My friend, Curious Girl, has said all that needs to be said about Strictly and The Restaurant, so I shan’t repeat it here. I am bored with it. I have taken to watching SCD on ‘catch-up’ and fast-forwarding through Bruce and Tess’s idle chit chat, the ‘let’s see how they did in practice’ and even worse, the ‘let’s watch them making unashamed pleas to camera to be kept in because they have “learnt so much on the journey”‘. Where does this language come from – no one talked about going on a journey until reality TV took hold. I think we need to challenge these individuals to at least look for some ‘voyages of self discovery’ or other developmental language nonsense.

But there IS some good stuff to be had on our TV screens – I was very taken with the BBC’s ‘Small Island’, a great adaptation of an Andrea Levy, (check her out on http://www.andrealevy.co.uk/) book that I read a little while ago, (also an Orange Prize for Fiction winner) – powerfully described and dealing with the very touchy subject of racism and what it felt like to be told you were part of the ‘mother country’ and then not welcomed by it. It moved me to tears on a number of occasions and even LH thought it was ‘really good’, I’d watch it again – high praise from a man who normally prefers Heartbeat and Top Gear! If you missed it, it’s on i-Player, do try and catch up on it. I can’t wait for Andrea Levy’s new book, The Long Song, due out next February.

So, to quote John Lennon, ‘this is Christmas, and what have we done…..’ I don’t know about you, but I still haven’t done as much as I should. The internet is a boon, but sooner or later I am going to have to face the shops on my own.

Till 2010. I wish you a Peaceful and Happy Christmas and a Prosperous and exciting New Year!

It’s not often I run out of something to say, but this week, I find myself at a loss to know what to blog about. I try to be topical, or interesting, (preferably both) but I guess the inspiration has to come to an end sometime. And today’s the day. So, instead, I thought I’d do a list of things I dislike about Christmas – perhaps you have a list like this – or maybe I am just in a ‘bah humbug’ sort of mood.

1. Greedy children
2. Stupid shoppers who push and shove and bash into you
3. Tinny, crappy Christmas songs, (not the good songs, they are OK)
4. Trying to find a parking space
5. Being nice to people

OK, OK, I have to stop now, as I am really making myself depressed. Tomorrow marks the start of my Christmas shopping and I have 3 things on my list to buy – I will naturally do as much as humanly possible over the internet, but some things, (the Christmas tree for example) just don’t work so well that way – although I am sure if I searched, I could find a way of ordering one on-line! Sorry, dear reader – did you miss me? Just popped off for a quick Google, and well – what do I know – there they are: http://www.pinesandneedles.com/Buy/ But – they charge £20 to deliver it – I think I can manage to struggle to the garden myself after all!!! Not only that, if you live in the London area, it can be delivered fully decorated too – now that’s what I call service!!

Have a nice weekend everyone!!

In a week dominated by Radio 2’s way too over the top support for Children in Need, I was glad to be able to get out of the house and back to my favourite restaurant, Caldesi in Campagna, http://www.caldesi.com/caldesi-in-campagna/index.htm I have blogged about Caldesi’s before, but this isn’t going to stop me mentioning it again, as I really love the food there and think that Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi, the lovely proprietors, are two of the nicest, kindest, most genuine people I have ever met. Last week saw us attending Caldesi’s to celebrate Katie’s latest book – The Italian Cookery Course – available on Amazon of course – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Italian-Cookery-Course-Authentic-Masterclasses/dp/1856267792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258975382&sr=8-1 If you want a lovely location for a special occasion or just a yummy meal out, I commend it to you. The food is tasty, beautifully prepared and served, with a lovely selection of wines to set it off.

Are we all getting too cynical, or is Strictly losing its sparkle? Jade’s knee-popping accident a couple of weeks ago has taken her out of the competition and Ricky Groves lacklustre tango saw the judges bid him farewell. I really don’t like Chris Hollins and Ola – they are just too twee for me. And his baby-faced, uber-sweet smile is making my stomach churn. I have always loved Strictly and thought that this year’s less than stellar line-up would nevertheless grow on me and I would be enjoying it all the way to the finish. The only person that I can truly say this of is Natalie and the cheeky Vincent Simone, they dance well together, but unfortunately, they are not in the same league as the vacuous Brian and Ali and Ricky Whittle and another Natalie. I am losing interest. Bring back Camilla Dalerup – though that seems unlikely as she’s getting married next year and is doubtless pleased to be away from her ex, Brendan Cole.

