Woke this morning to falling snow,it looked like it might be a lot.The temperature rose during the day and everything is slushy and wet.This is my last full day in Sarajevo,I have enjoyed me stay here.

Once again I have to say that I am really enjoying my time here in Sarajevo.There are so many things going on in this region at the moment,but have this chance to refresh in a quiet setting and with some really nice people.

We had some snow overnight,but it was followed by a really nice day.Sarajevo is a nice city and I am having a good stay here.It is just about 2 weeks since I started my journey and I have done a lot of things,but there are a lot more to come.

Boy I am travelling all over the place ( which may be why my cough is stll around ).Any way I was driven this morning to Sarajevo,where I am sitting in the apartment of a friend writing this post.There is quite a lot of snow in Bosnia at this time,but it is really nice to be here,more later.

And so I journey on, I am now in Banja Luka ,Bosnia.There is a decent amount of snow on the ground.i have become quite used to the travelling now and border crossing.

So after 1 nice day we had 2 days of rain,but I got to spend some quality time with my cousins in Rijeka.Then after a rainy and snowy bus ride I made it to Karlovac and some more cousins.A beautiful day followed which included a nice run in the village where my cousins live.More to come.

So it has been a while and I have not been able to connect with my wifi card.I am now at my cousins in Rijeka Croatia.I left Slovenia on saturday for Zagreb and yesterday I came by bus to Rijeka,which at the coast.Everything is going well but I still have my anoying cough,which despite all my efforts does not want to leave me.I think it is enjoying the ride.I will try to keep everyone updated as often as possible.Bye for now.

OK I am in Slovenia and coughing like crazy but I am having a great time,everyone is tolerating my condition.Too late for me to post yesterday.That is it for now.

So I am not completely cured but feel a lot better,I think partly because it is just getting to the end of it.I still have the occasional coughing fit ( which will unsettle a few people on the plane ).I am just a few hours away from a flight to europe.I will be doing quite a bit of travelling over the next few weeks,so my posts may not be quite so regular,internet connections permitting,but I will try to let you know what is going on with me as much as possible.

Sadly I recieved news today that an Old,Dear,and Good friend passed away yesterday in London.Though in his sixties he had the smile and the enthusiasm of a young boy who just wanted to go out and have some fun with his friends.He will be sadly missed but fondly remembered.On a lighter note another friend has just arrived in New York from overseas and has brought me a tea of special herbs to help me with my flu.I go out of town tomorrow so I have a lot of last minute arrangements.

I got a comment a while ago asking what the plant was I gave advice about in my local restaurant,it was a Dracaena, 1 of the common ones sold around here.Because of the cold weather we are experiencing here at the moment my flu is trying to stay,but my energy is good,I am sleeping well and I hope to push it away before I leave town in a couple of days time.

Well it was cold outside this morning, and yes I still have the flu ( though quite a lot of improvement ),but it is sunday and it was time to go for a run so Utpal and I ( in my new runing shoes ) were out there.We did not run too long and then stopped for coffee and a muffin.The whole experience seemed to help the recovery process,and I am generally feeling much better,which is just as well.

I'm sleeping well but I think that I am coughing a lot in my sleep,at least it feels like it when I wake up.The weather got warmer than they thought it would but it started quite cold.Normally I would stay inside and protect my cold,but I had to do some shopping and managed to find a really nice pair of adidas running shoes.Once I got back inside my flu started to improve , so we will see how it goes.

OK so the tickle in my throat turned out to be the beginnings of the flu that everybody at work has been getting .I thought I had been able to get away with a mild case of it 2 weeks ago.This one gave me about 7 hours of fever and a cough and my head occasionally feels about 2 sizes bigger but I think I will survive. Hopefully I will go a long way to fixing it over the weekend as I have a big trip coming up next week.

I seem to have acquired a tickle in my throat and a subsequant cough , however the weather is nice,but they ( whoever they are ) say it will get colder.

Today when I got home from work I was clicking back and forth between 3 stations to watch 2 different hockey games at the Olympics and Chelsea Versus Barcelona in champions league . Cz beat slovakia,Russia beat Canada and Barcleona won the first leg 2-1, What an afternoon!

