Rainy Sunday

Today it rained again. Everyone was fed up, including Smiffy the cat.  He sat looking out of the front door, reluctant to venture outside and get his fur wet.   

In the afternoon Smiffy settled down to watch the snooker.

Sue recalled that he liked to watch the snooker last year as well.  Perhaps he is backing Judd Trump to win, or maybe he just thinks the balls are little coloured animals that he would like to kill.  

In the evening the rain stopped and the sun came out.  We drove to the Mezze @ the Royal George, Thornbury.  I ordered a pint of my favourite draft Leffe Blonde and a small Thatchers for Sue.  We sat at our reserved table and looked at the menu.   

Each Mezze dish is £4.50 or three for £12.  We chose three to share and also ordered some handcut chips.  I had Beef Stifado, which contained four large pieces of tender beef in a thick tasty sauce.  Sue had Scampi and we shared a Greek Salad, which means I get all the olives as Sue doesn't like them. There was also a bowl of toasted bread which was complimentary.  The food here is a bit special and the total bill including drinks came to a mere £21.

We called in at the Baileys Court Inn on the way home.

Skydrive

This evening I installed Microsoft's Skydrive on my Toshiba laptop / netbook.  I read the reviews comparing Skydrive, Dropbox, Google Drive etc. and came to the conclusion that Skydrive is the way to go for me.  I have a netbook running Windows 7, we have a desktop PC running Windows XP and I have a lot of Word documents and eXcel spreadsheets, so I / we are heavily Microsoft based.  Microsoft Skydrive it is then. 

After installation, I copied my Windows 7 documents folder to the Skydrive folder and the transfer to the 'Cloud' started automatically and completed.  I took advantage of Microsoft's limited period offer to upgrade my default 7 GB storage to 25 GB. 

I am now part of the 'Cloud computing' age. 

I also downloaded Bolero's Browser for Skydrive to my Android phone and browsed a couple of my 'Cloud' files.      

Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12

I had intended buying some new running shoes yesterday, but it rained constantly all day, so I used my time usefully and spent the day doing the food shopping instead.  Today, the weather is much better.


At lunchtime I drove over to Sue's place of work to see her in her lunch break.  It is then a short drive to Up & Running, North View, Westbury Park, where I am going to buy my new running shoes.  All the staff here are extremely helpful and knowledgeable about all apsects of running and are always ready for a chat about running.

I took along my old running shoes so they could tell the degree of pronation I need and bypass the gait analysis process.  I was then presented with a choice of 3 pairs of shoes (Brooks, Mizunos and Sauconys) which would suit me, the final decison to be made on the basis of fit, comfort and degree of cushioning.

My last pair were Saucony Hurricanes and before that, Mizuno Wave Inspire 5.  The Mizunos had a softer cushioning than the Saucony Hurricanes.  I thought I should at least go for Mizunos or maybe something even softer this time.  The Brooks shoes were Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12 and I was told that they had special technology that  adjusted the maximum cushioning to where it was needed.  For example, if you land on your heel then the cushioning is concentrated at the heel.  They certainly felt well cushioned to me and I chose to buy them.  They were £95 and I was offered 10% discount.  Sue had given me a £60 voucher for Christmas and so I left the shop with the shoes having parted with only £25.50.

On returning home I read some reviews of the Adrenaline GTS 12. They were praised for their prominent arch support and great cushioning and flexibility in heel and forefoot.  Just what a plantar fasciitis suffer needs, so I seem to have made the right decision.  We shall see.

I had intended taking them out for a test run tomorrow, but the weather forecast is for rain all day.  And I don't want to get my new shoes wet.

Pizza evening

On Sunday morning, Sue and Sam went to visit Sue's parents.  I was left home alone with the task of making the pizza dough for the evening.

I normally use 200g of flour for each pizza and I made two like this with 120g warm filtered water.  I also made two with 300g of flour adding 180g of water to make a thicker, soft crust .

The four dough balls were placed in bowls, covered with cling file and left to rise.

