Wednesday, 24th October 2007
Last weekend we went to visit my cousins Joel and Jude at their house in Hampshire. It was a long long journey (even longer on the way home thanks to Daddy’s inability to differentiate the M1 from the A1(M) and Mummy’s inability to stay awake for more than 10 minutes when navigating).Â
Joel, Jude and their mummy and daddy live in a beautiful village called
I had a great weekend playing with all their toys, running around the garden and getting up to general mischief. This is Christmas Cottage where my cousins live, named not because they moved in over the Christmas period but because it used to belong to Mr and Mrs Christmas. Honestly.
On Saturday we all went for a walk to the park, crossing the fields
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and taking care not to disturb the local wildlife.
There was so much to see that I didn’t know which way to turn
My daddy spent most of the time gawping at all the houses, turning greener and greener with envy everytime he saw one. Here are just a few to give you a flavour of the village. Admittedly I thought some of the houses were rather nice myself.Â
Apparently the village hall was used in an episode of Foyle’s War
After all the excitement there was only one thing for us boys to do. Sit down in front of the box and suck our thumbs until they fell off.
Posted by Isaac @ 7:24 PM
Tuesday, 16th October 2007
What does one do when you’ve finished studying for the year? How do you rest those tired brain cells? Go for energetic bike rides? Travel around the country? No, Heidi and I decided to relax by doing an easy puzzle together. That way we could enjoy each others company and chat away about life.
The Rosetta Stone is an Ancient Egyptian artifact which was instrumental in advancing modern understanding of hieroglyphic writing. The stone is a Ptolemaic era stele with carved text. The text is made up of 3 translations of a single passage, written in two Egyptian language scripts (hieroglyphic and demotic), and in classical Greek. It was created in 196 BC, discovered by the French in 1799 at Rosetta, a harbor on the Mediterranean coast in Egypt, and contributed greatly to the decipherment of the principles of hieroglyphic writing in 1822 by Frenchman and French scholar Jean-François Champollion. Comparative translation of the stone assisted in understanding many previously undecipherable examples of hieroglyphic writing. The text of the Rosetta Stone is a decree from Ptolemy V, describing the repealing of various taxes and instructions to erect statues in temples.
… and you thought I was just a pretty face. OK, so I might have had a little help from Wikipedia.
We managed to finish the puzzle in less than a week but unfortunately Heidi and I forgot to talk to each other whilst we were doing it. We were too busy getting in each others way. Never mind.
Posted by Daddy @ 8:52 PM
Thursday, 11th October 2007
I’ve just finished watching Graham Norton retrace his steps on BBC’s Who do you think you are? and was bemused to see that his great great great great great grandfather fought against the United Irish rebels in 1798. In the programme Graham visited Enniscorthy in County Wexford where the 1798 Rebellion Museum is housed. As you may recall in June this year we went to Enniscorthy and sat at the very table that we saw Graham chatting away at in the museum.Â
The 1798 Rebellion Museum was well worth a visit. It was really well designed and told a fascinating story. Isaac was mesmerised by these massive chess pieces depicting the strategic movements of the opposing factions leading up to the rebellion.
Here we are getting blown away on Vinegar Hill, the site just outside of Enniscorthy that witnessed the most notorious battle in which thousands of Irishmen lost their lives. It was here that the Rebellion was brutally quashed.
You’ll need good eyes to read the description of the events that took place on Vinegar Hill.
Here I am at the top of Vinegar Hill with Enniscorthy in the background.Â
If you didn’t see the programme tonight, the most amusing fact that came out of Graham Norton’s descendancy was that he isn’t Irish at all, but a Yorkshireman from Sheffield. I always thought there was something odd with the man.
Posted by Daddy @ 9:16 PM
Sunday, 30th September 2007
Hello, today I’d like to tell you how to make toffee pears.
OK, first heat 450g demerara sugar, 50g butter, 1 tbsp of golden syrup, 1 tbsp of lemon juice and 150ml water until the mix reaches 143 degrees celcius.
Give it a good stir, yeh, that’s good … a little bit more … STOP!
At this point, ask a grown up to heat the mixture up because remember, the oven is hot! hot! hot! My lovely assistant is undertaking this task for me today. Smile please mummy.
Now, allow to cool for 1 minute, that’s 1 minute, no more, no less. Then, after 1 minute. I should add that that’s the same minute I was referring to a minute ago, not a new minute. Oh no, it’s all going wrong. Right, don’t panic. If you’re still with me then now poor the hot molten mixture over the pears. Lovely.
Voila! Toffee pears to die for.  Allow to cool.
Finally, take 1 hammer and 1 chisel and hit with all your might. Unfortunately, when we went to eat the stupid things the following day we discovered that our dish was too small and the toffee had hardened so strong that it took all of my daddy’s strength (no comments please) to prise them out. Mummy had the final word in declaring that “it seemed like a good idea at the time”.
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Posted by Isaac @ 7:20 PM
Friday, 21st September 2007
On Saturday evening, Heidi and I went to see my favourite comedian at the Norwich Playhouse Theatre – Milton Jones
We went with Mark and Suzi and all 4 of us were in pains of laughter throughout his 2 hour performance. Mark and I first saw Milton at Greenbelt about 5 years ago so were really keen to see him again.
Many of you may have heard of Milton Jones because of his recent Radio 4 show ‘Another Case of Milton Jones’. If you have enjoyed this series then you’re sure to love him live and even more so. Milton Jones is unlike any other comedian performing today but if you remember the American comedian Stephen Wright in the 1980s you’ll get an idea of the kind of humour you’re likely to hear. Milton does not sound as depressed as Stephen Wright used to though.  As well as being hilarious Milton highlights what an amazing language English is for producing comedy. I can’t imagine any other European language being so suitable for exploitation.
Unfortunately if you live in Norwich you’ve missed his gig but I urge you to try and see him on his long tour if you get the chance. Click on Milton’s official website to find out tour dates.
http://www.miltonjones.com/
In the meantime, I leave you a taster.
“One day when I was at school it was my turn to take the guinea pig home. 7 months later, I arrived on the beautiful island of Guinea.”
“the most interesting job I ever had was working for the United Nations in Kosovo. One day we discovered a mass burial site of at least a hundred snowmen. Fortunately it turned out to be a field of carrots.”
OK, I know, it’s the way you tell them.
Posted by Daddy @ 6:45 PM
 
