FlyBritishMidland

Great to hear, @FlyBritishMidland! Yeah my first word count from the publishers was 90k. Quickly realised that was way, way below what was needed. In the end, the book could have been half the size! Glad you enjoyed it mate.
And a huge thank you to everyone who has got a copy of the book or just expressed any interest in it. It's been absolutely mental these past few weeks as the book went up to 2nd in the Amazon football charts, which is about 1000 places higher than I ever hoped for. Don't ask what Roald Dahl is doing in the football charts (no idea either). Up the Rams. ?

Finished this today and I really enjoyed it @HuddersRam.  It’s the first book I’ve read that’s written about a period I’ve been “part of”, the others being about the 70’s glory years and just before I started supporting The Rams.  I could relate to the games, the players, the memories - good and bad.  It made me realise how much has happened in the last 20 years.  So much so that some of the chapters could be books in their own right!!
 

Its almost crunch time for a lot of us, not knowing how we are going to feel over the next 10 days or so. 
 
Hope everyone remembers that it’s okay to feel rubbish and isolated, there’s nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. It’s totally natural if you feel low in ordinary circumstances, let alone in the current climate. 

Arrived yesterday.  Just in time for the Mrs to wrap it for Christmas Day when she can enjoy the look of total surprise on my face when I open it!!

Admins/mods, apologies if this is inappropriate or in the wrong place!
As part of a personal mission to make a difference both to myself and others next year, and hopefully to also provide a boost to our local healthcare services, I am committing myself to running 10k each time Derby County fail to win a game (i.e. draw or lose) during 2021. If current form is anything to go by, I'll be stick thin by March!
I have started a GoFundMe page to hopefully do a bit of good while also having a bit of fun following our beloved Rams next year. I struggled to settle on a particular charity to support but have gone with the Derby and Burton Hospital Charity in light of the fantastic work they have done in tough circumstances in 2020. If you would wish to donate and provide me some much-needed motivation I'd appreciate literally anything!
https://uk.gofundme.com/f/running-10k-if-Derby-county-dont-win-dbhc
My other thought was for the Derby City Mission who I know we had done some fundraising for on this forum earlier in the year, please also consider helping their cause if you would prefer;
https://www.derbycitymission.org.uk/
Long and the short of it is...
We're going to make it a good year in 2021. Quote me, screenshot me, @ me.

Applications are now open, membership is free, you just have to love having a striker that doesn’t end up on his arse every 5 minutes and can piggyback defenders with ease.
Who’s in?

I had 6 pints of Pedigree yesterday in a pub and two glasses of red wine at home.
My poo this morning was pretty awful tbh.

The B side of this single was ‘Silence is Golden’ which I still have but nearly wore the grooves out!
It’s up there with
Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever (etc.)
Like a Rolling Stone/Gates of Eden
and a few other double A sides.

Love this kit

So all those who said we need to make allowances for all the crazy stuff that happened last season, then that we need to make allowances for all the injuries at the start of this season, then who stood by and applauded the incoming signings and then got hope from the first quarter of a hour of today's game - ah that's how Cocu wants to play - then BANG!!!
Individual errors, at least two from Rooney, and all those "allowances", signings and signs of positive play are forgotten.
Let's get Cocu out and bring back someone who had a team made for him and still failed to get us promoted. Or someone who spent loads at Bristol and didn't get them promoted. Or negative Hughton or Howe.?‍♂️
For heaven's sake, patience means patience... Giving time means more than "twenty minutes".
Cocu in. Think long term. COYR ?

The Patrick collection, elegant sophistication ahead of its time !

Cheers everyone. The one thing I really didn’t want was to spend today in hospital. It’s been tough as because of Coronavirus we are limited to one parent staying and the other is only allowed 2-7. 
She’s doing ok and is expected to make a full recovery, what happened on Tuesday has happened 4 times now (Tuesday was the 3rd) and they are finally acting on it. 
I managed to see my wife and daughter on my birthday, it was only for 5 hours but it could have quite easily have been for none. 
Thank you again to everyone, I just felt like I needed to vent yesterday to release a bit of frustration, disappointment, anger. 
This photo sums up our relationship to a tee. 

in a bid to keep Patrick from overheating this summer, I started throwing his ball into the paddling pool, meaning if he wanted to carry on playing, he’d have to retrieve it! It was initially half an hour of him trying to paw it out, scared to put his face into the water. After an hour, he was jumping straight in to grab the ball before it sunk. On Friday night, i was throwing in the frisbee and a heavier ball, forcing Patrick to submerge his face, which he eventually did in a bid to keep playing! 
 
I was proud of myself, thought I was some sort of dog-whisperer, until his owner rang me on Sunday to tell me that he’d jumped into the stream to chase ducklings and then later, jumped in the pond to play with the Koi carp!!! 

Now then ladies and gentleman... firstly I hope you are all well and secondly sorry for the mother of rants which is about to unfold...
As some may be aware from the ‘new parents’ thread I made last year I am lucky enough to now be the father of the most incredible little lady this planet has ever seen, also from that thread some of you may be aware that the pregnancy wasn’t all plain sailing. 
Unfortunately neither does the living side seem to be. Our daughter had corrective surgery to save her life at 1 day old... in the next 44 days before coming home she would go on to have 5 collapsed lungs, 2 cardiac arrests, 1 blood transfusion, 7 ventilations, 2 more surgeries and numerous amount of pain relief/medication.
last Friday though everything was brilliant and me and my wife were finally able to bring her home... the next few days were the best of my life and something that we were robbed of for the first month and a half of her life, we had numerous visitors and for to introduce her to her family.
on Tuesday we went to the park with our other daughter as quite understandably she was quite overwhelmed and a bit jealous about her new little sister... whilst at the park I was feeding Clara-Leisa who subsequently stopped breathing and vomited blood through her mouth and nose. I had to do CPR in the middle of the park on her as the air ambulance (absolutely amazing) and 2 road ambulances turned up. 
Thankfully I managed to get her breathing again and the incredible paramedics and drs kept her going and she’s on the mend.
i don’t really know the purpose of this post but just felt it would possibly help to have a Release.
photo’s included of how she is today as I realise what I’ve written is traumatic and we could be a lot worse... 

Turned the garage from a dumping ground into a more inviting space. 

The old boy fell asleep this morning for the last time.
14 years old, RIP Bruno, the loveliest, friendliest, daftest dog you could wish for ?
 

If you move the "S" from the beginning to the end of that word then you'll find that it relates more to the other side of the A52. ?

I’ve previously posted a couple of pics of our cat Simba and dog Ollie.  I thought I’d share a picture of our new addition Jack.  He’s coming up to 6 months old and we’ve had him for just over 2 months.  He’s Ollie’s younger brother.  He originally went to someone else but they handed him back to breeder after a month ?.  We decided to have him and how could you not love that face and proper puppy dog eyes!!
 

Why do you ALL have dogs that just look disappointed in you? Lol

Aggie loving the evening sun,a little over 60 kg these days but not as tall as Igor.

I’ve previously posted a couple of pics of our cat Simba and dog Ollie.  I thought I’d share a picture of our new addition Jack.  He’s coming up to 6 months old and we’ve had him for just over 2 months.  He’s Ollie’s younger brother.  He originally went to someone else but they handed him back to breeder after a month ?.  We decided to have him and how could you not love that face and proper puppy dog eyes!!
 

She has been to the groomers once, and they said she was a nightmare, which I can believe, they only did around her eyes, paws and bum, because she is a puppy, she is still only 5 months old.