Christmas in Bristol

Well it's taken a while to get round to updating the blog but on the last day of the year I have found a bit of time. We have been so busy going to the sales, watching videos and catching up with Elaine's family since we got back from Bristol. We are off to Kevin and Debbie's tonight for our traditional New Year celebration - Kevin and Shirley's turn to do the starter, Debbie to do the main and I have made a Delia cheesecake for dessert. Kevin Ross has organised the cheese and port! The boys are coming with us this year, although Joe says that he isn't going to stay up to 12 - takes after his mum!

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Here are the Christmas photos - skating at Cribbs Causeway, Christmas Eve at the local Indian, Christmas dinner and trying to walk if all off at Paradise.

Drafty

What a week to choose to have new windows fitted - it's been freezing and I have been mainly working from home! I gave up yesterday afternoon and took the laptop down to Cafe Nero instead - warmth and latte.

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I was hoping to bring you some pictures of Joe's nativity play which was on this afternoon (nice and warm there, too), but they didn't come out. You'll have to wait to see the video instead!

Christmas tree at home!

We got our Christmas tree today and had our tradional decorate-the-conservatory session this evening with Christmas music playing on the iPod (thanks, Mike) through the docking station (thanks, Matt). Lovely and Christmassy now!

Christmas Trees in the Church

For the second year running, Elaine put together a tree for Christmas Tree's in the church at St Mary's - Along with over 200 other organisations and individuals. This year it was called Foot Tree-tment! Joe's cub pack also did a tree - we managed to find Joe's tent and both of his 100s after a bit of a hunt. It was to commemorate 100 years of cubs. This year we again bumped into Karen and her parents (turning into a bit of a ritual) and we also ran into Kevin and Allie with Kevin's grand-daughter, Lily. Good excuse for a cuppa and piece of cake!

Theringtones and other animals

Joe is in seventh heaven at the moment. This weekend we bought him two little girls to look after as a treat for doing so well at school (he has just been invited to join a lunchtime "gifted and talented" club!). We also gave him an early Christmas present - the hutch and a run - and Maggie and Lisa are settling in very nicely. Maggie has rough hair, and is younger by one day; Lisa has smooth hair.

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So now we are up to 10 members of Theringtone family and at least half of them are girls (we're not too sure about Percy and Poppet, the goldfish!) What a menagerie!

Halloween

Guess who!

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Theringtones had fun trick or treating Melton-style this evening (i.e. pre-arranged door knocking with our neighbours). So far, so good. We have had no eggs thrown at the windows. Possibly something to do with the scary skull near the front door which shouts "Hey, what are you doing" at people as they approach (tee, hee!).

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Here are a few more photos.

Pork Pie Fair and Grandma Margaret's

We were in town early this morning for the Pork Pie Fair only to find that most of the rides were not opening until 11.30am! Still, that meant we had time to visit Poundland (hurrah!) and to have a drink at Cafe Nero.
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In the afternoon I had to go to Leicester to do an audit for Croner (of my old boss, Roman - weird) and Elaine and the kids went to visit Grandma Margaret. She was delighted to see them all and Katie enjoyed looking around her flat and admiring all her knick-knacks.
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Photos

Twinlakes

I had to do a bit of work this morning, so Elaine took the kids up to Twinlakes. It was cold and windy up there but they all enjoyed themselves, as you can see from the photos. We are off to the Pork Pie Fair tomorrow morning!

There were six in the bed (and a few cuddly animals)...

This is how most mornings have started this week!

Nottingham Trip

This morning Elaine took Katie girlie shopping and got her some very nice (pink) clothes while the boys played on the computer and I did a bit of work.

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We then went to Nottingham and had lunch at Wagamamas which was a lot of fun. The kids' food was not as good as the grown-ups' but, with side orders, a bit of sharing and chocolate fudge cake for dessert, there were no complaints! After text talking with Mike, who was in Starbucks on 8th Avenue, NY, we went to the Robin Hood Experience which was quite fun. We were whisked in little cabins through the City of Nottingham (13th century style), through the city gates and out into Sherwood Forest, past the sights and smells of Robin Hood's tale.

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We made it back just as the phone was ringing - it was Mike who had a good catch up with Freddie and Katie.

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Here are today's photos.

