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Gotta love a good Batch-Attack New Year's Eve party and no party is complete without Mr. Ben Lloyd. He is the life and soul, drinking his pint of wine with added glow quick, playing DJ Hero on Expert and putting RATM on the iPod. He's a good lad. Liz has thrown a great NYE's party with an excellent spread. There is streamers, masks and even pots of bubbles. What a good party. Many drinks have already been spilt but her house will be sold soon so it's not too big of a deal! Dan has artfully arranged the balloons to look like phalluses so you know the party's going to be good. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Got up nice and early so James, Marge, Parge, Auntie Jane and I could go shopping in Cambridge. Sarah has already jetted off to Cardiff to celebrate New Year's Eve with Alise. It tipped it down all day, so much for the forecast snow, but it meant that the shops were not as busy. I had a Boots voucher to spend from my godfather but I couldn't find anything unfortunately. Here is what me and James eventually bought: we both got new boots (I've just worn mine and like all other shoes I own, they're rubbing already), I bought a new dress for Liz's New Year's Eve and also managed to snap up the 'Extras' boxset for the bargain price of £10, despite the rest of then being priced up as £15!
Not the Basset Hound I hope to own in the future but the cunning English detective. I'm not a massive Guy Richie fan but this film was very good. The CGI was fantastic, especially the London cityscapes, and Jude Law was suprisingly likeable. I would highly recommend it! But before the film, I met Liz and the Ginn for a spot of luncheon and then went to Stevenage Old Town with the family to meet my godfather and his family for a lovely meal in Prezzo - excellent Pannacotta. Now I'm collapsed on the sofa and hoping for snow tomorrow!
James, Laura, Denis and I have been to see more of the Ellison family today in the form of James' Uncle Peter. He lives all the way near north Wales so we made the three and a half hour journey up this morning and then spent the afternoon with him, looking at his amazing sound system and astounding cameras. He has a treasure chest of everything Nikon: cameras, lenses, flashes and lots of other bits that I can't name. He is a whizz kid on PhotoShop too and completely showed me up because I'm absolutely rubbish..... I played with his lovely Snotty Cat who has the biggest tail that I have ever seen on a cat! As we haven't eaten all day, we've just stopped off for a Burger King - I had my meal with a milk. I really thought I'd get older and grow out of drinking milk but if anything, I just love it more!
Although this looks like some sort of robbery, it's actually James' mum, Debbie, playing a shooting game where you have to hit the targets to take down the ducks. James was excellent and got a score of 28 and I nearly beat him with 26! We headed to Buckingham this afternoon, after a sausage sandwich, for the Ellison family party. We began with a walk to see the ducks with James' cousin's children and Laura ended up splashing through the ford with the kids several times and getting very damp! We had lovely buffet lunch (with an excellent salmon selection) and then Laura, James and I spent a long time entertaining the kids. We played cars, horses, did lots of piggy-backs and generally carrying so when they left, we had to collapse on the sofas with lots of water to recover!
Rummikub, Bollinger and Ferrero Rochers - an excellent Boxing Day. I went bowling this morning with the family in Leicester and despite being brilliant at Wii Bowling, I came joint second to last. Furious. The car was already packed so I drove back to Potton to celebrate with James' family. As Steve was late getting to the house, there was enough food left for me to have another Christmas dinner - YUM! After opening presents and playing charades, we moved onto the Rummikub. After winning so brilliantly last time, me and James came miserably last with minus a lot. We shall now probably end the evening with Wii Music, more wines and some Baileys and milk. Happy Boxing Day, everyone!
Merry Christmas to one and all! Here are all our presents that Father Christmas brought last night - unfortunately not all mine. We opened our stocking presents in Holly's room and then came downstairs to this impressive display. Because there were so many, we took about two hours to open them all and I got some fantastic presents, such as a new zoom lense for my Canon, many Union Jack themed gifts (including two lovely pillows and a bag), all the series of Monk on DVD, the Twilight books and a tartan dressing gown and slippers. That's not all but if I listed all of them, we'd be here until tomorrow! As our Christmas' are all about food, we began the day with a tin of chocolate biscuits before a huge breakfast, followed by Christmas dinner, the full works, at three and we've just finished our stomachs off with a yummy buffet. I am now dying of too much turkey and cheese...... Christmas is all about family and there are eleven of us here and two cats. I've had a lovely day and now I know I'm getting older because I've collapsed in an armchair with a cup of tea before we play cards. Good times.
