Christmas housewife

We didnt go out on Boxing day for the first time in our 17 years together, as the ma in law isnt well.
So I spent my Amazon gift voucher :-)

Here is me yesterday in the throws of cooking Christmas lunch! I am not really that shape - its the apron - the apron I tell you!

Happy Christmas Everyone !

Christmas non-traditions

I was reading something on a blog that I have now lost the link to but will try and find again and put on here. Basically, the lady was talking about "unusual" Christmas Days that didn't follow traditionally what your family normally does on Christmas Day, wether by design or accident or whatever.

When I was little, right up to leaving home in fact, we almost always went to my Nana and Grandad's house for Christmas Day and had a proper Christmas dinner, followed by telly etc. No presents were opened there - that was strictly first thing in the morning/get stuck into the presents under the tree/thunder upstairs and show sleepy parents what you had got. At least it was till I was about 10 :-)

Not so long ago my mum reminded me that one year we went to a pub for lunch. I think I was about 9. I have NO memory of this whatsoever. It was obviously so not what we DID at Christmas that I refuse to remember it. More details if you have them mother please.

Anyway, the first Christmas me and him indoors spent together, we were living in one room at his sister's house, and she was going to be elsewhere for Christmas Day so we decided to make a proper dinner like a proper, grown up couple (we were NOT grown up:-) )

Off we went to the supermarket on Christmas Eve, and got to the checkout with our carfeully chosen, lovely food and drink and little bits and pieces of luxury stuff you never eat at any other time of the year. I handed the checkout girl my cheque and my bank card (this was in the days of no debit cards and you had to guarantee your cheque with your bank card)...and I had brought my NEW cheque book but my OLD bank card, so they didn't match.

By the time we got home, found the right card and got back to the shops, everywhere was shut. Christmas was looking like it was cancelled, but then we spied a lonely Spar. A Spar (if you dont know) is a convenience store kind of place that sells pretty much everything from magazines to sprouts. Except this was Christmas Eve and even THEIR shelves were looking a bit bare. We did what we could.

Christmas dinner was frozen mini chicken kievs, chicken in breadcrumbs, oven chips and peas.....:-)

It was rather lovely and we did have a nice day. Since then we have made an effort each year to get things together on time. We have a theme each year as well - cuisine of a different country. Not what that country has for Christmas dinner but just some traditional food of that country. We veered off into history one year and had English Anglo Saxon. Russian was an interesting year, especially after all that toasting everything with vodka . That year it actually snowed and we cooled the vodka in the snow in the garden! The 70s Bernie Inn year was pretty groovy too.

So an accidental Christmas cock-up has turned into a tradition all of its own.

Happy Yule All :-)

The tree has gone up

Woooo. Look at the sad cricketer on the telly. More importantly, those presents under the tree are for ME! ME I tell you!!!!!

....

Sorry about that. Ahem. Went into Manchester today and had some more something-wein and got most of the Christmas shopping. Still got a few things to get but him indoors is off till the 3rd of Jan now so he can get it.

Me, I have to go back to work next week. Hey ho. Still, the poor lad works very hard so I spose he deserves a break. He can have one without the pc though because it has to go to pc hospital. Fortunatley I have my laptop :-)

Who sings Blue Christmas? ... Elfish Presley..... :-)

Cooking

Wooo I am a cook! Jamie Oliver I laugh in your face. Heston Blumenthal I laugh knowingly at your "locally sourced" recipes. I COOK.
Oh yes people, I made a pie. A chicken and leek pie. From scratch. Pastry and everything. And it was lovley. In all my life I have never made a pie and tonight I did and it worked. Mmmmm.
AND I made chocolate truffles earlier! From scratch! In little cases with piped white chocolate and little Chrismtassy things on the top!
Nigella Lawson - go home love, I am in town.

First taste of Christmas

We went to the Christmas markets in Manchester today. We don't normally DO town on a Saturday but we did for today for some reason. It was busy!
We had a hot mulled something-wein and him indoors had a german hamburger. Then we bought a lot of dutch cheese (goats cheese with nettles, spicy gouda and three year old gouda!) , then another something-wein, then we shared a german steak baguette, then we had ANOTHER something-wein and then we went home for a lie down :-)
On the way in, I saw a cafe (the Abergeldie cafe in case you are interested) and I took a picture of the sign. Apparently its famous for this and everyone in the world knows about it apart from ME.I very much want to post the picture directly but Blogger wont let me for some reason . Dont get excited - its nothing that good!
www.faerywings.co.uk/photos/terry.jpg

Photos

I found a folder on the laptop where I have been dumping all the photos I take on the new super duper camera, and I found this one. Its just outside Ulveston.

