January
Steve's 40th was on the 21st. We had a party at our house;
about 40 people turned up to help him drink through two polypins of Harvey's
(Old and Best).
February
Ruby turned 8 on the 16th. She had a tea party at our house.
March
Deirdre goes to see Grease in Brighton with the girls from work.
Steve goes to the Lewes Arms pantomime (Robin Hood this year).
Steve goes to Lisbon (Portugal) on business for a week.
Paul (Steve's brother) has his stag day, which commenced in the Lewes Arms at 11am,
then Ten Pin Bowling in Eastbourne, watching England beat Finland,
a curry in Lewes and finally back to the Lewes Arms. Hangovers all round!
April
Steve's brother Paul and his girlfriend Vanessa got married at Anne of Cleves' house in Lewes.
As it was wet outside, we all had to go to the bedroom for a drink of bubbly,
then off to Hamsey to a converted barn for the reception. What a great do!
Then on the Sunday it was off to the Lewes Arms for some(!) food and watch the spaniel racing (yes, really!)
May
Steve's brother Mark wins the Lewes Arms Yard of Ale drinking competition.
A previous winner was unable to compete due to over-training.
On 30th Kerry, BJ's girlfriend, gave birth to Dorothy Lucy. They call her Dotty.
She was born at 00:01 in the same hospital as Olivia.
July
Another trip to Lisbon for Steve. Bumped into an old college friend so spent the whole journey catching up.
Got told off by the hostess for talking through the safety talk - oops!
Olivia's first tooth turned up on the 20th.
Ruby went to football (soccer) camp at Priory School for a couple of days.
Steve (and brother Mark) went on a trip round Harvey's brewery.
Steve cycled home afterwards (and was thus only able to stay for a brief tasting session, more's the pity).
August
Went to see 'Blythe Spirit' by Noel Coward at Hever Castle. The rain held off (it is outdoors).
Olivia can now sit up with confidence, and enjoys standing (with a little help with balance) although she can still
only crawl backwards (which she finds most frustrating!). She is trying to say various words,
although you need quite a lot of imagination to tell what they are!
She now weighs 21 1/4 lbs.
October
A hectic month, with Deirdre's mum (Kerry) and her partner Steve staying with us for just over three weeks.
We went to Steve's uncle David's wedding in Market Bosworth (site of the famous battle).
We also visited Coventry, Bath, Stonehenge, Chichester, Arundel, Hastings, Rye, Battle and Bodiam with them.
Olivia is now crawling and standing unaided.
November
The fifth went off successfully - BJ's tableau of Bin Laden sitting on the toilet made the front page of The Times,
as well as several other national newspapers and BBC1's "Have I Got News For You".
I have given up waiting for the Cliffe website
to get its act together - here are a few shots that Paul got for me: (Click on them for more detail):
Olivia has taken four steps - look out world, she'll be running around by Christmas!
She now weighs in at 25lbs.
December
Well, Olivia is indeed running around now. For her birthday we had several friends over for mulled wine.
Christmas was relatively quiet, with just Mum & Dad and Paul & Vanessa over for the day.
On Boxing day Ruby and Steve went to watch the Mummers Play at Steyning, performed by members of the
Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men (of which Dad is a (non-acting) member).
On New Year's Eve we went to a party in Barcombe, but as we no longer live just down the road, we came home around 10:30
(and missed the fireworks!)