Even The Restaurant is failing to impress- what a bunch of losers – there isn’t really anyone who can cook! Not sure how much influence Raymond has over who gets selected, but people who just can’t cook and who think it’s OK to be rude to customers shouldn’t still be in there!!!!

If travel broadens the mind, it also wearies the body!  I hate long-haul flights, I can’t follow the movie, (it’s usually crap anyway), I get fed-up with whatever books I have chosen and sleep is hard to come by.  But mustn’t grumble, at least I have a seat in Business, when LH has to slum it in economy!!  And there’s usually champagne to while away a couple of hours.

 

Another week and another destination looms, this time it’s Bangkok, ‘City of Pleasure’ – but it’s work for me, so I won’t see much of it. I am taking Lovely Husband along for the ride as he’s never been to Asia and can spend some time mooching while I am learning about ‘Adopting a Unified approach to Railway Communications’ or even better, Planning Competencies for Integrated Urban Transport Planning & Transit Orientated Design’, I shall definitely attend the latter, as I can’t even figure out what it means! If you fancy a week improving your knowledge about rail development in Asia, check it out at http://www.beaconevents.com/2009/AsiaRail/en/Home/index.jsp At leash LH shouldn’t be bored – there’s lots to see and do in Bangkok by day and by night as some of the photos above show.

On a completely different subject, does anyone else feel guilt about dropping ‘friends’ that aren’t really friends any longer? How often should you see a friend for them to remain a friend? If you haven’t seen them or even spoken to them for over 2 years, are they still a friend? And should you keep sending them Christmas cards? I really don’t know what to do, any ideas? I am thinking of giving up Christmas cards anyway, not because I don’t want to keep in touch with my friends – but because I want to show the numpties who work at the Royal Mail that there are other ways to do things – don’t they realise that their strike is just a boon for the courier companies and that many of us are being creative with how we send gifts, (directly from Amazon or similar for example) instead. The numbers are plain to see – the number of items carried by Royal Mail is down year on year, (and has been for at least 10 years) but the unions are resisting alternative practices, improved efficiencies and shift patterns. Where do they think it will end? Having just seen a fresh round of redundancies at work I know all too well that some people become extremely complacent – followed closely by noisy indignation that anyone has dared to bring their jobs to an end. And the more noise they make, the less work they usually do, (I have always been one for a sweeping generalisation, so please forgive me)!!!

Anyway, I know I won’t be blogging from the mysterious and distant East, not unless our IT links improve beyond all recognition!!! So see you in a couple of weeks time.

Take care and tally ho!

 

……..all through the dance. So said new to Strictly’s judging panel, Alesha Dixon, (giving her ((and who really cares)) opinion on Laila and Anton’s dance from Sat 7^th November. One thing that I really care about is English grammar and spoken English usage. This trend of allowing children to spell incorrectly and not to bother with the application of grammar when submitting written work at school is ridiculous. And look what it gets us……….a perfectly nice girl, who has managed to wangle her way into a job she isn’t qualified for, (and who continues to brazen out her unpopularity), who can’t speak English properly. And on prime time BBC1. It really shouldn’t be allowed. And now that I’ve got that off my chest, I can bitch about the fact that Laila is still IN the competition after managing only half a dance on Sat after limping on with an injury. This blatant sympathy ploy obviously worked with the public – who fell for it hook, line and sinker – forcing poor old Tuffers into the dance-off against a (quite distractingly) glasses-sporting Ricky, dancing with Erin Boag. I though Tuffers should have had it. Even Len claimed to be distracted by the glasses – I’m glad it wasn’t just me. There was an off the cuff remark made about ‘being able to see now’. Let’s hope that improves the dancing. At this stage, it’s anyone’s game, but I do have a very soft spot for Natalie & Vincent – I have never watched EastEnders, but have seen a few articles about Nat’s struggles with her weight and booze in the gossip mags – right now, she seems happy, bubbly and very much on the up. Go girl!

