Sunday, June 24, 2007

AlvarAlto vase the last wedding gift


AlvarAlto
Originally uploaded by Ben from England
Everyone has been so very generous, even people that came all the way to MSP for the wedding were generous, to whit, Jenny our glamerous, beautiful, intelligent and above all Texan friend who lived iin Grenoble until just before the wedding who has gifted us the beautiful Alvar Alto vase which has top shelf status (a good tihng?) in our bookshelf thing.
The desing is based on sketches of an eskimo woomans leather purse, and true the cirves do have the supply yet strong forms of that most natural material. This is the last wedding gift, and we are massivley grateful to all of you who came, who gave those who came and gave. Check back this week for the arrival of the offical wedding photos!

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Roast with the most.


Roast with the most.
Originally uploaded by Ben from England
Bobbing between Buffys brothers is the elder of my best men, Paul, a man of wisdom and age, a mature man, who is both married and with child, maybe it was the influence of his younger, altough equally mature brother but they managed to work into their speech about 6 blown up photos of me urinating in public.
I suppose it speaks to the relaxed, intimate nature of our relationship, and the confidence they had that this would not casue my new family to reject me. Lucky them.

Cafe Lurcat, the reception Venue

Wonderful meal, great venue, couldnot have been more pleased with the Cafe Lurcat, and cute to boot! We started with Champagne, and then a fuzzy salad of light greens and something I didn;t quite get a change to sample... then a side of sea bass basted in Miso, r a hanger steak, with vedgetables, and each table had a bucket of the most delicious fries ever, they are famous in minneapolis, as are the miniature hamburgers, which Jess pulled some strings and had a couple brought over to our table, for Buffy and I to share, not sure if she ever got to taste them though.... Then we did speeches, and thanks to My Dad and Buffys Mom, and then to Buffys brothers who pulled the nicet words out of thin air! And then on to the Best men, who we will deal with later....

The wedding Vehicle.


The wedding Vehicle.
Originally uploaded by Ben from England
our luxurious Kia Spectra, the chariot of choice.

My new Family


My new Family
Originally uploaded by Ben from England
An auspicious bunch of people, strong personalities abound, but the love flows freely and it will be a joy to add to the feast.

My new Family


My new Family
Originally uploaded by Ben from England
I joked the wedding was a takover not a merger, but I was very gald to see everyone get on and hopefully make freinds. it was a unique experiance in my life and I will always remember the people who made it so special for us.

Exchanging vows, rings and hints.

So this was it, and the only thought on my mind... "are brown shoes OK with a blue suit,?" No seriously it was a lovley time, and very serious, very adult. and then joyouse.

The ceremony.


The ceremony.
Originally uploaded by Ben from England
Its amazing how nerves manifest themselves, I became Mr Bossy and got into issuing commands and shuffeling people around. Buffy needed to change clothes. But it all came together well and everyone was where they needed to be, and looking down the aisle it was a vision of loving friends and family surrounding a proud mother and her glowing daughter, I wish I had a camera, it was a sight to behold.

Special friends


Special friends
Originally uploaded by Ben from England
Buffys dear friends Jess and Jill are failing hopelessly in their mission to 'Bring Buffy home' which is why it was so good they all got to spend some quality time together, it was also super to see their respective kids growing up so fast and so well, pat your bum and eat that cereal bar !

The hat boxes


The hat boxes
Originally uploaded by Ben from England
The british ladies pretty much all brought hats, and there were some wonderful concoctions on display, Buffy having never seen a hat box, let alone a john lewis hatbox was obviously in shock...
We were very pleased to almost meet everyone at the airport that came from europe (sorry Catherine and David!) it makes that first introduction to a foreign country and the difficult grid system (even with GPS) that bit easier.

The best men, and me.


