Olympic Torch

The Olympic Torch was coming near to us this morning and it's going to be a beautiful warm sunny day.  It began its journey on College Green at around 6:00 am, travelling via Nailsea, Backwell and Flax Bourton, arriving at the Suspension Bridge around 8:00 am.  Sue had left for work early this morning and was planning to watch the torch convoy at the the bridge with some work colleagues.  From there it was to travel across Durdham Downs, into Henleaze, Southmead and ending up in Southmead Road, Filton at 8:50 am.  From there the flame was to be carried by vehicle to the next destination, Chippenham.

I decided to head for Southmead Road, Filton and I set off at 7:30 am.  I parked in Charborough Road and walked down to Southmead Road where people were already starting to congregate.  Houses had been trimmed up with bunting and barriers had been erected at the pavement edge annotated with the names of various schools.  One enterprising household had set up a stall on their front lawn and was selling coffees for 50p.  The torch wasn't due for at least an hour, so I decided to walk back along the route and take in the atmosphere.  I took many photographs en-route.

There was a very good atmosphere, young children cheered and waved their union jacks at passing cyclists on their way to work.  Even Elvis and a Superhero had turned out to see the torch.

I had a phone call from Sue who had seen the torch at the Suspension Bridge.  It was running 20 minutes late, due to having taken a wrong turning.

Sam had arrived, parked and walked down to Southmead Road.  We met up and found a gap in the crowd on the edge of the pavement with a clear view of the road.  After a few minutes a police motor cycle came up the road and stopped the traffic.  Unfortunately,  a big bus stopped in front of us and could go nowhere.  We and the other people affected by the bus's arrival stood there for a minute and then moved out into the middle of the road, where we would have an even better view.  No one told us to move so we stayed there.  We had a first class view. Unfortunately, when the torch bearer arrived, someone moved their head in front of the cameraI just as I took the photo.  By the time the camera had saved the picture and was ready for the next photo,  she had gone past.  I took a rear view shot and then set off up the road chasing the torch to try again.  Luckily, I did manage to get some decent  shots and with a bit of cropping here and there afterwards, here are the results:   

       

When the torch arrived at Charborough Road they took three or four lights from the flame to light the lamps for the onward journey to Chippenham by vehicle.  Then, with the flame extinguished, people were holding and touching the torch.  So I got to touch one of the Olympic torches.  

I walked back to Sam's car with him.  He had parked in a side road just off of Braemar Avenue.  We noticed that Braemar Avenue was very busy with traffic.  I left Sam who was carrying on to college.  I walked down Braemar to Southmead Road and saw that the police were diverting all traffic up Braemar Ave.  They said there was a gas leak further along Southmead Road.  I had in fact noticed a strong smell of gas when I walked along there earlier on.  I imagined the news headlines, 'Olympic Torch causes massive gas explosion in Bristol'.

Sue's Birthday

Today is Sue's Birthday.  Unfortunately, John had booked a week's holiday and so she was unable to have the day off from work.  After Sue left for work, I decided to go out for another run.  I thought I would increase the distance to 4 miles this time.  In the recent runs, I have not been troubled with heel pain during the run, but on returning home,  the pain has returned.  The discomfort lasts for a day or so, but I have then been able to run again.  I am determined not to give in to it.  Taking 2 Ibuprofen 3 times a day has not helped.  I completed the 4 miles and showered and set off to Cribbs Causeway to do some shopping.  I am limping.  I returned home much later, unloaded the car, wrapped up Sue's presents and awaited her arrival. 

Sue phoned Suzanne and Howard and invited them to the Taj Brasserie with us for a birthday curry.  Sue and I went to the Baileys Court Inn for pre-curry drinks and Sam and Christopher joined us.  We left the pub and arrived at the Taj Brasserie just as Suzanne and Howard were arriving.   The car park was unusually empty as was the restaurant, in fact we have not seen it this quiet.  We were seated at a table for 7 and waited for Emma, Christopher's girlfriend to arrive.  Christopher had given her directions which were less than adequate, so there were a few phone calls before she eventually found it.  The meal was excellent as usual.  Unknown to the rest of us, Sam and Christopher had given the waiters a tray of cup cakes with candles and the waiters all arrived at our table with them and sang Happy Birthday to Sue.

Mezze at the Green Dragon, Downend

Since last Tuesday's 3 mile run, I have had a niggling pain from my left heel.  Clearly, my ailment has not completely cleared up, but has improved to a level whereby I can complete a short run without having undue discomfort.  I thought it was about time for another run.  This morning, I ran 2 miles at a very steady pace.  Again, I completed the run successfully, free from heel pain,  but later on it still let me know all was not as it should be.  I decided to try taking 2 Ibuprofen 3 times a day for a week to see if that would help.


