Some Jazz, Electro, and Cotswolds

Hi Everyone!

so its been ages I know. In fact almost two months since our last blog. When we started this we forgot that with sites such as facebook, regular email, and life in general there really isnt alot of time left to devote to our blog. But we shall try to rectify this. So I think this will be the first entry of three to catch up on whats going on. I thought we should title them before new york, new york, and after new york, but I have been kindly reminded that this blog is not all about me

So ages ago now my dad came to visit. And as previously threatened we took him to see some jazz (Julian Joseph trio). It was great, definitely one of the best jazz pianists I have ever seen (but also the only one). Even though I agree my knowledge of what is good in jazz is limited, I was hugely impressed and felt really inspired to start playing piano again. Jenny and Harry were also there (and for those of you watching tv in the UK you might be interested to know Harry appeared on Last Choir Standing on BBC 1 last night!).

It turned out to be a great night, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

Then Im not sure what happened. But at some point Jenny and I went to see Soulwax, a dance/electro music band. That was great actually we had loads of fun and they were extremely good. So after that I wanted to by a synth instead of piano, but now Ive reached a compromise and decided that I want both. Dont have any pics of Soulwax performing, just some I took with my phone of a couple of DJs doing a warm up set and tshirts Soulwax were selling which pretty much sum up what they are about.

And then Im sure lots of interesting things happened between that and the cotswolds, but yet again its a while back and we dont have it documented with our camera. But we did decide to go to Patrick's parents place in the cotswolds on the friday before I went to New York to Jonathan's wedding. Patrick, Louise, and Andy (who drove us) and then Jen and myself went. The "lodge" as its called is close to swindon (30 mins away) by an artificial lake and several ponds in a holiday home kind of community. So there are tennis courts etc... and its gated. We left on the Friday after Andy had finished his exams in the afternoon and got there around 7ish in the evening.

The next day we woke up and it was quite rainy and not too warm, but in spite of it all we went out and did some kayaking on the pond outside the lodge.

It was actually great fun, although Andy and I did struggle to fit ourselves into the kayaks which made the thought of capsizing slightly unnerving. But Jen was a pro from the beginning, easily managing to to get herself around whereas I constantly kept swerving and veering around. But while out there we could see the bottom of the pond was literally crawling with crayfish. So we then attempted to catch them. This consisted of us lying on our stomachs trying to grab them from the pond bottom. It didnt work too well to begin with so we tried using a range of tools. But eventually found the by louring them out with an old piece of fried fish we could use the bbq tongs to grab them one by one.

I also created a trap with a coke bottle which worked impressively considering the shoddy construction.

We actually didnt end up eating them as we had just had lunch, but we took them back to oxford in the car with us.

So yes that was part of what we have been up to. Will try to post the rest soon!

Hello! It is the weekend, and I somehow managed to survive exams.... i was a bit nervous mid-way when the library was starting to make me delusional and I kept waking up with panics about post-war consensus, Thatcher and whether or not Rawls and Nozick support equality of opportunity... or was that outcome...? I went a bit brain dead and it all seemed to become a bit muddled. Oh well... regardless of the outcome, I made it out alive... no more nasty proctors, ticking clocks, or sore fingers... (i managed to fill two and a half booklets on my first exam... that's 19 pages of of international security rambling... i feel sorry for whoever has to mark that).
Anyway... it's over now.
Had a nice week after tuesday... just bummed around really. Had planned a fantastic adventure to the outdoor pool. But that was unfortunatley cast aside when, after a week of glorious weather, we woke up to cold rain on wednesday... typical.
Went to jazz at The Spin on thursday night... anyone who comes to visit from now on and is here on a Thursday night may get dragged along. Was pretty good actually and it's always nice to do something a bit different. Then today just trecked into town for some lunch with friends and then stopped by the 'artweeks' excitement happening on South Parade. Was starting to die down a bit by the time we got there... the impending rain clouds were looking pretty ominous. Have some fun plans for this upcoming week... going to jazz again (apparently the best living jazz pianist will be playing) and to the academy on friday for Soul Wax. Fred has turned into a bit of a music man as of late... I blame his lab. Also, we are getting a visitor from Sweden... which will be lovely! All our love... as usual. xx
p.s. mom, that is the most amazing omelet... it doesn't look that good, but it really was. and, sadly, i lied when i said i had binned my favourite leopard print ballet flats. even though they have holes and look like some sort of Victorian antique vintage find they are still adorning my little feet... we really need to go to london and go shopping!