Christopher and Emma and Sam and Gemma were in attendance to eat the pizzas with Sue and I around to mop up anything the others couldn't manage.  Each pizza was made and cut into eight slices.  The four of them ate the two large pizza and one smaller pizza, before admitting defeat.  That left one pizza over which Sue and I shared - well, Sue had one slice and I ate the rest.

London Marathon

I spent this morning watching the London Marathon. I really miss running, it was a large part of my life.

I am still getting the occasional twinge of pain from the plantar fasciitis in my left heel. I have not been able to run seriously since 12th Dec last year and I feel unfit. I have put on weight and am almost a stone and a half heavier than this time last year. My jeans and some shirts feel tight and uncomfortable.

On Monday, I will go to Up & Running and buy a new pair of running shoes and go out for a gentle jog.

Pizza oven fixed

There is still no sign of the Pizza Oven switch yet, so I emailed Rainbow Catering. I received a very prompt reply to say they had checked with the courier and it was out for delivery.

I had completely given up hope, when at 19:40, a white van pulled up outside the house. It was the switch delivered by Fedex.

I phoned Christopher, who popped in on the way home from the gym and installed the new switch. What a star.

Pizza party soon.

Pizza oven failure

Easter is over and sadly, Sue has gone back to work. Sam has no work today and has gone with Gemma to Sandy Bay, Exmouth, to visit Gemma's family who are on holiday there. I am at home alone with a few jobs to do.

I had some pizza dough left over, which I made  a week ago. After a week in the fridge, the dough will produce a wonderful light, airy, crisp pizza. I turned on the pizza oven just after midday. Soon after 1:00 pm it was up to temperature. I left it for a while and on returning, I found that all the lights were out. I checked everything; power, fuses etc., and then found that the on/off switch was siezed up. The switch had been temperamental for some time and I had stopped using it, turning the oven on and off at the power switch on the wall instead. It seems the switch has finally died.

I phoned Christopher, who was not working today. He popped in on the way back from the gym and tested the switch with his meter and confirmed it was broken. Then he managed to prise out the switch from the oven and disconnect the wires.

I found the replacement switch on the Lincat Spares web site. The switch itself was inexpensive (£2.65 + vat), but the delivery was £7.50 + vat and would take 3 to 4 days to arrive. This is bad when compared to the P&P and delivery times I have recently experienced with eBay. I was reluctant to deal with this company. Christopher suggested that RS Components could have a suitable alternative. I drove down to RS Components and bought a switch which appeared identical, but on returning home found it to be slightly too large to fit in the aperture in the oven.

I ordered the correct replacement part online from Lincat Spares. Assuming they dispatch it tomorrow, Thursday 12th April, and allowing 4 working days for delivery, it should arrive here on Wednesday 18th. We will see.

Unfortunately, having spent so much time on the pizza oven, I hadn't done the jobs I should have done. Sue was not pleased, but to me, a broken pizza oven is a  major catastrophe and just has to be attended to immediately, especially as I have a new bag of Caputo in the house.

Tesco Beer Offer

Tesco have a good beer offer on at the moment, which runs until 30th April. Some lager type beers are 3 for 2 and nearly all of their bottled ales are 'Any 4 for £5.50'.

I bought 3 x 75cl bottles of Leffe Blonde and 4 x 500ml bottles of ale, all these for less than £12.

Old Crafty Hen 6.5% abv

McEwans Champion 7.3% abv
Exmoor Beast 6.6% abv
Wychwood King Goblin 6.6% abv


The real bargain here is the Old Crafty Hen which normally sells for £2.79 a bottle and at 4 for £5.50 works out less than half price.

Pizza with the new Caputo flour

We are well and truly back from holiday now and the weather has changed and is much cooler, so I am in need of some hot comfort food for my lunch. It's time to try out the new bag of Caputo Pizza flour.

Making the dough, I started with 60% hydration level (i.e. 60g of water per 100g of flour). The dough turned out very soft and 'wet' and so I added more flour to adjust the hydration level to 58%. This was better and more easy to handle. The flour in the previous bag had gone a few months past its 'best before' date and it was no longer possible to produce a satisfactory smooth dough even with 62% hydration. You usually get about 8 months from the date of purchase until the best before date and a 25kg bag of flour makes approx. 125 pizzas.

