Greece - Part 2

(Luckily I had most of this drafted last week!)

Day 4 - Thursday

On Thursday morning I woke with a bit of a foggy head but nothing that rendedered me incapable of moving ahead with the day. I probably should have had the hangover from hell, but that's mostly my problem with drink I think - I never get good and hungover - even when I mix my drinks. Go figure.

We'd decided on a boat trip out of Argistoli Harbour the previous evening and I was pretty excited for this as I'd been told that the chances of once again seeing dolphins was pretty high. Friends we'd met earlier in the week had informed us that the dolphins actually chase along side the boat.

We decided to get to Argistoli early on and have breakfast.
We ended up in a little place on the main drag. They took a bit longer than we would have liked to bring us our breakfast but I was well entertained by the cutest little beagle mix dog. Andy kept telling me not to fuss it, due to it being a dog outside of Britain, however I couldn't help myself... he was way too cute, besides I know enough to wash my hands thoroughly after 'fussing' a strange dog. Besides, as you can see for yourself, my husband couldn't resist him after a few forlorn looks.

After a hastily consumed breakfast I quickly made my way back to the boat and Andy... he had gotten a little anxious and went on ahead to ensure our spot on board. After I had finished eating I waved good-bye to the two old gents sitting nearby and smiling, and with a 'kalamera' (goodmorning) made my way back to the boat.

The gal working the 'bar' was a woman from Doncaster who had been living and working in Greece for three years. I can't say I blamed her for giving up life in the rat race to go live on such a peaceful gorgeous island.

We slowly made our way out of port and it was just as we were reaching a bouy in the harbour (not even a mile out from shore) that Andy spotted some dolphin fins! Next thing you know, there is an enormously loud siren going off and the captain is at the front of the boat with us yelling at us to clap and shout. All of a sudden there they were, swimming right along side the boat, every now and then turning to look up at us! Amazing - absolutely amazing. The captain kept telling us to shout 'Come up' 'Come up' as they sometimes break the water - but only if encouraged enough. Unfortunately that day was a day when the crowd weren't encouraging enough, but hey, seeing them race along beside the boat just beneath the ssurface was reward enough!



After messing about with the dolphins for a half our or so the boat finally made its way out of the harbour and the captain proceeded to show off the many gorgeous sites of the island. We eventually docked at a little island where most people opted to snorkel around. It was pretty fun to just jump of the boat and go for it. After 45 minutes or so we piled back on board and made our way back to Argistoli Harbour. As you can see from this photo Andy opted to stay on board!



After docking back at port we went for some lunch and shopped around for souviers, etc. Again that night we found ourselves back in yet another taverna eating and drinking!

Day 5 - Friday

It was a bit cloudy out again the morning so instead of heading for the beach we decided to make use of our jeep and head into the mountains, something we had been planning on doing, we just weren't sure when.

The mountains rose up behind our villa and we had a lovely view of them face on whenever we drove along the coastline, however once we made the turn that would take us up into them, and down into the valleys, it was like we were on another island.



The first thing we noticed was that when we passed as sign that signalled falling rocks, it meant just that. We could actually see pieces of the mountain crumbling as we approached certain areas. We were pleasantly surprised when we came across a heard of mountain goats in the road. The were actually coming down off a very steep part of the mountain, thus causing even more rock slides. I scrabbled for my camera but of course as we had to keep moving (due to falling rocks) the pictures didn't turn out that great.



We headed down into a valley that had a gorgeous winery smack dab in the middle. Shame we had so much to see or we could have stopped in for a sample. As Andy isn't a big wine conossier I decided to leave it - plus it was only about 10 in the morning! We decided to drive East through the mountains and ended up near Skala to visit two very amazing caves.

I didn't know what to expect when we reached Drograti Cave. We had to go through a little shop to purchase our tickets at the ridiculously low price of 3 Euro and continued on down a very long, twisting flight of stairs built into the mountainous walls. We had to stop a number of times to let the group of people ascending pass by. I've never heard so many out of breath people in one area! I was worried about how far down we had to go... turns out it wasn't that bad and boy were we meet with an amazing sight. A huge cavern with thousands of staligmites. Apparently this cave is a popular one for holding music concerts in!

Although it wasn't overly large, it took us about 15 minutes to walk round, it was such an amazing sight - I kept thinking that my old high school geology teacher Mr. Spidell, would have been in heaven. We made our ascent without half the aggro of the previous group and after purchasing a drink in the shop we were ready to move on to the next cave.

(I also couldn't help buy buy this cute little kerchief that a lot of the locals wear...)


We just made it to the next cave Melissini as a large coach trip was leaving. The entry into the cave was much the same, except this time we had to walk down a long ramp into the mouth of the cave. I was very eager to see this cave as its an underground lake with 50 foot deep water. The ceiling of the cave has collapsed in one area allowing the sun and nature to be let in.


Once we reached the bottom of the ramp we were sorted into groups of approximately 10 each and herded into a gondola avec driver. He then proceeded to tell us about the 'lake' as well as kindly take photos of the couples in the boat. It was amazing to watch the birds sweep down into the cave and I was very excited when I realized that we would be taken into the cave where the roof hadn't collapsed. It was absolutely one of the best experiences of my travels to date.

After visiting the caves we decided to drive on to a little town called Agia Efimia -it just so happens that this picturesqe village was where most of the filming of Captain Correlli's Mandolin was filmed.





We stopped and ate at Captain Correlli's Taverna before heading back into the mountains to cross over to the West coast to visit a beach Andy had heard was one of the most beautiful on the island.

We crossed some pretty curvy roads and a few small villages before reaching the west side of the island. I couldn't get a close up glimpse of the water at this point and was very curious to see how 'amazing' this beach really was. It was then that we ended up on the most narrow and winding road we had been on to date. We had to practically crawl down this 'road' because if we encountered another car at any speed, it would have spelt disaster. It wasn't until we'd gone around 7 bends that the most breathtaking scenery came into sight. I could not believe my eyes and that we were actually on our way down to the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen - Myrtos Beach.