I've had such a lovely day today. I stayed at James' last night so we could swap presents this morning and this was the aftermath - lots of empty wrapping paper and opened presents. I got James lots of bits and bobs, including a mug with our faces on and a Basset Hound puppy calendar! He got me two brilliant paintbrush pens, one of Tommy Lee's albums, a book on photography and one on punk art, a Basset Hound Beanie Baby, a dice charm for my Pandora bracelet, a Motely Crue t-shirt, the first series of 'In the thick of it' and a signed Gilbert and George exhibition poster! Brilliant. He dropped me off at Liz's and then we all had a wonderful breakfast cooked by Angela - gotta love some Bucks Fizz in the morning! We swapped Secret Santa gifts: Pez loved her 'Come Dine With Me' book and my cider, cheese, swede, milk and nail varnish from Ginn was a great present - thank you, dear! We're now up at Auntie Jayne's in Leicester and the house is very busy with people, cats and musical hats (that rhymed). Because of Auntie Jane's adopted Spanish and Catalonian traditions, we've all just played a game where you hit a log with a drawn-on face, wash your wooden stick between rounds and hope that it 'poos' out some presents. Don't ask...... We managed to beat it enough so it gave us chocolate coins, magnets, bags and edible coal! It will now be adopted as one of our traditions. What a lovely day!
My other Auntie Jane lives in Spain so me and Parge eventually pickled her up today from Luton airport after her flight was delayed for three hours because of the weather. Rubbish Easyjet. This isn't her real hair colour here: she was wearing a wig that's a similar colour to Pargey's! Dad once dressed up as a painter and decorator (overalls and paintbrush etc) on his way into Barcelona airport so Jane was following his lead. I didn't even recognise her! Luton had so much snow - much more than we did but now it's raining a lot so it will either melt away or ice over. It almost definately won't be a White Christmas here.
Good old Frankie and Benny's: Shep actually had something that wasn't chips and garlic bread! I wouldn't recommend the Christmas food there (apart from the pate) but it was lovely to see all the home friends together in one place. We had lots of laughs about school and some of the ridiculous people we used to know. Everyone seems to be doing well in their respective things in life and it's amazing that we're such good friends, despite the fact that we're all so different! It's still very white and foggy outside but not quite as icy - I think I did quite well driving tonight. I've had a lovely Christmassy day with this meal, Margey and Sarah baking this morning, seeing the lovely Miss Susan Quach for cakes and playing Lego Batman with James. Lego Batman doesn't exactly scream Christmas but it was lovely none the less. Two days to go!
Me, Margey, Sarah and her friend Alise tried to go to the cinema to see the new St. Trinians but it was closed due a frozen water pipe! We were going to go out for a meal anyway so we went straight to the pub. The Kings Arms in Cardington is a wonderful place and just what we needed in the snow: a roaring fire, comfy seats and lovely Christmas decorations. When we left, the snow had come down so much that the roads were pretty dangerous. We went at 25 miles per hour on the way back - the stupid van man in front of us kept sliding all over the shop. I'm still hoping for a white Christmas but apparently in Leicester, they have barely anything!
It's the first time I've listened to the Chart Show in a long time and I'm so glad RATM got to number one! Intellient people 1 - Simon Cowell 0. We stopped watching an Arnie Christmas film to listen to Radio 1 and found out that RATM ended up selling 50,000 more copies than X-Factor! My five copies obviously came in useful..... You had to feel a bit sorry for for Joe McWhatever as Radio 1 had booked him weeks ago to appear in the studio this afternoon, assuming he was going to get the Christmas Number One - that's gotta be pretty awkward for everyone involved. Not even Cheryl's tears could save him.......
