new Year

Happy New Year everyone. Love Joan and Terry

where is everyone?

It's time those Bennetts and Bonners put up a blog. And the rest of the Martins and the Bachini boys. What have you all been up to? It's also time for a Christmassy picture please Mr Editor.

We finally have a freezer that works properly, but are still having trouble with the heating and hot water. The Guides are off to the Panto on Wednesday but I am not going this year as me, S and my Dad will be attending an evening class on how to keep bees. Bees need less walks than dogs but other than that we've a lot to learn. You could be eating "Moreton Road Honey" next year, and then again you may not!

Looking forward to seeing everyone over Christmas. I hope the game planning is coming along well. Dx

Christmas in coming

I have missed something this year!

Where is Deborah's blog requesting Christmas present lists? I am very worried about the implications.

I thought you might like to see a recent photo of Ivy in training in Hull. For those who do not know she has been paired with a 50 year old partially sighted man in Hull who likes working on his allotment. If Ivy is like Erin, she will love helping him pick carrots!

I am looking forward to Christmas.

Richard

Guide Dog event at Wychwood Avenue

Dear all,

Just to let you know our Guidedog fund raising day on the 17th October. raised £252.75. A big thank you to Joan, Bren and Deborah for the cakes gifts and help on the day.

It was a lovely Autumn day; Erin and Truffle enjoyed it too. The published photo does not intend to represent the actual interaction between the 9 month and 9 week old puppies.

Love Gill

PS. Don't forget to look on www.justgiving.com/challengerachel for the next exciting event. Thanks again for those who have already contributed to this one.

Autumn is here!

Well the summer was so bad that I skipped straight from spring blossom to an autumn leaf for the side image! I was trying to make it look like a feather with the way it is cropped. I love autumn and really appreciate the colours when out on my bike. A couple of times I have seen what look to be Red Kites hovering over Lilley Bottom - definitely have the wide tail, can anyone confirm if they live around here?

Not masses of news from us. Paul is up an Warwick with either 'flu or a bad cold but otherwise really enjoying it and can't fit all of the activities in. Matt broke (another) bone in his foot yesterday at football so we had 3 hours in casualty last night and he won a pair of crutches. Hopefully lots of sympathy from the girls at college!

I have just finished respraying my old road bike and Deborah has lots of Guiding activites coming up this autumn. We have 2 weeks booked for August next year with the Longs near Snowdon so should have time to fit in all of the activities we want including cycling and fishing.

another outing

D&S made the most of a 'boy free' Saturday and cycled to Shaw's Corner yesterday. A very interesting NT property, if you haven't been yet we'd recommend it.

On the way we stopped at various churches as part of the Churches Bike and Hike day where you get sponsored to visit different churches. It was a last minute decision so we had not got sponsors, but we managed King's Walden ( check out the William Morris Window), Preston (only 108 years old and quite lovely, inside they have a coffin lid from a Knight Templar), St Paul's Walden (where Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyons was reputedly christened and visited many times in her life - Queen Mother), Ayot St Lawrence (not the ruined one, the new one - it's amazingly different) and Kimpton (the modern glass screen is stunning).










5 VERY different churches - all beautiful. Dx

A Few Things from My Summer

Hello there,

Just a small post to let you all know about some of things ive done in my huge summer holiday!

I went away with friends to Mallorca for a week. Much fun was had, although we didn't sleep much! It was very warm all the time and the beach was fab. On our third day we hired two pedalo's and pedalled out to the island in the bay. It was the closest i got to going cycling all week! A fair bit of pride and beer money was gambled away while we played on the largest (52 holes!) mini golf course ive ever seen. Here a picture of us in one of our three rooms, just after we'd arrived.


I had only been back in england two weeks before the Bachini-Long holiday to the Lake district. Me and dad took our bikes and i conquered honister pass which was 2 miles long with the gradient maxing out at 25% for the last mile. There were awesome views from the top. Together we climbed Haystacks, Scaffell pike and Ling Mel fell.

A long exposure for the waterfall by Derwent water:


Lovely blue skys over Derwent water:


On our way to the base of haystacks:

There are a few more photos from Cumbria on my Flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulbachini

Since my holidays ive been working alot :( but i did get to go to the zoo with Steven, Sophie and Prue. We had fun times even though it rained nearly all day, bar about an hour. Ive also been making full use of studentship with the pound a pint nights on thursdays in luton, gotta' look after those pennies!

