What a thunderstorm!

Yesterday we had the most amazing thunderstorm I’ve experienced for years - and after feeling so unwell - I flung all the windows open and leant out as far as I could. But now it’s hot and humid again - perhaps a move to iceland is on the cards?

How ill can you feel?

I feel pretty unwell today, the heat, I suppose, but, imaging how you might feel if you made and ate this! How people’s imaginations work, and why any recipe would specify “one bag of frozen french fries (thawed)” is well beyond me.

Perfectly Beastly

Perfectly Beastly
What a splendid blog - I especially like his spending money idea!

cracking result

Oh Dear...

I know I shouldn’t whinge but it’s too hot for me. I’m lying in bed feeling rotten because of the sun and the lack of sleep caused by it. I love Autumn the best and can’t wait for September. At least it has cooled down a bit now.
Time for some sleep I think

Irritations

Here I am, enjoying a slow sunday, cooking some chicken, reading a book, watching the late, great Jeremy Brett playing Sherlock Holmes and what do I have to put up with? “You wouldn’t steal a car...” etc etc. You know, those f***ing irritating adverts at the start of DVDs. I paid over £100 for the box set of Sherlock Holmes DVDs - so I certainly haven’t stolen anything, yet I have to put up with an advert on EVERY disk. AND they have stopped me from forwarding through them. Bloody cheek! I wish there was some way of returning the disks for a “clean” copy. I suspect that if I had Pirated them, I’d have deleted the anti-piracy message... Good thinking Batman.

Wedding Bells

Here I am, sitting in the vestry of the church tapping away whilst I await the start of a wedding - very odd, you might say except that I have never met the couple getting married, and am here in my capacity as “caretaker” of the church.
I can recall when, for me, weddings were more about seeing relatives at the reception and trying to illicitly get hold of some booze without getting caught. The services themselves meant very little to me - in fact the number of times that we wandered in late as a result of the combined efforts of my mother’s lateness and poor directions meant that I don’t recall ever actually hearing the opening words of the service. Now, and particularly since my own wedding, the service means a great deal more to me, the words actually have a meaning... and the amazing thing to me is that the words can change, but the essential meaning behind it remains the same. The old cliches about love and commitment are, in fact, anything but! - whilst I cringe at some of the things people have and that they don’t suit me, like having hurdy-gurdy players at the wedding or fireaters at the reception, the vows that are made , in church or not are vows before God - vows that say we are so sure of our commitment and love that we are happy to say it in front of this congregation of people - that takes something very special.
Needless to say, I’m iPodding and thinking more about the house - my current thoughts extend to local vernacular at the front elevation, half timber clad, rendered barn with a curved white mediterranean rear provideing a sheltered courtyard style garden. I’ve bought some sketching pencils and will have ago at putting my ideas on paper, perhaps I’ll publish them!

fun with iphoto!

Watch this space

Back to work, and I’ve managed to find someone to sort out my atrocious handwriting - she sells the courses on e-bay at $8.00 a lesson, and the first one has just arrived. I’m going to run through it before I publish the details and will note how I get on.
The project is going very badly indeed - that is the one that I do for my day job. The continual interference of the government is a real pain in the ar$e but it looks less likely to be resolved as time goes on.
I resolve to start sketching my dream home this evening, it might be pie in the sky, but worth finding out about - especially when father in law is being so reasonable.
I’m off to do some handwriting exercises!

The MG Rides Again

Spent the afternoon tarting up the MG for it’s trip to the MOT station. New steering gaiter, greasing and brake bleeding. Will be nice to have her back on the road - I’ve also just bought an iTrip so that I can iPod her up when she’s back again. Insurance was £113 this year fully comp. I also tried to sell the Moggy, but Jenny says she has an idea about it! - But she won’t tell me what it is! - Watch this space.
Friends over tomorrow - I’m looking through “Jamie’s Kitchen” for ideas of what to cook - will update next time - still no joy on the handwriting improvement course!

Back so soon?

Here we are back to blighty - humid and hot... How I miss the Air-Conditioned luxury of a hotel room! - It's nice, though to be back to my kitchen. I'm resolving to cook some more adventurous meals over the coming months, both jenny and I need to lose some weight. Tonight was roast chicken with lemon, garlic and thyme accompanied by some tomatoes and raw baby spinach - a lovely concoction, if I do say so myself!
Tomorrow I'm off into London for a meeting, breaking my holiday right through the middle - but if I don't go - that will be me getting upset that I didn't know what was going on - The redesign will be underway soon - as soon as I can sort things out!

Somewhere, below the sea...

