John say's

"Ruby's expression says it all;
Hmmm.. might be some work to be done there!"

congrats to John and Mandy

Welcome to another foot to our dear octopus. June used to read Milly, Molly, Mandy books, many years ago.Love from Hugh and Margaret

Congrats to John and Mandy

So - the dear Octopus grows another foot! Welcome to Milly (Molly, Mandy) Love from Hugh and Margaret (whose nickname used to be Molly o' Morgan)

Congratulations

to John and Mandy who was delivered of a new baby daughter this morning at 11:32 am.

Milly Patricia has a thick mop of black hair like her sister had, and weighed in at 3.2 kilos.

The test for a new name is to shout it out the window and see if it becomes!!! hep hem
so here goes..

"MILLY...time to come in!"

hmm that works.

Happy Birthday Cathy

where-ever you are!

This time last year we were all in Méze,
and this time next year we could be driving to Mongolia








...in this
Hotrod 2CV
Or I might get one like this off a bloke in a pub I suppose LOL

London to Mongolia Rally

If you're like me you were watching Clarkson and May race Hammond's dog team to the NORTH POLE on BBC2 this evening in a car! and thinking they were all insane, what about a 10,000 mile trip in a Nissan Micra to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

Titch's grand daughter's boyfriend Charlie has put together a team calledthe3mongoliers and they've arrived in Romania. Check out some of the other teams. Someone has broken a tooth and is heading towards Russia to find a dentist!

Northamptonshire Floods

We can see 'em but they are a long way of - Thank Goodness

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JANET - WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN, SOON. DAD

Oxford floods

Can you see Hertford Street?
Botley Road's got it!












It looks like we'll be spared the worst. We're right in the middle of the dry bit!

Which?

Which? magazine are also on the case against the banks, which have been overcharging in the order of £35 for a computer generated letter if you dip into an unauthorized overdraft, even by a few pence, so download the Letter of Complaint Templates here.

Happy Birthday to Janet.. little job for you!

Oh Hugh!!!!!

Quiet in the back..and stop playing with that seat!
Steve and Mum were happily playing with the airline style fold down tables in the back of the new Scenic as Dad went in to do the negotiating. The salesman was from Chinnor now living in Haddenham at 32 Thame Road (Haddenham Aylesbury Bucks)....small world now seeming smaller as we join the turbo diesel oil burners. Unfortunately the manufacturers warranty is void if you try and recycle your chip fat as fuel but THESE
folks manage it!

Bank Charges

Know your (CONKERS) onions?
Click if you want to take an online test to see if you qualify for a refund of bank charges.

"Do you know the Duke of Edinburgh?"

Dad, as an alternative to a compact MPV,
apparently HRH and even Stephen Fry are to be seen sometimes driving one of these cabs which can be picked up cheap on ebay

A trip to the fair

Clive & I went up to London last weekend. We took in a play at the Donmar (Pinter's Betrayal with Toby Stephens, Samuel West and Dervla Kirwan) which we thoroughly enjoyed. We stayed over at Mandy & John's and on the Sunday we all went to the farmers market at Alexandra Palace, and then to Prior Park, Muswell Hill for Carters Steam Fair has some of the oldest working steam powered rides in the world and they all played trumpton-esque versions of Victorian hits. The carousel was decorated with panels of famous Brits (Brunel, Baden-Powell, Nelson, Victoria). and the engine powering it was built in 1900. Ruby had ago on nearly everything but particulary enjoyed the little cars and carousel...




love G

Where Are We Now?

Gite in France

Cath, you suggest you are staying at a gite in France from the 18th. I have a detailed map of France, so give us the coordinates and I'll do my best to arrive there too. We'll be camping out and will probably run up to the north coast the following day as our crossing is late at night on the 19th. Dad has my email address if you don't.

Pete

Paella and tapas

We had friends from Portugal over two weeks ago, and last week we entertained our old chum John Walters from Botswana. John is a missionary working out in Rakops, the dust riddled one horse frontier town you pass through on the way up to Moremi and Chobe. He flew in from Zurich after visiting his brother in Switzerland, and is off to Holland next to meet with some people who have helped to finance the building of a mission station primary school. We grilled dorado on the barbacoa, sipped at some very reasonably priced Valdepeñas (€3.95 for a 1999 Gran Reserva) and enjoyed good company and very bad table manners (well, what can you expect when John lives out in the bush!). Intended for his last supper we bought in the ingredients for a Valencian paella but we ran out of evenings! We just caught a tour of the tall ships in Alicante harbour on their way up to help celebrate the end of the Americ's Cup in Valencia before dropping John at the airport. He'll head back to Botswana later in July.

Jan chose to cook the paella on Saturday for the family. A very commendable first attempt...in fact, almost perfect, so you know what to expect if any of you get over to visit in the coming year....and to top it all, the girls are all on a sleep-over tonight and we managed an evening out with some tapas and a cool drink on Altea prom. How very pleasant, with balmy summer temperatures and a cooling breeze off the sea.

Reality check though...we are setting off for the UK on Monday morning we think, taking a few days to get up to and through France before crossing on the 19th. Let's hope the weather improves over there!

Cath, I'll be in touch before the end of the week...and well done Julian for more positive puiblicity - only a one liner but the name was there as bold as brass and anyway, Jan tells me that beautiful things come in small packages. Wish I was a bit more beautiful myself! I need less good food and more strenuous exercise.

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the near future. Love from us all.

How to buy a Minor Masterpiece

he's in!
Daily Telegraph

BBC Seven...

