22 - 31 Dec: How much can one eat?

Sat: Up to London with Marshalls to see Top Hat - great lively show

Pre theatre drinks in Waldorf, then dinner at Delaunays - round corner table, great atmosphere, food and service, and not over the top expensive.  Jon joined us on Facetime!

We drove up as G&N were with us, and I packed the Brompton in the boot.  Parked car at Barnards House in the City for £2.50 after 1:30 on a Saturday, and cycled back and forth, worked out very well, managed to miss the rain!

Sun: To M&Ms in Hazlemere for lunch party to critique their new kitchen.  Pick up Xmas order from J&J Mays.

Mon: Dr M at work.  Spin for me at WP, then prepped food for tomorrow

Tue:  D&J's for drinks at 11 with rest of Darvells inmates, back for "normal" Marshall Xmas extravaganza with 10 around the table.  Jon joined us again on Facetime.

Wed:  yet more extravaganza continuation (roast beef).  Did manage a walk around Chorleywood though with Nigel whilst younger members of group ran to/from William Penn.

Thu: Spin (and gym for Dr M)
Fri: Spin (and work for Dr M)
Sat: Spin (and gym for Dr M), then to Aspley Heath for repeat extravaganza with extras from Linda's side - 18 round the table!
Sun: Spin (and gym for Dr M).  New project to restart golf for Cherry and I, went to driving range at the Nine of Herts up Batchworth Hill.  Very low key i.e, David Mitchell plebeian, easy and cheap (£3.50 for 50 balls).  We were both pleased with our performance after 5 years of non-playing.

Lulu's friends F&L came over for evening and we had a Toby picnic in the kitchen trying to get through all the left over bits before they get consigned to freezer or bin.
Mon: NYE at Wimbledon with the usual suspects.  Stayed night at M&As

15 - 21 Dec: Xmas is coming!

Sat:  Shopping with G&N, then Chiltern Choir Xmas concert and G&P, I&J can over for dinner.  Lovely evening

Sun:  Lazy

Mon:  Ran to gym, swam, fartllecked back.

Tue: Spin, then drove to meet Chair at HHFT for chat.  Choir in evening with mince pies & wine round at the Parkes.

Wed: HHFT Board meeting.

Thu: Spin.  Delightful experience in Waitrose Fish counter.  Walked into Ricky & M&S and had coffee at new "place" H&H (Harris & Hoole) - in the old Clinton cards shop.  They are opening up in the area (Amersham & Uxbridge) and are 49% owned by Tesco!).

 Designer layout and expensive snacks.   GW round for dinner.

Fri:   Pick up Lulu from LHR.  Spin - I arrived early so 15mins rowing machine and some weights and situps beforehand.

6 - 14 Dec

Thu: Lots of washing, clearing up

Fri: Took G&N down to Chorleywood Xmas street festival.

Santa in Poores

Then the Bordeaux Sailors, R&C and C&J, came round for dinner and stayed the night due to too much red wine

Sat:  All went over to R&C's stately apartment in Hertford for a nosey look around to how the other half lives, then us poor people came home.

Sun: I got out Xmas tree and decorations and started to pretend I was in a festive mood.  G&N round for lunch, not much else possible.

Mon: Dr M back to doctoring.  Spin at WP.    In evening went to Highgate for Messiah rehearsal - went well except for the last Amen where we were tired - on the night the atmosphere and adrenaline kicks in to make it better.

Tue: Spin and choir in evening.  Next Saturday's Xmas sing will be mostly sight reading by me!

Wed:  Frost looking nice on the Common.  Spin class.

Thu:  More frost.  New TV arrived so spent the morning with an erection, wires and the manual.

Out to Tamarind Thai for the usual excellent dinner

Empty plates

Fri: NHS Governor induction training day, then straight to RAH for Messiah.  Sublime.

Where's Wally?

