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.

Let's the Wrapping Begin

We got the majority of stuff around black Friday, and after confirming allocation, we started wrapping. 

Wrist Watch

Most people just use mobile phone when they want to check the time.  Wrist watch is very much old fashion.  Not only is it old fashion, it is also 'expensive'.  I took the opportunity to buy a new watch in the sale, and I do like it.  I am sure my friends will call me cave man for wanting a watch.

Sony Xperia L1

I got my first smart phone that I purchased with my own money.  I had two Carol's hand me down, and one of my sister's hand me down.  The two Sony has lasted all these years, whereas my sister's Samsung was literally very fragile.


So to continue the Sony tradition, I got an Xperia L1.  It has a better rating and better specification than the J3, so I went for it.  Let's hope it is as sturdy as the other Xperia.

Competitive Shopping

A few times a year, the retailer are competing for the consumer, and the consumer tries to land the best deal.  It can get quite competitive, and I get quite crossed when I 'failed' to spot the best of the best deal.

Motorcycle Live 2017

After much persuading, I dragged Sarah to Motorcycle Live 2017 at NEC.   We bought the ticket online, so we went straight in.  I dragged Sarah around the show systematically, aisle by aisle.  There were a lot of people, a lot of bike, a bit of freebies.  I found a pair of boots at a good price, and chatted with the NGK spark plug guy.  We sat on a few bikes, played a bit of table football.  A decent day out.

Giant Mooli

Not knowing what to cook, I wandered around the market.  I came across a giant mooli, it was 10 cm in diameter and 1 meter long.  So I decided to cook beef brisket. 

When I chopped open the mooli, it had a 'flowery heart'; I did not expect that as it was very heavy, ie full of juice.  I always wonder if that affects tastes, but it does.  Sarah said they tasted good, I said it tasted like mooli!

Pre Black Friday Sale

The British does not celebrate Thanksgiving, so the idea of Black Friday never makes sense.  A few years ago, everyone hopped on the bandwagon, overwhelmed and paralysed the delivery network as a result, every since, the 'Black Friday' is getting earlier and earlier.  This year, the 'Black Friday sale' starts 1 weeks before the 'Black Friday'.  We should just consider British Black Friday being 1 weeks before the American Black Friday.  Could this be considered as cultural appropriation?

Dal Fatigue

I made a lot of tasty dal curry, but eating it many days in a row, it is bringing on dal fatigue!  I have more tolerant when I am eating Bolognese or bacon or chickpea stew, perhaps because they contain meat!

Sparse Leeds Christmas Market

This year's Leeds Christmas market is more 'spacious' than previous years.  Is it because there isn't enough stalls interested or they deliberately spaced the stalls out to reduce the jam and cluster?  I hadn't had any sausages yet, and the German food is definitely more expensive than the German food in Germany, I regret not eating more whilst we were there!

Reusing 'Sugar'

When I bought a bow ox honey roasted cashew, I did not expect to end up with half a box of sugar.  Since I am never precise with the constitution of my bakes goods, I thought I would reuse the 'sugar'.  The 'sugar' is not really sugar, it contained salt and other substances, I used it anyway.


I debated if I should bake brownie or cookies, and I decided on the brownie, hoping it would mask the flavour.  The brownie does taste a bit funny, in hind sight, I should have used them on the cookies.  If I end up in the same situation again, I will probable melt them and add back into nuts rather than putting in baked goods.

York Park and Ride

It was the first time we used any York Park and Ride.  We were shopping at Vanguard and hopped onto Monks Cross Park and Ride.  It was quite easy to use, it was not extortionate, we will probably use it again.

York Christmas Market

A few of us went to York St Nicolas Fair with the promise of a brass band.  We had a quick tour of York before browsing the fair.  The town was busy everywhere!


The brass band turned out to be a brass quartet in the middle.  There were people busking on all corners of the market, so it was filled with Christmas music.


The market had normal offerings, there was one noticeable gift idea was a sheep-skinned highland cow.  It is very cute.

It was a dry day and relatively warm.  We stopped at Shambles Food Court for lunch.  Sarah and Rachael had Indian food, Dave had a hotdog, and I was looking around, and spotted the arancini from Pizzoli, yummy.  Everyone was quite happy with their choices.


St Crux Church was having a yard sale and a tea stand.  We stopped in for a tea and cake.  They were very cheap!


That only took us to 3pm, we went onto National Railway Museum.  Neither Dave and Rachael had been, it was a good additional to our tour.

Homemade British Mac and Cheese

Sarah made the best ever Mac and Cheese, al dente pasta, cheese sauce, crunchy top, the whole nine yard.  Then when I analyse the difference between British Mac and Cheese and Kraft.  The difference is bacon!  There is no competition!

Modern Chocolate Milk

I used to love chocolate milk as a child.  I grew out of it by my teens, and not really care for it since.  I saw some on marked down at M&S, I thought I would re-live the past.  Chocolate milk tastes a lot different now.  I am not sure if it was the modern recipe or just having bought it from an expensive shop.  This recipe has gum to make it thicker and the vanilla to make it smoother.  I remember those I had when I was growing up was very artificially chocolaty!  It is good to taste the difference.

