Mid-afternoon post

Ah, much better when sober.
Here is a picture of sarah and her 30th birthday cake:

Sarah and Boo sharing a joke
Andy's speech
And here is Alice (Kierans Fiance - and maybe that isn't the right spelling and punctuation)
and Brian at the Bristish Museum Courtyard restaurant

And Boo and Linda at the same venue
Now for the more exciting stuff - the Doctor Who exhibition that we went to after lunch. We being Martins plus Alice.

Look, K9 and Boo

Alice meets the Doctor by a phone box (shame about his face - the projection got washed oout by the flash I guess)
Don't blink!
The face of Bo (yes Bo, not Boo.............)
Daleks!
And now Cybermen - but the best picture is next

Yes, it is Kieran and he is inside the Tardis - woo!!
That's it for now. We've been to the Botanics today, had lunch in Cambridge, bought Asparagus, strawberries and Cherries, so slumming it again eh?

Paintballing and partying

As Boo has (rightly) commented we've all been a bit slack on the posting front recently, I thought I'd just pop up some photos from my friends' 30th birthday celebrations on Saturday. For some reason best known to themselves, my friends Lyndsey and Amy decided to go paintballing to celebrate their 30th birthdays. This is an activity I'd already participated in back in January and frankly was not an experience I was particularly eager to repeat. However, there was no way I was going to wriggle my way out of it, so here are a couple of photos of me and my friends getting ready to go and shoot each other with little purple pellets that actually really, really hurt when they hit you - wound here being illustrated by my friend Giles' hand after taking a shot at close range :(

Here's also one of me and my friend Jo at the party in the evening looking marginally more glam than we did earlier in the day. You can also see my new hair colour too which mum thinks is too dark but I actually quite like :)

Love Kate xxxx

Late night post

Hi,

Probably shouldn't post after 4.5 glasses of wine, but hey, let's live a little. Last night, we went to Sarah's 30th. Great time, thank you Andy, Phyll and Sarah, and Greg, who did a great job handing out drinks vouchers. It was a casino night, but as we had to drive back, we couldn't stay and win, so I lost all the fun money at black jack. Boo was brilliantly winning on roulette but foolishly gave me her chips and went socialising.....

Pictures tomorrow when I'm sober and have resized them - just started and realised 2MB+ files should not be uploaded!

Had lunch with Heleen, Brian, Linda, Kieran and Alice in the British Museum today. Then went to the Dr Who exhibition. Pictures tomorrow - including Kieran in the Tardis! And Cybermen and Daleks!

How can you wait? It is so exciting. Gotta go now.

Trevor

Bluebells 2008

It is that time of year again, so we went for our annual bluebell walk near Rickling Green. Fabulous as usual. Just one picture this time.

Posting for Mike

While in Ottawa yesterday I had half an hour loose so went for a walk on Capital Hill. Next to the house of parliament I spotted this. Focus on the Little Furry Object(LFO), not the blue anorak. LFO claimed to be the member of parliament for kicking horse pass, but I think he (or she, the voice was kind of neutral) was actually a Mountie in disguise to protect Ottawa against terrorist attacks. This suspicion was further supported by the local police nearby who claimed that the LFO who clearly was disguised as a groundhog, was in fact a gopher, very suspicious, unless, of course they were actually CIA agents from the US disguised as Ottawa Police, the CIA would undoubtedly think that Gophers and Grounhogs are both weapons of mass destruction and be unable to tell the difference between the two.

Anyway at last report, Parliament is still safe.

Mike

Names

Nobody is posting any more and I am really getting a bit perturbed by seeing Tom’s nether regions every time I check the blog.
So, just to prove that everyone’s lives our probably more interesting than mine. Here is my thoughts on names.
Cataloguing and ordering papers at work is often brightened up by laughing at people’s names. One of my favourites is Fartmann!
However recently I have been ordering papers on a specific somatic mutation. One prolific author is Mr Barstard another prolific author is Mr Randi.
Surely one day they must do a paper together. What joy that would bring to my life!

