I’ve been busy with the seasonal cheer so thought I would jump in with a quick post to say hi to try and get back into the blogging spirit after being away for a while. I hope you’ve all had a great holiday and I’ll be posting my December Income Report within the next few days and also posting my aims for 2013.I had a great time in London celebrating the New Year and took the video below of the fireworks:

Speak soon

I thought I’d give you a little update of what I’ve been up to this last week. I took some annual leave which combined well with the Easter Bank Holiday to make a nice long break. Don’t assume that this post is a return to blogging though. I’ve not given much thought about the blog over this time so I’m not really sure what the plan for the future is. The world has kept turning so we’ll see how it goes.

• 27th March – Had first BBQ of the year, and then went greyhound racing at Sittingbourne.
• 30th March – 1st April - Went to York. A very nice place indeed, although quite far away (274 miles). It shares a lot of features and history with Canterbury although it seems to have retained a lot more of its individuality. York Minster is pretty amazing and I went up to the top of the tower which gave great panoramic views of the City. I also did plenty of other sightseeing things too.
• 1st April – Went to Alton Towers. A nice day out although there was still plenty of queuing and the new ‘Thirteen’ ride was a great disappointment.
• 3rd April – Went to the Planet Thanet Easter Beer Festival. I had half pints of: Dark Mild, Old Legover, Celtica, Stud, Spinnaker, White  Dwarf Wheat Beer, Pompey Royal, Gadds No.5, Uberhop, King Alfred’s Gold, and Wold Gold.
• My car died – My Renault Megane of the last 7 years looks to have finally died. I’m not sure what to do really.

Obviously other things have happened too, but these are things that stood out. I hope you’ve had a good week too

Last night I trekked to the Wheatsheaf pub for the Thursday night pool league, and due to the amount of snow and slush I decided to wear my wellies for the journey.

I did look like a farmer didn’t I?

Going out isn’t always cheap but if you are heading off to any well-known restaurant chain then there are often many vouchers that you can print off from websites that will offer discounts ranging from 50% off, to buy one get one free offers. The best place I’ve found to get updates on these vouchers is on Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website where there is a section especially for restaurant vouchers, deals, and offers.

Currently there are offers for Burger King, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Strada, Café Rouge, ASK, Zizzi and plenty of others. Yesterday I printed off a voucher for for ASK which offers 2 for 1 on main meals, and went out to ASK in Canterbury with Emma. I had Polpette al Forno, Garlic Bread, and a coke, whilst she had the Terrina Mediterranea and a coke and this came to and a grand total of £17.45. Bargain.

If you are planning on going out for a meal then it’s worth remembering that there are plenty of offers out there, and a couple of minutes on the web can save you a fair bit of money.

On Sunday I was meant to be going to Calais for the last day of the Christmas Market, and although the weather was pretty bad I still wanted to go. The plan was to get the train from Ashford (where the GF lives) over to Dover, and then go as foot passengers on P&O, have a lovely day, and then get back for a nice relaxing evening, although things never work out as planned.

I rang up P&O in the morning to check that they were still sailing, all was fine with them, so we went to Ashford International train station to catch our 8:30am train. And we waited, and waited, and waited. Every 10 minutes they would add another 10 minutes onto the expected arrival times, which just tells me that they didn’t have a clue when the train was arriving, and after an hour of waiting we decided that it really wasn’t worth it. Even if we were able to get to Dover, we had missed our original sailing, and even if we did manage to get to Calais we wouldn’t have as much time as we wanted , and then there would always be a possibility that we couldn’t get a sailing back, and even if we did then there was no guarantee that we would be able to get a train back to Ashford.

I was a bit annoyed at not getting to go to the Christmas Market, but seeing all the problems with the trains and how many people were left stranded then I guess a lazy Sunday indoors wasn’t too bad an alternative.

I suppose I should also be happy that I managed to go on the Eurotunnel last Tuesday considering all the problems they’ve been having.

For your amusement though you will see below a photo I took at Carrefour on Tuesday.

A myriad of stuffed animals

Yes, those a real taxidermied animals sitting with the meats!

In the tunnel

Yesterday I went to Calais, but instead of going on the ferry, I went with Eurotunnel and I must say that it was such an easy experience. Everything about the process was very simple and I would definitely consider using Eurotunnel again. Check-in was 30 minutes before departure, and I was pleasantly surprised when all I had to do was drive my car up to the barrier, which then automatically recognised my numberplate and printed out my boarding card.

