Coffee at Selfridges

Coffe at Selfridges,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

Had a great day out at the bullring - managed to spend loads of money and not come away with anything for myself!! Enjoyed the food too!

The National Memorial

The National Memorial,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

We'd been recommeneded a day out at the NAtional Memorial (which is just up the road). However, the people that told us about it obviously didn't go on a Sunday. Huge space, with a new woodland - part of the National Forest, loads of places to run etc - and a lot of solem ex-army types going to the chapel on Sunday.

Dull Hull

Was in Hull yesterday - long drive up there, but the traffic was on my side so I got to the RVP early. Able to read a few more pages of the Da Vinci Code, which is a book that is really compelling. As expected the meeting was short and my colleague dried up quite quickly. Talking with the customer though it looks very favourable that we will get the order by July (more resourcing headaches!)

Tasha out (again) this time at rehersals for "Best little whorehouse in Texas", I have been wanting to grow some herbs and veggies for a while now, and we've just begun clearing a suitable space. Sowed the first batch of seeds last night. Dave came round with some DVDs to borrow.

Nate is doing really well "nappy less". He has managed two trips out today, one to town and one to toddlers (both exciting visits and not a leak in site!), not bad for 3 days in!

Catching up

Man in a tree house,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

I spent a week down at the Isle of Grain - which is a real drain on the system. Long hours and an uncomfortable atmosphere on site. The hotel has some great facilities though so got quite a bit of swimming etc done.

Lost at squash again this week, and Tasha seems to be out most nights, so I'm not getting much cycling done either.

Went on a fantastic Adobe workshop yesterday - that is a very useful tool. Had an hour or so in Brum too - definitely could get into the train comute to there. Had a mooch round the Bullring and had lunch at the noodle bar in Selfridges.

Heard today that Mavis is coming back part time from tomorrow. Adrian & I decided to give him a couple of days to get back into things before laying into him about all the things he hasn't done. No more pussyfooting around.

Nat popped in today - good to see him again - It did make me wonder why he was in though (came for a meeting with Ian McKnight).

Tomorrow I'm going to Hull. Its going to turn out to be an uncomfortable meeting. I have my instructions from Stirling and a line to stick too - he is pretty pissed with Jackson at the moment.

Squash

No victory this week, but a good game -plenty of runnnig around, good for the ticker.

Hope Mark is OK on site, seems that he is being given a bunch of shit handover.

The team leader thing was knocked back by trapper to day - CONFIRMED, other than that no news

Have planned our route with Stubbs for the mountain biking in June - Ladybower won the day

Weekend Roundup

Quite a busy one. Spent Thursday evening decorating the boat for the toddler group entry into the village event to celebrate VE day. Tasha had to deliver it on Friday night. Saturday, got caught out in the rain on our walk, very soggy! MuM & Dad came round and stopped for a bite to eat then we all went down to the brook to look at the well dressing and the boats (which managed to survive the rain and winds. Sunday had a really good swim session with the kids - they were both well up for it and Nate especially. Got home a had a mother of a bacon sarny! The afternoon took us to IKEA, which wasn't too bad but Nate doesn't like shopping a great deal. Bumped into a friend who we've not seen for a few years too! Spent the evening building what we'd bought!

A Foodies Day

Today has been a foodies day. Tasha went off to the Good Food & Home show at the NEC. She watched loads of demos by big chefs, bought and tried some great food and generally drank alot! I dropped Florence off at school and Nate and I headed into Lichfield. Today was the farmers market. Bought some fantastic local mewats and cheeses and visited my favourite - The Olive Bar. Found out that he is also there every Friday and Saturday and runs themes French Friday and Italian Staurday, where he not only sells Olives but breads and pastries too!! I feel I shall be seeing a lot more of Lichfield, I didn't realise how near it was (about 20 minutes away)

May Day

May Day,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

A regular weekend. Went to see Tasha's Mum & Dad on the bank holiday. Went to the legion for the may day fun day. Started out really sunny, and the kids had a great time on the bouncey castle etc. Floreance had her face painted. Then all of a sudden there was a downpour, with really huge drops of water. We made a run for it, but got completely drenched - memeroies of the Mistral in France!

Workshop output

Storm,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

My workshop output is up on Flickr now. A great day, and a great lunch from Pipanellas!

Enjoyed using the gesso and sand and stuff, but the tin foil was a step too far for me.

Saturday night BBQ

Saturday night BBQ,
originally uploaded by Phillip.

I spent the day at Ridware painting (I'll post about that later) but it turned into another great day, so Tasha went down to Ian Barker's and got a couple of great steaks cut, which we threw on the BBQ. They were VERY good! She also got in some bottles of Stella.

I got home from Ridware to find that Florence had been to a party but had an accident when she was there. She had tried to jump onto a stage, not quite judged the height and smashed her shim into the metal edge - ouch! Luckily there was a nurse there who was able to assess. But I had to administer some 1st aid after baths as it wouldn't stop bleeding.