Notes from England - Housing Developments

Hi everyone!

It's been another busy couple of weeks since my last post, but we've a great deal to show for it. Helen and I have worked really, really hard on the house, and it's really coming together! I've included some pics below, so let's get started.

First of all, let me start with the lovely Helen. A few weeks ago, Helen went and got her hair cut and styled with a few red highlights through it. She'd been wanting to do it for some time now, but with the wedding, it was easier (for the hair style she chose for the day) to have more hair to work with. Her hair used to be below her shoulder blades...probably to the centre of her back. It's much shorter now, and I think it's really, really beautiful...so pardon me if I dwell for a moment. Besides...she wasn't expecting me to take the picture...hence the sort of surprised/amused expression on her face in the transition between the two shots.

Okay, so here's our living room! I adjusted the brightness/contrast on this pic because it came out really dull for some reason. The batteries were going on the camera, so I'm not sure the flash was working properly. The rest to follow look much better.

Anyway, we've got sofas, TV, DVD, VCR, Wii...we're only missing the Sky box...but that's a different post altogether. We've also put in a few different styles of display/storage cabinets, as you'll see. We stuck primarily with lighter birch and beech effect 'wood', just in an effort to brighten the rooms a bit. Aside from being a great way do display some of our more precious possessions like fragile figurines, etc, they're also very functional. They've allowed us to tuck our videos, DVDs CDs and everyday beat up paperback books away and out of sight.

Anyhoo, we really like how the colours came together. The feature wall (or accent wall depending on what home-decorating guru you ask) in the 'red berries' is fantastic; also Helen thought it would work really well to put a swatch of the berry behind the flower pictures on the walls, as it really helps them to pop out.

I couldn't agree more - it works fabulously. The unfortunate problem is that if you want to mask off a square for such a task, when you pull the tape back off the wall you tend to take bits of paint off with you. It's a real pain in the bum. So for all the masking I had to do whilst painting, you can imagine that there's a significant amount of touch-up left to do.

You can see the other wall here, and I think the three pics work fantastically together. The three small flower pics along with the large flower pic over the sideboard were from a little art shoppe in Bowness in the Lake District. Also, you'll note (if you saw the pics of the home before we decorated) that we replaced the bare-bulb with a proper flush-mount ceiling fixture. It looks really nice and, of course, really brightens the room.

Next is the dining/kitchen area. What can you say about it? It's fabulous...but it is what it is. We used the dining table & chairs along with the display/storage cabinet to sort of 'separate' the rooms a bit. It helps create a visual distinction between the lounge and the kitchen. I did have to take the radiator (next to the display cabinet on the left arm of the sofa) off the wall and re-drill and mount it so that the cabinet would actually fit there. Our measurement was off by something like 2 or 3mm. Don't you hate it when that happens?

As you can see, the soapstone for a kitchen floor works really well especially against the 'glamour' (light pink/beige) on the walls. Complimenting that with the warmth of the walnut cabinets and the contrasting dark counter tops really worked to our benefit, I think. We've noticed a few of the apartments whilst driving/walking by (not that we're nosey) have some very...different...styles. Anything from rainbow-like colours and cabinets to stark, sterile white with bare light bulbs dangling from the ceiling everywhere. Yeesh.

Moving out of the lounge we'll go down the hall (painted in a nice, warming 'wild honeysuckle)into the first door on the left, the spare room. Again, you get the lovely view of the park that you enjoy from the lounge. Here we have put the spare wardrobe, the single bed and the computer desk and filing cabinet. We've also got some more shelves in here for book/media storage. We like the idea of having things tucked away and out of sight.

We went with 'china blue' for the land of 'spare oom' and it works really nicely. The curtains, like the ones in the lounge, are a faux suede and do a really nice job of blocking out the sunlight. Like the hallway we've left the hanging bulbs up in the spare room, but have replaced the 'energy efficient' bulbs...which blinked and gave one a headache if one was around them too long...with standard bulbs. Then we found some nice ornamental shades to pretty them up!

As you can see, we've not really put up any pictures as wall decoration in this room. Instead Helen and I have decided to use this room to tuck our sharp and pointy, somewhat dangerous wall decorations safely away. Helen's 'Hadhafang' is sitting along the top of the little bookshelves next to the desk, but will ultimately end up on the a shelf on the wall next to all the other swords. Sitting out as it is, it just begs to be picked up...and that's probably not a good idea. Can you say 'liability'?


Anyway, Helen and I found it amusing that a sword like 'Herugrim' (on the wall, far right) which initially seems quite large, suddenly becomes dwarfed when compared to something like 'Anduril' (on the wall, far left). As many of you know, I've still got swords in the States ready to be shipped over to me, so the walls above the bed will be nicely fleshed out with our 'Lord of the Rings' collectibles when all is said and done. Just...if you stay over in the spare bed, don't sit up sharply whilst in bed. You may just regret it.