Me and James decided to go on a jaunt to Wimpole Hall to see it in the snow. The roads on the way were pretty terrible in some parts - it was single lane because of the huge snow drifts in some bits between Potton and Wrestlingworth and there was lots of ice. The house and the grounds looked beautiful in the snow and they'd had much more than us. I just wish I'd taken a sledge! There's meant to be more coming tonight but I don't think it's started yet. I'm at James' watching the Strictly final and our dinner was nearly my blog picture for today instead of this. Denis decided to dye the spaghetti red and make it Christmas spaghetti!
Snow, snow, lots of lovely snow! Me and Sarah got up at nine, put on our skiing clothes (well, ski jacket, ski socks, t-shirt, jeans and wellies) and played out in the snow. I used the pretence of having a camera with me to not join in with the snow ball fight that Sarah and Parge had. I like it but not really to touch it. We went for a lovely walk and were going to all go to Danish Camp but Sarah got called into work so only me and Pargey went. Suprisingly, they didn't have much snow in Willington! I want the snow to stay for Christmas now, please.....
I probably should have written something more witty but my inner child made me write my name. We have snow! It's been 'trying' all day but because of yesterday's rain, it hadn't settled. But finally it's covering the garden and everything looks lovely! Ginn, Liz and I were meant to go out in Bedford tonight but we cancelled because of the weather - glad we did now! I can't remember a time where we've had snow this close to Christmas - I know we're not going to have a White Christmas but I can dream! I'm going to get up early tomorrow to play outside - I'll probably make some sort of snow sculpture, also known as a snow man.....
Margey's class in school next term will be doing some work on heroes and storytelling (I think) and today she tried to draw a dragon to go on one of the boards in the classroom. She didn't think it was very good so she got me to create one this afternoon! I'm not quite satisfied with it because there is much more I could do to it but as the Marger said, it's only for a Year Three classroom. I thoroughly enjoyed getting the old poster paints out and might do something else tomorrow..... Although I will probably sit and do nothing as usual.
Either we're old before our time or too young and hip for words.... Everyone, apart from Shep who hates it, brought a cheese: I provided a Brie and an Austrian Smoked, Liz came with a Camembert and Ginn used her last worldly money to get a Stilton with apricots and a Cheddar with garlic and herbs. Now walking into the Yellow Room is like walking into a wall of garlic - fragrant. A bit of wine, some Christmas songs and good conversation made for a lovely evening. Thank you, ladies!
If only I was a rapping master too, I could be as good as Biggie Smalls..... Tonight has been filled with lots of Christmas present wrapping - Sarah and the Marge did some too. I wish I was rich enough to pay someone to do it, all frilly bows and precision folding, but unfortunately, it is always me, covered in sello tape and getting angry that the corners aren't quite right. But at least I'm halfway through now. I can't believe it's nearly Christmas! I cannot wait for the food. I do hope there is an excellent cheese board....... (HINT, HINT, Margey)
We put up our Christmas tree today in the lounge after Sarah got back from work. Here she is putting up one of the many decorations. We take it in turn to put the angel on top of the tree and it was my turn today. Every year, Marge buys a few new decorations and this year, although she says she bought them last year, they are gold angels, playing what look like guitars! Sarah thought they were angels with lawn mowers but I'm pretty sure it's an instrument of sorts..... We're now off for a meal at the Mercer favourite, Pizza Express, and I cannot wait for my bruschetta!
This is James' major project for this term of his Masters and despite Hannah and Katie nearly going cross-eyed because they thought it was boring, it's actually pretty cool. There are pretty LED lights and it makes funny noises - I'm sure he's very glad to have such an intelligent girlfriend who really understands his work...... I'm now home for the Christmas holiday. I spent the day packing and then unpacking, Margey made a lovely shepherd's pie and now I'm round James', beginning our 'Back to The Future' marathon as I've never seen them. Just clicked on to the fact that the Doc is Uncle Fester!
Katie with her presents before we left her house for the Indian restaurant. I bought her a Polaroid book and a curry recipe book and here you can see the chilli plant and other presents that Duncan bought Katie, thinking it was her 21st birthday! We just eaten our food and as usual, the money we put in to pay the bill was short. Just off to The Landsdowne for some lovely cocktails - Happy Birthday, Katie!
