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!!

R.I.P. CuttySark

The Cutty Sark, the world's last remaining tea clipper at 138 years old, burned down on Monday.


Full Coverag Here

Army v Navy Rugby

And I thought Stampede was crazy!

Barry took me to the big annual Army vs. Navy rubgy game at Twickenham Stadium the Saturday before last. As you can imagine, it's quite the grudge match! What a fantastic day and a cultural experience!

We went to the army base where he works (Defense School of Languages) for breakfast. I met the RSM, who is in charge of the base. His name is Adam and he was organizing the trip. Super nice guy! So we had breakfast in the Sergeant's mess. Barry is civilian, but is a member of the mess. Then we all piled into a minibus and headed out to Twickenham. We passed tons of other coaches and minibuses on the way, all heading to the same place.

The minibus dropped us outside a fairly famous local pub called the Cabbage Patch. It was absolutely packed - you seriously could barely move. There was a big beer garden part as well, which was only marginally less crowded! We managed to get some pints, though. There was a decided dearth of toilets, and a few of us had to go, so we jumped over the stone wall enclosing the beer garden to go to the portable toilet on the street (yes, there are that many people wandering around that there are public portable toilets). When we got there, we discovered that it was only a men's loo - meaning it was just a couple of troughs. There was myself and one other girl, so after the guys with us were finished, we made them stand guard while we went in and improvised! That's a first for me!!

We had access to the Adjutant General's bar, which is the most prestigious bar you can get into for the ArmyvNavy game, so we left the Cabbage patch and went there for a bit before the game started. The walk from the Cabbage Patch to the stadium was quite an experience. The sidewalks were full of people, and they spilled out onto the street in places. Everyone was in a party mood - yelling and waving flags for their side, mocking the other side. You know the drill!! There were portable toilets everywhere and lineups at them. Cars and buses full of people trying to find parking or just a spot to drop off their occupants. It was amazing! There were houses along the way, and where they could they were selling parking at obscene prices, just like in Calgary. However, some of the occupants of the houses had set up tables in their front yards and were selling food to the hungry rugby fans walking by! Sandwiches and baked goods and stuff. There were also a lot of food trucks and kiosks set up selling hamburgers, pasties, curries, etc.

The game was great - our seats weren't fantastic, but I could see everything (and it was small!) I was amazed to see that the stadium wasn't even 3/4 full - I can't imagine what the streets would be like with a full house! Army won; apparently they've won every year since 2001 or something. Afterwards we went back to the Adjutant General's bar for another drink and then headed out to meet the minibus that would take us back to the base. Once on base, we went to the Sergeant's mess again, and decided to order Chinese food as we were all hungry. So Barry went to pick it up and we all had a good feed, which made everyone tired and broke the party up.

It was a great day - lots of fun and very interesting.

My Birthday

It's my birthday today! I'm 39, which isn't particularly old, but feels old to me. Never really thought I would be single and childless and living in London, England at 39!! Things rarely turn out how you think they will.

Well, I got back from Canada ok, still a bit jet-lagged, but coping. Jumped right into the logistics of our merger - office space, furniture, staffing and duties allocations, etc. Plus we are working on getting our AIM listing by the end of May, so there's lots to do with that. AIM is the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange - kinda like the TSX-Venture to the TSX.

Anyway, I think the time has come to mention the new man that I'm dating. We've been seeing each other about a month, and we hit it off right away. He is sweet and caring and spoils me! His name is Barry and he lives about half an hour away from me, but he has a car, so we can spend a lot of time together. He trains guard dogs for the military. Anyway you'll be reading about him on here fairly frequently, I think!

On Saturday, Barry took me up to Birmingham, which is where he grew up. It used to be a centre for metallurgy, and still has a thriving Jewelry Quarter. He took me there so I could pick out my birthday present! After that we walked down by the canals and had some lunch, and then visited some friends of his. It was a lovely day. Birmingham isn't as nice as London, but a very interesting city, nonetheless.

On Sunday we went for a picnic with some other friends of his, Pete and Susanne, their son, James, and their dog, Mutley. We went to the Cliveden estate and had a proper blanket picnic by the Thames. We threw sticks into the river for the dog (who is completely mad!) and Barry brought his camp stove so we made tea. There were some posh ladies there with a picnic that looked like it had been packed by Harrod's. It was all in proper picnic baskets with wine glasses and holders that you anchored into the ground! It looked like a movie or television commercial. A posh little boat came to pick them up, too. It was all very amusing, especially since Mutley kept running by them, river water streaming off his back and spashing everyone around him!

It was such a perfect day - one of the most perfect days I've ever had.

Tonight I organized drinks and dinner at a well-known jazz club just down Dover Street called, appropriately enough, Dover Street Restaurant and Bar. They have a house jazz trio that plays during dinner and then a swing blues band will come on later. Should be a good time! Believe it or not, there will actually be 7 people there including me! I'm so blessed for the friends I've managed to make here.

Anyway, I should get going. Happy Birthday To Me!!!