Happy retirement John Corbett!

After many, many years of being SB's highly skilled and friendly slaughterman John Corbett has retired. Along with the many who have gone before her and followed since, John played a vital part in Jayne's PhD studies and she enjoyed getting to know him and his humour while learning several new skills she never anticipated would be necessary in her life! [I'll spare you the details - J]

We were sad not to have been able to get back for his retirement do but have been sent a couple of pictures and a letter from John which we thought we'd post here - anyone who knew John will no doubt appreciate them as much as we do.

John is the only slaughterman we know to have (and play!) a piano in the abbatoir! He was known to tickle the ol' ivories in between doing his work at SB, running his own newsagents, and keeping an eye on the stock market and his shares over lunch.

It's lovely to see John still looking so chipper at his retirement do! My bet is he's day dreaming of trains and railroads...

So here's his letter:

Dear Everyone

Any jobs going???...........

Just a few lines to firstly, thank you Monica and Emma for arranging my departure in such a memorable way – certainly an event I will never forget. It was very moving for me to see everybody there, including people from the 70s and 80s, like Andy Peters; Kev Stickney; Mike Varley and Janet Dawson. I could not get over just how far these good people had travelled - just for me! I felt I said a lot on Friday but, I could have said so much more about the place. The travels I’ve had, all the people I’ve met and worked with both at SB and the many outside organisations, but I’m sure you would have been bored with it.

The many cards I received are still proudly on display. The more I read them, the more I become convinced I have actually left SB and I’m not on holiday! However, reading them can be upsetting. It’s like reading my own obituary, with lines like….
“you’ll be sadly missed”; “you’ll be difficult to replace”; “how will we manage”? “SB will never be the same”. In fact, I’ve been checking the “deaths” column in the local paper – so far not in, thank God! Obviously Julian, you read some of these comments too and was similarly affected and too overcome with grief at my departure as your simple message demonstrates: “What can I say?, Julian”. However, should you think of anything in the future, please let me know……(only joking!).

To everybody who sent their good wishes and, indeed, to those who didn’t, many many thanks for over 40 years of happy memories. It was so much more than a simple fella like me could have wished for.

Should anyone be in the vicinity of [address withheld] at any time during the hours of 8 am to 9am on the first Wednesday in January, in any leap year, do please call in – you will be assured of a warm welcome. I’ll rephrase that last line to read: “open all hours”…..

Your friend and colleague
John

PS: Just applied for a job as a train driver!!!

Well John, we're sure you'll have many, many years of enjoying your hobbies before you feel any need to check the obituaries again! Take care out there and enjoy yourself.

20 week check-up

Nothing new to report really. Just that all still seems to be well with Jayne and Bubs. If anything the doc said her uterus was feeling slightly large for 20 weeks [no surprise there - I'm usually slightly large in most directions at the best of times, pg or not!! - J] but that it was probably down to a naughty fibroid or two they found lurking in there at one of the early scans. They haven't given Jayne much trouble yet so hopefully it will stay that way. At least it means we get another ultrasound at 32 weeks to make sure they're okay - and another chance to see Bubs before he/she arrives. :)

The only other update is that on Friday January 25 Jayne was pretty sure she felt the first proper movements. Since Christmas and up until that point there had only been the occasional 'is it or isn't it?" kind of belly flutters, but now they're definitely more like obvious nudges from Bubs. :) Now we're just waiting for Adam to be able to feel them from the outside...

Lock Junior update

We're pleased to report that things seem to be going well with Jayne's pregnancy (touch wood and all that).

No more nausea, no more pains, not quite so much paranoia about things going wrong (we hadn't realised this was one of the main pregnancy symptoms!) and a definite bump developing. :) :) :)

While our parents had been here for Christmas Jayne's folks had come along to one of her routine appointments with the ob/gyn. The plan had been just to show them the obstetrics department of the hospital where we'd been going for most of our scans etc, but at the last minute we thought they'd appreciate having a listen to Bubs's heartbeat... I'm pretty sure we were right because the Grands T were certainly all smiles about it. :)

We also managed to wangle a tour of the birthing center before they departed for home. We both found it a little bit freaky to think that, all being well, we'd be there for the real thing in what will probably feel like next to no time, but it was good to get an idea of the place well in advance, and calm some of the grandparents nerves about us being looked after properly.

Here are a couple of pics Dad T took of the view from there. [I only hope I'll be able to appreciate it as much when the time comes... I doubt it somehow - J]

Fletcher Allen's birthing center of looks out over much of the UVM campus, and in the far distance you can see Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks over on the NY side of the lake (it was a bit hazy when this was taken)

On Monday 14 January we went for our 18 week ultrasound where anything and everything was measured on Bubs - number of limbs all present and correct, number and length of bones in limbs all present and correct, different areas of the brain all measured normal (phew!), spine was A-okay, heart was A-okay, jaw and palate all okay... the list goes on.

