Peace On Earth

...And goodwill to everyone.

Happy Christmas.

Down But Not Out?

8 Dec Southampton 1 - 0 Reading
11 Dec Sunderland 3 - 0 Reading
17 Dec Reading2 - 5 Arsenal
22 Dec Man City 1 - 0 Reading

Nearly

24 Nov Wigan 3 - 2 Reading
27 Nov Aston Villa 1 - 0 Reading
1 Dec Reading 3 - 4 Manchester United

Reading remain in the bottom three of the Premier League. :-( 

Too Much Time On Your Hands..?

Visitors to this blog may be aware I'm something of a Doctor Who fan. Though it seems at least I can't be described as a fanatic, unlike this person from Queensland Australia, featured in this article from the UK newspaper The Daily Mail.  

OK, so maybe I'm just a little envious LOL.

Mumbai Calling

Don't you just hate those annoying unsolicited sales phone calls that seem to plague our lives?

I mean most days when I get back from the office, there's usually at least one missed overseas call on my home phone. I don't get that many sales calls that originate in the UK since I registered with the Telephone Preference Service but those clever girls and boys in those pesky marketing companies have worked that if they subcontract the work to international subsidiaries or partners, they are not subject to UK law and there's not a thing we can do about it. Grrrr. 

Anyway today- in a rare occurrence- the caller actually left a message. Oddly it went like this (to be said with an Indian accent): "Customer speaking, message leaving... customer speaking, message leaving... customer speaking, message leaving." Click, end of call.

Can anyone care to explain LOL?

A Bit Of House Keeping

As of the end of this month Webshots will in effect be closing. There's been some sort of change in ownership and the new model will be a paid site, with only invited guests able to view images. Needless to say I'm afraid that means my ceramic and other images will shortly disappear.

If in the next few months I find a suitable alternative public home for my pictures, you will be the first to know. Just so you know.

17

The Royals finally today gained a win in the Premier league and have moved out of the relegation zone, up to 17th out of 20 teams. Well done, more of the same please.

10 Nov Reading 0 - 0 Norwich
17 Nov Reading 2 - 1 Everton

Heroes

We wear this to mark our gratitude.

Read some more at notSupermum's page.

Remember, Remember The 5th Of November

Love a good bonfire...

...And of course lots of lovely fireworks!

Better wrap up warm.

27/10 Reading 3 - 3 Fulham
04/11 QPR 1 - 1 Reading

Wellies

It's not much fun when the cold sea comes over the top of your Wellington boots. Or is it LOL?

Who Ya Gonna Call?*

There's something very strange in the neighbourhood!











Have a fun and safe Halloween.



* From the theme to "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr.

Postal Gold

Here they are at last, thanks to the British Royal Mail stamp club. Yes it's got a long, posh name but for the life of me I can't pronounce it let alone spell it!

29 individual first day covers for the Team GB Olympic gold winners and 34 of the same for our wonderful Paralympic winners. All in a lovely high quality* binder.

LL is so lucky I think and I know he will be so pleased with these. Which is a pity 'cos I rather like them myself and wish I could hang on to them but a promise is a promise. Ho hum...



6 Oct Swansea 2 - 2 Reading
20 Oct Liverpool 1 - 0 Reading


There's a story in the press that archaeology based programme Time Team has been cancelled, that after the 2013 series Channel 4 have decided it won't return. Noooooooo!



* Or pretty cheap looking LOL.

What's Going On?

Is my Aloe Vera meant to do this?

Nice Pair

I hate you ASDA* for stocking products I like, in irresistible packaging LOL.

Golden Syrup from Tate & Lyle in iconic tins.













There is more but it might spoil the surprise...

*And Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsburys and Morrisons etc.

Bake-tastic

Thought I'd share a couple of images from my baking session last night. First we have a Bread Pudding with orange marmalade (which seems to have risen to the surface!). Later I baked my Christmas Cake, courtesy of St Delia of Smith, nice and early this year.

This won't last long LOL.

Should I decorate, do you think?

Chocolate Thoughts

Seen on a wall outside a Reading shop...

Somehow it seems to make perfect sense.

Ahoy Me Hearties!

Isn't it odd the things children like and dislike? Take LL for example, for some strange undefined reason he doesn't care for pirates. In fact the sook (as the Aussies might say) is positively petrified of them. Don't know why.

You can imagine then his excitement on Saturday when he was given a new mini-figures LEGO character to open and then his disappointment when he realised what was inside the packet. What I hadn't expected was LL leaving the figure by my shoes so I could take it home with me that evening, well out of his sight.

Isn't he great?












