Roy, Susan, Janine and Lauren, joined us for lunch. It was a little hurried as they got held up and we were destined for the annual carol concert later in the evening at the Salvation Army in town. Luckily, Ann had done most of the food preparation the day before, so there was very little …
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Family Boot Sale and Pressy Swap
Tempted? Me neither!We drove up to Denis’ today for lunch and the mega-pre-Christmas-present-swap. Those present: Bev, Roger, Oliver, and Ann. Jane was working and Lee didn’t feel too well (so she stayed at ours). We had a great journey there – where was everyone? – the A1 was deserted! We stopped-off at Mae’s grave in …
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Anniversary Lunch and a Long Screw
No, not the effects of the wine – that IS a tree hanging from the ceiling! It was good to revisit The George in Stamford today – we haven’t been there since November 2010). We’d arranged for a celebratory lunch there for our second anniversary – for us, it’s the perfect venue. After struggling to …
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Amazing Special Effects!
Click on the pic to go to the YouTube link We’ve all become used to awesome special effects in films and TV these days, but this is soooooo clever! How did they do it? Even cleverer when you learn that it wasn’t made by the BBC, but a very talented individual!! – Remember, this scene …
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Anniversary 2/29
So, here we are – our second wedding anniversary (or 29 years together in ‘old money’!) ..and we’re still talking! …and sometimes to each other! But seriously, some things just work well together, and I’d put us up there with other ‘perfect combos’ such as Morecambe & Wise, grated cheese & baked beans and Cameron …
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Christmas has Begun…
When does Christmas officially start for you? For us, it’s when we’ve bought the Radio and TV Times… …blown the dust off my reindeer slippers! Classy ehh? …put the tree up …decorated the fireplace! and sampled a few Christmas wines!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Tech Alert: No. 831
Technophobes, look away now! This is a handy piece of kit – it’s the tongue-twisty Huawei Mobile WiFi E5776. The device gives you your own wireless network wherever you are using the 3G/4G network – so no more rip-off fees from hotels to use the internet!!! It’s about the size of a cigarette packet (remember …
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Android’s ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ Update
My Galaxy S4 got a hefty 700Mb+ auto-download today to update it from ICS v4.21 to ICS v4.3.
Christmas Stuffing
We invited Chris and Pete & Jo, Janet and Carol over for a pre-Christmas get-together and lunch today. Lee joined us too – a ‘full-on’ pre-Christmas stuffing awaited us! Ann had worked hard in the kitchen on Saturday preparing it all – creating a choice of two starters, roast chicken for mains and two desserts. …
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Double Birthday – Fondue Frenzy
Yummy! Our favourite – a rather cheeky sweet redWe walked (yes, unbelievable I know!) the quarter-of-a-mile to Julie and Tom’s tonight. Trish and John were there, and so were Karen and Paul, Rosi and Dave. Rosi had arranged a surprise double-birthday-meal (for Julie and for Paul), complete with a visit from a local wine expert. …
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Be More DoGGGG!
I travelled down to London today to catch-up with Sally B and Diana D. Mostly social, but we did talk a bit of business too! Thanks for lunch Sally – Carluccio’s was scrummy. Whilst I was in St Pancras International, I took the opportunity to slip into ‘geek mode’ and see if the phone would …
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Full-on Saturday
The Vines, Barton Hall, Kettering Even though we’re smug enough to say that all the Christmas shopping is finished, today was one of those ‘not-a-moment-to-breathe’ days – there just seemed to be hundreds of little jobs that needed sorting. In spite of an early start, we didn’t get back from town until almost lunch-time – …
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A Date with ‘Calendar Girls’
Lee, Ann and I drove over to Stratford-upon-Avon tonight to see Second Thoughts’ production of Calendar Girls. After a slow drive there because of congestion on the A14, on arrival it wasn’t the warmest of nights, and so not an ideal evening to ask the cast to dis-robe! Second Thoughts always punches above its weight, and …
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HSL Project – Friday
Fifteen rolls of wallpaper, more white paint than you can shake a brush at, plus 47 tea-bags later, Honor and Karen from Paint-Pals are 99% finished. Everything looks fab and once the radiators, lights and alarm panel are re-fitted next week, we’ll be totally sorted! Some ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots next week. Nice one ladies …
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HSL Project – Wednesday
Apart from Monday, where, due to my enthusiasm for getting all the ‘little’ pre-jobs sorted, I had decorators, electricians and plumbers literally tripping over each other, the re-decoration of the Hall, Stairs and Landing is back on track and going well. Honor and Karen from Paint Pals are doing a fab job with most of …
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HSL Project – Monday
This week sees the Hall, Stairs and Landing getting a major makeover. In order to ensure the most professional of results, I’m NOT going anywhere near the wallpaper, paint, electrics or plumbing – I tend to play to my strengths, so I’m looking after teas and coffees!