After a bit of waiting we drove straight onto the train and after about half an hour we were driving back-off and making the short journey to Cité Europe. I bought lots of booze, some bread, and also picked up some snails too. I’d booked the 4:50pm (local time) return, but we were all done by 2:30pm and managed to get on the 3pm return train instead, which yet again was very helpful.

Job well done

It all made for a good day out, especially as tickets were only £15. On Sunday I am back over to Calais but this time with P&O and will be visiting for the last day of the Christmas Market. Less booze cruise this time and more of a cultural visit although I shall have to wrap up warm as yesterday it had been snowing in Calais and the lakes and ponds had frozen over.

Below is a video showing what it’s like on the train.

Yummy Leffe

I’m off to Calais today with Eurotunnel and it’ll be the first time I’ve ever driven abroad. I’ve got Ian with me as my wingman so I’m sure he’ll warn me if I forget!

The aim of the day is to buy booze. I’m sure I’ll get a few crates of Saint Omer, some lovely strong Leffe, some wine, some random alcohol, and probably pick up some random groceries whilst I’m there too.

Wish me luck!

On Saturday I went out for my Birthday meal at Churchills Tavern, Ramsgate, and I had a great time, so thanks to those who came along for the meal (Emma, Ian, Paul A, Phil, Emily, Paul F, Dan, Adele, Chris, Emma, Tom S, Jonny, Ben, Pip, and Anton) and those who came out after for drinks.

It was great to have lots of people out and that was one of the reasons for choosing Churchills which I find to be one of the most welcoming and relaxing venues in Thanet. Going to a restaurant in a big group can sometimes be more trouble than it’s worth so somewhere like Churchills was ideal where it’s easy going,  the food tastes great,  is good value, and more importantly where they serve good ales! I opted for the steak and ale pie (the most meat in a pie ever! official!) and also supped on the Chocolate Stout and had a few pints of Touché. There was even a band on that night (the Slug Pixies) who were pretty good, but as they got louder we decided to move on into town and headed to the cafe culture for somewhere a little quieter where we could all have a chat.

Gadds Beers

Now I’m not really one for wine bars as the main problem is that they’re usually pretty expensive and they usually don’t serve pints, but my view of Miles’ Bar has changed sinced they started serving Gadds ale. For example a bottle of lager (330ml) costs between £3-£3.50 but now you can get a 500ml bottle of Gadds Dogbolter or Gadds No.3 for the same price so I’m more than happy to go there now. After a few pints and some lounging upstairs we made a move to the Belgian Bar (which was very quiet for some reason), and then headed back to mine for drinks.

After thursday’s 2am bedtime, I followed this up with getting to sleep just after 6am, and then having to drive to London at 11am. To say I was tired was an understatement but I pulled through and had a great few days to celebrate my 29th.

Next Up: Planning for New Year’s Eve.

Division 4 Pool trophy

So yesterday was my birthday and after being on a course all day I went to my Mum’s for dinner and then went to the pub in the evening for what was going to be a couple of beers. Let’s just say I had more than a couple and ended up going to bed at 2am. It wasn’t fun getting up this morning for work, but I made it which is the important part.

Since the pool season finished I haven’t been to the Wheatsheaf that much and so yesterday it was good to catch up with people and I also picked up my winners trophy (Division 4) for the Thursday Night Thanet Pool League. I was actually suitably impressed with the rather swish looking award as I was expecting something small and plastic but all the members of the team got a glass trophy about the size of a DVD (see the photo). I’ve never actually won anything sporting before, and so I’m actually chuffed to get this, and it will take pride of place on my bookshelf in the front room.

The new pool season starts next week and as we’re playing in a higher division the competition should be harder but it will mean that we do get to go to some different pubs too which is always a bonus.

I’ve got a Birthday meal with friends on Saturday so it’s not the end of the celebrations yet.

Click here to go to the site

There we go, I’ve just booked my £15 tickets to France with Eurotunnel. I’ve never driven abroad so it should be a bit of an adventure! Just a reminder that this offer runs until 17th December so book your tickets whilst you can if you fancy a bit of a day-trip.

In true British fashion I think I’ll just be stocking up on beer and wine in preparation for my New Year’s Eve party.

What are your plans for New Year?