Samhain Blessings and a nice working space

Samhain Blessings to all my friends and family!

Toni and I had the day off so we decided to declutter the office and make it all nice and clear. We even managed to put our new unit up and hang drums and other nice pieces. It looks wonderful now!

A job well done! Sadly by the end of the day the pair of us were feeling under the weather so we think we've both managed to catch a nasty lurg!

Moving desks, IPL round two and a nice meal

Well today we moved desks. Still on the same floor but a general shuffle around to get us into "functional" groupings (ie development, product, support etc). Have to say I am not a big fan of where I ended up. Sadly nor were most other people. Remains to be seen if this will be a positive thing long term as a lot of team dynamics have now been stifled and/or killed off. Watch this space LOL.

After work it was off to Avalon Laser Clinic in Bromley for IPL round two. As i had trouble relaxing last time I tried a different approach and had loud music on while it was doing which at least helped me react slightly differently. It was still pretty ouchy but it was a lot faster this time round as I dealt with it better even though the intensity had been upped for this session. There were some pretty impressive results after round one so I can't wait to see what happens after round two. Once again it all got pretty emotional and there were more waves of tears but all in a good way.

After being zapped Toni and I went to Ziyafet for a meal. It was nice to get out just the two of us for five minutes. They had some adorable little candle holders on the tables:

Food was delicious as ever. We got home and then pretty much crashed out as we were both knackered.

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Well done Aaron

A big well done and congratulations to Aaron. He got the call from B&Q today telling him that he got the job! So pleased and proud of him. He has to go in tomorrow to sign paperwork and then his first day is this coming Sunday!

To celebrate we all went round to for a nice meal at Rishta. Good food and good fun.

Back to the grindstone and an incredible Rangers win

It was back to the grindstone today. Having enjoyed a delightful week off it was sadly time to return to the office. It wasn't a bad day overall although I'd rather have still been at Center Parcs LOL.

Aaron didn't get off light either as he was off to B&Q for a job interview. He said it went well and will hear back in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed on that one!

Stayed up to watch New York Rangers v Minnesota Wild which was an interesting game. At the end of the second period the Rangers were losing 0 - 3 and had two players ejected from the game.I almost went to bed before the third started. So glad I didn't. It didn't long for the scoreline to reach 2 - 3 and there was hope. Then the Wild made it 2 - 4 and my heart sank. After that, something weird happened, the Rangers came alive. It was 3 - 4 and then 4 - 4 with 03:48 left to play. I was happy to settle for going into overtime. 37 seconds later the Rangers took a 5 - 4 lead and that was how things ended. It was an incredible win and a great third period after an awful first two. Now we just have to wait and see if there are any suspensions following the two ejections.

Dolmen Grove Essex Moot Samhain celebration

Toni and I headed off to Essex today for the Dolmen Grove Essex Moot Samhain celebration. This was one that I had really been looking forward to as Toni was doing the celebration itself. Toni opted not to call it a celebration rather than ritual or ceremony as she wanted it to have happy connotations.

This was the altar we had set it up:

The celebration was lovely. Loads of positive energy was buzzing through us all and there were smiles and tears and it was very emotional and uplifting as we remembered those who have passed on. Part of the celebration involved people putting photos or items belonging to loved ones on the altar. I haven't taken any pics out of respect for those that placed items but it looked absolutely beautiful.

After the celebration there was plenty of time for catching up with everyone as we'd missed the last moot. We had a really brilliant time and left feeling positive and energised.

MCM Expo @ ExCeL London

I took Sam, Aaron and Michaela up to the ExCeL in London today for MCM Expo.

It was a bit of a strange Expo for me. Having priority tickets meant that we got in pretty quickly which was fantastic. Once we were in Sam headed to the games section, Aaron and Michaela went in search of Yu-Gi-Oh stuff leaving me on my lonesome. It wasn't quite the same wandering around with no company. I didn't even take any photos as it just felt awkward doing it on my own. 

