Morris Dancers

On the weekend, Barry and I went to Windsor to do a bit of shopping and see if they had my wedding ring in the shop there (they didn't, but they have it in the Georg Jensen on Bond Street, so we'll get it there). Anyway, while we were there, we saw these guys all dressed up in funny red and black and white clothing. They are called "Morris Dancers", and apparently this tradition dates back centuries. I videoed their first dance - click on the link below:

Morris Dancing Video

Pretty cool, eh?! We watched a few more dances and then went on our way.

Barry's surgery has finally been scheduled for the beginning of January. It's going to make it tight for him to fly out for the wedding, as he's not allowed to fly for 6 weeks after the surgery. I hope there are no complications!!

The weather has been quite wet and not particularly pleasant, I suppose winter is upon us. With any luck, we'll get a white Christmas, but I'm not holding my breath!

See you soon!

Homeward bound

Wow - I can't believe my last blog was so long ago! Sorry to any faithful readers left out there! I've let you down abysmally!

Where to begin. Hmmmm...well, work is going pretty good. It's been busy with getting the new office organized, HSE auditing and getting ready to release the third quarter earnings. The longer commute is starting to bother me, but I can't really see any solution to that, so I'll have to learn to live with it. It's hard to work while I'm commuting as well because the train is so rough and bounces around so much that concentrating on any reading or doing anything on my laptop is difficult. So I just end up reading the newspaper both ways. Boy, am I well informed these days! I've also taken to using my iPod, since I can listen to a whole album each direction.

The weather has really gotten colder here lately, so I've had to bundle up most mornings. Barry and Jan call my big black coat I wear my "bear coat". Jan says it looks like I'm wearing a duvet to work. I laughed as I watched him shiver in his thin coat and said that it was a lot like that - nice and cozy!

My back is slowly getting better and I want to start doing more exercise and working out, but it's hard because it's always dark outside of working hours, and the gym requires a 12-month committment and I really hate working out anyway! It gets dark here earlier than in Canada - by about 4:00 pm. I don't like it much, but the lights of Piccadilly Circus are definitely bright when I go home. Our new office is a block from the Circus, so I see them every day, and fight my way through the tourists to get home every night!

The Christmas decorations are starting to go up and it's very pretty. This area goes all out, being such a main intersection for tourists and Londoners alike. It's a big shopping area (Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, Oxford Street, Bond Street) and Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden are all close by. It's exciting and busy.

We leave for Canada a week from today. I'm very excited for everyone to meet my Barry. I'm been so happy and he is so good to me. He makes it his job to ensure that I am happy and takes it very seriously. It's about the only thing he takes seriously! haha! He recently had to get glasses, which he wasn't too happy about. I suppose this age thing gets to the best of us! He doesn't like that he has to wear glasses, but he likes the fact that he can see things so much better now. I think he looks quite cute in them, personally! But I might be a bit biased!

We were in Cornwall a few weekends ago visiting his family. I'm really starting to fit in there, and I adore them. We have such fun together, especially his mom and sister, Sonia, and I. We go shopping and laugh and bargain-hunt. They were helping me find things for the wedding - shoes and accessories for my dress, which I bought already.

The wedding plans are coming apace. Still lots to do, and a wedding on a budget is a challenge, but we'll be fine. All that matters is that we're getting married - I wouldn't care if we were by ourselves wearing rags! Honeymoon is going to be in Tuscany, Italy, where I've managed to procure a private winery villa from a friend here in London. We'll fly into Pisa or Rome and rent a car. Flights from London start at £95 return, which is about $200 Canadian. Nice deal, eh?!

I had better finish this off and get going. Hopefully see you all in Canada soon! Cheers!

Berlin & Environs

So Barry and I went to Berlin, Germany a few weeks ago. I managed to snag a really cheap fare with Ryanair - it ended up costing a total of £50 ($100) for the two of us.