My energy levels seem to be back to where they were before I got sick last week,the improvement in the weather probably has a lot to do with it.I seem to be adjusting to the extra work load at my job also , so all in all things seem to be coming to some sort of balance.

I have mentioned in earlier posts that one of my co-workers is recovering from cancer, this as led to me doing extra hours at work.as a result I have less time for other things,but this has become normal in this day and age.I can report however that my Agent now has the new draft of my children's book and it is now time to wait and see what happens.

It's hard to believe that just 1 week ago it was snowing heavily and there was around 2 feet of snow on the ground.There is barely a trace of snow out there now,but it is cold , 15f ( -8c ) and with the wind feeling much colder.there is bright sunshine.And so at 7am this morning I went out running with my friend utpal,and it was a really nice run,a nice way to end the week.

Well it's saturday and although I felt pretty congested and the temperature was 1 or 2 degrees below freezing it was my chance to run in the 2 mile race.I probably ran one of the slowest I have run in a time of 17mins and 5 seconds but I was happy to do so.In the olympics both the US and canadian mens hockey teams lost,and a favourite among some of my family janica Kostelic from Croatia won a Gold medal.

It's almost a week since the blizzard of '06 and because of the warm weather all week there is almost no sign of snow on the ground.However the snow that is there will stay for at least a few more days as we will have 3 or 4 days of freezing temp's.I must just say that I am reasonably happy with the TV coverage of the winter olyimpics and hope that the second week will be at least as good.

I studied horticulture in college and it has been a big part of my life for some time , though I do not use it in a proffesional way at the moment .I am however asked from time to time for some advice.This evening I went to a local restaurant to pick up some Italian food and spent 10 minutes telling them how to take care of a recently acquired plant.of course if I make sure they have well kept plants I will always get good food.

Everything seems to be back on track,just a few sniffles as the day went by.What a lovely day it was too with the temperature reaching 54f ( 6c ).So of course there is a lot of snow melting going on.This is my 150th posting since I started this blog so it is somewhat of a milestone,onward and upward.

This is a photo taken by a friend of mine named Unmesh and it was taken in the area of my home the day after the big storm.Today I have been neezingon and off all day followed by a very runny nose.My strength feels good,so I am hoping to recover quickly from my affliction.

This is a photo of sarajevo,but New York looks something like this today after what they say was a storm that brought 26.9 inches of snow.Today was nice and sunny and the melting of snow has begun. 

Well the weather people got it right and it is official,the blizzard of '06 is here.I had to shovel my way out this morning,with about a foot of snow on the ground and more comming down.Forecast is for as much as 2 feet of snow before it ends.it really puts you in the right frame of mind for the winter olympics that is going on at the present time.Warmer weather is on the way.

I am almost in heaven.The winter olympics have started and it is also the weekend full of football and rugby.The choice of coverage for the olympics is not bad though I can quite easily do without some of the commentators.The England Rugby team have won their second six nations match,and I had the chance to watch 3 EPL games on TV.

There are those that feel taking a nap during the day is not such a good thing , and I must say sometimes you feel worse afterwards than you did before.Sometimes it is just the right thing,the body needs that little bit of rest to set you up for the rest of the day.Today was one of those days,having worked a short day I took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon and afterwards felt so much better.They say there is a big snow storm coming this weekend, maybe I need to rest up in preparation for a lot of snow clearing.

It must be due to the recent cold weather,but I seem to have a really healthy appetite at the moment.My friend who was recovering from colon cancer,has now been told he has early liver cancer,he has found a good doctor and will go in for surgery in a few days with good chance of success. The photo here is one I took while in England. 

The days are starting off below freezing but manage to get above freezing during the day,so we have not had any consistantly cold days so far this winter.Also the days seem to continue on their fast track and my work goes by quickly,I do not know if this is truly a product of age.

Last night something seemed to just change and I started to feel the best I have since I got back from England.All day the energy was there and as I write this post I am still feeling good and we will see how the week goes.

The cold weather as once again returned,as is expected in the winter months.I tried to file my taxes electronically today but it seems that the free schemes that the IRS offers at the last moment are unable to file and suggest that one uses a pay version . I of course found that filing the old fashioned way faster and easier as well as only costing postage,so there.

