So long! Farewell!

Flying out tomorrow, so...








OK, maybe not that one...



Have a great week! With luck I will be able to post the odd update while I am out there, so see you whenever!

Odd thoughts

As my trip to Malta gets closer, I am feeling more and more odd about it. It is a long time since I did anything like this... Weather is looking reasonable, but not hot. Probably a good thing for us overall!

At the weekend I had a dream that I was prime suspect for a murder! The Police were convinced I was guilty but couldn't prove anything. Another odd one!

The weekend was great. Sunday was Mothers Day and the weather was great so we had a barbecue, which went down really well. Number 1 Son totally over ate and had trouble sitting down again after standing up! The rest of us were a little more dainty...

I saw a magazine cover this morning and it made my blood boil. It was one of these celebrity gossip magazines and the main story was about Cheryl Cole - singer in the group Girls Aloud, wife of some over paid footballer - who talks about her husband's latest affair and how she blames herself. WHAT A STUPID &^&^*&$*($($()$()$*!!!!! I hate this sort of thing! What sort of message does it send to young girls who see her as a role model? It's OK if your boyfriend cheats, because it must be your fault? Good God! Chop it off, woman!!

Friday thoughts

This is my last weekend before I head off to Malta for a week of study. Actually getting quite excited about it all now - got my maps, note books, etc all ready to go... The case should be packed to go by Sunday night!

After a blip of nastiness yesterday, the sun is back. I spent a tranquil lunchbreak sitting by the river watching the ducks, swans, beer bottles and shopping trollies, eating prawns. There, I do heat healthy stuff too! I won't taunt the dieters with talk of cheese cake or cream cheese and bacon bagels today!

Sunday is Mothers Day, so we are going to the local garden centre. Both my mom and my wife love gardening, so this will be easy and will also prevent needless chocolate buying...

That is about it for now! Back for a couple of days next week, and then I will be rather scarce until the 6th.

Have fun!

What did she say?

The other day I was walking along the road when I saw that an old-ish woman (I am guessing at late 60s) had slipped over and a guy was trying to help her up. He was not succeeding.

I rushed over to help, arriving at around the same time as 3 other guys.

We all grabbed arms, hands, etc, and soon she was on her feet, smiling and thanking us.

A passing woman stepped in and commented.

"Wasn't it nice to have all these young men rushing to help?"

The rescued woman looked her in the eye and replied:

"Yes, but where were they when I was young enough to enjoy it?"

Spring has DEFINITELY arrived!

Let's have smoothies...

On Sunday I decided to make strawberry and banana smoothies.

I was getting the blender out of the cupboard when Number 1 Son pointed out that we have a smoothie maker!

But I like the blender, it is a 1 braincell piece of kit, I can use it without causing mayhem in the kitchen.

Number 1 Son looked at me disapprovingly.

I put away the blender...

Checking that the smoothie maker was properly assembled, I loaded it up with strawberries, bananas, milk and ice cream. Yeah, this was gonna be good!

I hit the power button.

Noisy, but nothing disasterous.

Stopped it.

Tried a bit.

Yeah, that WAS good.

What's that?

A pink puddle forming underneath the smoothie maker?

Damn thing was leaking!

I lifted up the container part of the machine and sure enough, my precious liquid was oozing out of the bottom.

No worries, I grabbed the bottom and twisted to tighten it up.

Twisted the WRONG WAY...

2 pints of smoothie makes a very big mess...

I blamed my son...

An old pop star has moved onto town!

When I was 9 or 10, this guy was one of my favourite pop stars. If I had been told at that time that he would one day live in my town, I would have been delighted.

Not now.

Why?

Because he is Gary Glitter!

I don't know how famous he is overseas, but in the UK he went from mega famous, to has-been to infamous after being convicted as a paedophile. Brings a whole new meaning to his song "Do you wanna touch me?"

And now he is living in my town!

Have a great Monday! I am off to join the Facebook campaign to move him out!

Friday!

Besides being Friday the 13th, today is also Red Nose Day! A day when people do silly things to raise money for charity.

The kids all went off to school with red noses on, my youngest wearing his pajamas which he is going to wear all day, including a sponsored race. This is a first for him as he normally refuses to wear anything other than uniform at school. How did I produce such a conformist??? We have also had a sponsored silence for our daughter which was easy for her once she got home from school - into her room, on with Scuzz Music Channel and that was it!

I have got no idea what the weekend has in store for me - none at all! Hm, except that I have an assignment to finish by next Friday, so I might put in a couple of hours on that. And my batch of Saxons are almost done, so these might get the finishing touches - if so, there will be a photo on Monday! Then it is onto the Norman cavalry and ordering the last few figures to compete the armies...

Back to my daughter - she has started to learn to play bass guitar and was playing in the music class. The teacher caught sight of the pick that she was using and asked to see it. It was one of my South Park ones with "You Bastard" written on it! She thought she was in real trouble but I think the teacher didn't want to put off the only bass player in the class, so she got away with it. We will be having another lesson over the weekend...

Have a great weekend!

No time for a real post...

but, you must read this story!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7939187.stm

Back soon!

Spring has sprung! (Sorry it is late, Terri!)

The weather is glorious today - warm, sunny, still. Ahhhhh.

Even the flowers are enjoying it!

As I told myself yesterday, I got some cheesecake for pudding...

