Pilot, a Scottish rock group, recorded ‘January’, and it reached No.1 somewhat ironically on Feb 1st 1975. Apparently the song was about a girl called January, but the first line of the lyric sums up my feeling about January. Or to be more precise, the Winter. Cold and wet. Roll on warmer days.

A quiet start to the week, Ellie at school, Tricia off to exercise doing bodypump and pilates classes. Tuesday I was in London for the day, attending a BP IT event. It was ok, made for a long day having caught the 6:20 from Aylesbury. Wednesday I was in the office in Sunbury, again an early start, I was up at 5:20, and at my desk for 7am. Meteings kept me at the office till 6pm… and I thought it may not be too bad getting home in the traffic. Wrong. Took me 3 hours. I was not a happy bunny.

On Thursday Big John arrived for the weekend. On Friday morning John and me headed for Bletchley Park, and had a day marvelling at the intellect of the codebreakers. We didn’t get to see all the site, so will have to go back at some point. In the evening it was the monthly curry night at Pete and Sara’s. Here we have John having a quick bit of shuteye after being at Bletchley Park… the ‘Bombe’ rebuild, and the Mansion house.

Saturday morning, Tricia went off to see Nikki play hockey. John and myself sat and watched the Ladies Australian open final on TV… An enthralling contest. Wozniacki outlasting Halep. Just. Then we went off to the National Museum of Computing. This is adjacent to the Bletchley Park site…  there were some interesting items from the codebreaker and WW2 era – an older chap gave us a half hour talk that was very informative, but for me the highlight was an old ICL 2966 machine they have, which was very similar to the ones I used to work on back in the day. Wow.

John returned home, and then in the evening we celebrated Burns night, with Pat and Clive, Peter and Jane, Elizabeth and Malcolm. A fun evening with plenty of laughs.

And also a late night. Ellie had been in Aylesbury with friends and rolled in around 2:30am, and of course whilst she tried to be quiet, she wasn’t. So it was an interrupted nights sleep, and so Sunday was a somewhat tired one. I watched Roger Federer win the Men’s final on Sunday morning. Ellie and me were at rehearsal in the afternoon. In the evening we all sat down and watched Call the Midwife. Then it was off to bed.

Trying to get booked into the Pilates class I like is always a bit of a challenge. The ‘app’ that lets you book brings the class online for booking a week ahead, and such is the demand that at 7:30am the previous week the class was already full. But, stroke of luck, I managed to get a cancellation space, and so did Pilates for the first time in about 8 weeks. I really enjoyed it, but was somewhat sore on Tuesday :-). In fact, when I coughed it hurt.

Ellie was full of cough and cold on Monday, but she managed to get into school for some one on one tutoring in Business Studies. This week was ‘mock A level’ week for Ellie. She managed to do all her exams, but she was far from a 100%. She wasn’t helped much by a little prang in the car in Winslow on Tuesday.

Tricia had a nice day out in Brackley with Nikki on Tuesday, and got a good amount of exercise in over the week, spin, boxercise and pilates, so is feeling more herself again. Friday evening Tricia was out for a belated Christmas meal with the Water Colour group. Saturday she spent a good deal of time sorting out more stuff in the loft…. Meanwhile I was at West Ham with Bob to watch a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.

Sunday, Ellie and Tricia went off to London for a 18th tea, meeting up with Deb (who was treating Ellie for her 18th), Charlotte, Jan, Nikki, Wendy and Claire. Seems they had a good time. Me, I spent far too long in Kwik Fit having the front tyres changed, and then all afternoon in a rehearsal. Some pics of Ellie’s day out.

I finished my first book of the year this week…. The Strangers Child by Alan Hollinghurst. The Saturday Times had listed it as one of the best novels of the last 50 years. I can see why… very well constructed, and explored a number of themes, the most prominent one being attitudes towards homosexuals lover the course of the 20th century, but I did find it heavy going at times.

So on Monday morning, after a night of coughing, spluttering and spent in the spare room, Tricia declared I needed to go to the doctors. So a phone call and an appointment at 11. I was told I had a chest infection and was given a set of antibiotics and told to rest. So I did. I camped in ‘my chair’ in the living room, and watched a series off BBC1 called Hard Sun… 6 episodes, back to back.  Initially it seemed ok, but then became somewhat far fetched, and by the end near ridiculous. But I kept with it. Tricia had a busy day, off to the gym for Body Pump and Pilates, then some shopping… then later in the day Brownies. Ellie was back at school after having had a few days out with the cough and cold, and was at work in the evening.