Staycation Cambridge

We initially thought about going to Liverpool for the staycation.  I was not enthuse about it, as I have been to Liverpool quite a few times.  I was looking at the map and suggested Cambridge, I had two fly-by visit, but never properly saw the city.  Sarah agreed with my suggestion and we moved swiftly to the planning phase.  Excited.

Scottish Trip Planning

Amy shouted out for information about Scotland, since I have done a few comprehensive Scottish trips, I volunteered my experience and what I know, namely, Scotland is far and big, the Highlands is overrated, Stirling is quite a good base. 

Kayal

Sarah finally took me to Kayal.  We had South Indian food in different restaurants, but not this famous restaurant.


I chose a strange chicken curry with rice dumplings in coconut cream, Sarah had her usual fish.  The good was okay, but I never understood the big fuzz.  For the fish, I don't believe it was actually cook in the banana leave, it was just presented in them.  Also I suspect the fish was salted before marinated and cooked.


I am glad we ticked it off the list.

Sanding without Enclosed Local Extraction Ventilation

I tried to sort out the wonky wall with a sander.  With the best hoover on standby, it still left a lot of fine dust becoming airborne.  There is no easy way we could have done this, let's hope we don't have to go this very often...

"Japanese" Food at Wakaze

We went to a Japanese restaurant in Leicester featured in a BBC video.  When we got there, I worked out Wakaze is a Chinese-run "Japanese" restaurant.  So I know what I was going to order and what to expect, or not...  The tofu was not very soft.  The katsu was very fatty and the sauce was salty.  I was not very impressed.

Windy Flying

We went to a local airport to look at some planes.  The cafe was full of kids and was very noisy.  We weren't expecting to see much flying on a windy day, but we did.  The pilots must have death wish, they may call it advance landing training.  This plane just kept on landing and taking off.  The helicopter was getting battered around by the wind, I was waiting to see how half a million quid going up in smoke, but they managed to disappoint me.  I am glad I did not take up any of these flying hobbies.

English Heritage Preparation

Since we are planning to visit Stonehenge, I looked into English Heritage.  There are a few things we can see to get the money worth.  I am getting excited about the English Heritage year!

Luxuries from Harrogate

I got so many goodies from yellow labels from Weetons, yellow labels from Waitrose.  I had duck for dinner followed by dessert, luxury!

Flowchart Drawing

I drew some flowcharts using word processor, then Steve recommended a flowchart software.  I am now re-drawing.  I hope my instructions are straight-forward enough!

Winter in Here Early

Boiler is on, frost on the screen, salt on the road, I cannot believe this Winter moves in so swiftly! 

Twice Mowed Sunday

I finally got around to mow the lawn preparing for Winter.  Since it was so long, I had to mow twice to get it right.

The mower is also starting to fall to bits, the mower came to a hard bit and a chunk of plastic broke off.  I need to keep my eyes peel for a new mower.

Salmon Breakfast

On my venture to the supermarket, I got a piece of marked down Salmon, to be exact, it was 'half a side'.  Since it wouldn't last much longer, I just had to scoff the whole thing at one go, so I did that on a Saturday morning.  Luxury!

Hazelnut Review

I got some hazelnut for baking thinking I like hazelnut.  Then I baked with hazelnut, and I realised I don't really like hazelnut...

First Interest Rate Rise in a Decade

Bank of England announced the first interest rate hike the first time in 10 years, more yet to come.  I am in a good fixed rate, and I have been paying it down.  I must pay down as much as I can when I next renew my policy!

Renewal Seasons

The renewal seasons came along, insurance, saving scheme, compliance/testing, the car needs doing, the bank needs doing, the house needs doing, so much hassle.


I reminded myself, all the hassles came with being owner that,  "Just be grateful we don't live in a socialist society where there is no ownership!"

Heilemann Grenada 67%

I am just getting around to eat my German chocolate.  This 67% Grenada has a relatively high melting temperature, has a simple profile and slight sweet to hide a funny cacao flavour.  Not all Heilemann are made the same, I hope the next Heilemann would be as good as the first one I had before...

Trick or Treat Avoidance

How late do I have to stay at the gym to avoid the trick or treaters?  Is Dom going to answer the doors?  Let's hope for another quiet year.

Quarry Hill Rip Off

All the free parking was taken, we went to Quarry Hill instead.  "HOW MUCH?!"  I saw the board and screamed.  What a rip off!  Remind me to avoid where possible!!

True York Experience

We dropped off Little Rome at Gary's and followed by a true "York Experience", ie queuing on the ring road to go to shopping centres.

Before our quest, we had a rustic English lunch at a garden centre.  I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and amount of their offerings.  Then we joined the bumper to bumper queue to Clifton Moors.  It was full of shoppers.  We went into many shops, tried out sofa, looked at hamsters, shop for bargain food and groceries.  Then we joined back onto the bumper to bumper queue on the ring road to leave York.  I am glad I don't live in York!