We were only there for four days (3 nights). We found a lovely pension (bed & breakfast) run by a wonderful older lady, Frau Schwartzer. It was truly like staying with a favourite aunt. The bed was very comfortable, the room was large, the food was great, and it was very close to the city center. It was great! We rented a car, partially because the airport we were flying in and out of was quite a way out of the city. It was very nice to have our own wheels, although we still did a lot of walking!

We arrived on Sunday morning after a very early morning flight, which was delayed an hour while they kicked 8 passengers off for making racially offensive comments to a black passenger (although we didn't like the delay, we were glad they took the stand and banned them). We got to the pension and met Frau Swartzer and took a walk around the neighbourhood. We stayed close to the "Blue Church", more formally known as the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which is very interesting. It is a modern church building built up around the ruins of the old church, which was heavily damaged by bombs during World War II. At first, I didn't like the new building, but it kind of grew on me. Then we went inside - it is breathtaking. The blue glass in all the tiny windows bathes the sanctuary in a blue glow that is somehow warm (which is odd for the colour blue!). Coupled with the sad remnants of the previous church, which must have been quite something, given what is left, it was a moving tribute to the triumph of the human spirit after the devastation of war.

We did a lot of travelling around and saw a lot of things. Berlin is a fascinating mixture of ancient and recent history. There are still remnants of the division of the city and a lot of things celebrating the coming down of the wall. It sure made us feel old chatting with young people who weren't even born when the wall came down! Barry was stationed here when he was in the British army for three years, leaving in 1982. So this was quite a culture shock for him! He was quite moved to be able to freely walk through the Brandenberg Gate, which was previously walled off into East Berlin. Everywhere there was patches on buildings, fixing bullet damage. We visited where Barry used to live and the base where he used to work in Spandau. The base is mostly fenced off, with a few buildings being used for other things now.

We managed to find a section of the wall that was still up between a road and a river. They had taken part of it away so you could go down to the river. We stopped there to take some pictures of the wall, and went along it a little ways to break off our own piece. It was strangely satisfying to be breaking down the wall - as symbolic as it was. I felt that in a very small way we were protesting against injustice and tyranny and bigotry. We drove on a little further and found one of only three or four guard towers left standing. It's now listed (which means it's preserved as a historic site), but it was too late to go inside. The government has installed a double line of paving stones tracing the line of the wall across Berlin, so you can see where it went through buildings and across roads. It's kind of nuts!

We also went to "Checkpoint Charlie", which was the main gate between East and West Berlin. They have a replica guardhouse for tourists and there is a museum onsite that has been there since shortly after the wall went up! It originally was there as a protest against the wall, with photos and information about escapes and escapees, both successful and unsuccessful, as well as some of the actual cars and other methods they used for escape from East Berlin. Since the wall came down, it's been expanded to include the events surrounding that event and exhibitions on other human rights protests and violations around the world, such as Cech Republic and Lech Walesa in Poland. It was very interesting.

Germany is a beautiful country, and we managed to see a fair bit of it. We took a boat trip down the Wannsee (pronounced "Vanzee") and spent our last day in Postdam. Some of my correspondence course German actually came back, which was good because Barry had forgotten most of his German! We also went to Potsdam, to a huge park there called Sanssouci Park. There were some spectacular palaces and houses there. The architecture is amazingly elaborate, as are the gardens. It really puts English stately homes in the shade! One of the palaces, called Neues Palais, had servants quarters opposite that were more beautiful that most places I've seen in England! Apparently, King Frederick didn't want to have ugly buildings outside his windows, but wanted the servants to be close, so he built this amazing servants quarters! Unfortunately they were doing some restoration on it, so you couldn't get the full appreciation of it.

It was a fantastic trip and we both thoroughly enjoyed it! Now it's back to the grind until our trip to Canada in November. I'm hoping to see everyone then, and introduce Barry to you all. We'll be in Linden and Calgary for about a week and a half, and then out to Toronto to see my brother and his family for a few days before flying back to London.

Uxbridge Idyll

I'm really not doing so well keeping up with this thing lately! Sorry!

