May Date Night

My turn to plan this month's date - a night out at the theatre to see Puccini's Madam Butterfly performed by the English National Opera at the London Coliseum. Somehow I expected it to be in Italian, but it was all in English - despite that it was still rather hard to follow exactly what was going on! Still the staging was pretty amazing. Definitely an experience to tick off our wish list, although we're not sure if we'd recommend sitting in the dress circle again - limited leg room made it a tad uncomfortable!

Brum

Birmingham is fast becoming one of our favourite cities in the UK - it's small enough to get around easily, the people are friendly and there's plenty to see and do. It certainly helped that the weather this weekend was stunning, our first real taste of the summer to come. We enjoyed catching up with Annette, Dante, Matteo and his girlfriend Helena for a lovely Italian lunch.

Guns n Roses

There's something slightly sad about watching a group of past-their-best rockers perform. I got a similar feeling watching Mick Jagger a few years ago at Western Springs. These guys even filled the first three rows of the National Event Centre in Birmingham with young, gorgeous models to make themselves feel young again - I'm sure most of these girls wouldn't know one Guns n Roses song from the next. Still, it was a good concert, with all the classic head-bangers being played. The best moment was when lead vocalist Axl Rose screamed at everyone in the stands to get on their feet, "rock and roll ain't supposed to be f@*&^n comfortable!" It was just a shame it went on a bit too long, with no trains or public transport back into the central city, Tim and I were stuck with a very long and frustrating wait for a taxi, putting a bit of a dampner on what was otherwise a great night.

Couscous

I arrived home tonight expecting to have to cook my own dinner, but this was waiting for me in the fridge.  Israeli couscous with roasted tomatoes, chorizo and parsley.  What a lovely husband I have!

Bluebells

Pam and I drove up to Cambridge to visit Kirsty (and Marcos too off course).  First stop of the day was a visit to a wood full of bluebells, an English spring-time icon, which were pretty despite the ankle deep mud we had to trek through to see them.  Gumboots would've been a good idea!

Saying Goodbye

Tim's beloved Nana sadly passed away last Monday after a brief illness.  It's always hard being so far from home when things like this happen.  She was an amazing woman who will leave a huge gap in the lives of many.  RIP Nana Decke.

Choccy Pudding

Sometimes bought ones are best.  This was our Saturday night treat now that wine's off the agenda.

A weekend in the country

We spent the Bank holiday weekend at our 'Country Home' in Berkhamsted, also known as Estelle and Simon's.  Somehow they roped us into mowing the lawns, helping to build a gate, weeding the garden and planting their vege patch.  But they did feed us well, and we secretly enjoyed the chance to get back to nature.

Happy Birthday Lisa

Celebrating the lovely Lisa's birthday with a girly lunch at the very posh Kensington Roof Gardens.

Boggles

Meet Boggles, named for his amazing eyes.  He actually belongs to our neighbours, but we seem to have adopted him and his little face appears at our window on a regular basis, wanting a pat and a scrap from our fridge which I'm happy to oblige him with.  Although that's how our relationship with Brussels began several years ago come to think of it...

30

These have been up since Tim's birthday back in January.  Now that we've both hit the big 30 I decided it was time for them to go.