Human Remains on Tour

A lot has happened in the world of People Services at Blind Veterans in the last two years and the time had come for us to all be in the same room for some bonding and planning so the southerners took to the road (or rail) to Cymru with their onesies.
We spent two days working on our People Services strategy and our management and operational plans  but as you can see it we managed to find a bit of time for fun too.
We don't always dress like this, it was Wear Your Onesie to Work Week to raise funds for Blind Veterans and we are never slow to engage in an opportunity for dressing up.  I do hope the bees were not traumatised by their visit from this group  of wolves, giraffe, various cats, pandas and mice.

We followed up the woodland walk down to the bee hives with a raging agreement about the venue for our Christmas lunch and selections for the Secret Santa followed by a game of Who Am I.  Even without the lubrication of alcohol it was a lot more fun than it looks in this picture.  Andrew Lloyd-Webber locking horns with Robin Hood while Ghengis Khan and James Bond look on.

Our colleagues in Wales put on a crystal maze tournament of archery, darts, pool, quiz, mosaic making and creative cheer leading.  Its amazing that we had time for any serious work.  Each one of us is now the proud owner of a mosaic coaster to remind us of a great event.  We certainly lived up to the idea that if your job is not fun, you're doing it wrong.  Looking forward to the next one.

BU Media School Graduation 2013

Matthew Paul Williams BA Hons; James Hughes Mulligan BA Hons; Lawrence Edward Davies BA Hons.

It seems like a few minutes ago that Adrian Lawrence and I set off to choose a university and now he's graduated, got a job and moved to London.  Of course it wasn't all plain sailing but judging by the noise in the room yesterday it was worth every study session, late night, hangover, red bull, desperate phone call and £ spent.

Lawrence and I travelled on the same train from Waterloo to Bournemouth, new suit safely stowed in the overhead rack. Because of the peculiarities of the train ticket booking service my ticket was cheaper in first class so we had to chat through the communicating door, dodging the train manager from time to time but the new suit got a first class ride and we remembered to retrieve it at Bournemouth.


Abby graduated on Thursday so we celebrated that at The Edge with the Tarrants.  Abby's grandad Bill became unwell during the dinner and had to leave with Jill, Caroline and Richard but I am delighted to hear that he has made a full recovery and I hope we get the chance to raise a glass with another time.
Abby, her brother Harry and the Davies continued to have a lovely meal unspoiled by the fight over the bill and associated wine juggling or the Pencilgate incident in the lift on the way in.

Up early Friday morning greeted with a text from Lawrence at 8.16 'I'm up and en-route to BIC'.
Very reassuring as when we went to bed at midnight he went out (with his suit) for more fun with friends.
What it is to be 22 and look so fresh after hardly any sleep and a lot of partying under your gown!
The official proceedings were impressive with lots of funny hats and brightly coloured gowns, bowing and procession.
The graduands all set in the stalls and the hangers on in the dress circle.  I loved the part when the Vice Chancellor Prof John Vinney asked them to turn around an applaud all the people who had supported them in various ways during their time at BU and they did so with great enthusiasm.
We had lunch at WestBeach and all the officials from the ceremony were sitting at a table behind us (we were too discreet to take pictures so you will have to take my word for that).
All in all an event to remember.
Well done all the BU 2013 grads.
Here's hoping the future is as bright at the last 4 years have been!

checking stocks?

Where did my hat go?

Savoury Bread and Butter Pudding

An evening of fireworks and celebration resulted in a lot of leftover baguette and as I'm still not completely over GBBO I decided to try an experimental dish to use it up without ending up with a sweet bread and butter pudding that I would be unable to resist.

Adrian's verdict was 'surprising, it has the texture of normal bread and butter pudding but it is savoury............surprisingly delicious'.  So here's how I did it.

half a full size baguette
6 eggs
50g butter (weight guessed)
150ml milk
100g chorizo sliced
1 tomato thinly sliced
250g mushrooms, sliced
75g chopped green and black olives
dried herbs
parmesan cheese

First I grilled the mushrooms on the maximum grill setting on foil, moving them around every few mins, to get most of the moisture out.  About 8-10 mins in total.  While the mushrooms were grilling I chopped the chorizo.