As we're going out for Katie's birthday tomorrow, we decided to do Secret Santa today so we didn't steal her thunder. We tried to keep it a secret this year but as always, the truth will out! I got Katie a photograph book of Paris, Katie got Dunc lots of chocolate, Dunc got Han a lovely variety of nail varnishes and Han got me treats from New York: earrings, Hershey's dark chocolate and dark chocolate M&M's - thank you!
There is only one logical way to spend your spare time when you have finished your work and that is playing games and spending even more time on Facebook. The Sims is such a time consuming game that I can't even contemplate playing it when I have work to do. So for the next few days, I am going to eat my advent chocolate, make me and James on The Sims, make us reach the top of our careers so we can buy the biggest house in the neighbourhood, preferably with a pool.
Such a great theme tune. I'm at my Auntie's and Grace is poorly so we're chilling out and watching lots of MTV. These girls are so spoilt and don't deserve these parties! I think I do though..... Haha. My last piece of work was handed in this morning so now I'm free to do nothing!
People say university is all about getting drunk, spending your overdraft and copping off with complete strangers but I know different. Today I have watched most of the Channel Four series on the Queen and rented Harry Potter audio books from my local library. I know how to live the high life - who needs money when you can have free library rentals and internet television? Rock and Roll.
Yet another surprise party for Dad: this time at Nanny's house. We love surprises in our family. That's the fifth of the year! We went round for a lovely buffet and everyone was there - all the Woolveridges, apart from Aleasha and Joel. Everyone was knackered from last night, especially Uncle Barry after his wines, so we were all quite tired. Holly and Grace made this amazing golf cake for Dad but he can't eat it until his actual birthday on Tuesday. It might need a padlock on it!
Here for Dad's 50th Birthday - we managed to keep it a surprise until this evening! It's an interesting place - you wave your table flag for more drinks which is what I'm doing here. The waiting staff are too happy and it's full of hammered work parties but the food was actually rather good. But our little table are having a good time - my godfather has just bought a round of drinks and Parge was on the recieving end of two massive shots of Sambuca - ridiculously, they are the two last people in the world who you'd expect to have shots! The live band will begin soon and the old women in their Christmas clothes will get on the tables to dance. I shall not be joining them......
The instructions make it sound so difficult but once you get into it, it's hard but quite enjoyable! It's been bought by James' nan for his mum so the family can learn it in time for Christmas. We've spent the evening playing it and I began the last game with so many numbers but managed to turn it around and win! It's not a maths game but more based on logic. You really have to pay attention so the wine I'm drinking isn't helping with the process....
Finally finished! It's quite nice that the work has to be in a week before term ends because you have time to relax a bit and go out guilt free! We have to hand in two copies for the first and second markers but I'd forgotten that my printer was broken so Laura very kindly let me use hers. Tonight is going to be great because I can mindlessly sit in front of the television and not have to worry about Plato and Nazi/Soviet art or moralistic Victorian art. Roll on Christmas!
Brooke organised a lovely meal in our local Thai restaurant which was amazingly warm when we arrived! I was by the radiator which warmed me up - I've been freezing all day, sitting by the window writing my essay so it was lovely to actually get warm! Me and Vick shared Set Menu A which included such highlights as Peek Gai Yad Sai, which is chicken wings stuffed with pork and rice, and Gaeng Dang Ped which is duck in a red dried chilli paste. It wasn't my favourite food I've ever had as it's very coconutty with a kick of chilli but it was good to try it. The Marge would love it!
Neil came back from Aberdeen today and with his chef expertise, helped us cook our house Christmas meal of roast chicken, roast potatos with lemon, roasted honey parsnips and carrots, peas and pigs in blankets. We had a starter of butternut squash soup - it was yummy! Now we've got mini port mince pies with brandy cream, followed by a cheese board with a Welsh Brie, Black Bomber cheddar and Welsh Blue with Jacobs crackers. Today has been a very Christmasy day. We started with making a Christmas playlist with such hits as that Darkness one, an obscure Britney number and of course Slade! We then decorated our living room and had our first advent calendar chocolate from Laura's dad - Marks and Spencer's, you know. Brooke's just scared us talking about 'Antichrist' so now we're hoping that the cheese doesn't give us horrific nightmares!
