Was also at ours this year and we were
blessed with a lovely winter’s day that allowed us out into the fields around
Westcott before returning to celebrate the season with work friends old and
new.
Friday, February 24, 2017
Christmas Dinner…
Was a more traditional affair held at
Deb’s house with a full table groaning with food and happy guests with groaning
bellies afterwards.
Christmas Eve Party…
The theme for this year’s celebrations
at ours was Jamaican with jerk chicken and my ting-ting sauce, rice and peas, pineapple
cake, patties and plenty of cocktails courtesy of our new shaker. It was an
enjoyable time for all.
Another Year…
I surprised Sue with a couple of large
paintings for our wedding anniversary. I had managed to paint the canvases up
in the loft space over a couple of nights while she was out and had hung them
before she came home from work. They were simple landscapes inspired by the
colour scheme of the feature wallpaper on the opposite wall and included a few
small elephants as she loves them.
Birthday Girl…
We celebrated Deb’s birthday in Dorking this
year with Chris and Carole and ending at the Star where they had a singer’s
night with some very talented acts.
Christmas Carols…
The much anticipated gathering at Terry’s
neighbours (Alistair and Brunie) where the guests bring a dish and their sing
voice and we celebrate the season in style.
Party Season Starts…
With a Xmas party at Deb’s. Plenty of
old fogies, abundant alcohol and a selfie stick.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Games Day…
Recently I got together with a few
friends as part of our semi-regular face-to-face gaming days. Here we played a
few varied games including:
Fury of Dracula – In this I was Dracula
vs the vampire hunters and I was doing quite well until I got cornered in
England and a valiant self-sacrificing all-out attack from one of the hunters
eventually put me down.
Sushi Go! – a sweet, easy to learn, easy
to play game.
Machi Koro with Harbour expansion – the
expansion turns it into a 5 player game and adds a different way of arranging
the marketplace, it slowly progressed until a gamble by Martin and a series of
doubles paid out big time enabling him to a win with a landslide.
Spartacus with Shadow of Death expansion
– I have not usually succeded in this game before, but we played the quick
version and I was able to capitalise when Martin bought an almost unbeatable
gladiator by manipulating him into decimating our enemies.
Dead of Winter – a co-op survival game
that soon had us overrun by the zombie horde.
Christmas is coming to Town…
Our late holiday had put us a little on
the back foot for Christmas, but after a concerted effort in the shops and
on-line we are mostly there, and with the help of Deb’s we have the house
decorated and are now ready-ish for the big event.
Tasty Tasting Meal…
Uncle Tony arranged to take many of us
out for a family dinner at Drakes near Wisley. Here we were treated like
royalty and provided with a spectacular series of delicious masterpieces
accompanied by perfectly matched wines. It was a culinary delight throughout.
Late Season Sunshine…
This was a holiday just for Sue and I
where we could please ourselves and enjoy each other’s company. It had been a
while in the planning and took some time to come around, but we were ready for
it when the date drew near.
We were going to take a driving holiday
of the Florida Keys (though deliberately not driving every day), and we flew
into Miami arriving in the early evening where we picked up our car from the
airport (when the garage manager saw my height she asked if we wanted to free
upgrade, secretly hoping for a Mustang convertible we ended up with a big black
SUV). We drove into the busy traffic towards Miami Beach where we found our Art
Deco hotel, the Albion and checked in (again were asked if we wanted a free
upgrade, this time to the penthouse suite. A bit more impressive sounding than
it actually was as the décor was in need a freshening up, however it was
several rooms with its own sundeck on the roof overlooking the city).
Ignoring the fatigue of the flight we
ventured out up to the nearby pedestrian area of town where we watched the
world go by, had a beer and a bight to eat and then turned in for the night.
I knew there was a good chance the time
difference would mean we were up before sunrise so I had planned for this and
we walked the couple of blocks to Miami Beach where we witnessed the sunrise as
it came up over the sea in a spectacular fashion. Then we walked along Ocean Drive
to the 24hr News Café for a hearty breakfast.
After getting some provisions we drove
out of the busy metropolis and off towards the Everglades. Near the entrance to
the park is an interesting information centre and not far from that a lovely
boardwalk around a couple of ponds where we saw crocodile, snapping turtle and
plenty of birdlife. As we had time we drove down to the coast to hopefully see
more. We packed up in the shade and walked across the grass towards the
information centre there and immediately became engulfed in a cloud of
voracious mosquitoes (in the centre there was a notice saying the insects were
horrible today and recommending people stayed of the grass and remained in the
sunshine – now they told us). This soured our experience and so we drove away
towards our next accommodation
Ocean Pointe Suites near to Key Largo
which was a complex of apartment blocks on a secluded area with a pool, small
marine, bar and café and a small beach. The apartments were reasonable
appointed and had small balconies with views out over the sea. We had already
planned to use the kitchen facilities to cook our own meal and relax for the
evening.