Nestled between the mountains was this fantastic cove with white sand and pebbled beach. We had to stop for a few photo ops and thankfully there were a few layby's nearer the bottom... as overjoyed as I was to be in this picture, believe it or not I was quite 'anxious' to be standing this close to the cliff's edge!

The beach itself was fantastic and we spent quite awhile messing around taking pictures in the caves before settling down to sun ourselves - the sun had finally come out and it was scorching. Every 20 minutes or so we were up and diving into those gloriously cool waves.

It was with reluctance that we left that evening and we vowed that it was indeed the most beautiful place we'd been to on the lsland.

It is at this point that I'm ending my travel blog to Greece. Luckily enough I had drafted most of this on Thursday (yes accident day) so I just had to add the last paragraph or so. The rest of our trip was spent on the beach, soaking up as much sun as we could get. Saturday night was Andy's turn to get drunk but I won't tell you what he dared shout out loud to me in the taverna as I don't want you to think my husband is a pervert, lol.

Honestly, it was a brilliant Honeymoon and now even more so I am grateful for the lovely memories we have. Thanks for bearing with me throughout this long entry!

So Grateful to Be Alive

Thursday evening Andy and I were heading home after seeing a movie. We were laughing and smiling over the comedy (Wedding Crashers) we had just seen, when Andy said to me 'Look at that car!' (or something very similar). I only had a second to see it bounce off the opposite curb some feet ahead of us on the opposite side of the road before hurtling towards us at breakneck speed. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, but yet very quickly. Neither of us had time to say anything before it crashed straight into the front of our car, passenger side on. We both heard a massive bang before the lights went out.

I opened my eyes and immediately tried to speak to my husband. I cannot begin to explain the terror in my heart that he could be seriously injured, or worse - dead. I tried to speak but as my sternum had taken a whack, I couldn't get any air into my lungs. By this time Andy was fighting his way out from under the airbag and was asking if I was alright - he kept repeating 'Jody speak to me' and I thought I was but evidently not loud enough for him to hear. Andy got out of the car and hurriedly tried to get me out. It took a few more moments but eventually I crawled across the driver's seat and got myself out and into my husband's arms.

A blond girl was standing there waiting and as soon as she saw me came running and crying. She had been walking down the path and had seen it all happen. I dread to think of that car jumping that curb rather than ricocheting off it... she could have been killed. She kept repeating that there was no way she thought we were getting out of that car.

I finally crossed the road and took a look around. I think my heart nearly stopped when I saw our car and the car that had hit us. There was a boy sprawled on the ground - after it had hit us he was thrown from the vehicle before it went through a heavy wooden barrier before stopping. A man was asking if we were ok - he had been in the car behind us and had managed to stop before our car was driven back into his with the force of the impact. Luckily, he and his three women passengers were fine. He was going around taking statements from other witnesses as he was absolutely wild at the havoc these racers had just caused. I think we were all still in a bit of shock. My Jeans were torn at the knees and were wet down the inside legs. It took me a moment to realize I had wet myself during the accident. I have actually experienced first hand that your bodily functions really do shut down when your body goes in to shock. It must have happened upon impact cause God knows I didn't have time to be frightened. How different to actually experience it, when you've explained it numerous times. It wasn't exactly something I was embarrassed about - not at that point in my life.

Andy had used someone's mobile to ring his dad and the next thing I knew, Dave was walking towards us... he couldn't believe the sight he was being met with. I raced to him crying. He was so relieved to see we were ok. I then went and sat down on the curb with the girls from the cab to await the paramedics. Naturally they had to tend to the more injured party - the boys who had caused the scene. The first thing I noticed when the paramedics reached Andy and I was the amount of blood on their rubber gloves and clothes... it was at this point that I went from being so angry at those idiot boy racers to hoping they weren't dead. However I will say, that as relieved as I am they are not dead, better them than us. If we had been killed Andy's three children would have been left fatherless.

I won't go into all the details that followed. We were eventually taken by ambulance to A&E (I was on a stretcher) and after the obligatory chest x-ray and examinations, we were released by 3:30 a.m. I will say though on a lighter note, just so you can all believe that we really are fine - when the nurses had to take my top and bra off to place the little pads on me for the heart monitor, I joked that although I was hoping for a little 'action' that night, that wasn't what I had been thinking of!

We are very battered and bruised, we have no car, but we are intact and alive. There had to have been an angel with us that night - something. I thank God every day that we were both wearing our seatbelts. There have been so many times when Andy hasn't strapped up while just driving around town and I will be eternally grateful that this was one night he was. Never again will I not buckle up. Never. We have constantly been thinking of all the what ifs but we musn't do that anymore, we did what was right and because of it we are still here.

The article in the local paper yesterday headlined 'Three cars in resort horror crash' (Cleethorpes is a resort area). Too right. Let's hope the police patrol this area in future, or put up speed cameras to try and slow down these idiot boy racers. Sadly, they are everywhere - in every county, in every country, and I fear they will never learn.

The love and support we have received from everyone has been fantastic. Its so reassuring to have such wonderful friends and family.


Our Car (Its hard to tell the windsheild is all cracked)

Both cars have obviously been written off...


Their car

Greece - Finally

Warning - This is LONG so I'll do it 2 parts.

PART ONE

Departure Day - Sunday

It was only as we boarded the plane and began our actual flight to Kefalonia that it began to sink it that we were really going to be alone for a whole week. I was trying to rev myself up and I WAS excited, however I don't think I really allowed myself to relax until we were in the air.

It really hit me where we were going when I looked out the window and saw the Swiss Alps!!! The SWISS ALPS. Call me lame but I've never been anywhere further than the UK (Europe wise) and it was an momentous moment for me. Hopefully one day Andy and I will see these fantastic mountains from the ground.

