18/08/2009 by Paul D.

Today has been a day of complete POO and I just wanted somewhere to vent my spleen.

This morning I heard a good friend of mine and ex work colleague has found out that his ball cancer has come back.

This afternoon I had my lovely shiny new touch-screen phone in my pocket. When I took it out, the screen was shattered. It’s not insured. I guess I’ll just have to go and buy a more ‘manly’ one, won’t I?

Just now I hit my left index finger with a hammer. There’s a big lump of flesh hanging off and I’ve been standing at the sink with cold water running over it to numb the pain. It’s the sort of injury that you just know is gonna get more painful before it gets better.

And that’s why I’ve decided not to do any more DIY today.

I better go round and clear up all the tools that I threw down the garden…

Obviously I wouldn’t expect any sympathy from you lot, but I hope you’ll all feel better knowing that I’m having a sh!ttier day than you.

P. 

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20/07/2008 by Nicky.

Trev has finally given in to Ted & Ruby’s constant reminders of his promise to get a dog! They have gone out today & put a deposit on a beautiful husky puppy…we can pick him in a couple of weeks. Ted & Ruby are just a little excited….

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01/07/2008 by Nicky.

I can’t say I was as confident as last time - but that was 4 years ago & I have to admit to being older, not quite as fit & a little fatter than before. However….17km cycle ride in 30 mins & a finish time of 2hrs 9 mins all in was respectable enough for me. I’ll be collecting my medal on Saturday - hopefully by then I can walk properly!!!

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26/04/2008 by Nicky.

Well , Vegas was a blast! No clocks on the walls & constant half light whenever you are indoors meant we had no idea of the time. The hotels are MASSIVE - it took over 12 hours to walk what would have been 3 miles as the crow flies - no wonder we needed all that beer to numb the pain in our aching tootsies. Between us , we have loads of photos to share - shall we do a sweep on how many? Or do’ya think I’ll mash you all again like in Jen’s magnet competition?!? Looking forward to the judging of the photo competition (or is that just a hardly needed excuse for a get together & a few more beers?)

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15/04/2008 by Jen.

As you may know, Jen and myself are keen walkers, and we have for some time now, been trying to complete the Isle of Wight Coastal Path. 

Progress on this path has been slow, mainly because someone inconveniently put the Solent in between Wokingham and the Island. Which means we can only tackle the walk when we have a chance to get over there and have enough cash to pay the extortionate ferry fares. 

So we decided we needed a long distance path that’s closer to home, which we found, and is called the Three Castle Path. This path is approximately 58 miles long and runs from Windsor Castle, via Odinam Castle at the halfway mark down to the site of Winchester castle, now just an old hall. 

And so, on Saturday 5th April we tackled the first leg of the walk, from Windsor to Ascot, which covered about 8 miles of the path itself, plus additional bits getting to and from start/end points, meant we did a total of 9½ miles. All before lunch! 

At 8:30am, the taxi turn up to drive us to Windsor. Bit extravagant you might shout, but it only cost £5 more than the train and only took us 25min. Whereby as the train would probably take us 2 hours as it’s not direct. 

The taxi dropped us at the exact start point of our walk, at the bottom of Castle Street. Fortunately it being so early in the morning, the area was pretty much tourist free. No loud Americans saying “Isn’t the castle quaint” and “We have bigger ones back home that only took a week to build” blah blah blah. 

From here we headed down the cobbled streets around the castle past Nell Gwne’s house. Those not up on their history, Nell Gwne was famous for inventing the Intermittent Window Screen Wiper…….Or was she the one that was King Charles II mistress……….nah definitely the Wipers. 

There was even a Ye Olde Nell Gwne Chinese restaurant. No Chop Sticks here. You use Wiper blades instead. 

OK, back to the walk. We carried on through the cobbled streets till we came across the crooked house. 

This stands on the corner of Queen Charlotte Street which apparently is recorded as the shortest street in the country. I’m sure the Ewens know better, but we’re going with the what’s on the plaque. 