Further down the hall in the second door to the left we find the master bedroom. We went for warmth in this room, as with the lounge. Where the feature wall in the lounge was 'red berries', this feature wall is 'fireside'. It's a much darker red and just adds a great overall feeling of comfort and warmth, especially when complimented by the red faux suede curtains and chocolate brown accents. The throw across the foot of the bed is a chocolate brown faux bear fur blanket backed with a caramel-coloured fleece and is actually large enough to cover the bed from top to bottom. The painting of the sunset was also bought in the Lake District, at the same art gallery as the flower pics in the lounge. If I recall correctly it is inspired by a view the artist found in Ireland. There's also a fantastic panoramic picture of the Chicago skyline across the lake at Sunset that sits just inside the bedroom door...unfortunately you can't see it in this shot. Again, the reds in the sunsets really help bring out the warmth of the room. For the master bedroom we also put in a flush-mount ceiling light, much like the one in the lounge. It's made to match the lights on the night stand...so if you picture those, but turned upside down and with 3 bulbs instead of 2, you've got it.

Next is the en-suite. Although it looks like the same colour as the spare bedroom, this is actually 'clear sky' where the bedroom was 'china blue'. Trust me...they're different. It's a much colder blue than the one we used in the bedroom, and that works well for the bathroom. It feels like a nice clean colour. The floors are 'calcite' and the colouring matches quite well with the darkest grey of the tiles on the wall. For those keeping score, the picture above the toilet is a watercolour of the canals in Venice.

Also, as mentioned in previous posts, the towel rails are heated and the sole source of heating for the bathrooms. And as my posterior and elbows can attest...they are very warm! Still, there's nothing quite like getting out of the shower and having a nice warm towel to greet you.

The master bathroom is done in the same colours as the en-suite. We've gone for some nice watery-themed pictures to brighten things up a bit. To the left over the towel rail is a lovely wide shot of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia where Helen did SCUBA.

On the right over the bath is an incredibly beautiful picture of a waterfall. Don't ask me where it's supposed to be. It looks like a watercolour to me and there are a couple of Chinese-style characters on the lower-right corners. The style of trees in the image also suggest its Asian influences...but that's all I can tell you.

We also put a set of drawers just inside the bathroom door to put all the bits and pieces like shampoo, moisturisers, extra TP, (etc.) in. We don't want them hanging about in the bathroom making it look cluttered and messy. So, like with all our media, we've tucked them away out of sight. Also, in both the bathroom and en-suite we I removed the energy-efficient light fixtures and replaced them with some proper bathroom fixtures. Again, it's an effort to eliminate the blinking, headache-inducing problems of the e.e. bulbs, but as an added benefit they more yellowy colour of the standard bulbs adds a warmth that you can't get otherwise.

That's about all. If you continue down the hall any further you'll go 'round the corner and out the door. You can see that we've put up some mirrors at the end of the hall to help catch the light and throw it around in the darkness of the corner. On the left of the hall as you exit (not shown) is a beautiful charcoal drawing of Venice that Helen's parents picked up whilst on a visit before Helen was even born. To the right, which you can just see, is the wedding card Aaron gave us. It was such a beautiful picture, Helen insisted on framing it and hanging it in our new home. It's 'The Wedding Morning' by John Henry Frederick Bacon.

That's all I've got time for right now, friends. I've got lots to do and less time to do it. If you've got any questions or comments regarding this little home tour which I hope you enjoyed as much as I did, please post a comment below!

Take care of yourselves.

~Jer

PS - Thanks to everyone who came to the housewarming party on Saturday! We're really pleased so many of you could make it, and we wish that even more of you could have. There was lots of mini party-style food and plenty of alcohol to go around. (Last count was 7 bottles of wine drained and oodles of beer.) We really had a great time and we hope you all did too. For those that couldn't make it, we hope that the pictures will help to tide you over until you get a chance to visit us in our new home.

Notes from England - Long Overdue Update

Hi folks,

Wow...it's been a long time. I've not updated my blog since 9 March...and that wasn't even a 'proper' update. Where have I been? Well if you notice in my last 'NFE' update, you'll see that the wife and I have had some major housing development news. We signed on the house (okay...Helen signed on the house. Something to do with my not actually being a citizen of the UK, to say nothing for not having a job due to not legally being allowed to work in the UK at the time of signing, makes money lenders not want to have anything to do with you. Go figure) and have been trying ever since to move into the place. It's been quite a time-consuming process, at that.

I didn't have my spouse-visa until a couple weeks ago, so I still couldn't legally seek or be offered employment. So whilst Helen was off earning the £ to keep us going, I was putting my 'free time' to good use at the new home making an attempt at decorating, as well as being available for home deliveries of new furnishings, etc. (Helen and I think that at one point the whole of Ikea was situated in flat-pack boxes between the lounge, spare-oom and master bedroom.)

As many of you may know...I hate painting. It's one of the worst things when it comes to home decorating...in my humble opinion. But it beats wallpapering, so I got down to it. I will have pictures very soon, I promise...but I've only just finished the 'main painting' yesterday...hence my ability to write to you today! (I say 'main painting', because after we get the rest of the furniture in, we'll have plenty of 'touch-up' work to do) We're expecting the sofas in mid-April...hopefully in time for the house-warming party.

