Skip to content

September 2003

beautiful blog

one day i may get round to making this blog look a bit prettier. when i do i’ll use the tools referred to here

stuck in a lift

jane, esther and kezia got stuck in a lift in whsmiths in reading today. do you see the strange coincidence here:
* whsmith is a stationary store so it’s no surprise the lift didn’t move
* whsmith sells books which are good for reading. and our local town is called reading.
it’s amazing they even got permission to install a lift with the odds so stacked against them.
the girls were stuck in the lift on their own for around 10 minutes during which time they could communicate by shouting to people in the rest of the shop. it was a power cut apparently which resets the lift, which is a nice idea.
the girls were rewarded for their good behaviour by the shop keepers by the traditional rewards of coke, crisps and chocolate (the three C’s). i bet blaine-in-a-box will get the same reward when he is released.

kezia the cooker

here is something over 24 hours old now. i came home yesterday to find much cookery going on in the house. there was a fine culinary smell coming from culinary areas. kezia was wearing her bestest apron and generally “eating” everything.
pity i’m on my special diet this fortnight, else i could have eaten the ‘sandies’ that they made (no i don’t know what sandies are either).
Dsc07159.jpg
and just for you non-vegetarians out there, here is what we had for tea this evening. a massive blob of sanity enhancing british beef.
DSC07167.jpg

malade update

i know you have all been concerned, so here is the update:
i went to the doctors this afternoon (on jane’s bike) and was told most of the infection has gone, but i should take some antibacteria stuff for a week to blast the last away.
here it is (placed neatly on the mantlepiece area of my sony vaio laptop)
DSC07166.jpg

beards

here is a mighty fine thing i discovered thanks to Kookportal.
I’ve always been slightly freaked by facial hair (my own once massive, now slightly large, sideburns excepted). there are two types of beards: those out of control and uncared for, and those which have too much care and attention given them.
the great news is the World Beard and Moustache Championship is heading to London in 2007. i intend to be there …
Meanwhile i’ll get growing a nice handlebar (check out the gallery and read the descriptions).

here comes misery …

right, following last week’s ear infection and general health malade, i’ve decided i need to do my exclusion diet for a fortnight. see earlier post for some more details
definately out is chocolate, bread and dairy products.
not sure what is in yet. going to tesco to find out. fruit, salad and veg i suspect. (though fruit is too sugary really).
if you see me eating bad stuff shout at me.

back to work

very cold this morning. and dark. it was very cold and dark this morning. and a bit misty. it was very cold, dark and a bit misty this morning. getting up a 6 was too much of a struggle so i waited until 4 minutes past this morning to break myself in gently.
on the way in i saw a pair of trousers, a shoe and a tie. one day i may take a chance and leave the house in just my pants (which i am shall also refer to as ‘ass pants’ for the sake of our american readers).
i’ll then put on any item of clothing i find discarded on the way to work and see if anyone notices the difference.
i’ll put this thought on hold until next summer when it warms up. someone remind me …

tech troubles

a[pologies for anyone trying to post comments to the blog today or last night. server trouble meant your attempts would have failed. we all back and doing now though.

Bright Young Things

we’ve just got back from attending the film premier of Bright Young Things, which is the first film directed by Stephen Fry. It was a real posh affair (black tie) and we got to walk throught the paperatzee (spelling corrector required – basic rates of pay, no benefits).
we arrived at the same time as david mellor which was nice. prince charles turned up eventually and we all sang a song to his mum (god save ‘er)
DSC07148.jpg
we saw loads of celebs as well as prince charles. here are a few photos
jim broadbent, stephen fry and some of the cast (Dan Ackroyd on the right)
DSC07152.jpg
angus dayton with an equally unfashionably shoulder bag
DSC07156.jpg
john sessions with one of my colleagues in the background
DSC07158.jpg
ben elton and rowan atkinson
DSC07155.jpg
apologies that most of the photos are of people’s backs. i was good at spotting people just too late ! we also saw tracey emin and salmon rushdie on the way out. There are some better photos and an interview on the BBC website
the film was really good, the seat comfortable and we all got a free bottle of diet coke as well.

stonehenge again

Before i start. if you are interested in anything really megalothic, visit this site. if you live in the UK buy The Modern Antiquarian book. Visit Avebury and Silbury Hill rather than just Stonehenge.
meanwhile …
longleat is quite near stonehenge. i posted photos from the journey down previously.
on the way back, jane was driving do i got to take pictures as we whizzed by stonehenge
DSC07140.jpg
however, tony, tanya, catherine and anna, who we shared our chalet with in center parcs, went to visit stonehenge on their way home instead of going to longleat.
here is one of tony’s pictures:
DSCF0113.jpg

Read More »stonehenge again

friends and family

this afternoon we’ve had cousin thomas to stay
DSC07147.jpg
we took him to a party where i mowed the lawn with kezia (photo by tony):
DSCF0151.jpg

please stay on the path

postman pat’s spiritual welfare was provided by the church. The sign read “please stay on the path”. a firm reminder to all christians to stay true to their foundations
DSC07121.jpg
the spritual welfare of the guinee pigs (not guiness pigs) was also considered in the kids animal area. in their pen they had a nice church too:
DSC07129.jpg

postman pat

also at longleat was a postman pat village. it was the world of postman pat shrunken down to toddler size. very good, but slightly eery.
here was a severed arm waving hopelessly (viewed from the side).
DSC07119.jpg
and here is a nicely posed picture of kezia and esther looking unimpressed alongside jess and postman pat
DSC07126.jpg

amazing

Longleat claims to have the world’s longest maze. when we went in I asked for some hints so we could get through it quickly (before the kids got bored). she said “allow an hour and … STICK TOGETHER”.
DSC07100.jpg
we started by letting esther lead the way down the narrow hedges. then we let kezia lead which was really funny. she kept whizzing off round hedges and we had to keep up so as not to loose her. then jane took control of the situation and finally I made a lucky choice of exit in a funny circle area and we found the centre.
DSC07111.jpg
it’s a fantastically difficult maze, but really good fun. best of all is that the hedges and thick enough and tall enough to make it impossible to cheat !
we got to the middle in 25 minutes which i think was good going.
DSC07116.jpg

the train

kezia and esther loved the little train ride thing. we got to see the hippos swimming along the river which was good.
DSC07076.jpg

more doctor who

i took esther round the doctor who exhibition in longleat. i thought she’d be scared, bored or both. but she loved it and wanted to go round it again. so we did. she enjoyed making her voice sound like a darlek and though davros looked funny.
jane sometimes calls me davros which is nice. and probably only fair.
DSC07066.jpg
DSC07067.jpg

davros double

quiz of the day – which one was gracious enough to marry me.
three photos, one wife.
here is the photo I took of jane by candlelight:
DSC07063.jpg
and here is davros from doctor who:
DSC06887.jpg
and here is some other chap (thanks to andrew for pointing this out):
collins.jpg