Monday Monday

I am in work early today, and I now have living proof that I am rubbish at mornings. Or, at any rate, weekday mornings. I can get up early at the weekend, even if I have been up late. But it is a titanic struggle to actually do it in the week. I HAVE to sometimes, and in the current economic climate it is in my best interests not to mess work about, but I am sooo tired! :-)Or maybe it is my advancing age. I now find myself making lists of things to do in case I forget. Which is increasingly likely....

Whitby!

This weekend we went to Whitby, and it was smashing.

Up early on Saturday morning, having packed the night before, and we hit the road by 8am. We were going to stop en route for breakfast, but the decision was taken to get there as soon as possible, so we bought a sandwich in Pickering (beef and onion if you are interested!) and ate it as we travelled. By 10.15am we were in Whitby.

The first thing to do was to find some lodgings. The first place we tried refused to answer their door. The second place DID come to the door. A very old Scottish lady told us she needed to ask "Robin" if they had any rooms. Robin failed to materialise, so we moved on to place number three. Which turned out to be a very nice place indeed. The Grantley House, in case you want to check it out.

The next bit of the day was spent trolling around the shops and sights on the West side of the harbour. We had a nice piece of haddock (after all, it is Whitby and fish should be taken!) and then a drink in The Elsinore, then back for a wash and brush up at the B and B.Then back out for some slightly more serious shoping and sightseeing. And a drink in The Board Inn. And then one in The Shambles. After which I bought this lot :

Apart from the smoked kipper pate, which was bought today, but demanded to get in on the photo action!

A couple of games of Bowlingo, which is like ten pin bowling only on a smaller scale (I lost, although in the past I have actually won prizes playing it) and I do believe I had a small hotdog, and we had more fish. And chips. Then back to the B and B (via a pub called The Angel - a theme has developed here I think...) to get changed and head out into the Whitby night.

We had yet another drink whilst watching some fireworks (no idea what they were about, but they were pretty), then a futile trip to the Magpie Cafe.The queues were half way down the road, and we really didn't want to stand about for an hour waiting to get in, so we decided on an Indian. Not one of our better decisions, as it was quite a bland and tasteless meal, although the paratha was nice. I think we are spoiled, what with living in Manchester and having Rusholme on our doorstep, not to mention our wonderful local place, The Desi Lounge. I won't say where we went, as there are a few Indians in Whitby, but although we were keen to steer temporarily away from the lovely fish, in hindsight it was a mistake.

After a shared bottle of wine in someplace with a live piano player as entertainment, we popped back into the Elsinore for a nightcap and then back to the B and B, where a combination of constant walking, sea air, a surfeit of food and a wine too many resulted in deep and blissful sleep.

This morning started off with a full English breakfast, and then a hearty and lengthy walk on the beach ...

And a last mooch about Whitby...

And then we made our way back home. A lovely weekend. :-)

Spring is sprung....

And I suppose I should think about sorting out the garden.
Although I have bought meself some nice gardening clogs to get me in the mood. :-)

Happy holidays

Ooo! I really want to go here. Cannot decide which room I would like to stay in, but its looking like a tie between Krazy Dazy and Merry. Or the Sky Room. I can't imagine I will ever get there, but it is fun to choose the room, what I will be having for dinner...that kind of thing.

Or quite possibly I would go for this. :-)

Hedge (not funds)

In the back garden we have a privet hedge. Next door's side is about 6 feet high and orderly. Our side is about 20 feet high and a blinking jungle.So, I am in the midst of cutting the high bits down. Blimey, it is hard going. The hedge is very old and gnarly and fights back with a vengeance. I am covered in scratches and bruises and the job is still only two thirds done. Tomorrow we have to take the debris of this culling to the tip, as well as the mountain of rubbish that I cleared out of the shed. I predict two people, two cars and six trips should do the job. And I am not looking forward to it one bit. My arms hurt. I hurt. So I am having a medicinal glass of red wine and thinking about watching "1408" and trying to get the socks I am knitting back on track. (they went a bit wonky last night, as I was watching QI and not concentrating on what I was doing - its a very lacey pattern that cannot be left unattended.)

Pork chops and new potatoes for tea, with my contribution of butter fried leeks with Blacksticks Blue cheese and fresh chillies.

AND I have just scored the whole series of the Hammer House of Horror tv series on dvd from HMV for £11.99 including delivery! Reeesult!

