Squeezing in one last walk...

Julia and I headed off for one last walk of the year on Saturday. We were walking in Surrey which is never quite as good as walking in other parts of the country. You never really get the feeling that you are away from it all, but it still wasn't bad. 9.6miles from Holmwood to Gomshall.

The first half was fairly disappointing - too many people walking their dogs! But we had a fine lunch at the Stephan Langton Pub and then enjoyed a much better second half of the walk. Although as we left the pub the rain started and it didn't stop until we got to the train to go home... But with all our wet weather gear it was fine - just peeled it all off at the end and we were bone dry!!

In the Surrey woods - before the rain!

In the Surrey woods - before the rain!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Not quite a wood elf...

Surrey Lane - before the rain!

Surrey Lane - before the rain!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Julia checking our route on our walk, Holmwood to Gomshall.

Boxing Day Skating

So on Boxing Day Maya and I headed off to Hampton Court Palace to go ice-skating while Kevin headed off to Tottenham to watch Aston Villa lose 2-1...

The skating was fab - and I almost lasted the hour without falling over. Until I was taken out by one of the ice marshalls!! So after landing on me rear end somewhat ungracefully I decided to retire from the ice and take some photos instead.

After the ice skating we thought we should round off the day with a trip on the Merry Go Round as well... You're never too old for a Merry Go Round!

Hampton Court Palace and lights... (2)

Hampton Court Palace and lights... (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

See the pretty lighting... This kept changing colour all through the skating...

Maya skating (in hat) (2)

Maya skating (in hat) (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Boxing Day skating at Hampton Court Palace...

Kevin and Maya with the fruits of Kevin's labours...

Kevin and Maya with the fruits of Kevin's labours...
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

And us about to enjoy the meal :-)

Kevin hard at work in the kitchen, Christmas morning

Kevin hard at work in the kitchen, Christmas morning
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Kevin putting the final touches to the bird in the kitchen...

Christmas tree with stockings!

Christmas tree with stockings!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The Christmas tree before the big passing around of our stockings and pressies! They always look so much better with presents under them!

Christmas Day...

We had a lovely Christmas day, courtesy of Kevin and his hospitality! The day was spent lounging around opening our stockings and then our presents (none of us are particularly good at being patient and waiting for things!), then just eating loads of the lovely food that Kevin had cooked. Top TV included the Dr Who Xmas special (fab!), and Hogswatch, a TV adaptation of a Terry Pratchett book which was really good. So a lovely, lazy food filled day! Check out Flickr for some snaps from the day...

Losing popularity...

My name is dropping down the popularity list it would seem... I was the 17th most popular girls name for 2006, but in 2005 was 12th, 10th in 2004, and 6th in 2002 and 2003.

Obviously Mum and Dad were way ahead of the trend when they named me :-).

Check out the list here.

Foggy London view

Foggy London view
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

London in the fog - I didn't take this! It came from the BBC website. I do have a foggy garden view which I'll upload over the weekend.

Me and my workmates at the CIG Xmas Party

Me and my workmates at the CIG Xmas Party
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

This was taken at the annual CIG Xmas Party on 27th September - my extended crew of workmates.

Pretty sparkly things

Me, Julia and Maya went off to see pretty sparkly things today at the Tiffany exhibition at Somerset House today - read about it here. It was fab -very girly so we all had a good time although it wasn't as sparkly and pretty as the diamond exhibition Julia and I went te earlier this year. Then we went for pizza and had long conversations about what we could buy various people for Xmas - nothing like last minute shopping and panic to get those creative shopping ideas going! So that is my day tomorrow...

Just because I haven't mentioned it for a while here is an update. It has been so mild!! It is very weird. I was expecting it to get really cold once I got back from NZ but that just hasn't happened. We were about 8 today which is the coldest it has been for ages - but for this time of year isn't very cold at all. We were laughing at Maya who was saying how cold it was - she has no idea what is coming...!! Assuming it does eventually get cold!

Clever clogs

Today seems to be the day that my family tell me how clever they are! My niece Lucy texted me this morning to say that she got Dux at her school prize giving and then my sister Tracey told me that she got an A- for the Uni course she'd done! I don't have a great mark to talk about but I thought it was worth mentioning how we'll they'd done!

NZ photos - finally uploaded!

So check out Flickr as I've finally uploaded all my NZ photos... Many thanks to Kevin for letting me use his much faster PC and much speedier broadband connection :-).

Amberley to Arundel - 9 miles and much mud...

So on Saturday the intrepid four of me, Kevin, Owen and Julia headed off for a long-planned December walk. Sadly it had been wet all week so we were a tad concerned about the mud, and we did spend about 3 miles walking through gloopy sticky mud, but it was a lovely walk - and it was a gorgeous day. Beautifully sunny - perfect for walking.

We walked from Amberley to Arundel via the beautiful village of Burpham where we had a lovely lunch at The George & Dragon pub. We got there around 11.30 and they didn't start lunch until 12 so we just had to sit there and have a wee drink while we waited for the kitchen to open. If only I hadn't felt seedy from the night before... But it was fab food - 3 of us opted for the Turkey xmas dinner which was delish.

The stretch after lunch was hard work as it was walking along the levee next to the River Arun, which had been well churned up by the cows. Luckily none of us slipped!

English reflections

English reflections
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Waterlogged views...

Waterlogged views...
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Kevin, me and Owen - post restorative lunch

Kevin, me and Owen - post restorative lunch
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

More Xmas-sy week...

I really know Xmas is coming when the carol singers appear at Surbiton Station... and this week we've had 3 lots :-).

Tuesday night was the Factiva party - one of our suppliers at work throws a great Xmas party. Lots of free cocktails!! But I was relatively sensible and was still up and ready for work the next day!

The Abraham's hit the web

It never rains but it pours...

Check out Sam (nephew) and Maurie's (bro-in-law) blogs from the links on the right...

Of course I was there first... :-)

NZ's Next Top Model??

Me - sitting
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

I don't think so!! I had to have some photos taken for work last week by a professional photographer and I absolutely hated it! I could never be a model and heaven knows what I'd be like if I got married and had to have loads of photos taken!!

Anyhow these are the two I liked the best - neither of which are any good for work!

Me - laughing in a very embarrassed fashion...

Me - laughing
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

I just couldn't deal with this and just kept laughing and wishing I was anywhere else!

Eryn winning first prize for his mo...

Eryn Shields Mo - 1st Winner
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Just to keep that whole 'I'm the best of the bro's' thing going, here he is with his first prize for 'that' mo!