A break in the rain permitted a self timer shot:


A 'photoshopped' group of Flamingoes:


I am really looking forward to studying computer science at warwick uni and am in the process of gathering new belongs to take with me. Tis so exciting, bring on the fun of the midlands Jonathan!

Holidays with the rich and famous

Finally at 10.45 3rd September we have managed basic photo downloading for the blog.

With a bit of fine tuning we will soon catch up with the rest of you!!

Note to all when hiring a car, make sure you have enough room in your boot for your luggage!

Love the Bonners

recent weekends...

Hi everyone,

I've had a fairly eventful last month, so I thought i'd update you on what i've been up to.

Three weeks ago I drove down to Normandy with a few friends from my old job in London. Although most of the weekend was spent hanging around sipping wine, we did get out on one day and went to Omaha beach where the D-Day landings took place- see pic.

The following weekend I went to Berlin to visit a friend who is currently living there. It's quite an amazing place to visit- the reminders of WW2 and the cold war are really poignant, and remind you how recent (and current) these 'historical' events actually are. I'm not sure how well I've captured this with a picture of us eating ice creams leaning against a section of the wall- but there you go...

Less related to the war, last weekend I went with a couple of friends to the Moseley Folk Festival. Moseley is quite a trendy area (for Birmingham at least...) close to where I live. The festival is held in a 'secret' private park (you have to be a key holder to get in). Anyway, there was a really nice atmosphere- we had picnics watching the music, washed down with local ale. If i'm honest, occasionally the music made me cringe a little, but in general it was fantastic, and there was a real breadth of style.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well, and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Jonathan

p.s. Paul- pleased to hear you'll soon be joining me in the West Midlands! Warwick uni isn't far away, so if you're interested, I'll let you know about any good gigs this way. I've got Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes and Kings of Leon lined up so far...

Terry's Birthday

Photo of the children before it started raining sunday 31st August 2008.

Terry is making good use of his 2007 pass the parcel present!

The 'Hike' part 2

What an excellent walk but who said it easy 'Especially Downhill'.

This blog shows who was present, at least I do not think I have missed any one.

Thank you very much the organisers; I will always remember the Pavola and Profitarolls and of course the excellent company and weather.

We were of course all equally fit and kept together!

THE 'HIKE'

Also stand by for an update on the arrangements for a 'hike' to Barton Springs on Saturday 16th August, depending on the weather forecast.

Lunch or tea (depending on a morning or an afternoon hike) will be filled rolls (Gill to provide) and crisps, puddings, cakes and drinks (provided by the rest of us).

The route is about 3 1/2 miles and is fairly easy, especially the downward bit to the springs, so shouldn't take too long to walk. Dx

Watch this space ...

Richard and Steven/Paul have promised to put on some stunning summer photographs - watch this space.

How about some of you others showing your holiday snaps? Dx

summer

Sometimes it seems the summer is here and then it goes away again. 2nd Stopsley are off to Belchamps Scout Campsite (Essex) on Thursday and the forecast isn't too good! Please keep your fingers crossed for us. Then the Bachini's are off to the Lakes for some hard walking the week after. Hope you all have a good summer and hopefully my better half can put some pictures on here from the top of the world! Dx

Letter from Singapore, work not play.

I look out of my hotel window and see St Andrew's Cathedral, I feel at home. I suppose with it being surrounded by tall office blocks and behind the docks and many tankers is a little unusual but it like that here; a real mixture of cultures.

In side the exhibition we could be anywhere, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Birmingham, all air conditioned it is only outside you can see and feel a difference. 30 degrees C and difference shaped grass.

With so many cultures present we having interesting discussions; for example with a Buddhist Monk who has the ‘answers’; or the people from the Christian radio station in Indonesia who also had the answer. People from FEBA were also present.
One person asked where were we from in the UK; he explained he only knew the UK by the football teams. I therefore said Aston Villa, he was a Manchester United supported so I shook his hand.
We tried to sample local life he by going to a Hawker stall for our evening food, a very interesting experience. Some of you will be pleased to know that some of the stalls were veggie only. We choose to get our food from the stall with the longest queue, always a wise move. We shared a round table with 2 ‘local’ students. He was doing business studies at the University of London, were we from London? No, it was the only place he knew in the UK. It was a remote learning course and did not expect to actually go to there. They were a very friendly couple and gave us some of their carrot cake. I should now explain that carrot cake here was not like ours, it looked like a quorn stew, it tasted ok and I think it was vegetarian. They recommended a local drink but we stuck with our Tiger beer.

