So I had another busy, enjoyable weekend. Met up with Mel, Patrick, Shar'on and Sophie on Friday night for a meal in Mayfair. An enjoyable social occasion although the meal wasn't exactly great value for money. Not bad but you could have got exactly the same kind of food with friendlier service in one of the Turkish cafes in Stoke Newington or ( Read more... )

Wednesday - London LOOP (London Outer Orbital Path) Malden Manor to Hatton Cross. Started off at Malden Manor and managed to get as far as Kingston-on-Thames for lunch. Sat with a Cornish pastie in the market square. Crossed over the river here and soon found myself in Bushey Park which was lovely. Open parkland with ponds and deer roaming around ( Read more... )

So I had a very pleasant weekend. Did a bit more of the London LOOP on Saturday. Started at Coulsdon Common then went through Happy Valley and Farthing Down to Coulsdon Village. Had a bit of a dull suburban stretch after that but ended up walking through a field of lavender before reaching Oaks Park where I stopped for liver and bacon followed by a ( Read more... )

Last week was very dull at work and play so I will skip straight over it and go on to the weekend. Saturday I decided to bite the bullet and do all the chores and shopping that I'd been putting off for ages. I went and got my hair cut then headed into Croydon where I bought a pair of cords, a jumper, a waterproof for my Scotland trip and a new pair ( Read more... )

Well I can't do that LJcut thing (any ideas, anyone) so I will just say at the outset there is more gory medical detail at the bottom of this post just so you're all warned. Read it or not the choice is yours ( Read more... )

So all was well at my birthday do. I had enough people turn up to make it all seem worthwhile and the publican seemed very amicable. Everyone found the pub without any bother and I managed to get home with all my possesions intact. I did have rather a lot to drink though (doing my bit to keep Britain near the top of the binge-drinking table) and ( Read more... )

So, it's my birthday tonight. I have booked a room upstairs in a pub in central London but I am feeling a little apprehensive now. I'm imagining people becoming restive because of the lack of food, no-one being able to find it (it's at the end of an obscure alleyway off Holborn) and the landlord (a slightly fierce-sounding Glaswegian) chasing me ( Read more... )

Gosh it feels like ages since I last posted on here. In the beginning it was because I was snowed under with this daft regrading exercise the college has embarked on. That's all done and dusted now ; by which I mean that the forms have been filled in. I'm not anticipating anyone actually coming to a decision about it for a while yet but that's all ( Read more... )

So it's still raining here in the UK. Not so bad in London which has always been one of the driest parts of the country but Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire are all inundated. Hereford - where my Mum and Dad live - and the part of Worcester where my sister and brother-in-law live are OK but huge swathes of the countryside are ( Read more... )

So, I had this monk on my living room floor last night. Met David at college when 'so what do you want to do when you leave?' was something of a conversation starter for him. He's now a fully fledged Dominican licensed to do weddings, funerals and christenings although probably not bar mitzvahs. Sadly he doesn't wear his habit outside the priory ( Read more... )