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Home > Blogs > Norfolk Single Dad > Posted in April 2007 Norfolk Single DadPosted in April 2007A slice of English life in all its glory, through the eyes of a 39 year-old single dad and his amazing 4 year-old son.... After The Party...
Source: Eddie2sox When me and Sam got in the car we were both pretty upset, Sam cos he wanted to stay and play, me I don't know why.... But we got in, I asked Sam what we wanted on the stereo ("The View") so we drove home to the sound of Dundee's finest.
I've just got off the phone to Sam's Nana and Grandad. The party was a complete success for them, so all of Lou and Kay's hard work has been SOOO worthwhile. It was such a good occasion. My dad deserves it. At one point I heard him confide in my Uncle Barry "All these people here, they're all here because of me". He's right. Six children, thirteen grandchildren, Errrrm umpteen great-grandchildren so far. My dad, what a man! Happy Birthday Dad!
So back to mummy's. On the way into King's Lynn Sam cried again, "I want to sleep at our flat Daddy". Very hard to hear. I'd tried to make the trip home fun - photos etc - and we noticed that the Sun and Moon were both out at the same time which tickled Sam. Me and Sam had a REALLY close huggle (hug and cuddle) before I left.
So homeward, and I went to The Woolpack from 9 until 1045, an hour more than last week! Just what I needed. Got to the bar - gasping. Alongside were Colin, Timkof, and Les The Duck. Amazingly THEY all got served ahead of me, cheeky sods! We had a good moan like Grumpy Old Men do. Some peeps tried to take the mickey about Super Leeds being relegated. Ho hum. Georgie The Sexy Single Mum popped in looking agitated. I headed home to watch Match Of The Day.
Aftermath
Well, the reason Georgie TSSM was looking agitated was because there was trouble afoot! A Woolpack regular, currently with a broken arm (one arm in a sling) was jumped by three cars full of chavs (14 or 15 of them). Georgie and Channie tried to help. The end result was Channie being head-butted and Georgie being thrown onto the road in front of the traffic.
We asked why the girls didn't pop into the pub to mention what was going on. Similar happened last summer, and when 6 of us hairy-assed old men turned out to help, the "aggressors" weren't seen for dust. Apparently, the names of some of last night's attackers are known. Good! It's a matter of time before a few cars arrive outside their home and rag them out. For the record, I will NOT be involved, and nor will any of my mates. But justice will be done!
To report this post follow the permalink above Grandad's Party
Source: Eddie2sox A huge family gathering, which was quite awesome A surprise party was arranged for my dad's birthday this year, and it was GREAT! We all gathered at the ATC hut in Sleaford, and most of the family were there. Fantastic. Should I attempt a cast list? Probably not as I don't know or would get most names wrong.
So, me dad and mum were chauffeured into the car park by nephew Dean, and Dad emerged from the car waving to the adoring masses like a red carpet regular. There was a "Happy Birthday" banner stuck across the door, so Dad had to cut it with scissors in the official way! He headed up to the top table with me mum, and our Uncle Barry and Auntie Val (who still looks EXACTLY how she did 30 years ago when we used to gather at their house in Lincoln to play "Newmarket" at Christmas time).
Sam was a bit overawed by the sheer number of kids about the same age as him! Most of them have been in school for a year or two as well, and have gained more social behaviour than Sam, who sometimes found it a bit upsetting. Like when someone wouldn't klet him play with his football on his own. But Sam will get into school and gain the confidence to play with big groups of our family! He's only three after all, and he did join in most of the games, especially the "let's all sit on Cousin Chris' back" one. I think poor old Chris may be aching a bit today! Sam DID seem to be popular though, he is my rising star after all. When it was time to eat "The Feast" was uncovered......a Chinese takeaway for 200, or so it seemed....lovely! I arranged a few items on a Scooby-Doo plate for Sam, along with some rice....he didn't like the taste. He DID try it all though, what a good lad! I didn't like Chinese takeaway food until I was about 12, so it's not much of a surprise. So then I brought the "emergency" spaghetti bolognaise from the car and Sam tucked in heartily. He even shouted to Grandad at the top table to tell him what he was eating! I raided the buffet Chinese and piled up my plate, lovely!
Sam was REALLY sociable at this party, and was in and out (mainly out) playing with his relatives all the time. It were great to see him running round with the other nippers, I hope there are many more meetings like it in the coming years so they can grow up knowing each other. Sam did have a few crying moments, mainly because he's used to a VERY supervised and ordered nursery environment, but he did enjoy the whole thing a lot!
We gathered round to watch Grandad cut his birthday cake, and we all sang Happy Birthday, and the Grandad made a little speech which was curtailed when he seemed to be all emotional. Don't blame me Dad, I would too in the circumstances. Then it was time for photos. About 20 years ago there was a photo taken of ALL my Dad's grandchildren, and that picture was recreated yesterday. But with Sam in it as well, held by his Daddy, sorry if I ruined your pics. Sam was included as he's the latest, and probably last, addition to the Grandchildren. Then we had a "parents and children" photo, and then we had to do a runner. It was nearly half past seven, and there was a time limit (albeit a loose one) on Sam getting back to Mummy's.
I felt SO pissed off when we were leaving, and Sam was crying because he wanted to stay and play with his newest friends. VERY depressing. It's tragic that the way MY life has panned out is affecting Sam's life, this was a really good, or bad, example. So we were both pretty fed-up and upset. I carried Sam back into the hut to say goodbye, and he yelled it at top volume.....I don't think either of us were prepared for the barrage of "Bye Bye Sam"s that came back.....everyone in the room must have shouted it. *pause.....getting a bit emotional*.......so then we got back in the car together. I was on the verge of crying, how gay! So I asked Sam what he wanted to listen to in the car. Sam said "The View" so we turned the volume up and headed homeward. I was soooooo sad to be leaving before the end of the party, but circumstances mean we have to......
I had put my photo albums in the car to show people at the party - but forgot! However, on the drive back, Sam asked to have a look at them. We had a nice time, Sam laughing at some photos (him with his head in the washing machine in particular), asking lots of questions about some, and getting honest answers. He saw some photos of Tim The Cat, who is still alive at Mummy's house, with another cat. I had to explain that the other cat was called Tawnie and was Tim's mummy, but she had been very poorly and was in heaven. Sam cried. For Tawnie, a cat he'd never even seen. He said "I want Tawnie to be here now". What can you say? I just reassured Sam that Tawnie was now very happy living in cat heaven and catching 10 mice every day.
Sam had such fun looking at the pictures. I am so glad I've been taking so many photos of him and me, it will be a beautiful record of his childhood. He looked through the album twice, and cried again when he saw the pictures of Tawnie. So we had a lively and mainly happy drive back to King's Lynn. Eventually we arrived outside mummy's house. We had a lovely last cuddle then Sam walked into the house crying.
Fantastic party. Loads of leftover food, I wish I'd smuggled a few cartons into me boot! Happy-ish drive home.
When me and Sam have our best days together are the worst times to take him back there. Last night was THE worst time for a very long time.....(pic is the first High Five me and Sam ever did). To report this post follow the permalink aboveHit The Bottle?
Source: Eddie2sox A visit to The Woolpack doesn't really sort things out.... I certainly would never hit the bottle, because I can't stand spirits, and wine is a fruit-based drink for the lady. But instead of hitting the bottle, grasping the pint glass is perfectly acceptable. I headed out to The Woolie with enough money for four beers - it's sensible planning!
I was immediately bombarded with reports of the Super Leeds result earlier, the pitch invasion (I know, two mates texted me when it was going on), how "we" can come back, etc. Leeds United aren't down for sure, but it's impossible they can with 8-0 away at championship-chasing Derby. So it's Division Three (in old money) for the mighty white gods. I think I might go to a few more matches actually, been going to 3 or 4 a season recently, but games at new for me (and shambolic, crappy) grounds holds a fascination. Super Leeds are down. The rest of the football world can rejoice. But do you prefer games against nobodies like Watford / Wigan / Reading / Sheff U ? To be honest, having Ken Bates in charge is crazy, but nobody else would step in. Then appointing Dennis Boz-Eyed Wise as manager (Bates is Wise's kid's godfather!) smacks of nepotism.
Anyway. I am much less upset about this relegation than the one in 1982! Guess that age and not going to so many games helps soften the blow. I know there are a lot of Whites around right now in pieces - please don't ridicule them, buy them a pint!
So to the main meaning of my day, Sam! Sam appeared in Daddy's bed about 3 a.m. today, and slept pretty well for a change. At one point he was having a fun dream and was laughing his head off - woke me up but who cares! How lucky am I as a parent to be there when their child is giggling and laughing while they're asleep? We bounced out of bed, Sam breakfasted on Multi-Grain Rice Krispies (he asked for them last night!), Daddy had scrambled egg.
We headed into town to see if the ordered Lego set had arrived - NO! So we consoled ourselves with a donut and a new football from Poundland (All Hail Poundland). Bought Grandad's birthday present in the bookshop, Sam picked the wrapping paper (Charlie & Lola, sure Grandad will appreciate it). Home, picnic dinner out the back, played football, Sam's favourite teddy came too (Sambear), and what with watching the trains go past, all was well with the world.
And so to planning for Grandad's party - we embarked on Sam's favourite activity at the moment - making a list! Such a practical chap, even at 3 years old! We eventually took Sam's bike, new football, two photo albums, emergancy spaghetti bolognaise meal (in case Sam didn't like the Chinese feast), plus the items that would be needed back at mummy's.
And so to the party.......see next thread. To report this post follow the permalink above Saturday Night!
Source: Eddie2sox It is completely and utterly crushing to come home to the flat without my son on Saturday nights.... And that's all I want to say about it. To report this post follow the permalink aboveFriday Afternoon
Source: Eddie2sox Off to pick up Sam from nursery in an hour, it's all good! Yesterday was Daddy's day off, and a jolly good day off it was too! Did the early cleaning and was finished by noon, so popped up The Woolpack for a convivial dinner-time pint. And of course a duel with the It-Box. The new landpeople (is that the plural of landlord and landlady?) are settling in quite happily, and I find myself in the weird position of being asked for local information. Where's the best baker? How long to drive from "here" to "here" etc. It's strange as I've only lived here myself for 16 months and am very much an outsider.
I treated myself to spicy chicken wings for tea, really unhealthy but really, REALLY tasty, and easy-peasy to make! Just cook the wings through for 25 minutes, add the sauce (I picked Discovery New York Buffalo Wings Sauce, £1.49 from Tesco!) for half an hour, then bob's yer uncle. Delicious but very messy eating!
Popped back to The Woolie for 3 pints and to join the Thursday convening of the Grumpy Old Men (I consider myself one), and the topic of the day turned out to be wildlife and nature, and how nice it was seeing wild animals and birds around the place you live. SS Roy (SS standing for stainless steel, by the way, he's not a war criminal hiding out in Norfolk) reported the sad news that hedgehogs frequently meet their maker when they fall into his pool and can't get out - and apparently they STINK! The dead hedgies get returned to nature by means of being catapulted into the woods off the end of a shovel - how organic! Old Bob told us how he nearly lost his Staffie Ossie in the woods when he spotted a huge stag and chased after him. And Gipsy Rose Baron Stewart Bwana-McPhee told us of a weird animal from South Africa (can't remember the name right now) which is a herbivore BUT they attack other animals just for fun. Kind of like the Lesser-Crested Chav I suppose. So it was home at 7 and a relaxed evening MSN-ing and watching rubbish TV, lovely!