Autumn Stock Audit

I didn't actually do an audit, I just realised I ran out of pearl barley.  I took the opportunity to have a stock check and replenish some pasta, rice noodles etc.  I am quite impressed with the ASDA and Home Bargains offerings.

Marinated and Pummeled

Just to try different massages, I thought I would go for a full body massage, without giving the masseuse too much instruction.  I was marinated and pummelled.  I wouldn't be doing this type of massage any more, I can just pummel myself at home.


I later searched for the massage oil, they are not cheap!

Porky Heaven

I got a couple pack of pork mince, and as I cook them, it smells delicious.  This is really encouraging me to eat more meat!  Only if I can store the smell for later!

Question Paper

Writing question paper is not easy.  I have been helping Sarah, and now I am helping Steve.  We could no longer assume the candidates know the basic, we have to ask something very trivial just to ascertain they meets the minimum standard.

Placbo Carpet Shampoo

I used my Vanish carpet cleaner again.  I am not sure it is working, I don't even think placbo works either.

Fan on a Crumbling Walls

We were installing a toilet fan.  Everyone thought it would be straight forward, but it was everything but.  The wall was crumbling, and the previous decorators could not be bother putting it right, so there was no means of fixing the fan.  I was thinking about botching it, but there weren't even enough wall left to botch.


To properly fix it, I would need sand and cement, but since we have not got that and I was not prepared to get a bag of cement just got that, we used the next best thing, poly filler.  I started out just gluing bits together, then I decided to build it out properly.  I built it out and let it cure.


When we come to fit the fan, it was very snug.  We had to trim out the poly filler.  We still cannot fit the fixings as the wall is now more uneven than before.  It will be another few hours work of work to even out the wall, paint and refit.

IKEA Day

Most people just have a day out at IKEA, but we managed to go to IKEA twice in a day and cook IKEA dinner at home.


We first went to IKEA to survey what we need, helping ourselves with the pristine food samples before going to a walk.  Then after the walk, we actually bought what we jotted down, and on our way out, we bought IKEA frozen dinner.


We must remember to go to IKEA early for the pristine nibbles!

Loaded Car

Kendrew had dealt with rubbles, bicycles, people and general stuff.  I was really testing her limit when I loaded her with racking.  Metal, relatively heavy, long, I could feel Kendrew complaining when I was driving along, and trying my best to avoid sudden acceleration and deceleration.  There are times when van is easier.

D-Shape Toilet Seat

I got a quick release D-shape toilet seat, even though neither Sarah nor I have a D-shape bowl.  I fitted it on my toilet anyway, it fitted okay, except it does not cover a tiny bit of the bowl.  I will remember not to buy a D-shape seat without a D-shape bowl!

Misleading Book Title

There was a book talk, with the word 'science' in the title, so we went.  We were very misled, it had nothing to do with science...

Dysoning

I have never used a Dyson before.  We borrowed one and we got so much dirt out!  I am quite impressed, apart from I am not prepared to pay for that amount of money for a vacuum cleaner.

Painting Protection

There is always splash backs, blobs and flicks when you paint, there is no prevention, just protection.  You cannot make an omelette without cracking a few eggs.

Sweetpea Pantry Grainy Brainy Buckwheat & Flax Pancake Mix

Another trial product, continue our French theme, it turned out very nice, Sarah even says she will splash out at full price!

Mung Dal

I grew up eating mung beans products, but I don't know what to do with a big bag of mung kernels.  We made some tarka daal with mung dal, they are alright, I will try to use my stash up that way.

Sweetpea Pantry Playful Pizza Dough

I got this from the marked down pile.  It worked well, it rises slower than normal, tasted okay.

Minature Slow Cooker

We were given a slow cooker when someone bought it by mistake.  It is only 1.5L size!  When we started using it, it is smaller than personal size!  Even if you fill it to the brim, it delivers 4 meals at a push!  And the outer case is hotter than the crock pot.  Get rid!

New Family Member Geppetto

I adopted a hamster from Preloved.  He is a roborovski, which is tiny and really quick!  I hope he enjoys the new household.

Mushroomed Out

I bought a box of mushroom for £1 on Saturday, I had mushroom soup for the last few days.  I am a little mushroomed out!

Drains Care

Drains can have lime scale build up much like the kettle.  I need to put more chemical down the drains in the name of drains maintenance...

Seedy Tree

The tree outside my house was dropping all its seeds in my garden.  And because of the design of the seeds, they are quite hard to remove.  Damn nature!

FirstDay Family & Friends Bus Tour

First is still doing the group bus ticket.  We did 6 bus journeys, beating the previous record of 5 journeys!

Why can't other cities doing something similar?!

Light Night 2017

I organised an AVEN meet at Light Night again this year.  The shows were interesting...  We did not make it to the Leeds Docks, and after I know about the moon display, I was extra sad.