Deck chairs

Just to let you know that the family love of deck chairs is not over. While London was experiencing snow last weekend we were sitting on Deck chairs in the French Alps with Matt and Sue. Very nice time we had too.
Here is a picture of Tom, their airdale displaying dogly dignity. Really, Tom, put it away, you're not David Beckham!

Following on...

....from the conference-related story below, I was wondering if anyone has ever been to a conference or dinner where they had really excellent pre/during/after dinner entertainment, and if so, what was it? I find sorting this out even harder than keeping people awake after lunch (although that can be a challenge all day when talking about training software).

At the first conference I did two years ago we had a wine tasting challenge which was fantastic (www.tasteofthevine.co.uk) but last year we had a speaker who was just dreadful (so I won't include his website link). This year the favoured suggestion amongst the guys here is a casino night but I'm not that sold. Our audience are training/HR bods and range from graduates right through to those knocking on the door of retirement and is almost a 50/50 split male to female.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received :)
Love Kate xxxx

Graveyard spot

On Monday I went to a seminar at the British Library. Once again it proved to me that they keep the most boring speakers for after lunch when everybody is sleepy. Is there some kind of sweepstake among conference organisers to see how many people they can send to the land of nod?
Anyway, this time they excelled themselves. The bloke giving the talk was a substitute and he was clearly terrified! He was quietly spoken and had a strong Lancashire accent and he gabbled. He was incomprehensible. I tried to listen to him but after 5 minutes and I could feel me eyelids growing heavy so I decided to write a letter on the complimentary pad of A4 British Library paper they had given me.
When I looked round after 10 minutes or so there must have been at least 5 people asleep. There were others reading the brochures that had come with their welcome pack. Others were tapping away on their laptops - I bet they were playing spider solitaire. At least the speaker didn't notice as he never took his eyes from his notes or the screen. But it was toe curlingly awful. At the end of his talk the chairman who could obviously see everyone's inattention said: "Well, thank you, it's always difficult to deliver somebody else's talk"
The two guys in front of me were American and this speech (incomprehensible to everyone) had been proceeded by a talk by a Glaswegian! The last speaker before tea was an American and you could see them almost crying with relief!
Still, a trip to London is better than proper work. I got a lovely lunch and when I should have been networking at the lunch break I went for a little walk around the British Library and visited their lovely shop.

Coastal command memorial

Hello there,

The girls were with my folks in London over Easter week, and I came up for a day and then flew home with them at the end.

While we were there, we went to Westminster Abbey and had a look at the memorial they have just put up for all the members of coastal command.

Here are the photos I took. I fiddled them a bit to bring up the contrast a bit so you can read them better.

This first photo is the main memorial stone.



This was carved into the wall at the bottom and slightly to the right of the main sculpture.



You may have to click on this to read it properly, but this is the inscription below the sculpture.



I might add that it SNOWED that day...it was FREEZING! I am turning into a wimp.

Poland and back

Here are some pics of Poland - not many of Krakow because my camera got stuck open and despite my attempts stayed that way until I took it into the camera shop in Cardiff when it went back in the first time the guy tried. Don't you hate it when inanimate objects make you look a complete fool?


The top one is the square in the old town of Warsaw. What is extraordinary is that all the buildings in the old town have been built since the war as the Germans flattened Warsaw before they left. after the war the Poles rebuilt it from pictures done in the 18th century. Unfortunately for Warsaw the Russians also did a lot of building so a lot of Warsaw is hideous concrete communist blocks. However I didn't take pictures of those.



This is the church in the centre square in Krakow which is unremarkable outside but is seriously gilded and painted inside. we did our last concert in here. There is atrumpeter who plays a warning fanfare every hour on the hour which cuts off before the end because someone did so in the 12th century and was shot by an arrow before he finished but it warned the people and the fended off the enemy. Now that is really keeping a tradition going. Must be the most frustrating music job going as you get to play the same piece every hour of every day and never get to finish it.

This lopsided picture Brian took when we were having lunch in Warsaw with some students. That huge loaf of bread in the spare place is full of saurkraut and sausage and was a starter!!

We had a good time there and the choir sang really well, and the weather was mostly kind as we only had one wet day and it wasn't too cold. Thankfully the rain is following the Martins around instead of me. The Oki Doki youth hostel was actually very good and I can recommend it to you.

