Tag Archives: Gluten free
Party Goals
The year seems to be flying by the summer appears to have come and gone in a flash there is now a definite chill in the air. The other weekend Lynda and I went to Northampton to celebrate a friend’s 60th Birthday, something which we did in style as it turned out. I will be honest with you nowadays a great night out for me is one where you have an amazing time but you are still in bed by midnight. This is not exactly how this tripped worked out.
We headed there after I had got home from work on the Friday. It was about nine when we checked into our hotel and by half past we were in their local pub having a drink with the birthday boy, his girlfriend and some other mates. It was a great night just chatting and laughing. We stayed there until closing time, then went back to their house for a few more drinks and got to sleep at 3am in the end.
The next day we had to be up reasonably early as a big group of us was going to see the rugby team that the couple we knew supported. We met up at midday and found ourselves in a pub just down the road from the stadium an hour before kick off. We went to see Northampton Saints play London Irish in the Premiership which is the main rugby union division in the United Kingdom. It was the first time that I had been to their ground and to a top flight professional game. The atmosphere was great and there were plenty of places to get drinks and food, sadly though I could not eat any of it.
The home team won and I did enjoy it although a lot of the time I was not totally sure what was going on. I mean I did know when a try had been scored but that was about it. I had no idea that you were meant to stay silent whenever there was a kick to be taken. That does not happen at the football when there is a penalty kick in fact normally the crowd make more noise at that point. The first half lasted an hour as unfortunately one of the London Irish players suffered a nasty injury after being knocked out.
After the rugby we went back to the hotel and because I had not eaten at the game or was not totally sure if there would be gluten free food at the party we were going to later. I ordered a takeaway from Pizza Express. I ate that while I was watching the first half of Tottenham against Leicester on my phone. At halftime we walked down to the local pub again to meet everybody else and I watched the second half of the game. Obviously I was very happy with the 6-2 win and it was brilliant to see Son get a hat-trick. A nice way to sign off before the international break. We got a minibus from the pub to the party venue which was about a fifteen minute drive.
We arrived and nobody had any idea where the function room was so we ended up going in the furthest door away and then twenty of us had to all trudge through the restaurant and bar there to get to the private room. It was a nice little set up with its own bar, toilets and outside area away from everybody else. We saw a few people we knew so had a good chat to them. There was a barbecue which did have some chicken and salad that I could have. There was also a band who were great. The played a nice mix of cover versions and even got me up on the dance floor a few times. That is quite a rare occurrence nowadays.
The party finished at midnight then we got the minibus back to our friends’ house and just continued the celebrations there. We got to bed around 4am this time. This weekend away did prove to me that I could still be rock and roll when I needed to be but it is a lot harder doing it than it used to me. We headed back to Lynda’s house on the Sunday afternoon after stopping in to see our friends’ for a cup of tea and a quick debrief of the previous night.
As it was now a Bank Holiday Weekend we decided to go to Prezzo for a meal and to raise a glass or two for Queen Elizabeth the Second the day before her funeral. I enjoyed a three course gluten free meal there with some Prosecco. That just happened to come free with the food thanks to an offer they were running. I mean we could have stayed in after a busy weekend, but I am glad we went out. We did however have a fairly early night in the end to try to catch up on some sleep and because I did want to watch all of the funeral proceedings the next day. I am a royalist and support the whole family but the Queen was always somebody I held in very high regard.
I started watching the television coverage just after nine in the morning. The first journey for the coffin was a relatively short one but it was still a very impressive spectacle as Queen Elizabeth The Second was taken to Westminster Abbey. The building in which her Coronation had taken place nearly seventy years earlier. I thought the ceremony was lovely and I was holding myself together well until I noticed Prince Edward crying and then that set me off.
Once I had recovered my composure I watched almost transfixed as the procession made its way gracefully to the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park. It was so well marshalled and organised but then you would not expect anything less from the armed forces. Everyone who took park in that parade was immaculate. It was a fitting send off from the capital for our longest reigning monarch.
I stayed with the coverage as she was transported by road to her final resting place at Windsor Castle. As she arrived there it was beautiful to see a couple of her Corgi’s and her favourite riding pony on the grass to welcome her “home”. The committal service was very emotional particularly at the end when they removed the Jewell’s and the Crown, then the coffin started to disappear into the vault below.