Friday dawns! Off to do some cleaning as per usual, then realised I had an appointment and had to leave early. Left a note for the boss explaining and saying he ought to pay me for half an hour less, but he came in before I left and said that he'd pay the full amount, nice one Danny! Zoomed off to the appointment, all went well, blood pressure's super, pulse is fine and dandy, hoorah! And from there into town to buy birthday cards, lottery tickets, Lynn News etc. Humdrum stuff, but that's what most of our life is like right?
Now it's nearly time to collect Sam, tomorrow is Grandad's BIG birthday party! Tonight though is chip butty night, although I suspect Sam may go for a pie as well, he LOVED the one he had last week. Full report tomorrow of course, but for now, Diagnosis Murder calls!!!
By the way, the photo is one I took earlier today on the way into town - King's Lynn's got some good points eh? To report this post follow the permalink aboveThe Ducks Have Names!
Source: Eddie2sox We walked round the flats earlier looking for them....Sam was shouting their names....."CRISPY! PANCAKE!......what are you laughing at Daddy?" The boy duck is now known as Crispy, his lady-friend is Pancake. I really wish I could have recorded us wandering around looking for them yelling their names at top volume.....needless to say we didn't find them. We've decided they go to the river during the day and come back here at night for some bread and a photoshoot.
On a different note, today I was offered a fulltime job (yay). Naturally I turned it down as it starts at the end of June and I (hopefully) start nursing training in September. When I went for the interview a few weeks ago I got on sooooo well with the husband and wife who run the company, that lying about my future was simply not an option, and I told the lady that when she phoned earlier. Buggrit millenium hand and shrimp! Being honest is crap sometimes. Thinking positively, I WAS offered a job! That's got to be a plus. If the nursing doesn't happen, maybe there will be other jobs! Anyone need a permanent housekeeper (male) and offering about 20k a year?????
Now, still on a job-theme, but with a pinch of mumbo-jumbo thrown in. I really don't believe in horoscopes at all - so why I ritually read the daily email that Russell Grant spams me with I don't know! However, my forecast for tomorrow reads thus;
"Undergoing a career change could result in more money for you. Don't worry if you have to take a pay cut in the short term. Your love for this field will cause you to rise quickly up the ladder of success. There's a chance your new job will involve research, rehabilitation, or restoration. Alternatively, you may get involved with an educational or cultural organisation. No matter what this work entails, it will require the development of strong leadership skills."
So! How close is that to mental healthcare?! I guess my current situation must be the pay cut bit. It's almost enough to convince you to believe in all that cobblers, but not quite! However....my voluntary colleague Steve, who persuaded me to go for the nursing, told me something very weird last week. When he started nursing in the Fermoy Unit (mental health) here in King's Lynn, there were six male nurses there - every one of them was a Pisces! Then he asked me what star sign I was.........PISCES! Now you have to admit that THAT is a massive co-incidence! Pisceans are supposedly sensitive and caring individuals.... To report this post follow the permalink aboveLick My Love Pump!
Source: Eddie2sox Well, the fuddy-duddies at KLFM wouldn't even read my suggestion for their competition today.... ....I helpfully offered "Lick My Love Pump" by Spinal Tap, which they said was rude. How wrong can one man and a foxy chick with a cute behind be? VERY wrong is the answer!
Lick My Love Pump is a beautiful piece of classical music which Nigel Tufnel has been working on "for a while now".
Judge for yourselves: lickmylovepump
While we're at it, check out how loud Spinal Tap's amps are here: onelouder
Right, time to go a-cleaning! To report this post follow the permalink abovePet Ducks!
Source: Eddie2sox Regular readers will know that me and Sam have been concerned about the ducks' weird behaviour recently..... It culminated when we spotted a male and female pair wandering past our window one evening, just as Sam was about to go to bed. We decided to feed them, and lobbed a few slices of bread out of the window......Sam LOVED it....
Well. Tonight, as we were about to head off to Sam's mum's house, we spotted a duck ambling around the car park....Sam tried to get it to come to him "Here, duckie duckie duckie....!!!!" but it wouldn't.
And just now, as I was putting my blinds down, I almost jumped through the ceiling when I looked out of the window that we had fed the ducks out of, and heard a hearty QUAAAAAAAAAAACK! The couple were back! Who says they're dumb animals!? So I lobbed a few more slices out (they didn't back off even a step when I opened the window), and took the attached photo - apologies about the quality, it was almost dark when I took it.
Ducks, we love 'em! To report this post follow the permalink aboveSalt & Vinegar World Cup
Source: Eddie2sox The first three ties have been completed over the last three days, here are the details so far on England's Premier sodium chloride & acetic acid-based savoury snack knockout tournament...... Salt & Vinegar World Cup 2007 Rules Matches will be decided on the basis of comparing: 1 - Crispness 2 - Flavour 3 - Size of crisp 4 - Aroma 5 - Packaging 6 - More-ish-ness (don't think that's a real word) Each will score from 1 to 5 points, highest score savoury snack wins. Round One The Real McCoys Ridge Cut Salt & Malt Vinegar 20 : 14 Snack A Jacks Salt & Vinegar Walkers Salt & Vinegar 21 : 22 Seabrook Sea Salt & Vinegar Walkers Squares Salt & Vinegar 16 : 21 Pringles Salt & Vinegar Tesco Crunchy Sticks Salt & Vinegar v Walkers Baked Salt & Vinegar Tesco Twirls Salt & Vinegar v Tesco Salt & Vinegar Tesco Finest Sea Salt & West Country Cider Vinegar v Morrisons Salt & Vinegar Byes: Discos Salt & Vinegar, Kettle Chips Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar
Round Two Kettle Chips Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar v Discos Salt & Vinegar Tesco Finest Sea Salt & West Country Cider Vinegar OR Morrisons Salt & Vinegar v Seabrook Sea Salt & Vinegar Pringles Salt & Vinegar v Tesco Crunchy Sticks Salt & Vinegar OR Walkers Baked Salt & Vinegar The Real McCoys Ridge Cut Salt & Malt Vinegar v Tesco Twirls Salt & Vinegar OR Tesco Salt & Vinegar Semi-Finals TBN
Final TBN To report this post follow the permalink aboveSunday Shenanigans
Source: Eddie2sox Just another manic Sunday Started the day with the cleaning and washing up and hoovering, the boring stuff, before a surprise! Our IMM Blog colleague Dewdrop was on MSN, and we arranged to go and take her dog Gemma for a walk at Sandringham. Dew picked me up at half ten, and we wandered merrily round the Queen's back garden for 45 minutes with Gemma usually leading the way. Gentlemen, may I recommend Dewdrop to you, what a yummy mummy, you MUST make an effort where this young lady is concerned! The bloke who ends up with her will be a lucky man indeed. Sooooo......back to KL..... Bimbled up to The Woolie, and found out that there was a BBQ on in the evening. Even in the early afternoon there were more people than usual in the bar.....including Les The Duck, Tony, and Carl Bumfluff. Well.....Les' other half is currently on holiday with his daughter and grand-daughter, so poor old Les is fending for himself. He informed us that he was having steak for tea, and to save electricity was defrosting it in his tumble dryer along with drying the washing. NOOOOOOO! We figured that the buffeting around would not only defrost it but tenderise it too, maybe too much. It may have ended up 3mm thick and 3 metres in diameter. But at least it would come out smelling "spring fresh" - his undercrackers would be smelling of cow though. Of course this was all wishful thinking, but fun anyway, even Les isn't daft enough to do something like that....mind you..... ....As an aside to my Sunday, I have to report on possibly THE greatest marketing campaign EVER. Les, one day, went into The Globe for a pint. As he approached the bar he heard a mooing sound, a definite cow noise.....bought his pint, drank it, up to the bar again. Once more, "Moooooooooooo, mooooooooooooooooooo". Les is now thinking there is a subtle influence at work on him to buy a steak (they were two for the price of one at the time)......but resisted temptation. NEXT trip to the bar.... "Moooooooooooooooooo, mooooooooooooooooooo". Les was now fascinated by the skilful advertising he was being bombarded with! He checked the floor for pressure pads that might trigger the mooing. He checked under the edge of the bar for pads that he might have set off. He had a look to see if there were infre-red beams to break. Nothing. What a mystery, but HOW clever! Later that day he spoke to his daughter on a landline. She asked "Do you like it?" "Like WHAT" asked Les. "Your new ringtone, I put a cow ringtone on your phone......" DOH! What Les mistook for ingenious advertising was in fact his daughter calling his mobile phone - pure coincidence that she called the three times he went to the bar. That's Les for you...... Anyway.....had one beer then home for dinner (chilli), then out again to watch football. The Newcastle/Chelsea game wasn't on (why?) so had to wait for Villa/Portsmouth. By this time Tim (King Of Flirting) had arrived, and I was annoyed to hear that someone has stolen his car from his drive. Tossers! Fortunately it's not affecting his work as colleagues are giving him lifts etc, but come on! The police say they are doubtful of a positive outcome - same as with my two stolen bikes then, do they EVER have a "positive outcome"? Probably not, too busy parking Norfolk's 11 (yes ELEVEN) mobile speed camera vehicles all over the place to snap people speeding! Anyhow, Timkof isn't too bothered either way, the insurance was up to date so it's not a complete tragedy. Worst part of it being that all his beloved Pink Floyd CDs were in the vehicle too. Bugger. Tim's a laid back bloke though, actually in my opinion a TOP bloke, so I hope he doesn't have too much stress over this. Ladies, if you're looking for a bloke let me know, and I'll pass your details on! The rest of the afternoon passed most cordially, Scottish cooked the BBQ food (I passed, reluctantly, having already eaten dinner), and I headed home about 7-ish. Apparently the party went on for a long, long time.....and judging by the state of the pub this morning when I went to clean it, it were a good do! To report this post follow the permalink aboveBanham Zoo
Source: Eddie2sox We had a really fun day out at Banham Zoo on Saturday, so much so that Sam was upset afterwards.... Off to the zoo at quarter past ten, and Sam ate most of his pickernicker then nodded off on the way. Good, he'll be full of beans when we get there....Parked and had the rest of our dinner then we're off! Banham Zoo is a really nice "small" zoo, and it cost £10.95 for the two of us. They have most of the usual zoo animals you could want to see, except elephants and lions. They do have tigers, assorted monkeys, meerkats, cheetahs, zebras etc, and giraffes are arriving in the summer.
Best of all from Sam's point of view is the playground, with obstacle course, roundabout (a proper, heavy, fast, old-fashioned one), and huuuuge climbing tower with two curly slides, and we spent ages in there in between circuits of the enclosures. Sam also loved the zoo train, which has been re-painted this year - it was zebra patterned last year, now it's a tiger train!
Second favourite was the Farm Barn, where you can feed goats, chickens etc, and stroke all the animals in there. PLUS there are lots of big old farm machines dotted around AND an old tractor that you can sit on and play on - heaven for my little boy. Sam wasn't SO impressed with the amount of goat pooh we trod in when we went to see the goats, but we had a good laugh about it later.
The zoo was a great day out and I really recommend it. Sam loved it so much that as we walked out of the gates to go home he started crying and saying "I miss the zoo, I love the zoo".....and then roughly every 20 minutes after that his little face would crease up and he'd blub "Daddy, I really miss the zoo"....
We got lost on the way home and ended up driving round for half an hour trying to find a place - ANY place - with signposts! Sam thought the phrase "we're in the middle of nowhere" was very funny, but let's face it, most of Norfolk is the middle of nowhere! We made light of our adversity though, and had a singalong to The View, "Same Jeans" changing at intervals to "Same Socks", "Same Shoes" or "Same Pants", sometimes our time in the car, coming or going here and there, is some of our best time together.
