Ryanair are dirty robdogs - discuss.

K and I have just checked in for our flight to Beziers. £20 per kilo for overweight bags. My case's ticket was more than mine. Maybe it'll get better service.

On the bright side, we sailed through Security without a queue of any sort. Now sat in Starbucks in the departure 'lounge'. No queues + Keren booking taxi = long wait airside.

A Weekend with Friends and Family - that's the best kind isn't it?

K and I started the weekend with Dinner at Darren & Sarah's.  Sarah's a great cook and they're both terrific hosts so we enjoyed our evening no end.  Apologies to K for the extensive school day reminiscing - I'm afraid it's inevitable.

Saturday night was spent at Steve and Patricia's.  We had a look at their wedding video, which brought back great memories and drank way too much!  This was evidenced by Steve's decision to pull his pants up to his nipples and then sit on his wife.  We can't remember why.

Sunday lunch with the in-laws and then down to Martin and Charlotte's to spend some time with Evie.  Clint, Emma and Joel were there too and the adults all played pass the parcel with the baby - I ducked out of that game, I'm always a bit nervous with tiny babies, worried I might break them I guess.

Hello Evie!

Welcome to the world to Evangeline Grace Hickerton - my new niece.

She was born yesterday morning and weighs a very healthy 8lb 8oz.  I think you can tell from this photo that Dad is quite pleased with the new arrival.

Marwell Animal Park

Just got back from a great trip to Marwell Animal Park with Lou, Pat and Oli. It's the little fella's birthday and he enjoyed the animals - but not as much as he enjoyed riding on a tractor!

My favourites were the giant anteater and the wallaby with a baby in her pouch.

Weather was very good (for Feb in England) so we really enjoyed it all.

Shep upsets Martin's London marathon training

Martin's doing the London Marathon in April and his training programme said he needed to do a 16 mile run. That's further than he's been before and he asked me if I wanted to go with him (on my bike, obviously!).  I planned a route that I was sure would be between 15 and 16 miles but, as usual, I underestimated and he ended up doing 18.8!  It all turned out OK because he managed it really well and there was no sign of hitting the fabled 'wall' which often comes around the 18 mile mark.  Martin might let me go out with him again but I don't think I'll be allowed to navigate!

3rd Anniversary - walk to Pyewipe

It's our third wedding anniversary today and we marked it in our usual style with a bracing walk in the countryside.  We fancied trying the food at the Pyewipe (being the third pub under the same ownership as the Penny Farthing and Chequers).  By the time we got up, it was a bit too far to walk all the way so we got the bus into town and walked two miles along the Fossdyke to the pub.  Food was just as good as expected and we wandered back in the dark with full tummies.

Charlotte's Baby Shower / Harrows

In the early evening of the 28th it was Charlottes Baby Shower which Keren had helped to organise.  Various partners of attendees converged on the Harrows for a few swift ones.

We all then met up at the Hickertons for a few drinks later on in the evening.  All the girls made predictions about the date and time of the birth - only time will tell who's correct.

Walk in Potterhanworth with Jo & Tony

Took a walk in Potterhanworth today with Jo and Tony followed by lunch in the Chequers.  Jo's preggers so nothing too arduous - we parked up in the village and walked north-east through Potternahworth Wood before following the Car Dyke south, then back to the village via Nocton Fen Lane - it was about 4 miles in all.

The Chequers do great food - we picked it specially because it's owned by the same people who have the Penny Farthing in Timberland and we'd had a couple of good meals there.  We weren't disappointed - highly recommend this place for a meal - bit pricier than standard pub food but you get what you pay for.

Fake Stag Do 2010/11

What a weekend!  It's now an annual tradition that we have one weekend per season where we get together for an Imps away game.  It's to fill in the hole left by the lack of stag dos now that most of us are married.  The fixture is picked totally at random and this year it was determined that we should go to Aldershot.  I organised a hotel in Guildford and trains between there and Aldershot - it was all in order and then the weather intervened!

The plan was for Tom to drive Harrison, Ted and me from Lincoln and we would meet Goldsy, Des, Will and Al in Guildford as they were travelling by train.  Before we even left Lincoln we found out that the game itself was cancelled and had to make a decision whether to carry on just for the craic or cancel.  Obviously we carried on.  As Tom pointed out, the football is his least favourite part of the weekend anyway.

We got going on the A1 and there was hardly any snow - we'd had all of ours two weeks before - but once we hit the M25 it started and it was heavy.  Tom's car was fine, it's front wheel drive with a heavy diesel engine over the driven wheels, so we were trundling along without too much trouble.  Of course it doesn't matter what car you're in if the road becomes blocked by other vehicles.  Sporty, rear wheel drive cars like BMWs and Mercs were finding it hard going and some were getting stuck.  We made the decision to abandon our effort to get to Guildford and turn in towards London instead - the logic was if we got stuck we'd rather be stuck in a big city than in the Surrey countryside.

The next junction was the M40 so we took it but pretty soon the traffic came to a complete stop.  We had plenty of time to discuss options and we decided we would bail out early, find the closest bed for the night and just get on with enjoying a few beers in the hope that the roads would be clear by the next morning.  I got on the phone and booked rooms at the Travelodge in Uxbridge - only a couple of miles from where we were stuck but we had to get off the motorway first.

The lay of the land meant that we could see the head of the queue about 1.5 miles up the road - just by the exit that we needed.  As the road began to go uphill it was causing lots of people to become stuck.  There was nothing else for it but to get up there and start pushing.  Tom stayed with the car but the rest of us headed up the road between the stop/start traffic.  Anyone that looked like they needed help got three lads pushing at the back of their car - and very grateful they were, we got lots of pips and thumbs ups for our efforts.

Eventually, Tom's car appeared at the front of the queue, he steamed up the slip road and we all jumped in.  We checked in to the hotel and really felt we deserved the ensuing beers and curry.

Rich Hall

Went to see Rich Hall at the Engine Shed with Ross and Mikey.  Quality show - he's very funny.  Lots of his material is based on the differences between the USA and the UK.  He takes the piss out of his compatriots quite a lot.  Excellent stand-up show - highly recommended.