It is still going to be odd not seeing her or hearing from her ever again. But I do take comfort from her being buried with her parents and her beloved Philip in the King George V chapel. I did not realise that there are quite a few royals laid to rest there at Windsor Castle including Henry VIII.
Last Sunday Lynda and I went to see a play that had been on our radar for a while. First of course we went for a meal at Wahaca. They are really good with Coeliac Disease sufferers and have a special gluten free menu plus they send out all my food with a special little allergen flag in it, which I really like. After a three course late lunch in there, a dessert is a must at all times, we took a slow stroll to the Criterion in Piccadilly.
We were there to see 2.22 A Ghost Story. It has been playing in various theatres in London for quite a while now and they seem to regularly update the cast. It is written by Danny Robbins who also has his own podcast and Radio 4 series called Uncanny which features real life ghost stories. The play however to the best of my knowledge comes from his imagination. We both really enjoyed it the plot was very clever. It makes you jump and laugh in equal measure, it is funny but it touches on a lot of very modern real and serious subjects with a constant spookiness running through it as the title suggests. And I hope this is not a spoiler but there is also a clock on stage.
The cast in the current show are Laura Whitmore, Matt Willis, Tasmin Carroll and Felix Scott and they are all brilliant. We had seats in the stalls and you really do fee part of what is happening on stage. It is very clever how they create the atmosphere and at times leave the whole audience feeling on edge. The other great thing is they have a performance at 6pm on a Sunday which means you can see the show and still be home at a reasonable time ready to start the week.
I went to the England game at Wembley on Monday with my dad and a mate. There are few bigger games in world football than us against the German’s. Although the first half did not really live up to the billing, it seemed very slow and more like a game of chess. It did pick up in the second half and ended up being an entertaining three all draw, which was about the right result in the end to be fair. I did enjoy seeing Harry Kane get his 51st goal for his country with an unstoppable penalty.
After the game only to wait for the queues for the train home to die down you understand my dad and I found a nearby pub. We plonked ourselves down on a couple of seats at a table with another lad who had also taken his father to the match. As it happened both kids and parents were around the same age, so we had a great chat for about an hour or so. They were both ace gentleman from Cheshire who had some good stories and who had done some fun and cool things. In is always interesting to meet new people randomly and have a good laugh with friendly strangers. We left them in the bar and wandered to the now nearly empty platform to get our train home. Another successful family night out for me and the old man!
A reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninespringshttps://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
Yesterday I had a day out at the races with a group of friends. It was our annual Ascot trip which had to take an enforced two year break, so it was good to all be together having a few drinks and watching the races. I will tell you about it next time we speak. Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.
Buddy Good Time
Recently my girlfriend ended up looking after her niece and nephew for a night. I went round to her place to assist with my plan being just to give her moral support. However when I arrived I found myself straight away playing with some miniature skateboards and a toy skate ramp. I am not saying the child in question was taking things too seriously but his boards had grip tape on them. It reminded me of the full size skateboard I had as a kid and also how bad I was at it. I could not do any tricks, I never went anywhere near a ramp and I could only just about stay on it. To be honest I have no idea why I actually bothered getting one. Other than they were I guess one of the cool things to have when I was a kid.
I then found myself doing some drawing with the girl. She is only seven but a brilliant artist so it put my stick men efforts to shame. Inspired by my art we did play a few games of hangman. Next it was time to get the tablet out to play some Candy Crush, which I possibly enjoyed a lot more than I should have. I did manage to get a break for good behaviour so I could eat my dinner with Lynda. She had done us Greek style chicken kebabs and chips, which tasted amazing.
After the food her niece was asking if she could paint my fingernails, happily we reached a compromise deal where I let her tape bright bits of paper on to my hand instead. When it was time for bed she asked me to read her a bedtime story. I do not need to be asked twice to read out loud and entertain somebody. The book was selected and I put on the performance with different voices for all the characters of course. I must have been very good as she fell asleep almost instantly as soon as I had finished reading. By the end of the book I was about ready to drift off myself to be honest.
We returned the children to their parents the next morning and decided to head to London for the afternoon as it was a nice day. With no real plan in mind we hopped on the train after midday. On arrival we decided to head to Carnaby Street for a look around the shops there. It is of course very thirsty work looking at clothes so we stopped for a drink in the sun outside a pub that just happened to have my favourite gluten free beer.
