Happy New Year

Well... last day of work before the New Year. Am really looking forward to it this year, although it is going to be a busy one for me. I have Mum and Dad coming tomorrow (Saturday), and they are staying until Tuesday - so I have three dinners to plan, including a special one for New Year's Eve. It's a bit tricky with Mark being a vegetarian; my parents don't mind fish (Mark will eat fish, thankfully) but I don't think they would want it three nights in a row, which means a bit of juggling the menu for me. Ah well, am sure it will all pan out! ;-)

Yesterday eve turned out quite busy in the end. Did a mercy mission (my last good deed of the year), and took a drive out to Sutton Gault to pick up a 'baby stair gate' which had kindly been donated to me via www.freecycle.org. I had posted a "Wanted" on there for one, because Doug and Angie's dog Molly has had a suspected stroke in the build up to Christmas, and the poor old girl kept falling down the stairs. Freecycle is bloody great (they have them in lots of different areas worldwide). I am in the Cambridge branch, and have found it a blessing. You can issue requests for things, which may or may not be successful, and you can get rid of things you don't want. Things that are too good for the rubbish tip, but too fiddly to sell. We have offloaded an old composting bin and a bookshelf on there, and there are even people who will remove rubble or soil, if they want it for gardening. I think it is a fabulous scheme. The couple that donated the gate were very sweet - they lived in a fairly remote farmyard near Ely, and ran a kennel there for rescue dogs (http://www.poplarfarmkennels.org.uk/). They seemed entirely committed to their cause.

After that, I cooked kedgeree and we headed off to the cinema to see Flags of Our Fathers, which was excellent. It must be difficult to find a new way of shooting war scenes - especially a landing on a beach, but this was really well done. Very sentimental, as is the way with Clint Eastwood directed movies, but excellent and thought provoking nonetheless.

Tonight I am just going to be shopping/cleaning for the grand visit. Not entirely sure where or how to entertain Mum and Dad in the next couple of days (Mark is working), but am sure I will think of something! On New Year's Day, Mark's parents are joining us for lunch, and Mark and his Dad are going to watch the football, so hopefully the weather will hold out for them (and for us - would be nice to get out for a walk and burn off the booze/good food from the night before!).

Today am refining my New Year's resolutions list... it has some firm faves there, and some new ones:

1. Lose weight! An obvious one... ALWAYS looking to lose that stone! This time there will be no fannying around.
2. More exercise... REALLY must get the running club back in order. I was doing SO well, but have been disgustingly lapse since my return from Asia. One of the guys in the office is pushing for a few of us to sign up for a 10k run in Spring, which a few weeks ago would have seemed easy... but at the moment it seems like an insurmountable challenge.
3. Go blonde and grow hair... a new twist on a firm favourite. I like the challenge of trying to turn my now red dyed hair blonde without ending up with a full on ginger hue. Growing my hair has been an aim since the first day I had it cut off, circa 1983. I might compromise and aim for a very short bob...
4. Save some money!
5. Do some voluntary work.. perhaps mentoring for the elderly?
6. No drinking alcohol in January (have done this successfully for the last two years), and maybe cut down for rest of year?! Have cut-down HUGELY since leaving Norwich, but it would be nice to take it a step further.
7. See my friends in Norwich/London/Surrey/Leeds/Bexley-on-sea... generally catch up with ALL those people I have been meaning to catch up with, but never do!

I think that's enough to be going on with for now... ;-) There are a few others we won't go into here... wish me luck!

Hope you all have a fantastic and happy and drunken New Year, and let's look forward to an exciting 2007!!

Much love,
Hayley
xxxxxx

The Egg Came First

Some more fascinating facts from BBC Magazine..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/

Thrilling Thursday

Another lovely day at work in an empty office... :-)

Last night we ended up not bothering with the cinema (we are supposed to be going tonight instead), and just ate leftovers (far too many) then walked up the local pub for a pint. Nothing very exciting! Popped to see Jamie and Adele after work, which was nice - although turns out poor Jamie had a very disappointing Christmas. He had been ill with a vomiting/squitty bug all over the festive season, although I guess he had one advantage over me; he managed to lose weight! (not that he needs to).

On with work! Big hello to Jen, who is also working over the Xmas period. I share your pain!

Much love
Hayls
xxxxxxxxx

Back to Work!

Boooooooooooo..... am sitting at my desk, not wanting to be here... nevermind, I guess that it is a good sign that I don't want to scrabble back to work to escape my Christmas!

Had a really really lovely weekend and Christmas and Boxing day...

Saturday
I got up nice and early (before 6am, with Mark), and drove straight over to Lowestoft to start the rounds. Managed to get the last of my food shopping from a very empty Tesco garage on arrival in Lowestoft. so was jolly glad about that! Popped to see Mum for a bit (and admired their new conservatory), and then went over to see Nanny and Grandad. They both seemed very well, and chatty as ever. Was also nice as Robert turned up too - so could give him all the bits and bobs I carried home for him, and that saved me a journey later on. I then went to see Janine and the adorable Lola in their new house in Dene road. Gorgeous place with so much potential (although most of it has been done for them). It is amazing how much more you get for your money in Lowestoft! Lola is gorgeous - standing (not *quite* walking, but almost), and chatting away. She seems a very laid back and smiley little girl, who chuckled like crazy when I threw her up in the air and caught her... have discovered that this may be a very good way to get rid of my bingo wings ;-)

Left Janine to feed Lola, and headed round to Nanny Brown's place... I always feel vaguely sad when I visit Nanny. She spends far too much time alone, and her health is not great. However, some of her isolation is self imposed (she tends to upset people)... its an odd combination of pity and regret I feel there. What makes it worse is that she is always so pleased to see me. Yet again, I departed with a promise to myself to try and make a bit more of an effort with her... although I know that for various and complicated reasons, getting too close to the woman is not a good idea. A tricky call.

Late afternoon, I finally made it to Tracy's new place... one word: GORGEOUS. The place is stunning. Yet again I am staggered at Tracy's good taste in all matters decor, and felt envious of her beautiful house, her closeness to the family, and her two beautiful blonde children... sigh. Then again, I could do without her stressful lifestyle... piggy-face turned up with Henry at dinner-time, and Tracy (somewhat rashly, I felt!) invited him to eat dinner with Me and my parents... nevermind, the slow-cooked belly of pork (done in a most delicious Chinese 5-spice rub in the aga... AGA!) made up in some way for it. Thankfully he didn't stay too late, and we continued to drink wine/baileys until fairly late. Henry is simply gorgeous these days - he has me in fits of laughter continuously... I read him "Twas the Night Before Christmas", and amid the "Whys?" you get for almost every line ("why is Santa's nose like a cherry?", "why does he smoke a pipe? mummy said it's dirty!"...), he seemed properly enchanted with it. He did announce though, apropos of nothing, that Father Christmas would not be visiting Uncle Mark as he eats children's toys... (Mark, some months ago now, pretended to eat a plastic beetle belonging to Henry, and Henry has never quite forgiven him or forgotten it!). Apparently, the only way Uncle Mark could guarantee himself a visit from the big man, was to "make sure that he didn't wee his pants on Christmas eve"... which of course, is nigh-on impossible ;-)

Tracy, Oscar and I ended up sleeping in Tracy's enormous bed for the night... I almost got the shock of my life when I was awoken by what appeared to be a hairless cat (Oscar), slapping me in the face and pulling on my nose in the night! Perhaps I had one too many Baileys... heh.

Sunday - Christmas Eve
Had lovely brekkie with Tracy and the boys (again, Henry had me in stitches... re: a discussion of "what Trolls might eat for breakfast", THE most disgusting Henry could think of, aside from "poo poo Pizza" and "mud pie" was a crab stick that had been dropped on the floor!).

Met up with Jane and Jamie in Oulton Broad for coffee in the Red Herring. Was really good to see them both! They both looked fabulously well and were on good form - Jamie has even had his goatee shaved off (which seemed to take half an hour for me to register!). They had some good news... they have won a contract to overhaul the gardens around the Art Cinema in Norwich. I am SO pleased for them. It is a gorgeous, and very historic, site. Could open many doors for them!

I drove home immediately after leaving Jane and Jamie, and managed to get home not long after Mark. I prepared all the veggies and turkey for Christmas day, and we settled down with a bottle of wine and watched Alien II - very christmassy!!! ;-)

Monday - Christmas Day
Had a lovely Christmas day with Mark and his family. We started the day with smoked salmon and bucks fizz (kindly donated by Jamie and Adele), and I managed to sort everything out in the kitchen for dinner. We also found time to make a few phone calls (Mark got through to a very jovial sounding Jez and Marta in China) and wish people Happy Christmas.

We opened pressies when Suzy and John arrived. I got lots of lovely bits and bobs from friends and family, including a lovely silver cross and chain from Mark, and some money from Mum and Dad, Nanny and Grandad and Tracy.

