Christmas lights!

Amazing Grace Techno - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Amazing.. I am guessing this is not a very fun time of year if you suffer from epilepsy though!

The only trouble with all this snow photographing..

Horsham snow
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

is that I've gone and given myself a cold! Last night, I kept waking up all through the night, and at one point James had to wake me up because I was having a nightmare about a shark.. I guess being all coldy is a bit like swimming underwater, but I'm not really sure where the shark came from!

James' school was closed today, due to it being at the top of a snowy hill and all, so he is now officially on Christmas hols, yay! I've just got 2 more days to go now, and I worked from home today - didn't fancy going anywhere much further than the front door today, it's way too cold!!

Luckily enough, we had our first 2 DVDs show up LOVEFiLM today. Laura sent us a 2 month free membership voucher the other day, so I decided to sign up.. it's a great service! You can pick out all the films and TV series' you fancy seeing, and make up a list on their website (they just seem to have every DVD ever on there!), and then they post them to you two at a time! It's a DVD rental service, whereby you can keep the DVDs as long as you like, but it's actually in your best interests to watch them and post them back as soon as possible so that you can be sent your next batch. It seems to be pretty much next day delivery, which isn't bad! We got 'The Proposal', and 'Oz and James Drink to Britain' today, very cool. We just watched 'The Proposal', which was pretty funny. Very interesting to see Alaska too, in a non-survival scenario! Oz and James later.. we've been watching the other two Big Wine Adventure series' they did, which were excellent! I just love all their bickering! Sound wine advice too, we tried their recommended 'decent wine for under a tenner' -a Californian Zinfandel called 'Ravens Wood', and it was very very nice!

LOVEFiLM
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Anyway, to go with the films, I got us a nice giant bar of chocolate, because nothing fixes a cold like chocolate! =)

Chocolate
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Skywatch Friday: Horsham snow!

Well, I spotted Skywatch Friday on Øblog last week, and I thought it sounded like quite a nice idea. It turned out that this week was a pretty good time to start!

Skywatch Friday: Horsham snow!
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Wait, there's more..

SNOW!! Here's how it was looking in Horsham this morning..

Horsham snow!
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Horsham snow!
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Horsham snow!
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

It's snowing in Dorking!

Mystery pudding

I just got back from my third Christmas dinner this year, this time with my old disbanded team. The funny thing is, after all these Christmas dinners, this pudding is the only festive thing I've had so far! It was a miniature Christmas pudding, only about 4cms across! A little on the small side, very tasty though!

I was a little dubious about the thing on top, it looked like a Chinese lantern! After the multicoloured cherub decoration that I was tempted to sample in the Chinese restuarant last week turned out to be made entirely of salt, I didn't think I'd chance it! You can't take for granted that the things put on your plate are actually food! Any ideas what it is?!

Location:Red Lion, Betchworth

Sunday, 18:00, BBC2

James May's Toy Stories is back on.. This week it's the Denbies Lego House! Hooray! Wonder if you'll see us talking to the security guard about his dog in the background..

Custom My Little Ponies

My nice flickr friend just sent me a link to this:

http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/uncategorized/45-creative-examples-of-my-little-pony-customization

It's a brilliant collection of custom my little ponies for sci-fi geeks, I love it! How could they neglect to include our ones though?! Outrageous!

Box Hill at night

Box Hill at night
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

On the way home on Saturday, we were driving past Box Hill just as the sun was going down. It's funny, I'd actually been up there at night just last week for a work Christmas meal at Smith & Western, and I'd noticed the amazing view over Dorking with all the lights glowing, so I was desperate to go back up there with a camera to get some photos.. lucky timing! So here you go, Dorking from Box Hill at dusk.. one day we'll have to take the big camera up there!

Winchester Cathedral Christmas Market

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Well, I was very very pleased with this tip-off, I'm just amazed that I've never heard of this before.. just behind Winchester Cathedral is hiding an amazing German style Christmas market! 84 chalets selling all kinds of crafty things from all over the world, and an ice rink in the middle, absolutely brilliant! The whole place smells wonderful with all the dried orange and cinnamon stick decorations for sale, and all of the lovely festive food and drink - stollen, Glühwein, roasted chestnuts, waffles.. yum! We actually bought one of the orangey things and now it is making our kitchen smell rather nice!

Here are some photos of the market..

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

ice rink..

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Charlie and the Fudge Cottage..

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Yummy smelling orange and cinnamon stick string..

Dried orange and cinnamon string
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

The market goes on for 18 days, spanning half of November and December, I think we will definitely be going back next year!