It's official! We are the new Peggy!

We have just returned from a lovely long weekend in Rome to celebrate my half century and three of the five days we were there it poured! OK, that is not enough evidence that we have inherited Peggy’s strange talent for attracting precipitation. However it rained on our holiday in Brittany last year, on our holiday in the Cevenne the year before. We have had two weekends away with friends and it has poured for the entire weekend. Honestly, a few years ago we stayed about 40 miles from Madrid in August and it rained. I fear that we are indeed the new Peggy. I think if we were to go to Alice Springs it would rain for the first time since Peggy’s visit when it rained for the first time in years.
Actually, people should pay us either to visit very arid places or to stay away from places.
That said, it didn’t spoil our enthusiasm for the eternal city. Goodness, but it’s chock full of art and history. We came to the conclusion that we are now of an age to appreciate Bernini. I think he is like anchovies and you just won’t like him when you’re too young. We did have a mostly sunny day for my birthday when we did the Ancient Roman stuff. I shall have to rewatch I Claudius and Gladiator now that I can picture it all. To be honest nearly all I know about ancient Rome is from I Claudius and Shakespeare.
If you want to see pictures of Rome you can look at Helen’s from December.

Beyond my ken.

I sometimes realise how very little I understand of the work that goes on in the Scientific institution where I am employed. The other day everyone in the institute received this email:
"Sorry for the hinx mail.We urgently need some anti-goat antibody conjugated with HRP for acouple ofWestern blots. Does anyone have some to spare? Thanks a lot"
Now the words are english. The sentences are properly constructed and yet it makes no sense to me. Ah well it keeps life full of mysteries.
There was a visitor at work last week - none other than the Archbishop of Canterbury - rather random really

Here is Brian with the orchestra on Tuesday - taking his bow at the end of the piece!!!!!!

Answers

I will put the answers as a comment. So that you can't see them by accident.

Quiz

Well done, Brian, I look forward to hearing the concert on the radio.
So from the sublime to the ridiculous. I have to set a round for a quiz next week. It is going to be lyrics from musicals and films. I thought I might test it out on my extended family and see if I've pitched it right. Could you let me know how many you get without googling it - I will tell you the answers if you like.

1.A lady doesn't leave her escort
It isn't fair, it isn't nice
A lady doesn't wander all over the room
And blow on some other guy's dice.

2. Is he tough? Listen, Bud! He’s got radioactive blood.

3. Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Next time beware

4. Lots of chocolates for me to eat,
Lots of coal making lots of 'eat.
Warm face, warm hands, warm feet,

5. If it should chance to be
We should see
Some harder days
Empty larder days
Why grouse?

6. Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.

7. We're drawin' the line,
So keep your noses hidden!
We're hangin' a sign,
Says "Visitors forbidden"
And we ain't kiddin'!

8. But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured
Now I find I’ve changed my mind I’ve opened up the doors

9. Don't see lights a flashin'
Plays by sense of smell
Always gets a replay
Never tilts at all

10. There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too

The concert was fantastic

Just to say that the performance of "Points of Decision" last night by the BBC was absolutely fantastic. Hearing it performed by a really wonderful orchestra was amazing. Brian was really pleased with it all - the piece, the performance, the orchestra - everything. A truly magic experience.

That's it really. We will get a cd in a couple of weeks and I'll post the date of theBBC radio performance when we know it

Out and about

Having reached the end of a manic two weeks on Sunday night, I am only just beginning to recover and feel even slightly awake. Having deposited Saffy on mum, first up was an exhibition in London Olympia. This is where Moira works but who I only saw fleetingly from a distance before she had to go home poorly unfortunately - hope you're feeling better if you read this! Following two exhausting days of working, drinking with Dutch people and watching belly dancing (long story) was a trip to Paris for another exhibition. I was lucky enough to get to go out there a couple of days early to get some sight seeing and shopping time in which was awesome, I looooove Paris. Then it was back home for a night before dashing off to Sussex for a wedding. It was the first of my school friends to get married and the weather was unbelievable lovely for February - we had drinks and photos outside in the sun, which was great as Buxted Park where it was held was absolutely stunning. I'd definitely recommend it if you fancied a nice weekend away (although it's not cheap!)

