Delayed Visitor

After some hiccups, Houston and John finally made to Leeds. They had a train booked, so they only spent an hour in Leeds. We took them to the town hall, and had a coffee at the Tiled Hall. It was a very brief visit, but we are glad to have caught them.

Proper Snow 2017

Everyone was panicking about this 'heavy snow'. We arrange for all the preparation and the light snow came. Just when everyone is thinking that was it, the 'heavy snow' came, and it looks like proper snow. It was very nice to watch the snow. I drove around the snow plough, which was fun. Why are people so easily freaked out by snow?

Gepetto vs Treasure Trove

The treasure trove used to contain a treat ball and Gepetto was not particularly keen on the treat ball as it was stuck together tightly.  Then I filled the treasure trove with loose sunflower seeds, ever since then, Gepetto really thinks there is good stuff in the treasure trove, and attack it at every opportunity, which makes a very good photo opportunities.

Kendrew @ 100k

The little diesel car just reach 100k, which is quite remarkable for someone used to little petrol engine.

Boxing Day Sale

We went for a stroll on Boxing Day.  We were so early that Morrison's has not yet done their markdowns.  We went out later, we found a few things we wanted from the Range, and from Go Outdoors, but nothing as brilliant as Boxing Day sale used to be...

Christmas Highlights

I got a free kitchens items, but the highlight were the Suzuki fleece and the giant Ferrero Rocher!

The Ferrero Rocher is slightly sweeter than normal, I think. 

Christmas Rituals

Thomas left mince pie and water for Santa and carrot for Rudolph.  The kind of hassle they have to go thorough for the next 10 years...

Pre-Christmas Manic

We went to be shop to get the last bits for Christmas.  The shop was getting busy, and it is rather amusing to watch.

Hamburger and Potato

We got some mince and looking for ways to cook them.  I suggested hamburger and potato, and Sarah did not know of such American staple.  I was caught up playing Catan and left the kitchen, I slightly over cooked potatoes.  I need to cook this American staple more often!

Leonidas Dark 70%

I finally finished the last bit of dark chocolate from Peijing Duty Free nearly a year ago.  Leonidas Dark 70% is smooth and nice, I will buy again at the right price.

Staycation Cambridgershire - Day 4

We had our breakfast and set off for Ely.  Ely Cathedral was quite nice.  They had a very old gas-flamed radiator.  The Christmas market was small but had good offerings.  All the museums including the Cathedral charges entry, so we just wandered and looked from the outside.

We left Ely and went to Peterborough.  The road was so boring and full of mud, I had to keep spraying and by the time I parked up, Kendrew's tailgate was covered in mud, all from this one journey!  I only just washed Kendrew last week!

The Peterborough Cathedral was quite nice and free.  They had the same gas-flamed radiator.  The Christmas market was quite standard.  Peterborough Museum is normally free, but there was a special event on, so they wanted to charge entry, so we passed.

We stopped for lunch, and opted for a pizza at the Pizza Parlour.  The lunch deal was really good, I had a big meaty pizza, and Sarah had half pizza and a salad.  We did some groceries at Peterborough before we went home.  It was another long boring drive, and I was very tired.  We made home safely just after it got dark.

The hamster was still nice and sound when we got home, and he had not finished the big pile of food we left out for him, now we know what to do when we are leaving him alone for a few days.

Staycation Cambridge - Day 3

We had a large breakfast again by the windows, there were no rabbits out today.  We were planning for a long day as there were a few museums were closed on Monday, we had to catch up. 

We went straight to The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, their collection was surprisingly small.  Then we went to Fitzwilliam Museum, which was a mini British Museum.  Their label often where they acquired the artefact, but it really is res ipsa loquitur.  In additional to their standard exhibits, they had three special exhibitions, they were all quite well organised. 

We went back to Michaelhouse for lunch.  I thought about having some Brazilian street food or Northern dumplings for lunch, but I decided to have some mushroom bisque in Michaelhouse instead.  When they call a soup a bisque, you know you are in Cambridge.

We went back to Whipple, and the exhibition was good.  There were some working clockworks making a lot of noises.  The collection of old calculators does trigger some nostalgia.

Sarah wanted to see the hominids, so we popped to see University Museum of Zoology, much to Sarah's disappointment, it was closed for refurbishment.  We thought The Polar Museum was going to open till 5pm, so we tried to squeeze in the Museum of Cambridge.  We walked up the colleges, crossed the river to get to the museum, only to find it closed for unforeseen circumstances!

We stopped for a drink at a Hong Kong style café before we headed to the Polar Museum.  When we got to the Polar Museum, we found it was close at 4pm!  I was misled by the information on Google!  We looked at the photo exhibition at the foyer area and look at their exhibits thorough the glass, and called it quit.

We walked back into town to do some shopping, then went for dinner, another pre-booked dinner.  I had chrysanthemum tea again for medicinal purposes.  The dinner this time was quite sub-standard.

We clocked 26k steps again!  We have done Cambridge quite comprehensively, we don't really need to re-visit anytime soon, except I am taking my sister there, so I have to devise a condensed plan for their short visit!

Staycation Cambridge - Day 2

We had a big breakfast and walked into town.  We sat by the window to watch rabbits hopping on the green. 

We went straight to Sedgwick Museum.  I was very bored at Sedgwick.  I found a picture of prehistoric lobster.

Sarah had lunch at Michaelhouse Café, and I had lunch a food store in the market.

We walked back to Whipple Museum of the History of Science to find out they were close for the day due to unforeseen circumstances!

