Family reunion and 2 x 60ths

Taio was one of the first to arrive for our family reunion

His mum brought his new baby sister to meet us all, the beautiful Leilani.

There was the customary Ode.

Everyone had a brilliant time.

Glynny brought some Atlanta sun to the Hilton, Coventry, where we all gathered this weekend.

Ross with Bet

Nat brought Omi from Trowbridge and Seb brought Nicole, Kelsie and Maisie all the way from Brisbane, Australia. It was an International event!

Wills and Ben

Who would have believed Brian went to the same Uni as Matt... although there were many years between them studying in Essex they had plenty to discuss, "skinny-dipping in some Uni "water" being one of the topics!

Moo's nest was full for a few hours with her Cheery Chaddy Chicks.

The Smith-Rayner clan together again!!! Good times!

Forever cousins (but really we are brothers and sisters)

Beka, Maisy and Fi.

Did I mention 2 of the party were/were about to be 60. It didn't seem to bother them!

They had a great time, a lot of fuss and a personalised bottle of plonk.

Oh... and a mug each.

Glynny searched the archives for some classic photos of the past, John had a moustache and Bean was posing in EVERY SINGLE SHOT

There were so many hugs.

Nic, Nat, Mai, Omi and Al

I painted Kelsie and Maisy a mug each too as, living in Australia, they had missed out on the traditional coloured name pictures and Christmas stockings.

Seb and Bean

Aah, Uncle Jack!! Didn't he do well!! He is94 and still has a hearty appetite!

This was beFORE the complimentary wine... Good tooting by Hayley and Sis! (We never did manage to make any noise with them though...)

Dad would have LOVED it. We were all missing him despite the fun and giggles.

It was so so good to see Glynny again. We are really sisters you know!!

It was a fantastic day.

Blue Moon!!!!!!!

On 16th May 1987 the SKY BLUES won the F.A.CUP having beaten Bolton Wanderers, Man Utd (!!!!!!) Stoke City, Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds Utd on the way. Keith Houchen scored a diving header in the match, a goal that has been described as one of the top ten goals ever to be scored at Wembley (whoop whoop)

(I just needed to get that in first!)

Being F.A.Cup day this Saturday, I thought it appropriate to wear my commemorative tee shirt!! PUSB PUSB!!!





Bro and neph got their hands on a couple of tickets!



Basically Bro would have gone to any length to get just one ticket..anywhere in the ground. The last time Man City won a trophy was in 1976 when they beat Newcastle Utd to win the League Cup, an outing our family went to (even though Dad, God bless him, bought seats in the Newcastle end!)

N.B.THE PRICE!!



(Great overhead kick by Dennis Tueart!)

Here's the Neph all ready for action!



They saw David Gold... this was before he sacked Avram Grant.























Did you get the jist?? Man City won (one-nil)...he was a happy chappy!

So a good couple of months for Bro because he won a bottle of rum for having his letter printed in April's edition of Wisden!

The Great Salford Swim 2011

It wasn't the best of days, weatherwise, to swim a mile in 14
degrees water but there was no stopping these swimming enthusiasts! Husb and I were full of admiration for them all. The Great Salford Swim was superbly organised, just very, very, very cold.



Matt Baker and the 5 times Olympic Champion "ledge" Ian Thorpe were commentating from the quayside, they didn't look too warm either but they were both exceedingly handsome. We expected the Thorpedo to be bigger, and our first reaction was to look at his feet which seemed quite a normal size too.

Thorpey has announced his retirement-from-retirement

after visiting the Aquatics Centre in London and is now training for the 2012 Olympics... but Matt couldn't persuade him to join in the race...





The Pixen had entered the sub 30 minute wave which was the fastest wave of the day, here they are warming up.




Ian Thorpe started them off with a ready steady go and they plunged into the water with admirable courage and enthusiasm. They had been warned quite emphatically beforehand that if anyone hadn't made it to the half way buoy by 15 minutes they would be pulled out. This was because the men's elite swimmers were starting their race at 2.20pm.

No pressure then? !



There was live coverage on BBC2 that afternoon, we saw some very high tech cameras and have since watched the programme, it was excellent.



Here is the Pixen (top right) swimming along Mariners Canal, easily distinguishable from all the other wet-suited, orange-hatted, heads-down mass of swimmers (!) by her Livestrong yellow armband and the pink flashes on her shoulders.




SHE DID AN AMAZING TIME OF 23 MINS 20 SECS, A MINUTE FASTER THAN LAST YEAR!

11TH FEMALE TO FINISH....WHOOPIDOO!!

40TH OVERALL...........WHOOP WHOOP!!




David Carry, Olympic swimmer, mens elite group.




Mens elite group.



Tom Allen , ex Upton High School, did a fantastic swim, coming 4th in the mens elite, lost his purple hat though, a "one to watch" for the future!!
(He recently won the European Juniors Open Water 5km Championships.)
(Stuart Clamp has high hopes for him in the 2012 Olympics)



Pixen deserved more than a medal after the drama of this weekend.

The clutch went on her journey home, resulting in an embarrassing 70 mile rescue and tow. Undeterred and determined to swim, she caught the next train home which nearly ended in disaster when she missed her connection. (Friday 13th?? YES IT WAS) Today the weather was cold and wet and we had to do battle with the Manchester funrunners too, some of the roads were closed.

But hey, she got her medal and was 11th female to finish.

FANTASTIC!!

and SHE LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT, ESPECIALLY MATT AND THE THORPEDO.