I use 200g of flour for each pizza base and make 2 pizza bases at a time. i.e 400g of flour.

Method: Put all the water into the food processor bowl. Add 1/2 to 2/3 of the flour and mix until smooth. Leave for 20 - 30 mins. (this rest period is called 'autolyse').

After the rest period, add the yeast, salt and the remainder of the flour and process until  a smooth dough is achieved. Divide into two balls and cover with cling film.

Leave to rise. I made four dough balls, one for now and I put the remaining three in the fridge for a slow rise to be used at a later date. The dough improves with time. In the past I have used up to seven day old refrigerated dough and it produces a very light and airy pizza base.

Here is the assembled pizza before going into the oven at 400 deg C. The toppings are tomato sauce, mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan, pitted green olives, red chili peppers, fresh basil and a swirl of extra virgin olive oil.

I checked the pizza after 90 secs and it was done, so I quickly whipped it out before it burnt. At 400 deg C there is very little lee way. The oven takes takes over an hour to get up to temperature and the pizza is done after 90 secs to 2 minutes.

The crust was soft, light and full of air pockets. The new flour is a huge improvement, but the last bag may have originally been the same but just deteriorated over time. Time will tell.








Sue arrived home from work at around 5:00 pm and she sat down with a cup of tea and the newspaper to relax. Smiffy joined her. I didn't realise he could read.

Later in the evening Suzanne, Howard and Sara came round for drinks. Howard brought his recently purchased iPad 2 with him. Sue and Howard played with their iPads and made Facetime calls. 

Holiday at Burnham-on-Sea Holiday Village 24/3 - 2/4

I attempted to update the blog while on holiday using my laptop tethered to my Samsung mobile, and while this arrangement allowed me perfect 3G internet access, for some reason, uploading photos to Blogger was taking a very long time, so I abandoned it in favour of updating on our return.

We spent 10 days staying in a luxury caravan at  Burnham-on-Sea Holiday Village, a Haven Holidays venue. The caravan was the largest we have stayed in, 14 x 40 ft, with double glazing and central heating. It had a lot of decking with patio table and chairs on the veranda. There was a dishwasher, washing machine/tumble drier, a fridge and freezer, combi microwave, toaster, 32" flat screen TV, DVD player and a remote controlled electric fire. The bedroom had a king size bed, flatscreen TV and en suite toilet with bath and shower. There was also a separate toilet and shower.

The site was very clean and tidy and there were 2 picturesque fishing lakes. There was an on site bar/restaurant, the Mash and Barrel and the Showbar with entertainment including live cabaret acts, 'blue coat' shows, disco dancing etc. There were indoor and outdoor pools and crazy golf, archery, football pitches, tennis courts, bike hire and much more. 

The weather was excellent. We had 9 days of sunshine with blue cloudless skies. Temperatures were in the low 20's, exceptional weather for March.

When we arrived, I looked at the map for local attractions. There was Cheddar, Wedmore, Wooky Hole, Clarkes Village, Wells, Minehead, Exmoor, Lynton and Lynmouth, but we did none of them. The weather was so good, we just sat on the caravan veranda and relaxed, ate and drank and sunbathed. We walked and went for runs on the footpath beside the River Brue and explored Burnham. In the evenings we either ate in the Mash and Barrel, or cooked in the caravan. We did eat once in an Indian Restaurant in Burnham called the Chandni. Checking Trip Advisor for the Chandni, 8 of the 13 reviews were 5 star, so we had high hopes. My thoughts follow later.

As Burnham is so close to home, we had some visitors. On the Tuesday morning, Dave and Jan came to visit and we showed them around the site and the lakes and Burnham and had a coffee sat by the outdoor swimming pool. Christopher came to visit on the Thursday evening and we had a meal and drinks in the Mash and Barrel. Sam came to visit on Saturday afternoon and we showed him round and had a meal together.

It was a wonderful relaxing holiday. And just 35 miles from home.

When we got back home,we were still feeling in the holiday mood, so we went out for supper to the Three Brooks.  


Here are some holiday photos. 