Tuesday was another sick day for me, Ellie went to rehearsal in the evening … I didn’t. Tricia went to Watercolour class for the first time in a number of weeks. Wednesday I was well enough to take Ellie to Lincoln Uni. We set off just before 8am and got there for 10:30… a cup of coffee at a Costa first, then a look around the city centre before going into the uni. Ellie has an unconditional offer, and really liked it… We set off just before 4pm, and got home for about 6:30pm. Shattered. Lincoln was a strange mix of old and new…

Thursday, and Tricia was recovered enough from the gym on Monday to go and do spin and pilates. I was back at work – working from home, but online. Too many emails :-(. In the evening Tricia was at the pub, Ellie and myself at rehearsals. Friday I was at the school for admissions meetings in the morning. Ellie was at a friends overnight, Tricia and me met up with Juliet and John at the Bell at Hardwick. I actually had a gluten free beer that was ok… ‘Celia’. It was a pleasant evening, J&J are due off on a 6 week holiday soon in South America, we will be looking forward to catching up with them when they returned.

Saturday…. was very quiet. Mainly because Ellie wasn’t here clonking around :-). Tricia and me had a slow start, and then did some jobs outstanding for a while. I cleared some old stuff out of the loft, Tricia sorted out a load of old bed linen and her sewing box… and, wait for it… her button box. Took her ages :-). But she was happy with the outcome, and very pleased that whilst tidying she came across the pattern she used for her wedding dress.

In the evening Pat & Clive came round for the evening – this was a rearranged meal, which we were due to have between Christmas and the New Year, but rescheduled due to coughs and colds. hence, we had Christmas Crackers and I put some tinsel up :-). Today Gran and Gramps, Rob and Amy came over for lunch. Nikki and Matt didn’t make it as they had colds… And so a quiet weekend came to a close. Saturday evening Tricia made some ‘penguins’ from olives and cheese. Different.

By the way… West Ham beat Huddersfield 4-1. Another 3 points towards safety.

Tricia and me spent most of the last week in December coughing and spluttering and not feeling very well. Well, I seem to have continued that this week, and in fact the longer the week has been, the worse I have been feeling, today, Sunday I have been coughing up some nasty stuff. Not good. Add to that, Ellie went down with it during the week. She missed going back to school on Thursday and Friday. She recovered enough to get back to work on Saturday.

West Ham were playing West Brom on Tuesday evening in a relegation 6 pointer. So, it was ibuprofen then off to the game with Bob to cheer the team on. A deflected shot and we were 0-1, and we had been playing poorly. The skipper, Mark Noble came on at half time. He had missed a few games with injury, and was just back, and made the difference. All of a sudden we had some control in the game…. and Andy Carroll header made it 1-1, and then in the final moments of the game he scored from a tight angle on his right foot (he is left footed) and we had secured the points. A happy trip home. Thursday night – and don’t ask me why we had two Premier League fixtures in 48 hours, ask the FA – we played at the Totts. We came away with a point from a 1-1 draw. Settle for that :-). Today we were at Shrewsbury in the FA Cup. Third game in five days… and it showed. Those that had played during the week looked like they had lead in their boots. A scrappy 0-0 means we get to replay. Mind you, it is the sort of game we used to lose. On the sporting theme…. last blog ended just before the World Darts final. Well done to Rob Cross on a very convincing win.

On Friday Tricia and me went to the British Museum. This had been delayed from the previous week, because we had been unwell, but managed to get through today. We had specifically gone to see the Scythians exhibition – which was excellent. After a light lunch, we looked around some of the other exhibits, including the ‘Elgin Marbles’ … Having seen the Parthenon in the summer, it was odd to go and see bits that has been taken by Lord Elgin on show in the British Museum. I have mixed feelings about this. At the time the Greeks had nothing in place to protect the Parthenon, and so removing the marbles has actually helped preserve them. However, I can understand why the Greek government would want them back. Having said that… most museums of the world contain items that were removed from somewhere they probably shouldn’t have been…

Tricia has removed all the decorations, and everything is now packed away for another year. Nikki has been away on a uni weekend, she had an exam which she thinks went ok, but she will have to wait and see. Ellie decided she was going to be Vegan for January. I had no problem with this until I realised it was going to affect me. So amongst this weeks offerings were a Sheperdess Pie, which I have to say was rather pleasant… and Butternut Squash and and Sweet Potato curry. I won’t be too upset if I don’t have that again.