The aim of this short blog is mainly to sing the praises of the new Mexican place across from the three goats head off of cornmarket. Our food saviour has arrived. Now no longer are we faced with the kebab dilemma, of: its late, I'm hungry, is food out of a van ever a good decision? (it almost never is). Now finally we have a choice! Burritos, and large ones, reasonably priced by English standards (only five quid!!! what a deal)
We have already visited it several times. The carnitas is my personal favourite, although Jenny prefers the steak. They even have limes, rice, black beans... does food get better than that? I would posit, no.

But not only are the ingredients fresh, the tortillas large. But also the range of salsas is larger than in any where else here. They have salsa fresca, salsa verde, and salsa red stuff??... my knowledge of Spanish fails me, salsa rado? rosa?




but perhaps more importantly. They have cholula. Oh so spicey and tasty, a properly Mexican sauce, which definitely adds to the experience. The ambiance is sterile and clean, not quite like molca salsa. And they don't have tamarind juice. But you do get to see the people trying to get into the homeless shelter fighting outside the window. So if anyone is ever visiting oxford, we definitely recommend stopping by.

A Very Happy Birthday

Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes! I had such a lovely day yesterday. Woke up to some ice-cream in bed, which always makes for a good start. Then headed off to class for 9am.. and came hoem expecting Fred to be in the lab. But he wasn't! He was still at home... there were flowers, a cake, and a table full of presents. So I opened up those, and then afterward Fred headed off to work. So I stayed home and ate candy and watche dmoveis all day! Then called up family, which was so nice. Fred came home around 4. I had developed a slightly sick tummy from eating sour candy all day... I think I will never learn. But we headed off to wine cafe and just sat around eating cheese, drinking wine, and chatting away. Then got some pizzas from across the road to eat at home for dinner. Was an altogether beautiful day. Thank you everyone who contributed to making it so! Oh, and today was officially the first warm day of the year. Could be outside in just a t-shirt and jeans... ah, was so nice. Is so wonderful to feel the sun again!

Just a few pictures from the last week or so. A couple from when we (err... or Fred) made pizzas last week, and then the rest are from yesterday.

A Snowy Sunday...

Woke up this morning at 7am to an absolutely snow covered Oxford. Two days ago I was outside in a skirt with no tights... something strange certainly happened with the weather - and I did not expect it at all. Ventured into the bus stop (which I never take) and took some photos on the way. Treated my self to a mocha from starbucks and a blueberry muffin. Most days I don't get to sip coffee on the way into town... it's pretty tricky while on a bike. Had a lovely day at work as well... but now all the snow has melted and it's sunny outside. Seems as if it was all a strange dream... but it certainly was lovely while it lasted. Am hoping winter is behind us for good now!

Just a few pictures from this past week. We went to a gig at the zodiac on thursday night with some friends... was pretty entertaining and fun. Also, was stressed the whole week over my essay that was due in that morning so was pleased to have that obstacle behind me. Then friday night I went into london after work. Went to a friends house there and met up with some girls I haven't seen in a while. We just sat in her flat eating lasagna, nibbling on olives and sipping red wine all night. In the morning we had a much anticipated breakfast out. (i LOVE breakfast out... there is something deeply luxurious about it. especially when it is cooked hot breakfast... muffins don't count). anyway, then we ventured into london... went to brick lane and checked out some vintage shops. there was an insane amount of bags, shoes and old clothes... was all a bit too much to take in for me. so i ended up not buying anything because i just couldn't figure out what was nice and what was just old rubbish? oh well. then it rained and rained and my feet were soaking wet because i insisted on wearing my most awful and manky leopard print flats which have officially been binned. (much to my dismay). but they really are just useless. so i am now on the lookout for my next pair of ballet flats... i will keep you posted on how the search progresses. I was so very happy to make it back into oxford friday evening though. was so happy to collapse into bed after a very, very long week. And, it was a great surprise to wake up to a snow covered oxford this morning! Ok, now it's time for some french onion soup courtesy of chef fredrik... he spent the weekend at home doing DIY projects. so will post some pics of our fully finished house soon.

