Birthday JibJab (I can dream…)
Yay! It’s officially my birthday today…just wanted to say thanks to Colm for this great jibjab, and to share it with you 
Birthday Night Out
What can I say…last night, I had THE best food that I have EVER tasted! Albeit four days earlier than my actual birthday, Yvonne booked us into the Liverpool Bar & Grill restaurant in Liverpool city centre, taking advantage of it being le weekend and that her mum was available to mind the kids.
Pre drinks were had at San Carlo on Castle Street – impressive decor and clientelle list but the service wasn’t up to much…maybe I’m not famous enough yet. Barman didn’t know how to make a decent mojito and we found ourselves having to squeeze the juice from several limes to give the drinks a boost.
At the Bar & Grill, we had three courses + coffee, and the first two courses were simply the best two plates of food that I’ve tasted in 20 years of restaurant dining. High praise indeed and worth every penny. My starter was King Prawns Tempura with a Red Chilli & Lime jam…and every aspect of the dish was stunning. Yvonne had Pumpkin soup, which was very nice. For the mains, I had Tandoori Seabass with garlic & herb Bok Choi, which again was perfectly cooked, and Yvonne had a lovely dish of garlic & herbed tagliatelle with king prawns – looked gorgeous.
Post drinks were at the Hard Days Night hotel, which added to was some live music. You can’t beat live music.
Today (Sunday), another treat for my birthday…breakfast at a nearby gastro pub – without the kids! To be honest, I couldn’t eat a whole child anyway.
These are the weekends to savour
The Grass Is Always Greener…
Not any more, it’s not! It’s been a little bit of hard graft for the last three weekends, but reviewing the fruits of my labour, it’s been worth every minute of it. Three weeks ago, I decided to improve the front garden…it needed it, and to begin, the old grass needed taking up. I discovered that the cowboys who laid the last layer of turf, laid the new turf on top of the old one (I also found a Stetson).
Two stripped layers of grass, one ton of topsoil, new turf, concrete, new soil and 80 plants later, the front garden is lookin’ f.a.b.
Another job down, 200 to go.
It’s a child’s life
Busy day. Awake during the night (unusually) with Katrina, and just after eight this morning with Sean having jumped into our bed, excited at the prospect of his friend Henry’s party later that day.
The party was in Southport at half-past midday in one of those soft-play adventure centres for kids, and while the little one partied, I took darling little Katrina out for a stroll in the park in the sunshine, and an ice-cream. Bliss. It wasn’t the ice-cream man’s day…I handed in a tenner, he didn’t have change, and gave me the ‘99 for free. That’ll learn ye. Post party, back at the house, out came the swing and the rocker for the kids, and as I built it the swing, the kids played on the slide. I love these sunny days.
After the kids were in bed, it was nice to just chill out in the conservatory with a glass of wine, listening to Band Of Horses’ Infinite Arms album, and watching the sun go down. Nice day.
Garlic Bread
Last night, Yvonne and I went to see Peter Kay live at the Liverpool Echo Arena. It was a good night, full of wit and laughter, and much in his trademark style with plenty of references to ordinary folk in (extra)ordinary circumstances, and memories of his childhood. It’s hard to know sometimes if these references are real, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
Pre-show, we dropped into Portico Restaurant in the Albert Dock for a bite to eat, which boasted a 20% discount on production of Echo Arena tickets. We were a bit disappointed. The service was ridiculously slow, which was the result of young, inexperienced staff and not due to an unexpected influx of people as the restaurant was only half-full. The meal wasn’t hot, it wasn’t served as it had been advertised, and no explanation was provided. Having spent an hour-and-a-half there, we only just had time for a main, which was small. I don’t recommend.
Back to the show. I was disappointed with the length of it, considering that most people had waited 18 months to see the man (Yvonne and I picked up some last-minute tickets about 6 weeks ago). First half commenced around 8pm, and he exited the stage for a 20-minute interval by 8:45. Back on at 9:05, the jokes continued until just before 9:45, when he left the stage again for the obligatory encore before departing proper just before 10pm. Considering the lengthy wait and the not-so-cheap tickets at £40, I thought that a lengthier show should have been the order of the day.
