And it will be cold in the house this coming week. The new boiler is being fitted on Wednesday, and is likely to need two days to complete. So Wednesday night is likely to be blooming freezing. The boiler was ordered some time back, all agreed and sorted out by the pre sales man… then we had a visit on Friday by an engineer doing a pre install inspection. And then it all changed. He found a couple of issues that would affect the install, and so it all got re-specified… Fingers crossed there are no more further issues.

Tricia and I had a good day yesterday. We (Tricia, Ellie and me) recently joined a gym in Aylesbury. So we all went to Aylesbury first thing to do a session, after which Ellie went off to meet some friends, whilst Tricia and I went into London, and saw the musical about the Kinks, Sunny Afternoon. Deb and Carlos’s oldest Simon, has been assistant stage manager. The show was fantastic. I knew most of the songs and they were performed well. The theatre is an old one near Piccadilly, and the seating was a little cramped. After the show we met Deb and Carlos at a nearby pub, Simon came and joined us for a while before going back for the evening performance. We then went onto an Italian restaurant with Deb and Carlos for a meal. We haven’t seen them for a while so it was good to catch up. Then it was off to the railway station… about 11:30 by the time we got back home. A bonus for the day for me, was that I had been wanting a new dinner jacket, and Tricia was going to get me one for Christmas. But the one I wanted was out of stock… however, we found one yesterday, so Tricia bought me a late Xmas pressie 🙂

This morning we were at the gym again, this time for an official ‘induction’…then back home, and I cooked the Sunday lunch. Whilst doing so I had West Ham v Hull showing live on the ipad, it was 0-0 at half time, and West Ham hadn’t played well. After we had eaten, I went back to the television for the last 15 minutes and found we were 3-0 up…. brilliant :-). I then removed the encasement we had put around the boiler when we had the kitchen done so the engineers have good access on Wednesday.

Nikki was competing as a driver in St Moritz on Friday morning. There was only one run because of snow… yes that’s right, snow stopped the bobsleigh. Nikki was 7th, she was reasonably pleased with that. She had crashed in one of the practice sessions earlier in the week, so it was good she had the courage to get back in and carry on. She now has a few days with Kevin in Lorrach, and will then go onto La Plagne later in the week.

Robbie was pleased to see a book that some of his work is being published in get launched this week. Only in electronic form at the moment, hard back comes out in Feb. Some pictures… the cuckoo clock that Nikki, Rob and Ellie got me and Tricia is up on the wall and performing on the hour… this replaces an old clock we had for about 27 years that gave up the ghost last year…. then one of Nikki with her brakesman Codi in St Moritz. One of the garden after a little snow flurry on Saturday morning, and then a few from yesterday in London.

On Friday the 12^th Tricia and Ellie went off to Vienna with friends Sara and Jess for the weekend, to see the Christmas Markets. I worked from home, where I spent most of my time studying, ahead of the exam I was due to do on Saturday morning. In the evening I went to a ‘poets’ evening in the village, at the Methodist Hall. This was an evening of poetry and readings. I chose to do a reading from a world war I soldiers diary, recalling the Christmas truce in 1914, and then read a poem on the event. I didn’t stay all evening… had to get back to my books.

Early Saturday morning, just after 5, I was up and getting myself ready… I was at the school where the exam was taking place, near Edgware, around 6:40 am. Registration was 7:30am, we got into the hall at 8:10am… the exam started at 9…. Lots of waiting around… grrrr. 4 hours and 200 questions later I was done. Won’t find out the result until January. I got home just as Robbie was off out on a driving lesson… in the dark and gloom. Good idea to do some of your driving in the dark I suppose. In the evening, whilst Tricia and Ellie dined at some restaurant in Vienna, Robbie and I had steak and chips, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy on the TV. Meanwhile, over in Lake Placid, Nikki was pushing in a World Cup Race… she dedicated her race to Don, our next door neighbour who had passed away recently. Mica and Nikki came 9^th. Happy with a Top 10 finish.

A slow start to Sunday, I decided to go to church at 9am, leaving me 20 minutes to get up, shower, shave, and anything else that was needed 🙂 … made it to church for 9:30. Tricia and Ellie arrived home early evening, tired, but very happy with their trip.

