A visit to Canterbury

Penny gets on very well with my friend Wendy, who gets on very well with Penny! Wendy had expressed a desire to visit Canterbury to see Penny's flat and for Penny to show her around. So we got out the diaries and on Saturday we made it happen!


I drove us down there, we parked up at Penny's flat, gave Wendy the 'grand tour' and then walked into the City centre.

Penny had made a wonderful sausage and egg pie (gala pie), followed by her special triple chocolate mega muffins! We sat by the river in Westgate Gardens and soaked up the sun and enjoyed the food.

Then Penny took us on a tour round to the Cathedral.

 These were taken standing on a bridge near the Marlowe Theatre, looking from one side and then the other.

This mask was outside the theatre.

And this photo, with Wendy in, puts the size of the mask into perspective.

Penny and Wendy on a different bridge!

The Cathedral. A view I will never tire of. I must have taken this shot at least a dozen times in the past year!

A shot of the cloisters - the light was coming in beautifully.

Leaving the Cathedral grounds on our way back to the flat to collect the car.

It was a really lovely day out and I am pleased to say that Wendy thoroughly enjoyed herself!

And writing all of this reminded me that I haven't shared any stories or photos (apart from the Scavenger Hunt ones) of our trip to Crete this year! I will remedy that soon.

Catching up

Well I have had a busy few days! Last week I had to take my half day on Thursday as my manager had Friday off. So, as Penny was home from Uni for the week we went out to lunch at our local pub - yum!

On Saturday, Hugh, Penny and I all went to Canterbury. Hugh and I had a free night's stay in a Premier Inn, so we booked into the one in Canterbury city centre. We spent the afternoon exploring Canterbury Cathedral. Penny and I had been there before, but Hugh hadn't. I think I could go there again and again - it is so beautiful.

The sun shone the whole day, so we had a lovely time both inside and outside the Cathedral.

The good thing about visiting there is that Penny gets in free as she is a student in the City and once you have paid to get in once, if you are a UK tax payer and do Gift Aid, you can then get in again, for free, as many times as you like in the next year. As I had paid and visited with Penny last November I didn't have to pay this time!

I loved looking at all the memorials they have there and reading about the lives of the people commemorated. The huge majority were placed there in Victorian times and they had such a way with words!

This is a view from one end of the Cathedral to the other, with the candle marking the spot where Thomas à Becket's tomb was until it was destroyed by the Puritans!

We had a lovely weekend with Penny and came home on Sunday afternoon, leaving her there to get on with her studies!

Whilst in Canterbuy we did a lot of walking, which all helped with my weekly total! A couple of times last week I again forgot to put on Map My Walk, but I am getting better at it again and I did actually walk every day last week, even if it isn't recorded.

Last week I also managed to spend some time scrapbooking with my friend Wendy. I did another layout using photos from our holiday in Shropshire.

And here is the journalling in close up!

My Mum is making good progress with her shingles - still a way to go, but she is starting to sound more like herself. Hugh's Mum is still quite poorly and we are having troubles with continuity of care and general care with the ward she is on in Derriford Hospital. Hugh is trying to sort this out with his sister today, but in the meantime we are obviously very worried about her.

Ben is making good progress with his shoulder and has started doing more exercise at the gym, which makes him very happy!

New flat, shiny flat!

So last weekend saw us moving Penny into her flat in Canterbury. Term doesn't start until 30th September, but as she has special needs she is allowed to move in early to get used to the flat and the area.

We arrived just before lunchtime - it only takes just over an hour to get there from our house. As I think I have mentioned in previous posts, her course is with Canterbury Christchurch University, but last year her course was based in Folkestone. As they closed the Folkestone Campus she is now going to actually be in Canterbury. Her flat is in a purpose built block of student accommodation.

The top two open windows here are her living/kitchen area. The flat is slightly smaller than the old one, but she is very happy with it.

Penny has a double bed in the bedroom along with a desk, chair and wardrobe and a view of

Canterbury Cathedral! I have actually zoomed in a bit here, it is a bit further away than it looks here!

Her loung area is furnished this year, so we only have to take a couple of pieces of furniture.

The kitchen is slightly smaller, so one of the pieces of furniture we need to take for her is a kitchen trolley with a worksurface top. Most students only cook beans on toast in their kitchens and don't produce wonderful baked goods like Penny does!

We are all looking forward to her starting back and hopefully having a more settled term this year than her last term. She is enjoying her course, but we have had a few stressful occasions! I would like to think that the majority of that is out of the way now and that we can all enjoy her being at university.