Christmas is over and all the scraps of goose are eaten and the Stilton is cringing in a stinking pool of cheese juice in a corner of the kitchen.
We had a lovely Christmas dinner that should have been a lunch, but the gargantuan goose that i bought was still solid as a rock at 11am on Christmas morning and had to have emergency defrost surgery.
Doh. We finally ate at 5.30pm. Yum and worth the wait anyway.
I wore a Santa hat and refrained from screaming Bah!Humbug! at the top of my voice. Tee Hee.
I tried to phone the Family in SA, but the bastards were on the beach. Nice.
For those who care, i am handing in my resignation with a dash of glee on my first day back at work. All change here. I will be moving home too. In with Louise in Raynes Park - a few stops down the line. So all Joy. Leaving a crappy house and job in one! Hooray and Jingle Jingle, i feel joyous at the thought.
Hope everyone had a happy festive season and that you have all recovered from the feast. x

Ho Ho Ho.
It's freezing and misty and I'm going to be outdoors all day being Merry and spreading that Christmas cheer. Oh yes.

Tomorrow i am off and am going to be spending the day cruising around town and getting those last minute goodies for Christmas lunch on Monday. Joy.
I foolishly decided to cook! We are having Goose and the works. Got given so many yummy things by the people i work with down at the market, that we are all going to be fat by Boxing day!
Nigella Lawson was on the radio a while ago spouting the merits of goose fat for cooking your festive spuds and now there is a nationwide shortage. Nice one. Where do you think she gets those curves?
The whole eat-as-much-as-you-can-until-you-can't-move mentality over Christmas makes me a little queasy just thinking about it.
Gluttony......I'm twice the man i used to beeeee........traa la.

I feel so much better. Whew.
I'm still going to take it easy this week and am chillin' at home and making myself Spelt Bread and maybe some Brownies?
Having a day of baking and reading.
Bliss.

Tomorrow i have to go to Adrian's flat and take delivery of ........................the amazing...............the Gorgeous.................the Red Leather SOFA!!!
Every Design Boy's dream couch, apparently.
It's not the ikea one, for those of you who were spellbound by that particular Living room Legend.
The proud owner has told me that it's like sitting in a Diablo. ( flash car/penile extention...Sorry.)

So far, my other plans for world domination have been placed on hold until after Christmas.

Dragged Myself to work this morning and dragged myself home at 4pm. Felt like death anyway and they don't deserve me.

The cutest nephew in the world!
Have a look at Claire's blog for photos.x
Happy Birthday Moocher.

I had a tense 20 minutes trying to help Adrian change a tyre on the car today.
All those manly gadgets like jacks and things............

I have been off work this weekend because i travelled on the underground last week and so am entirely to blame for being struck down with yet another disease contracted in the confined, sweaty, overly fragrant space that passes for a train carriage in rush hour.
I have given up and have taken sick leave. Normally i try to soldier on, but really i can't be F**ked at the moment.
So it's DVDs and hankies and chicken soup.

Yes, That Diwali party was cool. Indu's sister Muni made green chili pakoras.....with whole green chills in them.
She did warn me that they were a little hot.
I was half way through one before i had to stop and gulp a glass of wine to stop the tears.
The rest of the food was the usual mind-blowingly scrumptious affair.
It's so much like being at a Jewish house for supper. Every time i cleared my plate someone would appear next to me with more food and a strong need to fatten me up with it. Gotta love it.
I have taken the weekend off and i am spending the whole week with Adrian at the flat. We will be touching up paint and putting the carpets in and cleaning etc. Loads still to do, but by the time we are done, he is going to have the snazziest little pad in town. Oh yes.
Work has been hectic and i did a first aid course in between. I can now diagnose severe and sudden death.................

This is the Creature Adrian made for me.

