. Many were decked in English flags. However, none came close to the one we saw above in Cecil Road.

Sat, Jun 10

This week was all about work and exercise. We both had a busy week at the office. Paul also completed his first full week visiting the gym, while Dawn did some exercises at home before making her way out of the house in the morning to catch the train to work.

Saturday we had a drive up to Hertford to meet with a mortgage advisor to discuss getting a mortgage. We also drove by several two and three bedroom houses for sale in both Hoddesdon and Hertford to get an idea of what's on the market, and to get a feel for the neighbourhoods. The photo above is a vacant two bedroom house in Hertford. However, it does have three reception rooms and a nice looking kitchen. Then it was back home so Paul could watch England's victorious opening World Cup Final match versus Paraguay on television.

Sun, Jun 4

Today we had a ride up to Queen Elizabeth II race track in Enfield so we could do some laps around the track as part of our quest to run the marathon next year. However, when we arrived, we found out that it was closing down and that we couldn't get in. Instead we jogged (and walked) around the park opposite. The rest of the weekend was spent keeping Tiny company as she clearly misses us when we're at work all week.

Sat, June 3

Today our landlord paid us a visit, and we discussed our plan to move out and buy a house in the next couple of months. He was very helpful and agreed to allow us to stay a little longer if we couldn't tie it up by the end of the 6 month tenancy.

We then had a ride up to the Angel in Islington so Dawn could get some of her much loved Pie & Mash from Manzies in Chapel Street Market. This was followed by a walk around Borders bookstore before popping into Sainsbury for some groceries and then up to spend a couple of hours with Paul's dad and George.

Fri, June 2

Well, this was a pretty uneventful week. Monday was a bank holiday here in the UK, so we made the most of it by just chilling out with Tiny. Dawn and Paul had some hectic days at the office. Above is a picture of Paul's. Nothing out of the ordinary. Although Paul did have a full day of training on the TABS FM facilities management software on Friday.

Paul now has the morning gym as part of his normal routine. We wake up about 4.30am, and Paul leaves home about 5.45am and drives to his office before taking a ten minute walk to his gym. He then spends 30-45 minutes doing exercises, most of which is on the treadmill.

Paul also went to the doctor on Thursday to get his blood pressure checked. It was 138 over 104. Now he needs to have some blood work done. At least all these visits to the doctor and blood tests are free of charge!!!

We ended the week with a nice Chinese take-out. Well, to tell the truth, Paul ordered some from "Peking Peking" around the corner and it was delivered just as Dawn arrived home from work.