We landed on the small island of Kefalonia around 7:30 in the evening local time. After clearing customs, waiting for baggage, etc., we arrived at our villa, Garbis Villas, around 8:20 p.m. I was relieved and pleased to see the villas were much the same as the photos I'd seen, however the place was very quiet and there was not a soul to be seen. We walked around the place a few times looking to see if we could see an office, or at least someone but with no luck. I had informed the Garbis (the family) that we would be arriving on a late flight but had assumed someone would be there to greet us. I was aware that we did have a ground floor unit and after about ten minutes looked down at one door to see a white piece of paper stuck to it. Upon checking, it was a note to us, with the key in the door. Hooray! We went in to our new home and were very pleased with our rooms. The Garbis had been kind enough to ensure we had coffee, bread, fruit, etc. for the morning as it was a self-catering villa and we had arrived late. There was also a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge that was a very nice touch. I wasn't sure it if was because we had informed the villas we were on our honeymoon, but it turns out this is just a nice gesture they make to their guests.

We couldn't wait to get changed and head out into the village to find a taverna, so after a quick tour around the place, we showered, changed and headed off to eat. We ended up ordering way too much food at the place we settled on (halfway down the bottom of a very long hill), but had a pleasant evening talking to young guy and girl serving us. As were were leaving they happily toasted us with a shot of local drink. It was tasty but I'm not sure what it was - definitely not ouzo. More cinnamony tasting.


Andy Relaxing by Pool at Sunset


We walked way back up the hill and had a relaxing and enjoyable night (you will have to go to my erotica blog for more information (he he);)...

Day One - Monday


The next morning was spent laying around the pool and just taking it easy. We agreed that we would hike down to the beach at lunch time to eat at a beachside taverna and spend the rest of the day on the beach. We were told by the ladies staying next to us how to get down to the beach by foot. It was a gorgeous hike down - we kept stopping to take photos. By the time we reached the bottom we were well ready for lunch. The taverna on the beach was lovely and our waiter (Niko, who we became very friendly with over the next week) was so pleasant and welcoming. I don't remember what the name of the Greek dish was that I ordered but it was yummy. The beer was flowing smoothly as well.

Our first day was mainly a quiet one as we planned on renting a jeep and doing some exploring the following day.

Day Two - Tuesday

We set off for the south-east side of the island at approximately 10 a.m. the next morning for a small town on the south-east tip of the island called Skala. We shopped for beach wear and postcards throughout most of the morning as the beach at Skala, although beautiful was quite pebbly, so it was a good idea to get beach shoes and mats. We picked this cozy little taverna for lunch and it was here, as I wrote out about a dozen postcards, that I had the best food of the trip - slouvaki on pita with a salad and tzatziki. Let me say this - I had tried Tzatziki at local restaurants back home, or packaged in the grocery store and it is NOTHING like the tzatziki you get in Greece. Gawd, I'm still drooling about it. After our fine lunch we walked down to the beach and found a small place away from other people amongst an outcroping of rocks. We then spent the rest of the day happily snorkeling and sunbathing.

That evening after showering and relaxing for awhile we made our way back up the hillside for yet another Greek feast.

Day Three - Wednesday

Wednesday morning was by far the most expectant for both Andy and I. We eagerly hopped out of bed as the day before we had hired a motor boat to do some exploring around the south/east tip of the island.

We got to the rental place right on time but had to wait a few minutes for Yanni (the rental guy) to open up shop. He was a super nice guy and once he realized I was from Canada told me of all his adventures to Canada during the years he worked on a freighter ship. In his words, I hail from the 'best country in the world'. Can't say I disagreed with him ;).

Andy took the wheel of the boat initially and we slowly made our way out of the inlet and out around the bay, heading back toward Skala. Naturally some of the views were spectacular and we stopped periodically to enjoy a swim on the beaches reachable only by boat, or to explore caves with the most turquoise water imaginable. Absolutely stunning. I was told there was a chance we might see dolphins but I only looked around half-heartedly - these things don't usually happen. We were also pretty wrapped up in watching the beautiful coastline.


Beach Break

Around 1 p.m. we made it to an inlet where a number of boats were docked and we decided to stop and have a bite to eat. The hut serving food was very basic but we were told we were in Captain Corelli land. Again it was very pretty scenery, although there wasn't another building to be seen.

We made our way back to the boat figuring we would have to put our foot down to make it back to Yanny by 4 p.m. The water had grown very calm by this time and I was happy to take the wheel (we'd been taking turns off and on all day) so Andy could sunbathe on the brow of the boat. I told him to keep an eye out for dolphins as my hope was to still maybe sight some. Andy kept catching sight of something black splashing, and would yell that he could 'see something' but it always turned out to be fish. About 3/4 of the way back, I was scanning the water facing away from land and thinking that it would have made our honeymoon sooo complete to just see some dolphins in the wild. No word of a lie - but there they were! I screamed to Andy to look and whipped the boat around in the direction of the dolphins! There had to have been 6-8 of them. I was worried that they would swim away from us as I have seen whales do, but no way - not these babies. They put on quite the show for us - swimming under our boat and jumping out of the water! I was so excited I nearly jumped in with them myself. I kept splashing the water and making noise (I'd heard that they like this) to draw their attention and it seemed to work. I was almost crying in my glee - how magical it all was. Andy used up at least two memory cards trying to get a great shot of them, he even took a short video clip of them. Of course the best pictures are those that we will have to keep in our memories - ain't that always the way.


Dolphins!

After about 20 minutes of watching them we realized we would have to make our way back to port. It was with a big sigh that we both turned the boat back, but 20 minutes of dolphin watching at the end of the trip was the best thing that could have happened. We were happy to return back with this fantastic experience.

