Laila, Anders, lisa & Grid

We popped round to see Laila, Anders, Lisa and Grid...they were all on good form!

Christmas in Fraena

Here we all are sitting in the living room on boxing day.

Odd got SO many clothes, he obviously started to doze off, as it was taking forever to get through all his presents!

Here I am sitting in front of the Christmas tree with all the presents still under it...it took a long time to hand all of those out!

A little photo of some Christmas decorations

Here we all are sitting down to Christmas dinner on the 24th...huge pile of ribbe at the back!!
By the end of the evening, the Aquavit was obviously taking its toll on me!!

Mamma & Aud celebrating Christmas

Looks like everyone's having a good time out at Farstad!

Siv and Marie, showing off....as usual!

Siv and Marie celebate December 23rd (little Xmas eve)...for the 26th year in a row!
And Marie's collection of gnomes was a bit scary...especially those having gone through facial reconstruction!!

Merry Xmas!!!

Merry Xmas from Siv and I.....and a special greeting from Len in Operations, who is moonlighting as Mrs Claus - Ho ho ho!!

Golden oldies!

While I was going through the old photos, found these REALLY old ones of myself and Russell, with a much younger Baz as well.

Christmas traditions....

Well, its coming up to Christmas, so I thought I'd remind us all of some old traditions. Here's Baz getting very excited around the table as we were having Christmas dinner, and of course he's wearing a paper hat. This was all part of Christmas in our house when he was around!

More xmas drinks...

Wednesday night, met up with Paul, Jage, Ironbeard, Clive and Ian at The Gun. Unfortunately Lev couldn't make it due to work commitments. Looks like a bit of a heated discussion! Photo taken with mobile phone, hence the less than perfect quality!

Up the West end @ Noura Lebanese restaurant

We went up the West End to meet Siv's friend Inger Lise, with her husband Bilal (or Bill Baker ;-) ) with their son Rudi. We went to a Lebanese restaurant 'Noura' on the junction of Jermyn Street and Regent street. Very nice food, and Siv got to keep the fancy bottles of Norwegian water they serve there.
And Rudi was very proud of his new Bart Simpson belt!!!

Hampton Court

On the Saturday, before we came home, we went for a walk around Hampton Court gardens, as it was such a nice day. A bit chilly, but nice to be out and about.
And walking through the grounds we saw this little robin in a bush, we were able to get within a couple of feet from him!And here was a Japanese Persimmom...all the leaves had gone, but just the fruit was left!

PGS Xmas Party - Friday December 8th

We went to Siv's company Xmas party on Friday. It was held at Hampton Court! There were drinks beforehand in one of the great halls in Hampton Court, and we moved on to the Garden Room for the actual dinner. Here we are all dressed up.
Siv didn't fancy walking through the grounds in her nice shoes, so she came prepared!!!

Norwegian Xmas tree in Trafalgar Square!

We went to Trafalgar Square tonight to see the annual lighting of the Norwegian Xmas tree that is given to London by Norway. It was lit by Crown Princess Mette-Marit. Crown Prince Haakon was also there along with the children Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Marius Borg Høiby.
Read about it here:
www.norway.org.uk/norwayuk/christmastree/christmastree.htm
Very crowded with loads of people....consequently the photos were a bit slapdash!!

Then walking back through Covent Garden we came across these huge chandelier decorations in Seven Dials....very impressive!

Oh Dear...

Not sure what Grace was drinking...

Dad's Birthday

Here we all are celebrating Dad's 74th birthday

A Christmas message from Captain Powerful!

Eddie Mines sends us a Christmas message from Captain Powerful himself!

Loz is 60!!!

Loz is sixty today!!! As usual Christine in reception has gone to town with the desk decorations!!
Just out of shot is a mini rocking chair and pair of slippers.

Memory Lane.....

Had a little browse through some old photos...and found some goodies....

Here's the lads on a Peak district walking holiday in July 2005. This was taken with a mobile phone, hence the slightly blurry quality!

Here's a group shot of everyone from the ill-fated West Ham - Liverpool F.A. Cup Final in Cardiff in May 2006.

Finally, here's a picture of Siv with Eli's dog Bubbles when she came over to pick her up in January 2006. Eli sadly had to sell bubbles when she moved, but from what we hear she's now enjoying herself with a new family just outside Oslo.

Captain Powerful goes from strength to strength!

Check out William and Eddie wearing their official CP T-Shirts, plus see all the latest CP news at www.captainpowerful.co.uk !!

Millie

Here's a picture of Grace's new Dog Millie (I think that's how its going to be spelled) taken on 26/10.....she's a real little cutie!

Post Keane Copenhagen

We decided to make the most of the weekend and see a bit of Copenhagen. Unfortunately the weather wasn't too great Saturday Morning, so we went out to Field's, the biggest Mall in Scandinavia to kill a few hours. We took the automated Metro out there on a Cold, rainy and windy morning.

Fortunately the weather improved during the day, so we headed back in town, and strolled from the main square (Radhusplads) down the main pedestrian street Strøget, before having some dinner. After this we went back and took it easy for a while in the Hotel.
In the evening we went to McJoy's in Nyhavn near our Hotel (The Strand in Havnegade) to listen to some music with a few drinks.

Walking around Copenhagen at night you see some nice sights, like the Department Store 'Magasin' with all of its lights on.

Or these cute little coffee kiosks in some of the main squares.....

Sunday we went out for a little walk back down Strøget for some lunch before having to get the taxi back to the airport and coming home :-(

Look forward to going back there!

Keane in Copenhagen

Just Back from a great weekend in Copenhagen. Saw Keane at the KB Hallen on Friday night....they really gave it 100%.

We got there quite early, and saw the support band, The Long Winters....and were about 3 metres from the front....and expected to have to move when Keane came on, as there might be a surge from the back. Fortunately that didn't happen, so we were able to get a great view of what was going on! Here's Siv, with Tom Chaplin in the background:

From there, we headed back towards town, and eventually got a taxi to take us back to the Hotel.

DnB NOR Dinner Dance

a fun night Saturday at the DnB NOR dinner dance at The Grove....and Siv 'sort of' joined the band! Photos HERE

Captain Powerful conquers Oakville!

Captain Powerful is the toast of Oakville! Eddie Mines' very own superhero is a hit at his school courtesy of my T-shirt image featuring the the big 'P' himself.

Brrrrr!

Just found this photo from a VERY chilly day last winter in a park in Twickenham