WEIGH-IN WEDNESDAY

Well, I have good news & bad news. The good news is I have a loss this week. The bad news is it's only 1lb - I know, I know, it's not what some of you want to hear, but hey, I have to start somewhere,

and in the words of the more sympathetic amongst you (!!) "A loss is still a loss - it's better than a gain" I rest my case - as I reach for another Cornish Pasty......just kidding!!

A VISIT FROM ANGUS & ELISA

Angus and his delightful Paraguayan Girlfriend, Elisa made the train journey to Bodmin Parkway to

come and join me in Port Isaac for a few days this last weekend. They will soon be heading to sunny Barcelona to start a new life - so it was a bonus that I got to spend some quality time with them both. Angus and I have been enjoying playing golf on a Pitch & Putt course close to East Sheen - not too far from my flat in Brentford, so I was eager to find a similar course for us to embark on here in Cornwall. My Google search came up with a course near Newquay - about 40 minutes away.  So last Friday we set off, in the rain,  for:

As you can tell from the above photograph - we were not disappointed. Armed with Crab Sandwiches, Local Burts Cheese & Onion crisps & Elderflower Fizz - which I'd purchased from a local Deli in Port Isaac called "Fresh from the Sea" - we set off on the first of 18 holes - in the rain. It soon became clear that although Elisa had never played Golf before, indeed, never even swung a club before, she was in fact a complete natural. 

It wasn't long before she was actually beating both Angus and I at various holes along the way. So much for my misgivings about whether she might be bored trudging around an English Golf Course in the rain - she was loving every minute. The rain came and went - but the course,  as well as being picturesque with views out to sea - was also quite a challenging one as well, with quite steep hills up and down to encounter. But by the end everyone agreed it had been an excellent excursion. One hopefully to be repeated.

The rest of the weekend was spent in the usual local haunts,  with trips to the Mote Restaurant, the Golden Lion Pub and St Kew Inn. Angus introduced Elisa to a local ale called,  "Proper Job" no less, which went down a storm. Storm being the operative word as the rain was pretty relentless all through out the weekend. Still it gave them a chance to catch up on a couple of BAFTA DVDs - "Still Alice" and "Unbroken". The former being much better than the latter according to Gussie.

All to soon it was time for them to return to London on the Sunday Night Train - along with a care package I provided for the journey - 2 cans of Fosters Lager, 2 Pkts of Crisps, A pecan pie we never got around to, a tub of Cornish Clotted Cream and 2 Cornish Pasties from Nikki B's Pasty shop - Oh, and the Sunday Observer Newspaper for good measure.

Before they left I got Angus to record instructions he had given me earlier on what to do with the Chicken Carcass - which had been  left over from Sunday Lunch. As you can see from the photograph above,  I have followed his instructions to the "T". I was just about to put this into the bottom Aga for what I am hoping will turn out to be an outstanding Chicken Soup, Stock or Gravy! 

Update: I had CHICKEN SOUP for supper last night with chunky bits of celery, carrots, & onion.

The chicken broth was absolutely yummy! Thanks Gussie!

PODCASTS

Whist Gussie was with me, he very kindly introduced me to the "World of Podcasts". What a treat! And something that I'm kicking myself I've been missing all these years. How great for a long car journey or as he showed me - listening to Alec Baldwin interview Julie Andrews, whilst peeling the carrots! Alec Baldwin has a regular Podcast ("Here's The Thing With Alec Baldwin") interviewing people from various walks of life - I've just listened to one with David Letterman, fascinating, and have downloaded several others - amongst them - Lena Dunham, Lorne Michaels, Stephen Daldry, Kris Kardashian Jenner and Michael Douglas. Another one is a true life Murder case over several episodes called "Serial: This American Life". This reminded me of one of those True Life Murder Mystery TV Shows like "48 Hours". Travers - I remember you talking about something like this that you listed to on the radio?? Could this be it??

THE JINX

THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF ROBERT DURST

Travers! Cindy reminded me of this HBO Show that you mentioned a while ago. I've just managed to download all 6 episodes on iTunes and so far have seen the first one. It has all the makings of a really great murder mystery. A headless torso, an incredibly wealthy New Yorker, an ex-wife gone missing years ago, a Hollywood Movie made on the subject, sleazy lawyers - what more could anyone want. 

Thank you & thank Cindy for reminding me of this gem!

Update: I saw another couple of Chapters/Episodes last night: "Poor Little Rich Boy" & "The Gangsters Daughter" - it just gets better & better!!

MY FIT-BIT WEEK

(A good 7000+ Steps on my Golfing Day!)

COMMENTS

I have a huge thank you to say to ALL OF YOU! I had a FULL HOUSE of COMMENTS last week for which I am so grateful. It means a lot. So please keep those Comments coming - Good & Bad. God Knows - we've got to be objective - just to mix things up! What is touching-  is that THE BLOG was missed & brought back by popular demand!! - so, hey guys, we love yah, we really do.....xxxx