I think we were both walking on air that evening as we wined and dined once again. I certainly didn't hold back and at dinner consumed a bottle of wine. We made our way down to our favourite taverna to have a few more drinks. The owner and bartender Nadia (a Finnish lady) was a sweetheart and had an computer with internet access. After consuming two or three of my new favourite cocktail, the Mexican, I got online and emailed a few people. God knows what I said, in my polluted but happy state - a lot of dolphin ramble I'm sure. Of course as I was well and truly 'intoxicated' and horned on to anyone who would listen that I happen to come from Canada - the best country in the world didn't you know? To give the people in the taverna credit (all British couples) they took it well.

Andy had a bit of trouble getting me back up the very steep hill that night, but all I can say was that day and night was one hell of a good time.

Sometime in July 2002

He Asks: "Would you consider coming to live with me in England? Or something along those lines...

She replies: "Yes" Without a moment's heitation...

Because I knew within a few short months that I could easily spend the rest of my life with him. He is the one that managed to succeed where all other's have failed.

Happy Birthday to the most brilliant, sexy and loving man I have ever had the pleasure of sharing my bed with... I can't wait to celebrate his birthday alone with him this weekend.


My Birthday Boy

This was meant to have been posted on Friday, July 22nd - His actual birthday - I just noticed that the day of the header is July 20th -the day I prepped it...

Well I'm Back

After over 2 weeks of waiting for the PC to get fixed by some little independent company, we gave up, got mad and took our PC to the big Guys at PC World - it was fixed in two days. Although we have had it back since Sunday afternoon I still haven't managed to find the time to blog. There are a few little things that I would love to chat about, however my main goal is to share in our trip to Greece although we have been back now for nearly a month. I hope you are still interested, but if not, sorry to say, its still coming!

It's been a rough day today what with trying to sort out family issues (Andy's family, but not his children for once) and I'm a little drained. I will make time to get back to blogging within the next 48 hours.

Here's just a little 'refresher' to motivate myself tomorrow or the next day. This was possibly one of the most breathaking places we saw on our trip, Myrtos Beach...


I've been to heaven and back...

Just When You Want It The Most...

Our computer is constantly refusing to load and is continually shutting itself down, so unfortunately I am unable to write about the fantastic time we've had in Greece... I fully intend to do it, and will try from work (where I am now) if I get a chance, but as this is highly unlikely I fear it may be another week. It depends on what the problem is with the damn thing. I just hope its not the hard drive. Andy will be home Friday to take a look at it and hopefully it is something he can rectify.

I did manage to download some pictures to my yahoo account so if you want to have a looksee, just click on My Photos in the sidebar. There are three albums so far, but believe it or not I still have a few more to add. This is one of the main reasons I want to blog that entry from home - pictures look so much nicer and add to the effect.

So, until later...

Greece Was Fantastic, And I will Blog Soon... But FIRST...

Yesterday morning we picked up our baby puppy Molly. She was everything we'd hoped she'd grow to be... Beautiful, confident, playful. We watched her frolick happily with her brothers and sister before taking her away. As joyous as I was to have her, I still felt bad to take her away from her family.


Let's play

The hour and a half journey home by car was uneventful. Molly moved between my lap and the front seat floor and closed her eyes off and on. She only drifted to sleep just as we were coming in to town.


Our Baby

She settled into her new home very quietly and spent most of the afternoon sleeping. Alex had no idea we were bringing her home and when he walked in from school he didn't notice her straight away. When he did, there was absolutely no stopping the grin on that boy's face. It's made him one happy kid and for this I am happy.


Getting Sleepy

Last night Molly was quiet although she ate, drank and did her business so I was relieved to recognize that she wasn't too stressed out. We went to put her to bed in the kitchen but after five minutes of her crying my big, strong husband (who was adamant she would be sleeping in the kitchen) decided we should move her into our room. Alex asked if he could have her for the night but as she is still a wee puppy we told him it was best if she slept with us as he would have a very broken sleep.


Sleepy Girl

How right we were! Let me tell you - its almost like having a human baby! We placed her bed down on the floor at the foot of our bed and got her settled for the night. I was awake off and on all night listening for her and finall at 4:30 a.m. she woke us up to go out for a wee... I was so pleased about this (her not weeing inside) that I had no problem taking her out. Needless to say that she is basically trained and we've only had one accident in over 24 hours. Not too bad for a 10 week old pup. I finally got her settled after two trips outside and a bit of 'play'. You can't tell a baby dog that its 5:00 a.m. and time to sleep. However she did settle quickly and as Andy was up at 6:15 he happily took her downstairs with him when he got up. It was so sweet to see my strong man pick up this little pup and cuddle her on the way out of the room. We are definitely all in love.


Molly's Bed

Today she has come on in leaps and bounds and is much more settled and relaxed. She's gotten her playful ways back and both Alex and I have been enraptured by her all afternoon and evening. She has just gone to sleep this minute. As I look at her I can't express how much love I feel for her already. It's hard for me to believe that she is actually ours and I will have her to love and take care of for the rest of her life. She is really and truly a big responsibility but I'm so glad to finally have her - I've been waiting my whole life for her. What with Andy, his children and now Molly, I feel that my life is full.

Welcome home Molly.

Me

Andy

One Week

Greece

See ya when we get back!

Better Late Than Never Post

OK... As Andy and I leave for Greece on Sunday I suppose I'd better get on with my last post re Stacy's visit. I'd say I've saved the best for last.

Driving to Glasgow was a rather enjoyable experience. We chatted and sang along to music most of the way while taking in some gorgeous scenery. Stacy was well pleased to pass a farm that was smack in the middle of the motorway somewhere between Leeds and Manchester. She couldn't believe that the owner wouldn't sell up when they were putting the motorway in, and as a result they just built right around him... it is funny to see the sheep grazing in his field. Ironically enough, the camera was in the trunk so she wasn't able to take a photo. Like I said to her 'Anyone wants to see this one, they are just gonna have to get themselves over here!'

We made it into Glasgow center with only a few wrong turns and actually made it to Shawlands (Val's suburb) an hour past our ETA. Stacy was bound and determined we find it without help so we did.

