Mistletoe and Wine 24-25 December 2011

Saturday We were up reasonably early today as we have to take the cats down to Snave before our trip to Birmingham. as per usual it was a bit of a military exercise herding them into their carriers. We tend to go for the element of surprise ie sneak up while they are eating and bundle them in. All went well except for Frankie who seemed to know what we were up to even though we hid the carriers from view. We hit the road about 10:30 am and made good progress. We stopped at Beaconsfield services on the M40 for a spot of lunch and was surprised to meet my mate John from the old Radio Joyce Green days. He was on his way north as well. After a big mac and a chat it was my turn to drive and again we had a great journey and arrived at Sarah's parents about 2pm. We had a surprise visit from Andy who had gone to Manchester to buy a car and came back with a bargain BMW. He stayed for dinner then we went to Sarah's brother whilst Andy drove back to Kent. Christmas Day Up at 8:30 then no time for brekkie as we were raring to open the presents. I then Skyped my Oz cousins for a chat. The was a thunderstorm in Melbourne so no BBQ on the beach for them! it was great to see them though. it is great how technology can bring us closer together. After a smashing dinner, where I won £2 on a scratchcard we all set about doing different things. Sarah played her new game on her 3DS, Kamran's Dad visited and I had a go on Kam's Train set! I was showing them the photobooth app on the ipad and we took a few silly pictures. We then rounded off the evening with a spot of tea, a quick look at Dr Who, games of Logo, UNO and Newmarket. there were a few fireworks to be set off as well. A great day was had by all! Until next weekend .....

A bit of a do....17-18 December 2011

Saturday.

We were out and about reasonably early for a Saturday, buying food and drink for tonight. we decided to be a little adventurous and bake a cake. I haven't made a cake for over 20 years so I found a recipe for lemon drizzle cake on the internet and gave it a go. We had to sample the goods to ensure quality and I wasn't disappointed.It was lovely. We spent the afternoon tidying round and preparing food for friends who were coming round for a pre-Christmas get together. I even had time to sit and watch a couple of old Dr Who episodes. The evening was great, the food was all consumed so it must have gone down well. Then we decided to play a new board game we purchased a few weeks ago called 'The Logo Board Game'. I think everyone enjoyed it even though Lukey got a set of questions about a TV game show he and Kat had never heard of, and that really lost them the game...

Anyway a great time was had by all. I'm fortunate to have good friends down here in sunny Ashford! 

Sunday

We had a bit of a lie-in today, but one member of our clan is definitely feeling under the weather today. Arnie has not moved from the bed yet. We will just let him sleep it off and hopefully he will be ok by tonight. If not its down to the Vets tomorrow night. After catching up with the Strictly final and a spot of lunch it is time to get the music together for today's show on Dance Web Radio, the last one of the year.
On the way to DWR my phone rang. I was told that a server somewhere had crashed but, as I was two thirds of the way there I carried on if only to have a cuppa and a chat with John. As it happened all was OKby the time I arrived and  there was only a short outage, so I carried on regardless. I had a troublesome turntable this afternoon, the only problem in what was a great show, the last one of 2011. Until next weekend, which is possibly a busy one!

Lighting Up Time...10 December 2011

Its been an expensive few days. On Thursday night I picked up a screw in my rear tyre on the way to my parents place. Trouble was I drove a few miles with it flat before realising and knackered the tyre walls. So Friday I had a new rear one fitted. Then I went to the Designer Outlet on the way home from work and bought a pressie for Sarah.

We spent the morning driving out to the local farm shop for a few bits, then to Dobbies for a coffee and some more lights. Whilst there I got the car cleaned as well. The car wash people there did a bloomin' good job as well.

So after a spot of lunch it was into the loft and out with the house bling and Christmas decorations. I like LED technology, at least the lights work first time. For the first time I've also installed some in the back garden as well. Check out the photo by the way. I dread to think what their electricity bill is like! 

We are staying in tonight for an evening of 'Strictly come dine with x factor on ice', washed down with a takeaway curry, and very nice it was as well. Mind you I'm not too sure about the contents of the 'Runa Mix Special' !

Sunday.

With the outside lights now up, it was time to get the tree up. We bought a fibre optic one about 6 years ago, now its looking a bit tired. It sort of lists to one side so we have to position it so it leans against the wall. I think we'll treat ourselves to a new one next year. After our weekly shop and a spot of lunch, I sorted out some tunes for the show on DWR today. It was another good one, My furthest listener this week was from Durban, South Africa. I'm international baby!

So it was home for a great dinner and now catching up with the results shows. Next week is a short one with Wednesday off and a Tuesday night out with the VPR guys and gals.

Until next week..

Not in the Christmas mood....yet.

Saturday

Normally, the first Saturday in December is spent getting the House Bling set up. However no-one in our Close has, and I really can't be bothered today, so that's a task for next weekend. The morning was spent in town, paying a few bills and buying a few odds and sods. Then it was off to Halfords to change our sick Sat Nav. I have been frantically searching for the receipt but it has disappeared, but I have found my credit card statement. That was good enough for them. After a quick call to Tomtom the manager agreed to give me a new one, which was a pleasant surprise bearing in mind what they told me before. Last weekend the sales assistant in Birmingham told me they only send them back for repair. Then I was told that you only got a replacement if the unit was less than 28 days old. So its obvious Halfords need to train their staff to 'sing from the same hymn sheet'!

We visited Sarah's Nephew and girlfriend who have just taken possession of a new flat. I helped shift a sofa inside which involved taking the front door off, not exactly an easy task. Anyway it went in OK. Then we popped into our friends Dave and Tina to pay for some theatre tickets she had got for us. After a coffee and a nice chat it was then off to Asda to get some dinner. We have an extra mouth to feed tonight as Sarah's dad is down.

I know I'm a 40-something but I've just bought a train set! It was so cheap on Amazon that I couldn't resist it. It was over £100 at the National Railway Museum, and with a discount voucher from Topcashback it came to £35...I now need to sort the loft out. What a kid I am! Nothing doing tonight, so its another Saturday night in watching  'Strictly Come Dine With X-Factor Get Me Out Of Here On Ice'

Sunday

I didn't sleep too well last night. Apparently I had restless legs which also kept waking Sarah!

Anyway we didn't sleep in too late so we were at Asda by 9:45.  After the shop we went round to our friends Jason & Tina, to drop a card in and to meet their new addition to the family. Nathaniel, bless him showed his appreciation by sleeping all the time we were there, including whilst Sarah held him, but he had just been fed. Apparently he is a night shift baby, hence the parents looking a tad tired this morning....

Being Sunday meant I had a trip to Dance Web Radio for my show. The drive down was interesting, I nearly got taken out by a car who panicked when a lorry came up behind her in the speed restriction and nearly crashed into me. Then on the way back in the same  place a car who obviously doesn't know what 30 MPH means overtook me and will be getting a nice Christmas card from the Kent Police after getting flashed. Anyway the show went well, and I enjoyed slamming on the vinyl as well!

Until next weekend then.........