Back from the fold

We've returned from the gig - which was awesome, if ever there was an understatement.

Wow! Ben Folds and his band were just bristling with energy and it showed. Great musicianship and performance that had the Apollo rocking - not bad for a male, middle class and white country boy.

It's up there in my pantheon of all time great gigs.

What a way to rock the suburbs.

Into the fold

Goody and I are off to see Ben Folds at the Hammersmith Apollo tonight.
V excited to see the bespectacled piano man. I'll be wearing my casual geek chic clothes for the occasion!

Down the bay

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Originally uploaded by Dazza Waters.

Much of Cardiff Bay is currently under scaffolding or being built. But here's the St David's hotel - now a familiar part of the bay skyline but still dramatic.

Bay days

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Originally uploaded by Dazza Waters.

I love this pic of the six of us. We're in Cardiff Bay.

Poppy...

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Originally uploaded by Dazza Waters.

Just a pic of a beautiful poppy growing in my mum's garden - it opened overnight!

Mum's the word

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Originally uploaded by Dazza Waters.

Goody and I went down to Wales to see our mums. We called in at my mum's first and spent the evening scoffing curry.
A lovely day the next morning and it was great to see my mum recuperating and pottering in the garden - which she loves!

Mother missions

We're off to see our mothers this weekend - both of whom have been poorly.

The weather is lovely - so hopefully there will be a chance to sit outside and enjoy some wine.

Here's hoping.

SuperJen

SuperJen
Originally uploaded by Dazza Waters.

Goody went up to Blenheim Palace to watch Jen compete in her first ever triathlon.

She's been training for months and has raised hundreds of pounds for charity - so hats off to Super Jen!!

Karaoke Saturday

It's sing-a-long-a-saturday. We've watched the first hour of Eurovision and now we're watching Hit Me Baby One More Time.

Goody's got a bit of a thing for Pat Kane of Hue and Cry which is only a bit worrying!

Dan and Eleri are watching E'vision and are sending us plenty of hysterical texts.

Why oh why are these two shows on at the same time?

The white wine has just been finished and now I'm on the red....well, it is Sunday tomorrow.

Goody is going up to Blenheim to watch Jen run in a triathlon - her first.

Good luck Jen! We'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Cup weekend

You know the summer can't be too far when the FA Cup Final comes around.
I've got such great memories of sun drenched finals down the years.

There's not much sun and not much action on the pitch either so far.

Oh well. You can follow the action here:

FA cup final

We'd not see H&S for a long while. They'd not even seen the flat - which proves we are terrible at getting people over!  

This weekend we had Dan and Eleri down and on Sunday also had Harriet and Sylvia and Dan and Nicky over for Sunday lunch. Goody and I were up at the crack of dawn peeling spuds - well, 9.30am - but it was all worth it. As usual Goody cooked up a storm, and the weather was unexpectedly good so we were able to sit in the garden. Lovely. 

Goody always gets pretty excited when she sees something with her name on! This was from Didsbury in Manchester!  

Goody and I took a trip to Lewes a few weeks back. Here's a little picture. 

Weekend amidst the rugby

Dan and Eleri are down with us this weekend. Our plans are somewhat influenced by the double header rugby matches at Twickenham this afternoon. Town will be packed with four sets of rugby fans.

We'll try and find a relatively calm pub to watch the games.

Dan and Nicky will be bbq-ing food tonight - whatever the weather - and Goody will be doing the sunday roast.

Yes - it's another weekend that revolves around food.

Pubbing it

Off out in a mo' for a drink with Steve and Ems. Goody's been hard at work in the front garden while I've been watching CSI:NY. Good job she didn't marry me for my practical skills...

Bank holiday madness

No trip to the garden centre or B&Q for us! No, it was an early start to meet Danny and Nicky for a game of tennis at the local municipal courts. At £5.50 an hour it was easy to see why Britain hasn't produced a Wimbledon champion in decades.
As Nicky pointed out - courts are free in NZ and there would have been a queue to get on them even at 9am on a bank holiday.

But after finding the local key holder to unlock them - Goody always overcomes bureaucratic hurdles - we pitched into a game despite the rain.

It was a close game - 9 games to 7 - and got the competitive juices going; although I don't think Nicky appreciated my "fuck a duck" comments as self-motivation.

After tennis, Danny and Nicky treated us to a bbq-ed breakfast - home made pancakes, sausages, and even cooked apples. You've got to love that antipodean way of life.


But there's something peculiarly British about the sun and the sound of a distant lawnmower! Or is it just my suburban upbringing?

Full to the brim - when aren't we stuffed with food? - we lolled in the garden until the sun had tipped past the noon zenith and it was time to go home and loll in our own garden.


Goody's is on the sun lounger looking as perfectly beautiful as she always does and I've managed to find a hotspot in the garden for the laptop under the shade of the umbrella.

Surrounded by bird chatter and the noise of kids, no doubt causing havoc and tiring our their parents, in gardens some way off, it's a lovely bank holiday monday.

Of course, we could be in the paint stripper aisle at B&Q...........

Beach bums

Beach bums
Originally uploaded by Dazza Waters.

Out of London, laden with food, we made our way to Lewes, west Sussex, where I had lived for a year as a student.
It's a beautiful old market town, with plenty of antique shops and loads of character.

We wandered past my old student house - a lovely terrace, which I shared with 3 friends.

We then headed to Ferring, just outside Worthing and sat on a lovely pebble beach in the sun, stuffing ourselves silly!

Dozing in the sun with full bellies. Lovely.