goodbye george...

Last night we all met up in town for some drinking to say goodbye to George who is off to Africa on Tuesday for 3 months of traveling from Uganda to South Africa (she's a brave girl)



We started the night at Sahara Bar, one of my favorite pubs in Reading and also one of the most expensive. Oh well.

They have a very big cocktail selection so what else could we drink but cocktails! Dan stuck to what he calls " a man's cocktail" and had a few Mojito's and I had a couple of my favorite cocktails they do - a Wibble. Yum! :o) We headed downstairs for a while and while Dan went onto the whiskey, I had a very yummy champagne cocktail - a Plymouth Royale for the bargain price of £6.95! :o)

We finally left Sahara Bar and headed across to Mango but they wouldn't let Richard in with trainers on so we were forced to go to The Purple Turtle. Oh joy! It was however, not as bad as I expected.

We finally headed for home sometime around 1.30am after a hot dog from the hut in the middle of St Mary's Butts :o)

Of course the camera was with us and photo's will be available soon!

L x

happy birthday...

Happy Birthday Jo!

She's now made it to the grand age of 27! :o)

L x

johnson's party...

Busy day yesterday.

Dan woke me up at 12.00pm to remind me that Skene, Jo and James would be arriving in 4 hours! Oh my god!

I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower then immediately started preparing for their arrival. Dan and Ron were sent to the shop to buy ingredients for dinner and booze for the party. I stayed at home baking and feeling like a proper housewife!

With one guest a vegetarian and one guest a pure carnivore, the choice of what to cook for dinner was very difficult! In the end, I settled for pizzas. Everyone loves pizzas and it would suit everyone's needs.

By the time Dan and Ron got back from shopping, I had finished making the pizza dough and it was sitting on the side where it would rise for at least the next hour. I was just about to start making the onion bhaji's for the party when Dan asked if I'd made enough dough. "Of course I have, I doubled the recipe". Oh yes, I'd doubled the recipe I use to feed 2 people expecting it to feed 6 people. Arrgh! So back to making pizza dough and all that kneading!

Finally the pizza dough was made and it was time to start making the bhajis and I was still making bhajis when everyone arrived. I had at least, managed to spare 20 minutes when the beaus mixture was sitting to sort out my hair.

Dinner was a great success. Everyone seemed to enjoy making their own pizza and the choice of toppings suited everyone's need :o)

Soon it was time to go to Jansenism party which this time, was a "bring a hat" party.



We had a good night and met up with some of Johnson's friends who we hadn't seen for a while. Boys were boys and made a tower of Boddington cans which of course was knocked over on purpose by someone else. Dan and Ron started to hide bottle tops around Johnson's flat for him to find later and the obligatory spilage on the carpet was unfortunately red wine which was quickly coated in a ton of salt.

All in all it was a very good night and we were very lucky to get home alive after Mr Taxi Man's speedy driving along the A4!

And of course the evening was captured in pictures.

L x

happy birthday...

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law to be, Shani!

I won't tell you how old she is though! ;o)

L x

friday night...

Another Friday night, another trip to the pub! :o)

Ron is back down South. He got the job in Oxford so has been house-hunting.

Once again, we're off to The Monks. It's not a bad pub. They have cheap drinks and a good choice of real ale, it just makes you feel old, full of 18 year olds who all dress the same in short skirts and skimpy tops. Last week was ironic though. A group of "school girls" had gone out for the night dressed as school girls! :oP

L x

my grandma's a hero...

I think my Grandma is Super Gran! (except she's not Scottish)

I am very proud of her, she has just done a sponsored swim and managed to swim 64 lengths in 1 hour 34 minutes. That's one mile!

What I haven't told you yet is that she's 80 (81 in May)!

Well done Grandma! :o)

L x

10 years driving...

10 years ago today I passed my driving test! Thursday 16th February 1995.

Blimey, saying that really does make me sound old!

L x

day out in london...

Went to London yesterday to celebrate Mr Skene's birthday.

In order to save a wee bit of money, we decided to drive to their house. What I hadn't realised, was that this meant driving right through the centre of London. Yes, our lovely old Escort even drove down Knightsbridge, passed Harrods! :o)

We finally arrived in Surrey Quays sometime after 1.00pm. After a quick lunch (yummy toasted sandwiches) we headed off for a trip to The Science Museum.

Its fab you don't have to pay to get in to the museums now and provided us with hours of fun. I learnt that I don't know too much about energy (oops) but I did learn the best type of wheels to use on a railway! Who said education wasn't fun ;o)

When the museum chucked us out, we headed off in search of food before we made our way to The Yorkshire Grey pub, where the festivities for Skene's birthday would take place.

The next morning was Skene's birthday and Jo treated us all to a very tasty breakfast - bagels with a choice of smoked salmon & cream cheese or bacon and egg (or for the boys, one of each)

After breakfast, we said our goodbyes and headed for home. This time it was my turn to navigate which was not an easy task due to the one way systems and trying to read the directions backwards!

We finally made it home in just over an hour. The drive to and from London wasn't as bad as I thought and we'd certainly do it again.

A small selection of photos were taken to capture the day.

L x

Happy 27th Birthday Skene! You're now officially in your late 20's! :o)

friday night...

Pub night! :o)

Off into town tonight for a few alcoholic beverages with Deb and Jason.

Predictable as ever lately, we're starting off in The Monks Retreat. Good old Wetherspoons and their cheap drinks.

And I imagine we'll also be popping across the road to O'Neills when they chuck us out of the monks.

L x

oceans 12...

Hurrah! Ocean's 12 is finally out and last night, we went to see it.

Another film with Brad and George looking mighty fine in suits makes Lorna a happy girlie.

I never did understand the hype over Brad and George until I watched Ocean's Eleven. It's the suits that do it. I'm a sucker for a man in a suit! ;o)

So, I was looking forwared to Ocean's 12 and although it wasn't as good as the first (though sequels rarely are) it was still a good film. No Las Vegas this time though.

L x

photo page updated...

The photos from New Years Eve can now be found in the photo gallery! :o)

L x

manicure...

I finally treated myself to some beauty treatments with the vouchers I got for my birthday!

For my first treatment, I decided on a manicure, something I've been dying to get for years but have never got round to booking one.

My nails look fab now and I've still got lots of vouchers left so I may just treat myself to something else soon!

Tonight, i'm home alone. Dan is off out for dinner, a work thing so I'm all alone. CSI New York starts tonight though so I've got something to keep myself occupied.

L x

happy birthday...

Happy Birthday to Laura!

Shall I reveal her age? OK, she's 26 today! :o)

L x

dinner...

We went out to dinner last night with Dan's Dad and Wicked Stepmother (Jos - and not really wicked)

They had all spent the day walking in Wiltshire while I was hard at work.

In the evening, we were treated to some drinks in the local followed by dinner at Wagamamas, which as usual was very yummy.

After dinner, we said goodbye and headed home just in time to watch Desperate Housewives.

L x