Diamonds 3 Softball Tournament

What a fantastic weekend - sunshine galore! Not impressed with having to get up at 6am on a Saturday morning but it was necessary to get down to Slough for our first game of the tournament at 9am. I was joining a team called The Mighty Douche and our team chant was:

Douche, Douche, stronger than a moose

A bit unusual but after 2 days it was in full swing with a lot of moose noise joining in. The first day was 5 games of softball and we won 2 out of three and I also subbed in for another team for a game inbetween. The best thing about tournaments is that you can practice your swing and try different positions on the field. The sun was shining down all day and it was so hot I had to use someones umbrella! You could see the shimmer in the outfield it was so hot. A bit uncomfortable to play in but by about 2pm the clouds were starting to come and about 5pm it was spitting. We finished all our games that day and headed to a local pub for dinner. Luckily we got there before the downpour started. I was sooo glad we were staying in a hotel and not camping on the grounds! The ankle held up pretty well after 6 games of softball so that was a thumbs up but it was ready to be elevated and rested. Others managed to shower and go back out to the drinks on the camp grounds but once I had that shower I was going no where but bed.

Sunday morning started off with a lovely brekkie at the hotel, then we walked down to the fields for our first match at 10am. It was more overcast on sunday but still lovely and hot, it's always more deceptive when the cloud cover comes because you forget how harsh the sun can be. My face got a little bit burnt but not too bad. Unfortunately we couldn't seem to get a win and we ended up coming last in the tournament (whoops) but had so much fun doing it that it didn't seem to matter.

Ended up getting home last night about 6pmish so it was nice to dump my stuff on the ground and relax. Such a great weekend and the team were so much fun too.

Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup Final

So we (me, Clare, Sophie & Peter) got invited to attend the world cup wheelchair rugby league final in Gillingham on Saturday. Unfortunately Australia got knocked out and so it was going to be a show down between England (the current title holders) and France.

When we got there, our names were on the VIP list (whooo hooo) and we were lead outside to a marquee where we were served afternoon tea! It was delicious and felt quite civilised eating sandwiches, cakes & scones in the afternoon.

Soon enough the kick off time rolled round and we went into the auditorium and were lead to our VIP seats 2 rows from the front (amazing). There was a singer, the trophy, cheerleaders and all the teams coming out - it was a fantastic spectacle! Then it was time for kick off. These athletes are UNBELIEVABLE! The strength, agility and determination was indescribable. The first half was dominated by the French and the second half started with them leading 36-6. You would think that it was all over but no way! The England team fought back and with 3 seconds to scored a try to bring the score to 42 - 40. If the kicker converts the try it's a tied match and goes into overtime........ unfortunately it went wide and the French team became world champions. Such great sportsmanship by all teams.

Truly a fantastic day, I'm addicted to the game now!

Meeting Krishan Eddie Essex

We finally got the call up to Suzy's to meet the little man that we had all be waiting for. Krishan is nearly a month old I think and he is super cute. It was great to see Suzy and she is coping well adjusting to the new man in her life. Krishan didn't mind being past around and got lots of hugs & kisses. In between all that we had a great chinese feast and gossip session! good to see that she is ready for visitors so as she lives around the corner from me I can pop round for a cuppa quite easily.

Tennis, Food & Theatre

So this year for Mila's birthday she decided she wanted to see Othello at the National. I've never seen it so I thought, why not. Luckily we are doing some building works there so I was able to get 2 tickets to a sold out performance and doubly lucky for us it feel on the Wimbeldon final weekend.

Mila & I met at lunchtime and headed down to Bankside area to watch the Women's Final at an open air screen. When we got there it was full of people and no spare seats, but there was an amazing sushi place with outdoor seating so we plonked ourselves there and had a fab afternoon sitting in the sun, eating sushi and watching the tennis. Mila had also just got back from her travels with Helen and brought me back a lovely blue bracelet.

After the match we wandered down to the South Bank and walked along the Thames, managing to find a park bench under the trees where we sat and chatted whilst watching the world go by. We finally managed to pull ourselves up and went to the BFI restuarant for dinner, again sitting outside and drinking some lovely rose lemonade. It was then round the corner to the National Theatre to see Othello.

The play was fantastic and Mila had given me a brief rundown so I was able to follow along, although they did have a few monologues I struggled keeping up with what they were saying! She didn't mention the ending and I won't either for those who haven't read the play but it was thrilling.

By this stage we were all talked, walked and eaten out! What a brilliant day, doing nothing but relaxing and having fun. If only you could do it every day.

Pie-tastic

This weekend I spent Saturday doing absolutely nothing (amazing) and then on Sunday I cycled and met Celia in Victoria park for a jog around it. It was such a lovely day, a bit hot for running but had to do it. After the job I then cycled home, bit of a mistake as I'm not at my peak athletic range yet. Had to sit on the floor for an hour relaxing.

After I got my breathe back I headed into the kitchen to beginning baking! First thing is to get all your ingredients ready

As you can see everything is chopped and ready to go! Alot of ingredients, I was a bit worried it all wouldn't fit in the pan. And let me just say that rabbit meat STINKS!!! You have rabbit & pigeon on the chopping board and goose & venison in the individual pots.

Once the meat is browned and you have put the rest of the ingredients in it looks like this:

After it simmered for a good 30 mins, it was time to put it into the pie case. I have to say I think I might have put too much red wine as the fumes when it was simmering were pretty gross. So into the pie case to be covered by puff.

 After another 30mins in the oven baking it was time to take out. Luckily Rich rang and said he would pick me up. It was a lovely sunny day so it was great to have the roof down in the car and enjoying the weather. Once we got there the barbie got fired up and the rest of dinner was cooked. As you can see here the pie is quite thick and hearty. The bottom didn't get soggy which was good but I found it too rich and could really taste the wine. I did get the taste of the orange juice & zest which gave it a nice citrisy taste! The boys gave it a thumbs up which is what counts.