So, first off, a big Happy Birthday to Nikki, who was 24 last week… good grief… I have a 24 year old daughter! We didn’t see her of course as she is in Germany, but we did send her cards on to the hotel she was staying at, and we variously wished he happy birthday via Skype, text, and facebook.

Then happy birthday to my dear old Mum, who nurtured me, loved me, looked after me, but now just looks at me in despair….when I have had all my hair cut off that is!

Then happy birthday to our friend Pat who celebrated her 60th last weekend.

This week Tricia’s Dad reaches 76, and Tricia’s sister is a birthday girl. So, busy for birthdays everywhere.

Nikki is in good spirits at the moment having performed marvellously so far on the Europa Cup Bobsleigh circuit, and in 3 races have achieved a 4th and 2 5ths. This is a ‘podium’ finish, (top 6), so when she comes back next month she will be bringing a few trophies back – her first in bobsleigh! GB2 are ranked 4th on the Europa Cup circuit presently. The 4th position and one of the 5ths came at Igls, in Austria, the other 5th came at Winterberg in Germany this last week. Today she has moved on to La Plagne in France where they will be racing next week. She had some good feedback from the coach as well, who is pleased with Nikki’s progress. Here are a couple of photos’… the Union Jack flying at home on race days, Nikki with the GB2 driver Vicky, and Nikki and Vicky with the coaches.

Last weekend we went to celebrate Pat’s 60th… Robbie came back from Uni for the weekend for the party, Rob is a good friend of Pat’s son Alex. Deb and Carlos also came over for the party. Tricia did the catering for the party…. and me, well Pat asked me, Bob and Peter if we could do some ‘entertainment’. So we did, at Pat’s expense of course. Now Pat is always going on about her winceyette nighties, and her love of all things winceyette. So, we took a song called Lady Eleanor, modified the lyrics to be Lady Winceyette, actually recorded a backing track during the week, and then performed the song resplendant in some winceyette nighties we had specially made! It went down a treat, big laughs. What with Tricia doing the catering, and then us all being at the party till late, and a busy Sunday, involving doing the roast, and then taking Robbie back, I was knackered on Sunday evening ! So much for a restful weekend. So, here are ‘The Winceyettes’ as called ourselves, and one of Ellie from the evening.

Robbie is working hard with his uni course, but a little respite this last weekend, he has been up in Yorkshire near Leeds where his mate Jordan lives, getting some Yorkshire hospitality. Ellie has been busy as always, with school hockey, dancing, guides etc… and came home with an excellent school report a week ago… so a big well done to her.

Tricia is full on with the catering… loads of Christmas orders, the house is full of marzipaned cakes, she did a catering job last Friday, and one today as well, and was on a stall at Waddesdon school yesterday. She has a few more weeks of full on work, before it will perhaps ease off just before Xmas. Which is starting to get close… first in Advent next Sunday. I used to love the first in Advent when I was a kid, getting the wreath with the candles set up at home, it was pretty much the start of the Christmas season, and all the activities that went with it. It is something we do here as well, so next weekend we will be out getting the holly. Driving home this last week, I have seen a few houses plastered with Christmas decorations already…. now that is a bit too soon, it isn’t even December yet.

The hair is returning…. getting some length on top now, helps cover up where I am a little ‘thin’ .

Tricia and I went to see a production of 42nd Street that is on tour, at Aylesbury theatre last night. It was nice to get a bit of time together, as we seem to be running at full tilt at the moment. Great show, the tap dancing and singing was brilliant. When the show finished, and we stood to leave, I noticed a familiar face in a row in front that took me a few moments to place…. it was David Jason, as in Del Boy and Inspector Frost fame. I know that he lives locally to Aylesbury but not seen him around before. He looks his 72 years.

As we sat having Sunday lunch today we reflected on a busy week for us all, as well as Tricia’s catering work, I have been busy at work, I had school governor duties this week as well, Ellie has had after school activities etc…. but we are on top of things, the house is tidy, all the washing and ironing is up to date, so…. we aren’t too badly organised. No stress at being behind schedule. Well not yet anyway  

