I've been very busy for the last 11 months, working and getting my
finances in order and then (since October) finding and getting settled
into my new -and hopefully only temporary because it's not very good -
place.
ADSL broadband access here is likely to be slow so I've switched to
Virgin cable (which seems to be very temperamental - ho hum ...). Had
lots of email losses due to Demon seemingly cancelling my account right
from the moment I told 'em I was moving. Bastards! At least they stopped
taking my money straight away, which is more than my ex-landlord did. I
discovered she'd taken two more months rent out after I moved. Still
haven't had my deposit back either!

Just back from a trip to Taunton in Devon for my Nephew Chris's wedding.
He's in the Royal Marines, currently in Afghanistan getting shot at by
the Taleban in Helmand, and happily firing mortars back at them.
He and his wife Becky, who he's been with for 4 years now, were planning
to get hitched in May when his tour ends, but they decided to bring it
forward to when he got a weeks home leave in order to take advantage of
some vacant married quarters places that had come up.
The wedding was really good. Quite a few there despite the short (a few
weeks) notice. It was a church do with the reception at Somerset County
Cricket clubhouse which is just by the church. Weather was cold and
squally so the bulk of the official photos were taken inside the church
after the ceremony. The photographer was a snidey git I thought. Always
making slightly nasty "humorous" remarks as he posed his subjects and (I
found out later) very lucky not to get thumped by one of the ushers,
Amir -an old school friend of Chris's who is of Asian descent - when
snapper remarked "Blimey, did you bring one back with you?".
Loads of good unofficial photos were taken too - hopefully they'll get
shared around and if anyone is interested I'll post links.
One of Becky's workmates had the most incredible laugh - It sounded like
a mule having a fit! Whenever she got started, nobody could help joining
in ... It was incredible.
Grub at the reception was good. Drink was plentiful and free at the bar
for most of the evening (and afterwards still relatively cheap).
Speeches were short and pithy and everyone was friendly. Chris's brother
Russell was best man, carried out his duties flawlessly and remained
unusually (for him) well-behaved. I was even persuaded to dance a couple
of times.
Relatively hangover-free in the morning, I felt obliged to try the FEB
at the hotel. It was merely OK. Tasty enough but insubstantial. Plenty
of china visible and the sausage (just the one!) was tiny. At 7 pounds
50 a pop it should have been a more generous plateful, I thought. Still,
my brother was paying for it.