October 2007 Update

rrrrrrr !!! shouldn't it be snowing if it's this cold ????

October started and ended with a houseful of guests. We had The Parkers (Matt, Moni and Ollie) visiting from Moscow and Parkers Dad & Step-Mum visiting from NZ. Then a work friend of Manus (Jim) came to stay and use our place as a base while he travels around the UK and Europe.

Parkers Dad & Step-Mum had flown from NZ to watch the kiwis win the Rugby World Cup, so when we were defeated in the quarter finals there was alot of flight rearranging and ticket haggling going on. They ended up doing some sight seeing in Europe.

On the 12th of October we took a weekend trip to Germany to meet up with Matt Parsons parents (John & Anne). John and Anne were house swapping in Karlsruhe near the Black Forest, so they offered us a place to stay and we flew over for the weekend. On Saturday we went to Baden Baden to check out the heated pools. Stopped off at a cafe to have a beer and frankfurter, they were just amazing and very relaxing.
Sunday we had brunch in Karlsruhe and Matt & Ala made their way home while we took a stroll around the old Parliament buildings. John & Anne dropped us off at the airport around 3pm and that was the end of our weekend in Germany.

Rest of the month was spent socialising with friends. Including a dress up party to celebrate Ola's birthday - Manu went as a sailor Anita went as a devil. Been a pretty busy month as far as socialing goes and the weather has gradually been getting colder. Our daylight savings ended this month and it's started getting dark at 5pm. Has made it harder to get out of bed.

Netball has been progressing pretty well, did much better this season than last season. Manu started playing on Tuesday nights as well as taking up Tai Chi on Thursdays so each week is very busy.

On the 18th Manu volunteered through his work at Burnham Beeches (an ancient London woodland). The day involved chopping down, cutting up and burning rhodedendrons which are threatening the natural wilderness of the area. Manu very much enjoyed doing some work out of the office for a change, although did come home with a couple of blisters :)

Well that's all for October - hope everybody is well.

Lots of love and big manu hugs,
Anita and Manu