Showing posts with label Davidsons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Davidsons. Show all posts
30 September 2007
6 November 2005
6 August 2005
2 May 2005
17 January 2005
Nicola's 21st
Saturday, we drove out to Kenilworth to celebrate Nicolas's 21st.
We stayed in an interesting B&B - it was a wendy house down the end of ramshackled garden that you could only get to through a direlect and messy house. Our first impressions weren't to favourable but the actual wendy house turned out to be comfortable enough.
We went to a local restuarant for the party and had a lovely time. Nicola's hair is ultra short after an experiment gone wrong a few weeks ago - but actually really suits her so she was looking sexy.
Dave had to contend with his fiesty T-Shirt Asterix for his food (see above photo) but won in the end. We got to bed after 1 am. Drove home today for a two hour game of tennis with Martin (lots of fun.)
Tonight we've got Amanda and Johnathon coming over for dinner and then off to see Million Dollar Baby which we hear is very good. Clintwood is on top form as ever.
We stayed in an interesting B&B - it was a wendy house down the end of ramshackled garden that you could only get to through a direlect and messy house. Our first impressions weren't to favourable but the actual wendy house turned out to be comfortable enough.
We went to a local restuarant for the party and had a lovely time. Nicola's hair is ultra short after an experiment gone wrong a few weeks ago - but actually really suits her so she was looking sexy.
Dave had to contend with his fiesty T-Shirt Asterix for his food (see above photo) but won in the end. We got to bed after 1 am. Drove home today for a two hour game of tennis with Martin (lots of fun.)
Tonight we've got Amanda and Johnathon coming over for dinner and then off to see Million Dollar Baby which we hear is very good. Clintwood is on top form as ever.
11 October 2004
Gus's 50th
It was Gus's 50th birthday this weekend and we went to their party on Saturday night out in Kenilworth. Carol put on a fabulous party as always with lots and lots of delicious food. We had a really fun time and things got extremely festive as the wine flowed. We overnighted in Bubbenhall at a cosy B&B with Dave, Susan and Kerry. Great to get the all Hoar sibblings together again. The image of the balloon is my first attempt at artistically manipulating a photo in photoshop.
Pictures of Gus's pride and joy - his three daughters.
Yatchs featured prominently in Gus's party, not suprising as they are a major passion of his. Nicola did a beautiful painting of Gus's boat which was extremely impressive and caused lots of excitement all round. As you can see, five of Gus's birthday cards also followed the yachting theme. Incidently, Ally's homemade card is the blue one in the middle (in pride of place.)
Carol made a T Shirt for Gus called "This is Your Life" with photos of him from young boy till today. Photo themes included young Gus at school, sailing his first boat, parachuting, his wedding, arriving in UK with his family, making his boat, completing his ultra runs, programming on the computer and so on. Fantastic present and beautifully done. Gus is inspiring with the very full life he lives and the way he manages to integrate all his passions. If I have half his energy at 50, I'll be very happy!
Photos of us
Pictures of Gus's pride and joy - his three daughters.
Yatchs featured prominently in Gus's party, not suprising as they are a major passion of his. Nicola did a beautiful painting of Gus's boat which was extremely impressive and caused lots of excitement all round. As you can see, five of Gus's birthday cards also followed the yachting theme. Incidently, Ally's homemade card is the blue one in the middle (in pride of place.)
Carol made a T Shirt for Gus called "This is Your Life" with photos of him from young boy till today. Photo themes included young Gus at school, sailing his first boat, parachuting, his wedding, arriving in UK with his family, making his boat, completing his ultra runs, programming on the computer and so on. Fantastic present and beautifully done. Gus is inspiring with the very full life he lives and the way he manages to integrate all his passions. If I have half his energy at 50, I'll be very happy!
Photos of us
27 September 2004
Sailing on the Solent with Gus
We had a great weekend sailing with Gus down on the south coast. It was raining on Saturday (check Gus and Ally in their gear)and we managed to bank ourselves on a sandbank that the tide saved us from, so not an auspicious start, but Sunday the sun emerged (check me in my gear) and it was gorgeous.
