Update

Hi Guys and Dolls,

It's been a while since my last bog update and since then my life as usual has been pretty busy. I won't even attempt to bring you up to date with what we have been up to but just give you a quick summary and give you a few pictures to look at.

The biggest thing we had was a wee day of celebration for Sam; we couldn’t have a christening or a naming ceremony, so instead of having nothing which was planned we decided to have a few friends and family round for a meal.


In total there where 14 of us so a nice wee group, we all just squeezed into our flat. It was a good day with lots of cremant, beer, wine and whisky drunk. Sam seemed to enjoy the day as he loves having people around him. The day passed without any major incident apart from Frank and me destroying a few Elvis tracks.


Thomas and Piggy made the effort to come over for the annual JOB (Jolly Boys Outing) to Frieburg, Germany. Armed with our Santa Hats and Carol sheets, 8 of the Jolly Boys made it out to terrorise Germany. We visited many a bar and had a few jars, just a few of course. The highlight was singing "O Come all ye faithful" and getting a rapturous response from the Germans on the Christmas Market. We ended the night back in Basel at McGuiness Irish bar.
In the meantime the house is coming along very quickly as usual you can see the updates by clicking on the link to the right.

Sam is doing great and loves it when we take him swimming every Saturday morning. Check out some latest pictures of the wee man Click here for a link to more pictures of the Party

Next up is Christmas and New Year; I can say it's a time of year I really don’t look forward too, all that fuss for not a lot. At least I have a week off work which is much deserved as the last time I had a week off was when we were in Scotland in August.

Take care Blog fans and I'll try and not leave it so long next time.

Cheers

Del Boy

Halloween At The Devil's Pad

Hi Blog Fans,

Last Saturday was another opportunity for Kevin (alias "The Devil") to have a party and he never misses an oppurchanceity for that. I felt like being under cover so did my best to cover up.


There were many games played including the old classics, I of course lost every game I play and had to take several punishment drinks which included JD and Dambuie. I ended up being a bit worse for wear and it was an experience cycling home at 05:30am. A big thanks to Sam for letting me sleep until 9am, I felt great after my 3.5 hours sleep. The Saturday just passed we head round to Pam's for some Raclette Swiss Style, Cheese, Potatoes, Onions and BEER. I was stuffed but managed to eat her Cheesecake. Sunday we relaxed and just went for a walk with Sam to check out the plot which is coming along. Remember to check out the pictures of how the house is coming along with the link on the right.

Thursday I'm off to see FC Basel v's Young Boys Bern with Kevin, that should be interesting.

This weekend is Manfi over for a visit on Saturday then Frank and Claire's for the St.Mirren vs Celtic Match.

Sam is doing great; he managed to eat a whole biscuit himself today!! Which is a big thing of course.

Click here for a link to more pictures of the Party

Now it Starts........

Hi All,

Well after a long wait they have actually started to make some progress with the house. They started clearing away the trees to make room for a lovely house. I'm going to keep track of the progress and I will put a link on the right taking you straight to the photo album.

Click on that link to keep up to date with the progress. I won't tell you when new pictures are posted but there will be at least one every week.

What a result for Scotland yesterday, we had a party in our flat with the "French" I enjoyed it I'll tell you that. I had a fog horn on the terrace after the full-time whistle. Then karaoke to follow it up.

Take care all.

Del Boy

James Visit & Monza F1

Hi Blog Fans,

Last week James headed over to visit Estelle, Samuel and I. After arriving he head straight out to the new Irish pub in Basel as Scotland were playing at 18:30. All the boys had gathered so we proceeded to watch a great performance by the Scots with a 2-1 away victory. Lots of bevy was consumed which included, Beer, Gin, Whisky, Cocktails (wish I could remember them), Dr Pepper, Champagne and Brandy. We arrived home at 3am of course only to wake Estelle, Sorry my Love.

On The Thursday I had to collect my car from the Garage in Mulhouse so James and I had a mini-adventure getting there and back. James loves public transport. Of course we wouldn't of need to take public transport with James wasn't too gay to drive on the right. One day he'll learn.

