365 days - I did it!!

It seems like yesterday that I started this 365 day photo blog.  I got the idea from Stella, and the intention was to develop my photographic skills, but in reality, it became very difficult to focus on the quality of the photo, mainly because I lead a very boring life - and especially in the winter, I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, and photo taking opportunities are very limited.

However - EVERY SINGLE DAY I took some kind of photo - often just snapshots, and occasionally they were thoughtful photo's.  That said, I have found a hidden advantage, this is probably the first time in many years that I have actually kept some kind of journal every day for the whole year.  I am going to get it printed into a book and it will remind me of some of the odds and ends in the year that I otherwise would have forgotten!

I travelled back to Calgary from England today, and decided to go to the movies with Alyson - we saw the latest Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law.   Great movie - at least the part that I stayed awake for - and here is the unusual snapshot for the last day of the year...I wonder if anyone else noticed that there were a couple of aliens hanging out at the cinema?

Then I went back to the hotel and saw the new year in - it was nothing short of a miracle that I stayed awake the whole time!

So - to 2012, I know this will be a wonderful year for me - tomorrow I will start by writing my goals for the year.  I learned a habit from Dee a few years ago, I write one goal (or activity) for each year of my life....it gets harder every year....so now I have to come up with FIFTY ONE things!!  I'll blog the list tomorrow :)

It's over

Well, it's been a good run
We've had good times and bad times
I have always held you close
But we have sure had our ups and downs
It seems we spend a LOT of time together when I'm in town
But we can't carry on like this,
You change so much every time I see you that it's like a new adventure every time
It's true - I will miss you, but there are others now to take your place
and it really is time to move on; and maybe this is not forever, but the break will do me good
And it will sure be good for my wallet

Oh Marks and Spencer's, I will miss you - but I will always carry a part of you with me :)

Au revoir - until next time

On a brighter note - I met Dee for lunch today - it's always good to catch up with Dee, I miss our more frequent chats - there is just so much to catch up on when we only see each other once a year.  Why is it that all my friends never change and I am steadily aging?

And yet another delightful tradition

We have got into the habit over the past few years of meeting Pat and Martin for dinner at the Vienna restaurant in Farnham - we missed last year because of the snow, but it was lovely to see them again this year - Christmas just wouldn't be the same without our little get-together.

....am I allowed to have a favourite cousin?!

...and I ate too much...again :)

All roads lead to Rome

I've often wondered about the history of the ancient milestones in the neighbourhood - I think I've referred to them as Roman milestones, but when you look at them, they are clearly not Roman.  So I went to the internet to see what I could find.

My research was inconclusive - or rather, I ran out of energy before finding the right answer.  Needless to say, based on my not-so-extensive research I would guess that the London to Portsmouth milestones date back to before the mid 1600's when the road was used to enable to quick escape from London of the baby son of King James II;  unfortunately, Portsmouth wasn't a safe-haven for long, but nobody bothered to go back and clear the road of milestones.  That said, they are likely to have pre-dated that to the time that the Royal Navy set up home in Portsmouth in the late 15th century...so, my best guess is that the road, and therefore the milestones have been in existence for a very long time

....and now you know why I never became a history teacher

England has nice hospitals

Emma had to have surgery just over a week ago, and she found that her wound was oozing a bit, so she came back in to get it checked out.  She decided to stay in overnight, so Dad and I popped by to drop some things off for her.   It's actually a jolly nice place; and looks a bit more like a hotel than a hospital.  It probably helps that they were super-quiet, most people had gone home for Christmas...I'm sure the National Health hospitals aren't quite as nice, but that is arguably inconsequential!

The eating has to stop

Today was another day of too much food - I will really need to focus on my diet when I get home; I'm guessing I'll need to lose about 30lbs in the next month or so - HCG here I come!

Boxing Day dinner is one of my favourites - I just love bubble and squeak with cold ham and turkey - delicious!

We just visited as a family for the rest of the day, and one of our activities was the blood pressure competition - I can see this becoming a new tradition!  We should have prizes.  We decided that the winner should be the person closest to 120/85 - it was a close thing between Josh and Georgia (at close to 120 over something)   I was 99 over 63, so I would have been a winner if we were going for the lowest!!

Happy Christmas

It was a lovely Christmas day, I really enjoy Christmas being on a Sunday - we had quite a short Christmas day service, we just had the Sacrament followed by a violin piece by Francesca Fotheringham, and then Verity, myself and Gerry sang a rendition of "Oh Holy Night" - one of my favourite Christmas songs, then Bishop Fotheringham said a few words and we all went our separate ways for family Christmases

Dad, Emma and I went over to Tim and Kerry's to join in their Christmas Day festivities - Dad and I have been going there for a few years now, but Emma joined this year since she got divorced.  Paul and the kids were over at the Frances for Christmas dinner.  I feel quite at home at Tim and Kerry's for Christmas, even though I was married for the last few Christmases, nothing really changed this year even though I'm separated - it is always delightful to hang out with family!

There is an English tradition of pouring Brandy on the Christmas pudding and set it on fire...they asked me if I planned to eat any before they smothered it with Brandy;  I have never liked Christmas pudding with or without Brandy!!  Here it is being lit (held by Audrey...Kerry's mum)