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heres to 2009

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i’ll not make comments about how society has moved from greedy to needy, but 2009 looks like another exciting year.  hopefully somewhere amongst the financial carnage we can all gain a wider perspective on the fragility of life and what on earth we’re all doing here

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kezia’s thought of some new year’s solutions (as she calls them).  solutions sound much better than resolutions !  i’ve got a few of my own but won’t bore you by sharing as funkypancake isn’t that kind of blog.  Although at some point i aim to make commenting on the blog easier !

anyway, i wish you and yours a very happy 2009 and thanks for all your visiting and your numerous fantastical comments.  take care mateys !

treasure hunt

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catherine made a fantastic treasure hunt round her house yesterday.  here are my set of excellent clues (i forgot to take ap icture of clue 5 which was on a seperate piece of paper)

family activities

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writing thank you letters and visiting friends (who have a wii)

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do not touch the screen

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i didn’t ask why

the browns and yellows of winter

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sunset on a wood.  unfortunately we were in it and it soon got dark.  but it’s ok we survived

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the late afternoon sunset really set the trees ablaze (not literally thankfully)

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underfoot it was a bit muddy – slightly frozen on top, but the kind of soggy chilliness underneath which could easily soak a man’s foot

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and deers in a nearby field

geocaching

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we finally felt well enough to go geocaching yesterday which marked a significant stage in our recovery.  here are the girls singing and dancing to a cache.

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signing the log.  possibly this one

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the route

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and another log with two of our little stickers stuck together in a jaunty way.

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berkshire sunset

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colours went a bit spacey but i quite like the effect.

gaming old and new style

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on the day after boxing day our family got the horrible winter vomitting bug.  whilst jane and esther lay in their death beds upstairs our hosts let kezia and me wander around their house.

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we’d had to abandon the sky part of this jigsaw the night before as we’d run out of time, but the extra half day meant kezia and i could spend a few hours putting a few hundred identical blue pieces together

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meanwhile kevin and thomas played some proper games

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and sarah (who popped in the last piece on jigsaw above) played with her Dora head.  she said “it’s brilliant because i love and dora and i love heads”. surely a winning combo.

glove and hat

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christmas day

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a few days after the event i can show you our christmas day.  a great scoff of food

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but it was too much for james who fell asleep standing up leaning against his chair

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james’ dad also feel asleep, but in a more comfortable location

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binky cleaned up

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whilst others played cards (racing demons) on the hallway floor

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and here’s some cake.  a very jolly occasion

a walk in the park

james loved chucking leaves

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thomas loved taking pictures

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everyone loved posing for a group photo

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here’s kevin’s parents

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here are thomas and kezia dangling

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and here’s kevin trying to make jane and esther sick (oh the irony)

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and when the kids still weren’t worn out we put them on this training wheel where they could run round in circles without going anywhere (thus preparing them for later life)

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glamorous welsh ladies in windows

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hassock of the week

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a fancy door

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soggy lighter

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no change there

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red and white

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i’ve often wondered about the pink background on this sign and i recently realised it’s probably run off the red on the top left.  which probably isn’t a great advert for a laundrette as you’d hope they would be quite good on keeping colours separate.  oh well.

window instructions

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i like the word ‘sorry’ at the top of this sign.  makes it a bit less desperate than ‘please’

promenading the turkey

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a northern british tradition is to ‘walk’ the turkey before eating. after hours of cooking, this process allows the bird to ‘breath’ (it’s last).

in some towns, if you go for a walk in the early afternoon on Xmas day you’ll see dozens of people out promenading their birds

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(it’s me pushing)

mary and joseph

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where’s the baby ?

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