Happy 50th Birthday Granddad Allen!!!

Nick's Dad is now half a century and to welcome him into his second half, Karen (his partner) organised a suprise dinner at a restaurant in Nottingham, follwed by drinks back at the house. It was really nice to be able to surprise him like that, though I think he suspected something was up. I could tell that he was really touched by all the people that turned up, and he does love to spend as much time as he can with his family - especially his children and grandchildren. 

Moving? What, again????

Yes, it is so. Our landlord has decided to sell the house we are living in, so we have until our lease runs out to find somewhere new! Shocking, but actually I have an element of peace about it. I feel this is meant to be, so there's no sense in fretting over it.



Bye Bye Home!

Nick's Safari Adventures

Well, Nick is now back from his week-long, luxurious safari in Botswana. Though he survived the wilds of Africa, our digital camera was not so lucky....Nick managed to break it within 1/2 an hour of his first Game drive! Thank God his colleague Mac was kind enough to share his camera, or we'd have missed out on such awe inspiring photos as those below.....

Jealous? Who, me? Nah...I'm off to Jordan in July!

Happy Birthday Aunty Gail - you are always in our hearts

Today Gail would have been 45 years old. Or rather young, because 45 is really a young age to be taken away. We had a meal at a restaurant in Leicester with all the family and lots of friends in honour of Gail and I must admit it was rather bittersweet. Such family gatherings have taken on a poignancy as Gail was always at the heart of such celebrations - either helping to organise, or cooking - or hosting. But there was reason for happiness. My uncle Carey and his wife Natashe had a baby boy in December and my uncle Darren and his partner Amy had a baby boy just a couple of weeks ago - baby Junior. Together with Benjamin and Jasmine and Chenai (Baby Junior's older sister) and Nathan, the children helped to bring joy to what could have been a very sad time. They were a breath of fresh air for us all.

The beauty of the early morning

In order to start getting fit for summer, I have started walking to work in the morning - it takes around 45mins so I have to leave the house at around 7am. Now this may sound really early, but I have found that I really enjoy the time to think, reflect, pray for friends and family and just enjoy the quiet, and natural beauty around me, and the sounds of the world waking up. At a particular point in my walk there are a row of pine trees and the scent is so strong and heady that it really clears the head. Now, my legs and derriere are protesting, but they'll get used to it, and hopefully shrink in time for the summer sun that I hope will make an appearance this year!

Anyway, here is my walk in pictures.....

" morning sheep!"

This horse really didn't seem to want me to take his picture - so I apologise to him for the inconvenience!

And here is where I work.....We are really lucky to work in a really beautiful converted mill with amazing views all around and it really makes a different to the work environment to have so much natural light and the opportunity to be able to go out by the river on your breaks, or maybe feed the chickens (which I have stopped doing since I heard that some massive rats have been sighted! - Vermin are a side of countrylife that I don't ever anticipate appreciating!)

This is the view from my desk window

Me at my desk!

April, April, macht was er will...

Loosely translated as 'April does what the hell it wants'! Just look at the photos below. The first was taken on Thursday, and the other two just this morning.
Only in England.

Enjoying the sun

Snowball fight anyone?

Gotcha!

Breadsticks and Tom & Jerry....

The perfect recipe for contented children. I babsat our new friend Sam for an hour today, and he was understandably a bit upset when his mother, Stefi, first left. But I had a strategy! Take him to benjamin and Jasmine, then feed them and put on the Boomerang kids channel on the TV. Benjamin and Jasmine adore Tom & Jerry cartoons, and as Sam adores Ben and Jas I had three very contented children. Just look at how cute they are.....