So here we are, Tuesday the 19th April and summer has arrived ! Ok, maybe not arrived officially, but in my office, we claim summer starts on the first day that we have to turn the air conditioning on so todays the day!
This building has got to be the worst place to be on a summers day when its hot, namely because
its south facing
its got a flat roof and we are on the top floor
its not a proper building, more like one of those temporary site huts that you get on building sites, so insulation and ventilation are non existant
So I'm sitting here with an air conditioner throbbing its way into my left ear, the blinds all down to try and keep it cool, and the thermometer is still saying that its 86 degrees in here - phew !
There is one consolation to this though, and thats the fact the are are only in here for 4 days this week thanks to Easter coming so early this year - and the BBC weather reports are saying that we are in for a couple of weeks of this lovely weather. Hopefully they will prove to be correct and I can start working on the tan !
In other news I took the new camera out for a spin at the weekend and I was very happy with the results, the pictures are on my Flickr feed. I only managed to get to St Albans but I had a nice wander around the cathedral and then down through the park afterwards.
I went to the gym last night and met Baked by Brian there, which was nice as I'd not seen him for ages. Managed to burn through 850 odd calories last night so it was a very worthwhile session - I wonder how much I'll shed this evening if it stays as warm as it is now !
Well my camera arrived at 8:55am Thursday morning and I have to say its even better in the flesh than it is in the pictures. The only downside that I can see at the minute is the chrome band which runs around the edge of the camera - its a fingerprint magnet !
I had a bit of a play around with it last night at home and took some of the cats (which are on Flickr - follow link to the left hand side) Weather permiting I want to get out with it at the weekend and give it a thorough test drive, but I'm very happy.
I went to the gym last night and managed to get shot of another 800 calories which was very pleasing. 600 on the crosstrainer and another 200 on the treadmill. I actually ran for a fair amount of the time, so my stamina levels are definitely improving. OK its not exactly London Marathon standards yet, but I'm getting better !
I don't really know whats happening this weekend - I would dearly love to get out with the camera but I've got a bit of running about to do, so I might not get the chance. Still its Easter next week and I have a nice eleven days off from work, so maybe I will be able to get out with it then, fingers crossed.
My cousin has invited me down to her chalet at Selsey for a break so I think I will take her up on the invite - the cats are more than able to look after themselves for a day or two :)
Unfortunately I suffer with prickly heat - I don't get it all the time but when it happens it lasts for days. Its probably one of the few traits that I inherited from my dad :( It all started at the weekend, what with the nice weather it was top off, shorts on and start doing stuff in the garden :) I just didn't realise how strong the sun must have been, despite giving myself a good coating with sun protection spray.
So last night (Monday) when I got home from work I had a little itch on my chest which I scratched, then it moved to my stomach, so I scratched it there. Fifteen minutes later I was going frantic - I was itching so much I was in danger of tearing my skin - stress major ! Luckily I found some Piriton tablets in the cupboard so I took a couple and went to the gym figuring that being there and doing something would take my mind off things, which it did.
I had another bout of it at work today so I went to Boots at lunchtime and bought some anti histamine pills and a cream which has certainly calmed it down a bit - fingers crossed it will be back to normal by tomorrow.
and in other news, I made a mad impulse buy on QVC on Saturday - I've been thinking of getting a new camera for a while and they had this little beauty on a Todays Special Value offer.
You had a choice of black, red, blue or white - initially I was going to go for the red one as I think they look really smart, but after seeing the white one being demonstrated I opted for that one.
Its on 4 easy pay installments, but I can try it for 30 days and still send it back if it doesn't cut the mustard.
The courier tried to deliver it today but I was at work, so I will call them tomorrow to get it delivered to the office.
I also ran out of bread this evening so I made another loaf with the bread maker - this time I used Allinsons 'Seed and Grain white bread flour' and it looks pretty good .
Overall I'm very pleased with the bread machine, although for my taste the loaf could do with being slightly crustier - next time I'll just use it to make the dough and then I'll finish the bread off in the oven, that way I should have a bit more control over the crust colour.
Well I christened the bread machine last night and it was pretty successful to be honest - the brown loaf setting took three and a half hours as opposed to the five that it took with Sara's machine - however there are a couple of drawbacks
1. Its SO noisy ! - I don't know if its because its new and the parts have to work themselves in a bit, but when it started whirring away, the cats took off and flew into the garden
2. Its got an annoying bleep that tells you when to add the nuts / seeds and when its starting to bake for the final time (plus when its finished) Theres no way that you could have that on over night unless you wanted to use it as an alarm clock !
So this is my first attempt, its a wholemeal loaf with Poppy Seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped hazelnuts and pecan and walnut pieces. It does look slightly insipid but I had it on a medium crust setting - I'll put it on the dark one next time and see how that turns out.
But if you close your eyes when you eat it, the taste was very good - big up for me !