Then we decided to head across the river and have a stroll along the south bank which again resulted in us having another drink in the sun although this time it was a soft one. While we were there we decided to go and have some food at the Cote round the corner from where we were at Festival Hall. They are coeliac accredited and do nice food so from my point of view there is nothing not to like. We had a very nice and civilised dinner. It was a very relaxing afternoon enjoying the summer in the capital.
I have been to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival a couple of times in the past. Unfortunately I did not manage to get there this time around. It is a brilliant event and you never have enough time to see everything you want to. I normally spend a long weekend there which means I get in two and a half days of comedy. On average I watch five shows a day, starting at midday and some days going beyond midnight. Obviously I do have a couple of breaks for food.
It is so tough working out the schedule for the day. I normally book tickets for each show so I know I can get in and so that I can space them out so I can get between the venues in time. There are gigs all over the city so it can on occasions take say forty minutes to get from one place to another. One of the highlights from my last visit was a late night adult’s only show by Basil Brush. That was great fun and on after midnight.
I try to get the balance right between seeing the new shows of comedians I really like and discovering new people who I have not seen perform before. Well done to a mate of mine Olaf Falafel who managed to get two of his gags in the top ten jokes of the Fringe competition run by the television channel Dave. Although he did actually win it last time that the audience poll was run.
I plan to hopefully go along for a few days next year. The atmosphere is ace and it is lots of fun. Many well known established comedians make the journey up there and of course make a bit of money out of their shows but there are plenty more upcoming comics who will struggle to get an audience and will lose money. Therefore if you ever go try to see a wide selection of acts, you never know you might discover someone up and coming before they hit the big time and you can say you were there supporting them from the start.
I hope you had a nice Bank Holiday weekend. Mine was relatively quiet and relaxing. Lynda and I have had some very busy weekends recently and we have some more to come, so we thought we would take it easy for a change. On the Saturday we walked along the canal near where she lives and found a bar with outside space that served my favourite gluten free beer. It was a nice day so we stopped there for a few drinks. Then we went back to hers’ to enjoy a nice bottle of red wine and a delicious meal that she cooked for us.
On the Sunday my mate Adam was playing in a cricket match about fifteen minutes down the road, so we went along to watch him for a bit. I cannot remember the last time I had previously seen any live cricket. It was just a friendly game that he was playing in. He opened the bowling for his side and got a wicket with the last ball of his first over. He is a much better cricketer than me. I have only ever been involved in two proper games in my life, one was at school and the other was a celebrity charity match on Dorset with Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall.
The club where he was playing had a second floor bar with a balcony so we got a soft drink each and watched the action from there. We stayed for a couple of hours and we saw him bowl a few more overs although it is fair to say they were not quite as successful as his first one. We had a quick chat with him during the lunch break before heading off so I could watch the Spurs game on TV. Sadly for him that meant that we missed him bat and top score for his team with 34 runs, although his side did lose in the end.
Then that evening we went for dinner at the local Prezzo. Obviously the main reason we went there is that they are coeliac accredited, but they do actually have a good selection of gluten free meals to choose from. It is not that often I get the chance to have garlic bread so when I saw a gluten free version of it as a starter, I had to have that. That was followed by a pasta dish and the meal was finished off with some cheesecake. Before we ate we both had a cocktail, well they were on a two for one deal so it would have been rude not to. I had a spiced rum punch which was really nice and refreshing.
When we got back we ended up watching Ricky Gervais’s latest Netflix stand up special Super Nature. It was good and I enjoyed it but it did seem to almost include exactly the same topics as his previous one. Plus it did appear to borrow a small section from some old Billy Connolly material, which to be fair to him could have been totally coincidental. It did make me laugh quite a bit, though.
On the Bank Holiday Monday we went for a walk at the Ashridge Estate. It was the first time I had been there. It has lots of routes to take of varying distances. We ended up taking a stroll to Ashridge House which is somewhere Henry VIII and Elizabeth I both owned and used. It is a very impressive building. We stopped for a cup of tea in the courtyard cafe they have there before retracing our steps and returning to the car. It was a chilled out weekend and I felt refreshed and ready to go again after it!
Jerry Allison, whose drumming featured on Buddy Holly’s influential hits, has died at the age of 82. As part of The Crickets, he co-wrote songs like That’ll Be The Day and Peggy Sue, earning him a place in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. I must confess I am a big Buddy fan and have seen the musical about his life at least five times. He wrote so many great and catchy songs in such a very short space of time. Inspiring Don McLean to write American Pie about the tragic plane crash that killed Buddy, Ritchie Valens as well as The Big Bopper. If you get chance this weekend listen to a bit of Buddy Holly you will not regret it!