Going out to Indu's sister for a belated Diwali party tonight.
Loads of gorgeous food and fun to be had. More anon. x

Halloween.
The street around my house were athrong with tiny terrors last night.
Witches, ghouls and vampires as well as a few fairies and princesses.(The ones who couldn't bear to be ugly even for one night. I feel that these may have been the really frightening ones........)
Luckily I live in a nice neighborhood and didn't have to lock all my doors and windows and sit in a darkened house like some unfortunate Londoners.
I took a few photos which I will upload later.

Have a look at this fab Website.
Yum yum.

Birthday Flowers.
Back at work today after my weekend off. Hooray. Spent most of it in bed and on Sunday spent a really cool day with Adrian. We went to one of my favorite pubs in Notting Hill
and then to Cousin Adrian's house for more food with Oscar and Indira.
Would have been so much better if it hadn't rained like a son of unmarried parentage, all day.
With each step, a squelch of cold, dirty, London street water got washed up the back of my trainers and against the inside leg of my jeans and then by some nasty twist, into my shoe. The 'Flare' shape of my jeans acted like some sadistic funnel and my shoes, socks and half my jeans were drenched by the time I got to Cousin A's house.
I had a fight with the other Adrian on the way and smashed my crappola umbrella against the pavement in an effort to calm myself. Didn't work.
My family are all wincing and thanking their lucky stars/deity of choice that they were on another continent. Don't blame them.
Bad fit of the evils.
Indira kindly lent me her hair and tumble dryers so the return trip was only mildly uncomfortable.

Happy Birthday to Jason and I for today.....um.......... yesterday actually, looking at the time!
I hope you had a cool day, J. I know Reese is missing you.
Thanks to all of you who sent me texts, cards and calls etc. Love you guys.
Had a nice day, despite the early signs of decrepitude.
Still sick and annoyed about it.

Ate so much yum birthday food that i can't sleep!!

Went to the doctor today because I can't hear anything with my right ear.(is that grammatically correct?)
She first stuck that icky light thing in the other ear, gave me a 'that's the good ear?' look and proceeded to prescribe antibiotic drops for both ears as my entire head seems to be housing an infection straight out of Dickens.

I'm out for dinner ce soir avec Mon Amour et The Inlaws.
It's Adrian's 30th birthday celebration, so let the champagne flow and may the rain let up for 5 minutes so my hair stays pretty and my mascara stays put.

He's the cutest 30 year old I know. X
( except for me, naturally, but I only have 4 hours and 40 minutes left anyway.)

So I was like delivering to this like uber amazing and hip hairdresser in like London and the manager and some other gorgeously coiffed guru said I have like great hair.
Ahem.
I then stayed 5 minutes too long and got told that my colour needs a detox.
Over it, dahling.

Are you all enjoying the Sudoku?
I am such an addict at the moment.
Finished painting the cupboards in Adrian's flat today.
Man, that place is going to look so cool when it's done.
I will post pictures in November after the kitchen has been put in.
Still trying to decide what to get him for his birthday on the 19th.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE has been re-published recently and Adrian bought a copy the other day. For those who are scratching their heads right now, it's a little bit of childhood nostalgia. It is a book I read when I was little that left a strong impression on Adrian too.
One of my favorite things about my work is the children I get to see. I am peddling that self same nostalgia. Those kids are going to grow up and remember really important things like the Bread Lady and her Chelsea Buns.
Some are so proud of themselves when they come up to me with their little hands clutching the money their parents have given them. One blonde little boy can't say the name so he has come up with "raisin bunnies" instead. There's another little girl with fat cheeks and blue blue eyes who is too shy to pay for them herself and always comes with her dad. I get such joy out of this and a little homesickness.
I forget sometimes what an amazing family I have and how much I miss them and all my friends from back in the day.
Love to you all and thanks for all those happy memories and little bits of bliss.

I took this with my phone while driving over Battersea Bridge in London.
Such a wierd effect with the sun turning into a little ball.

Adrian used to pee out of his bedroom window when he was little, for no other reason than that he could. Drove his poor mother to distraction because of the yellow stain down the outside of the house.......

Busy weekend. Loads of running around and stuff.