I'm starting to get the hang of sailing now and where the sails should be in relation to the wind. Saturday night, we all slept on the boat which was a snug fit. Amazing that Gus built this boat himself completely from hand with instructions written on a few pieces of paper. The name of the boat is "Just Right" - nice name in anyone's language...
I'm starting to get the hang of sailing now and where the sails should be in relation to the wind. Saturday night, we all slept on the boat which was a snug fit. Amazing that Gus built this boat himself completely from hand with instructions written on a few pieces of paper. The name of the boat is "Just Right" - nice name in anyone's language...
26 July 2004
Staying at Chateau Kenilworth
We stayed over at Carol and Gus. Gus has recently returned from a trip to South Africa where he did the comrades - a life goal of his. He has become a passion ultra marathon runner and lapped up the Comrades Course in bronze medal time. He's written a great article on the race which you can download in PDF format.
Carol is looking extremely good with all her walking and gyming. She is still looking after "Chuckie" the hedgehog (remember him?) who is doing very well. He's three times the size and living in a hutch in the garden until he's mature enough to be set free in the garden. The local hedgehog society is so impressed that they want to give Carol more orphan hedgehogs to raise!!
Gus and I get on very well as we share some similar passions - computers in particular. He gave me some good tips on how to create an online database - my next goal when it comes to site building. Over the next couple of months, i aim to teach myself some sequel and .net. It'll hold me in good stead for my job and will let me do all kinds of exciting stuff online.
Just before leaving for Cambridge, we met up with Norman and the family for a walk at Kenilworth Castle. It was great to have so many of the family together. I had a good chat with Robert, my uncle, and his kids - they're all really nice. They've been here for three weeks and had a very enjoyable 10 days in Ireland. The weather deteriorated towards the end of the walk but we Brits are used to a bit of rain so it didn't dampen the spirits. Refreshing, actually, after those 40 plus degrees temperatures in the Sinai!!
28 June 2004
The Davidsons come to Cambridge
A sting in the chicken
We had Ally's aunt and family over for lunch on Sunday. The chap in the foreground is Bronwyn's fella - Mark. A great guy who shares my passion for techno gadgets so we always have lots to talk about. Ally did her speciaity: sweet and sour chicken done Naked Chef style. A fantastic dish with a little bit of a sting in it's tail: two red hot chillis in the sauce waiting for an unsuspecting victim. Like Russian roulette it is. We always wonder who's going to get it first. But, oh so delicious!
Rapscallion Connor
Carol and family regularly look after little Conner on Sundays while his mum works. So they brought him along for lunch. He'd slept during the car trip here so was full of energy by the time he arrived which he spent running around the house, scattering toys in his wake. A little rapscallion of note - but boy was he adorable. After lunch, we took him to the park for a run. He led us a merry dance around the play ground - and also got to feed the ducks.
Baby Hedgehog (later called Chuckles)
On our walk, we came upon a baby hedgehog that was about to try to cross a busy road. We looked everywhere for it's parents but no sign. Poor little thing - it was disoriented and not very happy. Carol is a sucker for raising little orphans of any description (she already has Indian Myna's and barn owls on her CV). We took him to the park with us, wrapped in a jersey, and he soon perked up with all the delicious flowers to eat - and a couple of sips of river water. By the time we got home, he was positively frisky and wolfed down mega portions of cat food. Carol will look after him till he's a little older, then re-introduce him into an area where he can find other hedgehog friends. Cute little thing...
We had Ally's aunt and family over for lunch on Sunday. The chap in the foreground is Bronwyn's fella - Mark. A great guy who shares my passion for techno gadgets so we always have lots to talk about. Ally did her speciaity: sweet and sour chicken done Naked Chef style. A fantastic dish with a little bit of a sting in it's tail: two red hot chillis in the sauce waiting for an unsuspecting victim. Like Russian roulette it is. We always wonder who's going to get it first. But, oh so delicious!
