Thursday… Winter bites!
Dec 2nd 2010PeterGetting My Life Back!
I suppose we are no worse off (and probably better) than most of the country, but this was the scene that greeted us this morning. (and more pictures in the Gallery).
It seems to have been a long time since the last entry, longer than I normally leave it, but quite a lot going on. No sign yet of another contract, but feelers are still out there. I have been up to London for my penultimate ECP session, which went as uneventfully as usual, with the last one scheduled for January 2011. January 2011 – seems just round the corner!
I have also had a really bad cold for the last few days. I always get at least one really nasty one a year (since the transplant – but small price to pay!) but I think I picked this one up from Livvy.
I have been on (play) school pick up duty a couple of times, bringing her back here, cooking her some tea (Scrambledy eggs!) and looking after her until Vikki can pick her up. It feels really odd hanging round with other parents – a real travel back in time! And it has been a while since I posted a photo of Livvy here – quite a change – she is nearly 4, born if you recall, when I was having a couple of health snagettes in Southampton General.
And with Christmas round the corner, it will soon be time to get out the decorations, and decorate the blog in its traditional festive manner! Watch this space.
So all ticking along – may things continue Onwards and Upwards!
It did seem as if the cold weather heralded the end of the world – local shops ran out of milk, bread and vegetables – fortunately I was OK as I had stocked up earlier! (Only joking 
) But the snow was quite pretty, and the children built this large snowman in the back garden. However the thaw was starting as I drove back to Corsham – only to be lulled into a false sense of security as the second wave of snow fell 
on Tuesday night, which made driving the two miles to work ‘interesting’ in the morning. However that has now all but gone, although the warm wet Atlantic air is causing quite dense fog patches as it meets the cold air from the ground, so the drive home was interesting.
An update is long overdue, but first, as it has been quite a while since I posted a picture of Olivia, here is one taken a couple of weeks ago. She is very much a little girl, now aged 21/2 years old, and very mobile, very determined and quite able to make herself understood, with a vocabulary that is increasing daily!
I have also had some results from last year’s work, and while one result from coursework was disappointing, I had made up for it in the exam, so I passed it, and I think I have enough credits for the PgCert, so I am now working towards the PgDip.
The pictures show the internals as I was building it, the main feature being nodedicated processor cooling fan, and only one small case fan that just switches on when required. The other picture shows the two disc drives (2.5″) in a RAID 1 configuration, which also consume less power.
Hot on the trail of last Wednesday’s anniversary came the anniversary of my passing my driving test (12 June), but the most important one occurred on Saturday, Katie’s 21st Birthday! We had a ‘bit of a bash’ with a mixture of family and friends to help her celebrate the day with a plenty of Pimms and a BBQ. The weather was lovely for most of the afternoon, but the rain did come down with a vengeance for about forty-five 
minutes, and saw the (four piece) jazz band fleeing to the house, where they set up again – not every day you get a jazz band playing in the living room! However the rain cleared and the party continued on until just before midnight.
It has been a few weeks since I posted any photos of Olivia, who is growing up fast. Her vocabulary is increasing (And I could tell she liked the home made burgers by the yum yum yum noises!). This one was taken late last week, when Vicki brought her over.
Skipping quickly past the famous Belgian reference (the other famous Belgian being Hercule Poirot) this was the scene that greeted us early yesterday morning.
We were out most of the day, but it was starting to melt as we left, and it had all gone by the time we arrived back home this evening. Still it was very pretty while it lasted, but alas not enough time to even think about making a snowman! There are some more snow scenes 
gathering – there are several family birthdays in March and April, so it was an opportunity to get together. Although not a March Birthday girl, Olivia was in good form, so I had to include this photo of her, with Vicki!