I have been a Julian Clary fan for a very long time – his risque style and outrageous campness were real eye-openers when he first leapt onto our TV screens in the 80’s, accompanied by ‘Fanny the Wonder Dog’. Everything was (at least) a double entendre, and the first instalment of his autobiography, ‘A Young Man’s Passage’ was eye streamingly funny. But I had never seen him live until a couple of weeks ago. Julian graced the stage at Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre, (his home town) for 2 nights and was one of the most entertaining ‘acts’ I have come across in a long time. In my advancing age, I am starting to prefer comedians who can be funny without being offensive and swearing with every other word – there are lots who fit into this category – Bill Bailey, Jack Dee, Peter Kaye, Michael McIntyre and further back in time, Frankie Howard, Kenneth Williams. And some who seem to be becoming more cringe-making with every outing – Ricky Gervais leading the pack here, but Ross Noble coming up close behind, (ooh er Missus). Anyway, I digress. Julian was a real hoot. I didn’t stop laughing all night long – he has a rich stream of stories, some great facial expressions and just enough of the old ‘mince’ to remind us that camp never stops being funny. It must be comedy season, because some really interesting comedy names are doing the rounds at the moment, (Christmas DVD anybody)? I was very disappointed to learn that I’d missed Sean Hughes by a couple of days and the aforementioned Ricky Gervais got as close as Oxford – though the couple of people who reported seeing him were disappointed and at times felt very uncomfortable with his content, (I really do sound like the most boring person on earth, sorry).

Anyway, I also saw ‘The Vagina Monologues’, I didn’t really know what to expect, (though they have been doing the rounds for a long time) and my best summary would be ‘interesting’. Corrie’s Sally Lindsay was the best known ‘face’, accompanied by Lisa someone from Emmerdale and another actress from Hollyoaks, which I have never seen. They all did an excellent job – and the material – based on real research with women – is at times both challenging and emotional. There were plenty of laughs, but interspersed with some much deeper stories that really got my mind churning.

I’ve always wanted to see Omid Djalili live, so I am hoping he’ll be around soon!!!

Apologies – but my computer is doing starange things and I can’t attach the photos of Julian that I wanted to – will try and figure it out soon!

I’m not sure whether I was always entranced with the idea of balloon flight, but ever since the ‘Nimble’ bread ad in the 1970’s I have been determined to go up in one. In fact, I mithered so much, that my Lovely Husband very generously made me a present of a ride for my Christmas present last year. What I hadn’t realised, was that HE wouldn’t be coming – ‘get me in a balloon, I should Co-Co’, were pretty much his words as I recall. Step to the rescue LOVELY LAURA – who gamely said she’d come along. Wait a few months, (too cold, too dark, too wet before Easter) and then make a booking. You’d think it would be easy really, but after several false starts, (terrible weather conditions virtually all summer long), the added complication of another person wanting to join us – so now 3 diaries to synchronise before booking – my lovely friend Laura and I finally took to the skies on September 18th). Sadly, friend Carole was on the waiting list and didn’t get a place, a real shame, as 2 people didn’t turn up on the day.

The notion that ’she flies through the air with the greatest of ease’ might have been true of the balloon and of the ‘Nimble’ lady, but the word ‘nimble’ didn’t exactly apply to me as I entered and exited the basket. Said basket is actually about 5ft high, and as I am only 5′4″, it was quite a heave in – I managed to get in with a minor amount of embarrassment, getting out again was a different matter, but more of that later.

Maybe I’m a bit dim, but I didn’t realise that the pilot has virtually NO control over the direction of the balloon – I know you have to go where the wind blows, but always imagined that the hot air machine thing helped – sadly not. Of all the directions in all the world, due west out of Lydiard Park, Swindon – straight along the M4, was probably the least interesting route we could have been blown!!! I was hoping for over Old Town and a chance to spot our respective houses, or out towards Marlborough – which at least has beautiful countryside – but the motorway was an almost constant drone and the most fun we had was waving to a few people as we drifted quite low over a few rooftops at the edge of Wootton Bassett. After that, it was cows, sheep, a few horses and what may or may not have been either alpaca or llamas – it was difficult to tell. Our pilot John Albury, with over 35 years experience of flying a balloon, warned us to treat it as an ‘adventure’ - being women of the world, Laura and I rightly interpreted this to mean “don’t moan when we land in a field miles from nowhere and despite having paid hundred of pounds for the ride you’ll be expected to help pack the balloon up”. The balloon was much bigger than I had imagined – even though I have seen one close up before – and it got packed into an amazingly small bag considering. But I’m jumping to the end again.

The balloon riders were a very motley crew! It’s quite a ‘couply’ thing to do, and there were indeed 4 ‘proper’ couples, (Mr and Mrs ‘Let’s order everyone around’ from Oxford, who made me bristle somewhat, though I managed to mostly ignore them, plus me and Laura and two ‘odd’ men – one much odder than the other! One of the lone men was on a birthday present from his family, and they had all turned up to see him off, the other, who didn’t really speak much only revealed at the end that his wife was waiting for him in the car park back at Lydiard Park – some 4 hours after arrival and take-off and now pitch black - poor woman!

