Sorry this is going to be a short message but I am about to head off down to the river to have another go at being dragged along face first behind Abbey's speedboat (Wakeboarding they call it). My arms are so sore from the little go I had yesterday I'm not sure I'm going to be able to grip the handle today.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas wherever you are! I have uploaded a couple of albums today to the Australia Section! so enjoy and expect more over the next few days!

So at 9:45pm Wednesday 20th I am flying out to Australia to join Abbey and her family for Christmas and New Year in the sun! I am going to be down under for 3 and a bit weeks returning on Jan 16th but will be keeping this site updated with blog entries and pictures (Taken on my snazzy new camera)! Although I will miss Christmas with the family it is going to be amazing to spend Christmas with Abbey and her family in the sun!

Ah well better get on the road as I fly this evening!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL - see you in the New Year!

After years of taking pictures and migrating up through the range of cameras from compact 35mm through APS (Never really took off did it) to digital compact then onto 35mm film SLR I have decided to take a big leap into the world of Digital SLR! About a year ago I decided I wanted to get a bit more serious about photography and purchased a Nikon F50 SLR film camera and a couple of lenses. This camera has been great in allowing me to experiment a bit and I have had a few nice results, it is however rather expensive to purchase and develop films.

The joy of digital means that with this new toy I can have all the freedom and tools offered by SLR phototherapy at the running costs of a compact digital camera (well once I have re-cooped the rather obscene initial costs)!

keep your eyes out for some better quality pictures appearing on unclejack n the near future!

So in true Gregory style we got the keys at 4pm Friday and just 27 hours later we chucked a party! We had just about managed to get all the boxes in and the odd blind or pair of curtains hung.

The most important thing however, the massive fridge, was one of the first things we opened and plugged in - cold booze is a necessity at a party!

The party went brilliantly without too much damage being casued to the new crib. I eventually kicked the last folks out around 4:30am - Great party, made it feel more like a home rather than just a new house!

Once again a brilliant night was had by all with last of us eventually turning in around 5:30am!

Great food, plenty of booze and some bonza fireworks made this annual event as bigger success as ever!

As usual, Mum and Dad will be hosting their annual extravaganza that is Bonfire Night @ 54! Usual folks invited... So wrap up warm, bring a bottle and don't forget to bring a box of fireworks.

Hot dogs will remain on the menu this year in loving memory of Bouncer "The Wonder Dog"!

After challenging each other to run a half marathon this year Clare (Cousin) and I found ourselves driving up to Newcastle on Saturday wondering exactly what we had let ourselves in for!

Not exactly being avid runners we have spent the last few months trying to get fit enough to complete the Great North Run. Things started off brilliantly with the pair of us starting in our respective time zones and running confidently. I was flying for the first 9.5 miles when suddenly disaster struck, after running 8.5 - 9.5 minute miles my body decided enough was enough and I went dizzy and passed out during mile 10. So I sat down for about 20 minutes regaining my composure (and drinking a lot) before setting off again.

The last 3 miles were hell as stopping had let my legs cool down so they just cramped up every time I started running. I finished (even if I had to walk a bit) in 2:39:24, not the time I was hoping for but it has inspired me to run more and do better times in the future.

Once we managed to find each other it became apparent that Clare had had a disaster of her own with blisters almost putting an end to here race. She managed to get a paramedic to strap her feet up before continuing to the end in a time of 2:37:30!

All in all it was an amazing day out, a great experience - can't wait to go back next year!

It's been a while since I updated this site so I thought I would post a quick update for you folks who check out unclejack on a regular basis!

I have very busy with work recently making a few Skowt sales (got a new advert going next months Scouting Magazine!) and getting a contract working over in Chester!. So at the moment I am working for a Dutch Pharmaceuticals Company called Wolters Kluwer, it’s a good job that will hopefully continue up until Christmas!

I know it's been a while since I added anything to this site but in my defense I have been having loads of fun up in Edinburgh. Working for both Nextontheatre and VIP theatre doing the lighting and sound for their respective shows every day has kept me rather busy!

Anyway here are a few snaps from up here at the festival including some of the flat.

At last Mum has her dream car and it's absolutely gorgeous - I am a very jealous boy! Ever since owning my very own classic MG Midget I have wanted another little red sports car, and now Mum has one and I don't!

Ah well I suppose I should get back to work, make those millions and then go out and buy me a 911 Turbo!!!!

Abbey has managed to get a picture of herself at this years Oxygen festival in Dublin on the BBC news website!

Click on the picture to the left to see the page - picture 6!

