Happy New Year - Health & Happiness for 2012

Well it's New Year in the east, morning still in the west, while here in Broadwath there's quiet anticipation for 2012. Jamie has just driven to Edinburgh for Hogmany revelry & fireworks, while Nicky has tried on several pairs of very high shoes before meeting with friends for a meal and local partying in Carlisle. (At least it's a warm evening at 7 - 9oC)

But somehow a quiet evening at home with Colin & brother in law, Gary is very appealing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

T'was the night after Boxing Day ...

Oh goodness how the waistband has expanded! Hope all the festivities are going well. I can confirm that the cake sparkles of white & silver were a definite improvement,

1st Weekend in Advent .....

Really looking forward to seeing Clare & Orla in action tomorrow, they are show jumping & Orla's going up 10cms to 55cm / 65cm / 75cm; so fingers crossed all goes well. Here she in in November pre-dressage test,

Don't they look lovely?!

In the meantime have just finished making the Christmas Cakes (one is for a friend). It's a pity we can't add  aromas to blogs, my kitchen is very warm and there's a very fruity smell with more than a hint of brandy. Here's a picture of last year's effort:

 

I'd made a big mistake though -  I sprinkled vivid acid green sparkles on at the end,

oh dear the greens of the holly really clashed ....Will show how things turn out this year. 

My 'Day Job'...

Just to prove I do sometimes work, here's a picture of me with my colleague S and final year medical students.

 They were feeling a bit tense - but now wonder as the pic was taken just before their clinical exams with us!

Candle lit BBQ in November.....

 Can't quite believe that we were able to sit out last night, under the watchful gaze of Orion, and enjoy our friends' (& neighbours') candle lit BBQ! Somehow baked tatties, chicken & sausages tasted just perfect in the cool of the evening. Later we sat in doors sipping glasses of John Barleycorn or in my case sloe gin ...

... This all seems such a far cry from 24 - 25 November 2010. The Met Office's timeline says,

"First blast of snow showers, mainly affecting Scotland, North East England and Northern Ireland. Up to 20 cm on the East Pennines by the end of Thursday."  

The Great War - A special memory for Great Uncle John & a name remembered...

 My paternal Scottish grandmother, May's young brother John (age 19) was reported as 'missing in action' in September 1915, during the Battle of Loos. He had been a private soldier in 

"C" Co.5th Bn. Cameron Highlanders 

 ( www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=726401)

In this picture you can see that I'm holding a wedding ring beside Great Uncle John's inscription - it is his sister May's

My hubbie Colin has long since had a passionate interest in WWI history. But we were only able to make this special, personal connection with Great Uncle John this summer through Colin's diligent research into our family trees. I was quite emotionally 'bowled over' by this discovery and wonder if any previous family members had been able to visit the grave in the 1920s and '30s. Perhaps this was John's first family visit - and what a reponsibility! Thank you Colin for making this happen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loos_Memorial

"The Loos Memorial is a World War I memorial forming the sides and rear of Dud Corner Cemetery, located near the commune of Loos-en-Gohelle, in the Pas-de-Calais département of France. The memorial lists 20,610 names of British and Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave who were killed in the area during and after the Battle of Loos, which started on 25 September 1915. This memorial covers the same sector of the front as the Le Touret Memorial, with each memorial commemorating the dead either side of the date of the start of the Battle of Loos.

Designed by Sir Herbert Baker, the sculptures were by Sir Charles Wheeler. The memorial was unveiled on 4 August 1930 by Sir Nevil Macready. General Macready served as Adjutant-General of the British Expeditionary Force from the outbreak of the war to February 1916, and then served as Adjutant-General to the Forces until a few months before the end of the war."

My father (born 1918) was named Ian (gaelic for John) in memory of his young Uncle John. 

In turn my son's first name is also Ian.

Remembering ....

It's almost four years now since my Mum & Dad died. As the autumn tints grow stronger and the last of the flowering roses burst with colour I've found myself thinking about them a lot recently.

This was taken one Sunday morning in June 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And here they are in earlier times:

I know it's not good to boast, pride before a fall & all that but ......

my lovely Friesian xTB mare, Orla has been a star during her first two jumping shows - with three new red rosettes today. Though it's all down to the patience & special skills of her pilot, Clare - thank you.
Here they are:

As you can see Orla enjoys her grub!

Hello to our special little Great Nephew, Bradley ..........