The Cork report… nice play on ‘The Cook Report’…(which was a current affairs tv prog from the 80’s and 90’s)… anyway I digress (and probably not for the first time). On Monday, after a reasonably relaxed start to the day, making sure the packing was done, making sure the house was secured, particularly as we have had a recent spate of burglaries in the area, we set off at around 10:30am. First stop was the bank in Winslow to pick up some Euro’s, and then onto Tricia’s Mum and Dad to drop off Ellie, who was staying with them whilst we were away. Then it was on to Northampton to pick up Robbie and Jordan, and then with them on board going up to Market Harborough where we met Deb, and Yvonne for lunch at Pizza Express. Sometime later Robbie and Jordan got the bus back to Northampton. Deb loaded her bags into the car, and then we went to Rugby to pick up Carlos from Line6. Then it was onwards to Birmingham International Airport, where we checked in and then enjoyed the first drink of the holiday. We flew at 17:15, on time and landed in Cork on time, where we were met by Bro. Barry. Introductions were done to Deb and Tricia, the two ‘valiant’ women, as he described them, the hire car was picked up and then it was on to the Maldron Hotel Cork. We were checked in promptly, and then settled into the bar to talk, and take on board the first Murphy’s of the week. Here we are at the airport, having a drink… now the one of Deb with the sparkly stuff requires some explanation… as we came through duty free we (Carols and me) were approached by some people in Turkish national costumes, apparently it was Turkish independence day. So I posed with what Deb is wearing and got a free piece of Turkish delight, and a shot of Jack Daniels… but I don’t have a picture of me in the stuff, only Deb…

After breakfast on Tuesday morning we ventured down to Cork for a walk around. Deb and Tricia found a wonderful old sweet shop and bought some sweets to keep us company on our travels. We then surprised Bro. Barry by arriving to pick him up at his house at the appointed time, 11am. He felt sure that we would get lost in Cork, but Carlos had done his homework and got there without going wrong. With Barry on board we set out East of Cork, Tricia occasionally shouting out to stop, so she could take a picture of something she had seen. We took in the great views of Cork harbour (one of the largest natural harbours in the world), and stopped in Cobh to view the cathedral – which if you think it is really just a parish church, was rather magnificent. It was then ‘Murphy’s o’clock’, so we stopped for lunch at the ‘Thatched Inn’. Barry, Deb and Carlos enjoyed the local chowder. Carlos took in some Murphy’s so Tricia took on the driving. We went on through Youghal, and then down to Ardmore to have a look at the coast. It was then up the hill to see the Ardmore round tower. We then turned back on ourselves, and went back to Youghal, and stopped in the harbour area to visit Moby Dick’s, and to take on our first ‘Tom Stanton Special’ of the trip… to the uninitiated this is a pint of Murphy’s with a shot of Jameson’s Irish Whiskey in it. When explained to some they look in horror at the thought, but the taste of the stout is complemented nicely by the whiskey when you swallow…. a great taste, but you can’t have too many. The day was getting on now and the light gone, so we set off back towards Cork, going past the ‘Walter Raleigh’ where I was offered stretchy pants the year before by the waitress so I could eat more! Bro Barry guided us to the ‘Elm Tree’ at Glounthaune where we had a splendid evening meal. Eating, drinking, lots of talking and laughing (mainly at my expense). We then dropped Barry off, and made our way back to the hotel…. No problem getting to sleep. Pictures… the unlikely ‘sweet shop’, Carlos and myself with Bro Barry, then a view of Cork harbour, and the cathdral at Cobh, the round tower at Ardmore, Tricia, Barry, Carlos and Deb at the coast, and one of Moby Dicks bar in Youghal.

 The forecast for Wednesday was not too good, and there was a bit of spit in the air when we walked out after breakfast. We went up to see the ‘four faced liar’, a clock tower on a church, St Anne’s. It is called the four faced liar locally because each of the four clock faces tell a slightly different time J. This was evidenced when we heard four different chimes over a few minutes to mark the quarter past the hour. On the way out of the church and going down the wet steps, Deb slipped and took a fall. Fortunately nothing was broken, and she was only shaken and bruised, but it could have been a lot worse. We made our way back down the hill slowly as Deb get herself going again. Into the car, we surprised Barry for the second day in a row by picking him up on time. Today we went West. Bro Barry had asked if we wanted to go out to Killarney but did say it was a bit ‘touristey’, which wasn’t what we were looking for, so he decided to give us a different trip out instead. A couple of pics, the hotel we stayed at, and the ‘four faced liar’…

