The wrath of grapes

Feeling a bit under the weather today. Thumping headache, delicate stomach. Must be a virus. Oh by the way, had a great night last night with neighborhood friends. Lots of talking, eating and drinking until the early hours. I used the fact that I was slurring my words as my indicator that it was time to leave.....hey, wait a minute. Don't suppose these events could be related do you?...

“I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day. ”

This blog post contains complaints and wingeing

Lately we have been irritated by the BBC evening News which gives reminders before every report that "this report contains flash photography". Whats all that about? I assume they are worried that someone will be affected by the flashes and will sue them? I think there should be some more warnings given prior to each news report to let us know about undesirable content. Examples would be " This reporter has an unfathomable accent", "this report contains useless statistics and facts",  "this presenter has seriously bad dress sense" , and one I would look out for would be "this report contains soccer".

15 years!!

Happy Anniversary to my husband Tony.

Alive again!!

I feel like a dormouse must feel when waking up from hibernation. For the first time in many months its been possible to spend time outside and its been great! The snow has gone from everywhere except the shadiest spots, the sun is out and although its not exactly warm, as long as you wear a thick sweatshirt, the temperature is comfortable. So yesterday I spent a few happy hours tidying up the flower beds in the backyard. My back was aching, and my boots and gloves were filthy, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Today I am going to tempt fate by buying and planting out a few hardy pansies and primroses to add a bit of color to the beds. The chairs are out on the deck (albeit sans cushions...) so Spring better be round the corner now. No more snow please (or if you must snow, sprinkles only...)

Old fart

I logged into Amazon today and the DVD it had recommended for me was "Easy yoga for arthritis". All I need now is the "Blue Rinse for all" and "Zimmer maintenance" DVDs and my collection will be complete.

Funny for some

I am listening to a Bill Bryson book on my iPod called "I'm a stranger here myself" and I have come to the conclusion that, to enjoy this book at its fullest you really need to have spent some time living in both the UK and the USA. The book is a series of articles that he wrote for a UK newspaper (The Daily Mail) and it focuses on observations of his life in the US and the differences between that and his previous life in the UK (he is an American who spent 27 years living in the UK, where he met his English wife). Some of the articles are pretty funny but possibly would not be understood by all readers. An example is one entry he wrote about the agonies of visiting the hairdresser/barber. He leaves the barbershop looking like, in his words, a lemon meringue with ears. When he gets home his wife asks him what on earth he has done to his hair. He explains that he told the barber he wanted to look "like a banker" to which his wife replied, "well at least you rhyme". How many Americans would understand that I wonder...this would probably explain why, when I told a couple of my work colleagues that I was reading a Bill Bryson book they replied "why?", and proceeded to describe how they had read his books and found them boring.

It seems to me that one of the big differences between the Brits and the Americans is that the Brits love gardening and can probably give you the botanical name of most flowers in your backyard, whereas the Americans are obsessed with their health and can probably tell you the pharmaceutical name of every pill and potion in your medicine cabinet...

Making choices

Hmm...Chinese or Ceramics?

Robert is in the final year of middle school and as such, has to make choices about the courses he wants to do next year in high school.  The school have really made a meal out of something that should be so simple. Tony and I went to a parents evening last week which was intended to tell us about the program. It lasted 2 hours. The students were presented with a 70 page book, outlining all the possible subjects and levels. I came to the conclusion that it could've been summed up in the following simple statement: "Your child must take a series of mandatory subjects next year, such as Math, English, a language and a science. The appropriate level (honors, A or B) will be selected by their current teachers. Theres a small number of elective subjects they can choose from".

I must say however that I am impressed with the selection of electives offered to the students. They look so interesting! I don't recall being given this sort of choice. Web Design, Theatrical  design, TV production, Interior design, Digital imaging, Exploring technology, Robotics & Electronics....makes Needlework, Cookery or "Craft, design & Technology" seem somewhat bland doesn't it?!

Spring has Sprung, the grass has ris' (I wonder where the flowers is...)

So the clocks went forward an hour this morning, and  yesterday I saw some snowdrops growing under some trees. The snow is mostly gone. Would it be too optimistic to think that Spring may be on its way?

Corned beef hash, pasties and history

Corned beef hash (yum!)

Corned beef Pasty (yum!)

