Sun, Nov 29th

The last day of Dawn's long break. With the rain falling and it looking miserable outside, we were thankful that we were going to spend the day indoors. Dawn started addressing our Christmas cards, while I worked on my laptop. However, that changed mid-day.

The two of us were enjoying the last of our Thanksgiving turkey in a nice turkey and cranberry sandwich when my cell phone rang. It was Dad to tell me that he had been taken to hospital this morning and George was also there in the A&E after passing out. It didn't take me long to finish my food and jump in the car and head into London to see for myself how they were. Although irrelevant, the drive to the hospital (and back home later) was horrendous as the heavens had opened.

When I arrived at the hospital, I was pleased to see Dad looked okay. They will be keeping him overnight so he can see the urologist in the morning, though. George on the other hand looked like a ghost. He is already way too skinny. But his experience made him look worse. Thankfully he has been discharged and can go home. However, he didn't look too pleased.

Sat, Nov 28th

Yes, more chilling out. Got Dawn's newspapers down the Post Office and then we relaxed with a nice hot cup of tea and a couple of ginger snaps. Tiny, who I haven't mentioned much of recently, made herself comfortable in her new favourite place - Dawn's chair. We moved it so we could fit the Christmas tree in the corner of the room and now Tiny loves Dawn's chair. It's the best spot in the room for her now.

After we finally got our act together, we ran into town do pick up some odds and ends, and stopped off at The White Hart pub for a light lunch. Dawn had a leek and potato soup, while I tucked into a burger and fries.

Then it was back home to the chores and laptops before I dished up a Thanksgiving meal for the third day running. Only this time we didn't have any mashed sweet potatoes. We saw the night out watching Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor.

Fri, Nov 27th

Our last day off work (apart from the weekend of course) and we made sure we took things easy. We took our time getting up and then potted around most of the morning. I did us some turkey sandwiches for lunch, then we had a ride over to Tesco to get some groceries.

When we got back, Dawn then spent the rest of the afternoon on our photo albums. She hadn't put any in since May 2008. Thankfully I have cut down with taking so many photos. However, she still has a ton from last Christmas when Brady and Jim were here, and also Cornwall in May.

I worked on my laptop jotting down the recipes I used for Thanksgiving before popping into the kitchen to make my annual batch of cherry brandy fruitcake cookies. Dawn loves them (as do I). It's just a shame that each one has 144 calories. At least that will help them last a while.

Dinner was exactly the same as yesterday, as I had leftovers of everything. And personally I felt it was even better seeing as it had time to mature!!!

We chilled out with an episode of Bones and How I Met Your Mother before making it to bed.

NEWSFLASH (not that Tiger Woods had a car wreck outside his house)....
We actually went to be bed gone 9pm for the second night running. How wild is that? Actually it was around 9:15 to 9:30 each day.

Thur, Nov 26th

Another day off work for us both. But what would you expect on Thanksgiving Day?

We tried to take the day slowly, but it wasn't long before we were in action mode. After a shave, breakfast and shower, I set out to collect Dad and George from Holloway (popping into Tesco on the way), while Dawn vacuumed the house and put the sweet potatoes and dressing in the oven as per my schedule.

When I got home, Dawn entertained Dad and George while I got stuck into getting the dinner ready. Then dead on 1pm and on schedule, I dished up some free range turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, sweet potato mash, Basmati rice, giblet gravy and cranberry sauce. A store bought apple pie with ice cream and some freshly brewed coffee followed soon after.

Then at 2pm Dawn logged onto MSN messenger and opened a webcam call to Brady and Jim so Dad and George could see them. And, more important, so that we could all wish each other a Happy Thanksgiving.

After taking Dad and George home, Dawn then gave her sister a call to wish her Happy Thanksgiving.

After all the activities of the last 36 hours, Dawn and I chilled out with some more episodes of The Restaurant and How I Met Your Mother. Oh yea, I also downed an excellent turkey sandwich while Dawn did the same damage to a bowl of home made popcorn.

Wed, Nov 25th

It was so nice to wake up on a week day and not have to rush to work. Dawn chilled out with her newspapers while I watched Deck the Halls on one of the Sky movie channels.

We then started a new tradition. Dawn spent all day putting up our Christmas tree and decorations while I spent just as long in the kitchen preparing the food for our Thanksgiving feast. I also found the time to pop out to the butchers in Sele Farm to pick up the specially ordered free range turkey.

When I got home I baked the turkey in the oven, put the turkey dressing together, made the broccoli casserole and the giblet gravy, and made some cranberry sauce from scratch for the first time. I even attempted to make a cheese ball. However, sadly this came out too wet and has to be classified a failure. I didn't let it get me down as I was more than happy with everything else I had done.

We chilled out after dinner watching a recording of The Restaurant and one of our favourite sitcoms, How I Met Your Mother.

Tues, Nov 24th

Dawn's second day off work. She spent most of the day Internet window shopping and waiting for a delivery before making a special trip to Tesco to pick up some odds and ends I needed for baking day tomorrow. I had given her a list before she dropped me off at the station in the morning. But it didn't stop her sending me dozens of texts asking me whether I needed the half a dozen things I'd left off the list.