Then I grilled the chopped chorizo for about 4 mins on a slightly lower grill setting to get some of the fat out.

Then I put the thinly sliced tomato onto the foil, with the chorizo fat, sprinkled with mixed herbs and grilled for about 10 mins turning a couple of times.

  

Butter the baguette slices, thinly, on both sides.  My original plan was to make sandwiches as you do for sweet bread and butter pudding but I abandoned that idea as it didn't look great.

The big gaps here are the reason I didn't go with this first configuration.

Put a layer of baguette slices on the bottom of the greased pie dish squashing them up so there are not big gaps.

Cover the bread with the chopped olives, grilled mushrooms, chorizo and tomatoes.

Cut the remaining baguette slices in half and placed them over the top of the mixture with the crusty side uppermost.  

Beat the eggs and milk together and pour over the top.  I squashed the whole lot down with an egg lifter to make sure the wet mixture was thoroughly soaked into the bread.

Sprinkled parmesan cheese over the top and bake in the oven for about 25-30 mins.

A nice alternative to quiche and good way to use up stale bread.

Hanagan's Heroes Headline at the Holbrook

At one of our Spring book club meetings Shaun's suggestion that we might like to take part in a fundraiser quiz night on 23 May was greeted with much enthusiasm.  Unfortunately the organiser of the quiz failed to get enough teams signed up to make it worthwhile but Shaun found an alternative quiz on the same night at the Six Bells in Billingshurst.  The twelve of us were split into two teams, Hillsiders and Hanagan's Heroes arrived at the pub to find the quiz had been cancelled due to a lack of interest.  Not wanting to loose out on the obvious thirst of 12 enthusiastic people the bar manager rummaged around in her iPad and found a quiz, roped in a few others who had popped into the pub for a quiet drink and we got our quiz.  On that occasion Hanagan's Heroes did not triumph due to a contretemps about seismology amongst other knowledge gaps but a great time was had by all so the suggestion of a repeat performance was greeted with a unanimous 'yes'.
Many thanks, once again, to Shaun for managing the logistics, it's a pity the Holbrook is just a little too far for (some of) us to walk but a few willing drivers volunteered and off we set.
27 teams of 6 packed in to raise funds for The Ark by pitting their wits against each other for the chance to walk away with glittering prizes and the opportunity to bid for a multicoloured quilt.
Things didn't start very well for me when I recognised only 1 of the 18 heads in the picture round but  Shaun's inspirational team selection made sure the knowledge of football teams with lots of consonants and wedding anniversary gifts was equally divided.  I'm hope the Ark must be delighted with the success of the event both as fundraiser and awareness promoter.  The Hillside gang certainly had a great night out.
It's the camaraderie and opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause that's important about these events, getting to know people and engage in local events, not whether you win or lose.

Who am I kidding, coming first and second out of 27 teams was pretty good and being in the victory picture definitely put the icing on the fondant fancy.  I hope we will be back next year to defend our title.

Chicken, Chorizo and Chick Pea Chadli

Ingredients 

I medium onion chopped (I use frozen)

Chorizo ring, sliced

Garlic (I use the stuff in the tube)

500g fresh chicken cubed (I usually use skinless, boneless thighs but its breast in the picture.

2 spoons dried mixed herbs

1 tin of check peas, drained

chopped tomatoes (Fresh is best, I use liquidised tinned or boxed)

1. Fry the onions in olive oil until soft and light brown.  
2. Add the garlic and sliced chorizo for a few mins.
3. Add the cubed chicken and fry until the chicken is cooked.
4. Add the dried herbs and tomato and then the drained chick peas.  
5. Cook on low heat for 20 mins (or put in the oven for 20 mins)

onions, garlic, chorizo

add the herbs 

The Great Ickenham Bake Off

A while ago I agreed to look after Georgie (7) and Mattie  (10), my niece and nephew, overnight so Alison and Tony (sister and husband) could go to a wedding in darkest Surrey.  Mattie had been invited to a sleepover at a friend's so it was turned out to be just Georgie and me for 26 hours, what on earth would we do to fill in the time?
Georgie is no culture vulture and she doesn't like shopping (go figure) so we settled on some sewing and baking.
The sewing was not a roaring success because of a missing piece of the sewing machine but baking seemed to hit the spot.  I put the slightly flat nature of our scones down to the the flour expiration date of Dec 2012 but adding a pack of baking powder to the cake seemed to do the trick.  Georgie did a detailed design plan incorporating a yellow star, pink clouds and carefully positioned blackberries we had picked earlier in the day (you can just about make it out in the picture) which we followed rather faithfully.
It's true that children can be irritating sometimes but at other times they restore your faith in the human being and help you to understand the purpose of all that breathing out and in.   Thanks Georgie, I really enjoyed myself and look forward to repeating the experience with slightly newer flour.