Born Idle gig

Yes, we were magnificent. The sound was RUBBISH, mostly down to the "sound engineer" actually claiming to be one and obviously wasn't. As this is something I do have a stab at on the odd occaision, I like to think I know where I am with a basic mixing desk. This guy didn't.
Despite that, we went down well, made a few quid and sold a couple of cds.
I was EXTREMELY glad that him indoors was driving. The plan was that we would stay at the drummer's house but there was a hitch on the car front, and it was too difficult to arrange alternatives, so we had to drive home. Damn glad we did. It was still going on when we left, and when we were feet up, drinking vodka and bitter lemon and watching the top 40 best moments of Only Fools And Horses at home, we could have been standing around outside a venue where we didnt want to be anymore and where we had stopped enjoying ourselves about the same time as we came off stage. Aha- old woman !! I hear you cry. Nope. I have been like this all my life. I can't do camping. I can't do sleeping on other people's floors. I can just about tolerate sleeping on other people's sofas IF I can go to sleep when I want and not at 4am surrounded by LOUD people.
I like my comforts I am afraid, so this grumpy old woman stuff is not new - I have ALWAYS been like that!
Went off to town today for some dinner. We shared a shami kebab (a small one) and a chicken tikka kebab and read the Sunday People (which would appear to contain NO news whatsoever), then we went for a pint in a little bar called the Bay Horse. Then we went home and on the way we stopped at our local - The Bay Horse - for another. Synchronicity. Bought a book about the New York Dolls (him indoors' current obsession) and one that concerns Rat Scabies but I am not sure how yet as I haven't read it.
Stuck some more stuff on ebay to sell, had a bath, carried on with the red and black stripey jumper I am knitting, watched Corrie and Heartbeat and then Planet Earth and that, children, was my weekend.

Its nearly December

Where has the time gone?
Tonight we have a gig. We, the proper band, not the pretend one :-) Its in Atherton.
Our office is on the move AGAIN at work. We are moving backwards and losing the front door. Currently we are next to a cafe. There is a building college up the road and at break times all the little 16 and 17 year olds stand outside our door eating and drinking and spitting and its the most annoying thing in the world. I have kicked the odd one off the step (quite literally) but there are hoardes of them and there is only so much you can do. When we lose our door, we get the door next door but one to the cafe so that will be the end of them as far as we are concerned. However, the accounts people next door on the otherside of us are moving into the bit of the office we are losing, and their main office will be slap bang in front of our old door -complete with the crowds of hoodie wearing, tracksuited idiots.They alledge they are looking forward to moving. I bet they will regret it!
We are also getting a little kitchen and at last our own toilet (its always been shared between businesses before) which I am stupidly excited about.
Got to go - rock and roll beckons!

A little of things

I like this time of year. I approve very much of dark nights and rain and cold, so I am having whatever the opposite of that seasonally affected disorder is called. I HATE summer.
On the subject of cold, the cats have been camped out on a cushion covered with a throw (that we found at the end of a drunken night out in Manchester in a skip in 1993) under the kitchen radiator. Well today I disassembled the camp and moved it into the front room where its less drafty. Will they sit on it now? Nope. I am NOT moving it back. Its a small kitchen and I have just removed a bin bag's worth of rubbish from it so its looking good, and I don't want them to live in a room that we are not in all the time - do they not need company??
There was a little fight earlier between them, which just goes to show that they may be ancient but they can still have a pointless scrap.
I have a new assistant at work. She (at last! A "she" !!!! ) is very young and learns quickly and I hope she doesn't get fed up and go and work somewhere else. I am making herculean efforts to be nice and patient and understanding (none of which are me) but I have a horrible feeling that in 6 months time I will be saying... "I have a new assistant.....".
Our street has its first Christmas tree up. No, its not in my house. Unfortunatley.
There has been a DC79 gig and some BornIdle pre gig preparations and a curry or two since my last post. Aside from that, life rolls on as it will.