Swimming and Swans

It was just me and the monkies today, as Elaine was working. We had a good time in the swimming baths this morning and managed to last over an hour before Freddie's lips turned blue (they really need to get the heating sorted out).

This afternoon we had a long walk around the lake in the country park and met some very curious swans that turned a bit hissy when they figured out that we really didn't have any bread. Joe thought they were even more scary than the geese that chased us at the Wymondham windmill a couple of years ago (I still have nightmares).

We finally made it to the playground for lots of fun before trudging back to the car thoroughly worn out. Here are the photos.

Little and Not So Little Visitors

GrannyKim and Grandad, Freddie and Katie all came to visit this weekend, in fact Freddie and Katie are staying with us for almost the whole of the half term week. On Saturday afternoon they call came to see the show and thoroughly enjoyed Thoroughly Modern Millie!

This morning we went to Gates' Nursery to look at the Christmas displays (bit early, I know!) and the kids had a lot of fun playing on the tractor. It was such a sunny day that everyone has been outside playing this afternoon - Katie has made friends with Martha from next door (she was taken to see her guinea pig, so has definitely found favour there!

Unfortunately I was busy cooking while GrannyKim was showing off her roller-blading prowess but you can see all in the Photos.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

Tomorrow is the opening night of Gasleak's latest production: Thoroughly Modern Millie. I've spent most of this weekend at the theatre for various rehearsals - band call, technical rehearsal and dress - and am now looking forward to doing it in front of an audience. You can read all about the show here.

As you can (hopefully) tell, I am playing the part of a chinaman (Ching Ho) and I, along with my (much older) brother, Bun Foo, provide plenty of comedy. Our lines are all in Cantonese and our songs in Mandarin, and we have taken a great deal of pride in getting our pronunciation as near-perfect as possible. The director's wife is Chinese, and she assures us we are doing pretty well!

Mrs Meers is in the picture with us. She is the baddie in the show - drugging vulnerable young women and shipping them off into white slavery in Hong Kong. Boo, hiss!

Joe's Night Hike

As a seconder in Cubs, Joe was allowed to take part in this year's night hike. Here he is with his friend, Adam. They set off at 6pm from the country park and walked to Scalford before heading across to the cubs camping ground at Holwell. They arrived at around 10pm when they had pizza and hot chocolate! (Joe and Adam also had a midnight feast of M&Ms later on in bed).

The cubs slept in a hut - the girls had camp beds and the boys had the floor (so much for equality!) Joe was looking surprisingly alert the next day, despite having only around 5 hours' sleep.

I won 10p in a bet with Luke (who had hated the night hike when he did it a few years ago). He bet that Joe wouldn't enjoy it and lost the bet because Joe told us he had a wonderful time. In fact, he said he wished he was doing it all over again on Sunday evening!

Dean and Louise get hitched

Dean and Louise tied the knot yesterday at Oakham Registry Office followed by a reception at the Grange Alpine Restaurant. They both looked fantastic, the weather was kind (the heavens opened after we arrived at the restaurant!) and we had a marvellous time. Luke and Joe were very lucky to receive a goody-box each from the bride and groom, which kept them entertained during the dull, grown-up bits.


For those of you who don't know them or haven't seen them for a while, look out for Ken and Dorothy (Elaine's dad and stepmum (Dean's mum)); Kevin and Ali (Elaine's brother and his wife); Amy (Kevin's daughter) and Lilly (Amy's daughter) when flicking through the photos.

Big School!

Well can you believe it! Luke started his new school today and Joe went up to year 5 at St Francis. Here is Luke in his impressive uniform (yes, that is a patronus on his breast pocket). All went very well - he sat with friends on the bus, listened to teachers talking about learning objectives and stuff, and had his first French lesson. Joe had a brand new teacher, Mrs Mallender, with whom he did drama today (he had to act out catching mackerel - his favourite holiday experience).

Football Crazy Joe

Today was Joe's last on his three-day football training course, courtesy of Nottingham Forest. He had a great time and was awarded this wonderful medal and football (and a boring certificate!) at the closing ceremony.