xx

The highly anticipated 'gig' shoes.

Marielle and I got a bit bored...

Emily and I dressing up at work.

My incredible french toast, bacon and eggs! and mocha. Yummy!

All for only 4 pounds 50! A serious steal.

The view from our front window this morning!

Hardanger Plateau: Under Prepared and Overwhelmed

"Under prepared and overwhelmed" sort of became team Garfjeld Roberts and Inglis running motto, as in true British Victorian fashion we set out to conquer one of the harshest regions in the World (Our second mantra, became "stumpy" - Patrick's reenactment of a man with no fingers). I suppose, retrospectively, the clue is in the name: Hard Anger. And plateau is surely a misnomer, there were definitely mountains, and on our first day we climbed over 500 metres in altitude (Its a lot). Temperatures also dropped to minus 20 C and on the top of the mountain it plummeted to minus 32. It was pretty cold and extremely windy. But absolutely stunning.

And yes that dapper man is me, and yes your right again, I am sporting a pair of trousers that stop below the knee and woollen socks. Actually quite a popular look in Norway... with the over 60s.

On our first day we simply tried to get used to cross country skiing as it has been around 10 years since either of us have tried it. It began, by trying to make it down the hill from the train tracks to the place we were staying. Luckily we managed to dawdle, so I don't think anyone noticed me falling over within a few metres of setting off (my backpack was obviously unbalanced). Our second day was spent trying to conquer the Hardanger glacier. Didn't make it all the way around because the wind was so strong we couldn't physically keep our eyes open and I did not have enough clothes on. However here is a view from the top.

Our third day was spent trekking to Kraejka, 26 km away. It was epic and we arrived broken men. Fell over lots as there was some considerable downhill to negotiate, which as Patrick and I discovered is exceedingly difficult with cross country skis. We did however make it in 4 hours, and again it was lovely. The outdoor toilets along with the bunks were probably the highlights of the "hytte" there. The former for their absolute rankness and the latter for quality design, although in the evening it became pretty frosty as the heating stopped.

Our penultimate day (aka the day that defined us as men) we trekked back, and I was quite fatigued. Patrick claims he was not, but then again he no longer has any skin on his heels, so I think it is safe to say we were struggling. There was one part where the hill we were going down was so steep we had to walk it... Im not sure what that says about our man hood? We cut our last day short as there was a blizzard (apparently three people went missing and search parties had to be sent out) and grabbed the next train to Oslo. On the bright side this meant we no longer had to subsist on ramen noodles (we shared one between the two of us every night), 5 pieces of chocolate, a slice of bread, and some cheese as our daily sustenance. And we even managed to hobble around Oslo to see the sights.

Lessons I've learned. Being at least part-British greatly increases your ego in terms of what you think you can achieve, and even the when faced with the literally chilling reality, it doesn't seem to bother you in the least, how else could the empire have been built? Frostbite is a serious issue, and my fingers are still slightly numb as I type this. Although Patrick has skin that sloughs off easier than that of a boiled tomato, he is a genial travelling companion with a disposition and temperament suited to long trips in harsh conditions, and managed to make me laugh, a lot. Norway is also really pretty but a beer costs 7 pounds. Finally wish Jenny could have seen it, and that I could have taken more pictures, but when taking off your gloves to get a picture you have to weigh the chances of loosing a finger.