We won!

Much to my surprise Richard announced this evening that we would be watching the rugby. Not normally noted for his enthusiasm for televised team sports (I'm very glad to say), I thought I would go along with this innovation. Olivia enjoyed the first half but then flagged during half time and went to bed. Must have been the beer...

I spent much of the match updating the blog. However, I'm now told that we won 24-13 and that we 'beat those cheese-eating surrender monkeys'...Err yes Richard, very tolerant I don't think! I think you've been watching too much Al Murray.

Summer House Progress

Work on the Summer House continues apace. This is what it looked like after the roof was first put in place this week:

Richard starts to install a loft hatch:

Then today, he and my Dad continued with the adhesive and felting. A very sticky job!

I have to say though that I've been very concerned about the lack of attention to H+S...

I announced that I would blog all this and my Dad's response was to wave at the camera (camera too slow to catch this though) and to ask if his hair looked tidy! I just hope the two of them survive long enough to finish the job!!!

Frosty mornings

We've had 2 or 3 frosty starts to the day this week. Cold but very pretty.

Mary and Jesus????

Ever the imaginative one out of the two of us, Richard wanted to see if he could recreate a Madonna and child pose after he and Olivia had their baths last Sunday. I don't think Olivia was too impressed (perhaps she was cold?). Mary seemed to be quite serene, but still, I think she needs a shave...

Sunday Lunch

Last Sunday we went to The Lamb in Edgmond for lunch. I walked there after church (Olivia needed the sleep) and Richard, Chris and Tim followed me in their vehicles. Olivia started waving a fork around - much to Richard's consternation!

Hot off the Press!

Well, would you believe it? After 11 years, I've finally got my PhD. Wolverhampton finally conferred the qualification on me on February 6th and so you can all now call me 'Doctor'. This has been the main reason why there has been such a long gap in the blogging - I was trying hard to do the corrections and resubmit my thesis before the end of January deadline.

So, was it worth the effort and worth having it hanging over me for the last 11 years? Well, if helped me to get my promotion - that and my innate charm and intelligence, ahem! ;-), so I can't complain too much really (in case you didn't know I'm now back at work as Laboratory Manager, my predecessor John having retired). Having said that, looking back I wouldn't now recommend that anyone does one part time unless they, or their supervisory team, are disciplined and can/do work to deadlines. Neither was true in my case and so the whole thing drifted... Nevertheless, my Mum and Dad thought it was worth making an announcement in the paper and I have to say that I was quite touched. Someone needs to tell the Shropshire Star how to spell PhD though:

Also in the news this week: Olivia was part of a group photo for Jo Jingles, the baby and toddler music group that she goes to on Fridays with Jean. She loves it and can now crawl across the carpet to get her own musical instruments. Unfortunately when the picture was taken she was somewhat preoccupied with trying to peel the Jo Jingles sticker off her red top. Good picture of Jean though. See if you can spot them:

Summer House

Richard and my Dad have started converting one of the sheds (used to be known as 'The New Workshop' but which was really a repository for garden tools and pieces of wood) into a summer house. We hope to have it finished in time for Olivia's dedication which will be on April 6th. It's currently a work in progress. From an earlier picture (below) you can see what it used to look like:

They have taken the sides down and repositioned them so that the double doors which were round the back now look onto the lawn; have rebuilt the wonky side that had the windows; replaced these windows and are in the process of replacing the sloping corrugated steel roof with a felted, wooden hipped roof which incorporates a porch. It's all good stuff! I wish my Dad would wear more PPE though...

Tool Time

Tim came over to fix our leaky toilet. Olivia lost no time in getting to grips with some of his plumbing tools. Wonder if she will turn out to be as practical as she appears?

Amjad's House Warming

Amjad and his wife Kaz recently moved house and then were good enough to host a house warming for us all. The food was fabulous.

John and his wife Gill were invited too. To look at the picture you'd think they'd really resented being dragged out of retirement...! They didn't at all and we did all have a great time!

Miles and Smiles

Earlier on in the New Year my friend Miles who I was at university with came to visit for the weekend. We didn't do anything more exciting than go out for lunch and go shopping for a waterproof fabric to cover the tops of our new toy boxes with but still it was good to see him again. Last time he visited I was suffering with morning sickness and felt pretty dreadful all that weekend. This time I was suffering with sleep deprivation, Olivia having been up a lot in the night. Not good! Hopefully the next time he visits I'll be in a fit state to enjoy it a bit more.

Bathtime!

Olivia really likes bath time with Daddy!

Back to Long Ashton

The day after Boxing Day we went down to Long Ashton to see Ivor, Bex and Molly. Ivor's parents and sister were there too so altogether it made a lovely family get together:

Rebecca got to grips with the idea of managing 2 small children (I think it's put her off!),

...while my Dad and Colin got to grips with charging up some rechargeable torches that my Mum had bought them off price-drop.tv...watch this - you won't stop laughing:

knk

Later on Molly and Olivia went outside and played on the swings. Molly was incredibly tired and very nearly dropped off to sleep. Olivia had slept on the journey down so was full of beans and thought it was hilarious:

Merry Christmas!

Christmas day was lovely. After church we went to Kate and Alun's for lunch. Thomas had been given a new chess set which he really liked.

Olivia eventually needed a nap so she slept in the pram on the way home. When she woke the 3 of us drove over to my parents for their annual Christmas Day tea. We were joined by Mum's friend Marie and her mother Rose; Aunty Nat, Uncle Bill and Simon. We stayed over and Olivia gave us the best Christmas present of all - a complete night's sleep!