Val of course had the wine chilled and cracked it open within ten minutes of our arrival. Her kids were lovely and Lori of course was still excited to see me after all this time. Val's sister Merril was there as well which was good as I'd not yet met her.

The evening was spent catching up and steadily drinking. Stacy unfortunately wasn't keen on the wine and if Val can't get her hooked, I dare say no one can. So she stuck to Wicked.

There is a photo here of me holding the baby Luke. I couldn't get enough of him while he was sleeping so peacefully. I even rang Andy and repeatedly told him how lovely the babies were... Unfortunately I can barely remember this... it was only upon reflection that I wondered how Val could entrust me to hold her little boy when I was in such a state, but then again, she wasn't any better. Thank God Stacy and Merril had the gumption to stay fairly sober.


Happily Tipsy - Due in part to both baby and wine...

I woke at four in the morning with a thirst equivalent to a lost soul in the desert. My tongue felt like it had sprouted fur and I croaked out 'Good God, not again' After you have drank so much most memories from the previous nights are 'fuzzy' it becomes old habit the 3rd or 4th (or tenth)time. I wasn't worried of course as I normally would have been 10 years ago, as I knew we were safe in the house and I was amongst true friends. Anything stupid I did would be forgiven. Its been a long time since I woke up feeling that way and since it was a long time coming, I've forgiven myself! I of course woke Stacy and we had a good giggle.

The next morning was Stacy's 20th Birthday. We went out for lunch (Stacy and I wouldn't drink of course, but that didn't stop Val and Merril from enjoying a glass of wine) and Stacy had some cards to open and Merril and Val had kindly arranged a birthday cake. Merril then comes out with 'Are we still off to Edinburgh on the train tomorrow?' Come again? When did we plan that I wondered. They immediately refreshed my memory, and true to form we had discussed going to Edinburgh the previous evening.

Unfortunately, the next morning when we were due to set off it was raining, and Merril wasn't feeling so well, so Val dropped Stacy, Lori and I off at the station (she was staying back as the baby might prove to be too much). I happily brought our train tickets as Stacy was once again doing the Amazing Race comparison.

It was 12:10 and a train was due to depart and 12:15... we raced to the automatic machine that takes your ticket and lets you through only to have Stacy neglect to carry Lori, thus ensuing her getting stuck between the computerized swinging doors. We wouldn't make that mistake on the way back.

Edinburgh is the most amazing city I think I've been in to date. What a history and what scenery! Unfortunately we left our digital camera behind and had to buy a throw away. I can't be bothered to scan them so again, Edinburgh is something you will just have to see for yourself. The pictures don't do it justice anyway. So... we toured around the shops and had some lunch before making our way to the castle - what a fantastic view, but the castle itself was a little bit disappointing. We did get to see the Scottish Crown Jewels (I didn't even know they had Crown Jewels) and although they were lovely, they were nothing as spectacular as the English CJ.

After the castle we popped into some more shops before heading back to catch the train. We made sure to buy lots of Edinburgh Rock, a candy that is very sweet and not to my taste but makes good souvenirs.


Sexy Babes

Our last evening in Glasgow found us happily enjoying a few more drinks with Val. Stacy and I were sitting at the dining room table looking into the flats across the street when Val asked if we could see the guy one floor down that walks around naked. He was there, sat on his couch, but he had shorts on. Val said it'd been awhile since he'd walked around with nothing on, so maybe he'd wizened up. Evidently not cause within moments my little sister managed to catch sight of him buck naked during one of her furtive glances over at his window. It was funny. Val and I missed it, and although he was no Adonis, it would have been funny to see. We all kept glancing over throughout the night but apparently his one moment of unihibited freedom was only meant for Stacy's viewing pleasure - ack!

His is the flat to the right with the light on...


Just Like 'Friends'

The next morning we woke up to rain once again, but this time it was ok as it matched our mood. I don't think either of us wanted to go, and Lori certainly wasn't ready for us to go as the waterworks started once she realized we were leaving. We had a doubtful moment when the car wouldn't start, but that was only due to it not being driven for 3 days - it just needed some gas... So once we began our goodbyes, poor little Lori started to cry. I don't think she was expecting it so soon, and was thinking we were joining them at playgroup. Its always hard saying goodbye to her as she is such a lovely little girl - truly my little pal.

So... leaving from playgroup rather than Val's street threw Stacy a bit off kelter with her map reading. Val had pointed out another route, and I tried to point out the street to Stace that she was looking for off the map, but she wasn't having any of it... she wanted to navigate her way out of the city using her handydandymap. Within minutes she had me swearing like a sailor. We were yelling at each other quite profusely when she recognized the street we were on was in fact on her map. We quickly burst into giggles and promised not to get so wound up again. So, although the directions were very exact, until you've driven in the city of Glasgow, you won't realize that even with an exact map, you still don't know where in the hell your going as the street layout is just, well, fucked up. We ended up taking the scenic route out of Glasgow due to a little bit of map reading from the Atlas and a bit of intuition and an hour later we were safely and happily back on the motorway to England.

I was so proud of the two of us for making that trip and will always, always look back on that road trip as one of my absolute favorites. I think that she and I make a good team.

And that basically puts an end to stories avec Stacy... I miss her still and sometimes find it hard to believe that she was really even here. But she was and it was great while it lasted.

Here's to next year Stace!

Stacy's Visit - Nottingham & Chatsworth House

For Stacy's last full weekend with us we had planned to journey down to Nottingham for some shopping and a night out with Andy's sister Alison. Originally Alex was supposed to be at his mother's thus leaving us free for an adult night out. However things didn't go to plan and Alex's mom sent him home after his only being with her for 12 hours (overnight). What could we do? We packed the poor mite a bag and brought him along with us.

The shopping was pretty good as Stacy and I got lost in H&M with an armload of clothes to try on. After nearly an hour of waiting Ali, Andy and Alex wandered across the road to a Coffee Shop to patiently await for word that we were indeed finished and ready to leave the store.

