Cocktail

"What happens on tour, stays on tour!"  This was not that kind of a hen do.  As a matter of fact, I don't have friends that want or do crazy/tacky things on a hen do, nor have I ever been on one where no one can remember the events of the night before and have to retrace their steps to figure out what happened.

I did however wake up the next morning with a burning sore throat and a resultant husky voice.  I blame this on the yummy cocktails we made on the cocktail course in Revolutions.  Or was it the Chilli Vodka shot that I had to have due to my unfavourable response to the bartender when he asked why they put so much ice in a cocktail glass..."to get away with putting less alcohol in"...hmm... I guess not.  Although I cannot remember what the correct answer was.

The "Hen" at this do was one of my oldest friends, Lou.  We have been friends longer than we have not known each other. The gang from the Hen Party, I have known for a similar length of time too and it is always a sign of a good friendship when you can chat like no time has passed at all and still be able to dance to the crap that we used to listen to in the 90's.

Admittedly the only reason why we were able to do that is because Cath became DJ for the night and took control over the software that was playing the music on our floor.  Short lived as the proper DJ soon took over, but a bit of Saturday Night and Steps' 5,6,7,8 went down a treat.

Many thanks to Chief Bridesmaid Lizi for organising.  I had a great time.

Priceless

Priceless is the little face of the blue eyed cherub named Cerys' Grace, who got christened today.

Instead of balling her eyes out about having her head dipped in water and being held by a stranger, she was instead inquisitive of her surroundings and curious of her reflection in the water.

Priceless is the big sloppy kiss she gave me when the priest handed her back to me after the head dunking.

Patience was Cerys with a capital P as Aunty Nim took picture after picture with her Nannies, Grampies, God parents and Uncle Sparkle...

Priceless is the belly laugh that comes from someone so tiny as Aunty Nim waves a piece of pink tissue paper in front of her face or Gemma (one of Uncle Stuart's kids) makes funny movements with some tiny shoes, or even Aunty Tizzer pulling funny faces.

Uncanny are the expressions that Father and Daughter share.  So are the complexion and eyes that match that of Mummy.

Priceless is the excitement caused by Chocolate seen in the eyes of young Alfie.

A kodak moment captured is the tete a tete between Aunty Nim and Cerys in the garden behind the pub.  Only we will know what secrets we shared.

Priceless is the love of a wife to have a pocket watch restored for her husband, so that his Gramps, who is no longer with us, could still be there in spirit.

Forever in the thoughts of the people that loved you most.  This post is dedicated to Gramps Carter.  May you rest in peace and forever be watching over the Carters.

Birthday Wish

Today I woke up like an excited 7 year old on their birthday.  Only in reality I turned 31 today.  Most people complain about getting another year older, whereas I think why be depressed about the inevitable.  May as well enjoy it and get some great memories, as I'm never going to be 31 again.

Birthday Cards

My day started with a nice relaxed lunch with my parents at Nando's.  You can't beat the delights of spicy chicken and chips.  Simple, but soooooooo good!

Rose in my birthday flowers from my parents

Around tea time, my friend 'Bing' brought me her special chocolate cheesecake brownies.  They are my favourite of anything she's ever made.  They really do taste like heaven.

Around 6.30pm, the party started.  We ordered takeaway for 11 people, which was no easy feat.  But we managed to organise ourselves pretty well.  After food, we then went to a bar/club that I've heard a lot of good stuff about called 'The Jam House'.

We had to queue for 45 mins, but it was well worth the wait.  They had a live band that were singing covers ranging from Adele to Lady Gaga to Justin Timberlake.  They were amazing.  I definitely recommend people to go to this place.  We all had an amazing night.

Thanks to everyone who was there and made my day and night special.  My birthday wish is that every birthday is as great as this one was.

Heavenly Aromas

A couple of weeks ago, Marc and Sarah came round for dinner and I'd made a chocolate molten pudding.  Usually this dessert is always a winner as it is extremely indulgent and looks like I've spent hours in the kitchen rather than the actual 10 mins.

The recipe, courtesy of my favourite chef; Nigella Lawson, is for 6 and as there were only 3 of us, I only made half a batch.  That was fine until I added the flour, which I made the rookie mistake of putting the full quantity in.  So the pudding unfortunately ended up tasting of flour.  In my defence I was rushed to make it as it was a dinner that I hosted after work.

So today, as it is a rare occasion that I am at home for the day, I have decided to make a red velvet cake with white creamy frosting, to take with me as a dessert offering for when I go to Sarah and Marc's for dinner tonight.

This recipe is courtesy of one of my favourite baker's; Rachel Allen, and is a recipe that I saw her bake on one of her tv shows.  I've not had the chance to make it since I saw the show, so fingers crossed that there are no rookie mistakes today.

I have to say the smell of a cake baking in the oven is one of the best smells ever.  It's a shame that you can't attach an aroma to this blog as you can a picture, because the smell in here is absolutely divine.

I'm impressed with the finished article, even if I say so myself. I think the taste went down pretty well too. I had happy punters.

Geneva

Today Maryline and I braved the cold and took the train to Geneva. You may think from the pictures that it is a sunny day with lovely blue skies, but don't let that deceive you. Today has felt like my head has been in a boxing match with the weather. The wind has felt like someone has slapped me in the face a zillion times.

We had hoped to see the Jet d'Eau today, which is the fountain in the lake that shoots water up a few meters, but it is off season, so it wasn't operating today. We did manage to pass through the "Jardin Anglaise". I did see this in the lonely planet as a point to see, which Maryline replied with, "you've come all this way to see an English garden?"

As it was so cold and also because the lights of the high street were beaconing us, we thought we'd have a look at the shops. Unheard of for us, it was an afternoon of window shopping rather than any damage to the bank balance. But that's probably because Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Today was my last day in Switzerland. I've had a great time. Many thanks for having me stay Maryline. Bissoux.

Ice, Snow and Mountains

I am not a skier. I never learned when I was little and since I had knee surgery a year ago, I think it's a given that it is a sport that I will never try for fear of injuring my knee again. So to find my self up in the snowy mountains today at Saint Cergue, for a little walk is something I never imagined that I would do.

I always imagined that the cold would be something that I wouldn't be able to cope with, as my hands turn white at any temperature below zero, but I was surprisingly warm. I think the fact that there was no wind helped.

As Delph, Maryline and I weren't there to ski, we decided to go on a walk to see if we could get some photos of our beautiful surroundings. To say the least we weren't really equipped to walk up the snowy hill. First of all we didn't have snow boots on, we had trainers and also we had our designer handbags. Hardly the attire for a short hike up the mountain.

It took us about 20 mins to walk up the hill, but we managed it without incident. When we got to the top, the view was breathtaking and definitely worth the trek up. We were even treated to seeing 2 Chamoix's.

The joy of carrying an iPhone is that I don't have to carry a separate camera. And also there is the genius "photosynth" app. Following my demo of how to take a panoramic photo, both Maryline and Delph now have it on their iPhones. It was cool to take a picture of us making shapes in the snow with the beautiful landscape in the background.

It was a perfect day hanging out again as a trio. Miss you girls. Bissoux!