The detail we saw was quite breath taking, and no matter how much we already understand about the science and theory of it all it was utterly mind blowing. Just watching all four chambers of the heart working away was incredible, seeing the blood vessels within the umbilical cord going right into Bubs's belly, watching the li'l monkey stick his/her tongue out! I wonder who he/she gets that from??

We have new pics and even a DVD of Bubs but without access to a scanner at the mo, or summat that will convert VOB files into MPEGs or something a bit more useful I'm afraid you'll have to just make do with the description.

So, as we approach the mid-way point (officially 20 weeks on Tuesday 29th Jan) we realised it was about time we started taking the inevitable bump pictures. Here's one to start off with... and pleeease don't say you can't tell the difference from normal! ;)

Bubs is offically 19 weeks old in this pic, taken Tues 22nd Jan 2008

[Thank goodness for stretchy jeans with a nice high maternity waist band... so attractive - J]


Good news is that Jayne has managed to find a nice exercise class to do with other mums-to-be (or is that moms-to-be?). After weeks of finding nothing but yoga she discovered that the good ol' YMCA does an aquanatal class. Perfect! It runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and has proven to be a big hit so far. A good instructor who hops in the pool with us together with friendly class mates bodes well for meeting Jayne's fitness and social goals. A couple of ladies are due around the same time as Jayne, but two ladies were actually due on the first Tues that Jayne went... and still there the Thursday after - wonder if they'll be there this coming week??

Next things we're tackling include finding a good birthing class to sign up for (eeeks!), biting the bullet and finding a second vehicle to buy sometime before June, decorating the nursery (aaaaagh - so wonderful and yet so scary to even be saying that), getting clued up on which car seat/stroller/crib to buy, and that's a mine field in itself! Hmm - tip of the iceburg springs to mind here... wish us luck!

More updates will follow in due course.

Finally we have curtains!

I'm sure you'll all be so excited to hear the curtain update...

We had window shades installed towards the end of 2007, mostly for functionality, but the living room still felt pretty bare and colourless so we bit the bullet and had some nice floor length curtains made. We'd hoped they'd be up for when the folks visited at Christmas but they finally turned up a week or so ago.

Also, we'd been given Christmas $$s by our parents to buy some art for the bare walls in the dining area (thank you again!) so we invested in a couple of Sabra Fields wood block prints - she's one of Vermont's most famous artists, second only perhaps to Woody Jackson who is probably most famed back home for the Ben & Jerry's cows on your/our favourite ice cream tubs.

Anyway, here are some pics of our new curtains and art.

You can also see one of the 'Foof Chairs' we bought before Christmas, and yesm they did arrive somewhat larger than anticipated.... comfy as anything tho! :)

The two Sabra Fields prints on the back wall... we still need a little something back there...


Safi in her favourite spot

New Year's Day

A slow start was had on New Year's day (you could say that was traditional too) but soon got going when Adam and Jayne cooked up a big brunch even including Heinz baked beans, a bit of a rarity over here.

Later we'd been invited to the Karnezos's for afternoon tea so it didn't seem like 5 minutes before we were heading out into the snow once more.

We had a super time with them all. Well, it's hard not to they're such a lovely family. A couple of Tom's friends were in town too so I think there were 14 of us all enjoying tea and cake and mince pies! Lovely.

One of the photos Nick took of 'the olds'!

It turns out the Karnezos's are a talented bunch and we managed to convince Anna, Tom and his friends to entertain us with an impromptu musical interlude. Impressive they all were too.

Anna was up first with her viola

Tom's friends were up next followed by Tom on his cello...

Happy New Year!

Well, 2007 seems to have flown by and here we are already heading towards the end of January 2008. Our new year celebrations were quite low key and spent at home with our folks, and our friends Matt and Anna with their little boy Brody.

Brody and Matt are amused - so cute!

We had a bit of a feast with two Beef Wellington's and all the trimmings followed by pannacotta and mascerated berries. It was pretty good too, tho we managed to over do the beef a smidgen.

Beef Wellington #1 - out with the old

Beef Wellington #2 - in with the new

Tradition in the Thompson family demands that a 'first footer' be sent outside in the minutes before midnight to be let back in once the new year is here. Strictly speaking a first footer should be male, tall, dark and handsome (of course) and must be carrying coal, salt, silver and whisky, each respectively representing fuel to keep us warm over the coming year, salt to preserve us, silver for prosperity and whisky... errrm, just cos??

We managed to muster all the required 'bits' for good luck, but since we had nobody who completely fulfilled all the first foot criteria (!?) we decided to send all the men in the household out into the snow while the ladies (and little Brody) stayed in the warm and enjoyed the countdown...

The last 27 seconds of 2007 here in VT

We don't get Big Ben of course... we have to make do with watching the ball drop in Time Square. It's not the same without the bongs!

Hurrah, it's 2008!

The guys outside appear to have worked out what the whisky is for...

... keeping warm while you're waiting to come back in!

Back inside there was the inevitable hugging and kissing, followed by the world's quietest rendition of Auld Lang Syne, as Brody lay fast asleep on the sofa.

