Friday, November 16, 2018

Back in Australia

I arrived back to a hot and sunny Australia. It was lovely to see Audrey and Eli again. They had enjoyed their break with some kind friends. Eli liked the flag that I brought him back.


For old time's sake

Here's a picture of me and my brothers outside of Rowan Crescent (our parent's house). When we were little (well my brothers were obviously older than me) we used to line up outside Rowan Crescent on the first day of school.


Thursday, November 15, 2018

Mom's funeral

Mom's funeral went smoothly and the Rev. David Wright who gave the service both at the Crematorium and St.John's did so respectfully and appropriately. It was nice to see that a fair number of the church congregation turned out as Mom and Dad had been a faithful part of the congregation for many many years. I knew a lot of the faces from when I went to church as a kid and sat in the cold and decaying confines of the church. 

Due to assorted lottery grants the church building has never looked so good. The isle which was always cold and chipped tiles is now carpeted and the lights which used to flicker on and off in winter now burn brightly in guilded chandeliers. Sadly though as the building has been repaired the congregation has aged and (like Mom) sadly departed this world. 

Ralph and I with Uncle Richard (the first time we had met since I was around 8 or 9 years old)

family


St. John's in the Square

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Nice walk along the Thames

Ralph and I took a walk along the Thames in Henley. Berkshire is a lovely County and despite it being November the weather was remarkably mild. Amy always used to be amazed by how green the UK is compared to sunburnt Australia, and I now fully understand how she felt.



Monday, November 12, 2018

Arsenal v Wolves

During my short stay in the UK, Wolves played a game at the Emirates (Arsenal's home ground in the north of London. It's virtually impossible as a supporter who only attends games very very rarely(!) to get hold of tickets, but fortunately my friend Chris (who I have known for 20 odd years now) is an ardent Gooner and a season ticket holder (despite living many miles away from Arsenal's ground).

Chris managed to fix me up with a ticket. Sadly, part of the consequence of having an Arsenal supporter secure my ticket was that I had to sit with the Arsenal supporters. Wolves took the lead early in the game and I had to bite my tongue to avoid shouting out and thereby getting kicked out or beaten up. It was a great game and Arsenal fluked an equaliser late on so everyone went home relatively happy at 1-1. It was a great experience and I was really grateful to Chris for arranging my ticket.



Friday, November 9, 2018

Back in the UK

I flew back to the UK for a week for Mom's funeral. It was a sad time (obviously) but also afforded the opportunity to catch up with my family as well as Sarah and Patrick who Amy and I knew from our time in Warsaw. The three of us did a London Walk exploring Brunel's London. The walk featured both a ferry and tube and train ride and told the remarkable history of the famous engineer who built a tunnel under the Thames among other incredible feats of engineering.

It was so lovely to catch up with Sarah and Patrick again, and even though I was in the UK under sad circumstances it felt like only yesterday since I had seen them last. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea at Dukes Hotel near St.James's Park. 

Not a very good selfie of Nelson's column...

Twenty bridges from Tower to Kew
(Twenty bridges or twenty-two)
Wanted to know what the River knew,
For they were young, and the Thames was old
And this is the tale that River told ...
RUDYARD KIPLING
Patick and Sarah by the Brunel Museum (Southwark)


Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Club grounds

Eli spent 15 minutes begrudgingly doing homework, (arguing and complaining throughout) then an hour carefully writing out and memorising the Premier League teams' nicknames and home-grounds (he tells me he's going to do all 92 league clubs). Dear oh dear! #priorities #ifonlytherewasanexam

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Player of the Month

Eli was awarded player of the month for October with Coerver (his football training programme). It was quite an achievement really as there's a lot of boys involved and it was awarded on his attitude as much as his skill. He loves his football and I was ever so proud of him.