I always thought it is spelt "derailer", I am still not sure why it has a "French" spelling.

derailleur

play

noun de·rail·leur \ di-ˈrā-lər \

Definition of derailleur

:a mechanism for shifting gears on a bicycle that operates by moving the chain from one set of exposed gears to another

Gun Violence

Using the orange man's quote, Gun violence "is a situation that should've been handled 25 years ago, 20 years ago, 15 years ago, 10 years ago and five years ago, and it could've been handled much more easily."


Gun operation should be licenced like the model in driving.  A theory, a practice, with restriction on persons with mental and physical issues and any mis-use resulting in licence being revoked and ban, and subsequently impounding guns.

Tennis in the Dark

The Sun is setting earlier and earlier.  We don't even have enough light to play till 7om.  It is time to go back to the gym...

Dash Cam

I had never played with one until today.  I was tempted by a discounted cam.  I played around with it, but I think it is a little dumb and it keeps forgetting the time.  I consulted others regarding dash cam, and noone seems to be particularly keen on them.  I am going to return it.  I am glad I have tried.

Cycling with an Ill-fitted Bike

I was free this Sunday, and I was trying to see if anything was going on in Manchester.  One of my friends was with the bid Labour protests.  The other mentioned about cycling, I jumped in. 

I took little Rome transpennine ride, and it was horrendous.  When I arrived, we jumped on the bike almost immediately.  I was using Hannah's bike, which had a small frame and low seat.  I tolerated it anyway.

We opted for some hilly ride, and Sofy took me thorough parks, which made the ride extra muddy!  Along the way, Sofy offered me sugar gel, which I refused.  I had a really bad sugar crash just a day ago!

We did 25 miles, which was a lot on a ill-fitted bike!  I was aching.

On the way home, the transpennine was fully of spray!  It was horrible!  By the end, little Rome's electrics were really unhappy, and I had to bump start it at Sainsbury.

When I got home, I decided to rinse off the sand elsewhere, so I went to the gym.  Exhausted!

Kirkstall Bridge Inn

The Bridge Inn was made famous by a picture of two men drinking in the flooded beer garden a few years ago when it was flooded.  I did not want to park in town, so I suggested to go to Kirkstall Bridge Inn for dinner. 


When I arrived, I saw two table of older men drinking, I was not sure if it was the right pub for us.  Then more people started arriving in the pub, the clientele was quite diverse and I felt reassured.  The menu looked very gastronomic, along with the price... David had a chicken burger and I had a pizza.  Then both turned out to be very nice, I would definitely eat there again.

Rouge Spicy Meatballs

I was looking for mince to use up my onions and tomato, then I came across a nice looking pack of spicy meatball.  The mark down stickers were covering the brand, they were from the Yorkshire Meatball Co.  I cooked them with 1.5kg of onion and 4 tins of tomato, and when I started eating them, they were still noticeably spicy!  If someone just cooked them with normal recipe, it would have been potent!  I was trying to look for these meatballs again, but they could not be found in the supermarket's website anymore!  I will be more careful when I next see spicy meatballs!

Power Steering Fault II

On my way to work, I turned a corner and the power steering fault light came up.  I was not happy.  The power steering was faulty about a year ago, and I could not believe it was happening.  I kept driving down, and contemplating contacting the garage last repaired it, or calling AA again.  Then just before I turn into work, the fault light went off and it was operating normally again.  I could not work out what caused it, let's hope it doesn't play up again!

Jane Austen Tenner

I was using the cash machine at work and a Jane Austen tenner came out.  I knew it was coming out, but I didn't know it had already come out.  It is quite nice looking note.  The canteen machines however would not take the new note, so I ended up topping up the card with £20.

No Meerkat 2017

I had use a website for insurance comparison for the past two years, and this year, it did not give me the best quote, so I won't get a meetkat toy this year...

Homemade Nutella Crêpe

As inspired by our trip, also for the fact we did not eat a sweet crêpe when we were in France, we made some at home.  My pancake machine is small, but it did the trick, maybe I really should get some spray oil.  The Nutella did return to normal consistence after being warmed up, I really got to use up my old Nutella!

Montpellier Tour - Day 4

We took the last opportunity to rest.  We checked out as late as we could and headed into town. 

Just about everything was shut on the Sunday, the street was very quiet.  Sarah found on the internet about the flea market by the aqueduct.  The flea market was celebrating the 5th anniversaries, there was some free food and drink.  We got a bit of bread and passed on the wine.  The offerings were interesting.  Sarah and I were both tempted by a few things, and those remotely interested us were extortionate, so we left empty handed.  We swung by the botanical garden before looking for lunch.

We stopped at the same square where we had sandwich the other day.  This time we opted for a French restaurant.  I had the boring chicken and fries with a glass of rose wine, and Sarah had goat cheese starter and monk fish.  We waited for a long time for the food, luckily the restaurant gave out olives and I had an apple earlier.

The rose wine was very blend.  Sarah enjoyed her cheese and monk fish.  We were both full of fries by the end.  I wish we had room for a chocolate parfait, but we again could not find room for a dessert!  We also only managed a 1.5 hours lunch fare.  In hindsight, I would love to see the look on a French if I tried to make a chip butty! 