Cornish Holiday

For those of you who don't have access to it, below is an extract from my brother Mike's blog - saves me the typing (thanks, Mike)! It was a real pity about the weather, we were so looking forward to getting on the beach and doing a bit of surfing. It could have been a lot worse though, the heavens really opened on Saturday as we set off home and showed us how wet it could have been!

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Saturday

After leaving Bristol we headed south into England's biggest dead end - Cornwall! The queues started almost straight away but we persevered and made it to our farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. It was a pretty nice stone barn conversion with 4 good bedrooms downstairs and a huge open plan upstairs with a great kitchen. The garden included a big trampoline sunken into the ground and a playground for the kids. We also got a warning not to stray onto the rest of the farm, which seemed to have been converted into about 8 other homes! In the evening we headed to a nearby village and found a pub for dinner, despite most of the lanes being a little narrower than my car!

Sunday

We took the car out into the lanes again and headed to the nearest beach town at Looe today. There are tons of disused tin mines around here and the lanes just seem to get narrower - not that it stops the coaches and lorries charging down them! Looe is a lovely little town full of Cream Tea and Pasty shops and we had fabulous pasties for lunch sitting on the harbour wall. We lit the BBQ in the garden for supper and went trespassing up the lane behind the farm for a nose about. Nobody saw us!

Monday

We had a stormy night and the rain managed to break into my bedroom window (which explained the splashing noise all night).We decided to pop to Polperro - more narrow lanes and a very picturesque little village. We found our way up the cliffs and Freddie and Luke decided they were mountain goats and charged off across the rocks. After lunch on the harbour wall (again) we tried to find our way to the car ferry to Fowey. We'd managed to avoid driving through most of the harbour towns so far but we went a bit wrong in Fowey and ended up blocking the road as we tried to escape. Very embarrassing. We had our first Cream Tea near the sea then headed home for another BBQ.

Tuesday

Rain today so we went off to visit King Arthur's Castle in Tintagel. It was pretty rainy and blowey but it didn't stop us getting up to the hilltop castle overlooking the sea and smugglers rocks. Impressive place even on a rainy day. We huddled in a pub for lunch and hit the tourist shops to dry off a bit. When we got home we went for another walk behind the farm to try and find a disused mine. I helped Freddie into the top floor of a derelict barn just as a neighbour came storming out and told us to get off the farm! Freddie hid and took a few photos of the inside of the barn for evidence. So we went back to the road and followed the footpaths to the mine but it was so close to the farm we just took a shortcut through the field and guess what - we got caught again!

Wednesday

Eden Project today. None of us knew what to expect and we were pretty impressed with the place. The weather held off so we managed to visit most of the outside stuff as well as the impressive "Biomes" of James Bond fame! On the way back we stopped at a BT Hotspot in a pub to download 1500 emails! The landlady had no idea she had a hotspot in the place - or even what it was. The boys had a drink whilst got our emails - which meant we had a few unexpected and unscheduled 'pea breaks' on the way back!

Thursday

Today we went to Seaton on the south coast. It's a funny little place with a small beach and a cafe. The kids decided to play with the waves (fully dressed) and ended up in their pants and soaked through. Luckily we had enough spare clothes to warm them up and we headed along the coast to Looe again. We had another Pasty lunch in the town and spent a happy afternoon fishing and crabbing in the rock pools.

Friday

Our last full day today so we started at a local Slate mine where we headed underground. The grown ups all enjoyed it and were impressed that it doubles as an underground music venue for the likes of Midge Ure and Echo & the Bunnymen, but the children decided it was dull. So we headed off to Mevagissey on the south coast. It's a beautiful little fishing village - typically tucked away down a narrow valley, with a double harbour and houses perched on the cliffs. We rented a boat and went Mackerel fishing in the bay with spinners. The kids caught a bunch of Mackerel so we celebrated with the best Cream Tea yet and we ate the fish for supper. All in all, not a bad week!

Thirteen Years!

It was our anniversary yesterday and we treated ourselves to a very nice meal at the Red House in Nether Broughton. We were able to use our Gourmet Society card there as well, so we managed to get through 3 courses with a clear conscience (from a financial point of view rather than a waistband one!) Lovely!

