Exciting Week

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It has been a very busy week off. We enjoyed out App Group meet-up on Monday night. We went to Miso again, which is an all-you-can-eat restaurant - but not a buffet! You are given menus and you can choose 3 items each at a time - and when they bring that food you get another order form and order some more. You keep doing that until you are full and couldn't eat another grain of rice!



Miso - before it got busy!

I would definitely recommend the Chicken Nanban, (which Nathan insisted on calling chicken Gangnam style!) Cucumber sushi and the Catsu. I enjoyed the plum wine and Nathan had the Sapporo beer. The company was good too. We talked to Katherine and Chris of Lightwood Games. They had spent a few days hobnobbing with Johnny Ball - who had been emailing them since. They may decide to work with him on producing educational apps - a new direction for them. 

 

It seems from talking to the others there that Nathan is the only one round here who has been shortlisted for the Creative Bloq App Generator Awards down in London later in the week. We'd all had invitations but only Nathan's had said he was shortlisted for a prize! We had assumed they short-listed most people to get us all down there! Things may be looking quite hopeful then....



Nice cherry blossom wallpaper :-)

At one point during the meal the waitress brought a bowl of a mysterious substance - and asked us who had ordered the Japanese Radish! No-one on our table owned up to that - but we told her we'd try it anyway. We expected it to be either sour and pickled or hot like wasabi - but it was really sweet and very nice. A bit like pineapple.

Mysterious Japanese Radish

The lady who owns Miso is so nice! She had asked us to move tables as a much larger party than ours arrived and we had the biggest table. We didn't mind at all, we got to go and sit in the sunken seating with cushions!  But at the end of the night, to make up for the inconvenience she took all the drinks off our bill! She is great! I'd recommend it for a good night out - it is always busy - but then that is the sign of a good restaurant!

We didn't intend to stay too late - but we were enjoying ourselves so much it was a bit of a late night.

What's more - we had arranged to go out to lunch with our parents the next day. They haven't met up since Christmas Day so we thought it might be fun!


We had decided to all meet up at The Weathervane - a Hungry Horse pub at Meir Park - near the Tesco. It was a bit of a chilly day. We chose it because it was quite central for all of us - Nathan's parents came from Stone, my parents from Cheadle and we came from Newcastle. Also - I had a £5 off voucher for being on their mailing list! :-)

Mmmmm - chicken.

The food was very nice and you could choose BIG versions of most of the items on the menu. I went for the New York chicken which meant it was covered in barbecue sauce, wrapped in bacon and smothered in cheese. Healthy eh?

Just the kind of food you need on a cold February day. Also, since my mum was there and doesn't feel that a meal is complete without one - we had to have a sweet too! She enjoyed a syrup sponge and custard, N's mum had cheesecake and N and I shared a big chocolate brownie sundae.



Our parents at The Weathervane

Then, when we looked out of the window we saw that it had been snowing and everywhere was rapidly becoming white! So, we decided not to hang around and we all went our separate ways. It was pretty bad driving in it - this time it didn't stick - so all was well.

We did spend Wednesdays indoors. We were off to London on Thursday until Friday - so we got on with some work and stayed warm and cosy.

Next episode - The Trip to London and the Creative Bloq Awards!

Stay tuned :-)



Hospital Visit

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Back from the hospital. It was so busy this morning - we had to go up to the top of the multi-storey car park and half-way down again before we found a space.

We guessed that it must mean that the whole place was busy - and we were right! We had quite a wait in the main waiting room. That was fine though - as we saw Frank and his wife waiting there too so we could catch up. It was so nice to see him!

 He was looking quite thin - but he said that he had his PEG out a couple of weeks ago (horrendous experience he said - and I would agree!) so was actually eating real food now - supplemented by the liquid food. So, hopefully he'll fatten up a bit soon. Nothing tastes nice though - and he can't eat a lot. He has a very dry mouth and needs water with everything. It is some progress though.

The not so good news though was that he has another lump in his neck and one in his chest. So last week he was back having another scan. He was waiting for the results today. I hope it is not serious. On the good news side - they have booked a holiday and are looking forward to that in May.

