In my mind I’m starting to think that the end of the year holiday season is just a big blackhole of time.  I can barely remember anything that happened since Thanksgiving, although I know there were loads of great times.

Since Thanksgiving, we had our first potluck on Election night.  We’ve had another one to great success and another next week, it seems the Cambridgians are in favor of the potluck.  We went to Ireland for a few weeks at Christmas and spent a week in Tipperary with the family.   Saw our friend Mandy the potter and rang in the New Years with our friends Laura and Ian.  And not to forget a brilliant wedding last weekend of our friends Claire and James.

We even found a little time for ourselves.  The weekend before last we took a day trip that found us heading up north of the Fens to the coast.  After it snowing off and on for the two weeks prior the skys opened up and the weather was perfect.  We took the train up to Kings Lynn and then a bus to Hunstanton.

After taking in the ocean views we took a short hop bus to Brancaster Saithe and had a massive lunch at The White Horse.  Food always being one of our favorite parts, and that day the oysters were particularly delicious and fresh.  When we had stuffed ourselves we went on a walk along the Norfolk Coast Path.  We walked up to the Royal West Norfolk Golf Club and checked out the beach there before heading back to the main street and catching our buses home.  It was good to see the trail as we’re planning to hike the Peddars Way/Norfolk Coast Path once the weather is just a little more agreeable.

The photos are from the marshes along the coast path.  It was a little overcast but the sun was starting to set so there was some nice light.  Reminds me of something the amazing Andrew Wyeth, who recently passed away, would have painted.  A nice relaxing day by the sea was just what we needed to get us going again.

Chicago holds a special place in our hearts and always will and now it boasts a special place in our living room too, thanks to Kate, Katie and Lizzie. Girls, the print fits in perfectly over our mantel and it’s a great reminder of the summer of 2003. Thanks for such a thoughtful wedding present and you’ll all have to make it up to Cambridge sometime soon to see it for yourselves. No excuses for you Lizzie, you’re only a short train journey away and bring Nina too while you’re at it.

It only took 3,723 miles and about 3 and a half months but our stuff finally arrived, a few hours before Claire and James came to visit for the weekend.  Needless to say it was a packed house this weekend.  I’ve already realized that a.) we don’t really have that much stuff and b.) there are a good few things we can/need to get rid of.  We’ll definitely be sorting out as much as possible this week after what looks like another long week of work for both of us.

It was great to see Claire and James this weekend.  Homemade pizza, open-toed shoes, wedding talk, Teri-Aki and the flapping wing dance (clip to come) were a few of the highlights.

Bikes have become a big part of our lives over the last few years. Ryan’s an avid fan of pro cycling; for me it’s been more a case of practicality and preference for getting around  but I have to admit I’ve been drawn into the sport more and more lately and we’re both keen to go on a biking holiday some time soon. Anyway, Cambridge is the perfect place for bike lovers of all varieties and we’ve both been enjoying the freedom of not owning a car this last little while. But Aoife, I hear you skeptics say, how on earth do you manage your weekly shopping? And what about those times when you just have too much to carry back from the office for your little basket to handle?

That’s where our super duper, incredibly sturdy,  wonderfully eye-catching bike trailer comes in! Daniel and Alicia (our very good friends from Richmond), thank you for making our lives not only so much easier but just far more entertaining all round with this fantastic wedding gift. We made a little video of the grand return from our first shopping adventure with the trailer to share with everyone; we really should make another video of us taking the trailer around the supermarket with us because that’s where we really come into our own. I have to say it draws a fair amount of attention but mostly the good kind and mostly from little kids. We’ve also transported a surprising amount of furniture, a couple of pretty big duvets and a large picture frame without too many hitches.

So ends the first in our series of wedding present profiles. We will be writing more over the next few weeks about each and every one of them and no doubt there will be more bike trailer tales to tell very soon.

P.S. The video will be up a little later today hopefully – technical difficulties.

We’ve had so much fun with all our visitors so far this summer and we’re looking forward to plenty more over the next few months. Uncle Pat was first to come up and stay with us in June before he headed back to Vancouver after the wedding. We had a couple of great evenings sitting out on the patio, finishing off the delicious Pineau we brought back from our honeymoon in France and just catching up and reminiscing about our days in Kippure.

Mum made it over for a long weekend in the middle of July and it was great to get to spend some time together relaxing, biking and punting around Cambridge. It was the first time any of us had ever punted on the river before; we got off to a bit of a slow start thanks to the lack of any advice from the punting pros in the rental place but we soon caught on and made it up to Granchester meadows, just south of the city, for a very tasty picnic.

We took the opportunity while mum was here to have a bit of a housewarming party; it was also the smoker’s debut but I’ll let Ryan tell you more about his pride and joy once he’s finished slaving over our website. Let me just say though that you haven’t lived until you’ve tasted pulled pork from a homemade smoking machine.  A nice piece of fish will be next I suspect.

Ashley, Allison and Kelly stayed with us on stage 2 of their first big European adventure (stage 1: Dublin; stage 3:  Amsterdam).  Ashley and Ryan worked together in Domino’s a few summers ago and they’ve kept in touch ever since. Not only did the girls taste the sumptuous pork while they were here (leftovers, I worship you), they relished in our snail feast (snails fresh from the back garden, prepped in the cosiest of snail homes) and got to see plenty of Cambridge and London too. Snails will be back on the menu very soon girls so plan your next trip over accordingly.

Our crazy triathlete friends Clare and Greg drove down from Edinburgh for the weekend and ended up staying for the week we were all enjoying ourselves so much. More punting, bike riding along the river Cam, a visit to Ely Cathedral and lots of good eating were the main highlights. Oh and in between all that, Clare interviewed for two jobs in London and was offered both of them straight away. Nice one Clare (go Eurostuds!). There’s also some serious talk of us all going to see the Tour de France together in a camper next year – watch this space.

We have one day left with a very special little visitor who has taken to the couch and our laps like a duck to water. April, our neighbour’s cat, is adorable; she’s blind as a bat but it doesn’t stop her from getting in to every little nook and cranny of our kitchen and living room. Her brother Tiger, beautiful and very elegant, occasionally stops by to say hello but he’s a bit on the cantakerous side and has a tendency to wander off for days at a time. April just wants to be held and loved; and we’ve been very happy to do just that.

What a mix of visitors. Anyone else fancy a sojourn in Cambridge?