I have been getting up rather early the last few days to watch the Test Match in South Africa, very exciting it is too, as I write England need just two wickets to clinch the second test and go 1 up in the series. All in all its been a pretty good Test Match, it has similarities with England vs Australia during the summer, at the end of the First Test against Australia England had to battle for survival on the final day, and then went on to win the next test and the series, well in the First Test here England had to bat to survive, which they managed, and now in the Second Test her thanks to Englands excellent batting and some stunning bowling from Stuart Broad and Graham Swann England are on the verge of a massive victory, are we finally becoming a consistent top rated team? I think so.

Sunday night was one of those messy nights I have from time to time, we have decided to put on a Panto next Christmas for the District Scouts, I have been appointed Producer and chief writer, so 4 of us met up to put together a story line, our District Commisioner brought some food, ant the rest of us brought Gin, Bombay Sapphire to be precise! As you can imagine putting us in a room with gin has a certain effect, the measures where getting more outrageous as the evening progressed, we have a great storyline and started working on some sketches which to be honest were in places filth! luckily we have toned it down, but it does seem very funny in the cold light of day, all was going well until our DC produced a bottle of Merlin. Merlin is Penderyn Whisky's version of Baileys, and what a fine drink it is, by the end of the evening two bottles of Gin had gone as had Matt's fine bottle of Merlin! the rest of the evening descended into a giggling mess, and my poor son had to put up with his dad singing and then lying in bed giggling, poor lad, Monday morning was a tad quiet. I spent the best part of yesterday was spent writing the opening scenes, which have been done and looked at by those he need to and apparently it is funny, and most importantly suitable for a young audience, we have managed to cast the major roles, and for once I will not be wearing a dress!

Belated Yuletide greetings! Had a very nice Xmas Day with friends and their family, we were very well catered for. Young Finch has spent this Xmas at his mum's because next year we will be heading off to Switzerland for our Ski Trip.

Went out for a drink with friends Christmas Eve, started off in the Old Mill, but quickly realised the pub was a dump so we headed off to the The Star, much more to our liking that one. As a result of our evenings drinking I have been asked to produce a panto next year for the District! looking forward to it already, we are writing a brand new panto, which will involve all the panto characters, we had some ideas Xmas eve and will meet up again Sunday evening for food, drink and a bit of panto writing.

Well its here! Wingit tonight and your truly taking to the stage to belt a tune out, had a rehearsal Thursday evening, which was ragged to say the least, but that in my experience that is all the good thing, in all the years I have been getting up on stage, I have noticed that if the last rehearsal is cack the show itself is usually pretty good, so here's hoping that is true on this occaision! The old butterflies are kicking in a little this morning!

Middle brother had surgery yesterday on his shoulder, cant slow down his bowling any further as its as slow as it canbe already, he has not used the injury to explain how my batting and bowling averages were better than his just yet, but in time I am sure he will.

Well this damn stomach bug is taking its time to clear! Still at least its not as bad as it was on the weekend. Just started on a course of pills to help me give up smoking, started them first thing Monday and was high as a kite for the rest of the day, much to the amusement of others! Scouts have finished for the year now, only a couple of weeks off then its backto the new Scout Hall.

Our Scout trip to Switzerland is booked, an we have 20 of us travelling next Xmas night, all 20 are very excited and now focussed on fundraising!

Tonight its my final rehearsal with Wingit before the Xmas do Saturday night, entry is by ticket now, so if you want one give me a call! Young Finch is attending tonights rehearsal, one band member has suggested ear plugs for the lad, because of the noise factor of course!

We are aiming to have a quiet night Friday, catch up on some Sky + viewing, I have two Top Gears to catch up with.

Afternoon all, its been a strange weekend. I have been struck down with some sort of stomach bug, it has felt like the mother of all battles going on in my stomach, deeply unpleasant and although not as bad as yesterday I am still suffering! Young Finch has taken it all in his stride by ignoring my plight...ungrateful little sod.
His size is now becoming an issue, he is 5" 10 and still growing, so much so that he went out this morning and as he walked away from the house I noticed he was wearing my trainers!

Still in a bit of wonder having seen Disco doing his stuff on the scan Friday (See Friday blog) Disco is the right name for the little tyke as he was continually moving around making life very difficult for the poor Dr on the scanning machine!

Next Thursday sees me rehearsing with Wingit for their annual Xmas shindig next Saturday, I have been given Chantilly Lace to sing by the boys, and the whole event is being recorded on video, so no doubt You Tube will be graced with my presence soon enough! The event is at Charlton Park Rugby Club next Saturday the band are on at 9pm and tickets are a fiver on the door! As well as singing, sound engineer and roadie I will be spinning the tunes before and after!

I was at an ultra sound scan yesterday with a friend, have not done that for 14 years, wow, the 3d image was awesome, and its a lively bugger thats been christened Disco......

PC Christmas

Its the time of year when Carol Services are all the rage, I managed to miss the District Scout Service, very careless! In this day and age these things must be PC, so here goes.....
Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way

'A risk assessment must be submitted before an open sleigh is considered safe for members of the public to travel on. The risk assessment must also consider whether it is appropriate to use only one horse for such a venture, particularly if passengers are of larger proportions. Please note, permission must be gained from landowners before entering their fields. To avoid offending those not participating in celebrations, we would request that laughter is moderate only and not loud enough to be considered a noise nuisance.'


