Pants

I got hit by another car today. Not badly, she came out from a garage and didnt look where she was going so hit me on the side. But cars nowadays are all made of plastic so my front left side got all bent and kind of folded in.

The polis turned up just 3o seconds afterwards, they happened to be driving past. Then came an ambulance and another police car. The other girl was all chocked and crying. Not sure why, her car looked fine. Hmpf.

But I am ok. Annoyed but ok. Have had to book a taxi for tomorrow morning and texted JD that I cant collect him at the pub due to car being towed away.

Unfortunately I had agreed to give JD a lift to the pub and as just nipping out didnt bring handbag. So had no mobile, no contact numbers and nothing to entertain me for the hour it took to get the recovery car to arrive and tow the cars away. It also meant I couldnt call anyone to come and get me. So I asked if the polis would take me. No. But the nice recovery man was ok to take me to the top of Kingston lane and drop me there.

Also annoying is that the insurance companies close at 5 on Saturdays. I guess there are no accidents between 5 on a Saturday and 8 on a Monday morning and its my fault for being slow in getting back home that meant that I missed out on getting hold of them.

I am going to have to sort all the car crap out when I get back from Barcelona. Til then I am going to ignore it. As its all her fault I am not too worried and also am going to ensure her insurance company sorts me out with a rental car while my baby gets fixed.

My first accident. Never been hit or hit a car before. Quite scary. Am glad it happened at 20 mph. Neck is stiffening up now but am thinking that a bit of Rioja tomorrow will sort that out. Or Claims Direct.

and more food

After seriously indulging in Edinburgh we are now back on the sensible eating plan. So this is this weeks dinner:

Tue - Baked salmon with anchovies, creme fraiche, spinach and new potatoes
Wed - Tuna and lemongrass fishcake with salad
Thu - Fried cardamom rice with monkfish and savoy cabbage
Fri - Yoghurt marinated cod baked on vegetable fried rice
Sat - Fish and chips (JD is out for the rugby ;-)
Sun - Tapas
Mon - Tapas
Tue - Tapas
Wed - Soup

Amrita brought me back lovely green cardamom pods from India so I am now adding it to everything. Its great in muesli and does go very well with rice. Cardamom overload is a risk, but hey I like living on the edge.

Smelling a rat...

When we came back on Monday night we found a dead rat on the lawn outside the house. Yuk!

Not sure where it came from but I bloody well hope it hasnt been the one who has been partying in our loft, but it has been quiet for the last two nights.

I have added the photo evidence so you can share in my horror.

I havent found any rat poo anywhere in the house (that I can see, what goes on under the floorboards I cannot vouch for) and neither any mouse poo so hopefully this bugger came from somewhere else...

Scotland

We went to Edinburgh over the weekend. We met the parents for a weekend of walking, whisky and wine. I am now absolutely knackered and spent most of the day at work snapping at people and dreaming of my bed.

Mum made pancakes tonight (its Shrove Tuesday) so now I am feeling a lot perkier.

And of course we celebrated the engagement. Well once we had explained to JD what we were on about. Go the royal family!

Photos on Flick from the Northern Beauty.

The Ghost in Trap 5

In the ladies toilet at work you can hear a strange noice coming from trap 5. There is a white box that you are supposed to put your used 'ladies stuff' in and it has a lid that opens automatically if you wave your hand over it. But that lid is now opening and closing without anyone being in the trap. Must be a ghost.

In our loft a man from the council has put mice poison down as we have been house sharing with the little blighters for a few months. BUT this morning JD tells me that out of the 6 portions 1 has moved about 2 meters and 1 is gone. So maybe we dont have mice but a ghost! Or a Japanese lady who is living there without us knowing....

Bestest thing ever!

On Sat we went to the local farmers market and a nice man convinced us to buy two jars of his sauces, saying try the garlic one with prawns. So we did. Mmmm wow!

Then yesterday I tried both the garlic and the ginger one in salmon brugers. Oh lordy lord! Wanted more.

Today I tried a teaspoon on each stir fried with some carrot, turnip and cabbage - might not sound overly sexy but I am blown away! It makes everything taste fantastic.

S0 if you have a chance, get some. Its made by a Sussex company called Manjira and sold in farmers markets across the county. But you can also order them online. Well worth it! The best cheat food thingy ever.

More food

While I am looking forward to Barca and also St John's with EL I am still trying to rid myself of the kilos piled on throughout the winter. So the weeks menu is:

Sunday - roast vegetable w fresh hummous from the Farmers Market
Monday - garlic prawns and falefel with the rest of the hummous
Tuesday - salmon burgers with carrot and cucumber salad
Wednesday - grilled chicken salad
Thursday - whatever is ok on the TGI's menu
Friday - Pret Sushi at the airport
Saturday - Haggis
Sunday - Scotch Broth
Monday - Garlic prawns, flambe chorizo, Neufchatel, Pancakes

Hmm... somehow I start of well and then it kind of goes down the drain... Ah well I will just have to walk off some of the food.

