Kai's first week of term went OK.

... probably all I can say about it at the moment!

My week has been a matter of readjusting to his timetable and trying to get myself organised. It's nearly spring, time to get the planting schedule under way. Kitchen window shelf is now in place awaiting mini munch cucumber and various tomato seeds. Later I shall take advantage of the dry spell and get some garlic in the higher raised bed under a cloche. Might get some carrots and onions in too - and better get the slug repellent copper tape in place around the edge of the bed.

I've been experimenting with new desserts recently. Bought a pack of small waffles, toasted them lightly then spread with crème fraîche, piled on raspberries and drizzled with raspberry coulis.

Went down very well indeed. Now on the family favourite menu.

Yesterday I made... not sure what to call them. Tangerine segments in jelly, with Cointreau crunch on the top. (Like the rum crunch I make but Cointreau and organic milk cooking chocolate instead of rum and dark chocolate.) It was delicious, but needs refining: chopped up segments instead of whole, and a much thinner topping. (Kai thought it was fine as it was but it was a little tricky to cut into!)

In other news, I bought a silver and opal ring on amazon to wear instead of my original wedding ring (which now produces weeping red sores any time I try to wear it - even irritates my skin if I pick it up). It's bulkier than the original, but very pretty and only £6.40 (and free p&p), and so far has caused no problems. (This is it, first with the flash, second without.)

    

We've finished watching Hyperdrive. Ended up loving it and are all disappointed it never went to another series.

Next up, Legends of Tomorrow.

Labels: British comedy, cooking, garden

Small update. Kai and I got our chess rematch this afternoon - and I won! Very hard fought though - he has an innate ability to think umpteen moves ahead (which is good in a way as I have to try to do the same to not be wiped off the board in the first half an hour). He wants a rematch now. I think we have a fan.

I keep forgetting to say I can now make extremely nice caramel lattes. Tried one at Almondsbury, fell in love, and looked up how to make it. Main problem was making the foamy milk, 'cause I'm damned-well not forking out £60 - £120 for a machine! Best way I've found is in a cafetière: bung in about a third of a pint of milk and plunge ruthlessly for about 30 seconds. The resulting foam is thick and velvety and absolutely wonderful poured on top of the mix (I use smooth caramel coffee and Monin caramel syrup whisked in a drop of boiling water, then add milk heated to just under boiling in a pan on the hob, pour on the foam and sprinkle a little salted caramel hot chocolate powder on top to finish). Haven't tried heating the foamed milk first as we've found that cool foam over hot latte is a lovely contrast.

We're now kind of hooked on it.

I also bought a Monin hazelnut syrup, and will have a go at making a hazelnut latte soon...

Labels: exotic drinks, games

Catching up again...

Well, it's been interesting. And busy, but that goes without saying. Let's see...

... [HIATUS]...

Aaaand forty hours later I'm trying again...

If I can actually remember what happened.

First, the kingfisher haunting the moat of the Bishop's Palace at Wells, taken by Ken when he and Kai went there at the beginning of the year.

    

Adorable little birb...

Sorted out the problem at the bank, though it took about an hour and a half, as their network kept going down. Oh joy.

K&K went to Radstock on the Sat, walked a little way along the cycle path. I spent much of the day getting washing done (bedding. Ugh. Nightmare to dry in the winter...)

Sunday was the usual shopping and Golden Voyage of Sinbad, which was great fun.

Monday I had a dr's appt: she recommended I start taking co-codamol to control the pain so I can get the exercises done that should - eventually - help solve the problems, though with arthritis developing in my lower spine I don't hold out much hope. However, it is nice to be completely pain free for a few hours. (I'm only taking two first thing for three days, then stopping for five, as the warning on the box says no more than three days due to the danger of addiction. Seems to be working out OK so far.)

Got there early, so had a look in charity shops, and found the complete Hyperdrive. We've been watching an ep a night: it's... uneven, very very drolly funny in places, awkward in others, and thoroughly cringe-worthy in a few. Very strange, but... we kind of like it. And Miranda Hart is adorable in it.

On Monday pm Kai and I played our first game of chess! Great fun! And Kai won! It was pretty hard fought though, and I only had Megatron and a handful of pawns left on the board, while Kai was down to OP and a Bumblebee... Need a rematch, but haven't found time yet.

On Tues we went to see Rogue One...

Well, ignore what I said before, we absolutely loved it. Fantastic. Brimming over with the reckless enthusiasm and derring-do of the first (New Hope) film, stunningly good SFX and cinematography, endearing characters and a thoroughly satisfying plot. Fabulous!

Kai had an appt on Wed: while in town I went in search of glitterdust at Craft and More and enamel paints from Antics, as we planned to actually, finally make a start on the model kits we got Yule 2015. Which we did yesterday. I decided my first Vulcan (Hawkins Bazaar had a half price sale on so I picked up another for £14.99 instead of £30, although you could say I got another £1.70 off as that day the ticket machine on the bus home wasn't working and the driver was letting everyone ride for free. Yes, the subtitle for this blog is Surreal Я Us for a reason. More in a bit when I tell you what happened today!) is going to be a Transformer - matte black with drifts of stars, and the pilots are now electric blue with glitter (holograms, you see...) It will hang from the ceiling later. The second one I'll paint in the proper colours. I think. Might change my mind...

Anyway, it's started well, though Kai's ISS is going to take ages. There are 50 steps to complete it! (Vulcan only has 15.) I may very well give him a hand along the way.

Today we went to Weston. Just because the weather was glorious and Kai is back at Uni next Mon.

Anti-trump protest on Bristol Bridge. There were quite a few of these in Bristol today...