I did a starter for dinner (Prawn Cocktail - classy!), followed by turkey and all the trimmings for Mark's parents and I, and a vegetarian haggis for Mark. I did Christmas pudding and custard for dessert - although managed to fluff up the fresh custard I was supposed to be making (with egg yolks, cream, sugar and vanilla pods) - somehow the double cream in it separated... Serves me right for showing off! ;-)

In the afternoon we watched The Long Engagement on DVD (fab film), and then headed to Mark's brother's place to see him (Paul), his wife Alison, and their kids (Jessica, aged 12 and Sam, 9) and some of Alison's family. Spent the evening sitting around and stuffing our faces!

Tuesday - Boxing Day
Another really nice day with Mark's family. Mark's mum cooked for all of us; Mark's sister Caroline, her partner Phil, and their two children (Katie, aged 3 and Emily, 4 months). Paul and Alison and the children also made it over. Basically we sat around watching TV, stuffing our faces with Quality Street, and watching the children run amok with their various toys...

In the evening, Mark and I just stayed in front of the fire drinking wine and whiskey and watching The Pirates of The Caribbean, and The Mummy Returns... yummm.... Johnny Depp....

Wednesday - Back to work!
I am the only one in the entire family who has to return to work today! Booo... was very hard to leave Mark tucked up in bed this morning - not made any better by the wine/whiskey fest we had last night! ;-) Ah well... no rest for the wicked, hey!

Spoke to Tracy this morning, and unfortunately she had to have the paramedics out last night - as she had a major asthma attack... not good! She seems better today though, if not a little drugged up on steroids!

Anyway... had better do some work. Lunch is over... tonight we are going to the cinema to see The Flags of Our Fathers, which looks excellent...

Speak soon. Hope you all had a good Christmas...
Hayls
xxxx

A Bonnie Grimble, One and All

Well, 'tis the season to be jolly... I guess. :-) Of course I am Miss-Joviality her very self today. Spoke to Jen this morning (always a good call) and left work mid-afternoon, as is appropriate for Monis employees. Spent later this afternoon at Mark's parents dropping off flowers for Suzy and picking up pressies for Mark.

Mark has gone to bed uber-early as I was wrapping pressies and unable to provide his dinner, so I am updating my blog as he sleeps.

Tomorrow I have a very early start - am setting off in the fog to Lowestoft and have to visit Nanny and Grandad, Aunt Alison and Aidan, Liam and Isla, Nanny Brown, Janine and Lola, Tracy and the boys, and Mum and Dad... and drop off pressies and luggage to Robert and family. Was hoping to see Marie and Ricki, but it is all looking rather tight to be honest! On Sunday am seeing Jane and Jamie, before heading home to start preps for dinner with Mark and his parents.Boxing day we are heading to his pares for dinner with his sister and her family, and possibly his brother et al. Tuesday, I am back to work! Huge shocker!!!

Anyway... hope you all have a fantastic Christmas!! I really do...
Lots of love
Hayley and Mark and Mia
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bah Humbug!

Just got back from a lunch with some of the more sociable guys from work (those that haven't gone away for Christmas already). Had a fairly bad "Christmas" dinner at a local pub (soggy turkey roll, bad veg and... shudder.... sprouts! Watery custard... cheap Xmas pudding... moan... moan... waffle). The company was very good though, and we had a bit of a giggle (and only shandy or coke to drink! We are SO well behaved in Cambridgeshire...).

Last night I had a lovely dinner at Robert and Emma's, as Mark was having Noel and Doug over. Dinner was gorgeous (veggie curry with a beautiful dahl), although the evening was soured a little by the discovery that my debit and credit cards were both missing... I haven't seen them or used them since Saturday night, so I guess they may have been stolen in the pub after the meal in Hitchin? The bizarre thing is that a) they only took the cards and not my purse, b) the purse contained cash, which was NOT stolen, and c) they have not used the cards for any transactions... I don't think I have misplaced them, as am unlikely to have taken BOTH cards out for any reason, and haven't actually used my cards since Saturday?! Its a mystery... Anyway... should get the new ones issued pretty fast, but it's a good job I did all my shopping last week!!!

Tonight we are hopefully meeting Paul (Mark's bro) and his wife, Alison, for drinks in le village, which should be nice. Although they live very close, we never really socialise with them, which is a shame really... I guess Mark and his siblings are not as close as Tracy and I. If Tracy lived in the village, I doubt I would go barely a day without seeing her in some shape or form! They do lead very busy lives though (children in early teens who have lots of after school activities to attend), as I guess we do too...

Anyway... back to snoozing off my bad lunch... errr... I mean, back to work!
Lots of love,
Hayley
xxxxx

Monkey See, Monkey Do

http://www.himonkey.net/holiday/xmas/wrap/index.html

(Some Christmas wrapping tips from a fluffy Monkey... this really tickled me!)

Deck the Halls

I got this gorgeous picture from Helena's blog today... apparently she was not impressed about having her picture taken on a sweltering hot day, but she looks gorgeous all the same. Love the hair Helena - am jealous of the blonde curls!!!

I had a great weekend. Friday night was a very quiet one (Mark was pooped and went to bed early). Saturday, I got up early and took Adele over to the garden centre in Coton to get some Xmas shopping. I managed to get a load of stuff for my fish tank, which inspired me to give Elvis and Priscilla's home a thorough clean and a bit of redecoration (plastic plants ahoy!). They are quite funny, as they seem to display proper human joy when they have been cleaned out - am sure it was not my imagination when Elvis gave me a big wink and a celebratory wiggle... :-)

In the afternoon, went with Mark's Dad and Bro to watch the local team play Cambridge United. Well... was all a bit embarrassing really! We beat them 5-0, which is quite frankly shameful on their part (considering they are in the league above). Our celebrations were muted for a little while as Mark's Dad and Paul are ardent supporters of Cambridge United... "there are some games you just want to forget". We were quite good, and managed to resist rubbing it in a little!

Saturday evening we headed over to Hitchin to see Kevin and Heleen, and sixteen of us went for a delicious dinner at the Regent Cottage Chinese restaurant... it was absolutely superb, but incredibly busy (as ever). I didn't drink, which was made easier by the presence of two pregnant ladies (Heleen and her sister-in-law Claire, who are both co-incidentally due on exactly the same day in April!) and a fellow driver. After the meal, we went on to a bar, which (unfortunately for sober me!) didn't seem to ever close... we ended up getting home at 2:30am on Sunday! Despite my sobriety, I had a really good night - they are such a lovely crowd. We also saw Kevin and Heleen's gorgeous little girl Kristin, who has changed so much since I last saw her! She must be about 19 months, but has gone from being a baby to a proper little girl with masses of gorgeous blonde hair! We also found out that Heleen is expecting a little boy, so their family is complete!

Sunday, Mark (unsurprisingly) didn't get up until late. We finished putting the Christmas decorations up around the house (thankyou Jen and Sofie - I now have a Danish flag and a Sydney opera house to hang on my tree!), and put lights on the tree outside the house. In the afternoon, we popped to Mark's parents for an hour, and then made our way to Robert and Emma's place for dinner. We had an amazing dinner there. Emma had made a gorgeous Pumpkin and Sage soup with garlic bread, and Robert did smoked haddock on a bed of "twice cooked" cabbage, and tiny little fried cubes of potato with pieces of bacon (for all but Mark). Dessert was a pecan tart and cream. His presentation is immaculate; just what you would expect in a very posh restaurant!

Unfortunately, I managed to over-indulge in wine (possibly due to being so good on Saturday night), and have felt rough as a badger's arse all day today :-(

Spoke to Tracy this morning. she is finally in the house, and is loving it! She said the kids slept so well, that she had to get out at four to check that little Oscar was not dead (this is only the 2nd time in his little life that he has slept all the way through!). She seems very happy, and trying to make preparations for Christmas. She is a bit run off her feet with the shop though as one of her manageresses has really really sadly been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. A REAL shock - she only mentioned her raised glands in her neck to her doctor as an afterthought at the end of an appointment for something else. I feel SO sorry for her. She has to start chemotherapy pretty soon. We have had so much depressing news in the last couple of weeks (my half cousin's husband was also killed in a car crash last week, in addition to Noel's brother), would be nice to hear some good news!

Anyway... must get on. Have posted almost all my cards today (a few exceptions - FIONA, what is your address?!?!?!!?). Tonight I am going to do most of the food shopping for Christmas, so wish me luck!

Much love

Hayls

xxxxxx

PS. Big HAPPY birthday to Harvey, Olivia and Ruby - Sarah's triplets, who are five today! This is actually a fairly old picture (I think they are only three here). I hope they are having fun!

Christmas Spirit

Well... its been a funny old couple of days. Yesterday, I felt SO knackered all day, and Mark was tired too (I think he had worried where I was Weds night and had had a restless night), so we ended up going to bed at 8:30 after hardly saying two words to each other... I hate that!

