Sarahmade

Tom and I went out for a lovely meal last night. We went on our bikes and Tom treated me to detailed explanation of all the other cyclists bike lights and if they were illegal or not, and how much they go for on ebay and in the shops. He has become a bike light geek. Two weeks ago he was a cycle helmet geek. It reminds me of some of my family who talk about the amount of teeth on chain sets and what gear someone is in as they cycle by at 25mph. Tom hasn’t quite reached that stage yet.

Continuing my theme of meeting VIPs today I met the new Education Minister Kim Howells. I wasn’t really meant to meet him, I was just there to blend into the background and to take pictures. However when waiting in the corridor with the other VIPs due to meet him he strode up with his entourage, shook hands with VIP no.1, then turned to me and shook my hand. If I had a reason to meet him I would have given my usually strong handshake but I’m afraid to say it was a bit limp on my part and I mumbled my name as if to say, “you are really not supposed to be meeting me, please turn to the other important people you are supposed to meet and who are now looking at me too wondering who I am”.

I was then outdone by the other photographers there who had cameras four times as big as mine. We’ll see who has the best pics. I have one of kim’s face reflected in a piece of science machinery and it looks like he is in a hall of mirrors. I bet they didn’t go for that angle.

We went to visit Paul in hospital last night in his private room in his private hospital. There were lots of things to inspect. Tom Smith nicked a sick bowl becuase it looked like a hat and I applied all the free toiletrees I could. We also inspected the menu which was vast and really quite posh. For a moment we all considered getting health insurance.

Rainbows were blessing the landmarks of Bristol this morning. I saw three.

Rainbow number one was leading to the block of flats behind my house….the actual block of flats used in the filming of only fools and horses.

Rainbow number two landed on the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which made me feel a bit sick as it was such a cliche.

Rainbow number three was blessing the block of flats in which Cherie Blair bought two flats and which subsequently became know as Cheriegate.

Miniature Choc ices

There is only so much you can do with a freezer on a weekend when eveyone you know is away having fun somewhere else.

Kate called me from Vancouver last night and the phone went dead mid-conversation, just after a man asked her how long she would be. The crazy guy just hung up her phone and told her she wasn’t in her living room! She rang back from another phone box and said she was ok. We are currently having a trans-continental book club and it is my turn to choose the book.

Tom is having fun paint-balling. Actually it doesn’t sound like that much fun. It sounds painful.

Anyone want some ice?

I dont think you have ever met anyone as pleased to be able to freeze as me. Jayne let me have her old freezer and I am so excited. I made ICE.

So yesterday I explored part of the supermarket previously unavailable to me, the frozen food department. You can buy frozen pasta, isn’t that strange? Most stuff comes in breadcrumbs. I bought peas and icecream, without the breadcrumbs of course. haha peas in breadcrumbs, I think I like like that.

Tom and I just spent an enjoyable weekend in the Lake District on our bikes. We arrived at Waterside Farm Campsite on Friday evening and found a pitch roughly 2m from Ullswater lake. It was quite dark when we got there but we woke to an amazing view.

The drawback with this site was that the previous occupants were a flock of ducks and at 5.30am they tried to claim back their space by surrounding us and quacking and squeaking for ages then frightening our tent with take off an hour later.

We then caught a boat the length of Ullswater and arrived at Gillside campsite.

When preparing for a big walk into the hills Tom and I had an argument about my love of the bungee. I said we should take one as if we got into any problems the bungee would probably save our lives. He said it was stupid and he refused to carry it. If the mist came in we would hold hands to guide each other down. I said it would impeed our journey if we were holding hands, far better to bungee ourselves together, giving some movement but all hands free in case of a fall. Plus if we were stuck on the edge of a cliff and it looked like we would be there for the night we could wrap the bungee round our middle and attach it to the rock which would mean we might be able to sleep without falling off. He carried on with a raised voice slagging the bungee which caused me to put my fingers in my ear. Then the argument ended with me lip-reading the words “knob” and “end”. I secretly put a bungee in my poncho pouch and we returned safely from our walk which probably goes to show how effective they are.

Then there was much cycling and walking up 2mile hills with our bikes, and avoiding sheep and on sunday evening we made a sort of jam with plums and blackberries and ate it with scones. Oh…and then there was the 1 tonne car hill challenge, but you’ll have to wait for Tom to show you that one. I bet they had some emergency bungees somewhere.

On the bank holiday I visited my mum and dad to see what produce they had on offer. Turns out they had quite a lot and not at all your standard English veg.

Look – they had grapes

and Borlotti beans

and wasps – with which my mum made wasp jam

Lovely

I seem to spend all my time planning at the moment. Lots of planning and then intense periods of time carrying out those plans, such as this morning. I have even started planning for other people. As Kate is in Canada and hadn’t really sorted out what she was going to do in Alaska, I planned it for her and found transport and accommodation. I like holiday planning the best and so I enjoyed the task for Kate. It is a bonus I don’t have to spend the money getting to Alaska but a bit of a shame I can’t take a 12 hour train to see the wildlife and scenery. Anyway this brief blog stop wasn’t actually in my morning plan so I have to get back to packing flapjacks.