Dry January

 Not for me though, life seems to carry on regardless. After returning from Disneyland Paris, the next task was to store all the Christmas decorations in the loft. It is a task which seems to get harder each year. This is due to my lack of the flexibility needed to navigate the roof space, and the reluctance of SWMBO to discard some of the decorations which have been superceeded by new purchases. Who knows, this might be the last Christmas in Hillhouse at which point a good clear out can take place.

The first major event of the year was the meeting to identify the new Captain of the golf club. those of you who have seen Enclave, the movie about the appointing of a new Pope, will have an idea of what we have just been through. A good candidate was identified and I am sure he is in for a cracking 2026.

Other than that, I had a variety of 'Well Man' checks, shingles jabs, and asthma assessments which all seemed to go well, and played the usual golf competitions where I hit the bar a few times but no cigar.

Finally SWMBO and I booked a cruise for later in the year when we fly to Seattle and then visit Alaska, something which has been on our bucket list for some time. We are travelling with Virgin Voyage so it will be interesting to see if we fit the demographic given we hear report of the ships being party boats.

There might still be life in the old dog yet1! 

Decemation

 Christmas always dominates December, and this year was no exception. It was a big Christmas so 18 family members sat down for lunch as SWMBO slaved away in the kitchen turning out the grub. We utiised two party/lazy susan's this year to try to make serving a bit more straightforward, but I am not sure it worked as we hoped. We had a young adult overflow table of five as well, although in two years time they will be canvasing to be on the 'grown-up' table so that will be a bit of a challenge. All in all the day went well so that's something to be grateful of.

The month started with the arrival of three new sofa's, the first for about 15 years, and they do give the lounge a fresh feel as well as being a tad more comfortable than the previous ones. Nobody wanted them on the free giveaway websites so a man and a van from the council took them away/

I then had a trial run pub crwal around Scouseland with the main event to be scheduled in February to compensate for dry January. The golf captains group visited Matou on the peirhead in Miverpool again for the Christmas meal. They look after us very well, with the private room ideal for our needs. A couple of golfing opportunities to win a Christmas turkey passed me by, and after that I had a few trips to look forward to.

First up was a boys trip to Glasgow to watch Glasgow v Toulouse in the rugby Champions League equivalent. We have started these provincial trips to replace our usual outings to Twickenham which have become too expensive and far too busy for my liking. It was a funny game with the French side taking a 21-0 half time lead. We thought we would give it 20 minutes into the second half and beat the rush into town for a sherb or two. Glasgow, however, mounted the comeback of all combacks to have us routed to our seats almost to full time as they won 21- 31. Our run ashore was curtailed somewhat but still very enjoyable,

Less so the journey home which was another horendous day as some storm eminating from France took exception to the rugby defeat and caused a mass of train cancellations. Hey ho!

The next weekend saw me take SWMBO to Colmar in the Alsace region of France to sample the Christmas markets. It was her birthday present, and a couple of typical bistro dinners and three days browsing the shops and stalls go us nicely into the Christmas spirit.

So then we had New Years Eve to contend with, but not any NYE, oh no. SWMBO had missed out on a mass family trip to Lapland when the grand-kids would most appreciate it, so replacing that on her bucket list was EuroDisney Paris courtesy of the Bank of Mum and Dad....where was Dave when you needed him?

We  were fortunate that Tim and his French family could join us making 16 in age range 2 to 72!! yes I went on a few thrills and spills rides but I don't do upsidedown which ruled me out of a few. I have to say we had a great time. The hotel was fine, the flights were on time and the theme parks were of the standard you expect of Disney, and NYE was a magical experience. I just wonder where she will want to go to next 

  

Movember

It is quite amusing to see the pubs and bars full of blokes who look like porn stars with their best efforts at growing facial hair all in a good cause, falling short in some regards!! Good on them for trying though.

So whats been going on Up North this month?

First off was another visit to the Hill Dickinson stadium to watch england v Australia rugby league. I have not been to a league game since the London Bronco's used to play at Griffin Park. My then girlfriend of the time was a big Wigan fan so we went to see them rather than the Broncos. the Paul brothers, Jason Robinson, Shaun Edwards and others were in that great team.

The match at evertons new stadium just confirmed my view that its a dull form of entertainment where you watch the same game every week. England were well beaten,

The next day SWMBO and I went to see Dara O' Briain at the Liverpool Empire. He was very good value and I would well recommend seeing him if he comes your way. Next day saw me packed and off to Lisbon for a three day golf break with 'the teachers', a group of members from Wallasey and beyond. We stayed dry and I came second on the final day which got me some money from the winning pot.

We are in the lucky position of having a reduced price holiday in 2026 by virtue of Rory McIlroy winning the Masters and our travel agent running a competition based on him doing so. Happy days.

