i love juice

We really haven't had much winter weather so far and coming from the sticks and living in the city, you kind of miss that fresh cold crisp weather. While growing up we almost certainly had snow at this time of year and many of my Friends would often had to leave school early because of being snowed in. But snow is a rarity in the city and the weather has been rather warm and disappointing. However I'm lucky that tenbellies and i live very close to the park and on passing it yesterday morning i stopped to take in the awesome frost that had covered everything in sight. I do miss the country and thought of really cold weather in winter but i suppose Sefton Park will have to do for now.

What a great couple of days, not only has this been one the better Christmas's but maybe the last of its kind. But I'm happy that its finished in this way, loads of food plenty of drink and laughter, friends and family young and old full and festive. Now i sit shattered, exhausted but completely satisfied and while i watch nasty Nick say hes sorry to Dot for the umpteen time, I think its time we make our own Christmas next year, maybe further a field who knows.

Just when i thought it was time to relax, i wake up. Today started off with such promise but from messing with faulty Laptop leads and idiot agency bums id had enough by half twelve and wanted to go back to bed waking up next year. But with a stroke of perseverance we got through the hell that are the days leading up to Christmas and i now sit relaxed from some mega mince pie baking looking forward to the festivities.

So from Monkey to all i wish you a festive holiday and a very Merry Christmas. Lets break out the Vino!!

Could our police service be any more retarded??? The answer to this question lies in this article. But to be fair some of the blame should go to the gun supplier.

So the next time you wonder how these kids are getting hold of guns on the street, you know the answer. I'm hoping for a bazooka the next time the postie knocks.

The last time i checked it was illegal to commit suicide in the UK, an rightly so. But tonight a Sky channel will show a film of a University professor committing suicide in a Switzerland Death Center.

Craig Ewert, 59, will be filmed has his wife watches him switch off his life support unit and take an over dose of lethal drugs. Why would anyone be entertained by this or get any benefit from watching a grown man take his life. I understand the reasons for doing this, quality of life and all that but really is this a step too far? I just hope that this sort of thing doesn't reach our TV channels.

Well its coming and fast upon us, Christmas is within a few weeks and its sure to bring merry times as well as the most awkward stressful situation that it usually brings. I have had a few weeks off from the blog for one reason or another but I'm back now to update you on the life and thoughts of Monkey.

Those who know me and my bog will know that this time of year is never the best time for me, it holds nothing but stress and arguments. Families try to hard to please everyone and in the mean time upset everyone and as long as i can remember now Christmas as always been filled with this. Blahhh Humbug!!

But no the grey haze is lifting and i think monkey is on his way to having a very merry Christmas. Yes, as the years pass since moving away from home i have become less involved with family rucks and dilemmas and choose to be in the company of those that make me happy, and this year I'm feeling especially merry. With work going extremely well , working with people that actually give a dam about the people they work with. It really has made a difference, iv even made some mince pies to take into work.

The story at he minute is the break up of Guy the Geezer Ritchie and MADonna, as most celebrities a divorce is part of the job. Its all publicity and the thought of what it may do to their children is put on the back shelf. Well not MADonna, she has made it clear to The Geezer that the children come first with a set of rules that will make you mind bogle.

Guy can't introduce the kids to any "new friends"; he can't be photographed with
them - which he has; fast food is completely out of the question as they must
stick to a macrobiotic, vegetarian, organic diet and only drink Kabbalah water;
they are not allowed to read newspapers or magazines, nor watch TV or DVDs; all
the clothes they wear are to be 100 per cent natural materials; their toys must
be spiritually and ethically sound; and when they are out in public their hands
must be cleaned with disinfectant spray. The other instructions are: Guy must
not discuss break-up; Madonna must be able to speak to them three times a day;
and bedtime story for David must be from Madge's English Rose books.

Hence MADonna.

Now what gets me is she fought to adopt a child to give him a stable life, a better life. But now she jets these kids around the world at the push of a button, breaks up a family home while she gets freaky with some fella years younger. Plastered all over the papers constantly and yet this will have no effect on their children, Only to drink Kabbalah water??!! what the hell is that about??

In the news all week there has reports on child abuse and neglect of the public services and government, we live in a world lead by greed and self obsessive people who may like children but don't really care, these little people are our future and its us who are shaping them into the emotional, depressed states that we see in our schools. Paper policies to prevent the abuse and neglect of children brought in by our government that are not worth the ink to write them as we see them fail over and over again. We have come from being the great United Kingdom with the fourth biggest economy and yet we have children starving to death in our streets forgotten about and lost in the stacks of paper work that some underpaid, hungover 20 something has forgotten to file.