Again I was able to get out of the office in time to catch the 15:41 train. After dinner I called Dad to make arrangements for Thursday before we got into the festive mood by watching a recording of His and Hers Christmas.

Mon, Nov 23rd

Dawn enjoyed the first day of her Thanksgiving week. I am sure she could make a tradition of this (booking the whole week off work). However, I have to admit she deserves the break. Although she spent most of the day catching up on chores she left over the weekend.

I raced around like a blue ass fly and was able to get out a little early (although I still did my 8 1/2 hour day) to catch the 15:41 train to Hertford North. When I got home I cleaned the oven, made cornbread for our Thanksgiving dressing, and watched the highlights of Spurs' win yesterday. It brought back memories of our 9-0 win against Bristol Rovers back in 1977. Sadly, that was one of just two home games I missed going to all season. That wasn't so good. It also probably means that I need to live into my late 80s if I am to have this pleasure again!

Sun, Nov 22nd

Today we had a fairly relaxing day. Dawn is off on holiday all week and I am from Wednesday, too. So we didn't need to bust a gut today. However, I did spend a good time on the computer and even made a large pot of chicken and vegetable stew that will whet our appetites for the coming weeks on cold evenings.

Dawn had her weekly video call with Brady and ironed my stuff for work. But all in all it was relaxation for a time.

I even forgot to call Dad this evening. This was because I was in shock having listened to Spurs trounce Wigan on the radio 9-1. This broke several records including Spurs' biggest victory in the league, most goals in the second half (8), equal most goals scored in the Premier League, and biggest defeat for Wigan.

As usual we chilled out watching the X Factor results show and were pleased to see Jedward voted off. Not because we have anything against the twins. We just feel that the others left in the competition have better singing voices.

Sat, Nov 21st

Today we had a nice lay in and took things easier than we have for a while. Being off work yesterday meant I was able to do the grocery shopping in the afternoon so we didn't have to do it this morning.

Once we had got sorted, we had a ride into town and dropped into Lussmans for lunch. This is one of the few restaurants in Hertford we had not tried. The food was pretty good and even better was that it was all local.

Then it was back home to chill out for a change. As usual, this meant Strictly and X Factor.

Fri, Nov 20th

Today I dropped Dawn off at the station and went back to spend the day with Tiny. We decided a week or so ago to order a two seat couch in the same style as the ones we already have from IKEA instead of ordering a new cover for the three seater. Tiny, who we adore, has ripped the corners to shreds and we really needed a replacement cover. However, after a little chat we decided to order a new chair instead and put some extra money towards it.

IKEA delivered it this morning dead on time. Tiny checked it out and I immediately had to stop her trying to claw the cover.

This afternoon Dawn made her way down to the London Docklands because CU had been nominated for one of Archant Environmental awards. It proved to be a complete nightmare. First, one of her colleagues had to cancel at the last minute, then there was confusion as to the location when she finally got going, and then when she left no trains were leaving her station because someone decided to have a wonder along the track. The good news is that in between all this, although CU didn't win best university, they did receive a commendable award.

After picking Dawn up at Hertford North, we stopped in Paddyfields in town for a light meal before heading home.

Thu, Nov 19th

The only thing I wanted to mention today is that our train was fifteen minutes late, which is longer than the time the journey normally takes (14 minutes). All this meant was that my whole day was out of sorts. With my train being late, I missed my normal bus and almost missed the next one. I had to race out of the station to make sure I caught it. Then once I was at work I had to deal with recycle collection and disposal. I spent the whole day playing catch up.

Wed, Nov 18th

Today I attended the monthly quality meeting at work and did my bit to get across to senior management what needs to be done regarding our ISO 14001 status. I think it went down pretty well. However, by the end of the meeting, I had quite a few actions to complete by the next meeting, which will be an annual meeting. I later found out that this will be on the 9th of next month leaving me just a few weeks to get things sorted. Not good when you realise that I'll be out of the office at least 4 days between now and then.

Mon, Nov 16th

Today Dawn was late home from work again. However, this time it was well worth it. She attended a presentation at City Hall in London across the Thames from the Tower of London to receive a Good Food award for all the work she has done on the food policy at CU by Rosie Boycott, the famous news editor over here.

I wish I could have been there. Dawn has come a long way in a year and deserves all the plaudits she gets. Most of the time she does it without any recognition. So an award like this was much deserved.

Sun, Nov 15th

Today we had a ride up to the Gatehouse pub in Highgate and enjoyed a nice lunch with Dad, George, Denise and David. Both Dawn and I were really impressed with how the two kids had come on since the last time we saw them. Especially considering the health problems they have both had and also having to deal with their dad's health problems. Dave and Rita should be really proud.

Before leaving to head back to Hertford, Denise said she would be coming back in January. Hopefully next time she'll be able to come up to Hertford so we can show her our neck of the woods.

Above is a photo of the six Whites. From left to right (me, David, Dawn, Dad, Denise & George)

Sat, Nov 14th

With Denise and David over here, Dawn and I spent today getting ourselves sorted. I did the grocery shopping on my own, going to Tesco twice (once because I had forgotten something), and headed into town to get all our odds and ends. Dawn, on the other hand, stayed at home all day and did her weekend chores.

