Sunshine at last

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The weekend, the sun shone at home.  OK rained Saturday night, but Sunday was lovely.  Was able to catch up on the grass mowing.  Looking at the way the willows have grown this Summer there should be plenty of fuel for the Winter.

Did manage to get some of the galleries updated onto the web.

Weekend Away in Cardiff

Cambridge Visit to the Docklands

Weekend away in Paris

There is still our Cornish and French holiday along with some photographs of the family from the sad occasion of the funeral of Jean Blasdale.  They should be available in the next few weeks.

Another week in Edinburgh

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Not so wet this week.  Walked to work in shirtsleeves most days.  Very brave thing to do when in Scotland.

On Monday met up with Jimmie and had a few pints and a Chinese Meal in that Edinburgh Establishment of Jimmie Chungs, a Chinese buffet chain throughout Edinburgh.  After eating there a visit for another drink and entertainment at the Burke and Hare. Finally Whistle Binkies for a nightcap and some life music.  Must admit Jimmie Chungs was not that bad and quite cheap.  The Burke and Hare also was selling pints of Stella at £3.00 which is not too dear.

Tuesday met with Ed and Mary, where we had some pints at the Doric, and a bite to eat.  Haggis tatties and neaps for me.  Why is there always a drunk trying to tell you there are better places to visit in Edinburgh; the real Edinburgh.

Wednesday was liver rest day.

Flight back on Friday was better than usual, only 30 minutes late, so home by 21.00.

Back home and the weekend.

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Friday was yet another tedious day.  Easyjet was 2 hours late departing.  But then so were most airlines.  Bad weather down South was to blame.  Rumors also circulated that the roads out of Luton were all closed due to flooding.  Luckily these were all clear before I arrived down there.  Managed to crawl home by 10.00pm.

On Saturday we paid a visit to John and Carol for an excellent supper and a good old binge drink, staying the night.  Menu was French, including the wines.  None of that foreign stuff from around the world.

Sunday was a slow start recovering, then back home to that grass.  The sun out, and no rain, so little excuse, the grass had to be tackled. Must be 6 weeks since it was last cut. Then a quick tour around the field with the strimmer cutting down any remaining thistles.  Miles, bless the man, had topped the field while we were away.  Probably necessary to allow the sheep some access to the remaining grass.

 Needless to say the field pond was brim full, very unusual for the time of year.

Another new resturant in Edinburgh

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One of those days when it rains, then hot sun and rain again.  Lots of those at the moment.  Managed to miss most of the showers, but was caught in one when on the way to lunch at the Café Royale for a pint of IPA with Mary and Ed.

In the evening I decided to try Shaws.  I had been given a flyer the previous day.  Shaws says they provide Scottish Cuisine with a Mediterranean influence.  They also provide three course meals of good quality for £12.95.  This cannot be bad, especially as I had gone over budget the previous day at the Indian resturant.

Started off with a duck salad.  Small slices of duck breast served with some leaves and reduced balsamic vinegar.  The duck was cooked so that it was very slightly pink.  A good starter.

The main course was chicken breast stuffed with haggis, served with  cream sauce, potatoes carrots and neaps.  Again this was very good.

Finally ate a sticky toffee pudding.

Shaws must be new, it is slightly off the beaten track in that you would not walk past it.  It is on 21 Old Fishmarket Close which is a very narrow alley running between the Royal Mile and Cowgate.  I would recommend the place.  They do the set three course dinners Monday through Thursday, and a cheaper lunch time menu.  There are five or so choices on the set menu.  They also have an A La Carte menu.

Their website is http://www.shawsrestaurant.com

Back in Edinburgh after our holiday

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We spent a couple of weeks camping in the South of England and in the South of France.  Got back on Saturday and then rushed over to Ely for a reunion with some Cambridge colleagues.  More information to follow on both these events.  Rosemary will be writing up our fabulous holiday in France, and I will be putting together the website pictures.

Now back in Edinburgh working for the bank.  Arrived in absolute torrential rain.  The evening turned out good though.  Ate at an Indian resturant and had a very good meal indeed.  The place was dry, so no alcohol today. The resturant is called Khushis, located in Victoria street and was established back in 1947 and has a website, though of course not from those dark days.

Silver Wedding Anniversary – July 10

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We don’t seem to be able to remember our wedding date and often when we do, we discover the date’s already gone, but this year we had checked well in advance, because we knew it was our silver wedding anniversary.  We spent it camping in France (about which more to follow eventually; R a big let down on write-ups).  That evening we sat in the car and looked out at the lashing rain on the widscreen.  Far too wet for a bbq, so what to do?  We decided to walk into Mayreuis (Languedoc-Roussillon), the campsite’s local village, and ate a pleasant meal in a local restaurant.  And, oh yes, it rained as we walked back and dived into our tent.