And so back to mummy's (see previous entry!)....all in all another great day, with a crappy ending.
When I got home I decided to pop to the Woolpack, and was there for 45 minutes! I had a pleasant chat with Gerry, The Nicest Jock You'll Ever Meet (TNJYEM) about stereotypes and the word "pish", and sure enough one of the jockanese contractors at the far end of the bar immediately went into stereotype, irritating Rab C Nesbitt mode! "You can buy lager for £1.60 in Dundee" etc. It peed me off so much that I made my goodbyes and left! To report this post follow the permalink aboveMake Your Chuffin Mind Up!
Source: Eddie2sox Just a quick rant about Sam's mum's attitude so that I can go out later still in the good mood that me and Sam were in earlier....aka "Am I Bothered".... Please, NO comments on this thread!
Last year what happened tonight would have peed me off for three days, now I just need to spout off about it here and it'll be gone for good.
For the last "umpteen" weeks, on a Saturday night Sam's mum has said on the phone or texted, something along the lines of "don't rush back, no need to hurry" etc. Tonight she went off at the deep end about Sam arriving back at half past six, instead of the agreed six o'clock. She'll freely admit to being a melodramatic drama queen, so these kind of "performances" don't really surprise me any more.
Anyhow, I told her that she ought to decide whether it was the easy-going approach or the back on the dot of six option that she wanted, then stick to it, not swap between the two and throw a strop about it. Cue a really angry, "lost it", SIX O'CLOCK FROM NOW ON! Fine, just don't take out your personal problems or woman's problems on me thanks!
Maybe we ought to adopt the "standard" approach that the parent "taking on" the children picks them up, instead of me picking up AND dropping off?
Anyway, that's that out of my system, nothing but fantastic memories of another fantastic day with my fantastic son remain!
I'm NOT bothered! Manipulate someone else!
P.S Late Breaking News
I've had three emails on this subject received from Sam's mum between 6.20 and 7.57 tonight. Sent one back saying "I don't want to enter a slanging match with you, please take out your problems on someone else. Simon"
P.P.S.
Fourth email at 9.38! Wow. To report this post follow the permalink aboveWe're All Going To The Zoo Tomorrow....
Source: Eddie2sox Zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow, we're all going to the zoo tomorrow, we're gonna chuck condoms at the chimps..... Well, of course we're not, what a waste of condoms! And Sam would think they were balloons, probably. But we ARE going to the zoo, Banham Zoo in fact, and the excitement level is already high! More than anything else, Sam wants to ride on the train that's painted like a zebra....
The last couple of days have flown by in an absolute blur:
Tuesday was early cleaning, then Goodwins Road for 3 hours, visit to see Mark at CADS, then picked Sam up for tea and bathtime.
Wednesday. Early cleaning, and then I decided to put that day's job at Harecroft Gardens back a day to enjoy the hot sunny weather. A good idea as it turned out. Picked Sam up again from nursery and we had BBQ for tea using a one-shot barby from Tesco. The food was tremendous, even if I do say so myself, and Sam loved the novelty of eating his tea outside, sitting on our sun lounger with his Daddy. He also loved playing with his cars outside (see pic, naturally Lightning McQueen won every race), and thoroughly enjoyed our running grass-chucking competition. There was nearly as much grass in the bath as water. In the evening I met my ex at Sam's nursery for parents' evening, and were hosted by the delectable Shelley. Shelley adores Sam, and he loves her too, so it's no surprise that he's making really good progress. I think they will really miss each other when Sam starts school in September.
Thursday. No Sam today but LOADS of Mrs Mopp-ing. The usual two Thursday places plus Wednesday's too. All of a sudden not such a bright idea, ho hum. Got finished just in time to pop to The Woolpack to catch the end of the monthly lunchtime jamming session, when students from the college next door get to practice their music in a "real pub" and not their mum and dad's garage. I had a very relaxed afternoon (actually fell asleep!), before heading out again to find The Woolpack almost full. Strange for Thursday teatime. The Grumpy Old Men were consigned to a bench seat as the regular haunt at the end of the bar was taken, how VERY dare you! World put to rights as always, then home to my luvverly big bed.
Friday. Planned a lie-in but forgot the cleaning continues Monday to Friday at the moment, buggrit. So I had to rush from there for my 10 til 2 voluntary shift. Today this was extremely quiet, which is a good thing I suppose. I'd just had time to grab my mail before I left, and then when I arrived my "colleague" had swapped shifts and I was on with "Steve", who is the bloke who kind of convinced me to go into mental health nursing. He asked when the training was going, I told him that I hadn't even heard about interviews yet.....then I opened my mail and COR BLIMEY, there was the info about the interview and selection day!
Thursday 24th of May. That's when I will be attending the selection day. And NOW I am worried about it! There are literacy and maths tests, a group discussion that you have to research AND join in with ("Should nurses be paid as much as police officers?"), and then in the afternoon the one to one interviews. Poohing me pants already.
Picked Sam up again this afternoon and we played for a little while before heading out to recycle some old food jars and also to buy the chips for Sam's Friday night treat. Sam wasn't looking forward to the crashing of breaking glass, so he chose to wear his ear defs, very cute! And thus home, tea, bath, bed. Where he is currently asleep, snoring quietly, hands behind his head, bobble hat on (it stops him having bad dreams, or so he claims)....get lots of rest tonight son, tomorrow we're off to the zoo! To report this post follow the permalink aboveThe Most Inconvenient Convenience Store In The World
Source: Eddie2sox A few people down The Woolpack have remarked that the shop in this photo is absolutely useless....I couldn't possibly comment either way.... Word has it that this convenience store is a sadistic experiment in human behaviour and reactions, being run by the college across the road.
It is said that if you made a list of, say, three common items that you'd expect to find in a corner shop, if you visited this shop not only would you be unable to buy ANY of them, you would come out with three different items that you didn't want in the first place. You need milk, bread and washing up liquid. You come out with some shoe cleaning brushes, a tin of Cossack hair spray (past it's sell by date by more than a decade), and a Curly Wurly.
Like I said, this is mainly hearsay, however me and Sam did venture in there to purchase some emergency bread one day, and spent ten minutes searching high and low before Sam found it - in a shopping basket, on the floor, almost in the take-away section of the shop near the back. I reckon you're probably best giving it a miss and going to Tesco or Morrisons instead. To report this post follow the permalink aboveSalt And Vinegar World Cup
Source: Eddie2sox Salt and vinegar (S&V) crisps are undoubtedly the traditional blokey favourite flavour, and I will be putting myself through a punishing few days of intense competition to discover England's best S&V product The things I do for the sake of science!
This coming Sunday (22 April) sees the opening matches in the 2007 Salt & Vinegar World Cup (S&VWC).
Between now and then I will be gathering as many S&V products as possible, the draw for the first round will take place on Saturday, and the crisp products will do battle from Sunday onwards.
Matches will be decided on the basis of comparing: 1 - Crispness 2 - Flavour 3 - Size of crisp 4 - Aroma 5 - Packaging 6 - More-ish-ness (don't think that's a real word)
Early information from Ladbrokes shows that Walkers are the hot favourites: 8-11 Walkers S&V
Full List Of Participants As At 9 p.m., Wednesday 18 April:
Walkers Squares S&V, Discos S&V, The Real McCoys Ridge Cut S & Malt V, Morrisons S&V, Seabrook Seasalt &V, Walkers S&V, Snack A Jacks S&V, Kettle Chips Seasalt & Balsamic V, Tesco Crunchy Sticks S&V, Tesco Twirls S&V, Pringles S&V, Tesco Finest Seasalt & West Country Cider V, Tesco S&V, Walkers Baked S&V.
To report this post follow the permalink above Baron Stewart Bwana-McTavish - An Apology
Source: Eddie2sox Following blog entries on 12 and 14 April 2007, I have been made aware of the distress caused by my choice of name of Baron Stewart Bwana-McTavish.... Eddie 2-Sox would like it to become known that Baron Stewart Bwana-McTavish will henceforth be known as Baron Stewart Bwana-McPhee.
My sincerest apologies to the McTavish clan for any offence caused..... To report this post follow the permalink aboveI Do Like Mondays
Source: Eddie2sox Bob Geldof got it completely wrong with his one and only hit. Mondays for me at the moment are relaxed and fun! I know that's outrageous, how can anyone possibly enjoy a Monday? But for me, I have the second cleaning job in the morning and the rest of the day to catch up with life, pay bills, go into town etc.
Today so far is a perfect example. I was up about half six and outside cleaning my windows again when the second cleaning job rang to see if I was coming in today. OF COURSE I am! I finished my cleaning at home, made a cuppa, then headed off to do the cleaning for pay. That went very well, the place looked and smelled delightful by the time I'd finished (even if I do say so myself). I also took down there two of my Norfolk Meatloaves, as they've been moaning about hearing of my cooking but never getting to taste it. So I guess that I'll get feedback on how it tastes later, one way or another. And I can't be doing a bad job there either - the boss bloke said I was doing an excellent job, which I took as p***-taking, and assumed it wasn't very good! However, seems it was genuine, as they have asked me to clean at their new business as well. Only problem is that it's 16 miles away......ALSO been asked to do the pub quiz there too, so my efforts at being Bamber Gascoigne can't be too crappy either I guess. Not sure what to do! I would like to take it on, but not sure WHEN I would be able to fit it in!
So, with the cleaning done I ambled home, did some admin stuff, filled in me car tax paperwork, and headed into town to post it. I dunno why more people don't do their car tax by post, it's so easy and your disk arrives back really quickly and direct to your letter box! Simple! When I was in town I also visited the toy shop to ask them to order the Lego fire station that Sam is going to buy himself, as they've sold the one we saw a while ago! Hopefully it will arrive by the weekend so Sam will be able to spend some of his savings and Grand National winning (he won £25 by the way).
Walked home the Norfolk Street/Gaywood Road way to pop into The Woolpack and tell them about the Norfolk meatloaf.....had a couple of beers with Les, Steve, and also Jay and Scottish who walked in looking VERY much the worse for wear - apparently last night/this morning was a stonker! The Woolie has a new quiz machine (YAAAAAAAAAY) so I invested £2 and ended up with £9, nice one! Didn't get a penny from the Bullseye game, but came up trumps on the Monopoly, which is one of my favourites. The leader board is starting to be filled with VERY random "winners" (i.e. ME) called Carlos, Lesley, Simone, Barry etc.....
And from there to the butcher's. But what's this, they have NO pigeons! Pigeon pie is on hold! No future pigeon deliveries expected, argh!
And so homeward for Diagnosis Murder and Deal Or No Deal. After that I'm going to pop BACK to The Woolie to try and catch Old Bob for a chat, and see if the meatloaf has been tasted yet.....
And from there it's home, and I have pizza for tea! Watch some "in one ear, out the other" telly, then to bed.
Geldof, you're wrong. I DO like Mondays! (For now at least). To report this post follow the permalink abovePlan vs Reality - A Sunday Story
Source: Eddie2sox How often do you manage to achieve everything you set out to do in a day, or see the people you plan to? Does it EVER go according to the plan? Let's see!
The Plan
Washing up, clean the flat. Soundtrack of GLC, Kasabian & The Jam. Visit supermarket. Pop into pub for an hour on way home. Cooking pigeon pie, Norfolk meatloaf for myself and my critics, & salmon fishcakes for Sam. Watch Chelski v Blackburn FA Cup match (Chelsea are "away" lol). Early night.
