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Posts Tagged ‘england’

So the gluttony of the season continues. Last night I cooked two ducks (Donald and Daffy) with all the traditional trimmings – orange sauce, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans and plenty of wine. After we’d finished dinner and watched the Queen’s speech, there was only one thing to do – head off to the pub. It was a great way to celebrate my last official English Christmas for a while.

Both Daisy and Calypso seemed enthusiastic about some of their presents (mostly the toys) but Daisy refuses to go inside her new carrying cage, preferring instead to sleep on top of it. What can I say – cats are weird.

Daisy is very excited about her new Christmas present

Daisy is very excited about her new Christmas present

Never a stupid cat, Daisy figures out quickly that it's safer to be on top of her cage than in it!

Never a stupid cat, Daisy figures out quickly that it’s safer to be on top of her cage than in it!

Calypso looks on cautiously from the sidelines

Calypso looks on cautiously from the sidelines

Relaxing after dinner

Relaxing after dinner

Putting the final touches on Donald and Daffy before they're served for Christmas dinner

Putting the final touches on Donald and Daffy before they’re served for Christmas dinner

Daffy a l'orange

Daffy a l’orange

Christmas Eve has come and gone, with a little indigestion and slightly fatter bellies all that we have to show for it. In our wake are two dozen Whitstable oysters, scallops, monkfish, a chocolate fondant and quite a few bottles of wine. In other words, the perfect way to start the season.

Aude poses in front of the Christmas table

Aude poses in front of the Christmas table

Matthew poses for a quick snapshot in the living room

Matthew poses for a quick snapshot in the living room

Aude's family wish everyone a Merry Christmas

Aude’s family wish everyone a Merry Christmas

Matt & Aude

Matt & Aude

Dinner turned out well

Dinner turned out well, with photographers everywhere you looked!

Aude and her father

Aude and her father

Christmas cake

Christmas cake

Happy cat?

A very relaxed Aude holds a very pissed-off Daisy.

I’m back in the UK for an entire weekend, which seems like quite a luxury. After whinging (maybe a little too much) that I was only going to have 20 hours in the UK after being gone for nearly a month, my client (in an usual moment of displaying that he actually has some understanding of human compassion) suggested that I might spend the entire weekend in the UK and fly back out on Sunday night. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I promptly cancelled my Saturday flight and booked a Sunday flight instead.

I had an 8am flight out of Istanbul yesterday, which meant a 5am car – which meant a 4am start. And being a worrier, it actually meant that I was up at 2:30am, sleepless because I was afraid about oversleeping and missing my flight. In the end, there was no traffic – the airport was empty except for the families looking for information on their loved ones who were lost in the Atlasair crash. Quite a few police and ambulances were there as well to help with the grieving families. Not a great day to be flying out of Istanbul, all things considered.

My flight, thankfully, went without incident and I slept most of the way back to London. Heathrow threw up all its normal problems – no gates, problems with the jetway, and long waits for luggage – all of which meant that despite landing at 10:30am, I didn’t get to my car until nearly 1pm. I won’t miss flying out of Heathrow, that’s for sure.

I came home, cleared a huge pile of mail and filed my expenses – my normal routine after a long trip.

Aude tucks into her dumplings

Aude tucks into her dumplings

Annmarie shows us the best way to wash down Czech dumplings -- with Czech beer!

Annmarie shows us the best way to wash down Czech dumplings — with Czech beer!

Matt's struggling after a lot of travel and nearly 24 hours awake after three hours of sleep...

Matt’s struggling after a lot of travel and nearly 24 hours awake after three hours of sleep…

Our evening was lovely, with an invitation for dinner with Annmarie and Jiri to celebrate Annmarie’s birthday. Luckily Jiri had read my blog and knew that kebabs were probably off-limits – so instead he proposed a lovely dinner of Czech dumplings with beef. It was just what the doctor ordered.

PS – my new lens arrived while I was away, an early Christmas present to myself. I’m loving it!

32 years young!

32 years young!

Blowing out the candles

Blowing out the candles

Singapore Sling in hand!