Easter Sunday
Ahhh…(sighs). It’s been another fine day. Albeit that Sean got over excited about the arrival of the Easter bunny, and in the wee hours of the morning woke us up earlier than any of God’s creatures were meant to be awake (I forgive him now but if he’s still doing this when he’s 20, his ass is grass and I’m a lawnmower), it’s been a pleasant day.
Overjoyed at the deposit of chocolate and sweets at the breakfast table, by 10am, Sean and Katrina had already commenced their easter egg hunt through the wilds of the back garden, following the signs that led them to their prize. It’s always a joy to see the look on their faces when yet ANOTHER bounty comes into view. Smiles from ear to ear.
Post-hunt, it was off to Oeste Restaurant in Ormskirk for an afternoon carvery meal – including dessert – and then a quick roll back home with full stomachs. I love these lazy afternoons; clear, sunny skies, a warm breeze and a meal served up without having to lift a finger
I’m just about to bring the kids up to their beds, and then I might relax with a glass of wine and a movie. I wish every day could be like this. Tomorrow, Yvonne and I are off the see Peter Kaye at the echo arena in Liverpool, and with the good reports that friends are feeding through, I’m looking forward to it.
Roll on Monday.
A Good Friday
It’s been a great day today. It hadn’t been a great night with the kids the night before, and with having been out of bed four times in as many hours, I was tired and in need of a decent lie-in. I got it! Darling Yvonne got up with the kids this morning, whilst I snoozed in ’til after midday. I kid you not! An egg and an hour later, we were on the road, and hurtling towards Rufford.
The weather was sublime and the kids were as good as gold as we strolled along the banks of the Leeds-Liverpool canal, eating our home-made ice creams and soaking in some much-needed warmth on our faces. Such simple pleasures.
On foot, we stopped at the level-crossing at Rufford, and all of Sean’s wonderful young dreams came true when the station master asked him to press the button to lower the barriers of the crossing for an approaching train! He was delighted!
Later on, we stopped off at a nice little farm to see some pigs, goats, chickens, etc. and wandered around enjoying the day for what it was.
Back at the ranch in early evening, the paddling pool came out and the kids enjoyed a good hour splashing about in the shallow water. Wish it was me again! Kids fed and in bed, Yvonne and I enjoyed a nice glass or wine, relaxing in front of the TV. So, yeah…it’s been a lovely day Roll on tomorrow x
Latest pics of the kids
It’s about time that threw a few pics of the kids on here, isn’t it! Click on a photo, and use your [left] and [right] arrow keys to navigate through the rest
DYI: Do Yourself In!
This week, I’ve taken some time off work to do lots of DIY jobs around the new house. It’s Wednesday, and the week so far has been both productive and frustrating. Monday was a great day….and I managed to get six or seven jobs done – four by lunchtime, and the rest up to and including half-ten that night. I was really pleased with my progress. Yesterday wasn’t as productive, but I did get four jobs done, and the weather again thwarted my attempts to change the welcome light at the front of the house and to install a newer house alarm system. Today has been so frustrating, and I ended up doing some painting before starting to wallpaper Katrina’s bedroom. That’s where I ran into trouble…I couldn’t find the seam roller, thus strips of wallpaper were taking an hour+ to hang, and I ended up throwing in the towel around half three, angry and frustrated at having effectively lost a day’s work. My back is sore, I’ve started a chicken curry, and there’s a nice bottle of red with my name on it…comfort food. Gone are the days of talking about nights out on the beer; these days, it’s all kids, DIY, work and the occasional night out. Still…it’s a good life
The World’ Smallest Stop-Motion Animation
Professor Fletcher’s invention of the CellScope, which is a Nokia device with a microscope attachment, was the inspiration for a teeny-tiny film created by Sumo Science at Aardman. It stars a 9mm girl called Dot as she struggles through a microscopic world.
Dot. The world’s smallest stop-motion animation character shot on a Nokia N8Technorati Tags: videos, animation, fun, dot
Catching Up
Well, it’s been FAR too long since I posted an update – disconnected from The Matrix with no Internet for months, and only recently re-connected to the mainframe. Mind you, even though we’re back online, our Internet connection speed is chronic. Hey-ho, ho-hum.