Utpal and I went out for our run at 7am this morning,I had thought I was developing a chest infection but that seems to have cleared up.Today is super bowl sunday here in the US which involves hours and hours of coverage.I am happy to make brief excursions into the frey.

Usually at this time of the year there would probably be a decent amout of snow on the ground,but one of the side effects of the warm weather we are having is that this is manifesting itself as rain.We had rain yesterday and it is here once again today.This of course will help in the spring when all the trees and such begin to grow,and hopefully will also mean less of a chance for drought conditions later in the year.

This is a photo of a statue of James Joyce the well known novelist.It is outside a cafe in Pula,Croatia.I forgot to mention yesterday that it was the 125th anniversay of his birth.On a more recent note,the temperature went up to 61f today,it is February and already it is like spring. 

Didn't feel so good first thing this morning but it quickly got better and my day went well.A friend of mine was buying a car at a place near where I work and while taking the car for a test drive he gave me a lift home.America,what a country.

My sister gave me a book of poetry called Poem for the day a couple of years ago,and according to it today is the 155th anniversary of the death of Mary Shelley,of Frankenstien fame.I have just watched an incredible game between Man Utd and Blackburn which ended 4-3 to Blackburn I guess in was there monster for the day.

This morning I felt really energetic,but by the afternoon that had waned somewhat.feeling pretty tired, part of me wanted to go to sleep for a while.Suddenly something said go out for a run,and the next thing I knew I was out the door.I struggled a bit in the beginning but started to feel better as the run went on,though in the end I felt quite tired again I was really happy I went for a run.

It is like spring out there once again.I have started my normal running training again,my plan was to do the aerobic training for about 3 months,but I have to say that for the last week I have not been enjoying my running.I have noticed that I do seem to have gained some benefit from it,but I am glad to be back to normal running.I may have said this before but I feel it is of great importance to enjoy your running,and that sometimes means change.

My running buddy has just come back from another time zone so he called me just before 6am and asked if I wanted to go running early today.So off we went at 6:30am it was still dark out and the temperature is still mild.So here we are in 2006 and our regular sunday morning run schedule is once again underway.Oh! I just looked and after 5 minutes Man Utd are winning 1-0.

I may be back in New York but it is FA Cup day in the UK ,and of course anything can happen in the FA cup.Arsenal got knocked out by Bolton and Chelsea just managed a 1-1 draw with Everton,and yes league 1 side Brentford beat Premiership side Sunderland.Tomorrow my team Wolves host Manchester United should be a good game.Of course I will let you know the outcome tomorrow.

My friend Utpal is back in New York from is trip to malaysia.We have a kind of tradition,when one of us comes back from a trip,and both ofus are in town,we go for a run.It gives a chance to adjust after the trip and also to have a good old chinwag about what has been going on.

I don't know what it is but work seems to go by quickly these days ,which of course is a good thing.Thwe walk was quite cold this morning,and once again I am greatful to my sister for the new winter coat she gave me,when I was there visiting.I am lucky that most of the time I am happy with the work I do,and this helps it go by quickly.I wish you all the same.

We have a crock pot in our lunch room at work,for those of you who don't know,a crock pot is an electric slow cooker that can be used nicely for soups and stews.The one we have makes enough for about 5 hearty bowls.Each of us brings an item to work and we make a good wholesome soup. Today we made a cabbage soup with lots of veggies and a crushed tomato base,great on winter days.

I have been back for 2 weeks now,and I think it was the first time since I came back that I saw a frost on the cars while walking to work.Much nicer in the afternoon,cool but with bright sunshine. 

I am hopeing that if my training goes well sometime in the spring I will get to do this again.The day started with rain,but I managed to get lots of things done.Of course monday is washing day and that was one of the things I did.

A gloriouse morning out there bright and sunny though the temperature is 34f ( 1c ).I very much enjoyed my run,I am still doing my aerobic training,though I must admit I have wanted to break out of it a couple of times in the last week.It is a good disciplin and I think it will help me later on in the year when I am running in my ultra races.

This is a photo of the view I had while running near my sister's house while in England

A really amazing past 2 days once again the high for today was near 60f .I have just finished reading the Chronicles of narnia,the last 85% of which I read this week.I personally have just made the next step in getting my own childrens picture book published by a major publisher.It is a slow process but I am getting there,and will keep you all informed as to my progress.