22 Sept West Bromwich Albion 1 - 0 Reading
29 Sept Reading 2 - 2 Newcastle

Chilli Boats

One sweet Corno di Toro Rosso chilli pepper, some cous cous, a vegetable OXO stock cube, a dash or two of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and a couple of home-made miniature sails.

How sad am I LOL?

10,004

According to Google, that's the total number of pages views this Blog has received thus far. Either that's a whole bunch of visitors or one person with far too much time on their hands...

Chilli Vodka Recipe

Just add chilli peppers to taste. Need I say more..?

The skins are slit so the chilli oils mix with the vodka.












Won't necessarily make for a "blow out" drink but it should have a nice peppery flavour. And don't forget assuming you can get them out of the bottle, it's a neat way to preserve your peppers mmm.


22 Aug Chelsea 4 - 2 Reading
25 Aug Sunderland -postponed- Reading
16 Sept Reading 1 - 3 Tottenham

After 3 games, the Royals sit in 19th out of 20 on a single point.

So Practical

How cool is this? A hat with a fitted beer bottle opener.

Will have to wear this on my holidays LOL.











Thanks Sam.

Green And Red

Thought I'd share this image of my crop of chili pepper plants, I have now moved into the conservatory for warmth with the pampered Aloe Vera. This variety is "de Cayenne" which is said to quite hot; they may be picked either green or red. By the way I have four other variety's growing alongside this one.

I'm thinking I might make some chili vodka...













My Aloe Vera is doing quite nicely, looking a little sinister now.

Great British Summer Of Sport

The 'weirwolf' David Weir struck again today adding a fourth gold, this time in the marathon T54. In the women's competition Shelley Woods came a close second, her first (silver) medal of these games. A great way for team GB to finish in London.

Even though the different classifications have been at first glance bewildering, these games have been absolutely brilliant; not just because of team GB's success (it does help though) but it has been a real showcase of sporting achievement. Every competitor who has come to London has clearly given their all and helped make the Paralympic games of 2012 one to remember. Personally I'm in awe of these people- a fantastic, positive example of everything that can be done.

 Time to celebrate a marvellous 11 days of achievement.












The final medal top ten looks like this:

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	95	71	65	231
2	Russia	36	38	28	102
3	Great Britain	34	43	43	120
4	Ukraine	32	24	28	84
5	Australia	32	23	30	85
6	USA	31	29	38	98
7	Brazil	21	14	8	43
8	Germany	18	26	22	66
9	Poland	14	13	9	36
10	Netherlands	10	10	19	39

  
Tomorrow team GB's Paralympians and Olympians will tour our capital in a well deserved victory parade.

I make no excuses for being proud of my country and everything that has occurred this year- Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee and the London games. It's been a great year to be British. However my Aussie readers will no doubt be relieved to hear the "annoying Pommie" will be going back into his box and a normal Blog service will resume shortly LOL.  

  

Final Saturday

There's only a few events to go and then the closing ceremony will mark the end of our summer of sport. The team GB Paralympians have done themselves and this country proud, a real credit.

Here's how the medal table looks tonight:

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	95	71	65	231
2	Russia	35	38	28	101
3	Great Britain	33	42	43	118
4	Ukraine	32	23	28	83
5	Australia	31	22	29	82
6	USA	30	29	37	96

Unfortunately LEGO didn't produce a team GB Paralympic set.











Today's team GB winners are:

Bronze
Jordanne Whiley & Lucy Shuker		Women's Wheelchair Tennis Doubles
Harriet Lee		Women's Swimming 100 m Breaststroke SB9
Silver
David Smith		Boccia Mixed Individual BC1
Ellie Simmonds		Women's Swimming 100 m Freestyle
Gold
David Stone		Men's Cycling Mixed Road Race T1-2

Greedo

Another day and another clutch of medals for team GB.

Great Britain remains in second place with equal gold with Russia (32) but many more silver and bronze awards. For the record at the end of today team GB have a total of 114 medals, that's 42 bronze, 40 silver and 32 lovely golds mentioned above.

In the cycling road race team mates Karen Darke and Rachel Morris crossed the finish line hand in hand, in an act of sportsmanship, expecting to each be awarded bronze. In the end the judges announced Morris had crossed the line just ahead of Darke and awarded them third and fourth places respectively.

In athletics, Paul Blake secured bronze in the 800 m final. His father played Greedo in the original Star Wars film. Who shot first- Greedo or Han Solo?

