Niagara Falls - a rainbow
Niagara Falls - a rainbow, originally uploaded by Peter.
Just got back from a two week holiday in the USA. Saw my friend Ian get married, experienced Manhattan and gazed in awe at the wonder that is Niagara Falls.
Back now. Jetlagged.
Mangetout
Mangetout, originally uploaded by Peter.
We now have a lovely garden and it includes a vegetable plot and a greenhouse. So far we have planted peas, runner beans and mangetout. I’m a bit worried that they are not getting enough sunlight though, as we have a rather large tree (I think it is an ash tree) that blocks some of the sun…
Burns Night 2008
The PC6 lived up to expectations, and the 1997 Springbank was also really good. But they both pale in comparison next to the 21 year old, rum casked, Glenfiddich…
PC6
I bought two new bottles of whisky on Tuesday evening - half as a present for my dad and half for Burns Night.
This is the more interesting of the two, and is very much “my kind of thing”:
Renovation
Finally selling the flat in December was a huge relief. The house is now our focus and is proceeding rather slowly. We have a long list of jobs to do before we move in, which puts us at the mercy of other people’s schedules. The fact that Lisa and I can only really be there at the weekend doesn’t really help much.
Still, things are progressing. I’ll feel happier once we have chosen a kitchen. We were planning to go and take a look at what IKEA had to offer, but I think that we are going to settle for a B&Q kitchen instead.
Caius “reunion”
Managed to get fifteen or so Caians together in central London on Saturday, which was fun. The interesting thing for me was that it wasn’t all one group of friends. The restaurant that we had arranged to meet in (Vinoteca) was full (but looked and smelled really good), so we had to improvise. We ended up in Smiths of Smithfield and ate around 2pm… The chaos was quite good fun though. There are some photos on Facebook (by Laura North) if you are that way inclined.
Turner Prize 2007
I’m a bit disappointed that Mark Wallinger won. I didn’t really enjoy his exhibition. Perhaps I just didn’t ‘get’ it.
Liverpool Santa Dash
…was awe-inspiring. Completed in around 30 minutes and lots of fun.
Peter the Santa
Me. Trying on my santa suit in advance of the 5k Santa Dash tomorrow.
The Gallery
Dinner at ‘The Gallery’ on Allerton Road last night, with Dan and Vicky. The restaurant was quite nice, the bar downstairs was absolutely packed so they must be doing something right.
The food was reasonably priced and of a good quality. I wasn’t too convinced by my ‘medium’ venison special but my smoked haddock risotto starter was very nice (if a little salty). My cheese board had been well looked after, was also very tasty and was a much more sensible size than the one I’d had in Amber the other week.
We drank two bottles of an organic Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, which was also pretty decent.
Santa Dash preparation
My first decent run in a month today. 5k in half an hour, but with loads of walking bits. I think I’m quite a lazy runner… Looks like there are four of us doing the Santa Dash now - I’ll have to get a sponsorship page together.
Santa Dash 07
I’ve signed up for this now, even though I’ve only managed to do about an hours exercise in the last four weeks…
Apparently they are looking for more runners and more publicity - so here is a link to the Santa Dash website! Sign up!
Amber
Lunch at Amber in Mossley Hill today, with recently married friends Helen and Adam. The place is run by the brother of an old school-friend of mine (who I’ve not seen for a good few years) and the food was pretty good. It is only over the road from the new house we are buying so it would appear that we may become regulars.
I had the sausage and mash followed by the cheeseboard (which was huge).