Singin' In the Rain

Yes I remember it well. Me and my mum were the STARS...the STARS I tell you... at a show at the Methodist Church Hall in Stockton Heath. We tap danced in leotards to Singin' In The Rain. We had umbrellas and everything. We used to rehearse in the garden on the paving stones. Bet next door loved that! Ah, the 70s. Surprisingly there is no pictorial evidence of this, given a camera mad father. Maybe he was too scared.
Speaking of the 70s, how come I have got so many damn remote controls for things these days! In the 70s we had NONE. Now I have 1 for the telly, 1 for the video, 1 for the dvd,1 for Sky telly (thats a bit broken and held together with gaffa tape and doesn't like doing the number 3), 1 for the hi fi, 1 for the radio in the kitchen (which is lost admittedly) , 1 for the upstairs video, 1 for the upstairs telly, and one for the damn sound card on the pc! And 2 others that I have no idea what they are FOR.
I can't even set the clock on the microwave - what chance do I have with all these THINGS??
I work in IT. I had a "stupid" day today so I therefore hate technology. No idea what I am doing posting on here either :-%

Ooooo and Heston Blumenthal has just been on the telly. He is a celebrity chef. I had no idea what he looked like, but I have heard him on the radio. I thought of him as tall and dark haired. He is a small, bald, bespectacled man.

Double 000000. 15000th episode of the Archers tonight. HOW disapointing! I was expecting drama, death, affairs...erm....slinks away quietly after outing self as an Archer's fan.....

Telling yourself jokes

Do you do that? When you are on your own? Ok, a leetle background. I am on housewife duty this evening, so I am a washing clothing and dishes and I came by here to play a quick game on the internet for a break. The telly is on in the background because I am finding out what on earth is on that video tape that I found in the cupboard that dates from the early 90s entitled "music videos", (La Guns/Faster Pussycat/The Black Crowes if anyone is interested), and I turned the video off and some guy on the telly was going "What's his name? What's his name?". And I said outloud "Harry May" and made myself laugh. Ok, you won't get it. Harry May is the title of a song by The Business, and the chorus goes "What's his name? Harry May!". The Business are an old school punk band I don't expect you to know about them, but the point is, do you come out with funny things to yourself OUT LOUD when you are on your own?
I hope its not just me! :-)
Ciao chickens

Blog Land

I decided to change the whole look of this thing. My dad complained he couldn't read it and it was getting on my nerves a bit as well to be honest, and I like rain, so we are now rain themed.
I must tell you about the cats and their fleas. They got them quite badly and on previous experience, anything you buy form a shop is rubbish. I got some tablets called "capstar" off a vet on Ebay (yes, a real vet and not someone pretending to BE one), and I checked the tablets out and they are also sold in vets so I got some. Within 15 minutes of them taking a tablet, loads of dead fleas fell off the cats! It was awesome. Amazingly, neither of them pretended to take the tablet, only for it to fall out of their mouth an hour later - they actually swallowed it.
Anyway, the fleas have left the building. I can't recommend this stuff enough. No, they aren't paying me :-)
On Halloween night, we got no trick or treaters whatsoever. So we ate the sweeties I bought from the shop. Dolly mixtures! I haven't had those in years. Dolly mixtures are unique in that they don't contain any that I don't like. For example, Liquorice Allsorts have those horrid jelly ones with little bobbly bits on that are VILE, Revels have the yukky peanut ones and so on and so on. ALL Dolly Mixtures are nice! And they remind me of my mum, which make them nicer.
Watched half of Peter Jackson's King Kong last week before falling asleep. There ends my critical review of it.
Tonight its "Nightmare in a damaged brain" (yes Dad, I can hear your remarks right now), which is a previously banned video nasty. Oh yes. This I shall enjoy :-)

Happy Halloween!

Cats and weird Japanese song

I dont normally do this, but this is funny :-)