What else...well, Helen and I have been in the local papers a couple of times. For those readers in the States, there was obviously no possible way you could have seen these...and for those readers in the UK, if you missed them, here they are. The pics are bad...but they're fun to laugh at anyway, aren't they? And Helen and I are quite capable of laughing at ourselves...or we would never have agreed to the requested photo-shoot!

Basically, Countryside properties were interested in doing a photo-shoot for the Manchester Evening News for publicity purposes, and the paper was doing a piece on people moving to Warrington...so they collaborated. I guess our story...due to the fact that our relationship has a bit of an unusual aspect to it, being from half a world away from each other...makes for an interesting read.(?) Anyway...we agreed to do the photo shoot...you can see the result.

If you spot the 'you've gotta be kidding...is this guy for real?' look on my face, it's because...I guess you had to be there. It was like telling kids to say 'cheese'...but instead, he said, 'Nice smiles as well!'... ~ click ~ ...'Great stuff.' ~ adjust camera ~ 'Nice smiles as well!'... ~ click ~...'Brilliant stuff.'

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, and it was all I could do to stop laughing at the man audibly. When the man decided to stand up on a hand-rail that goes 'round the park so that he could get a creative shot looking down on us, I thought he'd fall off and break something. Alas...both he and the camera survived.

I joke. He was actually very nice. But if you ever want to feel...akward...agree to do a photo-shoot for a local news agent. You'll never forget it...or forgive yourself. Fortunately, the worst photos...the ones of us faux-painting the flat...didn't make it into the paper. No...I'm not joking. 'Can you just hold the roller up to the wall? That's great. Just tilt it this way a bit...that's great. Okay...and if you could stand by your husband...like you're supervising!...okay...both look into the camera...nice smiles as well!'...~ click ~...'Great stuff.'

There was also a photo of us in the Warrington Guardian for the wedding, which I thought was great. It's a pretty good picture, even if it didn't scan in the greatest. Of course, Helen and I got to choose the photo ourselves...and even though I'm probably biased, when I look at the other two weddings announced on that page, I think ours is the best. The other nice thing about the write-up is that it mentions everyone in the wedding party...I think! So it's nice to see everyone's names there that were so special to us and helped to make our special day all the more wonderful. Josh, Jonny, Graham, Aaron, Amy, Alison, Kaitlyn...again...your participation in our wedding means the world to us. We'll never forget it.

In other news, we've been trying...and trying...and trying to get a phone line installed. We've been held up by BT. They suck. Apparently there is a problem with the conduit that the phone line for our apartment is going to go through. It's...dented or something equally press-stopping. But the thing is...it only appears to be our flat that is affected. Everyone else in the building was getting their phones hooked up on Monday.

What's worse is that we were supposed to have the phone line back on 13 March. (This is after calling them on the 2nd and being told it would be 2 weeks at the earliest appointment) But they called and said that due to problems with the ground cable, they had to push our appointment out two weeks. We also wanted Sky to come and install Sky+ (Americans think satellite TV with a DVR) which requires the box to call back to the service centere via the phone line. They were going to do this the day following the phone line installation. Since we didn't have a phone line on the 13th, we didn't have Sky on the 14th.

Then this week came around. BT should have installed on the 27th...Sky on the 28th. But with these conduit problems (which we've been assured have nothing to do with the cable problem that prevented installation on the 13th) we still have no phone line...no Sky. The worse part yet? We don't even want to stick with BT! We want Talk-Talk. They have a great international phone/broadband package. But since BT have basically a monopoly on all phone lines, BT still has to do the initial install, at which point Talk-Talk can take over 14 days later. Yep...so even if I got my phone line today, I wouldn't have broadband or international calling for two more weeks.

But I won't have my phone line today. It's been said (to Helen) that BT has no plans to fix the conduit causing the problem because 'It's Countryside's problem...not ours. Go tell Countryside they need to fix it.' They've said that if something isn't done by Countryside, they won't do anything until the 27th of April.

BT sucks. Period.

In happier news, I got a Nintendo Wii! It's fabulous! Helen said that she wanted to get me a new console. She said she knew I left all my old video games in the States, and she wanted to give me a fresh start in the UK. I told her she needn't do such a thing, but she would hear nothing of it. She insisted I choose one of the three new consoles, and we'd get it.

After considerable thought, I opted for the Wii. Reason being - some of my most favourite games are exclusives to Nintendo. Also, I don't play as hardcore these days as I used to...so I couldn't justify spending £425 on a console, when my TV cost £450. I know the Wii doesn't have the most power on the market, but it's got the most innovation. If I want power, I've still got the PC. (once it arrives from the States)

So anyway, Zelda is freaking amazing. I won't go into review just now as I'm only a few hours into it, and if you want a review you can always look elsewhere. But I will say that the Wii control scheme simply works for a game like this. It's made for a game like this. Swinging the Wii remote to mimic sword slices...aiming with the pointer to make shots with your long-range weapons...it's the way games like this should always be played. I'd never go back to clunky Gamecube controls now.