Singapore Sling in hand!

Aude in a festive mood!

Aude in a festive mood!

Neil wishes me a happy birthday!

Neil wishes me a happy birthday!

Jean Michel wishes me a happy birthday!

Jean Michel wishes me a happy birthday!

Even Anne-Laure wishes me a happy birthday!

Even Anne-Laure wishes me a happy birthday!

I do not know this man

I do not know this man

Matthew gets ready for his trip abroad with a dodgy umbrella and a Singapore Sling...

Matthew gets ready for his trip abroad with a dodgy umbrella and a Singapore Sling…

For the first time in ages, it feels like summer again. We’ve had a beautiful bank holiday weekend with temperatures in the mid-20s and clear blue skies. A perfect opportunity to celebrate what’s left of our summer…

We spent most of Saturday running around town getting last-minute things done for the wedding. Neil will be happy to know that I managed to find a tie… We had lunch at one of the pubs in town with a big beer garden – it’s gone through a total transformation now that the smoking ban has been implemented across the UK. Gone is the old collection of a few picnic tables, replaced with elaborate marquees, lighting, heaters and new tables to make the smokers more comfortable. The only downside to all this “improvement” is that you’re now sitting in the de facto smoking section if you choose to dine al fresco.

Nevermind. We did some al fresco dining of our own today – Jiri and Ann Marie invited us to Whitstable to eat fresh Whitstable oysters (which turned out not to be from Whitstable) and fresh sea bass cooked on the barbeque. If I’d been less stupid, there would be pictures of champagne and oysters on here, but since I forgot to insert the memory card into my camera until mid-meal, you’ll have to use your imagination.

The highlight of the meal was Jiri’s lightning-fast reflex in killing a fly, then a David Attenboroughesque moment when we fed the newly-squished fly to the spider outside. Jiri and I were eleven years old again. The girls weren’t nearly as impressed.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is good as well. Fingers crossed for another summery day!

Aude enjoying the summer sunshine

Aude enjoying the summer sunshine

Ann Marie smiles for the camera

Ann Marie smiles for the camera

Jiri with his camera

Jiri decides to play “who’s camera is bigger” and proves that I’m not the only one with a camera surgically attached to my hand.

Aude strikes a pose

Aude strikes a pose

Jiri

Jiri

Matt

Matt enjoying the sunshine

Jiri

Jiri

Entertainment

The afternoon’s entertainment, provided by a squished fly, a hungry spider, and Jiri’s quick work with a sandal.

Aude appears unimpressed with the show

Aude appears unimpressed with the show

Jiri, on the other hand, is fascinated.

Jiri, on the other hand, is fascinated. Then again, he doesn’t have a Sky TV subscription at home.

Ann Marie manages to keep her sense of humour about the whole thing...

Ann Marie manages to keep her sense of humour about the whole thing…

Spider

Dinner, packaged to go!

The sea bass was a success, too...

The sea bass was a success, too… Not much left for Daisy and Calypso!

The weather forecast said that it was going to be sunny all morning on Saturday, with heavy rain in the afternoon. I based my day around these assumptions, and ended up getting everything wildly wrong. I set out to polish my car on Saturday morning only to be caught in a rain shower, then in the afternoon we were treated to sunny, clear blue skies. That just goes to show you that you can’t trust the weathermen.

Determined to take advantage of the afternoon sunshine, I fired up the barbeque and we had some steaks with Anne Laure and Neil. At least we got to enjoy a little of the sunshine.

Anne Laure and Neil at the BHRA Show

Anne Laure and Neil at the BHRA Show

Showing the Corvette at the BHRA show

Showing the Corvette at the BHRA show

Showing the Corvette at the BHRA show

Showing the Corvette at the BHRA show

We’re just back from the British Hot Rod Association’s South East Custom & Classic Show in Paddock Wood. I had the car detailed on Friday and it’s come up beautifully, so I thought I would take the opportunity to enjoy the good weather with some other enthusiasts. As an added benefit, the car was granted entry into the show and I didn’t have to pay to get in.