Like our friend Jimmy Two Puds, Vick loves to eat. Today I cooked the Ellison tuna pasta bake which was yummy, despite the fact that I had a pasta bake for lunch too! As usual, I made too much so the portions were huge and me and Laur only managed just over half of ours. But Vick the Eating Machine was at the rescue. She polished off our left-overs as well as hers. And we have just made up a post dinner song, involving news readers' names, including John Snow and Krishnan Guru-Murthy. We are so cool.
Lizzie bought me afternoon tea for two at Harrods for my 21st so we decided to take the time out from our busy work schedules and pop into London. It was so lovely - we were in the Georgian Restaurant by the window with a view over Knightsbridge. Our waiter took a shine to Liz and keep complimenting her top! We had some lovely tea with crustless sandwiches of ham, egg, salmon, cheese and cucumber - in seperate sandwiches, obviously. They were followed by scones with cream and jam and then mini pastries. Very lovely! It was so nice to get away from work and have some luxury treatment. Brilliant day!
Went for a lovely dinner with the Ginn and Shep at Frankie and Benny's - now I'm too full up for words! I had potato skins with goat's cheese and bruschetta mix, followed by a 'Philly Steak Bake' which is a fancy term for penne, vegetables, steak and lots of cheese. Lovely but a bit ridiculously pretentious for what it is. We had a good catch-up and managed to find our way home in the horrendous rain and mini floods!
Just been out to celebrate Debbie's (James' mum) birthday and we had some lovely tapas at The Old Maltings. Here are her presents from me and James that were opened earlier. As there were six of us eating, there are too many dishes to list but it was lovely. Instead of having desert and coffees there, we popped into Asda and bought Terry's Chocolate Orange microwave puddings, a Rocky Road-type number, mince pies, coke (as in cola, not the popular 90s drug) and double cream for floater coffees - my waitressing experience will finally become useful!
Here's today's reading and there is one that definately doesn't quite fit it! Alan Carr's autobiography is hilarious and actually made me laugh out loud which I don't normally do with books. On a darker note, as you can probably tell, this essay involves Nazi and Soviet art of the 1930s which is actually quite interesting if you block out the genocide and mass purges. Mix in a bit of Plato's ancient philosophy and you have my essay! I can't wait until all this work is handed in and I can actually look forward to Christmas without feeling guilty. The guilt of doing something that isn't work is life consuming. I even felt guilty when trying to go to sleep the other night. Anyway, interesting but horrid fact for you: Himmler visited one particular art gallery more than he visited Auschwitz. What a git.
There is nothing better than a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea after a night out. Note my favourite Peter Kay mug and my blue Ikea plate! I had this for breakfast and then me and Laura met Vick and Billy for lunch. Instead of a sandwich, I opted for a berry ice-cream sundae. YUM. Far too tired now to do work though. Oh well, back to Soviet state art and an orange KitKat.....
Blakfish popped into Leicester on their British tour. They're a big Birmingham band and they have big links to Laura and Vick. The band before were called 'Gay for Johnny Depp' - brilliant name. It was in the Firebug where drinks are pricey but now we're in Varsity with some horrific Rose on our way to Mosh..... More drink is needed all round!
Tonight's mean spaghetti bolognaise with lots of cheese. We take it in turns each night to cook and today it was my turn. I managed to cobble it together from ingredients in my cupboard and it turned out rather well. My secret tip: add a pepper and some gravy to really thicken the tomato sauce. YUM. And follow with a Orange KitKat or Club. And preferably drink with milk.
Such a great film! Went to see it today and it was brilliant - Jacob should keep the long hair though! And for people who hate it, just read the books. I tried to avoid it for ages but gave in and absolutely loved them! You can't have an opinion about something if you haven't read the books! Now, which is best? Make James grow his hair like Edward or bulk up like Jacob? Decisions, decisions......