All very exhausting but excellent fun :) And as I got some nice piccies along the way and have actually managed to upload them from my camera for once I thought I'd post them. Next up if I get my way at work are trips to Rome and Barcelona, so Christine I might be paying you guys a visit soon!

Love Kate xxxx

Flowers in winter

This camelia has come into flower for some reason, even though it is warm it is only just February, and it is the first time it has flowered. It is a gorgeous colour but I hope we don't have any frost or it is done for

Here we have Kate explaining to Saffy why she is wearing an elf outfit (because we are cruel and like to laugh at you) on Christmas day too.

Does anyone else get all their text underlined in Blogger or does is just not like me/Macs?

Radio Stars!!!!!!!

Just to let you know that we have found out that Brian's piece will be on Radio 3!!!!!!!!! we don't have a date yet, and it will be hidden in the contemporary music ghetto at 11pm but with listen again you can get it at a more reasonable time (though on the computer which buggers the sound). He is now even more nervous.

Also - just to add to the pressure - the choir is going to be on thePolish equivalent of Radio 3 and we will be singing live ! No time to do it again, get it right, not panic - do it live why don't you - with a bunch of teenagers most of whom hadn't sung a note till 15 weeks ago. Eeek. Other than that we are looking forward to Poland.

love Helen

Book group continued.

Does anyone want my copy of the book? I could pop it in the post if you like. (OK, I admit it. I'm not a fast reader - just a bit of a quitter!)

snow

Just had dinner with Peggy who is doing very well. we had about six inches of snow today, which is a pain if you are driving, but as I was on subway and foot was no problem. The snow in the parks is magical. I still remember the first time I saw real canadian snow at about age 13 and just rushed out and rolled in it.
You really can't believe how beautiful it is.
But then if you live here and it goes on and on and on yuch.

Sea Dog

Trivia

I got an excellent book for Xmas from Erin's boyfriend, Mike. It is full of information about animals. One interesting fact that I have learned is that most domestic cows are made to ingest a magnet. This then sits in their first stomach for their entire lives and attracts any piece of metal that they accidently eat thus preventing hardware disease. Sounds all rather unlikely eh? But if you google cow magnet the first thing that comes up is a company that manufactures them.
Mind you the entry for donkeys claims that female donkeys can be called a jenny or a donkeyess - haven't found any back up for the latter on the internet!

Book nomination....

OK, since J in PL requested it.....

Karen Connelly, One Room in a Castle

I was leaning towards Bruce Chatwin, and was undecided about which...I thought Patagonia as it is non-European, and beautiful, but with a French twist requested....

We have our nominee....

When is the due date?

March 1? How does that sound?

Book club

Hi there, I may have missed it, but do we have a book on the go? Just asking, because it might be fun to do again...

Anyone interested in giving it another shot?

Two things...

...first of all just a quick update on the diet. A few pesky pounds went on over Christmas (of course) but I'm not thankfully back on track and back to where I was before the festive season.

Second of all, I am thinking of doing a run for Sport Relief which is a charity related to Comic Relief (big annual telethon fundraiser event for those of you abroad): http://www2.sportrelief.com/. This year they are setting different distances of 1, 3 and 6 miles. So, linked to the above diet schedule plus the need to motivate myself I think having something to aim for would be a good idea so think I'm going to do the 6 mile run (it's just shy of 10km for those of you who are metric). The run is 2 months today (eek!) so I'm basically wondering; would anyone sponsor me if I do it?

