Alex surfing at Piha, Good Friday

Alex surfing at Piha, Good Friday
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

I just loved this photo of Alex so I'm also blogging it!

OK - I admit it - I'm a bit sad...

But I found a link to LibraryThing on a friend's blog the other day and I just love it!! So I've started my own wee catalogue :-)... Still not that much on it as I've only added recent books I've read (although there are still some of these to come), and I'll keep populating it as I go along.

I think I truly must have been destined to be a Librarian - I couldn't wait to get home and start entering my books! Oh dear...

So as you may have noticed I've also added a link to my catalogue under my links to other peoples blogs. Love it! I'm having some issues with getting a link just to my catalogue that I've created so I'll keep working on it!

Let me entertain you...

Now that I've finally uploaded most of my photos I can catch up with other stuff that I've been doing since I got back. Which actually isn't all that much- except for going to see The Entertainer on Tuesday night.

Fantastic play - great cast as well with Robert Lindsay and Pam Ferris. Apparently Laurence Olivier saw a play Robert Lindsay was in a long time ago, and said to him then that he should do The Entertainer one day.

It was quite amazing to listen to the dialogue (the play was set around the time of the Suez Crisis), and think that they must have changed the lines to reflect current events - but they hadn't. Incredible to listen to what they were saying, and everything could be directly related to the situation in Iraq as well. Shows how for all things change, everything stays the same...

Phew!

Thats all of my photos up on Flickr now! A few more still to go up from some of the rest of the group but Flickr is currently throwing a hissy fit at the mo, and I feel like I've been uploading photos for hours so I might leave the rest until tomorrow!!

A few more added....

OK - I've finished Tuesday now... :-). Only 3 more days to go!! It is my plan to get them all up over the weekend - then just need to add the highlights from other people...

Tuesday - Indy again...3

Tuesday - Indy again...3
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The Indiana Jones aspect of the Treasury! You can see why Petra is called the Rose Red City...

Tuesday - Me & Julia outside the Treasury

Tuesday - Me & Julia outside the Treasury
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Photos being added - slowly

I've started to add my photos to my Flickr account - check them out and also the couple below. Still loads to come yet tho!

In answer to Eryn's question re the holiday, I went with Explore to Jordan. An organised holiday with 16 people in the group. We did 2 nights camping in the Wadi Rum desert, 2 nights camping above Petra, and 3 nights in a hotel. Absolutely fantastic!!

Sunday - Desert views...with camels and blowing sand

Sunday - Desert views...with camels and blowing sand
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Monday - me and that Bedouin look again

Monday - me and that Bedouin look again
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Tuesday - strolling on - with baby camel

Tuesday - strolling on - with baby camel
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Camels, sand, walking, Bedouin and history...

Got back from my week in Jordan on Saturday - and what an absolutely fantastic holiday it was. My first time to the Middle East and it made me realise how little I know about that part of the world - despite it being so crucial to world politics at the moment.

We had a fab guide, Hazem, who just loved his country and Wadi Rum (the desert we camped in), and it just made such a difference. He was fantastic - it just added so much to the whole holiday.

So read on for highlights of each day - photos to follow shortly on Flickr!

Friday - Moses, the Dead Sea and Romans

Friday started off with a visit to Mt Nebo - the mountain from which Moses saw the Holy Land - and is reportedly buried somewhere around it as well. I loved this spot - we were there early so it was relatively empty, and it just seemed to be both incredibly spiritual and incredibly historical. For me it was one of the highlights of the trip.

Then it was down to the Dead Sea for a float... so bizarre. Very strange to be able to go out of your depth in the water, and stand up, but not sink!! We weren't anywhere near where you can slap yourself with the mud, but I did go on to buy many Dead Sea products for my skin!!

Back into the bus and off to Jerash - good, but after having been to Agrigento, Pompeii and Rome, one Roman ruin begins to look a lot like the next... But not many have Bedouin bagpipe players - you'll have to wait for the photos for that one!!

Then it was back to the Toledo Hotel in Amman for our last night. We went to a traditional restaurant for our group meal - we had the traditional dish of lamb and yoghurt, which I couldn't eat much of. Partly cos I was full, partly cos it tasted a bit sicky. The yoghurt wasn't really to my taste...