We returned to Ali's flat to prepare for our evening on the town. We were going to a pizza house for supper and then Alex and Andy were going on to a movie while Ali took us gals around the hot spots of Nottingham.


Sisters...

We started drinking Baha Rosa at the flat before proceeding out for the evening. The pizza was good but the bars were even better. Stacy has found a new drink in England, a blue cooler that looks and tastes like melted blue freezie entitled 'Wicked' however that evening I was surprised to see my sister try different drinks made from vodka. In one bar that was playing tremendously loud music she fell in love with a frozen cocktail called Watermelon Crush. I couldn't believe how quickly she drank it down and thought perhaps she was more inclined to alcohol than I had originally believed. Quite frankly it was a bit too strong for me! Either way we enjoyed that pub but moved on to the next one (Ali wanted to show Stacy a few bars before our night had to end prematurely).

As we were moving on to an underground bar, we passed a high-rise building where some fellows high up on a balcony were asking us to give them a smile and bellowing for us to 'come up'. I was completely shocked to hear my sister-in-law reply 'show us your cock'! Now Stacy swears she said something even more surprising, but I will leave it at that. Normally my sister in law is quite, well... not like that. She's small and compact and although demure isn't a word to describe her, let's just say I'd never heard her talk that way. I guess she is a bit of the firecracker her father has been saying she is! And to think I was always a bit worried to say something out of order and risk offending her... not anymore!

Anyway, as we moved along the road we ended up encountering another bunch of boys - two of whom were in headlock. One was shouting at us to come have a crack at his head as he was a policeman. I laughed and replied that I couldn't possibly, as I was a cop myself. God, I won't go into where that led, but it was funny. Yup, that's me... A Canadian member of the NYPD. Here I was, after all these years of putting people on and coming up with silly fake accents doing the same thing in England, yet the accent is real. Go figure. Stacy was quite amused that one of the 'drunks' was sober enough to think that she and I must be sisters as the resemblance was 'scary'. As amusing as these blokes were, we had to move on. We managed to make it into one last bar before the call came from the boys. It was short night out, but yet it was sweet.

The next morning we got up and left Ali to go visit a stately home in the Peak District. Andy had suggested taking me earlier in the year however I wanted to wait for Stacy's visit. I'm glad I did... she was in as much awe as I was over this fantastically beautiful mansion. The inside of the house was gorgeous but it was the grounds that were the show stealer. It was terrific to have Alex with us as we were even more inclined to act like big kids (something that comes quite easily when my sisters and I get together).

In the middle of the grounds was a huge maze that we weren't expecting.


The Maze

Upon arriving at the entrance to the maze, the four of us immediately devised a plan to split up into pairs to see who could try and find the middle first. Sadly Stacy and I were trying to place ourselves in our own episode of The Amazing Race... It was hilarious right from the start - Andy and I practically knocking the other maze-goers out of our way in our quest to beat Stace and Al to the middle. However it wasn't too long before we met with what seemed to be every dead end, and ultimately a lone Stacy. Alex was long gone and nowhere to be seen. After we'd tried for about the third time Andy and I gave up and went back out to try and find Alex. We should have guessed that he had found the center. Stacy at first didn't want to be shown where the center was, however after another shot or two, and a bucketful of sweat, we let Alex have a head-start and then ran after him into the middle. He was proudly sat under the lone tree trying to feign boredom. What a kid. I don't know what the rules are on the AR, however I don't think your partner is meant to leave you behind in your quest to the finish line, eh Stace?


The Winner

We took loads of pictures, and I've downloaded some for your viewing pleasure here.

Beautiful Dawn...




And the countdown is on...

12 Days: Our Honeymoon in Greece
24 Days: Our Puppy Molly Comes Home
2 Months: Andy's brother's wedding in a Glorious Scottish Castle (where we are also sleeping for the night - keep your fingers crossed that Andy's mom will have Alex for the night!)
4 Months: Andy's and My 1st Wedding Anniversary
7 Months: I'm going home for Christmas (and although I'm not wishing for the winter, or even Christmas so much, I am longing for the day I step off the plane in my beloved Nova Scotia).

So... as much as I am not wishing time away, I am eagerly anticipating the good things to come this year, but let's get through these first two exciting occurrences first!

Is It Back To the Beginning?

When I first came over here all I had to do in regard to driving was master the art of driving on the other side of the road. Luckily for me, I had been driving a standard/manual transmission car for over 12 years so I didn't have that to face on top of everything else. I had been told by my husband who checked online, that I could drive for a year on my NS License and could then exchange it in for a UK Issue.

Of course nothing is ever as easy as it seems. I now have two weeks to get my license exchanged. That isn't the problem. The problem is this: To exchange my license I need to send my passport in to the DVLA. If I send my passport in I won't be able to go on holiday to Greece a week Sunday. If I don't send my passport in with attached paperwork, I exceed the 12 month grace period and will have to go through the process a brand new driver would have to undertake in order to get a British License... hmmm.. nice eh? (I'm looking at my 12 month period from the date I was granted Leave To Remain - if they don't take it from this date then I've completely gone and blown it.)

Nevermind the fact that if I do in fact come up with some sort of way to get around the passport issue (i.e. having our solicitor photocopy it and verify it) I will still only be granted a provisional license that says I can only drive an automatic car when driving on my own. If I drive our standard car I have to have a fully licensed person in with me. Right. I suppose I can understand this as you don't have to pass a manual test in Canada, however it is a bit annoying after I have been driving a manual car here for over a year already, not to mention the 12 years back home... This however could easily enough be corrected with a manual test once I've received the provisional license. I just hope that I can figure something out so that I don't have to go back to the beginning and have to take the theory test, etc. Gawd... Let this be a lesson to all of you great procrastinators out there - stop sticking your head in the sand, get off your asses and check things out for yourself, and especially, stop leaving things to the very last minute. You'd think I'd have learned my own lesson by now.