Rapscallion Connor
Carol and family regularly look after little Conner on Sundays while his mum works. So they brought him along for lunch. He'd slept during the car trip here so was full of energy by the time he arrived which he spent running around the house, scattering toys in his wake. A little rapscallion of note - but boy was he adorable. After lunch, we took him to the park for a run. He led us a merry dance around the play ground - and also got to feed the ducks.
Baby Hedgehog (later called Chuckles)
On our walk, we came upon a baby hedgehog that was about to try to cross a busy road. We looked everywhere for it's parents but no sign. Poor little thing - it was disoriented and not very happy. Carol is a sucker for raising little orphans of any description (she already has Indian Myna's and barn owls on her CV). We took him to the park with us, wrapped in a jersey, and he soon perked up with all the delicious flowers to eat - and a couple of sips of river water. By the time we got home, he was positively frisky and wolfed down mega portions of cat food. Carol will look after him till he's a little older, then re-introduce him into an area where he can find other hedgehog friends. Cute little thing...
7 June 2004
Carol and Treacle (Ally)
I visited my Aunt Carol and Uncle Gus this weekend in Leamington Spa. Carol and Gus have done a wonderful job of doing up their house and it's looking absolutely fantastic. Here is Carol in their lovely garden with Treacle.
1 January 2000
London years (2000 - 2003)
"I thought of Paris as a beauty spot on the face of the earth, and of London as a big freckle." James Weldon Johnson
In April 2000, Ally and I moved to London. We found a cosy one bedroom apartment in Hammersmith above a restaurant called "The Grove" that specialised in delicious rib eye steaks.
Working for Siegelgale
The Internet boom was in full swing and I found a job quickly and easily, working as a consultant for a branding company called Siegelgale. It was a young, vibrant company that was growing fast. I was new to branding so it was a fast learning curve as I learned the art of creating "brand souls" for companies and helping them to reflect it in everything they did. It was a client facing and fast paced job after the snail pace of Old Mutual so I found it quite difficult and had to put in long hours. The people were great though including Peter Gibson, the CEO, who was extremely fun, creative and zany.
Some of my highlights at Siegelgale were personally coming up with the name of a Polish Bank (Intelligo), creating a brand strategy for Safe Host (an Internet hosting company based in Switzerland), and working with Peter Gibson and Anita on a huge project to rebrand a leading Israeli bank called Bank Hapoalim. The last project necessitated weekly trips to Tel Aviv which I loved. The project took well over 6 months and and our project team and clients became a very close knit group.
Life in London
In our spare time, Ally and I made the most of living in London. I bought rollerblades and every Sunday, rollerbladed from Hammersmith to Hyde Park to play touch rugby with a group of friends that included Mike, a good friend from South Africa days. Both Ally and I also had bikes and that is how we mostly got around. We lived very close to the Thames and on weekends, we would cycle along the river to Putney and watch the rowing competitions on the river.
We had several friends living in London including Colleen and Jo and Steve and we often visited them and went on outings. Later on, Ally's sister Kerri started working for a company that did marketing for theatres and she had access to lots of free tickets so I got to watch many free shows such as Vagina Monologues, All Off, Lady Windermere's Fan and Shock Headed Peter.
Other highlights were Jo and Anthony, mum and Mike and Rosemarie and Nick coming to stay with us. We also got to visit Cape Town on a couple of occasions where I was reunited with my best friend, Russel and we attended the weddings of Dirk and Bronwyn, Fraser and Jo and Steve . Mum's and Mike also got married and their wedding was very special indeed, especially as Gran and Gramps were able to be there and see mum so happy. Another major highlight was when Sammy was born in 2000 (we were in Cape Town at the time) and when Matthew was born in 2003.