Doctor Who – 50th Year Anniversary Episode
(But I would say that wouldn’t I?) After the mega-hype of the past few weeks, unless you’ve been on another planet (except Gallifrey), you can’t fail to have experienced the ‘buzz’ via every possible means, shouting about tonight’s episode. And yes, I got caught up in it all (and enjoyed every moment of it!) The …
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Bath time – Day 7 (final day)
It’s our final day in Bath today – and ironically, the brightest, sunniest and warmest day of our break so far! Our plan was to cover a few more sights, including the American Museum at Claverton Manor and Castle Combe, but things didn’t quite work out that way! First of all, we drove all the …
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Bath Time – Day 6
Today, Ann and I switched to ‘full tourist mode’. Lee stayed behind to catch-up with daytime TV, whilst we headed for Bath town centre. After the obligatory visit to M and S for some foody-essentials, we then took a slow stroll around the town taking in the sights. After a pit-stop at Jolly’s department store, …
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Bath Time – Day 5
The Thermae Spa in Bath Today was another wet day, but for all the RIGHT reasons. We drove into Bath and headed for the Thermae Spa (after a brief visit to M and S). We came here a few years ago, and just like last time, even for a confirmed NON-swimming-pool addict like me, it …
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Bath Time – Day 4
After yesterday’s downpour which seemed to last most of the afternoon, it was good to see the sun shining today. On today’s itinerary, it’s Tetbury and Cirencester. The day is very much Lee’s, as these two towns are very much ‘old stomping ground’ for her. Cirencester in the freezing Sun After the statutory late breakfast, …
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Bath Time – Day 3
Another lazy breakfast followed by a check on the weather forecast that indicated that unless we managed to buy an ark, the morning was going to be a better choice than the afternoon for being outside. So, it was off to Wells and to begin, a visit to its famous Cathedral. Scenes inside and outside …
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Bath Time – Day 2
The View from the Kitchen A lazy lie-in this morning! A rare treat meaning we didn’t have breakfast until 9am!! – A unusual event – and wonderful in equal measure! We’re not sure what to do with ourselves today. It looks cold and foggy outside so that sounds like a perfect day to attempt to …
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Bath Time – Day 1
Phew! Here we are then at The Coach House in Batheaston. It’s 5.30 and we should have been here by 4! Just our luck that this was the day when (according to the local news) a 48-wheeled monstrosity of a transporter also decided to also make its journey along the M4 and off at the …
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TV: The Revolution will be Televised
This programme is worth a look – ‘The Revolution will be Televised’ – showing on BBC3 on Thursday nights. Not one to watch with Granny, as the language can be a bit ‘fruity’, but the sheer balls of these two guys in doing what they do, makes it worth watching, even if some of it …
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Doctor Who – Before He Was Famous
BBC2 HD is a showing a wonderful homage to William Hartnell in the role of Doctor Who next Thursday at 9.00pm. Penned by Who-fanatic/actor/star of League of Gentlemen/Sherlock script-writer and all-round nice person, Mark Gatiss, the programme shows the lead-up to the commissioning of Doctor Who in 1963 and is entitled: An Adventure in Time …
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Doctor Who – NOT ‘The Day of the Doctor’
Come on, who’s getting bored with all this ‘The Day of the Doctor’ stuff? Well, not me for one! But for temporary relief for those who are, how about The NIGHT of the Doctor – a mini-episode that’s just popped up on the web courtesy of the BBC! Billed as a prequel, it probably is …
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Windows Wednesday
I spent an enjoyable day with my old (well, not so old) friend Tim C, helping him to sort out a few headaches with his sparkly new Samsung/Windows 8 laptop. Having only Windows 7 PCs here, it made me realise the steep learning curve that users are going through making the switch from ‘7’ to …
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Time Travelling – for real!
In spite of my near-obsession with Doctor Who, I was transported back in time today without the need for the TARDIS! How? By looking at some up-to-date photographs of the house where I grew up with Mum, Dad and my Brother. The two-bedroom semi is up for sale for 190k and Neil had found them …
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Malware Monday Morning
I spent this morning over at Paul and Sue J’s helping them to rid themselves of a rather nasty piece of malware on one of their PCs. Whilst I was there, we attempted to get their XP PC to ‘talk to’ their Windows 8 over the network. Whilst the malware exercise went well, the latter …
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