CHRISTMAS DAY 2010

Well Christmas Day has come and gone for 2010. Six for Xmas lunch at our house with a big turkey and lots of crackers and presents everywhere. Even Dougal got a dog stocking and a new big lamb bone. Lovely jubbly. We have now been joined by Uncle Pand and Laura who spent Xmas Day with Laura's sister and her family.

SNOW

Snow, snow, more snow, ice ice, more ice. Winter is definitely here. It snowed again this morning just as we were thinking it might get warmer (maybe by the weekend ??). But Dougal loves it : I burrow away in it, chase balls, turn the white stuff yellow! Grandad did manage to venture out last Monday and made it to the cinema where, he said, were massive piles of snow and ice where the car park had been cleared. Apart from that and Father Christmas and elf duties Nanna and Grandad have not been out of Driffield for nearly 2 weeks. We were all planning to go to Edinburgh this weekend but looking at how much snow has fallen in central Scotland there's little chance of that. So we won't be seeing Martin on his birthday which is very sad. But there we are, we can't fight nature and wouldn't want to. Here's hoping for a thaw sometime but its going to take a long time before this lot goes.

SANTA ARRIVES AT GROTTO

Father Christmas arrived at his grotto yesterday morning to be greeted by a giant panda in thick snow. Some of the characters from the forthcoming Starstruck panto Aladdin were there to meet him. Unfortunately (and maybe because of the bad weather) only 9 children turned up to talk to Santa on his first day.

XMAS IS COMING

Hello folks, sorry i've been a bit quiet over the past few weeks. I'm back to (more or less) walking normally again. I seem to ok in the morning but still turn right and not left at night. Put it down to fireworks and the bangs and screeches. I still don't like bangs and they can make me stop walking. Maybe it's a collie thing. Snow is on the ground again and its very cold and icy but I quite like the snow. Grandad is still making good progress and taking his pills regularly. He bought some jeans last weekend.........now thinks he's trendy!! He'll be Father Christmas shortly at the Cranswick Garden centre. Nanna is busy making a costume for Dawn who is to star as the "Genie of the ring" in Starstruck's forthcoming panto of Aladdin. She's also been very busy organising things for Santa's Grotto. Only 4 weeks to Xmas, I wonder what i'll get this year ???

A DOG THAT WON'T WALK

I have a problem. In some situations I won't walk !! Yes a dog that won't walk. Can't explain what's happened to me but I go out of the house and stop at the end of the drive. I also have problems sometimes when I am out walking (after being driven somewhere) that I don't want to go down a particular road or street. Most distressing for me and Nanna and Grandad who are doing their best to help me. I'm not too bad if I am taken somewhere (like the Woodland Walk at Burton Agnes Hall) as I was yesterday but its just a problem getting off the drive etc.

LATER :

Been for assessment with a professional dog trainer. Basically there's nothing wrong with me. Its up to my owners to get it right. Tried walking off the drive with the dog trainer, then Nanna and then Grandad. Got it right every time !! Good dog ????????

LEAKING CENTRAL HEATING

Some weeks ago we noticed a patch of water in the hall once the central heating was switched on. Despite various "attempts" to sort it out we still had a leak. British Gas have been today and dug up some tiles in the hall to discover water, mould and some very black boards. It would appear that the pipe to the hall radiator has been spilling water under the floor for some time probably since the house was built !! Gradually getting worse and worse until it showed itself above ground. Grandad has been "topping up" the system which has then been leaking out. Hopefully once the pipes have been re-soldered we will be ok. Fingers crossed !

BOWLS

In order to try and help him over his recent problems Grandad has started to play bowls joining Middleton-on-the-Wolds bowls club. He has joined the afternoon Winter league so has 21 games to play between now and mid March. On average thats once a week which will suit him well. He's already bought some bowls shoes and been lent some "woods" so he's well equipped already. He can go and practice anytime. Amazingly enough they won their first game last Thursday !!!

SHUFFLES PRESENTATION

Nanna and Dawn receive their certificates and trophies at Shuffles presentation day.

WEIGHT LOSS

Grandad has been under the weather for a few weeks now at one stage losing his appetite almost completely and even reacting to the smell of food. So much so that he managed to lose eleven pounds in ten days and now checks in at 14 stone. Not a nice way to lose weight but his target for a long time was 15 stone. Having got to that milestone he hit his next one far quicker than expected. Two inches off his waist means a trip to the shops for some new trousers. His appetite has returned but he doesn't want the weight back !!