The town has definitely embraced the Christmas spirit, on the high street there were Morris dancers with bits of Christmas tree on their heads, carol singers, shops with holly garlands draped over their frontages, and excellent Christmas lights! Much better than Horsham, I can't believe it actually made the National news over it's poor show of lights, boo.. must try harder!

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

We grabbed a bit of lunch at a pub near the river, and old Ælfrēd the Great (wow, I just found out his Dad was called Æthelwulf, you can't beat that for a name!)..

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

and then went all touristy and visited the Winchester Castle Great Hall to see the Round Table..

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

check out my arty iPhone photography..

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

and with a bit of exploring out the back of the Great Hall, we found the army barracks..

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

a bit of a lucky find! Tanks in the car park, hehe..

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Rather tempting.. I've always wanted a tank!

Winchester
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Christmas tree abstract

Christmas tree
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Christmas tree
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

I'm kipperfrog, I've served with the British Junior Sea Cadets, I've climbed to the summit of Box Hill..

..and crossed the choppy oceans of The Channel. Now I'm heading into the remote Dorking wilderness, hundreds come here to pay tribute to the magical silver cockerel, but each year 60 people will need rescuing. I'm going to show the skills needed to survive here..

This area gets the most extreme rubbish weather than anywhere in the UK. All I've got with me is my knife, my water bottle, and my survival bracelet..


Well, actually I forgot my knife and water bottle, but you never know when you might need 8ft of paracord and a guitar pick!!

James has got the skills, I love my survival bracelet! =)

Christmas tree!

Christmas tree
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Hooray, it's Christmas tree putting up day! We went to a few places this morning to try and find one to buy, but it seems that this year the standard price for a tiny little tree is around £30?! We're talking £50 for one the same height as me.. it seems a little excessive! Well, we decided that we wanted a completely oversized, sitting room dominating tree to get us properly into the Christmas spirit, so it was time to dig out our 6-footer plastic one from the loft! I think it does the job rather nicely, and manages to completely block off the way into the kitchen, now that's what I'm talking about! =)

Pretty Gibson SG Zoot Suit Guitars

Pretty Gibson SG Guitars
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

We went to Brighton today, and spotted these beautiful Gibson SG Zoot Suit guitars in GAK. I've never seen anything like them before, very very nice..

Apparently the body is built with multiple birch wood laminate pieces (each one approximately .075” thick), each dyed with a different colour then compressed and bonded together to form one solid block of wood.

I dread to think how much they cost!

Oh no, not more Star Trek links!

I'm afraid so..

I've managed to find a couple of pretty entertaining documentaries you can watch online, all about some of the most extreme Star Trek fanatics ever. The first one, produced in 1997, was filmed in America, whereas the follow-up, 7 years later, goes all over the world to see how the Trekkies in different countries match up. It's a bit of a freak show, but it certainly is quite funny to see just how far some people go! I must admit I am a little scared of that lady who stalks Brent Spiner though :S

Anyway, if you're interested, you can watch them online here:

Trekkies (1997)
Trekkies 2 (2004)

Looking forward to seeing this..

Here's what it says on the RSC website:

"The RSC returns to London with Gregory Doran’s production of Shakespeare’s comic tale Twelfth Night, transferring to the Duke of York’s Theatre following its run in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Award-winning actor Richard Wilson makes his RSC debut as Malvolio. Joining Richard will be James Fleet as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and many familiar RSC actors including Sam Alexander (Sebastian), Nancy Carroll (Viola), Alexandra Gilbreath (Olivia), Jo Stone-Fewings (Orsino), Miltos Yerolemou (Feste) and Associate Artist Richard McCabe returning to the Company following his acclaimed performance as King John."

It should be good! Twelfth Night is one my favourites..

Rainbow

Rainbow
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Today, on the way over to F, N & Ts for a lovely roast and a catch up, we saw this really bright rainbow coming right out of the hospital! Beautiful! There were loads of them all through Salfords, even double ones, and at one point we drove through the end of one.. I didn't see any crocks of gold or leprechauns though unfortunately, but had we seen a leprechaun, I think he may have been run over. Does digging up crocks of gold on dual carriageways count as jay walking? I just don't know!

