HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE HOLIDAY!!

Dear friends,

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the summer solstice holiday, practised within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice at all... and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Australia great, (not to imply that Australia is greater than any other Country or is the only "Australia" in the Southern hemisphere), and not without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms and conditions herein. This greeting is subject to clarification withdrawal without notification to the intended recipient. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/his/it/or others, and is void where prohibited by Law. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period one-year, or until issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, which ever comes first, and the warrantee is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Wishing you a happy, stress-free and peaceful holiday, and a fabulous new year!

Lots of love
Mez Bear ox

Now for some Chrissy Photos......

We went to Jersey for xmas, a wee island in the English Channel, a stones throw from France.

Mez Bear at a Jersey beach

Bear's wacko dad

Bear baking up a storm

Bear & his parents

Bear having fun with his cake...

And a shot of a Newbury Mews BBQ, Chalk Farm style...Looks a bit like a Detroit Street Party from Yeronga St dayz...Who needs to dress up as a bum anyway??

Stoke-Newington

Went over to this suburb in the northeast of London, it's a nice little village, still in central London, just south of Tottenham. It's filled with funky little shops, cafes, pubs etc. Still quite a cheap area strangely enough. It's the sort of area we'd consider living in, down the track. Found a beautiful little cemetary, which was filled with not only dead people, but a myriad of aged tombstones. Some broken and sad looking, but stepping off the busy streets, they provide a sanctuary of sorts. And I love them. Heres a few snaps...

The village is filled with awsome houses like these. Obviously worth a few bob, but it's also got a lot of more derelict type houses which I wouldn't mind getting my hands onto.
I'm a bit of a graffiti nut. And theres a few choice pieces around Stoke. This particular piece is really quite large, taking up a good portion of the side of a house. Some people cringe at graffiti but I reckon it's valid art. Highly illegal, but worth the risk. Unless your name is Peta Marks.

Heres a few snaps from our day trip to Boulogne. France's biggest fishing port. A medieval town, important since Roman times, the dome pictured here is the second largest in europe after St. Peters in Rome. It was rebuilt after it was destroyed in the 19th century during the revolution.
Napolean based his army here from 1802 -05 whilst preparing to invade England.
We ate at the little restaurant pictured below. If you look closely you can see Mezzy sitting in the dark. On the menu was escargot and moulles. Or snails and mussels for the uninitiated. We looked for frogs legs, but to be honest, we didn't know the french word. So mussels and snails it was. And they were fabulous.
The main reason for going to France was ofcourse not to eat snails, but to stock up on cheap grog. We blew a few euros, but filled the boot of our little escort, with copious amounts of tasty treats. Cheeses, meats, pates, beer, wine, champas, you name it. All up we got our bounty for about a 5th of the price it would cost in the U.K. Well worth the 30 quid ferry trip. :)