So here we are at that time of year where people often seem to need a few days recovering from the Christmas celebrations to prepare for New Year. Life has carried on as normal here we saw Dad a couple of times before Christmas – Nick was over here in Clydach with his girlfriend, and then returned to her Mother’s for Christmas Day itself. The first time, I believe, he hasn’t been with us. We had a great day despite his absence, with the usual leisurely pace being taken. Dessert was finished by evening though, so compared to years gone past, we did well. I hope to add a few more photos to the blog later, as John has been taking some shots of us in his studio. Other than that, yes I still owe you readers a Jimi wallet and phone holder review. (Short version is the Jimi is great, and the cradle mostly fine).
Nov 17 2008
Happy Birthday Dad, Babushka & StarGazer
As you may have guessed from this post’s title, today is my Dad’s birthday. Everyone here in Kazakhstan hopes you have a great day…
The title should also give you a clue that Babushka (Ira’s grandma) and StarGazer also share their birthdays with my Dad. Happy Birthday all round then 🙂
Nov 10 2008
198 Hours To Go
Yes, just 11,800 minutes, (assuming I manage to publish this post within ten minutes of starting it, that is), until our plane is due to take off and fly the first leg of our trip back to Clydach. We are going via Kaliningrad because of KD Avia’s wonderful reputation for supreme meals, friendly staff and high efficiency they were close to 50% cheaper that the normal routes!
From there it is on to Gatwick, then John is scooping us up and driving us back to sunny Wales where we can relax, catch up with Mum and Lolik can meet her grandma for the first time 🙂
We’re hoping to go and see Dad and our friends in Gloucestershire sometime the next week, but no definite timetable just yet. As we will be away for six months, we have had to think a lot more about what to pack, and arrange for the kittens and flat to be looked after whilst we are away.
The fact that we will be returning with one extra person (unless the ultrasounds missed out on a twin 🙂 ), means that we need to try and leave space (and weight allowances) for all the related clothes, necessities and presents in the suitcases.
Oct 28 2008
More Catchup Pictures
Another few photos this time, again taken with my phone, so the quality isn’t great.
I’m leaving the Amsterdam ones until I get the time to write some proper posts, and integrate them with the ‘proper’ camera photos and 2007’s trip.
First we have a couple of Aynak, the guard dog over at the inlaws. I realised she hadn’t featured very much at all in the 25 months or so this blog has existed. Time to rectify that oversight…
Aynak Face On
Aynak Profile
Here we have Irina proudly modelling her Mum’s wellies (gardening boots in case that is a UK English-only word) that we sourced in Britain for her.
Ira And Her Mum's Boots
Finally, we have what I think is a really nice photo of Ira’s Dad smiling in the garden. (I should probably point out the obvious before I get any comments from my dearly beloved… his attire was chosen for working in the muddy garden, not looking as smart as he normally does, and the beer on the table was the reward for working hard in aforementioned garden. There, think that’s all the bases covered 🙂 )
Ira's Dad Smiling
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Aug 19 2008
Quick Update
As you may have noticed, there have not been a lot of posts recently. The three posts below this were written ahead of time and post-dated, to ensure I didn’t miss any birthdays. However, the day before Ira’s Mum’s birthday was in fact also an important date – seven years since Irina and I were married back in Astana! Although we are not in the same country, I want her to know she is always in my thoughts, and I look forward to seeing her soon 🙂
Anyway, I am currently in Britain, having come over here three weeks ago. Gramps (Mum’s Dad) was very ill in hospital, so I came and said hello. Unfortunately, he passed away very recently, and I just wanted to say a quick thank you to those friends that have sent their messages of support. I will be returning to Kazakhstan by the end of August, and look forward to meeting up with our friends back East. Finally, congratulations to Jonnie, Seb & Con’s brother who recently got married.
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Jun 23 2008
50,000 Target Met
with a few weeks to spare. I happened to open up the blog and I was visitor number 50000 🙂
Two years, 1823 posts since this site was started, a lot has changed in my life, as well as the blog itself having undergone several face lifts. Thanks to those that have been regularly visiting, and a big hello to those of you that are relatively new to this site.
Anyway, I’m off for now, having returned from the in-laws, where we had a meal to celebrate Ira’s Dad’s birthday, where we saw Babushka, Aunty Sasha and a friend that Ira’s mum hasn’t met for years.
Jun 23 2008
C Nomrazh Denya
OK, so that definitely is not the official way of transcribing the Russian for ‘Happy Birthday’ into Latin characters, but it is close enough. As Irina’s Dad (whose birthday it is today) does not use computers, and therefore won’t read this post, I doubt it matters too much 🙂
Mar 11 2008
Family All OK
Realising that the likelihood of anyone commenting on the post re. Britain’s weather any time soon was slim, I decided to check in with Mum & John, Dad and Nick. All were OK, though John did get a bit blown around by the wind. Probably because he went down with another photographer friend to the Swansea coast to see what pictures jumped out at them.
OK, so that isn’t actually Swansea, its in North Wales, but I couldn’t find any decent shots right now; John’s will probably be published on his blog sometime soon. Anyway, really glad our family seem fine, hopefully friends are OK as well.
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Feb 20 2008
Do As I Say…
Not as I (and my governor brother,
Head on over to Bush calls for fair Zimbabwe poll for a good laugh. Kettle. Pot. Black. (Please modify to your tastes.)
OK, so perhaps comparing Bushes previous highly dubious election ‘win’ to the diabolical regime in Zimbabwe is taking it a little too far, but seriously, did none of his advisers think people would draw parallels betwixt them?
To be fair, G Dubbya Bush came out comparatively well in his ‘frank’ interview with the BBC’s Matt Frei (see here for the transcript. You do have to read it out loud to understand some of his sentences, but I expect we all fall prey to that occasionally. I know a couple of Americans who’ve told me that whilst George Jr. is certainly no great orator, he does actually come off pretty badly when foreign/American liberal media portray him as a half wit. Even if he was well rehearsed for the interview, he went up in my esteem slightly. Very important to him, I’m sure 😉
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Jan 19 2008
Happy Birthday Gramps…
Today is my Mum’s Dad’s (we call him Gramps) birthday, so this is just a short post to congratulate him on this special day, and to wish him as comfortable a time as possible as he recuperates following a hospital visit. Irina and I managed to see him when we visited Britain over New Year, and while I think of it, another big hello to everyone back in the UK, both those we did manage to see, and those who we unfortunately did not meet with. We also have another three birthdays coming up next week with friends both in Britain and also here in Kazakhstan, but more details on that later…
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