The Reality - At Quarter Past Three
OK, washing up, yes, cleaning, sort of, yes (I can see out of my windows now), music, yes! Trip to Tesco, check. Pop round corner to butcher's shop (Bowers) yes - but they were shut. Which means that the pigeon pie is off the agenda today. Ho hum, I'll pop up there tomorrow to pay my pound apiece for the pigeons.
Did I pop into the pub? Yup. Read the paper, had two pints, luvverly. Then home for cooking. Four Norfolk Meatloaves are now cooking in the oven, I'm going to take a couple of them up to The Woolpack when I go to watch the football, to undertake a "taste test" survey. Sam's fishcakes will have to wait til tomorrow too, I didn't get any spring onions.
So. What's left on the plan? Chelski v Blackburn (Chelski away, sorry Letty ;) ). I have had a bet on this one! Well, two actually. First is for Chelski to win 2-0 with Lampard scoring first (£1 at 33/1). Second bet is just for Chelsea to win (£1 at 8/15). Second bet is just to cover the first one.
Hopefully some of the regulars will be down there for the game. I'll see YOU there too, first drink's on me!
The Reality - Monday Morning
Well the football was quite entertaining in the end, and we got a bonus 30 minutes for free. I was all excited when Lampard scored as I had a pound on a 2-0 Chelsea win with him scoring first....bloody Blackburn! I stayed on for a few convivial beers and the world was, as always, put to rights.
So, overall, I did stick to my plan....near enough anyway. Next plan? Make Dawn French leave Lenny Henry and move in with me! Do you think that one will work too?
Rovers Return Rovers - Champions!
If you remember I manage an online football team called Rovers Return Rovers. Well, my team has just won the league, with two games to spare! The game that really sealed it was a 6-3 win at home to Franklin Grizzly Cubs, with a Curly Watts hat-trick and goals from Albert Tatlock, Hilda Ogden and Raquel Wolstenholme. Curly also got booked for shirt pulling, and Hayley Cropper saw yellow for repeated diving! Sadly Betty Turpin broke her leg and will be out for 12 weeks.
So we won the division. Not only do we get promoted but we will receive 1000 in-game credits, which will enable me to ship out some of the dead wood in the squad (watch out Gail Tilsley, Alf Roberts and both Duckworths). Here are a few statistics from our season (one game to go remember):
Top scorers: Curly Watts - 99 goals (in 42 games) Gail Tilsley - 37 (27) Raquel Wolstenholme - 33 (38) Albert Tatlock - 30 (21)
Most Yellow Cards: 9 - Hayley Cropper, Mavis Riley 7 - Ken Barlow 5 - Fred Elliott
Roll on next season! To report this post follow the permalink aboveOur Weekend Was Good! Saturday....
Source: Eddie2sox Another fab day with a fab little boy... Normally Sam arrives in Daddy's bed at about half five. Today it were something like 1.46-ish. He wasn't really awake, so I let him go back to sleep in my bed. Hey, he's THREE, he won't always want to cuddle with his Daddy, so I'm making the most of it while I can! Slept til 6.....then game on, our day begins with both of us, literally, jumping put of bed.
Sam must have been hungry as he polished off two rounds of toast as soon as we got up, then had some Coco Pops a little later on. In between he cooked the knights of his castle some breakfast, gruesomely they had roast snake with grilled minotaur. Oh, and playdough pancakes (which SOME of the naughtier knights used as umbrellas, hats etc, how rude!). Hider In The House featured Charlie Dimmock as the hider this week, so it was extra interesting for Daddy. That woman STILL hasn't bought herself any bras you know, and she's been on telly for years now.....
We made a brief trip into town, to pay Sam's pig money into his bank account, which brings him up to £28 already. Hope he's really "getting" the whole saving-up idea now. On the way to town we took the Wizzer into the park, and it went extremely high AND very far too, it's one of the best "free on the front of a comic" toys I've seen. Sam also had fun running up and down and along, then up and down again, on the grassy bank that runs around the Tennyson Avenue side of the park....and then clambered up the muddy pile of soil along the side of the builder's yard (and fell down the other side face first, very dirty but uninjured).
Round about this time I became SURE that MY Grand National horse was fated to win. We bumped into the lovely Georgie who was out with her cute 1-year-old son JACK. My horse's name? Jack High (Jack! Hi! Geddit?). Not only that BUT we met them RIGHT outside the bowling club, and Jack High is a common bowling term. So logically there was only going to be one winner from that point. I also persuaded Georgie to have a bet on him, sorry mate!
Money paid in, toyshop visited to ogle the Lego (Sam is saving for this set), we legged it for home (via muddy bank in the park for a re-match). Once home we made Sam's picnic lunch while completing a couple more laps of the flat with the "Robert Power, Robert Power, we've got Robert Poooow-er" song. And then we were out on the road en route to Nana and Grandad's house. We saw LOTS of stock cars heading in the opposite direction, so there must be a big meet on somewhere this weekend. Maybe at Swaffham. As usual we had a lot of fun in Sleaford, and I think Nana and Grandad get a boost seeing Sam too. Grandad isn't quite fit enough yet to spend much time outside, but sits for five minutes watching Sam and Didi the dog playing. Didi's quite a fussy dog, and apparently a lot of the younger family kids won't go near her. Sam's not like that, a few visits ago we told him that he could tell Didi to get down, or go away etc, and he hasn't looked back since. They get on like best friends to be honest. This week we were on a deadline because we'd arranged to go to The Woolpack to watch the National, and all to soon it was time to get back in the car and journey back down the A17.
Sod's Law kicked in on the way home! The one week we couldn't afford any delays was the one week we got stopped at Sutton Bridge as a boat saild through the bridge, argh! Still, never mind, they look very calm and serene as they travel along the river there, and it's something a little different to see. Sam tried to persuade me to go to MacDonalds for tea (cheeky monkey), but he had MacDonalds with me last weekend, and he's had at least TWO MaccyD's with mummy this week, so NO WAY son. Nice try though!
With the race due to start at 4.15, we pulled into the car park at the flats at 4.14! We'd discussed whether to go to the pub or watch it at home, and decided that the pub would be more fun, even if we missed the start of the race. Legged it down the road, and thanks to the starter's incompetence the race hadn't even begun, hoorah! We got a prime seat right at the front of the packed bar and Sam watched his first Grand National. With people going a bit loopy all round, Sam was a little bit fazed by the whole thing, but towards the end of the race we spotted his horse with it's white spot in the middle of its face, and as the fences passed it looked more likely that Silver Birch might earn Sam some money with a top 3 finish. At one point the jockey looked back, which I took to mean that the horse was knackered and he was checking how far the rest of them were behind. But NO! He was checking how many of the more fancied horses were still going, as he felt Silver Birch at that point had a chance of winning.....over the last fence and the noise level was up to eleven, and Sam's horse was winning but looking tired. Two chasing horses never quite managed to catch up and Sam had won at the first attempt (that's your luck used up til you're 24 years old now son). Sam wanted to leave for home immediately as the whole experience was very different for him, but after about 15 seconds of being outside he was jumping about, cheering and generally celebrating his win, in a great burst of delayed-action euphoria. We headed home to watch the race again in peace and quiet.
Home. Busy busy busy. While Sam set up a caravan banger race in the living room I set about running his bath, cooking his tea, and re-packing all the stuff he brought over. In the bath, out the bath, caravans well and truly bashed up, You've Been Framed started and Sam started his hidden veg bolognaise.....
Back to mummy's then, reluctantly. On the way there a familiar face pulled up behind us at Southgates roundabout - it was Letty! Sam told his mummy all about the race then went off to see Grandma and Grandad who were visiting. Daddy went home and then back to The Woolpack to pick up Sam's winnings!
I stayed at the Woolie for 3 pints in the end. Baron Stewart Bwana-MacTavish was watching the FA Cup semi between Watford and manyoo, which went 3-1 at that moment. Had a bet that they'd end up with 5 or more goals, high stakes, 50! In the end manyoo got 4, so it's lucky I had a 50p coin in my pocket. It was a good job I went too, Ace Of Spades John gave me £20 for the Tweenies tickets a few weeks ago - I'd completely forgotten about that so it was a profitable evening for both Sam and his Daddy! To report this post follow the permalink aboveOur Weekend Was GOOD! Friday.....
Source: Eddie2sox Another fun and happy weekend sleepover with Sam here, including The Grand National, saving money, nana and grandad, and adrenaline! Thanks to the easter holiday I picked Sam up at 1 o'clock on Friday, so the weekend was off to a flyer already. The weather was a bit grey and dis-spiriting, so we didn't do anything amazing. We just had fantastic fun together, as usual, and which is what I want to happen. Stopped off at Tesco on the way home for bread and ham for tomorrow's pickernicker, and also for the chip-shop chips for Chip Butty Night.
It was a bit chilly for proper outside playing so we went for a game of pool at The Woolie - Sam's been making comments like "You know what we haven't done for a long time Daddy....go to The Woolpack!". We'd bought a magazine at Tesco (which Sam has copied my pronunciation in a Greek style of Teskos, a mythical Greek island where they make EVERYTHING) which had a toy on the front called a Flying Wizzer. This was a small frisbee like disk with three angled blades, which fitted on top of a handset with a drawcord, which when pulled spinned the disk around at high speed. As anyone knows, decreased pressure equals increased lift. so the disk zooms upwards. We played with it in The Woolie, and it was great.....then we trespassed onto the grass in front of the college to trial the Wizzer in HI And Cold conditions......it went VERY high indeed.....AND we had an audience from the office workers in the college, so we may have been responsible for a slight dip in productivity for a while. Mind you, education workers, Friday afternoon, they'd be doing sod all anyway! We got back outside the flats and launched again....VERY high again. Then we did one last launch.....the Wizzer skittered onto the roof (flats are 4 stories high), skittered off again, and crash landed in the side access passage of a house. DOH! Trying to set a good example to Sam, we went and knocked at the door to ask permission to get our toy back. A bloke answered the door wearing only y-front pants, and said it was OK.....I opened the gate and Sam retrieved the Wizzer. So.....once only......I asked a man wearing only his pants if I could retrieve my Wizzer from his back passage....
Tea was Chip Butty (therefore easy), and we spent the evening playing and watching a couple of fave telly programmes (50/50 and The Simpsons).
As a seasonal aside, I had purchased two entries in The Woolie's Grand National sweepstake - we got numbers 30 and 37. We looked up which horses the numbers were, then looked at their pictures, and their riders. Sam chose number 30 (Silver Birch) leaving me with 37 (Jack High). Silver Birch's rider was Robert Power.......well! Me and Sam often sing a song by The Tweenies called Penguin Power, where you have to march round in a line, arms by your side but palms pointing out, and heels together but toes pointing out a la penguin. Singing "Penguin power, penguin power, we've got penguin....poooooow-wer!" We changed this to suit Sam's horse's rider, so we spent quite a lot of time waddling round the flat sing "Robert Power, Robert Power, we've got Robert...Poooooow-wer!"
Bathtime was the usual, current wet and drenching, always fab fun.
