Jr/Sr Dance at Prin

 Tonight was the Junior/ Senior dance at Prin, and Rhiannon sent us through this photo of her and Drew.

Lipizzaners and music

 Today I took a detour on my way to the airport and attended a morning exercise session at the famous Spanish Riding School.  Here is the building that houses the famous arena.

I actually got a bit choked up as I entered what felt like the grand ballroom.  The enormous crystal chandeliers and the marble pillars and ornate ceiling was all just so beautiful, a little feeling formed in my throat, a little tangible lump of gratitude that got my nose tingly and made me feel like crying. 

And then here I am in my excellent seat in the gallery in the middle of the incredible space.  I knew that we wouldn't be allowed to take photos or videos during the session, so I got my seat neighbor to take this photo of me before it actually started. 

And while they didn't practice the flying move that they are most famous for, it was absolutely wonderful to just sit and watch the beautiful horses trot, canter and sort of dance around the arena to classical music. 

This was from a poster outside the arena that shows the famous flying jump move.

Anyway, after this magical hour I made my way to the airport and flew home. 

New Year Reception

Today I spent most of the day in the Vienna office and helped to prepare for the reception tonight.  Originally I was invited to come as an attendee in the audience and just be here to talk to people, but then yesterday as I was heading out the door to travel to Vienna, I was asked if I could present something about geothermal for the event.  I was a little worried about it, but since it was mainly a social event I tried not to take it too seriously.

The venue was beautiful, right on the bank of the Danube River, on the 19th floor.

The event started at 3:30 pm and I was speaking at 4:45 pm for 40 minutes.  Eeek!

Here is an unflattering photo of me when I was speaking, but at least it is evidence of the occasion.  

The evening continued until midnight but I was able to sneak out around 10:30 pm.  Back to my awesome loft at Zoku!

Vienna adventure starts

This is the 3rd time in 7 months that I have been to Vienna.  All three times I have stayed at the Zoku Hotel, which I love love love.  But today was different and lovely.  I met a guy in the elevator on my way up to the reception/ check in and we ended up having a little beverage together.  And it turns out that he just started working for a company that our friend Emily works for, and they know each other.  So that was superfun to discover the connection.  We even sent her a photo of the two of us and then had a little video call with her.  

I love the human friendliness and openness that this hotel cultivates.  In the lead up to meeting "Juki" in the elevator, I was having a major IT problem with my laptop and had been chasing down the help desk team from SLB, and that didn't go very well but I got there in the end.  I will spend tomorrow getting my work ready and attending the event I cam here for, but I'll head to sleep now in my little loft bed.

 

House of Lords event

Today was the launch of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Deep Geothermal with the UK Government.  I've been part of the collection of people who has been involved with getting this going, so I was invited to attend the official launch at the House of Lords.

There were 120 people at the event and it lasted a couple of hours, then most of the groups represented here on the poster went back to the office of the organizers (REA) and we talked about what to do next.  It was an interesting event and I was really stoked to be there representing SLB with my two colleagues Karen and Ildiko.

Fixing leaks :-(

Since November we've been having leaks from the roof terrace down into the utility room, and for the past couple of weeks we have had Jez's crew round fixing it.  So they had to put up this massive scaffolding setup in place

This is what it looks like from our room now that they have resealed the surface.

Meanwhile, it turns out that the shower has been leaking and finally broke through into dripping through the ceiling above the front door.  Sigh.  So we've had to get Jez's crew to work in the bathroom as well as the roof terrace.

So we have it all going on here at Chalfonts!

Back together

Sions, JJ and Gwyds got back today and we had a happy reunion. Wish they could stay here for awhile more instead of racing back home to get back to work.

Snow and scaffolding

We got some snow yesterday and today, with temperatures quite low and beautiful skies.  If only every day in the winter was like this!

Doggie Cousins

 We've been looking after Winnie this week while Sions, JJ and Gwyds are in Lanzarote on holiday.  It's been really fun to have the two cousin dogs together.  I think they like it too.

Normally I take them on a scamper in the forest in the morning and then Rhods takes them for a ball throw at the Jubilee Green in the afternoon.  Good times all around!

New Years Eve and New Years Day

We originally were planning to go to a friends house for NY Eve, but the said friends decided to not host anything at their house and instead to support the Red Lion pub down the road who were planning to have a band play and do a bit of a snazzy NYE thing.  Sioned, JJ, Gwyds and of course Winnie have been staying with us, and it is so fun to have a full house.

So we did not want to stay out all night as we were taking Rhiannon to Heathrow early in the morning New Years Day for her 8 am flight. Yikes.  So we had a nice dinner at home (chocolate chip chili again) and then headed down to the Red Lion for a bit.  We had a good time and indeed saw a bunch of friends.  The boys went round as a pack and sat outside for awhile even though it was pretty dang cold.

The next morning went to plan, with Rhodri and I driving Rhiannon to the airport on nearly empty roads (if only they were always this way!).  We parked the car and walked her inside, got her checked in and then said goodbye at the security checkpoint section.  Of course she can (and normally does) all of that on her own now that she is 18 (!!), but it was nice to maximize the minutes together with her.  We don't have any photos from those moments although its not for lack of trying! ha

Anyway, we got back home and had a relaxing day.  

In the afternoon, Tryfan's girlfriend Saskia came over and they made cookies together (so cute!)

So anyway, there we go! 2023 is over and here we go with 2024.  Happy New Year one and all!