Tonight is Children In Need a night where all the people in the Media can feel good about themselves, give a bit of their precious time and throw pictures of sick deprived children in our faces and ask for help. Help to clean up the mess of a failed society and an even worse government. Maybe the effort going into tonights show could have gone into the prevention of the latest case of abuse to hit the news.

Last night i watched the last film Arnie starred in before he became the Governator, it was the film that started the great comeback of the Action Heroes. Following Terminator 3 there came Rocky Balboa, John Rambo, Die Hard 4 and recently Indiana Jones. Despite all these for me growing up Arnie was the ultimate Action Hero with his cardboard acting and type casting you can always rely on the fact that when he comes on the screen you will surely be entertained.

And despite reviews Terminator 3 has one of my favorite demolition/car chase scenes of all, i remember sitting in the Cinema watching this scene in complete amazement as although most of the film was pretty poor and Kristanna Loken was awful compared to Robert Patrick's previous T-1000, this made it for me. Arnie invested $1.5 million into this scene to ensure it got made, money well spent. This was Great moment for Arnie because after this he became the Governor of the great state of California, he showed that he could still make great action films and then go on to govern the wealthiest state in the US, but most of all it showed to the other action heroes the way to making their comeback and in turn gave us the John Rambo and another round of Rocky, awesome.

Check out the Vid, how many cars do you think got trashed? how big would the Insurance bill be?

i have tried to not to post much about the Obomber/ McCain race but its in the final stretch and we will soon see the new president of the United States of America. Its undeniable that who ever becomes the big man it will effect the world in some sort of way, may be good but most likely in a bad way. This job holds so much responsibility not only to America but the world. This is why there has been some discussion has to who should get to vote. Anyway the fact is it lies with the American people and in that we have to trust they will make the right decision.

Where would my vote go? well anyone that knows me or my blog will know the answer. But its not my choice. America has a huge black population and a massive guilt for the way America and the world has treated black people, so any black person heading for the white house will get the black vote despite their background and name. But then after the mess little Dubya has made, why would you hold much hope for another Republican?

A few years ago i came home from work and sat in my mothers living room, the TV was on in the background and while my mother was moaning at the fact that i had my car sound system laid out on the floor creating a mess everything suddenly went silent. What i saw, what everyone saw that day was sight of complete shock and horror. Indescribable sights that took my breath away but brought to the whole world a new age of terrorism. The months and years that past saw action from the people and organisations to ensure the safety and freedom of you and i, and the words "never forget" were imprinted on every ones minds.

Its a shame that people cant see the elephant sitting in the corner but then whats the point when the world is a zoo.

And so i turn to a great man for a advice and wisdom and he nails it in one line,

"Why do you think they call it the White House?"

Dr Gregory House MD

Lets hope he is right, for all our souls.

Its that time of year again and my favourite and only BBC program is on TV. Yes Spooks is back, i have watched this from the beginning thrilled with every episode and finding it never failing to surprise and edge me off my seat.

Yesterday started the new series with a follow on episode tonight. I was happy from the get go when it showed a British soldier tell some muslim fanatic to kiss his ass and later they all got a good hiding by the security service. Muslims are the bad guys with the occasional dirty politician thrown in for good measure. Good old fashioned British intelligence saves the day, god bless Sir Harry Pearce.

There has always been an issue of how far comedians go to make a joke, offensive, bigitory and lewd jokes always cause a stir. I mean i love all the old comedians like Roy Chubby Brown, Jethro, Billy Connelly and Les Dawson are some of my favourites. However it comes to something when an over paid, over rated long haired floosy (Jonathan Ross) humiliates a 72 year old comedy genius on live Radio for a cheap laugh. Moreso who gave Russell Brand a slot on Radio 2 anyway?

Changing jobs has been a slow process, leaving my previous position abruptly before summer didn't help in preparing myself and so the past few months i have been looking for work and trying to rebuild my confidence.

Friday Monkey had an interview and despite not getting the job made it to the final three but lost it to an older more qualified and experienced person. I was surprised on how this made me feel as i came away feeling great and a little part of that confidence came back. So i have decided to try something a little different and go for a job that i can build. I have never seemed to have done thing in the right order, always going my own way and so this could be something more suited for me, the money would be less than I'm use to but should this be an issue? We would all like to be paid alot of money for the things we enjoy but then that is not always the case. And being the generation of me, me, me and now, now, now maybe its time for a different perspective. Who knows what will happen or if its even possible, but maybe by the end of the week there will be some clarity.