29 Nov - 5 Dec: Family week in Dubai

Thanks to Jon's flight money account and initiative, we spent a week in Dubai at Movenpick Jumeirah Beach Walk.  Dubai is not my most favorite place, but the weather was much warmer than in UK so we were able to swim in the sea a couple if times.  Lots on:

• Meeting up with Su from Qatar (solo because Nev's exit visa had expired)
• Shopping in largest Mall in the world
• Going up the tallest building in the world
• Dinner in Sheraton Creekside to see 41st National Day fireworks with Lisa & Warren (then to their house for dinner next night)
• Rugby 7s finals
• World parachuting championships were on all week on the beach

Su & Cherry

that looks a lot Mum

How many signs does one need?

Corner of Rugby 7s stadium

Dubai Mall Aquarium

Tea and texting in Dubai Mall by waterfall

Top of the world

It must be Xmas!

Bye bye

Jon then left for Thailand via Hong Kong, Lulu left for Pune via Mumbai, and we flew back to blighty.

It was nice to get home to what-I-call-normality.

24 - 29 Nov:

Sat: 7am breakfast, checked out, walked into town for the farmers market.

Coffee at Namur bakery.  Bus to airport, 11:25 flight to City, then as Met line closed, caught DLR to Canning Town, Jubilee to Green Park, Victoria to Euston, train to Watford Junction, taxi to Chorleywood, then I drove to St Mary's Ricky in time for 1:45 rehearsal!  Which went better than I expected for me without any practice since the last one.  Back home to change, pick up Nigel, then to concert proper - Son of God Mass, Ubi Caritas by Meallor, Eternal Light Mass by Howard Goodall.  Beautiful pieces, wonderful words.

I'm hiding on the left behind Bill

Rained all the time when in UK.  Busy day.

Sun: Lunch with Sue, James, Becky & Ed:

Mon: Potter

Tue: Coffee with G&P, choir in evening

Wed:  Hospital day at Mt Vernon, Patient Engagement seminar then Board meeting

21 - 23 Nov: Luxembourg with C&L

Wed:

Thu:

Fri:

19 - 20 Nov: Xmas Spectacular

Mon:  Up to Norfolk with G&N, stopped at Ely for coffee and independent bookshop browse, excellent shop Topping & Company:

Called into Pete & Mo's for quick lunch bite, then off to Thursford for the Xmas Spectacular

What can I say.  Bizarre yet so British.  Just like the Olympic opening ceremony.
Back to Blakeney Hotel for usual dinner.

Tue:  C&I went swimming before breakfast, then off shopping to Holt.  Weather was grey and a but damp, back home at 3:30.

12 - 18 Nov

Mon:  Mrs M left her coat in Farnham at the weekend, so I drove down and back through drizzle to pick it up.  Generally pottered around, shopped at Waitrose, fixed new shower door roller.  Confirmed Burgundy price with Bernard, so that tour is on (july 2013).  Have also provisionally booked Bike Adventures for May to do Pisa to Sicily down the coast.

Tue:  BMW in for service and MOT at Hyde Heath.  I waited while it was done for a couple of hours, then popped into see G&P for coffee and to critique their patio, v.nice.  Choir in evening - usual tetchy behaviour from Michael as its only a couple of weeks to go and we are still a bit dodgy in a couple of places.

Wed:  Swam 60lengths at WP first thing.  Lunch at Bedford Arms as guest of Bill S at 1969 "gentlemans monthly luncheon club" - not sure about joining as I seemed to be the youngest there!
In evening, took Nigel to CW Litefest talk on Underground by Sam Mullins (runs LT Museum) - very informative and he had a dry ironic sense of humour.  Nigel bought the book though he was loath to part with his money!

Thu: Dr M went up to London for a meeting.  I went to WP for spin class.  Saw "We will rock you" with Eddie & Shirley at RMS, Ella was the Killer Queen.  Very lively and polished performances all round.

Fri: Acted as chauffer to Dr M and Theo (sister from MVH) to King's Lynn Hospital.  I took brompton and cycled into the city, nice historic quayside but deserted and cold:

Excellent breakfast as greasy spoon cafe

Mist over the river Ouse

High water flood marks on cathedral door pillar

Much nicer town than I was expecting!