It feels like spring out there the temperature is 61f (14c ) apparently this ties the high temp for today since 1951>then I see on the news that it is -26c in moscow,so here it is very mild and there it is really,go figure.

They say that the Temperature is between 6 to 10 degrees above normal at the moment which is quite nice.It seems that this weather will stay for a while and it is giving me the chance to catch up on a few things.I will try and post more photo's in coming days.

They say that the temperature is about 10 degrees above normal at the moment,and indeed it is nice,though do seem to require a little extra sleep at the moment.I don't know if that is the weather or something else,anyway it's nice to have a nap now and then.

Today was warm and wet almost like spring.I watched a valient Burton Albion lose to the mighty Manchester United in their 3rd round FA cup replay.Man U will now play my Wolves in the 4th round at Wolverhampton.Here you can see the river Penke and the railway bridge. 

This is a photo I took while in England,this is where they used to put naughty people in olden days,neat uh! 

The temperature this morning as I walked to work was 17f ( about -10c ),though it warmed up quite a lot by the afternoon.During the weekend it was said that we are on course for the second warmest january on record.I have become quite engrossedin the Chronicles of Narnia, which was given to me at christmas,and am now into the 5th book of the collection.I am enjoying it very much.

It is amazing how things can change overnight,I awoke this morning to see acoat of snow on the ground and a temperature of 25f ( about -3c ) and much colder in the strong wind.It should stay cold all day but at least be sunny in the afternoon.I must say that the new winter coat that my sister gave me for my birthday is nice and warm.

It's saturday and the first weekend for me back in New York,and it turns out to be a rainy one.The rain has fallen all day,but the temperature is quite mild,it is more like a day in October than a day in January.A friend is having a party tonight but don't think I will go,it has been a long week and I think I need to chill out.

So it's the end of the week,and I only had to work a few hours this morning.The weather is not too cold but there was a fog when I was walking to work.It is overcast and the air is really damp.I am finally managing to catch up on a few things that were needed now that I am back in New York.

This photo is not from my trip to England,but one I made to the west coast in the summer

I cannot believe how nice it is outside,it is january 12 in New York and the temperature is 57f (8c).the sun is shining and I have just completed my second day back at work since my trip to the UK.I will start to post some photo's of my trip in coming days,so stay tuned.

So I had a good nights sleep,then woke up at 3:30 am,of course I rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour.It felt kind of quiet walking to work this morning,I managed to work a full day.Then on the way home ,stopped in to see my friends at my favourite eatery.I must admit that I am starting to feel a little tired as I write this,so it may not be long before I hit the sack as they say.

I got up this morning at 3:30 am ( 10:30 pm monday )the airport service took me to Manchester ,it seems abird had sacrificed itself by flying into the nose cone of my plane on the way from New York,so my flight was cancelled.They gave me another flight through London,but that had a de-icing problem in London and took off late.So I arrived back in New York at 5pm(10pm UK time) .So I had a long day,I will sleep well tonight.

This is my last day in the UK before returning toNew York.It is cold and damp,and really quiet,since I am the only person in the house.I just about have all my packing done and I am ready to go home.It has been a nice break,but there are a lot of things waiting to be taken care of in New York,so tomorrow I'm back on Eastern Standard Time.

Oh my! It's FA Cup weekend.Happily my team Wolves managed to make it to the next round,with a 1-0 win against Plymouth on saturday.This afternoon I sat with my nephew and watched Burton Albion,a local non-league team .hold Manchester United to a 0-0 draw,to earn a replay at old trafford.The great thing about the FA Cup is that anything can happen,sometimes against form.

So here I am in the place where I grew up and today it snowed,just enough to cover the ground.Of course I see on tv that the weather in NY is warmer than here.

When I am in England I go to visit my cousin in the village where I grew up.She has a guest room and it makes it really easy for me to visit old friends if I want to.She and her husband would make me a nice dinner when I visited,sadly my cousin Tony died of lung cancer a few years ago,it is nice to spend a few days in the area that meant so much to me in my youth.Today is the day I go visit.