Last weekend was rather pleasant, well at least it was in sunny Watford. With this in mind I decided to tackle some odds and ends that needed doing in the garden, namely
Loading the car with bags of tree clippings and taking them to the dump
Weeding some of the borders
Replacing the broken trellis panel that collapsed under the weight of the snow
Putting in a new garden spotlight to illuminate my Acer tree
... and generally chilling out and fussing the cats
and so it came to pass that I thought the cats might like some nibbles as they were sitting with me in the sunshine. So as I went into the house I managed to kick this paving slab which has been there for the past 14 years minding its own business. Now I'm never very good with blood, so when I touched the bottom of my foot and felt a big flap of skin that really shouldn't have been there, I started to feel a bit giddy, then came the blood ! Thankfully I managed to make it into the bathroom so I could have a sit down (talk about a drama queen !)
So anyway, I just found the biggest plaster that I could find and whacked it on top of the loose skin, holding it firmly in place for a good ten minutes - that seemed to stem the flow of blood. That was on Saturday, its now Tuesday and I still haven't been able to bring myself to look at it properly - I know theres no infection there but sooner or later I'm going to have to attack it with some nail scissors and I'm not looking forward to it at all !
In other news I bought a bread machine at the weekend and I'm going to christen it this evening
I managed to find this one in Currys for £49.99 after a £30 reduction, which was pretty good in my book. Unfortunately the first one that I collected didn't have any instructions or anything in the box apart from the machine itself. This despite being assured by the assistant that 'because the box didn't have a special sticker on it, it meant that it was all in there' - yeah right !
anyway, if its a resounding success, I'll post some pictures later of my first loaf - fingers crossed !
First I must apologise for the lack of postings recently - I had a rather nasty bout of man flu last week and it left me feeling rather lethargic and sorry for myself - all back to normal now though I'm happy to report.
I'd not been to the gym for over a week due to my dibilitating runny nose, so heading back there on Saturday morning I was feeling a bit aprehensive. Thankfully it all went well and I managed to run off nearly 800 calories which I was very pleased with. Subsequently I have been on Monday, Tuesday and Weds nights this week, managing to do gradually less each night as the tiredness kicks in. I've decided to take a break from it tonight, just to allow my batteries to recharge - I might try to have a go on the bike at home instead.
Yet again I'm on annual leave from work next week, and seeing as the weather is getting better, I'd like to think that I could get some bits done in the garden. I need to replace a couple of sections of trellis which broke during the recent snow we had, but I was shocked at the prices - I'm not mean but fifteen quid for some badly nailed together bits of wood - thats taking the biscuit !
In other news, my friend Sara lent me her bread maker on my last visit.
I'd said to her previously that I fancied trying to make my own bread and had been looking at getting a cheap bread machine.
So, to take a break from baking cakes I've started dabbling with bread.
I'm currently on my third loaf - my first attempt was a plain white loaf which I added some wheatgerm to, just to zhuzh it up a bit. It looked really good and the taste was ok, but there seemed to be something missung.
My second loaf was another white loaf, but this time I added some chopped walnuts and pecans into the mix, and gave it a liberal squirt of maple syrup. Again it rose like a dream and smelt fabulous whilst cooking, but the taste just seemed not to be right.
My third loaf which I baked earlier this week was a wholemeal one - I figured it might be the flour that I'd been using that wasn't giving me the right taste. This time I threw in a handful of chopped walnuts and sunflower seeds to give it some texture.
I didn't take a picture of this one as they all look very much the same - next week I might use it just to knock up the dough, and I'll shape and bake the loaf in the oven - that might be more fun.
I gave a couple of slices to Baked by Brian last night for him to give me his verdict - hes been emailing me today so it obviously didn't kill him !
Well will you look at that - my last post I was half way through my week off and then suddenly I've been back at work for a week and not given you any updates !
ok, so here it is in a nutshell
I had a lovely day out with Sara and the kids and dogs at Black Park - I took the camera and managed to get some nice pictures which I have put on Flickr. Sara had very kindly got me £20 worth of vouchers for that cake shop I told you about in Rickmansworth (Cinnamon Square), so I shall be making full use of those before too long.
On the Friday my boss was having his leaving drinks 'do' after work. It started off in our regular lunchtime haunt (Passion Bar) where he had got them to lay on some food which was really tasty. KSR had quite a good turn out of people and it was a nice atmosphere in there. We left Passion at about 6:30 and caught the train to Oxford Circus, where he had reserved places in a club called Loop (which was right opposite John Lewis in Oxford Street) despite it not being too bad in there, I didn't really want to spend the night in a straight bar with my workmates, so I had arranged to meet up with my friend Brian in Soho.
We did a bit of a pub crawl (The Village, Comptons, The Yard) and ended up in Bar Code which was surprisingly good. Brians friend Dr Napper had joined us during the night and suggested we went downstairs in BarCode to the 'Bear Cage' - not something I'd have normally done but I'd been drinking on an empty tum and was game for most things !