Hmmm....where to start. I moved into the house in Uxbridge a short time ago, and I'm loving it! I have a lovely back garden and Barry has proved a dab hand with the gardening, so he is doing most of the upkeep! There is a stream out behind the garden that has a family of swans and lots of ducks. There are fish in the stream as well, and I've got myself a rod and reel and hope to catch supper sometime! The commute is much better than I thought and there is pretty much everything I need shopping-wise in the town. Barry and I love to eat outside and BBQ a lot as well. There is the occassional airplane overhead, but it is very peaceful for the most part.

Barry and I had a birthday/housewarming party the following weekend. It was a couple days before his birthday so we celebrated both at once. It was fun - lots of people came and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We BBQed and even though it was kinda drizzly and rainy, it was all good fun.

Barry has moved into Uxbridge with me as well. His housemate was moving out, so we just decided it made sense. He has a lot of stuff that he's accumulated over the years, so we're doing some car boot sales (kind of like a yard sale) to get rid of as much as we can. I do enjoy the car boot sales, and can never resist doing some shopping myself!!

Work is going ok, but I've been having a lot of back problems since we moved the office and I moved house, so I've started working from home a few days a week, and will probably take a few weeks off to rest my back, which means avoiding sitting, and walking and lying down a lot. Fortunately, the weather has been quite lovely over the last little while, so I've been lying out in the back yard and walking into town a fair bit. August was quite wet, so it's nice to have some sun in September. They are forecasting an "Indian Summer" and so far it's been good.

Barry and I are heading out to Berlin in a couple of weeks. We got super-duper cheap fares on Ryanair - £50 ($100) for the both of us! We're only there for 3 nights and Barry has booked us into a little B&B (called a Pension) run by a nice older lady. The reviews on it said that it's like staying with your great-aunt! We're renting a car from the airport so we can go where we want. Barry used to live in Berlin when he was in the army, back before the wall came down, so he's excited to see it now. I'm just excited to see it! I hear it's beautiful.

Well, I will close and apologize once again for my lack of blogging!!

I'm Engaged!!

This post is long overdue, but I have been waiting for pictures!!

As many of you already know, Barry asked me to marry him at the Annual Summer Ball at the military base where he works! I'm very happy and hope you are all happy for me!

It went as follows:

The Sergeant’s Mess at the base has a Summer Ball every year for all the members. (The Sergeant’s Mess is like a club for non-commissioned officers ranked sergeant or higher. Barry is not military but was invited to join because of his popularity and the length of time he's worked there.) So he asked me to go months ago. It was a costume ball (called "fancy dress ball" over here) with a South Pacific tropical theme.

I bought a linen dress in tropical colours with wooden beading and got some flower leis and a grass skirt. Barry decided to go as the forgotten Japanese soldier, left on an island from WWII. So, we got some green trousers, t-shirt and army jacket from a charity shop and I shredded them and made them look old. Barry had a kamakaze-style headband from Japan, and we bought some little round wire-rimmed glasses and a rifle. He was original!

It was a lovely evening. The decorations were fantastic and there was a live steel drum band and a DJ. At the beginning of the evening, just after then asked everyone to find seats, Barry was called up to the DJ table. Then I was called up. Barry got down on one knee in front of all his friend and work colleagues and, very nervously, asked me to marry him!! It was so sweet and romantic! Of course I said yes!! It was such a wonderful evening - something I'll treasure for the rest of my life. I am such a lucky girl to have found such a wonderful guy!

The plan is to get married in Cornwall, here in England, which is where Barry's parents live. It is also a gorgeous area - very popular with tourists. That's why we plan to get married in February, during low season. We will be out in Canada at Christmas or possibly the end of November so Barry can meet my family and friends. I met his family a few weekends ago and we got on very well. They are very nice people and I really enjoyed spending time with them. They live in Falmouth, which is very quaint and pretty. He has four sisters, two of which are living overseas at the moment, and the other two I met in Cornwall. We all got on well, which is good!!