The win at home against Wolves a couple of Saturday’s ago was crucial to our season. If we had lost that match the hard fought for point the previous week at Chelsea would have all been for nothing. We have started the season well. We look mentally and physically stronger and have made a few great additions to the squad. Plus with Conte in charge I do feel that we can achieve something. We managed to win at Nottingham Forest and drew away at West Ham United, which is always a difficult game for us. I am looking forward to going to see us play Fulham this afternoon. It will be another tough one but they all are, hopefully we can get the win we need.
Last Tuesday night I went to a Prom at The Royal Albert Hall that was part of the BBC’s season of concerts. A mate of mine got two very reasonably priced on the day tickets so we went along. It is a venue I really like. The look and feel of the place is magical and the acoustics there are amazing. It was a specially commissioned one hour long soundscape in the form of a concept album. It was both audio and visual and featured a band along with the full orchestra. The idea behind it was one hundred years of the BBC, as it is the corporation’s centenary year. I thoroughly enjoyed it, I thought it was extremely well done and I even found it a little inspiring.
I have now been back at BBC for just over a year as one of the scheduling team for Radio 4 and 4 Extra. It is good fun working closely with the producers and announcers. The whole team are brilliant!
A reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninespringshttps://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
Today I am going to Pub in the Park in Chiswick. It is a food, drink and music event. I will tell you what it was like next time we speak.
Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.
Staged Fun
I am possibly the only person in the country who has been enjoying this spell of prolonged warm weather. I actually like feeling the heat on me as I walk around London seems to make the place even more fun and relaxing to me. That said I would obviously have liked it even more if I had a swimming pool in my back garden or lived by a beach, as the chance to have a paddle at least in some water would have been refreshing. I will cling on to the feeling of sun and blue skies and imagine them as I am getting soaked next time it rains when I am on my way somewhere in the capital. That seemed to happen a lot last year.
One big advantage of the weather being nice was that it made going to an outdoor theatre very appealing. I have been to the Globe a few times over the years to see Shakespeare plays. I never studied him at school so have to admit I am not as familiar with his work as I should be. Therefore I am trying to see productions of his stuff when I get the opportunity. I really like it at the Globe. It is a replica of one of the original theatres where the Bard used to put on his shows. Like in his time you can stand and watch the performance, which is how the peasants of the day would be able to afford to go as these were much cheaper than the wooden bench seats where the well to do would sit.
I buy tickets for the standing area whenever I go as I know my place plus for five pounds a ticket you really cannot argue with that value for money. Lynda had not been before and had wanted to go for a while. She spotted they were doing the rarely performed Henry VIII so we snapped up a couple of the bargain standing tickets and went to see it a couple of Friday’s ago. I may not have read Shakespeare at school but I did like history and remember studying The Tudors so I knew the story well. I got a B in GCSE History just in case you were interested. We arrived about fifteen minutes before it was due to begin which was enough time to buy a wine each and try to find a good place to stand to see the action.
It is a little bit interactive in the pit as I like to call it and the actors often walk through and get amongst the audience as they would have at the initial venue when these shows were first performed. As it happened there were additional parts of the staging in our area to, so that did make the location selection slightly trickier. The play was excellent we both thoroughly enjoyed it. The three hours including the interval flew by. The cast were all amazing and with it being Shakespeare they all had a few very long monologues to master. There was a lot of humour in it which is always a winner for me, including some quite naughty visual jokes. It did seem the star of the show was more Elizabeth I at the end but then again Shakespeare was around when she was still the Queen.
The theatre itself and the way the production is designed does make you think and feel what it might have been like at the theatre all of those years ago but then you see or hear a plane or helicopter fly over you and it does shatter the illusion just a little bit. I do try to see at least one thing a year there if I can and it is always slightly nicer if it stays dry and is pleasant as it was for us when we went. We walked out of there at the end of the play in an upbeat and happy mood. That for me is always the sign of a good show. Henry VIII had a sling on his arm, no one was totally sure if this was part of the costume or not but I suspect it was the actor’s own!