Anyway... spoke to my sister first thing, and she told me she was extremely stressed out. The poor girl is up to her eyeballs in it... she is supposed to be moving into her house this weekend (but it still needs lots of bits and pieces sorted on it due to f*ck-ups by the builders), Henry is playing her up a bit and Oscar has a cold (we assume Henry is feeling a little unsettled by the move and his trip to hospital last week), it's UBER busy at the shop and she has staff shortages AND building work at the shop, Sam is generally perturbing her, my Dad keeps on at her about the state of some of the work that the builders have done to the house, she has Christmas to sort out for the kids, and she doesn't feel that well at the moment... I guess that kind of put my stressing over writing a few cards and wrapping a few presents into perspective! ;-)

Some other not so nice news that we heard today, is that Noel's brother died a couple of days ago in a car accident; a collision with a tractor, just near to Fakenham. Noel is one of Mark's oldest friends (they have been mates since the age of four, and Mark meets up with him weekly for a beer/curry). We can hardly believe it! He lost another brother in equally tragic circumstances a few years ago. I actually quite sick for him... I can't imagine losing Tracy. It would be my worst nightmare (again it puts my gripes about getting ready for Christmas into focus). Hopefully we (Mark at least) will be able to catch up with him in the next couple of days and see if he is ok.

On a cheerier note (?!), we have a fairly nice weekend lined up. Tonight, no real plans... in the morning am going with Adele to help her sort out some of her Christmas shopping, and at lunch time we are going to watch the local team play in a very important match (exciting!). In the evening, we are going to see Kevin and Heleen (and little Kristin) in Hitchin, along with Nigel and several other mates. We are going to a gorgeous Chinese restaurant very close to them. Bit of an ass though as the rule is that when we visit friends of Mark, I drive (and vice versa). So looks like I will be sober while they all get ratted (that's what happened last time). Mind you, I don't mind... they are such a lovely crowd, and it's nice to see Mark getting together with his friends.

Anyway... had better get some work finished, and then get home to write some of my Christmas cards! I REALLY need to get some off this weekend - I think have LONG missed the Christmas posting for some of our foreign friends/family, but I guess they may get there in time for New Year. (Jen I got yours in the post today! So don't hold your breath for it! heh).

Lots of love to you all,
Have a lovely weekend
Hayls
xxxxxxxxxxx

100 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Year!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4566526.stm

Christmas Canaries

Well... yesterday was fairly eventful for me. It took me a full (count 'em) THREE hours to get to work at the new office yesterday, prompting me to try and find a new route for my next visit to the Citigroup building in Canary Wharf. I took a bus to Cambridge station, a train to Liverpool street, a tube (after five attempts to get on) from Liverpool Street to Bank, and the DLR to Canary Wharf... god knows which route to take next week; there are so many variations, and I don't think any of them will shave off the hour I would like to save on my journey time!

The new offices are scarily high up (we are on the 38th floor), but I *think* I like it. It all seems quite empty and a little eerie at the moment (we are all rattling around in a frankly HUGE space), and it also made me realise what a small concern Monis actually is! We take up barely any space in the office, and are outnumbered several times over by other business units. And yet... we are one of the top earners... it is amazing really. My new "hot desk" is without any essentials (no drawer in which to put my salt and mustard, no telephone, no bin... the important stuff!), as apparently "hot deskers" (those of us who go in once or twice a week) have no rights... tsk tsk. However, it is quite nicely placed (right next to the emergency exit, a short walk to the kitchen, and well away from the window view that, quite frankly, freaks me out a bit!). Lunch was spent exploring all the new shopping opportunities... it is much better than I thought it would be, in that there are several women's clothes shops all clustered together in one mall, AND a Waitrose! Joy! :-D

In the evening we had the office Christmas party at The Marriot Hotel in Canary Wharf area. This was very pleasant (entirely well organised by Arpi); good food, a good laugh, and I actually managed to stay relatively sober. The only problem really was the journey home... having narrowly missed the 23:15 train to Cambridge, we (Tim Dodd from one of the other business units) and I had to get the 00:07 slow train home... this took an age, and seemed to stop at places I have never even heard of!! I managed to get home at 2am... schnarl schnarl. Very annoying when you have to leave just when the party is getting started, but still make it home later than most! It seems that the usual suspects from work went a leeeetle bit OTT in their celebrations, and some didn't make it home at all... tsk tsk tsk... would you credit it?! ;-)

Anyway... got a quiet day today. Have to get parcels off for friends abroad (Jen - I am SO sorry I didn't post yours sooner! I promise it will be worth it...). SO many of my friends seem to be moving house at the moment, or are waiting on moving, it will cost me a fortune in "New Home" cards in the next couple of weeks... John is moving, Nikki and Carlos, Tracy and the boys, Jamie and Adele, and Chris (who sits next to me at work). Janine and Simon managed to get their move sorted a couple of weeks back; a nice easy move across the road to a bigger house.

Much love
Hayls
xxx

PS. BIG First birthday shout to little Eloise Hart-Davies. We hope you have a lovely birthday! Can it REALLY be a year?!

Some Stories Can Make Your Day...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6178659.stm

Check out the image halfway down the page (click to enlarge it).

The Labyrinth

First things first; Henry is much recovered, thankfully! In fact, I spoke to Tracy this morning, and he was naked except for a pair of cowboy boots, and calling himself "Buffalo Henry". He apparently had a herd of pink cows that he had to save from snake attacks, which had "milk in their boobies" and were "made of pink bubble gum, so can't be eaten"??!!!

We had another nice weekend. Friday night I went over to Mark's parents, and ate chicken hotpot with his Mum and watched "Muriel's Wedding", which I have never seen before and was just great... Saturday, I got up mega-early, and did most of my Christmas shopping before 10am! Was fantastic! I then went for my massage, which was just gorgeous - although being loaded down with bags just seconds later seems to have caused some major muscle ache! heh... Saturday afternoon, Mark and Lindsey turned up... and Mark, Mark, Kurt and John (Mark's Dad) went to the football, while Lindsey and I put the world to rights in the kitchen! Saturday night, we had quite a few drinks at the local, and I had the most delicious curry I have ever had in the Indian (Rajestani Lamb? Curried lamb shank... melt-in-the-mouth-tastic!).

Sunday, we got up fairly late, I made scrambled eggs for us all, and we did a bit of work in the garden. Doug turned up for a chat and a cuppa, and then Mark and I went for a walk in the woods nearby (Mark took his hacksaw, for doing a bit of ivy clearing on the way!). In the afternoon we went to Mark's pares for a bit of tea and a chat, and in the evening we went with Doug to see Pan's Labyrinth at the cinema... this is an absolutely amazing Spanish film, and I fell in love with it! Can highly recommend! Very moving, lots of symbolism, and the most beautiful cinematography I have seen in a long time...

This week is a busy one... tonight have netball (and possibly drinks after), and tomorrow I have to schlep to Canary Wharf for the first time, and we have our Christmas "do" tomorrow night... getting home is gonna be interesting, and am actually thinking of not drinking, to facilitate my journey (particularly in light of the serial murderer in Ipswich)!

Much love
Hayls
xxxxx

My Boy

Was rudely awoken by my Mum this morning with the news that little Henry (my Nephew) was in hospital! Thankfully, he seems fine today, but what a shocker! It is REALLY frightening how what appears to be a bit of a nasty cough/cold for a child can so quickly become very serious! Yesterday afternoon, Grandad commented on Henry's nasty cough, and although Tracy said it sounded quite a harsh cough, she had no cause for deep concern. To cut a long story short, poor Henry's condition worsened quite rapidly (temperature raised, became floppy/sleepy, vomiting) - culminating in him panicking because he couldn't breathe between coughs - Tracy says it is a blessing that he likes having the baby monitor in his room for the music it plays, as she managed to hear him having breathing difficulties! Thankfully, Sam was around (as he was sposed to have Henry last night), so they managed to get him first to a walk-in medical centre locally, and then in an ambulance to James Paget Hospital. Tracy said it almost broke her heart when he still managed to squeak out that he loved her, and that he could see the Christmas lights through the window of the ambulance... Thankfully, on arrival in hospital, he responded immediately to the drugs they gave him on the Children's ward, and was reluctant to stay in bed (not through fear/illness), but because he was desperate to play with the doll's house on the ward! The weird thing that we couldn't work out, was when the ambulance arrived to say he was being taken to hospital, he went into a blind panic - although Tracy says he has no experience of hospitals, in the negative sense at least! Must have picked it up on CBBC or something! Anyway... he is home now, and looking very pale/tired with bloodshot eyes, bless him. It appears that he may have had Croup, which is a viral infection that can turn threatening for some children. It is also contagious, so she has to keep him away from little Oscar for the next couple of days - which may prove difficult! She has also been told that he has a heart murmur, which may/may not be due to the viral infection, but there will be tests for this... I am SO relieved that he has got out of this mostly unscathed though. Makes you realise how fragile we all are!

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful really! Wednesday night, we (Mark and I, and Robert and Emma) went to see The Broken Family Band, who I have to say were pretty amazing. The band play an excellent set, interspersed with much joking and chit chat by the lead singer - made for a really good night out. This was at the end of a fairly stressy day in London - I had to pack up my desk in the St. Mary Axe office, as we are moving en masse to Canary Wharf this weekend. I am SO looking forward to adding another 45 minutes to my journey into London once a week, to go and sit at a 'hot desk' (I have no allocated desk this time) on the 38th floor of a big terrorist target next to London City Airport.... call me cynical if you like, but it doesn't fill me with joy! I guess I can't really complain, as all the others have to be there every day of the week. But, still... whinge... whine... splat.