London Christmas Lights

OK, so I can't take credit for these pictures, but I can assure you this is what Oxford Street looked like yesterday! There seems to be a bit of a 'A Christmas Carol' theme going on, though I'm not sure what all the umbrellas and Star Trek insignia lights were all about! Very pretty nonetheless.. Although we took a camera with us, there was far too much shoulder barging going on to even consider getting any photos of Oxford Street. It was absolutely packed! Nothing, I might add, compared to the perfume department of Selfridge's though, ugh! Bottles smashing, perfume flying everywhere! I felt like Mr Bean in the Allders episode! It's a shame you need to go through that section to get to just about anywhere else in that shop.. I just wanted to get to the food hall!

london oxford
Originally uploaded by Ammar Banafea

Christmas Lights, London's Small Street
Originally uploaded by YODspica

Waiting for the rain
Originally uploaded by mikehellers

The food hall in Selfridge's is just brilliant! It has loads of random food from all over the world, all the funny ingredients you see in recipes and wonder where on Earth you were supposed to get them from (a case in point - tins of Pumpkin puree.. we searched everywhere for the Pumpkin Pie recipe!), a yummy looking deli, loads of huge gingerbread houses, every conceivable variety of chocolate product, beautiful cupcakes, and of course a Yo Sushi! restaurant, a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop, a Jelly Belly shop, Oddono’s Icecream (yum).. and I can't forget to mention.. designer water?!? Paul Smith for Evian, and Bling H2O.. it made me laugh! Please tell me nobody buys this..

The home accessories department is also worth checking out if you like that sort of thing! I love unusual things, and this floor is full of them.. a lot of restraint (and begging to go home from James) was applied to only come away with one goody.. a royalvkb self cooling terracotta water carafe! =) Although, even James did concede that it was quite cool, if not for the crowds, and his hungry appetite for dinner. Probably dinner time on the first Saturday of Christmas shopping after payday is not ideal for a relaxing shopping experience!

Anyway, we didn't spend the whole day in Selfridge's! We actually started out in Covent Garden, and it was looking very nice and festive too.. there were violinists playing Pachelbel's Canon inside the building, which was lovely. I guess that piece of music will always remind us of our wedding day from now on!

Covent Garden
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

I liked the giant wonky Rudolf..

Covent Garden
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

and the HUGE Christmas tree!

Covent Garden
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

For dinner, we thought we'd have a treat, as we were feeling all Christmas-y and holiday-ish, so we headed to Crispy Duck in Chinatown! Officially the yummiest Chinese restaurant in London since Oriental City in Colindale shut down for good..

Pretty food!

Well I've never tried blogging from my phone before, so this is a bit of an experiment! It might work, you never know!

I have a bit of a fascination with pretty food, as you may have guessed, and I've been storing up a bit of a collection of pictures on my phone.. I think they do deserve a post though, because they are like little works of art! If only my lunch looked like that =)

A kipperfrog?

Hmm.. I've been wondering for a while what a kipperfrog looks like.. I think maybe this is it!

A kipperfrog?
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

My Flickr Favourites 23: Octos!

... nu ...

My Flickr Favourites 22: Crying Clover

Crying Clover
Originally uploaded by geraldfigal

My Flickr Favourites 21

Originally uploaded by Meredith_Farmer

My Flickr Favourites 20: Crazed Kitten 1

Crazed Kitten 1
Originally uploaded by pureEVA

My Flickr Favourites 19: Huevos!

Huevos!
Originally uploaded by Ana Paula Rimoli

My Flickr Favourites 18: batman begins... again, and again, and....

batman begins... again, and again, and....
Originally uploaded by osbock

My Flickr Favourites 17: How Nature Should Be Protected

How Nature Should Be Protected
Originally uploaded by Ivan Makarov

My Flickr Favourites 16: 365 Project - day 49

365 Project - day 49
Originally uploaded by * ire *

My Flickr Favourites 15: Sprung

Sprung
Originally uploaded by phoneticontrol

My Flickr Favourites 14: Handpainted Easter Eggs

Handpainted Easter Eggs
Originally uploaded by Liiolii

My Flickr Favourites 13: Yoda Amigurumi

Yoda Amigurumi
Originally uploaded by *elena

My Flickr Favourites 12

not that you can tell from this photo...
Originally uploaded by katzenwein

My Flickr Favourites 11: Bugs' wedding

Bugs' wedding
Originally uploaded by Victor Radziun

My Flickr Favourites 10: Anterior Median and Anterior Lateral Eyes of a Phidippus princeps Jumping Spider

Anterior Median and Anterior Lateral Eyes of a Phidippus princeps Jumping Spider
Originally uploaded by Thomas Shahan (Opo Terser)

My Flickr Favourites 9: Open Eyes

Open Eyes
Originally uploaded by peter_hasselbom

My Flickr Favourites 8: Delightful Daises Cake

Delightful Daises Cake
Originally uploaded by Alexandra Bill

My Flickr Favourites 7: Elephant

Elephant
Originally uploaded by ramson

My Flickr Favourites 6

Originally uploaded by brianchapman

My Flickr Favourites 5: Riomaggiore

Riomaggiore
Originally uploaded by brianchapman

My Flickr Favourites 4

Originally uploaded by brianchapman

My Flickr Favourites 3: Latitude Pebble Balance

Latitude Pebble Balance
Originally uploaded by Dave Gorman

My Flickr Favourites 2: Little Jumping Spider Hiding

Little Jumping Spider Hiding
Originally uploaded by Thomas Shahan (Opo Terser)

My Flickr Favourites

impressionist cake
Originally uploaded by megpi

Well, I was looking through all the photos I've marked as my favourites on flickr over the last few years, and I thought I'd share some of these with you. It's amazing to see the whole collection of cool things I've randomly stumbled upon since I opened up my account..