Thursday - Day of much driving

Overwhelming memories of Thursday are driving... although to spice it up a bit we did drive down the scariest road I've ever been on to get to Wadi Ibn Hammad. We went for a walk along the river bed here - it was quite a stunning gorge, and a lot of it was spent walking in the water. It was a nice walk, but I'm not sure it warranted the really scary drive down the hill. Nor the drive back up - I got a bit worried when the bus started to slide backwards... I wanted to take a photo, but I honestly was too scared to do it...

Another long drive till lunch, (up and down an amazing valley) then on to Madaba to see the mosaic map at St George's Church. Sadly it was all a bit rushed as the church was closing early due to it being Good Friday the next day. So it was back to the Mariam Hotel for a G&T before dinner - the gin had to be bought in especially, but we did enjoy it! We sat by the empty pool for a pre-dinner drink - given Jordan's water shortage I can't imagine it is filled that often!

Wednesday - More Petra - and Turkish baths!

Tuesday was spent back down in Petra (apparently our group was the fastest one down from the camp - broke the record by 40mins...). So we walked an hour down to Petra to walk 900 steps up to The Monastery (which was well worth it!), then back down again...

In the evening we went for a Turkish Bath - my first one and it was fantastic. After 4 days of no showers we were all feeling VERY grubby, but that was soon fixed by the steam, the scrubbing, the massage and the shower. It was absolutely heaven!!

Tuesday - Camel riding & Petra

Crack of dawn start as we headed out of camp on our camels at 6.30am for a 2 hour ride back to the road! Strange sensation as the camel stood up - big lurch forward then a big one back, then another forward lurch - luckily there are handles on the front and back of the saddle to hold on to! My camel had a wee baby camel tied to it who spent most of the time pushing against my foot - obviously annoyed that I was on its Mother's back! Plus there was another younger one roaming around which wasn't tied to any of the other camels and I think it was a bit jealous!!

Had a tea stop (more for the camel walkers than us!) at the spot where Lawrence first met with Prince Abdullah, then another tea stop for the camel walkers - most notable for watching the baby camel drink water out of one of the camelbaks one of our group was using!

Then it was a wee while in the bus down to Petra - the Siq was incredible. I just loved it. It really is the Rose Red City. We didn't do too much exploring of the city - although Hazem did put some Nabatean make up on me! Not that I wanted it, but I was chosen as a volunteer! Then it was about 1.5 hours up the hill to our next camp site :-).

Tragedy at the camp site as we realised there was no beer! Much consternation amongst the group, especially as Hazem was busy telling us it was difficult to get beer in the town! Luckily some super organised walkers had bought a cask of wine so we got a wee glass of red to drink while we were watching the sun go down until our beer turned up! Much relief by all walkers!!

Monday - Walking in Wadi Rum

A day spent hiking in the desert - having fun spotting the camels and realising that Lawrence of Arabia was all around Jordan (no - I hadn't read up on the history of the place before going!). It was a great day walking - the scenery was just amazing - I just kept taking photos which you'll realise when I get my photos up on Flickr! Highlights were seeing the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and our fantastic lunch stop - under a cliff, listening to one of our group members playing the tin whistle. A bit surreal hearing Irish jig music in the middle of the desert!

Sunday - Amman to Wadi Rum

We flew in to Amman late on Saturday night - we spent almost an hour on the tarmac at Heathrow so it felt like a long flight (it's meant to be about 5 hours but it was around 6 all up I think). We were met by a representative from Explore at the airport who promptly took all our passports off of us and sent us to get out bags - funny how trusting you get! But we did get them all back with our visas. So by the time we got to the hotel and got into our rooms it was getting on for 1.30am and we had to be up bright and early the next day :-(.

Sunday we headed off in our wee bus down the Desert Highway to Wadi Rum. Lovely sunny day, seemed all well and good. Then we got out of the bus - wee bit windy! Makes you realise how the hajib etc comes from a practical necessity! We had a fun time as Hazem argued with our Bedouin camp staff who didn't want us to eat anywhere else, but we couldn't eat outside as the wind was flinging the sand around everywhere! Eventually a compromise was reached (luckily as it was about 3pm by now and we were all starving) and we found a sheltered place to eat a highly delish lunch of hummous, salad, potato and pita bread.

