Paul Hammond's Blog

Last weekend we took our kids to see the quarter finals of the British Basketball League, where Guildford Heat took on London United.

I have been to see the Seattle Supersonics play a few times at the Key Arena, and saw the Boston Celtics a long while back, and have had great fun every time.  Somehow though, it was much more fun watching Guildford play.

• Maybe it was because they are effectively my "local" team?
• Maybe it was watching my 7 year old daughter eat a foot long hot dog while my son banged the noisy blow up sticks together (do those things have a name?!)?
• Maybe it was because Guildford trailed by 16 at the half, but managed to pull it back in exciting 3rd and 4th quarters to win 71-68 and go through to the semi-finals?
• Maybe it was because the 1,000 strong crowd had a surprising amount of passion for the team?

Anyway, whatever the reason, we all had a blast.  We will definitely be trying to catch a few home games when the season returns in October.  If you live near a town that has a British Basketball League team, I highly recommend going along to check them out.

We are now at the end of the 9th week of construction on the extension to our house.  It has been quite a transformation so far, but I am already getting frustrated with the constant dust sheen over everything, as well as having to live in our dining room.

A few weeks ago I added some pictures to my photo album that showed the initial construction of the new outer walls.  You can see those here.

Since then, things have drastically changed.  All of the windows are in, as well as the conservatory glass.  The new roof is on, and many of the inner walls have come down.  We are just waiting on the new steels that will prevent the house falling down before the final wall is knocked out.  We can really see just how big our new kitchen will be now, although I am not sure the photos really convey this.  Anyway, check them out here.

We're getting a puppy.  After years of badgering, I finally gave in.  We went to visit the litter this morning, and I managed to take some video of Ruby, soon-to-be our flat-coated retriever puppy.  She's about 6 weeks old in this video - ain't she as cute as a button?!?

Video: Visiting Ruby

We'll be able to pick her up in a couple of weeks, and we are all looking forward to it a lot.  Except me.  The kids have dished out puppy-chores and guess who got "poo and pee duties"... 

I was in the kitchen the other day, washing up. I heard a noisy banging on the stairs.  This was shortly followed by my daughter appearing, dragging a small wheelie suitcase behind her.

"What are you up to, honey?", I asked.

"Nothing Daddy, just getting my hair bobbles."

Come again?  Surely she can't have that many...?  Sure enough, the case is pretty full.

I hope it is a while before the "handbags-and-shoes" phase kicks in...