Friday was when we eventually headed to Milan, it was a quick journey thanks to Der Schlegel, we arrive at 8pm and of course headed straight out and since it was James' birthday I had made a booking at the Absolute Vodka Ice Bar. After stopping at a Scottish pub to try and get directions we decided to get a Taxi, which was a great decision as it was about 3km away. Once we arrived we handed our Cash over and got covered in some rather fetching ponchos. Everything in the bar was made from Ice, even the glasses. All they sold was Vodka therefore we had a couple at the premium price of 10€.

The following morning we got up and headed towards Monza after the Underground, Train, Bus and walking we eventually arrived 2 hours later. What a journey for only 10mins in the car as we discovered the next day. On arrival James rushed to get kitted out in Red Bull gear and Frank pondered whether to buy anything or not. It was 20mins before the first practice session on the day so we rushed off to find our seats at the parabolic corner, the last corner. To our delight the seats we had were great right at the top of the Grandstand with a great view of the track and huge TV screen.

When that first F1 car went by Frank almost broke a smile, it is a strange feeling when they go by whatever it is I like it. The session passed with all of us just transfixed to the screen and track. After that we went for a wonder around the track and took in some of the local entertainment. We grabbed some food and a nice bottle of Vino for the Qualifying. It was quite exciting and David Coulthard managed to finish his normal 15th, pretty poor. It wasn't going to be a good weekend for the Red Bull team. After the GP2 race and some spectacular crashes right in front of us he headed back to the hotel. We decided to go for a nice Italian meal, Frank eventually found somewhere that was acceptable for him and we all dinned Italian style except James who had Sausage and Chips.

The following morning we were up at 6am as Frank (we) decided to drive to the circuit. It was only 10min away and after a quick bus journey from the parking we were there. We watched another GP2 race and managed to get glimpse of Alonso and Max Mosley who arrive in a Helicopter in front of us.

The big event was the race which in my opinion would of been okay to watch at home but great to be there. DC was pants during the entire race but James and I swigged our beer and wine and enjoyed every minute of it. MS won in the end after getting some help from the Stewards.

At the end of the race we ventured onto the circuit and walked round to the pit straight, Frank was really happy about this. We even managed to get some free beer just for James having a kilt on, in this world if you don't ask you don't get.

Overall an excellent weekend enjoy by all, roll on the next F1 weekend!!

Click here for a link to more pictures of Monza Weekend.

Catch ye later.

Del Boy

Malaga - With the Boys

Hi all,
Last weekend was the yearly Jolly Boys outing. Bob, James, Thomas, Piggy, Stewart, Franko, Kevin, Hammy and Liam (I think he was there) all headed down to the Costa Del Sol to take in some of the local culture. We managed to do not too bad actually, on the Thursday when we arrived eventually via Granada airport due to operational reasons. It was a long day with lots of beer drunk....
Some handled it better than others and some just didn't seem to be there.

The Saturday was a Boys trip to Malaga to check out this beautiful city, Liam decided to stay and make some new friends by the pool. We had a great day and enjoyed some Tapas which was superb. In the evening we headed by to Torremolinos and ended up at a Karaoke bar, of course I had get up and get the crowd going. There was also a guest appearance of the "backing gropper". After 2am we thought it was time to "Stand Down" Thomas told Hammy and he wasn't too happy about this for some strange reason.

On the Saturday we all headed off to Aqualand Liam brought a couple of his new friends with him (nice of him to ask) but we all still had a good time anyway. Moment of the day was when Bob backed down from the boomerang, what a laugh that was as he walked the walk of shame!!! Well done Bob you're a Star!! "bug bugg bugg"
Saturday night was very low key, once again the boys went for a nice meal and Liam went with his new friends to the hotel.
That night I tried to get a Bloody Mary with all the ingredients, this proved to be bloody impossible. All was quiet and we headed to bed at a reasonable time. The following day all the Basel boys headed back early after saying our goodbye's.
It was a great weekend and was nice to get everyone together for the weekend. Things had a rough start as normal but after that everything was very smooth. Hopefully next time Liam can join us as he just didn't seem to be there and I hardly said a word to him after he decided to part from the boys weekend.

Can't wait until next year's event, minus a couple of faces. Next stop for me next is Monza!!!!! VVVVVVVVVRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM.


Click here for a link to more pictures of the Jolly Boys Outing.

Catch ye later.

Del Boy

A Visit To The Island and Islands....