Bronze
Susannah Rodgers		Women's Swimming 4x100 m Freestyle S7
Ben Rushgrove		Men's 200 m T36
Paul Blake		Men's 800 m T36
Ola Abidogun		Men's 100 m T46
Rachel Morris		Women's Cycling Individual Road Race H 1-3
Lucy Shuker & Jordanne Whiley		Women's Tennis Wheelchair Doubles
Will Bayley & Ross Wilson		Men's Table Tennis Team Class 6-8
Jane Campbell & Sara Head		Women's Table Tennis Team Class 1-3
Silver
Heather Frederiksen		Women's 100 m Freestyle S8
Dan Greaves		Men's Discus F44
Heather Frederiksen, Stephanie Millward, Louise Watkin & Claire Cashmore		Women's Swimming 4 x 100 m Medley relay
Gold
Josie Pearson		Women's Discus Throw F51/52/53

'Allo Vera

The news from the Paralympics is that today has been amazing, with team GB exceeding their target of 103 medals. The home team has moved back into second position on the medal table a long way behind China and on equal golds with Russia, but ahead on overall medals.

In the pool 15 year old school boy Josef Craig set a world record time of 4:42:81 in the men's 400 m freestyle event. Apparently he had been aiming to compete in Rio and had not really expected the win today. Instead he finished over 3 seconds ahead of the competition.

Hannah Crockroft left the rest of the field at a seeming standstill in women's 200 m T34 final.

Once again the former Paralympic swimmer turned cyclist, Sarah Storey has dominated, finishing the 46 km time trial course a full seven and a half minutes in front of the silver medallist. This is her fourth gold of these games, her 11th in total (she now has 22 Paralympic medals) and has equalled the achievements of British swimmer Dave Roberts and wheelchair racer Tanni Grey-Thompson.

In the men's 100 m final, Jonnie Peacock ran a time of 10:90 to take gold. Moments earlier David ("the Weirwolf") Weir took his third gold with victory in the 800 m final.

Out at sea Helena Lucas became GB's first Paralympic gold medal sailor. Well done.

You know despite going back to school this week after the summer holidays, LL has been rushing home each afternoon to catch up on all the Paralympic news. Love him for that; he can't get enough. Although I do fear at some point he might get upset when he realises the Olympics and Paralympics are over and probably won't come this way again in his lifetime. Still there's always the Commonwealth Games in two years time.

Anyway before I share the now customary list of team GB medals, I thought I would show you all this picture I took today of my potted Aloe Vera plant that lives in the conservatory (it has two "cousins" who live outside all year and only just survive). Anyway it seems the pampered plant might be about to flower for the first time. That or something very nasty and fiendish is about to occur LOL.

Day of the Triffids?

Bronze
Beverley Jones		Women's Discus F37
Alexandra Rickman & Niki Birrell		Women's Sailing Two Person Keelboat
Louise Watkin		Women's Swimming 200 m IM SM9
Silver
Louise Watkin		Women's Swimming 50 m Freestyle S9
Bethany Woodward		Women's 200 m T37
Stephanie Millward		Women's Swimming 200 m IM SM9
Gold
Josef Craig		Men's Swimming 400 m Freestyle S7
Sarah Storey		Women's Cycling Individual Time Trials C5
Helena Lucas		Women's Sailing One Person Keelboat
Hannah Cockroft		Women's 200 m T34
David Weir		Men's 800 m T54
Jonnie Peacock		Men's 100 m T44

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	70	60	53	183
2	Great Britain	31	39	38	108
3	Russia	31	31	23	85
4	Ukraine	27	18	23	68
5	Australia	25	18	26	69
6	USA	23	21	27	71

Great Day

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	58	48	47	153
2	Russia	27	24	20	71
3	Great Britain	25	35	31	91
4	Ukraine	22	17	20	59
5	Australia	22	16	23	61
6	USA	20	18	24	62

Sarah Storey won herself a third gold from these games today in the cycling road race time trials. She will be back tomorrow, looking for an eleventh career gold. While in the pool Oliver Hynd, in his first Paralympic games, added a gold in the swimming medley to go with the bronze and silver previously earned. His elder brother Sam finished in fourth but couldn't be happier for his brother when interviewed later.

Bronze
David Devine		Men's 800 m T12
Elizabeth Johnson		Women's Swimming 100 m Breaststroke SB6
Hannah Russell		Women's Swimming 100 m Backstroke S12
Robert Welbourn		Men's Swimming 400 m Freestyle S10
David Stone		Men's Cycling Mixed T 1-2 Time Trials
Silver
Charlotte Henshaw		Women's Swimming 100 m Backstroke SB6
Andy Lapthorne & Peter Norfolk		Men's Tennis Wheelchair Quad Doubles
Karen Darke		Women's Cycling Individual Time Trials H 1-2
Mark Colbourne		Men's Cycling Individual Time Trials C1
Gold
Sarah Storey		Women's Cycling Individual Time Trials C5
Oliver Hynd		Men's Swimming 200 m Individual Medley SM8

79

Today saw Ellie Simmonds back in the water, competing in (by her own admission) her weakest event. A spirited effort saw her take bronze position. Equestrian Sophie Christiansen become the most decorated Briton of the games taking her third gold. And 500 m champion David Weir added a 1500 m gold.

