Sunday 29th Janaury 2012

Today we made a birthday party for our nephew Scott who was 13, and now a teenager, earlier this month.



Here he is checking out his own movies.

Sunday 25th December 2011

This afternoon we invited over Marc, James and Simon for lunch.



We had a really great time, with lots of turkey and other goodies.


James stayed with us for two nights as there was no transport on Christmas day.

Sunday 6th November 2011

To day we held an early birthday party for Gina, so that both our sons Marc & James could attend on the same day.


Happy birthday Gina !

Sunday 9th October 2011

This afternoon we held a birthday party for our nephew Alex, who had just celebrated his 11th birthday the previous weekend.

Here he is pictured proudly holding a “man of the match” award, that he received earlier that day in a football match.

Sunday 18th September 2011

This afternoon Gina and I were invited to my cousin Stephen’s 60th birthday party, which was very kindly (and most generously) held in the home of one of my other cousins, Pamela & Colin Wagman.



This was a great opportunity to catch up with many cousins from my Mother’s side of the family, and of course most importantly, to celebrate Stephen’s 60th birthday, along with his sister Susan, and her children Lara and Gregory. The only dissapointment was that my brother Simon was sadly (due to unavoidable circumstances) unable to join us.

Sunday 28th August 2011

Today we all went out to Henley-on-Thames for lunch, to celebrate Marc’s birthday at the end this month.



The weather just about held out, and after a lovely meal, we walked it off by the river – then went out for a cream tea – and then walked that off ! All in all, a lot of eating, and a lot of walking !

Tuesday 15th August 2011

As part of my “staycation” this week, Gina & I decided to revisit Greenwich again, and try to see the parts that we had to miss last year (there is simply too much to see all in one day). We started off by taking the “Thames Clipper” from Tower Pier to the National Maritime museum.



Whilst walking through the grounds of the naval college, we saw a filming of “Great Expectations”, with many actors in period costumes and horse drawn carts – a short movie can be viewed on our podcast. We then entered the newly redesigned National Maritime Museum, financed by a very generous gift of £20 million from the late Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer (he also donated £3.3 million to restore the nearby “Cutty Sark” clipper), but who sadly passed away just one month before it was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in July 2011.



One of the best exhibits – the actual uniform worn by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.



To finish off a really enjoyable day, we returned by “clipper” to the Tower of London, then took a short walk to St. Katherine’s Dock, for a relaxing meal at a restuarant overlooking the moored boats. 

Sunday 14th August 2011



Today we were invited to the wedding of Jacqui & James Goldman (my cousin David’s eldest son). Everyone had a really fantastic time, and it was great to meet up again with many family members.



It was especially nice to see my aunt Gertie (98 years young), seated here next to my cousin Richard.

Sunday 24th August 2011

This afternoon we invited over our sons Marc & James for tea, and showed them photos & videos of our recent trip to Israel.

Saturday 25th June 2011

This morning we visited the ancient mountain top fortress of Masada (built by King Herod in the Judean desert), and which once saw a famous stand off by Jewish resistance fighters for over 2 years against the Roman 10th Legion, following the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. It had a very sad ending, as it resulted in all the inhabitants eventually taking their own lives, rather than being taken into slavery.



You can walk up all the way by the “snakepath”, but we wisely decided to follow the others in our group and use the cable car – it is very, very hot on the top.



After lunch, (and lots of water to drink), at the local springs at Ein Gedi, we went to the nearby shores of the Dead Sea. The water is 33% saline, compared to the average sea composition of just 3%.



At over 1,200 feet below sea level, it is the lowest place on earth – and probably one of the hottest. We both went in for a float (you can actually read a newspaper whilst on your back) – it is too salty to really swim. Some bathers coat themselves in the mud by the shore, as it has very good medicinal properties for skin ailments. There are fortuantely showers available to wash yourself down with afterwards.