The best men, and me.
Originally uploaded by Ben from England
I was ably assisted by the honorable Brothers Dempsey, on the left, Paul, the older brother, concerned for others, giving and generous, he made sure all went smoothly. On the Right Craig, the younger brother, cool calm and certificated clam in a crisis, he walked me through the landmine strewn area of vows learning, and held a steady head throughout.
I am deeply indebted to them both, and they did a fine speech, for which they will both be punished in hell.

Pre Wedding.


IMG_0031
Originally uploaded by Krissy Smyth
Before the wedding we spent 10 days getting prepared, shopping, and meeting friends and Family, the beautiful lady pictured, (not Buffy!) is Mrs Nolan, she threw us a wonderful dinner, which she spent days preparing, and was the prefect start to our wedding.
She is a special lady, a real firecracker and will kick your ass if you deserve it, so watch out!
This image was taken at a shower thrown by the estiemed ladies of Knox Avenue, and select specila guests, including I am pleased to say some of my aunts and my mother. A great time was had by all, or so I hear.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Us leaving the wedding ceremony

The church is on the campus of my wifes old University, and its a stunning building, huge, and old and well designed and obviously built with love.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Buffy took a digger










Buffy got her bike wheel caught in the tram tracks, and blam! scrapes and bruises all over. Including a nasty dent in the ego, and a bruised pride, it was very public. She is well and safe and I didn't laugh till I knew she was OK.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

The enviable state of French politics

Not sure if you are aware but theres some French general elections on at the moment. Not amazing in itself, and certainly not amazing to most jeded english peole, but its of GREAT interest to French people, and an astonishing amount and cross section of French people, I even heard some typical ;yoofs' dicussin who was better, Segolen Royale, or Nichols Sarckozy, and seriously, they were discussing issues, as well as who would win in a fight.

At the office, the two youngest employees spent over 15 miniutes dicussing the various metis of the different candidates, its refreshing.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Bens family


Bensfamily
Originally uploaded by Ben from England.
A brief introduction to the members of my family. Might help with some of the introductions, maybe we could do the whole wedding by email and blog... and fed-ex cake and mimosas to everyone, then we could all dive in a skype chat and video webcam everyone in!

Or we could press the flesh, communicate non verbally and get our flabby white asses of the couch and go be somewhere else for a while! yay face to face!

Sunday, December 24, 2006

And now there are 3


And now there are 3
Originally uploaded by Ben from England.
Me, Mark and Julia and Lukas, taken by Buffy. nice. Mark and Julia have just recently moved to France, to a little pretty town called Meymac, near the auvergne mountains, smack in the middle of France, they have bought a small gallery, with a flat above it, they are going to sell art and photos of the town, please stop by if you are in the area!

Cookies for christmas


Cookies for christmas
Originally uploaded by Ben from England.
Mmm perfectly browned, new recipie macaroons in pyramid shapes ready to be dipped in chotholate! these are for taking to the peoples houses we got invited to, we have some very generous friends.

Christmas gouté


Oscar and Fergus
Originally uploaded by Ben from England.
Our Firneds Eoin and Linda came over for a snack after a strenious bout of christmas shopping they brought their kids, Oscar and Fergus and we had a pizza making party, always fun.

Our christmas tree


Our christmas tree
Originally uploaded by Ben from England.


We are spending Christmas in France this year, we figure a three year rotation will keep as many people happy as possible, incuding us. This gives us a chance to try a few christmas traditions of our own, in case we ever have any of you people over. up for consideration are:

  1. Lobster instead of turkey
  2. 20$ gift limit (in year of wedding especially helpful.
  3. doing nothing on Christmas eve (difficult)

It happed very quickly, November, it just flew by, not leaving much room for December, this combined with our recent addiction to Gray's Anatomy , Arrested Development and stuff that greases the wheels - work. So it turns out we have been less than pro active about our necessary commitments to show our interests in the Christmas spirit. To make up for it the next few posts have a christmas theme. And we WILL be doing a card, but it will be a new years card.