Hello again!

Well, I've been busy. Very busy, it would seem! But now I am back to bore you all again. :-)

Today was spent cutting down a Leylandii tree in the back garden. Two saws, an axe, a chisel and two knackered people, but its down now, and we even took it to the tip. Next up is the sky high privet "hedge", which can get cut back next weekend. I am way too bashed about and tired to do anything else out there. Oh, and I also emptied out the shed, so there is a small mountain of general debris to take to the tip, but for now I will pretend I can't see it.

And, the bluebells are showing the first signs of life, so I suppose it must be Spring rolling around! I love Winter. Autumn is probably my favourite season. The only thing I can say for spring is that the gas bills get lower. Yeah, I am a misery. I think I have that SAD syndrome, only the other way around. :-)

Hungary - Part 1

Well, it was pure Spinal Tap but everyone came back alive - just. Poor old Mr me got blood poisoning (due to sliding across a stage and cutting his leg open) and had to be brought back on the plane in a wheel chair! He is now an invalid for a short time as he cant walk and is feverish and I am his nurse. Hmmmm.

I think its best told in pictures.

27 and a half hours to get there (5 men, 1 woman - me!) in a Mercedes Sprinter..This is waiting for the ferry at Dover.

Where we stayed was fab. And £150 for 11 days! Between 5 of us! Some of the entourage (which got to be a very BIG entourage by the end of it. That's me in the red pants!).

Just to prove they did actually DO some gigs...

There are more but I need to find where I have hidden them on the other computer. More anon.....

Cake

:-)

Happy Halloween!

Random stuff

I have been a bit busy lately, although its difficult to say doing what exactly! The boss has been away so I have been pretending to be him (bit hard when I havent got a beard!), and working some late hours. Although it was from home, with red wine and music so it didnt FEEL like work :-)
Only 5 days to go before I leave for Hungary in the back of a van with 5 men. I cant believe we are driving there, although there is no other way, what with equipment and things. I am not packed or anything, but thats not the issue. The issue is my camera. Obviously I will be taking shed loads of photos, and I do not want to take the digital one because then I will have to take the laptop and I dont want to trawl that round Europe for 10 days because I KNOW something will happen to it. I cant not take the latop if the camera goes because I dont have enough memory cards and I will have to empty out the camera every day onto the laptop. So, tomorrow I am going out to buy an old skool real camera so I can do the film thing. It will be quite strange, actually having to think about the structure and lighting of a photo rather than just taking loads and deleting the ones I dont like, but I was quite good with a real camera so hopefully I wont have forgotten any of it. I also have to get the cats their provisions for their stay at the in-laws (I havent told them they are going yet). You would think after all these years I would be a bit less "last minute" about it all but obviously I am not.

Currently getting into Depech Mode for some reason. I have never disliked them but I have never really listened to anything from around the 1990s and now I have I love it.

Must dash - am knitting a friend an Eeyore for Christmas :-)

Last/Lost Weekend

Blimey, it was a good 'un! Friday was a DC/79 gig, and in the afternoon two friends came over from Bristol, although they are Hungarian, not Bristolian, and we met them at the gig, the Moses Gate in Bolton. Great gig. Much beer was taken, and I was on sound duties again. Apres gig, said Hungarians were dispatched to the drummers house, and the following afternoon they repaired chez Rock Towers, where the festivities commenced in the local pub. Dinner was lovingly prepared by Czilla, and we had paprika and dumpling sausage stew and Tokai wine, and then got down to the more English pursuits of drinking Fosters and watching Match of the Day.....
Sunday lunch was spent in yet another hostelry, where fish pie, shicken caeser salad, steak and a tuna melt was taken. This time only I was still drinking.....
There was a gig on the Sunday evening in Holywell, North Wales, but it was cancelled because the PA provided by the venue was virtually non-existant. More drink was taken, and I moved onto red wine this time. The journey back to England was spent attempting to speak in disjointed Hungarian (me) and very good English (by the Hungarians). And it rained and rained as well.
Monday morning was a little bleugh as I had to be up for work, but all in all an excellent weekend. For once, the cats deigned to speak to our vistors, and roamed around various ankles, getting in the way and demanding food and being spoken to in Hungarian, which they responded to MUCH better than they have to anything I have said in English EVER.
I could have done with a nice early night on Monday, but Leeds was underwater (or at least part of my route home was, as Armley gyratory flooded yet again) so I didnt get back till 8pm and missed the Archers and everything.
Tonight me and him indoors went out to the pub for our tea. They dont serve food after 8pm, whihc we didnt know, so we went to another and this one didnt either. So it was chips for him, and the end of a sausage for me. Having said that, due to lack of food, I can now go in the bath and eat cheese without feeling guilty! :-)
My life seems to revolve around music,reading, food and drinking. Maybe not such a bad thing in these gloomy days of knife culture, anti social behaviour and impending cultural meltdown. When I go to Hungary, I may not come back (assuming I can get the cats passports)....

