Update.......

Had some interesting discussions with the car yard today - the bottom line is they admitted they were mostly to blame and had done several things badly. As it turns out, once everything was explained properly, we aren't as bad off as we thought we were (luckily for us) and the car yard are working with us to make sure we are happy with the outcome. We will be finalising things tomorrow.
They have changed one of their practices - they were not issuing a 24 hour cool off period for linked credit on commercial vehicles - turns out I was right and they are supposed too. I think some good things have come out of a bad situation for both sides so I have at least found a silver lining ;-)
On other exciting news (for me anyway) I put my engagement ring into the jewellers to be remade. My current one (which is 17 years old) is very fragile and I keep losing the stones out if it! (Expensive and upsetting!) So I am having it remade as the same band as my wedding ring, in the same style as my engagement ring and re-using the stones. This means that the original will still exist to some degree (totally sentimental of course) which I am really happy about. It will take up to 4 weeks to get back so I'm really excited (and will be counting down the days)! I had to put another ring on that finger as it felt too weird without it (they needed my wedding ring too to make sure the engagement one fits it properly.) T has his wedding ring back too now after we had to get it reshaped - he got it caught on a pipe about 6 months ago which bent it completely out of shape! We just never got around to getting it fixed. We were at dinner the other night and he said how much he missed having it on his finger and he was always looking for it - so we remembered to get it done yesterday. Don't you just love the ones that look hard on the outside but are all squishy in the middle? LOL

Buyer beware.......

especially of finance people at car yards! Really long story short, we are seeking advice from the Department of Fair Trading. We thought we were getting a personal loan over 5 years for x amount of dollars and would own a vehicle at the end. My other half (bless him) was too trusting and trusted what he was told and signed on the dotted line (the THIRD page of a contract) without all the details of the agreement being shown to him. He was given no loan documents and to date we still do not have a copy of what he signed. Unsigned documents arrived today (nearly 3 weeks after the purchase) from the finance company and several phone calls/visits to the car yard. And OMG we went WTF!!!! We ended up with 59 repayments of x (as originally told) with a residual of $10K to be paid at the end as a final payment (which we were not told). There is no way in hell we would have bought that car if we had full knowledge. Lesson - no matter how trusting or how well someone comes across, never, ever, ever trust them when it comes to finance. THEY WILL SCREW YOU!!! Other half has had heated discussion with finance person - he is supposed to be talking to powers that be and ringing back tomorrow. Honest mistake he says - LIKE HELL!!! He didn't request any proof of exising debts, income etc. The loan application has incorrect details and we received no payout figure from the old loan (which I am chasing up). It is the biggest balls up I have ever seen! I suspect the figures have been fudged and I am hoping to prove it. I should hear back from Fair Trading in the next 7 days too. I am so angry at the moment with this Dealership I cannot put it into words! I really feel sorry for the other half too - he feels so bad about it all. I'm not angry with him in the least - he was severely taken advantage of!

The bruise 24 hours later.......

Ouchie!

Kristy got in armour..........

and Terry and Pete shot at her. The main thing was to see if she could handle the armour and the arrow fire before getting her kitted out. She isn't sure if she still wants to do it - the armour doesn't bother her but she does bruise very easily!

Phew - another assignment done!

Seven down, two to go! I will be soooooo glad when I finish this shorthand course! When I'm done, I'll need to go back and practice it all again as most of it has leaked out (I need to do daily practice to get it to sink in and become automatic). My main goal at the moment is just to finish!
Gryffen has gone to a friend's tonight for a sleep over - it is so quiet without him!

Being sick sux............

