Cheshire Triathlon

Doing a triathlon was a life goal for both of us. Despite our rather lax training, we did rather well. 250 metre swim, followed by a 20 km cycle and a 2.5 km run. A great sense of achievment afterwards - and I'm now motivated to attack a longer in a couple of months time. Colleen did it with us while Steve supported with gusto. He's going to do it next time too. A great day out.

Unwinding after. Silly devils through bread.

Our new Audi: Ally got to borrow an Audi A4 from work for the weekend so we drove up to Cheshire in style. We could rather get used to a car like this!

Mamma Mia!

This musical has been on our life lists for over a year. And it didn't disappoint. The star of the show, apart from the fabulous music of course, must surely be the script writer. Very clever how she wove such a fun and entertaining story line around the songs. By the end of the show, we were on our feet, joining in the encores with unabashedly loud voices. That's Abba for you - absolutely irresistable. In my experience, only the coolest movies and shows get to use Abba as a sound track. Priscilla and the Desert. Muriel's Wedding. Now Mamma Mia. Colleen and Steve enjoyed the show as much as we did.

Picadilly Circus at dusk

It was great to meet up with Colleen and Steve again in London. They're both doing well - just returned from two weeks in Egypt which they loved.

A stroll through Bishops Park

To get to Colleen's flat from the station, we had to walk through Bishop's Park. A lovely stroll along the Thames through green foliage. Quiet and tranquil with the soft chirps of the birds to accompany us. Or so it would have been without Ally's wheeled suit case. It has the loudest wheels we've ever heard. Scraping and thundering along the pavement. Couldn't even hold a conversation over the clamor. Everyone looked up from their picnics to find out what the racket was all about. Needless to say, we've decided to give the bag away and get something a little more streamlined.

Ally's birthday

It's Ally's birthday tomorrow and Colleen's next week so we all got together for lunch in Cambridge to celebate. It's been a stormy day with ferocious gusts but we had a lovely day indoors. Before lunch, Ally and I did our tennis lessons and we're making good progress - though not quite Wimbledon standard yet.

Getting one with nature

Colleen came to stay this weekend which was wonderful. We had Martin and Sunjung around for dinner last night and then went to see a movie (Hero). Then today we went for a walk in the Cambridge Botanical gardens where we took these photos. It was a rainy day but we had lots of fun.

That's Colleen's shoe through the hole in the table. The marshmallows were delicious.

The flowers were beautiful

My 30th birthday (London)

Wedding day

Wedding Night

The next morning

Honeymoon in Franschhoek

Coming home to find flower petals on our bed

Video of our wedding ceremony

Note to Ally

Card written by Ally on our wedding anniversary

I am blessed to have you in my life
My delicious lover
My best friend
My number 1 hug man

I often tell you that I love you but I don't tell you why - well, here are just a handful of reasons:

• you listen, I mean really listen to me 
• you are interested in all I do
• you support and encourage me to achieve all my dreams
• you kiss me goodnight
• you always look at me with such love and warmth
• you laugh, shout, cry and celebrate with me
• you cuddle me, even in your sleep!
• you want me to be just me
• you kiss me just because you want to

Related links

• More photos of our wedding
• Graeme and Ally (early relationship)
• Ally and Graeme (1993 - 2009)