The next big building project

Following the fun I had with the LEGO Camper I got for Christmas, I decided to treat myself to the massive Unimog kit they do. Kim went halves as an anniversary present too. We headed to Westfield as it has the closest LEGO shop and after a wander round snapped it up, with a voucher and some VIP points to spend it was cheaper even any online price. Once back home and with Lily safely in bed I set too, unwrapping the bags of pieces and the five instruction manuals. The estimated build time is around 12 hours.

Cool Prom ride

Every so often we get approached by people asking if the Camper is for hire. Sadly insurance prevents this from ever happening. But for friends its not a problem. Kim got a knock on the door earlier in the year from a friend of a neighbour of ours. Her daughter was due to go to the Prom at the end of term with three friends and they wondered if the Camper was available. SO on friday evening with the van washed and clean I drove round the corner to pick them up. The van was duly decorated and we headed off. Loads of cool rides were spotted on route and at the venue, from 50s Americans to a brand new Bentley. For our troubles the girls gave us a bottle of wine and some lovely flowers. The looks on their faces as they arrived was one of delight. Happy to help.

Belated presents

I'm never sure what to get Kim as an anniversary present each year. Sometimes I stick to the traditional ideas, but wool wasn't inspiring me much. However she did mention about some new charms out for 2012 to celebrate the jubilee and Olympics. So the first chance to be in the office and able to nip into town, saw me heading to Pandora to pick up the Union Flag styled version.

Which came first.....

The crane or the crane yard? Ever since I've been heading up and down the M1 for work theres something that has always puzzled us engineers. Near Sheffield there is a crane storage yard. There are dozens of sections of crane in there and one massive crane to lift all the parts around. The question we always ask as we pass by is how did they build the massive crane when they only had a yard full of parts? It passes the time on the long drive north.

Customer service

Good customer service is sometimes hard to find. If you get treated well you go back there. Today I needed to buy some bolt cutters, not the sort of thing an IT engineer needs often, in fact I can't think of the last time I needed a set. As I only had about 10 "snips" to make to remove some old cable basket it was going to be an expensive tool. As I was getting a price from the shop I remarked that it was going to be a wasted purchase for the 10 minutes work. "just take them as its only round the corner, make sure they're back by the time we close up today" the chap on the counter replied. Thats what brings customers back.

Happy Anniversary

Seven years ago today we tied the knot. We've done so much since that day, bought some old Dubs, moved house, started a family and generally just enjoyed life together. We have our ups and downs. But we love each other.

Happy Campers

This picture is slightly cheating, but we've done nothing today apart from break camp and come home to lay on the sofa watching TV. So I'm using this brilliant group shot of all our friends that made this little campout so much fun, it was taken on saturday evening after the mammoth BBQ.

New discoveries

Its always nice to find something new at a place you thought you knew so well. In seven years I can honestly say I've never noticed the Wallingford Castle. We've been across the bridge dozens of times and never seen it poking over the trees. I knew there was a castle, it just never registered to look for it. On a trip into town this morning we spied it, so after lunch, Phil, Lily and myself headed up to it. Theres really not much left of the 11th century building, but we had a fun time exploring the ruins and letting Lily run around.

Arrive, pitch, relax

For seven years in a row we've been camping with an ever expanding group of friends at a site in Wallingford. This year because of the Jubilee we had to move it to accommodate some people. Sadly with poor weather due and a myriad of other excuses the 14 pitch area reduced to just six families. I was a bit miffed to start with, but once we had pitched and sat back to natter the sun came bursting through and it was glorious right through the afternoon and evening. The perfect weather for grabbing a chair, pouring a pint of cider and enjoying good company.

Classics on every corner

Work took me to North London this morning. I'm always on the look out for interesting cars parked up in the side streets. Today was a good haul with a brace of funky 70/80s SAABs, a couple of 80s 911 and this tired but still shiny gold Mercedes.

Mirror, mirror....

....hanging off the car! Kim had an altercation with a tree on her way to work. There was no way to avoid it and its only the glass and backplate that need replacing. I say "only" VW main dealer wanted just shy of £50 for a replacement! I have found a place online that want £20 delivered. Fingers crossed it fits when it arrives.

Towel girl

This was the sight that confronted me when I got in from work. Lily in just a nappy with her swimming towel over her running round the house. Turns out as it was so warm outside she had decided to drain the contents of our barrel pond over herself to cool off!

Massive Meccano

Todays job took me up to Wakefield. Last time I was at the site was to install a new link for the customer. There was a clear line of sight across to their remote building. We received a call saying they were now having issues with it. Can't think why!

Daddy and daughter

Today is Fathers Day, its only my second one, but I had so much fun. Being a dad is amazing, I know to Lily its just another day, but to me its special. We started off with breakfast and a couple of handmade cards and pressies before heading over to watch some historic commercial vehicles set of on the Ridgeway Run, fed the ducks on the Thames. Sat and had a drink and a cake, lazied round the house before playing like mad things in the garden and finished off with a trip to see my dad. We don't really go in for the back slapping father & son routine, but I hope he realises what he means to me. We took a card and a railway magazine over which he loved and was soon picking snippets of information out of before sunday dinner. Now I'm home with Lily tucked up in bed and a big smile on my face.

