'Happy Pismas!'

'Happy Pismas!'  These are the words that Princess uses to wish a Happy Christmas.  At two and a half she is becoming more aware of who Father Christmas is and of the presents that he will bring on his sleigh.

To help with the countdown to Christmas I came across a Kinder Egg Advent calendar that was sold in Germany.  I had to get one for Princess.  A toy for everyday was just an added bonus that I couldn't resist.

What I didn't realise was that the concept of only opening one door each day would be lost on someone so little.  According to Papa Carter, it has caused many a tantrum not being able to open all the doors in one go.

For some reason the thought of this just brings a smile to my face.  There is something very cute about this scenario.

Blooming Lilies

Lilies are a favourite flower of mine.

When Ramps came to visit over the weekend, she gave me a bouquet as a gift.  They were so pretty and vibrant that I couldn't resist getting the camera out and taking pictures of them.

Enjoy.

Past, Present and Future

This was the theme for our End of Year Party.  It was held at the Think Tank in Birmingham.  A part of Birmingham that I hadn't ventured out to yet.

Our drinks on reception were with robots of the future.  Robots programmed to say hello, wink and wolf whistle at the touch of a button.

Dinner was in a modernly furnished room.  Steel tables and chairs, with vases filled with Cadbury chocolates as centre pieces.

 

When dinner finished, this was when the madness began.  Each table had a cardboard box filled with flower garlands, glasses, whistles etc...  As you can imagine the decibels in the room suddenly increased by a few octaves as the box contents were used.

The evening entertainment was a DJ playing some classics from the past.  It started off with Wigfield and the Macarena, which had everyone doing the line dances.

Our Own Thanksgiving

Today was a nightmare of a day.  It was crazy busy at work.  There was no time for lunch.  My day was filled with back to back meetings, a trip to a co-manufacturer up North and a trip back to the office at the onset of rush hour traffic.  Only to then have to make a mad dash back out to Banbury in time for Thanksgiving Dinner.

I promise I didn't break any road rules.  Even if I'd wanted to it would have been impossible; rush hour had the cars lined back to back on the motorway.

As if I wasn't already running late, I had to stop halfway during my journey to Banbury, because there was a strong sulphurous, acrid smell, which seemed to be coming from my car.  I thought it might be the tyres, but everything seemed to be in order and there were no warning lights on my dashboard.

I finally made it to Banbury, to Bing's, only an hour late, for Thanksgiving Dinner; a golden turkey with all the American trimmings.  I say American because it can only be America where the Yams come topped with melted marshmallows.

We sat, we ate and we drank in front of the TV as we watched last years Macy's Thanksgiving Parade (n.b. the pictures were actually from the parade Bing and I saw in 2011).

So thankful that I have a Bing in my life, who feeds and waters me on stressful days, like today.

Come Dine With Me (Part 2 of 4)

Come Dine With Me Part 2; It's Amee's turn and the theme is 'Curry Fest 2013'.  A good job really, as both Amee and I were given the caveat that if we didn't incorporate Curry into our menu then we would automatically be deducted points.

It all kicked off with a little manilla envelope arriving in the post.  I open it up and inside was the invite with the menu written in the smallest font possible.

Our menu options (if you can read the small text in the picture above) was to start with Curry, then to have a main of Curry and then to finish with Curry.  That's a lot of Curry.  Good job I love it!

As per last time, I won't offer any of our thoughts on the menu or how the food was, as I don't want to ruin our video.  But see for yourselves and decide what score out of 10 you would have given:

Canapes:
Samosas, Spring Rolls, Crispy Mogo with a selection of chutneys and Indian snacks, washed down with a glass or few of Prosecco

Starters:
Mumbai Bhel and Chilli Paneer, washed down with more Prosecco and I think there might have been white wine...

Intermission:
Courtesy of Jess and Bing, a little bit of Bollywood dancing... I believe the saying is 'screw the light bulb and pat the dog'

Main:
Lamb Biryani, Vegetable Curry and Raita... and more wine

Dessert:
Rasmalai, Barfi and Coffees

The funniest story of the night was towards the end whilst we were eating our dessert.  The Indian dessert was Rasmalai, a traditional dessert, which raised a lot of interest from the baker in our group, Bing.  'What recipe did you use?  Is it a cake?  What's it made out of? Does it have flour in it?'

It was almost like watching the Spanish Inquisition.  You could see the beads of sweat appearing on Amee's face as she tried to answer Bing's questions.  And then the penny drops... 'Did you make it?'  'Ummm... I can't take it anymore, no I didn't make it, I bought it from the shop!'

There's no hiding anything from our group Amee!
Next up is Jess.  Best of luck.

Fireworks

Guy Fawkes Night is a favourite celebration of mine.  I love the warmth of the bonfire on a cold night and the sound of the bangs and whistles as Rockets, Catherine Wheels and other fireworks explode in the black night sky.

Working with and having a lot of international friends, I often get asked what this celebration is about.  "It's about a fella named Guy Fawkes who got caught in a gunpowder plot to blow up the House of Lords" I tell them.

And then I get a weird look, a laugh of disbelief and a comment that is usually along the lines of, "that's a weird thing to celebrate".

In the past it was a celebration of King James I survival, but these days it's more about oohing and aahing over the spectacular firework display.

In Birmingham it was a week of celebration.  There were firework displays in all of the major open spaces.  We went to 2; Pype Hayes Park and to the Vale.

Pype Hayes Park was a nightmare to get to.  We ended up seeing three quarters of the display on our walk to the venue, as traffic was a nightmare.  Luckily there was a fun fair and shows of people twizzling flaming batons, so our journey up was not wasted.

The Vale was also rammed, but in walking distance.  So much easier to get to, but a nightmare to meet others there.  It's a bit like the Bermuda Triangle.  As soon as you enter the campus all mobile phone reception disappears and there is no hope of trying to meet up with others.

Another year of fantastic displays of fireworks.  Happy Bonfire Night.