Our Home for 9 Days

The Kitchen




Sport Relief Mile - Burnham

The Lake

Sue by the Lake

Lunch al Fresco

Winnie the Pooh Claw Machine

This Claw Machine was in the amusement arcade in the Entertainment Complex by the Mash and Barrel bar/restaurant. It was full of Winnie the Pooh cuddly toys and Sue was determined to win one. Whenever the claw grabbed one of the bears, it would start to lift up and then the bear would drop out. Sue must have put about £10 into that machine at 20p a go without a single win.

When we got home, I had a look on eBay and found an almost identical Winnie the Pooh. There were no bids on it and the auction ended the following morning. I won it for a fraction of the £10 Sue had spent. It arrived in the post today (Thurs 5th April).

more to follow.

Chandni Indian Restaurant - Burnham

We were greeted at the door of the Chandni and invited to sit at a table of our choice. It was a Monday evening and the restaurant was not busy. The interior decor was very modern and it looked as if it had recently been refurbished.

They had Kingfisher and Cobra on draft, so we both ordered Cobra (which is less fizzy) and poppadoms and pickle tray to start.

When eating out at an Indian restaurant, I always compare it to our favourite, the Taj Brasserie in Winterbourne. The Chandni pickle tray had four smallish dishes: onion salad, lime pickle, mango chutney and yougurt mint sauce. The Taj present you with six large size dishes: onion salad, lime pickle, mango chutney, yogurt mint sauce, coconut chutney and olives and I have not found better.

Sue ordered a salmon dish, with pilau rice and I opted for chicken tikka madras with pilau rice and a peshwari naan to share.

Sue's meal looked very impressive. I wish I had taken a photograph. There were two large salmon fillets covered with a curry sauce and the central feature was a whole onion carved to look like a flower. Sue said it was the best curry meal she had ever had.

My chicken tikka madras looked good. There was no sign of the usual oil you often get floating on the top of the curry sauce. The sauce had a very thick consistency and was about average heat for a madras. Indian restaurants make their base curry sauce from a puree of onion, ginger and garlic, spices, tomatoes, tomato puree and perhaps some other vegetables. The onions should be cooked slowly so that they become sweet and the raw taste is cooked out. Unfortunately, there was still a raw onion taste in this sauce, which spoilt it for me. Also, I found the chicken to be strange. Instead of the usual fibrous texture, this was more homogenous. Difficult to explain, but I have experienced chicken like this at other Indian establishments. Perhaps it could be due to the tikka marinating process. Sue had been very impressed with her meal, but sadly not so for me.   

At the end of the meal, we were presented with a free glass of Baileys and mint chocolates which was a very nice touch. The service and attention we received was first class.


Summer Time

This morning on ITV's Daybreak we had Dr Guy Meadows, a sleep expert from the Sleep School, advising on how we can deal with the problems caused by the clocks changing this coming week-end. He advised that we should go to bed half an hour earlier tonight and get up half an hour earlier on Saturday morning. On Saturday night we should go to bed a whole hour earlier and then when the change actually happens during the night, we will be well prepared. People had been contacting the show with their stories of the terrible problems they and their children have experienced when we change to British Summer Time.

What next? Stress counselling for people badly traumatised by the disruption to their lives caused by the hour time change? It occurs to me that, by following Dr Guy's advice, there could be even more trauma, caused by having to go to bed halfway through ITV's Benidorm on Friday night.

Personally, my biggest problem is going round the house changing every watch and clock (not forgetting the cars) ensuring that they are all accurate to the second. This year we will be away on holiday in Burnham, so I will not be home to do the time changes. I will do it on my return from holiday then.



There was a knock on the door at 08:00 this morning. It was the Parcel Force lady with my new 25 kg bag of Caputo Pizzeria flour. I ordered it last Sunday from Nifeislife, the Italian online deli. They provide a very good service. You can choose your preference for delivery day. They also email you weekly with details of various offers. I always wait for the half price delivery offer.  

There is enough flour in the bag to make 125 pizzas. Pizza parties soon then.

Holiday booked

Having fallen for the charms of Burnham on Sea and the Haven Holiday Village on Monday, we have spent the last two days finding accomodation and booking a holiday there.