Uncle Mike and Lydia (Cousin) had a joint party this weekend at their house in Northwood, London. We all had a brilliant day eating amazing food and enjoying each others company. It was a great chance to catch up with some relatives who I haven't seen for ages.

Mike and Lydia had a brilliant day and received some very nice presents indeed - I am very jealous of Uncle Mike's workshop he is having built in the garden of their new house.

My Grandfather(Papa) has been a Potter for about 50 years now and throughout his life has always wanted a wood fired kiln. A wood fired kiln, as apposed to gas or electric is "every potters dream" as it kind of makes the whole process as natural and true to its roots as possible. However wood fired kilns are not quite as readily available as the other types.

There is however a company up in Lancashire, Northern Kilns who are in the process of putting a kit together with a view to full filling a lot of Potters dreams!!

Papa had been in touch with the guys up there who decided to invite us up to help them build a prototype and get some feedback on their design. We had a brilliant day out and the sun shone all day.

I spent this weekend up in the Lake District with the Explorers at an event called Dragnet. Dragnet is an event where teams of 4 Explorer Scouts have to navigate through a narrow corridor of Cumbrian fell without being caught by teams of experienced catchers. The event is approximately 35 miles and starts at a secret rendezvous point at midnight Friday and the winning Team is the one that reaches the end point the closest to 11am Sunday with the most lives.

The 2 Teams we entered came in a very respectable 5th and 3rd place - previously we have only had 1 other Team complete the event so the teams did exceptionally well in terrible conditions.

Abbey is working over in Belfast at the Royal Victoria Hospital for a few months and has already come over to England to see me a few times so I decided it was time to go over there to see her! I flew over to Belfast International Airport on Friday evening from East Midlands Airport and returned Monday evening.

We had a really relaxing weekend exploring the City and the Botanical Gardens, Belfast is well worth a visit especially in the sun!

Wow what an amazing weekend I just had in Newquay. About 18 of us headed off down to Sunnyside on Thursday for a weekend of surfing, camping, partying and general fun and games! The weather was great the company was better and the location was all we expected it to be - Newquay is so much fun!

Friday night saw an amazing transformation as 18 friends from 2006 travelled back in time to the end of the 1950's as we dressed up for a Grease themed night on the town for Lizzy's Birthday!

This Sunday was spent in the Garden enjoying good food and better company celebrating Mum's Birthday in the best way possible, with the family all together! Dad bought Mum a very snazzy new bike, now named Bella the Birthday Bike. So I am looking forward to a summer of Bike rides around the lanes near home with Mum.

Summer has started with this years inaugural BBQ/Party kicking things off in style! Dave and Flo hosted a bruddy brilliant night at their Hasland Crib where amongst other things a pretty intense Petonque tournament was held on the lower lawn!

After 3 years at East15 Acting School Edward, my younger brother, has graduated and is now a professional actor! He along with 2 course mates have set up a Theatre Company and are taking their show Painters to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August.

We had a brilliant family weekend in the sun!

After years of talking about it we finally got a team of 7 together to attempt the 3 Peaks Challenge! So at 7am on Saturday the 7 of us (including a 2 strong Antipodean contingent) along with a driver (Tom Clayton) set off up to Fort William, Scotland. Starting at 4:07pm at the bottom of Ben Nevis we began what was set to be a pretty tough 24 hours.

Up and down Ben Nevis before 8pm we ate fish & Chips and hit the road for the Lake District. On arrival we were all pretty fired up for the night accent but starting to feel a little tired. Scafell Pike turned out to be a bit of a bitch to climb and took us a lot longer than planned (Plus 2 members got injured). Down by 8:30am with the clock ticking we dived into the cars and set off for Snowdonia.

After a bit of crazy driving and some sleep depravation issues we got to the car Park at Penn-y-pass where the 5 challengers still fit set off at about 11:30 am to knock of the last mountain. The sun was baking down we were tired but adrenaline and plenty of will power carried us all to the top in no time at all. Just time for a quick photo before heading down again to ensure finishing within 24hours. Although we all finished at different times the last members (Rob Wood & Me) saw our official time set at 22hours 40 minutes - KNACKARD but very pleased with ourselves!!!!

Myself, Abbey, Pete and Rachel decided to go off to North Wales for the weekend camping! We had a brilliant weekend and even managed to get sunburnt on the beach on Sunday.
Apart from Abbey showing us blokes up by getting straight into the sea without hesitation a brilliant weekend was had by all! It was a bit cold on the Saturday night so we decided to make a warm punch with our 3 bottles of wine and some left over apples.