Dinner Party Pho

Today was a pho making day. Went to ASDA, bought all the bits and pieces and let the stock boil very slowly for just over 4 hours. Flat smelt amazing the whole time too. I cooked it in preparation for the arrival of Louis and Rachel, it was our turn to host a little dinner party and we all had a fun old time. Louis brought his new board game along and after a quick refresher on the rules, we dived into an epic battle for Celtic land. Rebecca won, but only just. I'm not a sore loser...

Sweet Driving

Put myself back into the drivers seat for another lesson first thing this morning and I actually surprised myself with how well it all went. I stalled a handful of times, but aside from that I feel like it was one of the better lessons I've had now.

Rebecca rustled up a very nice salmon and pasta dish which is exactly what I wanted after the recent hot weather. I needed to balance out the healthy stuff with something a little devilish though so I made my own sugar syrup from dark brown sugar for my overnight oats. Previously I've been sweetening it with maple syrup but I didn't really feel like taking out a bank loan each time I had oats, I reckon this will be the next best thing at a fraction of the cost! 

Netflix > Board Games

Got caught up in a sea of beavers and cubs celebrating St George's Sunday while walking around with Rebecca's parents. We were down by the SS Great Britain and all the young scouts were riding the steam train up and down the ship yard, waving to anyone who passed by, if I were their age I would have loved that too.

Once Rebecca's parents left us, we drove up to visit some friends for what was going to be a board game night, but a few people had to cancel last minute so it turned into a Netflix night. White Collar was the show of choice since Rebecca and the host have been making their way through the show, while it doesn't exactly rev my engines, its a perfectly watchable and likeable show.

Spicy Goat

Rebecca's folks came down to visit so we thought we would take them out somewhere they had never been before: Pinkman's Bakery. They spent the whole time marveling at the cheesecake they bought, Rebecca and I made eye contact because at that point we knew we had converted them into Pinkman's fans.

We initially planned to take Rebecca's parents to The Stables for dinner but it was rammed so we had to improvise and ended up in Las Iguanas. Thought I'd push the boat out slightly with me meal choice so I ordered the 'Spicy Goat Curry', initially I scoffed at the word spicy, but after a few mouthfuls I was sweating uncomfortably. But I persevered to finish it off, the music in there was like the rhythm of a Limbo drum, it begged me to polish off the meal despite the hardship my tastebuds had to endure. Moments after the spice subsided I got cocky and bit into on of Rebecca's leftover jalapenos - instantly regretted that choice.

Prolonged Porridge

Yesterday I called up my Dad and asked him on his tips on how to make a great bowl of porridge. 'Cook it low and slow' was one of his bits of advice which I think I followed a little too closely. Ended up stirring a pot of oats for well over 20 minutes since I wanted to cook it on a lower than usual hob setting. If your stirring anything for that long, you're gonna feel like a bit if a mug though.

Got the flat looking ship-shape and all ready for Rebecca's parents tomorrow. I'm hoping the good weather holds out just a little longer so we have an excuse to go to a good ice cream bar in town.

Library Dweller

For the first time ever, I thought I'd head into Bristol Library to get some work done. After an initial stumble (I sat down in a section without means for charging my laptop) I found myself getting into a nice productive groove. Haven't worked properly in a library since my dissertation days but it was like riding a bike. I'm beavering away on the script for my next video now which is taking shape very nicely, so I thought I'd treat myself to a few library books, seeing as I was in the area. Might head back there tomorrow!

A Quiet Place

Last time I went to go see a horror film at the cinama was back when The Woman in Black came out... that was 6 years ago. I was worried I might be a bit rusty, but then again, you never forget how to scream. Luckily, A Quiet Place didn't make me audibly shriek at any point and it actually found a very comfortable level of horror with me. It was far ore interested in creating tense situations that it was with how many times it could go BANG per minute. That kind of restraint is apparent in the dialogue and story too. After a quick set-up the rest of the plot is rather minimalist in nature, which is something I'm again very thankful for since it never felt baggy or melodramatic. Because there is basically no talking in the film, you really have to keep your eyes glued to the screen to see whats happening next - this was hard for me at time because I like to look away during some of the jumpy moments, but I really wanted to see more of what was going on whenever I did because I was enjoying it so much.

I dig simple movies, and A Quiet Place is exactly my kind of horror film. Really glad I braved my fears to see this one.