On Sunday I am back in Singapore and hope to attend St Andrew for their Sunday Service in English. At present I am close to those other twin towers in KL!

try again - Barton Springs

Can we have a second attempt at the Barton Springs hike/outing on Sunday 24th August? Who will be able and willing?

Thank You

Hello,

Thanks to everyone for all of the birthday cards, chocolate and money! I am off to London in a little bit to meet up with some friends and have a meal later.

I think that I am going to put the money towards a new pair of speakers for my hi-fi.

I hope that everyone is well and that I see you all soon.

Tim

Evesham day out - 10th May

It was excellent welcoming so many to Evesham, we just had enough chairs even if 1 was dodgy.

The cakes were excellent thanks.

I have added a few photos for you to remember the day and if you enjoyed the model plane display and are tempted, well mine is a band 'C' one!

evesham

What a lovely day we had on Saturday. Thank you for having us. We'll be back! Dx
PS Matt says thanks, he's impressed with the keyboard

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICHARD

Which ever part of the world you are in at the moment, hope you have a good birthday. The Bachinis

Thank you

Just a quick note to thank you all for my birthday cards and gifts. Had to go to work this morning and lots of ironing this afternoon but looking forward to take away and a bottle of wine this evening. Big thank yous, I love all my pressies, Deborah xx

3D Glasses!

In an effort to bring the senior Bachinis into the 21st century they had a little trip to the IMAX in London to see U2 in 3D. It was excellent, and pretty funny as you can see.

80s help

Where are all those messages from the Bennetts that were promised - come on Warren!!

I need help please for my next BP weekend. It is an 80's theme (not my choice!). What was on TV in the 80s? We didn't have a TV for most of it! What food would you have served for a dinner party in the 80s? What crafts were popular? What events do you remember from the 80s? I've turned the internet and my brain inside out and have some ideas but have you any more?

All ideas gratefully accepted - thanks Dx

Easter

Thank you to Auntie Gill for having us all round once again, it was a lovely afternoon. Thanks to all for boys Easter gifts/chocolates. We have finished the wallpapering and straight on to the next project which is preparing the garden to grow vegetables and doing decking outside the patio doors. No chance to get bored round here! Dx

Kew

As mentioned we had a great day at Kew and the main point of the visit was to see the Henry Moore sculptures (I'm not a big plant-lover). So here are a couple of pictures. The Henry Moore Foundation has a place at Perry Green in Hertfordshire (near Bishops Stortford) so I will make an effort to go to this - apparently it is beautifully landscaped to suit the objects.

PLAN 'B'

Have you seen the weather forecast for Saturday?!!

Puppy report

We have decided; Erin is still cute but her behaviour is getting more like Ivy's! Erin is enjoying a number of firsts at the moment; different forms of transport, meeting different animals, going in different buildings and attending meetings; she seems to be coping well with them all. It is a big week this week as she is having her injection so that in the following she has freedom to walk on grass, will she make the Easter walk, we will have to see? Does anyone have a doggy sling?

We are receiving regular reports about Ivy. You will be pleased to hear that she seems to be getting on well with her training and hopes to progress to the next stage soon. We will keep you informed.

camping

We haven't got any plans yet for camping but if your interested in going for a couple of nights like last time we would be up for that!! Bo Peep was really lovely.

love S xxxx

decorating

After a frenzied weekend of emptying everything out of the lounge and sanding down and painting we were ready in time for the new carpet to be laid in the lounge today. It looks lovely, especially raound the new fire place and hearth. Just the wallpapering to do, new curtain rails to put up and all the furniture to move back in and we'll soon be back to normal! Everyone else is very quiet, what have you all been up to? Dx

camping

Does the Bonner family have any camping plans for this summer? Dx

LSO on Saturday

We've arranged to meet my parents there around 7.10pm and will walk. Yes, tickets are on the door. Hope to see you there. Dx

Easter

We have a trip to Kew planned with Tim and Nick on Good Friday. What is everyone else doing over the Easter weekend? Can we fit in another 'hike'? Dx

Zero Hero and Mad and Sad

Good to see all of the updates - thanks for cards etc for Paul, here is the form showing a big fat zero (defects)! The instructor said it was 7 years before he saw a score like this. He's been doing a lot of cycling of late and I went with him on the Sunday club run last week and was completely wasted on Monday - it was probably 50-60 miles. I need to get fitter. Probably go for a run with Matt this Sunday.
Hope you like the Winter picture - we were a bit slow to get that updated. It's behind Warden hill BTW.