In the evening, Sue suggested going out to the Mezze at the Green Dragon, Downend. 

We went early, at about 6:30 pm. We sat at a table in the restaurant rather than the bar.  It is an attractive room, much nicer than the restaurant in the Thornbury Mezze.  We always sit in the bar area at Thornbury which is the better of the two eating areas.  

We ordered some drinks, Thatchers Gold for Sue and Leffe Blonde for me.  For the food we chose three mezze dishes, Blue Shark Souvlaki for Sue, Beef Stifado for me and a Greek Salad to share.  We ordered a side dish of Hand Cut Chips to share and there was the complimentary bowl of bread.  I would say the food here is at least as good as Thornbury if not slightly better, although Sue said she would not have the Blue Shark Souvlaki again.  The Wikipedia entry for Blue Shark says 'The flesh is edible, but not widely sought after'.  It was a little strange and presented on a stick, like a fish lollipop.  We decided to have desserts, Mezze Mess for Sue and ice cream for me.  I think we need to have another visit here.  The Downend Mezze is closer to home than the Thornbury one.

In the room where we were seated, there was one other table in use by a family with a young child called Zackary. I know his name because I must have heard it a thousand times that evening.   He was at that age where his doting parents had to spend every moment  attending to keeping him amused, happy and hopefully quiet.  He cried and screamed with a piercing shriek when things were not going his way.  When they finished their main course, I just prayed they would not have a dessert and just go and leave us in peace. But my hopes were dashed by the words, 'how many scoops of ice cream do you want Zachary, one, two or three?'  I don't know if they were trying to impress anyone in earshot that their infant could count. Zachary didn't reply, the concept of numbers being beyond his comprehension.  When they eventually packed up to leave, Sue pointed out to them that they had dropped a baby's bib on the floor and the mother thankfully retrieved it.  I observed that it would come in useful for stuffing in Zachary's mouth.  In the past, I have been accused of being a grumpy old man.  I can't understand why.

Chilli Oil

On Saturday afternoon, I decided to make some pizza dough.  I made four dough balls and put them in the refrigerator for use during the next week.

For some time now, I have been getting low on my homemade  chilli oil which I add to a cooked pizza, to 'spice it up' a bit.  It's about time I made some more, as I do enjoy it.  Making the pizza oil is very simple.  I cut open a number of hot dried chillies, to allow the oil easy access to the chilli interior.  The seeds are removed and discarded and the chillies are placed in a glass container and topped up with extra virgin olive oil (Felippo Berio).  I lost count of the number of chillies I used, but estimate it to be about 50.  It should be left for at least a week for the chilli heat to infuse into the oil.  The resulting chilli oil is incendiary hot and should be used sparingly.  Or maybe not.

The glass container is made from Spanish recycled glass, manufactured by La Mediterranea, and is known as 17009, ALCUZA PEQUEÑA.  It is available in 3 sizes and this is the medium size.  I first saw these for sale in a supermarket in San Jose, Ibiza and didn't buy one and regretted it afterwards.  Not long after, I saw them again for sale at, of all places, one of the stalls at the Bristol Harbour Festival.  This time I bought four, two medium and two small.   They are perfect for oil and balsamic vinegar.   

Change of Energy Supplier

Today it's raining yet again, so there's not a lot I can do outside. My cheap Gas and Electricity Energy deal came to an end at the end of March and I have been put back onto their standard tarrif, so I have been intending comparing the market to find the cheapest deal.  I use MoneySupermarket.com as they have sent me £30 in the past when changing suppliers using their web site.  It's a very simple process to fill out the online forms, you just need to know how much you are paying each month/year in terms of kWh or money.  Seconds later it displays a list of the deals ranked in order of annual savings.  I decided to go for the greatest saving of just over £200.  This also came with a price freeze until June 2013.  I filled out the forms, including bank details for the direct debit, selecting the debit date, clicked on 'Confirm and Send' and it was done.  I received a confirming email.  Seemples.     