This week Emma decided that she fancied some corned beef hash. To those that don't know what that is, this is a mixture of corned beef , fried onion and mashed potato, and its very tasty. It is sometimes used as the filling in a pasty (pasty: a filled pastry case, associated with Cornwall, in the south west of England, UK, made by placing the uncooked filling on a flat pastry circle, and folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the edge to form a seal. The result is a raised semicircular package....thank you wikipedia).  


So we bought a bag of potatoes, some onions and looked for corned  beef. Do you think we could find any? We looked in all the local supermarkets, plus Walmart and Target. Not a can to be found on any shelf. Whats going on?. Is there a world shortage of corned beef or a ban on this product? Then we realized that St Patrick's day is in a few days time (March 17th). This means that Americans who aspire to be Irish, and even those that don't, eat a strange mixture of corned beef and cabbage, believing this to be a traditional Irish dish. Maybe it is, all I can say is that I have never seen it on a pub or restaurant menu in Ireland. I think its a load of old blarney...

Corned Beef and Cabbage (yuk!)

 St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland (although he was born in Wales...). The patron saint of Wales is St David, and St David's day is March 1st (oops! I missed it). So what is a patron saint? I hear you ask. Its a saint who is considered to be a defender of some group or nation apparently. So there you have it. Recipes and general knowledge all in one blog post. It does not get any better than that, so it doesn't...

A modern day Jackanory

I am loving listening to audiobooks on my ipod at the moment. I am new to this form of entertainment but am an immediate fan. It is extremely relaxing to drive to work with Bill Bryson's easy-going and slightly bemused voice reading from his books. So far I have listened to 'A Walk in the Woods' and 'In a Sunburned Country', both excellent; funny and informative at the same time. I can't help but laugh out loud at times, I don't know what the driver in front thinks. My journey to and from work each day flies by, and I sometimes have to wait in the parking lot or garage while I finish listening to a chapter. Isn't technology great!

Another Birthday...

Another birthday, this time my Dad's. Happy Birthday Dad, don't overdo it!

None the wiser

Well, another year older but maybe not another year wiser. At least I have the day off work so I get a lie in and (hopefully) a cup of tea in bed (hint, hint...)

Try to look the part

Off to the gym?

Just spent an hour at the local YMCA on their indoor track (don't be impressed, I was walking, not running). I was amazed at the bizarre exercise attire donned by some of the people there. Apart from the normal lycra, and the more startling velour top and pants, I was amazed to see one woman exercising in a thick, Aran-style wool sweater. She had a pair of sweatpants on that must have previously belonged to her 400lb husband and she had to stop at regular intervals to hitch them up. Another woman was wearing a padded coat and jeans while she walked around the track and a pair of shoes that I would be embarrassed to garden in. But the most inappropriate attire seemed to be on the basketball courts below. I saw a woman running around, fully engaged in a game, wearing a pair of super-skinny tight jeans and some fur lined, mid-calf high, suede boots. I'll bet they smelled nice afterward....

I used to be indecisive; now I'm not so sure

We are about to get our bathroom remodeled, so I've started looking at faucets (taps), sinks and tiles. After just one day of looking I am already going into overload. Faucets come in chrome, pewter, gold, brass, stainless steel, bronze, white or copper finishes. They can be contemporary, modern, rustic, traditional, transitional or Victorian with one or two cross, knob or lever handles. Sinks can be under-mounted, pedestal, self-rimming or vessel, made of ceramic, glass, copper, bamboo, steel or bronze and can be shaped round, oval, square or rectangular in every color you can think of including 5 shades of white. And as for tiles! Where do I begin? Whole showrooms full of tiles, 500 of which are in varying shades of beige.
I will probably look at an endless array of fixtures, agonize over near-identical tiles, bring multiple samples home to view in different lights, then end up choosing a white oval sink with traditional chrome taps and a beige tile. Can't go wrong with that.

Out of touch with reality

Everybody is struggling with the snow. Any melting during the day immediately turns to black ice at night so grit and ice melting salts are in high demand. We ran out of salt today so we went to our local home improvement store "Lowes" to get some more. What a waste of time. If we'd have wanted to buy deck furniture or gas grills we would've had an endless choice, but there were no winter products to be seen anywhere; no snow shovels, no roof rakes, no ice-melt. IF I COULD ACTUALLY SEE THE DECK UNDER ALL THE DAMN SNOW I WOULD CONSIDER BUYING SOME DECK FURNITURE, BUT BEING AS I CAN'T, IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK THAT YOU STOCK SOME FREAKIN ICE-MELT IN FEBRUARY?!!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. . . somewhere else!