On my return I needed my eyes testing before enjoying the 25th anniversary beer festival at port Sunlight with some friends and fellow real ale buff's

As we ponder how and when to downsize, November allowed us to look at a couple of houses which could be possible targets for us. One we saw was a Bank reposession and would have been idea, but the people vacating the place has stripped it bare. No kitchen, no bathrooms, electric wiring all over the place and no doors on any rooms. All could be overcome, but the Bank wanted a 28 day exchange period and there was no way we could sell and fund the works in that time, so sadly it will have to pass.

Things wer ethen a bit sad for a day or two as we attneded the memorial for our good friend Ailsa who passed suddenly after suffering a stroke. There was a great turnout at twickenham RFC where her family and friends spoke well of here and gave her a really fittin sendoff. She was a great photopragher and many of the old pictures from rugby tours, dinners and other memorable events were there to browse through. She will be sorely missed.

The month then ended with a IBM lunch in Manchetser where I met up with some colleagues I had not seen for a while, and the on Saturday we had the St Andrews dinner, a red coat event at the golf club.

So, all in all a pretty busy month.  

Octogenarian

 Wow, what a month October has been as it draws to an end 

I managed to acquire a ticket for the Everton v Tottenham Hotspurs fixture at the new Hill Dickinson stadium in Bramley Moor Dock in the Liverpool derelict water front regeneration zone. It is certainly an mpressive building witha fabulous viewing area and pitch, but I was underwhelmed by the concorses and facilities for the fans. It all seemed a bit sparse with a lack of the wow factor which the new Tottenham stadium has. It was a good 150 steps up the seats too but I know where the lifts are now for next time!!

Spurs won 3-0 so that made the day enjoyable.

I have had three formal dinners during the month too. One featured John Parrott as the speaker who was particularly good. He explianed in early days he was one week in Vegas at the Nevada open and the next week in Wigan for the North of England championships. it was there that he discovered the two places were twinned as they are the only places in the World you can pay for sex with chips....!!

SWMBO and I have also embarked on a look/see with regard to moving home. We have agreed we do need to although neither of us really do want to. We are rattling around in it and it is becoming more and more costly to do even minor repairs. The problem is that there is no stock on the market at the moment, and any decent stuff, or large bungalows are snapped up quickly. we think we probably have two or three years to find something so hopefully the Labour government will lay off home owners in the November budget and we can find something next year.

There was a sad ending to the month yesterday as we attended the funeral of my dear friend George. George was 93 and had had a terrrific life, almost signing for Liverpool as a16 year old, missed out on a boxing spot in the Olympic Games due to injury and played golf to a very high standard.

George and I played every week for over ten years and he was instrumental in my integration to Wallasey golf club, and he was  my proposer for Captain. He will be sadly missed, and the good turnout at the funeral showed how much people thought of him as a person.

Tonight we are off to a friends 60th birthday with a Halloween theme. I am going as a skeleton and SWMBO will be Cruella Deville. Should be a blast  

Septeverus Snape

 As with most things Harry Potter, September is memorable for large moments of invisibility. A couple of wet days in the lakes at Cartmel, car maintenance, painting the upsatirs bedrooms and losing in the final of the Visionaries knock-out golf competition consigned the month to Room 101, roll on October where there might be some real news.

Augustus John

 August was a month dominated by golf. The Liverpool Society of Golf Captains had their annual four day trip away this year to Harrogate, and a jolly splendid time was had by all. One of the Wallasey crew picked up a day prize and generally speaking the hospitality was very good.

A group of us at Wallasey  hosted a team from Colmar in the Alsace region of France. The last two years they had hosted us so it was fitting we were able to reciprocate. They enjoyed the English courses but not so much the weather, even though Alsace is billed as the dryest part of France!!

We will try to go to Colmar again next year, but WMBO and I are scheulde to have a mid-week break there in December and do their Christmas markets.

I also had my eyes tested for new glasses and as we enter November I am still awaiting their correct calibration. Maybe I will get them in time for said French trip. The optician does have a pleasant bedside manner, which may be the only saving grace at the moment 

 Joyeaux Noel 

Black Day in July

 New philosophy to try to keep posting news....monthly updates!!

So to finish off Cyprus, wedding was fine but I caught a virus which helped me lose a bit of weight, no need for fat jabs on my watch, managed to get on flight home which could have been a bit of a frightner but alls well that ends well.....

Had a week off while Maxine went with the kids to Greece. Most strange arrangement though. She couldn't fly from Cyprus to Greece and meet up with the UK crew, even though it was less than an hour. If she was not on the Manchester flight, Jet2 would have cancelled the whole package so she had the flight back to Blighty then back to greece the next day. Still they all seemed to enjoy it.

I just played a bit of golf and helped out at the English Amateur golf tournament which was being hosted by Wallasey and Royal Liverpool. Wallasey came out of the week very favourably.

So all in all July eventful, but routine!!