Life has been busy since then, with the office move last weekend and my move this weekend! The office move went well and our premises are much larger and more professional (as you can see in the picture). Everyone seems to be fairly happy with it. We're still waiting for BT to sort out our phones - telecommunications here is appalling! We now have a proper kitchen and lunchroom now, so we don't have to eat at our desks anymore. Jade and I had to work the whole weekend, so we have Friday and Monday off this weekend, which is handy for my move to the terrace (townhouse) in Uxbridge! I have four whole days to get myself sorted and settled and get the old flat cleaned. I'm looking forward to relaxing in my back garden on my new patio furniture with a nice cup of tea!

Busy weekend ahead for the future Mrs. Coggins!!

Friday!!

Well, I've got a bit of time this morning, so I figured a short blog was in order.

Uncle Jac came back to London on Tuesday, so we've had a fun week together, although I'm still working. Tuesday night we just chilled out. Barry came over and the three of us chatted over supper and a bottle of wine.

Wednesday Uncle Jac went off to Kensington Palace to check it out, and stopped by Harrod's and grabbed supper for us and brought it back. It was lovely! Crab cakes, seafood kababs, creamy coleslaw and a grilled mediterranean salad. And a bottle of wine to wash it all down!

Yesterday he came into the city and checked out the Royal Academy of Arts and we popped down to Leicester Square after work, got some half-price tickets for Chicago and grabbed some supper before the show. This was my second time going to Chicago, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time, maybe even more!

This weekend, Barry is taking me to the Summer Ball at his work. It's a tropical theme, so I found a lovely linen dress to wear. I'm really looking forward to it. Apparently it goes well into the night! Then on Sunday he and his housemate are coming over in a van to move a bunch of my stuff up to Uxbridge. It's going to be a busy weekend!

Interesting times...

Has it really been a month since I last blogged? Tsk, tsk, tsk. My abject apologies!

However, I've had good reason! Settle in, children, and I'll tell you stories that will frighten and amaze you!

So, Stratic listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on June 21, 2007. The weeks running up to that day were full to overflowing. I was mostly working on getting our new website populated and edited. I ended up working a lot of evenings. That was combined with the fact that we had to find find new office space for our ever growing employee base, which I found, but then had to get quotes and organize a company to do the fit out of the new space and sort out all the attendant issues with preparing to move. So it was a busy, busy time the beginning of June!

On June 22, Barry and I flew out to Menorca (a small Spanish island) for a week. We hired a car and travelled to different beaches and coves all around the island. It was a wonderful week! We slept in and relaxed and had yummy seafood. We stayed in a self-catered apartment, so could have meals there if we wanted, which we did a bit. I am going to try to post a photo album of pictures on my Facebook profile. The beaches were so great - the sand was soft and white on many of them. Menorca has an interesting history, as well, and we tramped around some neolithic ruins. It was just an amazing holiday!

We got home the next Friday, and on Saturday my Uncle Jac arrived in London to a mess of security given the incidents in London and Glasgow on the Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Uncle Jac and Barry and I went to high tea in the English Tea Room at Brown's Hotel, and had a lovely time. It's so nice to spend time with Uncle Jac.

On Monday, U. Jac and I flew out to Prague. We didn't get in until late evening, so we just went straight to bed. In the morning, U. Jac had to go off to his conference so I got ready and headed downtown on the metro. Prague is a beautiful city, but bears the scars of its oppressive political history. It was occupied by the Nazis during the second world war, and was "liberated" by the Communists, who continued to oppress the people until 1989. The general atmosphere seems quite dour and the people didn't seem to have a great sense of humour (not that I blame them). Living in such a beautiful city, you would think they would be happier. I really enjoyed my time there, though. We went to a concert in a beautiful concert hall in Republic Square, and ate at the oldest Kosher restaurant in Prague, in the Jewish Quarter, called King Solomon. We went to a cocktail reception at Prague Castle and toured around it. I did most of the sightseeing on my own. I would love to go back as I didn't get to see everything I wanted to. Barry would really enjoy it as well, as he has a Bachelor's degree in eastern European politics. I plan to go back for a mini-break with him.