We have had such extreme weather this winter that I felt a few pictures were in order just to make sure we don't forget what a New England winter is capable of. Thankfully it is not normally this bad, but unfortunately we still have more to come, with 2 more storms forecast over the next week. These photos are the snow around our house. We have cleared the driveway multiple times, the banks of snow either side are so high our snow-blower is struggling to blow the snow over them. We had to clear the snow off our deck because of the potential problems that the weight of 4 feet of snow could bring. We had to dig a path to the deck first. Getting tired of it now but it makes for some good photos.

This is the front path

Mailbox is nearly buried

Path to the shed

Path to deck plus clearing snow from basement window

View of the garden from the deck

The snow bank is higher than the deck rails

Snow mounds either side of driveway getting too high to blow snow!

Did we mention it was Helen's birthday today?

Happy Birthday to Helen, 30 something today. Actually its pretty amazing that we remembered, she's not one to mention it. Would let it pass by without recognition if she had her way. Lucky we marked it on our Google calendars......

Too much snow!

A couple of pictures of the snow.  The first one is a view looking up towards our house, showing the banks of snow at the end of the driveway. You can just see our mailbox peeking out through the snow mound. The second is us snow-shoeing this past weekend. Note that, although the trail makes the snow look like its only a foot deep, this is actually just the top layer of compacted snow and there is a couple of feet underneath us - we actually walked across the top of a brook without being aware of it, it just looked like the continuation of the trail. Forecast is another 5 inches tomorrow, 6-12 inches Wednesday. Gulp!

Ladies Night Out

Went to Bistro Limoncello in Northborough last night with some friends. This restaurant has been open for a couple of years, and has obviously been doing well because they have just expanded, doubling their previous  size. The decor is very warm and inviting. There is a small bar near the door but unfortunately it was swamped by people sitting eating at the bar, which was not an encouragement to sit and have a drink while waiting for the table. A lounge bar area would be a good addition.  Apparently that area is being changed in the next couple of weeks so we shall see if it improves.

The staff are extremely friendly and the owner makes sure his presence is known. I have to say, he did have something of the "Tony Soprano" about him.

The atmosphere was great, the company was wonderful, my biggest complaint was the quality of the food. Very average. One of our group had a medium rare steak that was still chewing the cud. It took ages before the waiter came back to our table so it could be taken away and cooked. I had salmon. I have never been to a restaurant that could mess up salmon but this one did. It was so overcooked it had the texture of an overdone pork chop and was drier than a popcorn fart. Not good. I suppose I could've complained but ultimately, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, I feel that if I complain then I spoil the atmosphere of the evening. But truthfully the food was more than disappointing.

So in summary, Bistro Limoncello has all the makings of a great night out, the setting, the decor, the atmosphere, the friendly staff. All they need now is a chef that can actually cook...

Dashing through the snow

Today we tried snow-shoeing for the first time. The Mass Audobon site in Worcester organized a "family snow shoeing" trek, so we thought this would be a good chance to try it. The snow shoe is an interesting contraption. They have moved on from the tennis racket days and are made of metal and about 25 inches long and maybe 10 inches wide. The idea is simply that they disperse your weight over a bigger area so you do not sink in the snow as much. They also have grips underneath that help when walking up or down hill. It was actually a lot of fun and we soon got the hang of it. It was quite peaceful trudging through the snow and listening to it crunch underfoot. And no more strenuous than walking really.This is definitely more my style than skiing. Better go see if the stores have any snow shoes left.

Trouble with technology?

Good sketch from the BBC, starring Ronnie Corbett, the remaining half of the Two Ronnies, a very funny duo from years ago.

"My Blackberrys not working"

Travolta - aging gracefully

John Travolta was gorgeous when he was younger in his Saturday Night Fever and Grease days, and he is still wonderfully handsome now. He is fortunate to have aged so well.

Grease is the word

Watched Grease last night with Emma.  I think I last saw this movie when it first came out in 1978, when I was a teenager. I remember it being THE movie to go see and I saw it more than once.