Only joking , mum!

Supergrass - Mary

Not a big fan really but I love this video. I REALLY love it.:-)

Mercury Rev - The Dark is Rising

I LOVE this! Enjoy.

The Hungarian trip...

...Is on! The last 10 days of my October will be spent in Hungary.Somewhere.

And my passport hasnt come back from the passport place yet. Fingers crossed that it does.

The cats are having a little holiday of their own - they are going to my mother in laws for the duration, as they are too old for a cattery and I dont fancy the idea of getting someone in each day to feed them, as they might not LIKE the person, and they like my mother in law.

I made fish pie last night. What a faff about that was! Boil this, whisk that, combine the other. And it called for nutmeg. I didnt put any in as I cannot abide nutmeg. Its got this kind of burnt stagnant wood thing going on with it that really puts me off. I am told its nice on an Irish coffee, but I wont be trying that any time soon.

Off to Doncaster shortly for a DC/79 gig. Its hot and muggy and stuffy so I may need a medicinal cold cider or two :-)

Harry Potter and more

Yes, I like Harry Potter. Well, I like the books, and the films, and I have just finished reading the new one, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, I dont actually like Harry himself. I dont detest him or anything, but I cant warm to his character somehow, and the older he got the more I didnt like him. I liked Hermione and Ron from the word go. I saw the first film before I read any of the books, so I can't NOT like Professor Snape, as he is played by Alan Rickman, the world's finest actor. But Harry just leaves me cold. Which is a shame as there would be no books without him!
Anyway, I loved the book and I await the new film.
In other business, there is a very good chance I am off to Hungary at the end of October, which is very exciting except I dont know what to do with the cats! They are too old to go in a cattery and I can't get anyone to take a week out of their lives and stay with them. What to do???

Newton Music Festival

I was there. In the rain and the cold last night, taking photos, drinking brandy out of a plastic glass and pinching other people's chips. DC/79 have a new singer at last, and it was his unveiling last night.

It was GREAT. I even managed to finally REALLY sell my old bass amp, so now I am on the look out for a new cab, as I have exploded mine somehow :-)

A kind friend gave me a case for my bass head, so the fins on the back can no longer attack me and hack lumps of flesh out of anything that goes within two feet of it.

In other news, I have discovered I really REALLY like jalapeno poppers, which are jalapeno chillies filled with cream cheese and covered in breadcrumbs. I think you are supposed to deep fry them but I just stick 'em in the oven.

In fact, that's made me hungry so I will go and have some.

Here is a picture of the fair from the festival last night, from the wrong side of the tracks as it were.

Food

My dad is under the impression that I go out to eat a lot. So to prove him right,
: Yesterday we went to Ashton and I had lasagne and a pint and him indoors had fish and chips and a pint (in a Wetherspoons pub)for our lunch , and I must admit I did appreciate the non-smoking atmos.
Today we trolled off to the Trafford Centre and we ate here http://www.iguanas.co.uk/ and it was very lovely indeed. Chilaquile as a starter for me, crayfish for him, and then a chicken wrap for me and peri-peri chicken for him, San Miguels all round. We sat at the window and there was a massive thunder storm, complete with torrential rain and lightening and stuff - quite fantastic.
I got myself Saw on dvd for £3, a Goonies tshirt, and he got everything by the Pythons on film ever, in one big box set.
Back to my Dad. Yes, we do eat out quite a bit, but they tend to be budget outfits and we choose wisely and try not to repeat our outings. We aren't McDonalds freaks, and we very rarely get chip shop chips. Most of our culinary adventures are in back street cafes or out of the way places that cater to the non-English pallette. I dont get around to posting about a lot of them, like the melt in the mouth shami kebab we had one time that came with yoghurt on a paper plate and cost 50p and was sublime, or the chicken tikka on naan bread that could have powered a trip to the moon, such was its fieryness, but we like our food and we like to eat out (cheaply!) and we will try new things as often as we can.
So yes Dad, we eat out a lot. And its not just sausage egg and chips :-)
Some of my best memories of childhood centre around food. Sausage and chips featured large in my life, it being my dad's favourite meal of choice when we were out and about. We used to go to a cafe in Llanwrst (sp?) and they used to make their own shortbread biscuits and without exception every time we went there on our annual jaunt its what I used to have. I can actually taste it now as I think about it.
And my mum used to do us what we called "bits and pieces" teas. This was a small chocolate bar, crisps, cheese, some bread, a glass of milk, all served on a tray and it could be eaten on your knee listening to music (we didnt really DO eating in front of the telly) or at the table, reading something. Reading and eating are intrinsically linked in my mind.
Its funny, I seem to remember what I ate and what I read in relation to what happened in my life more than any other reminder of things past.