After about an hour we were called round to Sub Wait 1 and I hadn't got far with my Su Doku when we were called into the Corridor of Consultants! We were taken past the usual door and went into a room further down the corridor. There was Mr Hughes!! I haven't seen him since just after my operation. He said "It's a year since your operation" - so I guess that's why he saw me today, to see how I was doing. There was a room full of people, not all familiar - I recognised Wendy the Special Nurse and a young man called Neil did the honours with the nose cam today. He took his time and was very gentle - but it still made my eyes water! (Note to self - don't buy any unwaterproof mascara again!)

Wendy said to Mr Hughes that I had a "good neck" I did wonder what she was on about! From what I could gather from their conversation they'd  had a patient in who was just about to undergo a Radical Neck Dissection and wanted to know how she would look afterwards. Mr Hughes didn't think that I wold enjoy meeting her though!

He did say that all was well with me though - and he would see me back in two months! So my next appointment isn't until April! I am quite happy with that.

Tonight we are going to Miso in Stoke for some Japanese food and another Meet-Up with the App Creators of Stoke. Chris and Katherine will be there - they have just come back from an educational technology fair, where they met Johnny Ball. You know - Zoe's dad - did "Think of a Number" and other such gems on TV. I will be able to hear all about it. I think he liked their educational apps!

I probably won't be able to contribute much to the conversation but I will enjoy the food and maybe a small glass of their wonderful Plum wine. :-)

Is it really a YEAR???

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It seems like ages since I blogged last - but now I have got a week off so I'll be able to catch up and let you know how things are going.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the consultant team - it is six weeks since my last one on Christmas Eve! I'll let you know how that goes.

Meanwhile we have been celebrating because on 31st January it was exactly twelve months since I had my surgery to remove all the cancer on my neck. I remember just afterwards not being able to eat much - or speak properly - what a difference a year makes. I feel perfectly normal again now!! Heehee - if I ever WAS normal!!

Do you remember the photo from 4 days after the op? Click here to go back in time :-)

So to celebrate me being able to eat without pain - we went to one of our favourite places in Newcastle - The Blue Chilli - highly recommended if you like Thai Food. We only discovered last week that it had actually moved from King Street (near the roundabout with the fountains) to opposite Brunswicks. It is above the shoe shop near Hacking Ashtons Solicitors.

We can report that the food is just as good and the service still extremely friendly. We did pop into The Rigger for a drink beforehand - I really like the beer  pumps shaped like guitar necks. It was pretty quiet in there as it was early - although one girl was very much the worse for wear. We saw her friends walking her around outside until a taxi arrived and they put her in it - then came back into the pub to carry on partying. Hope she was okay!!            

New Blue Chili

We walked down to the Blue Chili in the rain and walked up the stairs. it is so nice and light up there - with their new chandeliers and  great views over Newcastle.

The bar is pretty well stocked although no real ales so Nathan and I shared a bottle of Rose wine and Laura had Malibu and lemonade.

The men has changed and seems to have more choice - although my favourite Gloden Chicken is still there. I couldn't resist it - so I ordered it with some of their wonderful coconut rice and crispy noodles.



New Chandelier

Fun at the Lymestone Vaults

Laura went for a Yellow Curry with tofu and Nathan tried a chicken curry - also with coconut rice. It was pretty good! When we came out it wasn't so wet - so we walked into town to the Lymestone Vaults - so N could get some real beer! It was heaving (well it was Friday night!) but we squeezed our way to the bar - and then were lucky enough to find a sofa free that we could sit on. After a couple of drinks we decided to move on - but y them most places were charging to go in! So we went to a café bar down near the job centre, where it was free to get in. That was also very busy so we came home after that. Got a taxi home and the driver thought it was hilarious that Nathan told him to go back via Buffet Gardens - instead of Buffet Island. he kept saying that he was going to go in and tell them they should change their name - they'd do loads more business as it was a much better name!

He was very funny - much better than the taxi driver we had going - who didn't say a word - just had Radio Stoke on really loud with some phone-in programme about what people thought of the manager.
We'd had a lovely night though - and now I have a week off and have all kind of adventures planned including a trip to London for another Microsoft Event at Modern Jago.



Lymestone Vaults

I will keep you all updated as the week progresses...





Different weekend....

Out in the Snow

Do you like our Snow Cat?

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Well, we didn't have the weekend we'd planned.