So as few of my friends have said over the past week, " say a prayer to St Jude".

The latest from our mad Muslim brothers in the east is that they have issued a fatwa on the X Factor, its a far cry from the past Fatwa's like the one issued against Salmon Rushdie years back. No this time our Ex pat Omar Bakri is a little upset that Simon Cowells attempt to to look like a stand up guy and give back to our troops.

If truth be known I'm really wouldn't mind the end of this reality filth that pollutes my Saturday nights TV, so go ahead fatwa away.

Its been rather a fast week all in all. I have applied for two jobs, one of which i kind of really would like the other is more of a temporary thing. Although i did find out that a friend of mine will be going for the same job which as caused some mixed feeling and anxiety about whether or not ill get a call back. Anyway its a waiting game and I'm quite patient.

This week iv been mostly been turning my hand to all things, Art, Textile Design and Product Design to name but a few, but one of the high lights of my week was getting to do some metal work. Its been a long time since iv had an opportunity to use my skills and i was surprised how much i still have them, which reminds me of something my Grandad use to say. "Get the sen a trade lad, to fall back on when times are grim". And he was right because despite the degree it may well be the Engineering trade that will secure my next post.

Good ode Aub, always looking over me.

I found this article while drinking my morning coffee and thought to myself that it says alot about every thing that is going on in our country and the world at the minute. Things are very unpredictable and you should never underestimate the small weaker guy.

Very philosophical for a Sunday morning.

Well it looks like the repercussions of Gordon Brown's wise decision to use Terrorist laws against Iceland may have started to backfired already. Because of the collapses in Iceland, Gordon completely abused his power by freezing all monies using TERRORIST laws, and now it looks like the bid to get 48 day detention period for actual terrorist in our country will be thrown out of the house of lords. Is it any wonder? How much money did he have in Iceland?

Over the water Sarah Palin is getting slaughtered for her miss use of power, but really when you look at the grand scale of things what she did was completely justified and very small compared to what our Prime Minister has done. Iceland has the right to be pissed, i hold my head in shame and embarrassment to be British.

I watched a great fill tonight, an old favourite that reminds me of when i was a little younger for different reasons. Smokey and the Bandit was made back in 1977 before our screen were restricted by political correctness. This film when first shown had it all but if watched today on TV its dubbed and poorly cut so not to offend, basically the film has been carved up and the only real way to watch it would be to buy the DVD. It was a time when men were men and woman..... well woman were woman. Anyway the star of the film for me was not Burt Reynolds or the recently deceased Jerry Reed but Jackie Gleeson aka Sheriff Bufford T Justice. This guy has to be the king on the one liners.

My favourite from the original film was this;

Bufford T Justice; There is no way that you came from my loins, son when we get home the first thing I'm gonna do is smack your momma in the mouth!

Check out tthis vid its worth a watch for some of his best bits.

Iv become a commuter, travelling to work in a morning hitting the motorway, but i don't mind not on days like today when the autumn sun is low in the sky and it looks like the frost is not that far away.

The past few weeks have been hard as i still look for work and boredom sets in making it difficult to use my time constructively. My posts have been thin and time spent on the net as been over shadowed by time watching films and various other programs.

But this week it all changed as i stated a temporary job in a college and new jobs begin to be advertised, after three days i seem to have settled in well and this has kick started my motivation in many ways, maybe even looking at different career paths. Things could be looking up.

Back in 2006 Michael Stone was arrested as he tried to storm Stormont where Sinn Fein Leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness were meeting. Stone a loyalist was arrested for attempted murder as he was carrying a nail bomb.

In court this week his defence said he was attempting to create a performance to display his objections to the meeting and the nail bomb was merely a symbol as well as the pipe bombs, three knives, an axe, a garotte and an imitation firearm.

Is this some kind of new Irish Jig that is on the scene?

But what gets me more is that the courts had to get a professional Performing arts expert in to study the idea and declare that it was not a Performance. No Shit!!

I wonder why teachers and schools get bad press and then i read this. I find it so hard to believe in the education system when there are such idiots in the field and although i have just started out i have met a few already.

It is importnat to teach children about the different religions out there and how these work and fit into our society, god knows there are enough of them and some are getting bigger. But i found this really disturbing, and it seriously disregards the human rights of these children. How are the parents going to trust schools when they punish them for not praying to Mo.