A pretty quiet weekend planned. Tonight, Mark is out with some work friends in the Local, and I am going to his Mum's for dinner (I have the chicken stew in the slow cooker already!). Tomorrow morning, Mark will undoubtedly be sleeping off the beer, and I am going into the City for a full body massage (THANKS JEN!) and to finish my Christmas shopping... in the evening, Mark and Lindsey are coming to stay the night, so it should be good to see them. No plans for Sunday at the moment, but am hoping to spend some quality time with Mark.

The garage/workshop is going great guns at the moment - the roof is going on as I type, so that will be good! Can't wait to see the finished result - looks nice enough to live in at the moment! Speaking of which, my house is not up for rent yet... so finger's crossed for that!

Anyway..
Love to all. Have a great weekend, and I promise I will try and get some cards written this weekend!

Hayls
xxxx

Le Weekend

Well, a varied weekend....

Spent much of it in the pub really, so not *that* varied! Friday, Mark and I went to the local for a drink (or seven), and had a really good night. Saturday we just spent the day doing errands (Mark in the garden painting the garage, and me ironing), although Caroline popped in with Phil and the children, which is always nice. Late Saturday afternoon we popped to the local footie ground and watched the reserves play half a match, which was bitterly cold! In the evening we went to the pub (surprise!), and then for curry.

Sunday we went around a few shops in the morning, and did a bit of Christmas shopping. Went to Mark's pares for a lovely lunch, and I stayed there while Mark went home to spend some time with a friend of his. We had a fairly quiet evening with said friend, and are hoping things work out for him.

Am sorry to be back at work today - feeling tired, and having troubles with my email this morning! Nevermind... roll on home time!

Happy belated birthday to Nikki for last Saturday - I hear she had a lovely time in Birmingham with her Husband, Carlos (newly married, so am enjoying calling him "husband" on her behalf!).

Much love
Hayls
xxx

...Straight Up

NOT on ice, as previously thought. Darn... not sure how I get these things so muddled! Anyway... a gorgeous production of Swan Lake, and for the first time I actually found the ballet quite stirring - emotional even! I guess this is why people go back for more... (or maybe it was the sight of a firm bottomed young Adonis of a man in white tights?!). Anyway... we had a lovely night. Mark's mum seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, and Caroline had her first night away from baby Emily without too much trauma for poor Phil. He did look incredibly nervous when we left!

Speaking of babies... here are some gorgeous pictures of my friends Tesla and Nile and their new baby son, Namar. What a handsome little guy he is! I wish them all the very best.

Cheers to having no plans for the weekend...

Much love
Hayls
xxxxx

On Ice

...not metaphorically or psychologically, as one could imagine in these depressing winter days, but quite literally 'on ice'. Tonight am escorting Mark's mum and sister to a showing of Swan Lake on Ice at a local theatre (a late birthday treat for Mark's Mum), while Mark whoops it up at his work Christmas party... spot the mistake?!

Actually, am secretly looking forward to tonight. Mark's family are good company, and Swan Lake is a lovely story. Jane and Jamie will account though for how this story can be misconstrued though (didn't we think that Bernard Matthews made an appearance in the Albert Hall rendition? ;-), so am printing off a synopsis for tonight, so we can check what is happening! heh...

Actually... have just spoken to Mark and it seems that it will be less of a whoop, and more of a whooping cough... he has picked up the cold I had last week, and is feeling pretty rotten. It seems that I may be having a wilder time than him after all! Actually, I hope he still makes it... he could do with relaxing and having a laugh after his week at work.

All else is good with me... looking forward to the weekend. Got NO PLANS, and Mark is off work - yay! Diet going well - have lost two pounds this week already, and am hoping for more by the weekend (returned to running this week, and have eaten sod all).

Had a text from Tesla this week to say that she gave birth to a little boy at the start of the week - a young 7lb chappie called Namar(?!). It is an Arabic name apparently, and I think it is a rather fetching one. Anyway, hopefully will catch up with her soon and she can talk me through the ordeal ;-).

Much love
Hayls
xxxxx

Retrievr

Cool link: http://labs.systemone.at/retrievr/

Hairdresser on Fire

Am utterly pooped today... last night drove to Norwich and back in one evening (about a 140 mile round trip), and although I ended up quite enjoying it, I am bloody tired today!

The house in Norwich looked fine; Lesley and Jason move out today, so the quest for new tenants is really starting in earnest. Was nice to catch up with them, and was bloody weird being offered a cup of tea and asking to use the loo in your own house! This landlady business is something that will take forever for me to get used to.

After I sorted out stuff at the house, I went over to Nikki's for a spot of dinner (a delicious chicken and bacon salad), and watched a bit of tv with them. Left their place at around ten, and got home about eleven thirty to find Mark fast asleep... I miss him when he is working! Talked to Tracy part of the way home, and am feeling sad for her. She needs a new man to concentrate on! Any suggestions?!

Today have had a terrible haircut at lunch (famous last words to Nikki on the phone before I went in: how badly can a hairdresser mess up short hair?!?!?!!?!!!!). I guess the only consolation is that she (junior stylist) only charged £12, whereas I have in fact had some slightly worse haircuts from Toni & Guy and been charged £60 for the pleasure. This poor girl was literally shaking like a leaf, and looked genuinely pleased that I didn't shout at her for 'razoring' off my fringe... why do I do it?!

Tonight I have netball, and hopefully Emma will be joining me. My exercise routine has gone out of the window since my return from holiday, and I really must get back on track. Am also restarting WeightWatchers with a vengeance. I WILL get on my little black dress this Christmas!!! This means a self-imposed ban on the biscuit drawer at work, which is no mean feat. They have Garibaldi biscuits, Hob Nobs and Jammy Dodgers on tap for chrissakes!! There are days when I can't stop myself cramming four or more biscuits into my mouth on every kitchen visit! :-|

Anyway... must get on with work. Lots to finish off this week.
Much love
Hayls xxx

PS. Saw this today and it cracked me up so much! http://www.southflorida.com/events/sfl-scaredsanta,0,2245506.photogallery?index=1

We Are Family!

Tracy had some gorgeous pictures of herself and the boys taken last week in Helen Nicholson's photographic studio in Beccles.

The results are gorgeous. Lovely natural pictures of the three of them. The poor photographer certainly had her hands full, as Henry wouldn't stand still for one second! Click here for the full set!

My Eyes Have Seen The Glory

Had a truly lovely weekend. Was spoilt to within an inch of my life by Mark, and was reluctant to see the weekend end.

Friday night, we went for a few drinks and Mark took me to Sala Thong for a gorgeous Thai meal; mixed veggie starters, and steamed sea bass with lemon and chilli. Delicious!

Saturday we did a spot of shopping in Tesco, and then later in town. Was nice and Christmassy, if not a little rainy. I accompanied Mark to get his haircut, and was treated to the sight of an IT-geek kinda guy who was very nervously getting his pony tail chopped off in anticipation of starting a new job in 'the big smoke' (he had not had his haircut for 15 years, and seemed to be visibly quaking at the thought!). In the evening Mark cooked an utterly delicious meal (Mussels, steamed in cider with onions and chilli, and then a red snapper type fish in a tamarind glaze?!). Am thinking... why doesn't he cook more often?!?! We sat up until far too late watching "The People Vs Harry Flint", which was very good - great to see Courtney Love doing her thang!

Sunday we had Mark's pares over for lunch (I did toad in the hole and mash, followed by Irish lemon pudding), and in the afternoon we all settled in front of the fire to watch Finding Nemo... sniff!! I forgot how bloody sad that film is!!!

In the evening, we went for a few pints at the local (very cosy, as have log fire at the moment), watched a bit of Blue Planet on tv, and then to bed... sigh! Why can't ALL weekends be like that?!

Tonight I have to schlep over to Norwich to say goodbye to my tenants, and might pop in for a coffee with Nikki and Carlos. Not looking forward to driving 140 miles in one evening! Booo....

Much love,
Hayls
xxx

London Calling

Yesterday, made my weekly trek to London for work... this, I have to say, is a much more enjoyable experience for me at Christmas time. It always seems to bring out the best in London, I think... Anyway, John took me out for a lovely lunch at Osteria Appenino in Devonshire Row. Gorgeous homecooked italian food - the Lasagne is to die for!

Am coming down with a stinker of a cold, and last night was feeling pretty rough by the time I got home. Mark got home from work, and went for a run to get rid of a bit of cabin fever. I cooked salmon, and then stayed up after Mark went to bed to knit some of my scarf! heh... my life is just so rock and roll these days... ;-)

Tonight, Mark has Noel coming over, and I am going to have dinner and shoot the breeze with my cousin Robert. Emma is away with work, but we are looking forward to dining on the finest chicken kebabs tonight, and a nice pint of Brewer's Gold in the local cosy pub. We know how to live! ;-)

Hayls
xx

Bond Girl

Not convertible bonds... but gorgeous porgeous blonde bonds. Wuff...