Travel and tour leading
In September 2001, as the Internet bubble burst, Siegelgale started laying off its staff and it closed its London office not long after. I found myself unemployed and with so many Internet specialists retrenched, it was impossible to find a job.
I used the opportunity to do some travel. I spent 6 weeks in Africa doing a trip from Cape Town to Nairobi (in Kenya) with an overland company. Right after that, I spent an unforgettable month in Nepal hiking the Annapurna Circuit (a three week hike through the Himalayas) and visiting the Chitwan National Park. I fell totally in love with Nepal - both the scenery and the people. I experienced true peace while hiking in the mountains and it was a spiritual renaissance for me. I met a wonderful guy called Sanjay who I'm still in touch with to this day.
I returned to London but the job situation was still very bad. My trip through Africa had made me really keen to try out tourleading, so with Ally's blessing (she was so supportive), I phoned up all the tourleading companies in the UK. I did not have experience as a tourleader so mostly hit brickwalls at first but then I lucked out when I phoned Oasis Overland who urgently needed a tourleader in the Middle East (an area I knew thanks to my trip in 2007).
I spent the next 5 months leading overland trips from Istanbul in Turkey to Cairo in Egypt with stops in Syria and Jordan. I was responsible for 30 young people (mostly Aussies and Kiwis) in the back of a big yellow truck. It was quite stressful at first but I soon relaxed into it and I experienced the 5 most exciting and fulfilling months of my life. I learned to cook Spaghetti Bolonaise for 30 people, learned how to bribe Syrian border officials. I organised the travel itinerary and booked accomodation and local guides. I coped with all sorts of crises and problems. And loved every minute of it. My confidence flourished.
After 5 months, I returned to London to be reunited with Ally. Adam, Ally's 18 year old cousin, came to stay with us for a while and we all had lots of fun times together. Ally and I also spent an idyllic week in Barbados. Later on, we also had a holiday in Croatia
Working for Volvo
Then I received a call from Volvo from a guy called Mats who said they had seen my CV and had a challenging role for me. The role was based in Cambridge at the European headquarters and involved taking all of Volvo's fragmented hotchpotch of Internet sites and consolidating it into a seamless experience on one system. See more about the project.
It was a wonderful job. The people were great and I got to do lots of travelling, especially to Sweden, but also to the US and Brazil where I got to see the Iguazu Falls. My favourite part of the job was training staff on the new system which allowed me to meet people from all over the world. Our project team consisted of just 3 people (Mats, a dynamic and friendly guy, Caroline who I became very good friends with and myself.) But together we were a great team and we made a very substantial difference to Volvo's global Internet presence.
The only drawback to the job was the fact I needed to commute from London to Cambridge. I solved this by staying in a Bed and Breakfast for several nights of the week. But it was expensive and not ideal. So after a year at Volvo, Ally and I decided to relocate to Cambridge. And a new chapter in our lives began.
List of memories of our time in London
Cape Town visits
The Internet boom was in full swing and I found a job quickly and easily, working as a consultant for a branding company called Siegelgale. It was a young, vibrant company that was growing fast. I was new to branding so it was a fast learning curve as I learned the art of creating "brand souls" for companies and helping them to reflect it in everything they did. It was a client facing and fast paced job after the snail pace of Old Mutual so I found it quite difficult and had to put in long hours. The people were great though including Peter Gibson, the CEO, who was extremely fun, creative and zany.
Some of my highlights at Siegelgale were personally coming up with the name of a Polish Bank (Intelligo), creating a brand strategy for Safe Host (an Internet hosting company based in Switzerland), and working with Peter Gibson and Anita on a huge project to rebrand a leading Israeli bank called Bank Hapoalim. The last project necessitated weekly trips to Tel Aviv which I loved. The project took well over 6 months and and our project team and clients became a very close knit group.