Then time for A Question Of Sport. This is the defining point of Sam's Friday, when the programme is over, it's bedtime. This week Sam decided to support Matt Dawson's team, and they got whupped. But the show made Sam laugh. Firstly when they ran a "pub race night-style" artificial horserace, with daft names, and Sam watched the team members jumping up and down going crackers as the race got towards the end (note for tomorrow!). Second big laughing time was when Matt Dawson and Ally McCoist had to wear jockey outifits and mount fake horses to try to outride each other in a race. Ally sat the wrong way round on his horse (funny for Sam OK) before the race began. The two of them were bobbing up and down like the clappers and Ally won the race on the line. A good end to a funny show.
Bedtime went so beautifully again, stories, prayer, talk about the day, and about tomorrow, then big hug, big kiss, and night night. Sam was out like a light.
Sleep well, Stinky Face..... To report this post follow the permalink aboveThe Grand National
Source: Eddie2sox Today's the day that 40 horses bumble their way round Aintree racecourse, and 99% of people who bet on the race lose their money.... So have I placed a bet? Well, there's a horse called Simon (who calls a flippin horse a stupid name like that?), so I have a bet to win and also each way. In The Woolpack sweepstake Sam has a horse called Silver Birch and mine is Jack High. And here's the progress of my betting experiment:
Current Bets New Zealand to win cricket World Cup; £1 @ 9/1; potential return £10 The Kiwis recently whupped the Aussies 3-0 in a one day series, in great form coming into the World Cup. -------- New Zealand each way for cricket World Cup; £1 @ 9/2; £5.50 In case they slip up in the final! ---------- Andy Murray to win Sports Personality Of The Year; £1 @ 2/1; £3 It's a voting contest, Murray will appeal to the young ladies who make most of the votes in all these reality shows. May be in trouble if, somehow, Michael Vaughan wins the cricket World Cup with England (won't happen though). ------------- “Simon” to win Grand National; £1 @ 16/1; £17 Gotta have a bet on a horse with my own name! -------------- “Simon” to finish in first 4 places in Grand National; £1 @ 4/1; £5 Doubt that this will win, as the horse likes softer ground and Aintree is getting firmer all the time. Lost Bets Since Last Update Leeds United to lose against Preston on Friday; £1 @ 5/4; £3.25 Leeds United 2 Preston Nob End 1 --------- Justin Rose to win US Masters golf; £1 @ 33/1; £34 He came 5th, argh! ---------- Justin Rose each way in US Masters golf; £1 @ 33/4; £9.25 He came 5th, argh, each way paid out first to fourth! Close but no ceeee-gar.... Bets Won Since Last Update Aussies to beat Windies and England to beat Ireland in Super 8’s stage of Cricket World Cup; £1 @ 1.32/1; £2.32 ----------- Leeds United to beat Plymouth; £1 at Evs; £2 Leeds 2 Plymouth 1 ---------- Australia to beat England at Cricket World Cup; £2 @ 1 / 4; £2.50 Who can beat the Aussies apart from New Zealand? Current State Of Play Account £10.82 Potential Winnings £40.50 Will It Happen? Absolutely no chance! To report this post follow the permalink aboveThe Walks Development - 11 April 2007
Source: Eddie2sox Progress is being made in the local park.....slow, but progress nonetheless The picture shows the new cafe/toilet block, doesn't look like much yet does it. Sam always takes an interest as he is looking forward to some new stuff to play on.
For me right now it's another Friday night in, just taken Sam for his wee-wee, now heading off to......Emptybedsville. Brrrrrrrr! To report this post follow the permalink aboveCleaning, Calamari, And Why Noah Is Bad For The Environment
Source: Eddie2sox Been a really busy day catching up on the goolies-based cleaning backlog, plus pondering how to cook calamari..... Yesterday
I nipped into The Woolpack last night for an hour, unfortunately Old Bob was just leaving as I arrived. However Baron Stewart Bwana-MacTavish was in good form, and the world was well and truly put to rights. A few more perceptive customers noticed my bad mood (wooden sword incident) and were amazed when I told them why. Do wooden swords trivialise violence? Maybe, in the same way that Noah's Ark trivialises global warming! Thanks for the analogy chaps.
So, Noah's ark story. Huge ecological disaster. The world is flooded by climate change of some description. Should we be concerned and actually start trying to protect the environment? NO WAY! You just build a big boat, bob around for 40 days with your family, then you live happily ever after when the flood water disappears overnight. Recreate the whole human race (as Tommy Cooper would say) "just like that". Does anyone believe the bible? Or the koran?
Cleaning
Had a busy day today thanks to yesterday's "injury"......today was better than I'd thought it would be, cleaning from half six to half one, but you have to earn cash somehow!
Cheetah!
Can you believe that today is Cheetah's 75th birthday? He's the chimp who co-starred in the old black and white Tarzan films......seventy feckin five!!!!!
Calamari - Cooking It.....How?
I couldn't resist yesterday when I went into Morrisons for my Wednesday whitebait fix....I bought some fresh calamari (squid, in case any kiddies read this). I have now prepared my squid! They come with the head partly severed, when you pull it out, along with the kinda spine-bit, most of the rest of the insides follow. I took the safe option and ran a knife up the body to expel any stubborn innards! Then scraped the browny/purple skin off the sides, to end up with squid ready to cook! Heating oil in a pan now, squid will be quick-fried, and I'm going to eat it with salad and houmous. So.......if it all goes wrong and I kill myself by food-poisoning, consider yourself lucky that you read my last entry....... To report this post follow the permalink aboveThanks a Flipping LOT Mummy
Source: Eddie2sox My great day with Sam was ruined when we went back to mummy's...... When me and Sam went to the park earlier, Sam found a stick that looked EXACTLY like a sword.....naturally he ran round shouting "charge", and chopping at trees, bins etc.....pretending he was a knight.
Fast forward a few hours, Sam is keen to show his "sword" to mummy.....we stop the car, Sam runs to the door and knocks. Mummy opens door, says "I don't think so", takes "sword" from Sam and gives it to me.
Sam headed off into the house, then came back and sat down in the hallway, looking ready to cry. Sam's mum said "He seems in a strange mood?"
I reply "He's only in a bad mood because of the way you treated his sword"
I did get to give Sam a goodnight hug and kiss. There is Sooooo much wrong with Sam's mum's attitude. I was VERY upset leaving that house tonight, 100% thanks to Sam's mummy. To report this post follow the permalink aboveFANTASTIC Day!
Source: Eddie2sox Thanks to th easter school holidays, I was lucky enough that Sam's mummy let me pick Sam up at 1 today...... And what a brilliant time we had together. Sorry if you're getting fed up with all these "great times" postings, but I'm going to keep telling the world how much of a good time me and my amazing son have when we're together right now.
I only wish we could post pictures without the worry of "dodgy" people mis-using them, otherwise you could see pics of us two having fun. But I won't ever put Sam on here in photo form. Sad eh?
So. Today. Sam's mummy had agreed a 1 o'clock pick-up, yay! As previously described, Sam loves making a list of what we're going to do.....but with only half a day Daddy had to "pad" a bit.....today's list read: 1. Bob game outside. 2. Duck hunt. 3. Where's Clare? 4. Matey Men Hide And Seek And Squirt. 5. Throw The Frisbee Really High. 6. TV Time. 7. Teatime. 8. Bathtime. 9. Simpsons + Penguin. 10. Go To Mummy's House.
Sam wanted a bike ride so we headed off into The Walks for a pickernicker. We sat on a little incline watching people fishing in the river, near the bowling club. Then had a wee spell on the big-boy swings (all that is left right now) before Sam walked ALL the way home, nice one son.....
And this is what happened with the liist:
1. We took the Bob box (containing all Bob's machines plus Bob, Wendy, Spud, Farmer Pickles et al), and we thought we would look for stuff to mend.......but as soon as we both looked at the 4X2 plank that has appeared from somewhere to lie on the path outside our flat, we knew what we were going to do. It was a contest to see which machine would drive furthest along the plank! Muck went a LONG way before going over the edge, Scoop, Rolly, Trix, Skip and Lofty all had a go too, but......the winner turned out to be Dizzy, who made it all the way along the wood to the far end! Well done Dizzy!
Next game was to rest The Plank on a window sill and race down it... ...unfortunately NONE of the machines made the bottom so it was declared a draw.
2. Yay, Duck Hunt, our favourite game at the moment. "We're going on a duck.....uh-oh a fire escape......" We get to the nitty-gritty pretty quickly! Well, as always, today we encounterd fire escapes, trees, bins, car park gates, fence, more gates, more fence, before concluding "We went on a duck hunt....we didn't find a duck though......" Tons of laughter though.
3, New game, new name. When we were at banger racing on Monday we tried to find out where the film-maker (Clare) was.....I spun around looking while Sam was on my shoulders......Sam started laughing, so I pretended to be really dizzy and lurched "dangerously" around. Again, much laughter! Today we pretended that we would look for Clare (at Sam's request) so I spun round, then wobbled off towards fences/cars/walls etc, always swerving away at the last metre. We kinda came to a new name for this game by accident. I was starting the spinning with a "1.....2.....3.....". Then Sam said "Where's Clare". So that was it! From then on it was "1......2.......3......WHERE'S CLARE????" at top volume.....cue the spinning round etc, FANTASTIC fun!
4. After a lap of the flats playing Where's Clare? we moved onto another new game! The Matey Men challenged Sam to a game of hide and seek. Sam readily accepted! I am so happy that we have a ground floor flat with access to the lovely quiet area outside our back door! Anyway, Sam went indoors while I told him I would watch the Matey Men hiding.......stuck them in daft places like window sills, next door's plant pots etc.....Sam came out with his water gun, and had FAB fun squirting the Matey Men as he found them. We payed this game about 5 times tonight, the bloomin Matey Men kept trying new hiding places!
5. Unfortunately the real owner of the frisbee had taken it home with them, so there was no frisbee chucking......
6. TV Time. Sam and Daddy watched 50/50 and The Slammer, while Daddy first prepared, then cooked Sam's spaghetti bolognaise - he ate 95% of it, amazed I was!
7. Sam followed up his spag eating with gobbling a yoghurt, then we headed off for bathtime.
8. Bathtime was so much fun! Sam introdued his Matey Men to their next member - the almost empty Captain Crazy! All Sam's choice. Daddy got soaked at bathtime with the various big splashes, but more the football splashing everything within 3 metres.......
9. We really enjoyed tonight's Simpsons, probably for different reasons.......but it calmed Sam down to go back to mummy's house.......
Actually....see next entry for last part. To report this post follow the permalink aboveWednesday Evening.....Part One
Source: Eddie2sox Just a couple of updates..... Oooops.....DOH.....whatever. I don't have 2 cheques to pay in.....I was already paid by BACS for cleaning so the cheque is a mistake. Buggrit! So one cheque still to be paid in.
Started new cleaning job today at 6.30....after finishing voluntary work nightshift just after 2....v v v tired. Went well though! Then off to the docs which also went well.....then to....then to.......OOOOOYAAAH****A!
Somehow I managed to twist something in my blokey bits, and it hurt like hell. So much so that I could hardly walk, and phoned cleaning lady to say I would do today's place tomorrow. So....pain in the goolies, BUT chance for a kip.....always a silver lining eh? When I woke up there was no pain at all. A bloke's relationship with his gonads is SOOOO much more complex than a lady's with her plumbing!
Sam's new tops arrived today too, delivered to next-door while I was out. I basically blew a chunk of the Yellow Pages money before I received it, to get Sam three fantastic tops from No Added Sugar. With clothes you get what you pay for, and these clothes are VERY high quality and will last for ages in good nick. One top is brown with the logo "Enjoy Chocolate" in the Coca-Cola font, another says "Drink Milk" in the same font, while the third is in camouflage-like pattern with the "No Added Sugar" logo on the front.