We started out looking at the point in the River Lee where it splits in two for a short distance, creating an island on which Cork’s city centre is built, before it flows into the sea at Cork Harbour on the south coast, which we had viewed the day before. Opposite the river Bro Barry pointed out the longest building in Ireland, the Cork asylum…it is not the nuthouse these days, but in its heyday it probably had a good proportion of the population of Cork in it! The idea then was to go out towards the source of the River Lee at a place called Gougane Barra. Deb gingerly got back in the car, Tricia was at the helm driving. On the way we stopped off at a place called Ballyvourney…. Bro Barry explained that the local saint, was St Gobnait. The anglicised version of the name is Deborah… so Deb was immediately impressed that she was named after an Irish saint without knowing it, whilst Carlos was amused that his wife’s name in the Irish started with Gob. So I guess they were both kind of happy J. Bro Barry explained the story behind Gobnait arriving and creating a church. We had lunch in Ballyvourney (more Murphy’s) before we set off to see the statue of Gobnait and the church and the holy well. Apparently the water from the holy well has healing properties so Deb drank some…whilst Tricia poured some on my head….to help heal my hair.  In the graveyard at the church I discovered many headstones for McSweeney’s and MacSuibhne’s. Some piccies, the River Lee, the old Cork assylum, the two intrepid photographers for the trip, lunch in Ballyvourney, Deb with her healing water, Bro Barry with ‘the valiant women’, and Deb with St Gobnait.

Moving on from Ballyvourney, and concerned that light would fade, we set off to Gougane Barra. On arrival we parked up at the old monastery ruins, and a lovely little church. The name Gougane Barra comes from Saint Finbarr, who is said to have built a monastery on an island in the lake nearby during the 6th century. Barry is derived from Finbarr, which is what Bro Barry was christened as. The church had stained glass pictures of St Finbarr, and St Gobnait, so all were happy. We then pressed on a little further till we came across the source of the River Lee (An Laoi). It was now quite gloomy, and so we returned to Cork. But not before stopping off at a place called Lissarda and pub called Mai Fitz’s for an evening meal (and Murphy’s). By the time we had dropped off Bro Barry at his home, and we had got to the hotel it was gone half nine, so we went to the bar for a Tom Stanton Special – well Carlos, Deb and myself that is, Tricia wasn’t drinking Murphy’s. Some pics, the monastry ruins, and chapel, the source of the River Lee, a rather lovely sunset, the meal at Mai Fitz’s, and finally the Tom Stanton special

On Thursday morning, Deb and Tricia went off into Cork town for some shopping. Carlos and I took refuge in a coffee shop. Packed and checked out we left, met Bro Barry en route and went up to a golf club he knows where we all had lunch (and a final Murphy’s) before heading to the airport. Bro Barry’s brother and wife turned up, so it was nice to meet them. We made our farewells at Cork airport, and headed for our plane.

It was a terrific few days, excellent company, excellent food, and Murphy’s J. Bro Barry was a great host. There had been time for lots of banter and leg pulling, and even some serious talk about the decline of the brotherhood, but the time had gone too quickly.

The flight back home was on time. We dropped Deb and Carlos off, staying briefly for a cup of tea, before heading home via a shop for some provisions, and then Tricia’s Mum and Dad’s to pick up Ellie.

On Friday Ellie and me went across to Bracknell to wish my dear Mum a happy birthday, it was good to catch up with Mum and Dad, and for Ellie to catch up with them. Tricia had a cake order to fulfil, which she had just completed when we got home. On Saturday Tricia was over at Brunel Uni doing some athletics coaching. I took Ellie to the cinema where we both enjoyed watching the new James Bond film, Skyfall, which was great fun. I was also cheered by West Ham having got a draw with the current champions Man City. Today has been a quietish day at home… loads of jobs to do, but no venturing out. At the moment Ellie has the tv on in the living room, and Tricia is preparing for a marathon of Christmas cake cooking.

Robbie is full of cold, but he did a presentation last week that went well, and was given some feedback from his tutor, who said he had a ‘bloody brilliant start to the year’… which Robbie is pleased with as this bloke rarely compliments any of them.

Nikki has moved on from Königssee to Winterberg. Her shoulder was sore after a few early crashes, but that seems to have recovered. She seems well when we speak to her… Here are some pics she has posted, and one of Ellie from her competition last week.

A sad footnote… Ninja the cat had recently run away again, back to the farm he seems to love. However, the owners at the farm are starting to get a little less tolerant with him keeping turning up, as he makes a nuisance of himself, fighting with their cats, and going into the horse stables. We have tried all sorts to keep him here… he gets fussed over, fed well, is warm and dry etc… but every so often he wanders off. So after discussion with the farm owners etc, we will try and get him re-homed through the RSPCA. Ellie is upset at the idea (tears this morning) and so is Tricia (and Nikki) … but it just might be the best thing for all, including Ninja, as it would only seem to be a matter of time before he causes a mishap, or has one himself. In a very ironical way, we presently seem to be fostered by another cat… whether he is abandoned, lost, or what we don’t know. But he keeps trying to get in for food, despite considerable discouragement on our part… so we are trying to find out who he is owned by. Cats…. Tell me about it….

Back to work tomorrow…. Oh well