2010

Hopefully you've all been clammering waiting for the next blog installment. And sadly will all have been bitterly disappointed by the lack of input. This is due, dear reader, to technical difficulties. Our computer only plays when it wants to at the moment. Sometimes it doesn't play nicely. Thankfully it doesn't yet make a noise like chewing small rocks like Rachel's does. It does need a little TLC though.

Right now I am unable to upload pictures to the blog so I have put the ones that aren't trapped on my phone onto Facebook. It you click on the events below they will take you to the pictures. They aren't all there yet so keep coming back. O dear. I'm losing customers left right and center here aren't I? I hope I've built up enough loyalty for you to stay with me!

In the last month we have done the following:

• Had an English Tea Party and then a tea and beer party with customers from the shop
• A 10 day trip to the UK visiting family and friends and celebrating Marie and Richard's wedding
• A hike up Tiger Mountain #1 near Seattle
• Christmas and non-Christmas including fresh Elk sausage (thanks Eric!)
• Snow shoeing on Mount Rainier
• New Year

We've also done a lot of reflecting. Looking back over our crazy year, picking over the pieces. Sitting now arms folded in satisfaction in our rocking chairs, we gaze out of the window at the Puget Sound and wonder, 'How did that happen?'. It's been a year of firsts, lasts, highs and lows, mind blowing experiences and sheer joy.

It took a good 20 minutes to figure out when, where and how we were this time last year. Tacoma was a dot on a map, a grainy image on google earth and a depressing Neko Case song. Living in the USA was a nice idea but wholly uncertain and untested. This guy called Mike invited us to come visit and see what we thought. We had no reason not to and no expectations as to an outcome. We spent new year with family and went to bed early. We talked through improbable plans to woo the visa officials having no idea what was actually required. Suck it and see. It was long odds but worth a punt at any rate.

In Tacoma, a cold shell of a building housed the nascent ideas for a bike shop. The best bike shop in the area. That was the plan anyway. These crazy cats from England would provide some entertainment for a while if nothing else.

So we visited. And we loved it. There began the mad mad story of 2009. Most of the events are chronicled here. One crucial one that is missing is our trip to Vancouver for my birthday in September to see Pearl Jam! Definitely the best birthday present I've ever had. Also our trip to Rainier with Lorna and Silvia.

What can not be fully expressed in writing are the relationships we have built and continue to grow. It could very easliy have been a lonley old time moving to the other side of the world. Nothing can match the love felt in the bosom of your family. Here though, we find ourselves surrounded by like-minded people and in the arms of some true and beautiful friends. We are very lucky indeed. We can't wait to have a trans-Atlantic show and tell!

So it's onwards, upwards and outwards. I wish you all a healthy, happy and fruitful 2010. Here's a little bit of Sting to get the wintery mood going.