A Weekend of Celebration. 30/07/2011

Phew there is a lot happening this weekend. First off my Oz Cousin arrived (I'm meeting her tomorrow) then we went to the first of the weekends shindigs. It was Tina's Birthday Garden Party. We had a great afternoon with lovely company, food and drink. We were joined by our friends and took the old A line Bus to the party. Parking around their area is a nightmare at the best of times. At the moment there are roadworks there as well so the bus is really the best option. Dave had made some home brew ales. Now some home brewed beer I've had in the past have ranged from 'bland' to 'ugh!!', but these were good! There were two varieties, one called 'Rain Stopped Play', which was nice, flavoursome and perfectly gluggable. The other, 'Wet Weekend' was lighter than the previous and again surprisingly drinkable, and not too strong either. I may have to have a crack at this homebrew, maybe get some winter ale ready for the annual Firework do in November.

We left about 6pm then realising we both couldn't drive as we'd had a few so it was a quick call to the Chinese Takeaway for some home delivered house special Chow Meins.

Didn't sleep too well last night. But early this morning I went out like a light. Got up about 8pm to let the cats out, well one went out the others just sat there staring at me. I think food was on their agenda rather than their first dump of the day!

After a spot of brekkie we had a call from our friend. She had arranged us three Eurostar tickets to Paris. I'm made up! I thought we wouldn't be able to go because the cost was prohibitive for 3 of us, and they were fully booked for the days we could go. Off to Asda for our weekly shop and I picked up a couple of shirts at £12.50 each, with tee shirts as well. It was nice to see that one went through the checkout at £6, I love a bargain!

Then it was off to Dartford for a family get-together at my Brother's place. We had four birthdays to celebrate (Mum, Sis in Law, Nephew and Sister of Sis in law). We were also meeting our Oz Cousin. I met her in 1997 and it was great to see that she was still the nicest, bubbliest person from all those years ago! Anyway she seemed to like the Pimms, having never had it before. I think a visit to Duty Free may be in order for her! The weather was lovely, its about time we had two good days in a row.

Home now to watch the GP. I have a busy week next week already 4 evenings are booked out so I have one evening to record a 2 hour show for next sunday...Phew!

The Party and a photo that haunts me 23/7/11

I finally succumbed to the fish today. Let me explain, Sarah had her feet nibbled by these fish a while back and she has been talking about visiting a place in Ashford that had opened recently. So I thought 'what the hell' and handed over a tenner for 15 minutes of fish nibbling. In my opinion a not unpleasant experience but very ticklish to start off with. It got me thinking.....Those fish must think they are in a Monty Python sketch. All they see are large feet bearing down on them!

As were were at a party tonight we decided to take lunch at the Blue & white cafe, a great place on the A20 near Ashford. The Gypsy Tart was particularly good, and so large that we shared a portion between us.

We were at a Golden wedding anniversary party tonight. It was great to catch up with some old friends, some I have known from my childhood. As my mate pointed out in a photo album he had made for his (celebrating) parents... there was a picture of me, him and his sister, He was sitting on a giant toy dog, she was pushing a wheelbarrow, and I of course had to pick the pram, and he has always pointed this out whenever we meet! He is fifty next year so no doubt the album will appear again, and I will still be pushing that pram in my tartan trousers and bad knitwear. Next year I'm going to tell everyone about the 'cool' two tone shirt he bought from Mr Buyrite in 1979...One wash and the collars & cuffs fell off!

I was expecting news on the TV tonight about the killings in Norway, so I was slightly shocked to discover Amy Winehouse had been found dead. I was always saddened by her inability to shake off her demons, but I also thought that she would never release another album after 'Back to Black'. A tragic waste of a genuine talent.

Didn't sleep too well last night, I woke about 3AM and started sneezing. I hope that's not the start of a cold! The cat made sure I didn't get a lie-in so it was up just after 8am, fed the cats then some brekkie and then on the PC to finalise my playlist for today's show. We were at ASDA about 9:40 so we managed to beat the crowds. After dropping off the shopping it was a quick trip to Dobbies for our monthly free coffee and a scone. Then home for the German Grand Prix. I had to take another route to the coast today as here are hold ups on the M20. actually I quite enjoyed not have to do battle with lorries on the roundabouts of Dover! 2 hours of deejaying on Danceweb Radio then home for a chinese takeaway. There were some excellent programmes about the space shuttle on the TV tonight, so I ended the day happy!

A Few Minor Adjustments....Weekend 16/17 July

I have become a lazy blogger again. Early May was the last time I posted, so I thought I would re-vamp the page and attempt to keep a weekend blog. Why not every day? well basically weekdays are too humdrum to comment on in my world so I thought the weekend would be more interesting, because that is when stuff happens.

Saturday has gone all awry! I was supposed to be at the Lions Den Music festival but other plans had been made, then they got cancelled. So we ended up shopping in Canterbury where we had to buy new bed linen and duvet for the spare room. Lunch was nice though, a steak baguette and chips in the Weavers House Restaurant, a very popular spot for Japanese tourists as well, the place was full of them. I like Canterbury, especially seeing overseas visitors spending their lovely money in our shops! Of course it pee'd down with rain, then a gust of wind destroyed my umbrella. Luckily it was only a cheap one.

We had to go to our friends in High Halden that afternoon to collect the solar telescope which he had borrowed from the astro society. The weather was awful, and on the way back I saw a car travelling in the opposite direction to us on the A28 performing a rather uncontrolled 360 and ending up on the grass verge on our side. I stopped to ask if they were OK and they said yes although they did look rather shaken. People really need to drive according to the road conditions. If I had been a few hundred yards further up the road he would have taken us out as well.

After the weekly trawl around Asda we got home, booked some cinema tickets online for Harry Potter's latest & had some rather nice tex/mex food. then settled in front of the TV.

Sunday I was up quite early (for me anyway) so after a spot of brekkie we did a bit of housework then an astro society member popped in to collect the solar telescope. Not that he's going to see much sun in this weather!

So off to the cinema for the 3 o'clock showing. We always like to get there early so we have the pick of the seats, unlike some. Nothing boils my piss more than people who turn up right when the film is about to start, sit at the front, don't like it there and expect you to move so they can get past to a seat in your row, as what happened today. I noticed the film projectors have now gone digital. there were no scratches or specks on the film at all, but there seemed to be a lack of resolution, almost like a noise on the film. Maybe I'm a bit picky. However the film is terrific. If you have read the books and seen all the other movies you won't be disappointed. Not too sure about the trailer for 'Cowboys vs Aliens' though...Hollywood must be running out of ideas!

we rounded off sunday with a trip to Yeungs chinese buffet and as usual I ate way too much, but I love the food in there and I think at £11.80 it is still good value for money. Home now and in time for Top Gear as well...can't be bad. We have Monday off so I don't have to worry too much about work tomorrow....nice!