Sunday 29 July 2012

Flowers, pools and other things

At the moment I'm at home watching the swimming (Olympics), my favourite sport.  I first discovered swimming while watching the Athens's 2004 Olympics and have loved it ever since.  At the moment Ian Thorpe is in the presenting box, he was competing in the games in 2004.  Also know as the Thorpedo and the guy the seals won't race against, he is definitely one of swimming greats. 


The weather today has been interesting, we have had; thunder and lightening, heavy rain and then hailstones!  


I have also included some photos from our trip to the park last week, mostly flowers. 







Sunday 22 July 2012

Metal munchies

As the sun decided to come out today, M and I visited Chalkwal Park. We are only about 2 minutes from the park but have only been there once in over a year. Of course we walked passed the playground, where I spent numerous Friday nights during the summer with Guides.

Then we came across the cafe. The cafe has had a transformation in the last few years, it is now the headquarters of a group called ‘Metal’. Metal is a cultural artist group, here is their website.

Culture is not really some thing I associate with Southend but there seems to be almost another world inhabiting the streets I walk down.
While at the cafe I picked up some leaflets about local societies and groups, including a writers group, photography competition (which I’m considering entering), What’s On for Metal and information on the Southend Pier Festival.
Lunch consisted of a very good courgette and green pepper soup for me and a smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich for M. The soup was so good, I’m going to try and make it as part of my new cooking routine. The routine is not necessary about changing what I cook, just better planning and making use of time. Ideas including pre-chopping veggies and possibly marinating them in oil and herbs or spices and putting them in the fridge, so I can throw them straight into the pan when I get in from work. This will hopefully not only improve the taste but also mean that it will save me time when I get in.






Well I will be going now, but before I do I nearly forgot to mention that our table has finally arrived, only 6 months after I ordered it! We haven’t had any guests over for dinner yet, as we have been doing a lot around the flat including repainting the bedroom (bye bye hideous black, blue and gray flowery wallpaper). However we have lots of dinner part plans for the future.

Sunday 1 July 2012

Its been a while....

Well I've been away so long, blogger has changed completely.  The sun is starting to shine, I've been on holiday, we've got an exercise bike and our table is going to be delivered (hopefully).  We have plans to redecorate and we are finding new recipes for spinach!