Myspace blaaaaaaah

Well it seems everyone's on myspace these days. So I figured we might as well get one too. Not that I'm going to do a Mr Lawn and abandon this site- this is the 98th post after all, Blogger has served us well! But yar we part of the myspace "community" now too. Aren't we so 21st Century.

Oh yeah- a link. Have a look here!

Back on shifts!

The joys. Well having had a very nice bit of time off its back to work again. I've only had time off as I was working so many days the last few months I had to take leave, or else I'd lose it come the new financial year: I can only carry over so much leave.

But back into it with a vengeance last wednesday.... back to 5am alarm calls. Don't have the greatest conversations with Bec that time of the morning I tell you. Its early enough that I have to get out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off- knowing that if I shut my eyes again for just a second I'll be completely out for the count again.

Weekend of nights was typically nuts. Spent most of last night dealing with a 14yr old who we had to take into police protection. Had a bloke who tried to set his parents house on fire on saturday night, and what we did on friday night has disappeared in a haze of blue light runs and domestics.

Bec in the meantime has also spent pretty much all of her waking hours (literally) getting up to date with marking and all things school with parents evening looming very large (i.e. tomorrow). In fact, I've just been told I need to get off this computer so she can do more work! Whoever next says teachers have an easy life I may well do something unpleasant to.

Back to Reality!

Well, half term disappeared quick. Tamsin, Nathania and the Lilpot are back in the USA, Bec's back at school not getting home before 6pm every day, and I'm back to setting the alarm at 5am for day shift tomorrow! Hurrah.

Bec has a whole load of things to worry about at work- parents evening coming up very quick, she's getting her mid year NQT report immenently, and is being observed soon too. She is coming home each day with roughly 18 inches of workbooks to mark.

I returned to the "office" today to 137 emails, which I spent roughly 3 hours sifting through and deciding roughly only 15 or so were of actually any use, and 10 of those have simply been filed for future reference.

But never mind all that (for the moment) and have a few pics of the good bits of the last week.

Bec is happy as she has a baby to cuddle! Everyone else is slightly more distracted by the rugby on the tv.....

Aqaya the cat being very curious as to what this small pink bundle is all about. She got close enough at one point that her whiskers brushed her face. This of course caused Lily to swing her arm up to her face, promptly bonking the cat on the nose who from thereon retired to a safe distance.....

These photos are from Vicky & Dan's wedding on the first sunday of half term. The weather was kind for a february afternoon and it was a very good service, with enough music and amplification to keep a small rock crowd very happy!

The reception was at a posh Hertfordshire former manor house. Ourselves and Bec & Jon opted to stay the night, (in seperate rooms I might add!) which was quite handy as there was a fair bit of champers going here and there and it would've been rude not to take advantage! As just maybe evidenced on the left below.

A good time was had by all, including Jon who joined the ladies in the library in a slightly more al fresco seating arrangement (above right)....

The second picture on the right (below) is our view from our bedroom window the next morning. Slightly more impressive than our 12 square feet of lawn! We had a wander round the grounds the following day after stuffing ourselves silly with the full breakfast provided! Well, we had to get our money's worth ;-)

Snow business

I know! This was so last week. But have been too busy with new niece, weddings, redecorating flat and this that and the other just have not got round to sticking things on here.

So. Last thursday. 4 inches of snow and as usual every transport system falls apart. People in the UK don't have snow that often and so don't know how to drive in it, and generally try to drive how they normally drive, which usually means problems. Still, the good side of that is that Bec's school closed, and Matt & Sophie couldn't get to work.

So, 4 professionals with an unexpected day off. Obviously want to do something mature and sensible.

Er.

No!

Get a text at 9am from Matt saying "you want to go build snowmen???" This is after of course I have already been out on the mountain bike round the country lanes remembering how much fun ice and snow is. I only fell off the once.

So we rendezvous at a coffee house in the town centre, and make a plan of attack. Which was basically go to the green on the way into town, and build the most mahoosive snowman (sorry, lets be politically correct: snowperson) we could.

So we go off rolling up snow. It was the ideal stuff for rolling it around. We quickly built up a big base, big enough for two of us to sit on.

Once the first one was finished, we decided one snowman wasn't enough.

So we built 3 more, including a snow dog! Also having an extra day off school was a bunch of kids who were.... well, a touch annoying if we're honest. They had a ringleader who was determined to show off to his friends by destroying our painstakingly built snowfamily. We managed to distract them for a while by getting them to help us build them but after we finished them all, posed for photos (of course):

we'd had enough so we cleared off down the pub and left them to it. You're well hard if you kick a snowman you know. A jolly good day doing no work at all!

The American Invasion!

The source of many hundreds of photos on Tamsins blog has appeared on these shores! Lilian Rachel Kurth (aka "The Liliputian") has arrived along with mother and Canadio-Dutch-Alaskan friend Nathania.


This of course being the first time we have seen the new niece (for myself & Bec) and first granddaughter for Ma & Pa J-R it has caused quite a lot of fuss! As it should. So everywhere we go a camera tends to follow.