Spot the Photoshop fail

We've got this Buffy the Vampire Slayer poster at home (you can click on it to see it bigger), and it's funny, before we bought it, it looked perfectly fine.. but when you have a closer look, there are at least 4 really weird things about it, and probably more that haven't spotted yet too! Unbelievable for an official poster.. it's like one of those "What's wrong with this picture?" things you see in magazines..

Also, here's an unrelated link, look at what happens when Apple Execs take on garden design..

Nice weather

Dorking Rain
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

I decided to walk along Ashcombe Road in Dorking on Friday in my lunch break. I could see it was raining out of the window before I set off, but it didn't look too bad.. little did I know I should have taken my flippers..

It turns out this was just the start of a weekend of lovely weather! We got woken up at about 8am on Saturday by the howling wind and rain bashing the house, which turned into a bit of a scary thunderstorm! There was a crack of thunder right above us at one point that actually cut off the phone conversation James was having, and then we had this crazy hailstorm! The balls of hail were about the size of peas, and settled all over the patio and all over the car windscreen for about half an hour..

The high winds kept up pretty much all day, to the extent that our sky dish has been blown wonky, and now we don't have any signal at all!! Just in time for 3-D week on Channel 4, boo! Apparently loads of people had the same trouble over the weekend, so we can't get the engineer out until the week after next, noooo!

Hail in Horsham
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Sometimes postsecret does come up with some gems..

Here are a couple that I liked from today's post:

1. The story behind the Thomson Reuters logo

2. The story behind the new Pepsi logo

-----Email Message (pic)-----

"A designer friend told me that the secret inspiration for the new Pepsi logo was the Simpson's Comic Book Guy."

I hope this is some kind of joke

I just got this text from a random number I don't know:

"Do you have the package? Once you have it meet at designated coordinates. Bring the girl."

What?! I feel like I'm a participant in a Bond film or something here..

I know one thing for sure, I won't be calling them up!

Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath

Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

We went up to London on Saturday, fancied a bit of exploring, so we headed over to Chelsea (never been there before!), seems very nice, it's amazing how quiet it is considering how close it is to London Victoria, but I do find all of the identical houses rather annoying! I'd have an unbearable urge to paint mine all stripey or something if I lived there! =) Too much time in Brighton..

Then we hopped on the Northern Line up to Hampstead, walked through the Heath, and used James' magical iPhone to find Parliament Hill. This has got to be one of the best views over London! I just love the contrast, you're standing in beautiful fields looking over at the whole of London, just at the bottom of the hill! The photo doesn't really do it justice. You can see Canary Wharf, the BT tower, the London Eye.. it's very cool! Understandably, there were quite a few tourists up there, and also a couple who just got engaged! We walked past the bathing ponds on the way through the Heath, nobody swimming this time though (thank goodness, I think they would have frozen!).

Hampstead Heath
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

On the way home, we decided to stop off at Leicester Square - I wanted to pop into Tokyo Toys in the Trocadero to see a man about a bag.. I actually struck lucky because the guy in the shop was the very same guy who I bought my handbag from at ComicCon a couple of years back, and he was also the same guy who designed and made it! It was a one-off design with CoCo monkey (the shop logo) on a Union Jack design. I love it! He was very pleased to be reunited with CoCo, and said he was actually trying to find someone to manufacture more of them, and will hopefully be stocking them after Christmas, woo! I really want a new one because mine is getting very faded now! Here's what it looked like when it was new..

Brighton Beach
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Finally, we stopped off at Chinatown to grab some snacks and dinner! yum.

Chinatown
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

I just love the cakes in Wonderful Patisserie, I think we may have to make a trip up here for birthday cakeage! I couldn't believe this amazing dragon cake..

Wonderful Patiserrie, Chinatown
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Wonderful Patiserrie, Chinatown
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Wonderful Patiserrie, Chinatown
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

We picked up some takeaway noodles to eat on the train home, and a yummy tiger roll! Very nice it was too!

Tiger Roll
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

It's time for a Star Trek post..

