I've wiid in my living room

Oh dear, we've bought a Wii and Wii Fit. There goes the summer. Next post will be in 2014.

Wales... again!

On Friday, I headed to Swansea to have a new mohair hood fitted to my car. I wanted to be there for 8:30am so left at 4:00! Motorways are brilliant at that time of day. I cruised straight there 70-80mph all the way without one hold up. I was waiting outside the garage at 8:00. I chose Jack Smith Auto Trimmers in Swansea due to the raft of recommendations on the MX-5 owner's club forum. It was a tiny little place but they were really friendly, did a great job and charged me over £200 less than the next best quote.
After the work was complete I drove across to Cardiff station where I met K. She had been working in London that day and we had arranged to meet up with her friends Karen and Kev that night. We had dinner with them and stayed at their house and had a really nice evening. We hadn't seen them since their wedding (in fact that was the only time I had met them previously!) so there was lots to catch up on.
On Saturday morning we drove 10 minutes up the road to have breakfast with Ceri and Richard and their family. It was great to be able to catch up with friends that we don't see very often. It's a long old trek from Lincoln to Cardiff but hopefully we'll see them all more regularly in the future.

Snowdon-tastic

K and I had a week in Wales with the Blackburn-Houghtons. It may have been wet but we had a great time. We stayed in a beautiful converted chapel in the village of Dolwyddelan near Betws-y-coed. The scenery around Snowdon is just stunning and we had some great walks.

To break up the journey home, K and I had two nights in Colton on the edge of Cannock Chase.

Pictures above, top row first (L-R). Hardcore ramblers crossing Llynnau Mymbyr. Bodnant Gardens. Kite flying on Llandudno beach. Conwy harbour. Ffestiniog light railway. Portmeirion. Ivy enjoying her 'walk'. Kezza. Our converted chapel. Relaxing in the conservatory. Shugborough. On the roof of Lichfield Cathedral.

Kenya

Latest offering from the Kenyan Board of Tourism and funny songs, brilliant!

Easter greetings to Ollie

Ollie was in Lincoln for Easter (not on his own, Lou and Pat came too). K & I popped into Mum and Dad's for a cuddle. He's really grown in the 5 or 6 weeks since we saw him last.

Away at Accrington

This ground is tiny. Makes Gainsborough Trinity look like Wembley.

Fran & Alan's wedding

Had a terrific weekend in the Lake District to celebrate Fran & Alan's wedding. Drove up on Friday to a hotel on the shores of Windermere (between Bowness and Ambleside). Our room was one the the nicest I've ever stayed in - very luxurious with stunning views.

Friday night there was a hot buffet and we spent the evening in the hotel's various bars with K's workmates.

Saturday dawned foggy and we were all concerned as the afternoon featured a boat trip on the lake but the fog soon cleared and it turned into a beautiful, crisp spring day.

The wedding ceremony was staged in the hotel's galleried hall, with the bride and groom on a landing halfway up an oak-panelled staircase. After the ceremony, it was onto a pleasure boat for pink champagne and trip along the lake before returning to the hotel for the wedding breakfast. Everything went so well and I think the happy couple had a fantastic day - I know we did!

Happy Birthday!

K and I spent the afternoon at Amelia's 9th birthday party. There was some extremely high calibre bowling going on there. This was followed by chicken nuggets and chips - truly the meal of champions. Happy Birthday Amelia!

Berlin - day 4

Final day in Berlin, K and I spent a rainy morning walking along the Spree. Took the express train back to the flughafen. Plane left on time and arrived 20 minutes early. We're in the car now and looking forward to an evening of Comic Relief and a chinky.

Berlin - day 3

Does this picture say 'Germany' or what? That, my friends, is a half litre of weissbier and a half metre of bratwurst.
Today, I have been to a massive model rail layout, the Sony Center, the former site of Gestapo HQ, the Holocaust Memorial, a Stasi exhibition and the enormous Pergamon museum.
I'm really packing it in but my feet don't half ache!