Friday 30 November 2012

Cars at the Good Food Show

Had a lovely day out today in Birmingham. Elaine picked me up and I was surprised her car was a burgundy colour but didn't think much of it.
Driving along she was surprised to find a sixth gear in her car so she tried it out. Turns out she has swapped her old car for a lovely new one.
Great show and enjoyed watching James Martin who also turned up on the stage in his new little car. It was that tiny, and he was quite large that his only way to get out of it was to lean out, tip the car sideways and crawl out.
Interesting recipes from him, also saw the whole Masterchef crew of John, Greg and Monica. Andi Peters from Blue Peter and various others from various tv shows.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Declan's birthday

My great nephew (how old am I) is one today so my mum and dad hosted a little party for him at their house.
He particularly enjoyed the trifle and blew out the candle on his cake with a bit of help from his mum.
He was given a little drum and stick as a present and he soon started mixing up the drum with his trifle bowl so kept tipping it upside down and really thumping it hard.

Saturday 24 November 2012

Wet tram crawl

Margs and Dave are here for the weekend and we have been out for a pub crawl on the tram route.
Started at a the Fox and Crown in Basford and had a Thai lunch and then went up to a crazy place in Hucknall that had no customers, no furniture but surprisingly had the lampshades that M and D want in their new lounge.
We then found the William Peveral in Bulwell, which was a Wetherspoons and a bit boring.
On to Hyson Green and tried the Horse and Groom and The Lion. Both were great real ales places with a lovely atmosphere.
The Frog and Onion lost out as they had no beers on and no food. They said we turned up at the wrong time, which is strange for a Saturday night!
Followed up with The Gooseberry Bush, Langtry's and the burger bar.
Stopped raining at last at about 9pm.

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Christmas lights switch on

Exciting night tonight in the Market Square. It was the Christmas lights switch on by Richard Whitehead, the runner from the Para-Olympics who we saw win a gold medal.
Unfortunately we didn't quite see that bit, but we saw the fireworks out of our windows and then went down to watch Mike's kids perform in the orchestra at the Council House.
Ps, and have new technology now so am taking photos on my camera and then loading them on my tablet - fancy or what!

Monday 19 November 2012

Giant intruder

Got back from cycling yesterday and this giant metal thing had appeared as if by magic.
We had seen huge articulated lorries with meccano pieces on them waiting to be unloaded. I remarked to Darren that they were going to make a big wheel, but he pointed out that a lot of the pieces were long and straight, so he said maybe they were going to make a big square.
I suppose he was slightly more correct than me.
One thing is for sure though, and it's that I am not going to try it out.

Sunday 18 November 2012

Triangular canal cycle ride

Bright and sunny day today and went for a 24 mile bike ride around three canals - Beeston, Erewash and Nottingham, I believe.
Lots of splashy puddles all along the way and the Nottingham canal towpath was very muddy, but it is November, so what can we expect really.
My feet were little blocks of ice by the end, but they started to warm up after a lovely cappuccino at Paul's.

Saturday 17 November 2012

'Your dearest wish will come true'

Just been out for a lovely Chinese meal and this is what my fortune cookie said. What did Daz's say? We'll never know as he ate it whole, message included.
Not sure why my pictures have such a crazy glow. The second is of my dearest wish, which is a beautiful tablet thingy in a lovely red case.
Ps, did the Paul Parkrun with P and D today and it turns out that when I ran it alone I got it a bit wrong and ran further than I should have. However, the 'real' route is a bit short, but we had a fantastic sprint finish as this time it was all downhill to the tape.

Thursday 15 November 2012

Paul's genuine 5k Parkrun

Daz sent me a copy of Paul's carefully measured route, but it was that complicated I had to print a map and then draw the route in red biro.
I am hoping I am the first person to try it out and it was a bit like orienteering as I had to keep referring to the map all the way round. I don't think it could replace the Saturday morning route as they would need about 50 volunteers to cover all of the corners.
However, it is a beautiful route that is extremely undulating. The first corner is really bad as it is such a steep downhill on a slippery path and is currently covered in leaves. I had to mince carefully down that bit, and felt lucky not to have ended up on my bottom.
Enough excuses, it's great fun and very different to my usual runs.
I did it in 29.37 and I passed Paul's front gate at 15.30.
Can anyone/everyone beat that??

Sunday 11 November 2012

Remembrance Sunday

Just been to the square for the two minutes silence.
Large respectful crowd and two very frightening loud guns.

Thursday 8 November 2012

Deux fantastiques films francais

I really, really must try harder to learn French as I have just watched two French films and they were the best ones I have seen all year.
Both had subtitles and we watched them to try to improve my language skills, but they turned out to be brilliant.
Firstly 'A town called Panic' which was a crazy cartoon starring a talking horse. Not helpful for learning the language as all of the characters spoke really fast and were using helium balloons, I think.
Secondly we went to see 'Untouchable' at the Broadway. It sounds a depressing story of an invalid hiring a reluctant helper, but I laughed out loud all through it - only criticism - it could have gone on for longer! Who would have expected me to ever say that?
Finally, I have become an aspiring Mary Berry and made a caramel and banana shortcrust tart.
Never made pastry before  and my tiny mixer just created a huge flour cloud so I did it by hand. Never made caramel either and for ages the sugar wouldn't melt. Threw the first lot away and tried again, still nothing happened so in the end I just left it on the heat and watched the telly and thought if the pan got burnt I could always throw it away, but eventually it worked.
It's at the back of the photo of the pizza, as although it tasted lovely, it wasn't much of a looker.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Excellent squash - and I won the raffle!

Just sitting at home calming down after an amazing squash night out. The club was packed solid with cheerful supporters all cheering MB Nottingham on.
Unfortunately we lost 5-0 to Pontefract, but they put out a team including the world number one, James Willstrop, ex world number one Lee Beachill, and the current Indian number one, Saurav Ghosal.
Our brilliant youngsters fought really well, but all succumbed in the end.
Last up was our new player, Scottish number one Alan Clyne. Really worried for him as I thought he would be totally outclassed, but he nearly won his match against Willstrop. He leapt, jumped and threw himself all over the court and must be the new home crowd favourite.
Finally, the only home win of the night - I won two bottles of wine in the raffle.

Sunday 4 November 2012

Rocket party

Out tonight to Malcolm and Carolyn's for their rocket party.
Fantastic food from Carolyn as always.
The idea is that everyone brings a rocket - I couldn't find one but bought a bucket shaped firework instead. I might be biased but I think ours was the most spectacular, although Peter's 'cake' shaped firework was pretty good too.
Really good to see all of our old neighbours, particularly Neil and Eleanor who bought our flat and have taken our place in the community.

Saturday 3 November 2012

Parkrun in about 27 minutes

Haven't done the Parkrun for ages as had achilles issues, but went this cold, rainy morning.
Mike and his family were all acting as pacers. Mike was on for 24 minutes, Kieran was 27, his mum was 40 and his dad was the Tailender.
Daz ran with Mike and I set out to keep up with Keiran.
I struggled along for the first half, then hit a good patch. Keiran was counting down each minute until we were due to finish and there was quite a crowd running around us. At the last turn he said '400 metres to go, so run ahead if you can'. I said I'd wait until 200, so he shouted it then. I tried to go, overtook a few people but then hit the wall. Keiran drew level and I finished a couple of metres behind him.
Just seen the results and I came in 90th place in 27 minutes 15 seconds.
Thanks Keiran.
Ps Daz got 57th place at 24.37