Death of the Bunny

Easter, a time of joy and celebration unless you are Magnus the Bunny. The tail of Magnus started a couple of weeks ago when I rescued him from M&S. He seamed like a happy chap, living on the kitchen table. Little did he know then what fate had in store for him. He may have got a little scared when Gail started talking to him and telling him of how many days there were till Easter.

As Easter arrived so did Hazel, and now Magnus got really scared. I freed him from his plastic home, hoping that the poor bunny might evade the chocoholics but it was to late. Poor Magnus was captured weighed and executed. His remains were divided among his executioners.

New Drive Video Clip

I have just got the video clip of the drive working at last. Scroll down a bit and play the video, you can see the whole drive as I walk up and down it.

Easter Bunny

Lots of fun at work handing a out Easter eggs.

Ruari and Bubbles

Sunday was one of those wonderful spring days. We drove up to St Albans listening to a very badly read version of The Borne Supremacy. We grabbed a quick cup of coffee (or tea in Gail’s case), said hello to Rob, gave Tanner a quick kick and headed off with Hazel for Eil & Bob’s.


Ruari of course got all shy when we got there but that didn’t last long, particularly when a chocolate Easter egg appeared. Then after a quick change of clothes we all got shown the music box.

Jim soon appeared with a crate of beer (what a wonderful man he is) and Gail took my car key (what a wonderful wife she is). Eil produced a great lunch and then we went and sat in the Garden and enjoyed the sunshine. Ruari as you can see from the video was having a wonderful time.



We made our excuses around five (we were meaning to leave at four but were having to much fun, and made our way home via St Albans. We finished the day with an M&S curry for two and the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who.

Sorry Lisa, couldn't resist putting this one up. Three generations of camera supporters.

Sister Gertrude

We have a potential Saint in the family, Sister Gertrude; the family tree is readable if you enlarge the photo. Sister Gertrude can be found on the top right hand side.

Prayer to obtain graces through the intercession of Sister Gertrude, Poor Clare (Josephine Scanlon)

Lord Jesus, You lovingly called Sister Gertrude to a life of prayer, solitude and penance in the Order of ST. Clare and endowed her with the virtues of humility, simplicity and unconditional obedience thus making her an inspiring example of fidelity, sisterly love and charity, deign we beseech You to glorify her, and hear the requests of all those who ask her intercession especially the petition I now implore, [mention here the favour you wish to pray for]. Grant above all, that we may learn from her how to be always ready to do Your Will and grow steadfastly in love of You. Amen.

Dancing with R&O

We went dancing on Saturday night and had a great time. Luckily R&O didn’t find the camera so the only embarrassing pictures are of them. This was New England dancing, in my mind somewhere between Irish set dancing and English barn dancing. We disappeared a little early due to being hungry and having a long day to look forward to on Sunday.

Gail turns bedroom Pugin Red

A very proud Gail decorating the bedroom. Dad would be proud as the colour is Pugin red. Did you know that Pugin design Killarney Cathedral.

Jim Lovell, Fred Haise & Al Worden

The day after the lunar eclipse we continue the lunar theme with a trip to London and the chance to meet Jim Lovell and Fred Haise from Apollo XIII. Jim Lovell was in great demand so I had very limited time with him; I mentioned the Christmas flight of Apollo VIII and the Genesis reading on the way home. He said that had meant a lot to meant people and the idea had come from a newspaper reporter.

Fred Haise had a lot more time for people and was very happy to pose for photos.

I also had time to attend a talk given by Al Worden from Apollo XV. I had met him first a couple of years ago and he had stood out from many of the astronauts I met because he was very happy to chat. I remember him talking about pubs he had visited in Filton while he was a test pilot working with Rolls Royce. The talk he gave was excellent and really gave you a flavour of flying to the moon.

The video is poor quality but the sound is fine, if you have 10mins to watch it he wonderfully describes the run up to and lunch of Apollo XV.

Lunar Eclipse

I had heard on the radio that it was going to be a lunar eclipse but I had completely forgotten. We were out for the evening and when we came pulled onto the drive a bright red moon was in front of us. The camera does it no justice but I am very impressed I managed to take a picture of it at all.