Okay, just a quick update:
* The boys and I got sick - boys with tonsillitis and the flu, me with a URTI. All on the mend but have been sick for over a week. It sux!
* I have an appointment finally to get the injection into my ankle - it will happen on the 11 September (only 4.5 weeks after the referral).
* Terry's parents have moved into town now so it's 15km to see them instead of 85km (unfortunately they have come down with the dreaded lurgy too)
* Kristy and Pete got the lurgy
* No, you do not want to be visiting all of us at the moment! LOL
* High School wants us to do a demo at their Medieval Day on 18 September - considering it but we'll see.
* Went to Hog's Breath for dinner last night = yummo and over eating! (The apple crumble with caramel sauce, whipped cream and ice cream was fantabulous!)
* Looks like RWII made a good profit - I need to get the report done this weekend and sent to Rowany.
* Caught up with my brother, sister in law and niece last week (and three of their horses). They were here for Polocrosse and spent a couple of days. We don't get to see them very much so it was great to catch up with them. My niece (who will be 15 next month) has made the NSW State Team and will be competing in the Nationals at Perth in October. She is so amazing!
* Gryffen has renewed interest and nagging to get a horse/riding lessons. We cannot afford the horse thing so he is on a mission for riding lessons. We have a calendar on the fridge and if he completes all his chores and homework without being nagged to do it (or arguing about it)for a month he will be allowed to have riding lessons. He also needs to spend his pocket money on it and I will put in the rest. I'm actually thinking about getting lessons with him (I haven't ridden for about ten years).
* Wolfstanus wants to join the local theatre so same deal with him as with Gryffen.
* Conrad isn't sure what he wants to do.
* So many things I need/want to do and not enough time - isn't that always the way? Such is life.
Anyhow, better get something done now!

RWII was awesome!!!!

I am absolutely exhausted from a huge weekend, but it was bloody great! I think everyone had a good time, people were well fed and Terry and Peter authorised as lights and had fun in the war on Saturday! I'm glad they got to enjoy the benefits of all their hard work - well done lads! The photo is of Terry (nick named 'Bumblebee'), Conrad (as banner bearer) and Peter. I'll be uploading the photos to the Radburne Photobucket account shortly (the link is off the Radburne page).
I am so brain dead at the moment a full account of the weekend will have to wait ;-)

On other news, it turns out I need to get a steroid injection into my ankle under local anesthetic and MRI to help reduce the irritation and inflammation in my ankle. What joy! I need to ring up tomorrow and make an appointment............

You know you're in the SCA when........

you stand outside at 10:00pm in the cold night air to shoot blunts at newly armoured archers to test them out ;-) One issue was one of the intrepid archers forgot his 'box' (not the one pictured) and Murphy's Law states that is where you will get hit - and he did! We laughed so hard we cried because he was such a good sport about it - and proved his mettle!

I also got to shoot a blunt at my husband LOL! It landed just above the wrist where the gauntlet and arm meet - will be interesting to see if it bruises. All in all we had a good laugh at how silly we are and how much fun this weekend will be!

Excitement is starting to settle in.....

with only two sleeps to go! Got some last minute bookings so I think we are up to about 52 or 53. There are a good mix of people coming as well as some that haven't been before so it should be great. Really, really looking forward to it, even though the next few days will be extremely busy!
And, SCA songs have a lot to answer for! I have 'Hammer of Thor' stuck in my head whilst I am at work - I just want to break out into song! LOL (It's all Wolfstanus' fault!)

The helm............

3 more sleeps to go

and organising is progressing along nicely. Armour is almost complete (although a new gorget needs to be sorted - the one T had made for himself just doesn't fit right and it got ripped off and launched to the other side of the shed ;-) His helm looks awesome - will try and get a photo of it tonight.

I have K's underdress done and just need to stitch down the facing on the overdress and do the lacing holes. Might do that whilst I am watching telly tonight.

Meat and bread have been ordered for pick up on Friday, as have the loos. I will do the bulk of the shopping on Thursday and just get the 'fresh' stuff Friday morning. The Dragon Hill Taxi has been organised for the picking up of people from the train station (thanks Johanna!) Flags and signage will go up Friday morning and it looks like I will have some helpers on Friday too (T and P might be taking the day off to help with final preparations - thanks guys!)

I figured I could do the lacing holes on my cotehardie (which has been a work in progress since last November!) and Wolfstanus' cotehardie during the day on Saturday. We can then wear them on Sunday.

Firewood has been collected, tables and benches set up and things are looking good. Touch wood, the weather forecast for Friday is the chance of showers and fine for Saturday and Sunday with tops of 15 and 16. (Similar to last year.)

Looking forward to it!!!!!

5 more sleeps to go.........

and the 'tavern' is ready! It's nice and close to the campfire too with views to all the activities. Thanks to Terence (who is the brains and brawn behind it all), Kristy, Pete, Arabella, Guy and Johanna for all their help today. Also to Conrad, Wolfstanus and Gryffen.