Here are a few things that may be of interest..

1. Wil Wheaton was the voice actor for the Romulans in Star Trek (2009)! I had no idea..

2. Ooh.. Star Trek cereal =) Why America only?! Punks..

3. Family Guy episode featuring all the TNG actors - "Not all dogs go to heaven" - watch it here.. I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds promising!

4. More Wil Wheaton (this is what happens when you subscribe to the WWdN blog, sorry!) - here are a series of podcasts that he's doing, one for each episode in TNG - lots of behind the scenes anecdotes, funny memories and what he thinks about the episodes having re-watched them recently (e.g. how he starts to sympathise with the Wesley haters aka Yahoo group alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die) - they're quite funny!

That's all folks.. oh apart from this cool thing, which is what sent me off on this Star Trek tangent in the first place!

How amazing

Check out this stunt that was pulled in Antwerp station to promote the Belgian version of 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?', I love it! =)

Moon in the morning

Moon in the morning
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

You can tell Winter is coming when you can still see the moon in the morning! This is what it looked like at about 7am..

I caught the train back this evening and picked up a Metro, only to see a story about a mini tornado in Crawley yesterday lunchtime?! How alarming!

Learn Japanese Numbers

This is a brilliant video if you ever feel compelled to learn your numbers in Japanese! I think it's actually impossible to forget them after watching this thing..

Weird UK Laws

Well, we had the Horsham Challenger come through the letterbox today, and I was pleasantly surprised to find this useful list of strange but true, UK laws:

1. It is illegal for a cab in the City of London to carry rabid dogs or corpses.

2. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.

3. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside down.

4. Royal Navy ships that enter the Port of London must provide a barrel of rum to the Constable of the Tower of London.

5. Under the UK's Tax Avoidance Schemes Regulations 2006, it is illegal not to tell the taxman anything you don't want him to know, though you don't have to tell him anything you don't mind him knowing.

6. In the UK, a pregnant woman can legally relive herself anywhere she wants - even, if she so requests, in a policeman's helmet.

7. In Lancashire, no person is permitted, after being asked to stop by a constable on the seashore, to incite a dog to bark.

8. In London, Freemen are allowed to take a flock of sheep across London Bridge without being charged a toll; they are also allowed to drive geese down Cheapside.

9. In the UK, a man who feels compelled to urinate in public can do so only if he aims for his rear wheel and keeps his right hand on his vehicle.

10. In Chester, Welshmen are banned from entering the city before sunrise and from staying after sunset.

Happy Halloween!

Tulley's Farm Halloween Festival
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

We just got back from Lilly's first birthday party, and what a day to have as your birthday, brilliant! Birthday pumpkins, everyone dressed up as witches and spiders and skeletons, treasure hunt in the dark with torches, jelly with sweets in, fireworks and a bouncy castle, followed by trick or treating! I forgot how fun bouncy castles are!! I don't think I'm quite as fit as I used to be though!!

The pictures are from Tulley's Farm Halloween Festival, in Turners Hill. We saw signs for it on the way back from Wakehurst Place last Sunday, it was excellent! There's a really big farm shop there, a bit like Priory Farm in Nutfield, selling all kinds of local produce, lovely food, and beers from local breweries like the Hog's Back. We were thinking ahead and stocked up on Sussex honey to build up our hayfever immunity for the summer!

Anyway, outside they had loads going on for halloween, lots geared towards kids, like scary entertainers*, rides, spooky corn mazes, pumpkin firing guns, and all sorts, they also had loads of different catering trucks outside, doing hog roast and lots of other sorts of foods to warm you up! I think the entertainment went on into the evening too because they were selling tickets for the evening. We just walked in for free during the day though, result!

*when I say scary, I mean scary! There was one that made me lose a tenner I'd just got as cashback! I was holding it one second, then this guy started making some really freaky screaming noises and convulsing around which made me jump, and the next thing I knew I'd completely lost my money! I must have chucked it somewhere in surprise!

Tulley's Farm Halloween Festival
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Tulley's Farm Halloween Festival
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Tulley's Farm Halloween Festival
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Tulley's Farm Halloween Festival
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Tulley's Farm Halloween Festival
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Pumpkin Pie!

Pumpkin Pie
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Ooh, yummy smelling pumpkin pie! It's just come out of the oven, the smell is amazing, now the whole house smells of cinnamon.. mmm..

We're just waiting for it to cool down in the fridge before we try it!