And of course… the obligatory picture of cats 🙂

And so to December, and straight into Christmas production. Tricia had already produced a small mountain of mince pies for Elliott to sell at the Waddesdon Christmas market. On the Saturday she had a stall at the Christmas bazaar in the Village Hall. We had helped set up on the Friday evening. In spite of a publicity drive, it was a poorly attended event, and what had once been a very popular village event has now become something almost forgotten. The school had introduced a few events, and it seems there are only so many people will attend. Pics below, homemade mincemeat, and hundreds of mince pies.

In the following week Tricia met up with Pat and Pauline for lunch, and I had the school AGM to attend. On the 6^th Tricia went to the Brownie Christingle in Winslow and enjoyed watching, rather than being actively involved. On the 7^th was the BP IT Xmas do. I went along as I felt I should, but it was a waste of time and money. The event was held in a bar just off Regents St, which in my opinion was a bit of a dive, it was very noise, I couldn’t get to the bar, and none of the food was suitable for me. I didn’t stay long… I went and looked the lights in Oxford and Regent St.

Saturday 9^th it was lunchtime football. Bob and me set off to see the lunchtime game, v Chelsea. We had done reasonably well v Man.City the previous Sunday only losing 2-1 (we had feared a cricket score). It was an excellent performance. We scored early and saw out a 1-0 win. Better days? Meanwhile Tricia had purchased the Christmas tree. In the evening, Steve and Mark came over and we went out for a curry at the Mahabharat in Winslow. Overnight it snowed. Plenty. And it settled. So Sunday was quite nice, we didn’t need to go anywhere. I got a few vegetables from the local shop to go with the roast chicken. Ellie, Tricia and Pat went out played in the snow on Pat’s sledge!

On Monday 11^th, the school was closed, so Ellie was at home, and the Mazda was being looked at for a little issue. We managed to get the cars across in the snow and then back. Turned out the issue (engine light coming on randomly) was due to a faulty spark plug.

Wednesday the 13^th Bob and I were both in London on business (coincidentally), I was at a Microsoft event, and it tied in quite nicely as West Ham were home against Arsenal in the evening. We met up at Stratford after our differing days, grabbed a bite to eat and then walked over to the stadium. Another good performance, 0-0, and we nearly nicked it at the end. Long day though, didn’t get home till 00:45.

On the 14^th Tricia was catering for a funeral. She had been to Janet Longs the previous day, today she was catering for one. Thursday evening I was with Ellie at the schools carol concert. On the Friday Rob was picking up the keys to his new house, and Tricia took him over to MK to pick up some items for the house and dropped them off. In the evening we were on the ‘curry away’ night with the usual folks, and went to the Olive Limes – food was great, service was poor.

Saturday we were moving Amy and Robbie. A long day that saw multiple trips to and from Tring in cold, sleety weather. Sunday morning we put the lights around the large conifer house outside – the neighbours were asking why we hadn’t done so far! This year we added a star to the top of the conifer.

Then we were off to Aylesbury / Tring again to help clean and clear out the flat. Late afternoon we picked up Pat and Clive and went across to Blenheim to see the lights. Wow. Magnificent. It was cold and muddy, but the lights made up for it. I was rather tired when eventually we got to bed.

On Monday I took an opportunity at lunchtime to whizz over to Tring with Robbie to pick up a few bits which needed to go to the dump (old bike). In the evening I was helping Tricia with the Rotary float, raising money for the local school, and more to the point, the new Brownie unit. I was a little sceptical, I don’t really enjoying collecting like this…. But, it turned out to be good fun. It was very cold, but a whisky at the Grays, then the Robinsons, and then a mulled wine later helped. On Tuesday evening we were doing the same in Granborough. Over the two nights we raised around £375 for the Brownies. Tricia was pleased.

On the Thursday when in the office I nipped out at lunchtime to see Mum and Dad in Bracknell and drop off a couple of bits for them. Tricia had been absolutely flat out with TLC orders and managed to shut shop late on Wednesday. On Saturday she dropped Bob and me off at the station, and went for a nice walk. Bob and me had an unpleasant afternoon watching Newcastle beat West Ham 2-3. After a promising few results we were slipping back.