We went onwards to the Museum of Classical Archaeology, walked back via the river, and back into  town.  On the guidebooks, it was recommended us to see the "backs", but there is no way we would pay >£3 (per person per college) to walk onto their grounds to see the bridges or the slab of marbles.  We now understand the appeal of punting.

It wasn't quite time to dinner yet, so we sat down at Fitzbillies.  We just sat down for a coffee, we passed on the Chelsea buns.

From my previous experience, I was expecting Cambridge to be extortionate, so I pre-booked some dinners.  We had some Turkish food for dinner, and it was nice.

We stopped at the North Pole, to watch the skaters in the fun fair before we headed home.

When we got home, we completed 26k steps, another long day!

Staycation Cambridge - Day 1

We set off for our Cambridge staycation on an icy morning.  After a very long boring drive, we parked up at the hotel and walked to town.  We caught up with a few people and walked to Grantchester.

We stopped at a Chinese tea place for a drink.  I had a chrysanthemum tea for medicinal purpose.  By the time we walked home, nothing nearby was open for dinner.  We drove to McDonald's for dinner.

I tried the new beef and cheese offerings, what a mistake!  The cheese sauce in the burger was gloopy and the cheese bites were like fried plastic.

We got home, we completed 27k steps!!

Winter Car Wash

I have been meaning to get a car wash, and I finally got one near my home.  It was a cold evening, and when I try to get the last bits out of the nook and cranny after the car came out of car wash, my hands were very cold!!  Maybe I should try to wash it when it is less cold!

Cold and Flu Season

I was off all week trying to recover from my cold.  When I got back to work, I was all okay, then Steve started feeling unwell.  He was so unwell that he had to go off on sick.  He was first attributing the ailment to me, but as his cold develops, it differed from mine and he shifted the blame to Helen.  Let's hope I didn't catch his or Helen's cold!

Christmas Dinner at Work

Everyone went down for this Christmas Dinner.  Only Nicola was wearing a Christmas jumper, I wore a red jumper and passed off as Christmasy.  The dinner was just passable, but we had a very low expectation, so no one is too disappointed.

Screen Wash Topping in the Dark

Because of all the grit, I was emptying the screen wash quite quickly, and having to top up the screen wash is not pleasant!  Luckily, I have stashed up the screen Wash earlier this year, I won't have to worry about running out this winter.

Grand Ferrero Rocher

I think I had a giant Lindor before and I was not impressed.  I saw the giant Ferrero Rocher, I wanted it and was a little worry I would be disappointed, Sarah offered to buy it for me for Christmas.  Then I saw a even more giant one (240g), I am not very excited! Can't wait!

Icy Mornings

Yesterday went down to -3C!  It was extra time to get the car ready in the morning, annoying!

Heilemann Peru 67%

This 64% Peru also has a relatively high melting temperature, has a simple profile, boring...   I am very disappointment.

Donald Trump's Impeachment Party | Chelsea | Netflix

Let's hope this day will come soon.

Bitcoin the Trendy Ponzi

Bitcoin, the trendy Ponzi scheme that favours the younger generation.  Maybe the government instead of QE benefiting big companies, government should buy up loads of Bitcoins to enable the younger generation to start their businesses.

Feeding the Cold

I have been feeding the cold this week.  I demolished so much food, whilst I am not appreciating them fully, when will I see the end of this bloody cold!!

Cold Medication

I thought I would get some basic medication for my cold.  I went to Boots.  Then when I was in Tesco, theirs has the identical PL number and 20% cheaper, I am not happy!

So Sick

Muscle pain, croaked voice, blocked sinus, sleeping problem, coughing, how many days of this I have to ensure for being unwell.

Parents Suck Like Everyone Else

Yes, they suck like everyone else, but for everyone else, I have a choice to not being with them.

Yorkshire Staycation - Knaresborough

Enroute home, we stopped at Knaresborough.  Knaresborough has a Christmas Market, and they were expecting a crowd, so they setup park and ride!  We walked around the market, around the church yard and saw the crows.  We continued walk down to the river, the Baptist church with the Christmas festival and Henshaws for a craft fair.  They were actually buying stuff!
 

This crow kept 'saying' "Hello".

We were glad we added Knaresborough as one of our activities, but we were quite tired by the end of this staycation!

Yorkshire Staycation - Ripon, Richmond

The breakfast was very nice, everything was very rich... 

We walked to Ripon, walked around the markets, walked around all the charity shops, walked around the Cathedral.

 

We walked home and went further North to Richmond to catch up with a friend.  We had a quick walk around the town before going out for a pie.  For a change, it was not sodium loaded.

Yorkshire Staycation - Easingwold, Thirsk, Ripon

The snow settled overnight, so it was very slippy.  We travelled North to Ripon via Easingwold and Thirsk.  We came across a lot of market and Christmas markets.  Sarah was getting gift everywhere she looked.  We also stopped at all the charity shops.

We checked into the B&B in Ripon and had a dinner at their pub.  The steak pie was not a pie, as it did not have a base, and it was also loaded with sodium, we should have never trusted the what was on some rating websites.

Snowy York Staycation

After chores, we finally set off for our staycation in Yorkshire.  First stop was at The Sidings in York.  When we got near York, it started snowing, heavily!  We worried about it when we booked it that the train carriages will be cold, and we were not wrong...  The room was centrally heated and they supplied a spare electric heater, we turned that on right the way.

Sarah and I did some train spotting, knitting, reading, and we headed for dinner, it was Greek style dinner.  Sarah had the dips platter, and I tried, I never liked it.  I had a sodium loaded garlic mushroom.  I first opted for Greek pork, but it turned up with orzo with feta, so I swapped with Sarah's sodium loaded beef in peppercorn sauce.

Sarah really enjoyed it, I suspect we will be back for a day trip.