Wed, Oct 3rd

As part of the new fire project, we decided to move the thermostat from the wall next to the chimney breast to the wall in the old dining room between the living room and the kitchen. Following the problems I had changing the light fittings in the bedroom (due to the poor wiring), we decided to get the same electrician back to do it for us.

All seemed to go well until he drilled through the wall and hit neutral wire leading down the socket outlet connected to his power drill. Thankfully the circuit breaker worked and he didn't hit the live wire. He repaired the damage he'd made before finishing the job.

While this was going on, I was scraping the wallpaper off one of the walls that the plasterer was going to repair at the end of the week. I had already removed the decorative bricks that had been glued to the wall (instead of normal baseboards) the previous night.

Mon, Oct 1st

Today I was late in to work as our plumber came out to remove the toilet and radiator from the small room at the back of the house. We felt it was a waste of money heating the room, plus we wanted to use the room for storage instead. On the downside, we'll have to visit the bathroom upstairs in future. The plumber also removed one of the radiators in the living room so the plasterer due at the end of the week can plaster the wall.

Dad had an ultrasound while he was in hospital. Here's been in there eleven days now.

Sun, Sep 30th

Finished!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I finally finished the first draft of Leap of Faith. It's taken over ten weeks of writing every day, coupled with reading every email that Dawn and I exchanged in the three months before we met in New York, but it was worth it. Although, I have to admit there were times when I got very emotional writing about some of the events that we went through leading up to that fateful day. I felt like I was reliving each and every experience all over again. At times it was heartbreaking, but worth it.

As for the stats, over the last week I wrote over 46,000 words and completed over quarter of a million by the time I finished. The page count was an incredible 524. This means that when I sit down to edit the book it will take a very long time. However, that won't be until the middle of November. My next writing project will be writing a children's book for a competition that Dawn saw in the Sunday Times a few months back. I need to write it, edit it, and have it ready to go by the middle of November. Wish me luck.

Sat, Sep 29th

Today Dawn and I had errands to run and popped into town before doing our grocery shopping at the local Morrisons in Welwyn Garden City. While in town I had to pop into Specsavers to order some new glasses. Last week I had popped in to to get my eyes tested as I was having a problem with the VDU at work. Then, they quoted a price of nearly £300 for a set of verifocal glasses. Today, after we discussed the options in greater detail, I was able to get the price down to just under £200. However, they will not be thin and lightweight, or have an anti glare coating. I wasn't paying an additional £100 for features I didn't need.

Back at the house I then spent the rest of the day, and even night (up until gone 11pm), writing the first draft of my book Leap of Faith (provisional title). I set myself the target of the last day of September to complete it and I was still on course, just.

Thu, Sep 27th

Today was Dad's 80th birthday and he celebrated it in the Whittington Hospital. Dad was aware that I had been phoning the hospital every day to check on his progress, and calling George in the evening to see how he was doing. However, I decided to surprise him by taking half a day off work to go and see him and wish him a happy birthday in person. I had told him the previous Saturday that I wouldn't be able to make it during the week as I was too busy at work. However, as I thought he might still be in hospital and we weren't able to do something special for him, the least I could do was surprise him. He seemed to be pleased to see me. As he had every day George dropped in too. Phillip also took some time off work and made the trip with Jean as well. I think it was nice for Dad to have three of his sons visit him on his special day.

Wed, Sep 26th

Dawn had yet another trip to make today. This afternoon she visited the Guildhall in central London to attend an Emergency Planning conference. Although conference would be a slight exaggeration as there were only a couple of speakers. One being a work colleague of hers, which was why she attended.

As Dawn was late getting home, I decided to surprise her with a take out from a Chinese restaurant in Hertford, Paddyfields, that we hadn't tried yet. It was well worth the trouble. The Won Ton soup was the best Dawn had ever tasted, and the mussels in black bean sauce were excellent as were the salt and pepper chicken wings. The only down side was that none were really the ideal food for Dawn's sensitive stomach.

Tue, Sep 25th

Today Dawn stayed off work with a stomach complaint. It had been playing up for over a week, so she decided to see her GP. He gave her a prescription that seems to have eased the symptoms, if not cured the problem. She then spent the rest of the day on the computer typing out minutes for work that she hadn't been able to complete when she was in the office thanks to countless interruptions and the piles of other work she needed to do.

Sun, Sep 23rd

Called the hospital and George and both he and Dad seem to be doing fine. The hospital called George and asked him to bring up some slippers and Dad's glasses, so that sounded positive. When I called George later he said that Dad was sitting up, and even moaned at him that he had brought the wrong hangers up. That too was a good sign.

Dawn and I spent the day at home. Dawn was shattered from the week she'd had, and I spent the whole day writing. By the time I hung it up around 5pm, I had written over 9,500 for the day and had completed in excess of 200,000 words and over 430 pages.

Sat, Sep 22nd

Last night I called our hedge man and cancelled that so we could ride up the hospital to visit Dad. We had no idea how he would look, and to be honest were concerned because he did not sound at all well when I spoke to him Thursday evening. We ran out early to do our grocery shopping then swung by to collect George before making our way up the hospital.

We were both relieved to see him resting comfortably. The doctor came around earlier and was pleased to confirm that they had stabilised his heart problem, and got his fever under control. However, the bad news was that he had pneumonia. Hopefully they found out quick enough that it didn't become too serious. Dad seemed fine and was talking normally and sounded alot better than he did on Thursday, so that was a good sign. We gave him his birthday card (he will be 80 on Thursday) before leaving him to drop George home.

Fri, Sep 21st

Tonight I called Dad to check on him and got no answer. As he didn't sound too good on Thursday, I immediately called the Whittington Hospital and found that he had been admitted to the Recess ward. Several calls followed before I found out that he had gone there earlier in the afternoon with a fever and high pulse rate. Thankfully they had given him several ECGs and said that he wasn't having another heart attack. By 9pm they said that he had a cold and they were keeping him overnight for observation. George was with him and said he seemed okay.

Thu, Sep 20th

Again Dawn was out and about. I dropped her off at Hertford North around 5.15am so she could get a train into London to meet up with a work colleague at Paddington station. Together they then got a train to Bath University in the west country for yet another business continuity conference. She's a busy girl. By the time she arrived back shortly after 6pm, she was exhausted.