Luke's 11th Birthday

Well we are just about getting to the end of a wonderful day. It started with presents and cards in bed with Mum and Dad (Joe needed a bit longer in bed to recover from the excesses of his cub camp over the previous 5 days). In the afternoon we went ice-skating in Nottingham with Alex; stopped at Toys R Us for Luke to spend his birthday money (on Lego and Megablocks) and then picked up Kieran on the way to the China Rose for dinner. As I type all the boys are busy putting together Lego in the playroom. Photos.

BBQ King!

After I landed a big contract this week I decided to treat myself to a new barbie - isn't it gorgeous! I know it looks like I am not wearing anything under the apron but I have got shorts on - honest.

Barge Holiday

We had a fabulous time on our narrowboat last week and managed to avoid most of the nasty weather that the rest of the country was getting. We did decide to cut it short by one night though when our last day was hit by a monsoon!

We stopped at Chester on the way to the boatyard and had a walk around the old city walls - beautiful place. Then we picked up the boat in the afternoon just outside Whitchurch. Over the next three days we pootled along the canal to Llangollen (last time I was there was 22 years ago representing St Brendan's in a choir festival while everyone else in the world was listening to Live Aid!) On the way we crossed two aquaducts - the bigger of the two was 150 feet high and 1000 feet across - and sailed through three tunnels.

It was a bit nerve-racking at first getting used to controlling a 50 foot long, 18 tonne narrowboat, having to steer around 5 mintues before you actually needed to turn and having to get it through around 50 bridges which were all only a few inches wider than the boat. But by the middle of the week Joe was doing it! Here are some photos

Luke's "Graduation"

Today was Luke's last at St Francis - end of an era! We had a leavers' mass on Wednesday evening followed by a bit of a nosh up in the school hall. It was supposed to be a bring your own sarnies type thing but one of the mums (Mrs Tang) said she was going to cater - she runs the local Chinese restaurant. It went down a treat! In fact it was so good that we went to her place this evening for a take-away (good marketing strategy hey, Mike?)

Luke managed to get top marks in all his SATS which is very impressive. Joe also did very well in his tests. It was nice to get two very good reports.

We are off on our barge tomorrow for the week, so hopefully there will be lots of nice sunny pics to post here next weekend! Fingers crossed.

Joe's Corner

Joe had a day out with his class last week. They went to Wicksteed Park in Kettering for the day and Mum went along to help. They had a great time and Joe managed to win at go-karting (with a little help from his co-driver, Elaine).

Joe has also been extremely helpful recently. He has been helping Dad with the BBQ and fully appreciates the need to have a glass of something handy when grilling the kebabs (non-alcoholic in Joe's case). He has also been learning to iron and got through quite a pile this evening.

Bristol in the rain

Well it rained most of the time - these photos were from a brief dry period. Luke and Joe were on the hunt for newts but found lots of dragonfly larvae instead.

Because of the weather we played quite a few indoor games. Elaine and Luke were quite a devastating partnership winning both Triv and Scrabble.

Willoughby-on-the-Wolds

We had a very pleasant afternoon on Sunday in Willoughby where they had an open gardens day. There were some fantastic gardens (and houses), this one was my favourite as it was the sort of place you could get lost all day and never get bored. We still want to move to that place in the country! One day.

Joe's Birthday Treat (finally!)

Well Joe was surprised to find out, when he woke this morning, that we were off to the West Midlands Safari Park. An uneventful journey this time and a fabulous day. First we did the safari tour, the highlight of which was having this giraffe very nearly drooling through the sunroof. Then we spent the rest of the day on the rides, looking at creepy crawlies, reptiles (including anacondas!) and hippos. Here are some more photos

The Playmobil Army!

Joe's army has been greatly augmented by the conscription of a gang of barbarians who arrived on his birthday. The Green Dragon has also now got a mate in the Red Dragon (as in "My mate Trev", rather than a girlfriend!) - you can just make them out bringing up the rear. And guess what, with all the money Joe got for his birthday he has ordered the Knight's Castle and the Pirate Ship. Look out for more scenes soon!

Joe is 9 today!

Things didn't go exactly according to plan today. Joe came back from Twinlakes yesterday afternoon to find an early birthday present - a cabin bed - in his room. Because of his new bed and excitement over presents and a trip to the West Midlands Safari Park the next day he didn't manage to get to sleep. In the end he got just a few hours sleep. Today we were up early to collect Joe's friend Adam and to hit the road, but we only got as far as the Hobby Horse roundabout before Joe was rather ill!

