Wed, May 30th

Today after six months of aches and pains I finally got the chance to see a physio regarding my left shoulder. This was another example of the NHS. I may have had to wait for 6 months to see someone. But, it never cost us a penny. Plus, my visit next week is covered by my taxes, and any future visits too.

As for my shoulder. It appears that a sack of fluid that should protect the movement between tendons, cartilage and bone appears to have been damaged resulting in them rubbing together causing inflammation. I was told that with exercise I should be able to have the full use of my left arm again. It will just take time. After a little massaging and some exercises, my shoulder felt a little better.

Mon, May 28th

Today we enjoyed the last day of our long weekend. Dawn had her weekend video call with Brady, and as Michaela is staying with Brady and Jim at the moment we got the chance to see our niece for the first time since we were in St Augustine early last year.

The rest of the day was spent taking it easy while we still had the chance. I made a home made pea and ham soup before we chilled out in front of the television.

Sat, May 26th

Today was a long day for all three of us from Cecil Road. In Tiny's case, it was because we had left her alone in the house from a little after mid-day until a little after midnight. For many kitties, this may sound fine. However, Tiny is not used to being left in the house on her own when it's dark. She did well, though. Although we could tell that she was more than happy to see us when we got in.

As for the reason for being out so long on a Saturday. We got a train into London and visited with Dad and George before heading to the Royal Albert Hall to see Simply Red in concert. It was the fourth time Dawn had seen Mick Hucknall in concert and without a shadow of doubt the best concert of his she had seen. Even better than when we saw him at the Lyceum back in 1998 when we were right in front of the stage. This time we had a seat with a great view, the acoustics were perfect, and to wrap things up the 136 year old building literally rocked as the 8000 plus audience got to their feet for the encore that included everyone clapping their hands and dancing to "Fairground" and singing the chorus of "If You Don't Know Me By Now."

Fri, May 25th

Another busy week for the two Whites, with both of us eagerly looking forward to the long Bank Holiday weekend.

Dawn had a midweek dentist appointment that broke the week down. Unfortunately, it was a follow up to her check up two weeks ago and was for a filling replacement. The good news was that the cost of the two visits combined with the filling still came to a little over £40. Boy do WE appreciate the National Health Service. People may groan about taxes. But, we can assure you that this is far more reasonable than having to pay health insurance premiums PLUS out of pocket costs.

I had a nice surprise when I received a bonus from work. Everyone reached their targets recently, so I was rewarded for my contributions. It was a nice reward considering that I haven't been there three months yet, and am only halfway through my probation. As for how we are going to spend it, we'll probably put it towards the re-plastering job we need done on our bedroom. The less said about this the better.

Sun, May 20th

Well, it was an active day for us today, rather than being a day of rest. Dawn of course did more laundry loads before hanging most of it outside on the line to dry. She also cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed upstairs and down before doing the weekly ironing. I, in the meantime, took our cans, boxes and bottles over to the recycle centre in Ware.

When I got home, I then pulled up some weeds in the back yard, before doing the same in the front. I even trimmed the plants that had been overhanging the small wall and cleaned the path to the front door. I wasn't finished there either.

Once inside, I made a huge pot of chili, which will last about four meals. Made some burgers, so we can have them with eggs for breakfast this week. At the same time, I made some salmon patties so we can have them cold for lunch this week, and then finally made some jelly (gelatin, for you American readers) for our evening desserts. Next I edited a load of photos on the computer before calling Dad to check on him, and then finally sat down and started working on our Scotland diary. I am trying to finish it by the end of the month. So watch this space and look out for the link so you can read about our Highland exploits.

Sat, May 19th

Today we spent the morning running errands. First we drove into town, picked up my blood pressure prescription at the Co-op, bought some odds and sods for the home from Woolies and the local hardware store, got a couple of pens at WH Smith, and even helped out the local producers by getting some veggies and some stuffed olives at a couple of stalls in the street market. Next it was on to Morrisons in Welwyn Garden City for the weekly grocery shopping, before making it home just in time to down a quick salad before Dawn had her weekly video call with her mum at 1pm.

