Home again

It was my 49th birthday on Sunday and I decided to go and stay with my friend Jane in Lincoln for a couple of days. I had a nice slow morning and opened my cards and gifts which were cake related but very useful - Baked by Brian had bought me a cake thermometer / tester probe, and one of the girls at work had got me the Baking made Easy cookbook by the woman on BBC2 (Lorraine Pascal) thank you both very much !

I arrived at Lincoln around three thirty which was pretty good going really - after a cuppa and a biscuit I had to go into the front room where Jane had been practising a dance game on the wii - it was so funny to watch. I did grab a video but this little clip doesn't really do it justice !

Once we'd got ready, Jane took me out to a great restaurant called Damons, where we had a really lovely meal. They do this offer that if its your birthday and you show some ID, you get your meal for free, which was really smart. We both had this 'combo' meal of ribs, chicken / pork steak, chips, coleslaw and onion rings fried into a loaf - so tasty !

So that was Sunday really, on Monday we went to Lincoln and had a wander around the shops and had lunch in Lloyds bar which was down on the riverside - I'd guess its lovely there on a summers day, but on a damp February afternoon it was a bit fresh ! After lunch we went to see a couple of Janes sons which was nice - they both have children of their own now and its scary just how fast they grow up.

Then we stopped in at Janes work place so she could show me where she worked and I could put a few faces to peoples names that she mentions. In the evening we just chilled with some wine and pork pies. Sarah came over from over the road and stayed for a while but thankfully there was no dancing this time !

On Tuesday morning I needed to get some petrol before heading home, so we popped to some shops on the way - Jane is hosting an Anne Summers party at the weekend so she had to get some food and drink in for that. We also went to a place called B&M homestore which was a nightmare - have you ever been to a shop where everything that you touch either falls over, falls off the shelf of just breaks ? I'm sure I was being videoed for some prank show !

Can you believe that they had a chrome and glass shelf unit that I brushed against and one of the legs fell off ! I tried to put the leg back but that just made it worse - Jane was no help, she just ran off laughing - poxy thing !!

So after a final coffee I left Janes just after two, and made it back here for around 4:45 last night which was excellent - no hold ups and I missed all the rush hour traffic as well. I did go to the gym last night as well because I'd eaten too much bad stuff up north.

This morning I had to be at the garage for 8am as the car was having a belt replaced - luckily I waited for it to be done and it was all finished within an hour ! The rest of the day was just spend washing and cleaning up really. I did go to teh gym again this evening, but didn't manage to burn off quite as much - oh well !

I was supposed to be going to the seaside tomorrow, but the weather looks like its going to be a bit pants, so Sara, the kids and myself are taking a run out to Black Park near Slough with her dogs, then having a BBQ in the evening - more food to be worked off !

thats all for now !

I've got a Nigella whisk !

So I finally made it to the weekend - it has been a very long week at work.

Thursday evening Julie came over and gave me a much needed haircut, it was long overdue and it looks a lot smarter now. You know when you get to that stage and you think, "shall I grow it a bit longer or shall I have it all lopped off " well the lopped off option won :O) Unfortunately I have very fine hair, so keeping it nice and short is much the easiest way to have it - you can gel it, spike it up, or zhuzh it in so many ways !

Friday was my last day at work for a week, so that was all very good. After work I went over to see my cousin Allison who lives in Pinner. We had quite a nice evening and she managed to stay awake for
nearly the whole time I was there which is almost a miracle !

This morning I decided to get up early and go to the gym, basically to get it out of the way as I was meeting up with Pete for lunch.
I don't know whether it was a combination of going there too early or just not feeling in the mood for a workout, but I only managed to do 300 calories and decided that was enough. I'd been on the cross trainer first of all and then went on the spinning bike, but I got a bad pain in my knees so left it at that. Still 300 calories was better than nothing.

