No news is... well... it's no news, isn't it?
Okay. Here's a quick round-up of the weekend:
Friday
Took a half day at work, and arrived in Northumberland in good time. Had a bite to eat then went straight to the pub. Tunes were... mostly awful, but it was a laugh, and sometimes that's more important. Got rather drunk. (Mrs. Monkey's brother was behind the bar, and I almost did the unthinkable and ordered a Guinness shandy¹. Wasn't quite drunk enough to be that evil, thankfully)
Saturday
Did a little research on the new kitchen front (which means spending a few minutes in the showroom looking at worktops and going 'ooh'. Which was... if not thrilling, at least relatively useful. And it won't cost the earth, either.
After that, we had a sarnie to try and stave off the raving hangover. A 'breakfast burger'. Boy, was it not kidding. It consisted of a quarter pounder, a couple of slices of bacon, a fried egg, a slice of black pudding, a link of sausage and some sliced tomato. All served up in a quarter stottie.² That's a lot of meat. I think I nearly blacked out at one point, just after I began scaling the North Face of it. I was so exhausted when I finished, I had to spend the whole afternoon flat on the couch to recover.
So. Evening came, and we headed for the pub. Got rather drunk. Again. Tunes were probably better, but the pub was really noisy. About as bad as I've known. Couldn't hear myself playing kind of noisy. And it was so warm that my chin got a bit irritated by the heat.
Mrs. Monkey got served the shortest measure of beer I think I've ever seen - half an inch below the top of the glass. Ridiculous. Although her Mum got revenge in a way by pointing out to the barman that she was, in fact, a local, and he should have known better... (She's fierce, is Mrs. Monkey's Mum. But in a good way.) After the pub finally kicked us out, we all ended up round someone's flat, drinking whiskey and talking bollocks until dawn, which was kind of a fun way to end the evening.
Sunday
Got up late. Realllllly late. Middle of the afternoon. (Disgraceful, I know.) Went for a run in the car with Mrs. Monkey and her folks, which was great - bought a load of herbs from a whatchamacallit... Not a garden centre. A place where they grow things from seed. Something. Anyway. Plants and stuff. It was good. I like herbs.
Oh, and then we went for a meal, which was also nice.
Monday
Slobbed around watching telly while Mrs. Monkey went to the dentist. Ate a lot of toast.
On the way home, dropped in to see Brother-in-Law's wife, who is very, very pregnant. Unborn child, however, is refusing to cooperate with anyone's plans, and is stubbornly refusing to make an appearance on schedule. No doubt new niece/nephew will decide to show some time after we board the ferry next Saturday...
Ended up in the pub last night. Surprisingly, managed to get rather drunk again... (we're justifying it on the grounds that we need to get in practice for the forthcoming week of carnage in Ireland.) But it was all good fun. Three more days and counting 'til the big holiday!!!!
1The Guinness doesn't react too well with the lemonade. Think Science Fair Papier Maché volcanoes.
2Stottie cakes* are an unusual kind of batch bun which are found nowhere else but in the wilds of Northumberland. The 'true stottie', as opposed to its many immitators, is a unique experience, and the ingredients are a closely guarded secret. They're also about a foot across.
*Seriously? Wikipedia has an entry for Stottie Cakes? That's it. I'm no longer surprised by anything.
_
Friday
Took a half day at work, and arrived in Northumberland in good time. Had a bite to eat then went straight to the pub. Tunes were... mostly awful, but it was a laugh, and sometimes that's more important. Got rather drunk. (Mrs. Monkey's brother was behind the bar, and I almost did the unthinkable and ordered a Guinness shandy¹. Wasn't quite drunk enough to be that evil, thankfully)
Saturday
Did a little research on the new kitchen front (which means spending a few minutes in the showroom looking at worktops and going 'ooh'. Which was... if not thrilling, at least relatively useful. And it won't cost the earth, either.
After that, we had a sarnie to try and stave off the raving hangover. A 'breakfast burger'. Boy, was it not kidding. It consisted of a quarter pounder, a couple of slices of bacon, a fried egg, a slice of black pudding, a link of sausage and some sliced tomato. All served up in a quarter stottie.² That's a lot of meat. I think I nearly blacked out at one point, just after I began scaling the North Face of it. I was so exhausted when I finished, I had to spend the whole afternoon flat on the couch to recover.
So. Evening came, and we headed for the pub. Got rather drunk. Again. Tunes were probably better, but the pub was really noisy. About as bad as I've known. Couldn't hear myself playing kind of noisy. And it was so warm that my chin got a bit irritated by the heat.
Mrs. Monkey got served the shortest measure of beer I think I've ever seen - half an inch below the top of the glass. Ridiculous. Although her Mum got revenge in a way by pointing out to the barman that she was, in fact, a local, and he should have known better... (She's fierce, is Mrs. Monkey's Mum. But in a good way.) After the pub finally kicked us out, we all ended up round someone's flat, drinking whiskey and talking bollocks until dawn, which was kind of a fun way to end the evening.
Sunday
Got up late. Realllllly late. Middle of the afternoon. (Disgraceful, I know.) Went for a run in the car with Mrs. Monkey and her folks, which was great - bought a load of herbs from a whatchamacallit... Not a garden centre. A place where they grow things from seed. Something. Anyway. Plants and stuff. It was good. I like herbs.
Oh, and then we went for a meal, which was also nice.
Monday
Slobbed around watching telly while Mrs. Monkey went to the dentist. Ate a lot of toast.
On the way home, dropped in to see Brother-in-Law's wife, who is very, very pregnant. Unborn child, however, is refusing to cooperate with anyone's plans, and is stubbornly refusing to make an appearance on schedule. No doubt new niece/nephew will decide to show some time after we board the ferry next Saturday...
Ended up in the pub last night. Surprisingly, managed to get rather drunk again... (we're justifying it on the grounds that we need to get in practice for the forthcoming week of carnage in Ireland.) But it was all good fun. Three more days and counting 'til the big holiday!!!!
1The Guinness doesn't react too well with the lemonade. Think Science Fair Papier Maché volcanoes.
2Stottie cakes* are an unusual kind of batch bun which are found nowhere else but in the wilds of Northumberland. The 'true stottie', as opposed to its many immitators, is a unique experience, and the ingredients are a closely guarded secret. They're also about a foot across.
*Seriously? Wikipedia has an entry for Stottie Cakes? That's it. I'm no longer surprised by anything.
_