So.....that's it for this post, the better description of the day is next entry..... To report this post follow the permalink aboveIt Can Be A Crazy Old Life Sometimes....
Source: Eddie2sox Due to bad planning by me the next 28-ish hours are going to be frantic... Tonight 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. I have a voluntary work nightshift. Then at 6.30 tomorrow morning I start my second cleaning job (hoorah), until 8.30. Got a doctor's appointment at 8.40, then cleaning from 9 til 11. Thanks to easter holidays I have Sam from 1 til 6-ish tomorrow too.
So it's going to be so busy but really cool too. The new cleaning job I am planning to do from 6.30 to 8.30 Monday to Friday, and this will fit in when I start nursing training too I hope.
Also on the plus side in life today I have received two cheques, one for last month's cleaning, one for the Yellow Pages delivering, I'll pop into town between 11 and 1 tomorrow to pay them in.
About the pic - of course I am!
To report this post follow the permalink above Wacky Banger Racing
Source: Eddie2sox Our first visit of the year to the Norfolk Arena for the meeting known as "Wacky Races".... Which means that as well as TSR bangers there were three-wheeler Robin Reliants racing and a caravan race to finish. We were a little late arriving so had to park MILES from the track, but still made it inside just in time to see the start of the first race - chained pairs of bangers.
The first heat of 3-wheelers was fantastic as usual, they have enough trouble getting round the corners and staying upright, never mind trying to hit each other as well. Sam really loves the 3-wheelers, when they start rolling they just roll and roll and roll until they bump into something. If they end up back on their wheels they get a round of applause from the crowd - if they end up on their side the driver jumps out and pushes them back upright, and they get applause AND a big cheer. There was lots of clapping and cheering today.
We went to get Sam's traditional banger grub, then went for a nosey in the pits. And at that point the afternoon went weird.
I heard a tannoy message, something about a website called "Single Dads", and he's here today with his son. I thought it sounded interesting anyway, so we went round to the start/finish area to have a mooch at what was going on. Amazingly, it was me and Sam that the tannoy was meant for! A Channel 4 film-maker called Clare (see pic) had read this blog on Sunday, been inspired by our story, and wanted to film Sam and me at the banger racing meeting, along with one of the 3-wheeler drivers. I can't explain anything about the film that's being made, but it was most peculiar being filmed as we walked round the track, through the pits, etc. People were looking at us as if we "must" be someone famous, but far from it, we're just Sam and Daddy so STOP STARING! Clare wants to pop back to film Sam a little more at some point too, how cool is that.
The last race of the day was the caravan derby, and we stood and watched it with Sam's new mate Clare, who had by now stopped filming and was just enjoying the racing. As always the caravan racing was hilarious and awe-inspiring, the drivers are so...so....bonkers I think is the best word. One of them crashed very heavily into the fence directly in front of us, smash bang wallop, fantastico!
We eventually got home after signing permission forms etc, had a bath, some tea, and now Sam is happily tucked up dreaming of exploding caravans and tumbling 3-wheelers (and wearing his "anti-bad dream" bobble hat). When we did prayers tonight Sam asked God to look after Clare on her way back to London, he truly is my perfect little star. To report this post follow the permalink aboveHeacham Beer Festival
Source: Eddie2sox A Bank Holiday Sunday, a beer garden, lots of sunshine and some lovely real ale......recipe for a hangover! I decided to actually DO something for a change, and when me and Sam were on the way home from Hunstanton I spotted a small beer festival in the little village of Heacham. So Sunday came and I jumped on a number 40 bus along with lots of other people who were heading for the beach at Sunny Hunny. It took ages to get to Heacham, the Bank Holiday traffic was atrocious and the bus kept conking out due to a dodgy gearbox. I got off at the stop directly opposite the pub - the Fox & Hounds (see pic). Anyway, I decided to record the day's events in a notebook, so here is the full, unabridged story:
1131 Leave home. 1140 Buy NOTW from newsagent (rivetting read so far eh?) 1153 Off we go!! 1257 Off the bus - opposite the pub! Pint of Adnams Broadside, just as I remember it, delicious. 1303 Argh!! All tables out front of pub taken, how inconsiderate. Asked landlord - more out the back hoorah! "If there aren't any just take a chair from in here outside." Nice. 1328 Peak Ales "Swift Nick", returned to beer garden, huge hairy hell's angel - complete with battered helmet - sitting at my table. No worries, guess no-one else will move in and I don't mind sharing. BIG contrast, me, smart PINK shirt, short neat haircut, biker with long hair, dirty leather jacket, straggly beard etc. Beer was "hoppy"! 1401 Fox & Hounds have their own micro-brewery - pint of Fox LJB (Little John Bristow, landlord's grandson). 1415 Change of scene, moved into the red and white tent, too much sun is bad for you. More to the point, two huge families arrived and I didn't want them to have to hide indoors! They need a "table for six" more than I do. 1437 Jaipur Pale Ale (Thornbridge Brewery - Derbyshire!). Lovely light colour, summery taste, very nice. Why Jaipur? 1510 Another Jaipur plus request for bus timetable - got given The Heacham Newsletter. 1515 Police siren - cop car races past. Must be unusual here as everyone moves to windows to have a look. Not like KL! 1517 Spot a famous footballer with his mates. 1527 Old couple with "Trickywoo" kind of dog, looking after grandchild (7/8 months old?). Drinking pints, at least 3 each. Does the kid's parents know? Doubt it. 1539 Uh-oh. Decide to take on pub quiz machine.
NOTE : At this point my writing is getting pretty difficult to read!
1555 No wins yet. Another Jaipur. Ignored several £1/£2 wins to press on. WRONG! 1609 England doing well at cricket, 142-2. 1652 At bus stop (168-4). 1701 Still waiting! 1704 Dash into pub for a wee. 1718 Still waiting, must be the Bank Holiday traffic. 1721 BUS! Yay, at last. 1808 Off the bus opposite Tesco. 1810 Just seen another Ferrari, 2 in 2 days, weird.
And there it ends! I went into the Woolpack on the way home to top up the real ale with some real chemicals in the form of Fosters. Old Bespak buddy Noel came in with his missus, lovely to see him. Actually, I probably saw two of him....I was verrrrr, verrrrr drunk. To report this post follow the permalink above Accidental "god-bashing"
Source: Eddie2sox When I took Sam to his mummy's house last night I accidentally make a disparaging comment about christians... Sam isn't going with his mummy to their usual church today, no idea why. Instead they're going to Grandma's church somewhere else, which didn't go down well with my little boy. He asked his mummy why he couldn't go to the usual place, she told him their church was closed today....."Why is it closed?"
To which I accidentally told him "Because it's easter Sam, everywhere's shut at easter....." Ooooops!
Will god "smite" me? Course not! Not unless he reads my blog anyway.... To report this post follow the permalink aboveWe Went To The Seaside! Part Two
Source: Eddie2sox Been writing for ages and we haven't even set off for the seaside yet! Well, we quickly mended Sam's magazine with the trusty sellotape (number 2), then we watched some of the current fave programme Hider In The House while Sam indulged in number 8 - Snack Time! One yoghurt, one banana and one juice later and we were about ready to set off, hoorah!
Sam went for a wee, then - by himself - took off his long trousers and put on his shorts. BY HIMSELF! Then we were off. Allowed 30 minutes to get to the bus, and we timed it to perfection. Sam had another wee at the bus station, then we went to wait for the 40 bus to arrive - embarrassingly, just before it was due, Daddy received the call of nature and we had to run to the loo, then run back, and JUST got the bus hee hee. Quite a few people around us in the queue were saying things like "Must be the right bus, they've got bucket and spade" etc. Amazing how "looking" like you know what you're doing inspires so much confidence in others.
The bus ride was fun, Sam tucked into his pickernicker and we spotted abandoned castles along the way. The "we know what we're doing" thing continued as a bunch of spotty teenagers asked us where to get off when we were coming into Hunstanton. Jumped off the bus, and headed down the hill towards the beach.
First stop a clothes shop where Sam homed in on a cammo baseball cap - good choice son, that will last you several years, and only a fiver!
There were quite a lot of folk around, but the beaches are so big that we had as much room as we wanted. Sam decided he wanted to find a few seashells for Mummy, so we wandered along looking for unbroken shells to put into the net. Then, for some insane reason, we took our shoes and socks off. I think it may have been because Sam waded into a pool in his shoes......anyway, the sand was quite warm after a few hours sunshine. The water however! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR doesn't cover it. It were freezing! After about half an hour we decided to put shoes and socks back on so sat down and used the towel (YAY well remembered Daddy!) to dry off and warm up our feet.
We walked up a ramp onto the prom and decided to go and "look" at the rides - I'd explained (worried that Sam would be upset) that Daddy was poor this week and we couldn't go on any rides, but we could look and decide which ones we wanted to go on next time. I was really humbled that Sam took it all so beautifully, and a few times told ME that we didn't have much money so couldn't go on any rides today. But we had a VERY good walk round the funfair, lots of very exciting rides to investigate in future, and Waltzers - which made Sam go into a long story-tell about our last go on the Waltzers, and laugh himself silly looking forward to going on them again. We have SO many rides to go on now! Not the Ghost Train though......
Then we thought we'd find an ice cream......headed off to find one but found a lovely little wooden obstacle course first, and Sam did four laps. He even managed a couple of parts where I thought he had no chance......we'll be going back there too! Found an ice cream stall, VERY foxy young lady behind the counter, and then spent 20 minutes perched on a bench watching people walk by (Sam included, very nosey/interested). Took the photo at the top of this entry too.
Then we strolled back along the prom and made our way to the bus station, where Sam absolutely charmed the pants off at least 8 people by deciding to sing The Tweenies theme tune (Hey Hey, Are you ready to play?) at top volume. He is such a ***** magnet! The bus trip back was via a different route, no idea how that works! But we went within 300 metres of the Queen's holiday house, which I think kind of impressed Sam.
Tea "should" have been spaghetti bolognaise, but I'd had a nagging doubt whether I'd taken the sauce out of the freezer. I hadn't, but it didn't matter because I hadn't taken the mince out either! Mister Muddle again. So Sam had to put up with another Emergency Happy Meal - Sarah gave him the same on Thursday! Ho hum, pooh happens.
The toys with Happy Meals right now are Teenage Turtles figures, so now Sam's castle has a turtle among the guards, as well as the knights, Bob the Builder's brother, an alien and some Farty Putty (don't ask). We rushed through bathtime so as not to miss any of You've Been Framed, which we watched huggled on the settee. Then all too soon it was "back to mummy's" time.
What a fantastic day we had, we were laughing together for so much of it. Sam's off to Grandma's church tomorrow, but then on Monday we're going banger racing! Sam is very excited about seeing the three-wheelers, the chained bangers and the caravans! Again, you're all invited to join us!
Night night Sam, love you. To report this post follow the permalink aboveWe WentTo The Seaside! Part One
Source: Eddie2sox Invited you all to meet us at the bus station to get the 1135 number 40 to Sunny Hunny....nobody else turned up! In The Morning
Why the bus? Just for a change really. Sam loves buses and trains, Daddy can live without the Bank Holiday driving around Hunstanton, everyone's a winner. Picnic on the bus for Sam, he'll love it. Daddy will be loaded down no doubt, spade, net, changing bag, might try to leave the wheelbarrow at home.....Sam might even push himself to the limit and carry his bucket?