And so to Christmas. On Christmas Eve Robbie and Amy came across. Ellie, bless her, had been flat out at M&S and was relieved to have finished. We enjoyed a meal of partridge, then a visit from Santa (Peter York). Ellie went to the pub, Tricia went up to midnight mass.

Christmas Day was a quiet affair. Relaxed breakfast… no croissants for me (gluten) so I had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. Nikki and Matt came across around 11:15, had Christmas lunch with us, and stayed till around 4:30. We then made ourselves comfortable and watched Doctor Who and then Call the Midwife… and by then we were yawning.

Boxing Day we had Gran and Gramps, Dave, Manda, Isabelle, Nikki and Matt … so, 10 of us. We had cold meats and salad for lunch, and then some games in the afternoon. Which included being forced to play Polly Pocket with Isabelle! The 27^th on was pants… hacking cough for Tricia and a cold. I had it as well, but not quite so bad, but we both felt sorry for ourselves. We went to Rob and Amy’s on the 27^th, but didn’t stay late. We were both due in London to see the Scythians exhibition on the 28^th, but I postponed that to the 5^th Jan.

Come the 31^st we were both ok to go to Elizabeth’s to see in the New Year… Tricia just about ok. Rob and Amy came along. I did a quiz…  Ellie had six friends over for her own little party at 8 Carters. Quizmaster always has to be noticeable I think… 🙂

Today was a slow start. I did bacon sarnies for all in the house, and then we removed the Christmas tree. All other decorations remained up, but the needles were falling off the tree. You only had to look at the tree and more fell off… as I write this I am just starting to get excited for the World Darts Champs tonight. Phil Taylor, in his last ever professional game is in the final, against a newcomer Rob Cross. Cross had defeated the previous champion, MvG, in a thriller. Will be interesting to see if he can do it again!

Happy New Year all.

Friday 3^rd Nov, Tricia, Ellie and Pat were due to see Cabaret at MK theatre. Ellie was working in Aylesbury and it would seem there was no way that Tricia and Pat could pick up Ellie when she finished work just after 7, and then get there on time. So being a decent chap, I went across and picked up Ellie, Tricia and Pat went directly from home to ensure they wouldn’t be late. I drove from Aylesbury to MK, dropped Ellie off, she missed the first 10 minutes, then drove home. Phew. Tricia said it was an excellent production.

Saturday I was off to West Ham. This time with Bob’s son Jack, as Bob couldn’t (wasn’t allowed) make the game. West Ham v Liverpool. Result, West Ham 1 Liverpool 4. Enough said. We were shocking, allowed Liverpool to play to their strengths, and got stuffed. That was the end for Bilic, sacked the following Monday. It was a long trip home that Saturday evening. Meanwhile, Tricia, Ellie and Jess were having a far better time with Amy and Robbie at the Tring firework evening.

Wednesday evening I was in the school for a data training session, then on the 10^th we had a curry night here. On the Saturday evening we went to the Winslow Players 50^th dinner dance celebration at Verney… a good evening. Sunday started with Remembrance service for Tricia, her first one with the Brownies from the new North Marston unit. Then later in the afternoon we round at Pat Robs, where she had a small gathering to celebrate her 65^th, and retirement. With the impending cruise holiday, I had started to pack… with a little help from Ninja!

Tricia and I then had a busy few days, Tricia getting out her orders before we went on a cruise holiday, and me as I had the boss over from the States. On the Tuesday we had a ‘expo’ for the launch of some new Microsoft products that seemed to go pretty well.

On the Wednesday I drove straight down to Gatwick after work, Tricia travelled down with Pat, Clive and Alex. We had a meal in a pub, then dropped the cars off in a Long Stay car park, then went to the Premier Inn at Gatwick. In the morning it was a walk across the road to the Terminal, check in, and then through. We met up with the Docwra’s, and Jack and Jade Webb. Sadly no Bob or Carol, as Carol had to stay behind after an unexpected operation. We flew to Barcelona, found a pre-booked taxi and checked into our hotel. Tricia, Pay, Clive and myself then went off to look at the Park Guell. We didn’t think we would get into the Gaudi Cathedral. First off we had to negotiate the metro. We eventually worked out the correct tickets and line, and even arrived at the right place. The Park is up quite a hill… some of the path ways were on escalator! The view from the top was quite something. We walked the Park, looking at a number of the Gaudi items. Had a coffee and then worked our way back. Only to find the Docwra’s had gone to the cathedral and got in. Doh. In the evening we went to a restaurant called ‘My F****** Restaurant’. Yes. That F word. Not sure how they get away with that. However, forgetting the name the food was excellent!

