English Oath of Allegiance, originally uploaded by benaston.

Today I swapped my Canadian wife for a British one. The Canadian model was ok, but the British version is a definite upgrade.

Result.

Amy Williams wins Olympic Gold for Team GB, originally uploaded by benaston.

Seeing as we’ve had so much snow in 2010, it’s probably only good and proper that we should start taking an interest in the Winter Olympics. And naturally, it was only a matter of time before that snow translated into a medal in the skeleton.

Bear in mind that we tend to win loads of medals at the Winter Olympics, so this is hardly a big deal, barely even mentioning actually. But Amy Williams, for putting us in 16th place in the medal table by sliding down a hill on a tray, thank you.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Steak Smorgasbord, originally uploaded by benaston.

Following a slightly disastrous foray into the wilds of Clapham Common in search of steak, we went hunting, found a cow and asked it if it wouldn’t mind sharing a couple of fillet steaks with us.

The cow was very accommodating and so it was that we returned to Aston Villa with some fat steaks pictured above.

The cow was delish.

Boys 1 – 0 Girls, originally uploaded by benaston.

Can point out please, that the boys won the first match in the boys v girls weekly games tournament.

Could it have been that the boys finally had the strength in numbers required to topple the girls?

Or should we discount that, because the rules clearly dictate that due to limited gamesmanship skill, Laurence can only count as half?

Watev. Hurrah.

Ben is a T-Rex, originally uploaded by benaston.

What better way to begin the year than with a decadent costume?

I thought there was probably nothing more extravagant than a T-Rex at a ‘decades’ themed party. It was pushing the boundaries of the theme slightly, but when is a T-Rex, the most majestic of beasts, ever really out of place?

Yes, it is a crocodile costume, but it’s all about the way you wear it.

Mushroom Farming, originally uploaded by benaston.

I’d just about given up on these buds of fungal goodness when, to my surprise, I discovered that my first foray into the world of shrooms had (in my absence) been a success.

I harvested four 3cm beauties from the first flush – apparently this encourages the second to come through. However, I’m not entirely sure that I’m going to grow enough to cover the £5.98 investment from B&Q – that’s going to take another 6lbs of these late bloomers to appear.

I think this makes me a horticulturalist. Bonus.

He was my brother, originally uploaded by benaston.

He eloped and was wed to Claire Penelop-pop. It was a Friday. 09.10.09.

He was my brother, called Steepfun John. He was one of my favourite brothers actually. Then, one day he put his childish ways behind him and became a man.

Before he did all that, we managed one last swim together in the wilds of the Sea-Swans. On the stoke of midnight we donned our trunks, headed to the beach and cast ourselves into the frozen wastes of the Gower.

Surprisingly for someone of my skill and ability, I wasn’t chosen to be part of the elopment and be one of those who’d wear a fancy suit and be given responsibility. I regarded this more as an oversight rather than a deliberate mistake as I was commissioned instead to take pictures of the boys preening themselves in preparation for the service. Those pictures will appear soon.

RIP Steepfun.

Ok, so the title might be a little misleading, but let’s look past that. This is truly brilliant – how many times have you seen a Mongol Centre? This is definitely the first I’ve seen; I’ve no idea what even happens in a Mongol centre, but it must be good, it has to be, because there are two, right next to each other, doing their Mongoling thing. Wonderful.

I’m struggling slightly to work out how this happened – were there two Mongols, each building a centre but keeping under wraps what they doing until the launch day, and it was only then that they realised that they’d both built themselves a Mongol Centre right next to each other?

Or was it an enterprising Mongol, not content with there being just one Mongol centre, who thought to himself, ‘what we could really do with, is a Mongol centre’. So he went to work, and created himself a Mongol centre. Seeing as the other centre was doing so well, he concluded the best place to have his new Mongol centre would be right down next to the other one.

I don’t get it. Maybe that’s because I’m not Mongolian. I do like Mongolian BBQ’s though.

Mmmeat.

Well, umm, it wasn’t a great match, unless you’re a Blues fan. Gloucester were annihilated. but at least I enjoyed the match on a free seat.

Maybe next season.