WarioWare - Smooth Moves is also entertaining...but really strange. It's best played with multiple people, I'm certain...as certain as I am that you'll feel exponentially more ridiculous in front of other people performing these 'tricks'. Anyway, it's easy to see why it would make a great party game...especially if alcohol is involved.

That's all for now, folks...more work to do today. Take care of yourselves and leave your thoughts!

~Jer

PS - Check out the new music list. Great stuff. New from James Morrison, all the way through to some cheesy 80's rock with Bon Jovi. I might even stick a great orchestrated version of the theme from The Legend of Zelda I downloaded.

Notes from England - Housing Developments...internal shots!

Hi all!

Just a quick post to show off some internal shots of the new home after I went on the 'home demonstration' today. Unfortunately, since some of the electricals weren't hooked up yet, it wasn't a terribly exciting 'demonstration' as far as demos go, but I got to see the inside of the flat and that was really, really exciting!

The walls still need paint and the floors still need...well, flooring...but you should have a good idea of what we're after with these pics!

I'll start with the kitchen area. As you can see, our cupboards are fitted as is the sink, the fridge, oven, stove top and hood. It's really come together very, very nicely! There's plenty of lights under the cupboards for over the counter, and there's track lighting on the ceiling which lookss good! The kitchen floor will be finished in a soapstone tile laminate. Can't have real tile on the 1st floor (that's the 2nd floor to Americans. The first floor is the 'ground floor' in England)

Across from the kitchen is our living area. here we have the door which opens out to our 'Juliet' balcony. It's really cool in that the door, which is a slider (great considering space saving features) tilts out at the top! Basically, you pull the handle out towards you, and the top leans into the room whilst the bottom stays in at the slider. This allows you to just 'crack the door' for fresh air. If you want to actually open the door, you just pull again and the bottom pops out and you can slide the door to the left. Slide the door back to the right, the bottom pops in, you push the top in, and close the handle. Brilliant! We (obviously) need to buy a light fixture for the living room. The living room floor will be finished in a light brown 'mushroom'-coloured carpet.

Leaving the living room you enter the hall. To the left you have the spare bedroom...the smaller of the two. Across from the bedroom is the main bathroom. Further down the hall on the left is the master bedroom, which has an en suite bathroom attached to it. The hallway continues on around to the right where, on your right is the service cupboard is, which will contain our washer/dryer. Currently inside Inside is the water heater, which is an energy-saving model designed to run at night when energy costs are at their lowest...so that's fab...and the fuse box for all the power to the flat. The hall turns left again at the service cupboard and continues straight on to the front door. I couldn't tell you why I didn't take picture of the entryway...I suppose it's because the service people were standing right there and I'd feel like a muppet taking their pictures...never mind! There are energy-saving lights in the hall and will need to be planned for accordingly.The hall floor will be finished in American Oak laminate rather than carpet due to the heavy traffic it will inevitably handle.

The main bathroom has the tub, (no shower) a basin and toilet. It also has water-saving features with half-flush toilets. Brits may be used to things like this, but Americans aren't. It's got a button in the lid of the toilet used to flush it. The button is spilt in half...sort of yin-yang style...one half smaller than the other. If you don't need a 'full flush', you use the smaller button. If you've had a bit more...'activity'...I'll let you use your own imagination for that one...in the bathroom, you can push the bigger button and get the full-on-flush that we all know and love. You can also see in the second picture that there's a towel rack on the left wall. It's a heated towel rack that is set to the same timer as the heating for the home. I.E., you set your heating to come on at 5 or 6 in the morning and when you go to have a bath/shower (if you're in the en suite) you have a nice toasty warm towel to greet you when you step out into what, after being in the nice warm water, may be a slightly chilly bathroom! It also serves as the radiator (as near as Ann & I can tell) for the room. The bathroom will be finished in a grey, slate-like 'calcite' tile laminate.

Next is the spare bedroom which is actually bigger than it looks on the plans. With our plans of a single bed, a wardrobe and computer desk in there, we'll have absolutely no trouble moving around as there's plenty of room. The windows are an interesting point in that there's actually little vents above the window (hard to see from the picture) that you can open for fresh air if you don't want to open the windows themselves. This will come in handy in the winter months, for example when you wouldn't want a window open but still would like fresh air. The vents are recessed into the top part of the window sill and slide down to let the air in. They are actually open in this picture...so you can see they're not obtrusive at all. There is an energy-saving light in this bedroom and the bedroom floor will be finished in the same carpeting as the living room.

The master bedroom is larger (naturally) than the spare bedroom, and also has the added benefit of an en suite. We used the same tile for around the basin and shower as we did in the main bathroom, and we used the same calcite flooring. The bedroom will have the same mushroom carpeting as the spare bedroom and the living room. There's not much else to say here, so I'll simply include the last couple of pictures which show the bathroom tile a bit more closely and there's a shot of the shower. Enjoy!

