Christmas goings on

We spent Christmas here in Bristol this year...travelling to Dublin for the few days wasn't going to happen because of squiggle so Fi's parents & sisters came here instead. It was a lovely, relaxing few days.



St Stephen's day meant a walk in Leigh Woods & a bit of silliness by the sisters...

On Monday we went for another walk - this time with the Brinds & co followed by lunch & some silly games. What fun!!

Squiggle

As our summary mentioned, we are expecting a new arrival in late January. Not long to go now & it is very exciting! We thought we'd share a couple of pictures with you. If you know Tim you will be aware that this baby is going to have to get used to having his or her picture taken. A lot! These are just getting him or her into practice... The scans have been amazing - seeing our baby moving about. The detail on screen has been simply amazing & to be honest the photos don't actually do the clarity justice but we still love having them!

In case you are wondering - the nick name Squiggle has stuck because there is a lot of wriggling & squirming going on.

Dating Scan...(about 12 weeks)

The next two are from our 20 week scan.

This next one was a surprise bonus - we were sent for a growth scan at 34 weeks to check that all was okay with our little wriggler because the midwife didn't think Fi's bump was big enough. Not surprisingly the baby was perfectly sized for the dates & doing very well. You aren't supposed to be allowed pictures after 22 weeks - but the lovely sonographer gave us two. Hee hee!!

We hope to keep this blog reasonably up to date so keep watching for news & photos in the new year!

It's been ages...

Gosh - was it really April the last time we updated this blog!?! Woops!

Well, what's been happening I hear you ask...lots is the quick answer I guess but it isn't very informative so here are a few highlights.

In May Fi went to Cyprus for a weeks holiday with her Mum & Nicki.


Having found out that we are expecting a baby early in 2010 Fiona decided to leave Bristol Uni after 8 years working there (where did that time go!?). She finished at the end of July and has been keeping herself busy at home & at Ebe.

At the beginning of August we went to Revive! christian conference for a week with the Richardsons & Brinds.


We went away far a holiday in Cornwall for the August Bank holiday week. While we were there Tim did some sailing which is something he has wanted to do for ages! The weather wasn't brilliant but it was a relaxing few days.


In September we were able to take a long weekend away near Devizes in the caravan which we now jointly own with the Brinds. The weather was so kind to us & we had a lovely relaxing couple of days. It wasn't a long trip but gave us a chance to see how we got on towing & setting everything up. Paul, Beth & Isaac came to visit us on Sunday afternoon. We are looking forward to lots of family holidays in the caravan over the next few years!


On 9th October Keith (Fi's brother) married Sarah in Spanish Point, Co. Clare - it was a wonderful day & Tim took absolutly loads of photos which give a lovely flavour things.


Tim's web album has lots of other photos from the last few months of various goings on with friends & family.

We will try to be a bit better at keeping things up to date over the next few months. Espically with news of our new arrival, expected in the latter part of January.

Yogurt

We've been making yogurt at home recently & thought we should share our madness with the world! All we need are a couple of spoonfuls of live yogurt, some milk & a bit of sugar to sweeten. We've got a yogurt maker which is bascially a big thermos flask to keep it at the right temperature for 8 hours or so.

We found the end result a little bit too runny (more like yop than normal yogurt) but discovered that straining it using cheese cloth makes it nice & creamy.



We'll be having some of this tomorrow for lunch either with some stewed rhubarb or raspberries from last year's crop. It's very yummy!!

Sunday Afternoon Walk

We spent Sunday afternoon with the Brinds. It was such a lovely day that we decided a walk was in order. So we headed off to Vassells Park/Snuff Mills/Oldbury Court (delete as appropriate - it has 3 names...very confusing). We took a few photos while we were out enjoying ourselves...hope you enjoy them too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April Countryside Walk

The April countryside walk was a bit exclusive...only the Richardson girls & the two of us. We decided to do the bluebell walk starting from Portbury village again in the hope that the bluebells would be in bloom.



It was lovely. Espically when the sun came out. There were some blue bells about but it would have been spectacular a few days later!

Easter Saturday

We didn't go so far today...it was a day for doing bits & pieces; and for catching up with Gran. It was a lovely sunny day again & got quite warm in the sun.

Having had a late lunch we decided at we would go for a walk before dinner at Bohernabreena Reservoir which is only a 10 minute drive away from Mum & Dad's house.

The sun had gone down but it was a really lovely walk. Lots of photos taken between us. There was lots of wild life about & we saw horse, sheep & cows all with their young - very sweet!