There WAS some left...

It was just as wonderful as my sample had been yesterday...

I think I just un-did all of the push-ups and sit-ups that I have been doing. I could feel my jeans getting tighter as I ate!

Wonderful!

If it carries on like this I will soon be taking a guitar out at lunchtimes for a little mid-day relaxation. I can't wait. There is something really special about sitting in a beautiful spot, nibbling lunch and playing guitar through the earphones at ear-melting volumes...

Have a great day!

I admit it - I am a food junky

No surprise, huh?

Well I just had it confirmed this lunchtime.

I was in my usual eating place, waiting for my cream cheese and bacon bagel, when the woman there held out a fork.

I took it.

On the fork was a lump of cheese cake.

I tasted it.

The cheese cake slowly disolved in my mouth, spreading an amazing mix of creaminess and lemon sharpness.

Wow.

I have eaten my fair share of cheese cake in my life, but this was really special. My body wanted more, demanded more, BEGGED for MORE!

But I am master of my emotions - I did not buy a slice.

But I regret that move now. I REALLY want more!

Tomorrow, for sure. Yep I will get a slice tomorrow.

I am hooked.

I am a food junky.

We have the technology...

It had become clear that my mom's pony's stable needed a bit of work. It is around 12 years old (built by my brother who is a carpenter) and Humphrey the pony (see above) has taken to scratching his behind on one of the door posts.

So, on Saturday morning, Mrs RC and myself set off with an assortment of tools - hammer, nails, 5 foot iron bar, etc.

After a quick look we saw that darling Humphrey had managed to move the door post (along with the attached wall) around a foot out of place!

I gave it a shove - nothing. This was heavy stuff!

Hm.

Then Mrs RC grabbed the 5 foot bar, hooked it under the door post and pushed.

Yes, you guessed it, in about 3 seconds it was back in place and we were soon finishing off our repairs. If you hadn't realised before, Mrs RC is not someone to argue with, especially when armed with a 5 foot steel bar! :-)

But, despite my inability to shift the door post, there was evidence that my working out is paying dividends. I was trying to remove an old nail from the stable wall and ripped the head off the claw hammer instead!

OOOH YEAH!!!!!

The cat is out of the bag...

I repeat

The cat is out of the bag.

Sounds like a secret coded message, doesn't it? Something from an old war movie - Richard Burton trying to tell HQ that a German Battleship has set sail as the SS close in on him...

Anyway...

This morning we were talking to the kids about eating more healthily again - things seem to slip in the cold winter months...



At some point in this discussion I mentioned that my stomach has lost that little podgy bit that had appeared over Christmas.



"Yes", says Mrs RC, "have you stopped drinking Fat Coke or something?"



"No. I have been doing 20 press-ups each day."



"You have? When? Where?"



"In the bedroom when there isn't anyone around."

"Why?" Obviously she is wondering why I need to improve my already perfect physique!

""Well, summer is coming..."

"No, you want to get a tan in Malta, don't you? You don't want to be the old flabby guy in the group."

"No."

"Oh yes."

Tuesdays...

...always seem to tire me out!

Weekends have been fun recently,but not often as restful as I would like.

Mondays are long, as after work I have a lecture until 7, which is hard work on the old brain.

Tuesdays are then just plain busy!By Wednesday I am into my stride and on a roll for Friday again.

Jeez, no wonder the weeks are going past so fast! It was not long ago that March was way off, but now it is here and the field trip approaches. You see my studies require me to spend a week in Malta at the end of this month.

I love Malta.

It is tiny, a small lump of rock between Italy and North Africa- if you stand on the battlements of the "city" that is in the middle if the island you can see the sea all around.

It is old - it has got prehistoric temples that are older than the pyramids.It is full of history - Normans, Arabs, The Knights of St John and their epic siege against the Turks, Napoleon, another epic siege in World War 2. All this packed into a country that you can cycle around in a day.

The people are nice too - well most are OK to tourists - last time I was there I met one who directed me to a large cliff that I could jump off... But on the whole they are nice folk who also speak English!

The food is OK, a sort of mix between Italian and North Africa with a few local specials like rabbit and snail thrown in. It is, however, easy to find good British style food, too, plus the omnipresent McDonalds, etc. And it is usually nice and warm at this time of year - t-shirts and shorts weather most of the time,occasionally wet and cool, occasionally hinting at the very hot summers that are on the way, when you get wind coming straight from the Sahara Desert. Mmmmm.

Malta here I come!

I'm not that horrible!

Sunday was Mrs Rock Chef's birthday.

Saturday we went to town, doing a bit of shopping, picking up a last few presents and cards for her. Then lunch at Pizza Hut (reasonably priced and we all enjoy it) and back home.

Sunday was a lazy day including a barbecue in the garden. Spring really is coming!


My favourite little bit of the weekend was when I was buying cards with the kids. I found the section of cards with recorded voices. I found one that said:

"Hi, this is David Hasselhof, AKA The Hoff, wishing you a very Happy Birthday.

I'd like to jump out of YOUR cake!"

I showed it to the kids because it was so funny and put it back.

What I failed to notice was my daughter rushing out of the shop to see Mrs RC. It seems that she rushed out to tell her about the awful card that I was looking at, but reassured my wife that "I don't think he is that horrible, I don't think he is going to buy it for you!"