… well, nearly. My End of Course Assignment for the Open University course I signed up for last summer – Studying Mammals – is all packaged up and ready to go! The course was based on the BBC television series, The Life of Mammals, and covered many aspects of mammalian biology. Both the television series…
As ever, my decision to go to the hairdresser today was made on the spur of the moment, mostly triggered, I suspect, by the fact that I should have been busy finishing off an Open University assignment, tidying my appartment, and generally occupying my time with worthy tasks, before I go out to Fiona’s birthday…
Well, perhaps “cultural” is a bit of an exaggeration for what was essentially a team get-together at the house of a colleague, to which each of us brought a culinary offering, in most cases something that is traditional from our land of origin. My contribution was a steak and kidney pie, whose construction was fraught…
Since joining the choir last year, I’ve also been receiving education in the area of Belgian beer from my friends Darby, Fiona, Chris and Alex. Now only Fiona and I are left in Holland, but my education is continuing! Ever since my first trip to a specialist beer cafe with them, I’ve heard stories of…
Growing up, I learnt from Dad that a good soup never has a recipe, only a story describing its roots and evolution. At home, soup is usually born from a Sunday roast, and evolves through the week depending on the meals that grace the table. Here in Holland, my soups are usually a little more…
Every year on Christmas Day Granny arrives for lunch armed with an orange flask full of mulled wine. This is her recipe: 1 bottle of red wine1/2 pint water1/3 rind tangerine6 tablespoons sugar6 cloves1 cup of brandy (optional). Warm the ingredients (except the brandy) gently until it steams but don’t let it boil. Remove the…
I flew back to The Netherlands this afternoon after a lovely extended stay in the U.K. Having seen cousin Tim last night for the first time since his wedding in August, I bumped into him again today at the airport – he was the dispatcher in charge of my flight! I’ve had a nice leisurely…
My Christmas present from Mum and Dad was a skiing lesson at the dry ski-slope in Rossendale, which I took on Sunday afternoon. The name “dry ski slope” is in fact a misnomer – the skiing surface is made up of honeycomb patterned brushes, which are sprayed constantly by a sprinkler system in order to…
I’ve been trying out WikiLoc as a site for posting GPS trails. Here’s an example, from the walking trip Darby and I took in Italy last summer: Logs from Lago di Como WikiLoc lets you upload tracks along with photographs, and displays them using GoogleMaps or overlays from other map servers appropriate to the region.
A selection of photos from my trip to Shetland are now available on Picasa.