Holiday booked, but it's the caravan for us this weekend!

So our holiday abroad for this year is booked and after spending a long time in the travel agents trying to decide where we wanted to go, we chose the place we initially liked the look of from a brochure before we had even set foot in the place, typical!

So now Caron and I are going to be visiting Madiera at the beginning of June. It's kind of a shame that we both couldn't stretch our budget to a few hundred pounds more  and go to the Greek Island of Skiathos, a place I visited a few years ago for my friends Mark and Sarah's wedding. The reason it's a shame is because Mark (my best mate) and Sarah will be working at the same resort for six months later this year so it would've been nice to have my friends there on holiday with me, even better is that Mark would have been pulling/serving my beers to me, what more could I ask for. Alas, it's not to be......unless I somehow found enough money from somewhere for a second holiday this year, unlikely!

This weekend Caron and I will be going to our new caravan holiday home for a long weekend for my birthday, looking forward to it. It's even better because Dan (Caron's nephew) and his girlfriend Sammy are joining us for a couple of days and we always have fun with those two!

In other news, I'm moving shifts at work, back to my old shift for three months to cover whilst someone is on long term sick, it'll kind of be a bit of a nice change although it's messed a few things up which I had planned, so a bit of rearranging and booking of days off was needed. Fingers crossed it doesn't end up being a permanent move though!

Just lately I’ve been thinking about a a story I wanted to write with vague hopes of becoming a published author. It’s a comic- sci-fi fantasy and I started the planning phase for the story about 4 or 5 years ago. It just popped into my head again out of nowhere, probably because of my desire to actually write a book and a yearning from my creative side which tends to get pushed into the recesses of my mind by my lazy side. 
Maybe if I actually follow through with this I could have a story published which people might want to read, maybe it would sell well enough for me to build my ultimate man cave, ideas for which I’ve started collecting on Pinterest. That’s a fantasy in itself but in the near term I better start working out some story ideas!

The pictures are ones I took in Skiathos, showing two of my favourite taverna's, Stamelos Bar and Portobello bar.

La Piola and cycling to work

So yesterday, after we had been for our run and watched the Wimbledon tennis final between Nadal and Djokovic, Fruitfingers and I decided to take a stroll seeing as the weather was so warm, sunny and generally glorious. We had only been walking a few minutes when Fruity suggested we eat out seeing as it was approaching teatime.
We decided that we would walk to Newland Avenue (a popular area of Hull generally inhabited by lots of students and an increasingly vibrant cafe/coffee house scene) and see where we fancied eating once we got there. After walking past a few places we like, we decided to experience a new place 'La Piola' a restaurant/cafe/bar, a venue we had been wanting to try out for a while.
We entered the restaurant and asked to see the menu and deciding that the prices suited us, we chose to sit out front on the veranda in the sunshine, in a nice spot with partial shade.
After a few minutes a very friendly waitress came and took our drinks order (a bottle of house white) and a short while later we supped wine and chilled water and awaited our meals. Fruitfingers ordered a simple pasta dish of Linguine, tomatoes, cream, mushrooms and pancetta and I ordered the Pizza Deviola - topped with red onion, fresh chilli, Oregano, and lemon soaked Olives. The food was reasonably priced and a standard portion size and tasted absolutely fantastic!!! Usually when I order a pizza out, I feel a little bit like I'm missing out on experiencing something a little more special to mark the occasion of eating out and not just something I could have ordered from a takeaway, but this pizza was something special and taste wise, I could not fault it. Fruity also enjoyed her pasta, of which I had a little taste and concurred, it too was a tasty and very enjoyable dish. Definitely a place to go again and I'm certain we will! Later we took a stroll back home and inevitably drank another bottle of wine.

So today is Monday and this meant back to work! Although I wasn't looking forward to another week of late finishes due to the day being unintentionally dragged out by the joys of training new starters and delays due to the plant standing down for a Cyanide charge, I was looking forward to trying out my new bike on the way to and from work. So I didn't find it too difficult to arise from my eternal pit of sleep and tiredness.
The ride in at 05:30 was nice although a bit tough, due to my thighs being very sore from the weekends jogging escapades, and when I left at 15:45 the ride home was a speedy dream! My other ride is described by my colleagues as an armchair on wheels, my new bike....a multicoloured razor blade! I now look forward to meeting up with Nick and Col from East Coast Bicycles and other customers tomorrow night for a single speed jaunt around the streets of Hull, ending in a beer or two at Pave bar.

Spartacus and Lathargy

Well I have finished Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, the follow up mini series and prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and I have to say I was very impressed with both series, the nudity and violence was of course an enjoyable aspect, but it was the plotting, scheming, the twists and the building climax of the two series which kept me glued to my seat! I'm looking forward to the next series with anticipation and excitement and cannot recommend this programme highly enough, but must now move on to the Lord of the Rings-esque Game of Thrones!

I have been feeling a considerable amount of lethargy and tiredness at work this week, not sure if it was the effects of the weekend taking it's toll on me, or perhaps it was the hot weather or maybe a bug that's had me out of sorts. Whatever the cause, I'm glad that I'm not on the rota to work this Saturday, I definitely need a full weekend to spend with my wonderful wife and crazy cats.

It's been a welcome relief this week to have been training the new guy Nic at work, he's a step above some of the people I've had to train over this last year and it makes life easier when you're training someone who grasps what your telling them and why!

Looking forward to the weekend, it's the Haye V Klitschko fight on Saturday evening and I'll be heading to my friend Coops house to watch it with the guys and a few tasty beverages!

One final thought...is it really worthy front page news that Cheryl Cole has dyed her hair a different colour??? Really, the British obsession with "celebrity" never ceases to amaze me, but whatever makes people happy I suppose!

Anyway, as I sit here in my Danger Mouse Slippers, I have more important things to be getting on with, such as the Chicken Jalfrezi and cold beer that awaits!!!