I went to Petes and he treated me to a lovely Thai curry at a restaurant in Borehamwood - we've been there before and the food is really good. We were the first people in there, so the food arrived really quickly and we had the waiters undivded attention.
Pete had also bought me some great gifts for my birthday which was really too much - I opened them a day early but what the hell - I'm 49 and I can do as I please :O)

So incase you can't work out whats what, there are a set of measuring cups that look like Russian Dolls, they are going on display for certain (in fact I very nearly bought myself a set of those in the Habitat sale, they are so cool). Then there was a silicon cake mould that makes a cake that looks like a sandwich - I can have hours or fun making fillings for that one.

And last, but not least, a Nigella whisk - I saw her using it in her latest series and thought that it looked so smart, and it is, The prongs sound like wind chimes when you rattle it - nothing like a bit of Zen in the kitchen when you're cooking up a storm !

Tingling in the nether regions !

You might have noticed that I've not been going to the gym as much as I should have been lately, in fact last week was a total washout on the exercise front.

I get very down when it comes to weight and trying to stay fit - Some mornings you wake up and you just feel fat. You don't need to get on the scales, you can know that you are heavier than you were the day before and theres no real reason for it happening. Its a bit like Gordon Brown with his "boom and bust" - as long as my weight is falling then everything is perfect. But as soon as you see it start going up you think 'whats the point' and break out the chocolate or biscuits :O(

Its more annoying for me - last year I booked a course of treatment called Hypoxi and I managed to drop from 77.3 kgs to 72.5 kgs which was a great result. I did this by having the Hypoxi and being careful what I ate. Since finishing the course, I've still remained pretty strict on what I eat and not going overboard on the whole sweets / crisps and chocolate thing. I even joined the YMCA gym in Watford around November time and have been going almost religiously. Yet despite all this my weight has been creeping up by 100g here, 100g there, so now I'm almost back at the point where I started. People have said that its fat turning into muscle that makes you heavier and to a certain extend that could be right as I have a lot more definition in my legs than I ever had.

Anyway, so I didn't gym on Monday night as I had a pounding headache, Tuesday I went and managed to do 500 calories, and I went again last night meeting up with Baked by Brian (who oddly enough was there early for once and had 'apparently' burned off 200 odd calories before I arrived :O)  )
So we had a session on the cross trainers and then went onto these new 'spinning bikes' that arrived over the weekend.

The bikes are really good, they have a much more detailed display than the regular bikes, and they have a screen so you can watch tv, or a motivational/training video, or you can plug your i-pod into a slot and listen to your own tunes or watch a movie - very smart

So during the ride, Baked by Brian says 'Ooh, thats different' and smiled. After a bit of banter it turns out he had the same thing as I did last week - a strange tingly sensation around your bits. As we walked to the lockers on the way out, I got it too

I don't know if it was down to the new spinning bikes or not, but I think I've found my new favourite exercise machine !

Another one bites the dust

Its a sad day when you see yet another pub closing down.

When I was growing up in South Harrow back in the 1980's, every major road junction or crossroads had a pub on it. In fact more often than not, if somebody asked you for directions you would sent them on a route which was defined by Turning left at The Flag, or right at Farmers.

I spent a great deal of time working in bars during that period. Starting out at The George in Ruislip, then moving on to various pubs and clubs, ending at the Fox and Geese in Ickenham. Thankfully none of those that I worked in have been bulldozed - although I have no connection to the buildings apart from having spent time there, it would still feel like losing a little bit of me.

So I was a bit sad to see the shutters come down at The Goodwill to All on Headstone Drive. I'd never been in the pub in all the time I've lived in Harrow - when I worked at the Tithe Farm it always had a reputation as being a 'hard nuts' pub. When ever trouble happened in Bogarts, they generaly were regulars from The Headstone (alas long gone) or The Goodwill.

We had a couple working at Farmers who left to take over The Headstone as their first tenancy many years ago - according to myths, one of the regulars decided to 'take a poo' into the ice bucket and leave it on the bar as a surprise to the new landlord and his wife (I can't say if this actually happened, but if you remember the pub you can probably vouch for the liklihood of such a thing happening).

So, following a long tradition, I'll ask you to raise your glasses and bid a fond farewell to another of Harrows vanishing pubs - I never drank in you, but I'm sure you've got more character in one of your battered window boxes, than the block of flats that will take your place could ever dream of having !

