My wife is a cow ...

Well, actually, she will be the front end of a cow, in the TOADS panto this year, Jacko and the Watercress Stalk.  My youngest daughter is playing the rear end and tonight I saw them rehearsing this for the first time.

Normally on weekends when I am back in the UK, I leave home around 3:30pm and so am gone by the time rehearsals start. But unusually this week, I am working in the UK on Monday and Tuesday and had the rare treat of a Sunday evening at home.

You may have noticed, dear reader, that it has been over a month since my last post. I do apologise, this was down to a couple of factors, the first being that the last month has been rather busy at work and the second that I am finding, after more than two years of living in Finland, that there are fewer things that seem novel to write about. So this post is rather more focused on "home home", rather than my weektime home of Helsinki.

Last weekend was also spent in the UK, celebrating at the village bonfire night party (I have posted about this before; as usual I was flipping burgers on the barbeque and also cooked Broccoli & Stilton soup).  Before that, though, we headed to Christchurch to collect two new kittens, a replacement for our blue Burmese boy George, who was run over a few weeks ago. His brother Zippy, a lilac Burmese, had never been alone since he was a kitten and so was pining for company.  When we returned from the breeder with Darcy (a brown Burmese) and Willoughby (a snow spotted Bengal), you could tell that he was trying to tell us that he wasn't that lonely! However, a week later and they all seem to be getting along fine. I have posted some photos on my Facebook account but you can see them here, even if you are not a Facebook user.

Sunday was a mild and sunny November day and we were able to drive to the pub in my wife's car with the roof down, as it was 12 degrees celsius. In Helsinki I am already driving on winter tyres and temperatures hit minus 5 celsius last week, so I shall enjoy the sunshine and relative warmth while I can.

Finally, you may have noticed a few changes on the blog. The new header photograph was taken from the boat heading to Korkeasaari zoo in the summer. In the sidebar to the left, I have added a feed showing my latest status as reported through Facebook; if you have not already added me as a friend on Facebook, there is a button to do so further down.  I hope you continue to enjoy the blog, comments are welcome as ever.