Not sure why but I just felt flat. Spent a bit of time talking to Z and Vikki at the Smell Your Mum stall before heading outside for some air. A headache was forming and I felt kind of lost. An odd feeling that I don't like very much. I attended the Agents Of The Force photo shoot which was good fun and brightened me up a fair bit. Lots of photos were taken and we had some good lightsaber battles. I did manage to grab this pic after the shoot of an awesome custom Sith and NightSister Witch:

Here's one of the shots from the photo shoot courtesy of Michael Antoine, you can just see me at the back!

After the photo shoot I went and found Sam and watched him playing D&D Air Attack. It seemed to be a dragon version of Star Wars X-Wing and good fun to boot. By this time I was feeling a bit sick so Sam and I went for a walk. After a while we decided to head home early as he had done most of the stuff he had wanted to and I wasn't feeling well. Aaron and Michaela stayed behind to carry on their adventures. 

Got home and felt a bit better after a pile of bacon. Not sure what was wrong with MCM Expo this time round but I'll definitely attend another one before writing it off. Saying that it was great to meet lots of cosplay friends there and the Agents Of The Force photo shoot was brilliant and did lift my spirits. What's not to like about Star Wars costuming anyway LOL. 

Happy Birthday Pam and coming home

A BIG happy birthday to Pam on her 89th birthday today! Toni presented her with this lovely crocheted blanket:

We had one last visit to The Pancake House for breakfast and then sadly it was time to hit the road and head back home again. It's been a brilliant week. It was so nice to get away and actually do nothing at all and feel fully rested.

Sam was presented with a little gift on our return. Apparently Gromit really likes reading, who knew LOL!

Pancake House, juddering granny, Cafe Rouge and packing

Today was a day with a blissful lack of real agenda! We got up and pootled over to Pancake House for breakfast. This was the ultimate water bottle, I want one!

Call me predictable but I did opt for the New Yorker stack once again although this time I went for the gluten free version.

OMG!It was actually better than the glutenous version. Once again we left full and very happy! Having a bit of foresight on the way back to the cabin I decided to film Pam going over the bumpy bridge with her juddery noise so you can all marvel in this spectacle!

When we got back to the cabin, Pam had a good nap while Toni and I caught up some homework that we had to do. We had a good couple of ours of study and discussion and also came up with a plan of things to do once we get back home.

As tomorrow is Pam's 89th birthday and we'll be travelling home we decided to take her to Cafe Rouge for a birthday meal. Gluten free Bresse Blue for Toni and I (vegetable substitutions for the bread):

Yes I am predictable but it was the 10oz rib-eye once again for me!

Toni and I managed to put away a couple of bottles of this little beauty too!

Sadly all good things come to an end and so it was with a heavy heart that we had to start packing when we got back to the cabin. We could have done it in the morning but we wanted to be prepared as we have to be out by 10am and could do without a stupidly early start.

This has to be the best way to end your holiday after lovely food, relaxation and great fun plus a pre-birthday celebration: One zonked granny!

Crossbows, pool and a nice take away

We had a late breakfast today, more like brunch, and then chilled out for the first part of the afternoon. Aaron went for a walk, Toni crocheted and I read.

Later in the afternoon I went off to meet Aaron at the Archery Centre for a crossbow session.

 Getting out redneck on!

It was a lot harder than archery which surprised me as I thought it would be easier. It was still fun and Aaron and I both acquitted ourselves well as a team. I think I'll be sticking to archery though.

Choose your target:

After the crossbows Aaron and I took a gentle stroll round to the Leisure Bowl.

We then proceeded to have multiple games of pool. Well it  was more whack a ball from my perspective as I'm not exactly a talented pool player but we had a good laugh and as luck would have it we kind of split the wins between us.

The Leisure Bowl had an amazing (possibly false) door. It backed on to the bowling alley lanes hence me thinking it wasn't real but I really liked it.

After the pool fun we headed back to the cabin for dinner. We pulled out all the stops to prepare ourselves a lovely meal tonight. This is how it is done!

Yeah OK, we cheated LOL. The evening was spent chilling, reading, crocheting, sleeping and/or watching TV.