Sat: Took Granny down road for coffee with Nigel, then into Watford. As bearable as it could be - I bought a "country casual jacket"

In evening off the Dr Challoner's Anniversary dinner/dance with S&B, G&C.  

Good evening of chat, food and drink, though the music was inspiring enough to get us to dance.  

Cherry was in a scrap book being passed around:

Sun:  Built up energy reserves for the Granny outing tomorrow.

5 - 11 Nov:

Mon:  Nothing exciting, just walked to vill for shopping, the update meeting with Chair and CX of Hillingdon Hospital....oh and Guy Fawkes night so lots of bangs and wizzes during the evening

Tue:  Booked 9:30 spin class.  Cold and frosty morn as they say in the carols, but clear and sunny to start with, so ran to William Penn, swam 50 lengths, then found the spin class was cancelled due to instructor being sick.  All my good intentions to do a min-tri thwarted!  Jogged back home via shops, buying a partridge to roast tonight.  Choir later, only 3 weeks to go to the concert, as usual one wonders if we will be ready as some bits are still scrappy.

Big day 26 years ago, Jon was born:

He's just as sweet now!

Granny came round in evening for a Facetime call with Jon in Kabul, and we then got Lulu on the other iPad from a party in Newbury.  Amazing technology and telecommunicatons

Just because Facetime can't do more than a 1-1 video conference

toasting the birthday boy

Wed: Spin 10:40, walked to vill later to return library (what an exciting day!), then to Mt Vernon in evening for Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group (HCCG) presentation.  How it can work is beyond me.  It is not possible.

Thu: Cycle ride with Mrs M to Ricky to pick up parcel, and breakfast at Cinnamon Square.  Mtg with Nigel's care workers at Shepherd Day Centre, a very calm and respectful place, makes you want to provide more support to them rather than the cutbacks they are experiencing.  Then up to London to see Twelve Night at the Apollo with Stephen Fry and Mark Rylance (who plays Lady Olivio though sometime relapsing into Richard III with his asides to the audience, loved his dalek glide around the stage) via shopping in Chilton Street and a cheese board and glass of wine at La Fromagerie just off Marylebone High Street, very yummy.

Excellent acting and staging, but the play itself is rather vacuous in plot, compensated in part by the wonderful language and use of words.  What an amazing man was WMS.

Fri: Drove Dr M up to a meeting at Edgebaston Cricket Ground.  Took Brompton and I cycled into Birmingham, mega breakfast in a busy workers pub,

wandered round the Art Museum which was just the right size with a variety of non-religious paintings

King Faisal of Iraq - I'd seen this picture in all the TEL books

Degas

 Good collection of pre-Raphaelite

One of 3 - A Lady of Shallot - on loan from Tate

Has to be a northern Lowery!

Then looked at shops, all the usual ones, it got cold and I was bored so cycled back to hear the end of the lectures.  Drove home to go straight to hear Ben Elton at the Chorleywood LiteFest, absolutely brilliant and charming, able to answer any question by going off into a insightful yet funny commentary.  A nice man who has done very well with his talents and just happy with his life (despite those who seem jealous of his success and claim his has betrayed his left wing alternative comedy roots - will his real roots are very upper intellectual and cospmopolitan middle class)

Popped to Rootz Brassiere for pizza and wine afterwards, vg.  An excellent day despite driving over 200 miles.

Sat: Went to Farnham for dinner with S&A, and J&W.  Very pleasant evening, lots of red wine hence I fell asleep at 10pm.  We stayed the night.

Sun:  Lovely clear morning.  Went for 20 mile bike ride with John to Hindhead Devil's Punchbowl.  Observed 11 am  mins silence enroute.  Very slow service at NT Cafe.  Super bike path down from Hindhead, running at end next to new A3.  Got quite cold.

In evening caught train into London for birthday dinner with Hannah at Kopapa in Seven Dials.  Trendy asian fusion.  Great evening with rest of family (Lulu came).