Gilberts' Fridge

Canterbury, and a piano!!!

Last weekend was a lot of fun! We drove down to Kent to pick up my piano, and it was a great time. We left our page on the map book for the first time in weeks, and when we do something, we do it well! I was the official trip navigator, and it was very nearly a full time job.

We actually picked up the piano on the Isle of Sheppy (barely an island, but cool all the same). The people we bought it from lived in a tiny mid terraced house and it was quite a job to get the piano out. They called their neighbor over to help, and we tied that piano down so tight it couldn't move at all. You could actually play a little tune on the straps, they were that tight. Then we drove to our bed and breakfast, just outside the town of Ashford.

So yeah, the B&B was weird. At one point I was actually worried that we would end up buried in the pig sty, because this place was so out of the ordinary. The house was a mess, the gardens were in a state, they didn't accept credit cards, and had animals running around all over the place. But the people were very nice (though I don't think the woman liked Americans), and we didn't get buried in the back yard. Strange experience. I'm probably not going to recommend that one to a friend!

I found Kent charming, of course, though VERY expensive. Properties down there are out of control. You can get a two bedroom house about the size of our place in Cedar City (only on two floors instead of one) for about $300,000. Land is really at a premium though, and that is mostly what you are paying for.

On Sunday morning we drove to historic Canterbury to visit the cathedral there (seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, one of two Anglican Archbishops in England) and see the setting of Chaucer's famous Canterbury Tales. The cathedral was magnificent, though not as beautiful as York and Lincoln. In fairness though, it is MUCH older than Lincoln cathedral--parts of it are around 500 years older! Lincoln will always be special to me, since that is where Martin proposed to me.

We had a great time at the cathedral, since it is still used for services and they were in the middle of the sung Eucharist (the communion service). They had the cathedral choir there for it, and we got to hear real choirboys and the men's choir singing some beautiful music. Martin got a brief video clip of it, which I will try to post here. It was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had. The purity of those childrens' voices echoing through that ancient cathedral--wow!

Anyway, I now have a piano at my house. It barely fits, but it looks good all the same. I have already been making good use of it, and it frees up a lot of my time since I nno longer have to drive to the church to practice. Marvellous!

Not much has happened since then, but we've got a busy week ahead of us. Tuesday is the big day--our second appointment with Mr. Odukoya. I have been diligent in my exercise regime, and all of our tests have been done. We'll see how it goes. I'm pretty excited. Plus, we are going to look at a few houses while we have the afternoon off. We're getting ready to do that whole mortgage thing. So within the next few months we could transform into a couple with a mortgage and a baby or two (hopefully only one, but you never know with fertility treatments!). Things could change drastically in the next few months. I'll keep everyone posted--and I'll try to do it a little more often than once every ten days!