Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Grandpa would have been 95 today.

I'm looking forward to a walk through the crem and a chat with him next weekend. I know time heals ... but sometimes you just need quite a lot of time.

I miss him terribly.

Four years and counting!

A little hard to believe that I left Sydney 4 years ago!

Unsurprisingly, a lot has happened ... I've been a lot of places, lived in a few homes, met a lot of people, had a couple of jobs and spent a lot of time wondering what I'm going to do next!

Best thing has been the freedom - the constant feeling that I could just uproot and go wherever I felt. Keeping that under control has been difficult from time to time, but I've tried to take the sensible route.

Hardest thing has been being away from friends and family.

I've been very lucky to have Mum over for at least a couple of months every year I've been here ... and even luckier that Dad has been able to come over too more often than not. The future is looking a little bleaker in the knowledge that I won't be able to see them nearly as regularly from now on.

I've really regretted not staying in touch with people as well as I should. While it is a two way street, I know I've been a little difficult to stay in touch with this past year.

Highlights ...
2004 - working in a factory in North-West England. A proper white Christmas.
2005 - LA generally. Driving down Highway on my one woman road-trip. Discovering Fioli. Joining C&P.
2006 - Learning to really travel.
2007 - Realising that my work was truly valued. Getting a self-created promotion!
2008 - Spending time with Mum & Dad in Northern England. Santorini - learning to love a summer holiday. Becoming a wedding expert!

Lowlights ...
2004 - you know, I can't think of any.
2005 - Leaving LA. Flathunting in London.
2006 - Realising that not everyone can stay in London forever.
2007 - Having to say no to a wedding invitation for the first time. Leaving Australia without knowing when I was likely to be back.
2008 - Losing Grandpa. Not being able to be with friends when they need me. Watching Hannah grow up on the other side of the world.

Favourite places ...
2004 - Didn't really venture out of St Helens!!
2005 - Santa Monica. Fioli. NYC.
2006 - Prague
2007 - Oslo
2008 - Santorini

Who knows what the future holds ... I'll just sit tight and wait for the time being to see what 2009 brings!

York-tastic!

Great weekend in York with Adele, Bakes, Bry, Cat, Lee and Nick, to celebrate Nick & Lee's birthdays.

We started on Friday night with an amazing meal at Melton's Too - enormous servings of locally sourced food makes everyone happy!

Saturday saw us head for breakfast/morning tea at the famous Betty's Tea Rooms ... and so the down hill slide began ... Upon discovering that the Moet was "a bargain" we indulged in a bottle ...

Then we walked the city walls, pausing midway for another bottle of champagne ...

Those who'd been to the city less than 3 times then took a look around the Minster and climbed the tower for views over the city.

York we ended up at the bar Cat, Nick & Laura had just met andThen, feeling energetic, we decided that some retail therapy was in order before heading to meet up with Cat, Nick & Laura for a pre-dinner drink. After a brief trawl through the stinking bars of where we had booked for dinner.

Time for ... champagne! Then we moved to our table for a couple of bottle of Pink Prosecco (the low point of our 'champagne' day). From there the pizza, wine and champagne flowed freely, with Laura's fiance Rich making a guest appearance with a bottle of Veuve (and Nick & Cat looked very sad when it was all gone)!

After a long night for some, the more touristy types emerged the next day to explore the JORVIK Museum, which was not entirely hangover friendly! Some more retail therapy and then to the Masons Arms for an enormous (but below average) roast dinner. A compulsory visit to the fudge shop followed and then we said farewell to Nick and Cat before heading straight back to the bar from the night before! We sat in the sun for a bit before giving into temptation and heading back to the bar. They'd restocked the fridge after the evening before but unfortunately we just weren't up to the challenge, so beer and cider it was ...

Then back in a cab, picked up our bags, onto the train (and a brief goodbye to Lee who was being a 1st class snob!) and home sweet home ...

The Big 0-1!!!

That's right ... Miss Hannah Beth Patten is 1!!!

Hard to believe a year's gone by since I got that rather exhausted phone call from Ern. Which means it's been over 11 months since the gorgeous Miss Patten came to visit Ulolo Avenue and send my parents clucky!

In some ways it's been a very long year but now things are starting to look up again. 3 weddings, 1 ceilidh, 4 babies, only one pregnancy that I know about down and only a civil ceremony (and Christmas!) to go!

Can't quite believe Hannah been around long enough for me to get through all of that ... but I've watched her grow (albeit virtually, through my daily blog checking) so much over the past 12 months it seems only fair that she has a big party to celebrate (Not that I got an invitation ...!!).

So ... Happy Birthday Hannah! May you enjoy chocolate on your face for many, many years to come!

Condensation

Grandpa's house went on the market in late March.


Went to Barca with the folks in mid April.



Then the parentals decided that being in the same country as me for 9 out of 12 months was more than enough and headed back to Oz.

Got another new flatmate at the beginning of May.

Lost two of my four team secretaries. And no, I didn't actually misplace them. And no, they didn't leave because of me. Or so they say.

Had a girls weekend in Belfast in mid-May.



Had a mammoth late-May long weekend which started with the Chelsea Flower Show ... (look closely for Jamie Durie posing casually...)



... went via Eurovision at Chez Gibson-Budge in Darlington ...



... and ended in glorious St Helens.


Saw Pete Murray ... had to go through a metal detector to get into Brixton and got waved through security BECAUSE I had a bag (?!)


Squeezed in Supper Club 7 ...




...Got two new team secretaries.

(Haven't talked them into a photo yet)

Learnt how to run away with the circus at Jamie's Hens Day (Take 1)



And then ...

Jack, Siggy & Ande came to town and I got really excited and we had little bits of fun because I was working and couldn't take time off and we went out for dinner with really crap service and then we went for a posh Afternoon Tea (Jamie's Hens Day Take 2) with more crap service and then we got on a plane and it was delayed for two hours and I fell asleep and then I woke up and then we took off and we were on our way to Santorini!!!

Oh, and in the middle of those last 4 days I went up to Glasgow for the night for Karen's fabulous Cockadoodledoo!

Ahhhhhh ...

I've been rubbish.

But I've also been to Santorini.

Actually, I've been doing a bit since I last wrote, but for now I'll just leave you with a photo of my heavenly holiday.

I love cheesecake ...

Two very different types in one evening is nearly enough to send me over the edge!





Celebrated my first London wedding in style a few weeks ago ... The new Mr & Mrs Ullathorne were married in St Etheldredas (the oldest Catholic church in England and one of only two remaining buildings in London from the reign of Edward I) - a church which is as beautiful as it's history is interesting. With a choir in full force, my hat and I witnessed a wonderful service before being whipped off in a (rather chilly) routemaster.

The Lansdowne Club Ballroom kept us busy for a while as we attempted to behave ourselves appropriately whilst downing champagne, tartlets, guinea fowl and some divine strawberry cheesecake. The (mostly) Cambridge lot were pretty happy to discover they'd won the afternoon's boat race, but less so to discover that the jasmine flower tea bonbonniere was inedible! Dora's delicious homemade kurma went down slightly better ...

The highlight of the evening was the amazing wedding cake which I'd been looking forward to for a good year or so! Seven different types of cheese, apparently weighing a massive 30kgs was devoured rather rapidly by the hordes before we all forced ourselves back on the dance floor to bust a few more classy moves.


Rumour has it that the party then moved on to Mahiki, but I obviously wasn't up for it, falling fast asleep in the cab home ...

Received a text the next morning to find that Charlie & Sarah were off to Madagascar, which should pass the honeymoon test despite the malaria tablets and mozzie net!