Tony Kofi jazz saxophonist concert

Went to Tony Kofi Quartet concert in Chapel Arts Centre in Bath. Nice evening.

http://www.myspace.com/tonykofi

Week of 19 Jan

Yesterday went for nice bike ride after Sunday lunch of roast beef and excellent yorkshire puds. About 25 miles from Tormarton to near Malmsebury & return.

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Physics exam for George on Monday.

Wagamamas for dinner

Paris - SSDM Workshop, start of GCSE exams

First GCSE exam (Biology) for George on Monday. Next was Chemistry on Wednesday afternoon.

Workshop in Paris this week for my programme - Simplified Software Development Methods.

Monday morning caught 08:00 plane from Bristol. Had nice lunch in brasserie La Chope in Rue Daguerre. Roast poisson, glass of wine, chocolate pudding and coffee - €26. Headed on to the office for the afternoon. In the Evening stayed at new hotel L'Aiglon in Montparnasse - small but nicely decorated. Worked in evening preparing for workshop. Went for walk to Les Goblins (30 mins) and pizza for dinner. Cold and clear outside.

Tuesday - morning in the office and final preparations. Most people arrived after lunch and first deay went well. IN teh evening went back to Rue Daguerre @ Denfert Rochereau and had morrocan for dinner with 3 others - one from France, two from Spain.

Wednesday - workshop all day and again went smoothly with good participation. Left early eveing with Dave from UK and headed back to airport - stopping at Notre Dame on the way. Back home about 11:00

KJO & Viennese Waltz Ball

George played in Kingswood Jazz Orchestra at Viennese Waltz Ball at the Guildhall in Bath. Article in Bath Chronicle. George not in picture.

While waiting to pick George up, saw the interesting sights of Bath on a Saturday night.

Back at school and cold

Georgina back at school on Tuesday. Very cold (-7C) , but clear this week. Went into work a couple of days - rest working from home

Italy for New Year

Friday 26 December - Boxing day

The morning was spent packing, clearing up and getting ready for trip. Drove to Bristol airport for flight at 16:45. Arrived at Milan to cold weather and some snow on the ground - a good sign. Easy drive to the apartment, stopping for dinner on the way. Not much open. Took about 3 hrs.

When we arrived at apartment the central heating wasn't working again - pump had seized up. Hot water OK though. Into bed about 1am

Saturday 27 December

We forgot the cellar key so had to call in at Catherine's, pick up the keys and get the plumber around. He arrived late morning and after a quick tap of the pump with his hammer it worked OK. Cost €30 - still I know what to do next time. Did some food shopping and got the apartment organised. Takeaway pizza for dinner - yum. No credit cards taken

Sunday 28 December

Potted around the apartment and did some reading. Baked some chocolate muffins. Prepared a beef caserole. Made minestrone soup.

Angela & friend came around late afternoon. At 9pm went to a place called Vico - above Bagnone. Old medieval village and they have a 'real nativity'. Basically people of the village dressed up and doing old crafts - weaving, bread making, shoe making, blacksmithing etc in some of the cellar rooms in the village. Very realistic, friendly and lovely. Also a Mary & Joesph, baby Jesus (with a dummy!), donkey and cows in the stables. Afterwards some nibbles, cake & mulled wine. Delicious.

Monday 29 December

Headed to Cerreto Laghi for skiing. Had to buy Snow Chains. Got there about 12:00, had lunch and then after sorting skiis and boots (€16) bought an afternoon pass (20€ each). George & I had a great time skiing, Jayne read book in a local restaurant. Weather was mainly foggy with sun breaking through at the top.

Sausages, Rocket & pasta for dinner.

Tuesday 30 December

Nativity scene - Bagnone

Beautiful sunny but cold day. Jayne & I wandered out to Aulla for a little shopping. Coffee & pastry in Bar Nello. Went into bike shop to look at shoes. More expensive then UK. Sorted out new bank account in Bagnone. Very efficient bank manageress. George mainly stayed in the apartment doing some study and reading. Went to laundrette to wash towels & sheets. Dinner was chicken, stuffed with green beans and mozzarella.

Wednesday 31 December 2008 - New Years Eve

Post office first to pay water bill and post card to Mum & Dad. Coffee & pastry in Bar Nello. Went to Aulla for some food shopping - very busy. In the afternoon prepared some chocolate puddings for dessert. Went to try and find english speaking people in the village to see about chimney. Found a lady from Israel (Manuela)

Started to rain in afternoon.

Angela phoned saying her friend was sick. Original plan was to go to their house on the coast for New Years Eve, instead we went to Angela's @10:00pm. Cotechino (like a salamie) and Lentils were our traditional dinner. A couple who were staying at the B&B came around for pudding and seeing in the New Year. Lovely evening.

Thursday 1 January 2009

Lazy morning packing and tidying up the apartment. Left about 2:30 to drive back to Milan. Easy trip back. Car wouldn't start when we picked it up. Had to get it jump-started. Quite cold -2C. Back home about 10:00pm

Christmas 2008

Vivienne arrived the night before.