Alsager High seems to have the worst deputy head teacher who responded with,

Try opening the National curriculum and finding out, i guarantee it says nothing about forcing pupils to prey.

Although a little late, i thought i would give a post to the Brilliance that is Noel Edmunds. Yes this man not only gave us great Saturday night TV and Mr blobby and in the past week he has become my favourite celeb. Noel has basically told the TV licence to bugger off and done the job of our government by saying out loud that this country can not take any more, The bus is full!!

So thank you Noel in standing up and actually saying the obvious and showing backbone.

I find this bloody insalting, what right does the council have to do this? I think the country is fully aware of the saying "all in moderation" and the last time i checked we had the right to make our own decisions but this is taking the bloody piss.

News of this has hit the area badly and i believe the idea to cut back on pork scratchings could seriously tip the edge.

I spent alot of time today sitting in traffic and trying to get around town for various reasons, however instead of becoming agitated by this it was made enjoyable by the members of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment. They had been awarded Freedom Roll of Association and Institutions, which allowed them to march through the city with drums beating, colours flying and bayonets fixed. And so they did. As i sat in the car it was a great sight to see our army marching through the city and people waving flags, clapping and cheering. We really should see more of this when these guys are out there everyday fighting to rid the earth of the scum that wishes to destroy it. It was a shame though as nothing had been advertised, well at least anything noticeable and many people missed the great sight.

It takes the piss when a bloody great spider made by some tree hugging arty farty frog get more attention and advertisement than our own service men and woman. Capital of Culture?? awards and parades like this should be the pride of the city.

If things couldn't get any worse for our closet Prime Minister it seems his campaign team are clutching at straws for popularity, and jumping onto the Obomber band wagon is the only way. It seems an article signed off by Bummer Brown has come out endorsing and praising Obomber without a mention of McCain.

What gets me is that we have a Prime Minister who was not elected by the public into this job and yet speaks for a nation when he backs this Muslim hugging , white hating, radical Obomber. It seems Brown really needs to get his house in order if they are sending out articles of this nature because i for one would rather Barack Hussein Obama did not gain presidential power of the United States of America.

Just to be sure on that.

My god its so damn depressing, the weather is shit and there is nothing to do, well go to work i hear you say and yet i wait for that phone call that will take at least another week. In the pat week i think we have left the house 2 maybe 3 times, the weather has been awful raining every day, sometimes all day other on and off. But what i find mostly depressing is that its so dark, where is the sun where is the light, it feels like winter so bloody dark all the time.

Where is the motivation to do anything? it has to come from somewhere but really when the day is as dark and grey as this i find it hard just getting out of bed. Life in England sucks!!

When we returned from the US we found a small package left upon our post box, this was not gift from my many muslim readers but a gift from the power companies. A box of energy saving light bulbs. A small sign that prices will surely go up this winter as these have been given out every where i believe.

Next week will see Gordon "Its lonely on this sinking ship" Brown unveil his plans to help with soaring energy cost but i have real doubt as to anything this clown says or expects will happen. Giving millions of vouchers to families on benefits and pensioners may help them this winter and thats a "MAY" help, but for the long term this will surely do nothing to help, where does this money come from? and what happens when the money runs out?

Its time for our Government to stand up for its people, Labour was established around unions and standing up for the working class and yet it seems things have changed and the very people who made them what they are are now losing confidence. It will be something to see those people turn from red to blue this winter, in every aspect.

I have just started watching Battlestar Galactica season 4, and wow have you seen the likeness going on here.

Check out this site for all you BSG/McCain fans.

Thanks Presurfer for finding the website.

And so Jacqui Smith strikes again as a letter was leaked over the weekend concerning the rise in crime during our imminent recession. This is blatantly obvious as you can understand as consumables and the cost of living in third world Britain becomes more expensive . But then surely our ever growing police force will be there to protect us, you would think but yet again they let you down in most subtle of ways like a text message. The couple who reported a burglar and got a text message saying they didn't have time to call round and recommended they try and catch the scum bag them selves. Hmmm what are we paying them for? obviously text message skills.

Another think tank has come up with the idea that we are too reliant on our police force where only 4 out of 10 of us Britain's would step in on antisocial behaviour, yes and what? this is not our job, the government has taken away alot of the rights for a person to defend their property and the themselves that the public not only live in fear of being attacked by the criminal but also the legal system. Is there any wonder when all we hear is that our children are carrying knives and guns, killing each other day after day for no reason, and the government want us to get involved when they clearly cant manage. Lets remember Gary Newlove when he stepped in on JUST kids and more recently David Thomas who only just got away.