DAWN STARTS SENIOR SCHOOL

Dawn started at Driffield "Senior" school yesterday morning looking very smart. She didn't look quite as smart when she came home but at least she enjoyed her first day.

WASP NEST

For the past few weeks we have had a wasp's nest on the side of the house just below the roof line in a gap in the brickwork and behind a drainpipe. Yesterday a man from the Council came out to kill the nest with some special powder and we now appear to be clear of the wasp problem thank goodness. Shame the treatment cost nearly £50 but better than Grandad up a ladder !!

DOUGAL GOES APE

On Tuesday Katy, Paul, Dawn, Jamie and Georgia went to Go Ape in Dalby Forest near Pickering in North Yorkshire. Nanna and Grandad and I went along as well to see them on the high wires going on "zip wires" from tree to tree. Needless to say Nanna and Grandad (and Georgia) were not participating. It was a pleasant and warm day and I had a nice time walking in the woods and watching everybody.

WIZARD OF OZ

Dawn starred in Starstruck's summer project The Wizard of Oz which Nanna, Grandad, Katy and Paul went to see last night.

KATY'S BIRTHDAY

Katy's 36th birthday was celebrated last Saturday in The Lounge Bar & Grill in Driffield which seems to be the regular haunt for birthdays and anniversaries.

MARTIN AND MIKEY SAY BYE BYE DOUGAL

Thursday has come and its time for Mikey and Martin to go home so they said their goodbyes to me and went with Nanna and Grandad to meet Auntie Karen off the train in York. As they had three hours before the return journey everyone went to the Yorkshire Museum and then for a bite of lunch and a brief walk back to the railway station and the train back to Edinburgh. The train was a little late but they all arrived safely home.

BEVERLEY RACES

Nanna and Grandad with Martin and Mikey went off to Beverley races this afternoon. It was Ladies Day and there was a very big crowd which made it difficult walking about. Grandad and Martin managed to find the winner of the fifth race then they left a bit early and went to Pizza Express for their dinner.

MARTIN AND MIKEY VISIT

Martin and Mikey came last Saturday and are staying with Nanna and Grandad until Thursday. They have all been into York today to visit the Castle Museum and then a trip up Cliffords Tower from where you can see all over York. The boys both bought bows and arrows !!

Yesterday they all went to the cinema to see Shrek 4 and then on to Fort Paull to the East of Hull on the banks of the River Humber. Lots of old army stuff and planes. They all had fish and chips on their return to Driffield.

I think I am taking the boys out for a walk tomorrow morning over the fields then they are all going to Beverley races (as long as it doesn't pour with rain).

LUCKY SODS

Nanna and Grandad went to the Hull Truck theatre last week to see "Lucky Sods", the story of a couple who win the lottery........several times !! Very good was the opinion.

BURTON AGNES HALL

Burton Agnes Hall is an Elizabethan stately home situated just 6 miles from Driffield and just over 10 minutes in the car. It is over 400 years old. Nanna and Grandad have season tickets to visit the grounds whenever they want. I like going up there because within the grounds is a Woodland Sculpture Walk of about a mile plus another wood planted in 1998. We spend an hour or hour and a half walking through the trees where there are sculptures of animals on the ground with spiders and other creepie crawlies in the trees. Grandad took me up there yesterday so thats twice in a week. Nice way to spend a warm afternoon.

DRIFFIELD SHOW 2010

Driffield Show was round again last week with Dawn taking various positions including two firsts with her entries which included "Baa Baa Brocolli", a greetings card, a "Sky" monster and a robot. All together she won six certificates. The pictures show entries from the kiddies handicrafts plus Dawn with some of her entries and certificates.

On a more serious note the Marie Curie stall had been moved this year to a very bad position near to toilets and a chinese noodle bar on a very dusty unmade road with the result that the Tombola takings were down and although we showed a relatively small profit, a complaint is going to be made to the show organisers.

Overall i'm sure the show will have been a success with good weather and big crowds.

SHREK 4 V TOY STORY 3

Shrek 4 - The Final Chapter : Rumpelstiltskin tricks Shrek into allowing himself to be erased from existence and cast into a dark alternate timeline where Rumpel rules supreme. Rated 8/10

Toy Story 3 : The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care centre instead of being put in the attic just before Andy leaves for college and its up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and return home. Watch out for the scary "Big Baby". Brilliant, already seen it twice. Rated 10/10

NORFOLK SHORT HOLIDAY

Nanna and Grandad went off to Norfolk on June 27th for four days staying at The Old Pump House B&B in Aylsham. A busy few days saw them visit Felbrigg Hall, Cromer and Blickling Hall (picture above). They also bought orchids in the Aylsham flower auction, ate out a couple of times and consumed a bit of alcohol - it being Nanna's birthday on June 28th. I stayed with Katy, Paul and Dawn for the duration.