While Shepherds Watched
While shepherds watched
Their flocks by night
All seated on the ground
The angel of the Lord came down
And glory shone around

'The union of Shepherds has complained that it breaches health and safety regulations to insist that shepherds watch their flocks without appropriate seating arrangements being provided, therefore benches, stools and orthopaedic chairs are now available. Shepherds have also requested that due to the inclement weather conditions at this time of year that they should watch their flocks via CCTV cameras from centrally heated shepherd observation huts.

Please note, the angel of the lord is reminded that before shining his / her glory all around he / she must ascertain that all shepherds have been issued with glasses capable of filtering out the harmful effects of UVA, UVB and Glory.'


Little Donkey
Little donkey, little donkey on the dusty road
Got to keep on plodding onwards with your precious load

'The RSPCA have issued strict guidelines with regard to how heavy a load that a donkey of small stature is permitted to carry, also included in the guidelines is guidance regarding how often to feed the donkey and how many rest breaks are required over a four hour plodding period. Please note that due to the increased risk of pollution from the dusty road, Mary and Joseph are required to wear face masks to prevent inhalation of any airborne particles. The donkey has expressed his discomfort at being labelled 'little' and would prefer just to be simply referred to as Mr. Donkey. To comment upon his height or lack thereof may be considered an infringement of his equine rights.'


We Three Kings
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

'Whilst the gift of gold is still considered acceptable - as it may be redeemed at a later date through such organisations as 'cash for gold' etc, gifts of frankincense and myrrh are not appropriate due to the potential risk of oils and fragrances causing allergic reactions. A suggested gift alternative would be to make a donation to a worthy cause in the recipients name or perhaps give a gift voucher.

We would not advise that the traversing kings rely on navigation by stars in order to reach their destinations and suggest the use of RAC routefinder or satellite navigation, which will provide the quickest route and advice regarding fuel consumption. Please note as per the guidelines from the RSPCA for Mr Donkey, the camels carrying the three kings of Orient will require regular food and rest breaks. Facemasks for the three kings are also advisable due to the likelihood of dust from the camels' hooves.'


Rudolph the red nosed reindeer
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.

'You are advised that under the Equal Opportunities for All policy, it is inappropriate for persons to make comment with regard to the ruddiness of any part of Mr. R. Reindeer. Further to this, exclusion of Mr R Reindeer from the Reindeer Games will be considered discriminatory and disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty of this offence. A full investigation will be implemented and sanctions - including suspension on full pay - will be considered whilst this investigation takes place.'

School parents evening went well last night, you will note the image of Vesuvius on the left, this has little to do with me losing the plot, more about the volcanoe later, first Parents evening, we managed to see most of the little oiks teachers, he was trying to steer us to the ones he thought were better from him, I on the other hand was very keen to speak to his science and tech teachers, two who as far as I was concerened were in for a bit of a rocket... the Tech teacher I felt a bit sorry for in the end, after talking to her it was clear she was being asked to do way too much! so she was spared the wrath of Finch, as for the science teacher, her explanations as to why in the last 6 lessons she spent the best part of them moving desks around, well they were pathetic and revolved around challenging behaviour, I asked if young Finch was one of those displayed this sort of behaviour, she said no he was a good pupil, at which point I asked why my sons educaiton should be affected by other pupils behaviour and her lack of control over them, poor lass began to flounder at this, and tried to explain but I ended up tearing her arguments to shreds.... We bumped into his Duke of Edinburgh leader, a young Aussie, the ex got the hump when we all started discussing cricket and the art of left arm spin bowling! We visited his geography teacher, it is quite obviolus that she views my son as her star pupil! so much so that later this year he will be heading off to Italy to visit Pompei and Vesuvius and she is thinking that in two years they will head off on a trip to Africa! the ex who usually gets a few questions during the evening had very little chance all night! His RE teacher is a scream, not what I always had in mind as far as RE teachers go! young Finch clearly enjoys his lessons with this teacher.
Dans music teacher was another who was gushing about the boy, sadly I missed what she was saying as for some reason I was not concentrating on her lips!

Tonight is young Finch's school parents evening, and I am looking forward to it, this term we have had a fair amount of phone calls home and a couple of letters from teachers, but these are not about the young un misbehaving, they are in praise of the boy, especially his geography teacher who thinks he is a star pupil with tremendous ability and potential in the subject, so much so he was sent up to the Royal Geographical Society for a days workshops and career advice which he enjoyed. Sadly there appears to be one teacher who is not enamoured with my boy, his Tech teacher has been having a few run ins, not just with my son but with plenty of other pupils, she seems to think its ok to change desks every week, a process that appears to be taking 20 mins a time in each lesson, now the fact that other teachers think my son is a bit of a star and only one seems to have issues with him leads me to believe that maybe the teachers attitude or ability is not up to scratch, this is also the same teacher who earlier this year was leaving the classroom and locking her pupils into the class, I ended up threatening the school with the fire safety officer from the local brigade ( someone i have owrked with a lot). So tonight I am looking forward to finally meeting this teacher and having a good old chin wag with her, I doubt if she will enjoy it that much but I will.