Tues, Sep 18th

Yesterday Dawn was again out of the house early as she had to attend a Business Continuity course. This time in Chiswick, on the west side of London. Thankfully it wasn't a real long day for her and she was home normal time.

Today we travelled together on the train as I had my periodical examination at our dentist in Winchmore Hill. All went well, I am glad to say.

Sun, Sep 16th

Today we just took it easy. I'll rephrase that. We stayed home and were busy. Once Dawn had finished reading the newspaper, she did some laundry, vacuumed the house, hung out the laundry, ironed my shirts for work, edited the Scotland diary, and still found some time to play with Tiny.

I, on the other hand, made grits for Dawn's breakfast (I had crumpets), grilled cheese toast for lunch, a large bowl of home made bean soup to freeze for dinners in the week, and then cooked a roast chicken for dinner. I also spent the best part of five or six hours writing our story. I have now completed 176,000 words and 370 full pages of text. I still have another two weeks to get to the end of October 1996, so should be able to finish the initial draft of the book by the end of the month.

Sat, Sep 15th

Today we had a ride (again by car) to see Dad and take him to the cemetery. Although we had been there last Saturday, Dad prefers to go there on the anniversary of when Mum was buried rather than the day she passed away. On the way back to his flat, the four of us, including George, dropped into the Flask at Highgate for lunch. The food was nice and the place was booming. Clearly the no smoking ban hadn't done any harm here. Admittedly virtually everyone was outside in the gorgeous sunshine.

Fri, Sep 14th

Today Dawn left work because she had an appointment at the "Doctors". As she was in town when I left work, we decided to try out the Thai Rack for an ethnic meal and see how their Red Chicken Curry compared to the one she gets at the Pride of Siam when she goes out for lunch with Tessa at work. It was good, but Dawn still preferred her usual curry from the restaurant in Exmouth Market.

Thur, Sep 13th

Today was one long work day for my poor wife. She needed to attend a Carbon Trust workshop at Nottingham Trent University and had an interesting day to say the least travelling there and back. First she needed to get a train from Hertford North to Stevenage. That was so she could get a train that went to Petersborough. And when she got to Petersborough she got another train that took her to Nottingham. But the fun didn't end there. Once she arrived there, she had to walk several blocks to catch a tram to the University. If that wasn't enough, in addition to having to make the reverse journey home again and not getting in the front door till nearly 8pm, each time she got off a train she had to stand around for over 20 minutes for the next train. She was not a happy camper when she got home. She was smiling even less when I reminded her that she has a trip to Chiswick on Monday and then Bath next Thursday, too.

Sat, Sept 8th

Today was the tenth anniversary of Mum passing away, so Dawn and I had a ride up to the cemetery to lay some flowers on her grave. I got pretty upset seeing the date in the marble stone and couldn't believe that it had been so long. When we got home, I continued to edit the Scotland diary and finally finished my edits. Now Dawn can get back on the computer and make my changes. You may be able to read it by the end of October if you're lucky.

Oh yea, today marked eighteen months since arriving back from Florida and yesterday was our first anniversary of the day we moved into Cecil Road.

Mon, Sept 3rd

I had a late start at work today as I had to wait in for someone from the fire showroom to check the gas run for the fire, a plumber to check the water leak that was damaging the wall between the living room and computer area, and an insurance surveyor to check on the damage caused by the said leak. The first and last visit went well, but the plumber wanted £300-£350 to re-grout some tiles and put some caulk around the shower base. I thought I could do it cheaper and said no thanks.

Sun, Sept 2nd

Even though it was a short week thanks to the bank holiday on Monday, we were both glad to see the weekend arrive. However, a leisurely ride on the train to see Dad on Saturday was sabotaged as we needed to drop into Jollyes along the way to get some litter for Tiny. It's not only the cheapest we can find, but Tiny prefers their brand of white crystals. As everyone knows, it's only the best for our Tiny.

Today was a day of rest with me working virtually all day on writing in one shape or another. Again, I spent several hours or more on our book before taking a breather to spend another couple of hours editing my copy of the Scotland diary. Dawn in the meantime had her weekly video call with Brady.

Mon, Aug 27th

Hurrah, it's a bank holiday and we didn't have to go to work today. However, we didn't have it all easy. Dawn did some vacuuming she neglected to do yesterday, not to mention some ironing and washing. I, on the other hand, prepared some bean salad for our lunches this week, and made a nice roast beef dinner, our first in ages. This was after we'd had an excellent Zucchini Carbonara last night, thanks to a new recipe we saw Jamie Oliver do on his new cooking show.

It wasn't all work and no play though. Yesterday we watched 'An Affair to Remember,' the classic Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr movie where they were supposed to meet at the top of the Empire State Building. And today we saw the George Clooney movie about McCarthyism called 'Good Night, and Good Luck.'

And I have also been writing every day working towards completing the first draft of my book about how Dawn and I met. It's been incredible re-reading all the emails we wrote to each other eleven years ago. As for the book, I am averaging over 3,000 words a day and have completed over 103,000 words (217 full pages of text). And I still have the whole month of October to go, not to mention our fateful weekend in New York.

Sat, Aug 25th

Today we headed out to St Albans to visit a gas fire showroom. As much as we like having an open fire where we can light our logs and listen to them crackle, it's just too much work keeping the damn fire clean, not to mention we can only use it while we're in the house all day. We really wanted something that we could use in the mornings before work and in the evenings, too. A nice gas fire would suit the bill perfectly. We left after placing an order to have one fitted in about five to six weeks' time. Unfortunately when we got home we noticed that it looks like we have another water leak. This time from underneath the shower. Needless to say, we're not looking forward to having to deal with this too.

Fri, Aug 24th

Today I completed my six month probation, and can now relax knowing I have a full time job and can't be shown the door with just seven days' notice. It's just a shame that I can't celebrate the fact. Instead I have a few months to wonder whether my company will be relocating and I'll be looking for another job by Christmas. Although the move looks likely at the moment, I am still holding out for the 'nothing is as expected as the unforseen' to happen, but don't hold out a great deal of hope.

In the meantime, I spent the week working on the labour analysis, covering for the purchase ledger clerk who was on vacation, doing management charts for the Financial Controller, and last but not least working on a proposal for migrating one of our information systems to another. I didn't seem to remember any of this in my job description when I started work there six months ago.