And further to Boo's comments below I now like marmite, olives and anchovies which I didn't used to like, however I suspect I'm in a weird transitional phase where I still like Haribo sweets and Krispy Kreme doughnuts as well! Hence the constant diet :)

Love Kate xxxx

Changing tastes

On Christine's blog there has been a discussion on ham in which I contributed with a comment about pork scratchings - a hairy snack. I have to admit in my younger days I loved pork scratchings but I'm not sure I still would as tastes change as we get older. Sometimes our tastes improve - I now like things like anchovies and olives which I detested when younger.
Recently, I found an example of something that should have been left well alone in my memory.
In the two university holidays when I was 18 and 19 I went to babysit Christine and Joanne in Toronto. Aren't kids resilient? They've both turned into two well adjusted lovely women anyway. One of the activities we used to do was go to an outdoor swimming pool. It was about one tube ride north and then a bit of a walk East. Outside the tube station was a donut shop. I have to say, I found this donut shop rather exotic and exciting - this was before we had even Macdonalds in the UK. Anyway we would go to the swimming pool, the girls would have a great time and I would either have a swim or sit on the benches around the pool and read a book. Inevitably, the time would come when we would head back. I think Joanne was usually ready to go but Christine never wanted to. And she would be quite literally turning BLUE! Now I didn't know a lot about kids then but I could tell this was not good. At that stage I didn't understand about the stick part of child care (I am going to count to 5 by which time you are to be out of the pool and dressed!) I only really knew about the carrot. So what better carrot than that donut shop. Both kids were ready in the wink of an eye. We stopped at the donut shop and bought a variety of donuts which we would scoff on the train on the way home.
Now, I have imagined since that those donuts were fantastic probably better than they ever actually were. In the last few years in the UK Krispy Kremes have started a few emporia over here but not near us. Everyone raved about them, even the Guardian. Recently when somebody left work she brought round a tray of kripsy kremes to say goodbye. I was quite excited, thinking that I would be reliving my youth. I saved it up for my post prandial cuppa, bit into it and YUCK! Soooo Sweeeeet! What a disappointment. I felt a bit sick for the rest of the day! (Because I had to eat it all to make sure I didn't like it!)
Ah well, the moral of that story is that I had better leave the Findus Crispy pancakes safely in my memory!

Boxes and more boxes

Here am I at my desk at work. As you can see we are short of space and long on boxes and books. Christopher took this to show the health and safety officer - not really a safe working environment, but we've been there for 10 years and are unlikely to get moved anywhere better in the current economic climate.

Rather exciting news

For those of you yet to be phoned or excitedly emailed by my mother, I have some news. On new year's eve I proposed to Alice, and she said yes! I am rather excited, and very happy. Alice says she is also happy, which is a good thing really....

The original Elf

And here is the original owner of the elf clothes - plus Carl

Christmas Elf

It had to happen. Someone bought clothes for Gromit - well for Saffy, so it is a borrow really. Look how happy he looks!

Random generation

Well, I hope you all had an excellent Christmas. One of the guilty pleasures I enjoy in the run up to Christmas is Strictly Come Dancing. It takes me to a better sparkly sequin filled place. In fact I am a little obsessed with it. However I am not alone in this obsession as Erin (and Trev, actually) share it with me.

Anyway after the series final and the Christmas special Erin and I had reached a new pitch of enthusiasm and decided to try for tickets to the live show that is touring at the beginning of the year (without success!)

Here is the strange thing. When Erin checked for ticket availability on line the website asked her to type in the random letters that it showed. As blogger and various sites do - I believe to prove you are not a machine. The first time it was a collection of random letters. The next time it spelt Loser and the third time it spelt Bumboat!

Talk about adding insult to injury

Bridesmaid Diet Update

Some of you may remember at the start of the year I embarked on a quest: The Bridesmaid Diet. Despite abandoning my blog updates, you'll be pleased (hopefully) to hear that I did not abandon my quest. Said wedding was postponed from November '07 to June '08 which was a in some ways a blessing as it gave me more time to shift the pounds, but also a bad thing as it allowed me a real hiatus at the end of the summer/early autumn where I basically ate everything in sight :(

However, I have managed to maintain my weightloss, albeit at a painfully slow rate and am now a stone and a half lighter than I was at the start of 2007 :)

As I approach Christmas with some trepidation (how to avoid all that food and booze?), I thought I'd post on here to say that I will be pursuing my quest with renewed vigour in the New Year as we will be going shopping for bridesmaid dresses at Easter. My overall goal is to lose 2 and a half stone. So I shall be posting regularly again and even if you're not that interested, it acts as a kind of confessional for me to stop me cheating!