We were up at a respectible time, had breakfast, then on to the mamoth present opening. Mini treasure hunt for George's last present - MP3 player.

Lunch of stuffed turkey breast, triffle and absolutely delicious 2005 Christmas Pudding (from Dad).

Lazy afternoon & evening in front of the telly.

Annie & Davids for Christmas drink

Went to Annie & David's for a drink in the evening.

Busy weekend in London

Friday we got the Christmas tree and it was then duly decorated by Jayne, George & Will.

Saturday morning first thing, we were up at 05:00 to take Will to the bus station to catch a bus to Heathrow.

Aunty Brenda phoned saying she was not well with a bad cold. We had planned to go for lunch, instead we just called in mid afternoon to drop off some presents quickly and say hello. After this we called into see Sherryl & Rebecca briefly before continuing up to London to stay with Vivienne.

On Saturday evening we went to see a play in the West End called "No Mans Land" by Harold Pinter http://www.theambassadors.com/tickets/london/dukeofyorks/4829/no-mans-land.html Excellent acting, Jayne & George enjoyed it however it was not really my thing - too many words and no story!! Still it was an enjoyable evening.

On Sunday we met Stephen & Bridget for lunch. They were finishing packing up their house and were due to move on Monday

Sunday evening on the way home we called in at Henley to see our friends - Sue, Craig, (Toby the brown lab) Jan & Ken (at home with a cold).

Few days in Warsaw

Went to Warsaw for a few days with work - UQS workshop. Clive & Richard picked me up first thing Monday morning and we drove to Heathrow. Sadly no flights available from Bristol. We had already checked in online so although it was a losw trip up, had no problems with time. Flight was at 12:00. Had a look around Terminal 5 - first time and I thought it was very nice.

Monday evening went to a great restaurant called Piwna Kompania. Very lively, very cheap and lots of meat! Had a wander around the old town which was very beautiful with all the xmas lights. Excellent Christmas tree with many changing lights.

Weather was clear and cold - below freezing. I bought a long wool/cashmere coat - lovely.

Dinner on Tuesday night was in the old town again, this time at a restaurant called Senator. Very elaborate surroundings and good food. Vodka to end :-)

Flew back home on Wednesday evening.

School Ball

Xmas shopping with George

Picked up George from school and then went into Bath for xmas shopping. It was great and we got most of the things we wanted.

Dinner party

Catherine, Chris, Alice, Louisa (friend of George at school) around for dinner.

Menu

• Warm Chorizo, potato, egg & rocket salad
• Roast haddock, beet greens, carrots and orange/star anise dressing
• Apple, cranberry, pumpkin & pecan strudel with vanilla ice cream and maple syrup

George stayed at Jess's last night. The girls went into town - very busy.

Bath Christmas market started last night

Claires for the weekend

Car passed MOT.

Went to see Claire for the weekend. She lives near Kings Lynn - Norfolk.
Drove up Friday night, picking up Vivienne on the way.
Beautiful day on Saturday and went to Holt. Lovely place - expensive shops. One shop only sold cookbooks :-)
Very nice cafe/restaurant for lunch - Byfords http://www.byfords.org.uk/

Quiz night in the evening at Claires village hall.

Returned Sunday afternoon

Beer night at school

Beer tasting night at school in dining hall. Went with Chris and tried about 16 beers - very nice :-)
Penny picked us up afterwards

UQS Workshop in Madrid

Few days in Madrid for workshop however not feeling well with a cold. Stayed in the hotel for one of the nights and had room service - a first I think!!

Went on Monday 3rd and came back wednesday evening.

Birthday weekend

Birthday weekend - trip to Manchester to see the Cycling

George headed up to London on Thursday to meet a friend from Spain. On Friday she took train from Euston to Stafford.

Jayne & I headed off Friday afternoon and after a very slow trip picked up George at Stafford. Checked into hotel and then went to restaurant Friday night. Huge traffic jam and were late. Restaurant was Michal Caines at Abode in Manchester. Food was great, although dessert a bit of a let down. Place was a bit too 'buzzy' to appreciate nice food.

Saturday & Sunday spent at Manchester Velodrome. Really exciting time. Met Chris Hoy. Drove back Sunday night - home about 9:00

Rufus' first birthday

End of British Summer Time so an extra hour in bed.

Iced chocolate cake for Rufus' 1st birthday. George made trifle. Went around to James & Lisa's for Rufus bithday party. 30 or so people at the party. Lots of sandwiches & cake :-)

George & I watched a couple of episodes of Heroes in front of a fire.

Car into service

100,000 mile service for Lupo. Still going OK.

Penny, Chris & Kate for dinner. Menu was:

• Spicy squash soup
• Mushroom & chicken risotto
• Date & apple creme brulee with apple crisps
• Flourless chocolate brownies

Had to be careful with menu - Penny doesn't eat wheat, Chris doesn't eat red meat or shellfish