Treated to lunch

I've done quite a lot since my last posting so I'll just do a bit of a catch up for you all.

Saturday morning I had a market research meeting to attend - it was at Windsor Racecourse and all about cars so I was quite looking forward to it. Once we checked in we were taken to a room to get a coffee and some biscuits whilst watching a short film about how they wanted us to do the research. Once watched, they took us outside to a marquee where there were 4 cars on show - A Peugeot 207, Citroen DS3 (lovely), Nissan Juke (weird but smart) and a Mini - the mini was hidden behind a curtain - we had to compare and rate the other three cars first of all and then compare those ot the mini.

As market research things go it was very interesting and surprising to see how your initial impression can change once you've sat in a car and played around a bit. Anyway, it was £75 for two hours of my time and I quite enjoyed it.

Once that finished I decided to visit my cousin Graham at his nursery near Farnham, seeing as I was well over half the way there. I'd not seen him for a few months and we had a good catch up - unfortunately he didn't have much in the way of spring bedding plants. I was a bit too early so I'll have to go back in a month or so.

On Sunday I decided to do a bit of baking to make some Valentines gifts to take into work. I did a selection of cookies and some red velvet cupcakes - I have to say I was pleased with how the cupcakes looked (and seeing this post is written in arrears, I can vouch that they tasted pretty good too.

 


So I took the selection of cakes and goodies into work yesterday and they went down a storm - the biscuits in cellophane bags looked ever so good and I was very pleased with the ribbons (which I bought from Ideal World)

Today (Tuesday) our boss took us to lunch at the local Indian bar up the road from work - he's leaving next week to take up a job in the main building and he very kindly treated us to the meal which was good of him.

I was feeling a tad bloated from all the food and cake that I've been having recently, so this evening I went to the gym for the first time in a week - I managed to go on the running machine and the cross trainer, burning off 500 cals in the process - yay for me !

Bread and cake

I went to see my friend Sara last night.
We used to work together at The Fox and Geese in Ickenham - this was long before I'd be drawn to the 'dark side'. Years had passed and we lost touch, only to bump into each other on a dating site where she messaged me - it turned out we were both looking for the same thing :)

Anyway, I baked some carrot cake muffins to take with me as Sara and her kids love cake (well, don't we all really) Sara in return had baked some bread which was really tasty. She'd made a sun dried tomato and onion loaf which was tasty beyond belief, and she baked a white loaf for me to take home which was really sweet of her.

We had a nice catch up and took the dogs for a walk around the block which made a change, then we went and picked her son up from cadets, by which time it was nearly 11:00 pm

I've arranged to have a day out with them during half term, maybe take a trip to Portsmouth or Southend

A bit of a catch up

Ok, its been a few days since my last entry so this is a brief round up.



Friday nights celebrations at the Black Pepper restaurant were very good. They had put us in a little room at the back which they had decorated with balloons and streamers - it was a really nice atmosphere and we had a good time. The food was very tasty, you didn't get much for your money, but I've never been one for eating out "Twenty quid for a chicken breast, I could buy a weeks shopping for that !!"  I did take a few photo's but unfortunately my little Sanyo camera really struggles in bad lighting so they didn't come out too clearly.



Warm apple pie and ice cream
delish !

Oilves and oil - filth !

On Saturday I went to Watford in the morning and then gymmed after lunch - I was very pleased to break my 1000 calorie limit, a first for me ! Can't really remember much of the rest of the day.

  Sunday I gymmed again after lunch, but it was a much lamer 400 cals this time - I think I was feeling the effects from Saturday. In the evening I made some of Nigellas 'Salty chocolate peanut bars' to bring into the office - very tasty !



Monday was just work as usual - I had planned on going to the gym but developed a monster headache from mid afternoon onwards. Got home and fell asleep for three hours which helped a bit, but it didn't quite clear it.



Last night I went over to see P (the ex) - I'd not caught up with him since Christmas and was conscious that it had been a bit too long. I stayed there a couple of hours and we had a good chat, sadly he had been burgled a couple of weeks ago so things had been a bit stressful for him lately. He had fitted a burglar alarm at the weekend which hopefully will stop anything from happening in the future.