Life in London
In our spare time, Ally and I made the most of living in London. I bought rollerblades and every Sunday, rollerbladed from Hammersmith to Hyde Park to play touch rugby with a group of friends that included Mike, a good friend from South Africa days. Both Ally and I also had bikes and that is how we mostly got around. We lived very close to the Thames and on weekends, we would cycle along the river to Putney and watch the rowing competitions on the river.
We had several friends living in London including Colleen and Jo and Steve and we often visited them and went on outings. Later on, Ally's sister Kerri started working for a company that did marketing for theatres and she had access to lots of free tickets so I got to watch many free shows such as Vagina Monologues, All Off, Lady Windermere's Fan and Shock Headed Peter.
Other highlights were Jo and Anthony, mum and Mike and Rosemarie and Nick coming to stay with us. We also got to visit Cape Town on a couple of occasions where I was reunited with my best friend, Russel and we attended the weddings of Dirk and Bronwyn, Fraser and Jo and Steve . Mum's and Mike also got married and their wedding was very special indeed, especially as Gran and Gramps were able to be there and see mum so happy. Another major highlight was when Sammy was born in 2000 (we were in Cape Town at the time) and when Matthew was born in 2003.
Travel and tour leading
In September 2001, as the Internet bubble burst, Siegelgale started laying off its staff and it closed its London office not long after. I found myself unemployed and with so many Internet specialists retrenched, it was impossible to find a job.
I used the opportunity to do some travel. I spent 6 weeks in Africa doing a trip from Cape Town to Nairobi (in Kenya) with an overland company. Right after that, I spent an unforgettable month in Nepal hiking the Annapurna Circuit (a three week hike through the Himalayas) and visiting the Chitwan National Park. I fell totally in love with Nepal - both the scenery and the people. I experienced true peace while hiking in the mountains and it was a spiritual renaissance for me. I met a wonderful guy called Sanjay who I'm still in touch with to this day.
I returned to London but the job situation was still very bad. My trip through Africa had made me really keen to try out tourleading, so with Ally's blessing (she was so supportive), I phoned up all the tourleading companies in the UK. I did not have experience as a tourleader so mostly hit brickwalls at first but then I lucked out when I phoned Oasis Overland who urgently needed a tourleader in the Middle East (an area I knew thanks to my trip in 2007).
I spent the next 5 months leading overland trips from Istanbul in Turkey to Cairo in Egypt with stops in Syria and Jordan. I was responsible for 30 young people (mostly Aussies and Kiwis) in the back of a big yellow truck. It was quite stressful at first but I soon relaxed into it and I experienced the 5 most exciting and fulfilling months of my life. I learned to cook Spaghetti Bolonaise for 30 people, learned how to bribe Syrian border officials. I organised the travel itinerary and booked accomodation and local guides. I coped with all sorts of crises and problems. And loved every minute of it. My confidence flourished.
After 5 months, I returned to London to be reunited with Ally. Adam, Ally's 18 year old cousin, came to stay with us for a while and we all had lots of fun times together. Ally and I also spent an idyllic week in Barbados. Later on, we also had a holiday in Croatia
Working for Volvo
Then I received a call from Volvo from a guy called Mats who said they had seen my CV and had a challenging role for me. The role was based in Cambridge at the European headquarters and involved taking all of Volvo's fragmented hotchpotch of Internet sites and consolidating it into a seamless experience on one system. See more about the project.
It was a wonderful job. The people were great and I got to do lots of travelling, especially to Sweden, but also to the US and Brazil where I got to see the Iguazu Falls. My favourite part of the job was training staff on the new system which allowed me to meet people from all over the world. Our project team consisted of just 3 people (Mats, a dynamic and friendly guy, Caroline who I became very good friends with and myself.) But together we were a great team and we made a very substantial difference to Volvo's global Internet presence.
The only drawback to the job was the fact I needed to commute from London to Cambridge. I solved this by staying in a Bed and Breakfast for several nights of the week. But it was expensive and not ideal. So after a year at Volvo, Ally and I decided to relocate to Cambridge. And a new chapter in our lives began.
