Bungalow

Here's Mum and me outside the back of the bungalow which will be their new home. Janna and the boys have gone back to Tennessee and I am staying on for two weeks. I walk up 'the back way' under a canopy of horse chestnut (concer) trees, the route I used to walk to primary school each morning. The weather is perfect, the blossoms are out and it takes about 10 minutes. Decorating is going well and I will get a little over half the house done.

Our Mini and other cars

From the American standpoint Europe is full of cute little cars. They would be out of our budget and impractical for us to own back home. Which explains the Fiat 500 we rented and squeezed into in Italy and 'our' mini in the UK. Janna really enjoyed buzzing around in our mini. Here is a 'real' old mini, luckily no longer available for rent!

And here's Nigel and his car...

Brighton marathon

A great view of the sea front and the marathon route from Nigel's uncles flat. Roast beef and roast potatoes for lunch and apple pie for desert followed by a nap for the boys. Later we strolled along the beach and through the crowds to CCK, Matt's old church for their evening service.

Hever Casle

We waited for a fairly dry day to take the boys to nearby Hever castle, the family home of Ann Boleyn, the second of Henry VIII's six wives. It's a small castle started in 1270, but it's very pretty with a tudor home inside and lots to look at: from 4 poster beds to suits of armor, from letters between Anne and Henry to original oil paintings of all six wives. It has a propper drawbridge and a moat and a small collection of weapons and torture equipment from the time of Henry VIII, and six rather spectacular German beheading swords that I knew the boys would be interested in. 

The Gardens outside are spectacular with a Yew hedge maze and a large lake. One of the previous owners was very wealthy, William Waldorf Aster  from the US. He restored much of the castle around 1900 and had the gardens and lake built in an Italian style. He served as the US envoy to Italy and brought back a great number of Roman sculptures to decorate the grounds. So it was that on a wet day in March we were wandering around a garden in Kent past 2000 year-old statues from Rome!

Dinner with Mum and Dad

Matt's parents are pleased to see us back around the dinner table. This is the house that Matt grew up in. Work on the new, single storey house is progressing well, and Matt should be able to help decorate once the plasterers are finished.

Here is a shot of the new house being re-wired and re-plumbed and made handicap accessible for Matt's dad who has parkinsons. Old doors and windows are being replaced and part of the floor that was water damaged.