Then it was about 1.5 hours walking across the desert to the campground - realising everyone would all be in one tent was a bit of a suprise, but it was a beautiful spot. Dinner was pulled out of the ground (a bit like a hangi) and we ate around the campfire. Great start!

New Zealand-itis...

I seem to have been spotting many NZ related things in the UK media this weekend.

Well 3, but thats not bad for two days!

1. In a story last weekend (which I only read on Saturday) on Kate Middleton (Prince Williams' squeeze) there was a photo of her with him at the rugby a couple of weeks ago. And what was the future King of England wearing but a Line7 jacket from the America's Cup days, with Steinlager and Telecom branding clearly visible... Where on earth would he get one of those - and why on earth would he wear it??!!
2. Watching the truly fantastic Life on Mars, stuck on a locker in the police station was a clipping advertising a game - England vs New Zealand. A Kiwi in the props room perhaps?
3. Barclays Bank using Split Apple Rock as the main picture in their new ad campaign, with the tag line 'Anything is possible' (or something like that). Not credited to NZ of course, but I've been there/seen it, so I know the real thing!
4. Not exactly media, but I also noticed that Waitrose (my local supermarket) is now selling 42Below as well... (and I have to say that the 42 website has the worst song soundtrack - terrible!
   

Gazing Westward

Gazing Westward
Originally uploaded by enetheru_2006.

Fantastic photo of Sam's - been there, loved it!

Interesting article

I read this article yesterday and thought it was very interesting - good expose of how the big brewing companies here in the UK run the pub scene, and are slowly but surely squeezing out all the local brewers.

Feed The Cows

My friend Nicola sent me this link today and I thought it was fantastic! Lets hope those cows don't go hungry!!

Check out the cows here....

Fab Arcade Fire gig.. but no Arctic Monkeys

Mhairi and I went to see Arcade Fire at Brixton Academy on Thursday night - absolutely brilliant gig. Despite still feeling full of cold I loved them. Loads of musicians on the stage, all playing different instruments, and the most amazing guy who turned playing a tambourine into an aerobic work out! Since then have been listening to their new album, Neon Bible which is also pretty damn good!

I also applied for tickets to Arctic Monkeys - you had to apply through their website but I was not successful. As I had to put my age down (and I was honest!), I can't help wondering if I was considered too old... Although they say that it was completely randomly generated by a computer - but I'm not sure I believe that!

Fantastic slide show

This is a great slide show of the Midsummer Nights Dream performance I went to - works best with sound! Click here to check it out.

Shots (and a cold...)

Last Tuesday I went off to the Doctor's to get my required shots for my upcoming trip to Jordan and promptly came down with a cold. That cold conveniently brewed for the next few days, then came out with a bang on Sunday which I'm still suffering from :-(. I don't normally get colds, but I seem to have had a few this year and this one has been a bit of a doozy. Woe is me - I'm not one who 'soldiers on' through colds, so hopefully I'm over the worst of it now.

Looking forward to the holiday tho!

Shakespeare like I've not seen it before...

Went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream last Thursday at the Roundhouse in Camden. It was absolutely fantastic - although I'm glad I read a synopsis of the story before I went. I'm not that familiar with the play and I think I would have struggled a bit if I hadn't any idea of what was going on, but it was a very clever production.

Lunar Eclipse Totality

Lunar Eclipse Totality
Originally uploaded by murky.

Not my photo - blogged from Flickr!

Lunar eclipse

So there was a full lunar eclipse last night and we had relatively clear skies to see it as well. I tried to take some photos of it, but it didn't really work out - all I got was a lot of black sky with a pin hole image of the moon... Here's what the BBC said about it. There are also some great photos on Flickr as well.

I had quite a good view, and could definitely see the redness of it - very cool!!

Stromboli lava eruptions at night

Stromboli lava eruptions at night
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Just to remind people of what I saw!

Stromboli is erupting...

Was quite excited to read this news item on the BBC site today - considering I've been there, climbed it and lived to tell the tale! Stromboli is starting to kick off again!!

Outrageous Fortune!!

