Gladlee of Guernsey
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Gladlee of Guernsey
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Latest News - November/December 2011 - January 2012 November 2011 Mum's actual birthday was November 2nd so she invited everyone to pop round during the day so there was a constant stream of people coming and going. Various friends came over in the morning and Mum cut her cake then and later Bill and Dorothy, Richard and Margaret arrived and stayed until late. On the Thursday we drove up to Wakefield for a short visit to see Yvonne, Dermot and family and Ron's Mum. We stayed at an hotel at New Miller Dam and had a really nice walk around the lake. We had one meal at the Bull's Head and one at Yvonne's (Indian Takeaway). On the Saturday morning we drove down to Kessingland to Helen and Chris's. We stayed at the Victoria Hotel on the outskirts of Lowestoft for a change. In the evening we went out to 'Sergeant Pepper's' with all the family, Helen, Chris, Lissy (and friend), Jack, Carmen and Simon Hayton and had a very nice evening. Next day, we, with Simon and Carmen went to Beccles and had a walk along the waterfront area before returning to Helen's for a traditional Sunday lunch.
On Wednesday the 9th we drove down to London with Mum (Molly), who was returning with us for a couple of weeks, and then got our flight back to Oman on the 10th. We got back into our usual routine quite quickly and Mum came and joined in. She came to her first Hash and thoroughly enjoyed it, and also came to the Full Moon Hash. We had dinner out at the Crowne Plaza with Ahmad, we visited Qurm Park and went to a party at Ahmad's. On Friday 18th we drove out to Nakhal and had a look around the fort and then went into Wadi Mistal and found a nice spot to have a picnic lunch. On the Sunday we drove down to Quriyat and did a bit of bird-watching and sat on the beach for a bit. Monday we went out on Ahmad's boat, Tuesday dinner at Trader Vic's, Julie took a friend to Qurm Park on Wednesday morning then we went to Fauziah's for lunch. On Thursday we drove down to Ras al Hadd and stayed overnight at the Turtle Beach Resort which was nice but basic. We had a sundowner sitting by the rocks near the resort and were inundated with flies, obviously hatched out after the recent rains. Mum went home on the evening of the 26th and as Ron was on holiday, we went diving on the Sunday. Julie played in a tennis tournament on the Tuesday and we went to the Dolphin for dinner with Ahmad on the Wednesday - 'the completing the boot camp party' - so far we have been to lots of the parties but never done the boot camp!
December 2011 This month continued in the same vein as normal. Julie mainly playing tennis, bird-watching and playing bridge. We went to a wine tasting evening at the American Club and enjoyed some really nice wines. We sat at a table for six and there were 7 bottles to try so we were not very sober when we left. Nice company as we sat with some hashing friends. Next day we were due to go diving but only Julie made it. We had an evening of bridge and dinner at Fauziah and Brody's house and a pre-Christmas drinks party with Phil and Paula at their house in the Royal Flight complex. We went to the Christmas carol concert at the British Embassy as usual and another drinks party at Pam and Paul's. They organised a few games involving groups named after Father Christmas's reindeer which got everyone mingling nicely. We had the Muscat Divers Club Christmas Party on the 22nd at Neil and Irene's house. There were about 20 of us and it was a really good evening and we got home about 04.30!
On Friday the 23rd we had the Christmas Hash party which was a Hash run followed by a catered dinner. We all took tables and decorated them and it was very festive, we left quite early being a bit hung-over from the previous night. There was a recovery hash on the Saturday, then on Christmas Day we drove down to Sifah Beach and had a swim, BBQ'd lunch which included turkey, brussel sprouts, baked potato etc. and a bottle of Champagne, and had a thoroughly enjoyable relaxing day.
The next few days were spent cleaning up the house and preparing the spare rooms for the Uttons - (Helen, Chris, Lissy, Jack and Carmen) arrival on the 28th. They arrived no problem and settled in quickly to our large house. After a fairly leisurely morning on the Thursday we drove down to Sifah Beach in two 4x4's, Ron's Tahoe and Julie drove his old Toyota Fortuner from work. The weather was not very good so only Carmen went in the water, it was quite cloudy and windy. We sheltered behind the cars for lunch and had a nice long walk on the beach. In the evening we went out to the Turkish House restaurant. On Friday we took the two cars into Wadi Bani Auf and all walked Little Snake Gorge. Jack and Carmen had a paddle in the pools and we found our way right through to the end. In the evening we went to Trader Vics. On Saturday we took them down to Mutrah Souq and had a look at the fish market. We shopped on the way home and then spent the afternoon preparing for the New Years Eve hash and party in the evening.
People started arriving at about 16.15 for the hash and we started the run at 16.45 with just over 40 runners. Ivan and Beryl had set the hash and took us down to the dam and then through the beautiful grassy wadi area before returning up the second dam and home. The Utton's really enjoyed it as they hadn't done anything like this before. We did the usual circle, Jack was presented with a kite from Abdullah, it was a potluck so all the food came out at about 19.30 and the party continued on afterwards. Various people dropped in throughout the evening, the last lot arriving just before midnight. Most left or went to bed about 02.00, except Julie, Chris and Jack who stayed up dancing and playing drinking games. Julie then cleared up and got to bed about 04.30. January 2012 Sunday the 1st was a quiet day for everyone (especially Chris who only surfaced for about half an hour!) On the Monday we drove down to Areesh Desert Camp. We settled into our 'huts' and the Uttons went off for a 4x4 experience in the dunes and thoroughly enjoyed it. Julie and Ron met them at the top of the dune with a beer as the sun went down. It was quite beautiful. We had a nice meal in the evening and then there was some traditional entertainment with some music and dancing.
After breakfast the next day, we headed off towards Sur and then took the 'new' coast road and came off at Tiwi/Shab and parked below the bridge. The tide was low so we could walk across the inlet and up the wadi which was beautiful and green. We had to wade through some pools and at the end, Jack and Julie swam through a very narrow gorge (about 20cm wide) to another pool and small waterfall. Ron helped Carmen through some of these pools when they got too deep but couldn't quite make it to the end. Chris, Helen and Melissa caught up a bit later. In the evening we went out to TGIF's. On the Wednesday, Julie, Chris and Carmen went and had a look around the Sultan Qaboos mosque and were very impressed with it. Helen was not feeling so good so she and Chris stayed at home while we took Jack, Melissa and Carmen down to Oman Dive Centre for lunch and a swim. Later we had a BBQ at home on the roof patio and then took them to the airport.
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