We were meant to be off to Oxford to visit with Greg in his new flat. He wanted to take us to the Pitt Rivers Museum - which is meant to be full of weird and wonderful exhibits brought back by intrepid Victorian explorers. Things like shrunken heads and body art and other wonders. Nathan wanted to take me to Mission Burritos as he loves the Mexican fast food they do and I wanted to go to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant which Greg says is pretty good.

However all those plans went awry with the arrival of the snow. We did hope for a while it might not be too bad but halfway through Friday we decided we'd be safer staying at home.

Poor Tracy had a hair-raising journey to the library. It usually takes just 8 minutes - it took her 45 minutes in the snow. Then when she'd been there for just half an hour the boss called to say the libraries were closing. So she had to drive back home again! Luckily she was okay :-) She'd had one customer in that time - who seemed shocked that the library was closing - she didn't think it was that bad!

So we spent all of Friday indoors looking at the white stuff through the windows.

Outside the French Windows

Through the kitchen window

By Saturday we were fed-up of staying indoors and wanted to enjoy the snow a bit and get some fresh air! So we went out for a walk - over the marshes to May Bank and The Victoria pub. This is a busy place - but when we got there the car park was empty. Reassuringly, the lights were on so we went in and the was the wonderful smell of carvery. Sat atop the gleaming stainless steel was a huge turkey - complete and as yet uncarved. There were a couple of other people in there and the bar and kitchen staff. So we took of out hats and gloves and scarves and outer coats and sat down. It was lovely. We had warming drinks - I had some of Stone's Ginger Wine and Nathan has Christmas flavoured beer - called Frosty Bells. Quite suited to the conditions I think you'll agree :-)

We did go for the Carvery and it was delicious. it was so nice and warm in thee we didn't want to go back out into the cold. We lingered by the Quiz Machine and tried to win some money out of it by playing Monopoly. Sadly we didn't make a profit - mainly due to not knowing who won the FA Cup in 2008 and which baseball player had the best average in 1998.

It was fun though! Then we steeled ourselves, wrapped up again and went back outdoors to make the trek home through deep snow. We were quite disappointed that no-one had built a snowman on the Marshes - there was so much of the stuff. So, when we got back home we went into the back and built our own Snow Cat.

Today (Sunday) we once again have stayed in. We haven't been to Cheadle or Stone to see parents. I Skyped my mum and dad - so we could see they were fine!

I am just a bit worried as it has begun to snow again and I have to return to work tomorrow. I find it very scary driving in snow and ice but Nathan has said that he'll take me if it looks bad.

Hope things are okay wherever you are!

xx

Snow - good or bad?

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Well snow is certainly pretty - but as we are meant to be driving down to Oxford this weekend I'm not so sure I love it that much. :-)

I do have Friday and Saturday off so if it gets too bad we'll just have to snuggle up in front of the fire and catch up with some Dexter. That is my current favourite TV show and I still have a long way to go to catch up to the current series. That's a GOOD thing - so many more episodes to look forward to. Nathan and I are just finishing watching both Dr Who and Torchwood from the beginning. Well - since Christopher Eccleston (my fave Doctor)  - not Patrick Troughton and all those....

We've had a few boiler problems recently - and had to call our the Glow-worm man in the end. He fixed the problem - then turned it off and got us to sign a form saying that we know it is not quite right and it's our responsibility if we switch it back on. Of course we did - and it is working so much better now!

It seems that the problem is that the gas pipe supplying the boiler is not the correct diameter - too narrow. So that could potentially mean that if we had the heating and hot water going - it could lessen the supply to the hob. If we'd left something cooking on there then the flame could go out only for the gas to come back through later when the heating was off. This could be dangerous - unless we keep an eye on things when we are cooking them. Which we do anyway - so I'm not too worried.

We will have to get the problem fixed though - otherwise we won't be able to have a new boiler fitted - or sell the house! A job for summer I think. We have no idea where the gas pipe goes between coming in at the front of the house and popping up by the boiler right at the back of the house - so it could be a very messy job (pulling up my tiled kitchen floor and/or my solid cherry wood floor in the lounge and hall) So it could be costly too - looks like this summer won't be the one where we go to Las Vegas either.