Team GB now has 79 medals and remain in second place.

What better way to toast all team GB successes than with a drop of home brew? Mmmmm.

Cheers!

Bronze
Olivia Breen, Katrina Hart, Jenny McLoughlin & Bethy Woodward		Women's 4 x 100 m Relay T35/T38
David Devine		Men's 1500 m T13
Zoe Robinson, Nigel Murray, Dan Bentley & David Smith		Boccia BC1/BC2
Matt Skelhon		Shooting Mixed R6-R50 m Rifle Prone SH1
Matt Walker		Men's Swimming 50 m Freestyle S7
Ellie Simmonds		Women's Swimming 50 m Freestyle
Ollie Hynd		Men's Swimming 100 m Backstroke S8
Silver
Mel Clarke		Women's Archery Individual Component
Paul Blake		Men's 400 m T36
Deborah Criddle		Women's Equestrian Grade 3 Freestyle Dressage
Sophie Wells		Women's Equestrian Individual Freestyle Test Grade IV
Stephanie Millward		Women's Swimming 400 m Freestyle S9
Gold
Danielle Brown		Women's Archery Individual Component
David Weir		Men's 1500 m T54
Sophie Christiansen		Women's Equestrian Grade 1a Individual Freestyle
Heather Frederiksen		Women's Swimming 100 m Backstroke S8

Double Double

Having won two golds at Beijing (at the age of 13), swimmer Ellie Simmonds today scored her second gold in London and broke her own world record with a time of 3:05:09 in the 200 m medley. This girl is so good,one the newspapers even published a her picture and commented they were doing this so her opponents could see what she looked like from the front...

Team GB remains in second place on the medal table with 19 gold, ahead of Russia and Australia with 16 each.
















Here are details of team GB's achievements from today:

Bronze
Stephanie Millward, Claire Cashmore, Susannah Rodgers & Louise Watkin		Women's Swimming 4x100 m Freestyle 34pts
Susannah Rodgers		Women's Swimming 100 m Freestyle S7
Natalie Jones		Women's Swimming 200 m Individual Medley SM6
Lee Pearson		Men's Equestrian Individual Freestyle Test Grade 1b
Paul Davies		Men's Table Tennis Singles Class 1
Silver
Sascha Kindred		Men's Swimming 200 m Individual Medley SM6
Gold
Mickey Bushell		Men's 100 m T53
Ellie Simmonds		Women's Swimming 200 m Individual Medley SM6
Natasha Baker		Women's Equestrian Individual Freestyle Test Grade II
David Weir		Men's 5000 m T54

54

Bronze
James Clegg		Men's Swimming 100 m Butterfly S12
Aileen McGlynn & Helen Scott		Women's Cycling Individual B Pursuit
Silver
Graeme Ballard		Men's 100 m T12
Libby Clegg		Women's 100 m T12
Will Bayley		Men's Table Tennis Singles Class 7
Jon-Allan Butterworth, Darren Kenny & Richard Waddon		Men's Cycling Mixed C1-5 Team Sprint
Deborah Criddle		Women's Equestrian Individual Championship Test Grade III
Neil Fachie & Barnie Storey		Men's Cycling Individual B Sprint
Stef Reid		Women's Long Jump F42/44
Sohie Wells		Women's Equestrian Individual Championship Test Grade IV
Gold
Sophie Christiansen		Women's Equestrian Dressage
Jessica-Jane Applegate		Women's Swimming 200 m Freestyle S14
David Smith, James Roe, Naomi Riches, Pam Relph & Lily van den Broecke		Mixed Rowing Coxed Four LTAmix+
Anthony Kappes & Craig Maclean		Men's Cycling Individual B Sprint
Aled Davies		Men's Discus F42

Congratulations to all of today's team GB winners.

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	35	24	28	87
2	Great Britain	16	24	14	54
3	Australia	14	11	18	43
4	Ukraine	13	8	12	33
5	Russia	12	13	9	34
6	USA	9	8	16	33
7	Brazil	7	3	3	13
8	Germany	5	8	8	21
9	France	4	7	6	17
10	Nigeria	4	4	0	8

Record Breaking Saturday

Many new records were set at the games today including a European for Gemma Prescott and World for Ellie Simmonds, Richard Whitehead and Neil Fachie & Barney Storey.