I'm In Love

Stacy and I had debated buying this cd at various points throughout her visit. I'm sorry we didn't buy it sooner because after buying it today and listening to it, I have to say that it's the best damn CD I've listened to in AGES... There is not one song on it that I don't like. Naturally I like some more than others, namely the first 7, lol but the whole thing is wickedly good. James Blunt has so much depth, beauty and talent - he is an incredible songwriter, a unique singer and an extreme breath of fresh air. It doesn't hurt one little bit either that he is absolutely lovely to look at. Looks aside though, his videos are even fantasatically interesting and unusual - each has a neat twist and show lots of imagination. If you miss out on this CD, you are missing a lot... take my word for it. (Unless you are only in to pop and R&B - then you might want to give it a miss.) (Oh and Stace - I'll get ya a copy... no worries.)

I'm hoping my husband might just surprise me with tickets for his concert in Leeds or Manchester for the weekend of our first anniversary in October ;)

PS: I will be getting back to blogging about Stacy and the rest of her trip shortly for those of you that are interested.

I Just Can't Believe She's Gone...

We spent our last day/evening with Stacy in London last night before taking her to the airport this morning. I can't begin to express how lost I feel now that she is gone. Even though I am not alone the house seems empty tonight, especially now that we have dropped Connor home as he was a great comfort all day. He (along with Andy) kept cuddling me and telling me how much he already missed Stacy. Alex asked in the car if we could call Stacy tonight. Andy talked about all the great times we had. So you see, she will not only be missed dreadfully by me, but by my family here in New Waltham.

I'm sitting here blogging while Stacy's favourite UK show (My Family) is on the television and I can't believe the irony that it is on tonight of all nights when its usually on on Monday nights. The house feels strange now without her presence and I think it will honestly take me a few days to get over her being gone. We had a wonderful time together and once I get myself sorted out I will begin blogging again about our adventures.

For the time being here are a few pictures from our last hours together.


My Beautiful Sister Underground...


Goodbye Big Ben (I think we are both feeling a little 'drained' by this point)


My Lovely Sister and I... (notice her lovely new top;)

We CAN do this... (I Hope!!!)

After a wonderful weekend away (will update at a later date), Stacy and I are now up and eagerly getting ready for our four day trip to Glasgow. I only have one concern: As we couldn't get a train ticket at a half-way decent price I will be attempting to drive five hours into the city of Glasgow.

Good Grief.

Stacy is definitely looking at it from an Amazing Race perspective and is quite excited. Me? Well it will be a terrific boost for my driving ego if I do this without getting lost (or worse), especially the streets of Glasgow! (But that's where my navigator comes in right?)

See you when we get back!

She's Really Ours

Today we went and saw our little puppy. She's just turned four weeks old and we have to wait until the middle of June before we can bring her home at which time she will be the around the size of little Coco (the chocolate lab in the photo with me). All these labs are working labs and they are lean and gorgeous no matter the color. I can't wait until the day she is in my arms and we can bring her home!


Aunty Stacy with Our Baby...

We are thinking of a few different names to call her, predominately Molly, but I think we need to wait until we pick her up to see if it suits or not. In the meantime we are definitely open to suggestions!



Me & Coco

Here is a pic of a few of her brothers and sisters. This is just so exciting for us! She is going to be a very loved and special addition to our family!


Four of Ten...

As I blog this I must admit that I've been out drinking tonight so please excuse any bad spelling on my behalf...

So on Saturday the title would have went something like this...

A bit of Sickie, A bit of Snot and a Lot of Hail

So Saturday we made our way to Pleasure Island, a small theme park that is located on our waterfront. The day was slightly overcast to begin with but that didn't stop Stacy, Tash and I from going on the Hyperblast... its nothing too exciting but it shot you high engough in the air for a thrill... (notice the black clouds)


What a Ride

Later that day we had to make our way into Tinkaboo land with the kids as the skies opened up and HAIL, I repeat hail, not rain began to pour down upon us... only moments before had we made our way from the rollercoaster where believe this - Stacy - my sister who is a daredevil and LOVES rollercoasters, became sick to her stomach... not to mention the fact that during the ride we heard Tahsa scream 'gross' as Alex had sneezed during the ride and ended up with snot all over his face... all in all that particular ride was not successful...


Stacy and our baby

As we were leaving the park it would figure that that the sun would decide to shine...


Me and my mates...

Tonight Stace and I went to a pub quiz night with my friend Helen. Stacy and I talked to a local chap at the bar who joined us for some sad conversation and who ended up being absolutely hopeless (I was thinking of him as possibility for my single friend in my ususal druken way). But all the same we had fun!


Sorry!

Since Stacy has arrived we have gotten used to hearing 'sorry' followed by a giggle. When we first heard her say this, we were in the car and asked why - her response - "you'll know in a minute". It was soon followed by the most Gawd awful stench ever... now the big joke is that whenever of us fart we giggle and quickly say 'sorry'... whatever happened to the good old 'excuse me'???? Either way we are living thru some God awful smells that are always being giggled about. I suppose this is bound to happen when you have large groups of people living under a small roof!!!

Friday turned out to be an exceptionally good day for Stacy and I. We found our way to the city of Lincoln without any trouble at all. The drive down was smooth and easy going and it was so like old times for the two of us as we listened to our favourite songs. It seems to be that whenever my sisters and I now get together we always seem to have a 'theme' song for the duration of our time together. Last summer with Tawny in Toronto (and again with Dawn in Mercy River), it was sadly enough 'Eye of the Tiger'. There's something about that song that just makes you want to sing and shake your fist... hmmmm fist shaking seems to be a big thing with some people ;). Anyway, I am digressing. My point being, that this trip Stacy and I have adopted 'The Way You Move' by the Body Rockers as our chosen song. It plainly just 'rocks'.