Loved the new Bond film. Loved the new sexy, tough fighting but soft hearted bond...

These are a few of my favourite things...

I couldn't let my birthday pass without saying hello to my two of my fave girls. Both looking gorgeous as ever... (apologies to all the other girls/boys I have left out this time...).

Little Helena giving Barniscubus a much-needed hug... pretty in pink!



Ever the follower of fashion, little Lola modelling her stripey tights...



Little Eloise in the park... I want a coat like that!!



P.S. Am pleased also to announce that Adele and Jamie are also due to have their first bubba in May, and Tesla is due in the next few days! Exciting times ahead...
P.P.S I forgot to mention the other week that I got in touch with Alison from my pottery class, and she now has a gorgeous little girl called Emily. Was lovely to hear from her, and she seemed very very happy with her new husband!

November Spawned a Monster

Well... today is my... ahem... 34th birthday! Yay... had a lovely day so far, and looking forward to an evening Bond fest (this is not some weird bondage request, but a trip to see James Bond at the cinema...).

Had some lovely surprises today... Mark has got me a book (Cooking Tofu - I suspect this is more for him than me! heh) and a CD I wanted (The Magic Numbers). Mum and Dad gave me money, as did Nanny and Grandad. Jen organised me to have a lovely massage locally, Janine got me a foot massge thingy and some shower gel, and a gorgeous picture of Lola. Ricki got me a very funky handbag. Mark's pares got me a lovely gardening book, a bookmark and some smellies, as did my aunt Alison and family. Adele and Jamie got me a gorgeous poinsetta plant (very xmassy!), and Marie bought me some gorgeous pink wine bottle stoppers (very handy!). Kathleen at work got me some bath stuff too (am starting to think maybe I smell!!). A few more pressies and cards are winging their way in the post it seems... all in all have been thoroughly spoilt! :-D Mark is planning to take me out/cook for me this weekend, as he will be off work (he is working today, sadly)...

The weekend was very nice. Went out with Mark on Friday night for a few drinks and a curry. Saturday, picked up my parents from the station and took them shopping - even started some xmas shopping! Saturday night I cooked for Mum and Dad and watched Hero on DVD, although the evening didn't finish so well as Dad was sick! Maybe my cooking got to him! ;-) Sunday we went to Wimpole Hall (an Xmas craft fair) and Burwash Manor, dropped Mum and Dad off and then went out in the evening to see Amy Winehouse, who was bloody amazing! All in all a very good weekend...

Anyway... better leave off work soon before I get tempted into eating my 4th doughnut of the day (it is tradition to buy doughnuts for all the people in the office on your birthday, and then eat most of them yourself... well for me anyhow!).

Much love, and thanks again for all the pressies and cards. I have been touched by the good friends I have.
Much love,
Hayls
xxx

Good Little Brownie

Well, this week has been extremely busy at work, and have had no time to blog! Quelle horreur!!! I have even been known to work twelve hours in a row a couple of days this week... what is the world coming to?!!! Slave labour...

Anyway... now on the eve of the weekend, I have time to tell you about my last weekend.

Friday night, Mark and I had a really nice night out; a few beers and a delicious curry at the local Indian. We even joined in on a rant with yer typical Daily Mail reader about 'the state of the world'... a good time was had by all! ;-) Saturday, with some trepidation, I made my way to Norwich to meet the agents that will be renting out my house there. I must confess that this has been stressing me out for some time (God knows why... I am turning into my Mother - anything vaguely out of the normal is enough to send me into a tail spin!). As it turned out though, the guy made it sound all very effortless on my part, the house was absolutely spotless (in fact, to my horreur it looked better/tidier than it did when *I* lived there! harumph), and he even said I could probably market it as 'furnished', which means that I won't have to find homes for all my bits of furniture that are there! Hurrah!! The day was made even better by a delicious lunch at Olive's with Nikki, Carlos, Mark and Lindsey (gorgeous Greek platter), and a long catch up with Sandra (ex pottery buddy). The only downer on the day was a parking ticket, which I got outside Nikki's place (after I had ignored their advice not to park on the yellow line... doh!).

Sunday was another entirely pleasant day. Met up with Ricki in London - did the Columbia Road Market thing, a lovely curry (tandoori chicken) in Brick Lane, and then Spitalfields market. Ricki was delighted with her purchases; a "fat fairy" Christmas decoration, which was extremely expensive (at £25) but am sure will give her years of pleasure... remember, a Christmas decoration is for life, and not just for Christmas... errr... and I actually managed not to buy anything, which might even be a world record?!

This week at work has been a round of long days and trauma over the release of a user guide and help file... (I won't bore you with the details), and last night (Thurs) was the first night I could relax. I had a lovely dinner (that I cooked!) at Robert and Emma's, and a little walk to the pub... very nice!

The plans for this weekend are as follows: Tonight - drinks out with Mark. Saturday: Parents are arriving, and we plan to do a bit of birthday pressie shopping for me (yay!) and xmas pressie buying for everyone else (boo!). Saturday Night: I am planning to cook Tuna Meatballs for everyone, and take a walk to the local. Sunday: We have no real plans for parents as yet (depends largely on weather, which right now is downright miserable), but in the evening Mark and I are going to see Amy Winehouse play at The Junction (her latest album is fab)... am looking forward to finishing tonight!

Much love... have a lovely weekend,
Hayls
xxx

Celebrity-a-likes!

This is truly addictive...

http://www.myheritage.com

And for Mark (my Mum always said he looked like Cliff!):

http://www.myheritage.com

Sexy Ron

Well....

On Weds night, Mark and I went to see Ron Sexsmith play at The Junction, and went for a few drinks (before, during and after). Was a really good night - nice to get out and actually have a laugh with each other now and again! Ron Sexsmith was really rather good (I had vaguely heard of him a couple of years ago, but he is not someone that has really ever popped up on my radar). Lyrically he is fantastic, and his voice is beautiful. Not so sure about his shock of wavy hair and bad checked suit though - the title of this blog is ironic, in case u hadn't realised ;-)

Poor Mark spent the entire day yesterday trying to fix the boiler for hot water and heating (we were expecting a deep frost last night, so it was pretty urgent!). A stroke of genius by him meant that he fixed it just before we went to bed last night. Was unfortunate that the *real* faults in the system (he replaced some major parts) were fixed, but that by coincidence the reset button in it was also broken. this meant that even though he had indeed fixed the thing earlier in the day, he had unwittingly been unable to reset it, so it was still showing that it had a fault. Anyway... it was nice to have a hot shower this morning!

Mixed plans for the weekend. Mark is working (boo), and I am heading to Norwich for lunch with Nikki and Carlos and I have to meet the agents who will be letting my house (boo). Sunday, am meeting Ricki in London, and we are planning a day mooching around the Columbia Road plant market, Spitalfields market, and maybe a curry in brick lane.. yum yum. This is part of my extended birthday celebrations (I like my birthday to last at least two or three weeks), so that is good!

Have a nice weekend!
Lots of love,
Hayls
xxxxxx

Holiday Snaps

If you are VERY bored.... check them out (there are LOTS!!!).

• Xi'an in China - our stay with Jez and Marta
• Shanghai in China
• Phnom Penh in Cambodia - our stay with Andy and Srey Neath
• Koh Samui (Island) in Thailand

You take a look at the blog entries here (China and Camobidia) and here (Thailand).

Hayls xxxxxxxxxx

Cruisy Weekend

Well... last weekend (I know this is a late report!) was pleasant, and very quiet (but busy at the same time, if you know what I mean??!!).

Friday night we stayed in - Mark was so tired from work that he could hardly eat dinner, so half of the pavlova I bought for dessert got eaten out of the packet by... errr... moi! This seemed to set a precedent for eating cakes for the rest of the weekend! ;-)

Saturday, I got up early (had builders to make coffee for) and mooched in the village - had eyebrows waxed (how decadent is that?!). Art lunch time, my cousin Robert and Emma came over with my Aunt Doreen and Uncle Kenny. We had a thoroughly pleasant catch up, and a nice cup of tea... its the first time they have seen the house, and were suitably impressed! In the afternoon I went with Adele to the local craft fair... amongst the knitted doilies and toilet roll covers, there was actually some rather nice stuff; some nice jewellery at least. I managed to start my xmas shopping, and bought myself a lovely woolly hat, and a lovely lemon crunch cake... rock and roll, hey?! In the evening I wandered down to the local fireworks display with Jamie and Adele and co... oh, how we "ooooohed" and "aaaaaahed".

Sunday morning, was up early again, and drove over to Haslingfield to meet up with Angie. We took Molly (dog) to Wimpole Hall for a gorgeous walk - was surprisingly warm! We stopped for... err... yet more coffee and cake, and chatted about Angie's impending working holiday to NZ... lucky woman! At lunch time I went over to Mark's parents and had a gorgeous roast beef dinner with his family (including Caroline and Phil and the girls). again my will to diet was ruined by the addition of steamed treacle pudding and custard!!! :-s Later in the afternoon popped over to see Andy's mum (Andy from Cambodia) to give her some bits to take to Andy and Srey Neath during her trip to see them this month... very exciting for her!