I recently put feedjit on my page to see who was coming and going, its an interesting widget to have and after Thud had used i followed suit. Anyway its interesting to find how people find your site, alot of the time people come from other sites or pop the name into google, however some people may be looking for other things and my site comes up. Just like the guy in France who typed in "liquid love juice" and got me!!

hahaha liquid love juice!

I'm on holiday as you may know in California, its so relaxing and peaceful and the people here love to talk when they hear your British. Just this morning while sat out having a coffee and a breakfast muffin the waitress asked where i was from and we got chatting. So Very polite everyone I have met so far. I just wish i didn't have to read about my own shameful nation and how they act on holidays.

I read this today, over 2000 Britons this year have been arrested in Spain while on holiday, that 500 more than here in the US!! the British use to be known for their manners and behaviour and now we seem to be more known for the binge drinking slobbish foul mouth antics of a very displaced generation. When did it became cool to be the known as this? I decided along time ago that I would not participate in lads holidays, not because I'm a bore but mostly because every where looks the same when your pissed and for all its worth the people who go on these type of holidays can be found on our home soil in Blackpool, Classy. You may call me a Snob, I don't care. I think its more to do with self respect.

This is my 100 post and im pleased to be posting from sunny California instead of rainy cold England. We arrived Wednesday in the evening after travelling for around 18 hours, we stopped off in Philadelphia where we had our first experience of the US. Standing in a queue for immigration you get the real sense that America really do give a shit who comes into their country as we were scanned and questioned in their own time, a process that was not rushed in any way and although we stood their for half an hour as we waited we didn't feel annoyed but rather disappointed that this kind of care and attention is not taken in our own country as our own gates are held open to all kinds.

The picture above is the fog that was hitting the Bay area from the coast like a huge wave, to see it is a sight in itself as it looks like it floods over San Francisco covering the skyline and the tops of sky scrappers and The Golden Gate Bridge. The cool chill from the coast soon changed when we got over the hills to Family OTW, where for the first time in 18 hours we sat and nothing around us was moving. Steaks were waiting on the table and root beer in the fridge as our bodies told us it was 4 in the morning it was weird scoffing down a medium rare steak (America has good steak, im impressed well done Thud). I like America already.

Yesterday we had morning coffee in the town we had driven through last night, lit up with loads of restaurants and shops it looked like something out of the movies but then everything i see at the minute looks like the movies something you get when you grow up watching American made Films and TV shows everything seems like your looking at it on screen. We sat in Starbucks and the town seemed quite as you realise that its a working week and that people are at work, why should there be people out and about? something very different compare to back home. The town is so clean and tidy, a sense of pride in where people live and this continues into the suburbs, the heat starts to creep as the cool morning disappears and we hit Denny's Dinner for breakfast/lunch, Brunch. America needs decent bacon and sausage that is the only negative but something i will get use too, eating in a Dinner where people and staff around us a so polite and actually talk to each other without an ulterior motive was very pleasant.

We spent the remainder of the day near the pool as the sun was out, yes the sun!! something that we don't get anymore at this time of year in England. The atmosphere and life seems very relaxed and even though its been a couple of days it feels just very different from a normal day at home. Im not going to sit and write ignorance to the fact that there are areas here that we would not go and are just as worse as places back home its just that as Thud said earlier its brighter, its light and with that it seems to make people happier and peaceful and i like that. So we have loads more to do this week and meeting Vinogirl yesterday we will be visiting Napa at the weekend to sample some of the local produce and to check out a possible new palace for princess OTW and family.

Well iv rambled on enough for now and ill be damned if im sitting in for to long when the weather is so god damn fantastic. Happy 100th Post "I Love Juice", and thank you to all of you guys reading and visiting my rambles keep it up and ill try to do my part.

Iv just finished packing and sat down to write this post as tomorrow I'm on my hols, hurray!! Yep Monkey and Tenbellies are going State side for a few weeks, we have been looking forward to this for some time and we will be staying with Thud and family OTW.

Thud has been telling me for the past year or so how good life is in the US compared to some of the experiences here in cloudy, rainy England. So our first stop will be Philadelphia where we change for San Francisco. We will be visiting SF and the wine district to meet Vinogirl among other places, then Tenbellies and I will take a drive down to Las Vegas for a few days visiting the dam and Grand Canyon. Maybe see an Elvis wedding or two, then back to meet up with Thud and family OTW again.

