Year: 2010

September 10, 2010
September 8, 2010
They do say ‘little things please little minds’, and the guys have done so many wonderful things in my lounge, over the last week.

But something that really put a smile on my face today was to see a proper hinged panelled door, opening into the kitchen, to replace the stupid (and ugly) flush sliding door that used to dominate a wall in my lounge and – when open – actually obscured a light switch.

September 8, 2010
This made me laugh, a Daily Mail article about the News of the World phone hacking allegations, illustrated by a picture of ex-editor and now government communications chief Andy Coulson. According to the caption, the picture was taken of him on his arrival at Downing Street, yesterday. However, do you feel they might be suggesting something?

September 4, 2010
At long last, my varifocals have arrived from Glasses Direct. This is the third pair I have had from them, having returned the previous two due to problems with the frames. Similarly, my sunglasses had to go back the first time, due to the left and right polarised lenses being aligned differently.

To be fair, there was never any argument from Glasses Direct, and they have been very pleasant on the phone, despite all this hassle. I have also heard good things from other people about them, so I am willing to believe that I have just been extremely unlucky.

September 1, 2010
Tim and Nev came back yesterday; having done a great job on the kitchen, they are now here to do my lounge/diner.

They have only been here two days, but already the walls are stripped, the hideous brick fake fireplace has gone, and the awful artex ceiling is now under a layer of plasterboard, waiting to be plastered over.

August 28, 2010
Just go back from a wonderful day out with ,,, and Smitty; we met up to see today’s matinee perfomance of “Into The Woods”, at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

I know this show pretty well, having seen it twice before, and owning the DVD of the original Broadway cast. So having thought about it on the train home, I can honestly say that this was the best of the shows I have seen live, and comes a close second to the original Broadway cast.

August 27, 2010
August 26, 2010
It is pi persistently raining for yet another day, and I am aware that on Saturday I will be watching “Into The Woods” in Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Oh, boy, it seemed such a good idea when I bought the tickets a month or so back!

The met office is promising a sunny day on Saturday; so I guess we are probably doomed.

August 24, 2010
Having previously spent a brilliant weekend at Halsway Manor, singing songs and playing board games, last weekend I went to stay with a friend, whose family were away on a camping holiday. Four of us decended on his lovely home in the middle of Norfolk, for 3 days of playing boardgames:

1853

August 23, 2010
I’ve decided to go ahead and buy the pellet grill I was talking about last week. It is a little over the top for my needs, but I think it will be good fun. All being well, I should have the grill by the end of September.

One of the things that isn’t immediately obvious is that this larger grill is actually more practical than my kettle charcoal grill for just cooking for myself. With my kettle, even if I just want to do a couple of hamburgers for myself, there is a minumum amount of charcoal that is practical to use, which is actually more than is needed for a couple of hamburgers. After cooking, there is the same amount of cleanup, whether I have cooked for one, or a dozen, and I have to let it cool before picking out the unburned charcoal, to use again

August 23, 2010
Having spent a whole weekend filking (and a little board gaming) at Halsway Manor a week ago, I spent the whole of this weekend at my friend Jeremy’s. His family had gone off camping, so 5 of us settled in for a 3 day games fiesta. Food was supplied, so a couple of us took it upon ourselves to supply the beer, and a good time was had by all.

Here are the games we played.

August 19, 2010