Monday I had to schlep into London for work (although did manage to see Jean and Shelley at lunch; they had come for Jean's leaving drinks). In the evening though we went to see the local reserve footie team play, which was quite fun - although bloody cold! Tuesday I went for a run at lunch time, which was my first since the holiday (absolutely exhausting!!). Last night I played netball (cold, exhausting, spot a pattern??), and then languished in the bath with some wine (Mark was out with Noel). Cooked myself a gorgeous piece of salmon, as have just started getting a fish delivery from a Grimsby fish van - very nice, but can tell it is going to cost me an arm and a leg!!

Anyway... thats enough boring stuff... back to work (very very busy). Have just been informed that the boiler at home is broken - so, no doubt tomorrow I will be very cold and a bit smelly... oh joy! The lack of showering facilities will be sorely missed, especially since Mark and I are going out tonight to see a gig (smoky/beery)...

Much love
Hayls
xxxxx

Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others

Well... I am having a bit of a Smiths/Mozza revival on my itunes this morning, and this song title always makes me smile... in fact, today this is definitely true. Yesterday I over indulged somewhat in the lunch time buffet we have every Thursday at work, and last night Mark and I went for a curry... "some girls are bigger than others... some girl's mothers are bigger than other girl's mothers"...

We had a nice evening last night actually. Mark took me out to save me cooking. Went to a local pub which has been taken over in the last month by a woman that Mark worked with years ago, so that was quite good. She was keen to buy us a drink, and it was fun for me to sit back and listen to all the work-related gossip... Afterwards we went for a curry at the local Indian; Lamb dhansak and chana rice for me. Although I am slightly suspicious that they didn't serve me a dhansak at all (was far too creamy). Maybe I looked like a korma type of girl ;-)

Got a fairly nice weekend lined up, although Mark is working all weekend again (which always takes the shine off it for me!). Might be going to a craft fair in the village with Adele (will be buying you all a knitted toilet roll holder for Christmas), and have arranged to see Robert, Emma and my aunt and uncle at some point - possibly for lunch. In the evening I will be going with Jamie and Adele to watch some local fireworks (Mark won't make that, as starts too early), and for dietary reasons I am skipping the curry with them afterwards! Sunday I have been invited to roast dinner at Mark's parents, which should be nice as haven't spent much time with them since we got back and Caroline (Mark's sister) will be there with her new baby and Katie.

Have a nice weekend!
Much love
Hayley
xxx

The Last DJ

My friend at work (Sam) creates a radio show every two weeks or so... it's always a great mix of indie/80s/60s stuff, and he does requests! You can download the latest show here and sign up to receive a reminder whenever he creates a new show.

Big Smoke

Netball was pretty good on Tuesday night, although am regretting asking Emma to come along - she is a bit too bloody good for my liking! It does bring back memories of being st achool though... freezing my butt off outside, and sneering at the teacher when they make you do warm up exercises!

Yesterday I went to London for work. Had a very busy day work-wise, but still made time to catch up with John over lunch at the Japanese canteen (near work).

After work I headed straight round to Robert and Emma's place. I went for a couple of beers with Robert at his local (The Kingston Arms), and we were joined by Emma and a rather cold/cheesed off Mark. Poor Mark had waited over an hour for a bus (so he could have a drink with us), but had to abandon the idea after developing frostbite and jump in his car. Robert cooked a yummy dinner, as always (stirfried prawns, a noodle dish and pak choi in soy sauce), and we listened to some weird fisherman stylee music!? I think it sounded better to Robert and I (as we had consumed beer and lots of wine) than it did to Mark and Emma.

Got a busy busy day at work today, and no other plans really... (aside from the large buffet at lunch time! I like Thursdays!),

Much love
Hayls
xxxxx

Red Red Wine

I must be practically immortal!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6105412.stm

Amy Amy Amy

Had a pretty uneventful day yesterday, although was very happy that I managed to get two tickets for Amy Winehouse's gig at The Junction next month. This will be my birthday pressie to myself (as is shortly before) ;-) Last year we saw her play an acoustic set there, and she blew us away... am hoping we will not be disappointed this time as expectations are high!

I also ordered her latest album Back to Black, and The Last Town Chorus's new album (much anticipated by me, as it has an amazing rendition of Bowie's song Modern Love on it - you can download it in full from the website).

Last night did very little, again! I cooked a thai curry for Mark and I, and we walked to the local for a couple of pints. We shouldn't have bothered really as Mark was too tired to hold a proper conversation (grunts and scowls ensued), so we didn't stay out long!

Tonight I have netball, and Emma is going to join me. This will be my first bit of exercise since the holiday (well... since before I went on holiday!), so it is no doubt going to come as a bit of a shock! Particularly considering the weather - it is cold, grey and pretty dismal today (it looks like it is almost dark outside, and it is lunch time!). The running club seems to have fallen into disarray since my departure (the shower in the office has broken, and provided most with an excuse for not attending). To be honest I am not in the mood to reinstate it at the moment, but am hoping that by next week I will be back to my sargeant major self, and pulling the troops back into line (with the help of some of the keener runners, who are also away this week.... errr... perhaps this explains my own lack of motivation! heh).

Mark has got Noel over tonight, so after netball I am cooking myself a yummy steak whilst they go out for their curry... :-)

Anyway... happy Halloween... this is a picture of my Mum who has for the first time ever in my memory, fully embraced Halloween (for little Henry's sake, of course!). To be honest this outfit freaked my sister and I out at the weekend!! ;-)

Much love,
Hayley

xxx

Weekenders

Hey... had an entirely pleasant, if uneventful, weekend. Friday night was very brief actually... I went to the giant Tesco, cooked dinner, and we went to bed with our books at about 9:30! How old are we?

Mark was up early Saturday, and I laid in bed reading for a couple of hours. Did some cleaning around the house, and met up with Adele for a walk into the village and a coffee in The Red Lion (very cosy pub for the autumn!). In the afternoon, I drove home to my parents and went out in the evening for a 'girl's dinner'. This included myself (obviously), Mum, Tracy (and Oscar of course), Nanny, Alison and Megan... all very pleasant. We ate in a rather nice pizza/pasta stylee restaurant in Beccles (believe it or not!). It's very similar to Pizza Express, and is unbelievably sophisticated for Beccles! ;-) I had a rather delicious, calamari, chicken and asparagus risotto, and honeycomb cheesecake! Oscar was really well behaved all evening, and didn't even cry once...

Tracy seemed in fairly good spirits, considering... although am concerned by her possible reaction to Sam's plans to go on holiday with his woman. I'm not sure how Tracy will cope with that - I know that I wouldn't! However, it may be good for her to get a break from him for a week (if indeed he goes - he seems to be dithering over it).

On Sunday, we (me, Mum, Dad, Tracy, Henry, Megan and Oscar) headed to Tracy's new house to look at the progress (coming along - the new kitchen is in!), and then took the dogs along the beach and drank coffee in a couple of the tea houses on the seafront. In the afternoon I went to see Nanny and Grandad, to help Grandad out with his PC... Drove home in the evening, and cooked Mark and I a spicy pasta sauce thing to use up the veggies in our veggie box...

See - I told you it was uneventful!!! ;-)
Much love
Hayls
xxxx

An Open and Shut Case

Well... the cases turned up in the middle of a howling gale at around 9:30pm last night... most unexpected, but entirely welcome! Have never been so relieved to see my dirty washing after a holiday, and already looking at the stuff makes the holiday seem like an age ago! I can't believe its only Friday, and on Monday we were languishing on a hot beach...

Last night we had a very sedate evening. I read my book (Life and Death in Shanghai), which I am totally and utterly absorbed by; it really gives an insight into 1960s-70s China, and helped me to reflect on some of the things I saw there and the people. I cooked Mark Pizza, but didn't really fancy any dinner myself (I *must* be ill!), and we were asleep by 10pm!

Am looking into a letting agent to deal with my house, I think. I just can't face sorting it out privately, unless of course to friends.

Not got too much planned for the weekend. May go out for dinner with Tracy tomorrow night, and spend the day with my pares on Sunday. Mark is working all weekend. which is a bit of a downer for me - back to Earth with a bump!

Anyway... back to the grind.
Hayls
xxxxx

Thai Bow

Well... here we go for the final installment of my trip...

PS. Jet lag is still pretty bad - was wide awake at 3am today, and feeling groggy today... and still no sign of suitcases in Cambridge... ah well! ;-)

Akwa Guest House, Chewang Beach, Koh Samui Island, Thailand - Tuesday 17th October - Monday 23rd October
Tuesday
Woke up on this day with a really really painful cricked neck (was in tears on waking) and had to face a long and arduous journey to Koh Samui (a tuk-tuk, two planes, some ridiculous shenanigans in the now much-hated Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, and a taxi to the Akwa guest house in Chewang beach).