Delights of the M4 aside, we came in to land in a field edged by a river on one side and the motorway on the other – we took heart from the fact that there were bales of hay in the field, (must be accessible by a lorry or trailer, said those in the know) and sat and waited for the land-rover to come and pick us up – it supposedly had us ‘in visual range’ all the way, but that didn’t mean it was easy to find us!  And there were a number of obstackles between us and it – not least locked gates, missing farmers, (to ask permission of) and a river with no bridge for miles.  We landed at 6.30pm, the basket was on quite a tilt, it was a very smooth landing I thought, two small bumps and then stop, no tipping over or anything, (though it may have been easier to get out if we’d been on our backs). After a couple of somewhat ungainly attempts to exit the balloon, (which was at an angle, and harder to get out of than it was to get in to), we all mooched around the field for a bit and then set-to on wrapping the balloon up. Most people helped, some just tried to organise, (Mr & Mrs from Oxford again). A lot of air gets trapped in the balloon, so we engaged a number of the party in the task of rolling on the bundled up cloth to get rid of the air. This done, we waited. And waited. And waited some more. It was now virtually dark and the land-rover hove into view at about 7.40pm, a quick glass of champers and then much heaving and panting to get the balloon into its bag and onto the trailer. Finally, the basket went onto the trailer as well, and everybody was asked to get back in the basket for the ride back to the bus which would take us home. I opted to sit in the ‘landy’ with the driver – much easier than attempting the basket again!!!! Turns out we were between Sutton Benger and the motorway and a little coach was waiting for us in the car park of a local pub. Sadly, no time for a pint and we set off back to Lydiard – where we finally arrived at 9.00pm.  An adventure? Sort of. Not sure I’d rush for another go, it was all a bit of a palaver I thought!  Liked the ride, just not the waiting bit!

The one surprise of the trip – absolutely zero vertigo – for some reason, there’s no sense of height at all from the basket. Oh, and another surprise, the intrepid nation that we are, there are several outdoor swimming pools attached to the big houses in the Wiltshire country-side – I wonder how much use they get?

Lovely Husband and I were treated to lunch at Abergavenny’s finest pub/restaurant – The Hardwick – (over the August Bank Holiday), check it out at http://www.thehardwick.co.uk/background/

Although I’d checked out the (now re-vamped) website, I hadn’t realised that it was owned and run by Stephen Terry, (who I recognised from the in-house publicity material as from the Great British Menu). I now know that Stephen has had a career full of big names, big restaurants and early success, (winning his first Michelin star aged only 25).  But on to the food - overall, lunch was great – but I am not sure that Michelin prices in a Welsh country pub are completely justifiable. Whatever the pricing policy, the place was jam-packed, and at least 3 sittings seemed in evidence for lunch. We had opted to sit-down later, which at least meant we weren’t rushed. My starter of ‘Trealy Farm Cured Meat & Salami Board with Antipasti at £9.95′ was tasty, but not worth a tenner in my view, the main course of ‘Roast Rib of Herefordshire Beef with Yorkshire Pudding, Roast Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables and Gravy £14.50, was very popular – I would say that about 80% of the diners were plumping for it – obviously a local speciality – but disappointing in delivery – the beef was scrumptious, the roasties were pretty good, but the vegetables that were supplied for 3 out of the 4 diners at our table were meagre and unexciting to say the least – an oval ramekin – of a size more usual for a single serving, contained some carrots, cauliflower and broccoli……………… what happened to the local specialties? Surely some cabbage or greens, late asparagus or even Jerusalem artichokes would have been better than something which looked and tasted as if it had been knocked up at home for a mid-week supper.

I am a sucker for a cheese board, and totally in keeping, I went for ‘‘Perl Wen, Colston Basset Stilton, Neals Yard Creamery Ragstone Goats Cheese, Gorwydd Caerphilly, Bishops Blessing, Cotswold Blue, Hafod Welsh Organic Cheddar, Ticklemore Goats Cheese, Shepton, Celtic Promise and Caws Mynydd Du (local sheep’s milk cheese from Talgarth)’, which for £8.50 sounds fab, but some of the pieces were very small indeed.

Overall, if it had been half the price, I’d have been pleased with it, but as things stand, I can’t help but feel we were over-charged for the privilege of being cooked for by Stephen, (if, indeed he was there, there wasn’t any sign of him or any other chefs). I don’t like to complain, especially as we were being so very kindly treated, but a meal at one of my favourite places, Caldesi in Campagna, just the other day, reinforced the concept of quality and value very keenly – more of that meal in another post!!!