It is a very cold overcast day,and my cold seems to have re-surfaced.The cabbage parcels went down well,my niece and nephew said I did a good job.Although it is still 6 days away I have started thinking that I will be back in New York soon,but this morning I got to watch something I do not get a chance to see too much of in NY.I watched winter biathlon on UK Eurosport,it made me look forward to the up comming winter olympics.

Since I am a vegetarian,whenever I visited my mother she would make a meal for me at least once that became a favourite in the family.it was cabbage parcels,filled with rice,walnuts and italian tomato's.Today I made it as part of the family dinner,when I had finished the prep for the oven,I went for my run and the sun came out through the rain clouds.I hope this was a good omen.

The village (officially it's a Market Town ) where my sister lives is quiet and peaceful.There is a stall market twice a week,which attracts a lot of people from the surrounding area.The path that I run on is made of asphalt but has lichen growing on it,which you some idea of the air quality around here.It is a nice place to be for a few weeks.

Another beautiful day ,and all is quiet.Well not really, the phone as been ringing a lot.It seems a lot of people decided to wait until today to call and wish us a happy new year.There is a full slate of football games today and I will let you know how my team does tomorrow.I know you will all be waiting with baited breath.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! It is a beautiful day out there as I ran along the country road near my sisters.There were cows looking at me with a mild curiosity,and it felt really good.I hope 2006 will be a good year for everyone,I always like to a little forward but stay in the moment.

New Years eve.The weather is not bad and the day is full of football ( soccer ).I watched Arsenal stuggle to draw with Aston Villa 0-0.I will see in the New Year at home with my family,which is probably the way it should be.

A somewhat cold and rainy day,but went with my sister to buy a new dvd recorder.Then I had to help her set it up,things are a little different here in the Uk but I managed.Other than that it was i bit of a lazy day.

There is a frost on the ground that is so thick it looks like snow, and the temp' is around -6c(26f).I a feeling about 90% better,and my beloved Wolves won 2-0 yesterday after losing 2-0 on boxing day.My friend Abichal should be close to or finished running in a 48hr race in Arizona,I hope he did well.

My head still hurts,but it is getting better.There is snow in some parts of the country,but here we just got a good frost.There are football ( soccer ) matches today but some have been postponed because of the weather.My nieces friend is making curry for dinner tonight,that will probably kill my cold.

Woke up this morning with a thick head,it is that time of the year ,and I think I am probably eating too much junk food .Well it is Christmas.We did get to see some snow,but it was just blowing in the wind.

Today is what we call in England,Boxing day,it was tradition many years ago to box up old presents and give them to those less fortunate.So after recieving something it is a chance to give something back,indeed a really good idea.The weather here is rainy today,but here in the countryside all is green.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS !!!! Yes it 's that day in the Christian calender we opened our presents nice and early,but it took the whole family plus guests about 2 1/2 hours,one at a time.It is a little foggy,but the sun is trying to break through.The house is full noise and happiness and cheer.

It's christmas eve and I have recieved a couple of Christmas e-cards from friends afar.The house is full of family and lots of preparations are being made with the food for the big day.

Woke up nice and early this morning ( 5:30 ),and managed to get out on the road for my first morning run since I got here.I have been running in the afternoon until now.It is cool but bright and sunny.I took my camera with me and made some nice photo's that I will post at a later time.In my family it is officially christmas eve,eve.

It is now officially winter,here in this part of the world.today was the day for me to wrap my christmas presents.Once that was done off for a run on the same country road I have been using for the last week and a half.My editor has made the changes to my Dilly and Dally story and it looks pretty good.

A few days left before Christmas,and we go grocery shopping.This involves getting food for 2 weeks.The shops are surprisingly not as busy as they should be.Manage to get in a nice run in the afternoon.

There is a house full of guests,my niece Tracy, her friend and her son.We all went shopping this morning,which is mild but overcast and wanting to rain.Managed to get a few extra presents,only a couple of days away now.

There is a really nice family bakery in the village called jaspers,and everytime I am here I like to get there cherry scones,they are worth waiting a year for.My friend Utpal called me this morning,it seems it is raining a lot where he is .My niece Tracy will be arriving later today,she is visiting for the holidays.The weather is once again warmer.

