So, what were the Christmas holidays like. Well, affected by sickness unfortunately. Mum, Dad, John, Rew and Frances have all had (and mostly continue to have) a flu-like virus which has really laid them all low. This meant that Mum and Dad didn't manage to get to us on Christmas Day in time for lunch at the pub, which was a shame, although they did make it here in the afternoon, and stayed for Boxing Day. Rew and Frances didn't make it to us for Boxing Day tea (or to Bec's on 27th), but Frances was well enough to come around for a cup of tea and present exchanging. We all went over to Bec's on Dad's birthday and Mum and Dad stayed there, heading home on the 28th.
Nicky and I have managed to avoid the lurgy I am pleased to say. Jake has had a nasty cough, but is hopefully pretty much over it now (just in time to go back to school!).
We've been making some great progress with Haig Avenue during the Christmas break. Nicky, Rew and I were all over there on 23rd and managed to do some clearance in the garden, start on clearing out the garage, and Nicky cleared the kitchen. Then I went round on 31st and finished off emptying out the garage, removing fairly large amounts of used engine oil and unidentified engine parts. Today Nicky and I have been there and have cleared the dining room, filling about 10 boxes with various papers, crockery and so on, and moving lots of stuff out to the garage. Whilst I did a tip trip, Nicky did some more garden clearance so that we could get to the patio doors, as the table and the sideboard are too large to take out through the kitchen. Unfortunately it transpires that the patio doors no longer open, so we've had to leave the larger furniture in there for now. Could make getting the remaining piano out rather interesting!
So, what did Santa bring at Christmas? Well we've all done very well. Jake has lots of new games for his Wii (and went to the shops yesterday to spend his Christmas money on Guitar Hero as well) and also has his own digital camera. I also got a new digital camera, a Sony H50 with a 15x zoom. Should be lots of fun for the theme parks. John and Margaret bought me a new tripod to go with it (to replace the rather erratic one that they bought for me in the Caribbean), so I think that I will now be an even bigger source of embarrassment to my family on holiday. They will have to send me out by myself on special photography sorties! This means that all three of us have our own camera now. It's going to be a challenge keeping Flickr up to date.
One of my other presents was an elephant! Bec and Mark have sponsored an elephant for me - her name is Emily Kate and she lives in Kenya!
