A very urban Christmas

Now this was a first for us - Christmas in the city, Annie, Ivan's (Mr Bicknell's) sister took it upon herself to "do" Christmas this year, and well, who were we to argue? As sad as I was about leaving our little haven in the country for three days, I was secretly pleased about not having to be in charge of clearing up all the mess afterwards, also very nice not having to worry about cooking too - although the two of us aren't too shabby on that front. So we packed the car - no mean feat as a) our car was still at the top of the hill and b) we had to fit all our presents and food contributions in along with Ivan's lovely Mum and what appeared to be enough booze and food to last for a good week... What would we do without our neighbours? Next door lugged everything up for us in their car which was a life saver and for some bizarre reason the roads to the big smoke were clear, so the festivities began....

Spoilt children...

I told you......

Dinner in Islington at the magnificent Isarn - if you find yourself on upper street - pop in! Strawberry Bellini's to die for and the grub's pretty good too!

A rare thing indeed - cheery boys at Christmas - the lovely Rainer and the even lovlier Ivan (Mr Bicknell).

A stroll on Hampstead Heath - one thing Worldham can't offer!

Huge kite!

A well balanced camera!

Annie concentrating on creating delicious delights.

A Vegetarian Christmas - who needs a turkey?!

Primrose hill on Boxing day - Gorgeous!

Messing about in Regents Park - don't tell Tim Harvey!

Snow Geese!

 Now where did that Partridge go?

What yer doing?

Nice to see that even the inhabitants of Primrose Hill suffer from a lack of taste!

A Christmas miracle - my first real Banksy sightings!

The cats were unimpressed!

I always think that being a cat in our house would be fab - Scratch and Sniff are totally over indulged, but apparently it really isn't on when your owner can't control the weather.....

Err, no, we NEVER let the cats sit on the table....

Scratch

Sniff - sniffy by name, sniffy by nature...



Here comes the snow....Again!

So, it snowed again - but it was the sheep I felt bad for this time, I really don't think that they could look any more miserable! Especially as whilst I was indoors decorating our tree and wrapping presents. However, they were not the only ones outside in the cold, Ivan (Mr Bicknell) decided to head off for the hills the moment college closed it's doors and sped off to the Lakes - Why? Because he is certifiable, that, my friends is why! Stuck for the night in Rochdale must have been a real high, but I understand that a fine time was had by all, apparently the coldest part of the trip was walking down our hill at 1.00am when he got home - minus 14 apparently!

Doesn't look much fun.

Errr, nor does this really.....

But this was!



Christmas shopping

I was ill at the end of November with a sick bug, courtesy of my nephew Rafferty - which he generously passed on to a whole number of us at our pre-Christmas, Christmas in Glastonbury, so whilst recovering at home and being forced (!) to miss a day off work - the rest of the art staff refused to have me in the building, I did most of my shopping on line - fortuitous as it turned out as it all arrived on time and I wasn't caught out by the snow - it is amazing however just how commercial things have become, but I was very surprised to see domestic pets getting in on the action this year - well, i suppose if you want exactly the right Jumbone you have to pick it out yourself huh?!

On his way home for a happy and contented Christmas!



Three Angels!

What makes my job even better is the people I work with and twice a year, no matter what, we all get together for a bit of a nosh and the odd tipple or two - well, hell, we've earned it! This time we went to a new place for us - called the Golden Pot - just up the road from the college - I tell you, it is well worth a visit if you get the chance - and a fine time was had by all!

Sophie, Annie and Caroline - Well fed and in a festive mood!

http://www.thegoldenpot.co.uk/



Catching up after the snow......

The snow was basically a pain in the rear end, and the last couple of weeks of term turned out to be a bit of a nightmare for me, the construction of 29 folios to oversee is no mean feat when you have the right amount of time, but when you don't, it is seriously hard work I can tell you. As ever though, on the whole, the girls were amazing and worked their little socks off, there were of course, a few hairy moments and I might have thrown my toys out of the pram here and there, but we did it and got the work done - even if a number of us did have to stay until after 8.00pm a few times.... I actually do feel for once that I have well and truly earned my Christmas holiday! Here are some of the best bits!

Amy and Hannah deciding where to start with the great folio construction....... Still looking relatively happy though!

Jenny doing a fine job with PhotoShop - well desperate times call for desperate measures....!!

Ish - getting things just right!

Jess - last minute adjustments - though how anyone can do anything in that mess I will never know!

Lottie - as cheery and composed as ever!

And Ted - checking out how many successful pages so far!

Taking photos.

We didn't actually see the floor for days - Jane our lovely cleaner was very tolerant...

And here are some of the fabulous outcomes so far - now come on, what uni wouldn't offer places based on this little lot?!

Why do I put myself through this year, upon year? Because I love it!



I AM SOOOOO OVER THIS WEATHER!

STILL no gas delivery - flogas are hopeless - Ivan (Mr Bicknell) and I are set to freeze and starve at this rate! Not only this, but we still can't bring our cars down the (mile long) hill due to the fact that it is successfully masquerading as an ice rink, so morning and evening I have a long and cold walk ahead of me - up hill in the morning - of at least a 70 degree incline (!), and dark and down hill in the evening, stupidly on Monday with a huge bag of grocery shopping and post an hour in the gym - oh joy, and err, Chris Grant - if all you have to worry about is a little bit of a slippery pavement - you are a very lucky man!

Pretty, yeah, pretty tough first thing in the moning!!