40 / 70

On Sunday we went to Calderfields Golf Club to celebrate SJ's father and sister's birthday's - being 70 and 40 respectively. Great meal and pretty reasonable albeit the service was pretty slow.

Had a pretty lazy day otherwise, before heading back down to Radlett (with the entire entourage) on Monday.

The gang were flying back to NZ on Tuesday morning so for the last night we headed into Prezzo for a meal. Its been a while since SJ and I went to Prezzo...the last time was OK but nothing special. This time I had the Tre Gusti pizza and it was nice, but not as nice as Va Pensiero in my opinion.

Tuesday morning, SJ tand father took them all back to LHR for the start of their long trip back to NZ...we shall miss them...the house is very quiet now...

The Bikes

Made our way back up to Rugeley for the last weekend with the New Zealanders. Whilst we were off though, we had taken the Mountain Bikes out again for the first time in a while! The Rugeley house is excellent for this now as you just ride for a couple of minutes and you're on the Heritage trail which leads you straight on to Cannock Chase. Its been a while since we went over the Chase on our bikes and they've made a great job of it. Follow The Dog has been extended with The Monkey Trail (yet to do) and they've also sectioned a nice long blue route through Sherbrook. Really made a good job of it...

Back to work

Unfortunately it was back to work on the 15th...never mind was good whilst it lasted...still I have to say that returning to work on a Thursday is an excellent idea - a day to do your emails and basically get sorted, then its Friday...nice...

Underground Tattoo

The 13th was my birthday so I celebrated by getting another tattoo. This is my ninth I think? Must count up one of the days...anyway, my previous ones (in the UK) have been done in Cannock at Midlands Tattoo, however my friends recommended Undergroud in Walsall. We went up there a few days previous to sort out the design - basically I wanted two swifts in memory of my grandfathers tattoo on his forearm. This was so faded, the only thing you could make out was the swifts.

Anyway, they did a great job, very friendly, not too painful and an excellent result. I would thoroughly recommend.

On the night we had a meal at The Hollybush at Salt - really nice meal and not expensive. Another recommendation...

The stag weekend

Just on my way back from an excellent weekend spent in York on Si's stag do. Friday was spent at the races on which I managed to end up breaking even if not a little better. We then went for an Italian on the night and then headed into the town for drinks at some bars. Notably we went to The Evil Eye Lounge. Ideally we wanted to go into the main part but was too busy, so we just went into the secondary pub part. Was OK but not the same. Evil Eye is a really interesting place where they do some ace cocktails and you enter it through what looks like a shop front...

Yesterday we went for breakfast in The Blossom Cafe and then we went go-karting at F1 Karting. This was absolutely fantastic! The carts looked brand new! Was really well run and great fun but incredibly tiring on the arms! I managed (somehow) to win the heats section and then my semi-final. I couldn't unfortunately win the final and came second overall.

Last night we went into town early but it was packed due to the race meeting still being on. We has a couple of drinks at Plonkers and then went for a Mexican which was alright but nothing special. Portions were enormous though! Few more drinks and then back to the hotel.

Still got a few more days off. I return to work on the 15th. Unfortunately tomorrow I'm back to the dentists to have a filling but Tuesday is my birthday! I'm going to Underground Tattoo in Walsall to get my "swifts" in tribute to my grandfather. Will post a pic when done!


...blogged from my iPhone

Location:York

York races

Yesterday was a day at the races. We paid to go in the county stand which was well worth it. I'm not normally lucky on the horses but i got some tips from sj and her colleagues. Turned out to be a good day...



...blogged from my iPhone

Location:York,United Kingdom

London

For H's birthday, we went into London for the day. It was a pretty full on day, starting at Buckingham palace and then walking to Victoria and getting the tube to the Natural History museum followed by a trip to Hamleys. We, and all the kids were knackered by the end of it!





...blogged from my iPhone

Location:Middlewich,United Kingdom

York stags

Today I'm off to York for a mates stag do. I set off from Stafford train station earlier today and am just on the way to Manchester picadilly where I change trains to York. The plan is to go to the races today, meal tonight, go-karting tomorrow and then another meal and then home Sunday. Weather looks good so should be a great weekend!
...blogged from my iPhone

Location:York,United Kingdom

Bull Ring Bull

This was on display the other day in Selfridges in Birmingham. The whole thing was made entirely from jelly beans... cool...


...blogged from my iPhone

Location:A4201,London,United Kingdom

Red Bull

Saw this at the motorway service station yesterday. Apparently it's one of David Coulthard's old ones. I assume it hadn't stopped for fuel!


...blogged from my iPhone

Location:A4201,London,United Kingdom

RHS WISley

The other weekend, my parents came down to Radlett. We went along to RHS Wisley. This is the Royal Horticultural Society's show garden centres and I must admit it was pretty spectacular. ITs down in Surrey so not too far away - about an hours drive. They have all manner of different gardens, including Bonsai, fruit, rose, herbs, rhodedendron's etc, etc. We're just replanting the Rugeley garden so it was worth the trip.

Drayton Manor

Its been years since I went to a Theme Park and longer still that I went to Drayton Manor. This is a theme park just souteside Tamworth in Staffordshire. We went there yesterday with the kids - they (and us) had a great time. The weather was excellent and there was hardly any queuing as we were not in school holidays. Everything was pretty much as I remember it, with a few changes - a couple of new rollercoasters, Apocalypse had replaced the Parachute Drop and some minor ride alterations. Interestingly, rides like the Buffalo coaster were still going strong.

I went on pretty much everything except the Pirate ship and Maelstrom..they're just too "swingy"for me.

The garden

For my birthday my parents have very kindly offered to restock the garden in rugeley. We lost a lot of plants this winter particularly the palms. The worst one was the very big one nearest the house. This had grown to be quite substantial but the frost and snow had gotten to it. I'd picked out some plants and my mom had chosen the rest. Looks really good now and certainly will when it matures.








...blogged from my iPhone

Location:Coach Central,Lawley and Overdale,United Kingdom

Finally on holiday!

At last I've broke up from work for a couple of weeks! Having said that I'll probably be glad to get back - sj's sister, husband and three kids are over for three weeks and the intention is we spend some time with them. We pocked them up from heathrow on monday and then drove up to Staffordshire on Tuesday. Today we're out in Telford. Got a few things planned, perhaps Go Ape tomorrow, party Saturday, christening Sunday, etc, etc.

...blogged from my iPhone

Location:Woodhouse Central,Lawley and Overdale,United Kingdom