Merry Christmas one and all and have a mince pie for me.

Love Kate xxxx

Garfield and Odi

We just stopped off at a local shop to buy a paper. There was a terrier like dog tied up outside gazing at the door with devotion. Not unusual you will agree. However what was strange was the cat next to it. It kept rubbing itself against the dog - and I mean it's bum against the dog's face but the dog continued staring at the door. Eventually the cat sat down companionably close to the dog who continued to ignore it. I can only conclude that they had been introduced on a previous occasion!

Rome

This is me outside the tiny little studio flat we had in Rome where we have been for 3 days. It was minute but great as we had our own little kitchen, table and chairs and sofa to lounge on, as well as immaculately clean bathroom and very comfy bed (once you negotiated the very steep very narrow stairs to the mezzanine where the bed was). It was so small I couldn't get a picture of the inside. However it was brilliantly situated and we really liked it. We crammed in a day in the Vatican, did some of the Vatican galleries, Sistine Chapel and St Peters. St Peters is really hideous - that very chopped liver look you get with lots of marble never has done much for me. However the view from the top when you have climbed the steps is well worth it.


This is the front of the Temple of Saturn and then Brian in front of the temple and the rostrum. It is extraordinary to stand where Julius Caesar strolled around. I was really impressed with Rome and found it a much easier city to navigate around than I expected -
much more compact and less "big cityish" than I though it might be. We walked miles!! By then end of day two my feet were starting to complain in earnest, but well worth it.

This is a view of St Peters which is quite nice outside, just ugly from inside.

We didn't see everything on our list, as we ran out of time and the Bernini sculptures will have to wait for another time (fingers crossed), but we did thoroughly enjoy it.

On another note I have heard from Nicky and she is enjoying her job in Denmark, and has fallen in love with one of her horses. They are at a big Christmas show this week on the mainland bit of Denmark, and then in the spring they will be going to shows in italy!! Not bad is it?

I am having an operation on my right wrist for carpel tunnel syndrome on Thursday so won't be typing for a week or two (or at least one fingered and left handed which will be about the same thing - I can't type one handed) It is done under a local and doesn't sound as though it will be any worse than some dental treatment. Fingers crossed (while I still can!). love Helen

Southampton

This weekend we went to visit Kieran and Alice who now live in Southampton. Over the months that he has lived there we have made enquiries about what is the best thing about Southampton and everyone has said that it is near really nice places like Winchester and the New Forest and is easy to get out of. Even the brochure in our hotel said pretty much the same. It would appear it has been the victim of Nazi town planning; a difficult look to master and one that poor old Southampton doesn't quite manage. So who are we to argue with general opinion. On Saturday we took ourselves off to Portsmouth which has managed the Nazi town planning a little more attractively! Here is the Spinnaker tower. Amazing views!
Here are Alice and Kieran on HMS Warrior. I'm sure her aiming a cannon on my eldest born is nothing to worry about.
Here is HMS Victory. We also went to look at the Mary Rose but it is constantly sprayed with waxy solution to stop it dissolving. It looks like an atmospheric ghost ship but the photos were rubbish.
So. That was Saturday. Maybe we gave Soton a chance on Sunday. No way - we popped into Winchester on our way home which is very pretty and the Cathedral cafe had some seriously yummy cakes! (Oh and the Cathederal is very beautiful! No pictures it was pouring)

Lincoln Cathedral - not to some teenagers' tastes

I was very impressed by Lincoln Cathedral the other weekend. Apparently Helen and Boo refused to get out of the car and go round with their parents some years ago. Shocking I say, children with no discipline. So here's a picture of the outside, which I guess they did see. Shame on you girls...........

The Crack

We went to see the crack at Tate Modern the other week. Who knows whether it is art, but it is good fun. Small children were having fun throwing things over it and trying to see if anyone was in it! Here are 2 pictures:

Spot the deliberate mistake

Look at the following page, and see which picture doesn't match the caption....

http://www.guardianoffers.co.uk/mall/departmentpage.cfm/GuardianOffers/_119271/1/Cameras%2520%2526%2520binoculars

Link to concert advert

And here is a link to the spnm advert

http://www.spnm.org.uk/?page=/events/event.html&id=456

love Helen

Mr Moto

is the name of this template................