The whole day was one of those where you wonder if you've fallen into a parallel reality where everything goes completely right. We got to the bus-stop as the X39 pulled up at the next stop back, so had to wait all of 20 seconds before it reached us: got off at the bus station and straight onto the X1A to Weston: got off at Tesco - plan today was to explore the charity shops rather than walk the beach - and the first thing Kai saw was a beautiful little carriage clock in the RSPCA window. He glanced at me and said "I'm having that!", went in and bought it. It's a really good one too, bevelled glass and proper mechanical bits inside (do forgive the technical jargon!) and only cost £4. He's delighted!

Then around the corner in Weston Hospicecare I found exactly the gilet I've been looking for for the bike (OK, the colour is deep burgundy rather than teal, but it looks fine), priced at £10 but on the half price rail, so got it for £5. (And when I got home found it was a brand new M&S Classic range, originally £35.) And Kai found a lovely little long Indian wooden box for his earrings (he's already getting quite a collection!) which he is very pleased with.

And the finds continued! I needed a pair of proper thermal gloves (reason why in a moment) and in the British Heart Foundation shop found the exact pair I needed (Thinsulate fingerless with a bit that folds over to keep the fingers warm. Fingerless mittens?) Very warm and comfy. Bright fuschia pink, alas, but no-one's going to see them. And perhaps I can dye them! For £1.99 I wasn't going to complain. Last of all was a Tesco DVD player (mine packed up ages ago) - brand new and unused, result of a house clearance - and half the marked price of £5! At £2.50 I decided even if it didn't work I'd not lost much so bought it. Checked it when I got home and it plays perfectly...

And the day and the beach were beautiful...

Aaaand the luck continued for the trip back, straight on the bus, fabulous sunset, got off the X1A and straight onto the 178 at Bristol bus station to get us home. Chicken Kievs and chips for dinner, then out into the freezing garden with the telescope!

Hence my need for good gloves. The parka I picked up from Sains a year ago is wonderfully warm, and the thermal socks from Go Outdoors perfect for the occasion, and now my hands are warm too. This was the third time we've taken the scope out: first was just after New Year to see how it functioned: took a look at the gibbous moon and the crescent of Venus, fantastic sights! And over the last two nights (which were finally clear, though bloody cold!) we've seen the Orion Nebula, taken a good look at the Pleiades, and glimpsed the hazy smudge of the Andromeda galaxy, although it's not best positioned for good viewing yet. We'll check later. (We are handicapped by being in the city: the night sky is never overly dark. We're not doing badly though, and Kai is loving it.)

So all in all it's been a very interesting week, and a damn near perfect Friday. Kai's new meds seem to making a difference too, as he's noticeably more cheerful and positive and our conversation on the way home involved a lot of discussion of writing - and how to move a solar system using a massive solar sail...

Labels: astronomy, British comedy, busyness, films, luck, medical matters, shopping, Weston-super-Mare

Catching up...

Last week was pretty full of appointments, again. On the Thurs Kai and I went out to Almondsbury Garden Centre for lunch and to take a look: the main part is currently out of action as the last (probably) phase of the refurb is taking place. But we had a great lunch, picked up a few bits and pieces, and found out that the asparagus plants won't be ready until the last week of Jan, so will get back in Feb to see what they have.

Films watched: Danger: Diabolik which is even dafter and campier than I remembered, but good fun (and I found The Golden Voyage of Sinbad up at Pink Planet, so we now have three John Phillip Law films); Pom Poko, which is giggle-worthy [bemused head shakings at all the testicle humour] with a bitter-sweet ending; and Romeo and Juliet, which has been sitting in the pile waiting to be watched for at least a couple of years. Quite enjoyed it, but it'll never be a favourite.

Yesterday was dad T's funeral.

The trip down was quiet and pretty...

Crepuscular rays just outside Bristol.

Devon coast.

And more.

Looking back towards Exmouth.

Order of Service

View from outside the Royal Hotel.

As we were leaving.

It was a nice service (if you can call a funeral nice), and meeting all mum T's friends and neighbours afterwards at the hotel was pleasant. I'm relieved she has so many good people around her to help, as well as Arfs and Chris, of course, who have been absolutely invaluable.

He will be deeply missed.

In a couple of hours I have to get into Bristol to sort out a problem with the bank. Forecast is for rain (heavy later) all day. Oh joy...

The filmfest continues...

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Hadn't realised it was the very first Studio Ghibli film - it's fantastic! I think we're now collecting SG films - we have Pom Poko on order, and Fopp had several others in the special offer...

Space Battleship Yamato was even better than I was expecting, a rollicking fun film, with all the young heroism and doomed love necessary for such an epic. Great stuff!

I picked up Eye in the Sky before Yule, as it was Alan Rickman's last film. Not our usual fare, but ye gods. Completely compelling and yet so hard to watch. A wonderful film.

And today we saw Passengers in 3D at the Showcase...

Wow. What an incredibly beautiful, powerful film. Lawrence and Pratt aren't really amongst my favourite actors, but both of them showed such range and expression in this. And the cinematography was just superb. I'd like one of those ships, please. And I definitely want that infinity pool!

This is the first film I've seen that has me working out if we can make do with our old DVD player and TV until we can afford a 3D set up. Will be doing some pricing up over the next few weeks to see how feasible it is (ideally I'd like the lounge turned into a home cinema, but we don't have that much free cash at the moment...) Of course, it'll mean replacing several of the old DVDs with the 3D versions, but we can do that bit by bit.

In the meantime, Kai would like to see Rogue One. Personally I'm not fussed - the Star Wars films are beginning to feel like the same story rehashed, only bigger, with every release, and that gets boring. But the reviews are good, and Lutra saw it (though didn't have time to express an opinion, if I remember rightly) so I'll probably be persuaded. Kai's not back to Uni until the 23rd, so we have time.

Labels: films, Passengers