Notes from England - Housing Developments

Hiya folks!

Well things are slowly but surely coming together on the new house! The last post I seem to have made about the house was back in August!! A surprise, to be sure. But you can see it and then see the progress that has been made! Though, I could have sworn I included a more up-to-date post than that at some point...before we had brick.

Never mind...this will be an all-inclusive post! We'll walk you through from the ground up! As you can see after the jump, our plot of 'open air' was extremely promising! There was...well...space! There was air! There was a hell of a view! It was our little plot of air and we loved it to pieces. Since then, however, things have changed...for the better!

The walls went up fairly quickly. So quickly, in fact, that I never managed to grab a shot of them going up! Then...to be fair...I did still live State-side at that time! Never mind!

These shots were taken approximately October 14, shortly after I arrived in the UK permanently. You can see in the pictures here that the walls of the main structure are up...still in dire need of some cladding of some sort. You know...some brick and mortar?

Also, back in October we didn't even have a roof, really. It was started, sure...but it's hardly what you'd call 'solid' at this point...and you're not protected from the elements, what with roofing not competed and windows still being added! But it was nice to be able to look at 'our walls' properly! We were definitely on the move forward!

A positive aspect was that they seemed to start (as you can even see in the pictures sans walls) with the park area. This is good because it allows the trees and turf time to settle before people moved in! It also makes for much more interesting photos than a pile of dirt. Hehehe. Anyway, here you see a wide shot of the building, and you get the idea of how things will lay out when all is completed. You can also see by the brick 'pillars' on either side of the path through the park that the red brick and ultra-green grass create a beautiful contrast. Imagine when the actual building is completed and no longer 'blue'.

There are more 'old' shots, sure...but I won't bore you with those. We now have brick and windows. We're actually looking to complete on our mortgage by ~ fingers crossed ~ the end of the month. I'm actually going on a 'home demonstration' of our apartment this Wednesday, so I'll get to see how it looks on the inside! I may or may not take my camera with me. If I do, expect more pics!

You can see that not all of the 'Juliet' balcony railings are up yet, in fact none on the right side of the building. But you can see what they will look like when they are on. An interesting development is the addition of a 'bricked out' section of the two white 'towers'. This was not in the artists' original interpretation, and quite frankly I think it looks a bit odd. Then again, I don't get paid uber amounts of money to be an architect or building designer...so my vote matters little. Hey...I'm just living here.

It looks like...possibly...our address will be somewhere on Rylands Drive! Not sure...but I saw the sign...and wanted to snap a pic of it. In any case, all that remains to be done is to sort out flooring (due to a miscommunication with the realtors) and sign on the dotted line, as it were. Basically...exchange a poop-load of money and then we get to start moving in! We will be hopefully moving in March! Yay!

That's all for now, folks.

Comments? Questions?

Notes from England - Weddingmoon Pt. II

Hiya folks! I thought I'd take the opportunity of a rather quiet and slow morning to update you with pt. II of the 'weddingmoon'...the part you guys didn't get to see...the honeymoon!

Due to the fact that (as of when we booked our honeymoon) flights only went to St. Lucia from London Gatwick, we had to get flights into Gatwick. Unfortunately, no matter how early we got up the Tuesday we were supposed to go, we couldn't book a flight to get us from Manchester to Gatwick on time for our flight. Poo. So that meant we had to go down Monday evening and stay in a hotel at Gatwick. This was another £200+. Loverly.

Anyhoo, we got off without any trouble...except a slight delay. Not a major hassle, except it meant we couldn't take advantage of 'Twilight Check-In' that Virgin offers their customers. Basically we would have been able to drop our luggage off the night before and get checked in...get our boarding cards and everything...and be allowed a bit of a lie-in the morning of. We'd only have to bring our passports and boarding cards to security...no long wait at check-in. Never mind...upon arrival to Gatwick we promptly grabbed a bus to the hotel and got to bed.

Up early...too early...the next morning, and we caught the bus back to the airport...and we actually left (virtually) on time. (As far as any flight leaving on time can be.) The flight was uneventful, and there was little to no turbulence. But if you've never flown with Virgin...they give you these great draw-string bags that have all sorts of goodies in them. There was an eye mask for sleeping (big deal...had these on many flights), a pair of socks in case your feet were cold, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a pen, a note pad, ear plugs, and possibly other bits I'm forgetting. Not only that, but everything was colour-coded. Yellow socks, yellow mask, yellow toothbrush, yellow pen, yellow notepad, yellow ear plugs, all in a yellow bag. The same was available in a light blue. It was just kind of neat, really! The socks were really nice as I had my flip-flops on (in anticipation of the beach) and my feet were freezing. A pair of socks and a blanket later and I was toasty warm!