..is my new thang. I can spend all my time in the studio listening to Poirot, or this week a dramatisation of 'Fatherland' with Anton Lesser - The Nazis won the war it's Hitlers 75th birthday and president Kennedy is coming over for the celebrations but.... most excellent. I still like the Today Programme over coffee (especially the weather reports, ouch!).

Sorry to hear about the shrinking mum problem, at least it gives an excuse to keep buying new outfits. We'll get you over here to fatten you up (just mum for the fattening dad). We have a man starting to construct a terrace on Monday and the kitchen tiles have been decapped and sealed(first coat). The Granite slab for the worktop is at the stone masons waiting for the inset half sink and georgeous italian tap which have been ordered. By the autumn we should have made some real progress, no more drafts, a chiminee in the kitchen and underfloor heating, can hardly wait.

Tour de France kicks off today in London and passes nearby (249km leg from the Alps to Marseille!!) in a few weeks time. Makes me tired thinking about it.

Don't forget the Sunday Telegraph Magazine tomorrow and I'll give you and Tina a ring. Lots of love, julian

Experimenting

I omitted to say that the Classic FM widget works best on Firefox
Thank, Steve for sending the flowers to Tina Love from DAD

A day in Banbury

Mum is getting increasingly concerned that clothes do not fit her. She was a size 12-14 in Chinnor, but since we came into this area, she has gone down to a size 8-10, wighing only 910 pounds , or just over 6 stone! We spent quite a bit of time on the IOW last month looking for clothes and managed to buy one or two skirts/tops at M&S or BHS, but unfortunately when she tried them on, on our return to the Chalets, Lo & behold they had either shrunk or stretched; so for the second time we had to visit the same shops to get the money back. Poor darling was getting desparate and after a visit to an independent houte coutures in Woodstock, and one or two visits to the Eastex portion of Debenhams, she appeared to be quite happy. Trouble is when we go out to a function where she likes to look nice (don't we all), a new outfit is required. So, as we are going out this coming weekend, we decided to catch the freebie bus to the Banbury shopping centre (Castle Quay) where we knew there was a Debenhams. We caught the bus one or two stops before our regular bus stop to make sure that we got a seat into town, as Thursday is a very popular outing and a lovely Market Day. In due course we arrived in Banbury and our first port of call was Debs, just inside the entrance to Castle Quay and she spent some time looking round the ladies clothing section, while I sat down and waited, as walking is no good for me. The Eastex section did not suit and after a while she was persuaded to look at Principles, where a very helpful assistant (who used to live in Kings Sutton) took pity on her and was able to fit her out with some suitable clothes in her size - Thank goodness, I thought, as the time was approaching our return bus time. We duly caught the bus back to K/S and I forgot to press the stop bell and it was not until we were out of the village on the way to Brackley, that the bus eventually stopped, leaving us to walk back to the village where I had parked my car. Serves me right, but we had a good 20 minutes walk that we had not planned. What a laugh!
Steve, I have downloaded Classic FM and I am listening to it on my Tiger while I am typeing this. Perhaps Julian ought to try as it is a popular Classics programme with local UK news as well. I think I'll stop before it gets too boring!! Love to all - Don't forget Tina!! Dad.

A Bit o'Culture in the Mornings

Dad!
While you were away, I installed Classic FM on a WIDGET on your laptop so you can listen to your favourites live in full digital magnificence.
link
If you press F12, you'll see the widget and you press the little blue play button to get it going.
I had ClassicFM running through your new ipod player by connecting the white ipod coloured wire into the back of the Pismo and it was very successful.
Use the headphone jack which is the second one in from the left in this view behind the drop down door. And the other end of the lead goes into the AUX jack on your player.






I know your DAB signal is poor in KS so this is a good alternative.









PLUS!!!
why not get along to the Big Band do on at Weston on the Green coming up on the afternoon of the 15th with the Debbie Curtis Radio Big Band.


Big Band Sunday at the Manor

Sunday 15th July 2007
12 Noon - 6pm
(Performance from 2.30pm)

Back from Wales

Cathy came to collect us, all the way from L/Brefi accompanied by Edmund, on Friday and we spent a very pleasant weekend, although in true Welsh spirit, we saw plenty of rain, Luckily, the trip down to L/B from here was, thankfully, devoid of rain.
Edmund and Thomas are so tall and slim that we felt very small. Kate, also is taller than many girls in her school, and will be moving up to the BIG school in September, so this is her last few days in the junior school.
On Monday Cathy packed us all up in the Peugeot, as the Renault developed suspension troubles and was not safe to travel the 200 miles with us aboard. We tried the open road M50 from Ross to join the M 5 and finally the M40 to Kings Sutton, but in places through torrential rain, especially on the M5.
Thank to our dear Cathy for looking after us so well and to John for his kindnesses, also. We opened a few bottles and were thoroughly spoilt.

Auntie Tina's birthday is on Sunday, 8th July when she will be 80 years old. Anyone who has time could send her a card to Flat 5, Chestnut Court, Carisbroke Road, Newport IOW , PO30 1SH, or telephone her on Sunday at 01983 533807, She is Mum's sister and I know Mum would be grateful to you, as Tina loves you all very much. Much love to you all from Dad and Mum

Faulty Fawlty

Hi Dad, got another copy of Fawlty Towers S1 for you this time from play.com not Borders, but it is having the same problem as before. Interestingly it plays fine on the dvd player upstairs that doesn't have hard drive/burner, but doesn't like the panasonic or Clive's ibook which do. Have tried googling this problem but no luck.

lv G

Sunday Telegraph

Sorry about getting you to spend all that dosh on the Sunday Telegraph only to have the article bumped to next week... so 8th July in the 'Sunday Telegraph's Seven magazine - affordable art!

warm fluffy towels from now on