Bit of a crazy food week this week.

Having barely recovered from the indoor skydiving at Keith's stag weekend, Tim has been living on canapés all week, culminating in an afternoon at Taste! of London on Thursday with a few clients and VIP treatment (which amounts to one glass of champagne but lots of free cream scones). Tim saw Rachel there, working hard at her flagship event, and then caught up with Toby afterwards (predictably, in the pub with the Investec people). Highlight: the beer and cheese matching masterclass.

Jo is cracking on with the driving lessons. Work is, as ever, for both of us, work. Things are definitely a bit more manageable at GOSHH now, thankfully. Tim has only been out for 1 run this week ahead of the (relay) triathlon, but has improved his performance by giving blood this week: That's 400 calories burned while lying down, and a surplus of new red blood cells.

We're off to deepest Derbyshire tonight, ahead of Emily and Tim's wedding at Matlock. We've hired a cottage nearby and are squeezing 9 people and a baby (Isaac) in for the weekend. Weather permitting, we might go for a long walk on Sunday before heading home.

On the horizon: Tim's mum's birthday in the Cotswolds, Peter Pan in Hyde Park, Calvin Harris at Somerset House and - of course - 3 weekends of fantastic Lions rugby!

Putting the "ahh" into Spaaaah...

Had a lovely weekend at Henlow Grange, including a day off work on Monday.

Both feeling well fed, relaxed and tension-free!

Jo has been appointed permanent Financial Controller at GOSHCH after having to sit through a full interview on Friday - but we never doubted that the job was hers (no-one else could do it!)

Tim was out running on Tuesday afternoon when he and a few others took some clients out for a triathlon training day in Herne Hill, where they have a lido and velodrome as well as a nice little park for the 5k run. The weather has been pretty wet this week, but good running weather. The triathlon is a month away. Tim missed the first of his latest round of dance lessons last night, though.

It's Jo's turn to do the DIY this weekend (snagging work, mostly!), because Tim is off on Keith's long-awaited (and more than a year overdue) stag weekend in Bedford and Birmingham. Indoor freefall, clay-pigeon shooting and the like. Don't expect photos on this blog, except maybe for a photo of Keith in an undersized superman outfit in the indoor skydiving!

Weekend without work...

Lovely weekend at home.

We had lunch on Saturday with Seb and Rach at their place, and went for a walk round Tooting Common to try to get Jacob to sleep. No joy. Cute little wide-eyed fella, though.

Lunch not being enough, we then went almost directly to Toby and Rachel's to catch the tail-end of the Baa-Baas game, and have a barbeque. Home-made burgers and pork-loin, mmmmm. We really have to get our BBQ working this year.

On Sunday we sat in the Terrace Gardens on Richmond Hill and ate ice-cream. I can't believe I've never been through there before. I think mum and dad went there on the weekend of the wedding. The view was something like this.

Next weekend, Henlow Grange, to celebrate the end of Jo's audit, job interview and everything else from the last few months! Looking forward to wandering around in a fluffy dressing-gown all weekend.

Barry, Verity, Daniel and Matthew are all back home in the UK, with Mick. Tim's posted the Concannon family holiday snaps on facebook. Not sure if this will work, but try clicking here to see them. Dolphins, kids, emus and sunshine all round. Very nice.

If that works, try clicking on the photo of Lilia, below, to see more photos of the new addition to the Concannon family and - for good measure - here's a picture of Peter and Poppy too!

J&T x

All the photos - LBII

I've finally managed to collect all the Legally Ballroom II photos into one place...

If you click on the following two photos, they should take you to (1) my friends' photo collection and (2) the "professional"'s photo collection from the night.

If you can't click on the photos, click on the link below to go direct to the full blog (joandtimreid.blogspot.com) and click on the photos there...

T&J x

DIY Photos...

The finished bathroom tiles

The new border

Work in progress around the shower

A new surface around the sink

Messy tiling work

The new tiles going up

A work in progress... and still blue!

The lounge was like this for weeks!

Paint job finished around the windows

New black paint in the fireplace

Everything came off the walls

Jo grafting (notice good use of Paula's screwdriver set)

Night falls on another day's paint work

Soaking the brushes in the kitchen

Everyone painting

The state of the plasterwork behind the tiles

Barry kept digging holes in the walls...

Making a start...

It's been a quiet couple of weeks, if you don't want to hear us talk about work...

We're back from Harlow, the builders have left our bathroom and fixed the sink they broke, Tim's now training for 1/3 of a triathlon (a "monothon"?) and Jo is on the final stretch towards the audit.

Watch this space for some fascinating photos of our DIY transformation of 13 Godstone Road. I for one cannot wait to plug in the TV again after a month without virgin media!

Jo is off on Rach's hen weekend tonight. Tim is joining Paula at filming of QI (thanks, Paula!) and cycling in the vague direction of Oxford tomorrow, before returning in time for Emirates 7s at Twickenham on Sunday.

Legally Ballroom II on youtube

Check out the video bar on the right of the blog page for youtube videos of Legally Ballroom II as and when they arrive...

Legally Ballroom II: First set of photos...

Here are the first few photos (at least of Valene and I) from LBII (clicking on the photos should take you to one of two full facebook albums):

Doing the tango...

And jive...




Professional photos (and DVD!!) will hopefully follow soon...

Strictly Lovells II: The result

Last night was a fantastic success.

The room was packed, the guests were dressed up to the 9s, and the dancers had a surprising amount of lycra and sequins on show. The evening started with a champagne reception followed by an hilarious "behind the scenes" video and a presentation to the two charities, Orbis and Paralympics UK.

In the heats, the tango was a blur but we apparently knocked 'em dead. By the time we started our jive, all the pressure was off, my red vest was out, and we were able to smile and laugh throughout. We had loads of kind compliments from other dancers and guests (including our instructor, Damien), and his wife Clara (the professional judge for the evening) gave us a perfect 10 for the tango and jive. Together with a few votes from the viewing masses and a number of "pre-paid" votes (all in the name of charity), we made it to the final 4.

By the time the final came round, we were far more relaxed - not least because we knew we weren't going to win! The scoring in the final was 100% down to the viewing public and their voting buttons, so our technical proficiency as a couple was going to be no match for the cartwheels and elaborate moves that some girls (if not their partners) were showing off.

But (thankfully) the spoils went to our favourite couple, Errol and Jenny, who eschewed sequins and imported outfits but still looked like a fantastic couple on the dancefloor. Their cha cha cha was by far the best of the night.

A hell of a lot of money was raised for charity (thanks Mums, Dads, Lucy and Paula in particular), including the amount Jo and Emily spent on their voting buttons. I'll send an update soon once I have seen photos, videos and a fundraising total.

Not sure what to do with my spare time now, other than catch up on work and train for the triathlon relay next month... and I have a pair of dancing shoes and trousers to use somehow...

Big news from BCFC and from Tim...

Former Aberdeen hero of the 1980s, Alex "Big Eck" McLeish has managed Birmingham City FC (Tim's local side as a youngster) to promotion back into the Premiership, on the bounce.

And - with fitting symmetry - Tim has just been awarded promotion too. Woop!