First run for 5 months

This morning the sun was shining, an ideal opportunity to go for a run.  This will be my first proper run for 5 months, since getting plantar fasciitis.  I weighed myself before setting off.  My weight has risen to 11st 10lb, almost a stone and a half heavier than this time last year. I put on the running gear, heart rate monitor strap and Garmin Forerunner 310XT and the new Brooks Adrenaline GT12s.  I set off intending to do just 2 miles at a very relaxed pace.  After half a mile and feeling a lot better than anticipated, I changed that to 3 miles.  Around the 2 mile mark, there was some mild knee pain, but I was now a long way from home and kept going.  The pain didn't appear to get any worse and I completed the 3 miles in 32:38, an average pace of 10:53 at an average heart rate of 162 bpm with a  2 minute recovery heart rate was 35 bpm.  This time last year, I ran a 4 mile training run in the same time as todays 3 miles at the same average heart rate, with a 2 minute recovery heart rate of 46. I feel so unfit.

The 2 minute recovery heart rate is the statistic that interests me as its a good indicator of the overall state of the cardio vascular system.  There a scientific paper titled 'Importance of the First Two Minutes of Heart Rate Recovery after Exercise Treadmill Testing in Predicting Mortality and the Presence of Coronary Artery Disease in Men', by Michael J. Lipinski, BS, George W. Vectrovec, MD, and Victor F. Froelicher, MD.

http://www.cardiology.org/recentpapers/AJCHRR.pdf 

The article is heavy reading, but in a nutshell it says that a 2 minute recovery heart rate of less than 25 is an indicator that you have not long left in this world.

I put the Ant Stick into the netbook and the data transfered from the Garmin 310XT to the computer and uploaded to Garmin Connect to view the route taken and analyse the data.  It says I burned 414 calories.  A small contribution towards the 21 lbs that I want to lose.  The Bristol Half Marathon is in 4 months time.

In the afternoon, I received a very nice reply from Lupa Foods in response to my query about the La Carmela San Marzano tomatoes.  Their customer service is good.

San Marzano Delivery

This morning, there was a knock on the door.  It was a delivery man with a box containing my 12 cans of San Marzano tomatoes.  I unpacked them and found that, instead of the Annalisa brand as shown on the Lupa Foods website, they had sent me 12 cans of La Carmela brand.

I checked the label on the cans and found they were canned in the D'Acunzi factory in the appropriate region of Italy, not far in fact from the Annalisa factory.  Also, they were canned in San Marzano tomato juice and not cooked puree made from any old tomatoes.  So, they seem OK, but just not exactly what I was expecting.  I noticed that on the side of each can, hand written in red marker pen was the words 'campione omaggio'.  This translates as 'free sample'.  Very odd!!

Early in the afternoon, I received an email from Lupa Foods (Donatantonio Ltd) :

Thank you for your order no: 120501-101946-9238 placed on May 01 2012, 10:19 AM

The transaction was successful and we will ship your goods within the next 5 days.

Strange considering I received the order this morning.  I will reply to this email.

Breakfast, San Marzanos ordered, White Hart

This morning I gave Sam a lift to Christopher's house where he had left his car last night before going out for a few drinks. 

On returning home, having been very pleased with last night's pizza topped with tomato sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes, I decided to try again to track down a UK supplier.  I was successful with the Google search for 'san marzano tomatoes uk'.  Amongst the search results which included recipes, instructions for growing from seed, articles on the excellence of San Marzanos were 4 UK suppliers.  There are probably more which I will search out when I have time.  The suppliers can be found by clicking on the 'PIzza' tab.  I ordered a dozen cans of the Annallisa brand from Lupa Foods.

At 11:00 I headed off for the Three Brooks with my Toshiba netbook, mobile phone etc. for breakfast and to write up this blog. The Three Brooks provide free wi-fi.  I ordered a 'Big Breakfast' and a coffee. It seems they include  a standard filter coffee with milk in the price of the breakfast, so I paid a very reasonable £5.60 for all of this.

It was warm in the pub (I sat by a radiator which was pumping out the heat) and there was some pleasant background music.  The landlord came and lit the log fire near where I was sitting, which was nice.  There were just a handful of people in the bar.  One man commented to me that he thought I wasn't going to be able to finish the breakfast.  I only just managed it.  At 12:00 the bar started to fill up with people on their work lunchbreak.  I ordered a half pint of Peroni and continued blogging until 1:30 when I packed up and left for home.  A very enjoyable time.  I must do it again very soon.

In the evening we went to the White Hart at Iron Acton with Suzanne and Howard.

At the moment the pub has a 2 for £20 offer of a free bottle of house wine when you order any two meals from their special menu.  The offer is valid on Monday to Wednesday evenings 6 - 9 pm.  Sue and Suzanne chose red snapper, with rice, mange tout and a chilli sauce. Howard and I both chose Thai green chicken curry and rice.  I was expecting to receive small meals, but this was not the case.  There was so much chicken in the curry and it was a nice bottle of red wine.