News from Wales

Well Nicky is now in Denmark, she left yesterday and won't be home till May, which means she is gone for Christmas which is a bummer, but the opportunity was too good to miss. More when I hear from her.

The other exciting news is that Brian has had the piece he put forward to the SPNM chosed by the BBC Philharmonic and it is going to be performed by them in February next year, along with 2 other pieces by shortlisted composers. This is just fantastic and such an opportunity to have the music performed by one of the BBC orchestras!!! So he gets to spend the Christmas holidays coaxing the printer into printing out the parts, which is the slightly tedious downside.

As an aside - does any priest or religion have a system of excorcizing printers? I am convinced that all the modern little Screwtapes inhabit printers and get so many brownie points in Hell by the frustrations and torments, bad language, tears and general evilness caused by printers that the angels must be all scratching their heads to think how to combat this one. The printers are winning.

love Helen

Euro 2008 - Tee hee

Well, the best team won. However, someone hasn't told the authors of this website yet http://www.2008-euro-championships.co.uk/

Nor amended the voting for "who will win euro 2008?"


Euro 2008 Winner: Results
Who will win Euro 2008
England
293 (19.48%)
France
193 (12.83%)
Holland
483 (32.11%)
Spain
181 (12.03%)
Italy
354 (23.54%)
1504 total votes

Shame....................

The Corn IS as high as an elephants eye

1. Boo told us authoritatively that corn did not grow well in England and was low and stunted. Well today we went for a walk in the Surrey countryside (posponed from yesterday when it poured, though it rained today too). We went through a field of corn that was 8feet high and prolific, for some reason stilll being unpicked in mid November.

Now I'm not sure how high is an elephants eye, but 8 ft is pretty tall.

The other highlight was the fox we saw.

The lowlight was a very muddy (spelt cowdung) area that we couldn't go round. Mike got through with it spilling over the tops of his boots, but Linda did a faceplant. We were saved by a friendly farmer who let us use his hose.

Walking in England is such fun

Sea Dogs

King Lear

Just went to see King Lear with Boo and Trev. Boo was very impressed by Lear with no clothes on.

Minster Installation Art

Further to previous mention of the video installation on the outer wall of the minster - here is the video I took of it. Quite dramatic really. (NB: You probably need to click on the video and then the play button, i.e. twice, to get it running. Don't give up!)

Trevor

Handy Phrases for Nicky

Having seen the latest post re Denmark and the lingo, clearly some useful phrases are called for, so here they are:

Merry Christmas - glædelig jul
Hello - goddag (formal) / hej (coll.)
Happy New Year - godt nytår

just in case, here are the same phrases in Dutch!

vrolijk Kerstfeest
goede morgen / goede middag / goede avond (morning / afternoon / evening)
gelukkig Nieuwjaar

We're all jealous really.

Quote of the week

Further to mum's entry below about Nicky's job in Denmark, I thought I'd just share my glee at what she said on the phone when she rang to tell me the news.

Upon telling me about said job offer in Denmark (take note, country of job opportunity = Denmark) Nicky said 'It'd be really good won't it....although, I don't speak any Dutch'. To which I said, 'Why would you need to speak Dutch? Isn't the job in Denmark?' Nicky then replied with 'Don't they speak Dutch in Denmark then?' I then informed her that no, they don't speak Dutch in Denmark, they speak Danish.

This was then followed by the question from Nicky: 'Well where do they speak Dutch then?'

Blond? My sister? Na..... ;)
xxxxxxxxxxx

The Sheep Murderer's tale

Today in London, our friends regaled us with the following real event: Some time ago, at a tourist spot, it matters not where, our friend A*** and family was enjoying the outdoors with friends. Said spot had many a sheep, which were determined sandwich eaters and minor menaces to children. One sheep in particular was the potential chief snatcher and minor admonishments had failed to divert his attention. In steps our hero A*** (identity concealed) and marches up to the woolly carpetbagger, wagging a finger of power and uttering the mighty charm "shoo".