List of memories of our time in London
Arriving
- Staying with Ally´s friend, Vicky
- Easy Internet on Tottenham Court road
Leisure activities
- Touch rugby at Hyde Park & the pub afterwards for shandy and roast beef
- Gareth, Wheels, Tanya, Mike (touch rugby)
- Rollerblading to Hyde Park every Sunday to play touch rugby
- Plays courtesy of Kerry (Vagina Monologues, All Off, Lady Windermere's Fan, Shock Headed Peter)
- Biking round London
- Cycling along the Thames
- Cycling round London (Queens Way, Leicester Square)
- Tennis with Mike
Family and friends
- Visit to Wilga & Normon
- Xmas sleep over
- My 30th birthday
- Ally's 30th
- Adam coming to stay
- Visits with Joana and Steve and Col
- Jo and Anthony coming to stay
- Mum and Mike coming to stay
- Visits to the Davidsons
- Bronwyn's 21st - death by chocolate
- Visits from Rosemarie and Nick
- Visiting Amanda and Johnathon in Cambridge
- New Years eve with Rory and Jo
- Dirk's visits
- Evenings with Javed
Movies, TV, music
- The Office (TV comedy series)
- Lord of the Rings movies
- Classical music on minidisk
- Big Brother
- Pop Idol (Simon Cowell, rooting for Will Young)
- Listening to David Gray (especially Sail Away) on train
- Norah Jones in Cambridge, especially "Come Away with Me."
Books
- Discovering and reading the Harry Potter books
- "Conversations with God" Neale Donald Walsch
- Web books on design when got Volvo job
Gadgets, computer
- Minidisk player (Xmas 2001)
- Classical music on minidisk player
- Playing with new lap top
- Web surfing and seeing blogs - the seed of getting this one
Personal development and spirituality
- Landmark Forum
- Career counselling
- Eve Dolphin
- Chi Gong
- Thai chi
Between jobs
- Paintball martial
- Barclays flow interview
- Prudential presentation
- Oasis interview
- Trafalgar interview
Plays, exhibitions, concerts
- Body World's Exhibitions
- Les Miserables
- Pavarotti in Hyde Park
- Royal Geographic Society (Blue Planet + Ultimate Killers)
Food
- Tescos Crème Caramel
- The Grove rib-eye steak
- Roast beef & Yorkshire pudding (touch rugby)
- Eating at the Oxo Towers
Travel
- Cape Town to Nairobi trip (2001)
- Trip to Nepal (2001)
- Middle East Tour leading (2002)
- Holiday in Barbados (by the pool, snorkeling with turtles) (2002)
- Holiday in Croatia (2003)
- Business trip to Brazil (2003)
- Business trip to Asheville in US (2003)
- Amsterdam weekend (2003)
Siegelgale (Apr 2000 - Jun 2001)
- "Team building" fun day out with Siegelgale
- The great view from Siegelgale Offices
- Sushi lunches from Tescos
- Safe Host project
- Infuzer
- Coming up with the name for Intelligo
- Bank Hapoalim. project - all the visits to Tel Aviv
- Gerry, Kate, Peter, Javed, Brad, Anita, Ken, Becky, John, Aaron and co
Volvo (2003)
- Start working for Volvo
- Staying with Johnathon and Amanda in Cambridge
- Meeting Andrew, Mats, Caroline, Richard and Andreas
- CMS Training
- Multiple trips to Gothenberg
- Trip to Asheville
- Staying over in Duxford B&B with "Aunt Linda"
- Duxford Pub
- Train trips from London to Duxford
- Trip to Brazil, Asheville (rafting), Gothenburg
Cape Town visits
Russell
- Climbing through Steenbras cracks with Rusty
- Air hockey and bowling with Russel
- Mental tricks with coins and cards with Rusty
2000 (as leaving)
Aug 2001
- Cape Town to Nairobi trip
- Dirk's wedding
- Rotanga Junction
- Newlands pool swims
Feb 2002
2003
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