no recipe cards

On Friday I picked up my new glasses ;o)

My glasses may not have come with recipe cards but they did come in a flashy case ;o)

the unassembled case (outside)

the unassembled case (inside)

the assembled case (inside)

the assembled case (outside)

Hestons logo

and it has been "signed" by Heston

Here I am wearing my everyday glasses

and here I am wearing my reading glasses I am reading Eds Egg ;o)

I did actually use my reading glasses today and the very first thing I read about was the CIA having a twitter account in the Independent ;o)

On Friday when me & Evie got home from getting my glasses I saw a leaflet on the doormat about the Tour de France coming to Essex

ooohhhh laaaa laaaaa

On Friday we received our copy in the post of City Life (a free newspaper for the residents of Chelmsford ;o)

James was reading through it and said that the Tour de France is going to pass through Chelmsford!

Just reading the BBC article I see that they are going to pass through Braintree and Epping Forest too ;o)

Perhaps while in Braintree they may pop into Freeport for some bargains ;o)  But make sure you put locks on your bikes first in case they get nicked!  And get sold on Ebay as "gen-ewe-ine tour de france memorabilia"

I havent been to Epping Forest since I was a kid when my Dad took us there, if I was one of the riders I would be worried about Dck Turpins ghost ;o)

I booked the panto tickets and they arrived Saturday, not only did the thieving b@stards charge a £1.50 booking fee but they also charged 60p for the postage too!

I know that I could have saved £2.10 by going to the box office in person but I really couldnt be arsed ;o)

Oh and it looks like I havent been picked as a giver this year for World Book Night - oh well...

didnt want to sit with me

I took Evie with me to the library yesterday for Tots Tales and she kept on walking to the book rack to get books out and then the lady running it came to sit down so Evie decided to sit on the rug at the front (and not with me :o().

The lady doing it did tickle Evie for open shut them and held her hands for row row your boat, but she did miss out on being picked up for the grand old duke of york, the wheels on the bus and down in the jungle (which are the bits that she enjoys most) but she did seem to enjoy herself anyway ;o)

While I was there one of the other Mums told me that there was a photo of me in last weeks Essex Chronicle so I asked her "it isnt Chelmsfords most wanted is it?" and she said no and that I was looking at a wooden arch ;o)

Then I remembered the Sensations festival that was on a couple of weekends ago and I was holding Evie while having a go at using a "laser harp" not sure what it was called ;o)

Typically I missed out on buying the paper by one day but I did manage to get a couple of photos of the article from the libraries copy ;o)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambernectar/10202282345/in/photostream/

click on the flickr link if you want to read the article ;o)

Does this mean that I live in London too?

We were watching Air Crash Investigation the other day and apparently Stansted Airport is on the north east fringes of London!  We are 18 miles from Stansted so does this mean that by using the same reasoning that I live in London too?

I saw the other day that the government are thinking of relaxing the Sunday trading laws
while the Olympic Games are on ;o)  At least something useful will come out of them ;o)

One of the NCT mums mentioned that our cinema is showing films that you can take your baby along to on Wednesday mornings so I wont feel bad if Evie starts crying or such as there will be fellow Mummies in there too.  I had heard that cinemas were doing this but didnt realise that they were doing this at our one.

And afterwards I can take Evie to get weighed as the doctors surgery is nearby too.

Time for a new coat me thinks

Last night on my way home from work there was a lady on the train and she decided to share with the carriage that the temperature in Chelmsford was 7 degrees Celsius (yes I know to my friends in cold countries that that temperature is a walk in the park but bear with me) and in Malaysia (where she is from) it is 37 degrees Celsius.

I think weatherwise I would prefer to be in Malaysia at the moment ;o)

So last night I dug my big coat out to see if on the offchance that it would still fit me?  The answer to that is a big fat no!

I could do up my coat as far as my boobs but nothing further down than that :o(

I have heard that I will double in size during the last four weeks and as it is going to be during December then it does make sense to splash the cash and buy a Maternity Coat.