The hotel more than made up for the hateful journey - lovely air conditioned place, with really comfy beds, kitschy pop-art all over the walls, bunches of fresh orchids all over the room, nice staff, and a DVD player in our room (with access to a library of films for free in reception!). The only draw-back was the incredibly steep stairs we had to haul our cases up to to get to the room... That evening we walked along the beach (1 minute walk away), got a nice dinner at a quiet hotel on the beach, and went back to the room and watched "Flight Plan" on DVD in bed before getting an early night...

Wednesday
Chewang is a fairly chaotic little resort, full of t-shirt shops and Indian tailors (trying to get you to buy one of their packages for as little as £40 - 2 handmade suits to measure, with three shirts and a coat etc... for a pittance!). If I had had room in my case, and more patience, I would have had a dress made to measure... We did the shops in the morning, and then settled in the beach for the day (gorgeous beach, and lovely warm sea). In the evening we went to a fairly posh restaurant on the beach called Eat Sense, which served really nice fresh Thai food in a nice setting...

Thursday
We hired a jeep (for just £10 for the day!), and drove around the island in it... this only takes a couple of hours, but we stopped for lunch at Big Buddha beach (lovely seafood fried rice in the most dodgy looking restaurant overlooking the bay) and made a day of it... got back to the room and watched another DVD ("Finding Neverland", which was fab), and in the evening went for another nice meal in the restaurant on the beach that we went to the first night...

Our trip in the jeep also enabled us to find our next port of call... the Golden Sands beach resort in Limai beach (a quieter resort than Chewang).

Friday
A free taxi picked us up to take us to the new hotel; which turned out to be a clean, and fairly basic chalet type thingy right on the beach front, beside the pool. We spent the day on the beach, swimming in the sea/pool and reading books... in the evening we went to a restaurant a couple of doors down from our hotel, and (quelle surprise) had a nice dinner on the beach!

Saturday, Sunday and Monday
These days were all spent in and around the Golden Sands beach resort, eating and drinking in local bars and restaurants in Lamai, and generally chilling out! We watched some football matches on Saturday and Sunday, and on Saturday I had a manicure and pedicure, and some traditional Thai massage (my god - it did the cricked neck some good when she walked up my spine! :-s)... On the last afternoon we met a really nice couple called Tracy and Richard (from Blackpool) and idled away our last few hours with them (drinking beer and sheltering from the only really bad storm we had in our time there). Was such a shame for us to leave Monday night!

The journey home was fairly uneventful, aside from yet another screw up at the god-forsaken Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok (deep breaths)... and of course our suitcases not arriving home with us...

All in all we had a gorgeous time.

Much love to you all
Hayls
xxx

Invasion of Asia

Well..... I would love to say it's truly great to be home, but I'm not sure I can wholeheartedly! ;-)

I have to say I have missed my family and friends loads (and Mia of course), but have had an amazing amazing holiday, and would give anything to be laying on that beach in Thailand right now, supping a Singha beer and eating squid and noodles... sigh.... Instead, I have arrived at work to find more than 300 emails to trawl through, it's cold and drizzling, and my tenants are moving out of my house, so I have to find new ones... oh, and our suitcases seem to be still sat in Thailand for some reason! Poopah.... For those interested, here is a very short rundown of what we got up to! Warning - look away now if you are easily bored as I am using this as a kind of reminder to self of what we did, so may be a little too detailed for most!

A big-thankyou again to Adele for looking after the house and cat so well (and stocking us up with essentials for our return - very very sweet), and Jane and Jamie for their stay too... Mia is in fact absolutely fine, and seems to have doubled in size in our absence...

Jez and Marta's apartment, Xi'an, China, - Friday 6th October - Wednesday 11th October
Friday
On early morning arrival here (we flew in from London, changing at Beijing airport), we thought that there was a bit of early morning fog around... however, as we flew across China to Xi'an, we realised that this was more than fog... it seems that the whole of China is covered with a thick layer of smog! Never again will I look at misty woodland scenes in China in quite the same way! ;-) Anyway... met at the airport by Mark's friend Jez, and his wife Marta (and their private driver!), and went back to their apartment to carsh out for a few hours (on the 17th floor of a newish block of flats in the "Hi-tech zone of the city"). We were welcomed by their crazy spaniel Frankie, and less enthusiastically by their cat Purdy (both very cute and VERY spoilt!).

After rousing ourselves later in the afternoon, we headed out for a few drinks in the bar street type area in Xi'an, and went for a very posh meal in the evening with some American friends (Marie and John) of Jez and Marta's that were in fact moving back home a couple of days later... felt a little sorry for intruding a fairly emotional meal for them all, but was too busy being bowled over by the menu to really worry about it... duck's tongues? Sea slugs? Chicken feet????? After meal went for more drinks in the bar street (got stuck into Tsing Tao, the local beer), and bizarrely bumped into Jez's mum by pure coincidence... she was on a two-week whirlwind tour of China (before staying a week with Jez after we left), and was in Xi'an a couple of nights to visit the terracotta army). Considering that Xi'an is about the size of London, was quite a feat!

Saturday
Next day, slept in again, and went to look round the Bell and Drum towers in Xi'an, did a spot of shopping around the Muslim market, and took a stroll around the mosque.

In the evening we met up with Jez's mum and went to a Portuguese restaurant, then to a cafe and a bar (ordered and drank an entire bottle of bourbon between the four of us - this is the chinese way apparently!).

Sunday
Another late get-up, but in the afternoon made up for it with a 14km cycle ride around the city wall. Gorgeous and warm weather and an amazing intro to the city... we loved this! Afterwards went for a quick shopping trip around a market nearby, and in the evening went for an 'interesting' vegetarian meal... this included false pork (including pork rind and fat made of tofu and jelly type stuff), false shrimps, and a bizarre pile of sausages hanging out of a conch shell?!

Monday
We climbed a mountain this day! Got the driver to take us out to a mountain range about 30km out of Xi'an (Hua Shan). This was a lovely, if exhausting day out... took us 2-3 hours to walk up this mountain, having got a cable car up most of it! We most have been four of around ten Westerners on the mountain that day, and we certainly attracted an awful lot of attention from the several hundred chinese there that day... the odd friendly shout of "Hello", lots of open-mouthed stares, and many many pictures taken of us (all very subtley). I think it was my shorts and sandals that did it... they had never seen such a massive expanse of white flesh!! ;-)

In the evening we went to a gorgeous Japanese restaurant. Guided to a private room with our own chef preparing our very fresh food on a hotplate in front of our table... this cost around $20 for the four of us!!! The beef here was sublime, as were the shrimps (alive in the dish waiting to go on the hotplate!), and the veggies... all cooked to perfection!

Tuesday
This was our last day in Xi'an. Went with Jez to see the terracotta army... which was great, but I have to say that I would have been disappointed if I had gone all the way to China to see it (I guess we were spoilt with Angkor Wat in Cambodia last year), and then we went to some hot springs. This was lovely... Mark, Jez and I hired a hot tub thing for part of the afternoon, and almost cooked ourselves in the boiling water coming from the natural springs! Marta and I went to a local supermarket on our return - I was bowled over by the range of goods on offer, and how much of it I didn't recognise! It made me laugh though, that an entire aisle of cooking oils contained just two small bottles of olive oil, that were about £10 a pop!

Our last night turned into something it shouldn't have, considering our early start to Shanghai the next day! Went for a meal with a couple of Jez's colleagues (this night I actually tried chicken feet! tasteless and jelly-like), and then ended up in a rather classy nightclub until 4am weds!!! (we had to be for our flight at 6am, and only made it because Jez's dog woke us up!). We had great fun in the club - drank way too much white rum, and then got involved with a drinking game with a bunch of Chinese businessmen.. "Gambe!" means bottoms up, and they really do expect you to stand by it once you have said it! Man...

Was really sad to say goodbye to Jez and Marta - really enjoyed their company... Marta was a real scream - we exchanged our own brand of English, Spanish (her native language) and Chinese, and really seemed to hit it off...

Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China - Wednesday 11th October - Friday 13th October
Wednesday
Got to this amazing and very famous hotel feeling like crap, and slept most of the afternoon... ;-) Our journey to the hotel was made interesting by the Maglev train, which travels at something like 500km/h... would have been better without the hangover. I closed my eyes...

Later in the afternoon we went for a stroll along The Bund and spent a considerable amount of time looking for a famous department store, which seems to have been demolished (there is re-building going on everywhere here!). In the evening, had the most amazing meal on the roof of one of the banks on The Bund. This was like eating at the Oxo tower in London, and despite being expensive by our standards (and deffo by Chinese standards), you would easily have paid more than four times the £70 we paid for anything like it in London. The restaurant was called M on The Bund and I highly recommend it for the views and the food... the slow cooked lamb that I had was delicious.

Thursday
Went to a bazaar and ate gorgeous steamed dumplings (and unbelievably bumped into Jez's Mum down a side street, on another leg of her tour!), sat in a tea house in a park (and got stared at plenty, again by the locals), had a look around the shopping district... did a spot of shopping in a weird arcade full of fake western gear, which was deffo there for making money out of tourists... prices had to be haggled mercilessly, since prices can be cut by 80% from your arrival in a shop to your hurried departure... we did lots of shopping here!

