Ebenezer Terrace Brewing Company

Properly christened the apple press this weekend... finally, and the cider making is kind of underway. Took me a while to get a gallon (4.5 litres) of juice and I used about half a wheelbarrow full of apples, with the other half waiting for a spare half-day this week.

Hopefully, I will soon have three gallons of apple juice turning - like magic - into cider. Then again it has only taken me a year to get this far. Fret not Louise, I still have your books. You can have them back soon!

Run, run as fast you can...

Luke is settling into school very nicely. His favourite thing seems to be when they make food. Last week they made jam sandwiches and he can home almost bursting with excitement and insisting he made jam sandwiches all round... he was pretty good to be fair and they tasted like jam sandwiches.

He doesn't eat them himself as he claims not to like jam. He's a bit odd like that. He claims not to like a lot of things that he would actually like if he tried them.

This week they made gingerbread men. He doesn't like raisins though.

New wheels

Hello, it's us. Sorry, we dropped out for a while there. We're back again now though.

The most exciting news (although it's only me getting excited) is I've finally got a new car - that's new to me rather than brand-new. It's odd, but recently I've been getting quite interested in cars, think it's the 40-something thing - mid-life crisis looming no doubt, sports cars calling, etc. There is another explanation, which I may elaborate on later.

So, I sold the run-around (Fiat Cinquencento) and the family car (Mitsubishi Carisma - yes, spelt like that) far too easily (ie too cheap) about three, or even four, weeks ago and have been relying on trains and my pushbike to get around. It's not been terrible, but I'm glad I've got a car again - and to my amazement my meager budget actually stretched to big black BMW.

I've never been a BMW fan. As anyone who has driven on a motorway will know, the outside lane is owned by Germans for the exclusive use of their cars only. Tends to make other drivers quite grumpy. Ask the wife. Now I can join in. Ha. I've always quite liked the look of the BMW Touring. I spotted one in Norwich, cheap, and a straw poll revealed it's the only Bimmer you can own with self-respect in tact. What really happened was I mentioned to my (former mechanic) brother that I quite fancied a BM and he didn't say no straight away. That's all the encouragement I needed to be honest.

I have to say I absolutely love it. Kids like it too because it's an estate and they can sit in the boot drinking coffee and eating biscuits when we go to the beach.

Love this pic too. Everyone looking natural, no one gurning.