Greetings again ....

As Dave Matthews often sings "So Much To Say, So Much To Say, So Much To Say ... yeah yeah ... So Much So Much So Much To Say" Or something like that

Its proably best to divide things into chapters

1. Manchester - After a long drive from Brussels which began at 05.00 in the morning, and after a good night at Churchills, I arrive to a meal at Pizza Express ... Yummy! It was nice to bite into that lovely crust again. We used to do Pizza Express a lot as there was one just down the road from where we lived, was nice to have the memories flowing back. Met up with a lot of friends and had a great time with all of them, esepcially those who were at the wedding, a lot to catch up about and a lot of new photos to go through.

2. Dad - Drove to Newcastle on the Sunday. Dad looked very tired and it was very obvious that the Steriods had taken their toll on his face and body, about half a stone had been added. He was very tired and not really up to much which was good for Louise as she could also spend a lot of time relaxing. The visit to the Clinic on Thursday showed his platlets were down to 8.4 (shoudl be 10) and needed 3 units of new blood as a top up. At least he will be off the steriods for the time being. Managed to get out to Hill Head and some other places ..... he even managed to sit in the back of the car which was, for him, very exciting! He has finally finished, what I think is, his best boat to date.

It really captures the best things of all the boats he has done so far (around 18). The detail on this one is particuly great especially the toilet paper in the bathroom and the lino in the cabin. Excellent! Photos don't really do it justice to be honest.


3. The Tap and Spile - Monday night at the Tap and Spile with Ali was a tremendous success! A lot of people in the place considering it was a Monday. The set was great, especially with Ali, Looking forward to another long weekend in January here in Brussels. The Websters and the Hirsts where both there supporting as was a madman who air guitared and air sang "I'm A Believer" to the enjoyment of all around. One bit of very sad news was that "Bob" as in "Sally and Bob" in Chris' Living Room, passed away a couple of weeks ago. We dedicated the performance that night in his memory.
















This is Ruben.


4. Sheffield - Left Newcastle on Thursday to drive down to Sheffields to see Yo, Steve, Ruben and Nathaniel. Again, lovely to see them and their photos. Rhuben is becoming quiet an accomplished pianist while Nathaniel is the leading contender for the "Boris Johnson Look-a-like 2006". Sheffield is a strange city to me .... I always seem to get lost despite visiting many many times before. Even Lou gets confused sometimes, and seeing as she stayed there for 5 years, I at least have an excuse!




















5. Hacconby - Friday ..... it must be Hacconby. Popped in for Luinch to Terry and Jill who also live the in house just up from Lou's Mum and Dad in france. Very nice and kind couple, both Ex-teachers and so get on with them very well.

6. Wisbech - Wisbech, .... it must still be Friday. Thanks to Jason and Kate ... and of course Isobelle .... for letting us stay with them despite them moving house .... on Tuesday! At least it was a night off for them both. Drank FAR too much with Jason after the girls had wimped out to bed, but it was great to catch up with them all. It will be a long time before we see all these people again, but hopefully we will!

By The Way .... Kate doesn't know about this photo!!!















7. Sunday. - Did F*** all .....

8. The Car - Did us proud. Very Comfortable and very economical. 38MPG for over 1100 miles including town / Motorway and country roads and was fully laden with gear .... and Louise!

By the way .... little update.. .. we have the next big scan on Thursday so hopefully some more funny pictures then. Mummy doing very well .... not so sick and has a smile on her face again!