As with many (but not all) airlines, the wine at dinner was free. And it wasn't bad, actually. (At least the white wasn't bad...can't speak to the red)

Upon arrival at the 'airport' in St. Lucia, we found ourselves on the tarmac. Fortunately, we were near the front of the plane and were off almost immediately. We walked 'round the side of a building and (while I was thinking 'security seems a bit lax') into the passport control area inside. Only a few minutes in passport control and Mrs. Burns and I were through. As soon as we got our luggage, we wandered off to find the Virgin representative.

Apparently, though, we didn't need the Virgin rep. We needed the Sandals reps. We got our info pack from the desk (Waiting under the names Mr. & Mrs. Burns!) and found our way to the air conditioned van that was to take us to the resort. Apparently...and we didn't know this beforehand...the drive was to take 'about an hour', according to the Sandals rep. Now...after a good long flight, nobody is thrilled with the prospect of another hour in a van...but never mind. We'd stick it out. What's one hour, right?

One hour is nothing. But the nearly 2 hours it actually took us was a bit urgh. It was beautiful, don't get me wrong. We drove winding switchback roads up mountains and through the rain forest...past countless banana groves. The downside was going through the 'towns'. You'd pass massive celebrity-style homes which were sat in and amongst some severe poverty. Not 3rd-world country poverty...but sad nonetheless. Everyone looked happy...but it made both Helen and I uncomfortable to know we're off to this posh resort and seeing the state of affairs of the local population.

Then there was the road construction about 20 minutes out from the resort...which took a good 45 minutes to traverse. So in the end, we wondered if paying the $130 per person for a helicopter ride would have been worth it after-all. (More on that)

We finally arrived at Sandals Grande, and were greeted by the most pleasant people. I tried to unload our luggage from the van, but was told "Don't worry...you've had a long journey from Gatwick. We'll take care of that for you, all we need is your name." "Burns." "Thank you! Please head inside to the lobby." Helen and I grabbed our carry-on bags and did so. We went to the front desk and said we were checking in..."Yes. Please have a seat at one of the tables and someone will be right with you." Okay...different, but okay. We did.

Within 30 seconds, a man arrived with a silver tray with little white towels all rolled up piled on it and holding a pair of tongs. "Cold towel?" They were damp and ice cold....they'd been refrigerated or dunked in ice water...and they were heavenly. We wiped down our hands, faces and neck...and I tell you, it's amazing how refreshed that can make you feel after 8 or 9 hours on a plane and another 2 hours on a bus. But that wasn't all. Another minute passed and a man stopped and asked if we would like some champagne. Of course we did, and he soon reappeared with a tray of drinks. The 'special treatment' we'd heard so much about at these all-inclusive resorts had begun, and we scarcely knew how to handle it! But it was wonderful.

So there we are, cold towels and champagne, feeling quite giggly but wonderful, and a lady stops by and walks us through check-in. Signing forms, essentially, then she explains that we are to walk back over to where the bus dropped us off near our luggage, and a bell boy would be by to take us to our rooms. This was done, and within fifteen minutes of arriving at Sandals we were alone in our room and feeling all at once bemused, amused, excited, exhausted and completely happy.

By this time it's gone 5 o'clock in the evening (having landed about 14.30). We sat on the balcony and flipped through our 'welcome booklet', trying to decide if we wanted to go out to eat anywhere that night. In the end we opted to have an early night as we were both exhausted, but we ordered the continental breakfast to be delivered the next morning in time to go on the 10am tour of the resort. We surprised ourselves by being up for 7am...forgetting we were still on British time in our heads, and so had a couple of hours to relax before breakfast arrived. We took a brief walk and just took it easy, really.

The tour went well...showing how to get to everywhere we could possibly want to get to. The five restaurants, the gym, the spa, the 5+ pools and jacuzzi, the gift shoppes, and the many, many bars. (Alcohol is a theme)

We then grabbed our beach towels and scoped out a couple of beautiful sun beds at a prime location at the main pool. This is the pool which contains the swim-up bar. The bar is in the pool. There's little bar stools just under the surface of the water where you can sit and drink all day if you want. It's...it's like nothing I'd ever seen. The large white vertical signs you see around the green portion of the bar contain all the cocktails they make...and there's lots of them! I tried something new every day and there were many I never got around too. I recommend banana colladas though...and a 'totally nutz!'. Very yummy and peanuty. Helen was quite content to sit with a strawberry daiquiri...and she's said numerous times since returning how good they were. I tried a strawberry-banana daiquiri, and it too was very good. There were also 'signature' drinks every day...something they'd make up gallons and gallons of that morning and have ready to go. These usually had fun names like 'Lover's Leap'...a citrusy drink and very good.

The bulk of the remainder of our time in St. Lucia can be summed up with the following: sun, relaxation, alcohol, food. We only spent the first couple of days by the pool, and after we came back from lunch one day to find that some rude people had decided to take the empty beds on either side of us and (after sliding our beds out of the way and away from the pool) placed them in our prime spots. So instead of looking out at the pool & bar as in the above image, we'd be looking at these...'people'. Nope...wouldn't do at all.