The movie has become a classic and I can see why. The music, mostly written by Barry Gibb, is very catchy and we both really enjoyed it. Its a PG rating  - there was a lot of dialog that I hoped would go over Emma's head! The main entertainment in this movie is the songs and the dances. The rock n' roll era is a perfect opportunity to bring in some exciting moves and it really was foot-tapping stuff. Very enjoyable, my favorite song being the title track itself.

Hiding a multitude of sins

Just spent the afternoon painting the walls of a bedroom. What a satisfying task! All those scuff marks, crayon marks, scratches and other blemishes covered over with one brush stroke. If only we had something similar for life (although some people would need an awful lot of paint....).

Corrie Nation - I think I get it!

Last year I posted a blog entry about the Facebook application called Corrie Nation and how I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to be doing. Well, a few months later here I am at level 13 (out of 20 I think) with a "Street" that is full of houses, shops, businesses and people. How did I do it? I know you are dying to know...Here's a few tips on playing the game.

 - Some basics - the idea of the game is to build up your "Street" so that it is filled with houses, buildings, trees and Coronation Street characters. You do this by buying things. To buy things either click on the basket in the lower right of the screen, or click on the Kabin.
 - You use Corrie Gold (CG) to buy things with. Once you have bought an item, exit the Kabin then look in your "tray" at the bottom of the screen. Your items will now be there. Drag them onto the street to 'activate' them. Some items are extremely difficult to drag and drop, presumably because this is still a Beta version of the game. The pigeons and the tandem are particularly difficult but you can do it if you try out different spots on the board to drop them.
 - Your 'experience level' (XP) indicates what items you are eligible to purchase and in some cases, how much they will cost you. Some things stay a constant price, but some such as Characters increase in price as you go up the levels so you should probably buy a few while they are cheap.
  - When you first start playing the game at the lower XP levels its more difficult to make CG. You can do it in a few ways:
1. Collect newspapers, put out fires when presented with this option.
2. Get full marks on the Rovers Return quiz
3. As soon as you can, buy the Rovers Return to build up your CG supplies. Restock it with the fruit machine for 2 CG, and in 2 minutes time a CG symbol will be displayed above the Rovers. Clicking on this will give you 5 CG, i.e. you've made 3 CG in 2 minutes. With 5CG you can buy pigeons, and after an hour the pigeon will give you back 25CG. Do this twice and you have 50CG and can buy a character.
 -  Once you own a character they periodically "get bored" and need a task to do. This is indicated by a red outline, a big arrow pointing to their head, and a miserable expression on their face! When this happens click on the character, answer the question correctly and you will get 10 CG. This is good when you are starting up but, quick frankly, a pain in the butt when you are at the higher levels (see later).
 - Be careful with buying Pets - if you are not around to redeem the CG after the specified time, they will disappear back to the Kabin and you will have wasted money. Buildings don't seem to do this.
 -  Keep buying and redeeming items until you have enough money to buy more buildings. You don't need to keep any CG - you have to spend it to make it.
 -  every time you buy things you also earn experience points (XP). When you get enough XPs you go up a level. At each level there are more things available to buy, giving you more ways of making money.
 -  Tip - Buy the tree, this gives you 100 CG every hour and does not expire. The gift that just keeps on giving! Other similar items are the postbox, the flowers, Maxine's bench, the bus shelter etc.
 - There are many vehicles with a redemption time of 2 hours. Buy everything that expires in 2 hours, then 2 hours later claim them all in one go. Big Bucks for very little effort!!

 -  I have yet to see any benefit in buying the houses, apart from the satisfaction of building up your street. I cannot see how you get CG from them and they cost a fortune (10000 CG and up!).
 -  I have managed to lose a pet (Eccles) - I dragged him to a place somewhere behind a building and I can't seem to get him back. If I could only rotate the playing board I may be able to find him. Oh well....
 - When you start playing the game its fun to buy characters. However I would caution about buying too many. They only give you 10 CG a couple of time a day, you have to answer questions to get the CG. Its the same set of 3 questions over and over so it gets really boring. And its just not worth it to go through 4 clicks per character just to get 10 CG. I have about 20 characters and believe me, 80 clicks just to get 200 CG is not worth it. Better to buy the tree and get 100 CG per hour for 1 click!
- You can rotate some of the buildings. I don't know what purpose that serves.
- I've had trouble adding neighbors - I acquired one early on and don't know what I'm expected to do with them! Maybe it will become clear later on.

Well thats just about all I know. This is enough to get you started if you haven't played before. Go on! You know you want to!