Sunday ~ 30/7/06

Hmmm ... after a quiet night in on Friday I went to two parties last night ...

The first one was Paul & Justin's Barbecue in Brixton, where I appeared to be half asleep and knocked over wine ..

The second one was a Kate's Birthday Party over in Fulham .. was a good laugh, woke up sharing the hostess's bed with a 6'2" crop haired personal trainer .. fully clothed of course, but it did seem one of those "London" moments ... oh and some Sandhurst boy was asleep in the bath ...

"Fracture" Friday ~ 28/7/06

Well after limping gamely along for a week I went to the Doctor to get my foot looked at .. and he promptly sent me to A&E for an x-ray ... 4 hours later I was told I had two fractures.

I got the impression the medicos thought I was a loon for having hobbled about on it for a week.

Monday ~ 24/7/06

Hobbled into work with good foot in a shoe .. bad foot in a sandal.

The lean, goodlooking boy who catches the 8:51am and always seems dressed rather more for Milan than the City gave me a slightly odd look when he noticed .. but I just stuck my nose in my book.

Off to the Globalisation Institute's Summer Party this evening, as indeed it seems so are the usual suspects.

Sunday ~ 23/7/06

Up at 10am. Bimbled out, bought paper, tidied up.

Went over to Graham's for a Chanmpagne Tea ... though looking back it was all champagne without a cup of tea in sight .. which was a bit of a swizz. Lots of nice cake and scones though.

Home about 10pm, shattered .. mainly due to limping on busted foot.

Saturday ~ 22/7/06

Limped over to Sainsburys and bought food for friends coming round ...

Tidied up ... started cooking ...

David, Hope and Kate arrived just after 7pm.

Had a round of dry martinis then went in to Dinner.

Chicken in a rich tomato sauce served on a bed of rice. Accompanied by chilled soave.

Cheese course accompanied by a ruby port.

Was a moment of comedy when the port came my way and as I struggled to get the stopper out, half of it stayed in the neck of the decanter. Surprise all round. Hope & Kate carried on talking as David & I stood holding the decanter neck under hot water, trying to winkle out the remaning chunk of stopper with a thin knife. It worked.

Guests left just before 2am.

Friday ~ 21/7/06

Had Lunch with a friend on the terrace at the NLC .. all rather pleasant, if not a tad hot ..

Then went and did a few bits and bobs.

Met Peter in the Welly and wandered off Home, via the Red Lion ... got Home, watered garden whilst Peter put the pizzas in .. than ate them in the newly watered garden ..

Then at 10:15pm, went (barefoot) to close the french windows and cracked my toes on a chair.

Broke little toe .. battered another two .. foot nicely swollen.

Pip's haircut

Having mentioned that I'd had a haircut this morning, people wanted to see it .. I think they should get out more.

When I asked a colleage to take a pic of me, I meant one where I was looking at the camera, not taken by surprise.

You just can't get the staff.

Odd pic, makes my nose look long. Add in the eyes and I look like a muppet.

Oh and its getting greyer. The hair that is, not the nose. *bah*

Monday ~ 17/7/06

Weekend was fun ... Had a quiet night in on Friday.

Lazy day at Home on Saturday, was mildly irked to find that the Cricket was only on Sky, so had to listen to it on Radio4. Then went ot to a barbecue at 5:30pm but was Home just after midnight.

Went and met a friend yesterday afternoon and had a quiet jug of Pimms in the sunshine, watching the World go by ...









In the evening I watched a rather funny drag act at a dodgy Pub in Victoria ...

Now back at my post and bored, had a haircut on the way into work ... I wonder if I'd hate my job any less if it wasn't such a nice day outside the window.

I'm currently reading the Alex Rider books, the first one, called Stormbreaker, has been turned into a film and comes out this Friday, looks good;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKH7H7bYa5w&search=stormbreaker

Its one of those afternoons ...

Blazej getting silly in the Office ...

The Perils of Pip

Well I tried to see my Dr yesterday evening about the nasty bite on my leg .. but they couldn't fit me in. By 7:30pm it was worse so I went to A&E.

Very nice lady there said I'd been bitten by something nasty and was having an allergic reaction. What worried her more was the chance of infection. To that end she have me strong pills and told me to stay at Home for 24 hrs as;

a) the pills knock you out

b) I need to keep the leg up for free circulation to avoid infection, get air to the bite

I was impressed by how quickly I was in and out of A&E and the nurses were really sweet as well .. One of them gave me some strong antihistemenes and when I mentioned that I wasn't sleeping due to the heat, she said "Oh have a glass of wine when you get Home, take one of these before bed and you'll sleep like a log !".

I went Home via the big Sainsburys and got a large fan for £12, which seemed a bit of a bargain.

But when I woke up this morning I didn't feel in extremis so I've come in. But I have shorts on and my leg up on a stool.

Hooray Henley ~ Friday 30/6/06

Usual Friday at Henley ... actually went a bit later this year (I overslept) and it was less crowded on the trains. Thinking about it, it seemed oddly quieter this year all round ...

Had a couple of very good free G&Ts courtesy of Millers ... bimbled along to Remenham Barn and had a couple of pints of Pimms during the tea interval. Then as the races started again Peter and I sat and dangled our feet into the water, opposite Temple Island as the shells shot past us.

After a few more Pimms at the Start Bar, we then sauntered back up the course and crossed over the bridge for a pint at the Angel. Sitting by the water, under the Angel's awning a strange sight came into view. Some Bright Young Things had an altogether novel idea of taking to the water casual like and avoiding any dress regulations .. see below.

Had a couple of pints at the Angel, chatting to a nice couple called Matt and Petra then strolled along and caught a train back to London ... sat in First with a bunch of Boys from I forget where .. got back to London and went for a couple in Soho.