Well reader, I’m back – although not for long, I am busy, I am obviously NOT the only busy person in the world – but right now, those around me to be going at a pace that’s somewhat slower than mine – at least, that’s how I feel at the moment.

So what have I been doing?  Anything exciting?  Well, yes, just back from another quick flit to Italy to see if we can find the property of our dreams in which to start a cookery school.  Sadly, we couldn’t.  A very promising looking place turned out to be surrounded by NOISE – loud noise – although the house was snuggled in a nice little fold at the foothills of the Dolomites, the wall of mountain not far behind it seemed to bounce back every sound that came up the valley – frequent trains sounded as if they were about to pull up beneath the balcony and the traffic sounds from a fairly distant road sounded much closer.  Biggest shame of all is that someone, somewhere had decided that what this medieval town really needed on its doorstep was a series of bright blue industrial buildings – the scar of cleared out land and the buildings themselves clearly visible from the main garden and balconies.  Not what you hope for when paying out for a luxury cookery school, or at least, certainly not what I’d hope for in those circumstances.  So that was a ‘no’. 

The second place was always going to be a bit left-field – a late entrant on the Lucy & Mike visit list, the bar/tabbaco shop/coffee shop/restaurant belonged to the cousin of a friend of a friend whose wife is Italian.  But hey ho, it gave us an entertaining evening and counting the huge, black summer flying beetles, (only a problem for 2 weeks per year apparently) kept us entertained in the middle of nowhere.

We managed a very flying visit to Verona – a city I have been lucky to visit a few times in the past for opera at the wornderful open-air arena, it was as beautiful as I recall, although the presence of quite a few Roman, (or maybe Veronan) soldiers cheekily posing for photos, (only 50 Euros madam), in the Piazza was a touch I could have done without.  Especially as a few of them seemed determined to push into a photo whether they were wanted or not.

Also managed a wonderful day in Venice before our late flight home – fabulous weather and my Lovely Husband’s constant delight with the Palazzo’s and churches and galleries that he was seeing for the first time made it especially enjoyable.  Less so the bill for 2 small beers on St Mark’s Square – I know, I know, we never should have even sat down – but really Euros 28 is outrageous for 2 x 33cl beers – we ate dry bread the rest of the day.

Arrividerci for now everyone!

Friend of a friend Maddie, (see her blog at http://worldfrommywindow.blogspot.com/) has just posted her review of The Wild Garlic, Masterchef winner Mat Follas’s restaurant in Beaminster. It was Lovely Husband’s birthday earlier in the week and I had booked us a table for lunch. It’s a 2 and a half hour trek from Swindon -so not for the faint hearted, but well worth the visit and the tortuous and crawling traffic through Crewkerne – another time, I’ll definitely find a better route.

First impressions of the place were good – light, airy, not at all pretentious, (not that I was expecting it to be, but some places surprise), loved the wooden tables with sayings carved around the edges, but frustrated not to read all of them as it would have been just plain rude to get up and stare at all 4 sides – especially in the laps of other diners! A great intrigue though. Initially, I was a bit disappointed with the (short) length of the lunch menu, but at least it made choosing easy! I was delighted with my sweet chilli squid, soft, melt in the mouth and great sprinkles of flower petals and very tasty leaves and LH praised his tomato and basil soup very highly. The mains were the star of the show, with my whole plaice coated with butter and caper sauce an instant hit – fresh, beautifully cooked and very hot as it came to the table – I dislike warm fish – this must have come literally from under the grill. The accompanying potato salad and salad leaves were delicious – I would definitely recommend it. I don’t mind eating my fish on the bone, but I noticed a couple of people asking for theirs to be removed from the bone by the Maitre D’, which was done with good grace. LH had the Water Buffalo burger – tasty, filling and an unusual taste – beef-like, but definitely different – he enjoyed it tremendously. Desserts were a dream, I had Mat’s Lavender ice cream – which I could eat and eat and eat, such a delicate flavour – served with a piece of shortbread; LH got his Dorset Apple cake with a birthday candle in it – delivered by Mat himself, (I had mentioned it was his birthday when I booked, so lovely to be remembered) and was suitably embarrassed. We had a very nice bottle of New Zealand sparkling Lindauer to accompany the food – truth be told, I could easily have sat and had another, but we had to go! We’ll be back – it was worth the trip and a very reasonable £65 including the wine.

Can’t wait to go back for dinner – must get my booking in – maybe for Christmas!!!!