My Week — 22nd November

Bob

A week overshadowed by world events wasn’t it?   Where nothing else really seemed to matter and where events on the news really brought things closer to home into perspective.

The photo above was taken on Monday morning as Mr worked from home and Bob decided to curl up and sleep in the empty fruit bowl and use Mr B’s mug as a foot rest.

You can see who rules this roost.

We started the week thought with birthday celebrations for Ellie who turned 17.  Seventeen.  With a driving licence and lessons imminent.  How can this be?  That my three children are so grown up.  We kicked off the celebrations with a family day at home with my parents and granny here to share the cake and presents.   Mr B was up in Manchester with his parents for the weekend as there was a birthday celebration up there too:  Mr B Sr, or Hopalong as you readers may know him, celebrated his birthday the same weekend.   Mr B also got to attend the UNICEF football match that saw Beckham come out of retirement and play at Old Trafford again.   Though how on earth they let in a life long Man City fan remains to be seen.

After my folks and granny left we decided that since there was nothing on the telly we would nip down the M3 for a mooch in a new John Lewis that has just opened in Basingstoke.  A building that Caity has watched being built as her office overlooks it.   We had great fun looking sitting in all the chairs we couldn’t afford, stroking the gadgets that we also couldn’t afford, and then doing a ram raid on Waitrose downstairs and buying a load of party food for dinner.

Ellie’s actual birthday she spent at school with her friends doing her proud with some great presents.   We all then headed to Prezzo for dinner, along with her most bonkers of all friends B and her lovely boyfriend K.   Caity and Dan also came along too so we were quite the noisy table.   Fabulous

As I couldn’t to Wilmslow over the weekend with Mr  I sent a deputy:

Jim's cake

As you can see I have actually learnt nothing from the photo styling session I attended in Devon last weekend.  Nothing.    I would like to blame that on being too busy at work though and that substance over style might have just won me the day.

Ellie had a shop bought cake, both on her birthday and during the family celebration since she is allergic to anything I cook.   Most people are to be honest.   That hasn’t stopped me though this week I have really had my bake on.   That was the second cake I made in two days (let’s gloss over the first as it was a bit of a disaster), a cheesecake and beer can chicken.   Yes my friends,  a whole chicken sitting on a beer can and then cooked in the pressure cooker.   That last of these things I will blog shortly.

Events in Paris over the weekend had really made us think about life in general.  That you just don’t know what is going to happen.  You wave your loved ones off to a concert and never imagine they won’t come home again.    That an attack on a city could so easily have been on London.  Again.

That our friends went off on a holiday of a lifetime to Thailand ten years ago and didn’t come home as they were caught up in the tsunami.   It is why I have my tattoo, to remind me to live each day.

With this in mind when we were invited to Le Beaujolais, our favourite restaurant in London, for dinner on Thursday night we jumped at the chance.  I said we had started to take things more slowly and the idea of going into London on a week night at the moment (and all the planning of school runs, dog etc that has to be in place for us to go) would have been something I might have avoided.   But this week it was important to go.   It was Nouveau night and a reason to celebrate not just that but to go and see our dearest French friends.  To tell them we were thinking about them.   Jean-Yves the owner is a very special man, even coming to our wedding, and we felt we needed to go and spend some time with him.   To share wine and cheese with him and other members of staff  (oh my god the cheese).   And to, well to just be with them

beaujolais

We possibly should have left before 2am and that round of brandies if I am honest but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

Not however at 7am when the alarm went off the following morning and I then had to battle the M3 home ahead of a day of work but it felt good that we had done it.

With birthdays out of the way we are now thinking about Christmas.  There is no denying it any longer really, though I do begrudge having it rammed down my throat in every ad break from October onwards.     So much so I might be bringing Ranty Friday back next week just so I can have a good old rant.

In the meantime though we are going to have a lazy day today.   Mr B has been leant a top of the range camera to play with for the week so we might venture out so he can put it through its paces.    Whilst I catch up on blog posts.   I seem to have lost my mojo recently for all things blog but it’s time to get back to it I think as I have missed it and there is a lot I want to say

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  • Sounds really exciting – especially the Beaujolais!
    And Ellie – 17 – She’s catching me up!
    Chez nous it’s been pretty normal – I gave some blood for tests to prove that I’m still alive – yes, I am – and Pat donated her nth pint “in the national interest”. She’s a good’un though I sometimes wonder if she goes for the cup of tea, the lie down and the chance to get away from me for an hour or so. About my own tests I’ve arranged that my GP will ring me next Wednesday to discuss the results – very intriguing!

    German class again on Thursday – spent most of the 2 hours listening to those who thought they knew about things trying to help Tutor Karla understand how one sets up to write a blog. I knew nothing – but I realised that all those prattling on knew very little as well! All this in strangulated German! What an interesting afternoon. If there is a SHORT guide I’d be grateful to get it so I can pass it on – must lift my profile somehow.

    What else? Cold, snow in Oldham and Macclesfield but only large hailstones here. Very noisy but happily transient. Our printer has jammed but Pat is attacking it with cutlery various and progress is being made.

    TTFN. Do let me know about “Blog conception” if you can.
    Regards to all.

    • Will email re blog conception. It is not a quick answer!
      Re printers, if you need a “new” one we are overwhelmed with them and will happily provide you with one if the cutlery trick doesn’t work.

      • Ta! We are on to the big hammer now – some progress!
        Re the blog – just 3 or 4 lines will suffice – does it cost? is there a registration process? is there a proficiency test?
        Fairly broad grass-roots stuff please. No detail – remember I’ve got to try to explain – Auf Deutsch!
        Danke, vielmal.
        Auf wiedersehen,
        xx