Live when you're alive and sleep when you're dead

Zzz

Zzzzz

Zzzzzzzz

Oh excuse me!  It has been a hectic week or so and I must have dozed off.  You see, in the duration of a week, I have:

•          Hosted two 2 dinner parties (one where my mum was seeing my new house for the first time -eep!)
•          The cooking and cleaning for said dinner parties
•          2 Fringe shows
•          And a hillwalk
•          All on top of my regular life and work

Now, that may not seem like masses to you but to a grumpy and reclusive guy like me, it’s pretty tiring!  Don’t worry…although there are photographs, I can promise no food shots!  This isn't Masterchef!

Thankfully, the dinner parties went well enough!  The first one was so Alison could have a catch-up with her two friends, Claire and Stuart (and presumably so they could meet me a little bit as well).  With bowls of home-made chilli, home-made tortilla chips and banana and white chocolate muffins, I like to to think I've won them over.  Regardless, it was a nice night and I think everyone enjoyed it!

Next up was the second dinner party, with my parents.  This took some planning as it was a three 

course meal, made up from:

•  Chorizo and onions in cider
• Pork Fillet with home-made apple sauce, rosemary apple slices, and sweet potato and turnip wedges
• Home-made Madeira cake with lemon cream cheese frosting

Thankfully, I decided to plan out the cooking (which really helped out) and it all went fairly well, especially as I had to impress!  As usual, this was a great night with my parents and really nice to catch-up with them, as it had been a while.  Plus, cuddles from Ollie are always enjoyed!

After a somewhat sleepless night, thanks to Ollie hogging the couch (how such a small beagle can take up so much room, I’ll never know), we said goodbye to my parents, and Alison and I headed into Edinburgh, to visit the Fringe for the first time this year.  After picking up our tickets, we headed to our first show: Japan Marvellous Drummers.  What followed was an hour of blistering drums, mixed with some Japanese flutes and harps, and sprinkled with a little humour.  With a variety of different drums, from small to mammoth, the show was a good mix of styles that really showcased what you can do with one group of instruments.  An added bonus was being talked though the different songs they were playing, and what they meant, as well as there translated names.

Once our eyes adjusted to the light and our ears stopped ringing, we headed for lunch at the original Mosque Kitchen (thank you Michael and Cara) for an absolutely stunning curry for £12 (for both of us), including drinks.  Bargain!

No rest for the wicked, so we headed onto our final show which really turned out to be the highlight of the night!  This was a free show, by a duo called Jolly Boat: Nerd Play who came out with nothing but a guitar and a laptop, but managed to keep the crowd in stitches all night.  And it is worth noting, the place was packed…people were sitting in the aisle to see these guys.  And I can see why! They were fantastic…with songs ranging from a love song made from keyboard shortcuts to a rather adult song about Disney princesses to a song about the worst Dungeon and Dragon monsters.  To finish the show off, they used a mix of props (Star War puppets, anyone?) and a hilarious slideshow.  Really, if you ever get the chance to see these guys, do it without hesitation.  It will leave you in tears (the good kind).  And it was free, though I did pay £5 for a cd.

Fiiiiiinaaaallllly and before I collapsed into an exhausted ball, it was time for a hill walk with my dad around the Pentlands near Edinburgh.  And I must say, I think we got the one day of summer that it seems we are being allowed!  A beautiful day, with beautiful Scottish scenery, along with spending time my dad was a picturesque ending to a great week.  And as promised, here are the photographs!!

 Pick of the Week

Jolly Boats – Who else!  I told you about them in the main part of the blog, so I will just say this: go find a show you can attend.  Hilarious.  Website is linked!

Music of the Week

Thank you to Michael for this week’s pick (as of a link I got from him about 3 minutes ago): Marilyn Manson with Rammstein.

See you all next week, as I'm going to nap!

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrreessss ROBBIE!

Ooft, it is time for a quick blogging update but before that, it is time for an announcement: ALL IS BACK TO NORMAL!  Yes, indeed we will be back to the weekly updates!  Yes, you can put Tuesday back into your calendars as you will once again get your weekly blog fix.  And to make it even better, I have a new blogging station:

Oh yes, gone is the rather bohemian days of me sitting cross-legged on my bed typing.  Nope, we are ushering in a militant, duel monitor, sitting-at-a-desk blogging machine.  Or something like that. 

Ok, so I’ve digressed slightly but now back on track!  Yes, my update this week is that I moved in with my long-term girlfriend a couple of weeks ago!  Exciting (and sorry again Ulla, for not telling you...)!!!

Now, more on that to come over the next few weeks as I settle down but that’s why there have been no blog recently….a mixture of unpacking and lack of internet.

But that ends now!  I’m connected to the internet again and I am raring to go!

See you all next week!