Walk at Rusborough House

We are spending this year's Easter weekend in Ireland.
Today, we went to Russborough House.

Russborough house

We started by getting lost in the Maze - Great fun. Fiona found the monument in the middle first, then Olga. We all got there in the end...

The maze

Fiona got there first

Then Olga...

Then we had a bit of fun playing with the acoustics in the circular riding school. In the center, your voice is impressively amplified. Also got Rua (the Dog) to run arround the arena.

The Old Riding School

There a walk around the grounds of the house. Lots of beautifull Spring flowers and lambs. We did get caught out in a hail shower - but it was more fun than anything else!

Fiona, Olga and Rua

Spring flowers

Lambs

Also came accross a fallen tree.

Fallen tree

Snow in Bristol

What an amazing week this has been. We have had the most Snow I have seen in the UK. The only time I've seen more is while skiing!
On the 2nd of February, it snowed during the day, and when I got home from work, found these amazing Icicles on the shed!
It was so strange to get back home to a snow covered garden (rather than getting it overnight and watch it turn to slush during the day). It was proper snow too! with crystals so big that you could actually seen there individual shapes with the naked eye!
It was still there in the morning. We both managed to cycle to work (cycle track was actually clearer than our road.) on a very picturesque cycle track. How I wish I had the time to take my camera out! By the end of the day, it had just about all gone...

From our web album, Snow

The next dump of snow arrived Wednesday night (4th - 5th Feb). We had been warned that there could be quite a lot, so I went to bed quite excited by the prospect to be honest. and because of that didn't sleep so well. It did however mean that I was ready to go out as soon as it was light with my camera to take some pictures before going to work.

The Bristol to Bath cycle track

As expected lots of snow had fallen. The BBC said it was 4 inches ... it was more like 2 around our neck of the woods, but that is still loads! It was still falling by going to work time, so out came the ski goggles - Snow flakes can be quite painful when they land in your eyes, and its good to see where you are going when cycling, especially on snow!

The Lodge Causeway Bridge, from Fi's Snowy Photos

It thawed out during the day, but not completely. and with forecasters predicting more snow overnight, we knew this was something special.

A snow flower

Well they were right. We woke to an other dump of snow. This time it was a little wetter (it was just above freezing) but the amount that had come down was enough to build up to a good 3 to 4 inches I'd say.
cycling to work was ... Fun !!!
We dressed up more as if we were to go skiing than cycling, which added to the excitement on my part. It was certainly a lot more difficult to cycle in this stuff. Any rut in the snow would catch on you wheels and set you sliding and you had to push quite a bit harder to get the bike to go anywhere. didn't stop me having fun though. I managed to get in to work in an hour (5 mile trek that usually takes 25 minutes), so cycling paid off I think.
During the day, those who were not able to get to work or school built snow men and igloos. Some even combined the too to make an igloo man!
The trip home was also interesting - There was still a lot of slushy snow about and as the clouds had cleared, it was starting to freeze over again. so this time it was a little bit less fun and a bit more caution. got home safely though so all is well.

From Fi's Snowy Photos

After a beautiful sunset, temperatures reached -3 over night from the 6th to the 7th of Feb. In the morning it looked like an ice rink outside!
It is now 4pm on the 7th and our garden is still covered in a blanket of white. What lovely crazy weather!

Ski Holiday to Les Menuire

On the first weekend of January we flew (after a bit of a delay) to Geneva on route to Les Menuire in France for a weeks ski holiday. We had booked a chalet in the village of le Bettaix a short walk from a ski lift up to the main resort. There was a group of 14 of us in all, the two of us, Nicki (Fi's sister), Paul & Beth (Paul organised us all), Tracey, one of their friends, Chrispy & Sarah with their two girls - Beth & Rebekah, Hannah & Peter & two of their friends, Mark & Fiona.

We had lots of fun on & off the slopes, were well looked after by our chalet hosts, Jody & Callum, & generally had a blast.

Fi did her first black run & we both got award for spectacular wipe-outs. No injuries but plenty of bruises. Bumboarding was a favoured non-skiing pastime & some even happened at night.

Enjoy the photos!



and some more!

We are going Skiing! again!

This time in les Menuires, the 3 valleys, French alps.
We are going with the Richardsons, the Brinds, the Hedingers, Nicki, Tracy, Mark and Fiona.
We will be staying one of these chalets.
Its going to be fun, if not a little on the chilly side! :)

Les Menuires Snow Forecast | Snow Report | by E-mail