How excited am I? Sitting down for my weekly dose of America's Next Top Model (oh yes - I am sad, I love my trash tv...) up pops an ad for Outrageous Fortune! Cue immediate text to Mhairi, who doesn't really know it but shall no doubt have it inflicted upon her as I shall tape it and pass it down the line.

Very excited as I really enjoyed what I saw when back in NZ in November - and as I'm about to lose Sky 1 (no Lost, no Battlestar Galactica, no 24...) I'm thinking OF will be an enjoyable replacement!!

The lady goes to Glasgow....

I've just got back from a great weekend up in Glasgow visiting Lindsey, Ricky, Chloe and Jamie. Jamie spent the whole weekend calling me 'the lady', and then after I left, asked where Megan was!

I flew up on Friday which was majorly stressful as I almost missed my flight - the only other flight I've ever missed was one up to Glasgow so it must be something about that destination! I did leave a wee bit later than I should have but then the security queue was just completely horrendous - I literally did only make the flight cos I pushed to the front of the queue (and it was a long queue), and then ran to the gate. They were calling my name (plus a couple of others) as the final boarding call. It was very very stressful - and most unlike me!

But having got to Glasgow it was great. Saturday was a bit of a slow day (Lindsey and I put the world to rights the night before so it took us a while to get going...), but on Sunday we took the kids to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum which was pretty good. More of an art gallery than a museum, so not that good for the kids, but we saw a great exhibition of the MacIntosh and how Glasgow design was used in the Glasgow tearooms and Chloe enjoyed looking at the animal exhibits and the Egyptian mummys!

Needless to say I got to airport in loads of time for my flight back today!

I've loaded more photos on Flickr as well.

Advertising NZ, 18th century style...

Advertising NZ, 18th century style...
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Lindsey, Jamie & Chloe, Museum 2

Lindsey, Jamie & Chloe, Museum 2
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Chloe and Jamie, Monday morning

Monday morning breakfast & story writing 2
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Blogger 2

For a while now I've been getting prompted to upgrade my blog to 'Blogger 2', which involved having to have a Google account, so I've been resisting. But it seems I no longer have a choice and the deed has been done (although readers won't notice any difference).

So I now have a Google account which I don't really need, but I have noticed the return of the blogging formatting tools which is good :-). And I have no doubt that Blogger probably can now do loads more interesting things - which it will take me ages to get around to looking at!

Underneath The Lintel

So tonight Kevin and I carried on our tradition of going to see West Wing stars on the stage in the West End and went to see Richard Schiff in Underneath The Lintel.

Fab play - about a librarian who researches a book that is returned 113 years late. I won't say much more about the story for any UK readers who go to see it, but its a very good story. And the library stuff is brilliant! Anyone who has ever worked in a library would enjoy this - after all, haven't we all had that urge to punish that bad borrower...

More snow - lots more this time!

More snow - lots more this time!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

So here are the results of last night's snowfall... definitely more than last time, but amazingly my trip in to work was pretty painless. And I didn't even have to fight for a seat as loads of people had elected to work from home due to the weather!

It was pretty much all gone by the time I got home tho. I'm off up to Glasgow tomorrow so am hoping for enough snow for it to be fun but not enough for me to either get stuck there or here.

A very cool website...

I went to a CILIP seminar last week and they had a very cool display of Carnegie Medal winners, and I was sent the link to a website about it today - very cool! Check it out here.

I've only read 7 of them...

Red alert!!!

Oh no - a "heavy" snowfall of 4 inches is expected tonight/early tomorrow morning so the country will grind to a complete halt. On my home from work Surbiton station had a notice up saying 'Due to heavy snowfalls forecast please check with National Rail before travelling'...

It never fails to amaze me that in this country ANY weather can disrupt the transport system - if it gets too hot the tracks buckle, if it snows the whole system just collapses, in autumn the leaves cause problem (both leaves on the line or even worse - the wrong sort of leaves on the line...).

So the big question is - will I get to work tomorrow??

Barkus or Bacchus (yet to be confirmed...)

Barkus
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The newest member of the family looking exceedingly cute on the deck at home in Taupo.. Soooo cute!!

And more on the animal front...

Nicola and I went to the Imperial War Museum today to see The Animals War, which was a very interesting but very sad exhibition about the use (or misuse to be more correct) of animals in wars across time.