I'm actually typing this under the English Channel - as we are coming back into the UK - it's been a great holiday and time certainly flies when you're having fun. It must be my 20 or 30th time in Paris, but there is always something new to see and do, being able to share it with Jenny makes it so much more special, and whilst that sounds very saccharine, I can honestly say that without her being here I would still be spending all my time sitting in pavement cafes smoking myself into an early grave with a packet (or three) of Gauloises or Gitanes. Being in Paris reminds me of the bad old days of being a smoker, I still like the odd whiff of French cigarettes, but have no desire to smoke ever again, less because of the issues around the odd one here or there* but because of the horrific time I had giving up my 60 a day habit.
Anyway, the trip has really re-awakened my aesthetic senses, - I am not ashamed to say that I am now switched on entirely to good design - now, I know what you're thinking, good design/standard blogger page/bullshi**er - but allow me some slack, I'm writing this with MacJournal - as I may have mentioned which looks fine - and I'm kind of sad to say that the updated version looks even better - which may end up actually costing me money, however, I'll start looking into resetting the design of the blog to something more individual (as soon as I can work out how to do it) - but finally for this entry, if you are going to Paris - here are my ides for "must-do" things;

1. Musee D'Orsay - If nothing else, but for the fabulous architecture of the building and the views from the top
2. Musee De L'armee - now re-opened after a couple of years of redevelopment, and very nice too.
3. La Grande Arche de Defense - I always "poo-poo'd" this one, but it is absolutely breathtaking in both setting and style
4. La Sacre Coeur on a Sunday morning followed by Lunch in la Place du Tertre - thank God for all that is around you!
5. An evening drink at "Le Cristal" on the Avenue de Grande Armee watching the end of the sunset through the arc de triomphe

Of course, that will all change next time and the very thought of "must do things" is a bit of a nonsense, but it makes me look authoritative (or so I think) So - now I've recaught the bug for this Blogging thing, I hope that it will continue back in the UK - we will have to see!


*The odd one here or there is just as fatal!

Holiday in Paris, Day 5-6

Bought a cracking book on Parisian Architecture today, it's not the usual hash up of Hausmann-ite history, but showcases some of the more unusual sights in Parisian buildings - including some really ornate Art-Deco and Belle Epoque apartment buildings - was happy to come upon some of them quite by chance. We are going to follow our usual routine this morning of a cab to the Sacre-Coeur followed by a spot of lunch in the Place Du Tertre behind it - we are then planning a trip to La Grande Arche de Defense - somewhere that neither of us have been to.
This has been a smashing holiday, not least because I have been able to relax completely - haven't even though about work. But, I've done a lot of thinking about building our home... I need to try to sketch out some ideas - and then work out how much money we've got! - another entry later!

Holiday in Paris, Day 5-6

Bought a cracking book on Parisian Architecture today, it's not the usual hash up of Hausmann-ite history, but showcases some of the more unusual sights in Parisian buildings - including some really ornate Art-Deco and Belle Epoque apartment buildings - was happy to come upon some of them quite by chance. We are going to follow our usual routine this morning of a cab to the Sacre-Coeur followed by a spot of lunch in the Place Du Tertre behind it - we are then planning a trip to La Grande Arche de Defense - somewhere that neither of us have been to.
This has been a smashing holiday, not least because I have been able to relax completely - haven't even though about work. But, I've done a lot of thinking about building our home... I need to try to sketch out some ideas - and then work out how much money we've got! - another entry later!

DIY Planning

I may have banged on about this before but this site is absolutely awesome - I really like the thought of moving onto paper in a bigger way - I've gone as far as buying a couple of Moleskine books and a nice pen. Unfortunately, it is clear that my handwriting has become so atrocious with non-use that they will be ugly and useless - I'm now looking for an online "Improve your handwriting" site - Any ideas?

Holiday in Paris, Day 5-6

Bought a cracking book on Parisian Architecture today, it's not the usual hash up of Hausmann-ite history, but showcases some of the more unusual sights in Parisian buildings - including some really ornate Art-Deco and Belle Epoque apartment buildings - was happy to come upon some of them quite by chance. We are going to follow our usual routine this morning of a cab to the Sacre-Coeur followed by a spot of lunch in the Place Du Tertre behind it - we are then planning a trip to La Grande Arche de Defense - somewhere that neither of us have been to.
This has been a smashing holiday, not least because I have been able to relax completely - haven't even though about work. But, I've done a lot of thinking about building our home... I need to try to sketch out some ideas - and then work out how much money we've got! - another entry later!

Holiday in Paris Day 3

Today is the third day in Paris on holiday with Jenny, we are here to celebrate her 30th Birthday, and I hope that she had a lovely day.
We went to the Louis Vuitton shop and she got a number of different leather items. I have to admit that I was pretty blown away by the design of the packaging, perhaps even more than for the items themselves. They are very pretty, the "Multicolor Mongram" range, but the boxes, simple, heavy cardboard items with tissue wrappings, cloth bags and a pull-out drawer arrangement, are a real triumph of simple design.
I also arranged for the hotel to get some lovely roses and place them in the sitting room of our suite, they also delivered a bottle of Champagne, a bowl of nuts (odd!) and scattered the bed with red rose petals. I suspect that they did not check that out with the cleaning staff though, as they made a hell of a mess! - still, that's one of the pleasures of being on holiday...
Jenny very sweetly indulged my latest bout of "Mac-Madness" by buying me an iPod, I suppose I had been going on about them for a while, at least since I took delivery of my MacBook - It is the 30g iPod Video model, and I am already trying to look for accessories for it! - One of the unintended consequences of my acquisition of Macs is that I have turned on to good design again. This could be an expensive business, not least because we are contemplating building our own home. I kind of wish I could draw, although being able to write might be a start!
Still - plenty of things left to do, not least get to grips with this new blogging software MacJournal that came free with a magazine, it means I can type away from an internet connection and show off the MacBook at the same time!