Still - something to work towards and look forward to for a little longer :-)

In Library news we had another famous poet at my library. This time it was John Lindley - the Cheshire Poet Laureate. He was so nice and friendly. Sadly I didn't get to go into the session with the Keele Poets - as it was a day when we were open. However he looked very happy when he came out and said that they were a great group. He asked where they could go and get a coffee - so I directed them up to The Bush pub. There are no coffee shops in Silverdale. I think there's a gap in the market here....

So, I think the session went really well. I think Nine Lives of the Cat is my favourite poem I've read of his.
I discovered also that Julia Donaldson had written a blog about when she came to Silverdale - have a look here.

Colin and Dilys on the occasion of his birthday.

I wonder who we should invite next??


We had a celebration this week - it was Nathan's dad's birthday on the 12th January. We went to The Crown in Stone and had a wonderful meal in their Holland's Restaurant. Very English fare - I had braised steak - which was so tender, N and his mum had lamb chops and the birthday boy had steak pie. All served with seasonal vegetables and delicious dauphinoise potatoes. Yummy.



On the health side of things - I am feeling great. I have a couple of appointments in the first week of February. one is with physio - so he can check whether I have been keeping up with my exercises! The other will be my check-up.

Hope all of you are keeping well - and warm!

xx

More festive photos

Playing games at Dom and Sharon's
 

New Year's Eve hats!

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Hi
I am writing this on my new (very small) laptop. Thanks to my parents :-)
It is a great Christmas present - much lighter, smaller and quicker to fire up than my previous one. That is twice the size, really heavy and takes so long to get going you have time to go and have a shower while waiting for something to happen. It must be over 7 years old - which is positively geriatric for a computer these days!

The new one is an Asus - with touch screen and Windows 8. The most impressive thing though is that  - it fits in my handbag!! I am very impressed :-)

My dad popped his tiny memory card from his camera into it - and it downloaded over 150 photos on less than 10 seconds - and put them into their own folder.

So I thought I'd share a few here....

Enthusiastic Party Popper Action!

Laura, Nathan and Me toast the New Year

Aftermath........

Happy New Year!

Christmas at The Wheatsheaf

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Happy New Year to you all. I can't believe that the Festive Season has been and gone. I have to take my Christmas tree down this weekend.

For now though I'm relaxing in bed with a big box of Dairy Box chocolates. I was just thinking - while I tried to choose one I actually like - what they used to be like. I loved them when you got Turkish Delight and that wafer one. All those flavoured creams ones too - they were yummy!  There is nothing like that at all! All praline and truffle. I don't think I'm sophisticated enough for these :-)

Mr C telling me about his Christmas :-)

Anyway - I am back at work properly now and we have been really busy today. Seems like everyone is getting back to normal. it was great!

Mr C was in telling me about how well his New Year has begun - with winners on the horses!

 Next week we get all the classes back too - and the Poets are starting off the New Year with a bang - by having another Poetry workshop - this time with John Lindley, Cheshire's Poet Laureate.

Parents at Christmas :-)

Dominic, Sharon and Sarah modelling their Christmas jumpers!

I had such a lovely Christmas Day - it was so stress-free going out for lunch. I have to say that The Wheatsheaf in Cheadle did a fantastic job. It was wonderful. They seated 13 of us in our own area with plenty of room and the Christmas Tree. They even took photos of us all and put them on their Facebook Page. The food was so nice - thee was a free Buck's Fizz on arrival and four courses, including a cheese platter for everyone. They even coped with a vegetarian and a vegan! Hopefully Nathan's parents didn't feel too outnumbered by the Ashtons! It was great to have everyone together. :-) I really enjoyed it.

Also had a wonderful birthday - on New Year's Eve. N took me to see a film that I've been dying to see - The Life of Pi. We saw it in 3D - and it was breath-taking. Especially the opening sequences from Pondicherry Zoo. I just wanted to reach out and pet the animals. It was amazing!

I was so happy to see that the film stuck very close to the book - which we read in the Silverdale Book Group some time ago.

It was quite a feat! Nathan loved it too - it was very thought-provoking. Great stuff! I would recommend it.

Had a nice birthday party at my parents on NYE too. We saw the New Year in - in style!

Cheeseboard

I am sure that 2013 is going to be a great year!

Now I just need to finish these chocolates - then I can get back to healthy eating!!