Campbell's Pork And Beans

I want to live like this. I really do.

Cookery

Last night I made paneer pakora and yoghurt chicken, and I would like to say I have had its equal in an Indian resteraunt. I can officially cook Indian food. Well, 2 recipes at least :-)
Paneer pakora is Indian cheese deep fried in batter. Whilst this all sounds horrifically artery clogging, it isnt. Paneer is basically cottage cheese squashed together. The batter was made from chickpea flour and water and a little sunflower oil. Ok, the deep frying part isnt good but its not like I eat it all the time!
We have no chip pan, and havent had since we lived in Whalley Range in 1992, so I had to improvise with the wok and a slotted spoon.
It worked nicely, if a little on the heavy side. Not enough water I think. Tonight him indoors is going to have a crack at cauliflower pakora.
The yoghurt chicken thing is basically chicken cooked in yoghurt with a ginger, chillies and onion paste (which I made in the food processor which I found when I cleared the bottom kitchen cupboard out last week.Its one of those cupboards where you throw things in and they sort of back up against a far wall and hide behind the pans and you forget about them for years....). So that redresses the healthy balance. Except for the large amount of cider I followed it with :-)
I turned the kitchen table round today, as it was a bit of an ordeal eating at it - both of us facing the wall and nowhere to put the paper...and underneath the back bit was a lovely pile of cat furballs, cleverly positioned so they couldnt be seen by the human eye unless the table was moved....
Its been raining all day and the cats have been like fractious children, unable to go out but a little bored. Unlike children they chose to go to sleep. In really impractical places like the top of the stairs, across a doorway, up against the fridge (well you never know when the door will open and that beef thats in there will magically leap out and into your open cat mouth...)

Back soon ^.^

Voodoo, a birthday and some stuff

We, BornIdle, played at Voodoo in Manchester last Friday. Last time we played it was packed. This time it was not very busy at all. Hey ho. Dont think it was anything to do with us - I hope not anyway! As ever we were brilliant and I wore my Peter Grimm cowboy hat. There are photos on people's phones and cameras and if I ever get my hands on them I will shove them up here.
What else? Oh yes, had a steak fajita in Henry J Beans (the last time I was in one of them was in South Kensington in 1989 and I got thrown out. Actually, I got refused entry in the first place . I can't remember why but it was in my lost year living in London and I was a little wild shall we say...). I made paneer tikka and it was GORGEOUS. I watched Wolf Creek and loved it - excellent serial killer and apparently based on true events. I dont really believe that for one moment but it makes for a scarier film.
Him indoors was 21 again on Friday so I made chicken fajitas (ooo a theme is developing) and we drank fizzy wine and watched rubbish on the telly while he played computer games.
Today we went to Warrington (where I was born and lived till I was 21, and for which I have a 50/50 loathe it/love it feeling), and had a drink in the pub we went to for our first date. It hadnt changed a lot (although the bear in a cage had gone - not a real bear!), and here we are 18 years later.
Shared a chicken and bacon and mozzerella pannini, then went to see the ma in law to collect birthday pressies and show off my new car as she hadnt seen it yet.
And thats about it really. Tomorrow DC79 audition a new singer. I am going along, but I am taking myself off into the fields at the back of the studio to take photos and mess about with my camera. I suppose a beer or two will happen :-)