I tried to get Sarah to buy another salad for the plane, but she worried about the hot temperature would spoil it.  I saw a palmier the first day, and we bought one just before we left town.  I grew up with palmier in my local bakery, and my friend comes to associate me and my local bakery with palmier.  So I took a picture with it under a French flag and sent it along.

Sarah found the viewpoint above the conference centre, and we had a view of the city.  We could have hung out a little longer if it was not for the relentless Sun.  We did a little people watching in the shade before going back to the hotel.

At the hotel, we debated if we should sit outside for the breeze or sit inside away from the element.  We sat outside for the bit, but the breeze was very unreliable, we went back inside.  We continued our restful trip with more lazing and reading.

We went to the airport with lots of time to spare.  We finished off the apples, oat cakes and water before we boarded.  While we were boarding, we were informed the plane was full, so we resigned to not being able to sit together for 2 hours.  Then when we boarded, I had am empty sit next to me, and there were another 4 empty seats at the exit row!  I jumped to see Sarah at the first opportunity and she agreed to move to sit with me made me very happy.  I ate the palmier on the plane, it tasted okay.

We landed and we got out quite quickly, we got the car and went home.   Quite a relaxing and smooth trip.

Montpellier Tour - Day 3

Since we thought we comprehensively did the town and we planned to go to the beach.

We had a slow breakfast with the hot chocolate and I had another nap.

We finally went to the beach, it was hot and we went straight to the recommended restaurant.  The outdoor dining area was full and we settled for a table just inside the patio windows.  We had to Google just about every item on the menu.  We opted for more French food, I had seafood soup and squid, Sarah had beef stew and fruit salad.  Mimicking the French, we managed a 1.5 hours lunch fare.

The Sun was relentless.  We walked along the beach and the market.  We bought souvenirs from Lidl.  Unlike the Aldi in Germany, the French does not have an automatic dispenser, they do have an interesting bread bin, where you move the bread to a chute.

We went home, and we were too late for a snooze.  We rested and went out to a recommended crêperie Le Kreisker.  On our way to Le Kreisker, we watched the 1 Euro crêperie, it has a rotating 5-crepe table with auto-batter dispenser, it seemed fast, but the crêpe maybe cooked unevenly, and there were a lot of cleaning as a lot of pancake makers were overheating empty.

Le Kreisker was busy and we waited for 15 minutes for a table while we consulted the menu.  We did not need too much Googling as the menu was translated.  I went straight for La Raclette and I recommended ratatouille to Sarah.  I wish we had the chestnut crêpe for dessert, but we were still very full from lunch!  What a shame that they are not open on Sunday!

Montpellier Tour - Day 2

We had a lazy morning and getting out of bed by 10am.  We strolled across the street for some bread and strolled into town.  The tourist information was quite helpful.  Sarah was a little disappointed that we missed the tour at the Medical Museum.

We wandered all over town, and the town was surprisingly small!  We wandered into a posh chocolate spread shop, we were tempted.  We swung be a highly rated Vietnamese restaurant and looked at the menu, I was disappointed. We opted not to go there.

We were experiencing a sugar crash and/or heat stroke, and we sat down for some sandwich. I had a French sausage roll, the sausage meat was quite tasty, but there were a lot of pastry.

We stopped for some ice-cream on our way home.  The coffee ice-cream was made with French coffee, ie dark roasted!  We went home for a nice long nap before dinner. We stopped by a shop to get some hot chocolate for the next morning.

We went to a recommended local modern French restaurant, we were struggling to translate what was on the menu, at the end I did not fancy their offering, by then we were also crashing!  I pointed at a French Restaurant and we went in. I was set on duck confit and chocolate fondant, while Sarah was trying to translate the rest of the offerings. Where the old dictionary fails, Google picked up the slack. I suggested Sarah to have the red mullet with leek, which turned out very nice. The dessert cheese was nice but not particularly exciting. The chocolate fondant was a little disappointing. But at least we ticked the French food off the box.

Montpellier Tour - Day 1

Since I was taking a whole day off, in additional to a slow lazy morning, I planned for works to be done in the morning before leaving for Montpellier in the evening.  I had the boiler guy and the burglar alarm guy both coming, and coincident they came at the same time, which made it all the more efficient.

Then just to prevent any unwanted cost from Ryanair, we went to the Crossgates Library to print out the boarding pass. The facilities in Crossgates Library is quite good, I am quite happy with it.

Then we went to have afternoon tea at the Bingley Arms.  The sandwiches were good, cakes were sweet and very filling as we hoped.  We took the cross country roads to the airport, which was very stressful for me driving on small roads and not knowing where I was going, at the end we arrived in plenty of time to keep Sarah from panicking.

We walked around the airport, packed the salad dressing in the toiletries bag, and went thorough the security. Everything went smoothly onto boarding. It was quite an empty flight, so I managed to move up to Sarah's at Row 1! We were then at the pole position to exit! We settled down and Sarah broke out her M&S salad. The Sun was setting as we flew onto the Mediterranean with a fairly nice view.