Friday 17^th… Nikki had been supposed to be coming on the trip with us, but due to a clash with her Masters course work had dropped out, and Clayton came along instead. Today was Nikki’s 29^th birthday, so we called her and sung happy birthday. In the morning, Pat, Clive, Tricia and myself walked La Ramblas, and very pleasant it was in the sun. Then it was back to the hotel, where we piled in a taxi again and went off to the MSC check in. All went smoothly and we were soon on board… a behemoth of a cruise ship. The cabin was excellent, very comfortable. We explored as best we could without getting too lost. In the evening we departed for Marseille.

Tricia and I had not booked many trips for this holiday, choosing instead to get off and look around when we could. In Marseille, it was a bright day, about 14c and we set off first to the Notre Dame de la Garde… which was a big walk up a hill. What else would it be! Lovely place and great views though. We walked back down and visited the Christmas Market at the Old Port, taking in a mulled wine, and then walked round the Port to go and visit the Cathedral. We bumped into Peter and Jane :-). Then we walked back through an area with a lot of street art, before catching the bus back to the cruise ship.

In the evening we set sail for Genoa. This was a trip somewhat north, but when Tricia and I get off the ship on the Sunday morning, the sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm. Of course, we walked off up the nearest hill we could find! On the way back down we passed a museum –Musei Di Strada Nuova – so we got tickets and went in. Phew, it was never ending. The museum covered three buildings. After the first we went and had a coffee / drink… and bumped into Peter and Jane. Again. They had done the same as us, and so we completed the museum tour with them. I love Genoa, happily go back there. In the afternoon, the ‘English Pub’ on the ship was showing Watford v West Ham. So, having not learnt my lesson for watching West Ham on TV on cruise ships, I sat and watched us lose 2-0. With Bilic gone, and Moyes in, nothing looked different yet. In the evening I had some fun bringing Norris out to play :-).

Monday the 20^th was a Rome visit, which meant stopping at Civitavecchia. Tricia and I decided to have a day on board. I went to the gym with Tricia, we had an otherwise relaxing day… although Pat, Clive and Tricia went and did the Himalayan walk with a little help from Clay.

Tuesday the 21^st we arrived in Palermo. First off we awaited news from home. Ellie had been cramming driving lessons for a few months, and today was her test. The only slot she could get this side of Christmas was when Tricia and me were away. We had left the ship and started walking into Palermo when the phone rang… She had passed her test :-). Good girl. We walked on through Palermo, stopping off at a few churches, before going onto the Church of St Cataldo, which was an impressive sight, dating back to medieval times it has a unique Arab-Norman styling. We walked back down taking in the cathedral, before working our way back to the ship. In the evening, Tricia and soem of the others enjoyed the Cirque Du Soleil show.

Wed 22^nd we were in Malta. We took off for a walk round Valletta with Pat and Clive, It was a nice 20c, and I was in shorts and t-shirt… and in the main high street you could hear Christmas songs. Didn’t seem right somehow. We had a pleasant walk around before heading back to ship.

The Thursday was a day at sea, as the ship made its way back across the Med for Barcelona. I had some fun in the evening as Norris went on a Tour de Force.

The trip home was relatively straightforward. All run to time, and we landed back at Gatwick mid-afternoon on Friday the 24^th. We drove over to Bracknell, where we had a cup of tea with my Mum and Dad, before going onto the Horse and Groom, to meet Deb and Carlos, Wendy and Rob, and Tina and Ransford. 40 years since I had me Deb…

On the Saturday we were back, the 25^th, we went across to the school in the afternoon for the matinee performance of the school production of High School Musical. Ellie was playing ms Darius, and id it exceptionally well. In the evening Tricia was with Pat and Sally, Rob and Amy, seeing a production of Flashdance. On the last day of November I had to deliver an assembly at the school. Then in the evening Tricia went over to Tring to collect Rob and Amy and take them to Luton airport – they were flying off for the weekend to Berlin. When she got back I then went off to Tring station to pick up Ellie and Gus who had been to a concert at the Ally pally. A long day. Here is Ellie in the school prod.