One ugly machine

We had a really busy day today. In the morning we headed to town for Waterfest, with the canal flowing fast and the level way up they moved it into the Forbury Gardens and there were no boats in sight. But it was still a fun couple of hours wandering round the stalls. In the afternoon we headed back past home to REME in Aborfield, they were holding a 70th anniversary open day. On show were loads of heavy machines from tanks to trucks, star of the show though was the ugly but deadly AH64 Apache gunship. What it lacked in size it made up for with fire power.

Unwind for the weekend

After a long week at work and not wanting to watch some football match that was on. We invited (well they invited themselves) some friends round for a couple of drinks and a DVD. We devoured a pair of pizzas and a little bit of lager (Yes, I know I'm normally an ale man, but the film we watched was called Beerfest, it seemed appropriate)

Better than a weathervane

On route to site this morning I noticed this random roof accessory on a barn next to the road. Bonkers

My new office

Well, thats not strictly true. The sun was finally out for a few hours today. So following a few hours cooped up in the data centre I broke free for a can of Coke and a KitKat on the decking outside. Every place of work should have a lake!

Easy to get lost

First day on a new job, its a two week project I'm helping to oversee and carry out some installation work on. One of the first things to do is get used to the site, check out the facilities and make sure you know where everything is. Easier said than done when everywhere looks the same!

These boots were made for splashing

With her feet growing all the time we treated Lily to a new pair of wellies. We also promised her a chance to splash in some puddles in a Peppa Pig style!

Quiet meet

Our final day of a week off and we decided to head over to the VW meet in Bracknell, not a brilliant turnout but we had a good chat to some mates before heading home so not all was lost.

Welcome to the jungle

Day two of making the most of not camping took us to The Living Rainforest once more. This time with my parents in tow as a treat for my mums birthday last month. It was sweating hot and we spied lots of interesting things once more including this water dragon lazing on some rocks.

Pottery painting

Not to be out done by the weather we decided to get out and do stuff instead of moping round the house. So we all drover over to my brothers girlfriend, Janets shop. Kim had a voucher to use up for a pottery painting session. The place was heaving with kids all enjoying some craft time, luckily there was a table for us so Kim set too decorating this cupcake pot. When Lily finally woke up she had a go to with a heart plate and some running around like a mad thing.

Camping washout

Today was supposed to be a day of packing and sorting for a few days away in the camper. Dorset was the destination but sadly the weather has been unkind to us. With winds of 70-80mph on the coast and driving rain set for friday and sunday it was going to be no fun with two toddlers and a baby. SO we decided to lose our deposit money and stay home. I'm properly miffed as I was really looking forward to it as well, the bad weather this year has ruined several plans. Another problem to deal with was the mountain of met that was defrosting to make Camp Cassoulet. We were making enough for 6 of us to eat with a bit left over, instead we now have ready meals for several sittings. It smelt delicious though.

Lazy days

With a few more days holiday tacked on the end of the Jubilee weekend we have a rare couple of days. Lily went off to Kims parents as normal for a wednesday and we had the house to ourselves. Kim quilted, I sorted some stuff on the PC and then fired the Wii up for a few games. The stair gates were left wide open and food and drink was abandoned on the table with phone and iPods scattered around. No little fingers swiping any of it. Of course we missed her and when she was dropped back home she was soon into everything. Discovering the Wii Motes for the first time.

End of an extra long weekend

Bit of a fake title as we've booked the whole week off as well, but for some friends it was the final day of the bumper Jubilee weekend. We decided to have a BBQ and invite a few people over, the weather had other plans but not to be thwarted the bunting was up, the gazebo erected over the BBQ and much meat and beer consumed. Lovely end to their break and the half way point of ours.

Sonning Scarecrows

With Kim helping her Guides at a street party, Lily and Me decided to hitch a lift with my parents to Sonning. Every other year they hold a scarecrow trail. Dozens of houses and businesses take part and set up elaborate displays, being Jubilee time several had a Royal theme. In all there were 74 displays and a further 26 miniature crows dotted round the village. We spent several hours happily hunting most of them out. Lily wasa big fan of the Gruffalo's Child and Peppa Pig versions, but was also quite taken with this really clever Jack & the Beanstalk version.

Rainy Jubilee celebrations

With a nice long Bank Holiday weekend taking in the Jubilee as well it was a dead cert it would rain. Sunday we had decided to join the masses in The Forbury for the picnic and concert in the bandstand, sadly it hammered it down from morning till night. Instead we lumped ourselves on the sofa in front of the TV to watch the Thames Pageant and see other people get wet. Snacks for the afternoon had to be Jubilee themed though.

Travelling postcard

Today was Just Kampers open day, a chance for the VW parts supplier to throw its doors open and say thank you to its customers with a free BBQ and some bargains in the sale hall. There were traders and you could camp as well, we chose to go just for a few hours and parked in a field full of Campers. I've seen all sorts of things painted down the sides of vans, but this is a first and I really liked it. There were some more postcards on the other side as well. If it wee mine I would be covering the seats like deckchairs too!

Busy bee

Last day at work for over a week all thanks to the Queens Jubilee. We have loads planned for the next 10 days including a party so Kim is busy knocking up some Jubilee bunting. My wife is so clever.