Tourist

We are off to Barcelona!! The tickets are so so cheap at the moment so we are off there for a few days early March. I love Barcelona. JD has never been. Good enough reason eh?

So here is a small touristy list:

1 - Top 3 cities for touristing. Barcelona, Copenhagen, Hong Kong

2 - Top 3 places for food. New York, Dieppe, Brussels.

3 - Have you ever been lost and afraid as a tourist? Yes, in St Petersburg and Alexandra got lifted off the ground and pushed against a wall by a man who got angry with us for being afraid.

4 - Are you a sociable tourist? No, dont talk to anyone else if I can avoid it.

5 - Where are you off next? Edinburgh!

I am just quite nosy so please humour me.

Valentines

I quite like Valentines. We had our Valentines dinner on Thu night as its 6 nations today so there is no point in trying to fit a sitty downy dinner after 5 hrs in the pub. Tasty it is.

I made little coconut hearts dipped in 85% lindt chocolate. I brought most into work so as not to over eat of the little buggers. But they were veeeery nice.

Jd gave me a gift voucher for Jewel Thief in town, we went in to have a look but I didnt find anything I really liked so I am saving it as I quite like dragging things like this out. When EL is over I am sure we will have to go to town and pass by the shop and maybe then they will have something I fancy.

He got a Flash Gordon tshirt from me. It went down very well and now being worn.

In town, we went via Steamers (looove Steamers) and got a pancake pan and a microplane. My parents are over next weekend and it's pancake day Tuesday week and my mum can flip them in the air. So pancakes pan is needed! The microplane is something I have wanted for ages but they are just that little bit too expensive for a grater so I keep walking away without one.

We also got these little red 'pots' that are kind of folded plastic. I like. And herbs can live in them.

Day off

I have the day off. As JD is looking for work I want to try to make the most of having him around. So we went to London this morning and on to National History Museum to see the Darwin exhibition. Unfortunatley so was 1/2 of London and a million kids. We got tix for the 2.30 showing and went to China town for some excessive Dim Sum luncheoning in the meantime.

Over full but happy we went back and checked out the exhibition. It was v good. I loved the description of how Darwin kept chucking a lizard into the sea to see how it reacted. And as it kept coming back up to him he deducted this was due to there being no predators on land (an island) but plenty in the sea. Go and Devolve youself!

He was also member of the Oxford 'eat anything that moves' club - hehe. Very good day indeed.

Finishing it off with dinner: Honey bbq pork bun. Yum.

New skirt

Got a new skirt from ebay today, its pink as I have decided its now spring. I dont care it was -1 this morning and it took me an hour to get to work due to all the ice related accidents.

Anyway. New skirt. Diet still on. Rest of weeks menu below:

Tuesday - Cod with spinach and yoghurt / sweetchili sauce
Wednesday - Dry green prawn curry with pak choi
Thursday - Salmon and chorizo parcels and mixed salad
Friday - Soup (cause we are going for Dim Sum in China Town for lunch...)
Saturday - Tasty's take away (6 nation and soup just isnt a working combo)
Sunday - Roast vegetable salad

I have set my Magners limit to 3 for Saturday. It contains apples so I am sure it will count towards my 5 a day.

Journalists

Dont believe everything you read in the newspaper. Journalists have a special place in Hell and are very unreliable as sources as they as a breed get very excited and like lemmings follow rather than stop and think before heading off at pace.

Targeting the already vulnerable psyche of parents is evil. Parents have enough to worry about just by being parents (and remembering thier own childhood / teens) and they are more than capable at generating new things to worry about, without the help of media.

http://www.badscience.net/2008/08/the-medias-mmr-hoax/

Fish

We are on an all fish and veg diet at the moment. Its handy with JD at home cause he can go to the fishmonger everyday. And fingers crossed it will help me get out of the skirts soon (I am bidding on two on ebay just in case).

Wednesday - mackerel
Thursday - salmon
Friday - scallops
Saturday - skate
Sunday - roast veg
Monday - MoshiMoshi (50% off on Mondays!)

We walked past McDonalds earlier and both looked longingly at the posters showing the cheeseburger. Mmmm... Maybe I can have on in March.

Random

I am enjoying the Random items so here is my list of 25 random things about me.