By the time we reached dinner time at the end of the day, we were both tired and needed a rest. As you probably can guess, Dawn and I watched Strictly and X Factor. Tiny spent the whole evening laying on my chest and next to me on the couch. Earlier in the week I had fixed her hammock on her house, but she still hasn't tried it out yet.

Fri, Nov 13th

For the superstitious of us, today is the day to beware. However, after the week I have had at work, I was prepared for anything. Thankfully, after the events of this week, nothing unforeseen occurred. Well, at work, that is. Tonight while Dawn and I were relaxing watching television (thankful for weekend so we could relax a little), the phone rang and I answered it to hear the voice of a female with an Irish accent on the other end. It was my niece Denise. She had arrived at Dad's unexpectedly today (three weeks early) with her brother David to surprise him. As we hadn't seen either of them since we lost Mum 12 years ago, Dawn and I immediately had to reschedule our plans for the next few days. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. It was just not what we expected. And on Friday the 13th of all days!

Wed, Nov 11th

This morning poor Dawn had to catch the 5:50am train to Stevenage so she could attend a meeting on EcoCampus in Nottingham. She also had to catch a couple of connecting trains, too. But the early start and late return home (gone 7pm) made the day bad enough.

As for me, I got the results of my second assignment from the University of Bath in the mail today. To my relief, more than anything, I passed. Not only the second paper, but the course, too. In a few weeks I should get my paperwork from the IEMA, as I now officially an associate member.

Tues, Nov 10th

Although our ARC waste collection service started last week, today was the first day that our local council collected our recycle waste. Since we moved to Hertford, the council has been collecting paper, glass, aluminium cans, and garden waste. From this month, they will also collect plastics, cardboard and food waste, too. In addition to the new bins, we will now have our recycle waste and general waste collected on alternate Tuesdays. Hence, ARC (Alternate Refuse Collection).

For all those who complain about the EU, this would not have happened without a directive from Brussels making it compulsory for the collection of five different recyclable materials.

Sun, Nov 8th

Back into the kitchen again today. I was a little concerned that the Christmas cake I had baked last weekend was too dry, so I baked a second one, but for a little less time. I also make a pair of Christmas puddings, too. This, like the cake, was a first for me. However, unlike the tradition of old, I didn't put any sixpenny coins in either. If the puddings are edible by Christmas, I will be happy.

Dawn had her video call with Brady in between her usual Sunday chores and we ended the day with the X Factor results show. In the middle we heard a crash from the other side of the room and Tiny came flying across the room along with her hammock that had broken off her house. She was not a happy bunny. Or kitty!

Sat, Nov 7th

Five weeks go by quickly in our household. So today we headed into town for our scheduled haircut before catching a train to Finsbury Park, grabbing a quick lunch at Nandos in Stroud Green Road, and dropping in to see Dad and George. The latest news this time is that George passed out a few weeks ago and needed a doctor to come and see him. He seems okay now. But the hospital are obviously going to keep an eye on him. The one thing that surprised us is that Dad hadn't mentioned it before.

Thu, Nov 5th

Over here it was Guy Fawkes night. For those overseas who aren't sure what this is, it is the night we Brits celebrate the failed attempt by the named to blow up our parliament with gun powder. Several centuries later, with the electoral opinion what it is, I am not sure whether we celebrate his attempt or that he was stopped.

As a child, this was called bonfire night because people would light fires in the street piled high with old furniture and all the crap you wanted to get rid of. Today, due to health and safety precautions, these no longer occur and all that is left of the tradition is fireworks being launched incessantly all night long. Something Tiny did not like one bit.

We also had a tradition called "penny for the guy" where we would dress up create a guy out of old clothes and sit on street corners and ask passer-bys for pennies to buy fireworks. This too, understandably, is no longer done either.

Tues, Nov 2nd

This morning I went all the way to Old Street with Dawn on the train for a change, because I was attending a seminar called "Introduction to Environmental Law and Practice." It was a wall to wall session with several speakers and, by the time I left to meet Dawn at the station, my head was pounding. I had covered most of the subject matter doing the EMS for work and my studying. But, it didn't make it any easier on my head.

Sun, Nov 1st

Woke this morning and exchanged cards as we commemorated the day we met for the first time on top of the Empire State Building and all that followed.

Then it was go, go, go until mid-day. Got Dawn's papers down the shop, before making some breakfast with some left over ham from yesterday. I then spent a good hour mixing all the ingredients for our 2009 Christmas cake and put it in the oven. After a shower, I was back in the kitchen making Dawn's lunch for the next few days.

I told Dawn that this would be another tradition, baking our Christmas cake on our anniversary. She liked, even more, the fact that I will also be cleaning up my mess in the kitchen all day.

This afternoon Dawn called Brady because the webcam would not work, while I watched the last F1 race of the year from Abu Dhabi.

Once the Christmas cake was baked, we headed into town for an anniversary dinner at Loch Fyne because it had sustainable fish on its menu. Then it was back to the house to watch X Factor and call it a night.