I of course plonked my butt in front of the television to watch the first ever FA Cup Final from the new Wembley Stadium. Watching the build-up, it dawned on me that it was 20 years ago this month that I was at the old Wembley Stadium with my eldest step-son Lee when Spurs lost to Coventry. That year I saw every FA Cup game we played, and even took Lee with me to the semi-final win over Watford in Birmingham.

After the match finished, I made some oven-baked nut-encrusted cod and haddock with some green beans. It tasted good.

Fri, May 18th

Thankfully this week is over with. Especially for Dawn who found out once she had walked to Old Street Station to catch her train that the damn station was closed due a power failure. Luckily she was able to make her way to Moorgate Station and catch a train from there. However, that just made her journey home today even longer than normal. She even had to change trains at Finsbury Park. I tried to make the evening start a little better by preparing some pan-fried salmon with fresh asparagus, baby courgettes, and cherry tomatoes.

As for work, it was a tiring week again. On a positive note, I was able to issue labour analysis figures to the department heads for the first time, and have worked out how to provide job costing figures for the first time too. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. As for Dawn, the less said the better. From the minute I pick her up until we walk in the door, she has plenty to say. The censor board, I'm afraid, has prevented me for repeating most of her comments.

Sun, May 13th

Today I celebrated my 46th birthday. Although I had an early call as Tiny wasn't feeling too good. She woke us both up early (about midnight), and had me up two or three more times before we finally got up for the day.

Dawn received a Mother's Day card from her little baby (it's Mother's Day in America). Then, when we got downstairs I opened my cards, and gifts from Dawn. I received a card from my brother Phil and his wife Jean (first in God knows how long), one from Brady and Jim, and one from our friend Judy in Florida. I of course got one from Dawn and Tiny, too. Dawn gave me a crystal candle holder from Ben Nevis, a tea bag holder, and a special mug. Of course, the best gift of all was herself.

Later we picked Dad and George up and had a nice birthday lunch at Brown's in Islington Green. Dad and George gave me a card each and some cash. It was nice to be able to spend today with Dad. It meant a lot to me. Oh yea, when we got to Dad's he gave us a large bag from my niece Denise that had a nice card and a whole collection of gifts for Dawn and me for our 10th anniversary. Denise and her boyfriend Ed dropped in to see Dad the weekend we left for Scotland. We were so disappointed that we weren't able to see them.

I ended the day sharing a chocolate cake with Dawn. Tomorrow we plan to get back on the South Beach Diet health plan. I think both of us have overindulged in our love for food a little too much recently.

Fri, May 11th

Well we survived returning to work after enjoying our ten day absence. However, I think both of us are the worse for wear. Dawn had more than enough meetings and appointments to re-organize and sort out. As for me, I returned to find out that one third of the previous week's timesheets had not been processed and the weekly manager's meeting did not receive its usual labour summary. This meant that I had to do my normal workload in a shortened week (they are needed by Wednesday), and complete the previous week's and review what was done. Friday evening could not come soon enough. As for the weekend, we plan to do our grocery shopping and household chores on Saturday, and then enjoy Sunday with Dad.

Scotland 2007 Photos

We have posted photos from our Scotland trip on a new website. Click on the link to the right (Scotland 2007 Photos).

At the site, click on "Scotland 2007" to display the individual photo sets, then click on each photo set you want to view. You will need to click on the "Detail" option to see narratives for each photo, otherwise you won't see narratives at all. (You also will NOT see narratives if you do a slideshow).

Enjoy and please feel free to make comments! We'll let you know when we publish the travel journal.

Sat, May 5th

Sorry that I haven't posted anything to our blog for the past week. Dawn and I drove to Scotland a week ago and stayed in a little cottage in a town called Onich, just south of Fort William in the Highlands. We had the BEST time. Especially seeing as we were celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. Yes, we took loads of photos and will post those soon. And we're even writing a holiday journal too (although that will take a little longer). At least anyone who is interested will be able to see the photos though. I can assure you there are some great shots. Dawn took most of them while I was driving. So keep an eye on our blog. The new photo website address will be posted here as soon as we can.