As time is short, I have just downloaded a few of the pictures we took from our day out on Friday. I will hopefully be back to blog within the next day or so, maybe even tonight as I have a few funny things that are just needing to be told.


Lincoln Cathederal


Princess Stacy in the Tower at Lincoln Castle


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Happy Birthday Ruth!

Today my dear friend Ruth is celebrating her birthday back home in Nova Scotia. Not only does she have her fantastic life to celebrate on this day, but also the fact that after many years of putting it off, she has just this week become a fully licensed driver!!! HOoRAy!!! I'll be expecting a drive with you when I next make it home! Have a great day my friend, you deserve it!

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of two very special and wonderful people. My sister Tawny and her husband Taylor are at this moment having a widly romantic time together in the place where they were married one year ago yesterday: Las Vegas Nevada. I hope that the rest of their lives together are as good as this past year has been. Cheers to the first of many!!!

Five Minute Update

Stacy is upstairs at the moment getting ready as today I am going to attempt to drive us to Lincoln so that she can see this beautiful city, but more specifically to see the historic and beautiful cathederal that sits so proudly above the city.

We have been keeping fairly busy - last weekend Andy and I took Stacy to a working village called Beamish to show her how a typical village would have looked in the late 1800's, early 1900's. We stopped over in Newcastle to check out a few of the sights and to have a drink with an old friend before making our way to Robin Hood's Bay, a small village set on the side of of mountain above a gorgeous cove... it was breathtaking. The only trouble is my poor sister in her quest to download the pictures we'd taken that weekend, lost them all. We had some great pics, including one of Stacy in an ancient pub in Newcastle holding up (one on each side of her face) a tin of Red Bull and a glass of Vodka... (I'm sure the person this photo was taken for knows who they are ;)!!! Maybe this is what happens when we try to 'best' our friends! Anyway, on Monday (it was a holiday here) Andy and I took her to Horseshoe Point in the hopes of her catching sight of the seals, but alas no luck. However despite the absence of any seals, we did have a good hike out to the water and Stacy was quite thrilled to be frolicking around in the North Sea on the first of May as the shallow water was suprisingly warm.

Finally...

Andy and I arrived at Heathrow on Saturday morning in good time to enjoy breakfast before anxiously awaiting Stacy's arrival. To be truthful, I was the anxious one, Andy was quite relaxed, however either way we were both looking forward to the moment when she walked through the arrivals door. It felt so good to wrap my arms around my young sister and hug her tightly. Despite not having slept the night before, she looked great and was ready to take on the city of London. The overcast day was doing nothing to deter her. As she happily stated 'isn't it supposed to be foggy in London?'


Might that be BIG BEN?

We happily spent the day sightseeing and although the skies were often threatening us with the possibility of heavy rain, it was only rarely that I had to pop open the umbrella due to drizzle. I spent a lot of the day just clicking the button on the handle that popped the closed brelly into Andy's backside. (Until he had the gumption to actually 'click' it at me and hit my funny bone - abruptly putting an end to my game. (Well, after a few attempts on my behalf to get him back)).

It was pretty great to watch Stacy's wonder and share in her excitement as she saw all the sights I had first seen myself two years ago upon my first visit to the wonderful city of London.



I think one of Stacy's favorite aspects of the day was utilizing London's Underground. Andy kept correcting our term 'subway', as it is referred to the 'tube' here in the UK... Either way Stacy loved the automated voice informing us to 'Mind The Gap' prior to exiting the tube. We saw many a t-shirt with the London Underground emblazoned across the front and even discovered one with the tube's design, but the words "Fuck the Gap" written across the front. Stacy absolutely loved that one (I admit I did too, as we all know I think Fuck is a very good word when used appropriately), however my demure little sister couldn't buy it as it's not a word she could wear! Imagine!

A nap and a pint...

We held out until just after three when we retired to our hotel rooms for a nap. We had made plans to meet up with a friend of ours who used to work out in Halifax at the same time as Andy. Neither of had seen Mo since he left Canada in March of 2002. Honestly, although Mo and I had become fairly close friends, both of us probably figured it very unlikely we would ever see each other again, especially in England. A few months ago Mo had gotten in touch with me via a mutual friend, and to make a long story short, I was thrilled to meet up with him in the city for a pint. He brought a friend along that we used to know as well, Grant, who left an old friend of mine in a bit of mess, but like I told him, what's past is past and all the girls who got left 'disappointed' in Halifax were grown up and could look after themselves, what's past is past. I know how the majority of contractors are and I'm not going to blame any of them for their behaviour, what counts is that my contractor is a stand-up guy. As is our friend Mo. I just think it amusing at times that I ended up with one when I wasn't even looking to.

It was great to see Mo and we all had an enjoyable time downing a few pints. Even Stacy had a drink. I think she is actually looking forward to having a few more while in England... after all it is part of the lifestyle and she will be here for a whole month!


Reunited...

We woke up Sunday morning to sunny skies and made our plan for the morning. Stacy would be introduced to an English breakfast prior to our visiting the Tower of London. It was a bit surreal for me to walk around the 'Jewel House' inside the Tower, explaining to Stacy how the Monarchy works. Believe it or not, this is something I actually knew prior to living in London, thanks to my lovely Nanny. She was a great follower of the Royal Family and both times that I have visited the Tower and viewed the Crown Jewels I ended up misty eyed at the though of my Nan. She would have loved to have seen the beautiful history on display.


Happy in the Tower of London

We didn't have much time to spend in London on Sunday, but Stacy was fine to leave just past lunch time as we had to pick up a puppy to bring back to Andy's mom. Of course my dog-loving sister had no problem being in charge of the little cutie for the drive back to New Waltham. It was so cute at one point to look back and see them both konked out and happily snoozing on the back seat.

We will be touring around London again for a day or two before Stacy leaves, but of course I don't even want to think about that yet, as we still have a full three weeks to share before heading back down South.