On Monday 15^th, Tricia and me went in search of  a Christmas tree. We went to Wyevale in Bicester, but there was a lack of choice and what there was, was expensive. So, we stopped off at a farm we had seen signposted selling trees, and got a lovely tree, at a much better price. In the evening Ellie decorated the tree. Tricia had the Christmas Girly get together in the evening. Tricia was now working hard to get her Christmas orders complete… you couldn’t move for mince pies… not that I was allowed to eat any of them :-(.

On Thursday 18^th, I had to go into the school for a last minute governors meeting over admission policy… then it was back home, pick up Tricia and back to Waddesdon for the school Carol Service. Ellie finished school on Friday the 19^th, and had a sleep over at her friends Jessie. Robbie also finished for Christmas. He went out on a ‘works do’ but didn’t stay late.

Saturday was a busy day… Tricia, Rob and me picked Ellie up from Jessie’s at around 11:15, then went over to Bracknell to visit my Mum and Dad. We took them for lunch at the Horse and Groom, then went back to 8 Lem for a cup of tea. Then we were off to Cold Ash to see Wendy and Rob, and where Claire was having a birthday get together. Rob took over his oil painting of Flossie for Rob. Then back in the car and the drive back home… time for a cup of tea, before Tricia and me were up at the Vicarage for an hour, we sneaked a quick look at Nikki competing at Calgary on the ipad. 9^th again. Then it was round to Pete and Sara’s to pick them and Rachel and Alan up, before heading to Waddesdon for the annual ‘away’ curry evening…. Then bed. Phew! The ladies below… took about 10 attempts to get a photo …

No rest for Tricia though…. On Sunday, Tricia and Ellie were at the ‘Artisan market’ in Buckingham.  The last stall for the year. Robbie was off at airsoft… the last one of the year, Robbie went in his armour. What else would he wear ? No surprise that he won first prize. He was absolutely shattered though… running around with chain mail and armour on is hard work after all!  In the evening I was pinging Nikki online, to make sure she had checked in online for her flight from Heathrow to Zurich the next day. At the point Nikki was sat in a hotel in Calgary… I had booked the flight for her as a Christmas present, so she get over to see Kevin for Christmas. It was then that I was reminded I had booked it for her as Nikki, not Nicola… Nicola is her passport name. So, I was on to Swiss Air… offices were shut :-(. Here is Robbie the Nutter doing airsoft in armour!

I phoned them again on the Monday morning, expecting to be charged heaven and earth for a late name change…  But they were really helpful, and sorted the issue out. So, on Monday 22^nd, I met Nikki at Heathrow at around 11:30am I took her to the new BP office I was working from (we had been moved to Bedfont Lakes), and gave her lunch. Then we sat in a meeting room. I had brought a number of parcels with me that had been delivered over the last month, containing Christmas presents Nikki had bought online. She then sat in the meeting room wrapping them. I then dropped her back at Heathrow so she could get her flight to Zurich.

Back home I met Robbie’s girlfriend Jess, who was staying for a few days. On the Tuesday I dropped them in Aylesbury, so they could go and see the Hobbit. In the evening when I went back to pick them up, we diverted into Curry’s… Robbie had his eye on a TV for his bedroom. We ended up bringing a 49” TV back with us, which is now secured to the wall in Rob’s bedroom. Roy came in on the 27th and fitted it… a picture also of Ninja the cat, sat on a bag on Robbie’s bed.

Christmas Eve was relatively quiet. I went and did some shopping first thing. Later in the day Ellie and I went to the 6pm carol service for Paul and Ellie. I went out and picked up a Chinese take away for our evening meal.  Tricia went to midnight mass. Christmas Day was a slow one… after breakfast Tricia and Robbie went off to the airport to pick up Nikki and Kevin. I prepared the Christmas dinner. When they arrived we opened stockings… it was a long wait for Ellie… then we had dinner, and then more presents. By which time it was now evening and the day had pretty much gone. Here are Tricia in her Christmas jumper in the morning, Robbie in his Christmas outfit (won him a prize at work), the (mutant) parsnips I pulled from the garden Christmas morning… they tasted good!, the Christmas day flags flying, one for the Christmas Islands, and the German one for Kevin’s visit, the tree, and one of Nikki and Kevin.