So you're ALL invited! The weather is grey right now, but by noon should be 17 degrees C, lovely. We might even go for an early season paddle.....sea will be a bit parky still though. I wonder what fun and adventures we'll have today......update to follow "In The Evening"....
In The Evening
Another great Sam n Daddy day! Got off to a WEIRD start, I set off to pick Sam up BUT ended up driving three quarters of the way to old job Bespak instead before I remembered, peculiar. Got home, pulled into Swiss Terrace, I said "Look at that duck" to Sam. "It's a cat Daddy." "Oh yeah!"
Oh dear. We made a list of things we wanted to do today, which I will keep forever, and reads thus:
1. Duck hunt. 2. Mend magazine. 3. Football with Matey men. 4. Make picnic. 5. Pack changing bag (suncream) 6. Electric track racing. 7. Banger racing. 8. Snack time. 9. Golf outside. 10. Go to the seaside.
Our day went like this.....
9. Golf outside.
Took our golf set out to enjoy some early sunshine, and the frisbee was still there! We set up the golf holes and played for a while, Sam actually, and really, beat me. I'll overlook his picking up and replacing his ball on "a couple" of occasions. Had a little go with the frisbee before chucking it back where we found it. Golf over!
3. Football with Matey men.
The Matey Men team took to the pitch, where Sam wanted to show them how to play football. So, Captains Farty-Pants, Dodgy, Fishy and Cow lined up for a team photo with Sam, then one on their own, before their education in the beautiful game. It ended up quite dangerous for them as Sampants performed his famed "running along kicking the Matey Men over" manouevre.
1. Duck hunt.
Another new game! We played it first last night, and again today....it's based on the book "We're Going On A Bear Hunt" (great book by the way, visiting parents!), and also on the way Dave Benson-Phillips set the story to music when we went to see him at Hunstanton's Princess Theatre. Why is it a duck hunt, not a bear hunt? Well, we saw some ducks around the flats recently, but we've never seen any bears! So, Sam sits aloft on Daddy's shoulders, and we set off around the flats...."We're going on a duck hunt..........we're going to find a brown one.......what a beautiful day.........I'm not scared!" As in the book we come up to various obstacles.....in the book it might be a dark forest...."We can't go over it.........we can't go under it.........we'll have to go through it...." and off they go through the dark forest. For us it's more like "Uh-oh, a fire escape.....biiiig metal steps......we can't go over it (jump to try to go over)......we can't go under it (big dip to let Sam's tummy drop like a stone).......we'll have to go around it!" and around it we go and onto the next obstacle!
So far so good, but I accidentally discovered something that makes Sam absolutely roar with laughter. We were halfway round and came to the underground car park gates....."Uh-oh, gates........biiiiig metal gates......(melodramatic tapping on gates)....we can't go over them......we can't go under them.....we'll have to go arou......" At this point I realised we couldn't go around them! So we went towards the other side too "We'll have to go aroun.....oh.....". Cue LONG pause for effect, then dramatic and over-acted "We'll have to IGNORE them!" and a quick walk in the other direction. Sam laughing his head off.
So naturally I put few more impossible obstacles in, like fences etc, each time we choose to ignore them Sam wets himself laughing, it is THE greatest sound in the world!
For the record, we still haven't found a duck. We did find a duck egg in a hole in the ground on Friday night, but we covered it with grass cuttings so no predators could get it.....and couldn't find it again today.....
6. Electric track racing.
After an hour of playing outside we came back in. Sam played with his racing track and his "new road" in his bedroom, while I did numbers 4 (Make picnic) & 5 (pack changing bag). The bag was super-stuffed today, too much really, we took Fireman Sam's fire engine Pegasus with us, plus Nurse Helen's ambulance, and I FINALLY remembered to take a towel to the seaside (we would need it later!). To report this post follow the permalink aboveTime To Remember The Departed
Source: Eddie2sox Today is the seventh anniversary of two Leeds United supporters' deaths in Istanbul ahead of a European match..... I was always a little sad about about this - I didn't know these two lads after all - until last year.
Chatting to some of the people I used to travel all over the place watching Leeds all those years ago, seems we did know one of the young men murdered in Istanbul by the Turks. At a match away at Brighton, the year before Leeds were promoted (so 98-99 season) we were in the same pub with another coachload of Leeds fans, and we got chatting to a lad called Spag. Got on well and chatted at a few other away games too. This was Kevin Speight's nickname, little did we know what would happen to him and Chris Loftus years later.
Even club managers Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet have placed flowers today....thank you....
Anyway, sleep well Chris and Kev.
If you want to pass a commerorative message on to the families, post as a comment and I will add it to the Leeds United fans' website on your behalf.....actually shed a few tears reading the heartfelt messages there, these lads will never be forgotten.... To report this post follow the permalink aboveThere's so much more to life than money....
Source: Eddie2sox And I'm peeved that it took me this long to realise it! We all need money to live, pay our expenses such as rent, TV licence, council tax, road tax etc. And then we all need to buy food, drink, clothes etc. And after that we use money for, basically, luxuries.
I am hoping to start nursing training in September, and for 3 years I will be pretty hard up......but does that mean I'll be miserable too? At times, without doubt, yes! But on the whole, no.....
I just walked to the shop, and on the way back popped into The Woolpack for a solitary homeward pint. The way people in there reacted to me has completely made my day. You walk in and five or six people say hi, how are you. Order a drink and a couple more folk exchange greetings. Then you have a chat with one or two people you know a bit better. On the way from the shop I'd spotted Old Bob in his new wheels (boy racer at HIS age!!!), and he almost followed me into The Woolie. We haven't chatted for bloody ages, which is a shame because Bob's a very intelligent man with a lot of knowledge to pass on. I had a conversation with Debbie and Ian, landlady and landlady, about The Masters golf tournament (got a bet on Justin Rose to win at 33/1), plus a few other things. A colleague from my Bespak days came in with his lovely missus and we had a quick chat, lovely. DJ J's family are visiting from Livingston in Sweatie-land, and they're nice too.
So. The point of this is that money isn't necessary to a fulfilling life. Right now I am SO happy with my lot. Yup, I am a part-time cleaner, so what? It's friends and family that make your life better, and I am very lucky to have lots of great people in both categories. Trying to make the world a slightly better place with a few hours each week helps too. All in all I am very lucky. Poor in money? Yes. Rich in life? Definitely.
The thing that made me write this post was Old Bob's last comment as I departed the Woolpack. "Come in more often so we can talk." I'm a lucky man. To report this post follow the permalink aboveKLFM Songanory
Source: Eddie2sox I was SOOOOO close today, but no cigar....not that you win anything anyway! I had a pop at the Songanory before it was read out AND afterwards today, the first attempt was "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" by Cliff Richard (WRONG), the second was "Girlfriend In A Coma" by The Smiths (WRONG).
The right answer escapes me, but it was the song that goes "Oh what a night, late December 1963...." which is a song that reminds me of my football-watching youth, when the song was adapted to "Oh what a night, late September 1993, scum got beat by Galatasaray, what an evening what a night" to commemorate Manyoo losing to the Turks for the first time ever. Happy days! To report this post follow the permalink aboveRadio Hi-Jinks
Source: Eddie2sox A while ago I sought inspiration from the radio when a recipe was not going well.....did the same again last night with surprising consequences..... A couple of weeks ago I asked BBC Radio Norfolk DJ Kirsteen Thorne for a few words of encouragement when my first ever attempt at pigeon pie was in its "difficult" early stages. Kirsteen came up trumps and the pie was a total and utter (and delicious) success.
So to last night. I was trying out the prototype version of my own invented recipe, and felt in need of some moral support.....so contacted the evening presenter, Sue Marchant, hoping for a "Good luck Simon" or summat similar.....oh no! The voluptuous Sue decided to invite me onto her show to describe what I was cooking and how it was going. Well, in itself, THAT was hair-raising enough, next minute I was lined up for a three-way chat with Sue, and celebrity chef Ed Baines. ZOINKS! It went well for me, I didn't swear, and Ed Baines confirmed that Tara Palmer-Tompkinson really is gorgeous in real life (so ner-ner ner-ner-ner to the unbelievers). He also suggested an accompaniment for my creation, shredded savoy cabbage, lemon juice, and maybe small new potatoes - sounds great. Plus he suggested that would be better served in slices on top of this as opposed to in a whole "roll".....and to maybe leave out the cheese!
What Did I Cook?I made something that has to be filed under "unhealthy comfort food"! To sum it up, it's a belly pork slice, with a pork sausage sliced lengthways and both halves placed under the slice. On top of the slice is a large amount of diced apple and mushroom, and the whole thing is wrapped in good quality bacon. Baked for 30 minutes in foil, then grilled for 5 minutes to perk up the bacon wrapping. VERY filling and very tasty, even if I do say so myself!
What Is It Called?So now I need a name for my "creation". Got three ideas, but open to more. Let me know which you prefer: "Posh" name - Marchant-Baines Meaty Roulade "Medium" Name - Pork & Apple Roly-Poly "Down to earth" Name - Norfolk Meatloaf What do you think? To report this post follow the permalink aboveMy Online Football Team
Source: Eddie2sox Well, I am very dis-pleased with one member of my online football team! Yes I understand that I'm too old for it, but I take part in an online football game called "Sunday League", where you manage a football team against other people with too much time on their hands. You can rename your team and players, so my team is based on Corrie - yes I am the proud boss of the Rovers Return Rovers!
Now, we're top of the league right now, so I am really mad that my star left-back Ken Barlow has got himself suspended for the crucial game at home to Latics Allstars. Ken, you idiot!
I was hoping to keep an unchanged team from the last match, a 5-3 victory which cemented our place as league leaders, with goals from Raquel Wolstenholme, Albert Tatlock, and a Curly Watts hat-trick. Unfortunately Tatlock got himself booked (for Obstruction), as did Mavis Riley (Indecent Exposure) and worst of all Barlow (Shirt Pulling). Tatlock also missed another penalty, so spot-kick duties have been handed to attacking midfielder Don Brennan (no jokes about all cup matches being decided over one leg, thank you).
We really need to win the title, we will be awarded credits in-game which will mean we might be able to strengthen the team!
If you fancy a go, sign up here Wish us luck! To report this post follow the permalink aboveNew Recipe Idea!!!!
Source: Eddie2sox I've had a brainwave on creating a really filling, meaty, indulgent, unhealthy meal.....definitely "blokey comfort food"..... So I zoomed off to Tesco and picked up all the potential ingredients. Next step is creating a few, slightly different, prototypes of my creation. If they're all rubbish I'll try another few slight variations, then give up if they turn out pants too! If it works out however, I'll have to think of a name for my gastronomic delight. I am not entirely sure whether to make this as a main course or as a kind-of pasty (Kim Mutton take note). The pseudo-pasty would probably have to be called "Three Pig Pasty". So into the kitchen soon!
Today I was due to be cleaning til 11 but ended up there til 1 as two rooms needed doing too. I am a 39 year old cleaner! Makes me laugh. The cleaning meant I had to take Sam back at half eight after the overnight stay, which was quite sad. As I was waiting to get onto the road when it was time to leave, Sam's mummy stayed at the door to say bye (nice of you, cheers mate!), and I spotted Sam behind shedding a few tears. Poor little sod. Same thing as when I picked him up yesterday I suppose. I think he would, if he could arrange it, have his mummy and daddy living together, but it cannot be. Whenever he sees a picture in a book of a child and an adult male and female together, he always points and says "That's me, that's my mummy, and that's my daddy". At least the divorce hasn't completely taken away his idea of what family is all about. Yes I do feel guilty about it. To report this post follow the permalink aboveSuper Tuesday!
