Dec 06 - December Parties

The Shell year end function had a casino theme so we all had to get dressed up, black tie for the men. Graham looks rather dashing!!!

Of course, being a Shell function, there has to be a Ferrari thrown in somewhere.

After the Shell function, it was Nat's 30th (Nat is my mad Ozzie friend and colleague). She had an 80s theme party and it was quite embarrassing as Graham and I were the only ones who lived and jolled through this decade but could not remember what we used to dress like? (great fashionistas we are ). Nat's hubby was in Ghostbusters kit, Nat was a roller skating princess and Emily (Nat's cousin) was a happy 80s girl.

Graham went as Alice Cooper and I was Tina Turner (I think they were 70s but seeing we are so old we could afford to be old fashioned and a decade behin). The worst thing about Graham's outfit was that I had to go to the petshop and ask them if the collar I had chosen 'fitted a man'. I blush to think what they were thinking and it was all quite innocent but I don't think people ask them that kind of question in Egham petshops.
Alice, Ghostbuster and Father Xmas... well at least Father Xmas is always in fashion.

Tina Turner, Alice Cooper and Nat's sister-in-law, Catherine..

Oct/Nov 06 - Ronald's Visit

By the time Ronald came out to visit us, summer was past and the beautiful multi-coloured autumn had not quite kicked in yet, so he had to dace the lovely London grey... but off he went down the banks of the Thames out Staines way, luckily he likes boats so he had plenty to marvel at (if only...what the hell do these guys do out here in this miserable weather??)

He spent a few days with us and then we ventured up north to see Karin and spend time with her on her birthday (in her birthday chair below...but not in her birthday suit!)




Breakfast in Guisborough...



Little Boet got the Cleveland tour...such a beautiful coastline but the seagulls mug you all the time, nevertheless Ronald braved the Whitby coast..




No sooner was he getting used to th Northern English (quite close to Brakpanites in the 70's...), he and Karin ventured off to Paris for a new adventure.


Yes Ron, which blooming way do you go when you are a poodle chasing your own pretty tail???

Karin braving that pretty icy little breeze in front of our lady.

After exploring Paris, Ronald came down south again and we dragged him off to London for Bonfire night. It was starting to get prettu dark already but we took a boat from Westminster out East to Greenwich.

Graham dragged us up this hill in the dark but luckily Ronald was well equipped for the dark, I just couldn't understand why his flashes weren't green and red so we would know which way he and we were facing in the dark... talk about 'Flash Laudin?'

We arrived at Blackheath Common quite by accident....heath of Easter fayres for 100s of years, but also where a lot of Black Plague bodies lie fertilising the grass beneath our feet. However, we joined the traditional crowds to look at big crackers and catherine wheels lighting up the sky.

The church on the common looked quite gothic ( I have vague memories of the common when I did the London Marathon in 2004 although then all I was looking for were the porta potties due to a bad case of terror...well nerves...) with the moon behind it.

Flash! Bang! Pop...and then we went home...

Aug 06 - Camping in Wales

When I was in SA and heard about 'Bank Holidays' in the UK, I wondered why the banks were so special that they needed holidays. It was only when I got here that I realised they were always on holiday but when the day was a Bank holiday, that meant that WE would have one too. August Bank Holiday loomed, notoriously the last one for 4 months....until Xmas we would be slaves to whomsoever in this economy cracked the whip...and believe you me...there are far more people here with bigger and better whips, so you just knuckle down and work until the "Banks" grant you the day off. Funnily enough in SA we call them 'public' holidays, which means they are off-days for the public, over here you are forced into recognising that money and banks are the boss so they let you have a day off sometimes. We vacated England like everyone else, except we stayed in Britain this time and headed off to the Pemborkeshire Coast to check up on the Welsh and see why they are so perky and cheeky (okay the Millenium Stadium was not hosting anything exciting this weekend!)

Here is Graham, Lord of our little Manor... we went for a walk along the coast and understood why the Welsh sing so beautifully, what magnificent views..

We found a small dot on the map that looked vaguely interesting so we wandered off down this windy road, expecting only a sheep grazing a piece of grass at the end of it , perhaps with a leek sticking out its ear...and what did we find???? A quarry in the middle of nowhere, where people jumped off craggy sides into the blue pond? All quite strange it was.... and it WAS cold, despite being the middle of summer..

In the middle of all of this, we found a lovely lonely beach (pebble city) where we had a picnic lunch and watched the ferries come into the harbour

We meandered down the coast and found the rest of the British crazies...believe me, sometimes when you see them in their natural habitat you understand how they forged an empire. They are fearless but still make a decent cuppa tea afterwards. I wish our photies could do justice to them as they casually flung themselves off these chalky type clifftops.

We saw some pretty heather above a beach and thought 'Wow...photo oppportunity'...gee it might have looked pretty but I itched for about 3 months afterwards....it was like khakibos with a pretty face....

Yes Dad, this one is for you. We went to Tenby a few times. What a beautiful place. Quite stunning but blooming hard to find somewhere to sit down and eat....again the camera does not do the place justice. I kept thinking that we were looking at places you looked at over half a century ago (and where Karin had her bicycle stolen!!!)

And just so you know.. this was our patch of ground for the weekend....what a grass mansion it was!!! But we were happy, we had ourselves, cover from the rain and a good coffee pot, what more could we want?