It's been far too long

since anything was written in this blog. Getting on for a year, in fact. A year since either Inga or I wrote anything of interest, or anything at all. That could imply that nothing of note has happened in the last year but that wouldn't be true. There have been quite a few changes since 2007 which I'll cover briefly and then, perhaps, this blog might get back on track with an entry or two.

I'll start with work. Inga's been promoted and now has a new role as a client manager which means she is now a globe trotting high flying exec (sort of). Meanwhile, back in Blighty, I'm working for a plastic electronics company and now have a wonderful bunch of titles that can be summed up as "IT Bitch" :-) This has had something of an impact on the tent business but thankfully I've now gone down to part time so I should be able to get back on top of that and finish all the prep for when it all kicks off again next year - if it all kicks off, given the Credit Crunch. Mind you, you never know, the credit crunch could work in our favour and even more people decide to holiday at home which would mean more people wanting lovely modern cotton tents that will last them years and years. (I can dream can't I?)

On the biz front, we've now ended our second year of trading and made a glorious loss :-) It really would have been too much to ask to make a profit in our second year but as the only money owed is either as expenses or to my other business I'm not too unhappy - no huge business loans, a small overdraft and all the startup fees paid off. Not bad going considering we made no sales in Year 1! Year 3 is going to be short and probably make a loss too, but we should be nicely positioned for 2009. I hope.

So, this entry finds me sat watching "Keeping Mum" (if you haven't seen it, do so. It's great) in the UK and Inga probably snoring away in our second home in Bochum. Yep, we're now a two house family. Well, we had two cars so a another house was the next step. It's actually a 2 bed flat on the top floor of a house and, get this, has more floor space than the 3 bedroom house in the UK! It doesn't have a garden or a garage and definitely doesn't have any fruit trees or veg beds so I'm not too put out. Amazing amount of light and I really must take some pictures so you can see the size of the rooms - they're huge! The next big event over there is the arrival of the kitchen and then we all descend the weekend before Christmas to despoil the markets.

When I say all, I do mean all. Not just me and the child (if you can call a 16 year old with legs that go on and on a child...) but the sister and her kids and my wayward brother from the land down under. Yep. Little bro's coming home for Christmas. And not just little bro. Little wife and even littler son too! BIG NEWS! I'm an Uncle again! A few months back was the birth of Rex Harrison. I say a few months, but it was actually in April - I did say it had been a while and alot had happened :-)

So, since I last typed. Inga and I have had massive promotions in our full time jobs, the tent sideline is fast heading towards a full job (in some ways it already is), I became an Uncle, we gained a new flat in Germany (where Inga lives and works half her time - the other half is spent here), the TR has been fixed (not sure I've ever mentioned the fact that I have a classic 2 seater sports car - a Triumph TR6) and is now roaring around the Cambridgeshire countryside, Rachael passed her GCSE's well enough to get in to do her A-levels (Music, Drama, History and English Lit.) and to wrap up a pretty good year, little bro is bringing the family for a month long Christmas visit. I'm not going to lie, there have been a couple of blips - my aunt suffered a stroke but she is doing ok now, the engine kind of disintegrated on the TR which meant quite a large bill for a rebuild before it could go back on the road and make lots of noise - ouch - and we completely and utterly failed to get anything remotely resembling a holiday in this year. I suppose, all in all, the bad things don't actually add up to much so I'm pretty grateful for that.

There's alot more news but I'll relay that as I remember it and I'll try and include photo's too next time I write. And I promise it won't be another year before I do so!

Highlights will be a weekend where I'm dressing up as an undead pirate just so I can hang out in a bar (honest), the Royal family trip to the German Christmas markets, Christmas itself which will be the first full family christmas for a decade or so, New Year in Germany and the continuing digging I'm doing in to my family's history which has thrown up relatives who were members of The Company of Watermen and Lightermen. I'm worn out looking at the list, the last two people have just been bopped off at the end of the film, so it's time for bed. Night.