Recipe courtesy of Antony Worrell Thompson:

Serves 8
Preparation time less than 30 mins
Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

Ingredients

For the pastry:
Sweet short crust pastry case
or a packet of ready made sweet short crust pastry with 40g/1½oz crushed pecans mixed in.
For the filling:
450 g/1lb prepared weight pumpkin flesh, cut into 1in/2.5 cm chunks
2 large eggs plus 1 yolk (use the white for another dish)
3 oz/75g soft dark brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground ginger
10 fl oz/275 ml double cream

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Use a shop bought sweet crust pastry case, about 9 inch/23 cm diameter and 1½ inches/4 cm deep.
3. To make the filling, steam the pumpkin then place in a coarse sieve and press lightly to extract any excess water.
4. Then lightly whisk the eggs and extra yolk together in a large bowl.
5. Place the sugar, spices and the cream in a pan, bring to simmering point, giving it a whisk to mix everything together. Then pour it over the eggs and whisk it again briefly.
6. Now add the pumpkin pureé, still whisking to combine everything thoroughly. 7. Then pour the filling into your pastry case and bake for 35-40 minutes, by which time it will puff up round the edges but still feel slightly wobbly in the centre.
8. Then remove it from the oven and place the tin on a wire cooling rack. Serve chilled (stored loosely covered in foil in the fridge) with some equally chilled créme fraïche, but warm or at room temperature would be fine.

Yarnbombing

Well I just don't know whether I'd be pleased or annoyed if someone did this to my bike! The concept is a bit like tagging/grafitti, but kinda cuter! Just love the pom-poms dangling from the handlebars! You can check out the blog of a yarnbomber here, it's worth a read..

Here are some of my favourites:

I Started early Took my Goat

I was looking through one of my old files today, and I found the most hilarious thing I'd forgotten about..

Back in 2002 when I was studying English Literature, for one of the exams we had to study and memorise a whole load of poems by the American poet Emily Dickinson - if you've never heard of her, she was an eccentric, death-obsessed, white-dress-wearing poet, with terrible grammar, born in 1830's Massachusetts, only appreciated (by some) after her death. No, I shouldn't be too mean, she did give me quite a lot of entertainment at the time!

Anyway, one day, when I was probably supposed to be writing an essay, I was browsing on poetry.com, and I saw an advert for the International Open Poetry Contest. Well, I don't like to turn down a challenge. If Emily could do it with her crazy non-sensical poetry, then so could I!

I decided to compile a new poem, inspired by lines from various Emily Dickinson poems, but slightly modified for my own entertainment. It also includes random capitalisation in true Dickinson style! Truly terrible, but it made me laugh. Anyway, I mailed it in, and was wondering how long it would be before I got a slapped wrist for plagiarising and piss-taking one of America's most famous poets. Being judged by poetry.com, an American site, I thought it wouldn't be too long! So a few weeks passed, and then what comes through the post? None other than this..

Poetry.com
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

"After carefully reading and discussing your poem, our selection committee has certified your poem as a semi-finalist in our International Open Poetry Contest."

They then went on to say that they wanted to publish my work in an anthology called "Letters from the Soul", and wanted to ask me to provide them with the story behind my poem, and my personal philosophical point of view to be included in the biographical section of the book! Furthermore, I was invited to the International Society of Poet's Fall Symposium in Hollywood. Oh no!! How embarrassing, it was meant to be a joke, and now it is going to appear in a book, so hundreds of Emily Dickinson fans could read it and be angry at me! Definitely couldn't go to the symposium, I'd be lynched, or at least sued by the Emily Dickinson society! Haha..

Anyway, here is the poem:

The fire drew Chill

by kipperfrog

I Started early - Took my Goat

We passed the Gazing Grain

And then I wanted to get out

Faith to regulate

The summer lapsed away

Or rather He passed us

Restraining rampant Squirrels

Sent us of the Air

Shadows held their breath

Extended Hempen Hands

Impatient of no child

I just love the things you find when you're routing through old files!

More pumpkin flowers!

Pumpkin flowers
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Ooh, look at it this morning.. it's definitely trying its very best!

Pumpkin flowers

The pumpkin plant has flowers! =) Hooray!

Pumpkin flowers
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Good grief..

Check out this video of a boy's reaction to having his World of Warcraft account cancelled by his Mum..

Custom Kidrobot DUNNYs

Custom Kidrobot DUNNYs
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

He's Bam Margera, he loves to skate, he also likes to shake things up a little..

I don't know why they call them DUNNYs, I'm guessing Kidrobot is not an Australian company.. It's a bit like Nintendo calling their console Wii.. nice! Anyway, this is my DUNNY.. I got it as a blank glow in the dark one a couple of years ago, when we were watching way too much Viva La Bam on MTV! Each one comes with some random extras - mine came with a skateboard and a giant crayon, so I thought it had to be turned into Bam really! James' one is the biker in the middle.. he's still waiting for his trousers! I think 2 years is a little harsh..