Anyhow I have a 10% off voucher that is good until Sunday in Mothercare so I will see what they have in store otherwise I will order something online.

In Metro today I saw that the new presenter of Countdown will be Nick Hewer I think that he will be really good and will be something to watch with littlun to get her brain working from an early age ;o)

Wombling free at Glastonbury

I saw in Metro this morning that the Wombles are playing at Glastonbury this year..

...it does make me wonder if the founder Michael Eavis is complaining about the Wombles being there just as a marketing ploy.

I think that the Wombles will be a huge hit especially for those in their thirties and forties.

it gives me the willies just thinking about it

In todays Metro there is an article about corset piercing.

Why would anyone want to get this done.  The guy getting it done on his throat and neck what is wrong with you?

And the scarring?  That is just going to look weird without the ribbon.

It gives me the willies just thinking about it!

hes gone to the big ambassadors reception in the sky

I saw on the news today today that Mr Ferrero Rocher has died :o(

My Mum (bless her) used to think (she probably still does if I asked her) that Ferrero Rocher was the stuff that sophistication is made of.

LOL do you think that when Pietro got to the Pearly Gates he was asked by Saint Peter to lay on a nice spread for the Ambassadors Reception ;o)

I will be crying into my Nutella thinly spread on a crumpet tomorrow morning as my mark of respect.

how much is too much?

In Metro the other day I saw this article, and it made me wonder just how much I will (or rather) have eaten in Easter related chocolate!

LOL Mum you may not want to read this any further ;o)

You all know from this post that back in February I had 12 Cadbury Creme Eggs, and I have since bought another 12 so that is 4200 calories as well as 2 Mars Bar eggs say 350 calories, 3 Lindor Eggs (apparently they are 90 calories each) so that is another 270 calories.

Not forgetting that I have also had the Aero bubbly lambs so that is 290 calories, and the Malteaster bunnies that is another 314 and the Cadbury Caramel bunnies thats another 400,  Not to mention the Malteser Easter Egg I bought in February, I think that was 600 calories for just the egg itself!

That is 6424 calories, and that isnt even including my stash of proper Easter Eggs...

Oh blimey there is also the 3 Cadbury Caramel eggs too so thats another 510 calories making it 6934!

why cant we have both?

I saw on the cover of todays Metro this article that they are thinking of moving the May Day Bank Holiday to either St Georges Day the 23rd April or Trafalgar Day the 21st October.

By all means move May Day because lets face it we have too many of our bank holidays all squashed together on the calendar what with Easter (by far one of my favourite holidays because of the chocolates that am able to eat without James having a pop at me) being at the end of April this year then the following week we have May Day then four weeks later we have Whitsun.

But why oh why oh why cant we have both St Georges Day and Trafalgar Day?  We have the fewest Bank Holidays like anywhere and having one extra will improve morale LOL it will improve mine anyway ;o)

ever expanding London

In todays metro there is a huge spread on the Olympics, and where the various events are being held...

...if you exclude the football or soccer to my US friends then London encompasses Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire to the North and Dorset to the West...

...ok admittedly Essex, Herts and Bucks are part of the Home Counties, but Dorset that is nowhere near London!

LOL I see a bit of artistic license at work ;o)

chocopensation

As you may recall my Christmas Chocolate box was late (in fact it didnt arrived until 30th December).

Last night when I got home I had a letter from Hotel Chocolat (apologising profusely for the lateness of some of the boxes) giving me (in fact it was everyone who ordered a chocolate tasting box - did you get one Natalie?) a £5.00 voucher that I can use against any seasonal product, so I have used it against my Easter Egg ;o)

I was flicking through Metro this morning and I have decided that I want this alarm clock...

...LOL I wonder if it comes with a toaster attachment so you can have the perfect bacon sandwich ;o)

damn it I fancy a bacon sandwich now...

does this mean that I can count chocolate as 1 of my 5 a day?

