Tryfan turns 15

The only bummer about this week was that I missed Tryfan's actual birthday. Fortunately I was able to talk to him first thing in the morning and be there when he opened his birthday present. Good thing he is so understanding.  After rugby practice on Wed evening, Rhodri took Tryfs to a steak restaurant called the Coal Shed in Brighton. He was pretty stoked. 

So, at 15 years old, our little Tryfan is:

• Easy going
• Chatty and social
• Interested in current events
• Fun to be around
• A bit goofy
• Into football (soccer) and rugby
• Doing well learning how to play the piano
• Loves playing video games with his friends (on the weekend)
• Thoughtful and caring about others
• and a thoroughly satisfactory family member!

Berlin

I traveled on Sunday to Berlin, Germany for the 4 day European Geothermal Congress.  My colleague Logan and my boss Ann were both there, too, and several other people from my wider company.  Logan and I managed to go on a tour of the city before the conference started, and that was fun.  Here we are in front of the Berlin Wall.

It was so cool to see Checkpoint Charlie and the real Berlin wall, and also the dual rows of cobblestones that run through the city to mark where the wall used to be.

It was a chilly but beautiful week actually. The 3 of us stayed at the Victor's Residenz hotel which was a 20 minute walk to the conference venue. We got to meet new people and learn loads of stuff. A good experience.

Here are Logan, Luca, Ann, Fran and me

And here is Gio, Ann, me, Timo, Logan and Douade.

Paintball Birthday party

We realized that the only day we could possibly have a birthday thing for Tryfs is today, October 15th. And so when he said that he wanted to go back to Driver Wood to do paintball, we went for that. In the end, 12 of his friends could come, and so because I had pre-booked for 15 places, Rhods and I got to play also.

I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of paintball. It hurts to get shot and there is a lot of faff and unfairness in the way that the games are played at this venue.  Laser tag is way, waaaay more fun.  But whatever! Tryfan had a great time and so did all his friends, so that is the main thing.

Beautiful morning on the forest

Its funny how we say 'on' the forest rather than 'in' the forest, but that's how its said around here.  Anyway, Annie and I enjoyed the morning together while Rhodri and Tryfs were at football.

CoffeeJack debut

 Rhodri agreed to pay a few pounds to this kickstarter campaign called CoffeeJack.  He gave the money back in 2019 and today is the day that we finally received our product!  Here it is in action in our very own kitchen.

A little video

 Rhiannon sent me this little video and it was so sweet to receive it.

Leaving do for Su

 My friend Su has decided to leave our company for another job, so we had a little 'leaving do' for her at a restaurant near London Victoria. It was fun to see some old familiar faces and meet a couple of new ones too.

Parents Weekend

 Although it was Auntie Kristin who came to visit Rhiannon for the parents weekend.

It sounds like they had a great weekend together and we are so grateful that Kristin could come and visit Rhiannon at Prin.

Frow Show

Tonight we joined Sharon, Trevor, Mark and Naomi at a barn in the Sussex heartland to enjoy the infamous annual Frow Show.  We had drinks and food (though they had almost nothing for gluten free Rhods) and sat back at our long-reserved table to enjoy the eve.

I laughed a lot and thought it was a really fun night. Rhodri didn't laugh as much and thought it was a 'meh' night. Whatevs. It was something different!

A favorite spot

In the morning on most mornings I take Annie out on a little morning jaunt. This little spot just at the threshold from the woodland into the open heath and bracken area always has a special feeling to it.

Adoration

Emma came round tonight when the boys were at rugby practice, and both Annie and I were so happy to hang out with her.

Annie just adores Emma and it was hilarious to see them together.  And it was really fun to have my dear friend come over on a weeknight to hang out.

Cornish Mining Conference

This week I traveled down to Cornwall to attend the Cornish Mining Conference. First I took the train to London Paddington on Wed Sept 28th and met my colleague Logan who had just arrived from Denver. We hopped on a train to Truro and enjoyed the ride for the next 5-ish hours, then another train to Falmouth.

So eventually we got to the Airbnb that we rented for the occasion and I promptly went out to the Icebreaker event at a local pub while Logan went to sleep. The next day we went to the conference at the Falmouth Hotel. It was a beautiful day!

The next morning I went for a lovely swim down at Gyllingvase beach

I was very impressed with the glossy and brightly painted bathroom stalls in the free public restroom.

Later that day we went to meet with a client and enjoyed some local Cornish pasties in the back of the company van while it was pouring rain outside.

Saturday morning we went for a gorgeous coast walk

Then we went to the pub with Ross, a guy we had met at the conference and walk.

Later that night all the university kids were out in the streets whooping it up

And then this morning we said goodbye to the lovely flat we had been staying in and took the train back up to London and said goodbye.  I was a walking rainbow!

Old friends back in the hood

We really miss having Cat and Bruno living nearby. We had them over for dinner tonight and had a really good time together.

Rhodri's birthday

Today was Rhodri's birthday and since Sioned, JJ and baby Gwydion were here on the way back home after a holiday, we all went to breakfast together.  A nice way to start the day.

The Queen has died

Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8th. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61585886

Tryfs told me when I was cooking dinner and I did feel surprisingly affected by the news. So then we had several days/ weeks of ceremony as everyone scurried around getting ready for the memorial service.  Finally today it was here, and the day was marked as a public holiday so in our house we pottered around and watched the events on TV.

Here is the moment that Lord Chamberlain broke the wand.

Tryfan's new school year

He is looking a bit of a ragamuffin these days, but here he is in his second week of school. He is in Year 10 this year at 14 years, soon to be 15.

Weekend photos

It's been a busy weekend working around the house. We have really enjoyed having both Winnie and Annie here together. They are hilarious to be around.  Between looking after the dogs, having my friend Leigh come round, scarifying the lawn, chipping and clipping and piling up garden waste, its been all very good.

Tryfs and his bitches

Character building

We've been thinking of our girl all week, out there off the coast of Maine living on a boat.

Here is a little video that shows what she will be doing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVWhmpwWIH0&t=25s

I heard that it was rainy and chilly to start with, but then as the week wore on they did have some good weather. They had to jump into the water every morning at 6am!

 

This is what it looked like inside where they were all sleeping on top of the oars.

I think that it is safe to say that Rhiannon's character has officially been built.