I think I'd like one this size for our house! =) Soo cool! Maybe it could go on the roof!

pintando en vivo 2
Originally uploaded by -FELIPE BEDOYA-

Woo.. check out the pumpkin plants..

We nearly have flowers, and after flowers come pumpkins! They've grown loads in the last 10 days, check out this photo for comparison.. now, 10 days left til Halloween.. go, pumpkins, go!!

James May's Toy Stories..

James May Lego House, Denbies
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

starts next Tuesday! 8pm, on BBC2.. I can't wait! What's the betting I'll miss it after writing this..

I've heard about the plasticine garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, seen the lego house in Denbies, and it looks like he's also completed a full scale Airfix Spitfire, the world's longest Scalextric track - at Brooklands, a lifesize bridge made out of Meccano in Liverpool, and attempted to create the world's longest model railway - from Banstaple to Bideford! I love it! It sounds like a brilliant series..

Gulab Jamun

At work I get to sample lots of interesting goodies from around the world, thanks to my colleagues! =) On Friday, in celebration of Diwali - the Indian festival of lights, I got to try Gulab Jamun for the first time! The ones I had were about the size of Maltesers.. they a like tiny little doughnuts, sitting in a lovely sweet syrup - absolutely delicious, I can see why these are a popular dessert in India! I found a recipe here, and check out the video below too (if only for the hilarious filming effort..)

Looks like a good book..

Looks like a good book..
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

I picked up a Metro on the way back from London on Thursday, and spotted an article about a very promising sounding book. This young Californian guy who was having trouble finding a job as a financial analyst -out of work for 3 years, decided to travel across America and try out a different job in each of the 50 states! I think it could make quite a good TV series actually.. someone should do it for the 86 counties of the UK! It wouldn't take that long..

Police cars of Britain..

So, the Met get Lamborghini Murciélagos..

and Kent police get..

a Smart car adventure!! What are they trying to catch?!

Eurotrip 2009: Day 1

Here are a few photos from the first day! We set off bright and early and headed for Dover..

..in time for our 6am sailing! We stopped off at Pease Pottage in the dark to stock up on millions of English snacks for the trip, and then headed off! The roads were nice and empty, so we got there pretty fast! I happened to spot this parked up next to us at Dover while we were waiting for the ferry.. Pampers and Relentless.. someone was in for a fun-packed holiday!

It was quite good timing actually because the sun was just coming up properly when we got on the ferry, so we got to see the sunrise over the channel! I don't remember too much after that.. I seem to have lost a couple of hours of my memory, but there are lots of photos of James laughing hysterically with tears streaming down his face, so I think we must have been a bit tired!!

The next thing I remember was waking up on the ferry, just as it was arriving in Dunkerque! Nice and fresh for a day in Bruges..

We climbed up the 366 steps of the Belfry before breakfast..

..and then went for a boat trip before our lunch! Frites and mayo in the square, it had to be done! I nearly took a photo but we were being plagued by wasps..

Next stop.. Luxembourg City.. a very promising bridge..

but not too much else! We did have some very interesting sandwiches though.. sugary bread?! It went OK with my salmon, but I'm not too sure about James' chicken! Anyway, we read in our guidebook about this amazing castle in Vianden, about 40 minutes away, it was a little out of our way, but we couldn't pass it up! I'm glad we didn't.. it's a lovely little village in the middle of loads of wooded hills, dominated by this amazing Dracula's castle type thing.. you'd never know it was there!

Well it was pretty much sunset when we left Vianden, and set off for Strasbourg.. for some reason we decided to tell our SatNav to avoid all toll roads and motorways.. great idea I must say! Haha.. 3 hours later we were running out of petrol, going down some neverending country lane in the middle of nowhere, with no street lights or cats eyes.. either in Luxembourg, Germany or France, we weren't quite sure! We eventually made it into a town, to our relief, only to be greeted by a row of cones with flashing lights on top, blocking the road ahead! Uh-oh.. we sat there for a while, but with no way of telling SatNav, we finally decided the best thing to do would be to play ignorant foreigners and drive around the road block and carry on down the road anyway! Don't you just love tight suspension and pot-holes.. what a combo.. we had about a mile of driving past diggers and hoping not to fall into any precipices, and then we finally made it out and into a service station, phew!! Petrol and sleep.. and to think that our original plan was to stay in Bruges on the first night?! We got a little ahead of schedule there!

Eurotrip 2009 aka Honeymoon!

Eurotrip 2009 aka Honeymoon!
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

Horsham to Italy and back again..