We were first to the immigration, and I was stamped without a single question being asked! We were out in France, we had 40 minutes to loiter before the next bus into town. We scrolled around the interactive materials from the tourism information booth.

We got into town and checked into the aparthotel. It was a long and productive day!

ESL Students Learn New Gender Pronouns | We the Internet TV

My sister forwarded me this spoof, and now I am subscribed to We the Internet TV!

Steak-Passingly Sick

I was feeling so unwell that I had to cancel my dinner plan.  I often think, being unwell is a good way to lose weight...

Bikers Hall of Shame

Biker who pulled wheelies on the M6 is jailed

A motorcyclist who performed wheelies and took a selfie while driving on the M6 has been jailed for eight months.

Pawel Zietowski, 27, was filmed by an unmarked police patrol for 16 minutes as he used his thighs to steer the bike and even rummaged through a backpack to find a mobile phone.
He was also given a driving ban of 28 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) said officers filmed Zietowski in June between junction 12 and Stafford services.

On Your Marks at Bruntingthorpe

I spotted On Your Marks on the Visit Leicestershire website and I thought about going alone, but entry is charged per vehicle, I convinced Sarah and co to go.


We decided to go in the morning, beating the rain.  It was cold but at least it was dry.  The stunt shows were quite impressive.  I was too cheap to pay to go on an Audi R8.


It was not a bad day out.

ITF Great Britain F4 Futures

I spotted this ITF tennis tournament and dragged Sarah to go with me.  Sarah was not interested in standing in the cold, so I watched it on my own.  The courts are nice and easily accessible, maybe I will really make an effort to watch the ladies next Spring.



This is possibly Llyod Glasspool.



This is possibly Oliver Golding.

Uncivilised Australians

The Australian are given a non-binding, non-compulsory vote to indicate to their legislators if marriage equality should be enacted.  The majority of legislators from both party parties are in favour, however they palmed it off to ignorant citizens on such important issue.  The current poll says the result should be majority in favour, but we have heard that from the Brexit saga.


The propaganda materials from the no campaign, are so rudimental, that they are borderline uncivilised!  It shows the amount of education is required!  My sister is planning to abstain, despite my attempts to provide her with information and examples.  The idea that people hold such uncivilised views really further decrease my desire to visit this country.


All these makes me feel extra grateful for being in Western Europe.

Horrendous Wetherby Road Works

For weeks I have avoided going into Wetherby knowing there were major works resulting in road closure.


I went into town for a few bits, but I was driving in circles.  The road works were much worse than I imagined.  It literally was driving around to find my way out.  I got to where I wanted to be at the end, but it is best I continue to avoid the town until further notice.

Little Rome at 80

Little Rome hits 80k miles this morning.  Long live the SRAD.

God's Own Country

We watched God's Own Country in the Phoenix.  Sarah kept saying it is a LGBT movie, then I kept saying, it is a gay movie.  I wasn't particularly excited about the Yorkshire's Brokeback Mountain.


I pull myself to watch it anyway, as I describe this as my CPD.  We need to have some exposure to modern LGBT literature, culture and politics to keep up to date.


The movie was attempting to be cinematic.  The cultural details were good, but it may not be obvious to people who does not understand the British and/or British LGBT culture.


Then I remember, I had my CPD earlier when we were at the Leeds Pride Friday Film Fest.  As a full feature film, God's Own Country will be high on the CPD list, so it is good to get it over with.

Stoneygate Tram Depot

Rachel told us the Stoneygate Tram Depot was open as part of Heritage Open, so we went.  The open day included a vintage bus ride, which was bumpy but fun.


We came back to look in the tram pit.  They explained that tram does not need a turntable and even electric tram was available, that domestic electricity was still in its infancy, hence gas lamps.


There were so many artefacts featuring the City of Leicester coat of arms, but only one volunteer could explain the wyvern and the cinquefoil.  And the motto "Semper Eadem" means always the same.


It is good to learn something new.

Leicester Synagogue

Continue with the Heritage Open weekend, we went to Leicester Synagogue.  We were there early in the morning.  Their plaques outside had a calendar year 58xx.  I did not know Judaism believe in that too.


There were a lot of visitors.  The guide was quite good, quite knowledgeable.  She started the tour reminding us Jesus was a Jew.  I was surprise that we could see behind the curtain, containing the Ark of Covenant.  She mentioned there are a lot of rules could not be followed as there is no Temple.  What an easy way to get out of all the tedious sacrifices!


I did learnt, that star of David was probably a recent invention, probably date back to 15th century, but probably not invented by David.

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Leicester

As part of Heritage Open Days, we went to a Mandir, Hindu Temple.  This was my first guided tour to a Hindu Temple.  I went to one in Singapore unguided.


The guide started explaining, there is one truth and righteous path, and the different gods are just different manifestations of the way.  I suspect, he didn't know how many Hindu gods altogether either.  And Hindu believes in the concept of eternality, with no beginning and no end.


Then he was explaining how lotus was a symbol in Hinduism, how it rises above the mud into the beautiful blossom, I though it was suspiciously Chinese!