Wed, Aug 22nd

Following weeks of waiting, today we finally had the three piece purple light fitting removed from our bedroom ceiling and replaced by a ceiling fan and light. I came home from work early to be at the house for the electrician and ended up being home the rest of the day. At least it gave me a chance to do some more writing.

Sun, Aug 19th

After a day where we had spent most of the time out of the house, we spent Sunday at home with Tiny and she loved it. She spent most of the time resting on a Publix paper bag on the floor, or the couch behind me, while I was writing or while I was sitting on the couch watching the movie "Ice Storm" with Dawn.

Dawn was able to speak to Kelly for the first time in a month, and then had her weekly call with Brady.

As for me, I made some chili, and wrote, wrote, and wrote some more. I quit halfway through the afternoon to give my eyes a rest having completed over 75,000 words and 16o A4 pages of my first novel. I have now set myself a target of completing the first draft by the end of September so watch this space.

Sat, Aug 18th

Today we got out early and did our grocery shopping before the rest of mankind descended on Morrisons. We need to do that in future. Then after a salad for lunch we caught the train from Hertford North to Finsbury Park to see Dad and George instead of making the 40 mile round trip by car. It may have cost more than it would have in petrol, but it was certainly less stressful than making the trip by road.

While we were there Hayley called Dad and asked if it was okay for her to pop up to see him. We bumped into Hayley after we left Dad's on our way back to the station.

Back home, I continued to write our story, which I have now provisionally called 'Leap of Faith' because it described exactly what we did when we met in New York for the first time back in 1996.

Fri, Aug 17th

Dawn has had another week of problems with her daily commute to work, but not for the reasons she has become familiar with. On both Monday and Tuesday, I got held up in traffic on the way to pick Dawn up at the Hertford North station. What made matters worse was that I couldn't find out what caused the problem. On both occasions Dawn had to start making her own way home walking, while carrying some kind of injury in her foot. Thankfully I was able to meet her halfway home. Wednesday night I left 15 minutes early and sailed through in no time and had to wait 20 minutes for her train to arrive. On Thursday, there was another delay but Dawn's train was late, and on Friday I left ten minutes early and got out just before the traffic built up. Hopefully next week won't be so bad.

Sun, Aug 12th

We had another successful day working on the Scotland diary and our future best seller, Our Story.

Dawn sat on one chair with the laptop reading aloud while I called out the changes to the travel diary. Occasionally, we would be in fits of laughter, like when I fell down the stairs. However, you'll have to wait until we finish it before reading how that happened.

As for our story, I passed one hundred pages. I've now written in excess of 50,000 words and averaging 20,000 a week. It's got to the point where I'd rather be writing than going to work. Which is what I'd rather be doing anyway. Oh yea, as with the Scotland diary, you'll have to wait until it's completed and a bestseller. Which it will be. Just mark my words. I've always wanted to write and always wanted to be a writer, and for the first time in my life I actually believe it will happen.

Sat, Aug 11th

Bet won, bet lost. However, even the loser had something to celebrate this time. Dawn, after three months abstinence, finally gave in and went to a hairdresser and got her hair cut. She couldn't cope with spending quarter of an hour every morning fighting a battle with her hair that she felt she could never win.

So, with tail between her legs, she apologised for being so weak before dancing up and down having lost her curly waves.

Thu, Aug 9th

More fun at work for me. For the umpteenth time our systems were down again. No one could send or receive emails all day. The accounts department couldn't access Sage, so no invoices were posted or payments made. The Adeo system kept on disappearing as did the fileservers, so no one could access their documents. No one keeps their work on their desktops. All in all it was a waste. It's nice to know that in the 21st century we have advanced from books, ledgers and typewriters powered by finger tips instead of electricity.

Mon, Aug 6th

More fun at the White household. Over the weekend the sight of a few wasps in the kitchen had progressed to a dozen in the ceiling light fitting. A nice nest had formed in the brick vent that allowed ventilation to the loft and the wasps were being drawn into the kitchen by the light. I called around in an effort to find someone who could come out before Tiny caught one of them and got stung.

Luck was on our side as I found someone who could be at the house by noon. Unfortunately, he didn't arrive until half one. Then, once he had pumped poison into the brick, he informed me that he would have to smoke the pests out to guarantee success. Which by the way would cost twice what I was quoted at around £100. Left with no choice, I told him to go ahead and just do it. Thankfully we can report that the smoke did work.

Sun, Aug 5th

Today was even better than yesterday because, not only did we not have to go to work, we also spent the whole day at home. That is except for my trips to the Post Office down the road for the The Sunday Times, and Tesco in town for some baking soda.

The rest of the day was tied up with doing things we both love to do. Well, except for Dawn vacuuming and ironing that is. Dawn spent almost all her spare time reviewing and editing our Scotland diary. By the time she quit for the evening she had only a few pages left and would be able to complete it in the morning. I spent virtually all day on the laptop writing 'Our Story.' After finishing the Scotland diary, I finally settled into writing the book about how Dawn and I met eleven years ago. It's painstakingly slow, but I am getting there.

I also spent some time in the kitchen boiling pasta twirls to make tuna salad for my lunches this week, baking oatmeal muffins for Dawn, and prepped some fajita mix for this week. I also got some breaded turkey steaks ready for dinner, too.

Sat, Aug 4th

It's been a long time since we've looked forward to a weekend as much as this. Both of us had a rough week at work again. Although Dawn had a good review meeting, as I'd had a few weeks back, other issues at the work place made us both look forward to the sanctuary of each other's company and our home.

Even running up to the grocery store wasn't as bad for Dawn as normal. Especially as she drove the car to help her in her goal towards passing the second part of her driving test. Although she turned down the opportunity to drive to Dad's this afternoon. She hates the drive into London; thankfully she can tolerate being a passenger. As usual we enjoyed Dad and George's company before heading back to Hertford and steamed mussels and French bread for dinner.

Sun, Jul 29th

Following a wonderful meal last night, some may think I might have had a little to much to drink and had been suffering from the after effects of the night before. Especially when I allowed Dawn to use the gadgets she had picked up yesterday in John Lewis labeled, 'Haircutting for Dummies.' It was the plural of dummy that I didn't understand. If I was sitting in the chair while Dawn had the hair trimmer in her hand behind my back, who was the other dummy? I hoped to God it wasn't Dawn.

All joking aside, she did a pretty good job on me. And I didn't mean for that to sound the way that it came out. She did a good job cutting my hair, I should say.