1. I am very afraid of the dark and am amazed (as are my parents) that I am able to live in a house.
2. When I moved to a flat in Malarhojden I had to get dad to come out and kill spiders for me.
3. My grandmother has done significantly more drugs than me, I have barely done any. I am too chicken and too pragmatic.
4. I dont drink coffee and have no intention to ever start. I do like tea though. The stronger the better. There is something increadibly comforting when you get on a BA plane e.g. from the US and get a cup of tea that has been brewed in a pot that has probably never been cleaned. The tea being so dark it almost has oil spill shiny spotts on top.
5. I really dont like excersise.
6. I love food.
7. I love wine.
8. I love reading and other activities that dont involve moving about.
9. I play golf and have done since I was 10. I do actually enjoy it, assuming its nice weather and not too hilly.
10. I am quite good at keeping in touch. I didnt think I was but after living abroad for 8 years I now know that I am better than a lot of my friends. But I still could be better.
11. I dont like calling people. Not even people I know really well.
12. I got my drivers license when I was 18 but didnt drive for 12 years, then started again on the wrong side and now quite like it.
13. By living in the UK I have learnt to small talk. Swedes are useless at it. I am still not very good but significantly better than 8 years ago. JD is a pro.
14. When I was a kid I was in a swimming club but hated competing, which was mandatory, so one competition I hid in the loo but everyone thought I had swum. My parents took me out of the club when they found out. I didnt miss it.
15. In my next life I am going to be 175cm and love sport. And hate cheese and chocolate.
16. I would make a great PA as I have the perfect mix of efficiency and bad attitude. The only problem might be that I actually get things done.
17. I wouldnt mind moving somewhere else to work, like to the US or Australia. But I am worried about the spiders. And what mum would say.
18. I am now so spoilt when it comes to travel that if I have to do a +7hr flight in economy I mope.
19. I am not a very girly girl, I dont think, but I knit, cook and sew. Luckily I have a boyfriend who does all the ironing.
20. I am best friends with my ex's wife and my boyfriends ex girlfriend.
21. I quite like arty films but I dont like the people who like them so I rarely go and see them. I actually like quite a lot of stuff that I dont do due to me not liking the others who also like it.
22. I am quite unsociable. Especially on weekends and on holidays.
23. Even if I won lots of money I would still work as I quite like being at work.
24. When I get old I am going to start smoking cigars and learn to drink whisky. And I will scare children and eat a lot.
25. I have always wanted to buy a cream cake (Princess cake) and just grab a handful.

So what is random about your life? Please share. I do quite like to read about others.

Looking smart

I over ate a bit over Christmas and the the holiday after (and probably the skiing beforehand and all the Xmas parties). Basically I am running out of clothes. So I got a skirt from ebay for a fiver and another in Sainsburys. Both giant sized. So now I am trying to eat less (yum, lets have another rice cake!) so I can get back to wearing flat shoes and trousers again.

Due to the skirt wearing I have to wear heels (Oh you skinny legged women just shut it, I cannot have flat shoes with a skirt. Mum will back me up on this.) And as I am wearing skirt and heels I am looking quite smart. Add to that my discovery that a suit jacket handily hides my lovehandles and the result is that everyone at work thinks I am going for a new job. I am not. I am just trying very hard not to eat my desk.

What did you do today?

After reading EL's account of dentist visit (and the naked Twitter silliness) I thought I should go through what I did today:

1. Got in the car and drover, gingerly, to work. Due to snow couldnt see the parking space lines so just parked kind of in the middle.
2. Worked, mainly conference calls and some emails. Nothing exciting. Someone had booked a meeting at 12-2 so I didnt have time to go out. But it was probably cold so that was fine. Had my soup by my desk at 11.45.
3. Booked a viewing of a house in Haywards Heath on Thursday. So then I spent some time in a meeting a) mapping out the furniture in the rooms b) deciding what stuff not to bring c) calculating how much downpayment would be needed and trying to work out where it would come from.
4. Called and argued with a company and got that bill slashed from £6.50 to £4.00 a month. Dont think that will help with the downpayment.
5. Tried to book tickets to Eddie Izzard. Failed.
6. Booked some holiday days - for parents visit and then EL's visit.
7. Went home, less gingerly as most snow and ice was gone.
8. Heated dinner: left over roast beef and broccoli/cauliflower gratin (mmmm...)
9. Watched Scrubs for 2 hours. God bless E4 and Paramount Comedy!
10. Finished 'Maskerade'. Time to find a new Pratchett to re-read.

That is about it, not overly exciting. But I think it was a nice day all the same. So, what did you do?

It kept snowing

So our world is white today. And I couldnt get to work but was able to function quite ok from home.

As no car driving couldnt even make it over to B's for snowman building. But we did make it to the Green and got a roast for dinner (JD thinks snow=roast) and butcher tells me they are all out of pork since Jamie's program last week. I am glad to hear it! And as its my closest butcher but not the best I am hoping they shape up and start selling more organic and free range meat...

I am not sure if I will make it to work tomorrow either. More snow predicted for this evening and then colder, so the now slushy streets are likely to freeze.

It is weird to think that we are freezing up here when there is plenty of sun and warmth elsewhere... A - please send some my way!

Its snowing!

Big, white, fluffy white snowflakes. Its very idyllic. I dont think it will last. But I feel sorry for my little daffodils and crocuses that are starting to peek out from their winter bedding.

JD is lighting a fire and I am roasting a chicken for dinner. Its all very cosy.