Well I stayed up late last night and watched my beloved New York ( Footballing ) Giants win there 10th game this season.Then after a nice,but cold run this morning watched football ( soccer ) almost the rest of the day.The joys of being in England.

It's saturday,I'm in England and I'm surrounded by sport,particularily football (soccer).To plagerize an american baseball movie," is this heaven,no it's England".There is so much football on tele,it is almost too much,but I am really happy.I've only been here a week.

Just want to say that it is wonderful being in the country.Though it is a little cold at the moment I have the chance to run on beautiful country roads with green fields and farms all around.It has been more than a week now and I am really happy with the discipline of my aerobic training,one has to be very steady.I think maybe that my diet is a litle better.

OK, so it is much colder today,but nice and sunny,not much to say so we will leave it at that for now,and see what tomorrow brings.

Up nice and early this morning,and off to a place called Merry Hill shopping center,I spent most of the day there with my sister and my nephew,doing the last of our christmas shopping.The weather here is still quite mild though today we didn't see any sun.It was tiring but we had a good day.

Boy am I feeling so much better today!It is a little colder outside,there was a frost this morning.But the village where my sister lives is so quiet and peaceful.I also get a chance to catch up on a lot of football ( soccer ) action especially my local team Wolverhampton Wanderers who are doing ok,that's about it for now.

Slept like a log and my jet lag is a little better,the weather here at my sisters is really nice and I have a chance to rest and relax in a quiet environment. Christmas is just a couple of weeks away.

Flight was fairly un-eventful and quick,For some reasonI seem to have a pretty strong case of jet lag,The weather here in the UK is a bit better than in NY ,and of course it is nice to be with my family.It is 52 years to the day since I was born,so as soon as I arrived at my sisters we were off visiting various aunts and uncles then later my nephew and 1 niece visited me.I am now posting on Uk time.

I am just a few hours away from my flight to England,and a number of last minute things have come up,but I am almost finished.It is a beautiful day out there,though still quite cold.By all accounts it is a little warmer in the UK,I will let you know.

According to the reports there were a lot of people in central park for the John Lennon aniversary.The weather this morning was a mix of snow and rain,afternoon though cold was quite sunny and pleasant.I managed to take care of a few last things before I go to England tomorrow.One of them was to watch the draw for the world cup of soccer I am happy with Englands group,and will enjoy watching the games next summer.

Ok so it is 25 years since John Lennon was shot here in NYC,I seem to remember that it wasn't quite as cold as it is today,and it will be hard for those that come to pay homage in the park today. 

Winter is definately here this morning the walk to work was in a temperature of 26f ( about -3c ).The wind made it feel a lot colder especially on my face.I have a few more days in NY and then I am off to see my sister for the holiday season.

Well we didn't get as much snow as was expected,but it was still nice to see it blanketing the streets of NYC this morning on the way to work.I have started to do aerobic training for the winter months,which involves me running with the heart moniter my niece Michele gave me some time ago.I will try to keep it up for about 4 months this winter,and it should help my racing in the spring.

It was at this time of the year 25 years ago that John Lennon was shot here in New York.This is a photo I took when I visited central park last year I will post more later. 

Woke up to a winter wonderland,snow not quite as heavy as this ,but maybe just as pretty.Temp just below freezing but pleasant,made for a really nice run for Utpal and myself,It should get warm enough for most of the snow to disapear later. 

Although winter is still 18 days away officially,it really felt like it today with temp's around freezing the whole day.Surprisingly the same number of runners showed up for the 2 mile race . I spent some time with my friend Abichal talking about Ultrarunning.I write articles for his multiday website occasionally and he says the last one I wrote has been getting some attention,you can check it out by clicking on the multidays.com link on my links list then going to the multiday blog.They say there is snow coming tonight so it should make it interesting for my run tomorrow morning,keep you posted.

Today is of course my short day at work,so I used the extra time wisely and went Christmas shopping.I got some nice presents for my Nephew and niece.The day is very wintery,cold and windy ,but with some sunshine.

Well it is finally December and the holidays are not far away.I have had one night to sleep on it and I think I have my plan of action ready,though yesterday mind was a little different,I am now listening to my heart and know the right thing to do with regard to my children's book.So wish me luck,my sister already did.