Now, my usual routine when I go to London is to have a few drinks and start posting rubbish onto Facebook - however my phone inexplicably died half way through the night and left me unable to do any updates
so consequently I had noting to keep me occupied on the train
I fell asleep
woke up in Berkhamstead
and had to pay £30 for a taxi to get home - but it was a Lexus !
never again - until the next time !
Hopefully baking this weekend, so there should be more to read on Monday !
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 !
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 !
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 !
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 !
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 !
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
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
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
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 !
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 !!
... and where did that week go ? I wish the week at work would fly past just as quickly !
So where were we, oh yes, Tuesday's post and the date on Wednesday. Well I met the guy as arranged at 12:00 outside WHSmiths in Rickmansworth, good place for a meet eh ! Having previously decided that I wanted to try eating something at the Cinnamon Square bakery, that was where we headed.
I had a coffee and a small cinnamon square bun (having bought a large one last Saturday and taken nearly all day to eat it - they're massive) D had a hot chocolate and a Danish something with almonds on top. We grabbed a table upstairs and spent a good couple of hours chatting which was good - turns out that we have a couple of mutal friends which isn't that surprising really. D went to a 33rd birthday party in London at the weekend which I had been invited too but just didn't fancy it on the night - small world.
I'll probably see him again but who can tell.
As for the rest of the week its been a bit of a blur really. I had a day in the garden clearing up leaves and dead plants, then taking them to the dump. I semi sorted out the front bedroom and got rid a lot of the clutter in there, there is still a bit more to go but its not as frightening now.
I did a bit of shopping grabbing some bargain quilts in TJ Hughes which pleased me quite a lot and thats sort of been it really.
I did manage to squeeze in a couple of sessions at the gym, but didn't go today as it was an 'open day' so it would have been full of people trying things out for free - I'll go back tomorrow afternoon for my regular session.
Then thats my week over, I'm going to do a spot of baking tomorrow night just to take some bits into work as a 'welcome home' for Chris (he's been on holiday for three weeks to Australia and Fidji) I'm thinking Lemon Maderia cake and salty chocolate peanut torte (one of Nigellas creations)
so I'm going to finish with a couple of pictures of my new garden lights, courtesy of QVC, they're solar and seem to be working pretty well despite the weather having been really naff the last day or two.
There are three of them and they colour change - its so me !!
I had quite a nice day today. I got up reasonably early and drove to my cousins in Pinner for 9:30 ish, from there we headed up to Ikea in Brent Park, which is about a 30 minute drive from her house - depending on the traffic.
We did a circuit of the upper level and stopped off in the cafe for a coffee and a danish pastry which was really tasty. Once refreshed we went downstairs and mooched about in the market place picking up odds and ends as we walked and chatted. Once we'd paid for our stuff which came to a very reasonable £35, we went to the hot dog bar and re-filled our bellies with hot dogs and fizzy pop, which was just what we needed.
Ikea is a strange place - no matter how much you say you are going there 'just to look', you always end up walking out with something. In my case a bunch of ten artificial gerbera flowers, three storage boxes, a jar of jam, some freezer bag clips and the obligatory scented tea lights !
After I dropped Allison home and had a coffee, I detoured into PC world and finally bought the wireless keyboard thing that I'd been harping on about in my previous post - unfortunately they wouldn't give me any more money off for the damaged box, but they opened it in store to show me the contents were fine - hurrah !
So now I have the internet up here in my spare bedroom and also down in the lounge (although the downstairs one is really only for browsing and you-tube as it's only a baby and has a really small hard drive)
Logitech diNovo mini
Oh and I gymmed tonight as well - bully for me !
Early night tonight, I've got a 'date' tomorrow lunchtime and I need my beauty sleep. I'll tell you how it went tomorrow - goodnight all
Today is the first day of my weeks leave and I was hoping for a nice relaxing one. I'd already arranged to go and see my friend Joyce for lunch, and as a surprise I wanted to bake her a Victoria Sponge - nothing too difficult there !
Unfortunately, I managed to oversleep this morning and finally work up at 11am, which gave me an hour to bake, clean up , shower and get to Brickett Wood. After a mad rush in the kitchen I managed to knock up a very reasonable Victoria sandwich with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream, dusted with icing sugar. (I didn't have time to grab a photo, but you all should know what a sponge cake looks like !)
Had a nice afternoon with Joyce and the cake managed to go down very nicely with a couple of cups of tea.
Unfortunately I didn't stay over there as long as usual, as I had to get back home and do some more baking for this evening. One of my 'friends' on facebook (who must have been a random add as we don't have any mutual mates) was chatting last night and asked how much I'd charge for a batch of double choc chip cookies - I really didn't have a clue as I've never reallly made cakes or baked for a profit. After some deliberating we settled on a price, and so there is now a batch of cookies in the kitchen waiting for be dropped off tonight. If he likes them he'll order more - if he doesn't he won't, can't say fairer than that can you ?
gym later on as well, I need to work off last nights bread !!
