Tina's "photographic" present

On location in The New Forest.(actually it ended up being 10 mins from home at Ipley Bridge)



A mother and her foal.





I learnt all about apertures, shutter speeds and other clever camera jargon!
Ian, Paul and Nikki got me a great present to go with my camera... a years subscription to a monthly digital magazine...I 've had the first one and my next challenge is to enter some of their competitions!

Exploring across the Water.

Well, it wasn't exploring as far as Australia, but we decided to have a day out to explore across the water from Hythe, to visit Victoria Country Park, in Netley. A nice free afternoon, so we could afford to go out for Sunday lunch, in a nice local pub....lovely roast beef and yorkies!











Alex, Jessica and Chris enjoyed throwing themselves around on the grass and in the park.


I was still too stiff from my foolish hockey efforts...thinking I could still play.....that really must be the last time!






I enjoyed looking for a few elusive sculptures around the park.

Ow that hurt!

Spring is nearly here but not quite. We had to go to New Zealand for our snow fix down under
(There are the snowy mountains in Aus but it has the ski quality of Aviemore) No snow for us but bloody big hail ,Well big for us! Jess and Alex certainly took a good beating.



It certainly did a good impression of snow.



But closer inspection shows why J and A were running for cover.

If we had wanted real snow...we should have gone to Denmark with my Mum and Dad in February...they saw plenty of snow at my Uncle's farm.

Trip to London.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

During half term my Mum & Dad took Alex, Kiersten (my niece), and I to London. We visited the British Museum with the main purpose being to give Alex the chance to take some photos for his Egyptian topic at school. It was very tempting to look at other things, because they have an amazing amount of floors,packed with goodies, from all over the World. We focused on finding the right section, as we didn't have very long, but I vowed to return, but perhaps without an eight year old boy in tow. Alex did, however, enjoy looking and photographing the various statues, etc. and he impressed us with his knowledge on the hieroglyphics.



The Scarab beetle.





Alex picked out various symbols on this very old wall/door, dating back to 1500BC.



Kiersten & Alex leaving the exhibition.



A dull, misty day in London.


Grandad, Kiersten & Alex went on the London Eye for the first time, while Mum & I enjoyed a coffee, hot chocolate and carrot, pineapple and walnut cake, overlooking the wheel.



Just time for Mum to blow out a birthday candle on her busy day....'Happy birthday to you..!'

Pancake Day & other half term days.

Shove Tuesday, so Chris dutifully made pancakes. We always think of my Mum as we endeavour to toss our pancakes.;...when I was young she was the winner of the Farnborough pancake race for a record 3 years, until she tripped up and ended up in hospital!


So, here is Chris...being a tosser! He's got the right action, and I must admit, he makes yummy pancakes!

Alex has a good technique!

Jessica nearly wore her pancake on her head!


Thought we had better blog the car...even though it is now 6weeks old and looks rather dirty! We've nicknamed our car....'The Green Hearse', rather catchy, eh?
Bargain for £2100!


And this last photo....Chris and Ozz, taking a little nap, after working hard in the day and late nights with friends playing the new Nintendo Wii, that the kids have bought with their money,(we didn't encourage them at all!!) No the cat isn't ours but we do give it lots of attention and strokes. It's the nearest we can get to a pet at the moment, for all of the children's nags. I went to visit Ozzy's owners and they assured me that she comes back to eat...and then comes straight down to us, they didn't mind though, as long as we didn't mind; we don't mind having the best bit of pet ownership......attention and love but no costs.....great!

Busy, busy back in Blighty!

...Well actually, we are all busy at school but we're not really going too far a field. I've been working full time since getting home, and even this week, on normal supply, I've worked every day, except tuesday afternoon! Oh, well, at this rate we will easily be able to afford a return visit to Aus. in the next few years!

On our return we didn't have long to sort out Alex's birthday: We didn't have a clue what to buy him, but luckily Southampton's West Quay had a demonstration of the new Nintendo Wii, and the local Game store had just had a delivery!! I raced down to the store and got one of the final 5 left. I must confess that Jessica and Alex actually bought the new game system jointly,(they have far more money in their account than we do!) but it was great for gift ideas of accessories and games!

Anyway, his party was held at Laser Quest, pretty much the same party as he had last year....and he loved it.....Again!

His favourite card was a tasteful one from his sister, all about the different types of 'poo' you can get.....fascinating!

Our Sunday dinner invite to Sam and Simon's new house in Romsey was one of the furthest places we had travelled since our return.....we had a delightful walk in the grounds of the Broadlands Estate.....the kids enjoyed splashing in the puddles and getting stuck in thick mud, while we enjoyed watching the deer and throwing sticks for their dog, Missy.