We looked around the temple, and he sat us down to have a little religious discussion.  He repeated a few religious stories, including the blind men and the elephant, again, it was suspiciously Chinese.


I let the two other visitors ask their questions, and I bit my tongue the whole time.  I really wanted to know if their temple practice the caste system!  I only opened my mouth to correct his comment relating Taoism with Hinduism.


When we saw the images of the different gods and sacred images were all blessed.  This is also a standard practice in Buddhism.  One of the sacred images was Hanuman, representing bravery and loyalty, which was probably the blue print for the Monkey King in Journey to the West!


We asked about their religious texts, but he was bluffing regarding the age of the artefacts.


By the end of the tour, I thought just how much Chinese teachings and cultural practices were from the Hindu teachings in Buddhism!


When we got home, we found our answers regarding the Sanskrit.  Then when I searched about Taoist Pangu, only to find out the Chinese world creation story was only written after the initial introduction of Buddhism into China, and story of Pangu resembles a traditional world creation story from Hinduism!

Luke's Departure

It was Luke's last day at work, we were all sad that he was leaving us.  I am particularly sad that my best worker was leaving.  But there is no use crying over spilled milk, I have so much work to do in preparation of Steve's decisions.

We had a lunch at the Pax Inn, and we all returned to work promptly.  Luke worked past 5, so I had to stay past 5!  More work to do next week!

Stewed Pork

I was using up some pork and instead of making a bland soup, I made it into a stewed pork with soup noodle.  I need to remember to use more seasonings.

Blackhead Removal Tool

I have found a few use for the blackhead removers.  I am now also removing some tar tar and it is also a good electronic implement!

Pronoun Education

How do you raise a child to understand a gender spectrum?


Person A  "It is important child X knows, a female can be a train driver too."
Person B  "It is definitely a 'he'"
Person C  "How do you know it is a 'he', just because of the hair?"
Person B  "It is important for child X to understand pronouns he and she."
Person C  "To understand that pronouns are meaningless?"
Person B  "It is depends on your point of view."


Few minutes later...
Person A  (a doll was on a latch, said to child X)  "Is she scared?"
Person C  "How do you know it is a 'she'?"
Person B  "She looks like a she from this angle."
Person C  "Just because it wears pink and has pony tail?"


Just name everything, it maybe easier.

Easy Digital Money

I am taking advantage of the Barclays interest free period but I was running close to the limit.  It only take one click to move the goal post further, it is too easy!

Breaded Weekend

As we were reorganising the cupboards, we needed to empty out some old flour dated 2016.  We made two loaves and had tasty fresh bread!

Leicester Pride 2017

We strolled to Victoria Park for a wander.  Everything seems normal except some stall has a penis measuring ruler, very disturbing.

The Last Sunflowers

Old batch with tortured beginning.
 
Freebie from open farm day.

 If we get a hamster, then it might just be the last of the sunflowers!!! As it will eat down all the seeds!!

Germany Tour 2017 - Day 5

The final day of our trip and we did not have much on the agenda.  We went to look for breakfast, and the muesli from the supermarket was expensive.  I insisted in stopping to see what German McDonald's has to offer, and they do a muesli with yogurt, which was very acceptable.  I tried the McToastie, which was disappointing.


We packed and check out.  We wandered back to Altstadt, wandered around the Market and had another Schweine Jane Scheinehaxe.  I would even say Ham Ham's was better!

We stopped at a bakery for some cake. It looks better than it tasted... We should have went for something more German.


Fearing for delay and choices of dinner, we went to Aldi and bought some salad.  The Aldi has a bread vending machine!!!  We got our luggage and headed to the airport.


We arrived fairly early and we checked in Sarah's luggage. We had so much time in hand, we decided to ride on the Skytrain back and forth. Then we walked around all the shops to find a supermarket in the terminal. I bought some marked down rice! When we went thorough security and they stopped me for the dense organic masses in my bag!


I sent Sarah to her terminal and proceeded to mine. Our security clearance queue was moving very slow! And a Chinese woman was holding up the queue, there seemed to be a problem, so I went forward to help. The immigration officer simply refused to speak English, and her passport did not have an entry stamp. At the end, he went to the back office to stamped her in and stamped her out. We sat at the terminal and chatted. She wanted me buy me dinner and I said no. At the end, she gave me a jade charm, which I accepted.


We landed in Leeds, and the landing was a little rough, as evidenced by two overhead compartments popped open. We taxied very quicked to parking location, but we had to wait another 20 minutes before we can get a shuttle bus. By that stage, I knew I would not make the bus into town. I called for taxi quote, and prepare myself to part with £20!


I went thorough immigration without much hassle and caught the taxi. The taxi turned up quite quickly. He cut thorough the back roads before joining on main roads in Horsforth. I was quite happy about the taxi journey, it would be viable to get them instead of driving to the airport in the future.


Good trip.

Germany Tour 2017 - Day 4

We grabbed some bread and headed to Cologne.  Sarah was not particularly impressed by Cologne.   We did not go into the Cathedral as I thought they were charging entry.  Outside the Cathedral, there was a Chinese festival, apparently it was 50 years since Cologne was twinned with Beijing.   We walked up to the Lindt Chocolate Museum via the Altstadt.  The plazas reminded her of her continental European conferences.