Great Weekend - About Time Too!

Not feeling the love for my job at the moment so an action packed weekend was just what the doctor ordered.
Started on Friday 2 August with the Wizard of Oz at the Compass Theatre which opened to rave reviews on Friday evening.  Unfortunately due to prior commitments of the cast it closed on the same night.  Georgie Regan put in a star performance but photography was not permitted in the auditorium and all publicity is going through her agent.
Saturday morning early start for emergency appointment at the passport office in Ecclestone Square, Victoria.
It always comes as a surprise to me when someone else turns out to have the same sense of direction as me.  Took us 15 minutes to find the passport office.  Later when we got back to Victoria station I noticed the directions printed on the ground in the station.  No sense of direction and missing the blindingly obvious is not a good combination.
Lovely breakfast at Giraffe, I can recommend the Mexican breakfast and some of the sausages had magical powers (but not all).

4 hour wait for passport so we took the opportunity to visit the British Museum.  

Mattie enjoyed the Egyptian objects and the Parthenon marbles.  Georgie didn't.  

I love these Greek tripod pots, they make me want to take up pottery again.

We left the museum and headed for Chinatown in the hope of buying a waving cat but only found lots of restaurants and souvenir shops.

Saturated with culture and new passport safely obtained the Regans returned to Ickenham and I met up with Adrian at Victoria for a planned trip to Apsley House.  But on the way we changed our minds and went back to the British Museum instead to see the Pompeii exhibition.  Well worth a visit.

One of the famous casts found inside the house with this mosaic dog guarding its entrance.  You don't really think of the Romans as dog people but some of them obviously were.

In search of a beer in the sun Adrian came across the source of his favourite publication.

And I found a watch to keep me going while mine is being serviced.

Got our beer in the sun, lovely dinner opposite the Gielgud theatre before we went in to see Noel Coward's Private Lives with Toby Stevens and Anna Chancellor.  After watching the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton film where about their disastrous run in the same play I was intrigued.  Very funny play, I recommend it.
Rounded off the weekend with a trip to The Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead and watched 49 riders compete for the King George V Gold Cup won by Ben Maher on Triple X III.  Thanks Kerrie

And then back down that mine on Monday morning.  This was the sort of weekend that might have been designed by Carlsberg.

Gerries to Gerryland

 Noon ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne.  Adrian looks a bit suspicious about the idea of going on holiday with his in-laws, Pa looks a bit more enthusiastic about the idea.

Sisters on tour enjoying the sun and sea breeze aboard the St Cecelia.

First stop Osborne House after some interesting circular navigation from Siri.

This is the Swiss Cottage which is a short walk from the house by schematic diagram and a long walk via the beach in reality.  Don't go there if you only have a few minutes spare before you head off home.






The Isle of Wight maybe on a time cycle about 30 years behind mainland Britain but its a staunch outpost of capitalism.  Material printed for the visitor seems to completely ignore attractions that have not paid to be there.  Osborne House doesn't make it onto my tea towel but the Hovercraft (which must have had a long contract) is.  After Osborne House we made our way to the hotel and on to dinner on the Shanklin Esplanade.
Up for an early breakfast and onto the Model Village at Godshill, the highlight of my visit.  Beautifully maintained gardens with quirky and witty scenes of well fed people going about their busy lives getting married, going on Scout camp, playing football (with a streaker on the pitch) or athletics and lots more.

 Beside the model village in the model village.

 Alison beside the show jumping arena.

Seasoned Scout master and Akela salute the Scout camp.

Bed of the king who loses his head.

The famous cock headed man

Not famous normal headed men

Shanklin Chine