Begbrook Lodge in 1920

Isn’t it amazing what you can find on the internet, or more precisely what your sister can find. Thanks Lisa :-)

This photo is shamelessly stolen from the Frenchay museum web site, please take a look at the link as it contains details of the family who lived here 80 years ago.

The Attwood Family at Begbrook Lodge

New Drive

We have a new drive. It's Wonderful. It's so wonderful that I don't even mind the fact that I have spilled red wine all over the keyboard while uploading the photos and little video tour.

A Blustery Day (or Jim comes to the Rescue)

Thursday was an unusual day. I was working in St Albans in the morning and Paddington in the afternoon. Gail and I drove up to stay was Hazel & Rob on Wednesday night so Gail could spend the day playing Battleships with Rob and Scrabble with Hazel. In the morning I headed into the office and by lunchtime was on a train into London. The wind was a little on the strong side and by the time I got to our Paddington office it was strong enough to lift clouds of spray off the canal and break windows in the office block I was walking past. Two hours later as I started to make my way back to Kings Cross Station I had a few problems to deal with. Firstly the central and district lines were closed so I figure a cab would be the quickest way. It was only now I started to realise that the winds had caused a little more damage than the odd broken window. Power was out in several places and therefore traffic lights were not working and the area within 2 miles of Kings Cross was grid locked. I saw a signpost torn out of the ground and several broken trees. The wind however had died right down and it was back to just a blustery day. When the cab got to Kings Cross and I saw the Police blocking the entrance, part of the entrance roof missing and hundreds of people milling around I figure I was going to have an interesting day. Entering the station I discovered all trains had been cancelled. A little research on my phone told me that Paddington was also closed, so was the M11 and the M25 in several places. This was suddenly a very scary place to be. I got some cash from the nearest cash point, pondered the alternatives; hotel, cab to St Albans or cab to Jim’s. Jim seemed like the best option. I phoned Gail to let her know I was very unlikely to get back to her that evening and then found a cab willing to go out to Northolt. The journey took close to 2 hours and £70 pounds but still way cheaper than finding a hotel. Walking through Jim’s front door I relaxed for the first time in 4 hours an relaxed a little more as soon as Jim provided a beer. We went out for a curry, just down the road from him and had a very pleasant evening. I spent the night comfortably on a mattress on the lounge floor. In the morning I borrowed Jim’s car and drove back to St Albans, collected Gail and then my car from the work car park. We returned Jim’s car on our way home and finally got back to Bristol between 2pm and 3pm.

Thank's Jim, it very good to know you are there for me in an emergency. I also hope BT will fix your phone soon so you can get back on the web and see this.

Gail's 40th Birthday Party

We had a great evening. Chris arrived about 4pm, Sandra & Adrian about 5pm. As it was a typical wet winter day the fire was lite and we started with Bucks Fizz a chat around the fire.

Around 6:30 the ladies headed for the kitchen started to sort the food out. The chocolat foutain was turned on to heat the chocolate. When the say it takes an hour, they really mean 2-3 hours.

With Friends from all over we both had a great time. Gail really enjoyed herself, thanks everyone for coming.

BY 9'ish the chocolate was good and melted and Gail tried it for the first time.


One of Gail's requests for her party was a bottle of pink champagne, a big bottel in fact. We open this just after she blew out the 40 candle's on her cake. Lighting 40 candles was the more difficult of the two tasks.

The party continued into the small hours of the morning. Rupert left with a small glass of whisky to drink when he got home. We hope you all had a great time, we did. G&J.

New Years Eve

New Years was spent again with Friends and Family. Hazel and Rob came down for a few days. We spent Several hours play board games and Rob watch most of his new DVDs on the big screen. On Sunday afternoon R&O brough the family over.

We spent the evening of New Years Eve at Colleys Supper Rooms and had a fantastic time. Lots of food and all of it wonderful. Hazel, Rob and Chris also came out with us. Rob as normal got customised service :-)