Last weekend Lynda and I went to Dorset to see my school friend who I have known since we met on our first day of Primary school when we were both four. We have known each other for more than forty years which is both impressive and scary. Straight from work on the Friday night we jumped in the car, did battle with the holiday traffic and arrived at our destination just after ten. It is a lovely cottage that they have in a small village called Bloxworth. It has been in my mate’s wife’s family for generations. The place has a lovely big garden and the surrounding area is so quiet and peaceful.
On arrival I had to have my obligatory cup of tea, which is always my beverage of choice when I arrive at somebody’s house no matter how long the journey time was. We all just sat chatting and updating each other on our latest news. Before we knew it, it was one in the morning, so we thought we better get some sleep. It is funny how time flies when you are having a brilliant time in good company. With over four decades of material to talk about we could easily has talked until sunrise.
After the slightly impromptu late night we did have a little bit of a lie in. We got up round about the same time and as it was a glorious day we headed straight for their garden table to enjoy our morning cup of tea in the sunshine. Easing ourselves in to the day gently we also had a relaxed breakfast outside still, before we took it in turns to get showered and dressed. My mate and his wife have a seven year old daughter who is brilliant. First we played a few quick little games at the table then we decided to get the garden games out.
She had recently been given one of those air rocket launchers. It has polystyrene rockets that you put on this tube, you then stamp on the pad part and it fires the rocket into the sky. We did that for a bit then we got out the inflatable hoopla game and invented our own world championships sort of competition. The joy of getting one of those rubber rings over the cactus target was unbridled. Next it was a few games of the classic French bowling game boule. That was made very challenging by the very dry and uneven green we were using. All of the games were good fun and they took us right through the afternoon.
I then discovered that there was a football around so their daughter and I played with that for a while. I showed off with a few of the tricks that I can do with a ball. From the age of seven to sixteen all I did when I was not in lessons or asleep was kick a football around. Lastly I got a very intensive dance lesson which seemed to draw a worrying amount of laughter from everyone even though I thought I was doing pretty well. My dance teacher was not impressed at all so that ultimately brought an end to those proceeding and we all had some dinner.
In the village there is a social club basically for the locals. They were holding a quiz night so we decided to go along. After our success at the Church Quiz a few weeks ago Lynda and I were feeling confident that we could lead our team to victory. That confidence did not last very long, as we found ourselves competing in the world’s hardest quiz. It was more like a Mensa test or the entry exam to get into Oxford or Cambridge University. It was tough! There were three table rounds and nine actual rounds the whole thing took over two hours to complete. That said it was brilliant fun and we had a good laugh and did get some questions right, we finished half way down the table, so it was just not the Quizzie Rascals night!
After the quiz we went back to the cottage for another drink and some supper before heading off to bed. Sunday was pretty much a repeat of the day before we had morning drinks and breakfast outside and played some games including Guess Who and Harry Potter Top Trumps. I also had a few goes at the Silly Sausage game, if you want to know what that is look it up online, it is fine and you are perfectly safe to google it at work I promise. We then all had dinner together before Lynda and I had to head home. It was another top weekend simply enjoying time with great friends in quiet and chilled surroundings, absolute bliss.
They have announced the line-up for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing. Not only do I actually know who most of them are but I have seen a fair few of them do what they normally do live. That does mean it is difficult for me to pick a favourite before it all starts. They are a fun group to so I think it will all be very entertaining. All I will say is that former Blue Peter presenters seem to do quite well so Helen Skelton could be one to watch. Plus let us be honest we are all wondering what Matt Goss will be like at dancing. I have been to see one of the launch shows recorded at Elstree Studios once and that was a great experience. The studio audience really do help make the show what it is.
I mention this a lot as it is a major part of my life now, since being diagnosed as Coeliac I have been on a strict gluten free diet. The disease means that even the smallest amount of gluten can make me very ill so I have to be so careful. I also have to make sure I am taking on enough calories and eating well so my body gets all the nutrients it needs that in that past it had trouble absorbing. To try to improve my iron and B12 intake I have added a daily protein shake to my diet. The best thing is the one I have found is chocolate flavour so I now have an excuse to have a chocolatey drink with my breakfast which I am enjoying probably more than I should. Fingers crossed it works.
The Premier League season has started then, as a Spurs season ticket holder it was great to take my seat for our first game against Southampton. The day was made even better as I got to catch up with my mate Dez Kay in the club shop beforehand neither of us got anything but we did have a brilliant chat for forty minutes. We won the game four-one which put us top of the league. You can correctly argue that it means nothing after one match but it still looks nice to see your team’s name up there.