From here we headed towards the Long Walk. So called because….. it’s a long walk !  2½ miles from the Castle to The Copper Horse. One of those treks that just goes on and on and on. Bit like this blog! 

And hour later, we finally reach the Copper Horse on top of Snow Hill. The statue is actually of King George the II on his donkey. 

The views from up there were excellent. We could see Harrow on the Hill, Wembley Stadium Arch, and the baggage mountain at Terminal 5. 

Next was another long trek through Windsor Great Park and onto to the start of Ascot Race Course. Here are the Golden Gates at the start of the Old Mile Course now replaced by the inspirationally named New Mile Course! 

Walking along the side of the Old Mile course we spotted several of these concrete pillars. These were erected during the second world war and were used to support steel cables across the course to stop Ze Germans from using it as a place to land their planes. 

Finally the end of today’s section of the walk, at the crossing point of the New Mile course. You can see some old nag was running. Apparently odds on favourite for the knackers yard. 

Then it was just 1 more mile to Ascot station and home. By the way, the train was 35 min late. Nothing new there then. 

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10/03/2008 by Jen.

We also picked up our BMW 3 Series Convertible at the weekend . . . . . . .

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08/03/2008 by Nicky.

Well - today I picked up MY monaco blue BMW 3 series convertible too!        

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25/01/2008 by Nicky.

    Just to show that a great camera doesn’t necessarily mean great photos…..                                                                                                                                      

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11/12/2007 by Nicky.

It seemed such a good idea to get new wardrobes fitted in Summer last year (yes that’s 2006) …. we had some quotes , decided we couldn’t afford it & put the project on the back burner pending up summing up the energy to visit Ikea .

Of course , we never found the energy to visit the devil’s store (there’s a reason they wear red T-shirts you know) and when a friend said “why not try MFI?” , we thought “why not ?”

The salesman wasn’t so slick , but at half the price of the other guys , we didn’t much care & we placed our order . Which was measured wrong. We were given a delivery date . Which was wrong . We cleared the rooms & then the delivery came …. just imagine the contents of 2 bedrooms PLUS 2 new fitted bedroom parts all over our house.

The fitter came (a day late & long after 9am) and started to work … guess what? the delivery was wrong , so he had to order more parts. One of the parts was delivered wrong a second time - apparently their system was wrong. They didn’t finish on time & came back again . They didn’t finish on time , and came back yet again . They drilled holes in our BRAND NEW floor.

Several stroppy phone calls and a very stroppy letter to head office later , we’re still waiting to hear anything at all from MFI .

If you’re thinking about it…just don’t do it !

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11/12/2007 by Neil.

Well, after Nelly the Elephant packed his trunk, and said goodbye to the circus.

He decided, for some strange reason, that it would be a great idea to spend the next month stuck in front of a PC creating a 3 minute picture show of last New Year’s hoedown at Ewen Palace.

After hours of cutting people’s heads off, making them jingle, sticking them in buckets and popping out of Paul Ewen’s stomach. (Tell me Di, what was it like in there? No, on second thoughts, I’d rather not know!) one finished song was completed.

I’d had plans to do about three tunes, but I’ve got to be honest, I think I’ve developed a touch of RSI…….

I’ll try and get a DVD made for everyone for Christmas, so you can watch it at home in Hi-Definition, digital surround sound, Technicolor, or you can just use the disc as a coaster.

Steve has provided a link to a web version, so you can cringe at it while at work:

http://www.deepmilk.co.uk/usmedia/us_nursery.html

Be warned though, you’ll be singing the song all day if you do. I’ve had it going round my head for the past month and I’ve only just got rid of Cocacabaña from last year.

Any chance that this year’s party can be held in a room with plain white walls? It would make editing soooooo much easier. A blue screen background would be even better. That way I can superimpose us all say, on the Bridge of the Titanic? Just before Di asks if it’s at all possible to get some ice for her brandy and diet coke!

Enjoy

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