Oh, and another bit of news. I'm moving again! My lease is up in August, and my friend, Steve, has been wanting to rent out his house in Uxbridge, so I decided to rent it from him. It's much larger and nicer than where I am, with a little back yard and a stream behind it! It's a bit further of a commute from work, but there are lots of services and shops in the area and it's a nice area. There are also lots of country bike paths. And, it's still close to Heathrow - even closer, actually!

And now I'm back at work. It's hard to get back to the grind after two weeks of freedom, but it must be done! Uncle Jac will be back in London for a few days in a couple of weeks, and I have the Summer Ball to go to with Barry at the end of July (yes, a full-on formal dress ball!). In the meantime, I will beaver away and get the office moved to the new premises by the end of July, hopefully!

Wedding and Derby Day

*This blog is dedicated to my uncle, Clarence Esau, who passed away after a short battle with leukemia. He was my biggest blog fan and a wonderful human being. He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him. His illness was mercifully short, but his life should have been longer.*

As many of you know, I was just in Canada for about a week, spending time with family in the wake of the death of my uncle and organizing meetings in Toronto for Stratic. Before I left, though, I attended the wedding of a Canadian friend, Shannon, here in London. It was on a Tuesday; since most of the guests were from out of town it didn't need to be on a weekend and it is much less expensive that way. The wedding was simple, the bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome. After the ceremony, we all got onto a vintage double-decker bus for a tour around London all afternoon. Fortunately it was a sunny day! Everyone had a fanstastic time. The tour ended in Belgravia where we went to a very historic pub called the Grenadier and then to Mossiman's for dinner. Mossiman's is a very posh restaurant and the food was amazing. The groom, Patrick, has apprenticed there as a chef for the last year, so they treated him well! It was such a fantastic day and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, even though I broke the heel off my shoe halfway through the day!

I returned from Canada on Wednesday, tired and jet lagged. The following Saturday was Derby Day! Barry and I went to the Epsom Derby, just called The Derby, which is the other major horse racing event besides Ascot. It was a stunningly beautiful day - the sun was out and the sky was blue. We went with the Sergeant's Mess Club at the base where Barry works, as invited guests, and were in the Household Division enclosure, which was specially given to the Household Division in perpetuity by Queen Victoria. (The Household Division are the soldiers that guard the palaces and the royal family.)

There were seven races in all, with the fifth race being the main race, called the Derby. There were an amazing amount of people there, so I was glad we had our own enclosure with seats and all, even though it was a little ways away from the track itself. The Quartermaster of the base, is an avid racing follower, so he initiated us into the mysteries of betting and racing and strategy. We placed a few small bets, and I even won a little bit of money on an offspring of Northern Dancer, a very famouse Canadian racehorse.

We were expected to dress appropriately for the enclosure, so Barry wore a jacket and tie, and I wore a dress and a hat. It was really good fun! We sipped Pimm's and had a lovely luncheon of seafood and salads. It was all very civilized and lovely. Everyone looked so nice, with all the men in their jackets and ties (which, incidentally, they couldn't take off while then were in the enclosure so the poor things were roasting all day!) The women were expected to wear pantsuits at the very least, so most women were in dresses and heels, as I was. It is very tiring walking around on grass in heels because you are basically walking around on tiptoes so your heels don't sink into the grass, so I grabbed a chair early on and guarded it!

We all went by coach to the Derby, so it was nice and comfortable and someone else could do the driving! After the Derby, there was a BBQ at the Sergeant's Mess, which was a nice way to finish off the day. I was knackered!

Barry and I are now looking into holidays for the end of June. We're thinking Portugal or Spain or Turkey or Greece, but the current favourite is Portugal. Then my Uncle Jac is coming over from Australia on his summer European tour. He will be in London for a few days and then he and I are heading off to Prague for about 5 days. We're back on the 7th of July and then on the 8th I am a course marshall for the Tour de France, which is starting in London this year! It's all very exciting!! In the meantime, I have a lot of work to get done!

Ciao for now!!