Two things that stood out for me were the stories about the use of cats for bombs. They came up with the idea of attaching bombs to cats, parachuting the cat to ships, landing them in the water by the ships. The idea being that cats hate water so they would do anything to get on to the ships, then the bombs would go off on the ships... Unfortunately the cats became unconscious during the drop so they realised that wouldn't work... To be fair it wasn't just cats that suffered this way, but I (of course) focused on the cats.

Then there was the cat 'The Unsinkable Sam' with the incredible luck. It was on the Bismarck when it was bombed, was picked up and then was put on the HMS Cossack, which was then sunk, was picked up again and ended up on the HMS Ark Royal, which was then bombed and sunk again... and was picked up again, and lived out its life on dry land!

And how could I forget...

On Sunday as Maya and I were wandering back towards Southbank we walked past The Clink museum and on a whim decided to go in... Funnily enough the website is under construction - perhaps they should focus on the museum itself rather than the website!

Fortunately it was only £5 as it certainly wasn't worth more than that! It was a very strange museum - lots of very detailed historical stuff to read, a few rather tatty displays and that was it!

Although we did learn that in York it is still legal to kill a Scottish person with a bow and arrow as long as it isn't on a Sunday between 11-4. (Or something like that anyhow!)

'Pan'-tastic...

OK - sorry. I couldn't resist that cheesy tabloid heading!

I went to see Pan's Labyrinth today and it was fantastic. I just loved it. Some very disturbing scenes, but the imagery was wonderful. Its up for an Oscar for best foreign language film, and I hope it gets it. I really enjoyed it.

Too much torture in my life tho - quite a lot in the first 2 episodes of 24 and a bit some in this film as well. I'll be quite happy to not see any for a while.

Saturday shopping

Had a lovely time with Maya on Saturday afternoon wandering around Borough Market. It felt a bit like going to work as Borough Market is just by my office but once we got there it was fine! We started off with a sumptious falafel and then just ambled around tasting and buying. Maya was more spendier than me - I succumbed to a pot of jam and a chocolate brownie, but she went for tea, chutney and jam, and a re-stocking of wasabi peanuts... The peanuts may sound odd, but trust me they are pretty delish!

Spent Saturday night watching Sideways, a great film about drinking wine (amongst other things). I felt like I was drinking the wine as I watched it!

PS: Normal service has almost been resumed - I'm now using Firefox as my internet browser which allows me to do the links the normal way!

View of snowy road from bedroom 24 Jan 2007

View of snowy road from bedroom 24 Jan 2007 (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

And the view over the road from my bedroom window!

Snowy back lawn 24 Jan 2007

Snowy back lawn 24 Jan 2007 (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Wow - woke up to this view from my lounge this morning - fantastic!! Until I got to the trains and cos there was 1 inch of snow the trains weren't working... Sigh!

Lovely weekend afternoons

Saturday was spent catching up with my friend Kristie, who has just moved back to the UK from the USA. So we had a lovely time wandering around Greenwich Market (a particular fave of mine), then I walked back to Lewisham with her to check out her lovely new pad. Via a pub called The Union which is a microbrewery - had a very lovely ale there (the benefits of not being on the wagon anymore...). Check out the review here...

Sunday Julia and I went to see the movie 'The Queen' which was great. All about how the Queen dealt with the aftermath of the death of Diana. Really odd to watch the scenes and be able to remember it all happening. As Julia said when we came out we felt like we had been in a time warp and we were now back in 1996. I think Helen Mirren is expected to get an Oscar nomination for it, and she was superb. You really felt like you were watching the Queen. One thing I thought was particularly interesting was the scene where the royals are first got up following the accident, and they are told that Diana had a broken arm and concussion. I remember one of my flatmates saying that he had got in about 3am and that was the story on the radio. He couldn't believe it when he woke up and heard she was dead.

And now I'm just starting to watch Day 6 of '24'. Jack Bauer is back and I'm facing another 6 months of tv watching...

Drowning in tissues...

Woe is me. I've spent the last week fighting and then succumbing to the cold that is doing the rounds over here at the moment. Two days off work, then back in on Wednesday as I was going stir crazy in my flat, but I still feel like it is loitering around the edges at the mo. What is the point of not drinking if you end up getting ill anyhow??