Can't believe Master Bradley Pater Hutcheson O'Connor is six months already. He was born on 30th March & here he is now with his Dad John's birthday pressie:

(sorry Emma I didn't check if I could use this sweet pic)

We were lucky to be able to be in Waterford for Bradley's Christening on 23rd July, so here is a reminder from the day:

Here's to Retrospective Blogging : from our Royal Wedding to Summer Holidays

Like so many of you (yes even some of you blokes must have taken a peep) the Royal Wedding was a rather gentle, special occasion & amusing - What did you think of those nuns? & of course les jeunes filles avec les chapeaux!

 Disney - the clairvoyant!

We had a mini tea party & sandwich lunch at Whitegate. It was an all girls affair with friends Sheila, Betty, Janni, Helen & Katy. As you know this blog links to Helen's blog. She made the most beautiful cherry & almond sponge cake with iced carnations -

 Just scrumptious.

 Polished & ready for service

A little bunting never goes a miss!

Our Summer holiday this year was in July & France was our destination. En route we stayed with my cousin Alice and her husband Richard (Fiona 16 & Edward 11) in their beautiful farmhouse in Chelsfield, Kent. I don't know why I don't have any photos....

We journeyed on via Giverney to see Monet's garden! It's long been on my list of places to visit and it didn't disappoint!

Our final destination was a charming 16th century manor house, owned by a very hospitable Jean-Louis Mainot & his wide Christine. The house was in La Chartre-sur-le-Loir, close to the river which is a tributary of La Loire.

We awoke to this on our first morning:

& overall had a very happy, lazy time : 

only this bumble bee seemed to bee (pun not spelling mistake) in any sort of a rush -

 hope he didn't have to work long into La Nuit -

And here are just a few more of our snaps for Le Manoir. We hope it won't be long till we can return:

During one of our few day trips we visited the famous Cadre Noir at Saumur
and we lucky to see one of their dress rehersal:

Fading Lights of Summer ..........

Well Colin & I were musing last night (sitting beside our mini pond & idling with a glass or two of our favourite sauvignon blanc) after an 'all day' in the garden harvesting apples, gathering the last of our tomatoes and creating a new flower bed.

 We can't quite believe that our nest is empty now. Nicky went off to Newcastle mid September to start her Children's Nursing degree & Jamie returned to Stirling for his final year. He has a super new flat, ground & garden level in an old late Georgian terrace with a view over to the Wallace Monument. Needless to say we haven't heard much from him since! Nicky has been home twice but only briefly. Not unexpectedly she felt a bit homesick at first, especially as she was the only one in her Halls for the first week. We're looking forward to a rendez-vous in Edinburgh at the end of the month with Colin's sister, Lorna & family. In the meantime here are their pics:

The unoffical Uni' Pic

Jamie's 21st in Las Vegas - where else???

Cousins who lunch (Robyn & Nicky - Spring 2011)

All of which is a far cry from these old days -

!!!

Goodness where have the last three months gone

Now I really meant to keep on top of this diary but suddenly the school holiday season is over, the rowan tree berries are scarlet and there's a nip in the early morning air. I took this snap last week in Corbridge;

I wonder where in Africa their journey will take them?

Soggy Saturdays in Mid June .....

Brrrr - just in from the garden, have swapped my soggy jumper for a dry one. Colin & Jamie are sweltering in the Las Vegas heat and I think I'm a bit jealous as it's cool here. The windows are mostly all open as our valiant painter Jimmy has been battling with the weather doing his least favourite task - painting windows!

In the meantime I've finally had a go with my new 'Mantis' Tiller & here's the first result;

Experimenting

Don't worry I won't be doing this all the time - just wanted to experiment with some photos, so here goes:

No, poor Miss Mitsy May McGregor wasn't auditioning for an Elizabethan drama - this photo was from Tuesday - her spay op day. 

But here she is today after a trip to the vet for analgesia! -

We had a lovely afternoon together, pottering in the garden, despite rainy predictions from the BBC weather site. We came inside at

for tea.

( By the way you can catch up with Helen and her news at
  http://helen-likeitorlumpit.blogspot.com )

Well here goes - the First (& hopefully not the last) Posting ........

It's after midday and I'm confined to barracks looking after our dear little 3 year old schnauzer bitch, who having had 'the op' on Tuesday is needing some human TLC. So suddenly I've found time to start this new adventure......

I've been thinking about starting a blog as a way of keeping in touch with family and friends for a  while, especially as I've been such a poor Christmas correspondent in recent years. I'm not sure if this beats the thrill of receiving a hand-written letter through the post but hey these are modern times!

I recently had a 'catch up' with Alison by phone (she's a great friend from my far off university days). As we chatted away I was struck by how much I miss not talking with her more often and I really, really wanted to see pictures of her hens and new garden ...... maybe blogging would be the way forward? 

But my final inspiration to get started has been my friend Helen, whose blog is a visual delight.