Source: Eddie2sox Started with a lie-in, progressed to marigolds and Loobloo, ended with my fantastic little boy! Didn't get out of bed til half eight today, straight off to Goodwins Road to do my three hours cleaning up student wee, then home for a quick cuppa.
Picked Sam up just after 1 from his mummy's house, he was a bit upset for some reason, probably tiredness, then we headed home via Tesco.
All shoppinged-up we stashed it in the boot then "took the trolley back".....for me and Sam this involves HIM sitting inside the trolley holding on tight while Daddy sets off down the car park like a winter Olympic bobsleigh pusher, before diving onto the back of the speeding mass of metal, also clinging on for dear life. Run One today was great, we spun 720 before coming to rest facing a car containing a laughing couple - laughing at us. Run Two in the opposite direction (two runs are required to confirm any records) was even better, and you know, I've never noticed that sharp little downward slope. The very slope that accelerated us from "dangerously fast and in danger of overturning" speed to "AAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE".......I was relieved to get feet on tarmac, and it took about 10 metres to bring the trolley to a rest, uncomfortably close to a parked BMW. Sam was, naturally, laughing his head off.
We had planned to go to the seaside, but the weather was grey and chilly so we just headed home and had fun all afternoon. Sam enjoyed his improvised tea of toast, Tweenies spaghetti and "wee willie winkies", and the time went too quick as usual. A precedent was set when we had to line up the banger racing start in rows of three not two, to prevent the line-up reaching all the way round the track. Sir Trumpalot is still AWOL (we had an almost wistful little "wonder where he is" kind of chat about him). Lightning McQueen showed Sam's Lego Ferraris that he is STILL the fastest car around. After tea we snuggled up on the settee, and out of the blue Sam sang me a song all about "We've had a lovely day, time to go to bed" etc, and yes it did make me cry just a little bit! Bedtime was lovely as usual, and Sam was out like a light (the earlier tiredness caught him up I think)....got 2 1/2 hours tomorrow morning, then that's it til the regular Friday night stay here. I'm so lucky to have such a fantastic son. And quite lucky to have an ex-missus who thinks it's good for Sam to spend time with his Daddy.
Soon be time to take Sam for his half ten wee, then it's sleepy time for me too....and hopefully sweet dreams of me, Kylie, a water bed and some chocolate cake..... To report this post follow the permalink aboveKaraoke King!
Source: Eddie2sox I am a really shy person by nature, and have only ever attempted karaoke once before....until last night that is...... I bowed to peer pressure and went to The Woolpack - ostensibly to watch the football. Alas the footie was not to be shown, because it was karaoke night - oh bloody great! Still, I stupidly stayed for a pint and a chat about the decline of Super Leeds with a fellow White, one pint led to three.....and then the karaoke started.
Well......there are some good singers who go to the Woolpack karaoke! Some others are triers. But it's all good fun, in a light-hearted kind of way. For some reason me and Ian the Roman decided to sing Y.M.C.A. together. But with props (hats) and choreography. So, with him in his Roman soldier's helmet (very shiny) and me in a.....in a.......witches hat....we grabbed the mikes and belted out the Village People classic. Renamed ourselves The Village Idiots. Three more blokes with absolutely no shame needed for the next time....
A little later and I went solo. I chose me and Sam's favourite "Same Jeans" by The View. And the amazing thing is, it was BRILLIANT (even if I do say so meself). As I've sung it so often with Sam and on my own I know it pretty much off by heart, and it's quite an easy song for a tone deaf loser like me to cope with. When I finished the pub went crackers, clapping and cheering like I was Kyle Falconer himself. I swapped high fives all the way back to my place at the bar. Really chuffed! DJ Jay says I should have that as "my" song at karaoke in the future. Not so sure about THAT!
So. A night in the pub but a karaoke triumph..... To report this post follow the permalink aboveGetting Stuff Done!
Source: Eddie2sox Well it's been a good day so far, getting through my "to do" list like the clappers.... I had another great sleep last night, amazing. In bed about 1130, got up 9.30! Almost the same as the night before, and feeling rather chipper on it. Plus the kitchen was already immaculately tidy, bonus!
So, I've already ordered the monthly set of photos of Sam for both sets of grandparents, including the kitchen pics for MY folks plus a photo of Sam and Misty to add to the Woolpack The Next Generation (WTNG) hall of fame at The Woolpack. Had a really nice long chat with Sam while he was out in town with his Mummy (today he chose his own clothes - Leeds United bobble hat, Bob the Builder jumper, trousers with a hole in the knee, and pink rainbow wellies). Also been to meet Mark at CADS (alcohol counsellor) who was surprised and impressed with how things are going, booked the car in for a service and MOT in May (impressive forward planning!), and I am now about to head out for an afternoon Samaritans shift, ahead of a hectic evening in front of the TV......
Just got a phone pic of Sam, he's looking FUNKY! You young things in the big cities who think you're something with your rive-gauche outfits, you've got nothing on my little boy!
Life's looking brighter for me today....(pic is from yesterday - first grass cut of the year, yay!). To report this post follow the permalink aboveRollercoaster Few Days....
Source: Eddie2sox It's been a weird few days for me in more than one way. Been right at the bottom of a trough, and also right on top of a wave..... This all started on Thursday really, when I went to do my voluntary nightshift from 10 til 2 a.m. We were really busy but with no calls too heavy, and we had a really good chat in the few brief quiet moments too....as described in the previous entry one caller stuck with me afterwards. I certainly couldn't get to sleep. I remember hearing the start of KLFM's breakfast show at 6 in the morning so I must have nodded off soon after that. Only to be wide awake again at half past eight, argh! No way could I get back to sleep again and eventually gave up at 11.
I had to venture into town. After missing out on the 25 hours a week admin job it's time to get back seriously into job-hunting. So out thorugh the park and into town, beautiful sunny day, and into the paper shop for the Lynn News. I also finally went to pick up the prescriptions given to me by the doc on Monday, but there was a 30 minute wait - never mind, Costa Coffee here we come! Drinking that coffee and putting circles round jobs in the paper, I took stock of where my life is, and it was not a very comfortable process. My RAF pension was paid into my bank that morning, but even after that I was still well overdrawn. Only have one job - 7 hours cleaning a week. Pretty reckless attitude to my health too at the moment, slowly undoing all the good work I did last year. In the "Pros" column? Well, I am lucky enough to be the dad of the most fantastic little boy on earth (BIG Pro), plus it is only two months until the interviews for mental health nursing training (it's seemed to take ages since I applied in October).
Back to Boots for my drugs. One set of pills for high blood pressure (been going on since the split from Sarah), new ones to repress the desire to drink alcohol. I asked the doc for this, as I've been starting to drink way too much on the days that I don't see Sam, and I don't want to. It's not the particular drug that makes you throw up, it's just the lowest level helping hand to boost my own willpower. Pretty shameful that I don't have the balls to do it all myself.
On the way home I bought the chips for Sam's tea from Bitson's chippy, then went to pick Sam up from nursery. It was a lovely evening still, so we went to the park with Sam on his bike. He's loving his bike more and more these days, and getting better at riding it too. We took some old bread to feed the ducks (who are all behaving VERY strangely at the moment, see next paragraph) and some skittles to make a slalom course on the path for Sam to ride through. He only fell off once too! Back home it was chip butty for Sam's tea, then soaking wet bathtime for everyone, then bed. We had a lovely bedtime, lots of hugs, and Sam eventually fell asleep mid-sentence telling me about nursery. Love him. He woke himself up at half ten having a bad dream, but this is time to get him up for a wee anyway, so we went to the toilet then I cuddled him on the settee until he was properly asleep and quiet again.
Anyway, as an aside - ducks! More to the point, why are they behaving so bizarrely right now. I'm guessing it must be the season for mummy ducks and daddy ducks to make baby ducks? Me and Sam have encountered ducks in a variety of unusual places, which Sam finds absolutely hilarious - sitting in the middle of the gardens near St Johns church, waddling along the cyclepath near the level crossing, in the old tennis courts, even walking around right outside our flats, they're everywhere right now.
But back to the weekend. Saturday morning, and Sam didn't appear in my bed until quarter past six! A great morning's play was highlighted by a brief trip into town - Sam had £8 to pay into his bank (grand total now £16), in his quest to save for his next big Lego set (he's decided on a Lego fire station, costing £40!!!). Cash paid in we decided to be really naughty and had a doughnut from the van near the bookies (100% unhealthy but 100% delicious too) before walking down to browse in the "clown toy shop" (I think the real name is Kids' World). We'd agreed that we'd just look at Lego, because we were saving up, and Sam was, maybe a little surprisingly, more than content with that. Unfortunately just as we reached the toy shop Sam had a desperate urge for a wee, so we had to high-tail it to the bus station loos, before returning (this time through a "secret passage", i.e. the dark Sainsburys car park), to finally run the rule over the shelves. And are we glad we did! We found the exact fire station that Sam wants, priced at £38 - so, that's £2 cheaper than online, plus we will be saving about £6 packing and posting, brilliant! Seeing this set "in the flesh" really fired Sam's enthusiasm for the whole saving up idea again, winner!
We got home, got ready, then set off for Nana and Grandad's house for Sam to show them his bike again. Sam loves going up there, and my parents really like seeing Sam too, I want Sam to spend as much time with this set of grandparents as he can. It would be nice if he has some memories of them of his own without having to look at photos. We had a really good visit! Auntie Kay and Sam's cousin Emma turned up as well, so we went into the back yard with Nana to throw the ball for her dog (Didi) to chase and bring back (photo is Sam's Nana with Didi). Sam loves the big garden, and naturally Didi loves having a new playmate to go down said garden with! The three of us "scared" Nana, Auntie Kay and Emma when we crept round a side path, sneaked though the neighbour's back yard (naughty, SSSSSHHHHHHHHH!) then jumped into the yard, BOOOOOOOOOOO! Well, Didi actually crawled on her belly into the yard and didn't shout Boo, but you get the picture. My Dad is looking quite a lot healthier since he's been at home, which is a very nice thing to see. Also, their kitchen is now finished, all the local family have updated it with new units, carpet, fridge/freezer and washing machine etc, and it looks great. Actually took some pictures of it because Dad wants to send some to his sister Hazel in Canada.
All too soon it was time to head off back down the A17 again, aiming to hit King's Lynn just before 5 when You've Been Framed started. For once we timed it to perfection (first time ever I believe) and got home with five minutes to spare. I settled Sam down to watch his favourite programme while I prepared his tea - this time he had Cottage Pie Island in the Baked Bean Sea. Not as unhealthy as it sounds, the pie was the Annabel Karmel healthy version, and the beans were of the low-fat, low-salt variety. Sam loved it - mind you, he's been eating like a horse all day. We set up a quick banger race then watched Harry Hill's TV Burp. Now, I'm not sure whether many 3-year-olds find this programme funny, but Sam was absolutely wetting himself. Maybe I'm doing something right after all.
Time for Sam to go back to mummy's. Went OK. We woke Sarah up apparently, very rare for her. Then it was time to drive home on me own, which is usually the cue to stock up with beer and drown my sorrows. Last night I didn't. I bought orange juice instead, and stayed in watching dodgy Saturday night TV (loved The Culture Show though, especially Andy Goldsworthy "inviting" a critic to help him make his huge cow pooh mural), and eventually went to bed at half past ten. ROCK AND ROLL! To report this post follow the permalink above |
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