To cut a long story short, we decided to play with presents all day today (apart from a brief trip out for lunch) and to save the Safari Park for a few weeks' time. We've agreed not to tell Joe when, so that he gets a good night's sleep the night before! In the end he had a fabby day, loved all his presents, had one of his favourites (bolognese) for dinner, and enjoyed a slice of birthday cake.

Sore Fingers and SATS

This week is SATS week for Luke (the Government's tests for 10/11 years olds). After a successful first day he had his finger trapped in the hinge part of Joe's bedroom door. Luke was very brave and hardly made a murmur (alright then, he screamed like a big girl!). His nail has gone very black but the doctor thinks it will not fall off.

This means that he has had the headteacher and other helpers writing his tests for him all week! He has had to dictate the answers though.

Building progress

It has all gone very quiet next door for almost an entire week - I think it is all the rain that's done it. Here is a look at progress to date. I'll keep adding to this as it grows. It hasn't been too painful so far; the builders are quite reasonable and not too noisy.

A Day at the Races

Yesterday we went to Garthorpe point to point races. Elaine and Luke were on St John's duty, Joe and I were high-rollers! We bet on three races - £2 each race - and won £2.40 in the second. In the third race (which only had 4 horses) we bet on a horse called Mrs O'Connell but unfortunately it didn't finish. If you look very closely you can see Elaine in her hi-viz jacket behind the first horse's nose. I've had to do a slideshow with one photo because I just cannot get the photo to upload in the normal way (been trying on and off for 24 hours!).

Elaine and Luke went on St John's duty again this afternoon - motorbike scrambling! They came back pretty cold and bedraggled as it chucked it down all day today. Joe and I very sensibly went swimming instead and then played Backgammon, "Strip Jack Naked" and Uno.

Down To The Woods Today

We went to Holwell Nature Reserve this morning and had a great time playing in the woods. The children had a bit of a scary moment when a large gorilla started to chase them but fortunately the gorilla was carrying the camera so that the episode wasn't captured on film! We found loads of fossils towards the end of the walk, so everyone went home happy.

Leicestershire Show

Mike, Freddie and Katie stayed with us this Bank Holiday weekend and we had a lovely time. On Sunday we went to the Leicestershire Show. We saw lots of cattle, sheep, alpacas and chickens. The boys were particularly impressed with the bulls' very evident masculinity! We cheered on the Black Knight with lots of "huzzahs!" (instead of booing as were supposed to) during a knights' jousting tournament. Elaine nearly got carried away by him when she happened to catch his eye - but of course I threw down my glove and he ran away like a chicken (or did I dream that bit?).

We came across one very rare flock of sheep (see above) which didn't look like it provided very good wool or meat (far too skinny).

Joe's Football Fun

Here is Joe with his school mates at football training after school. The organisers were taking team photos to try to get into the Melton Times (I'm sure you've heard of it). I thought I would take advantage of the moment.

Let's squeeze in another house!

Well it's finally started - on Sunday, minutes before Cathryn (Rich), Chris, Ruby, George and Charlie (the whippet) arrived for a barbecue! Thankfully it wasn't quite warm enough to eat outside so we didn't have to blame the noise of the JCB for eating indoors. I took this pic this afternoon (that's the shed in the trailer). I think it will be interesting to publish a series over the coming months as our view is first opened up (through the removal of the conifer, shed, etc) and then blocked off as the house is built.

Oh well.

More pics from my Drivers Day

Some of these photos were taken by Elaine and some by a professional - can you tell which is which. One common factor is the perma-grin (thanks, Mike!) attached to my face. I think the wind changed.

Ultimate Supercar Experience

Not sure I really need to write anything - the pictures say it all! Today I finally enjoyed my 40th birthday present from Elaine, Ma & Pa, and Ken and Dorothy. It was absolutely fab - I started out on a go-kart, then a Ferrari 360 (!), a Subaru Impreza, a Porsche Carrera 2 and finally a Lotus Elise. There were 19 of us in total in 5 teams and the instructors marked us as we went round (3 laps of the 3 mile course in each). I came second with 37 out of 40! Obviously missed my vocation.