The rest of the day was spent doing the usual weekend chores before settling down to watch the 'Da Vinci Code' on Sky Movies.

Just for the record, Dawn said she won't let me try out the trimmer on her hair as she ain't no DUMMY!

Sat, Jul 28th

What a long day. First we had to ride into Welwyn Garden City so we could do some shopping at the Howard Centre. I needed some new trousers and shoes for work. Dawn also needed a curling iron for her hair. She said that it's getting totally out of control and needs something to get it back in order. While we were there we also picked up some tops in M&S using the money Dad and George gave her for her birthday. After a quick bite at ASK (they had a pretty good Salad Nicoise), we dropped into Morrisons on the way back.

We then spent a couple of hours with Tiny before popping into town to celebrate our anniversary. Monday will be 11 years since Dawn responded to my email looking for penpals on an MSN bulletin board. (Which by the way, having finished the first draft of the Scotland diary, is the subject for my first book to be published called 'Our Story.' Well that's what it's called at the moment.).

Anyway, we had a nice Chinese meal at Peking House and talked about all the things we had done over the last 11 years. It was amazing how many things we covered. It certainly proved that "Nothing is as certain as the unforeseen. " No one could have predicted that a simple email from Dawn saying "Write back and we'll chat some more" would lead us to where we are now.

Mon, Jul 23rd

All weekend she had been leaning over the keyboard and mouse on our computer at home taking mock test after mock test in preparation for the theory part of her driving test. And, to be honest, she wasn't that confident that she'd pass. But we all knew Dawn better than that. I dropped Dawn off at Hertford North on the way to work this morning and spent the next couple of hours anxiously waiting for a text message on my cell phone to tell me how she'd done at the Driving Centre in Stevenage. I didn't have to wait too long though. Shortly before 10.30am I received a brief message saying "I passed."

I called Dawn as soon as I got a chance and not only did she pass, she did excellent. She got 100% (35 out of 35) on the multiple choice section and 84% (63 out of 75) on the more difficult hazard perception test. Now for the practical part. Well done, Dawn!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sun, Jul 22nd

Today we both continued where we left off yesterday. I got my nose stuck into Harry Potter while Dawn continued to read the highway code, and take some mock tests on the computer using a CD that I had bought her six months ago.

After lunch we took a little break and had a ride up Holloway to see Dad and George for a couple of hours before returning home to continue where we'd left off earlier in the day.

Around 6pm, with my eyes a little moist from reading the penultimate chapter of Deathly Hallows, I finished my marathon weekend reading session. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and best of all I did not have it spoiled by reading something in the media.

Over the next 40 minutes I then rushed around the kitchen making the evening dinner, and putting together a tuna bean salad for our week's lunches. Dawn had a telephone appointment with Brady so I was up against the gun to get it done in time.

Oh yea, when we went to bed Dawn was again reading her highway code. As for me, I picked up another book. This time I was reading Bill Bryson's autobiography Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.

Sat, Jul 21st

Today was Harry Potter Day. My copy of the much eagerly awaited final book in the Hogwarts series arrived at 7.50am. The postman, whose face was void of smiles, could have been Servius Snape himself. But, then again, his job for the day was delivering copies of the book. Another postman delivered our regular mail an hour later.

Needless to say, my whole day was devoted to reading the book. Apart from doing our weekly grocery shopping at Morrions in Welwyn Garden City. Dawn, on the other hand, did some of the weekend chores and called he sister Kelly in Greenville, SC, before she got stuck into learning the highway code. Monday she has the theory part of her driving test so she was doing her usual eleventh hour cramming.

Mon, Jul 16th

Today was Dawn's birthday and despite her having to go to work I tried to make it a memorable one.

When we got up she opened her gifts and cards. Brady and Jim gave Dawn a book and a couple of CDs. One was a Bruce Springstein double album, the other Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I too gave Dawn a couple of books, a blouse, a pair of pyjamas, and a small Hertford plate to put on our bookshelf alongside the anniversary ones from Cambridge and Scotland.

However, Dawn's biggest surprise welcomed her when she got home. I'd left work early today so I could make this evening a little more special. First I picked up some more rounded pebbles for the front yard, then I fixed her Daddy's picture frame (The Pink Lady) and touched up the woodwork before hanging it on the wall again. Then I touched up the paint work around the light fitting in the bedroom that Dawn had been waiting for me to finish.

In the kitchen I placed a nice bunch of flowers in a vase on the counter, and on the stove were some fresh mussels for dinner. I'd never cooked them before. But they're one of Dawn's favourites so I thought I'd give it a try. Last but not least I'd bought her a brownie for dessert.

Oh yea, I also printed out the Scotland diary. I had promised her I'd finish it by today, so it wasn't right that she couldn't read this too.

Happy Birthday, Dawn.

Sun, Jul 15th

Today was a red letter. And not because Dawn called Jim Kerr to wish him a happy "Zimmer Frame" birthday. No, today, as I had promised Dawn a week ago, I finished our Scotland diary. Well I should qualify that by saying the first draft of the Scotland diary. All 47 pages, 28735 words. It's a mini book. But at least it'll mean we'll never forget the great time we had.

I also found time to get into the kitchen to make a pot of Spaghetti Bolognese and some oatmeal muffins. Then it was up to the bedroom to wrap Dawn's presents for tomorrow. But, you'll have to wait until then to see what she got.

Oh yea, we also hung our wedding photo back up in the bedroom. It looks so much better now that we've have the room plastered and painted. Notice the white shirt on the corner of the bed? That's for Tiny. Every night when I come home from work I lay my work shirt there so Tiny can lay on it. Not only does she lay on it then, but it's where she lays when we go to sleep at night, too.

We also loaded some more photos to the Flickr website if you want to check them out. See link to the right.

Sat, Jul 14th

This morning we ran out to do some errands. First it was to Jollye's in Crews Hill to pick up three bags of litter for Tiny. It's the only place we can get the one she likes. So, while we were there, we dropped into the Morrisons at that end to do the weekly grocery shopping instead of coming back to Welwyn Garden City.

When we got home I spent most of the rest of the day writing the Scotland diary. Dawn did bits and pieces around the house before talking to both her sister Kelly and mom Brady.