We walked around the chocolate shop in the museum and drooled over the chocolate before coming to town for some lunch at Früh am Dom.  We made some bad choices...  We should have taken the opportunity for the full experience.  We wizzed around the Chinese festival and the new towns then headed to see May-tal.


We had some coffee at the flat and went for some drinks.  It was good to catch up with someone from the past.  May-tal was doing well with the new baby.


Since we got the NRW day ticket, was went to Aachen.  When we got there, the cathedral was closed for visitors!  They had an event on.  We walked around the town, and there was another summer wine festival.  Knowing we would not get back into Düsseldorf for dinner, we had curry wurst and flammkuchen at the festival.


Exhausting, with more German food ticked off the list.

Germany Tour 2017 - Day 3

We finally went to see Düsseldorf Altsadt.  Sarah and Ruth got tired and just sat at the café for breakfast.  Then we resumed to walk around in the market, located Schweine Jane.  I ended up getting a Schwinehaxe from Ham Ham and ate by the Rhine.  It was tasty, even the wasps wanted a bite of it.


I spotted a Galerie Kaufhof, where I got my Heilemann before, we stopped and looked for Heilemann.  I could not find Heilemann and the shop assistance said they did not have any, I was very sad.  Then I spotted the Heilemann stall!  I scooped up a loads of chocolate!


Since we got the day ticket, we dropped off the chocolate in the room and headed to the botanical garden.  It was a hot day and it was quite exhausting.


We came back thinking we will have a walk at Königsallee before dinner.  We found a large food festival called Gourmetfestival all around the mall.  I was only interested in a quick walk around, but Ruth was much more interested in the Gourmet element.  After a big loop, Ruth tried two beers, and we all had dinner at the food festival.


We were searching for dessert, but all the bakeries were closed, we found some cakes from the train station at the end.  Exhausted!!

Germany Tour 2017 - Day 2

The hostel came with breakfast, and it was very basic.  Unknown reformed meat, cheap plastic cheese, cheap bread and some unknown sausages.  I had a small amount of breakfast, and that was enough.


I wandered in town before meeting Sarah and Ruth from the station.  We dropped off the bags and went straight to Classic Remise.  It was a train workshop turned into a classic car museum/show room.  Everyone had fun pretending to own the fancy classic cars.


Since we started early, and we got the day ticket, we went to Schloss Benrath in the afternoon.  It was quite nice, we opted to not visit the museum, we only walked around the park and the grounds.  It was a lot of walking!


We came home for a quick rest, and went for Japanese food, as I mentioned how Düsseldorf is full of Japanese.  We first went to Big Tuna, and they turned us away, then we went to Waraku for an Onigiri snack, then went to My Noodlehouse for main meal.  Sarah and Ruth both liked the onigiri, and I quite liked the noodle from My Noodlehouse, as they seemed to be home made.
We


We even stopped at Teamate for a bubble tea. They were quite good indeed.


A very fulfilling and tasty day.

Germany Tour 2017 - Day 1

I took half a day off to finish packing and travel to the airport for the late afternoon flight.  I get my haircut on the way and found cheap food from the market for my journey.


The flight was on time.   When I clear immigration, the officer repeatedly called me 'Sir', but I really could not be bothered to correct him.


I was looking around the ticketing machine as I was waiting for the Skytrain. A lady spoke some English tried to help me, I was mostly just puzzled the fact the machine said Düsseldorf Mitte instead of Hauptbahnhof.


I got into Düsseldorf by 9pm.  I walked to the hostel and was assigned to a room with 5 other guys, I was not pleased.  It was a hot day, and the men were all walking around the room with minimal cladding.  This was the punishment for not paying extra for the single sex hostel room. 

Unbeaten Mayweather

Cocky McGregor gets what he deserved.

Corny Week

Aldi was doing corn on cob  in their Super Six.  I could only eat 4 in a sitting these days, I am getting old!

Ryvita Sunflower Seeds and Oats

I got some Ryvita from the market.  They look like cardboards, surprisingly edible!!

Typhoon Hato

I did not know Hong Kong was getting a typhoon.  Only when Sisi sent me videos I realised.  I started messaging my friends in Hong Kong and googled for videos. The video were really exciting, I wish I were there!

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics - Sappho

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics - Sappho

"Have you always been a fan of Sappho?"

So funny, so informative!

Solar Eclipses in Leeds

The total Solar eclipse is happening in the USA, and I thought we may catch a little of it.  I searched and found the UK Hydrographic Office listing for eclipses.  We could see a partial eclipses, if it were not cloudy.  I am glad I found this website, I can definitely plan some viewings for the future.

Chicken Lamb and Pheasant Cross the Road

Little Rome still has a battery issue, it is very bizarre.

I first for lost in Menston, and two chickens crossed the road in front of us.  When we were on Bowland Forest, lambs and pheasants were crossing the roads.  Other than that, a nice day ride.