I shall keep posting while I'm away just to ramble on about what we are doing and where we are, you know the usual. So Thud get them steaks ready and ill see you in 24 hours.

The week has seen some of the most horrific murders in some time, the honeymoon couple attacked in Antigua leaving the Bride and Groom dead and just the other a day a British girl found chopped up in a suitcase by her Brazilian boyfriend. Then we have another victim if knife crime when a young woman was stabbed in Battersea on Thursday evening.

We live in a scary world with many deranged people who ether have more than a screw loose or are a result of a very messed up society. These as any crime should be treated in the same way and result in some kind of justice for those victims or their families. But what is justice for such crimes as above?

The UK abolished capital punishment in 1998 although the last execution was in 1963 for murder, many European countries followed suit as such and now there are only The United States, Guatemala, Caribbean and the majority of Asia and Africa still enforce the Death Penalty. Now it seems to me that the rise in violent crimes in the UK most commonly the Knife crime where we see young people carrying and using knives without remorse, surely we need to rethink our justice system as the threat of jail time has no effect on our young society.

The Brazilian man who chopped up his British girlfriend is said to be getting 36 years for what he did, does that seem right to you? The British government have said they will help Antigua in catching the Killer/s of the Honeymoon couple but only as long as they do not execute them when caught, Does this seem right?

Life is the most precious thing a person has and if this is taken away unlawfully then in turn should those responsible have theirs taken away?

How hard could this be and how much more evidence would need apart from them actually telling you that they were there. These three scumbag muzzers are accused of conspiring with the four bombers and others to cause explosions in 2004 and 2005.

But no its hard for the jury who cannot decide and therefore it will be dragged out for yet another year until the victims of the 7/7 bombing get some kind of justice. God forbid the get it wrong like the so called shooting of Jean Charle de Menezes, which just so you know my view, if men with guns shouts "stop police" then you stop otherwise they may think the backpack your running onto a train with is a bomb. Idiot.

Just read a great post on Dlisted which i found quite amusing Sharon "i don't wear panties" Stone is getting sued after comment over the Chinese earthquake. Yep some Chinese folk were alittle pissed about the comment and so are suing here for $1 billion!!! i say again $1 billion!!!She is not alone though an anchor man on CNN is also being sued for a billion for saying the China is ran by a load of "goons and thugs" on air.

Baldwin Spencer the prime minister of Antigua has buckled under the pressure of the tragic attacks on a newly married couple which resulted in the bride being murdered and the groom left on life support. The island paradise has been plagued by lethal attacks on tourists and these recent attack has ended with the prime minister asking for help from Scotland Yard.

Oh that was after he shifted some of the blame onto the US and Britain, you see its all because we sent the evil scumbags back to their own country after they had served jail for committing offences in our countries. Now it seem as though the island Paradise is more like a holiday on Alcatraz!!!

I feel for the family of the victims and disgusted at the behaviour of Baldwin Spencer!!

Had a great weekend, visiting the folks back in the sticks. Friday saw Tenbellies Graduate as you may have already read and then a race down to the stick to see the family for the weekend.

So simple and quite is life in the stick at the moment, the crunch does not seem to have bothered many except for my mate who is a estate agent, very slow right now. Tenbellies and I always enjoy the visit back to the stick as she gets to hang with my family who are all completely barking and love a good time, and i get to go the pub. I have always said that when i moved to the big city all i was missing was a local pub. Its been 5 years here now and still iv not found anywhere but i guess it makes going back to the sticks that much better, there is nothing like a proper English pub.

Saturday night we spent at my sisters as we sat out on the decking and had a BBQ, i took to cooking as this is a mans job and although my brother in law is a chef, he was as usual running late. We sat out till very late, watched the sun set over the green hills a sight i haven't seen for a while. This was probably all the summer we would see this year but for that one day we had done all that could be done in a n English summer. BBQ, Walking in the country, sitting outside a country pub with a pint, shopping (that's ones for Tenbellies, I'm more for the pub) and spending time with the family and friends. Excellent.

Well all that's left is for our trip to the US to meet up with more family and friends, 9 days to go Thud, so get the steaks and beers in.

Today Tenbellies will graduate for the second time, yes she is a clever lady by all accounts as today she becomes a fellow educationalist. It has been a stressful year for both of us but especially tenbellies as she completed a PGCE.

So well done babe I'm very proud of you.