So it was a lovely surprise when we got home to hear from R’s brother Steve & sister-in-law Marilynn in Canada.  They had remembered; most impressive!  They said to watch out for a gift in the post.  Several weeks into August (we suspect it got held up in the various rotating postal strikes in the UK) a parcel arrived.  R waited until the Friday, when S came back from working in Edinburgh, so we could both open it – a lovely silver, footed, International Silver Co dish (brother Steve unsure whether made in the States or Canada) and a gorgeous cut-glass, silver lidded salt & pepper, around 1890 to 1920.  Both much admired by visitors.  But best of all is that M had cross-stitched a celebration sampler which means we now have one, as well as S&G whose celebrates their wedding, and R’s mum & dad whose celebrates their golden wedding anniversary.

Edinburgh

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It’s my fourth week in Edinburgh.  Eaten at the usual places, the Mai Thai, Petit Paris etc.  The weather has been awful, cold and wet.  The longest day has now gone by.  The flights home have always been delayed, such that last week I was not home until gone 10.00pm.

 At least I have a couple of weeks off next week.

[Editor’s notes:  Too long in Scotland must have caused Steve to spell “fourth” as “forth” (as in bridge)] 

 

Murder Mystery Night, 8 June 2007

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Friday night saw The Square Pants team (Selina’s idea of a name; R&S had no clue why that name, while Graham objected, but was overruled) try their luck at the Quaintwood Players Murder Mystery Night.  Held in Grendon Underwood’s village hall, we were entertained with a half hour play about, coincidentally, an amateur dramatic group. 

Beforehand we had sat down at tables & chairs and realized this was serious; a list of suspects and whodunnit solution piece of paper lay waiting for us to ponder & complete.  During the break, another clue was given to us as we ate of fish & chips and we discussed the intricacies of the plot and alternatively dismissed and accused every suspect.  The cast came amongst us and answered questions.  The finale was for the cast to sit on the stage while each table asked them clever questions.  Should we ask red herring type ones?  Smart-arse Selina pointed out we could do that only if we had a theory, which plunged us into temporary gloom.  But suddenly we realized who it was!  It was blindingly obvious!  Why had we not noticed before?  We looked around triumphantly. 

We sat there smugly as the murderer(s) revealed themselves…..but, wait, hang on, the cast had got it wrong and had the wrong person(s) and the wrong motives!

The Kingswood Tug Of War

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The ususal tug of war against our next village neighbours never took place.  Sunday the area was prepared.  Nettles were strimmed down, a foot bridge was built over the border-marking brook, and a dam built of corregated iron was placed against the road bridge.  All this was done in the cold, wet rain.  Hopefully the day of the event would be better.

Monday moring, George rang, wondering whether we should cancel the event.  It was still raining, and had been all night.  So we decided it should be cancelled.  Drove down to the border to dismantle the bridge and dam.  On arrival was a little worried our dam building might have been rather too effective, the water was flooding the surrounding fields and was higher than the bridge arch.  Luckily this was not the case; the whole of the river on the other side of bridge was also above the fields.  There was nothing we could do to retrieve the dam on the bridge until the water died down.

 It rained the rest of the day.

Final day in Paris and back home

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Today we visited the Pompidou centre, after a major delay in departure from hotel due to my not being able to find my passport, but finally it appeared in a highly original place.  The Pompidou centre is a building with the services on the outside, it is a truly dreadful, already showing its age with grimy pipes and services.  Each service pipe is colour coded; Green for water, Blue for Air, Yellow for electricity and Red for lifts.

The centre houses a library, which opens at 12.00 a.m and had students queuing an hour beforehand.  As well as the library, there is a restaurant on the sixth floor, with a good view of Paris and tables on the roof each decorated with a rose.  Alas the restaurant priced itself out of our reach, although not quite as expensive as the Jules Verne restaurant on the Eiffel tower.

The building also houses modern art, three floors of it.  Starting on the sixth floor were a couple of exhibitions.   We spent rather too long on Samuel Beckett and the Airs De Paris.  Moving on then to the fourth floor of modern art, the type of art which is represented by the pile of bricks on the Tate Modern.  Again spent far too long in that area.

Back on the fifth floor was the type of modern art which did have some originality and graphical excellence.  Here there were pictures by Picasso, Leger, Jean Dubuffet, Matisse and Salvidor Dali.

Getting late, we went and ate in a nearby café, both of us opting for the Spaghetti Bolognese, far better and far cheaper than the night before.

Off to see La Defense du Temps, a special  clock in the Clock Quarter; disappointingly it was being worked on and hence not showing the correct time.

Back to the hotel to pick up the bags, then through the Metro in the rush hour and onto the RER to the airport.  Terminal 3 at Charles de Gaulle airport is not nice having very few amenities, no good food, no reasonable bars, and an extremely bad announcement system which is impossible to understand with all the echoes.