So for lots of different reasons I've fallen off the wagon :-). But am not beating myself up about it too much - I'm happy enough with what I've achieved...

Before falling ill I did go to the exhibition at the National Gallery - 'Manet to Picasso' which was great. The only Picasso painting was one that looked really familiar to me - then as I was going up the stairs back at my flat I realised there was a print of it hanging in the hallway!

Check out the National Gallery blurb here.

Underground, overground, wombling free...

I got a fantastic CD from Tracey the other day - a real throw back to our childhood. "The Best Wombles Album So Far" - with so many songs that I remembered from the records we used to have. Absolutely fantastic!!

Which made me wonder how many internet sites there were dedicated to Wombles... And there are quite a few!! If I could link to them I would but I'm unable to from home... So for those of you who are interested...

http://www.wombles.easyweb-solutions.co.uk/
http://www.scuzz.com/wombles/

Or you could get distracted by the anarchist website of
http://www.wombles.org.uk/

Fantastic photos

I went to see the Wildlife Photographer of Year exhibition today at the Natural History Museum which was fanastic. Its been going for about 20 years now, and the photos were just outstanding. I wasn't that keen on the one that was the overall winner, but some of them were incredible.

The last time I went to this exhibition it was still staged with photos on the wall - in the new digital age it was digital photos displayed rather than actual prints - how the times have changed!

Use this link to check out the site and the online gallery. The current winner of the Visitor's Vote was also one of my faves - King Penguins slapping each other - fantastic!! (I don't seem to be able to do the old links in my blogs like I used to - I think it is something to do with the browser that Macs use, so until I work something out it will be back to these unattractive links sadly.)

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/index.jsp

Me on the ice

Me on the ice
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Me nervously gliding in to where Kevin was minding the bags on the safe side of the rail!!

Somerset House before we hit the ice

Somerset House before we hit the ice
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The ice had a sheen of water on it - I think cos the weather has been so mild. So it was a bit of a scary skate!

Ice Skating at Somerset House

I went ice skating again this evening - this time at Somerset House. Kevin was the bag boy while me, Sue and Andrew had a turn on the ice. I didn't enjoy it as much as I had at Hampton Court Palace - the ice was a lot wetter tonight (almost a puddle of water over the ice) which seemed to make it much more slippy - if that makes sense! Plus I think my confidence was a wee bit dented from falling over at HCP so I was a lot more cautious. But Kevin took some great pictures which I'll post shortly.

But that is definitely me done for the ice for this year!!

Day 4 of January - the sober month...

So here I am on a Friday night - day 4 of my sober January (I didn't start until Jan 2nd in case you were wondering...).

I have now been to two things where I have had to make the conscious decision not to drink. Ricky Gervais last night and ice skating/meal tonight. I found it really hard last night - it was a Thursday evening, it was comedy and he was over by 9pm - plenty of time for a drink on the way home! Tonight was a bit easier, but it was still odd to sit round a table and be the only one not drinking!

It has got me thinking about how much of drinking is just habit tho, and how much is because I actually want one. This isn't a New Years Resolution as such - I just want to see if I can be disciplined enough to not drink for a month. It helps that Julia is also doing it - I don't want to have to go and tell her that I've had a drink!

But Feb 2nd does seem a long way away - in some ways I think the idea of not being able to have a drink is worse than actually not having one. It kills me knowing I 'can't' have a drink, even if I don't really feel like one.

I doubt this will be the last post on the subject!

Ricky Gervais - funny man

In the nick of time Kevin remembered that he had booked tickets to go and see Ricky Gervais last night at the Bloomsbury Theatre. So although feeling very tired we both toddled off to see him.

It was a great show - he was doing a 3 nights of a benefit show to try out new material before he starts his next nationwide tour. You can't get much better than second row from the front, right in the centre! Luckily he isn't really into heckling the audience so we felt relatively safe sat there!

I would try and describe how funny he was but it never comes across well - suffice to say that he looks and sounds just like he did in 'The Office' and 'Extras'.!!

Tui In The Flax

Tui In The Flax
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

Stolen this from Maurie's blog - this is such a fantastic photo!