Boxing Day saw the visit Tricia’s Mum and Dad and David and Manda and their family. We had a good day, played charades in the afternoon… which bemused Kevin somewhat. David had come over though with quite a nasty head cold, which we hoped we wouldn’t then subsequently catch. The 27^th is one of my favourite days of the year, a quiet day after all the pre-Christmas rush and Christmas itself. Everyone went across to Milton Keynes for the Sales, but you wouldn’t get me near a shopping centre for all the tea in China. I enjoyed some down time, and enjoyed watching the Darts World Champs on the TV. On Sunday, Tricia, Rob, Ellie and me all went over to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour near Watford. We had booked the tickets in the summer. It was a good tour, and any Harry Potter film enthusiast would enjoy it. Rob and Ellie certainly approved. Here we have Tricia on Boxing Day, Ellie sat with Tricia’s Mum and Dad, and David and Manda, then Kevin showing baby Isabelle the tree, and Nikki holding Isabelle.

And from Harry Potter world… we have Paul McHagrid on the bike, Ellie Weasley driving the Ford Anglia, Ellie knocking to see if Harry can come out to play, Robbie and Tricia, and Tricia, Rob and Ellie at the entrance.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Nikki had gone to Tricia’s Mum and Dad’s for lunch. Tricia’s sister Lesley was visiting from the Lake District. And so after returning from the Harry Potter tour, we went and joined them. On Monday 29^th, Tricia drove Nikki down to Bath, where Nikki had to do some mid-season testing. It was then that she started to feel the start of the cold that David had brought with him on Boxing Day. Ellie started to feel the cold coming as well. Early afternoon Rob and I went across to MK railways station, where we picked up Jordan, Rob’s old uni mate, who was staying for a few days.

On the Tuesday I was up at 4am, to drive Kevin to Heathrow, he had a 6am flight. I dropped him off at 5am, and I was back home and in bed at 6am, and managed to get another three hours sleep. Tricia did get up in the morning, but went back to bed feeling poorly, and stayed there the rest of the day. On New Years Eve we were hosting a small party… it was our turn to host. Tricia got up in the morning and cooked the meal in readiness, then went back to bed… but she was so unwell she didn’t come down for the party itself.  It is one thing missing out, it’s quite another having to be up in the bed listening to everyone have fun downstairs. Nikki had been a great help during the day getting the house ready. I managed to get the meal finished and served and was then able to relax. People started leaving around 1am, then Nikki, Rob, Jordan and Zak, who was also staying over managed to help clear up. It was about 3am when I got to bed… way past my bed time. Here is Nikki with old friend Jade on New Years Eve.

The first day of 2015 was a slow one. I was up at 9am, and finished the tidying up, and then slumped around for the rest of the day. Tricia spent most of the day in bed again. On the Friday I actually got up and got into the office… the roads were clear, the office mostly empty, but it was good to get out and get on with normality.  We had been due to have a couple over for dinner on the Friday evening, but had put them off as Tricia still wasn’t 100%, and we also cancelled going round to Pat and Clive’s on the Saturday evening. I dropped Jordan off on Sat evening, he was back off home to Wakefield. On Sunday morning I dropped Nikki at Heathrow, she was flying to Zurich, and then going onto St Moritz with the GB squad. Most of the Christmas decorations had been taken down on the Saturday, and I had some rubbish, including the dead Christmas tree in the back of the car, so on the way back from Heathrow I went via the dump, and then the leisure centre where I signed Tricia, Ellie and myself up for gym membership… my Virgin Active membership at Stockley Park had now expired.  Back home it was a quiet Sunday afternoon, Tricia was up and around and making lists, so she was feeling better! In the evening I watched the World Darts final, which was a corker, 7-6 to Anderson in a high quality game…. And that was pretty much the end of the Christmas and New Year season. Ellie back to school next week, Rob and me back at work…. In a way I was glad to see the back of 2014, it had been a difficult year at times.