In the evening we went to another veggie restaurant specialising in fake meat stuffs, and got a reasonably early night in the rather lovely Peace Hotel (ready for our flight to Cambodia the next day!).

I really liked Shanghai... less polluted than Xi'an, but very much a 'big lights, big city' kinda place... not as 'old china' as Xi'an. I suppose it ties in with the way I imagine Tokyo or Hong Kong might look? I think though that two days was long enough there really...

Andy and Srey Neath's house, Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Friday 13th October - Tuesday 17th October
Friday
Spent most of the day travelling to Phnom Penh via Bangkok. I thought that the Friday 13th omen was gonna kick in for sure on the taxi journey to the airport in the morning... I closed my eyes and said my goodbyes to you all (the driver was a maniac, and ripped us off money-wise on arrival). We were met at the airport by Andy in a taxi, and went back to their place for a few drinks... went for a delicious meal in the evening in one of their local fave restaurants (including squid, eel, and heaps of steamed prawns), and had drinks in the Green Vespa bar and Zeppelin bar (a little Korean man with a huge retro record collection runs this one!).

Was lovely to see Andy and Srey Neath again, and felt like yesterday that we were there (last year!). They seem to have been adopted by a tiny skinny little kitten that we christened "Pky", which is Cambodia for "star" (as she was all black with tiny white socks and a star shaped white splodge on her chest). Pets are not entirely embraced in Cambodia, so her chances of survival may be remote... but we enjoyed making a fuss of her. In a bid to make her into a rat catcher of sorts though, it is unlikely that she will be dining on Whiskers or Felix...

Saturday
In the morning we ate a thai breakfast (pad thai for me!) and went via motorbike to the killing fields (Choeung Ek) just outside Phnom Penh. Words cannot describe this place, and I'm not sure I could do it justice... you would have to see it to believe it really. There are still teeth, bones and bundles of clothes in the earth as you walk around it... its not really like any Western museums of the same ilk, but then again I guess this place is pretty unique... In the afternoon, Mark, Srey Neath and I let Andy do some marking (he is a local teacher), and went to visit the Russian Market in Phnom Penh. An amazing place... full of bargains!

In the evening, we attempted a Korean restaurant that Andy had been recommended, which proved expensive and full of Koreans listening to a woman doing some form of terrible singing! On that note we duly downed our Anchor beers and took a tuk-tuk back to the delicious restaurant we had been to the night before!

Sunday
We took the motorbikes some 40km out of town to a lovely mountain area (a very sore bottom from the bike seat, and sunburnt legs!), with some temples on top (the name escapes me right now).

This was a pretty unique place, which attracts hundreds of Cambodians on a Sunday. The whole area is covered in food stalls, selling a bewildering array of freshly cooked foods (some recognisable, but many not), with 'picnic platforms'. These platforms are shaded areas off the ground, which you pay to use - they give you bowls of rice and cutlery to eat with your picnic food, and serve you drinks... you also get the use of several local children for free - who will fan you while you eat, and generally hang around and threaten to sing or do comedy shows unless you give them food... ;-) On the platform next to us, a large local family were paying two very young kids to put on a singing show (the actions were amazing), and they paid them in beer and rice... this obviously made the performances more enthusiastic on the children's part! It was at this meal that I sampled one of the most delicious things I ate whilst away; stuffed frogs! I kid you not, it was delicious! We also had grilled fish, some sort of whitebait stuff, and a whole roast chicken (head too!). Thankfully, Srey Neath couldn't seem to find the deepfried 'ants' she was looking for (I kid you not)...

After lunch we sauntered up the mountain to see the temples on top (kids in tow), one of which was being heavily guarded by a rather furious looking monkey. Mark had the kids in stitches by playing them fart noises on his phone, which increased our crowd of child followers...

In the evening we ate at a more western-style restaurant (I actually had roast chicken dinner - my first spuds in days!) and had a few sedate drinks in The Stranger Bar.

Monday
Andy had to work today, so we spent the day with Srey Neath which was lovely. Had a few rain showers, but did not stop us from making the most of the day. Went to the Russian Market again for a few more last minute bargains (and some beef noodles for brekkie), then hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day (just $10!!). We went to visit Srey Neath's parents and family, Mark had his haircut in a shop on the river front whilst I had a manicure there (I even look like I have girl's nails!), we bought Srey Neath an English dictionary as a leaving pressie from a bookstore, and then went to the Central Market for lunch (khmer style fishy noodles, which were amazing), and bought fresh fish from the market for a bbq we had in the evening in Andy and Srey Neath's garden. Fresh squid, live crabs, prawns, mackrel, and fresh sweetcorn... delicious, and not quite like the fish counter at Tesco or even Lowestoft fish market.

In the evening we had said bbq, and went for a cruise down the Tonle Sap river for an hour or so - very civilised!

We were VERY sorry to leave Cambodia, and would have liked to stay longer...

No more time to update this, will update this with our Thailand trip tomorrow! Sorry for being so boring!

Much love
Hayls
xxxx

PS. If you know of anyone that wants to rent a house in Norwich, please let me know ASAP!

Izzy Wizzy...

Yesterday had a massively busy day, both at home and work! Managed to pack a bit more stuff in the morning before work (trying unsuccessfully to reduce the amount of stuff I take on holiday, but finding it difficult!). At lunch time went for a 3 mile run around the lake, and managed to get some keys cut for Jane and Jamie who are looking after the house for me, along with Adele (cat duty), Noel, Kurt, Jessica and several other people! I suspect that the house will look rather crowded some days and nights!! :-)

After work I went to get everything waxed off from the neck upwards and the waist downwards (gulp) - this was my first time for waxing, and I think I took it rather well... I think that my pain seemed insignificant when the lovely girl performing the procedure told me that her dad had died in a tragic car accident just 9 weeks previously. It kind of made my horreur at having my hair ripped out by its roots seem a little pathetic!

Last night played netball in the pouring rain (how hardcore am I?!!), went home and cooked dinner for Mark and I (quorn 'minced beef' pies, with veggies and veggie gravy), cleaned the house some more, and we managed to get the canoe in the shed in the pitch dark... have loads of washing to get dry for holiday still (why is it that watched clothes never dry?!) and am generally panicking about packing and the number of errands I have to do before we leave!!!!

Anyway... have much to do at work - got to get some stuff released before the day is out!
Lots of love, and you all take care. Will try and keep in touch.
Hayls
xxxx

Say No More...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5402342.stm

Wedster Weekend

Had another nice weekend...

Friday night
Did sweet fanny adams, as was still recovering from Thursday night. Cooked Tuna, Rice and Leek gratin (another weight watchers piece of mastery) and went to bed at 8:30pm!!!

Saturday
Had a packed day! Got up early to greet the builders and make them coffee etc... Mark ran me to train station, and was met off the train in Norwich by cousin Mark (very handy!). We met up with Lindsey in the city, and did a bit of a mooch around the shops. I bought a rather fantastic fuchsia pink Samsonite suitcase, which I am hoping will be fit for many years to come! Its the most I have ever paid for a bit of luggage (a cool £79 no less), but am hoping it will last longer than the hundreds of other cheap cases I have bought in the past - the last of which I had to wrap sellotape around to get home! In the afternoon I went to get my hair cut at the much missed Lauren Reeves salon (she is certainly worth travelling for, which I had discovered in the last few months, to my loss).

In the evening, Mark joined us and we went along to Nicki and Carlos's wedding reception at the Maid's Head hotel in Norwich... this was a really fun event (much drinking, socialising, laughing, crying (not me) and general wedding stuff ensued!). We didn't make it to bed at Mark and Lindsey's until 4:30am, and cousin Mark made some much needed bacon sandwiches in the morning. Nicki and Carlos seemed really happy (if not a leeetle bit pished), which is of course the main thing!

Sunday
Headed over to my parents for the afternoon, and Mo cooked one of her fantastic roast dinners (I do miss a roast as Mark is veggie, and cooking one for just me seems too much bother!). Dad, Mark and I went into town and had a little look around, and then went to Tracy's house to see the progress there. Tracy says that she is due to move in in November, but it looks a long way off being ready to me! I guess though that there are up to seven guys there who are doing it as a full time job, so it *might* be done by then! Little Henry and Oscar were gorgeous, and Mark kept Henry amused for the afternoon by pretending to eat his toys and also pretending that he ate little boys when really hungry (but only on Mondays). Little Henry nearly killed us with laughter by whispering to my Mum that he wanted to know what day it was! (you had to be there). I'm not sure he will be constantly enquiring after Mark's whereabouts anymore (although he may want to know *exactly* where he is at any given time, just in case....). Oscar seemed well, although he has got a bit of a rash on his face at the moment (bless him), and did have a bit of a screaming fit when he left. Tracy certainly has her hands full on her own!!!

Trying to get work done today before I leave for holiday, and have lots of errands to do at lunch for holiday too! I'm not ready!!!!!!! :-\

Hayls

xxx

BTW. Janine had some gorgeous piccies done of little Lola (shown above). She looks gorgeous!