Films - both good and bad...

A good recommendation - Casino Royale, the new James Bond movie. Absolutely fantastic - Daniel Craig has the most incredible eyes! And the action isn't all that bad either!

A bad recommendation - The Holiday. Even in terms of chick flicks this one was pretty dire... Jack Black almost rescued it but it was still bad... I'm not even sure I'd recommend that one as a DVD rental!!

Many new toys...

So in between walking, ice skating and trying to avoid thinking about going back to walk I bought myself some new toys... top of my fave list is my new Mac Book.

Bought on the glowing recommendations of Mhairi this new toy is absolutely fantastic! My broadband now works like proper broadband and the letter 'e' also works - my life has been transformed. And that is even before I've explored all of the other cool whizzy things it can do... Prepare to be amazed in the future - once I've worked out what to do!!

Foggy morning from my lounge, December 2006

Foggy morning from my lounge, December 2006
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Taken from my lounge window on one of the many foggy mornings before Christmas.

Happy New Year!!

Happy 2007 to everyone :-). Right now I am typing this on my super new cool MacBook, but more of that in another post! I have had a lovely evening eating a delish Indian dinner cooked by Julia. Had a loud train trip back full of 'young' people - I felt very old!!

So lets all have a good 2007 - onwards and upwards!!

January 2007 is a non-drinking month for me and Julia so watch out for my posts monitoring my progress...

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!

Christmas is coming... and I couldn't wait

So last night in Waitrose I saw that they were selling little one size portion Xmas puddings - and they've got their special Waitrose Cointreau cream in the shops as well. So seeing as how I've been to my first Xmas party this week and have another one on Friday I just had to treat myself on the way home from work.

So now I've had my first Xmas pudding of the season as well!

eryn with mo

eryn with mo
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

eryn has been doing mo-vember and this is the proud result! I can't believe this picture... !!!

Jet-lagged life...

Coming to the end of my first week back at work - and boy what a week it has been. For the first time ever I've been suffering from quite bad jet lag. And it hasn't been much fun.

I landed back around 3pm on Sunday and lasted until around 8pm. Slept until 3am, woke up but managed to get back to sleep until about 6am. Monday I lasted until 10pm and again woke up about 3 times during the night. Tuesday I got about 3.5 hours sleep and had a particularly rubbish day at work on Wednesday! Last night I managed to sleep right through until 6.15am which was particularly exciting!! But I must admit I'm looking forward to the weekend!!

Killing time in Singapore

Right now I am stood at one of the free internet terminals at Gate F60, Terminal 2 of Changi Airport waiting to board my plane for the final (long) leg back to the UK.

Flight from Auckland to here was ok, but was longer than I was expecting. It is only 8 hours from Singapore to Auckland but the other way round is just over 10 hours. And I think the upcoming leg is also longer as well :-(.

I had a great time in NZ for the rest of my trip, and once I get back to London I'll upload my photos on to Flickr as well. Some of the highlights were:

• Spending lots of money on Icebreaker gear for walking (despite my family giving me grief as it is now made in China out of NZ materials - but I don't care cos it is very cool and very good for walking!).
• Going to the Great Britain/NZ rugby league test at the Cake Tin. And despite being pleased that NZ won I did find myself cheering for Great Britain quite a bit - after 10 years it is hard not to!
• Spending time with Anita and her two gorgeous wee boys.
• Experiencing the full range of weather in Wellington from gale force northerlies, to gusting southerlies and driving rain with sunny fine days in between!
• Catching up with my Uncle Harry and assorted whanau in Upper Hutt. Was fab to see him again.
• Chilling out in Taupo doing absolutely nothing - what a holiday is meant to be :-)
• Driving around Lake Taupo with Tracey - the first time ever for both of us, and some of the views from the western side of the lake were just stunning.

What I'm not happy about is not catching up with some of my friends - you know who you are and I feel crap about it. But the 3 weeks felt like a marathon sprint around the country and when I wasn't doing anything I tended to collapse in a heap and savour the brief time I had to myself. I will of course be writing grovelly letters (yes real letters!) as penance shortly...

These internet sessions are limited to 15 mins and I'm down to less than 5 and there are people waiting so I think I'll give someone else a go. I'm so not looking forward to this flight...