The rest of the holiday we spent in our 'tepee' as Helen liked to refer to it. It was a nice little canopy...thing. It was along the beach and overlooked the Caribbean Sea. It was perfect. We sat...we sun-bathed...we read books...we relaxed, which was our main focus. Though, Helen amazes me when it comes to reading. I'm no slouch...but in the entire holiday I read 2 books...Helen read at least 6, one of which I read.

Not to worry though, you cocktail-lovers out there. It was still very near the other pool-side bar (the one you didn't have to swim up to) but was quiet enough that you didn't have to worry about the commotion around the pool. Understand that nothing is more than a 5-minute walk away from anywhere else in the resort. There simply weren't any 'bad' spots, really!

Helen and I went to the Spa during the second week we were there. We got a 'couples' massage, which we upgraded to including the warm river stones. Basically, you both get completely naked and lay on your tummy under a sheet on (separate) massage tables. Then two masseuses come in and go to work. Pull the sheet down to just below your waist and put about six warm river stones down either side of your spine, and one in each of your palms. You immediately start to feel tension being soothed. Then, using massage oils and warm river stones in each of their hands, they in turn massage each of your arms, your neck, shoulders and shoulder blades (which caused Jeremiah to issue an uncontrollable grunt of pleasure when a knot was worked out of my right shoulder blade) back and each of your legs. (They uncover one leg at a time so as to keep your nakedness covered...not to mention it's dark as the room is lit only with lemongrass scented candles) This, combined with the sweet fragrance of the oils and the relaxing ambient music...you couldn't help but nearly fall asleep.

The process was repeated on your front side, and then followed by a complete body sea-salt exfoliation. This got rid of all the dead skin and it really helps to bring out your tan (if you have one) more. You then step into a nine-jet shower and rinse off the sea salts and then get into a jacuzzi tub built for three. Yes, there's only two of you, but there's loads of room in there. The tub is filled with minerals and sea salts and lovely smelling bubbles...and you could easily fall asleep as the jets continue to massage your body. After the jacuzzi, you get back on the table and the ladies return to moisturize your skin.

When all is done...your body feels like jelly...so loose, so relaxed...and it all took place over about 1.5-2hrs. It was incredible. I know a lot of guys out there might be skeptical and think of spas as a 'girls' thing...but this was clearly geared towards both ladies and gentlemen...and I would recommend it to any of my friends with confidence. Josh, Jess...you guys would LOVE this treatment. When you get married...for your honeymoon, can I recommend Sandals Grande?

I went Scuba Diving! It's been a dream of mine for about as long as I can remember...and what better place to start than the Caribbean?? It was absolutely breathtaking. I'm sorry I don't have pics of what I saw to show you. But...just imagine all the beautiful colours and creatures and corals and sponges and everything that you've seen in salt water aquariums and movies like Finding Nemo and such...and multiply it tenfold...and then imagine swimming through that beauty instead of looking at it through aquarium glass. It's nearly indescribably beautiful...but I'll definitely go again. I'm hooked...I want to go again and again. And yes, the first suit I tried on was too small.

Despite the fact that I've only a 33" waist and wear 'medium' shirts, a 'medium' wet suit is not the same thing. Even a 'large' was a bit tight across my shoulders and back...but it sufficed. Yes, I know they're supposed to be tight...but if your instructor comments that it was a bit tight...well I have either unusually broad shoulders for a large...or something. Because the zip was a bit tight. Yes, you can laugh at the picture. That's the intent. The worst part about the picture is you can see how much my swimming suit bunched up under the wet suit!

Finally, the food! The food was absolutely incredible. The quality of food served...at every restaurant...was not cheap! This was the type of food that would end up coming to $30 per plate (minimum) in the States. Things like beef wellington, steaks, chicken, pasta, burgers, fresh seafood of all kinds like mahi mahi, snapper, salmon...I had the most beautiful salt-crusted snapper with a caviar sauce for dinner one night. Easily...the best fish I have ever had. And that's without the desserts or appetizers!

There was an Italian Restaurant...the only one of the 5 we didn't make it to. There was "The Olde London Pub"...which was about as "London Pub" as a TGIF...but the food was amazing. There was The Bayside, which ran along the main pool and served buffets that would make many 'normal restaurants' hang their heads in shame due to the quality. This was not buffet-style food...it was quality food, served buffet style. There was the Barefoot on the Beach restaurant, there was Josephine's, the health-food and creperie restaurant...your choices were plentiful.

In short, Helen and I had a perfect honeymoon for 2 weeks...and we recommend, without hesitation, using both Virgin and Sandals if you're looking to get away somewhere. The worst part of the holiday was leaving. We took the bus back to the airport...but our driver decided that he had to prove something and took a 'shortcut' that, while it did get us to the airport more quickly, his fast (too fast?) driving around the switchbacks made Helen extremely travel-sick. Poor babe. So we decided when we go back, we'll pay out the extra cash for the helicopter transport. It will be faster...and easier on the system!