We then popped into town to celebrate Dawn's birthday a couple of days early. We had a brief walk around before she decided on having some Indian at Shahenshah Indian Cuisine. We enjoyed the food and ambiance of the place a lot more than we did Bollywood's back in February. Then it was back home to let the food go down before calling it a night.

Fri, Jul 13th

Another long week came to an end today with us moving a little more forward. Yesterday I had my first review meeting at work and was told that my bosses were happy with me. That's something to be pleased about. We also had an electrician call by and give us a quote to replace a ceiling light with a ceiling fan in the bedroom. We had hoped to have a quote from a gardener to trim our hedge in the back yard. But he didn't turn up. I also updated our family tree on Rootsweb and have now entered over 500 names. If you want to check it out, the link is on last week's posting.

My great-great grandmother : Eliza Umpleby

Here's a photo of my great-great grandmother Eliza Umpleby. She was born February 22nd 1850 in Ripon, Yorkshire to Thomas Umpleby and Esther Brooks, and was one of eight children. She married John Lynch, an Irishman who came to Yorkshire from County Clare around the 1850s due to the potato famine. The two were married on January 10th 1869 in Stammergate, Ripon Yorkshire and had 12 children.

Their eldest, Mary, moved to Ealing in west London probably around the early 1890s where she met George White who had also moved there. In his case, from Odiham in Hampshire where he'd been born on March 27th 1870.

The two were married December 5th 1893 at the local Parish church. My grandfather, John George White, was born two months later at 19 Venetia Road, Ealing, followed by his brothers Hubert and Edward.

After the turn of the century, the family moved to Holloway, which was where my grandfather met my grandmother Adelaide Cooper. They were married Christmas Day 1926, and my father was born almost 9 months later to the very day.

Dad was an only child, but he made up for it when he met and married my mother, Annie McDonagh on December 22nd 1951. They had four boys, George, Phillip, David and me.

Sun, Jul 8th (pm)

After utilising Dad and George's assistance in getting our fence up. we had a ride into Hertingfordbury to visit St Mary's Church. We wandered around the headstones looking for one with either Cooper or Furr inscription. My great-great-grandparents (Eli William Cooper & Lavinia Furr) were married there in May 1873 and we were hoping to find a grave or two of interest.

Then we walked inside and fell in love with the typically quaint-looking country church. The tower may have been rebuilt in the 1880s, but a church has been on the site for around 800 years. There were several old tombs and plaques of dignitaries from the past. However, it was the stained glass windows, wooden beams, and small alter at the end of the naive that really won our hearts. I bet the church looked wonderful for Eli and Lavinia, and was a beautiful venue for them to consecrate their love for each other.

Sun, Jul 8th (am)

Wimbledon is coming to a close and we thanked our lucky stars that we didn't get any rain yesterday. We popped into town, and then did some grocery shopping at Morrisons in WGC. Back at the house, I then removed the water pump and water-filled rectangle box from the front yard before laying some small round pebbles in its place and all around.

Today we finally resurrected our fence partition between us and our next door neighbour. We had a ride up Holloway to pick up Dad and George before bringing them back to Hertford to give us a hand. As you can see from the picture, it was a family affair as the three of us got the three pieces into place. Dawn of course had the camera to capture the event for posterity.

Sun, Jul 1st

Today we planned to pick Dad up and have a ride into Hertingfordbury to visit the church that our ancestors were married in during the 1870s. We were also going to fix our fence after six months. However, as the weather forecast was so bad we decided to postpone it until next week. Guess what? The weather turned out fine.

Instead I did more research online into the family tree and found out that my grandfather was living with his grandmother and step-grandfather (Nathaniel Hatcher) in Odiham, Hampshire instead of with his parents in Ealing. The reason this intrigues me is that as the eldest son I always thought it odd that he did not receive property from his father in his will when his two younger brothers did. Well, in 1901, not only was he not with his parents, but an uncle of his and one of his dad's cousins were living with his dad instead. My grand father's age at the time was seven years old. Go figure.

Oh yea, here is a link to him on the web:
http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=pjw_tree&id=I010
Have fun looking at where we came from!

Sat, Jun 30th

It's been another hectic week at work for the two of us, and we were glad to make it to the weekend. Today we ran over to Welwyn Garden to pick up the bedroom skirting boards, and then onto Morrisons to do the weekly grocery shopping.

We then went home and after lunch I installed the skirting boards while Dawn did the laundry and vacuuming.

Once we got down to relax, I continued to update our family tree stuff into Family Tree Maker and load it on the net. I'll post the website address in Sunday's entry.

Sun, Jun 24th

Our bedroom finally looks like a bedroom instead of a war ravaged scene. For the last 9 months we have slept in a room where one of the walls and part of the ceiling had plaster damage as a result of me ripping out one of the fitted wall cupboards. Well, as you will know, last weekend we had a plasterer fix the damage and plaster over all the walls and the ceiling. That in itself made the room look 100% better. Well, today we moved the bed into the spare room again and with roller and brush I attacked the room with a pot of white emulsion. Now the room looks nice and clean. What a difference. All we need to do is put down some new skirting boards (baseboards) and find some new curtains and we can celebrate another room completed. It's just a shame that the rest of the house needs to be done, too. Watch this space for further improvements to our little home in Cecil Road. Unfortunately, you'll be watching for quite a while as we have plenty to do.

Sat, Jun 23th

Today was chore day again. We headed into Hertford town centre to do some errands, popping into Woolworth, the Co-op pharmacy, WH Smith to play the lottery (surprisingly we'd won £10 that we didn't know about), and Boots pharmacy. Then we headed over to Welwyn Garden City to pick up paint stuff for the bedroom and our groceries at Morrisons.

Back home Dawn did laundry and cleaning. She even found time to cut my hair. This was the first real cut I'd had since the hairdresser at Supercuts butchered my hair back in April. From now on Dawn will try and keep it under control. She shouldn't have too much of a problem as it's not really growing like it used to.

Fri, Jun 22th

Success on the family tree work. Following our visit to North Warnborough the other weekend, I have been trawling the net to try and find information about the White family in Hampshire. Well, through luck more than judgement, I have found out some more interesting stuff.

Firstly, I have been able to find out that my great-great grandad married someone called Emily Herridge. This had been a problem for me as two official records had her name as Merridge and Horridge. However, I'm confident that she was really a Herridge. What made this awkward to research was that she was the illegitimate daughter of Lucy Herridge who later married George Simpson. A half sister of Emily's later lived in Ealing before the turn of the century (1900) in the very same street that my grandad was born in. George Simpson was also a dairyman in the same area.