When in Wellington...

One does the Wellington things. Namely...

• Drink delicious latte coffee (from Midnight Espresso)
• Buy cool clothes from funky clothes shops on Cuba Street
• Have a delish lunch at the Lido (corn fritters - yum!)
• Have a lovely hot chocolate complete with marshmallows from Clarks, the cafe at the Wellington Public Library
• Wander around Civic Square, marvelling again at how cool it is (even tho the scenic picture is ruined by marquees in place for something)

Optional Extras

• Bump into old flatmate on Cuba Street, last seen about 7 years ago in a pub in London...
• Salivate over all the outdoor clothing shops to explore... (well ok, that is probably just me...)
• Make appointment to get hair cut at old fave salon, Grace
• Get worried in internet cafe when random links to soft porn sites appear on blog. Thankfully later realise that it was a virus the PC had, not someone hacking into my literary creations (as I'm in a different cafe and it seems to be ok...)

Blogging from the Southern Hemisphere

Yep - still here, and got to NZ safely. This is just the first chance I've had to update my blog! So read on below for highlights of my first week back in Aotearoa...

Me with touristy view of Auckland in background...

Me with touristy view of Auckland in background...
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

This was taken at Ladies Bay - not an area I knew when I lived in Auckland but Eryn and I were scoping out his next half marathon. Needless to say the houses were very posh up here!!

Animals, athletes and fireworks...

Continuing on my world tour of NZ, I headed down to Whakatane (closest airport to Opotiki) to spend time with Leigh and the Abraham whanau. But prior to that we had some time to kill so Eryn, Alex and I went to the Auckland Zoo. Which was pretty good - I saw some very active Kiwis and some tuatara and on the whole it looked alright. The saddest bit was the Meerkats who were really obviously trying to get out of their (rather tatty) pen. That made me feel a bit yuk.

Then it was down to Opotiki where I arrived in time for the prize giving for the mountain bike race that Leigh and Maurie had just completed. 45kms for Leigh, more for Maurie (but I'm not sure what) and as everyone got a spot prize everyone seemed to come away happy!

Bar-b-q and fireworks in the evening - some quite spectacular ones, but I'm sure they lasted longer when I was a kid!! Highlight was possibly Lucy and I lighting incense sticks and wondering why they weren't sparkling...

The lesser spotted Alex-osaurus snapped at the Auckland Zoo

The lesser spotted Alex-osaurus snapped at the Auckland Zoo
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Beautiful fab Piha

While Eryn and Jacqui were at work and Alex was at school I took myself off for a walk along the beach at Piha. I love having family who live out there - there is nothing more grounding or anything that makes you feel more than a million miles away from London than walking on the beach. It is one of my fave places in NZ (next to Taupo and the beach at Tirohanga by Leigh's place) and I spent a great couple of hours down there.

Also managing to get my face sunburnt as my moisturiser didn't have sunscreen in it... Alex spent the next couple of days saying to me 'Boy your nose is red Megan...'

In the evening we went out for dinner to celebrate Eryn's actual birthday to Yaruki, a lovely Japanese restaurant in Henderson with friends of Eryn's - Paula and Graeme. I first met Graeme in 1998 which made me feel very old!

Eryn's 40th dinner - Yaruki Restaurant

Eryn's 40th dinner - Yaruki Restaurant
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Piha - looking towards North Piha, water reflections

Piha - looking towards North Piha, water reflections
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Suprise!!

I travelled up to Auckland on 3rd November and met up with Jacqui at her work in the evening. We got back to Eryn's place around 10pm-ish and as I waited outside the bathroom while he was brushing his teeth. His face was priceless as he opened the door, expecting Jacqui to be there. He just stood and stared at me and the first thing that came out of his mouth was 'Who are you'. Watching him try to compute that I was standing in front of him made the effort of keeping it a suprise worth it - absolutely fantastic!!

Taupo - the first time round

Had a good couple of days chilling out with my Mum and my sister in Taupo. The jetlag wasn't really in evidence although I did start to get very tired around 8.30 every evening - even fell asleep in front of the tele one night! Spent my time catching up, and walking the dog Honey with Tracey in the afternoons - too lazy to get up for the morning walks!