Well the virus is still with us but its not killing us too much any more but the chances of getting killed by Putin has multiplied massively. A mad world indeed with stupidly high increases in the cost of living and dread and fear wherever you look.

On the bright side because of the non lethal plague we can now go on foreign holidays, We have our Oz family over in May for a much needed catch up and a side trip to Tenerife.

Tom worked hard to get himself an excellent job at Hamble Aerostructures and is doing really well and enjoying it despite the 06:00 start time. He seems very content and in a steady relationship with our new house mate Monny.

Sam has a big couple of months coming up with his exams in whatever form they may take. He assures me he has it hand. We shall see !

I am nearly a 10 year veteran with oXya and I am still enjoying it, mostly working from home helps a lot.

21/03/2022

Well, what happened there then ?

Not a lot really to be honest. The hopes that 2021 would be better were dashed. Multiple lock downs, no foreign holidays and a really boring time. Many TV shows and films (and wine) devoured so it wasn't all bad.

Despite being double jabbed the whole household got covid-19 around 1st July. Thankfully just a week or so of flu like symptoms and incredible lethargy combined with the expected lack of taste and smell. One symptom they don't advertise is the incredible squits you get. Herd immunity is in progress and it looks like the vaccines are preventing serious illness and death, which is nice.

I am still working from home, Jackie is back working again. Tom is putting lots of hours in at McDonalds whilst on the hunt for something more permanent and Sam is still mostly on the Xbox.

We did manage to squeeze a couple of quick stay-cations in and had a great time in Bath and Wales.

12/08/2021

Wow what a year ! Hopefully 2021 will bring happier times.

News here in short ... Tommy was not able to sit his A Level exams and was instead credited with them and is currently look at engineering options. Sam has pretty much been solidly xboxing for 9 months, someone's got to do it !

I've been working from home since March and been going slightly bonkers as can be seen by the various hair colours and beard growing attempts.

Jackie has worn out Netflix and must have watched every rubbish film ever made now.

Other than that, not much socialising, no holidays - boo ! and little chance of getting to Oz any time soon.

I think I have almost got all the photos up to date now as there was a fair few from holidays going back a couple of years not uploaded. I moved the site over to Smugmug and it should now be a lot easier to keep up to date.

23/12/2020

Another Christmas trip to Australia over so soon. A fantastic time was had by all and it was great to catch up with all our Antipod friends.

I am endeavouring to rejuvenate the website with a move of provider and a top to bottom redesign. Time will tell if I keep things up to date this time!

16/01/2019

I am sad to have to announce that mum passed away on 5th July after a pretty bad year where her final departure was actually a blessed relief. Sadly since then her brother Paul has also left us.

01/11/2018

After another wonderful Christmas Down Under we came back to the dreary old UK to be met by the news that my company has been sold to Hitachi Data Systems. On the face of it a little worrying but it looks like it may be a very good thing for us. Time will tell. Not a lot has changed really, no massive news to divest other than the boys are both undergoing massive growth spurts. The Chastos arrived for another visit just 5 months after we last saw them and we have been drinking and eating far too much with them. A side trip to Rhodes was great and I can already hear the muttering of future travels being planned. Lots of new photos have been uploaded, enjoy.

12/06/2015

Photos added of Christmas Day 2014 as it came a bit early this year

01/12/2014

Also some edit and crops from the photographers collection for Richard and Catherine's wedding

01/12/2014

Finally fixed up that little hairline crack....jobs a good'un

Found a small hairline crack in the shower tray that was leaking. A little while later a small DIY job becomes a major disaster area resulting in a shower with an upstairs...

17/11/2014

I have finally finished mucking around (for now) with the website and it should be much more user friendly on mobile and pc. All the photos are fed from Flickr and all the videos from Youtube which makes it much easier for me to update so hopefully there will be more content. Any comments let me know. My company now sponsor Tom's football team and they have a nice new kit...

23/09/2014

Over a year since the last written update, bad boy. What's been happening then ? Well Tommy has taken his first year at his new school in his stride and done really well. He is maturing fast and is a very well behaved young chap. Extra care is being taken in his appearance so I expect girls to be on the scene any time soon. Sam is still testing us at every opportunity and he is such a strong willed (argumentative) fellow. I wonder where he gets that from. We have just endured another 10 days of torrential rain in the van and have decided this will be our last year but with the excitement of another Xmas trip to Oz to keep us going. My job is still going very well despite losing the only customer we had! We have picked up some more work now from France and have a few things that will hopefully lead to some new clients. Mrs T is still as gorgeous as ever and is looking after us all very well.

Lots of improvements to the website. The first page of sliders was a bit too clever for its own good so that is now replaced with this blog type update page. The whole idea being to try to make me update it more often by making it quick and easy to do. I think it is now so it should be updated more regularly. The photo pages are now using a live feed from Flickr and the videos are Youtube playlist feeds. All quick and easy.

19/08//2014