It's amazing how every direction I look in brings me back to milk. Emily Herridge, who married George White in 1869, remarried again after he passed away in 1889. Her second husband, Nathaniel Hatcher, also had ties to the dairy trade. One day hopefully I will be able to find the connection.

Sun, Jun 17th

Father's Day - Started the day by receiving a card from Dawn and Tiny. I also got a little ornament of a bear with Dad on it. Then, after breakfast of fried porridge and grits, we headed to Islington Cemetery to lay some flowers on Mum's grave. It was her birthday on Friday. I could have taken time off work and gone on my own (Dawn had to stay home because of the plasterer). But, seeing as we were going that way today to see Dad, we went today instead.

At Dad's we gave him a Freeview box and aerial, so he can watch up to 30 television channels. At present he can only see 5. I then copied a spreadsheet onto his laptop which had all the family tree stuff that I had been researching. It went back about 8 generations on both his mother and father's sides.

We then had a ride to the Gatehouse where we met my brother Phillip and the five of us (Jean stayed in Rainham to visit her dad's grave instead) had a nice meal and chat before we dropped Dad and George home and Phillip headed back to Essex.

Fri, Jun 15th

Today Dawn took the day off work to let our plasterer in to fix our bedroom. The walls and ceiling had been in a pretty bad shape since I pulled down one of the fitted cupboards. So to say we were pleased to get the walls repaired at last was an understatement. The guy arrived about 9.00am and didn't stop until around 6.30pm. He worked all day solid. But, by the time he left the room looked 100% better. However, he advised us that due to the damp in the room we should leave the windows open and sleep in a different room. This meant that we had to cram the bed into the spare room. This we did, and (pardon the phrase) we didn't have room to swing a cat. Needless to say, neither Dawn, Tiny nor I got a good night sleep. At least the bedroom looked ALOT better.

Mon, Jun 11th

Follow up to the problem with the wall light in the bedroom. You will be pleased that after picking up a switch today in town I was able to reconnect the electricity and lights this evening and now have it working. We just need to find an electrician to sort out the ceiling fan now.

Sun, Jun 10th

Today we picked Dad and George up and did a 160 mile round trip to North Warnborough/Odiham in Hampshire to do some genealogy. Dad used to tell me as a kid how he used to go down there and visit his Aunt Emmy with his dad back in the 1930s and during the second world war. So, we headed out early to see if we could find the house he used to visit. The drive took about an hour and a half, and when we got to Odiham we couldn't find a house that Dad remembered, or a house that looked like the one that a local historian sent us a photo of a few years back. Dad suggested that we try looking in Hook. So we drove the half a dozen miles and checked this out, too. This was when our luck all changed. I bought a local map in a newsagents in Hook and we immediately saw landmarks that Dad remembered. In particular a castle and stream. So we headed back to North Warnborough and on immediately entering the town for the second time I saw the house in the picture. We parked the car and walked back to check it out. In the window was an elderly man looking out. So, I made my way up the garden path and introduced myself and see if he could be of any assistance. We hit gold. After a brief chat he informed me that Emily White (Dad's aunt Emmy) lived in the Thatched Cottage next door. Unfortunately, she moved out during the war without leaving a forwarding address. The cottage, which was built around 1445, had been obscured by trees. But, Dad was pleased once we saw it. He was also delighted to see that a little bit up the road was the stream he kept mentioning and the pub across the road from where Aunt Emmy lived. We decided to have lunch there, The Jolly Miller, before heading home feeling so pleased for Dad. We later found out that the old man that helped us lived in a house, The Albion, that my great-great-grand parents used to live in way back in the 1890s.

Sat, Jun 9th

What a day. This morning we ran our usual weekend errands. Then this afternoon I tackled three electrical jobs in our bedroom so the walls and ceiling would be ready for plastering on Friday. However, things didn't work out as planned. First, I chased out part of the wall behind where the bed is so I could install a single wall light to replace the two we had. Did everything I was supposed to and then turned off the electricity to upstairs lights at the fuse board so I could disconnect the supply to the old lights and connect it to the new cable and new light. Problem number one was that whoever installed the lights connected them to the sockets circuit, not the lights circuit. So I had to turn off all the sockets in the house and do the wiring in the loft by flashlight instead.

Second problem was that when I connected the new dimmer switch to the light it blew. This resulted in the light staying on permanently. So I had to disconnect the light completely. As for replacing the ceiling light, there were three twin and earth connected to three connector blocks inside the light rose. I decided pretty quickly, as I couldn't tell which cable went back to the switch, to forget this job and get a qualified electrician to do it. Especially as the wall lights had been connected to the wrong circuit. The final job was a complete success. But, disconnecting an electrical socket that was three quarters up the wall WAS the easiest of the three tasks.

Wed, Jun 6th

Back to the physio again today. My shoulder's mobility and movement range has improved since my first visit. However, at the cost of more pain. I'm not complaining, as it's not too bad. I'm more relieved that I can move my arm more than I have been able to the last 6 months. It's still only about one fourth what I can do with my other arm. But, hopefully in time, and with exercises, I'll get there.

Sun, Jun 3rd

We had a hectic and busy weekend again. Yesterday we had a ride up to Welwyn Garden City to do our groceries and have a look in B&Q for some light fittings for our bedroom, and ordered a couple of fence pieces for our back yard. Back home, I spent most of the time on the computer.

Then today Dawn had her weekly video call before doing the weekly chores. I then spent a couple of hours scraping wallpaper from our bedroom wall. All I need to do is one more wall, and then replace the ceiling light with the new fan-light fitting we bought yesterday. We still need to find some replacements for the ones on the wall. Hopefully we'll be able to do them before the end of the weekend.

I also made some monster muffins for us. I baked a dozen or so for lunches and breakfast this week.

The day ended with a call to check on Dad and then an hour or so chilling out in front of the television. By which time we were both ready for bed, but not looking forward to the week ahead.

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.

Thur, Apr 26th

Newsflash. Once again Dad nearly had a heart attack tonight. Well, that was his response to seeing my neice Denise and her boyfriend, Ed, on his front door today. The two dropped in unannounced on a quick trip from Dublin. Denise had told him that she had hoped to be in London for a few days in May, but preferred to drop in and surprise him instead.