Hi Sports Fans,

Estelle and I have just returned from our trip to England and bonnie Scotland. In total we managed to drive 4800km, with only one small accident.

We visited many different places starting with Harold in England where we stayed with our Swiss friend Manfred, after that we had a couple of days with Suzy and Piggy and he introduced us to the new love of his life.

We had a good couple of days with them and they got an insight as to what life is like with a baby, VERY different. Of course the men still managed a couple of beers at the "Local" pub a few fields away.

Next we headed up to Stirling so Estelle could try and understand where the healthy rivalry between the Scots and English really comes from. We visited the Wallace Monument, Stirling Castle, Bannockburn and the Dunblane Hydro for a spot of Lunch. I'd been to these places a few times in the past but you always learn a wee bit more every time you go. We happened to bump into Robert the Bruce himself when we arrived at Bannockburn, such luck eh!
After that we headed up the road to Fort Willam minus one wing mirror, the car was a bit heavy so we needed to shed a few pounds. Glencoe will always have a special place in Estelle's Heart. In Fort Willy we met up with my wee cousin Kevin and we partook in a few beers and some tourist shopping.
We moved onto the Isle of Skye which was very spectacular, the scenery is amazing and I would recommend everyone who hasn't been to pay it a visit. It's the first time I'd been there and it was beautiful, Estelle loved Skye more than the battle sites, funnily enough. We met up with Suzy and Piggy in Uig so we could take the ferry over to the happening Isle of Harris the following morning at 5:30am, Sam loved us waking him up at that time.

Harris is a very nice Island if you like Rain, Wind, Sheep, Wind and Rain. Estelle for some reason loved it, I'd been a couple of times before to the Isle of Lewis so I knew what to expect. Suzy's parents made us feel very welcome along with her hen's, sheep, cock, cat's and dogs. A big thanks to them, it was a relaxing time for us. We saw some beautiful beaches, if it wasn't for the Wind, Rain, Sheep, Wind and Rain these beaches would be full of tourists.

We then headed back south towards Glasgow so we could see our Scottish friends and Sam could meet his Grand parents. We were pleasantly surprised that after me driving for nearly 7 hours we had a house full of guests waiting for us, it was nice to see everyone and the night passed all too quickly with me not being able to speak as much as I wanted to certain people. It always seems to work out that way, hopefully this will be better next weekend at MALAGA!!!

The journey homewards was uneventful and long, we stopped at Swiss Pisses again and another stop over in the capital of Champagne. Once we go home we were both very happy to be back. It was a stressful holiday, one that will not be repeated, next time we go somewhere we are staying put in the same place for at least 1 week. It was good to see everyone, but I always enjoy seeing them over here better as I get to spend more Quality time with them.

A big thanks to Manfred, Piggy, Suzy, Suzy's Parents and James for putting up with us and a Baby for a few days, sorry for all the stupid requests but that's the kind of things we have to do on a daily basis.

Click here for a link to more pictures of the holidays.

Bye for now.

Del

It's Official

Estelle and I eventually put pen to paper and signed for our new house. It's pretty exciting. The House is part of a large plot that contains 2 houses, we have 750m2 which is our land. They have applied for planning permission and all being well they could start building within the next 8 weeks. Our house is the one on the left hand side of the plan.



Here are some more plans of the actual house. I'm sure you can all remember the street that it's on. Just over a year ago we all ate Pizza in the Rainbow Bar to celebrate the marriage of me to Estelle, well the plot is around 60m from this bar, which is now called "La Lounge"

Unfortunately it's an English/Chinese couple that have bought the house beside ours but I suppose you can't win them all. The land is currently an Orchard with, Apple, Apricot, Cherry, Peach and Walnut trees, Hopefully some will be left behind after the construction is complete.



Last weekend Estelle and I had our 1st night away from Sam, we left him at Granny and Grandad's and Estelle and I headed of to the lovely famous village of Munster for a night in a Hotel/Spa. This was a super day as of course the weather was perfect and the hotel was superb, we spent the afternoon in the Spa then the evening was a 5 course meal, we were both so tired that we ended up sleeping at 10pm, what pary animals we are.



Yesterday was Andy's House warming Party, a few beers were drank as it was around 32C all day, as it is again today. For the last 6 weeks the weather here has be astronomical, I look forward to some cooler weather in the UK.