Backwards went the sheep, until reaching the hill (oh, yes, it was the tourist spot up a hill), at which point it rolled over backwards down the hill until it hit a ledge, whereupon the dying fly position was adopted.

At this point, friends 10 year old set up a mighty wail of "sheep murderer, sheep murderer". A*** was rather worried, so he scrambled down and poked the sheep.

Thankfully, after a few moments, sheep came round, and after a pause to reflect on the dangers of a life of crime, scrambled to its feet and wandered away.

Ever since, A*** is know in that particular circle as the sheep murderer. The things people do to get a nickname.....

Return of the stare

Today we were in London, meeting some friends. On the way we crossed at traffic lights. As we did so a cyclist gently went through the red light, causing us no problem - but directly behind the cyclist was a police van. At first nothing happened, then Boo engaged the famous stare of power, first at the cyclist, then at the driver of said Police van. 5 seconds later, blue lights, cyclist pulled over.

A victory for the stare.

Nicky off to Denmark

Nicky is off to Denmark next week for 6 months, so she is joining the expat family members scattered around and adding Scandanvia to the family map. She has got a job as a groom in a showjumping yard for a 6 month contract and goes next week. She is very excited as it is good money and terrific experience. The down side (for me) is that she won't be home for Christmas, however such is life. We shall have to send her a care parcel for Xmas day.

Books

Do we have a book club book going right now and I missed it? Is there not a book?

Signed
Confused in Spain

Ooops, I done it again. (Changed the blog template that is)

So exciting as it is a 3 day weekend - we're going Christmas shopping on Monday. Woo. Todays news at one o'clock was essentially "There has been no serious flooding", with lots of pictures of waves and inches of water on some roads. A reporter was on Lowestoft beach saying the sea was rough as very small waves simpered behind him. Good news really, just the journalists don't understand how not to be dramatic.

Adminman

Fruit and veg

In an effort to shop stopping at Asda and therby willfully supporting the evil Wal-Mart, the first change Carl and I have made in our shopping habits is to order a fruit and veg box from a local supplier in Wiltshire, G+S Fruits. All produce is seasonal, sourced locally and delivered once a week, although I'm not sure how much of it is organically farmed and how much isn't.

However, our first box arrived yesterday and it was all very exciting, delving around and pulling out delights such as a huge cabbage complete with all the leaves (reminded me of the plant in Little Shop of Horrors) and the biggest leeks either of us have ever seen, plus pears and apples and all sorts of fruity and veggie delights.

So now we feel all smug as if we are single handedly saving the environment...not sure that's quite true but, I'm looking forward to some very nice dinners (cooked by Carl of course) on the back of it :)

Love Kate xxxx

York

We have just returned from a weekend of visiting Erin in the beautiful city of York. We decided to do the touristy things. We went to the Minster, quite splendid but if they are going to charge you to get in they need to get their cashiers sorted out. A geriatric and a twelve year old just weren’t shortening the queue quickly! In the evening they have an Art Installation projected against the West Face which reacts to sound. It is quite snazzy

After that , as Erin didn’t want to go to the railway museum(I can’t think why), we decided to go to the Treasurer’s house (pictured) and more specifically the vaults as they were supposed to be haunted by a Roman Legion, but only from their knees up.
It’s a National Trust property and both Trev and I are members so the house was free but we had to pay and extra 2.50 to get in the vaults. Erin is not a member so we would have to pay for her entry to the house plus the money to the vaults. It was here that the cashier decided to try and sell annual NT membership to Erin. Honestly, Erin is queen of the contemptuous, leave me alone stare, but this woman was having none of it. She kept trying to sell membership, clearly not realising that Erin could buy a seasons wardrobe from Primark with £20! When we realised that we would have to pay the extra to get into the vaults the said: “ See the member ship looks good now.” Well it looked exactly the same as members had to pay the extra.
As it happens we didn’t have enough cash and they wouldn’t accept any cards so we went shopping instead. I bought myself some lovely earrings, which in a way were free as we hadn’t spent the money getting into the Vaults.
On our way home we passed through a village called Spital in the Street! Excellent name

Halloween

Can you find the Canadians???