Ross Noble and other matters

We went to see him on Wednesday night at the Opera House in Manchester and he was very very very funny. We were right on the front row and he spoke to us and everything!
Had a drink in the Sports Cafe beforehand - shan't be going back because it was stupidly expensive. Its not that I don't have the money - its the principle. Why can I go down the road and have a pint for £2.30 and then get charged £3.30 for the same drink somewhere else, just because its a bit of a flash place?
On a better note, I got a phone call whilst in flash, over priced place. It was from a man who had found a toolkit in the middle of the road and it had my number on a piece of paper inside it. Turns out the toolkit belongs to the guy that mends our printers at work (he had his car broken into and his toolkit nicked) - he had some numbers written down on a bit of paper, mine included, and the guy that found it rang all the numbers till someone answered! There are some nice people in the world after all.
On Thursday night we went to one of those all you can eat Chinese buffet places. I didn't really do justice to it, having mostly seaweed and prawn toast and beef curry (and ice cream and jelly! Blue ice cream! Orange jelly!), but him indoors managed 5 trips. Good boy!
Last night we watched The Tool Box Murders, followed by Threads. WHY did I watch Threads again? For those of you who dont know, it was made in the 80s and its set in Sheffield and basically the UK is devastated by nuclear bombs. Its all done documentary style, and its just HORRIBLE. When I was a teenager, Thatcher was in her prime and my dad worked for the then CEGB (central electricity generating board), and did a couple of stints at nuclear outfits. I was convinced a nuclear war was imminent and had even worked out how far I would get towards my house if I was at school and a nuclear bomb went off. Thankyou Threads for bringing all that back :-) I will insist on watching it every so often and then wishing I hadnt.....
Made pizza last night and tonight its full on Sunday dinner time, so I will be off to watch a new episode of the Simpsons and stuff my face.
Hope you all had a good weekend!

This weekend

I have mostly been pottering about. Friday night was watch the telly/drink wine, Saturday day was tidy the house/go to the pub, Saturday night was watch Troy and drink cider and eat fried chicken, Sunday day was rehearse with my band (and scary guest Polish singer!) and go for a pub tea afterwards - I had lasagne.
Now a hot bath awaits.
Hope you all had a good one.

Us at the Ireland wedding. It was late. Very late. We were "in a good mood".... And the boat on the way home.

Ireland Trip

Day 1
We got on the ferry at 2am. Got into Dublin at 6am. TIRED. Walked for miles until 8.30am when we find and get the hire car. Feeling very miserable and cold and tired and wet because it was chucking it down.
Get hire car and drive to Waterford. Find hotel. Cant find anyone in hotel to check us in so wait around until someone turns up. Check in. Its now 3.30pm. No sleep since Wednesday night.
Go to sleep for 2 hours. Get up and drive into Waterford centre. Go round shops. Have pint and hot dog. Drive back to hotel. Get taxi back into Waterford to meet groom and his relations. Drink for a bit. Groom goes home to do pre wedding things. Get saddled with idiotic, drunken friend who insists in talking in an Irish accent and going on about the IRA. Bear in mind we are in SOUTHERN Ireland. Groom returns. Drink some more. Ditch drunken annoying friend. Go back to hotel at 2am.
Day2
Get up at 11am. Go into Waterford and have lunch and a pint and buy wedding present and card. Meet groom buying underpants :-)
Go back to hotel. Get changed. Get taxi to church. Watch wedding. Very, very lovely and enjoyable, apart from idiot friend who is still acting up and trying to be centre of attention. Catholic do - lots of kneeling and getting up and down. Bride looks beautiful. Everyone is happy and its a wonderful service.
Get lift to reception. Ditch stupid, increasingly annoying "friend". Eat food, (Poached salmon for me, beef stroganoff for him indoors but we share) drink, meet people we havent seen for years, chat, have generally lovely time. "Friend" gets increasingly annoying and several people are now threatening to kill him.
12am and we get taxi to hotel. Dog tired, full of food and drink and happiness. Crash out.
4am. Stupid ex friend attempts to gain access to our hotel room having been abandoned by the people he was staying with ,and virtually everyone else at the wedding as well. I manually throw him out, because I am now SEVERELY annoyed and its a wonder I don't kill him myself, thus earning myself eternal respect from everyone else who has been exposed to him over the last 48 hours. Go back to bed.
Day 3
Get up at 8am , pack and drive back to Dublin. Get on ferry and sail home. Pick keys up from ma in law, thank junior sister in law for looking after cats and getting bitten by new influx of cat fleas. Drive home.
8pm. Sit on settee drinking white wine and falling asleep. Superb time!
....Get text this morning from groom saying ex friend was put on a plane home three days early for "his own safety". Its a wonder he isnt at the bottom of the Irish sea.
Maybe photos to follow....

Ferry annoying

We are off to Waterford. In Ireland. For friend's wedding. And we are going. NOW. Because the ferry we were due to be on got cancelled due to bad weather (it was tomorrow at 9.30am) and we have been moved to one tonight at 2am!!!!!
Arrrgh! Just had mad rush around getting stuff together and we are going no to drive to Holyhead to get on the boat. We get to Dublin at 6am!!!! And we can't check into the hotel till 3pm!!!!!!
See you hopefully on Sunday night!