I hope you've enjoyed this (lengthy) post....please let us have your thoughts! If you've not yet seen the honeymoon pics in full, I encourage you to click here and check them out. Again, we'd love your thoughts and comments!

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Notes from England - Weddingmoon Pt. I

Hello all,

We saw that on a shirt in St. Lucia - "weddingmoon"...so I decided it was just cheesy enough to use as a post title. You know my odd sense of humor. ;-)

Well it's been nearly three weeks since the wedding, and now that things have settled down a bit...only a bit!...I thought I'd post my thoughts for you all but more importantly, to ask for your feedback on what you all thought as well! Along the way, I'm going to throw in a couple...but only a couple, despite the numerous photos I fell in love with...of my favourite photos. John & Jonny...I've snarfed these off your respective photo pages so I don't send a bunch of traffic your way that you may not want!


It's funny...I wasn't nervous...at all...until that Saturday morning. And even funnier is that I wasn't nervous about the wedding itself. No, I was nervous about my speech. If you were there, then you'll likely remember that I mentioned I'm not a public speaker. I meant it. Hardly anything can make me more nervous...but for some reason, until Saturday morning...(not even Friday night!) it wasn't bothering me.

Then I sat there at Jonny's house on the big day...and butterflies were going through my stomach ad nausea. But it subsided as things started moving...like...once I got in the car on my way to the church. It didn't pass entirely...but it got better. It's strange, because it was as we got in the car and started down the road that Aaron said he was feeling more nervous than ever. I guess it hits people at different times. It hit me hardest at dinner...but I'll get to that in a mo'.

We arrive at the church...only to discover Josh doesn't have a hankie for his suit. Ack! I know it sounds like a minor detail...but do you know the kind of trouble I was foreseeing for myself at that moment if I had to tell my new bride that all the wedding photos were going to have one mismatched usher because we lost a hankie? Anyway, not to worry...Andy arrived and the AWOL hankie had been stuck in Aaron's suit bag. Problem solved, crisis averted.

After everyone is introduced...it's maybe...maybe 12:00. So that means we had a good hour to sit/stand and wait. Butterflies crept back in, but so long as I kept myself busy I forgot about it. Thank God for Barbara taking photos!

Eventually Helen shows up (after quite a hectic morning herself!) and things get under way. You know the rest..."I will" and "I will" followed by a smooch and something 'bout "husband and wife".

Then...more...pictures...lots...more...pictures...my face still hurts from smiling!

We finally take off to the reception...and the champagne went down quick and easy. Hehehe. I needed it by then! We stand around and talk to people a bit longer...have some Winter Pimms (just in case any of you were wondering what the welcoming drinks were...and yes it was alcoholic) and took a few more photos. Then to the receiving line and...dinner.


Butterflies must have been mating like rabbits in my tummy because I could hardly eat. I ate my soup...and some of my veggies...maybe a bite or two of chicken...that's it. I thought I'd be sick! Not because of the food...you all know it was good...but because of the speech which I knew was coming right after dinner!

For those that couldn't make it, the menu consisted of:

*Fresh Tomato Soup blended with Garden Basil
*Traditional Oven Roasted Chicken: Served with a Smoked Bacon & Mushroom Sauce

~or~

*Vegetable Stir Fry: A Selection of Fresh Oriental Vegetables stir fried and served on a Bed of Rice

*Warm Bramley Apple & Blackberry Crumble served with Cappuccino Ice Cream or Hot Custard

*Coffee or Tea and Mints

(And of course, all the wine you like)

Oh...I did manage a few bites of the crumble...but not much. Helen said I was white as a sheet and thought I was going to be sick when I went to the bathroom. Nope...just went to the bathroom. Met Carey & Aaron in there! Hey guys!

Anyhoo...then it was speech time. Thank goodness John went first. (By tradition) I don't think I could have handled going first. John's speech was fantastic, and it really (along with all the alcohol) warmed the crowd. Yet...I was so nervous I didn't think I'd be able to stand. But stand I did...and once I actually got the words flowing out of my mouth, it came pretty easy.

Once I sat down...I felt like a million dollars. The nervous stomach had gone...but it still took my appetite with it!

After dinner we opened the room up for Disco Chris (who rocked, by the way) and dancing. Yes...I know...I can't dance and have no rhythm. But I tried...for Helen's sake. What can I say? The girl lives to dance! If you saw her on the dance floor, you know what I'm talkin' about. Even in that (gorgeous!) wedding dress she was workin' it out. She's in her element when the cheesy pop music comes on. Though...after 14-odd years of dance, I suppose she ought to be!

In short...I had an absolutely amazing time at my wedding. I don't remember all of it, but it's nothing to do with alcohol, I promise. After dinner was finished, I didn't touch a drop! So I had a glass of champagne on the way to the reception...a glass of Pimms upon arrival...and a glass of wine at dinner.

So...I've not heard from most of you - what do you remember most about the wedding? What were the highlights? What didn't you like? Any favourite pictures?

Give me feedback!

~Jer