Last Sunday we managed to get a draw away at Chelsea with an equaliser in the ninety-six minute from the legend that is Harry Kane. Chelsea were the better side and did deserve to win but I was delighted with the point. That is big result for us. It did get a little bit ugly on the touchline particularly at the end of the game but it seems like both sides were to blame and you clearly cannot argue that our boss Antonio Conte is committed to the club and passionate about our results. It might mean he will be watching a few games from the stands, I wonder if we can swap seats and I can take his place on the bench.
A reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninespringshttps://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.
The Gift Of Food and Fun
Simply because everybody has been talking about it this week I have to start by mentioning the weather. Summer is my favourite season of the year, I like the sunshine and I do like it to be warm. Personally I feel happier and more relaxed with the sun on by back even though that means I have to wear a hat more nowadays due to the way that I have my hair, which is virtually non-existent. However even I must say that last Monday and Tuesday were getting to the point where even I was thinking it might be a bit warm. I am a fan of the high twenties or low thirties, but mid-thirties to around forty degrees is possibly a bit too much.
Last Christmas as part of her present I got my girlfriend a voucher for dinner for two at one of the restaurants’ owned by a Michelin starred Chef who she likes. I knew she was a fan of his as she was raving about his food and wanted to see him do a live demonstration when we were at Pub in The Park in Chiswick last September. The gift was for a lunchtime three course meal for two with a cocktail included. Luckily for me she decided to take me with her to enjoy the experience.
The place we were going was in Marlow so I booked us a lovely little guest house about a ten minute walk from the High Street for us to stay at for the night. The table was booked for quarter to two but we could not check in until gone three. However I managed to arrange for us to park there before dinner. It was a lovely warm sunny day and as we arrived near to where we were dining a little bit early we stopped to enjoy a drink at a pub on the way. I had a bottle of gluten free Peroni that was the very first beer I tried when I was diagnosed as being coeliac and I was not that impressed. This time round and it may have been the sun or because I was looking forward to where we were going but it tasted much nicer.
The restaurant was called Sindhu. It is run by Atul Kochhar. He has a few restaurants in Buckinghamshire and London. This one is actually at The Compleat Angler Hotel which is right on the River Thames, so you have great views of the water through the window while you are dining. We arrived at the correct time and were shown to our table. It had a great atmosphere, vibe and smell. The menu choices were amazing, everything sounded delicious so choosing what to have was actually a bit of a mission, even for me as it turned out lots of the dishes were either already naturally gluten free or they could tweak them to make them so.
While we were still deciding what to eat they bought us the drink included in our deal which was a Kir Royale cocktail, it was very nice, made with the Chef’s personal choice of Prosecco. As it turned out and this is so rare I do not think it had ever happened before Lynda and I ordered the same options for our starter and main. We both had the prawns which were unbelievable you could taste about a million different flavours and yet still taste the prawns to. The man is clearly some sort of magician.
To accompany to meal we both ordered some wine I had a glass of the Reserva Malbec from their wine list, it was exceptional. For our mains we both had Biryani which was simply stunning, it tasted so good and went perfectly with my choice of drink. Lynda is not really much of a dessert person but as it was part of the meal I had selected she had some ice-cream, while I of course went for the chocolate mousse, well if you are drinking red wine you should finish the meal with some chocolate.
Once again you could not fault this final course. It was a wonderful dining experience, relaxing, fun and fulfilling from a food point of view. I was so pleased I bought it for her and even more pleased that she took me along to enjoy it with her. We will definitely be going back there to eat again at some point I feel.
As it was such a nice day we had a drink outside in the hotel garden on the bank of the river. It is a lovely place to stay I have been lucky enough to have had a couple of work parties there and it was always a good do. You cannot beat being near water on a warm summer’s day as far as I am concerned. It was then time to walk back and check in to our accommodation. That was simple and straightforward. It had a huge bedroom as well as a decent sized lounge area so plenty of room for the two of us for one night.
We then went for a nice walk along the river out towards Bisham and back before finding ourselves in another pub. It was perfect beer garden weather so we visited a couple more of them before we got an evening snack and called it a night retiring to the guest house for a night cap before bed. I have always liked Marlow and spent a bit of time there over the years, it had been a while since I had been but I plan not to leave it as long next time.