Some of the highlights:

The first night when they were over. Unsurprisingly after the best part of 24hrs travelling mother and daughter were a little bit dozy, and I proved to be a suitable pillow for Lily.



This was a fairly short visit, mostly because of the lack of sleep for the travellers.

The next day we went off for lunch at a cafe in town. Lily was still somewhat in Alaska sleep time and had kept Tamsin awake most of the night, but did wake up in time for lunch. Lily's "morning face" kept us all quite amused!

The following day we went down to what is now GreatGrandma J-R in Surrey, where Grandma was presented with the fourth generation. The day was deliberately timed to coincide with GreatGrandma JR's 93rd birthday. Which means that she's actually been around more years than Lily has been days!

We went to a rather decent pub- The Bell, in Outwood for lunch. This place did not be mean in its servings. I was actually so stuffed after starter and mains I could not handle a dessert. I was not impressed with myself.

Of course providing between-meal interest was Lilian. Here Bally and Haden both try and engage her in political conversation, to which Lily provides an appropriate response.

Haden has bought himself a new gadget, a digital (I think? Possibly a DVD) camcorder, which was put to good use. Keep an eye out for a youtube video heading this way some point soon, which will have many a terrible pose by myself highlighted.

The other Nan JR (a mere whippersnapper at 91) has also of course met the baby. Whilst in the UK Tamsin is taking full advantage of takeaways etc that don't exist in Anchorage, and we went and purchased half a fish and chip shop the other day which we eat round at Nan's. After eating, Nan and baby decided a nap might be quite a good idea.

Tamsin is around for another week, so expect to see some more photos appearing here shortly!
I have a batch from yesterdays fun and games in the snow to put on first. It's mostly melted but its just started chucking it down with the stuff again, which will undoubtedly lead to another period of transport mayhem..........

Jon's 40th

Quite a few photos from here, and yet most of them show people in a highly unflattering manner so I'll post them small instead! Also means I can put a few more on. I have no idea what the maximum number of photos or blog size blogger allows but I guess I'll get an email sooner or later. I guess Mr Borge would know about that, seeing how posts a large picture of what he's eaten that day, every day. However please accept my apologies Mr Borge, as this post will not be of any interest to you as I haven't actually taken any photos of the really interesting stuff, i.e. the food. Terribly sorry. ;-)

Anywaaaaaay Jon's birthday nosh was held at a Thai place, called Thai Rack. Despite the terrible name it was fairly decent fodder. We had a buffet type job where you had a number of dishes that you could order as many refills of as you could manage. Which with myself, Matt, Dev & Chris about meant that there profit margins were perhaps a little slimmer than they normally might otherwise be. Unlike us. Witness these three below getting started into yet another round of food. Even I had conceded full by this point, hence being able to take photos...

An amusing moment was provided by Chris & Dev having an eating contest to see who could eat the last plate of noodles. Chris finished quite quick, leaving the rest of us berating Dev, using various politically incorrect insults etc to help him along to finish. When he finally admitted defeat Chris then showed him his plate of noodles which he never had more than a mouthful from, he had just pushed onto a different plate cunningly hidden behind a jug.

Jon had all the whistles and bells for his birthday cake......

By the time we had finished it was about half eleven and we were all sufficiently fit to burst to make the idea of crowding into a noisy bar and having to pay for the privlege somewhat less appealling than originally thought, so we piled into cars and taxis and returned to Matt's Liquour Store, aka his house.

Also happening that evening was Vicky's wild and outrageous hen do, which Bec orchestrated. Photos of barely publishable events to follow......

Lots of things to come

A veritable photo fest should nigh be appearing, including highlights from Jon's birthday @ the Thai Rack, the corniest named Thai restuarant this side of the Danube, several photos of newly imported micro-kurth in various states of bemusement and alertness depending on which family member she is parked on at the time, and quite a few from going out to play in the snow today. I do feel sorry for you types who had to work today................!

Blog templates etc

Right I'm trying to figure out with my absolute basic knowledge of HTML how to get the page looking how I want to, now I've finally changed over to the new whizz blogger mk2, whatever its called. So bear with me for a while, whilst I try to sort it out.

Once done, a number of photos from Jons 40th birthday will appear!

Random phone pics

Is handy having a camera phone. It's not particularly brilliant (nokia 6230, 1.3m pixels) but it does a reasonable job of taking photos (I bought it to make phone calls, mostly.) Handiest thing about is I have it the whole time (unless of course I leave it on a train.)

This is from the other day, and probably the only time this year there was snow. I sent this to T&J in Alaska just to prove we do have snow here too sometimes, even if it is all gone by 10am.

One from when we went to Norfolk last year. Sunny it was not!

From walking up in the Chilterns the other week. Still not very warm.....

From Wales last year, a picnic stop on the something-or-other-llaangogogoch pass en route to Ffestiniog. We have to go to Wales to get good weather it seems

...and Bec practicing her golf swing, when we went off to a pitch and putt course near Colchester. Needless to say, I was pretty hopeless, ask Mr Lawn about my golfing skills!