Sssssh!

Adam pours the bubbly and we all toast the new year - it's going to be a good one!

Matt and Anna... funny how Matt somehow acquired a glass of whisky AND bubbly :)

Mam and Dad T/Margaret and Derick

Mam and Dad L/Rosemary and John

Adam and Jayne... and li'l bump

A lovely time was had and the Waldron's departed not long after for the 40 minute drive back up to Fairfax. Anna had that evening announced to our parents that they too were expecting another little one (congratulations again guys!) so it's fair to say she did well lasting so long before needing her bed.

Adam and I have not made resolutions as such, well nothing new... just to try harder to keep in touch with those who are dear to us, especially those that aren't very near to us. Also, to become the best parents we possibly can... it's hard but so exciting to imagine what this coming year will bring. Hopefully it will be wonderful for everyone.

Snowy times between Christmas and New Year

More snow came down in the days following Christmas.

The snow blower works on clearing the drive ways. John and Adam tried to get Rosemary to stand on the path to take this picture... I think their ulterior motive was to turn her into a real live snowperson... she didn't go for it :)

John takes the opportunity to rebuild the snowman... not sure what he was doing with the carrot!

The intrepid explorers battle the elements for a walk while the snow wasn't too deep

Brrr, twas defs a bit chilly that day - even Safi had her coat on

Christmas garland for the whale tails - L to R: Margaret, John, Adam, Derick

L to R: Derick, Jayne, Margaret

John wearing Adam's favourite beanie. We love this pic of Adam's Dad.

Boxing Day

Our South African friends, the Karnezos family, were scheduled to spend Boxing Day with us so things got underway pretty much as they had on Chirstmas day... first was to get the ham in the oven!

Dakin Farms certainly know how to do good ham!

The wild turkeys were back - probably thought they were safe once Christmas was by...

The snowman had acquired two eyes (champagne corks) over his first 24 hours of existence... you can only see one here because of our resident red squirrel who had scurried up to investigate, pulled one out and then thrown it down in disgust, no doubt preferring something more edible than cork!

Rummikub corner - well, it was the Karnezos's who got us into this game in the first place... and they're pretty lethal at it too!


Scrabble corner... in fact it was Super Scrabble corner. We got Rosemary this as part of her Christmas pressie - twice the number of tiles and squares as regular Scrabble... look out Auntie Mary!



A nice (albeit rather blurry) group photo before the Karnezos's headed for home. L to R: Jayne, Anna, Karin, Peter, Nick, Tom, Adam and Peter (Karin and Peter's nephew who was visiting from New Zealand)

On with the Rummikub challenge... everyone got quite hooked on it. We've heard that John and Rosemary have unearthed their own Rummikub game at home which had never been opened. We've also heard that they've been having a game or two before bed since returning home!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day arrived and it was definitely a white one here in VT. First job of the day was of course to get the turkey in the oven...

A lovely locally grown Misty Knoll turkey (not shot in the back garden!). A whopping 25lbs!

Adam certainly knows how to treat a bird right... here he is rubbing butter into all the important parts

In it goes... 9.30am-ish

With the Christmas Eve service not really happening as anticipated Jayne and her folks went to church. Turns out it was the bishop who led the service, and there was a band and everything so it was quite a jolly and uplifting event. Even Jayne's Dad got blessed by the bish and we all felt better for it! :)

Back to the house...

Returning home we found John out building a snowman... Margaret didn't need any encouragement to get stuck in too.



Done!

Booootiful!

The turkey took FOREVER to cook, which thankfully gave Jayne time to redo her bread sauce after she usefully strained it right down the sink after several hours of lovingly infusing the cream with onion and cloves etc... courtsey of pregnancy brain I think!? It also gave us time to watch the Queen's speech on YouTube. Dinner had been planned for 2.30-3.00pm and we finally got it served up just after 4pm.

Fully loaded

Adam remembers to do his peas at the last minute... no, he can't do without them even tho we already had turkey, sausages wrapped in bacon, roast potatoes, stuffing, bread sauce, sprouts, parsnips, carrots, swede and gravy!

The obligatory party hat auto-timer Christmas photo

Everyone puzzles over the table presents Rosemary got for us all

"Here son, try this one... it's easy!?" says Rosemary

"I can't do it!" Adam has a small paddy.

Finally it was time to open the pressies... Only 6.30pm!!

Safi enthusiastically unwraps her 'Chuckit'

She was almost done when the fangs and devil eyes were revealed!

Margaret looks full of mischief as Derick opens one of his gifts from his loving wife...

errr... yes! ;)

Adam opens his book from his loving wife... awww! Brought a tear to all our eyes... sniff!

Finally it was Christmas pudding time! I think it was 8.30pm by now... well, you can't rush these things :)

The day finished up with much gaming (Rummikub, Apples to Apples, Trivial Pursuits, Scattergories) and we even managed to squeeze in the traditional turkey sandwich for 'afternoon tea' somewhere after 10pm. Perfick!