Sue searched the internet and found a beautiful caravan which was available for w/c Sat 24th March for 9 nights at a very reasonable price. It is 40 x 14 ft, with lots of decking, dishwasher, washing machine/drier, etc.




Sue has now booked the time off work and I have paid for the caravan, so we are definitely going on Saturday. This is the closest to home that I have ever had a holiday. I can't wait.




Last night I was looking for the cat before going to bed. I eventually found him.

A sunny day at Weston-Super-Mare

Monday was fine and sunny all day starting from sunrise. Sue and Sam departed for work and college respectively and I made up my mind to make the most of the fine weather and go out for the day later on, either in the car or on the bike. 

During the morning Sue phoned and said she was thinking of taking the afternoon off from work and going out for a walk. The objective of the walk was to ease the knee pain she had been experiencing since driving my car home from Midsomer Norton last Friday evening. It had been caused by Vauxhall inconsiderately locating the clutch pedal in an awkward position. I said, in that case, I would wait until she got home from work and then we could go out for a walk together. I passed the time usefully by polishing the car.

We set off in the car shortly after 1:00 pm and headed down the M5 aiming for Weston Super Mare. We arrived at W-S-M and parked the car in a residential area I know of, avoiding costly car park fees. We walked along the sea front past The Old Colonial, Bar Zaar, etc and headed for the new Grand Pier.

On the Pier, Sue changed up some pound coins and started to play the 'penny falls' coin pusher machines. I believe the best strategy with these is to find a machine with a good central overhang of coins and then to insert your coins in the middle slot. Inserting coins near the edges pushes others into the 'house tray' at each side and so is best avoided. If or when you have achieved a significant win, then you must move on to another machine. If you continue to pump more money into the same one, over time you WILL lose.

It was at this point that I realised I had left my mobile phone in the car on view on the central console. I knew that I would be unable to relax and enjoy the afternoon unless I returned to retrieve it. I thought it would be wise to be quick, otherwise, left on her own with the Pier amusement machines, Sue would be capable of losing a small fortune. So I jogged from the pier back to the car (a distance of about half a mile) and then back again. This is the furthest I have run since early December and at the time of writing, my heel is still relatively pain free. Not entirely so, but it is an encouraging indication that the plantar fasciitis, which has been with me since early December, is finally improving.

After the Pier visit, we headed for the shops. Poundland is always a favourite. There is always the possibility of finding a real bargain for ..... a pound. Last year I bought a live Stereophonics DVD for £1 in Poundland, Exeter.

Burnham on Sea

We headed back towards the car and stopped off at the Old Colonial (Marstons Inns) for a coffee. It was going to be a fine evening so we decided to drive to Burnham on Sea. We arrived at Burnham just as the sun was about to set, so I took a few pictures. I quite like this one:

We walked around for a while and then, as it was getting dark and cold, we drove around the town. There are plenty of pubs, cafes, restaurants and a small pier, the shortest pier in Britain in fact. We started to drive towards home and had not gone far when we saw a sign for Burnham on Sea Holiday Village. We just had to go in to investigate.

We parked outside the  Entertainment Complex and headed towards the entrance. As luck would have it, as we got to the door, the security man responsible for checking entertainment passes was distracted talking to someone, so we slipped in unnoticed. We passed an assortment of amusement machines and went into the Mash and Barrel restaurant/bar. It all looked brand new. 

At the bar I ordered a pint of San Miguel, my favourite 'ordinary' lager and a draft Gaymers pear cider for Sue. We sat down and I looked at the menu. I read out the vegetarian options to Sue. She had left her reading glasses in the car and couldn't go out to retrieve them as she would need to get in past security again.

We ordered our meals, vegetable lasagna, with chips, garlic bread and salad for Sue,

 and a chicken fillet burger with chips and salad for me.

The meals were very good. Better quality than good pub grub and for £5.95 each, a real bargain. Feeling full, we made our way upstairs to the show bar, purchased more drinks and settled down to an hour of first class entertainment. The cabaret act was a singer/comedian.

Sadly, we had to set off for home. Sue had to go to work the next day. The walk around Weston had been successful in easing Sue's knee pain and my heel was OK.