Since their return we have had a bit of a family BBQ to celebrate Nanna's birthday with Katy and family and Colin with his family. Simon, Karen, Martin and Mikey have flown off to Canada for a 17 day holiday. You can keep in touch with their diary by going to http://simesstuff.blogspot.com/

FATHER'S DAY

Father's Day was celebrated in traditional style at The Lounge in Driffield.

DYSON V DALEK

I have a great fear of vacuum cleaners and every time Nanna gets hers out of the cupboard I run a mile. Same with wires and hoses. Must be something that happened to me when I was smaller but I can't remember. Grandad calls the Dyson a Dalek !! Maybe i'd have better luck with a Dalek ?

VICTORIAN GIRL

As part of Dawn's work on Victorians at school in year 6, they visited Normanby Hall in Lincolnshire and The Wilderspin National School in Barton upon Humber last Thursday. In order for the children to gain as much as possible from the day they were asked to dress in a Victorian manner, the purpose being to get everybody thinking about how the Victorians dressed. A good day was had by all.

ONE-OFF BRASS

"One-Off Brass" performed a concert last Saturday in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. This was a return visit as they had done a similar evening last year. The evening generated just over £2000 for the charity which is an excellent result. I don't think they'll be back for a third time next year being replaced by the Driffield Male Voice Choir.

FILMS

Bad Lieutenant : A remake starring Nicolas Cage as Terence McDonagh - a drug and gambling detective in post Katrina New Orleans, investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants. One of Mr. Cage's better performances. Very watchable. Rated 7.5/10

The Losers : Members of a CIA black ops team are betrayed and left for dead. They then root out those who targetted them for assassination. Plenty of action. Rated 6/10

SUZY BOGGUSS

Suzy Bogguss is an American country singer who was appearing in Pocklington last night. Nanna has been a fan for some time and already has 5 cds of her. It was an excellent concert and well enjoyed by Nanna and Grandad along with the rest of the full house.

DISHWASHER

Our dishwasher broke down on Sunday night (yes, you've guessed it, full of dirty plates). Fortunately Nanna and Grandad had an "old" one stored in the garage from when they lived at their previous house. With some help from Paul and a bit of fiddling about with pipes and wires the broken one was removed and the other installed yesterday. Fortunately, although slightly ancient, it still appears to work ok. It has had a good clean inside and out.

FOUR LIONS / PRINCE OF PERSIA

Four Lions : Set in Sheffield this is the comical story of four British jihadists who push their dreams of glory to breaking point. One of them is training crows to fly bombs through windows.

Well worth seeing. Rated 8/10

Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time : A film based on the video game which follows an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. Very watchable, plenty of action Rated 6.5/10

FISH TANK

After several weeks of preparing the tank we finally got some fish last Monday. Ten "mollies" to start off with - four black, three dalmation and three white. They are very active pulling out plants and eating leaves and always seem to be hungry. More fish should follow shortly.

ROBIN HOOD

Nanna and Grandad went yesterday to the advance screening of the Russell Crowe / Ridley Scott new solid action movie about an archer in the army of Richard the Lionheart who fights against the Norman invaders and becomes the legendary hero known as "Robin Hood". The dialogue is a bit ropey at times and we don't see much of the merry men but a bit of history with action between England and France makes this a watchable film if not a classic. Rated 7/10

HIP BURSITIS

Grandad has been troubled with sciatica since February but has recently suffered with a slightly different pain in the hip and left leg. The doctor has diagnosed this as bursitis (inflammation of a bit in the hip) and gave him a steroid injection last Friday.

DAWN'S BIRTHDAY

It was Dawn's 11th birthday on May 3rd. Nanna & Grandad joined Dawn, Katy and Paul at The Lounge in Driffield to help celebrate.

MORE FILM REVIEWS

Sex & Drugs & Rock and Roll : Biography of Ian Dury, stricken with polio as a youngster, but who defied expectations by becoming a founder of the British punk rock music scene in the 1970's. Rated 6.5/10.

Cemetery Junction : A 1970s set comedy centred on three young men, Freddie, Bruce and lovable loser Snork. Good for a laugh, Rated 7/10.

The Ghost (Writer) : A ghost writer hired to complete the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy. Rated 7.5/10.

Date Night : A case of mistaken identity turns a bored married couple's attempt at a romantic evening into something more thrilling and dangerous. Rated 6.5/10.