2,396 miles – 37 hours total driving time

OK, so it's about time I blogged this! Here's the map of the route we took across Europe on our honeymoon in the summer.. click on the picture to see it bigger..

Here's how it went:

Day 1:

Horsham -> Dover -> Dunkerque, France -> Bruges, Belgium -> Luxembourg City -> Vianden, Luxembourg -> Strasbourg, France

Day 2:

Strasbourg, France -> Stuttgart, Germany

Day 3:

Stuttgart, Germany -> Salzburg, Austria -> Garda, Italy

Day 4:

Garda, Italy -> Venice, Italy -> Garda, Italy

Day 5:

Garda, Italy -> Maranello, Italy -> Verona, Italy -> Garda, Italy

Day 6:

Garda, Italy -> Lucerne, Switzerland -> Dunkerque, France -> Dover -> Horsham

That last day was a little crazy! We were originally going to take two days getting back in a more leisurely fashion, but the weather was super duper bad in Switzerland so we thought we'd see how far we could get all in one day.. it seems the answer was.. all the way home! We didn't even get back that late, I think it was around midnight!

Look what the guitar did to my handspans!

Handspans
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

It's quite funny, they used to be the same, but now my left handspan is much bigger than my right! =S Who would have thought that you could increase it so much just by trying to reach notes on the fretboard.. I can only really play one song too! Goodness knows what would happen if I actually practiced, it would get even more freaky!

New Michael Jackson single - "This Is It"

Classic Michael Jackson style, I like it! Apparently it was actually written at least 19 years ago, which probably accounts for that. Although it was written by Michael Jackson and Paul Anka, it was originally recorded by Sa-Fire as a track called "I Never Heard" on her 1990 album "I Wasn't Born Yesterday".

This newly released version was created from a demo tape featuring just Jackson's vocals and a piano, and then more instrumentation and backing vocals by Jackson's brothers were added after his death. I think they've done a great job!

By the way, I've just booked us up some tickets to go and see "This Is It" in the cinema during the limited 2 week run at the end of October.. we were just going to show up on the day, but it seems that tickets are selling out fast for this too! Incredible..

Amazing cakes..

On the topic of amazing cakes, check Yochana's Cake Delight! out! I think I know what I'd like for my next birthday cake.. I wonder how much it costs to import from Singapore?! Hehe..

Here are some of my favourites:

Chrysanthemum layered agar agar

Swan agar agar

Stained glass cookies

Sarawak lapis

and some random ones I spotted:

Purple sweet potato cheesecake

Green tea yoghurt cake

Green tea red bean cheesecake

Goodies!

So, on Saturday we ventured up the Purley way.. very bravely.. Saturday in IKEA is never a good place to be! I think Tuesday at about 10pm is probably optimum - no crowds, no traffic.. amazing! But, no, we decided to go and choose our new wardrobe at about midday on the busiest, busiest, crazy driver-est time of the week! I think we must enjoy a challenge.. hehe.. James will tell you all about it..

Anyway, despite deciding not to opt for their recommended mish-mash wood colour combo wardrobe, appealing as it sounded, we did manage to pick up some lovely goodies!

I got a couple of these nice red lanterns..

IKEA lantern
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

..and while I was waiting for James to get back from the Customer Services desk, I couldn't help but look around the Christmas decorations section.. I think I was fairly restrained to stop at only getting these ones..

Swedish decorations!
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

they are very cool! I was so tempted by the giant reindeer too though!

After a quick detour to Croydon to look at more cowboy merchandise, erm I mean 'work shoes' for James, we eventually made it to Wing Yip, despite TomTom's best effort to send us to Beddington gun shop.. (hmm, James?!)..

We stocked up on all the essentials =)

Wing Yip goodies
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

and we couldn't resist getting one of these beautiful tiger rolls for Gemma, to go with her birthday pressie.. I think that has to be the most amazing type of swiss roll in the whole world! I don't know what it tastes like, but it looks beautiful!

Tiger roll
Originally uploaded by Grimmie

Next, to the crockery section.. James needed a new mug for school.. done! It's quite cool, not only does it have a lid to keep the heat in, it also has an internal filter, so you can put your loose tea in the bottom of the mug, and not have it escape!

Chinese mug
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

We also got some beautiful new chopsticks..

Chopsticks!
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

And for dinner.. well, they'd actually sold out of most stuff by the time we made it to the Tai Pan bakery, but we did manage to get these.. a lovely coconut paste moon cake, and a coconut and cream cake, yum! Hehe.. as you can see, James' one didn't last long!

Moon cake
Originally uploaded by kipperfrog

RIP James Hill

RIP James Hill. Sending all our love to Anastasia at this awful time xx