The next day we ventured out to see the
old African Queen boat at Key Largo, from the Humphrey Bogart movie Key Largo.
We visited the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and although we did not plan to dive or swim the waters we still
enjoyed our journey out in the glass bottom boat that took us out over the reef.
In the evening we had a pretty
forgettable meal at a local establishment that had been recommended (we started
to find that a lot of American meals were huge, bland and usually deep fried).
The following day we packed up and took
a leisurely drive down towards Key West. We stopped at the Lazy Days South restaurant
that was recommended to us and from the outside it did not look like much. The
covered deck overlooking the harbour was more like it and the food was very
good, in fact it was the best meal Sue had in our time there. We also had to
discourage an iguana from joining our table, fobbing him off with a bit of tomato.
In the afternoon we arrived at Key West
and our centrally located La Concha Hotel. After settling in we ventured off to
see a bit of the town along the busy Duval Street towards the western shore.
As we perambulated along we came across
the Hog’s Breath bar (hog’s breath is better than no breath at all) and we
stopped for a refreshing drink and to listen to the music before moving on to
settle for a while
at the Sunset Pier where we watched the
sun go down with a drink in hand and live music in our ears.
Sue had found out about an intriguing
place called the Little Room Jazz Club where we ventured to after dark. It was
a fabulous little venue, eclectically decorated and cosy. It was virtually
empty when we arrived and it didn’t sell hot food or spirits, but the wine menu
was good and the beer was fine too. The place became a little busier later and
when the
Hal Howland Trio took to the little
stage there was a nice, relaxed atmosphere starting. We had a lovely evening
listing to fine music.
The next day I had planned as a cultural
one. We had learned from the concierge that the hotel had two sister hotels,
one at either end of Duval St by the sea, and that there was a golf cart
shuttle that travelled between them, so we bore this in mind. We walked out for
breakfast and then took the shuttle from one coast to the other where we had a
snoop around the lovely hotel on the eastern side. From there it was a short
walk to the southernmost point (not actually the southernmost as that is nearby
on Navy land), then up towards Hemingway’s house, and then onto Truman’s Little White House. The weather had turned a little damp so we ventured back into town
via a small bar and tested out a couple of Hemmingway’s preferred watering
holes. Capt Tony’s and Sloppy Joe’s (for a
Sloppy Rita – margarita that is), both were understandably busy and loud with
loads of people and enthusiastic live music.
A recommendation to us by friends who
had visited Key West before was to take the ferry out to the Dry Tortugas and see
Fort Jefferson. Unfortunately the weather was such that the sea was quite
choppy which Sue was not best pleased about (not quite a repeat of the ferry
trip from the Shetland Islands, but still). The place though was fabulous, a
massive civil war fort, lovely beaches and some fabulous wildlife, but I think
Sue was unable to relax too much as we still had to return on the boat (at
least on the way back the bar was open and we found a more stable position in
the sunshine).
We thought we would try a nice fish
restaurant as a treat and although the food was lovely it did not feel
welcoming and we did not feel encouraged to linger, an expensive mistake.
The next day we got the car out and went
for a little drive to see a couple of gardens. First was the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden, which was a grander title than it perhaps
deserved, though we did see loads of smaller turtles, and some interesting
birds and insects, the plants though were less dramatic and the garden was more
naturalistic. The small Key West Garden Club in the
remains of the West Martello Tower was more dramatic, partly because of its
location amongst the tower’s ruins on the coast and partly because of the more
exotic choice of planting.
In the evening we again ventured out to
see the sunset, this time at the much vaunted Mallory Square, where we had a
couple of Mojito’s to celebrate another fine day.
We then strolled through the lovely
Memorial Sculpture Garden full of bronze bust to significant local peoples of
the past.
This time we ate at a busy establishment
right on the bustling Duval Street, capitalising on the happy hour to relax and
watch the world go by.
We returned to the Little Room Jazz Club
again, this time to see Larry Baeder and Bill Blue play some very accomplished blues
while telling us amusing tales of their earlier careers.
On our final day we took it easy in the
morning and drove leisurely back up the Keys having lunch at the beach at the
other Lazy Days restaurant. The view was better but we didn’t have quite the
same success with our choices of food.
