Bill Bailey - Tinsel Worm Review

On Tuesday evening Liz and I travelled to London to see Bill Bailey - read the review here.

Decorating - the finished article; Kitchens the unfinishing task

The finished article:
I can't do anything about the Kitchen, we have ANOTHER fitter coming to do an estimate tomorrow. There is quite a saga to this. The outcome is that nothing has happened. We have been to lots of places, they are either:

• ignoring us
• get into financial difficulties
• producing estimates that are WAY beyond our resources
• lacking imagination
• lacking understanding of the requirement !!
• lacking real interest in the job
• failing to deliver a quote
• offer 'dodgy deals'

... can't wait for tomorrow!

P.S. Still no progress on the hall either.

Graduation

Thursday night we took Elizabeth to Cheltenham. We stayed overnight in Detmore House, it's a very nice old Victorian house, on the outskirts of Cheltenham, and the rooms we were in are enormous. The views of the countryside on a frosty November morning were stunning. Finding it was a challenge though. The AA route planner takes you almost all the way onto Cheltenham. We didn't really have time to appreciate the views, or the house. We'd arrived very late, and had a 7:30am appointment with breakfast. So then it was off the Cheltenham Racecourse for the graduation ceremony.

While we were waiting, I took some pictures of Liz by the winning post. Cheesy - yes. Karen joined us from Luton. The event itself was well-organised with refreshments both before and after the ceremony, but the gowning left something to be desired. I'd had trouble with the booking and ordering. It was a very poor website. Then the order hadn't got to the people doing the gowns. We got one eventually, but it set Liz off.

The most important part of the day only took a minute, Elizabeth received her handshake, which changes her from a graduand to a graduate.

Then it was picture taking, and for Elizabeth meeting old friends. I'm not digital yet, so you'll have to look here or here for pictures, which I'm sure will be there in a day or so.
After the pictures, we went to eat in Cheltenham. A nice meal, with a glass of champagne for graduates and their guests, but the portions are a little small. We left Karen to take Liz back to Stoke Gifford, and made our way to Swindon, where we left Jo's mum to stay with friends for a couple of days. We spend a good hour trying to find the house in Swindon - which was very frustrating.
 

On the way home, we watched the fireworks from various displays, and some bonfires that were too close to the motorway. There were also a couple of Fire Engines racing down the other carriage way. Apart from that, the journey was uneventful.

An excellent day, and a privilege to play the proud father role again.

Congratulations Liz, BA

Weak of prayer?

Kaz, Liz and I went to the week of prayer youth evening. It was nice to start with the youth, shame about the preparation. Lots to pray about, lots to give thanks for, except we don’t know what it is because all the leaders are not their, and no-one has been asked to prepare anything. That one serious missed opportunity. At the start of a year of mission, I was really hoping for better.

Stansted

So for the second visit to Stansted in a few days. Motorways were clear in both directions, and the traffic was even relatively light. I parked in the right zone (C) nearest the terminal entrance. Less of a walk , and quick access to cover, as it was raining. Found "arrivals" tucked in the far left corner, from the entrance. Met some guy and his partner (wife?) picking up people they didn't know - the Valentines - for mutual friends, and he was on his way somewhere else. Hope it went Ok, cause Liz arrived before they went - so I'll never know.
Kaz is now on her way, so there'll be another brief few minutes when we're all together. Then 5 of 6 go to the ball, along with Christine. Should be good, Mike's serving the food - I'm looking forward to it!!!!

Christmas ...

Has come, and gone, as it does. All very quiet this year. Nice to have all the family home - that may be the last time we get that, as they're all growing up and doing their own thing. Liz flew to Scotland to see her pen-friend. He's been down before, so it's not too much of a problem. She'll be back on Friday. So we straight down to 3, and then there's another set of movements prior to the weekend. Quiet - but ever-changing. The tradition is midnight service, one drink, one present and bed. This year Andy went to see his girl, and the rest of us were left in confusion. Bed at 1:45, asleep before 2, when he says he came back. Yawn!! Christmas day was nice and peaceful, Church in the morning - unremarkable. Lunch with the in-laws - very nice, as usual. Boxing Day was final presents, and home Christmas dinner. Jo did a marvellous job, as usual.

So that's it over for another year. Just time to enjoy the presents.

Monday:Off to Stansted with Liz. Nice long drive - fine going, except the drop-off lane was closed 'High risk flight arriving'. Slow on the way back - too many people heading for lakeside I suppose. Started on the CCS project.

Tuesday:
More on the CCS project. Less than 50% through, already at 75% of word limit - help. It is the wrong way round.

Looked at my web page, published in haste - some links not working.

Pictures - before Christmas.

If you look back you will see a few comments about solo's. Now I've seen
the video, that was taken on the night. Is on PC, so its small and the
sound is nothing like it was on the night, but its still there. There are
also some pictures on the blog, which you can look at from here:
http://photos1.blogger.com/img/298/2739/640/19%20-%20Karen.jpg.
The other pictures have also arrived. They come from the author of this
http://hopefullymine.blogspot.com/2004/12/at-christmas-time.html, and are
quite amazing. A lovely Christmas present. I have them on CD also, so can
transport them about. Very glad that they came, because the agency that
produced them has recently been featured on Watchdog. That is all very
worrying.