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OK, so we skip ahead in time. It is now November, so what else is new?

I'm a year older, my hair's a little thinner, my jowls a little thicker. Sigh.

Hockey has been fun, with a mix of wins and losses. I wasn't there this weekend when the boys went down 5-0. (Not as bad as another result this weekend: 19-0! How do you let in 19 goals in a hockey match?) I'm slowly getting some match-fitness back after 2 years of being a sloth. I haven't got my head around their formation though - supposedly a 4-4-2 like football, but really an unstructured mess as far as I can see.

x x

x x x

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x x x

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See how it crowds the centre? And if the outsides creep in as they do it is like watching junior rugby where every kid is in a mass around the ball. I'd do this:

x x x x

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An angel. Anyway...

My birthday was nice. J took me out to a comedy club. Dinner was good - I had fat and starch with lettuce leaves followed by sugar*. She had vegetables. The comedians were pretty good. One was an Aussie who told us about making napalm as a kid. For some reason my younger bros came to mind...

J bought me a good tripod so I have no excuses for not taking a few night shots of Bath. Mum sent a rather eclectic parcel over - Gingernuts, chocolates and a hoodie. I'll be able to go to Bristol in uniform now. 8-) I got an e-card from C and phone calls from K, M and S (the latter two days early). Nice to catch up with family.

Only two weeks until we catch up with C&O in Bali. Sunshine - yeeha!

It's autumn so to catch the turn of the leaves we went to the National Arboretum. It was very colourful, particularly in the maple groves. The English countryside is beautiful at this time of year, with the last colour in the leaves, soft light and old villages in each valley. I get to see it while being driven to hockey matches. J doesn't since we have no car, but the pressure's on to change that. Third time lucky we hope. We did consider a camper van for a while, but finances dictate something a little cheaper.

Those finances are still not being boosted from my direction except in dribs and drabs from supply (relief) teaching. J wants me to retrain yet again, but the cost of courses is high, and in this climate I don't see it necessarily aiding in getting a job as there are so many others out there with experience as well as qualifications, but we'll see. In the meantime as I don't have a job, I'm still not allowed to start construction on the Bailey bridge kitset. Bummer.

The text of the book has gone to the editors. There is still one more trip to Italy to do to get final shots, but essentially it is out of our hands, for better or for worse.

Our art classes finished last night. We used a range of media from chalk and pastels to acrylic paint. I enjoyed the chalk the most, but could get into the painting with a few more lessons. I think J has posted the pick of them so I won't bother here.

I'll try to get back into a regular routine again. Anyway, thanks for reading.

*Roast pork belly with crackling and mashed spuds followed by chocolate brownie.