Team GB moves up to third on the medal table with a total of 36 medals, behind China on 56 and Australia on 29 (the Aussies have 11 gold to GB's 9). Don't forget if necessary team GB reserves the right to enforce this LOL.

Team GB's Saturday successes:

Bronze
Matt Whorwood		Men's Swimming 400 m Freestyle S6
Jody Cundy		Men's Cycling Individual Pursuit C4
Robin Womack		Men's Shot Put F54/55/56
Clare Williams		Women's Discus F11/12
James Bevis		Men's Shooting R5 Air Rifle Prone SH2
Gemma Prescott		Women's Club Throw F31/32/51
Silver
Sam Ingram		Men's Judo 90 kg
Claire Cashmore		Women's Swimming 100 m Breatstroke SB8
Matt Skelhon		Men's Shooting R3 Air Rifle Prone SH2
Jon-Allan Butterworth		Men's Cycling Individual Pursuit C5
Gold
Ellie Simmonds		Women's Swimming 400 m Freestyle S6
Sarah Storey		Women's Cycling Individual 500 m Time Trials C4-5
Natasha Baker		Women's Equestrian Individual Grade II
Richard Whitehead		Men's 200 m T42
Neil Fachie & Barney Storey		Men's Cycling Individual B 1 km Time Trials

Day Two

After two full days of the London 2012 Paralympic games team GB sits in 5th with 20 medals.

For team GB there were some notable successes and some unexpected disappointments. Our fabulous bronze, silver and gold winners from today are:

Bronze
Sam Hynd		Men's Swimming 400 m Freestyle S8
Aled Davies		Men's Shot Put F42/44
Darren Kenny		Men's Cycling Individual Pursuit C3
Silver
Aileen McGlynn & Helen Scott		Women's Cycling Individual 1 km Time Trials B
Jon-Allan Butterworth		Men's Cycling Individual 1 km Time Trials C4-5
Shaun McKeown		Men's Cycling Individual Pursuit C3
Ollie Hynd		Men's Swimming 400 m Freestyle S8
James Crisp		Men's Swimming 100 m Backstroke S9
Stephanie Millward		Women's Swimming 100 m Backstroke S9
Heather Frederiksen		Women's Swimming 400 m Freestyle S8
Aaron Moores		Men's 100 m Backstroke S14
Gold
Mark Colbourne		Men's Cycling Individual 3 km Pursuit C1
Hannah Cockroft		Women's 100 m T34

So here is how the top of the table currently stands:

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	13	10	11	34
2	Australia	7	4	8	19
3	Ukraine	6	5	5	16
4	Russia	5	3	3	11
5	Great Britain	4	11	5	20
6	USA	4	1	6	11

Mad Man In A Box

Look who's back*...

Saturday 1st September BBC One, 7.20pm. Can't wait.


* Doctor Who (and the DALEKS) in case you didn't know LOL.

Word From Our Sponsor

The Paralympics got off to a great start today after the fantastic (but very long) opening ceremony, I'm currently watching team GB take on Germany in the wheelchair basketball. It's fast paced and kind of scary if you follow me.

One of the subtle differences I've noticed already is the inclusion of sponsorship branding within the games venues; the Olympic venues were all brand neutral. So we're seeing branding for a well known credit card and a telecoms company around the court etc. And don't get me started on the inclusion of advert breaks thanks to commercial broadcaster Channel 4 having the tv rights not the BBC.

Team GB have made a good start on their medal campaign and have a total of 7 putting them currenlty in third position behing China (15 medals) and Australia (9). Well done Team Oz LOL.

Here are the team GB winners:

Bronze
Zoe Newson, Powerlifting 40 kg
Ben Quilter, Judo 60 kg

Silver
Hannah Russell, Swimming 400 m freestyle
Mark Colbourne, Cycling 1 km timetrials
Nyree Kindred, Swimming 100 m backstroke

Gold
Sarah Storey, Cycling individual pursuit
Jonathon Fox, Swimming 100 m backstroke




Oh and apparently this summer has been the westest on record in the UK. Grrrr.

Greatest Show On Earth. Again

Four years ago at Beijing, the team GB Paralympians came second in the overall medals table. Today as the London 2012 Paralympics open, they have been set the goal of improving on that impressive 102 medal haul.

Apparently these games are the first to be pretty much sold out in Paralympic history. Certainly every time I've tried to buy tickets, I've been unsuccessful which I guess says a lot.

Now excuse me, I'm off to watch the opening ceremony. Looks good.