Dad called me to give me the news, and Denise called an hour or so later to say hi. Denise and Ed plan to go to the London Zoo, Madame Tussuad's, Mum's grave, and of course plans to spend as much time as she can with Dad, too.

I asked how my brother David was doing and he appears to be progressing well with his physiotherapy, following his heart surgery a few months back. Rita, my sister in law (or Happy Feet, as they call her) is still waiting for her foot surgery. And my nephew David is planning to travel to California later this year with his girlfriend. So he too seems to be doing well despite his lung problems.

Wed, Apr 25th

A busy week for the two of us at work so far. However, Dawn had a little respite today when she met some ex-work colleagues from Schiller at Caprini's near the the school campus in Waterloo Road for lunch.

Dawn meets up with Mavis and Margaret every few months so they can all catch up on how life has treated them. M&M, who are both retired, usually go out travelling every week to see somewhere new. Which is why one day they decided, as usual on the spur of the moment, to jump on a bus and have a ride to the Homerton Hospital in Hackney. Their opinion of the well-known local landmark: 'There was quite an odd assortment of characters there.' Yes, that would be the place.

As for me, I came home to spend my lunch with Tiny and had my usual ham sandwich.

Tonight I called Dad to see how his week was going. Again, he had been to the Whittington for his weekly blood test. On Monday, he went out with George and picked up the St George first day cover.

Sun, Apr 22nd

Today we had a ride up to Holloway and took Dad and George out for lunch at The Landseer, a pub a short walk from their flats, where Dad and George have lived at number 14 for 45 years, and within the same block (I was born at number 24) for over 50 years.

We all had a roast meal. Dad, being the odd one out, choosing the pork instead of the beef. The food was okay, but we really went for the company. Dawn always says that you get the best roast dinners at home. Although they did have some sad news. George's neighbour friend, Sue, died yesterday from some kind of kidney renal failure at the age of 40 years old and leaving behind an 8 year old child. It came as a real shock to us. Sue had been a great help to George when Dad was in hospital earlier this year.

Then we went to the butcher of Chapel Market. We popped into Supercuts and got a scalping. Dawn went first and got the shortest haircut of her life. The guy cutting her hair didn't seem to understand what she meant by a dry cut. As for me, it was worse. I asked for the same style with about 3/4 inch off. Instead he did my whole head the same and left me with less than 3/4 inch on my head. This means that my scalp is now my overpowering feature as it shines through the thinly covering strands of loose hair.

Sat, Apr 21st

Things did not go too well today. We got up early so we could run some errands, get our haircut, do the grocery shopping, and do a whole string of things at home.

Well, we were in Hertford town by 9am. We dropped into Boots for much needed dental stuff, popped into WH Smith to pick up a couple of maps, looked unsuccessfully in Woolworths for a cooler, bought some cards in Clinton's, and also got some cash from the ATM at the Halifax. All by 10.15am in time to get our haircut at A Head of Time. However, this is where things started to go wrong. Our hairdresser, Kelly, called in sick so she couldn't cut our hair. And just for good measure, the other hairdresser was fully booked so we couldn't get her to do it for us either. Rescheduling was not an option as we already have plans the next two Saturdays and would have to wait 3 weeks before they could fit us in. The answer was Supercuts. But I'll come to that next time.

We did the grocery shopping in Welwyn Garden City as usual, and then headed home for lunch. Dawn then got busy doing stuff around the house (including three wash loads), while I watched Spurs grab a very late equaliser against Arsenal in the 5th minute of injury time.

Fri, Apr 20th

Well, I'm glad this week is over. Tonight was my office night out on the town. We'd decided to have a drink at a local pub in Hertford, but I cried off because I had too much to do. On the way home Dawn and I picked up a Chinese take-away to save on cleaning, too.

As for work, I had a another weird week. I did several reports using SQL, which made my labour analysis reporting for the managers meeting a lot easier. However, the training I had set up for the ADEO system was cancelled when Atlantic Global contacted me to tell me their trainer was sick. Instead, I find out that we have a fifth piece of software called MOA that we should consider using as an all singing, dancing package. Not only did I not know about this stuff, but I didn't know that we were using it along side ADEO, PSI, EMP and AMP!

And, for the record, Dawn too was happy to close out another week.

Tues, Apr 17th

Guess what? I checked the desktop's network settings this morning, changed one option in the IP filtering screen, and presto we had Internet access again. However, this was just as Dawn was going out the door to work. So, she didn't have a chance to do her morning email to Brady. At least we're back on track again.

Mon, Apr 16th

Well today was no better than yesterday. I got to work, and now my email was down at work which meant that I couldn't receive time sheets I needed. Last week, I received all but a couple by the end of the first day's work. This week, I was left needing about 40% still. And, as for the router problem at home, it was still not resolved.

So, when Dawn and I got home from work, I set about trying to solve the problem again. Once again I called BT and ended up talking to a call centre in India. After about three quarters of an hour, of which 30 minutes I was telling the so-called expert what needed to be done, I was finally put through to someone who knew what they were talking about. We spent over half an hour checking and changing settings and finally my laptop could access the Internet. Unfortunately, the desktop couldn't. At this point BT said "Well, your router's okay now. You need to get a computer expert in to look at the desktop." I could have screamed. However, according to Dawn, I had already been shouting!!! Give me strength.

One other footnote. I finished reading Skelling by David Almond. That brings my total to books finished reading this year to 25!

Sun, Apr 15th

A very traumatic day to say the least. It started well, but by tea time I was ready to pull my hair out. First thing I did after we'd had breakfast and a shower was set up a small wireless network so I could transfer data between the two PCs and hopefully use the new backup device and printer connected to the desktop. I copied a month's worth of photos to my laptop, and felt pretty good. By the way, I will be updating the Yahoo site with some new photos in a few days.

After lunch, I watched the Wigan-Spurs game on Sky Sports and this was when it all started to go wrong. I know we did well to get a draw out of the game after falling behind three times. But, we need to be beating these types of teams if we want to challenge for trophies, etc. Dawn in the meantime had her weekly video call with Brady.

Then things turned sour. For some odd reason, probably because of what I had done earlier in the day, we could no longer access the Internet or receive or send emails. I spent what must have been about 2 hours trying to change settings to solve the problem before spending another hour and a half on the phone to a BT call centre somewhere in India. Their solution at the end of the call was to turn the router off for eight hours and check it again in the morning.