Everyone has come up and we've just been to see Holly and Grace's dance show, 'The Sound of Music', but for legal reasons had to be renamed 'Do-Ray-Me'. The girls were very good but tired because it was their second show of the day. Vanilla coffee and a fresh layer of make-up was in order earlier between shows and a very yummy vegetable lasagna to keep them going. My favourite part of the show was when 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight?' featured as a song. Now there's a remake I'd like to see: 'The Sound of the Lion King' - Simba and Julie Andrews sharing centre stage.....
Which basically means a very fancy cinema! It's got seats everywhere and the chairs in the screen room are very comfortable rocking chairs! How modern. We've just been to Nandos and now we're here to see 'The Men Who Stare At Goats'. I tried to get in the 'New Moon' queue but James was having none of it. But what more could a girl want from an evening than chicken and George Clooney?
Yes, this is how exciting my life has got. Pen selection. Work is literally taking over my life but like anything, it can be jazzed up with Crayola metallic pens and girl-coloured highlighters. I'm not actually using the Crayola pens for actual work but they are good for doodling (not 'fondling' which is what the predictive text wanted to put!). Tonight's choice is some vintage Arctic Monkey's. Not really vintage but if Snow Patrol can have a greatest hits after three albums, then Arctic Monkeys, circa 2006, can be vintage!
Another day of hard studying with the M-G on our favourite floor of the library. I've made an essay plan and I'm going to crack on any minute now..... I made me and Laura a fabulous casserole for tea that we had with lovely bread and I'm now so full that I don't even want a satsuma. Wow. This is boring. Third year sucks the life out of you.
Today's texts are all for my essay about moralistic Victorian art. Woop-te-doo. It's actually really interesting but made dull by an enforced essay on the subject. I wish third year was as easy as last year. I haven't even got a trip to Italy to look forward to, unlike last year. Bad times. Feeling better today so have managed to do some notes on the topic but not as much as I would liked to have done. I wish the modules were entirely exam-based. Now, back to the work but the question is, Abba or Jurassic 5? I think the Swedes win......
I'm poorly again. I've spent the whole day in bed, sleeping and finishing the latest Dan Brown book and I'm still not feeling great. Tried to get up early for uni and not even a satsuma made me feel better. I've been half dressed, half in my pajamas all day and now I'm tucked up on the sofa in a blanket and my slippers watching 'Flashforward' with Laura. Maybe a confusing but brilliant television programme will make me well!
Here is Liz, blowing out the candles on her many cakes! Angela had a beautiful chocolate cake made, Dan had made a Family Guy one and last night, James made a Little Miss Sunshine cake. I think the Batchelor family will be eating cake for a long time! We had a lovely day celebrating Liz's birthday with fireworks and Beatles Rock Band. The drinks flowed all day long (I stuck to the water as I'm still not feeling top notch) and you know the food is good when there is TWO bits of pineapple on a cheese-and-pineapple-on-a-stick. I enjoyed the cheese board personally, gotta love a bit of Applewood, but Shep, the ultimate cheese hater, was appalled when she found out the grapes she had been eating all day had been next to it, bless her.
Having a lovely evening with Shep, Em and the Ginn - haven't seen Em for ages! We're watching X-Factor and have been discussing a new show: 'The Ginn Factor' - two solid hours of Hannah singing songs, possibly dressed as some sort of angel? Maybe just in her head then..... I'm feeling much better today and have managed to eat the rice and the meat part of a biriyani. So far, so good so hopefully my tummy can keep it all down.
I hate being ill. Woke up in the night last night with tummy pains and then that turned into sickness. These are the only things that you need when you're poorly. A bucket (unused as yet), the remotes, lots of water and the remnants of a satsuma as they're the only things that I can keep down, let alone want to eat. I HATE BEING ILL.
This is how we roll in this town. From Dylan Moran yesterday to three to a sofa today. Sarah is looking really cool behind the cushion with her green 'I love Topshop' socks and James is looking thrilled at the fact that he's having to watch 'Peter Andre: The Next Chapter'. There are also a few staples of my home life in this photo - milk in my Sterephonics mug, my post and Sarah's nail varnish that I sometimes have to borrow!