The next morning we strolled into town to again enjoy the park and river in the sun before grabbing a fantastic breakfast in The Ivy Garden. On the way back we stopped in to see our friends and their children. It was brilliant to see all of them and have a nice catch up over a few cups of tea in the sun. Their daughter who is six going on sixteen accidentally told us she had a new boyfriend, she was telling her mum not to say anything and in doing so she told us all about him.
They have also got a new dog who I met for the first time he seems like a fun little chap. He was very friendly and excited to see us which is a reaction I like from any animal or human for that matter, when I turn up anywhere. I had a nice chat with their son who is now on at least his third or fourth choice of football team to support, although it does seem he is sticking with this one. I only ever remember being a fan of one team and that is of course Tottenham Hotspur. I blame my parents. It was a lovely few hours chatting to each other without a care in the world, perfect.
Around a month or so ago now Lynda’s mum invited us to join her and her friend at their church’s quiz night. We figured it would be fun and it would also be nice to have a night out with her. You might think this would be a quiet laid back evening out but from the minute we decided to go along we also decided that we had to win. Now I am not saying Lynda and I are competitive but we currently have a Scrabble series going on and I honestly think it could last for years.
Anyway the quiz was designed for teams of eight and I think the plan was for all the church members and guests to turn up on the night and randomly join together as one team. Well we obviously could not risk that so we assembled a crack group of eight people including Lynda’s aunty and cousin plus their other halves. The big night was last Saturday. It was due to start at seven, so we got there in good time to grab a table. There were soft drinks only supplied that is how serious everybody was taking it.
Round one started and then half way through there was a little bit of tension on our table after I accidentally knocked my glass of water over myself and Lynda. She was not overly happy, but refrained from hitting me. Think I was lucky that it was a warm evening. There was a break for food half way though and at this point we were winning by two points, it was so far so good but we were only half way there to achieving our goal. I did not have any food preferring to remain fully focussed and not risk any gluten in the take away they had ordered. I did have some more water all of which this time I did manage to drink.
The next round after the interval was a film based music one, which we did really well in. Lynda’s cousin is like the Rain Woman of movie themes. Going into the final round we were three points in the lead, by this point we were getting some odd looks as I think our team may have been the only one that included non-church folk. We did not care we still needed to win but at the end of the last round we felt that we might have blown it.
The quiz master announced the winners and it was us we had done it, mission accomplished. The vicar handed us a voucher each as a prize, Lynda and I gave ours to her mum and her friend. We did not need any reward winning was enough for us. It was a fun event and joking aside everyone was lovely and welcoming, although I am not sure we will be invited back for the next one!
I found what I thought might be a lump on one of my testicles recently. It felt a bit odd and different so I thought I better get it checked out. I managed to get a phone appointment with the doctor at first but he decided it might be easier to assess it in person and invited me to go and see him at the surgery straight away. He took a look for me and although he did not think it was anything serious he did give me a course of tablets and booked a hospital scan for me as a precaution.
Exactly a week after seeing the GP, I was in the hospital waiting area waiting to be called for what I had now found out was an ultra sound scan. I had been given some ultra sound previously on my knee and ankle for injuries but certainly never in this particular area before. It was a very simple and straight forward procedure. The person doing it even showed me what was on the screen which let us face it will be the nearest I get to having a baby scan.
It was all fine and nothing to worry about, I just have some excess fluid in there, insert your own joke here I guess. The reason I mention this is firstly the NHS are amazing and secondly if you discover something odd on your body get it looked at, they will not mind in fact that is what they are there for.
The players are all back in pre-season training for my team Tottenham Hotspur. We have already played a few friendlies and signed by our standards quite a lot of players. There is a new fitness couch at the club nicknamed the Marine. I have been through some tough pre-season training sessions in the past but the stuff they have been doing looks brutal, however if it pays off and gives us a bit of an edge it will all be worth it.
The Premier League season kicks off in two weeks and I am looking forward to being back in my normal seat cheering the lads on. It does feel like we can be at least a bit optimistic that we could have a good year. The mid-winter break for the World Cup at the end of the year is going to be odd, hard to say if that will be a distraction or a bonus. It has been far too long since we won anything and it would be great to get our hands on some silverware for a change. I like Antonio Conte he is a proven winner but making us successful could be his greatest ever achievement.
A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/
We are away with friends this weekend and then straight off for our own relaxing holiday at a mystery location somewhere in England. I will tell you where we went and what it was like next time we speak. Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.