Sat, Apr 14th

We left the house early today to have a ride over to PC World in Harlow to get the techies to look at a problem I had with my laptop battery. While there we did our grocery shopping at the local Tesco for a change.

Back at the house, we spent several hours cleaning and moving odds and ends around. Dawn got our bookcase filled with our ornaments and stuff, while I moved the furniture around in the spare room and put our photo albums on the bookcase in there. All the while Tiny kept me company sitting on her wicker chair watching what was going on.

We both felt exhausted from all the hassle, but the place looked a lot better by the time we finished. Unfortunately, we're not even into one tenth of what needs to be done around the house.

Fri, Apr 13th

Dawn had another work at home day as she had to visit our local hospital in Welwyn Garden City for her recent examination results. The good news is that they came back all okay. She can also contact the hospital again within the year if she has a problem, and then after the 12 months will need to contact her GP for a referral. In addition (not best of all, because Dawn's health was best of all), her half a dozen visits to the doctor and hospital over the last three months for consultations and exams did not cost us one penny. Who says that socialised health care sucks?

As for me, I had my best day at my new job since I started. I practised using SQL all day and by the time I left for the day I had resolved a bug in a report that our credit controller was using, and generated a new report that will speed up one of my tasks, too.

One other note is that I finished reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. That means that I have now read all 6 in the series this year and can now be one of the many millions eagerly awaiting the finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Thur, Apr 12th

Today was a red letter day for me at work. Jackson, who is not really our IT guy, finally gave me full access to our time and management database called ADEO. This means that I can now start to do my job. Up until now, I have not been able to review or investigate much of the information in the system as the few reports that are there don't really help me. The down side is that I need to learn SQL so that I can start writing reports of my own. But, I've been here before, so it's not going to be a big problem.

Tues, Apr 10th

Today Dawn stayed at home while it was the turn of the painter to work on our living room ceiling. By the time I returned home from the office at lunch, the work was complete and we could start getting back to normal. Our ceiling looked 100% better with the flat ceiling, than the previous artex one.

Tonight we spent a good couple of hours moving furniture around and organising our stuff again. I moved the desktop computer down into the dining area, now that we had moved the table into the living room. We moved a bookcase up to the spare room, and a second next to the television. It really opened the rooms up and made better use of the living room. Now we just need to get our photo albums and ornaments back on the shelves.

Mon, Apr 9th

My last day of my long weekend, and I had to make a special trip to the local Kwik-Fit shop to get a new tyre and have all four wheels' tracking and balance checked. That was over one hundred pounds that we didn't budget for, and didn't really want to have to fork out. At least it's done now, so we can feel somewhat happier that they'll be okay when we head north on our long drive to Scotland in a few weeks.

Back at the house we just took it easy and relaxed. I'm now onto book six in the Harry Potter series. So no doubt I will be one of those eager readers awaiting the release of the final episode when it's released in July. Dawn has been reading a couple of John Grisham books, although at the moment she is reading a biography I bought her for Christmas on Bono.

Sun, Apr 8th

Today I drove over to Dad's in Holloway to pick him and George up and bring him back to our house for dinner. Being as we're still on our South Beach Diet, we had to be creative to avoid piling on the carbs. We did it by having some sweet potato mash, greens and steamed cauliflower with a roast leg of lamb. We did, however, pile on some sugar when we had some chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert.

While Dad was here, I spent a good few hours helping him set up his new laptop. Best of all, I was able to scan in a photo of Mum using his new all-in-one printer, then set it up as his desktop background. The biggest surprise of the day was when he showed me a family tree that my daughter Hayley had done for him a couple of years ago. It seems that my great-great grandparents were married at a local church around the corner from us in Hertingfordbury. We pass St. Mary's church every time we do our weekly grocery shopping and can't wait to check it out now.

The downside of the day was that we got a flat tyre as we arrived back at Dad's flat. Luckily we had a spare one in the boot. However, it now means that we have to get this replaced pretty damn soon.

Fri, Apr 6th

Good Friday and no work for us today. However, it didn't mean that we could spend the whole day in bed. No, I had to be traditional and have hot cross buns for breakfast. And for me, tradition means going to a local bakers and buying some extra fresh buns. Dawn, although she likes hot cross buns, preferred something closer to her original home for breakfast. Yes, she had a nice hot bowl of cheese grits. Plus one of my hot cross buns heated in the oven with a knob of butter.

We then popped upstairs to our spare room and looked at some Scottish cottages on the Internet. Dawn had done all the hard work yesterday doing hours of research on where we can stay when we visit the Highlands later this month to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. It didn't take long for us to agree on a three bedroom cottage with a view of Loch Linnhe. We checked to make sure they would accept Tiny and then emailed confirmation of our booking.

Thur, Apr 5th

Dawn has been spending the last three days enjoying some time away from the office, while I have been slaving away at my desk. However, it hasn't been all fun. On Tuesday she went to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Welwyn Garden City for an ultrasound. It appears to have gone well, but she'll know more next Friday when she goes back for the results.

Then on Wednesday she stayed at home while a couple of builders took down the damaged ceiling boards in the living room and put some new ones up. On Thursday she waited in while a plasterer called by to plaster the whole ceiling. However, we'll have to wait until next week before it's painted.

Sun, Apr 1st

After an uneventful day, we are exhausted after a busy Sunday. Dawn started the day by reading the Sunday Times before completing a couple of emails to her mother and sister. I in the meantime got stuck into reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'd finished two books last week, making this my 23rd of the year.

Anyway, Dawn then did a load of laundry and hung it up to dry outside (see photo). Then we moved all our photo albums, books, etc and the computer and printer upstairs to the spare room, because we have plasterers coming this week to repair our damaged living room ceiling. Then, if that wasn't enough, I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen making some chili, chocolate- covered strawberries, jelly with celery and pecans, and baking some 'Monster' muffins. Then, when I'd done that, I had to clean the mess on the dining table. That was a task in itself. I'd already chopped up the Christmas tree out back, and moved our damaged fence from the back gate - Don't ask!

Anyway, Dawn then had a video call with Brady with Tiny flying back and forth behind her trying to grab some attention. Once Dawn had finished with Brady, she did another washing load and did the vacuuming. By which time I was ready to crash and settled down in front of the television to watch Spurs versus Reading on Skysports.