Eurovision!

Spent morning catching up on the semi finals on iPlayer. I like Iceland and Germany as does a lot others it seems.

Eurovision dinner (well it starts at 3 PM here) will be:

• Lemon hummous with fennel crudites
• Oregano pork chops with roast apples and potatoes
• Nectarine, peach and strawberry fruit salad served with Cool Whip (because its fun to say)

Corona served with starter, some nice rioja with the main and a local sweet wine that taste beautifully of elderflower to finish off.

Long weekend

Plans are light - go to the movies tonite, golf tomorrow, camping sunday (!) by a lake where they have canoe rentals. Looove long weekends!

Cause and Effect

I have no voice. I have a terrible cough.

Due South, Bill's, In Vino Veritas, Don Carlos, Riddle & Finns, The Evening Star, Stockholm, summer house, the Heath, the Hill.

To date

Have not done a lot of shopping yet but have had time for some good eating.

Breakfast at Pret on Sunday (no room available so I moped a bit but their carrot cake cheered me up)

Dinner at Due South last night, had local wine and amazing fish.

Today am going shopping with Kazue and Courtney - showing them my favorite stores! Whohoo!

Shopping list

I am flying to England for the first time since I visited JD last October. Not that long ago I admit. But its a year since I got my job over here so an anniversary of sorts.

While in England I want to see lots of people and eat lots of food so here are my lists:

Food:

Moshi Moshi

Don Carlos

Scoop & Crumb

M&S - Pork Pie

Waitrose - Rhubarb yoghurt

Waitrose - Nyetimber Champagne

Waitrose - crumbles with fresh custard

Palace Pier - fresh doughnuts

Shopping:

Neal's Yard

Ollie & Nic

Office

Jewel Thief

Montezumas

Lavender

M&S

Boots

SportsWorld (JD wants certain tees we cant find here)

And I acknowledge that I learned the importance of list making from the expert, as she has visited me many times in England over the last 9 years.

Coming and going

Sister and brother in law has been and gone. It was great having them but tiring to fit both socializing, sightseeing and working into the same day. So today I woke up with a cold. Cant find my echinacea bottle. Annoying.

I suspect sister is even more tired after an overnight flight that was supposed to go via Iceland but due to ash clouds got cancelled and they were rebooked onto a flight via Frankfurt. All well that ends well, they are home now and while tired should have a lot of presents for the girls and photos to show off. My favorite moment was sitting in the sun outside Hopkins Inn admiring the view and the silence.

Pollen and Peru

Its so lovely here this week, sunny and warm. So last night I dragged JD out after work, we had a beer in the sun then tried to get into the Mexican restaurant but it was bunged (5 de Mayo). So we went into the Peruvian restaurant down the road. As you do. I have never been to a Peruvian restaurant before, dont think I have ever seen one. It was very nice though! I had Cebiche (fish cured in lime juice) and then a steak with fresh garlic / parsley pesto style sauce. Mmm...

We shared a jug of sangria with the meal. It was strong. We rolled home through the streets and I woke up very thirsty this morning. But hey it was so nice to be out on such a beautiful evening it was all worth it.

Tonight we went out playing golf (26 degrees at 5.30, just lovely) and we are now watching the UK election results come in. Its very green outside and even I who have never been allergic before can feel it. But its so lovely with sun, warmth and being out and about.

Good things

Movie night and we saw Kick-Ass. Its great! Loooved it.

And I got the latest Sookie. Its a shame I have to work as all I want to do is read it. But at the same time good I have to work as it makes it last longer.

Giant white dogs part 3

We went on a sightseeing trip today and found one of the artist who had pieces around Stamford last summer. I really liked his hippo statue so we went in to check it out. It was a bit too much for us but hey maybe if I win a million. Aaaanyway. Chatting to the artist he mentioned that this year Stamford are having giant white dogs, made of plastic. So that is what they are! They will be painted I guess by different artists and then placed around town. Kind of a copy of the painted cows that travel the world.

Giant white dogs part 2

Photo evidence. One is now painted dark blue. And apparently they came on the back of a lorry the other week - a sight to see I am sure.