Looks like the SAGA brigade are taking over the interwebnet thingy. Pretty soon you won’t hear about Twotter, instead it will NansChatta where you can get all the gossip about Mrs Brady at no 43 and how many pints the Smith family have delivered.

When we lived here a year ago we always wondered why someone had tied two 60ft trees together with wire, to stop them braking, modern art, trapeze attempt? None of the above actually the guy did it to prove he could, makes sense to me too.

If everything in life was structured then where would be the fun?

Picture the scene, Christmas presents, Brian the Turkey all scoffed, watched the awesome Queenie do her speech and then you decide to put on a elephant snout to play a game.

Grown ups eh!

Well that’s Christmas over for another year (or 8 months depending which you are looking at).

Tree building from the Finkettes, fun and laughter from all, an end to Brian the 14lb turkey (and some vegetarian fodder for the grass eater) and we even instructed the weather to stay warm and sunny, with a nice post grub womble by the canal, garden sitting and Plop Trumps (where it appears Penguins do rock).

Let’s also not forget her maj for an impromptu “Queenies Roadshow”, which left most with aching jaws.

To one and all it’s a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Now where shall we host the next CT2?

Seasons greetings one and all, tis Christmas Take 2 (CT2) for the Foggies, Finks and Caddies. The new annual tradition where we get to celebrate Christmas all over again.

This years setting will be our new abode near a non flooding canal (some folk will never live that down eh caddie).

The plan then, all parties to arrive on Friday and potentially even a rare sighting of Mr & Mrs Claus all the way from the North Pole. The Finkettes are even going to decorate the tree when they arrive.

Saturday will see us playing silly games (Bartenga, Rapidough amongst others with Boys v Girls), followed by a slap up meal (involving the 14lb bad boy you see in the picture). Apparently we have one of them there veggies in our midst this weekend, challenge accepted, after all chicken is a veggie meal ain’t it?

Let’s not forget the falling down water to help the food go down.

It may be cold and drafty. It may be in need of a new colour scheme other than “drab”. It may have more holes than a Swiss cheese, but after 7 years of renting, it’s actually ours.

I stood outside our holey house tonight and looked up at all the stars. We may not be able to get back to Wales yet, but this is the closest to heaven we can get. I’m home folks and staying for a long while….well, at least until we’ve filled those damned holes, stopped the howling gale and unpacked all the bloomin boxes!!

It’s official, Wai Nui is no more (or Walnut as it became known when the shagging pigeons defaced the sign with their shenanigans). Yet another well planned and executed removal by the team (maybe we’ve missed our true calling here), Walnut was given back to the landlord who will no doubt paint over all the bits that need proper maintenance, before putting it up for sale.

Plus points are that it is a beautiful house, but on the downside you do have inferior build quality, a mosquito filled ditch, a patio facing the wrong way and an army assault course to access the garage 9 months of the year.

Still we tried it, living in millionaires row (according to the bloke who thinks his desres inspired the nickname) and now have our own NOLD House (the New OLD). Next stop then is a new kitchen, loft ladder, boarded loft, wood burning stove, walls painted, and on and on.

Looking forward to seeing ya’ll

The end of our year at Walnut and time for our new old house, exactly 7 years to the day when we sold our house in windy Denholme.

What an interesting year it has been, yet another new job for me (full time contracting now), booked Route 66 and the Mrs is going pillion and the loss of our wonderful little Spikey.

Walnut was a nice enough house, but very poorly built with a constant full ditch in the garden and doors/ floors collapsing daily.

So here we are officially home owners living within spitting distance of a non-flooding canal.