Okay, so it's actually been NINE MONTHS since I updated this blog - and even back then in February, I was writing about things that happened SIX MONTHS before that!

This is going to be a super bullety - as in, one bullet per month - update of what's been going on with me since, erm, the autumn BEFORE last...

- Sep 14: A spot of hiking with Bernd, Thomas & Eddy; various lunches & dinners; Oktoberfest craziness with Mikko & Jussi from Finland and Siobhán & Gary from England and sundry friends from Munich; huge flooding in my living room thanks to torrential downpours & a blocked downpipe; Wasen madness in Stuttgart with Marko, Franz, Harry & Dieter - including the theft and miraculous recovery of my manbag.

- Oct 14: Oktoberfest fun with Lizbeth & Ole from Norway and Paul from London & Johannes from Sydney; fun times with cousin Paula & her hubby Paul, including hiking, beers, coffees, beers, food, and more beers; a trip to Mallorca with my choir!

- Nov 14: Successful concerts in Palma de Mallorca and even a swim in the still-warm Med; a literary dinner at Jörn & Antje's (shame about the book: GB84); breakfasts, lunches & dinners at mine; at trip with Bernd to Buenos Aires - hell yeah!!!

- Dec 14: Wow, Buenos Aires is quite a city! I'm really going to struggle to contain myself and just write the one bullet, but the city was AMAZING and the trip to Salta and the surrounding Andean countryside was SPECTACULAR!! I'll put photos up soon - I promise; insane amounts of work that utterly destroyed my holiday chilledness in about 36 hours; a visit from Chris, Kate & the girls that went some way restoring my sanity (and all the Glühwein helped); a fabulous visit from my cousin Jack's granddaughter Sophie & her bloke Nathan from Brisbane - my rellies are all just amazing, whichever branch of the family tree they hang from!; Christmas at Michaela's with the boys and our Aussies; a New Year break in Zurich with Lorna, Béné, Marie, Toni, Matthias & Pablo.

- Jan 15: More Zurich fun, including a Japanese dinner with Mirèia & David; a visit from Ivos (who also wanted to catch up with Lorna while she was around); a cheeky weekend in Amsterdam with Béné & Toni; a thundersnowstorm - a personal first, and one that I probably would've preferred to experience NOT on my bike trying to cycle home from work!

- Feb 15: A visit from Austrian rellies (cousin Eva & her niece Verena); a week off work sick - wow, THAT was DULL; a cheeky weekend in Düsseldorf visiting Micky and experiencing the life of a DJ and fellow gourmand; Christian's legendary Kasspatznessen with all the Stammtisch people.

- Mar 15: A choir weekend in Pfronten, including a delightful walk through the snow to a nearby brewery recommended by Manu; Hamish from Scotland spent a weekend visiting, including a shit load of sausage - not for the first time!; Kenan from New York spent a weekend in town too; so did Earl from Canada. 

- Apr 15: A long weekend in Berlin with Bernd, Felix & Sebastian, getting up to all sorts of nonsense; beergarden fun with Martin, Barbara & their little Jakob; brunch at Hofbräu Bachmeier with Béné, Marie & Toni, including six bottles - yes BOTTLES - of prosecco between us!; Frühlingsfest fun with Franz, Marko, Enrico, Stefania, Mara; Auer Stammtisch fun.

- May 15: Simon from Amsterdam visited for a weekend; Hamish & Duncan from Scotland came for a weekend (and boy did we eat meat!); day trip to Regensburg to visit the Maidult with Franz, Marko, Enrico & Béné, including a fab Italian dinner at Enrico's cousin's restaurant; a FANTASTIC birthday party at Nockherberg, made possible by Toni's friend Herwig's ex-colleague who is a waiter there and opened up the Kaminzimmer especially for us, so my 40+ friends who came didn't have to stand in the freezing cold beergarden; another cheeky weekend in Zurich, this time for Matthias' 40th birthday.

- Jun 15: Cracking weekend in Rome with Enrico, including dinner with Tony & Luciano; Forschungsbrauerei fun with Michaela, Russ, the boys, Steffi & Tommy and Caro & Arron; a Francophone dinner at mine with Corinne, Béné & Julia; Stammtisch at Schinkenpeter; finally some hot summer Flaucher sunbathing and barbecue action!

- Jul 15: Chris came to Munich for a few days; two-week family holiday in Hungary & Austria, including an overnight stay in Sopron, a week at Lake Balaton, a crazy weekend in Budapest and some chilling in a hotel in Burgenland; CSD in Stuttgart with Franz, Marko, Steve and Harry & Dieter; Pascale, Pepe & the twins Mateo & Daniel came to visit from France!

- Aug 15: A serious of incredibly delicious meals with P&P&twins and various other people; a crazy weekend in Hamburg with Bernd, including catching up with Thom and staying with Marco; more rellies from Austria (Martha & Hans); Hans-Sachs-Straßenfest with Al from Washington; more beergardens, more restaurants, more fun, including at Felix's birthday party; a lovely visit to Rasmus, Lene, Johan, Marie & Elias in Denmark!

- Sep 15: Madness in Reykjavík and environs for Bears On Ice with Christian & Christian (photos to follow - I promise!); another insane weekend in Berlin with Bernd, Rupert & a cast of thousands; a week of way too much good food in Munich with Hugh & Lee and Vincent & Natacha; Oktoberfest debauchery; a visit from Dudi from Israel; culture in the form of a Bayerischer Rundfunk Chor concert at the Prinzregententheater with Thomas & Eddy.

- Oct 15: Oide Wiesn fun with Dave from Texas and Otto from Munich, including scoring a table by seeing Michael Strssmnn from across a crowded Zelt; Karen's 50th birthday with Russ & Tine; fabulous Thai food with Christoph; a stupendous weekend in Madrid all on my own (but not for long); a delightful weekend in London staying at Hugh's, including a lovely catch-up with Justin and Nick, brekkie with Julie, and an afternoon with Simon & the whole clan Blair; a wonderful week having Tye & Sarah from New Zealand to stay; a hilarious evening at the Kammerspiele with Christian, Sabine & Rudi to see Gerhard Polt, a German comedian and scathing genius; a lovely weekend out at Ronald & Sara's near Traunstein.

Phew! I'm all up to date! ("For how long?" I hear you ask. Well, we'll see.)