We had a bit of a wait at the airport,
which is not the most impressive of places, but we had our final indulgence of
the holiday was a sturdy chocolate pudding and large margarita.
More of wot I have seen…
Recently we saw the Lumineers supported
by the Bahamas play at the Hammersmith Apollo. It was an enjoyable evening but
the venue is quite large and you do lose some of the connection with the band
that you get from performances in a more intimate place.
Fine Dining…
One of our favourite local eateries is Kinghams
in Shere where we know the owner/chef Paul. We went with mutual friend Howard
and Sue’s sister Deb and we were treated extra specially by Paul and his staff.
It was a lovely meal and we enjoyed the wine with the meal, the spirits after
wards, the beer at the nearby pub, and the cocktails when we got home. Needless
to say the next morning was a slow start.
Gaming Nirvana…
Once again I made the pilgrimage to Essen for one of the best analogue gaming conventions around.
This time I hitched a lift with Derek who
was driving over and it certainly made a difference to not have to battle the
various European public transport systems.
We went to our usual hotel and met up
with many of the regulars including Marc who had flown in from Sweden.
The venue was busy and more areas were
open to stalls which helped soak up some of the crowds. I didn’t go too mad
while I was there and apart from I couple of gifts I got these for myself…
Escape from Colditz – a reissue of the
original with both the old rules and a slightly modified new set and the
production values are excellent. This is more of a nostalgia buy.
Karuba (with show expansion) – I good
quick to learn, quick to play game that I had enjoyed playing last year and now
decided to add to my collection.
Oh my Goods! – bought on the
recommendation of a couple of respected gamers.
Kingdomino – new out this year and has
good production values. Another easy to learn and play game for the family.
Goons of New York 1901 expansion – I
really enjoy New York 1901 and this cute expansion along with the fancy painted
figures adds to the game in a good way.
X-Wing miniatures – this was a birthday gift
from Marc & Heather, thanks guys.
Istanbul coffee expansion – bought on a
number of recommendations from friends and changes the game in an interesting way.
Snowblind, Race for the Pole – This is by
Robert van Zyl, one of the guys I met at the convention who frequents some of
the gaming sessions at the hotel. A nice guy and a good little game.
Thunderbirds: Tracy Island Expansion –
the base game is a challenging co-op game and this adds a few more characters,
vehicles, and cards to give more playability.
Friday, October 07, 2016
Local Music…
One of our local pubs, Bertram Bees
(B&Bs) hosted Charlie Giles recently, a local singer, who made the most of
being cooped up in the corner of a packed bar and sang his heart out.
2000th 2000AD…
It was a milestone edition for a great British comic with the 2000th issue of the cult 2000AD and I had to
buy a copy. It was still as good as I remember back when I first started
reading it when it came out in the 1970’s.
Board games, Beer and Music...
Recently I got together with a few
friends as part of our semi-regular face-to-face gaming days. Here we played a
few varied games including:
In the evening I went to catch up with
Sue and Debs and found them in one of the pubs in Dorking’s West Street that
were having their own Westival.
They were watching the talented Cellar Door
play at the Old House. After this we wander across the road to watch Daytona Rocks
at the King’s Arms, and then it was back to the Old House for a bite to eat
while we listened to a Blues duo performing for the wedding guests in the
garden. We strolled over to The Star to listen to Radio City and ended up back
at the Old House grooving to the eclectic sounds of the fabulous Still Moving DJ’s.
Come fly with me…
It has been a year of celebrations for
my 50th birthday and recently I turned in a voucher given to me by
my Uncle for a glider flight at the London Gliding Club located at Dunstable.
It was delay some time due to the fog and low cloud, but eventually it cleared
up enough for me to go up towed behind an aeroplane to a few thousand feet and
then let loose. As a passenger of the dual control gliders you get the front
seat with magnificent views for miles around. I was given a few basic lessons
on the controls and allowed to make a couple of turns before the pilot took
over and landed back on the field about 15 minutes later. It was a great experience
but perhaps not something I really need to do again.
After this we went to a nearby pub where
the Aldbury Morris were due to arrive as part of their annual bike ride event
to perform and have lunch. By now the sun was out and we enjoyed the entertainment
before returning home.
WESTfest…
Our local village fete was postponed
after bad weather earlier in the year and they ended up with a lovely day for
the event when it happened recently out on the Cradhurst Recreation Ground with
a good number of people enjoying the atmosphere.
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