I saw this article in Metro, and wondered if it meant that I could count chocolate as one of my 5 a day ;o)

LOL this is just the research that I have been waiting for...

...perhaps tomorrow there will be an article stating that working is bad for your health!

I know I know but its worth a thought ;o)

photography competition

When I am going home in the evening on the train I read the paper v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y - and I also tend to fall asleep (but luckily have *touches wooden desk* always woken up in time for Chelmsford station).

On Monday James was reading through the paper and asked me if I had seen the photography competition that they are running? To which I grabbed the paper out of his hands and eagerly read it...

As luck would have it the photographs for the competition are to be uploaded to flickr.

So yesterday morning I was rummaging (virtually as I was looking through my photos online) to see which ones may be possible entries...

I came across nine possibles - James also uploaded four ;o)

One of my favourites of mine is this one ;o)

the trains are doing my head in

Ever since the clocks went back at the end of October the trains havent ran to time (its like the trains drivers are scared of the dark or something!).

Back on the 10th December the timetables changed...

Pre 10th December I used to get a nice air conditioned train that happened to leave from a platform where the next train I could catch would leave from the adjoining platform. So if I couldnt get a seat on my normal train then I could walk across to the other train and I would have a seat.

Post 10th December the train is no longer air conditioned (this is ok in the Winter but will be a whole different story in the Summer) and leaves from a single platform, and whilst the next train I can catch leaves from the next platform you have to walk back to the barriers to get to the other platform (after a hard day at work the last thing you want to do is have to faff about walking between platforms). And it now leaves two minutes earlier but also stops at Stratford station and effectively (if running on time) gets to Chelmsford at the same time.

Since we have had the snow (over a month ago now Im hastened to add) our trains have been running with fewer carriages as the "severe weather" has caused train faults! Why didnt they spend their millions of pounds when upgrading the trains to ones that will work in the cold weather? Come on nxea the weather is hardly the tropics here!

And now onto why I am in a strop...

...last night I got to the train and I spotted a couple of empty seat but stupidly didnt get one, so I was walking along the platform and the carriages were more and more crowded, so I spot an empty seat push the entry button on the door and it doesnt work, so I walk along to the next door get on the train and start walking along the carriage and someone has taken the seat, by now its too late to get off of the train (as the driver has shut the doors) so I end up standing. I didnt even have a comfy place to stand either. Then the train gets to Stratford and more people pile on!

In todays Metro there was a "no sh1t" article about how bloggers reveal their personalities through their words ;o) Really? I wonder what the experts would think of mine ;o)

Is there nothing that they wont CGI

Yes Mum I know that I have used some ungood English ;o)

I saw in the paper this morning that the new Andrex advert will have a CGI puppy!

What was wrong with a cute puppy wrapped up in toilet paper?

Crispwich

I was looking through Metro this morning, and saw this article...

I used to eat crisp sandwiches in my poorer days, and they are quite tasty, my favourite was peanut butter & cheese & onion crisp sandwich...

...damn it I fancy one now ;o)

pole dancing is dangerous

A while ago Alex did a post about vertical ballet...

...on the front cover of this mornings Metro is an article about a lady who got paralysed from a pole dancing fitness class, I would love to give this a try...

...but am now thinking better of it!

I havent read the article properly yet, and will save it for my journey home tonight

Drive thru supermarket

I was reading through Metro on the train last night and came across an article about Tesco trialling its first drive thru store.

I do hope this does get rolled out across the country and that other stores look to do it too?

It will make food shopping so much easier

Would you really want a marmite wedding cake?

I was looking through Metro this morning to look at my horoscope (which incidentally was the same as it was yesterday) and saw this article about a couple having a marmite wedding cake with marmite between the sponge layers!

As much as I love marmite I dont think a marmite wedding cake would work.

I sent a couple of marmite cereal bars to friends in The States and they didnt like them either ;o)