The second part of the title is because I got all excited at the prospect of re-jigging my hi-fi with the new stand I bought secondhand from that famous auction site - I've wanted one for ages. It came from Hemel so I didn't have to go too far to get it. So as you can see the good old turntable is back in commission with a 30-yr-old Yes concert recording on as I write this. Of course newer amps do not have a turntable input so you can see the trusty Cambridge amp in the stack as the pre-amp. I had to join lengths of speaker cable so I need to see if this has affected the sound.


Other news:

We have ordered the wallpaper and carpet for the lounge so the last room to be done is scheduled in and it's a big one. We are visiting Warwick Uni on Wednesday and I have a 'lads' weekend at Nicks next week.

Matt is still guitar-crazy playing every day and going to gigs at the Luton Uni, he has his Grade 1 test this coming Thursday in Stevenage. He's doing Grade 3 tunes so will probably skip 2. He was a good lad and went in to school 2 days this week to catch up on Electronics building his circuit.

Deborah's job is safe for the time-being as the uni is having a cost-saving drive. Phew. She took the Guides for a hike Wednesday night from Lilley to Putteridge in the nasty fog but all went well.

I recently read Beowulf and enjoyed it so much I bought the book/poem. I then read the epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which was very good (circa 1400AD). I'm having a break from the excellent History of the World lent to me by my Dad but i should resume that soon.

I've arrived- thanks for the welcome

Hi everyone,

It has been so good to see so many of you already since I arrived on the 6th February. I was born in Worcester on the 20th December although I was due on Christmas day. I was very pleased to read the previous blog so I thought I ought to introduce myself. I understand that my predesesor was very lively perhaps that comes with the guide dog gene. Well you will be pleased to know that I am nothing like Ivy, well at least I look different and my mum Linnet said I was special even though I was one of eight, I bet you humans can't beat that! I am looking forward to meeting the rest of my new family very soon.

Love Erin

Erin

Went to see Erin on thursday and what a cutie!! Could of taken her home, even mother said how cute she was. Tasha loved her!

Congratulations Paul

Well done for passing your driving test at the first attempt,

The Martin's

Greetings from remote English shires

Dear all,

We are pleased to read that everyone seems to have recovered from Christmas illnesses.

Gill and I have been staying together in Evesham for a week and have managed to visit 2 Cathedral cities, Gloucester and Hereford.

In Gloucester we saw where the Harry Potter Hogwarts cloister scenes were filmed and in Hereford we went to a Bach Concert. They were both very good days out.

The weather was kind to us even thought we thought we might have to swim to get Hereford.

Back to normal this week, time soon to plan summer holidays.

Gill and Richard

Deborah's Panto

My BP Challenge adventure weekend went well. The girls arrived on Friday night with no idea of what they would be asked to do and by Sunday they were ready to put on a panto for their parents and other guests to watch. They made the refreshments, programmes, costumes and scenery and learnt their lines. Luckily a Guide mum volunteered at the 11th hour to be the director and she did a good job. Everyone took part and the weekend was a success! Dx

hello 2008

Hello everybody. Just to let you all know Terry and I are back in the land of the living and feeling a lot better. Hope everyone has settled back at work and not caught any of the bugs doing the rounds. Terry has gone to watch Keighlan in a school athletics competition at Stopsley sports centre. Keighlan was not keen to take part as he was very tired from his birthday swimming party yesterday. The Bennets are coming next weekend and we are all (including the Bonners going to see Alladin at Milton Keynes theatre. Joan

party time

Thank you everyone for your cards, presents, cooking and attendance for Paul's 18th birthday. He enjoyed his party and we've managed to finally finish up all the left over food and wine - but the heap of beer might defeat us! He had a good day on 31st, going out to lunch with friends and then to a party in the evening. We managed to let the rest of the fireworks off on 31st and it was a shame that you couldn't have seen them - much better than the rockets we had on 29th, but it was less windy on 31st. You may well have heard them, if not seen them, as they were really noisy. We are now waiting for evidence of him behaving adult as well as his birthdate saying he is adult! many thanks again for making his birthday special, love Deborah