So what’s happened in our lives since my last update? A lot actually. At the end of May, having sold our house, we moved out of Moss Lane, far, far way and onto Moss Lane. Around 100 yards down the road to be exact and into Yvonne’s Mum’s house. It was REALLY great to have that opportunity, and we’re blessed that Dorothy’s house was large to accommodate all of our stuff, and more. On 7th July, we celebrated Seán’s 4th birthday, and just over weeks later (23rd July), we picked up the keys to our lovely, new house in Aughton. Having spent a week ripping out the living room and the main bedroom, we moved in on 30th July – two house moves in under 3 months is not for the faint hearted. It’s great!
4 weeks later, Seán started in primary school and Katrina started in nursery, and both are doing great – very happy kids. Lucky old us. At the same time, I applied for a transfer to the local police station, had it accepted, so now I’m only 5 minutes drive from work. A week after that, Yvonne returned to work…so you can imagine the planning that goes into getting the house organised!
Graham (Yvonne’s cousin) is still en-route on his EPIC journey, that is The Odyssey Expedition. At the moment, he’s in China (Shanghai) and has planted his size 10’s in 171 of the 200 nations on Earth – and all by public transport! Check out his website using the link on the right.
Last weekend, Yvonne and I managed to get over to Dublin for my friend Colm’s 40th birthday celebration…billed as the 19th anniversary of his 21st birthday party, and what a cracking night it was – we got back to our hotel around 3am. 24 hours away from the kids, and around 5 hours sleep – that’s less than when we’re WITH the kids! GREAT fun, though. In Liverpool airport on the way out, I spotted Peter Kay, who happened to be on our flight to Dublin, and in Dublin airport, I had a quick chat with him and got him to sign Colm’s birthday card!
So, there ye have it. That’s a round-up of events as briefly as I can…and for me, that’s brief. I MUST make an effort to keep my site more updated. Oh, and I’ll post some more photos soon.
Ta ta fer now,
Leo. x
The Sound Of Quality III
Last May 2009, I headed over to Manchester to spend an evening/early morning out on the beer with cousin Alex, and on that occasion, it ended just before 6am. Tonight, I’m heading out again, and no doubt, it’ll end in the wee hours of the morning – daylight for sure – and all for the ’sound of quality’. On this occasion, cousin Simon Olsen is here!!! Hooray!! That means more alcohol, and more fun! Good times…
We for Wictor
Moving house is stressful. It’s also tiring, and when you’re in the last few days in your house, there’s the matter of cancelling/moving/amending your address & account details with around 40 different companies. Yesterday, I contacted our house insurance company in order to cancel our policy. As one might expect these days, I ended up speaking to a call centre in India…an event which only added to the stress of moving, as I couldn’t understand half of what the customer service ‘manager’ was saying, nor could he understand what I was saying.
At one stage during the telephone call, I had to chuckle. We’re moving in with my Mum-in-law for a short period until such time that the legals on our new house have been done and dusted. Dorothy’s house is an old house, built around 1887, and over time, it’s suffered war damage, as well as damp, flooding and fire (an external garage), and understandably, this is seen as a greater insurance risk to house contents whilst we’re living there in transit. ‘Nick’ from the Indian call centre asked me if the house had suffered any “heew”, so I asked him to repeat this…still couldn’t understand what he was asking, and I asked him to repeat it twice more….but I still couldn’t understand what he was asking. And then he spelt it….
H for hotel
E for echo
A for alpha
WE for wictor
E for echo
I asked him if he was saying ‘hee-we’…and he responded by saying it again, and spelling it again, including the ‘we for wictor’. Then the penny dropped. He wanted to know if the house had suffered any movement or ‘heave’ (as in ‘we for wictor’). How Ywonne and I laughed.
House Move – Update
Well, one month on from putting in an offer on a house, we withdrew our offer on Monday last. Lots of legal wranglings – unforeseen as the estate agent had advertised the property as ‘freehold’ instead of ‘leasehold’ – together with absolutely no progression of the purchase in almost a month, provided us with sufficient time to evaluate whether or not we were doing the right thing. Truth be known, we both felt as though a weight had been lifted off our shoulders when we made the withdrawal, so it was obviously the right thing to do.
This weekend, we’re off to view another 4 houses. Fingers crossed.