So thats been me so far this week, although today is shaping up pretty well. We were scheduled to have a staff team meeting between four and five this afternoon, but thats been put off until tomorrow morning - yes !



This evening I'm hoping to get the the gym for a bit, and then I have to make a batch of cakes to take to my friend Sara's tomorrow night. I have all the bits at home, so I'm making the carrot cake muffins that i bought in here a couple of weeks ago - they went down very nicely.

I'm also planing to do a bit of baking this weekend, just to bring some bits into work on Monday for valentines - I was thinking of heart shaped cookies, glazed with royal icing in shades of red, white and pink, plus a batch of red velvet cupcakes. Nothing says "I love you (cake)", more than red velvet cupcakes with a dreamy vanilla frosting







Big night out

Well to be honest any night out is a bit of a treat for me right now - even a trip to Asda fills me with a warm tingle ! The reason being is that I've tried to be good since Christmas by not spending money recklessly and trying to keep my expenditure down to a minimum. Mostly its worked, but when you are used to buying stuff on a whim and not even thinking about how you're going to pay for it, it does rather put a dampener on things.

Anyway, this evening I'm going out for a meal with some work colleagues to celebrate Jacqui's 40th birthday on Sunday. We are heading to a restaurant in Hatch End called Black Pepper and I have to say it does look quite nice.

We had the option of picking from the party menu (2 courses for £20 or 3 for £25), or individual items from the ala carte. I've never been very adventurous when it comes to food so I opted for the party menu - Chicken breast with veg in a tomato and garlic sauce followed by Apple pie and vanilla ice cream (photos will follow later on) Hopefully it will be a good night - they have put us in a room at the back of the restaurant so it should be a bit more relaxed as we all know each other.

I'm taking the camera tonight, so fingers crossed I should get some decent pictures to stick on here or facebook

Have a good weekend !

Wednesday - halfway done

Its odd how some weeks can really fly by, yet others can drag like nothing on earth - thankfully this one seems to be fairly whizzing past.

I managed to haul myself out of the house and hit the gym last night, unfortunately there were no burly firemen in the building this time :O(   Despite that I felt quite pleased to have burned off another 600 calories (400 crosstrainer, 100 rowing machine and 100 treadmill) I even managed to jog for most of the time on the treadmill, without feeling any noticeable pain in my legs.

I did make a mistake and got on the vibro plate machine at the end of my session. For those of you not familiar, it looks like one of the weighing scales that you get in a doctors surgery - basically you stand or rest on the base plate, press a few buttons and it buzzes away for 30, 45 or 60 seconds.
Anyway, I got on the plate, tweaked the settings and hit the start button - I was expecting it to be a gentle buzz but it was more akin to digging up the road with a pneumatic drill ! 

Talk about shaking your fillings lose !

Work, eat, gym, sleep...

Don't you just hate going back to work after a weeks leave - I know I do. I invariably have a sleepless night the night before, worrying that I'm not going to wake up in time and thinking about all the stuff that could have gone wrong whilst I've been away. Well, thankfully there was nothing of the sort waiting for me when I came in yesterday morning, which was really good.

My inbox had about 40 messages, none of which were important, and all the things that could have thrown a spanner in the works, all carried on working perfectly, so I was really quite pleased.

I also did a bit of baking on Sunday night, just to take my mind off things, so I came in fully armed with a Buttery Maderia cake with orange zest. I have to say it was a very authentic looking maderia with a crumbly crust on top, and just the right texture. The recipe called for 6 passion fruit to be de-seeded and the resultant juice to be liberally ladelled over the skewered cake, but I left out this step for two reasons. Number 1 I hate the taste of passion fruit and Number 2, I couldn't see any in Sainsburys. Next time I make the cake I think I'll knock up a lemon syrup and put that over the cake instead, I think it would be just as nice.

So that was yesterday in a nutshell, back to work and then to the gym in the evening.  Although the gym session was good and I burned off 500 calories, it would have been better if the firemen that I bumped into on the staircase on the way out, had been there on the way in, before I was all sweaty, and red, and smelly !!