Click here for a link to more pictures of the plot and a couple of my favorite son.

See you all very very soon.

For all of you in Scotland I think James is having a BBQ on Wednesday the 9th August at his pad, since that's the place to be because we'll be there.

Bye for now.

Del

Life goes on........but slightly different

This month I have been mostly watching the "Coupe du Monde" it's been good, but some games have been disappointing. Hopefully England loose today and the French win against the mighty Brazilians.

So what have we been up to for the last 2 months, well basically raising a little boy, working, drinking and having BBQ's as the weather here for the last 6 weeks has never been below 25C (I like these times, reminds me of one of the reasons why I'm here).

Of course we had the visit of Thomas and Kath which was a great week, lots of bevy was consumed and we kept busy every day. We paid a special visit to the only concentration camp in France for Kath as she loves anything about the war, a bit like me really. Mylene was kind enough to let us sample every wine that was available in the cellar that she works in, that was a day and a half, some of us had one glass too many (I rather liked the pino noir when we had it with our meal Kath).



Since then Ann game over for a flying visit that was a lazy weekend, the furthest we got was a walk to Village Neuf for lunch in a lovely wee restaurant. Ann seemed to enjoy herself and hopefully the next time her feet will actually touch the ground.

I'm glad to say that DJ Sammy (As James calls him) was an absolute dream during the entire time and he still is. He is a very easy going baby just like his Dad; he has his Mum's looks though.

I went to some friend’s house for the England - Trinidad & Tobago game, Kevin and I were surrounded by about 20 Englishmen but we were supporting Scotland, Jason Scotland that is. Unfortunately he never made it off the bench for the entire tournament and England fluked a result.

A BBQ was had last weekend as Manfred was over so Frank and Claire joined us with their new arrival Jake. The barrel of beer was in the fridge and along with the Argentinean beef and Franks DIY BLT Burgers we had hunners to eat. We even had a couple of footy games to watch too.

I've been very busy at work these days work at least 10 hours per day, but it should hopefully all pay off in the end.

Estelle and I always need a project to keep ourselves busy; our next one has already begun. We are in negotiation with a builder about constructing our very own house. This is a very long process and we are not too far away from agreeing what we want. If we start building in the next month or so it could be ready for next June, just in time for next summer and if you're in for the beginning of summer you might as well throw in a pool. The plot is still in the sleepy village of Huningue just along from the Town hall where we got married and down form the Rainbow Bar (which has changed names) so our local will be just about 100m away. I'll keep you all informed.

This weekend again its 1 million degrees so it's beer, footy and F1, some of Estelle friends are visiting tomorrow.

Sorry I've not being keeping the blog too up to date but it's better than never!!

Hope to see you all next month!!

Click here for a link to more pictures.

Del Boy

P.S We were surprised to bump into Snelling on our visit to the Eco-Museum.

Injuries and New Arrivals

Hi all,

I've decided to create a new Blog as the Microsoft one was driving me Crazy, so here it is.

Once again it’s been a while since I posted. Unfortunately I’ve been off sick from work for the last 2 weeks.

I was hit by a sniper during a game of indoor 5-a-sides, I managed to stretch my ligaments in my ankle, my god it was sore and still is. Check out the photo graphic evidence.

Life has been boring at home and I’ve been driving Estelle crazy. I took my first baby steps a couple of days ago but I’m still in a lot of pain. I am off work this week also.

Samuel is doing great every time we are on the phone he wants to join in the conversation. He has some Eczema at the moment but it doesn’t seem to be bothering him which is promising.

On Thursday morning my good friend Frank became a Father for the 1st time, a bouncing baby boy called Jake Francis Phinn, see the pics for the hairiest baby in the world.
So of course we had to go out last night to celebrate this great event, a drink or three was consumed by all.

Today we visited the new arrival and he is a very active and awake baby, congratulations to Claire and Frank, a Job well done.

This weekend Thomas and Kath are coming to visit, I’m really looking for to having some quality company for a few days, lets hope the weather holds out for them, if not we will need to destroy my wine Cellar and drink all the beer in my new “Beer” fridge.

Keep in touch all and I’ll see you soon.

Click here for a link to more pictures.

Del